Thursday, December 08, 2005

Ne-Yo aka Shaffer C. Smith


Ne-Yo. (A producer friend named him after a character in the Matrix.) I met him on December 7, 2005 at the Escape Ultra Lounge. He is a cool kid. I think this mostly because when we were introduced he shook my hand with both of his and I liked how he kissed my hand. It was so polite. He opened for Trey Songz, but at the end of the night, I was much more intrigued by him. How'd he learn how to write? How'd he get into all of this? The kid's only 22.

At the show, I liked watching all the girls drool all over him. His life is interesting to me right now (as with most r&b and hip hop stars). I wonder what it's like to have so many girls crowd around you just so that they can get a picture...and if he'd prefer, much more. And Trey Songz...he knows how to flash that smile at all the girlz. The game....

Ne-Yo, he just stood in close proximity to me for a while and watched Trey Songz perform. He had such a quiet demeanor. And carried himself in a way that made you always wonder what he was thinking and how he was going to incorporate it into a song. Maybe it's because he has such serious eyes...it's calming.

Trey Songz on the other hand...seems like a ball of energy. My first thought when I saw him on stage was , "Dude, I can take this guy!"...he is so skinny...and then when he took off his shirt I realized...yeah...he's got muscle definition and as much as I'd like to think that I could beat his a** down in arm wrestling...it ain't gonna happen. It was weird, I was rather disappointed with that epiphany.

And Ne-Yo he has a website: http://www.iam-neyo.com/. I was only able to find two other good articles about him...and they say some pretty good things about him - calling him a "master in the art of storytelling" and the praise includes his "vivid imagination and creative energy". His style of music is defined as "infusing pop melodies to rich, soulful production" which "reveals his voice to be clean and almost elated, but rich". As for his character, they say he's charismatic...and based on my short encounter with the fella, I'd have to agree.

What a cutie...I wish we were friends. We'd be porch friends. I imagine we'd have popsicles together in the summer and we wouldn't talk much. But he'd say cool little insightful things and I'd be drawn in. And I'm sure I'd show him some cool magazine clippings that I found interesting...and he'd make impressed facial expressions, widen his eyes and say, "cool."..and that'd be that...after our lazy afternoon together he'd bid me a good evening and go back to have dinner with his family...for that's exactly what a polite boy like him would do. Easy care-free hanging out. We all need porch friends and Ne-Yo...in my mind...he'd make a good one.

And all of this babble...that's what being starstruck is all about...for it's so nice to imagine things to be absolutely perfect. Because like any track on his album - each song only has to capture a moment - and perfection...it's easy for 3:43 minutes, right?

I'm a Big Kid Now

It's so funny when people show you pictures of yourself from a long time ago that you haven't seen before. It's like you're meeting yourself all over again. May just sent me this picture that her mom "doctored" up for her. From left to right: it's me in the green!, May's mom, May, Lynda, Hattie (I think) and "Malia" (really, it's Maria, but no one could ever pronounce the r - and she's Hattie's mom).

I look like a boy. I like my sporty outfit though.

I wish I could start all over again. (Sigh).

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Mochi Links for Nicole

Nicole - this is for you. I was thinking again today how happy I am to have a friend like you :) You have so many great qualities...including how you keep promising Jason's presence to our club adventures. Like I said, I'll believe it when I see it...in the mean time...let's make mochi balls. :)

Not so glamourous...but seems to get the job done:
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/rice/r/ohagi.htm

Japanese Oak Tree Mochi Cake:
http://husky1.stmarys.ca/~hwoo/ppi.html

Ooo...oooo...an Island surprise...HAWAII
Okinawan Sweet Potato Poi Mochi:
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Dec/29/il/il25a.html

Green Tea Mochi:
http://www.recipezaar.com/129134

Mochi and more ideas:
http://www.grainaissance.com/recipes.html

Family mochi recipes:
http://www.kuidaosumi.com/recipes/mochi.html

A book of mochi recipes I may have to buy:
http://www.janmstore.com/lesyampichaw.html

Hmm...a mochi project...deserves more brain time:
http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/folklore/folk15/Cindy%20Wong/home.html

Banana Cream Mochi
Mango Mac Nut Mochi
http://starbulletin.com/2000/08/02/features/request.html

Chi Chi Dango Mochi
http://holiday.allrecipes.com/az/ChiChiDngMchi.asp

Butter Mochi
http://foodgeeks.com/recipes/recipe/6460,butter_mochi.phtml

I didn't know Hawaiins were so into Mochi:
http://alohaworld.com/ono/viewrecipes.php?category=Mochi

If it weren't for Rich, I wouldn't know to look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi

Never thought of this website before:
http://www.answers.com/topic/mochi-1

This should keep us busy for awhile. I need to go back to do a more thorough review. I feel like a modern day archeologist. There is so much I don't know about life.

Places to Go

I need to do a better job of organizing my social calendar. So I will write down the places I want to go here. And when I actually do it...I'll enter in a separte blog entry for what I thought...that way whoever looks can keep me accountable...right? Like uh...so what's up with your "to try" list getting longer and longer?

Dakota Jazz Club
http://www.dakotacooks.com/calendar.htm
(Have not been here since last summer.)

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Chocolate Adventure a la Venora

Next year I'm going to plan a day trip where we can visit local chocolatiers and confectionary stores. I am going to do 15 minutes of research right now so I thought I'd jot down my notes here:

Legacy Chocolates
St. Paul, MN
http://www.legacychocolates.com/
(Actual Store)

Knoke's Chocolate
David R Knoke Owner
Hudson, WI 54016
http://www.knokeschocolates.com/store/index.php
(I think this is an actual store)

Silver Moon Gourmet Foods
Plymouth, MN
http://www.smfoods.com/
(Wholesale? Contact these ppl)

Wuollet
Multiple TC locations
http://www.wuollet.com/
(These ppl make wonderful chocolate cakes)

Chocolat Celeste
St Paul, MN
http://www.chocolatceleste.com/
(Mmm...a store I have yet to visit.)

Jamie's Truffles
http://www.jamiestruffles.com/
(No actual location, but contact them)

Creative Confectionaire
Hasting, MN
http://www.creativeconfectionaire.com/
(Actual Store!!!)

Just Truffles
St. Paul, MN
http://www.justruffles.com/
(Actual Store!!!)

Mr B Chocolatier
St. Cloud, MN
http://www.mrbchocolate.com/
(Actual Store!!!)

River Chocolate Company
Location Kitchen - 203 County Road URiver Falls, WI 54022
Contact Information Allen Whitney 715-273-3731

The Prairie Chocolatier
10301 Laurel Dr. Eden Prairie, MN 55347
Phone: (952) 943-8169
E-mail: sales@premiumfudge.com
http://www.premiumfudge.com
(Warehouse, contact them?)

Event I have to remember to go to on March 19, 2006:
http://www.tasteofchocolate.org/

My own collection of chocolate links:

This looks cool, a lot of information about chocolate:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/exploring_chocolate/index.html

Some other person's chocolate links...I need to explore some more:
http://www.chocolate.org/chocolatelink.html

This looks interesting...the show is now in Milwaukee...mmm....
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/

I love the BBC...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/chocolate/

Omigod...chocolate school. It looks like it's only for a week. Something to think about...
http://www.ecolechocolat.com/news.htm

Nicole introduced me to this chocolatier:
http://www.btmcelrath.com/

The Thinker

Not sure about what yet though. Will let you know when I figure it all out.