1.  heard someone loudly say that my name was “Lana Ach (“ch” like in “loch”)-rim Kim” (imagine Russian accent)
2.  had a meeting with someone who made me very mad ( I remained calm but am glad not to have to deal with him again)
3.  almost got mauled by a German Shepherd! (he came at me and nipped my ankles!)
4.  when asked by a taxi driver “where are you from?”, snapped back at him and said “why do you need to know that?” and then he proceeded to say that he only wanted to tell me that he had lived in Korea. Oh.  We actually had a pleasant conversation despite my mean mood towards him.
5.  became the manager of a two-person teen band and realized that I was twice as old as them.  the boy then said “oh, but you don’t act like you’re that old” — bad or good? 
6. ate pizza with a family where the young daughter joked about taking drugs (it was funny because she’s very deadpan and totally cute and innocent) and the mother said “that’s hot”.

FIRST FAN

I take certain pride in saying that I was one of the VERY FIRST John Mayer fans.  No, seriously… the only reason why I bought his album was because one of my favorite pasttimes in the US and A was finding new music at those listening stations… so I bought “room for squares” that way and introduced it to some of my coworkers… all of them LOVED it and we ended up seeing him in Central Park, back in 2001… He’s a weirdo, but insanely talented.  Oh, and it puzzles me why such a musical talent like him would date the likes of Jessica Simpson! 

Anyway, I’m enjoying his recent album : Continuum.  The first and most popular song is the worst one, I think.. though very catchy.  My fav J. Mayer songs include: 3×5; Back to You; I Don’t Trust Myself (with loving you); and Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.

A trivial but real hope…

… that Britney Spears will get herself back into the groove of things, marry Justin Timberlake, and  make music and babies together until they’re too old to do it anymore. 

Nixon – Our first black President

One of my local friends asked me today “wasn’t Nixon African-American?”  I should’ve responded with “no – Clinton was our first black president”.  But 2008 will be an interesting election year – are we ready for a black president?  or even a female one?  (Personally, I could def. support Obama; but not Hillary).

Amazing Grace

I was excited to discover that a movie about the song was premiering tomorrow in the US and A.  Of course it’ll probably be cheesey, but I do like the story behind the song AND the story of Wilberforce, whose faith inspired him to fight the slave trade in Britian.  If any of you watches it, let me know how it was! 

Quotes from a few interesting articles:

Despite fantasies of marriage as an endless date,
a lifelong partnership is actually about
thriving in the day-to-day stuff of life:
raising kids, paying the bills,
cleaning the house, etc.
A lasting marriage requires commitment,
no matter what.
You have to go into it expecting highs and lows.
A good marriage can make the lows a lot
more bearable, though.

And

Reassess your options

A lot of women have good friends who are men. They describe them by saying, “Oh, we’re just friends; we’ve never thought of dating; we’re not romantic.” Too often we overlook men in the “just friends” category because we’re not “attracted” to them. (My roommates and I were guilty of this.) Instead of asking who you’re attracted to, start asking “Of my friends, who would be a godly husband, strong partner and good father?” Looking at men this way, you might be surprised who you’re attracted to!

I told you some of these musings would be trivial and random.

We helped a neighbor buy airline tickets.  She gave us pickles… homemade… and very yummy.

We Americans don’t have much contact with bazaars… in fact, growing up, the only “bazaars” I knew about were held at my church every year for fundraising… a Korean church bazaar was sometimes… quite.. bizarre…  they sold everything from homemade dduk (rice cakes) to tacky religious t-shirts and ties….

Of course, there is also Harper’s Bazaar… but anyway…

The bazaars in Uz. are definitely much more colorful and interesting, but I’ve always been too shy to take pictures there… so I’m glad my friend recently took these pics:

Potatoes, potatoes, and more potatoes…

The best mandarins come from Iran.  I don’t know HOW these bananas get here…

The bag with the “2000″ sign is filled with soy beans.  Next to it, to the right, is cocoa and then cornstarch.
The top bags are filled with lentils, chickpeas, buckwheat, and rice…

We celebrated my friend Firuza’s birthday with a fun international crowd…
We ate roasted chicken, buckwheat, salmon/egg appetizers, broccoli, spinach…

Here I am with Firuza’s cousin, Obid. 

The birthday girl is the one next to the man in red, on the left… the man in red
is the Italian consulate here…

Me and Ksenia.  Yes, K-senia.

Sveta (whose husband is Korean) and Firuza

I liked how these looked… but it was a bit too dark, and people kept wanting to turn the lights on.
And later in the evening, one of the papers caught on fire…

Though I grew up in Texas, I definitely ain’t no hick… but when it comes to love songs, I choose country as the best genre:

George Strait: “I’m carryin’ your love with me – West Virginia down to Tennessee – I’ll be movin’ when the good Lord speaks – it’s my strength – I’m holding on – every minute I have to be gone – I have everything I’ll ever need – I’m carryin’ your love with me”

George Strait: “I don’t take my whiskey to extremes – don’t believe in chasing crazy dreams – my feet are planted firmly on the ground – but darlin’, when you come ’round… I get carried away by the look, by the light in your eyes.. before I realize the ride I’m on, baby, I’m long gooon… I get carried away, nothing matter but being with you… like a feather flying high up in the sky on a windy day..I get carried away…”

Johnny Cash: “I keep a close watch on this heart of mine – I keep my eyes wide open all the time… because you’re mine, I walk the line..I find it very very easy to be true… yes, I’ll admit that I’m a fool for you.. because you’re mine, I walk the line..”

Alan Jackson: “Livin’ on love…buying on time.. without somebody nothing ain’t worth a dime.. it’s like an old-fashioned story book rhyme, livin’ on love.. it sounds simple… that’s what you’re thinkin’… but love can walk through fire without blinkin’.. it doesn’t take much, when you get enough.. livin’ on love..”

Garth: “it don’t matter to the sun.. if you go or if you stay… you know the sun, is gonna rise… shine down on another day… it’ll still be here tomorrow… even if you choose to leave… ’cause it don’t matter to the sun… but it matters to me..”

Deana Carter: “in a happy little foreign town… where the stars are upside down… I remember you were laughing…we were so in love… and the band played, songs we had never heard.. but we danced anyway… we never understood the words.. .we just sang ‘la la la la’ – and we danced anyway..”

And one of my favs from the Dixie Chicks: there’s your trouble, there’s your trouble.. seeing double with the wrong one.. and you can say “i love you” . .you can see she doesn’t.. but you just keep holdin’ on… there’s your trouble..

Celebrate good times, come ‘on!  80s-themed birthday party…

(scary thing is that both of these girls bought these clothes HERE)

For the 32nd Valentine’s Day in a row, I am my own Valentine… (but no lamenting — see alehandrohonk’s entry)..

Actually, this was the cake my friends had ready for me when I arrived a few weeks back…

Me: gosh, the bed I sleep in is so hard! 
My local friend: well, you know, that’s good for your skin.
Me: Oh really?  for my skin? (wondering if this is another one of those Soviet remedies?)
Local friend: yes, you know… sleeping on such a hard bed is supposed to be good… for… your… oh, wait!  Not skin! 
(we start laughing when we realize…)
Me & Local friend together: Your back!  Good for your back!

EDIT:  this is funny because she meant to say that sleeping on a hard bed was good for your “back” but she got mixed up
and said that sleeping on a hard bed was good for your “skin”…   get it ?

1. Loydrus recently wrote me this touching email:
“thanks a lot for your diligence in e-mailing and communicating those player needs.”

So here’s a deep question for you: what ARE the needs of a player?

2. Many people have asked me for this recipe, so here it is!  These were very very yummy.  Note: I think this recipe will work with only 3 eggs – 4 eggs seems too many.  And I used butter instead of margarine – very decadent. 

Mini Cheesecakes III

Submitted by: meagan Rated: 5 out of 5 by 44 members

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 25 Minutes

Ready In: 45 Minutes Yields: 24 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs 1/4 cup white sugar 1/4 cup margarine, melted   4 (8 ounce) packages cream

cheese, softened 1 cup white sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 egg

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 6 cup muffin pan.
2.	In a medium bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and margarine with a fork until combined. Measure a rounded tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup, pressing firmly. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes, then remove to cool. Keep the oven on.
3.	Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla until fluffy. Mix in the egg.
4.	Pour the cream cheese mixture into the muffin cups, filling each until 3/4 full. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Cool completely in pan before removing. Refrigerate until ready to serve