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today i was under the shadow of two freelance projects, waiting to hear back about their status. my father came by sometime around noon to give me a ride back to belmont so i could go vote. before i could do that though, i went with him to chinatown where he had to go pick up some supplies from ming's super market. you'll never know what you'll see in one of those chinese supermarkets. i saw a special replacement gas burner head used for serious wok cooking that had two dozen flame nozzles. i was tempted to get one and install it on my own gas range just to have one burner shooting out flames in every possible direction.


packets of octopus

red hot peppers

taiwanese cucumber

we left chinatown by cutting through the south end and back bay. very nice weather, perfect for photo taking, which i did from the window of the car. it's a real art form taking photos from a moving vehicle. you have to anticipate the shot beforehand and take into account that you're moving and factor that into when to hit the shutter release. still, it's pretty much hit or miss.

in belmont by the fire station near my parents' house, i voted for the second time in my life. i figured it'd be all complicated and i even brought id to show them who i was, but turns out i didn't need any of that stuff. once you've registered, all you have to do is to go to the same voting place every year and they have a record of who you are. and it's all free, you'd think for something this important, you'd have to pay some sort of service fee just like everything else in life, but i guess that's one of the hallmarks of a democracy, free voting. voting brings back memories. the last and very first time i ever voted was in the presidential election between al gore and george dubyah bush. i also got laid off on that day as well, my very first layoff (you never forget your first layoff). the best of times, the worst of times. i ended up voting for shannon o'brien, although even up until i got out of the car, i still wasn't sure who i was going to choose, her (democrat) or mitt romney (republican). earlier in the day i aim chatted with eliza and i gave her this big complicated reason on who i should vote for: not mitt because he's a republican, even though i like him more, and despite the fact that i despise shannon o'brien, i'd vote for her just so the republican can't win the state, even though third party candidate jill stein (of the green party) was most deserving of my vote, but in a tight case i couldn't afford to vote for my conscious. both my parents who had voted here earlier went with shannon, so i just decided to do the same as well, or as i told julie lepage (who also went with shannon), "the lesser of two great evils." then for the other candidates (none of whom i knew, except for senator john carrey who ran virtually unopposed) i voted democratic throughout.

my father took me back to cambridge but not before making a quick stop at the cambridge savings bank on mass avenue. outside the parking lot was a weird sign, "no parking, violators will be towed perfunctorily." i had to come home and look that one up in the dictionary. per-func-to-ri-ly. five syllables. who the hell uses the word "perfunctorily", and especially on a sign who's main purpose is to convey in a clear and concise manner that if you parked there illegally, you'd be towed? "perfunctory (adjective) : characterized by routine or superficiality, lacking in interest or enthusiasm." how dare they! i hate signs that uses big words, they make me feel stupid. if i ever get the chance i'm going to burn that sign down or at least heavily vandalize it.

my father helped me put up the last cabinet in the kitchen before he left. now i have three more tiers of shelving space (four more if you count the top of the wall-mounted cabinet). the kitchen is almost finished. the washer/dryer closet door still hasn't been second coated yet. i'm starting to have this feeling now that i'm purposely not doing it for whatever psychological reason just so i can prolong this renovation as long as possible. because face it, the past how ever many months, my life has all been about renovation. once the house is finished, what do i have left? my day to day existence would feel empty. still, i can't avoid the inevitable. probably tomorrow morning i'll finish the door, just an hour of painting, and then i can remove the island of rosen paper still taped around that area.

finally, after the voting booths closed, shannon o'brien lost the gubernatorial race to mitt romney. you'd think i'd be happy since i like the guy, plus the fact that he's a resident of belmont just like i used to be (i lived in belmont for most of my life). it's funny, but i feel like mitt romney is the antichrist. why? i don't mean that literally, but have you ever seen omen iii? the one with the antichrist becoming the president of the united states. i feel like that's what's happening with mitt romney, that today we are witnessing an event greater than just the gubernatorial race, that this self confessed "simple" man from belmont will someday run for the presidency, and by god, he'll win. goosebumps! who knows, let's see what he does with being a governor. maybe he won't be so bad, he's definitely an outsider, not a career politician like a lot of the other candidates. but dear god, how many children does he have? there should be laws. he's rich, he can support them, i'm not worried that he'll go on welfare anytime soon (does that even exist anymore?), but i've always felt people who have a lot of children are greedy breeders who either don't believe in birth control or have a hidden agenda, like, they need to create a blood army. at least i went to go vote today. those who could but didn't, you should be ashamed that you didn't go out and rock the vote like a good american!