Another scoop?

So, my mom told me last week that a piece of mail came for me back home in Sunnyvale from...drum roll please...Dreyer's Ice Cream! They sent the same letter as last year more or less inviting me or any of my friends and family to enter to win one of 1,500 prizes for a neighbhorhood ice cream party. Should I try to be three for three? Should I crush the Slow Churned Rocky Road dreams of some 7-year-old?

Honestly, I'm starting to think there is no real competitive element. It's probably like a "Simpsons" episode and there are people in suits in some back room of Dreyer's corporate office talking in nasally voices, going "Hey Harry, who else can we send this genetic ice cream--possibly seasoned with radioactive substances--and get some feedback for marketing while we're at it." And really, do I need 12 gallons of ice cream? On the other hand...it certainly wouldn't hurt to be able to offer it to my neighbors--back home in Sunnyvale--again. Oh, the agony of deciding!

Hmmm...if I were to win and hold a party again, how could I top the fire department showing up--with two engines! Maybe I should just make my cousin's 8-year-old daughter enter and I'll just "proofread" what she writes. Oh well, I got time to decide.

Speaking of ice cream, I believe April 17 is the day Ben & Jerry's gives out free ice cream. Don't know if Baskin Robbins still does it. OK, I know way too much. Maybe if the journalism thing doesn't work out, I should go to Dreyer's and plead for a job.

Chinese parents and boys' names

I am really trying hard not to come across as stereotyping. So, I'll just say I have noticed a trend, if you will, of Chinese parents picking really offbeat names for sons. Am I the only who wonders about this? It's like they are worried about the ramifications of saddling their baby boys with ethnic, hard-to-pronounce names. So, they go and choose what they think are "American" names but they're names I've never heard of before that instance. Some examples:

-When I was 5, I had to go to Chinese dance class every Saturday. There were three boys in the teen class: Tedman, Wyman (they were brothers) and Waymond. Nothing against these guys. In fact, Waymond went on to become a doctor and was a big help a few years ago when I had an eyebrow waxing gone terribly, terribly wrong.

-When I was 10, I went to a Fourth of July bbq at my aunt's house. I met these 16-year-old twin boys. One was named Evers. I'd never heard of that name. Still you can't really go wrong or right there. I don't think anything goes that well with the last name Ding.

-Michelle Kwan's personal physician: Leisure Yu

-UC Berkeley law professor I once saw being interviewed on the news: Goodwin Liu

-A well-renowned ASU professor in real estate: Crocker Liu

-Johnson. Need I say more?

-When I moved out here to Phoenix, I met a bunch of distant third cousins including my cousin, Manton.

-The most recent example: Last week, I got someone else's mail in my mail box. Yesterday, when I got home, I saw the postal woman, who happened to be Asian. I saw an opportunity to get rid of this misplaced letter. This is how our conversation went after I handed it to her:

"Excuse me, this isn't mine."
"This isn't yours?"
"My box is 219. This says #321."
"But you are the only one here with the last name Tang."
"Well, that isn't mine."
"Are you sure it's not yours?"
"My name is not Roosevelt!"

I should have pointed out that my name is the name that's on the five other pieces of mail she stuck in my box the last few days.

Well, I suppose what's important is names don't matter to the guys themselves. Would a Crocker or a Leisure by any other name get pestered less to clean his rice bowl and find a good wife?

A what festival?!

What do pigs and Rick Springfield have in common? ... They were both at the Chandler Ostrich Festival which is where I spent my Saturday evening. (If this were a news article, that would be one lousy lead-in) And it turned into a day of firsts--the first time I heard "Jesse's Girl" live and the first time I ate an ostrich burger. Not bad. Juicy.

The suburb of Chandler, which is just 20 minutes away from central Phoenix, drew a pretty big crowd for this festival. A new friend/acquaintance of mine, Lauren, suggested we check it out. We made it for the 5pm ostrich races. I didn't realize there were people out there who practiced being "jockeys" on these 400-pound birds. Just like horse racing, you have to weigh under a certain weight to ride these creatures.

Needless to say, the whole event was very offbeat. First off, everyone affiliated with the company that travels with the ostriches, emus and pigs sounded like they just stepped out of an episode of "Beverly Hillbillies." The races were pretty funny to watch--as you can tell from the picture below. All the ostriches had cheesy names like "Love Bird" and "Dixie Chick" (whose jockey made a very bad joke about how everyone wants to ride a Dixie Chick). Between races, they had kid volunteers come out and chase emus and chickens around the track. The last race was a camel race. Don't know if you can tell from the picture below, but they had the camel jockeys dress like Arab sheiks and gave the jockeys stupid, un-PC names. One of the jockeys was actually called Mohammed. Oh no they didn't!

Lauren was a good sport and consented to hanging out for Rick Springfield to play at the main stage at 8:30 p.m. I think I was 4 at the height of his 1980s teen idolatry. Still, he's a part of pop culture. And I can't resist pop culture. The man is still pretty good looking 20 years later. And he knows how to work a crowd. But seriously, how did the city of Chandler get him to come? How do you craft a written plea to someone asking them to play an ostrich festival? "Dear Mr. Springfield, We think you would be a great name to put on our talent marquee at the Chandler Ostrich Festival. " I'm sure he thought it would be quite the feather in his cap. Apologies for the bad joke.

Overall, I had a very quirky weekend, which is way better than a boring one. I had forgotten what it's like to hang out one-on-one with someone--who is a girl. I can socialize with people pretty easily, but changing them from acquaintances to friends, that's a hard step. Here's hoping there are more in the future--but perhaps not involving exotic animals.

New airport technology

I've reached a new milestone...my story made the most e-mailed list on Yahoo! news. This morning, I covered the debut of a new X-ray scanner being tested at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The story went on the national wire. It was actually kind of fun near the end when they actually began using it on people. The important thing is if I'm going to be stuck at an airport for four hours, it's not because of a delayed flight but for a real purpose.

Security scanner can see through clothes

Straight to the Lord!

Last month, before I got so sick and then caught up in moving, I meant to post this story I wrote on an 11-year-old Iraqi boy named Hussein. Meeting him was definitely an experience I'll carry around with me for a while. What an amazing little man. He picked up English within his first few months in America. He is polite, rambunctious and funny. And he and I both share a love of Green Day!

Iraqi boy gets new cornea, prosthesis in Phoenix

On a light-hearted note, check out how this guy managing a Christian bookstore in Scottsdale kicked some ass during an attempted robbery!
Manager foils robbery by slamming man's hand in cash drawer
One of the most hilarious stories I've read.

I did it all by myself!

This is probably nothing for most people who have a flair for assembling stuff. But, I am patting--nay, slapping--myself on the back. I put the frame for the futon you see together without any help. OK, so it took me a couple of hours. With only one pair of hands, things kept slipping when I tried to screw them in. There was nobody around to hold it for me. OK, this might have been my second night working on this futon. I bought it for $99 from these guys who "import" furniture (if the word import can apply to bringing things in from CA) mainly because they said they'd be willing to drop it off at the buyer's residence. So yesterday, I dashed home during my lunch hour and this guy named Louie shows up in a very shabby Buick-like car with the box with all the frame parts tied to the roof. But Louie turned out to be pretty nice. He assured me ANYBODY could put the frame together. Sure didn't feel like it last night. I only did Step 2 out of four steps and I was having such a hard time, I found myself having a dialogue with God, asking him why I was so tool-challenged.

So, I felt all the more accomplished when I finished a couple of hours ago. Also felt a little dorky because I jumped up and down going "I did it! I did it! And...nobody else is here." Still, it was a nice feeling. All my life, I've usually waited for someone else i.e. my dad to jump in and do things like dismantle my bed and put it back together in whatever apartment I was moving into during my college years. It's kind of cool seeing what little challenges living solo brings you. Anyway, pictures of my new digs to come.

Sick and tired of being sick

Not all blog entries have to be cheerful little cups of sunshine. I need a space to bitch about how I am sick--AGAIN! I have virtually lost my voice, my throat hurts and my nose has been so stuffed, I couldn't fall asleep last night. I feel like I've tried everything--Tylenol, throat spray, theraflu, syrup--nothing works. It hurts so much and I've fallen behind on my packing.

I want. To. Die.

I hate Phoenix. I hate the weather. I hate the air. I hate how you go from a really hot outside to a freezing inside because of the AC or vice-versa during the winter. I think the ventilation system is one cause for some of my illnesses.

I just can't believe how many times I've gotten sick since moving out here. Let's count, shall we?

July--Dehydration, fever, urinary tract infection.
August & September--ongoing viral thing where I always felt dizzy, sleepless and nauseous
October--fever with flu-like symptoms
December--urinary tract infection--again!
Jan--sore throat, allergies followed by what I have right now.

You can bet I'm never putting down roots here or retiring here. I'll probably die before I get social security. Sometimes I think this city is the worst thing to ever happen to me. Of course I'll probably change my mind whenever I get better. Right now, this sick, bitchy Terry needs to say her peace.

I better have a year of no illnesses in my future!

Ali--still The Greatest for many

Yesterday, Jan. 17, was Muhammad Ali's 65th birthday and I got to see the birthday boy--thanks to work.

At 4p.m., AP's sports department in NY called my boss, Ed, and told him they got word from Billy Crystal's publicist that Billy would salute Ali on stage that night while performing his one-man show, "700 Sundays" at Arizona State. See, we only found out that Ali now lives in a very ritzy enclave of metro Phoenix called Paradise Valley. His move out here was pretty much under the radar. The presentation would happen during intermission between 8:30 and 9 p.m.

Poor Ed had to call around for a photographer. So, our staff photographer had to quickly drive straight from Tucson, two hours away, to get to ASU. After calling a couple of people in our already understaffed bureau, he asked me to go.

In a nutshell, I ended up waiting almost an hour in a sound booth behind the orchestra section at the Gammage Theater for an event that took five minutes. You can see the result here:
Billy Crystal serenades Ali on birthday

I wasn't a happy camper that I had to work late. But I'll admit, afterwards, when I processed everything I saw and the amazement from the theatergoers I interviewed, a part of me was kind of stoked that I got to see an icon like Ali. And it was pretty cool to see and hear 1,000-plus audience sing "Happy Birthday" to him.

The weirdest thing to come out of all this is that I made the AP sports wire. Dude, I suck at catching, kicking and running. The only thing I throw is garbage and that usually doesn't make it into the basket.

A New Year is here now

And with that comes the usual catalogue of resolutions--eat healthier, be nicer, yadda yadda. Here were some of the resolutions I made for myself.

1) Find my own place. Not that I don't appreciate my current living situation, but I feel like having been here nine months and getting the lay of the land, I'm ready to graduate.
Hmmm...well...what do you know?! Done! Yes, I'm in the midst of reading over a lease for a one-bedroom condo that I've verbally agreed to rent. It's only a few miles from where I'm at now. But the neighborhood, dubbed the Biltmore, is a little more upscale. In other words, I won't be able to give a crime scene tour. It's a pretty nice complex. I'll be on the second floor and my balcony overlooks the swimming pool. There's also a fitness center. I guess making use of that is my second resolution, (see below) hehe. I think my most favorite part is that I will have a washer/dryer in my place. Yeah, my rent will spike but hey...you get what you pay for. Anyway, I'll be living there starting Feb. 1. I will be sure to send out a mass e-mail with my new address.

2) Do more physical activity. Yeah, I'm not sure if I want to join a gym. But today I will be starting the first of 10 hip hop dance classes. I saw an ad on craigslist for a teacher out in Mesa which is about 25 minutes away from me. Thank goodness it's only her kiddie classes that she asks to perform in the spring.

3) Cook and eat healthier. I know that may sound funny from the person who keeps winning ice cream but I'm really going to try and prepare my own food and lay off the junk.

4) Travel somewhere. Anywhere. The last time I went anywhere abroad was January 2005 when I went to Thailand, Japan and Cambodia. The last 18 months was spent job hunting. And after that, the only outside-CA trip I took was in April 2005 to...Phoenix! Argh!! This year, I'm determined to go somewhere off this continent.

5) Get one freelance assignment published. I don't care if it's for some little 'zine that prints copies out of someone's garage. I miss doing features. I'd like to have one feature/essay published in a magazine.

Guess that's it for now. These "resolutions" may evolve over the course of the year. But who can predict. And really, isn't that part of the fun?

I have been Santa-ed by Staples

Part laziness, part lack of excitement--there aren't too many reasons for my not updating this blog since Thanksgiving. The last couple of weeks had some ups and downs. Here's a quick rundown:

Day after Thanksgiving--interview shoppers outside, get thrown out of Wal-Mart.
Saturday after Thanksgiving--my mother comes to visit for a week.
Dec. 2-3--attend my friend Sunanda's wedding reception (Mmmm...Indian food!) , go on a cupcake crawl to a couple of bakeries around LA, catch up with several old friends, eat lunch on the patio of a cafe on Melrose (it was just a very LA thing to do--an interesting thing for someone who just came from Phoenix)

In the last week and a half, there have been at least 3 occasions where death kept me overtime at work. I keep getting obit assignments like half an hour before my work day ends.

Maybe about 10 days ago, I had to write an obit for this clown named Emmett Kelly Jr. I felt like Mary Tyler Moore, laughing yet feeling bad about Chuckles. Clowns kind of scare me. That was just a strange assignment.
Last week, I had to write a couple of obits, including one for a soldier who died in Iraq. It did get to a point where I really did not want to talk to another person who had just lost a loved one. You have to remember to show some sympathy and not just dive into asking questions. And "I'm so sorry for your loss" always feels so trite. Well, I'm crossing my fingers that I won't have to talk to anyone for any obit as we get closer to Chrismtas.

Ah, now on to the anecdote behind my entry title. I ordered a bunch of personalized items as X-mas gifts from Staples.com to be picked up at my local Staples. I get this message on Dec. 1 from my local Staples that my order will be ready in five days. So, I show up six days later -- going out of my way off my usual route home--and the guy can't find my order. Since I was out of town last weekend, I was able to call this morning and talk to the woman who manages the print center. She assures me that my order will be ready by 6 p.m. tonight because the printer will be fixed by noon. So, I show up after work and this really nice, older gentleman named Hank looks everywhere and he can tell that I'm getting frustrated. I recount how this is the second time I was told my order would be ready and it's not. So, he finally gets a hold of the manager I spoke with and is stuck on the phone. Meanwhile, a couple of people are lining up for Hank's help. And I'm sitting on a stool off to the side looking very bored.

Being me, I have to project my exasperation to other customers. I ask a woman in line if she's waiting for a personalized item. She says no and asks me what's wrong. Being me, I quickly dive into my plight and how I'm the reason the clerk is stuck on the phone. She gives me her sympathy and says she' s just there to make copies for her daughter but doesn't know how to make 2-sided copies. So, I show her how to use the copier and make her copies for her. It was at that point I figured intros were in order and the woman introduced herself as Elaine.

At that point Hank gets off the phone and Elaine tells him she was already helped, lol. Hank says to me, "I know. I've been talking you up big. I said (to the manager), 'Here's this girl who's mad at us for misplacing her order and she's helping our customers.'" So, Hank then gave me the bad news that the manager had rushed someone else's order thinking it was mine. So, mine was still not ready!

I started giving a schpiel about how Staples should at least deliver my order to my office. It's ridiculous to keep coming out there for nothing. Luckily, Hank read my mind. He said the manager not only agreed to have a courier deliver my order to my work, but to give me my order free of charge. Elaine, who had stuck around to hear how my situation would be resolved, went "GOOD!" It was funny to have this woman I just met sticking up for me, LOL.

If it all holds true, then my X-mas budget will have a signifcant bump. What a funny day. And to think I was worried it would be a completely crappy Monday because some woman called me a f---ing bitch this morning cuz where I stopped on the road during a red light, I was blocking the driveway to a Burger King she wanted to get into. Geez, if I had acted like her at Staples, I would've gotten squat--and rightly so.

Happy Turkey Day

However, I feel like the only turkey. I don't get Friday off. Darn. I have to go out before 5 a.m. on Friday to cover the Black Friday shopping craze. Double darn. Thankful, thankful, what am I thankful for? Heck, I'll be thankful when it's Saturday!

Chocolate fashion show

Model walks the runway wearing an outfit made with chocolate at the Chocolate Fashion Show in New York on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006.(Fashion Wire Daily/Grant Lamos IV)

Chocolate Fashion slideshow

Now, this is one fashion show I could really enjoy. Ironic though that the "fabric" is probably something these models wouldn't sink their teeth into unless they were starving or being offered their last meal.

Toying with a Rockwell

Ziggurat is the latest cool word I have discovered. According to Webster, it is "an ancient Mesopotamian temple tower consisting of a lofty pyramidal structure built in successive stages with outside staircases and a shrine at the top." It's also what's used to describe Maya II, this public installation erected by Norman Rockwell's son, Jarvis, in downtown Scottsdale. After his father died in 1979, Jarvis began collecting all sorts of toys--mostly action figures. I have no idea if one event had anything to do with the other. But in a nutshell, a bunch of volunteers helped him line up hundreds of toys on a pyramid. It's the second time he's exhibited his toys (hence the II in Maya II and Maya is sanskrit for "illusion"). The installation can be interpreted a number of different ways: a slice of childhood nostalgia, a commentary on how the same devotion people feel for deities is sometimes conveyed to pop culture idols, a commentary on mass consumerism, etc.

The piece definiteily stops people in their tracks. I went down to the atrium of the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts where it's on display. It was pretty interesting to overhear other onlookers get excited when they saw an action figure they recognized. Just about every cartoon and comic book character was represented. They were grouped together to set up all these little stories taking place on one narrative. I spotted figures from "He-Man" (Evil-Lynn), "The Simpsons," every Disney movie, many popular Marvel and DC comics, Princess Xena hugging an MC Hammer doll, "Star Wars," "Star Trek," and Japanese pop art from Yoshitomo Nara.

The best part was that Jarvis was there himself and I got to chat with him for a few minutes. A really adorable, jovial 75-year-old man. For those of you who don't know, Norman Rockwell is one of my favorite artists. I like the sentiments and images he portrayed in his art, though I know it was all part of an idealized reality. But it was so cool to talk about those things with his son. He thought I was right on when I said everyone wants those feelings of comfort that a Rockwell painting evokes, even if it's all part of a fantasy. I told him I always wanted to go to the East coast and see a "Norman Rockwell" town. Jarvis said he grew up in that kind of place and it wasn't like his Dad's works. He was pretty frank. He said his region had one of the highest suicide rates. It got so cold in the winter, there was no TV and not much else to do. People were lonely or suffered from anxiety. It's funny. Norman Rockwell was popular before Andy Warhol and other pop artists came along, before there was a pop culture. Now, his art has sort of become part of popular culture and here's Jarvis poking fun at it in a different medium. I know there's some irony in there somewhere.

Maya II -- every fan boy's dream -- at least as much of it that could fit into a camera lens. 

Why is Spock holding a purse? 

Jarvis sets some toys straight. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

In some ways, Halloween is sooo much cooler than Christmas. For the occasion, I thought I'd experiment-bake. I followed this recipe from my cupcake recipe book for "Buried Alive" cupcakes. See below my rather morbid cupcakes. Gives a new take on 'candy ass.' I was going to stick a leg too but it looked too much like some other body part of the male anatomy. Hope y'all have a great and somewhat spooky day!

Butt wait, one more shot 

Reaching with both hands 

Buried up to his neck