What Do You Want to Know?

I still have one more post about Phoenix, but I didn't get home until 9 tonight.  I'm tired.

But I told you that I'm going to post more regularly, so here I am.

In the past, I've invited you to ask me questions about anything you've ever wondered about me.  For example, you've asked me how I ended up being a lawyer and how I met Mr. Monkey.  I've answered food- and blog-related questions in my FAQ.

I won't tell you where I work or my mother's maiden name, but I'm pretty open about everything else.

Any burning questions?  To the extent the answer is short, I can answer right in the comments below.  Any longer explanations may be featured in future posts.

Catching Up With the Monkeys

Happy Fourth of July!  Ok, not quite, but most of you will read this tomorrow, so there.

In an odd way, I feel that I've let a lot of you down by not updating you.  I'm not talking about what I eat and where I go but what I'm doing with my life.  I realize that a large percentage of you probably just check in to see where to dine next, but I now know there is a decent number of people who still wonder how I'm actually doing.

I'm fine, people!  Life is good!

Maybe you were hoping for more than that.  I know your type -- the demanding lurker who never comments but hangs on every word I type.  Sometimes I don't even know why I talk to you.  You never respond.

I'm a sucker, aren't I?  At the heart of it, you are a voyeur, and I am an exhibitionist, and I do this even though you give me nothing in return.  I shake my fist at (and write for) you.

It has been an extremely long time since I talked about personal stuff, so here's a list for you, you dirty nosy lurker:

(1) Work.  I got a very minor promotion at work about a year ago.  New title.  Marginally better pay.  Reserved parking.  Kind of.  I have to swipe my card to get into the lot closest to the office doors.  My job is pretty much the same, though, and I still get wet when it rains.  I'm just an ever-so-slightly-better-compensated drone.  This is rather unexciting non-news.

Far more exciting is the fact that Mr. Monkey got a new job at the end of 2011.  He is now Chief Operations Officer of a small company.  Applause!

(2) Home.  The Monkeys moved.  We went from the urban hustle and bustle of Downtown to sleepy suburbia.  Yes, folks, we are in suburbia now.

It's a mixed bag.  I miss being steps away from good restaurants and the Lakers, Clippers, Kings, and concerts.  I also miss being fairly close to everywhere in Los Angeles.  Our move has added an extra 10 minutes to any trip to Hollywood or the West Side, which really isn't a big deal, but it's a marked difference when I'm driving home from dinner or any other sort of fun over on that side of the city.  Saddest of all, our neighborhood is a black hole for food.  Tragic.

But.

Mr. Monkey's new commute to work is just 10 minutes.  And it's really nice to have twice the amount of space that we used to have.  I enjoy no longer sharing walls, floors, and ceilings with other people.  Also, our house is kind of cool and different from most houses in our 'hood.  We built an interesting deck and trellis in our backyard, and our indoor amenities are rather modern.  We even have water that comes out of the ceiling to fill our bathtub.

Slowly but surely, we are furnishing.  More slowly than surely, to tell you the truth.  I'm perfectly happy with a minimalist feel, but it seems to drive certain guests crazy.  ("Put something on your walls!")  I'm ok with that.  You don't live here.  I do.  And I'll get to it.  Eventually.  There's really no rush to make our home look like a snapshot of 2012.

(3) Family.  Little Monkey Niece is six, and Little Monkey Nephew is two.  I bet some of you didn't even know there was a Little Monkey Nephew.

Well, there is a second LMN now.  See?  My OGLMN is the sweetest little girl.  She always compliments my shoes and nail polish.  She even called me "exquisite" one night.  Good vocabulary!  LMN2 is the opposite of OGLMN.  LMN2 mostly grunts to communicate, and he loves to eat.  My kinda kid.

My own little brother is now supervising producer of his television show.  Like the Monkeys, BroMo is also a new homeowner.  He bought an awesome house in the Hollywood Hills, complete with a breathtaking view and a secret bookshelf-wall-passageway to an incredible, sexy, moody bar area.

Mama Monkey is still the best math teacher at her school (and probably the district) and is beloved by her students.  She and her husband continue to travel.  They left for Croatia and Slovenia today.

Papa Monkey finally retired from his medical practice and now lives with his girlfriend just six minutes away from us instead of way out on the sun.  This makes many things more convenient, including, but not limited to, coordination of family meals and mail collection when we're traveling.

(4) Travel.  The Monkeys went to Europe for the first time together earlier this year.  We'd been without each other, but this was our maiden voyage together to international cities sans wildlife and nature.  Mr. Monkey had to suffer through museums with me!  The horror!

The only animals we saw were on our plates.  Those animals were really delicious, especially in Paris.  This vacation was definitely different from our other adventure-packed international trips.

(5) Sports.  The Monkeys witnessed the Kings win the Stanley Cup with my friend, KingsGirl. I highly recommend watching this video until at least 0:13.  This was undoubtedly the most thrilling sports event I'd ever attended in my entire life.

We are now season ticket holders.  Scoot over, NBA.  Make room for the NHL.

How do we still have time and money to dine well?  I don't know.  I should probably have less fun and monitor my bank account more carefully.

Nah.

Happy Independence Day!

Rediscovering My Voice (or Why Eleana Rocks)

I met Eleana last year.  She is a newer friend of mine, but she knows me extremely well.  Probably much better than most people know me.

How?

After we met each other at a PR event, Eleana read my blog.

All of it.  Starting from December 19, 2006.

Who does that?  And who tells you that she did this and then asks you to dinner?  And who accepts a dinner invitation from somebody who did this?

We do.  Yes, we do.  This is how two random crazy Taiwanese girls who love to eat and take pictures and laugh became friends.

I am so lucky.  My dear Eleana is a little spitfire -- warm, positive, outspoken, energetic, and super-duper fun.  She reminds me of my younger, less jaded self.  It is refreshing to be friends with somebody like Eleana.  But Eleana is more than just another friend; she is an ardent supporter of me, my blog, my expression, and my happiness.

You see, Eleana knows that I used to write.  A lot.  I wrote all sorts of nonsense and seriousness and everything in between.  Words used to pour onto this screen at breakneck speed and were published with mailman-like consistency.  Every time I see Eleana, she encourages me to tell stories again.

Well, this blog rebirth is for you, Eleana, and for all of you who have stuck with me throughout the years.

Thank you, guys.

Food and travel will remain the primary focus.  There will still be lots of photos.  But I'm going to do my best to entertain you with more words like I did long ago.

Because let's be real -- as good as it is for you, it's even better for me.

Tell Me What You Want

The last time I did this, some of you were kind enough to comment.

Here's a list of things that I've not yet blogged:

1. San Diego (several trips)
   
2. Carmel and Monterey DONE! DONE!
   
3. Vision Quest Ranch in Salinas
4. Gilroy Garlic Festival DONE!
5. Vancouver (two trips) DONE!
   
6. Yellowstone and Montana
7. Arches National Park, Mesa Verde, Four Corners, Colorado National Monument
   
8. Costa Rica (the rest of the trip -- namely, Arenal and Tamarindo)
9. Chicago (two trips) DONE!
   
10. St. Louis, MO
    
11. Alaska
12. Chapel Hill, NC
13. Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite
14. Seattle (two trips) DONE!
    
15. Barbados and Guyana
16. Hearst Castle, Morro Bay, and Solvang
    
17. Denver
18. And...over 40 restaurants in the Los Angeles area
    

Travel blogging is very time-consuming, so you're going to have to lobby really hard for that if that's what you want!

What say you, readers? Here's your chance to voice your opinion!

Dillydally

How sick are you of waiting for a new post?
Is anybody even out there now?
I have lost about 100 of you.
And that's really sad because there weren't that many of you to begin with.

Curses.

Gimme a Break

As many of you know from Facebook, I am taking a break from blogging.

But I'll be back eventually.

The WeezerMonkey Address

One housekeeping note -- I've moved to www.weezermonkey.com, and the blog is now called just "weezermonkey."

Simple. Easy to remember. Cybersquatter-proof. Thank you, FGD, for the suggestion.

Please adjust your links and blog readers accordingly.

In the spirit of President Abraham Lincoln, this blog -- of the people, by the people, for the people -- shall not perish from the earth (even though I've been remiss about updating lately). Hmm. I guess it's not really by the people. Or of the people. Fail.

Topics yet to be documented:

1. Aquarium in New Orleans
2. April trip to San Francisco, including a $1 hotel room, tumble from a curb, flying car parts on the Golden Gate Bridge, and meals at Michael Mina and Boulevard
3. Various Dodger and Laker games (meh, no need for this -- so untimely)
4. Brunch at The Bazaar by Jose Andres
   
5. Dinner at Akasha
6. Multiple visits to Cook's Tortas
7. Numerous unremarkable lunches in the San Gabriel Valley (gotta cut something)
8. Happy hour at Magnolia Downtown
   
9. Eating crickets, scorpions, and sea worms at Typhoon
10. $5.50 lunch deal at Gourmet Vegetarian
11. $15 dinner at The Park
12. More photography homework (cut this, too)
13. Weekend trip to Las Vegas, including meals at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Bradley Ogden, Payard, and RM Seafood
14. Another happy hour at Chaya
    

Here is the interactive portion -- the "for the people" part, if you will.

Comment and tell me what you'd like to see, and the topic(s) with the most votes by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday will be blogged first. Strikeouts are still eligible, even though I'm uninspired by them at the moment.

Thanks for playing. I aim to please.

So Behind

I am woefully behind on blogging, but I wanted to tell you I'm still here. Mr. Monkey just remarked, "This means that you're having fun."

With the exception of busting both of my ankles and messing up my knee (in the name of a good photograph -- luckily, my camera emerged from the incident unscathed), life has indeed been good recently.

*Moved to a different section at work.
*Got a new office with a small window.
*Became chairperson of a committee.
*Conquered super spicy Thai food with over 20 other foodies.
*Had a free 10-course French meal and wine pairings with food bloggers.
*Survived a Jewish baby-naming ceremony with, like, a million babies.
*Enjoyed well-ventilated Korean barbecue in Hollywood.
*Appreciated my assistant with a nice bouquet and lunch.
*Drove around San Francisco in a convertible and ate fabulous dinners.

Most of this will be described in detail in good time. For now, I leave you with a picture of my two favorite people wondering whether the Laker tickets they bought for about face value just a half hour before game time tonight were real.

They were. Lucky boys.

As an aside, the episode that BroMo wrote for his show airs this week! Woohoo! And, yes, he has grown out his hair significantly. Sort of a fauxhawk/little-hair-visor vibe going on these days. Not as fun to pet as his old hair, but cute nonetheless. It was fun to catch up with him. He makes me laugh with his Hollywood stories. I wish I could retell them here.

Buried

I am buried.

In work.
In hundreds of disorganized photos on my computer.
In unwritten posts.

I hate getting behind on blogging, and I'm only going to get more behind this week. I have two hearings on motions for summary judgment this week.

Gah.

And I have so many tales with which to regale you.

One last dineLA experience!
A new nail place downtown!
Cheap tacos!
A concert!
Hello Kitty in a bear suit!
Eating food from 29 restaurants in less than three hours!
LeBron James!

But all this will have to wait until I'm done with my MSJs.

Wish me luck.

WeezerMonkey's Faves of 2008

Do you hate "best of" lists? Too bad! Here are my 2008 faves.

Fave Breakfast/Brunch
5. Home
4. Alcove
3. Nickel Diner
2. Creperie by Jack 'n' Jill's of Beverly Hills
1. BLD

Fave $ Meals
5. Azeen's Afghani Restaurant
4. Bollini's Pizzeria Napolitana
3. Daikokuya
2. Daisy Mint
1. Wood Spoon

Fave $$ Meals
5. Izayoi
4. The Hungry Cat
3. AOC
2. Animal
1. Babita

Fave $$$ Meals
5. Bouchon (Las Vegas)
4. Grace
3. Aureole (Las Vegas)
2. Gordon Ramsay at The London
1. Ortolan

Fave Concerts
5. The Donnas at The Viper Room
4. Coldplay at The Forum
3. Two Nights of The Cure (Hollywood Bowl and The Shrine)
2. The Fratellis at Key Club
1. Vampire Weekend at The Wiltern

Fave Photos
5. A Zootiful Day
4. Karaokefest 2008
3. Pier One
2. Chile and Argentina Posts
1. Prop 8 Protest Pictorial

Fave Musings
5. Life With Mr. Monkey
4. My Band Has Turned and Left Me Here
3. Din and Ice
2. Reasons to Vote No on Prop 8
1. Monkey Meets Her Match

Whilst looking through old posts, I had a good laugh at my initial attempts with my camera. I've had it for a year now, and what a difference a year has made!

Maybe I just have to go back to all the yummy places where I took crap photos.

Disagree with my picks? Have other faves on my blog? Let me know!

I'm a Two-Thousand-Aire

How weird is this?

Looks like I have to keep the day job.

What's your blog net worth?

High Fives

I believe memes are the equivalent of chain mail in the blogosphere. Today, however, was a boring day, and cjeanette and erinp are sweethearts who tagged me, so here we go.

5 Joys

1. My husband.
2. My family, especially my brother.
3. Laughing with friends.
4. Traveling.
   
5. Karaoke.
   

5 Fears

1. The death or grave illness of a loved one.
2. Natural disasters.
   
3. Failure.
4. Sarah Palin as [Vice] President.
5. The passage of Prop 8.
   

5 Obsessions

1. Food.
2. Television.
3. Music.
4. The Internet.
5. Paul Frank.
   

5 "Surprising" Facts (Not really surprising. Too pooped to be creative.)

1. I don't like mushrooms.
2. I am simultaneously very organized and very messy.
3. I weigh more than my mother, father, and brother.
4. I am a three-time winner of the Southern California Junior Bach Festival.
5. Despite my chubbiness and age, I can do the splits.
   

You will notice that there are only four "fives" here. The fifth is supposed to be five people I tag. I tag...no one. The chain ends here! Aren't you relieved?

Who Are All You People?

I kinda wish you'd reveal yourselves because the number of comments I get pales in comparison to the number of hits. Please say hello!

Rejoice!

My new baby has arrived.

I would like to add that, upon my seeing my new baby, I let out an audible "WOO!" to which Mr. Monkey responded, "You are such a spaz."

RIP, Wireless Router

It has crapped out.

I have been reduced to blogging via iPhone.
[insert sad face here]

Sleepyhead Checking In

Sorry to all the peeps who have e-mailed me recently -- no time to respond yet!

Tomorrow is mediation. Well, I guess it's today. Wish us luck. Send settlement vibes. Sing and do my Settlement Dance.

I read it again tonight and was smugly impressed with my lyric modification talent.

Love,
Big Head

Playing Catchup

People often ask me how I find the time to blog so regularly.

"How do you think of things to write about?"
"How long does it take you to write a post?"
"Do you sleep?"

Blogging is like any other hobby. You do it because you love it. You love it because you're good at it. You're good at it because you're dedicated. I could keep going, but I think I'll stop here.

It's usually not difficult for me to select a topic. The topic is always the same -- me. My blog is effectively sanctioned narcissism.

And yet more and more people keep reading. Rejoice!

As for the amount of time it takes for me to draft an entry, the typical range is anywhere from five minutes to an hour. I do my best to cap it at an hour, or else the exercise ceases to be fun for me. If I need to upload pictures, I fire up Flickr and then go eat dinner or do something else while my pictures load, so this doesn't factor into my hour limit.

Glam can attest firsthand -- I can compose very quickly, thanks to a powerful combination of rapid thought bombardment and typing like the wind. Words come naturally and at breakneck speed. I've never been one to mull over my casual writing too much.

And the sleep question? Even with my generally expeditious blogging, I go to sleep really late. That's just because I'm tinkering with other fun things on the Internet. And watching TV. Lots and lots and lots of TV. But you knew that already. Sometimes I start a post, leave it open for hours, and then come back to it. The total time spent actually writing, though, rarely exceeds an hour. Exceptions are travel posts and more introspective posts.

But here's the main reason I try to blog regularly -- I hate catching up when I haven't blogged for awhile. Catching up inevitably breaks my one-hour rule. And, yet, I can't bear to forgo documenting whatever I failed to chronicle several days ago.

Compulsive, yes.

So here's the beginning of my catching up in a somewhat cursory fashion. What an unnecessarily tedious intro. Bleh. Ok, I'm catching up for real now, albeit not necessarily in strict chronological order....

(1) Glam is back from maternity leave!

Bax was the mastermind behind all these decorations. The sparkly bugs are an homage to all the nasty critters Glam first discovered in her new office's drawers when she visited a couple months ago. The office has since been fumigated and was actually given to Backdaddy, while Glam moved into another office nearby. We thought these fake bugs were much better than the real ones.

(2) Giggles is currently observing Ramadan. She can't eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset for 30 days. Tough times for Giggles during the month of September! I am fatigued just thinking about it. Weaksauce Monkey. On a selfish note (because, as you've already read, this blog is all about me), this means no fun lunches with Giggles for a long time. Sad face.

(3) I finally tried Coronado's, the inviting little coral-colored Mexican restaurant that the Monkeys have driven past for years on the way to see Little Monkey Niece.

********THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED.********

Why have the Monkeys never entered this happy little building? The short answer is that, when we go see LMN, Mr. Monkey's father is part of the plan, too, and he almost exclusively eats Asian food. Hmph.

But Glam is not Mr. Monkey's father. Woohoo!

Coronado's was actually Glam's suggestion, and I excitedly told her what I said above -- finally I'd go inside! She raved about the pan dulces, so clearly we had to investigate the deliciousness of the restaurant's lunch offerings.

The green salsa was damn good.

I loved my watermelon agua fresca.

Here's my carne asada taco and chicken tamale combination ($6.75).

The taco was very good, but the tamale was a tad dry. I'd actually wanted a pork tamale, but they had run out. Maybe the pork ones are better, seeing as how there were no more left, and the restaurant seems to take pride in its tamales. Even so, here's my plate at the end of my meal. I think I was really hungry.

Glam enjoyed her chile verde plate ($6.75). The bite I had was quite tasty. That green sauce, I tell you -- it's a key reason why we will return.

Good food. Good prices.

(4) Little Monkey Niece likes playing with her tiny personal sandbox.

More in the next post. This is getting too long. And I've reached my hour limit.

A Lovely Problem

When you actually leave your home to do something fun, you don't get back at a decent time to blog.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Thanks, D, for this picture that summarizes perfectly what occurs when the Monkeys dine. Isn't Mr. Monkey adorable?

Palate Vindication

There is something distinctively delicious about my praise of Gordon Ramsay at The London pre-dating today's L.A. Times review by none other than my idol, S. Irene Virbila.

Especially delicious is the fact that Virbila echoes my sentiment that the restaurant is the antithesis of Ramsay's television shows. Like yours truly, Virbila is also in love with the risotto, the cod, and the pineapple souffle (which I described as "a wondrous tropical fluffy cloud in my mouth...[b]ursting with happiness," and she said was "blissfully light" and "high and proud").

The good news: You can trust me. Gordon Ramsay really is worth a trip.

The bad news: Reservations will now be harder to get after Virbila's thumbs up.

Book your table today!