illo friday: cats
click for a larger view!
i love all these star wars parodies, but did you guys ever try this? it's the best: the sith sense
darth vader can read your mind in 20 questions. sometimes it took more than 20 questions, but he read my mind every time! i even thought of a turnip and he read my mind.

busy week! last night was m.i.a.'s concert (astro is right, very exotic music but i found many of her songs sounded the same) and tomorrow night is metric. coincidentally both concerts were/are at the phoenix concert hall. so along with obligatory dinners and parties this upcoming weekend, my explorations into hermit-hood have to be put on hold for this week ...
which is a little bittersweet because i want to populate my new online store with more items! my paypal verification went through and now i can start promoting the happy d five-and-dime. what do you think?

the mystery seed that 'a' planted at the you grow girl book launch party was a sunflower. which is a funny coincidence b/c along w/ my cosmos seeds, i sowed sunflowers too. three out of the four are developing heads, so hopefully i will have 3 more nice sunflowers blossoming on my balcony.
although, i'm probably jinxing my sunflowers by assuming that they'll bloom. earlier in the summer i thought i would have a bountiful harvest of tomatoes, but instead i only have 2-3 tomatoes on each of the plants. booo
lessons learned from my first year of balcony gardening is that plants need bigger planters!
tonight i made a pretty successful attempt at hiyashi chuka (japanese style, cold chinese noodles). i think i did ok, but next time i'll have to add a bit more vinegar to the sauce (kakejiru). a friend brought sake and another couple brought daifuku for dessert. a very japanese evening indeed!
some cool canadian chicks: