Tofu Festival in Lil' Tokyo (Aug 13-14)

I went to one of these festivals a few years back and it was a lot of fun! If you're in the LA area that weekend - you shouldn't miss it! :)
---
Save the Date: 10th Annual Los Angeles Tofu Festival

The 10th Annual LA Tofu Festival, our annual fundraiser, will be on August 13 and 14 in Little Tokyo, in conjunction with the 65th Annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival. This year's theme is "TOFUZILLA: When Giant Tofu Takes Over Little Tokyo," and it's sure to have something for everyone with dozens of food booths offering unique tofu creations, a new "Taste of Japan" area, cultural entertainment all day, an Arts & Crafts Marketplace, a Health & Fitness Expo, evening concerts, and much more. Visit www.tofufestival.com for more info as well as a discount admission package.

Festival Attractions (*New for 2005)
*Over 40 Food Vendors providing imaginative and delicious tofu and soy dishes
*"Taste of Japan" featuring traditional Japanese cuisines*
*Beer & Wine and Sake Tasting*
*Entertainment:
Main Stage featuring Taiko Drum Performances, Cultural Music and Dance Performances
Saturday Evening Concert featuring GERLAD ALBRIGHT *
Sunday Evening Concert featuring OZOMATLI*
*Health Screenings and Health Information Booths
*Children's Pavilion: Arts and Crafts, Games and Special Activities for Children
*Arts and Crafts Marketplace
*Tofu Eating Contests
*Best of Tofu Festival" dishes voted by YOU*

ADMISSION
GENERAL $8
SENIORS(60+) $5
CHILDREN (5-12) $5
CHILDREN (<5) Free

Fishies of SoCal, beware!

Unsuspecting Fishies of Southern California, beware!

In the next couple of months, you may see strange orange items bobbing in the water, connected to transparent string that's connected to new fishing rods from Sports Chalet. And baking in the sun will be novice fishermen trying to reel you out of the water.

Yep. Camping will take on a whole new level with these skinny graphite sticks of terror. Herman really caught the fishing bug when we went to Cachuma Lake... Will this just be a passing fad, to later collect dust in our slowly overflowing storage room? We'll see...

Meanwhile... I must rave about the best screensavers around... Puppies licking your monitor screen clean... or dirty... depends which way you want to look at it i guess:

Virtual Puppy #2

As well behaved and adorable my virtual puppy "Lucky" (my toy yorkshire terrier) has been... the one daunting problem with making Lucky a reality is that he's a bit high maintenance in real life.

Being tiny - he more likely to get hurt or stepped on or fall from a chair. Being a cute furball means he needs constant grooming and flea baths and extra fur vacuuming will be in store. And because I would like to have a puppy that is just as much my dog as it is Herman's... i guess it should be fair that he could have a say on the type of puppy too. (So that there can be SHARED puppy maintenance... i'm all for that.)

That said, meet virtual puppy #2. For now, i'll call my new French Bulldog, Roscoe.


Je suis mignon, no?

Roscoe is probably a better fit. He actually came up as one of my top contenders when taking those Pet Quizzes to see which type of dog fits my particular living arrangements and preferred maintenance levels. And he's got the right amount of 'character' for Herman. (Roscoe is as macho as a small dog can get, don't you think?) I guess he'd be too big to fit in my purse, (darn!) but he also won't be as easily stepped on during those busy BBQs too. And people won't think we're over-babying him (I would guess) since he'd probably prefer trotting around on his own 4 paws.

So... we'll see how Roscoe pans out (virtually) - and maybe someday in some future, I'll actually consider a real one! :)

To go or not to go....

I'm still mulling over this reunion thing. I'm curious to go, but it's definitely getting more and more inconvenient to go. I can't think of anyone who might be carpooling from this area anymore... so I could try flying... but then there isn't exactly an airport in my home town. So wherever i do land, I have to figure out how to drive the 90 minutes to my home town... and once i get there, I have to figure out who to stay with. Then the next day I'll have to figure out a way to get back to the airport... and mull over how I could have had more fun spending that $300 dollars on a mini vacation camping in Yosemite or something. Am I just making excuses? And would i regret not going to my 10 year reunion?

I just don't know.

Well, i still have a little time to delay an inevitable decision. Until then, i'll look forward to a mini getaway to San Diego for their annual Comic-Con Convention.

Am I a big Comic book fan? Not really. But it's still amusing to go, and Herman has hookups. Plus its a reason for me to take a day off. The little 'vacations' that make my long work days somewhat worth it.

Last but not least, I'll be starring in a movie that comes out this Friday. Yep, you can even catch me in the trailer, if you look really hard...
Watch For Jen In This Movie Trailer

Straight Hair and Tough Bagels

Here's my consumer rant and rave blog.

Let's start with my Consumer Approval:

For my birthday i got a new Blow Dryer - which was a LOVELY thought (it' the 'quiet ceramic types') but it was a little big and I already had one with about the same power. (Just not "whisper" quiet) SO I returned it and got something that I DID have my eye on... a Ceramic Plated Iron Hair Straightener.



I spent a good hour scouring the Target hair device section and I took a risk with one by Remington that was 'slim' (Hope it won't take too much longer than the 2.5 inch plates...) and boasted "Wet to Straight" (so it will fry my hair while it's still wet, instead of blowdrying first and then frying...)

Results? LOVE IT. I've used it twice granted... but so far the results are pretty amazing... to do it right, you do have to spend time ironing through small sections, but the results for each section are fairly fast and it DOES smooth out your hair follicles to look smoother and shinier than air drying or blowdrying! Is it just an illusion? Maybe. Will after months of use, I find my hair wittled to brittle carbon twigs? Perhaps. But right now it's looking Super Glossy and Super straight... and now i know how all the celebs with Non-Asian Straight hair, get the look. (Unfortunately I got the 'Asian-Wave' hair genes.)

Now for my Consumer Disapproval.

I am a BIG fan of Trader Joe's. They're got the small market feel with all the essentials... but they stock the best quality (or at least they market their products that way)... and their prices are incredibly affordable for the value. Ever try their White Corn Puffs? All Natural and YUMMY. How about their Mochi Ice Cream Treats? Mmm! OR their $1.49 frozen enchiladas for those working during lunch days? Can't be beat!



But I am DEEPLY disappointed in their MINI Bagels. The concept of the mini Bagel is just ingenious. Enough for you to get your bagel fix in the morning, but little so that you don't eat TOO much, and you don't have to cut the normal ones in half and leave it stranded on the community plate hoping to be picked over the nice untouched whole ones.

But the Mini Bagels at Trader Joe's (granted the price is INCREDIBLE at less than 2 bucks!) were almost inedible. I toasted them lightly and tried to cut them into little halves and I thought i was cutting into little rubber tires. "Hmm... maybe my knives need sharpening" Then the next day i tried just microwaving to 'soften them'. Tried eating them and thought, "Hmm... maybe my teeth need sharpening.. that or i'm chewing on little cream cheese covered rubber tires..."

I guess Sara Lee charges almost $4 bucks for her Mini Bagels for a reason... they're edible! :)



If only my virtual pup, Lucky, could eat my non-virtual bag of mini rubber tire bagels...

Air Head

I floated home from work with this balloon from Herman... :)