i had a chance to briefly chat with wangyan, who's wedding is next saturday. i asked her if she was still planning or was everything ready to go. i also asked where they were going on their honeymoon. i was surprised when i heard back and she told me they were already in greece. i thought maybe i had my dates mixed up and the wedding already happened, but she said they decided to have the honeymoon first before the wedding. she said the reason was because greece was too cold in october, but i think the better reason is because if they left for their honeymoon the first week of october, that's when china has its traditional week-long "golden holiday" and everywhere they go will be crowded with chinese tourists, better to beat the crowd, even though the timing is a little unconventional. but chinese weddings are more like a formality, a lavish food banquet for friends and family, and to receive wedding presents in the form of cash; she already got their marriage certificate back during the chinese new year (february), so they've been officially married for essentially more than half the year already. i asked her if she got tanned in greece, and that maybe people won't recognize her when she returned home. i also asked if they've been eating a lot of delicious greek food, and she answered yes.
first thing i did when i got to belmont was to take a garden survey, as i wouldn't be outside once the jets-patriots game started at 1pm. the second lotus aerial leaf still hasn't opened up yet. i thought maybe this weekend of hot and sunny days might induce it to unfurl completely, but it's still partially curled up. maybe tomorrow it'll finally open up completely. in the meantime, there seems to be a 3rd aerial leaf candidate emerging from the water. i hope it has enough time to develop fully before the autumn chill kills the leaves.
i watered some grass seeds on the lawn, not yet germinated. the hyacinth beans was a no-show during the summer months but now that summer had ended and fall about to begin, they've really taken off, with rampant new growth every day, including plenty of flowers. the flowers are actually edible, both my father and i tried them, a sweet pea-like taste to it with a touch of bitterness.
for lunch i had a pan-fried pancake with some cold oatmeal. while i was eating i was also attaching wire hangers to the 3 pint-size mason jars i got at the dollar store and putting on solar string light lids before sending them outside to recharge in the sun.
i asked my father if he heard anything from the hospital regarding the mini-stroke patient we visited yesterday. all he knew was the son's aunt had come up from new york, so she was taking care of him now. nevertheless, it'd be a matter of courtesy if they let us know his status.
new england was supposed to completely dominate new york, and they did during the start of the game, with 3 quick touchdowns. but the offense slowed after that, couldn't tell why. regardless, victory was assured, especially given the defense was holding the jets to a scoreless game. i went out into the backyard briefly and when i came back i was surprised new york had scored a touchdown. turns out the patriots botched a punt return and the jets simply had to land on the ball in the end zone. something else strange happened: belichick took brady out of the game with the score at 30-7, maybe to protect him from injuries (edelman had already left the game early with an unknown chest injury). but it didn't take long for the backyard quarterback to throw a pick six to let the jets score another easy touchdown. with the score at 30-14, brady came back into the game. without antonio brown, josh gordon reclaims his role as de facto long bomb receiver, and made a few incredible catches. the two touchdowns were given up by the offense; patriots' defense remains perfect this season as not allowing opponents to score a touchdown, the only NFL team with such distinction.
my father made dinner while my mother watched netflix in the bedroom (i was watching football in the living room). he bought some vacuum-sealed refrigerated braised beef from costco which he cooked by boiled them (package and all) on the stove. the beef was okay, although a little sweet. we ate it mixed with rice.
after dinner my father and i continued researching LED grow lights. he'd found one earlier on some chinese website, before i showed him amazon and all the different LED grow lights they had to offer. i've flirted with LED grow lights for a while now, from making my own with strands of red and blue LED christmas lights, to buying my own commercial 45 watt LED panel. the ones we're looking at range anywhere from 600W to 2000W. power consumption is not an issue as electricity at my parents' place is essentially free. the problem is trying to find a legitimate brand, as there are simply too many, and often with suspicious claims or untrustworthy reviews.
i went home to watch the emmy's, didn't even have time for a shower (which is my typical routine when returning home). my upstairs neighbor marti still hasn't come back yet but i'm not complaining, i like it when i'm the only person in the house.
the emmy's defied expectations tonight. i thought veep would sweep all its nominated awards, but it actually got shut out completely. mrs. maisel won a few, with tony shalhoub and alex borstein. fleabag actually won best comedy, and claimed several other awards as well including best lead actress in a comedy for phoebe waller-bridge, and best comedy writing and comedy directing. chernobyl won for limited series, peter dinklage won best supporting actor. billy porter won for lead actor in a drama series, the first openly gay black man. jodie comer won best leading actress in a drama, beating out her costar sandra oh, as well as heavyweights emilia clarke, viola davis, laura linney, robin wright, and mandy moore. finally, game of thrones won best drama, which seemed fitting. during a presentation when members of the thrones cast were up on the stage introducing an award, people were giving loud cheers when emilia clarke talked as well as gwendoline christie (christie was so touched she almost broke out in tears).