grub club #3

grub club #3: corya all you can eat hot pot & bar-b-q. this clement street restaurant was visited by the grub club this past tuesday 8/30/05.



chooser: gemma (she called in and made reservations. we saw the yellow sticky note and it said ‘jama’)
attendants: gemma, jon g, george, abby (for a sec), and me.
best dish: the meat, lots of it. the hot pot was good, but the marinated meat was everyone’s favorite.
honorable mention: gemma, she picked it.
geek of the week: lloyd, cause he can just never show up.
restaurant rating: gemma, jon g, and george said 7. although in the picture george only held up a 6 (she’s an accountant too, makes you wonder).
super bonus: we got the cool corner seat, and a picture from the outside was needed.

shake it like a polariod picture

i met a guy from argentina. he said that americans felt rude upon introductions. at home, when he saw a friend, he would hug them, and kiss each cheek. us americans don’t kiss on cheeks, us americans shake hands.

the handshake itself is a very interesting beast. the handshake used to be like a signature, a guarantee. “shaking on it” was as good as a written contract in a court of law. the handshake is now simply our form of greeting. people say that a handshake is very important. a proper handshake gives the greeted person an impression of your character.

there’s many different types of handshakes. the professional handshake is firm, eye contact is made, and a bit of shaking must go on. this is the handshake that both men and women in a professional environment must have in order to give off the “i mean business” impression.

back in the days, two men would shake hands firmly, as the above noted professional handshake. women would shake hands with men, but it wasn’t really a ‘shake’. the woman would hold out her hand, palm down, fingers pointed towards the ground, and then the man would bring his hand up underneath and simply hold her hand. this lasts just as long as a man to man handshake would last. once in a while i encounter a shake like this, but it’s not so common anymore. personally, i’m not a fan of it either.

then there’s the dreaded wet noodle. i hate these shakes. it’s when a man to man handshake turns out to be a woman to man handshake with two men. that’s right, i go in with a firm handshake and they simply stick out a dangling hand. i end up squeezing the crap out of their hand, and it’s now an awkward state for both parties.

speaking of powerful handshakes, there’s always that one guy who does the python grip handshake. you give him a firm, ready to shake hand, and he comes in with 400psi of bone crushing “hello, nice to meet you”.

the wet palm handshake needs no explanation, and no example.

my most hated handshake is the no look. i hate the no look. people should get slapped for the no look handshake. let me paint the picture: you meet someone for the first time, extend the hand, say your name, listen to –and then forget their name, when your hands meet, they look away. they look away. it’s horrible that they don’t give me 10 seconds of attention upon the first time of ever meeting me. i should slap them, and want to at times.

no look handshakes are ok if it’s not the first time meeting someone. with buddies, chums, friends, or acquaintances a different handshake is then used. all different versions of the second handshake exist. some include hugs, punches, snaps, claps, you name it, it’s been done.

time and place also determines the type of shake you get. with girls, in a fun, party, or nightlife environment, a kiss on the cheek is more normal than a simple hug or handshake. with guys, people you normally wouldn’t give the shake-hug to, get it.

yea, this is what’s racing thru my head as i greet someone. normally all of these ideas contaminate my mind and that’s why i forget the name i just met.

grub club #2



grub club #2: emmy’s spaghetti factory. no the old spaghetti factory, emmy’s. this gem was located in the south-most parts of the mission district on mission. for 9.50 i got 3 meat balls the size of my fist, and a healthy plate of spaghetti. i had the leftovers for dinner today. the food was good, the booth was comfy, and i killed the carafe of water just as we were about to leave.



chooser: me (grub club president, founder, co-chief executive to the western branch, and straight up pimp-daddy-restaurant-chooser)
attendants: jon g, george, victor, ameer
best dish: we all ordered spaghetti, some with meat balls.
honorable mention: jon g’s risotto
geek of the week: three way tie between michelle, gemma, and lloyd (although he’s not even a member yet –you have to at least attend a grub club to be a geek, but lloyd we make exceptions for.)
restaurant rating: i say a healthy 8.5-9, nobody really came up with a number this time? so much for tradition.
super bonus: the spray paint sign, ‘a touch of class’.

"he want's to accomplish one thing, and that is: to get to the future"

-mickey the rat

asphalt

metaphors for hikes



i’ve been hiking with my friend, 'mv killer', for about two months. each weekend we travel 30 miles south of san francisco’s concrete streets and shade casting skyscrapers. woodside had shade casting sequoia trees and dirt paths. we hike about 10 miles, up to 2000 ft above sea level, which takes roughly 3 hours.

at first i was timid on accepting my friend’s invitation to hike. i was in boy scouts, i know what it’s like to hike around in the woods. i didn’t move to the city just to leave it and walk up some trails. my friend and i share many similar interests, maybe i’ll like it now? conclusion: hiking is pretty badass.

i invited a few other friends, some have come along, others have given me the ‘are you crazy’ look. one of my friends says she only hikes to waterfalls. she explained that a hike needs a payoff, like a waterfall.

my good friend, the rat, says (and i misquote) “part of the fun to drinking, is the journey to get drunk”

here’s my life/hike metaphor: i like the hike, not the waterfall.

(i apologize, i hate copy paste aim conversations in blogs, but this one is short and sweet i swear)

him: but after everything, like say you get a job
him: and do well
him: what will it be for?
him: i don't want you to always want more
ameer says: haha
ameer says: i'll always want more
ameer says: there's always more to want
him: i suppose
ameer says: want to learn more, experience more, do more,
ameer says: lose my hunger for more, lose my reason for living
ameer says: *am i wrong? to hunger!
ameer says: =)

i don’t hike for waterfalls, i just like the hike.

gift horses


"you don't look a gift horse in the mouth"

i just learned:
looking at a horse's teeth will reveal the horse's age, common knowledge that obviosly isn't so common these horseless days. that's where the saying comes from. all along i was thinking that horses have to eat, thus a free horse means you still have to pay for the horse's food.

Grub Club




my friends in san diego eat at a cheap, fun, large portion restaurant called sushi deli every wednesday. shine or shine, (cause there is no rain in san diego) deli night will happen.

i’ve always been jealous of this reoccurring event. going to eat with friends on weekdays really smoothes out the monotony of a 9-5. so georgette and i decided to start a nor-cal grub club. the founding members: me, george, jon g, gemma, and michelle.

our mission: to eat at a different restaurant each time we meet (biweekly). the location is chosen by one of the members, anyone can attend, and everyone must eat and discuss the cuisine. we rate the restaurant, and take pictures for the blog post. i am the designated scribe, and will document the experience.

grub club #1: burma superstar clement and 4th ave
chooser: georgette
attendants: georgette, me, jon g, gemma, and michelle
best dish: tie between me and michelle (firey chicken and tofu and tower of tofu)
honorable mention: george’s pork curry
geek of the week: gemma with her appetizer
restaurant rating: 7 fingers up (as you can see george and gemma’s pic)
super bonus: ice cream afterwards at toy boat dessert cafe


interesting event: jon g riding the horse

with a bit of time, an old picture with frame (free), and a cool magazine spread, this is what i do to my walls.

disclaimer: i am not a political blogger nor a terrorist, but i do have something to say about this london incident, so read on only if you want my uneducated opinion of this whole ordeal.

let’s recap the events that took place. london was hit by 4 separate bombs, in the morning during rush hour traffic. every bit of media turned its full attention to the bombings and deaths. administrators around the world reacted to the bombings by beefing up their security measures. and everyone went to sleep safe, sound, and ok.

now i’m going to make some assumptions here base off of what i like to refer to as uncommon sense (aka deductive reasoning). most terrorists don’t have down syndrome. using 4 bombs capable of destroying a bus, strategically placed, that only kills 56 people is more than a hopscotch jump further than pathetic. killing people was not their intention. why then?

again, two weeks later what happens? 4 more bombs are detected, or go off in the same city. london goes up in panic, nobody gets hurt. cnn spends all day showing british leaders examining the incidents. george bush tells the americans that we’re not afraid and that we’re going to tighten up and fight for our freedom.

8 bombs, a few killed, and tons of coverage later, where are “the terrorists” at after all of this?

new york subways have tightened security, they got twice as many security guards manning the subways. from a terrorist perspective, new york just showed us it’s weakness, and plans to guard it. but who’s guarding it? does the government have a huge task force of anti-terrorist subway searchers, or do they have doughnut dunking police men who get paid a boatload to work overtime hours. in my opinion, we just exposed our weakness to the “terrorists” and then proved that we can’t even cover them up.

55 deaths in one day is the equivalent of bill gates losing 55 cents in the wash. an organized, covert terrorist group that now knows the weakest points of the main arteries in most 1st world nations is like me getting bill gate’s bank account.

once again, i’m no political person. i watched cnn for, 2 hours at work, during the first bomb fiasco, and then 30 mins of today’s bombing incident. personally, i don’t think that the way we handled this was the right way. if i knew the right way, then i would most likely be a political person, and try to do something about it. instead i think i’ll just post this blog and drink my coffee.