This morning, on our way to my parents’ church in Attleboro, MA, I noticed a sign for a Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, and Chinese restaurant called Blue Moon. It’s on Pleasant Street, Rt. 123 in Attleboro. When church was over, I got this craving for a big, tasty bowl of soup like Pho or Udon noodle. I invited my parents and told them I’ll treat. We must have arrived early, because the waitress said they had just opened and weren’t quite ready, but we could sit down for 10 minutes while they got ready. Typical little mom & pop place (my favorite) with a bar in the front room and a modestly decorated dining room in back painted light blue.

I was a little disappointed with the menu. The front side seemed to be all Chinese food and the back maybe half Thai and half Chinese food–good for my dad, who only likes Chinese when it comes to Asian food. But where were the Vietnamese and Cambodian sections?

My dad ordered some combination of chicken and rice and hot and sour soup. He thought the soup was spicier than he’s used to and lacked some veggies that he’s used to. My mom ordered Pad Thai with Shrimp and rice and an egg drop soup which she loved. I ordered a large Tom Yam vegetable soup. The flavor was fantastic–very spicy with a subtle citrus taste. In the soup were broccoli, carrots, baby corn, mushrooms, ginger, and a few other leaves that I’m not 100% sure of. I also tried my dad’s Chinese food and finished off my mom’s Pad Thai. Both were fine. My mom enjoyed hers.

We were served by two waitresses who were both very friendly and attentive. One waitress noticed that I didn’t eat the mushrooms in my soup. She said next time I could order without mushrooms. Nice to know they’re happy to take custom orders. I like to become friendly before asking for customizations.

A dessert poster was on the wall. The waitress brought me a dessert catalog–not a menu–from the company Bindi. She had marked which desserts they offer. She said a proper dessert menu is coming soon. (I just clicked over to their web site and found exactly what we ordered.) I had Coppa Stracciatella (chocolate syrup, chocolate chip gelato, topped with cocoa powder and hazelnuts, presented in a dessert glass cup). It was good and a perfect size so I didn’t overdo it. My mom had Flute Limoncello (refreshing lemon gelato swirled together with limoncello, presented in a champagne glass). I had a taste and it was very flavorful. My dad had ginger ice cream. I tried it and thought it was mild. He said he couldn’t taste any ginger at all.

For all three of us, just drinking water and hot tea, the bill was only $36 and change–very inexpensive for our food and dessert. We liked the service and the food and we’ll definitely be back. Their sign should probably list Chinese food first, but that’s a minor complaint.

Here’s the iPhone 3G S (32 gig) sitting on my desk on Friday, still in its box, just shipped from China. I spent a good portion of yesterday (Saturday) day using it, customizing it, trying out different applications, and moving my data from my old phone onto it. The setup was easy. I had already given Apple/AT&T my former Verizon account information. When I plugged the iPhone into my computer via USB and launched iTunes, it went into a setup process that initialized my phone and transferred my phone service from Verizon to AT&T without me having to think about it. Once iTunes said I was all set, I was all set! I could make calls immediately.

When my phone was initialized, the first thing I did was to place it into the skin I bought last week at the Apple store in Natick, MA. It’s a Speck brand Tough Skin, one of the bulkier iPhone skins that should offer extra shock protection. Although I also bought an anti-glare screen protector, I decided to leave it off for now. I hope I don’t regret that decision. I plan to be very careful as to where I place my iPhone, especially when it’s in my pocket or being transported in a bag.

I love being able to listen to podcasts, e-mail, use Twitter, Facebook, and browse the web on the phone.

The apps that I’ve kept–all free–include:
Google Earth
The Weather Channel
OrbLive Free
Evernote
Just Light
i.TV
Speed Test
Yelp
TweetDeck
AIM
Y! Messenger
Facebook
Skype
MySpace

A photograph that I took of my fiancée Misha is featured in the new issue of KissFist online magazine.

http://read.kiss-fist.com/

Click on issue #5, page 8. My photo credit is on page 81.

I am mentioned in this week’s Boston Phoenix, in an article entitled “Reggae Revivial.” The context is the college radio station where I used to host a reggae music show–WERS 88.9 FM in Boston. Here’s the quote:

There are far too many important college deejays to name here, as, thanks to graduations, Rockers rotates hosts every four years, aging out several loved student selectors like Rudeboy Lincoln, Joshua B, and G-Smith.

The full article is here. You’ll have to click through all five pages to read the whole thing. My mention is on page 3.

Thanks to my friend Mark Leipert for bringing the article to my attention.

Can you believe it? Did you ever think I’d get married? Well, I bought a ring, I proposed, and today my parents, Misha, and her mom checked out our wedding site, so I guess it’s happening. It’s going to take a while for me to believe it too!

Here’s Misha and I at Lake Compounce, on the Sky Ride, just after I proposed:

Here’s a photo taken today at the summit of Mount Holyoke: