Caroline Winter explains “Why do we capitalize the word ‘I’?“

Last time Kevin Mahogany, the big man with a big, beautiful tone, captivated us. He will be performing at the Kennedy Center on September 26 and we can’t wait to see him again. We have booked the 9:30 spot. So if you’ll be in D.C. area, come and join us. Head over to the Kennedy Center web site for more info.

My sister-in-law left us two admissions for IKEA’s annual crayfish party before she and her husband went to Mexico for their honeymoon. Yesterday my wife and I attended and cleaned up about five or six plates of jumbo crayfish served cold in Swedish style. The crayfish are so big and meaty that they tasted as good as the lobster tails. The meatballs were also delicious. It was definitely worth $10 per person. The only thing that missing was a pitcher of beer. They did served non-alcohol sparkling wine, which was not so bad.

Although the party was not too crowded, half of the people are Asians. I thought I ate a lot. A Chinese couple sat next to us must have 10 full plates, and they were mad skinny. We couldn’t keep up with them. We finished up the party with a blazing apple pie and a cup of Swedish coffee. Walked around IKEA to digest our food and felt in love with some of its kitchen, bedroom setups. We can’t wait to get our own home.

Big thanks to the sister-in-law and her husband for a wonderful treat. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for the party next year.

Ngoc Anh has a smoky yet sleepy voice. Depend on the tune, she either sounds intoxicating or snoring. Her newest album Romance Cho Anh (Tinh Khuc Phu Quang) juggles in between.

“Trong Anh Chop So Phan” is not a bad starter. The arrangement is vigorous. Her voice is exhilarating along the rock-inflected production. But then on “Chuyen Binh Thuong So 7,” the song is as mundane as its title suggests and her voice starts to get drowsy. The classical “Romance No.1” drifts off further into sleep and the retreated arrangement doesn’t help much either. “May Xua,” a duet between Ngoc Anh and Ha Anh Tuan, is perfect for brunch music. The tune opens with elevator keyboard, and then joins by fake trumpet, wimpy guitar and airline drums to the Caribbean. Their voices are simply bland and unaffected.

“Loi Rieu” picks up where the opening track left off. On the slow-pop arrangement, she is hypnotizing. “Romance No.2” is a standout piece in which she could ride the classical wave. The closeout is another version of “Trong Anh Chop So Phan.” The classical orchestration makes this version much more powerful than the first.

I am going to get me a fish pedicure one of these days since the location (8643 Richmond Highway) is closed to where I live. My only concern is that will they make me pay if my feet kill all the fish? From Delaware Online:

Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. John Ho, who runs the Yvonne Hair and Nails (www.yvonnesalon.com) salon with his wife, Yvonne, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far.

Via Zen Corner

Diana Krall on Piano Jazz. It’s a real treat, folks.

A beautiful blog from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology chronicles a major redesign of the Lab’s website.

This Hong Kong film looks wicked, so is the web site.

Ludacris’s new song “Politics” doesn’t help Obama at all, especially with lyrics like: “Paint the White House black and I’m sure that’s got ’em terrified / McCain don’t belong in any chair unless he’s paralyzed.” Ouch!

I have been wondering about what makes people cheap. I am referring to their spending or rather not spending habit. I am not talking about trying to save money, but more to the extreme. Let’s say that you have a friend who hardly puts out his share when you guys hang out. We all have a friend or two like that I am sure.

Is cheap something people are born with or they growing into it? Some say they are born with it. No matter how rich they are, if they were born cheap, they will be cheap for life. I know people who make six figures, yet they nickel and dime even their own relatives.

I argue that cheap is something you adapt to, especially if you come from a hardship background. When I was growing up, I witnessed what my mother had gone through to make money, and that makes me think twice about spending money. She worked in a sweatshop making 50 cents a pop, and often time, she had to skip lunch to compete with her coworkers. That image creeps up on my every time I make a purchase I am not sure if I should get it or not.

So I admit that I do think hard when throwing out money, but not to the point of extreme. As long as you don’t take advantage of me, I don’t take advantage of you. If we go out and you cover me this time, I’ll cover you the next. I don’t know if I am cheap or not, but I know that I am not a big spender. And that brings me to the next point.

Do people know that they are cheap? It doesn’t take much to see if people are cheap or not, but do they know that they are cheap? Or they just simply don’t care as long as they don’t have to touch their pocket. Is there any psychological study that explains the characteristic of cheap?