Married Woman Cake?

Wow, another week went by. Where have I been? What have I done? As planned, I visited a few museums last Sunday. I am surprised to find out that there is a roof top garden opened at The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Although it’s small, it’s relaxing and beautiful up there. http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf I am impressed by a work made from toothpicks. I have never imagined that small toothpicks can explode like this. Anything can explode. One morning when I pass Chinatown, I saw a big red sign on a bakery’s window: "嫁女旦糕回来了, 优惠! (Married woman cake returns, with a special price!)" Besides the wrong character is used (旦 should be 蛋), I am not sure what that means. A married woman returned and made some cake? Or is the cake made for marrying some woman out of the house? I decided to find out what these cakes are. Boy, how disappointed I was! All I saw were some ugly looking muffin-looking stuff. Of course I didn’t buy any, only took a picture. I am afraid the woman will have to get a divorce eventually if she makes shit like that. Or she probably stays in the house forever and can never get married if these are the best she can do. The warm weather is here again for the weekend. Just in time for the Asian Heritage Street Celebration and Bay to Breakers! It does feel like summer is here. That also means fog and chill in the evening and morning. Therefore, I think it’s okay to have some winter soup even at this season. Last night, I made some spicy and sour soup (酸辣汤). What’s in a spicy and sour soup? A lot. This is what I put in a pot last night: pork, potato, woodear (木耳), daylily (黄花菜), wolfberry (枸杞子), frozen tofu, ginger root, green onion, garlic, white pepper, vinegar, and soy sauce etc. At the end right before serving, I added some dissolved corn starch to thicken the soup. There is the healthy tasty spicy and sour (or sour and spicy, whatever) soup. But I didn’t eat much, because I have set up a goal to lose another 10 pounds by August. Why? I think I have indulged myself with food too much everyday. I almost always eat at dinner to a point that I can hardly move. I need to change that habit by eating less at night. I am so happy that the CYC (Community Youth Center) (formally Chinatown Youth Center) came over and took away 12 very nice computers yesterday. We are upgrading our classroom at work, so I contacted them and got the computers. I hope they can make good use of them because the computers are even nicer than mine. I had my annual eye exam couple days ago, and I got another pair of glasses! Even the prescription is pretty much the same, but I like the new frame (Versace) I pick. I cannot wait to get them next week. Alright, I need to get out the house to the streets. It’s so beautiful out there! The Girlfriend Experience After the four hour long epic "Che: Part One" and "Che: Part Two", Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh‘s following project is a much shorter film "The Girlfriend Experience" (USA 2009, 77 min.), staring adult film star Sasha Grey. The film is set at present time, when the economy melts down deep into the recession. 21-year-old Chelsea (Sasha Grey) and her boyfriend Chris (Chris Santos) also feel the pinch in their own businesses, besides they hear about the economy constantly from their clients. Chelsea is a high-class escort making $2000 per hour, and Chris is a personal trainer at a local gym making $125 per hour. Chelsea records every detail about her service because she is also writing a book. When a Chelsea’s client evokes her feeling and compromises her emotional detachment, both Chelsea and Chris must face the new challenge in dealing with their relationship, besides the economy meltdown. Although Sasha Grey has stared in more than 80 adult films, this is her feature debut in a non-porn film, and her performance is quite impressive, considering her character is no match in sophistication to her hourly rate. The film’s cinematography is beautifully to watch, and it tends to draw more attention from the audience than the babblings from film’s characters. Even they really talk a lot in the film, very few conversations seem sincere and meaningful. Sometimes, as if they are reciting from some newspaper articles to fill the emotion void during the "business transactions." Perhaps that’s the reality when intimacy is based on money and payment. No soul or humanity can be found in these characters, or maybe they were buried too deep under cash to be noticed. Like many personal trainers, Chris is a big talker and persuasive when he tries to sell something. However, when he sits down at home with Chelsea, he sounds like a shrink. It’s totally understandable—It must be mind-boggling to have a girlfriend who is an escort. That’s some "girlfriend experience." "The Girlfriend Experience" opens Friday, May 22 at Landmark’s Lumiere Theatre in San Francisco and Shattuck in Berkeley.