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Monthly Archives: August 2011

Comfort food

Definition of COMFORT FOOD

: food prepared in a traditional style having a usually nostalgic or sentimental appeal

Examples of COMFORT FOOD

  • Pot roast and fried chicken are my favorite comfort foods.
  • a restaurant that serves comfort food
You’ll note the examples.  They’re pretty standard USian fare.  You’ll note the definition.  It mentions nostalgia.

nos·tal·gia

noun
\nä-ˈstal-jə, nə- also nȯ-, nō-; nə-ˈstäl-\

Definition of NOSTALGIA

1 : the state of being homesick : homesickness
2 : a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition; also : something that evokes nostalgia

Now, having these definitions, it seems pretty strange that I consider Persian and Ethiopian food to be within the realm of comfort food considering that I AM CHINESE and that I WAS RAISED IN THE US.  To be exact, I was raised in Southern California.  And that may explain some of this.  Lots of immigrants from different cultures flock to SoCal and I feel rather privileged to have been raised in an environment where there are so many different cultures.  There’s something special, seeing a little of where people come from.  However, I didn’t have any Iranian or Ethiopian friends growing up.  I certainly didn’t eat any of their food.  I did have some friends who hailed from Saudi Arabia and their mother introduced me to some of their cuisine, which is similar to Persian cuisine, but I didn’t eat it regularly.  So, how did I end up adopting some of their cuisine as something I crave when going through some rough times?  No idea.

But this

(Ethiopian cuisine)

is delicious.

So is this.

(This was from a Lebonese place, which is similar to Persian cuisine. I actually like the cuisine from that whole area.)

But don’t get me wrong, I also really like

Left to right, top to bottom:

  • stuffed fudge cupcakes
  • flavorful burritos of all varieties (this one is from Wahoo’s)
  • cheeseburger with whole grilled onion and chopped chilis with animal fries (In-n-Out)
  • happy pho…and unhappy pho too…and lots of different types of Asian food, but I could only find a picture of happy pho (a local pho shop whose name I’ve forgotten)
  • pizza of all types (this one is from Neo in DFW)
  • eggs in a basket…with soy sauce, because I’m pretty sure there’s a rule about only being allowed soy sauce with fried eggs

Now, why did I put up all these pictures of food that I find comforting?  I’m not particularly hungry.  I suppose this is another anger management technique?  Only, this one can make you pretty fat and more angry.  Probably better only follow this advice sparingly.  It is delicious though.

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Errant, lost, baby clouds

Have you ever wondered why sometimes you feel some rain but it’s bright and sunny outside?  Or why sometimes you’re sitting inside your house in the middle of a dry and dusty summer, and suddenly your hear some rain falling outside your window?   It’s because there’s a baby cloud up in the sky and he’s lost.  He’s weepy because he can’t find his mother and is desperately zipping around the sky looking for her.  That’s why you feel some moisture on your face and yet, when you look up, there are no clouds whatsoever.  You didn’t look up fast enough to see the baby cloud.  Also, he’s quite small.  Just a baby.  You don’t see a trail of tears because he’s crying in short sobby bursts.  A lot of the tears evaporate before it hits you anyway.  That’s why you’re not suddenly drenched and there aren’t random isolated puddles.

Or…you could just be a rain-feeler.

I would expand the explanation, but this is all you’re going to get right now.  I’m too tired to concentrate any more on this.

Transcript that inspired above thoughts:

[21:44:22] [Friend]: ps is it raining outside?
[21:44:49] [Me]: Um…
[21:44:51] [Me]: no?
[21:44:58] [Me]: Does it sound like it at your house?
[21:45:10] [Friend]: yeah….. i hear drops of water outside my window
[21:45:21] [Me]: Interesting.
[21:45:24] [Me]: I hear…Choco’s collar.
[21:45:38] [Friend]: i think maybe it’s a drippy….
[21:45:41] [Friend]: uh..
[21:45:46] [Friend]: hose?
[21:46:06] [Me]: A hose on your roof?
[21:46:54] [Friend]: er… there’s something outside
[21:46:58] [Friend]: i’m on the first floor
[21:47:04] [Friend]: yeah i dunno
[21:47:09] [Me]: Interesting.
[21:47:10] [Friend]: maybe there’s a lone rain cloud
[21:47:13] [Me]: Hahah.
[21:47:15] [Me]: Possibly.
[21:47:18] [Me]: He’s lonely.
[21:47:18] [Friend]: a lone baby rain cloud
[21:47:21] [Me]: So he’s crying.
[21:47:30] [Friend]: well he should stop
[21:47:32] [Me]: Maybe he’s lost.
[21:47:46] [Friend]: he supposed to be crying somewhere else then
[21:47:53] [Me]: How mean. He’s lost.
[21:47:56] [Me]: And he’s a baby.
[21:48:01] [Friend]: where it’s SUPPOSED to be raining
[21:48:07] [Me]: Lost.
[21:48:10] [Me]: Baby.
[21:48:22] [Friend]: don’t clouds have some sort of built in gps?
[21:48:29] [Friend]: like carrier pigeons?
[21:48:48] [Me]: Erm…
[21:48:52] [Me]: Probably not.
[21:48:57] [Me]: Where would they put that?
[21:49:03] [Me]: They’re not very substantial.
[21:50:13] [Friend]: hm…..
[21:50:23] [Friend]: then what makes them feel emotion?
[21:51:02] [Me]: Oh, I think a loose collection of water vapor can feel emotion.
[21:51:05] [Me]: At least…depression.
[21:51:33] [Friend]: errkay