Thanksgiving Friday

I had dinner in San Jose with some of my Uncle's relatives.
















Chinese BBQ pork in puffy pastry
















Kabocha Soup































































Plate o' Meat
















Homemade dried Persimmon snacks.

Quiet Black Friday; morning.

So two years in a row. I go to the Best Buy in Marin City because I expect it to be much calmer than say the one on Geary and Masonic (and it is) and since it's freaking early in the morning, on the way back I catch the sun-up (about 30 minutes risen) and really enjoy the calm scenery with just a soft muted rumblings of the highway down below. Next time, I will take a video. I thought about it about halfway back to the car but it was freakin' cold up there so I told myself "next time." Didn't get too much this year. Don't really need anything.
















Hi-res goodness.
















=( There used to be a lone tree here that you'd be able to see from the bridge. It was like the lone cypress of the Golden Gate bridge.
















^ click for animated goodness

It Begins! Black FridaySuper Fest 07

I used to think of Black Friday as some silly day where people go crazy, almost like Ah-nohld in Jingle all the Way. That was until one day, two years ago when I was having a lonely Thanksgiving, I accidentally went to work the next day. I didn't realize what day it was until I got to the office and it was locked so with time to spare, I wandered into the nearby Target and holy cow, Family Guy DVDs for $15! Lots of things you want to buy but say "ah, that a bit too much to buy" but for one weekend are really cheap so you find yourself saying "how can I NOT buy that thing I want at that price!?!"

Check out these deals.

This year, on my list are 2-4GB USB portable storage stick things. Possibly the 500GB Western Digital external HD at Target for $87. Although I might not get it as I can't really say I need one. Although my old ones seem dead. Various DVDs. Maybe a toaster oven. Doubt I'll get a printer. What I really want is a tablet PC that has really good resolution, super lite weight, and enough horsepower to run my office tools on. I'd love to be able to draw and work on the go. Battery life also important. Not sure if a powerful enough one is made yet. Still holding off on the HDTV. Back when my roommate Tim was doing a project with LG, he said 2008 would be the year so I'll keep patiently waiting. I'll probably be getting a project anyways =P 1080p, 2000+ lumens, 5000+:1 contrast ratio, < $900. We'll see.

First blood: I finally got new sheets and comforters off of overstock. I've been waiting quite some time for this as their (nice) sheets had been out of stock since around August.

Happy Hunting.

Turkey Day! 2007

I'm ever so thankful Ed does these Thanksgiving things. 2 years ago I had Thanksgiving alone and while it wasn't bad, it is certainly nice to be able to share such a wonderful meal with good people. Plus I really really wanted turkey that year! =( Did I mention it was a potluck? What should I bring?
















Here is something I forget where I learned it from. Maybe on TV. The process is rather straightforward but rather tedious. Cut, salt, dry, and press eggplants and tomatoes. I just squeezed the juice from the tomatoes instead of salting them. The salt helps get the moisture out to give us a better roasting experience.
















In they go. I had them on at 300 for... not sure how long. Maybe 50 minutes? I was watching my Scaramouche DVD. That movie rocks.
















Baked some cut rolls with munster and threw them together. Works really well and lets you really savor the awesomeness of eggplant.
















Hey! More food! where did this appear from? Artichoke Dip
















I have been magically transported to another location! Here we have Kristle sporting her "toothpaste commercial" smile.
















Thanksgiving Turkey. Magical locations indeed.
















Hon Chicken





















Stuffing 1 of 2
















Our hosts Ed and Daphne





















Melted Brie with Colorful Medley (pistachios, dried cranberries, apricots, dates)
















Quiche





































The good stuff





















Sweet Potatoes





















Ooooooh, Aaaaaah
















Green Bean Casserole
















Tofurkey Ball





















Stuffing 2
















Anxious to eat





















Keal
































Plate 1 of 2.





































Dessert time!
















Pumpkin Pie
















Pecan Pie
















Apple Pie





















Banana Pudding
















Cheesecake
















Cream Puffs - afterwards, cream puffs became a punishment currency. For example, we played some poker afterwards and since everyone was so full, you could elect to replace $1 with eating a cream puff. heh.
















Cake that looks like an egg?
















And... he's tapped out.
















Post Tryptophane activities. Operation! You're the doctor! I'm gonna assume it's his bowels or something but why is there a "Bread Basket" in this man's crotch?
















Games: Taboo, Poker, and Apples to Apples.

Birthday Bowling 2: the Return of the Sequel

Because it was so fun last time, we had to do it again.





















First off, these are absolutely the best bowling shoes I've ever worn. I sort of wished I had an actual pair of shoes like this.
































Not sure if Jeremy is waving or giving to ole Heil Hitler.





















































Tissue branded V-powered goofiness.
















So ignore the 187 score. Just ignore. My best bowling score probably since I was a kid of 112! You're still looking at Sherwin's 187 aren't you?



So here is Sherwin doing some crazy bowling things. He actually hit the strike on the backwards shot but no one was filming. Debbie also got a funny strike where a pin flew out past the pin rake thing on the previous turn and her ball was going wide, hit the extra pin, and deflected square on for the strike.





















So Birthday Bowling isn't just a lame excuse to recycle past post titles. While not officially, we were celebrating Hon's birthday. Surprisingly, there were no card tricks to be had this time but many presents...





















Including a vintage Dynamite magazine featuring Sylvester Stallone on the cover!





















And TWO pay cell phones for the guy who has managed to make it to 2007 without getting one.
















More backwards bowling goofiness.
















Group photo goofiness + random dude.