THA FIFTY LIST

Thai Sushi Roll

2008-06-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

25. Create My Own Recipe

I heart sushi, big time! I knew from the moment I decided to create my own recipe it would somehow involve sushi and Thai food, my two all time favorites. So I created the Thai Sushi Roll: I used a basic salmon roll and added a peanut sauce as a base.

Making sushi is extremely time-consuming. There is so much to prepare for. It would take a book to explain all the different rolls and styles. So, I will give you the basics, and the additional flavor I experimented with.

You need:
- Your desired vegetables (sliced carrots, cucumber, avocado, etc)
- Fish (salmon, tuna, crab)
- Nori sheets (seaweed)
- Sushi rice
- Sesame seeds, toasted
- Shiitake mushrooms
- Rice vinegar
- Salt
- Sugar
- Japanese mayonnaise
- Kombu
- Wasabi paste
- Soy Sauce
- *Thai peanut sauce
You will also need specific tool to prepare the rice and rolling mat for the making the actual rolls.

You have to prepare the sushi rice before anything else. You can find recipes for that online or in sushi books. While the rice is cooking, I usually cut up all of my vegetables into tiny strips and fish, depending on the style roll I wish to create. In the photos I included, I cut the fish into strips. Once the rice is prepared and I have everything set up in front of me, I cut the nori sheets into halves.

On my rolling mat, I place one half of my nori sheet, shiny side down. I layer a thin strip of rice pressed down off to one side of the sheet, leaving plenty of room for the nori sheet to meet. I pressed a thin well in the center of the rice. This is where I am going to put all the vegetables and fish. I line the well with a very delicate amount of wasabi. Then I draw another line of the Thai peanut sauce. On top of the sauce, I layer cucumber and avocado this time. I prefer salmon over tuna so I place two strips on top of everything. With my fingers, I gently press all of the fish and vegetables into to the rice and I begin rolling. With the rolling mat, I press it together as tightly as I can, making sure to press the ends in so nothing will fall out. With a little bit of vinegar on a sharp fillet knife, I slice the roll into six pieces.

I made several different type of sushi that night but the Thai roll was the most fun and delicious to make. The peanut sauce complimented the salmon very nicely.

Finally, the Day Had Arrived!

2008-06-05T11:56:00.001-07:00

39. Have a Star Wars Marathon

Probably since we were kids, my dad has always promised all the “kids” in the family that he would have a Star Wars Marathon for us; a weekend when we would watch all the movies, put on our Star Wars gear, pull out all the toys and get to see the Star Wars treasures he has collection since the first movie came out in 1977. Now the “kids” in the family are in their 20s and 30s and we still had not had our weekend. I didn't care how old we were when we finally had our weekend, just as long as we had one.

The perfect opportunity came when my cousin Ken came home from Germany to visit for the first time in probably two years. I decided to round up all my guy cousins, and one of my guy friends Dave, and FINALLY have my weekend! A few of my aunts showed up too and the cat was down for watching a bit. Of course, with everyone’s schedules, it could only be a one day thing, and we would only get through two of the movies (episodes four and five).

As promised, my dad pulled out all of his collectables. Suitcases full of action figures, all in its original packaging. He had even made someone design display boards for all the figures that didn’t have packaging. Puppets, t-shirts, miscellaneous weird stuff. It was an absolute blast!

The Boy with the Treasure Map on His Hand

2008-05-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

6. Plan a romantic date for Valentine's Day - February 17, 2008

I had made up my mind that this year I was going to have a date for Valentine’s Day. This was of course before I realized I was going to be in Vitoria, Spain to visit a good friend of mine. I decided not to change it on the list; I knew there were going to be couple of things I might not be able to do, but I wanted to leave it the way I have originated it.

Extremely excited about my year’s worth of activities, I explained everything to Laura (the girl who invited me to stay with her and her family for two weeks). A date for Valentine ’s Day, she pointed out. I explained I had written that well before I realized I was definitely going to be away and I didn’t mind leaving it “unchecked.” Maybe you will still have a date, she had said with a smile.

A day or two later, Laura said she wanted to meet up with a friend of hers; a guy she had known since grade school and had not seen in quite awhile. We would go and have a coffee with him. Laura had mentioned to him that she would be bringing her “American friend” with her. I was going to be following her everywhere for following two weeks, especially since she was my main connection to the Spanish world. He didn’t mind; he saw it as an opportunity to practice his English. As Laura had explained to me, he had wanted to go to England over the summer to work, in hope of improving his English. He was to have a phone interview the following day and if all went well, he would land himself the job. He’s funny, she said, you will like him. She noted that she hoped his humor would translate for me.

He was late. I was kind of annoyed; I wasn’t really anxious to meet this guy. From what I got from Laura’s brief mentions of him, he sounded like he could be a bit of a punk. Not to mention I would probably be spending most of the visit excluded since my Spanish comprehension was nonexistent. He’ll be wearing a baseball cap, as usual, she said. So we impatiently looked for him, standing outside at our meeting point. No boys in baseball caps were to be seen. No a word from him to say where he was at. And it was getting dark out, not to mention cold.

Finally “the punk” showed. True to form, he was wearing a white baseball cap that covered his eyes, a beard that covered his chin and a bag slung over one shoulder. He kissed Laura “hello,” both cheeks in greeting and the same for me. This was Jon, I was told, the boy who needed work on his English. My annoyance disappeared when he first smiled; he was kind of cute, even in his oversized sweatshirt and somewhat baggy jeans. We went inside and ordered our drinks. On his laptop which he pulled from his shoulder bag, he showed us pictures he had of he and Laura. He had pictures of him and his buddies wearing what appeared to be muscle men costumes with crazy hair. They had worn these outfits when they went skiing and video taped each other making complete fools of themselves. He had several short movies of his group on road trips throughout Europe. His adventurous nature was intriguing and though I could hardly understand a word he was trying to say, I got a genuine taste of what he was really like. We all chatted for awhile before Laura excused us. Jon asked if he when he would see us girls again. We said we didn’t know but we would call him later.

Jon called to find out when and where we were going out each day. Hoping to catch us out at a bar or club, he called repeatedly each night until he caught us. Once he woke Laura up at three in the morning to see if we would be heading to the disco that night. A couple times we did meet up with him at bars. He and I tried very hard to speak to one another. There was a night when we were in a small smoky bar, he pulled Laura aside and to talk to her about taking me out. He wanted to surprise me; take me to a movie and dinner. Do you want to go with him, she had asked, beaming excitedly. She pointed out that I would in fact have my date for Valentine’s. Rather shyly, and quite surprised, I said I wanted to go. Bring a dictionary, he had joked.

Prior to date night, Jon and I had established that it was important for me to see a European football game (that’s soccer for us, Americans). He asked me if I wanted to go with him to a game, to a movie, and then we would go to a bar to get something to eat. The perfect date, in my opinion. Jon had a friend who worked at the stadium so we snuck into an early afternoon game. If you have never been to see a live football match, I suggest you go. It was inspiring! Everyone is singing throughout the game; the cheering is deafening, even for such a small match. Jon did his best to explain to me the rules. To my delight, I received wild hugs for every goal, which made the game all the more enjoyable.

Afterwards we walked through the street of his home town towards the movie theater. He was taking me to see Sweeney Todd, as it would be in both our languages. Though it was dubbed in Spanish, most of the film was singing and that would be left in English with subtitles in Spanish. Another one of Jon’s buddies worked at the theater so we snuck into that as well. The movie was great, especially how moving the song Johanna was; I knew the story so even dubbed in Spanish I enjoyed it. A chill ran up my spine when Jon reached over and took my hand. I smiled; I felt like a giddy sixteen year old; this was the part of my teenage year I had missed out on. I had never had that; the hand holding, the theater make-outs, the cuddling with someone who wanted to be with you. I didn’t care how obnoxious we might have looked, I was absolutely floating.

We ended up at a bar after the flick. I had in fact brought my Spanish/English dictionary, which served great entertainment. We had a few laughs reading the “common” phrases in our languages. Our conversation was slow, and at points seriously painful to translate, but all the same, we had a wonderful time. He ripped out a page in my dictionary and began folding it. I asked him what he was doing but he kept saying, “very beautiful.” When he was done, the ripped page was a tiny origami flower, which he handed to me. A sweet way to end an perfect evening.

I didn’t want to go home. I had actually forgotten the time and Laura called at about two in the morning looking for me. She couldn’t go to bed until I was back because she had to let me into her apartment building. Before we left, Jon said I should practice my Spanish and pay for our sandwiches. I said practice implies that I had something to work with before and since I had never actually learned Spanish, I couldn’t exactly practice. This explanation was too long-winded and much of it was lost on him, though I thought it was rather amusing. Jon told me all I had to do was repeat after him. I laughed, but refused. Insistent, he blurted out a bunch of words I didn’t understand, ending with “[something, something…] Ole!” Ok, he had me until “ole.” I told him to get over himself; I wasn’t stupid enough to believe that a sentence including “ole” was appropriate for a foreigner to say to a native. If he couldn’t point it out in the dictionary, I wasn’t saying it. He laughed but never told me what he said. He paid for our meal and walked me home to Laura’s.

The night before I left, he gave me a few gifts. After spending a couple of short hours together before I was to go home, he handed me a CD with about five hundred Spanish hip hop songs that I had asked him for. He also gave me a drawing he had personally done. However the best thing he gave me was merely an afterthought. As we made our way back to meet Laura, he said he needed to stop at his apartment. He ran inside and when he came back he handed me a baseball cap. It was his favorite one. He asked that I take a picture in it for him and, of course, I agreed. I, in turn, gave him two things, both of which he was not allowed to open until later when he was alone. I had given him an origami crane with a small a tiny note on it. As it turns out, he was also a Prisionbreak fan, and knew that the origami crane was a symbol of affection between the two main characters of the TV show. I had also left him with a song by Ani Difranco called Hypnotized. The song was perfect:

I was surrounded by a language
In which I could say only “hello,”
And “thanks you very much,”
But you spoke so I could understand
And I drew a treasure map on your hand.

He never asked me what kind of car I drove or how big my house was. It didn’t matter how much money my parents made or how little I make on my own. He never asked me what my ethnicity was and his reaction to my sexual orientation was, “that’s normal.” Not once did his try put any labels on me or put anything materialistic or superficial between us. His interest in me was genuine, there was nothing superficial about it. He made me feel extraordinary and beautiful, me with my caramel skin tone and curvy body shape. It seemed to more I was “me,” the more he liked it. It was amazing to feel his affection and return it genuinely to someone with merit.

A few days after I left he sent me a song called Te Quiero by Zenit. The first time I heard it I involuntarily began to cry. I couldn’t tell you why, I obviously could not understand a word of it. But something in me knew what it was being said. When I asked a friend of mine to translate, I realized I was right. It was about wanting someone you couldn’t have, and every feeling that goes along with that. I haven’t heard from “the punk” since, but I’m ok. I feel that it is best. To quote India.Arie,

If he ever left me I wouldn’t even be sad
‘Cause there’s a blessin'
In every lesson
And I’m glad that I even knew him at all.

He was absolutely worth it, even if only for a moment. Better than any Valentine’s Day I could have planned!

Someday "I'll steal you..."

Forgive the Unforgiven

2008-05-17T22:42:00.000-07:00

26. Forgive the unforgiven and let go of the things I can not change - May 18, 2008

Forgive the unforgiven. This is probably the hardest thing I will have to do this year. I have been convinced at some points that I will not be able to do it. However, the goal of this year is to change the things I can change and hopefully get past the things I can’t. I am seriously hoping that this rant I am about to go on will at least supply me with the closure I need to move on. Note that I will be referring to specific cases, though I will not be using names or anything that will single out the individuals, out of what little respect I have left for each one of these people. This installment is just the ravings of a very turned-around upside-down twenty-two year old, who does not currently have any other means to digest these situations. You do not need to read any further if you do not wish.

Before I begin, I am actually going to give you my conclusion. I know, its backwards but I think it’s important that it be said I am the common flaw in all these cases. I know that these things would not happen to me if I would stand up for myself and not allow people to think they can treat me as such. With that said, I am making myself identify my common threads in each case so as not to unweave the structure of my relationship hence forth.

I have watch a lot of people go this year, people who have meant a lot to me. One by one, each has failed me in various ways and they have become increasingly more difficult for me to cope with. Though I am aware of my participation in each case, it does not lessen the pain of losing such remarkable family and friends.

All the same, my tribute to their memories:

Most recently, I found out my cousin was arrested, for a slue of things I won’t even begin to mention. It was numbing when I found out. One of the toughest things is watching someone you love dissolve into absolutely nothing. I have been powerless for years, my naïve efforts to help him left me broke, in more ways than one. Hard to imagine it is the same boy who used to ride his bike to my house Sunday mornings when our parents weren’t home and I would make him pancakes. He is my brother, my best friend, my reminder that love isn’t always enough.

I have yet another family member who has also crushed my family into pieces. Her story is way to complex and too personal to give here. If anything needs to be said here it should be that fact that I know that I will always love my family (they get a little more effort than everyone else) but even family doesn’t have endless amounts of support to give, not when one repeatedly abuses those who are trying. We have nothing left to give you but a tear each time you swing a blow at us. The end has drawn near.

Another was a friend I had known for years, since high school. We met one summer working at the same place and after a couple years (and much debate), we began dating. It was a long distance relationship that possibly could have worked with some honest effort. Long story short, I was every bit as faithful and dedicated to our relationship as one should be, and after randomly disappearing for several months without talking to me, I agreed to give him another chance and we remained just friends. Months after forgiving him, and possibly hoping that we would try dating again, I found out he had been dating his ex the entire time we were together and possibly dating yet another. Worse yet, his ex and I confronted him one day. He denied my entire relationship with him, claiming I was crazy and he felt sorry for me if I had thought we were dating. I was devastated, to say the least. After several months of writing, sending gifts, phone calls… waiting and waiting for him to come home… and many years of friendship, he wiped out everything we had in a matter of seconds. I would have thought more of him if he had just admitted to it. At least he would have behaved like a real man. Needless to say, I never heard from him again. Many people have hurt me along the way but this one, this one in particular, hurt me the most. I never saw it coming, he was the last person I expected to treat me like worthless shit. Someone I considered one of my very best friends, someone who I thought I would marry, someone whom I confided in with the worst that others had done to me, turned around and violently stabbed me... showing no remorse. Never even tried to repair the damage... not that he really could now. I hate him, for being so petty, selfish and an out-right liar and cheat. We will never, ever speak again.

One of my favorites was a guy I met at another job. He was sincerely the most amazing man I have meet in a long time. He had a permanent smile and a pleasantness that made you feel so warm. He was selfless and a wonderful person to have a conversation with. He introduced me to a new culture and new ideals. He was the first in a very long time to completely get me. Unfortunately, I only knew him for a short time. He moved away to pursue his career. Somehow, we lost touch. I have tried countless time to get in contact with him, but I fear he prefers the silence. He gave me a wonderful gift before he left though; an iPod loaded with tons of music he had shared with me and the faith that there are a few men out there who are genuinely gentlemen.

Same job, different guy, typical bullshit. He is the guy who spends so much time telling you how much he cares about you and the second it gets tough, he is nowhere to be found. Don’t get me wrong, he is a good guy and he means well. He has done a lot for me over the past year or so. Though his sense of humor is rather annoying at times, he always took the time to cheer me up on my worst days and take me out to lunch on the good ones. Somewhere down the line there was a circumstance when I needed him more than ever and he disappeared. It was hard for me to get there, but I understood why he had done it and despite advice of the few that knew, I believed he deserved another chance. But his affection for me eventually faded, I noticed our time together gradually faded with it. I saw him increasingly less and the belief that our friendship was based on purely on surface attraction felt increasingly more evident. His consistency to be inconsistent had worn me thin and sure enough, I just stopped hearing from him one day. I am of the belief his current romantic relationship disapproves of someone like me so I expected it would happen at some point. Just wish I’d been given a proper “goodbye.”

The list goes on and on. Relationships that end without a word and apparently I seem to be the only one who notices. I wish there was some way to mend these wounds. Endless effort seems futile. So I am sorry that I gave up. I’m sorry you did too.

A Dream Come True...

2008-03-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

49. PLAN A TRIP TO PARIS SO I CAN TAKE MY OWN BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO OF THE EIFFEL TOWER – February 19, 2004

Exactly two weeks after I committed to my list, I was told I was going to Paris! Somehow, with my goals written out in front of me, I was manifesting my dreams already. I've collected photographs and paintings from Paris for years; I actually have quite a beautiful collection, thanks to my family and friends. From my Eiffel Tower lamp to my cheese knives, I have always been surrounded by romanticism of Paris. I always wanted to see these places that seemed so familiar to me, yet I had never experienced for myself, and more importantly, I was going to get to take my very own black and white photograph of Paris!

A few years ago, my family and I hosted a student, Laura, from Spain. She and her family have been inviting my sister and I to visit her, and finally this past February, I, alone, made it to Spain. Her family was amazing: they planned a tour of Bilbao and San Sebastián for me. The experience in Spain deserves its own post, so I’ll get to that later. Knowing of my desire to see Paris, Laura’s family collaborated with my father to plan a three day excretion for Laura and I. When I found out I was beaming; I can't stop jumping around and laughing! It's seriously a dream come true! One of the hardest things on my list to achieve was going to be Paris and within two weeks of deciding I was going to go this year no matter what it took, I was packed and shipping off!

I felt like Sabrina. I actually insisted on walking around with my ipod everywhere we went; Paris deserved a soundtrack, consisting of mostly Yves Montand, songs from Amelie, and of course La Vie en Rose. Laura and I stayed right on the Champs-Élysées, the absolute heart of Paris. The Arc de Triomphe was the first thing we saw every morning when we stepped out of our hotel. Unfortunately, our limited time in Paris only gave us the chance to see the outside of Paris’ hot spots, but we weren’t complaining. One evening, Laura and I spent a couple hours looking for Paris elite lesbian night club, called Boobs Bourg. About four neighboring gay clubs later, there was still no sign of Boobs Bourg and we determined the French McDonalds and a good movie would suffice.

For anyone who is thinking of traveling to Paris, I would suggest that you do not eat at George V restaurant on the Champs. The service was obnoxious and the food was beyond poor. I ordered mussels, which were severely undercooked to the point where most of the shells hadn’t even opened. Annoyed, I pointed this out to the waiter who tried to convince me that it was “the French way.” French way, my tush! If I had eaten those I’d have been shitting for days, excuse my French.

The first time I saw the Eiffel Tower, I started screaming which made Laura jump half out of her skin. She was sure I was being mugged or at least beaten to death. We started each morning at the Eiffel Tower, where I took the majority of my three hundred pictures of Paris. On the morning of our flight back to Spain, it rained. I was still going to say goodbye to the Tower, so we grabbed my umbrella and did a series of “Singin’ In The Rain” shots. A few swings from lamp posts and jump on park bench won us loud applause from a group of young French girls. How positively delightful! They were excited to learn that Laura was from Spain and I, from America. After a short chat and a few last photographs, Laura and I grabbed ourselves a chocolate crepe and heading for the airport.

The experience was absolutely amazing! I am sure now, that anything is possible for me this year, ANYTHING :)

IMPORTANT: WMI ALUM

2008-03-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

I made a list. Thought of the things I wanted to do. Wrote down things I had never done before. Ten became twenty. Twenty to forty. Forty was easily fifty. And there, you have it. An eventful year consisting things that interest me, scare me, challenge me, inspire me! So I created a blog where I am going to document my year. A calendar is posted so you can join me if you would like. Stay tuned for all the stories, pictures, videos and such.

*WMI ALUM* - 43. Collect something from each person from my graduating class (and the few other important WMI alum). It could be a picture, business card, song, anything (small) you feel represents you! You can use the address below. I am very interested to see what direction this might go in – BE CREATIVE! I’ll keep you posted on what everyone sends me. Let the lovin’ flow!

Questions, comments, concerns or feel inspired… email me! Thanks so much for the support! Kisses

Go Pats!

2008-03-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

13. WATCH THE SUPER BOWL – February 3, 2008

Football has never really interested me. I have been to a handful of college football games, specifically to root on Uconn, as my family and I are dedicated fans of Uconn athletics. Watching a sport live definitely is the preferred method but I promised myself I would watch the Super bowl on TV at least once. So , as I had chosen to cheer on the Patriots, I got on all my New England gear, grabbed a bowl of chips and salsa, a comforter and of course a cup of tea. I’m really hardcore.

A friend of mine, Tori, came over to watch the game with me. He is a die-hard sport enthusiast and enjoys bothering me about watching ANY type of sport with him. I finally agreed to watch the Super bowl, as long as he promised not to use my living as a jungle gym. He has a habit of slightly over-reacting to plays and nearly broke an arm jumping on the couch when he was watching a previous game at home. His mother had to remind him that he was thirty-two years old and those type of antics were hardly necessary.

The game was taking place in Arizona this year, the New England Patriots versus the New York Giants. Tori predicted that the score would be 35/17 in the Patriots favor. It was a very cool game; I found myself cheering, “ooohhh-ing” and “aaahhh-ing,” though desperately trying to understand everything that was going on. Up until the last moment I was sure the Patriots would win, but to my disappointment, and the rest of the Patriots fans, the Giants won 17/14. After an entire season of being completely undefeated, the Patriots let the Giants go home with their win. The one time I watch the Super Bowl and my team loses! A real heartbreaker. Tori went home to “recover from the lose.” Maybe I’ll have to tune in next year, you know, just to see if the Patriots are keeping up…

Finally! Tha Fifty List Is Posted!

2008-03-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

1. MAKE A WEBSITE (for Tha Fifty List) - March 12, 2008

At the beginning of every year I do what everyone does; I make false promises to myself to do things that I have really no intention of actually completing.

I am going to lose 20 pounds! I manage to get myself to one morning exercise class before deciding I prefer to sleep in and I'll just accept my few extra pounds. I am going to paint my masterpiece! I buy all the pencils, oils, acrylics, brushes, canvas, and a brand new carrying case, which I effectively lose before I can decide what my actually masterpiece is… I have a habit of procrastinating or losing focus when I’m bored.

I couldn’t tell you a single important thing that happened to me this past year. I was twenty-one and the expectation is you're suppose to go a little crazy - party, drink, get high on life. Somehow an entire year went by without my knowledge, as I just turned twenty-two this past November. When I was asked what I wanted for the New Year, I realized all I wanted was a memorable year – at least one where I accomplish SOMETHING!

So I made a list. Thought of the things I wanted to do. Wrote down things I had never done before. Ten became twenty. Twenty to forty. Forty was easily fifty. And there, you have it. An eventful year consisting of things that interest me, scare me, challenge me, inspire me. I am going to do all these things, mainly because now I accumulated an audience along the way who are expecting me to finish. I posted the list on my myspace page and invited others to join me. Surprisingly, quite a few people thought it sounded fun and signed up to help me.

So here, in this blog, I am going to document this year! A calendar will be posted so you can join me if you would like. Stay tuned for all the stories, pictures, videos and such. And if you feel inspired… write me!