A Slow and Cinematic Start to 2007

After a very eventful and exciting holiday trip to Chicago and San Francisco, Tiffany and Zach have taken the first two weeks of the month to recover from jet lag and the flu, as well as catch up on all the Oscar contending movies that are now flooding the pirated DVD stores. While it is slightly annoying to have 'For Award Consideration Only' running at the bottom of the screen during the likes of 'The Departed', 'Little Miss Sunshine' and 'Borat', you can't beat the price: $1 per DVD.

And what's even better is the innovative, local competition. So much for subtle marketing, within weeks of 'Movie World' opening on our block, their rival, titled 'Even Better Than Movie World' opened directly across the street. Needless to say, with the current discounts, we've been able to catch up on all the new flicks for next to nothing, and entertaining ourselves as we recuperate.

There's one person who has not been happy about Zach and Tiffany's 'recovery month'. After returning home early one day due to a splitting headache, Tiffany entered the apartment with thoughts of curling up on the couch and watching one of the blockbusters acquired from 'Even Better Than Movie Store'. Her plans were foiled when she ran into the 'ayi', Chinese name for maid. Granted, labor is cheap, and 'ayis' can be secured for $1/hour (we've tried to pay ours in pre-watched DVDs, but she didn't seem to like that idea), but poor Tiffany learned that a positive attitude isn't included. Instead of a friendly hello, the ayi literally, in a loud and chiding voice, bellowed (translation) WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHY ARE YOU RETURNING AT THIS TIME? Tiffany had half a mind to ask who actually paid rent on the apartment, but unfortunately, hasn't gotten that far in her Chinese class. So a mere shrug and a smile had to do, as she shuffled off to sequester herself in the bedroom, hiding from the bulldog that is our ayi. Poor Zach ran into the same attitude when returning early from a business trip due to the flu. While a negative attitude is never fun to deal with when you're sick, we figure it's a small price to pay for clean floors and ironed clothing!