The Daily Sabs

Sometimes, especially when the tutor to student ratio is all wrong, the kids at the bayfarer (826 Valencia's newspaper) can be a bit much. They get silly, lose their focus power, and want to talk about all sorts of things not related to their articles. Today was one of those days. It started off with a 1:5 ratio but eventually became a more manageable 1:3.

These kids are smart and fun, but they're wild. My particular group all seem to be writing about dogs or mythical creatures. Today we generated some good leads and got a nice start on the articles. One of them, while describing a playground scene, wrote the phrase "wandering thru a sea of balls." when she read it outloud to me she stopped to ask if it sounded "you know, weird... You know like, not a good thing to write, you know like... Weird.". I knew what she, a third grader, meant. And well, you know you do too. We fixed it to be less weird, but man they grow up so fast.

Afterwards I met up with Randall and Julie. We were going to try this Vietnamese popup restaurant, but they were out of food already (despite being advertised as until 10). We ended up heading to heung yuen instead. It was pretty good but the kitchen was closing so we hustled. Gene joined us and helped us finish up. Happy new year style indeed.

Ps. Gene was not wearing a gold star. I just call him gold standard, so adorned him with one.

Pps. Ungrateful children is anneh's term. She used to help and every kid she was paired with was. Mine are usually just weird. Like the one that talks thru her teeth and is writing about cryptozoology and who might as well be named Luna lovegood.

2011 is beginning much like 2010 ended: tasty eats, nerdiness, good pals, and warm drinks. today our gang started off with star wars pancakes, met up with jenny l for some oversized lunch, and ended it playing lasers with the pup.

but before we really get into this year, let's have a quick peek back at 2010.

2010 was a strange year. there was a lot of just hunkering down and figuring out life. plus a bunch of domestic travel. it started by being the year of doing (classes, volunteerism, etc.), had a brief time where fun got thrown out of wack, and ended with a whirlwind where did the time go. not everything was pleasant, but it was all life. here are the highs and lows as i remember them.

1 - grandma e.
i hate to start the list off with bad news, but she was a trooper of a woman who was never afraid to speak her mind. her funeral was also my first ever. i was sort of dumbfounded by how she looked, and have to admit that it was difficult to see her that way. visiting the midwest for the brief period of time was also surreal. family, to say the least, is a complicated organism.

2 - new york, ny.
although the trip was cut short, and started off with pretty tragic news, it was still an amazing visit. i hadn't been back since december 2001, and it was a definitely a trip that was way past due. so many good eats and good friends to see. to be honest, i'd move there in a heartbeat. the fever is definitely back.

3 - four eyes
i spent my whole childhood life wanting glasses. i ended up being one of two family members who didn't need them (and this is extended family we're talking about). i eventually decided i was glad not to have them, only to be told i do need them. go figure.

4 - say something funny
this year i finally took an improv class. it's something i'd been wanting to do for about 15 years and finally got around/got the guts to do it. you can even see part of our "graduation" show.

5 - stand back, i've got a badge
i put out a fire, triaged a disaster scene, learned how to turn off all the utilities, how to lift people out of a building, and how to get them out from under a building. i also learned which buildings were safe, how to tell if it was safe, and what to do if it's not. the sffd's free NERT program is amazing. i've got a badge to show off, and i'm ready for the emergency.

6 - i failed my first class ever
for some reason i have never gotten around to getting my motorcycle license. scottel told me to 13 years ago, but i finally decided to try this year. randall and i took a class that would have us skipping the driving test at dmv. only caveat was that you had to pass their test. i didn't, i crashed the bike instead.

7 - ordinary skeeple
laura, shin, and karen talked me into joining the brewskeeball league. we sort of sucked, but it was loads of fun. i don't know if i'll continue because it cuts into other things, but it was definitely awesome

8 - 26
i finally started volunteering at 826 valencia. i help out on wednesdays for the bayfarer newspaper. it's sort of fun to watch the kids' story ideas evolve into full blown articles, even if they are about justin bieber.

9 - victor yang's world premiere
chris's film premiered in la, and we all took a mini vacation to celebrate with him. complete with kyochan chicken.

10 - there's too much to take in
as i say every year, a year is hard to summarize in 10 neat bullet points. life is too messy and fun for that. some things that i am looking back on are: oysterfest, octoballs/dumpling food parties, ballet outing with le chuck, a singing telegram birthday, hanging with baby goats, the great macaron adventure, i finally figure out how to successfully play poker, kayaking in the bay, baby jamers graduating and heading to college, 4 years at sugar (hello to new coworkers, farewell to old friends), games team family, jelly belly factory tours, my favorite haircuts ever, a stupid roast chicken obsession, great america f yah, so many wee ones, a new not-so-mini minicar, epic shows (jonsi twice even), goodbye and hello to little b, layton outfits, ticker tape parade, so many nerd fridays, and of course this here trip to portland.

i don't have any expectations for 2011. we'll just have to see what we get. but here's hoping it's a good one for all of us.

happy new year pals!
xo,
-sabs.

ps. as a bonus, here's 2010's list of cities (places I spent at least one night). as you can tell we've been keeping it close this year. if i have my way 2011 is going to blow this year's out of the water.

San Francisco, CA
Beverly Hills, CA
New York, NY
Blue Earth, MN
Mather, CA
Portland, OR

and now for today's eye-candy.

and by portland style, i actually mean old man style thanks to randall and scottel. after a day of shopping, art checking out, and vintage video games, i kicked off the evening by predictably roasting up a chicken. we had a nice pals meal, and then tried to toast the new year's at scottel's house. sadly (or unsadly) the albero did us wrong (it was a flat bottle, wtf?), so we headed out to the victory.

victory indeed. we had hot toddies and the bar passed out free midnight champagne to everyone who was there. it was a nice mix between sabs style and old man style, and was the perfect way for this crew to ring in the new year.

happy new year all, the year in review will go up tomorrow, as it's too late and i'm far too sleepy to do that s now.

may 2011 treat you beyond well!

this morning morm and i got up early (as in hours before i'm normally awake) to go volunteer down at temple. each year, for chinese new year's, they have a huge celebration. unlike other religions, this one (or at least the temple my mom goes to) doesn't have services. you're supposed to go on new year's day, but you go when you want to (well between 8am and 7pm). you say your thanks and prayers, ask for your blessings, offer your fruits, ask your questions and then go home. it's how most of their day-to-day behavior is, but on new years, they ask you to stick around and partake in a feast (and yes, it's fully buddhist and therefore vegetarian, but even randall liked it).

i ended up on serving duty: eggrolls, fried taro, and then sweet and sour crispy soy item. samshrew, randall, and chris showed up later, but didn't have to stick around long (samshrew got roped into eggroll duty for a while, but got out of it when the rush ended). morm and i left after six hours of serving up food, and needless to say, i was pretty exhausted at the end of it.

also, i never really considered myself a religious person (i only go to temple a couple times of year, and mostly because of morm), but you know there's something sort of amazing about a religion that says, hey come say what you feel like and before you go why don't you eat a boatload of food. not to mention it sounds like it was invented just for me.

my memory is terrible, but for some reason i try to give it a kickstart at the end of every year and list out my top ten highlights of the year. last year was a spectacular one, but this one was a lot more lowkey. Let's see how it compares:

1 - Oh the midwest
Although my family has roots in the midwest, I'd only been out there a handful of times. This year, however, I was there three times. Once for Blogher where I met so many amazing folks and had one of the craziest nights of my life . Once to join anneh at a wedding - we also hung out with erin and josh. And then once to visit my grandma and dad and play in the snow.

2 - Happy anniversary vacation staycation
This year randall and I celebrated our first married year together by heading up to napa for tasty foods, delicious wines, bike rides and kayaks. It wasn't staying home, but it wasn't going far away either.

3 - The whole gang went to portland, randall and i went twice
Juju and Wes were visiting scottel and so randall and i jumped on the bandwagon and joined them there. Our car broke down on the way, so we went again a week later.

4 - Five words: Award Winning Mac and Cheese
Anneh came up with the recipe, i just made it look pretty. Either way we walked away with an achievement.

5 - I saw more movies this summer than I have in the last three years.
Special thanks to DK of the DK & Sabs Summer Movie Series.

6 - I became a tourist in my own town
This year I didn't go on a lot of trips out of town, but I did spend a lot of time exploring the town. From the Seward Street Slides (twice) to Alcatraz, there was a lot of fun to be had in town.

7 - I watched people butcher pigs in a hipster bar
Only in san francisco does this happen. And oddly enough, it happened more than once for me. Both times were super delicious.

8 - I got crazy sick
This is not a highlight, but I spent a good chunk of March sick so I thought it was worth mentioning. I hadn't been that sick for that long in quite some time.

9 - Scottel and I became super amateur wedding photographers
First there was stef & alex, then there was karen and shin, and finally the C+C Wedding Factory.

10 - The househusband makes me dinner
This one is a mixed bag, on one and it's a highlight and on another it's not. Randall joined the ranks of the dotcom 2.0 bubble bursty economic downturn unemployed (part of the reason it was a lowkey year) which was a lowlight. However, this gave him a lot of extra time to cook, which was a highlight in that there were many many delicious meals to partake in.

While much more lowkey than last year, this year is still difficult to sum up in just 10 bullet points. Some honorable mentions include: reuniting with a very old friend, top model photo and videoshoots, my favorite haircut in years and years, jarvis cocker shouting out to bean and stef, finally making it to the alameda antique fair, dancing at my leisure, a warm summer night walking home from dancing all the way from soma, octopus garden costume, the state reunion, a cake with a face on it, karaoke birthday, three years at sugar, all the old friends with new babies, and finally, a entire summer filled with delicious lunches.

well folks, that's my list. I hope you had a great 2009, and here's to a fantastic twenty-ten!

xo,
-sabs.

As 2008 draws to a close, I figured I’d do what every other site is doing and make a list. So here, in a somewhat designated order, are my top ten most memorable moments of 2008.

1 – Randall and I finally got married.
It was amazing to see all of our family members -- some of whom traveled half way across the country and some who traveled half way across the world — and our oldest and dearest friends, as well as some newer faces all in one place. It was a long time coming (engaged for four years!) and wouldn’t have been the same without you all. The Part Two banquet was also a big highlight.

2 – I am no longer twenty-something.
This year I turned 30 and threw a big karaoke party. Also, I am no longer in the coveted 20-something target demographic, which means I can finally not be embarrassed by the fact that I do not know a bunch of things meant for the 20-something target demographic.

3 – I did a lot of nothing in Costa Rica.
We went there for our honeymoon. I wanted to stay forever. Doing nothing was grand, but so was ziplining, waterfall rappelling, and hanging out with monkeys too.

4 – I shot a gun.
I decided that turning 30 meant crossing off something I never wanted to do, so I went to a firing range. I am pretty terrified of guns, and decided that if I ever was in a situation where one was involved, I might as well know how to deal with it. In other news, I am a pretty accurate shot.

5 – I ate and drank so many delicious things at the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen.
A certain miss partysugar and I had a grand ol’ time in Aspen. It was a lot of work, but loads of fun. It was also the perfect way to say farewell to Yum. Speaking of which, that brings us to number six.

6 – I spent a summer in the Tiger Tank.
While 12-hour work days weren’t exactly a highlight of the year, the Tiger Tank time signified a big change in my life. It was here that I went from Yum to On, and where OnSugar finally came together. Spending several weeks in a room with 4 other co-workers, 2 fabulous interns, and Brian would leave a mark on your memory too.

7 – Sushi dog joins the family.
My sister and Chris got an adorable corgi/mini eskimo puppy and named her Sushi. Since this is the closest I have ever come to having my own dog, I think it deserves a place on the list.

8 – There were some amazing shows.
I can’t decide between an acoustic set in the dark by Murray from the Dears, or the short set by Liam Finn at Bottom of the Hill. The first was intimate and mesmerizing during a power outage, the second was electrical and mindblowing in a tiny venue. Oh and then there was Sigur Ros who freaking made it rain during the encore. It’s too tough to call, so they can all share number 8.

9 – I walked into a door and required stitches.
Again, not a highlight, but worth mentioning. My first bonafide accident injury/trip to the ER was a result of my own stupidity. I walked into the edge of a glass door (in my defense, I was trying to be a good samaritan and was distracted) and bled all over the mall. It’s a long convoluted story, but suffice to say, I ended up at the ER and never want to go back to Stonestown.

10 – I took a flight indoors.
I almost forgot, but the indoor skydiving adventure was definitely a neat one. It felt opposite of regular skydiving in that you’re floating instead of falling. Everyone should give it a try.

A year really is too difficult to sum up in 10 bullet points, so here are some honorable mentions:
Election night, a trip to Mexico, everybody’s weddings (we definitely weren’t the only ones with a 2008 date in mind), ike’s, hubert keller, the neph covered in cake, goats, a gocco machine, such pork, new friends, old friends, and all of you.

happy new year.
i hope 2009 rocks your socks.

xoxo,
-sabs.