So 2005 rolls around and runs me over without batting an eye. Rather than have me (and only me) blabber on about what happened during my winter break, I'll let the pictures do some of the talking.

Took a flight (by which I mean 3) to Rhode Island (no, not a part of Long Island) mornin' of the 20th. One of the stops was O'Hare and just like my return trip to California, my flight was delayed. The difference was that on the way to Rhode Island, my nose wasn't trying to be a water fountain (a bubblah for you natives) and I had the energy to get a shot of the light display between two of the concourses. I've wanted a shot of this for a while now (every time I go through O'Hare on United, actually, which has been quite a few times...).

Not that I'm complaining, because I like the snow, but I when I got on the plane in SB, it was about 67. I got off the plane and it was 7. Whee! I do like the snow and I actually enjoyed the cold(er) weather.

So what did I do at home? Well lots of cooking with the utensil pictured above. Helped my mom cook a lot. And what did we cook?

Dumplings, wontons, spring rolls, scallion pancakes, hong2shao1 pork, chicken wings, some beef with sauce things, egg rolls stuffed with things, fish, shrimp, string beans, and plenty of other untranslatable things. Good stuff. Too many things to name but all the Chinese food I've missed living by myself. I cook for myself and I do alright imitating my mom but she has a much broader repertoire. Plus it's mom's cooking. It's not like it can be replicated or anything.

Well, with cooking comes "oopsidents". Advantage of mom's stove: flat surface, looks nice. Disadvantage: every little spill can get completely on the stove, which is *damn* hot, of course, and therefore things burn and stick to the surface with alarming alacrity. Solution? Cool it off with a lot of water so nothing becomes too dry and hard to wipe off. Take evaporating water, add flash, and we have a smoke shot.

And what do we do with all that food? Entertain! Lots of dinner parties and look at all those guests! At least, since I try to avoid posting pictures of people without their consent, the above shot is a replacement.

And how can we forget the drinking. There's some Clos du Bois pinot noir and Beringer riesling in those glasses. But rest assured, my alcoholic endeavours certainly didn't stop there. I swear I'm not an alcoholic. I swear. I just drink it to make the voices go away.

There was also much lazy reading (The Hobbit for the umpteenth time, I, robot for the umpteenth time, Calvin & Hobbes collections for the hojillionth time), lazy sleeping, and just being lazy. Saw friend, family, friends of the family, family of friends, and even friends of family friends. And I even heard Mrs. Shahinfar call Jason "Shahinfar." I wait patiently for the day of the "mehor."

so 2005's here and there's this whole resolution thing going around. Why not? I could certainly check back next year and see how I do. So here goes:

• Procrastinate less (why am I writing this entry..uh...)
• Run the Big Sur International Marathon and officially finish.
• Read more books: attempt to become half as literate as I try to sound...
• Listen to more music: attempt to become half as musically literate as I try to sound, no pun intended...
• Stop being so damned inconsistent
• Advance to candidacy and have a clue about my dissertation topic
• Keep in touch with friends better
• Stop buying toys/gadgets
• Make it to England in March
• Make it to Boston for SMT national for November
• Teach better (I still feel bad for my students...)
• Be able to hold a basic conversation with somebody in Japanese a somewhat less basic one in French, and at least be able to read German alright.
• Be able to play, polished, the second movement of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
• Get better at sight-reading
• Resolve to achieve a good number of these resolutions solidly (a meta-resolution!)
• Stop wasting time making lists like these and start doing things.

OK, I think Japanese homework is calling my name again (Ma-san, it implores, you best get yo emaciated Asian ass in gear or I'm gonna get all kodaijin on yo hiney.)