ann's friend tony

ann can't seem to stop talking about this man:



for those of you who aren't in the know, that is anthony bourdain - chef, author and tv host. first, her obsession began with his travel channel program no reservations, in which he journeys around the world to exotic locales such as malaysia, paris, and even las vegas, to explore the culinary delights each place has to offer. from his first sip of absinthe in paris, ann was hooked. she dreams of accompanying tony (yes, she calls him "tony" as if he was her best friend) through the hills of northern thailand in search of spiciest yellow curry and fantasizes about sharing balut (a filipino delicacy of partially-incubated duck eggs) arms entwined. click here to see her buddy eating the still-beating heart of a cobra.

ann is currently reading kitchen confidential and can't help but comment on their kitchen utensils as she and dabney rustle up dinner, "why do we have all these knives!? tony says all we need is one sharp chef's knife. tony says a good saute pan should be heavy enough to kill a man with one sharp blow. this pan wouldn't dent a pillow!" now, every restaurant can't come without bourdain-guided scrutiny, "i bet this bread was recycled from another table."

so if you notice, ann not ordering seafood on a monday, you'll know why.

crafted in the u.s.a.

while away, ann and dabney received news that their not-so-beloved oompa loompa tv finally passed on with "a pop, a hiss" and a distinct smokey smell.

so upon their return, and after wading through waist-high junk mail, they promoted their tiny and seldom-used bedroom tv to the living room and gave it the tivo medal of honor.

what their miracle box had in store for them was the first three episodes of made in the u.s.a. - karim rashid's reality competition for burgeoning inventors. need you ask if ann and dabney sat right down and watched it? you need not. as two people who are trying constantly to make new things (albeit on a decidedly smaller scale), it was a fascinating glimpse at the process folks go through to quality test, package, and sell their products. on the show, testers examined, pounded, and even blow-torched some of the prototypes to gauge their durability.




so prompted, ann and dabney let feidler walk around and drool on their journal covers for a little while. they were then deemed ready for the home shopping network.

real or epcot? the ANSWERS.

earlier this week, superette celebrated its first quiz, real or epcot?

ann and dabney are sad (but really quite pleased) to report that no one identified all eight correctly.

here are the answers:

A.

REAL. this is the national museum in bangkok. an easy one for those of you who have been to epcot; there is no thailand in disney world.


B.

EPCOT. dabney standing in front of "japan" - just behind her "the house of yakitori" though ann couldn't find a skewered item in the place.


C.

REAL. guilin, china. a gorgeous park.


D.

REAL. the dragon pools in lijiang, china. ann and dabney rented a rowboat for a couple of hours just to get this picture.


E.

REAL. a lot of people had a hard time with this one. ann and dabney believe it is the carefully-maintained floating flowers of greenery that threw everyone off. but it is really the imperial teahouse in shanghai, china.


F.

REAL. the imperial palace, also in bangkok.


G.

EPCOT. the dude in the white sneakers in the background gives this one away, no?


H.

EPCOT. this one threw a lot of people off. ann and dabney admit this one is tough, but that's the magic of disney, folks.

15 minutes at the airport

ann and dabney welcomed ashbloem in tampa on friday evening.

incognito, of course.








who is this good-looking hombre? and just where did he buy his grey mustache?

floreeedaaaaa!

ann and dabney are not florida-bashers. an actual resident until she was eleven years old, dabney's seen the parts of florida that are beautiful to behold. sometimes eerie and creepily beautiful, but beautiful all the same. you skeptics, turn a blind eye to disney world for a moment.

there's the ocala national forest.




blue spring state park, where manatees go in the winter months.




st. george's island.




that said, there is little in st. petersburg, florida to recommend it (besides a free place to stay while ann and dabney are here, and $69 one-way jetblue flights). but one of the town's bonafied saving graces is the aveda institute, where you can get highlights and haircuts for seriously little money. granted, students will be doing your hair, but they are supervised students. and, sure, both of your butt cheeks will fall asleep in the four hours it takes them to complete six foils, but at least it will only cost you $30 for the experience. that's worth a little ass tingling, isn't it people?

the miracle of IM

when ann and dabney are on the road, they tend to spend a lot of time in places that provide free wi-fi to their customers (starbucks, a.k.a. fourbucks, a.k.a. charbucks, needs to get a clue).


ann having a conversation with ashbloem


their conversation

ashbloem: God, I have to clean my fucking apartment. I'm living like a pig.

annie-san: :) there is this guy sitting next to me with the weirdest hairdo
its very... farrah
farrah in that famous poster of her in the bathing suit.

ashbloem: oooo. He sounds very Florida.

annie-san: true, but his hair is unique.
i wonder if he uses hot rollers...
it looks like he does.

annie-san: i have to get a picture.

ashbloem: do it.

last day

here are ann and dabney looking forward to their last day of awkward attempts at conversation with family and finding ways of filling long days in florida.




how about look for boats? (= 5 minutes)




or search for shells? (= 20 minutes)




ann wondering what to do with the rest of the day

crazy korean friend

this is girlladyfriend.




this is the inside of her freezer.



any questions?

matisse's secret addiction

turns out matisse was a fabric ho too. over his lifetime he collected tons of textiles to use in his paintings, or just for inspiration. if you look at his work (as ann and dabney were able to do last weekend at the met), all those bold colors and patterns you see are from the algerian, islamic, moroccan, turkish, and spanish cloth he picked up on his travels.



he also had a thing for contemporary couture gowns, or romanian peasant blouses for that matter, when they were at the height of fashion in Paris in the early 20th century.

ann and dabney have the fabric hoarding thing down, if only they could learn to paint...

real or epcot? a quiz.

A.


B.


C.


D.


E.


F.


G.


H.

answers will be posted next week.

a few nyc shots

hunting for trimmings in the garment district


ann was fascinated by these appliqued tape dispensers


in bryant park with lindsey, our favorite disinclined blogger


mandoo bar in koreatown


being a nerd with girlladyfriend

uh... pass the pepper?

ann and dabney are now in the big apple, escorting ann's aunts and uncle around the city. and by escorting they mean putting them on the gray line bus for a day of sightseeing, then meeting them at the hotel in time for dinner.



all three of them are exceedingly kind. two of them are from the philippines and this is their first trip to the u.s. YOU'D be visibly excited, wouldn't you? but good lord, are they ever impassive and quiet. trying to figure out what the three of them want to eat, let alone what they would like to do each day, is an exercise so futile it is easier to get feidler out of bed in the morning after missing a day of arthritis medicine. ann went to the bathroom during dinner last night, and the only words exchanged during those three excruciating minutes was uncle rene saying that he had chapped lips.

even worse, one of ann's aunts fell down their apartment stairs while in boston, sprained her ankle, and currently limps. so she is not only quiet, she is quiet and SO SLOW. each new york block seems like an entire freakin' mile when you are walking less than 1 mph and NOT SAYING A SINGLE WORD.

the five of them are headed down to florida on friday. the plan is to go to disney world for a couple of days, then just hang out (you know, chatting casually while laying out on the beach or by the pool) for the remainder of the time. in st. pete of all places. so, instead of comments this week, we are pleading for conversation starters. the advice of any age 50+ filipinos is especially welcome.

everyone should look that good getting out of prison...

if anyone caught susan lucci's comment on martha's new show this past week, they were not alone. ann and dabney tivoed martha's first week of episodes, and sat down to watch them for the first time a couple of nights ago.



it's a slightly surreal experience, watching the lifestyle diva talk about the nachos she microwaved in prison, the crab apple jelly she made in prison, the scarf she crocheted in prison, the people she met in prison, and the cheese grater she macgyvered...in prison. it's totally the right way to go - addressing her stint in the pokey head on and with humor, but so far mark burnett's little humanization project is a little over the top. even the theme song to the show asks us to take a fresh look at the 64-year-old. so far, celebrity-assisted projects have included folding a t-shirt and making scrambled eggs. although ann and dabney are happy to see her back in the saddle again, it will be interesting to see if she returns to the thing that they love best, which is showing folks how to do something they didn't know how to do before.

anniversary numero deux

ann and dabney got married (one of three times) exactly two years ago today! although they will spend the day on a train to new york, with relatives, they will nonetheless be thinking about the commitment ceremony at massmoca that they loved so much.



although feidler wasn't there in the flesh, he was there in spirit.


the smith and wellesley contingent (although you can't tell, the wellesley folks outnumber the smith folks about 4:1).


scenes from the polaroid photo booth


future crazy bride giving the toast


for you crafty people out there, ann and dabney made all the table centerpieces (and their bouquets) out of paper flowers. they also sewed the lime green table runners. because, again, they are nerds. even on their wedding day.


many, many, many thanks to the incomparably sweet jenbrown who sent ann and dabney the greatest text message this morning and made their day.