Wasabi Robot

japanese eggplant appetizer thingie

2007-07-24T00:40:18Z

Hey, I need some help from all of you knowledgeable foodies ;) Whenever I go to my favorite sushi places they bring out a small dish of eggplant that has been marinated in a sweet-ish sauce as a sort of appetizer (around the time they serve the miso soup). I don't order it, it is just a little free thing. Any idea what it is called? I have a pantry full of asian ingredients and a fresh eggplant and want to make it but google isn't helping with my inept searching.

Thanks bunches.

Today is my birthday and the end of the year so it seems like a good time to evaluate things

2006-12-23T16:01:52Z

Ashley did this first, and better.

1. Was 2006 a good year for you?
I didn't think it would be, but yes.

2. What was your favorite moment(s) of the year?
White water rafting, camping, New York, hugging Chris again.

3. What was your least favorite moment(s) of the year?
A few weeks in February.

4. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
Lots of them are NSFW. However, teaching a college class ranks up there.

5. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I kept at least one and I haven't decided if I'll make more.

6. Where were you when 2006 began?
At home.

7. Who were you with?
My cats.

8. Where will you be when 2006 ends?
I'm not sure, perhaps the Whig?

9. Who will you be with when 2006 ends?
Hopefully with good friends.

10. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My new friend Rachelle and Josh's sister, Carol.

11. Did you lose anybody close to you in 2006?
Luckily not forever.

12. Who did you miss?
My Dad and Chris.

13. Who was the best new person you met in 2006?
Rachelle or Aleks or Matt or Heather or or or.

14. What was your favorite month of 2006?
June or July.

15. Did you travel outside of the US in 2006?
Nope.

16. How many different states did you travel to in 2006?
10-ish. I don't feel like counting all of the states that showed up in those long drives. The important ones were Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin. Hmm, that might about cover it. I think Indiana was tossed in by necessity.

17. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
Nothing important is coming to mind. But what I'm buying with my birthday money is a food processor!

18. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 3rd. (I got it out of the way early, there are other specific days but I don't know the dates.)

19. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Teaching my college students.

20. What was your biggest failure?
I'm trying not to think of them as failures.

21. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I have a cold now, just like I did this time last year. Otherwise nothing too bad.

22. What was the best thing you bought?
My car is pretty wonderful and my Calphalon cookware. But probably tanks of gas to go great places.

23. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Headlights merited a cupcake party.

24. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The obvious answer is George W. Bush and I don't mind being obvious.

25. Where did most of your money go?
Those car payments have been pretty serious and unrelenting.

26. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
New friends. Geocaching, camping.

27. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2006?
Hardly any.

28. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2006?
No.

29. How many people did you sleep with in 2006?
7. What? I said that most of my new experiences were NSFW!

30. Did you treat somebody badly in 2006?
Almost certainly.

31. Did somebody treat you badly in 2006?
Yep.

32. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? meh.
ii. thinner or fatter? fatter
iii. richer or poorer? richer (barely and not if you count student loan debt against me)

33. What do you wish you'd done more of in 2006?
Exercised.

34. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Felt helpless.

35. Did you fall in love in 2006?
Yeah.

36. What was your favorite TV program(s)?
A few weeks ago I discovered Heroes. And I like cooking shows on the Food Network.

37. What song will always remind you of 2006?
Not sure, probably something by the Magnetic Fields. Or the Schneider TM cover of "There Is A Light That Will Never Go Out"

38. How many concerts did you see in 2006?
Only a few but one was in my living room!

39. Did you have a favorite concert in 2006?
I can't choose between Headlights at my house or The Wedding Present in Chapel Hill.

40. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Gosh, nothing is jumping to mind. Sucks.

41. What was the best book you read?
Fuck, I did not read enough that wasn't for school. Thom Gunn's "The Man with Night Sweats" was pretty good.

42. What was your favorite film of this year?
Little Miss Sunshine

43. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
It is today. So far I woke up and filled out a survey, I'll get more productive soon.

44. What did you want and get?
A grade changed.

45. What did you want and not get?
Compared to kids making Nike's in Bangladesh, I'm in pretty good shape.

46. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Living closer to my family.

47. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
Not yet pissed on by cats?

48. What kept you sane?
I wish it was just myself. Daddy helped a lot and Josh and Chris alternated between making me sane and insane. Way to take turns, guys!

49. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
If this said "crush" I would ignore it. But I wholeheartedly approve of the word "fancy" (especially when it refers to ketchup. . .). John Stewart can have my babies.

50. What political issue stirred you the most?
I've been sufficiently apathetic.

51. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006.
At the risk of sounding like a self-help book. . . I am responsible for making myself happy.

52. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"How fucking romantic."

I'm so glad we have a Greek system at USC . . .

2005-04-07T23:17:51Z

A guy (First Frat Boy) comes into the computer lab and sits directly behind me. A few minutes after sitting down, he says to no one in particular. "God, I knew it. I knew that guy was gay!" Then, silence. A few minutes later two friends join him. . .

First Frat Boy: "So, I just saw this kid that I went to middle school with on The Facebook. We always knew he was gay. We'd be like 'you're gay'. Look, I just found him. He is gay!"

Second Frat Boy: "Are you friends with him."

First Frat Boy: "No, not really."

Second Frat Boy: "I mean on the Facebook?"

First Frat Boy: "Yeah, I am now."

Second Frat Boy: "You're a faggot. You have gay friends."

First Frat Boy: "Shut up."

Second Frat Boy: "I'm not sleeping on my stomach around you anymore."

Third Frat Boy: "I had a gay uncle"

Second Frat Boy: "Did you disown him?"

(whiney prattling about some Frat party)

First Frat Boy: "God, look at this guy!"

Second Frat Boy: "You're still looking at the gay guy?"

First Frat Boy: "He is so gay looking."

Detox Day 11

2005-04-05T17:12:47Z

"Breakfast" this morning:
Liver Flush #2

1 cup freshly made apple juice
juice of two lemons
tsp. grated ginger
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. safflower oil
1 tbsp. olive oil

Sounds pretty nasty, huh? It actually wasn't that bad. I've drank worse on this thing so far. It was unsettling - basically like drinking apple juice with salad dressing mixed in. It coated my throat. But, it didn't taste wretched, I managed to get the whole glass down. I followed the a cup of Herbal Purification Tea which is actually okay. It made me basically not hungry. I think because I just ingested a few hundred calories worth of vegetable oil.

Detox Day 4

2005-03-30T00:28:35Z

And now it is the time of day when Elyn eats a huge handful of supplements. C, E, Omega-3, Acidophilous, Multi-Vitamin, and now I am enjoying my calcium chewable tabs for dessert. Yum! Today went fine so far. I am not looking forward to the Ionic Coctail I am supposed to drink before my workout tonight - I forgot my E3Live this morning so I guess I will take it with the Ionic Poop Coctail. Wheat Germ oil is foul. Food went okay. I switched my meals around a bit but still stuck to the spirit of the diet.

Breakfast = big salad with ginger dressing and immitation crab meat (this protein isn't really allowed because it isn't organic)
Lunch= an entire pineapple (I snacked on it all afternoon, probably meaning I ate it too close to dinner)
Dinner= big salad with tomatillo and avocado salsa and grilled shrimp (shrimp also is not really an allowed protein)
Dessert= tall glass of chocolate soy milk (all of the sugar in this isn't great but it is made with organic cane juice instead of refined sugars)

Overall, I did a pretty good job on combining. My portions were completely reasonable and I haven't been hungry. I don't really think that the shrimp and crab are going to introduce too many toxins back into my body. Taking a bath every night is so relaxing, yay!

Last night I was supposed to write an entry about what nurtures me and I didn't do that so I am doing it now. In no particular order:

Chris
Cuddling with kitties
Reading good books
Sleeping in
Nice aromatherapy baths
Massages
Sex
Nourishing foods
Love

Detox Day 3

2005-03-28T17:24:23Z

Well, things are going well. Except this morning I added to much cayenne pepper to my hot lemon flush and it was basically undrinkable. I managed to get through about 1/3 of it before I thought I was going to be sick. I am eating my apple breakfast right now. I like showering with all of these natural soaps and things. But, I cheated a bit today by using nail polish remover - probably the most toxic thing out there. Oh well. I also drank my E3Live blue-green algae stuff. That shit is disgusting but I don't mind it mixed in with apple juice. It is also the most perfect food in the world. If I ever do a juice fast I will be drinking it like crazy.

I don't feel less toxic yet. But the food is simple and filling. I am also gaining lots of energy. Surprisingly I haven't been having many cravings that aren't satisfied by a glass of soy milk. I rock.

wasabirobot @ 2005-03-26T14:55:00

2005-03-26T19:54:31Z

So, I went to my detox workshop this morning and it was really interesting. The yogi was really nice and relatively normal. I definitely plan to go back there for yoga classes sometime soon. I need to go shopping for this week's produce this afternoon and then hopefully do some laundry. I feel quite good, though.

wasabirobot @ 2005-03-24T20:47:00

2005-03-25T01:47:58Z

So, I'm trying to figure out what to write my Kenneth Burke paper on. I want to use music in some way so I think I am going to look at his music reviews in The Nation between 1933 and 1936 and compare them to Permanence and Change. There is a critical article that makes a similar move with Counter Statement and the earlier reviews in The Dial. So, I should be able to pull it off.

In other news, North by Northwest is a really long movie and I have to wait for it to be over before I can go home. My students are watching it right now while I sit in the computer lab being productive/lazy.

I will be glad when the semester is over but I have so much work to do before it ends. The more I need to get done, the more I seem to procrastinate.

Plans for the weekend:
Friday morning - clean my room and office
Friday mid-day - Do my laundry
Friday afternoon - brief trip to the library and radio show
Saturday morning - detox workshop
saturday mid-day - pick up produce (farmer's market?)
REST OF THE WEEKEND!!! -
Get caught up on everything.

Phew, I am really looking forward to starting my detox. I have collected all of the supplies and will get going with it on Saturday. I made a pot of the tea that I have to drink the entire time and it is delicious! Peppermint and sage with other things that don't have much flavor but are good for me (good deal!). I have a new set of toiletries so I won't be putting any icky chemicals back into my body that way. I expect this to go quite well.

wasabirobot @ 2005-03-22T23:08:00

2005-03-23T04:08:03Z

You Are 31 Years Old

31

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

thats funny, you don't look buddhist

2005-03-14T20:15:27Z

You scored as Buddhism. Your beliefs most closely resemble those of Buddhism. Do more research on Buddhism and possibly consider becoming Buddhist, if you are not already.

In Buddhism, there are Four Noble Truths: (1) Life is suffering. (2) All suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality and the craving, attachment, and grasping that result from such ignorance. (3) Suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment. (4) The path to the suppression of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right-mindedness, and right contemplation. These eight are usually divided into three categories that base the Buddhist faith: morality, wisdom, and samadhi, or concentration. In Buddhism, there is no hierarchy, nor caste system; the Buddha taught that one's spiritual worth is not based on birth.

</td>

Buddhism

88%

agnosticism

75%

Paganism

67%

Satanism

58%

Hinduism

50%

Judaism

42%

Islam

42%

atheism

38%

Christianity

29%

Which religion is the right one for you? (new version)
created with QuizFarm.com

wasabirobot @ 2005-02-22T19:54:00

2005-02-23T00:49:37Z

You scored as Democrat.

</td>

Anarchism

100%

Green

100%

Democrat

100%

Socialist

67%

Communism

67%

Republican

Nazi

Fascism

What Political Party Do Your Beliefs Put You In?
created with QuizFarm.com

Breath a sigh of relief, Iran

2005-02-04T14:39:40Z

Condoleezza Rice has insisted that attacking Iran is not on America's agenda "at this point in time".

What does this mean? That whenever we get around to updating our DayPlanners it might end up on the agenda? After "Pick up dry cleaning" and "End abortion rights". . . I'm sure this is really re-assuring for Iran.

my future, redux

2005-02-04T14:26:48Z

Phew. I just talked to Dr. Scott who turns out to be a brisk, chirpy British man. It was sort of a whirlwind and I couldn't get a word in edge-wise. But, he gave me some good information and answered a few of my questions. He also offered to be my advisor which seems like a good idea since he seems to know the program quite well. I got a bit of affirmation on my desire to do Comp. Rhet. stuff and to teach. He thinks it is plausible to teach for a year and be able to teach part time even once I am in a library. He also thinks it is possible to pursue a PhD in English during this process. It seems that the questions of bibliographic instruction logically overlap with composition instruction so they can be cross-applied and few people in academic libraries are paying attention to it - I could make myself a niche. Finally, he quelled my fears about getting a job to some extent. He said that 1 or 2 years of experience in a library should be sufficient as many people get jobs with that background (I guess its a little different having that second degree and an interesting thesis.)

One thing I forgot to ask him is whether I have to take comps, I'm pretty sure the answer is "no" but I need to double check.

wasabirobot @ 2005-02-03T11:43:00

2005-02-03T16:43:22Z

Is it bad that I really really want this shirt?

Beatles and Monkees mashup - neat!

2005-02-03T05:31:58Z

http://www.gohomeproductions.co.uk/video/ghp_paperback_believer.mov

US teens 'reject' key freedoms

2005-02-01T15:49:06Z

A significant number of US high-school students regard their constitutional right to freedom of speech as excessive, according to a new survey.

Is this because teachers are incompetent or because of the conservative shift among teenagers? Either way, this is the creepiest thing I've read in a long time.

"ROCKIN' IT, FRAT-PARTY STYLE!": A SHORT STORY GEARED TO COLLEGE STUDENTS, WRITTEN BY A 30-SOMETHING

2005-01-19T16:18:48Z

"Goodnight," said Janet, absentmindedly swiping at her sweaty left nipple and then at her right nipple, which was also sweaty. "See you when I see you."

wasabirobot @ 2004-12-25T20:27:00

2004-12-26T01:43:36Z

1) What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before? Left the country (twice!)

2) Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Nope. I don't know if I'll make them again but I am going to try to lose weight but I'm not very resolved.

3) Did anyone close to you give birth? No.

4) Did anyone close to you die? No.

5) What countries did you visit? Israel and Turkey.

6) What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004? My Chris living in the same city as me.

7) What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Election Day. . . or rather the day after.

8) What was your biggest achievement of the year? Getting into graduate school, I guess.

9) What was your biggest failure? Losing weight and then gaining it back again.

10) Did you suffer illness or injury? Not really, maybe a cold but I can't even specifically remember one.

11) What was the best thing you bought? My Mp3 player.

12) Whose behavior merited celebration? I don't understand this question - but Chris always makes me smile. As far as famous people go, everyone annoyed me mostly.

13) Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The US government.

14) Where did most of your money go? The part after basic expenses went on random bits of tech and lots of music.

15) What did you get really, really, really excited about? Travelling.

16) What song will always remind you of 2004? I can't think of a specific one - there were no big summer songs for me this year.

17) Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder ? Happier - I'm not at some Christmas party with people I don't know.
Older or wiser ? Well older of course - wiser, maybe.
Thinner or fatter? About the same.
Richer or poorer? Same (since its semester break) but on average I'm richer.

18) What do you wish you'd done more of? reading, learning another language, working out

19 What do you wish you'd done less of? wasting time online, watching television

20) How will you be spending Christmas? I'm spending it by myself with my cats.

21) How will you be spending New Years? Hopefully with Chris, we'll see.

22) Did you fall in love in 2004? No. Just stayed in love.

23) How many one night stands? 7. Just kidding, none.

24) What was your favorite TV program? I hate TV but I started watching it anyway - probably the Daily Show.

25) Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nope but I dislike a good portion of people I encounter.

26) What was the best book you read? Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov

27) What was your greatest musical discovery? The Dears.

28) What did you want and get? Admission to graduate school.

29) What did you want and not get? Job security.

30) What was your favorite film of this year?

31) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 23 on the 23rd. I was spending my last day in Istanbul - it was rainy and I went to a cheesy diner and bellydancing performance.

32) What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Kicking my procrastination habit.

33) How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004? Not too dirty to wear.

34) What kept you sane? music and my friends - I didn't have much to make me crazy going on.

35) Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Jon Stewart

36) What political issue stirred you the most? the USA PATRIOT Act, war in Iraq

37) Who did you miss? my Dad and step-mother, Chris

38) Who was the best new person you met? my roomate, Julia

39) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004: You get out what you put in.

40) Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: I don't do the lyric quoting thing.

Vote Suppression Hotline

2004-11-02T14:44:11Z

Take it with you to the polls in case you aren't allowed to vote.

1-866-OUR-VOTE

wasabirobot @ 2004-07-14T00:07:00

2004-07-14T04:06:00Z

Find out who has a crush on you!
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wasabirobot @ 2004-07-09T12:21:00

2004-07-11T16:20:01Z

So, I've been doing a lot of reading lately on the Israel-Palestine situation in preparation for my trip. I'm starting to think that Israel probably never should have existed in the first place. The Zionists basically used poor European Jews as colonists to take over a foreign territory and sold out the other Jews in Europe to the Nazis at the same time. I have read this book and this book in the past few days. All of this in combination with the New Yorker article on the settlers at the end of May has left me with a really bad taste in my mouth. Today's reading is Growing Up Palestinian. Things aren't looking up for Israel.

wasabirobot @ 2004-07-06T15:13:00

2004-07-08T19:11:54Z

YAY!!!

I finally got my itinerary for the birthright trip. It looks so amazing. I am currently getting unbearably excited about this trip.

Yay yay yay!!!

alan makes me spit coffee out on my monitor. . .

2004-06-22T16:49:16Z

Alan: jesus is feeling a bit smug today
Me: oh, why is that?
Alan: hum. if you were the only path to salvation, would'nt you feel a bit smug, too?

wasabirobot @ 2004-06-20T21:26:00

2004-06-21T01:30:16Z

So, I'm trying out this new gmail thing. I have to admit it is sort of a neat toy. Lots of people are complaining about the label system (as opposed to folders) but I sort of like it. I am not really a high volume email user but I can predict that I will use it for storing things in the future and it seems good for keeping records/ not needing to delete a thing. I am completely phasing out my hotmail account in the near future and probably bluebottle too. . .

The interface has moments where it seems buggy but that makes sense, it is in Beta afterall. There seem to be a lot of invites floating around, I got mine from gmailswap.com with remarkable ease. (I don't have any yet, though.) There is speculation that it will be going public in the next several weeks, I guess we'll see soon.

bad English student

2004-06-19T16:27:59Z

So at the beginning of the summer I went and bought a bunch of "important literature" to read in my spare time. Like Toni Morrison, Nabokov, etc. Ask me how much of it I've read? Actually, don't, it would embarass me.

Meanwhile over the past 2 weeks I have read 4 of the 5 Harry Potter books and I'm half way through the 5th. Beloved was just not moving as fast for me as the adventures and exploits of those plucky little British children. At least it isn't John Grisham. . .