A good friend will occasionally sing “cherry pie” in the slowest, saddest way, steeped in ennui and maudlin tones. It usually happens at night, when he’s lazily surfing the web, laptop propped atop his supine chest. It’s probably not how Warrant ever intended their hair-rock sex anthem to be presented.
Still, it’s pretty adorable.
One of my favorite things about fall is the sudden overflowing abundance of persimmons. Any stand at any farmers market proudly boasts baskets and boxes bursting with them. Persimmons are one of my beloved fruits. They are so delectable and autumnal. Just a few weeks ago, I started eating them with the skin on for the first time. “Like an apple,” as some farmers market vendors have said.
ps – speaking of persimmons, here’s a gorgeous haunting poem that features them somewhat. Introduced to me by Peg. Here’s an excerpt:
“Some things never leave a person:
scent of the hair of one you love,
the texture of persimmons,
in your palm, the ripe weight.”
I’d like to start filling entries with drawings but I can’t since I don’t have a scanner. It’d take forever to get things converted. My big backlog includes some stuff from college (frightening).
I’d like to write about recent activities and what’s on my mind, but I don’t really have time right now. I can divulge however that I’ve been on a DVD-watching roll, thanks to the library (mostly old flicks).
Whatever the case, I don’t want to neglect this thing, so I thought maybe I could do a daily entry as part of a countdown to my fall trip.
I leave for Korea, Japan, and Taiwan on September 3. My itinerary is in that order. I’ll be abroad for about 18 days. It’ll be another bittersweet solo trip. I’m grateful that it’s happening, but anxious. When I think about my travels alone two years ago, I get strange, vivid feelings of nervousness and joy. It was a rewarding and challenging experience. Thankfully, I have a host in Seoul and Peggy will of course take care of me in Taipei (yay). But Japan will truly test my character.
So anyway, each daily countdown entry will be a pic from my China albums. The hardest part will be digging up photos I haven’t already blogged about during my time there (since I almost broke the internets with my stupidly staggering long entries). Yikes.
To inaugurate this commemorative countdown series, here you go. A scene from a basement food court in a mall in WangFuJing, I believe. A stunning display of bites. How do you choose?
i know i’m overdue for an update when i can’t even remember what my last post was about.
lots of photography things have happened, so i’ll debrief here. everything’s been thrilling and enriching, but i’m not getting my hopes up. “photographers” are a dime a dozen, and anything good that’s come my way is 95% luck and guanxi. so far, i’ve been dang lucky. i’m having a great time, and that’s key.
en route, the air canada magazine contacted me asking if they could use a photo of mine of dottie’s for a piece they were doing for SF. yes, of course! pretty random, but there’s an example of why it pays to tag the hell outta your pictures on flickr. that’s how they found it. the funny thing is that it’s a totally random, useless photo.
i guess a couple of my photos made it into the april issue of food & wine? in an article about gastropubs (magnolia). i’ll have to hunt down a copy. to clarify, they used photos i had taken for magnolia gastropub awhile ago. it’s not like they hired me to shoot for them, though ultimately that’d be my dream!
and then i woke up this morning i found an email from jeff adachi — our public defender and passionate filmmaker — asking if he could use my photos for his film’s (you don’t know jack: the jack soo story) website.
i also recently bought a domain! jenntakespictures.com
all it does is take you directly to my flickr portfolio page. chintzy but practical. it’s the best i can do at the moment, and anything’s better than giving people a cumbersome, lengthy link to work with.
not a big deal, but for a small fry like me these little things can make or break my day. okay, so on to the recap:
i splurged and purchased a bigtime beautiful lens (60mm 2.8), thanks to all my wonderful friends (and ringleader peggy) for getting me a GC to looking glass in berkeley. this pup’s been especially good for portraits, and i haven’t even taken it for a macro spin yet.
in february i shot for SF Beer Week. dave mclean, the kind owner of magnolia and alembic (both of which i’ve previously photographed), asked me to take pictures so i jumped at the opportunity. i documented nine events, each one a little different. i met many sweet, passionate people (the craft brewing community is not unlike the comics community), and cultivated a deeper appreciation for the craft. i was TERRIFIED with nervousness the first night, fumbled like an idiot poseur, but quickly dropped the whiny little bitch act and acclimated. another bonus was that i had to rent some gear, and that in itself was a big step. learning how to operate a speed light (though very crudely) was nice.
these guys were at a 21st amendment event. i overheard them speaking mandarin and found out that two were from taiwan, and one from china. i enjoyed meeting them.
there was a slight sabbatical from eater sf’s “gatekeeper” series, but it returned with a spotlight on bar tartine’s lovely, hospitable xelina.
afterwards i ate there and awkwardly took some general shots during the peak of their brunch hour.
and then, just this past weekend, i suddenly threw myself into the fire and signed up to be a volunteer photographer for SFIAAFF, thanks to gracious photog albert chau for offering me a chance. it all transpired on friday afternoon. i was hella stressed and didn’t feel adequate, but despite my baggage i thoroughly LOVED the experience! it’s a perfect fit for me — i’ve been a film fest groupie ever since working at the museum, so it makes sense. going year after year after year, you get a strong sense of community, and being able to capture the energy on camera is a pleasurable thing.
the highlight must’ve been seeing older generation asian american folks like these, and being able to photograph them. they were so plucky and cheerful, just having a jolly ol’ time with each other. tugged on my heart strings.
here’s our public defender at his post-screening reception
kiyoshi kurosawa
joan chen
well, that’s it for now. fingers crossed for onwards and upwards…
i was flipping through the latest VIZ book catalog and one thing jumped off the pages: OISHINBO A La Carte. WOW! a manga about japanese food?! that’s a killer double whammy in one lovely, enticing serving.
according to the catalog, the series synopsis is about this slacker who is designated with the task of coming up with the ultimate menu to celebrate his workplace's (a newspaper) 100th anniversary. even though he's a lazy, blunt guy, he was chosen because he has an exquisitely discerning palate, an encyclopedic knowledge of food and drink, and a masterful touch in the kitchen.
i'm sold! from what i can glean, the artwork is easy on the eyes; clean but not terribly stylized. and depictions of food are extra handsome and draftsman-like. also, word on the street is that not only is it decent storytelling, it's educational as well.
it's apparently regarded as THE food manga, the first volume sold over 1 million copies in japan (in general it was a perennial bestseller), and became a "virtual institution" that spun off anime, movie(s), and fan websites. let's hope VIZ's retooling and repackaging of this supposed gem is worthy.
here's a review that breaks it down in a digestible manner, and the comic reporter's take on it.
as a diehard kuishinbo, i absolutely can't wait to get my hands on a copy.
i love pizzeria delfina’s fun, subversive, and clever semi-rebellion against yelp. they found the choicest quotes from yelpers’ one star reviews of their establishment and printed them on t-shirts for waitstaff to wear.
back when yelp debuted, i was an avid participant, but now i can’t help but feel loathing and disrespect for it.
good idea, pizzeria delfina!
what happens when technology merges with smart, proactive food lovers?
you get a flippin’ communal BANH MI GOOGLE MAP
thanks chowhound p. punko. i admire your initiative. but now i’m craving a banh mi from socal, where they’re much longer and tastier (uh huh, TWSS). somebody should chip in and start dotting the map with banh mi destinations in socal. anthony and any others in the know, you up for it?
on my jack lemmon kick, i recently watched the 1962 blake edwards’ film days of wine and roses (based in SF!)
it was bleak. jack lemmon, a well-meaning but damaged PR guy in the two-martini lunch era, has a crippling dependency issue. he meets lee remick, a pure, sweet thing who doesn’t even like the taste of alcohol (but loves chocolate). they “fall in love,” marry, procreate, etc, but everything quickly disintegrates because of booze. she too has become an alcoholic to pass the days of being a bored and pensive housewife.
in the end, he miraculously manages to give up the bottle, but she’s a wreck wandering the streets in an ethanol-induced stupor. mind you, they have a daughter! as immensely as he wants her back, he needs to know she can stop, or at least try to stop, but she refuses to promise even an effort, acknowledging, “But I can’t face the idea of never having another drink.”
and that got me thinking: wow, that’s heavy. is there something that i crave and am so severely addicted too that i couldn’t even imagine ever giving up? for life? (other than love, affection, friendship?) forgive me for my offensively rude and crude analogy, but the answer is food. yeah, i guess could just subsist on chicken breast and fish and veggies for the rest of my life (if i was a vegetable), but it’s the starches, the sugars, the deep fried goodies, all that stuff, that i need.
understand that i am not likening my relationship with food to an alcoholic’s relationship with alcohol. hardly the case. it’s just that thinking about substance abuse in this way gave me an extremely deep appreciation, or vague idea, of the impossible epic battle that addicts must face if they want to win. it’s downright depressing, and requires the sort of willpower that i can’t even fathom. i think about a relative whose life was lost to this battle, and it saddens me to no end.
i’ll be the first to admit that i have an eating disorder. sure it’s not bulimia or anorexia, but there’s definitely a pathological, psychological connection i have with food. it’s intense. the passion for good eating is fine and dandy, but i’m talking about the sick primal binging (no really, it’s disgusting), the absolute lack of control, the full-throttle consumption, and how all of it feeds into my body image, the incessant utterly violent self loathing. it’s probably my one true consistent sourse of unhappiness. i don’t think it’s just emotional eating either, a la jack donaghy (but i assure you if i could find a huge tub of cheese balls i’d be all over it)
well this has probably been my most navel gazing post ever. if you didn’t know it before, it’s been confirmed for you here: yes, i really am that superficial and shallow.
in days of wine and roses, jack lemmon would ritually say with pleasure, right before taking a swig, “magic time.” and that’s how i feel every time i eat something delicious.
all my dad wanted for his birthday was taco bell. i shouldn’t confess this, but prior to taco bell i made them take me to the mcdonald’s drive in so i could finally indulge my french fries and quarter pounder craving that’s been haunting me for months.
oh but don’t worry, i ALSO ate taco bell on top of that.
yes, i know there’s a special place in hell for people like me.
during lunch, i remembered that my dad used to take us to taco bell a lot when we were kids. it’s the addictive crunch from the hard taco shells that he loves. i used to get the refried beans n cheese in a cup, and mexican pizzas.
afterwards, we went to go see my grandma who recently got out of the hospital. instead of going to the tidepools, we bought ice cream and rice balls, then proceeded to take a two hour nap at his house. when we woke, we ate again.
what a lazy sunday.
back with more on the taipei “street food” experience.
ps – speaking of food, and more specifically, vile and disgusting gluttony, this past wknd i consumed mint tuxedos (oreos), pinwheels, lucky charms, candy, brasilian bbq, mexican food, more tonnage of beef in shabu shabu, and potato chips. that’s just the stuff my deep fried corn syrup-doused brain can recall! i’m going to die either of heart failure or shame very soon…
this here is the entrance to a big food court next to taipei’s most popular night market (shilin ye shi). as i approached it, i heard a heavenly choir singing to me. if it wasn’t for peg and her dad (who graciously drove us around), my sis and i would have gone the rest of our trip not knowing about this place. can you imagine the travesty?
inside: dizzying mayhem. lots of strident giddy squeals from yours truly!
freshening up with juices. peg’s dad is sipping honey bittermelon (interesting!), peg has watermelon juice (keeps the fire “qi” down), and i’m reuniting with a drink i used to love the last time i was in taiwan (seven years ago): “jin ju,” literally golden orange. tiny citrus fruits that resemble calamansi.
typical beverage stand. thirsty?
this name literally translates into “big bun wrapping small bun.” cute. looked good and greasy
if taiwan had a street food hall of fame, this would definitely be in it.
we grew up eating aiyu jelly out of the can. i just now found out from the wiki that it’s made from the seeds of an asian fig. makes sense, since aiyu is somewhat sweet, a teeny bit tangy, but mostly light on the senses.
avocados way bigger than your noggin, for making creamy shakes
okay, so, these sausages were mammoth, larger than your mind is willing to comprehend. scary. they gave me the shivers.
i took a photo of this hardworking hottie for my sister
peg pointed out this clever product. it looks like sausage but it’s actually flavorful rice made in a sausage mold, probably.
another taiwan classic: bao bing, or shaved ice. also grew up eating this; even had a store-bought ice shaver to make our own. my favorite toppings are stewed sweet peanuts, tons of mochi/rice balls, and green beans.
there was a daunting, endless line of people waiting to buy these HUGE fried chicken cutlets. they looked delicious and juicy, with a crunchy exterior. the last step before handing it over to the customer is a dash of seasoning
so this is the infamous shilin night market mentioned in the beginning. the largest and most bustling of them all. if you want to get a vague idea of how lively and lovely night life can get in taipei, this might give you an idea. it’s the ultimate destination since it delivers on two of my favorite things: cheap shopping and good (cheap) eating. you’d be amazed at the variety of wares you can purchase here and for dirt cheap. hawkers were peddling attractive, thick hoodies for literally $3 USD.
you’ll see a nice cross-section of people at shilin night market, including youth from all walks of life. these guys were totally up my sister’s alley so we stopped to take a photo. the process was amusing as they were confused but obliging and friendly.
pink guava. they sprinkle some sort of salty/tangy/sweet seasoning on them to enhance and complement the natural flavors.
balls, balls, balls. taiwan knows how to do mochi / rice balls right.
to be continued…and i’ll try to improve upon my tense consistency next time.
