Feel my fury! You really light me up!

Apologies to fellow drivers on 495 who have to watch me rage out to this song. Power driving song, you understand. I once sang so loud that I lost my voice for ten minutes. It was glorious. 

Why don't you come along, Linus? We can hold hands under the table.

I don't have to cook a damn thing today. In fact, I may or may not still be in bed. S'wonderful. Thanksgiving dinner this year is in Centreville and my appetizer requires no cooking, just assembling. My parents won't even be there. They're in the ATL this Thanksgiving for their own Friendsgiving—I don't party hearty as much as my parents— so I'll be cooking Latesgiving for my immediate family on Sunday. It's better that way, I get to keep the leftovers AND turkeys will be on sale after today. WIN. 

When I return tonight, drowsy and satiated from copious amounts of pie and trytophan, I will write my annual Thanksgiving post and touch upon all the things for which I am grateful. I thought about not thanking Boris, my car, this year but come on, that dude gets me from A to B and has to listen to my constant caterwauling. I have to thank him. 

Until tonight, paisans. I have crispy turkey skin to pinch. 

vina kent

1. I took my glasses off for a short while today. All of the baristas walked by me twice before exclaiming, “oh! vina! It's you! I didn't recognize you!” I mean, I don't think I look THAT different without my glasses, but apparently I am quite the Superman. 

2. I found out that people constantly ask, “So who IS that Asian girl with glasses?” Hah! I'm the one that lured you into the Fair with my photos of sweet treats and overly punny captions, that's who I am. 

Side note, aside from a short stint of watching Lois & Clark in the mid-90s (Oh, Teri Hatcher), I never really got into the whole Superman thing. I did like Christopher Reeve's Superman II, mainly because of General Zod's deep-v bodysuit and when Superman put out the fire by blowing on it. Gotta love those 80s movie effects. I'm mentioning my Superman ignorance because I definitely didn't recognize most of the actors tagged as Superman on Tumblr during the search for a Clark Kent photo. The was a recent Superman movie, si? I didn't see it. Smallville? Never watched. Was that it? Superman and Spider-Man. Not my thing. Was it the Spider-Man comic in the Saturday funnies that was always whining in the rain and Mary-what's-her-name never knew it was him? 

Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Tales from The Crypt, now that's another story. 

Did I have a point to this tirade? There definitely comes a point in the day when my posts are less eloquent and more stream of consciousness-straight to typing. Goodnight, all. 

Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come

Do we even want to know why Steven Drozd is wearing a foil blanket? 

Starting with Thanksgiving & ending with a rant about mall crowds.

Me vs. five gallons of mashed potatoes

Tomorrow is going to be wildly hectic with most of Old Town stopping by the Fair to pick up their Thanksgiving provisions. Monica will be dealing with guests, taking their names and checking them off the lists. Meshe will be in the kitchen making Thanksgiving To-Go bags. I'll be running in and out of the kitchen. Gird your loins, it's going to be mayhem. Speaking of, it took me a little over an hour to get home. Effing holiday and storm traffic. I was literally yelling in my car things such as, 

“I'M NOT LEAVING TOWN FOR THANKSGIVING! SHOULDN'T I BE EXEMPT FROM HOLIDAY TRAFFIC?!”

and

“WHY ISN'T THERE A NON-HOLIDAY HOT LANE?! I'LL PAY!”

I'm lucky enough that my schedule is always after and against traffic, ergo I possess a very short fuse when it comes to being stuck in the constant stop & go of rush hour. It's like going to the mall. When I have to drag myself to a mall, I'd much rather go on a Tuesday evening when it's dead. Why anyone would want to brave a shopping mall on a Saturday afternoon is completely lost on me. 

I don't know if you knew this, but I can be quite the curmudgeon.

If I owned a lawn, I would yell at people to get off of it.

You're asking me this? You know what I'm going to say.

Steph: Can I just bring brie and bread tomorrow?
me: oh fuck yes.

How to inspire young girls to be engineers. Incredible ad by GoldieBlox, set to the Beastie Boys. 

Dear future daughter, nieces, or cousins:

I'm going to buy this for you and encourage you to become engineers, but only if you don't want to pursue art. You know what? You can do both. 

Love,

me

Oh, I'll stuff you. Stuff you real good.

Stine: What are you making on Saturday? (Thanksgiving Taboo, essentially Friendsgiving)
me: I don't know yet. Maybe stuffing. I'm usually assigned stuffing.
Stine: nomnom...I enjoy a good stuffing. That sounded gross.

I really love The League of Moveable Type, mainly because they have baller typefaces and it reminds me of David Hyde Pierce as Abe. Oh wait, that was Hellboy, not League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Whatever, David Hyde Pierce is the man. Niles for life.

zombie samurai

My cousin Oura made these for Richmond's Bizarre Market. So awesome.

me: Zombie samurai. I want in.
Oura: Yup! You're in! In what capacity?
me: Oh, I want to buy one, but I'm also happy to photograph them if you want photos. Let's be real, I was going to photograph it anyway.

This reminds me, I should probably talk to him about commissioning him to draw my big tattoo. Don't worry, there will be no zombie samurai bunnies on my person.

vinstagram: fire trucks, slaughterama, and dundee.

I had a stomach virus for a few days. Congee helped. Congee and Netflix. Y'all know I love my Statham movies. 

Fire truck at Station #201 on Prince Street. I must say, I miss walking down to that place we shall not name. Some of my favorite things in Old Town are along that stretch of Prince Street that I no longer traverse. 

A portion of the charcoal/ink drawing I did a while back based on a Michael Otley photograph of RVA's Slaughterama. Took me about three weeks to complete. You're looking at roughly three or four feet of the ten foot drawing. My fingers were stained with charcoal for weeks. 

Bottom Dollar Dog, a great local hot dog stand mere blocks from Society Fair, closed their doors not too long ago. Their building is being razed for townhouses. Sad. Their french toast and Cheerwine floats were bangin'. Here's hoping they find a new space soon. This was the morning I bought breakfast from Bottom Dollar for all the chefs. Cheeseburger for breakfast, like a (glutton) boss. 

Haha...that's not a knife. THAT'S a knife.
(Please say you got that. Please.)

Some people might get some pleasure out of hate. Me, I've enough already on my plate.

design hero.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Lovely short film about Seb Lester, type designer and artist from East Sussex. Watch how he does the M and the W. Gorgeous. I've always been very attracted to the way people flare out their descenders. I know, I know, neither the M or the W has a descender, but still. Descenders and middle names are two things that interest me greatly, probably because I don't have either one. 

The Ghost and the Seal Darkness

me: I've been watching a lot of Netflix because I'm sick. Olympus Has Fallen is ok.
Meekus: Watch The Ghost and the Darkness. I looooooooove that movie.
me: Ok. What's it about?
Meekus: Val Kilmer being sexy. And lions.

(I haven't seen this movie in years. I vaguely remember someone having a fever dream about lions and campfires. That's this movie, right?)

The only Val Kilmer movies I like are The Saint, Tombstone, and Batman Forever. No shame. Tommy Lee Jones is my imaginary cool uncle. Don't even try to front like you won't start power singing Seal's 'Kiss From A Rose'. We've all been there. You know what, now I'm going to link my favorite Kiss From a Rose videos.

You bought this upon yourself.

Moonshine because I ball so hard.

Just kidding, it's Pedialyte, I'm dehydrated from the flu. 

fitting room fun

in the swirling, curling storm of desire unuttered words hold fast

Last-minute menu planning, you know how it is. Tonight I'm cooking a surprise anniversary dinner for Lenna, my former boss at Mason's Office of Sustainability, and her husband Pete. This dinner came about mid-July when Justin was campaigning to get to Venice via Indigogo. If you donated $200 (in Virginia, it was more if we'd have to travel), I'd come over and cook dinner. They've come to collect. Well, technically, I do believe their anniversary was a month or so ago, but the timing was never right with my schedule, Lenna's schedule, and Justin being able to come down from Jersey. 

Dinner is at seven. I'm still not entirely set on what I'm cooking, though this is what I've been thinking about for the past few days: 

- Warm baguette with butter, radishes, and salt 

- Whipped hazelnut dip with green fall crudités

- Cauliflower or parsnip soup with fried sage and toasted walnuts

- Wild herb ravioli 

- Roasted multicolor carrots with carrot top pesto. (who knew you could make pesto from carrot tops? Blew my mind when I found out.)

As for dessert, I can't decide between: 

- Plum cobbler with vanilla ice cream and fresh thyme. Simplest. 

- Southern baked apple dumpling with a bourbon honey sauce. Sexiest. 

- Pumpkin pie in a jar. Cutest. 

- Apple or pear galettes with salted caramel sauce. Most French. (Frenchiest, if we're following a theme.)

- Apple rose tart with maple custard and walnut crust. Most complicated, but will be beautiful. May reserve that one for a Sunday afternoon baking project. 

To imbibe, Lenna requested red wine, but I might sneak in a pear Haymaker in there, just because I love me some ginger beer and the pears will be lovely. Sprig of rosemary. Maybe fresh cider. Too bad I don't have time to make celery bitters.

All of this may change by the afternoon. I won't know until I see what's good at the farmers market. I'd like to include mushrooms somewhere into the menu, but that's probably because I love mushrooms. 

I listened to Peter Gabriel and Justin Vernon discuss Peter Gabriel's interpretation of Justin Vernon's 'Flume' and Peter Gabriel's 'Come Talk To Me' while I flipped through cookbooks and old food magazines. At least, I think that's what they're discussing. It became white noise after awhile, which is what I really wanted. 

If you happen to follow me on the Instagram or the Twitter, sorry not sorry for the influx of farmers market, vina cooking, and “oh look what I made!” photos today. 

Happy Saturday, mes amies. 

You need to slow your roll, Pandora.

Mama likes her shoes, but damn. Blatant advertising while I'm just trying to get my Waits on. 

Rach and Trav

Doing the initial run-through of last Sunday's shoot with Rachel and Travis. I love that they asked me to take their photos, that I got to spend a few hours hiking at Great Falls, and that we stopped to have a picnic. Can't wait until their wedding next summer. I get to wear a pretty dress and watch my friends get married, what's not to like?

Russian Rachel: I'm thinking of packing some snacks for the afternoon. Would you nom while taking photos? Or should we just wait until dinner?
me: Hi. I'm vina. Have we met? 

Thursday evening

sounds like: the greatness that is Peter Stormare and Djimon Hounsou in Constantine. There was a period of time when I watched Constantine every night before bed. I think I liked it because it was dark (visually) and the light didn't bother me from sleeping. CCR putting a spell on me. Going good together like treble and reverb with Aaradhana. Sending a heartbeat to The Smashing Pumpkins. 

tastes like: Flu meds. A ramekin of butternut squash soup and a few hunks of cheese while I was still at the Fair. I think J felt sorry for me. I'm not one of those, “oh I got this, work through the illness” kind of people. I'm like that for about twenty minutes and then, “Leave alone to die, I just want to take a bath and nap” kind of people. (It's a lot less pathetic then it sounds, I promise.) I woke up from a four hour nap and had a small bowl of pho. Maybe I'll make rice soup for breakfast. Asian soups are wholly comforting to me. 

feels like: I've got a lot to do so might as well do it. I'm cooking a vegan/vegetarian dinner on Saturday. I've yet to write the menu. I'm thinking whipped hazelnut dip with fall crudités and purple potato gnocchi. I could go Southern, I love Southern. What's the vegetarian equivalent of shrimp & grits? Vegetable hash and grits? I could probably make vegan mac & cheese and collards. Wait, no ham bone for my broth? Shit. Ok, I'll think about this while I fold laundry and catch up on episodes of Elementary. 

smells like: I have a pot of lemon thyme on my nightstand. It's as wonderful as it sounds. 

photo via Instagram

in the still of the night

Maybe I should hunt down Acapella Soul when I'm in the 917 next month. Give them all my money. Ask them to move to Old Town and preform in front of Society Fair all the time.

I should start an acapella group and call it Acapella Soup. 

Because that's not creepy, Hotwire.

Justin O.: Oh! #8 on my list of favorite Asians is coming in for chicken!
me: Hol'up. You have a list of favorite Asians? I thought I was the list.
Justin O.: Well, you're number one, obviously. Stephanie is second. Your mom. Probably your sister.

(He hasn't met Mom OR Pa but das cool.)

Vintage Sananikone

My aunt is new to Facebook so she's been posting all these photos of my grandmother back in the homeland. I love it, especially that last photo of Gramma, Dad, and all the aunts and uncles. Dad still loves plaid shirts. 

Post my first photo? Get your shit together, Instagram.

Damn, I've taken 1,600 photos? I really am that person. I should come with a disclaimer that says, “hope you like food and vanity license plates.”

Take a step to the left and right. The left and right.

I know I've said this before, but damn, DC9 has great food. Just look at the Dakota avocado Fanning on the South By Burger. The pickled shrimp are a must. Their chef went to culinary school with one of mine, the Russell P. Jones II. 

You know things are getting real when Paul takes off his glasses. 

I should watch this video at the gym, maybe pour bright orange Gatorade onto someone. 

Oh, a typewriter too? #GetOutOfMyFace

Automatic judgement to anyone using a retro receiver for their iPhone.
You look ridiculous. Put that shit down.

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream.

This song is going to get me through my day. Heaven save me from the disorganization. On the upside, I get to taste scotch with one of the Balvenie ambassadors. That should be fun. Downside, I think I'm running this show tonight. How many single malt glasses do you need for a twenty-two person scotch tasting of three separate scotches? Now ask me how many we have. Hah! This is going to be great.

Side note, I might have to wear a coat today. Blech. Hate the cold.

Meet you where now?

Oh right, I never posted about St. Louis. When's my next free day? Until then, here's my trip summarized by vinstagram photos. Well, except for that top left one.

And that's how the story goes, the story of the beast with those four dirty paws.

la la laaaaaaaa

la la laaaa laaaaa! 

Way to call me out, Mint.

Apparently my life is so sedentary that Mint considered my bicycle tuneup as unusual spending.

S sent this to me and I snort-laughed in the middle of the market. Happy Monday, everyone! 

I really want to go outside and make it light all day

Impromptu Cults show at El Gato Negro! Madeline Follon is adorable. I couldn't quite see her during the show—I'm vertically-challenged if you gnomesayin'—but the glimpses I got were lovely. I was, however, able to watch an overly enthusiastic dancing couple all night, which we all know can either be wholly entertaining or painful to watch. Dancing couple was both! Score! 

Panda walks into a bar.

Excellent Halloween this year. Circus Halloween at the Fair, Panda at TNT (hey, I can't wear the same costume at different restaurants!), midnight ramen, and Monica & I even made it onto Eater DC.

Panda Walks Into A Bar featuring Russell P. Jones II! 

Thanks to Stephen for his help in the making of this video.