Melp

Nobu vs Buddakan

Is it right to compare these two? Not being a food connoisseur I would guess they're on the same level. Japanese fusion bougie style. Nobu's atmosphere is quite simplistic with artlike tree's. It's very modern but smaller than I would have imagined. Shockingly, Nobu had disposible chopsticks that you break apart - this seemed very much out of place. Maybe the supplies manager screwed up. Buddakan was sort of Victorian, sort of baroque-ish. The main dining room had high ceilings, one long table in the middle and large chandeliers. I felt like I should have worn my ball gown to greet the queen and king at either ends of the table. Then we got led to the side dining room where it was very dark. The walls were lined with shelves with offensive plastic gold books. Simplicity would have really rectified this issue of tackiness. Simply, i think the restaurant was a bit overdone and bordering on gaudy.

The food was good at both restaurants but Nobu exhibits thier dinner where as Buddakan feeds you. They both consisted of small tapa-esk dishes to share. Nobu took our 5 dishes and seemingly arranged them in a deliberate sequence - one dish at a time. One taste at a time. One focus at a time. Service was impeccable, as soon as one dish was done, the next would be passing through the kitchen doors. At Buddakan, the server mentioned that the dishes would come out as they were ready. We got our 3 appetizers basically at once, so we jumped from one plate to another. All tastes blending with each other. Note: Edamame dumplings are an explosion of mush in your mouth. The consistency was surprisingly unpleasant.

Overall, I would reccomend Nobu over Buddakan. but just because I'm spoiled, dont let it stop you from going to Buddahkan - their food was pretty amazing.

The Cookies have Eyes

Many things become more complex when it comes to our quickly budding technology. Most of all, our civil liberties seem to be at stake, to be dramatic about it. There has been a lot of alluding toward the 1984 Big Brother when speaking about internet tracking and these infamous "cookies". But how real are these fears?

Being in the online advertising industry, it amazed me to learn of the other side of things. We track clicks, paths, buys, coupon prints, registrations, anything that can possibly be tracked. It's all used to infer consumers likes and dislikes and use it to show them things they don't even know they're looking for. It's to 'help' the consumer. Invasion of privacy? or marketing research? Basically its getting to know your audience. So - after seeing both sides of this, I thought, 'who cares if the internet knows that I like dell computer and serves me dell ads?'

Well then I had two incidents. Both involving social networks: Facebook and LinkedIn. Truthfully, being a subscriber to either of these networks really leaves you vulnerable to tmi being leaked out to basically anyone. One Sunday morning as I was adding movies to my Blockbuster online queue - I got a popup. The first time it went too quickly but I got a glimse of the Facebook font. I added another movie and this time, I read the popup informing everyone on Facebook that I added this movie to my queue. What the heck?! I like to be percieved as a low key Facebook patron (even though it is my guilty pleasure). The blockbuster account wasn't even under my name, it was under my fathers. This had to be stopped. I went to my facebook account and immediately blocked any incoming notifications from third party vendors. That was a close one.

Yesterday, I stumbled upon my barely used LinkedIn account. They like Facebook has a new section called "People you might know". On Facebook, it's understandable; they find people who have similar links to your friends. Makes sense and works well because on Facebook, your network is pretty extensive. Also considering the fact that college students on Facebook tend to have friends from their own college - people tend to know each other.

The LinkedIn network tends to skew more professional and with more variation. Also, lets not lie, i only have 25 "contacts" (see: friends), so my network isnt very big. Long story short, the 'people I might know' should be very limited to IBM and Binghamton.

The four people listed:
Steven - a cousin's cousin of which i am NOT connected with that cousin
Charlotte - My IBM friend's best friend, also of which i am NOT connected with
Debbie - A woman I spoke to a few times at an agency not related to IBM or Binghamton contacts
David - A guy I found on a school network and cold contacted - hence, no record of this on linked in.

The only thing that can link all of these people to me is my gmail account. I might have once gotten an email from Steven. I've spoken on gmail chat ABOUT charlotte. I spoke on Gchat with Debbie and wrote an email to David. There is an option in LinkedIn to import contact lists from Gmail, Yahoo and AOL, none of which I agreed to, but it seems they took the liberty to stalk me and find people 'I might know'.

Now i'm scared.

mL

My Daily Constants

A routine is a unvarying and constantly repeating formula. This week two things I took for granted took me by surprise. My question, if everything remained constant, does that mean, I must have changed?!

Monday morning I sleepily stumbled onto the Q27 to my usual seat (across from the back door exit) and as I plooped down - I realized that something was different. Something was off key: my feet were dangling. A good few inches off the floor! All buses thus far, I thought, were the same. 6 months so far and the seats have always been the same height. Had I gotten shorter?

Tuesday morning. I actually knew what I was going to wear - brown pants and a beige sweater (yes, I know I'm adventurous). I put on the pants and they're tight and long. I realize that I had a big fatty dinner last night, ending with a giant deep dish cookie sundae, but damn, these pants used to be really loose. Did I get fatter overnight? and from the above evidence, YES, it can be confirmed, I'm shorter.

mL

note: I came to realize later, that those were not my pants but an imitation of my pants. Also I am still (almost) 5'4.

Melp

S'Mac - Sarita's Macaroni & Cheese

345 East 12th Street

Really - Need i say more? Mac and Cheese, its an American favorite comfort food. For me, thats exactly what it is. After a bad day at work, all I want to do is rip open a box of Kraft's mac and cheese. This takes it a step farther. Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese - enough said. Mediterranean has goat cheese, spinach, olives and garlic. Parisienne has BRIE, figs, shiitake mushrooms and rosemary. Masala Mac has indian spices. Lets not forget buffalo chicken mac, which might sound odd in concept, but in practice, it is more than you can ever imagine. Last night I went for the Cajun which is cheddar and pepper jack, andouille sausage, peppers and onions. The spicy goodness was too hard to not finish. Yes, my arteries are clogged slighly more than yesterday but it was well worth it. Just to make it slightly more fun, their sizes are Nosh, Major Munch, Mongo, Partay!. Any excuse to say the word nosh, I'll take.

http://www.smacnyc.com/

Scream it from the rooftop

Don't you wish you had your own personal rooftop at your disposal, to scream at the top of your lungs, everything you wish you could say - just to get it off your chest? Lately I absolutely feel the need for such. I would say that a padded room would serve quite the same purpose but I feel like it may have a bad connotation, so, I'll refrain from going there. Sure we can scream all the crazy shit we want but in the semi-nice (see: asian) neighborhood that I live in, I cannot do such without someone calling the cops.

I have much on my plate lately, in terms of grievances. Instead of bursting out in tears every time one of these things surfaces, I inhale deeply and do what any healthy person does - repress it. Sometimes this doesn't always work, which inevitably leads to an uncomfortable scene in which people just wonder why you're crying in Taco Bell (note: that was NOT me). There should really be NO reason to be crying in taco bell.

Well, until I have my own non-judgemental rooftop to air all my dirty laundry, I suppose I'll just keep on breathing.

mL

Edit: Turns out that even better than a rooftop to scream your unearthed problems, are a few great friends. People up at 3 in the morning to listen to your seemingly earth shattering emo stories. To all these people in the world who lend a ear to those who need it - thanks!

Test Failed.

unexpected death
lost memories, lost friendship
hard drive failure sucks

Dell Inspiron 600m Jan 2005-Jan 2008

Yesterday, like any normal day I went to turn on my computer and it sounded of cries of desperation. It was trying so hard to fight for life making grinding noises like a plane trying to take off. I first turned it off in fright, panic setting in, took a breath and turned it back on hoping that it was only a misunderstanding. It made the same sound again and this time I let it run for a few seconds until it beeped twice then turned off. This is when I knew that the gig was over. Worst case scenario - everything is lost. Fortunatly, sort of, I backed most of my stuff up last December (of 2006), but this meant that everything that took place in 2007 was lost. I feel like this was a sign of the past year - that I'm not to remember 2007 in too much detail. Like selective memories - of good times such as in pictures posted on my online photo site.

So now, I have some sort of recovery plan (of all documents, photos and music of the past year). I am of course trying with all my might to recover it by extracting it from the hard drive, but I feel that the effort will wind up wasted. I spoke to the infamous Dell customer service and it was actually slightly helpful but still only told me what I already knew - hard drive crash. System tests yielded: Test Failed! messages in red.

I guess I'm not too distraught. Yes, it sucks, yes, shit happens, but it'll be ok. Moral of this story kids? Back yo shit up!

mL

Train of Thought: Therapy

I saw by Matt Nathanson
(press play)

I would say that I spent a good 14.87% of the past 3 months bitching about my commute and about 4.9% of my life thus far, bitching about commuting in general. Then there are moments of clarity when I realize that it can benefit my mental well being. To the naked eye - you might think this ludacris as I am shoved under armpits, squished in a sea of suits, and throwing elbows at little old asian women (who will, in fact, shove you down the stairs while they pretend to look innocent and feeble). When the commuting game is strategically played, there is no shoving, squishing or b.o. to be seen/smelt. There's a cramped seat with theraputic powers. This is your time to do what you please, without distractions. Read, listen to music, people watch, ponder the worlds deepest questions, etc.

I listen to music while either sleeping, reading a trashy magazine, book or newspaper, or ponder whatever comes to mind. So before I diverge any further - the song. This is one of my all time favorite songs. During my routine trek home I heard it and it got me thinking. It made me wistful and hopefull all at the same time. I'm not even sure I know what it's about. It seems to be a song of unrequited love after a one sided breakup - like most songs. Come to think of it, theres nothing really hopeful about the song at all. The thing is, we've all felt this way before.

In my case, it reminds me of the person who gave me this song on a mixed tape (or CD as it were) who was just that - the kind of person who wo give me a mixed tape. As like most relationships, it ended. Not particularly well or poorly although I was the one who was on the recieving portion of the breakup. The line "I'll forget about you long enough to forget why I need to" always gets me thinking. I think everyone has someone that they'd like to forget because they feel that they need to - which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Otherwise, I just really enjoy the song. It's sad in a way that we can all understand. A little extra time in the day to reflect on our past and ponder our future can really be therapeutic and may very well be exactly what we need to maintain our sanity.

mL