Amie Street

We found a Great music website... check it out! AmieStreet.org

Happy Birthday Lovely Elena!!!

You are one of the most genuine caring person I'm happy to call a Friend =)))

You are beautiful and intelligent.

Good luck with Everything!

Enjoy your Birthday!

Your Friend (w/ lots of Love),

Allura

45

I have 45 minutes left at work for the day. Oh bore.

And shoop-ga-lang-galang.

- votre Elena

Imorgon Tomorrow

Jag längtar till en festival.
Det bästa med festivaler måste nog vara kärleken. Inte bara sån du vet..hångel i regn kärlek utan den som man känner med sina vänner under en urfin spelning eller konsert. Förra gången föll jag för Erykah Badu. Hon var så fin hon! Hon var som en orm när hon dansade och jag tror jag var lite hög och hade en rökelse hängande från ena mungipan. Jag kunde inte riktigt andas eftersom alla höll på att trycka oss i första raden. Och jag var så kär att mitt lilla hjärta slog nästan sönder sig själv. När det var dags att åka hem så grät jag på tåget så mycket att jag somnade för jag var så utmattad. Sen vaknade jag i Malmö, inte Kastrup och hann precis till flyget. Sånna dagar så.
Imorgon fyller jag 24 och det känns så hemskt.

I remember being at a concert in Roskilde once. I was so in love with the world that I thought my heart would just give up on beating. Erykah Badu was playing and I was squeezed into the front row with one of my best friends. I had a little insence hanging from my mouth and I was so high. High of the music, my own youth and the energy of the mass that kept dwelling us like in a dream. On the train home I cried so much that I fell asleep and almost missed my flight.
I am going to be 24 tomorrow and it does not feel good. Not a bit.

- E

Thoughts on this...

"The major culprit of democratic possibilities here and abroad is the ever-expanding market culture that puts everything and everyone up for sale. The expansion of corporate power is driven by this sons. First, market activities of buying and selling, advertising and promoting weaken nonmarket activities of caring and sharing, nurturing and connecting. Short-term stimulation and instant titillation edge out quality relations and substantive community. Second, private aims trump public aspirations. Individual success---sometimes at any cost by any means---downplays fair and just transactions so workers' and citizens' power is weakened. And no democracy can survive, no matter how strong its markets are, without a serious public like and commitment to fairness and justice."

- Cornel West. Race Matters. Preface 2001: Democracy Matters in Race Matters. Page ix.

Lee Miller's War

Lee Miller (1907-1977) first entered the world of photography in NYC as a model. In 1929 she went to Paris and succeeded in establishing her own studio. She was later recognised as a VOGUE photographer.

Lee Mille'r War shows the photographs she took as a combat photojournalist covering the second World War in Europe.

The exhibition is amazing. The photographs show a great variety of people, emotions and destinies in the war-ridden Europe in the 1940s. Some of the images show models waiting in the back of a fashion show, the others hard corpses waiting for burial at a concentration camp. And the most famous one shows the brave Lee Miller bathing in Adolf Hitler's bath tube.
She wore her combat boots to the bathroom and stained his bathroom floor with dust from Dachau. Just because.

- E

So far...

...my weekend is not going well. Blah!

I went to visit mi familia, slept over. It was just awful.

Anyway, we went to see...I loved it. It was adorable! Although, throughout the movie my enviromentalist in me could not help but think about saving our amazing planet from destructions (esp. human waste).

You should check it out. You'd love Eeeve-ah... and Wall-e =))))

Look what I've got for you...

These will be on your way pretty soon =)))

Top 5 Things Of Mine

I love making lists.
All kinds of lists.
What I want of life, what to buy at the shop, what to remember.
Anything that can be listed.

This is my top 5 of things that I own.
At the moment that is.

1. SMITH'S
A girls best friend.
Minted rose is a favourite but I thought I'd give the other one a try. It is a classic after all.

2. ALTOIDS.
Curiously strong mints.
Dangerously American.
So I keep my vitamins there.
I have four each day:
2xfish oil, 1 all round vitamin, 1 calcium.
My mother thinks it is important.
I believe her.

3. MULBERRY
When I graduated I decided to grow up.
And there is nothing quite as grown up as organizing your life
into an English hand sewn classic.
I now finally have style.
And class.

4. AKI KAURISMÄKI
You might not know him but you should.
His name is Aki. He is a director.
And I have worked in his bar.
I will be doing that this summer too in fact.
The actress is Kati.
The Japanese love her.
There is something so incredibly Finnish about her.
No emotion. Only sadness. Sadness.
Oh Finland you may drown in Sadness.

5. PIN-UPS
When I first got this book I was a bit surprised.
Now I like to think that she saw something in that
18 year old girl who was so insecure.
Maybe.
Or maybe the book was on sale.
She is still a good friend of mine though, the giver.

This one is an extra.
It makes me feel like a sailor.

But that is a whole another story.

- E

vive le weekend

This weekend I will:

take time to read a book (Like The Flowing River)

take time to read my Vogue

drink ridiculous amounts of homemade cafe au lait

listen to music (Au Revoir Simone)

watch a movie or two (Persepolis, The Royal Tenenbaums)

make smashing dashing meals (spinach-gorgonzola-pasta)

bake fresh bread

have a chat to my plants

go to an Internationl Food Festival (Malmö)

get a massage from my dear boi

not think that I am an underachiever at work (which I am)

meditate

pray

And most of all I will be like this girl:

This weekend I will have jive.

- E

Embarcadero Street Station

This made me VERY happy...

Finally, Peet's is in our station is up and running =))) You see, this is my station to and fro the campus; very convenient. Oh you'd love their coffee.

After it all.

It did not work.
The little drill of mine.
Instead I will let you see my dancing shoes.
I wore them on the night of mid summer.



I do not feel beautiful at the moment.
It is raining yet again and I feel sour.
At least I shaved though.

- E

Dinner.

I am going out for a dinner today.

And I look like la poupe after a long day at work.

So I made a promise to myself.

It said:

'From now on I will take care of myself eventhough I want others to concider me as a serious scientist'

Nuff ' said and today I will do the drill:

the waxing, peeling, scraping, plucking, tweezing, shaving, colouring and picking.

I shall look like a woman by tomorrow.

I will get back to you then!

But before that Woonsen Phad Thai Goong number 87 at Phuun Thai followed by Hercule Poirot himself.

- E

For a living.

Sometimes people ask me what I work with.
I tell them that in my profession I read a lot.


I go to important meetings.


Then some more meetings..


And mostly I tell them that I work hard.


Just like everybody else.

- E

Revolution

Sometimes I think I am going to die of boredom at work but I

always, always survive. Somehow.

- E

Lunch

Today, just like every other day, my little brown bag was filled with lunch.
I pride in telling you that I eat the same thing every day.

Little brownie, the beloved one.

A banana.

Tea.

Muesli.

I also always keep an ice-cold soy milk in the office fridge.

Sometimes I get company.

For those times I have thought of intellectual subjects to discuss.

No one wants to end up with nothing to talk of at lunch when

great minds are present!

- E

Saturday Heat / Foggy Sunday

Saturday

It was incredibly Hot on Sat (We, San Franciscans are not use to Hot weather. On hot weather days, the beach is pack with people who rarely get to experience the beach weather. Seriously, maddening.) We started our day at North Beach, had pancakes for breaky there. After, we headed to J-Town (Japan Town). We watched Greg's kids performed hula dance- there was some Pacific Islander/Hawaiian event going on. They were awesome =).

I had to rush because I promised my brother I'd take him out on that day. Also, to rendezvous with Ate (Mum's niece), haven't seen her in ages.

When we were finally together, we had late lunch at Straits. A decent restaurant's in the Mall. Then we watched Don't Mess With the Zohan - don't waste your time on this. Nevertheless, this was my brother's day and he had fun, the most important thing.

And.... Sunday came...

Oh... Elena, I think you'd get a kick out of this...

But before that, we had an amazing lunch at Imperial Tea Court - you'd love that place. It's a Chinese joint in Berkeley. That place has not failed me. I'm always blown away with every dish I've had over there, it is that Good =)))

Anyway, afterwards we went scavenging for Mikey-Ike's material, he is starting an art project.

We went to this place called...

they have everything you can imagine, for your garden and your house =). I was in rubbish heaven!

The first batch of bathtubs I saw, were gorgeous!


As we were walking among these things... I came upon this...!

Wild blackberries! Oh-so-Sweet! I had to get some =) What a treat!
It was a perfect Sunday for me.

-our original plan was to wake early then head out to the beach, but the fog rolled in. oh well...

Out of this world Chinese food, wild blueberries, beautiful ancient rubbish... nothing beats that =) And my gorgeous companion <3>

Little Brown Bag

I almost forgot to tell you!
I have started carrying my lunch to work in a little brown bag.
And if you are nice enough, I might show you mu lunch tomorrow!



In the mean time maybe you can show me yours?
Now I need to run.
My baby is making me vegetarian Italian meatball sauce.
Yum!

- E

Rainy summer

I am currently reading the incredible story of the Mitford sisters.
How is it possible that they, all six, became oh so different?
Walked such stranged paths?
It is quite fascinating.



Then I watched one of the best movies on Saturday.
It is called The Joyluck Club. Or maybe just Joyluck Club.
Very touching, it tells the story of three aunties and their young girls.
The stories are all entangled with the strict and strange culture of China.

And also to provide my soul with some food other than thought I listen to:
Joanna Newsom
Rainy summer days have never been easier to cope with!

- E

The Road by: Cormac McCarthy

"The Road is a 2006 novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. It is a post-apocalyptic tale describing a journey taken by a father and his young son over a period of several months across a landscape blasted years before by an unnamed cataclysm that destroyed civilization and, seemingly, most life on earth."

Just finished reading this. This is very captivating. A page turner. Heartwarming. It made me teary eyed.

When you can... check it out.

McCarthy also wrote All The Pretty Horses, you maybe familiar with this. And the No Country for Old Men, which came out in the movies just recently.

I'm still reading that book by Jared Diamond (Gun, Steel & Germs). And starting Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth.

This might interest you..

I am watching SATC at the moment.
When Carrie sits next to Big and curls up her legs, I think of you.
In my mind you and Mike are like the Bigs. Oh so fabulous!
I can imagine you sitting with him on a bed.
Reading out loud the love letters from
the greatest men in the history.



If I close my eyes I truly see that.
And you curl up your legs..

- E

This may interest you..

Hunted, rammed, poisoned, whales may die from heartbreak too

by Marlowe Hood

More than two decades after the start of a leaky moratorium on whale hunting, the most majestic of sea mammals have made little headway in recovering their once robust populations, say experts.

Just how much progress will be sharply debated this week when pro-whaling and pro-conservation countries square off in Santiago, Chile at the annual meet of the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Despite the moratorium on commercial hunting of big whales, voted in 1986, Japan, Norway and Iceland continue to cull more than 2,000 each year, mainly minke, along with smaller numbers of humpback, fin and sei.

Anti-whaling nations and conservation groups reject calls for sustainable quotas, and say the ban should be kept in place -- and enforced.

Some species, all parties agree, are hovering on the edge of extinction.

The North Pacific and North Atlantic right whales -- two separate species -- along with the gray whale, have each been reduced to a few hundred survivors.

"Their situation is very critical. It could go either way," said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, senior biologist at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, noting that stocks have not increased despite 70 years of protection.

But even species counted in the thousands and expanding each year by three, four or even eight percent are not out of danger, and would need decades of uninterrupted growth to regain their original numbers, scientists say.

Blue whales, which reach up to 25 meters (80 feet) in length and can weigh as much as a passenger jet, have recovered from a low of 400 specimens in the 1970s to some 2,200 today, says Jean-Benoit Charrassin, a marine biologist at the Natural History Museum in Paris and a delegate for France at the IWC.

"But that is only about one percent of their original stock," he said.

At least a quarter million blue whales swam in Antarctic waters until the start of the 19th century, when technology -- exploding harpoons, on-board processing -- nearly relegated them to museum displays.

The Antarctic humpback is doing better, with a population of about 50,000 -- 30 percent of its original size -- and annual growth rates of seven or eight percent.

But scientists and conservation groups remain implacably opposed to commercial hunts even for whale species that appear to be thriving.

There are "too many uncertainties about the statistics," said Charrassin.

A recent study, based on 2007 aerial surveys and led by Gisli Vikingsson of the Marine Research Institute in Iceland, reported a "significant decrease" since 2001 in the population of minke whales. Japan and Norway killed more than 1,600 minke in 2007.

Nor is commercial hunting the only threat.

"It is a mistake to factor out the single issue of hunting," said Asmutis-Silvia. "You need to look at the cumulative impact of vessel strikes, entanglements in fishing nets, pollution, destruction of habitat and acoustic disturbances."

Climate change is also looming as a danger. Acidification of the oceans, driven by global warming, could sharply reduce the number of krill, shrimp-like creatures that are the mainstay of the whale diet.

An adult blue whale can eat up to 40 million krill in a day.

And even if the tiny crustaceans resist acidification, whales are now competing with fish farms that scoop up krill by the tonne for feed.

For Yves Paccalet, a French naturalist and philosopher who helped push through the 1986 moratorium, the intelligent and highly-social creatures may be so exhausted from their centuries-long combat with humankind that they have simply have given up the fight.

"The psychological consequences of our aggression have compromised their will to live," said Paccalet, who worked extensively with French marine explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

"To reproduce, whales need a large number of individuals to ensure that they meet, and then to frolic and excite each other. Otherwise, a species may give in to a kind of sexual melancholy and simply stops breeding," he told AFP.

The giant blue whales are so few, he added, that they rarely cross paths.

"The balance remains very fragile: if we leave whales alone, it is not impossible that they will prosper. If we don't, the decline could be rapid," he said.

A mid summer night's dream

There were so many flowers everywhere.
I wanted some.
So my love bought me a little 'krans' made out of these blue babies.
A lovely lady made it with her own hands.
And she had the prettiest dress!

We had a basket full of delicacies and a lovely little 'filt' to sit on.
Just as we thought that we could not be any happier,
the festivities started.

Dance around the mid summer pole
Song
Laughter
Folk music
Families
Food
Bubbly
Children
Sun
Fathers
Mothers

All this made our mid summer day's dream.

- E

Happy First Day of Summer =)))))

200608

Happy mid-summer to you my dear A and anyone who
is reading.
I heart you all and now I am off to a picknick with my boi.
There will be some pole dancing I promise you that!

- E

Fiery sunset

These photos I took does not do justice. The horizon is in ablaze. It is gorgeous!

Pizzaiolo in Oakland, CA

People has been raving about this place. Some compared this to Zuni (casual-upscale rest in the city). Yesterday, I was lucky enough to get us a table at this joint - "lusty flavors and casual surroundings" - Bauer. This is my kind of place, casual and homey but sophisticated (y'kna).

Out of the bunch - Chez Panisse (well known restaurant in the Bay Area) and Zuni - Pizzaiolo would be on the top. Now, I have not tasted Alice Water's pizza but I have at Zuni. At Pizzaiolo, pizza's are wood-fired.

We had...

Blue Heron Farm little gems caesar (8)

--- I've got to eat more salads. This was amazing. The croutons was perfect (i love this small rebaked and seasoned cubed breads).

Farro with North Carolina shrimp, sweet cherry tomatoes, shallots and mint leaves with flatbread topped with smashed fava beans on the side (15).

--- This was refreshing. The shrimp was perfectly cooked. A lot of flavors was going on, but the ingredients went well together.

Meatballs al pizzaiolo (14)

--- OMG, Miss Elena! This would've changed your being a vegetarian to meat-eating person =))). This was life changing! The best MEATBALLS I've had! It was amazingly tasty - bedded on crushed tomatoes, capers and pine nuts - the capers did not unbalanced the whole thing, went well with the whole dish.

Braised Niman prok shoulder with sweet corn polenta, roasted escarole, fried sage & roasted spring onion salsa (24)

--- Not too keen with pork but the sweet corn polenta caught my eye. It was surrounded with butter but it didn't ruin the taste of the 'pork'. If you like pork, this was perfect - it was tender and cooked slowly.

Margherita (13)

--- The best pizza I've tasted yet. (can't wait to see what Delfina is all about - Delfina's chef recently won the James Beard award) Anyway, the ingredients was fresh (everything in this restaurant was organic, fresh, sustainable, and etc...), tasty tomatoes, and just the right amount of mozzarella and herbs.

Almond meringue, topped with fresh cream and strawberries (?)

--- This reminded me of Pavlova. Deliciously sweet.