恭喜發財!

[muckefuck]

A little early, but tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and some people wouldn't have been able to enjoy the sweets I brought in. I wasn't the only one thinking of this at class last night: Mo4zhu1 brought in a bean paste bun and Liu3 lao3shi distributed "lucky candy". Unfortunately, I had to rush home afterwards in a futile attempt to get my place into better shape for the holiday. I wasn't up to any heavy cleaning, so I sat and did the li4shi4 instead. Hopefully, our guests will be more pleased with this year's filling than they they were with last year's faux-antique coins.

Last weekend was a marathon of preparation squeezed in around a parental visit. Friday monshu and I hit Sam's for the non-Chinese spirits we wanted to have on hand. Saturday morning, we started cleaning in earnest; I kept working until it came time to leave for our dinner date at Fogo de Chão. Don't be impressed: We made 4 p.m. reservations so we'd actually be able to get some sleep that night. Unfortunately, the Curse of the Mexican Train kept me up until midnight anyway, causing me to get a late start on Sunday. I must've looked at not hundreds, but definitely dozens of vases over several weeks before finally settling on a white crackle glaze beauty from Q-Ideas which we filled with tall stems of lucky bamboo. While there, I simply couldn't resist picking up a miniature orange tree that, hopefully, will take me a long time to kill.

After we got all this home--along with a faux-celadon jardiniere for the tree, a set of blue-and-white rice bowls, a Chinese-style soup tureen, and bright red placemats--we set out again for the food. I'll be very curious to find out how some of the strange stuff I bought for the big vegetarian dish--"cloud ears", "golden needles", "curd bamboo", and the like--actually tastes. But right now my concern is being healthy enough to cook it all. I always dread planning events in wintertime because I know how likely I am to fall suddenly ill. I've had a very good run this winter, but whether from exhausting myself or the change in weather or both I'm developing a cold that I plan to nip in the bud. Send health karma my way! (Those of you have an excess of it; the others--y'all know who y'are--will benefit from any extra I end up with.)

Comments

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

I am SO HAPPY.

It's the Year of the Cock.

My favorite!

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

No prizes for guessing my favourite year in the cycle!

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

Dang. I could use a prize.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I have leftover li4shi4 with your name on it!

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

If only I knew what li4shi4 was!!

[lhn.livejournal.com]

Lux (as in the soap brand) evidently, though I'm guessing that's not what muckefuck was talking about. (If I were you, I'd hold out for "supernatural beings who protect the buddhadharma[sic] and whose weapon is the Vajra-mallet", whose association with the Medicine Buddha makes them seem more promising.)

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

That sounds right up my alley!

[goreism.livejournal.com]

It's "利市" or money packets. At your local Chinatown, they probably call them leihsíh.

[bunj.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the Curse of the Mexican Train kept me up until midnight anyway...

You make it sound like an intestinal disorder.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

In much the same manner did it keep me from my slumber.

[goreism.livejournal.com]

新年快樂，紅包拿來 and all that sort of thing!

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

歲歲平安!