Spring Signs

The front page of our local paper showed the butcher balancing 3 eggs on their ends, for equinox (when day equals night). Out of the kitchen window, I spied 5 robin red-breasts pulling worms out of the ground. And yesterday at Whole Foods, I bought myself some shad roe.

{Shad Roe- The egg sack of one of the boniest fish there is. It migrates up rivers from the ocean in the spring to spawn similar to salmon. Actually tastes pretty good cooked almost any way. Available for a short time each spring.}

Never actually having cooked it before, I Googled, Chowhounded, and Epicurioused it-- (really don't want to mess it up). I've finally decided to dredge it in seasoned flour, brown it quickly in bacon fat, and finish it in the oven. Must. Not. Overcook. I'll deglaze the pan with some Balsamic, maybe throw in some capers, and call it my Spring Lunch.

Since I don't have bacon and capers in-house right now, it's time to run to the store again. And in the meantime, i'll try to think which show/jazz tune has the words 'shad roe' in the lyrics...

Who said "idle hands are the devil's play"?

People do all sorts of things with their spare time. Read. Ski. Become a couch potato. This guy, James Horecka, is quite crafty and a monorail fan. Behold the Puppy Mover, which he conceived, constructed, and finished in a single weekend. Impressive. Now where do I purchase tickets?

monorails.org/tMspages/PuppyMover.html/

Puppy love

I love my dog Scarlett-- she's a living, breathing teddy bear. If Nara were to paint us, we'd look like this:
I told you I was/am obsessed.

Who wants a pen pal?

Nara
If you are Asian, single, and of marriageable age, at some point your parents will try to 'help'. Whether or not you actually want this so-called 'help', is actually irrelevant. So, thus, I share this letter that my mom received from my aunt who has a friend with two eligible sons. In Texas. Which I have never visited and is a mere piddly 1541.66 miles from where I am. (thanks, Mapquest)

[The fact that the pictures are so old makes me think that the sons have no idea (and probably want no part of) this matchmaking scheme.] Names changed to protect the innocent.
********

Aunt of Mary,

The boys rarely have their picture taken. Kindly return the pictures after viewing since these are the only pictures taken in the last 4 years. I will return the girl's picture too.

Brian's personal data:
Birthday- 8/11/74
Height- 5'8 or 5'9
Weight- 140 lbs
Very fair complexion

Both boys took private piano & violin lessons until they finished college. Started music lessons when they were 7 years old.
Undergraduate degrees: electrical engineer, biology.
Post graduate degrees: medicine, ph.D.

Brian is currently a 3rd year dermatology resident in Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.

Solo picture taken during college.
Brad's picture taken during his brother's medical graduation 4 years ago.

Please furnish some info on the girl. Thanks.

-Mom of boys

********

Yoshitomo Nara

I love his art-- it's been one of my recent obsessions. I just got some of his books, and they're great- poignant, cute, sassy.
Who knew he's also a poet, in addition to painter?

Here's some text from his book of drawings titled "Nobody knows":
************

From the expanding wachtower
of my frontal lobe,
My thoughts race beyond the dream
mountains to the wide-open wilderness
Where a wafer moon gently melts

In the midst of the milk-white fog
a dog spins around and around

Boarding a plane on the pier of
my heart,
A transfusion line flies off,
Sightseeing its way towards that dog

If the gathered past becomes
the present,
Then perhaps the fragment of
the imploding now that is the dog,
is me, is you, as well

************

a fashion statement to ponder

Cathy Horyn, the fashion critic of the New York Times, wrote about the Raf Simmons collection for Jil Sander on 2/22/06 by starting out like this:

" Tom Ford, in his salad days at Gucci, once said his female ideal was someone who looked like she 'would pour hot wax over her lover before straddling him.' It was a memorable line, and its forced note of aggression -- the woman on top -- tingled with a suspicion that he, like many designers, was interested only in selling an image; he didn't actually know anything about women.

The cold contemporary truth is that women don't need the respect or love of men. They lead lives of exceptional dignity and exceptional aloneness, a quality you see in the work of artists like Katy Grannan, Rineke Dijkstra and Eija-Liisa Ahtila, whose subjects, by virtue of being stripped down and free of props, seem to us not merely real but more perfectly alive."

Is that really 'the cold contemporary truth'? Is exceptional dignity excluded from love- that head-over-heels-madness-rush-of-blood-to-the-head/heart/nether-regions? It strikes me as rather sad, and yet... understandable. Things that are elegant (such as I perceive 'exceptional dignity') are simple and graceful, in a clear and effective way. It's wonderful when love is like that, but oftentimes its not. (God knows i've done some very silly and horribly undignified things in the name of love.) Obviously, the Sander aesthetic is very different than Gucci's. But I love them both, so I guess I'm somewhere between 'hot wax' and 'exceptional aloneness'. And I think most people are, which would make us all quite perfectly alive.

Now my curiosity has been piqued and I see museums and galleries in my near future.

Enough drama

Time for some comedy! My last imrov show is tonight. Then I'm going to ride off into the sunset... or possibly a karaoke bar.

Tonight, Thurs, 9:30 pm

Magnet Theater
29th St and 8th Ave (bet. 7th and 8th, but closer to 8th)
$5- show lasts about an hour.

To Catch a Perv...

On Wednesday, It happened again, for the fourth time in my life. I was a witness to random LEWD conduct. *sigh* I can't even say, "I was flashed", because that would mean the show only lasted a second, the blink of an eye, or maybe a wink- like college humor. Something more easily forgettable.

I sat on the train, not too late at night, but in the conductor's car. Was playing with my nifty new Razr phone, when I looked up and saw that the man sitting across from me had something hanging out of his pants. The color of this 'thing' kind of matched his grey pants. I stared in disbelief. He stared back at me, occasionally glancing around the train. I looked around the car at the other 5 people on the train, but no one else noticed, because he had concealed the side views with his jacket and the train door.

Since I had my phone in hand, I held it up, and snapped a picture. The guy seemed not to notice.

I wasn't going to just sit there and enjoy the view, yet I didn't feel like talking/yelling to him in such a small, enclosed space, so I got up and sat next to the very nice conductor. Who hates perverts on his trains. He asked me if I had a minute to file a complaint, and called the cops.

Meanwhile, the guy had quietly exited at the next stop once he saw me change seats.

The cops came quickly. Polite to me, officiously uniformed, with the most reassuring statures... and all trains stopped. A suspect was found and held. We rode over and as soon as I identified him, the man was cuffed, and I was kept from his sight. (Or was it he from mine?) For the next hour or two, he'd always be within 20 ft. of me, but I'd never see him again. We were driven over to the police station in separate cars. He got fingerprinted. Detectives interogated. My phone got confiscated. (Digital images can be so easily altered, don't you know? Anyway, don't worry, I got my phone back the next day.)

Now I had to figure out if I was going to press charges, how far this would go... how angry/annoyed/threatened/violated/bored/tired/sickened did I feel? How much of my time am I supposed to give a perv, when all I want to do is: 1) put it behind me, BUT... 2) not have him do it again, AND 3) somehow help make riding the train peaceful for all???

I was told that bank robbers don't exactly become bank robbers overnight... and neither do rapists. That it was too soon to know if this guy had a record. And also that these pervs like to target young Asian girls. Because.... maybe we seem less outspoken? Less assertive? Not legal in the country, or aware of our rights?

Well, listen up- that's not me. I'll see you in court.

P.S. I'm not the only person with a voice and a camera-phone. (Which has a handy zoom-in feature, I might add.) Check out this blog:

www.hollabacknyc.blogspot.com/

Yay- Improv, Feb. 16!!!

My last for the near-forseeable future will be Thurs, Feb. 16th.

9:30 pm. $5 Magnet Theater.

254 W 29th St. (and 8th Ave)

www.magnettheater.com/

I'll be making stuff up on purpose. And not just to get away from stangers at bars. (Not that it happens that much...)

Show tonight

My basement has flooded and it's a disaster zone, so i'll keep this quick. Tonight. 9:30 pm. I'm down to my last three shows. All the same info as below for Magnet Theater.

improv show tonight

Hope you are having a great 2006!

From this Thursday on, my improv shows will be every other week. We will (finally) be doing a comedy long form called 'The Harold'. Long-form games allow for more plot, detail, and character development than short form games (for example, what you see on Whose Line is it Anyway).

Same details as before:

9:30 pm Magnet Theater
29th St. and 8th Ave
$5. Show is an hour.

http://www.magnettheater.com

Mary X-mas!

Have a fabulous holiday weekend! Warm thoughts to you all.

last show of the year

Yay, the strike is almost over. It's not snowing or raining. And my group, The New X-treme Platter, will be hosting Magnetosphere at Magnet Theater tonight at 9:30 pm. Same details as below.

I will be at the theater at 8 pm to watch my friends do their last show.

Those with a penchant to amuse... well, we like to be amused too.

it's showtime

Tonight- and for most Thursday nights in the near future, my comedy improv team, The New X-treme Platter, will be performing at Magnet Theater. www.magnettheater.com

29th Street (and 8th Ave.)
New York, New York

Show starts at 9:30, approx. 1 hour in length
Tickets: $5

Look who I got stuck in the elevator with

Double Happiness and an *ack*

Ack.

I've had a wonderful weekend... girl's night on Friday, where we hung out at Stanton Social- the Stanton Tea for me (really a politely-named delicious martini) and French Onion soup dumplings, with melted cheese on top, that gush once you pop one in your mouth, like those long-gone squares of chewing gum with liquid-flavor centers... but much much tastier.

Today my Mom and I wandered around Grand Central Station for a bit, admiring the beautifully restored constellation ceiling, soaking up the clubby atmosphere of Campbell's Apartment, and then slurping up some Bluepoints and Wellfleets at Oyster Bar. Sitting at the high counter, we watched the line cook stir up oyster stew after oyster stew, and were sorely tempted to order it, but decided to wait for the ultimate dinner destination- Peter Luger's. *sigh* Props to Mom!

I was a bit scared approaching the host, not because Luger's is more masculine (as most steakhouses are) and no-frills, but because it was 8 pm on Saturday, we had no reservations, and there was a crowd at the bar. However, I am happy to say that this is a place where nice girls do NOT finish last. After giving a smile and a few hopeful glances, we were seated in about 10 minutes. Our waiter was beyond sweet, and the steak and German potatoes were divine. Really, absolutely, amazing.

Forced R & R

If you were me, you'd be tired too. After amazing whirlwind trips emcompassing San Francisco {Monterey, Carmel, Yosemite, San Simeon, Big Sur, Napa Valley}, Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, and Paris, I didn't give myself much time for jet-lag or sleep, and hit the ground running when I got home. And of course, the very Sunday evening I tell friends that i'm going to be calm and chill out for the coming week... my throat starts to hurt. Nose starts running the next day. I'm sick. Feverishly so. (BTW, if your mucous is yellow-greenish, it's a virus. Isn't that nice to know?)

last of summer

I've been traveling- both for work and fun, to the West Coast. So I haven't had much time to write, let alone sleep or work out. But now I'm back. And everytime I watch the news, filled with stories of Hurricane Katrina- its disasters and survivors- it just makes me sick with grief. I have so many fond memories of New Orleans.

Heard the Word of Blog?

5 films

"The Motel"- Funny and touching. Asian-American boy coming-of-age story. When this gets released in the theatre, go see it! Also, if you're a lover of fried chicken, *especially* Popeye's, I HIGHLY reccommend that you locate the nearest Popeye's before you see this movie- so you can proceed directly there afterwards. Which is just what my friends and i did. Gotta love the spicy, crunchy, goodness that is Popeye's. Oh, and jelly with biscuits is heaven!

"Clean"- Maggie Cheung is always gorgeous, and gets to show off her English, French, Chinese, and singing. The movie was just ok though.

"Kung Fu Hustle"- Well done. Very funny.

"9 Songs" and "Last Days"- If you ever wondered how sex, drugs, n'rock n'roll could be boring, just watch. My friend fell asleep in the theatre, and if I could do it all over again, I'd just take a nap instead. Or, insist on watching "March of the Penguins". I'll bet those Penguins have more drama and passion than both these films put together.

improv shows

Thursday, Aug. 18 will be my last improv group show for the summer! (I'll be traveling out to the West Coast next week...)

9:30 pm

Magnet Theatre
254 W. 29th Street (and 8th Ave)
New York, NY 10001

Theatre# if you have any questions: (212) 244-8844
http://www.magnettheatre.com

$5 per ticket
PBR and Brooklyn Lager now available in theatre.
the show goes for about an hour.

some coffee talk

Yes, I love coffee in the AM (to help me think straight), sometimes in the PM (after dinner), and all the time in the summer, when it's iced. I like espresso too... which is why i usually like my regular coffee extra-strong. And it took me a while to warm up to cappucino- at first i didn't 'get' the foam. But then i realized, when you get a nice, silky foam slipping through your mouth, it's like a bubble bath for your tongue.

Which brings me to (in descending order of preference): Coffee Bean Tea Leaf, Dunkin Donuts, and Starbucks. As much as i like a consistent-quality-producing-chain-operation (oxymoron?), I'd prefer to frequent independently-owned operations, so long as the quality is equal or better, and especially if the coffee can be fair-trade. Which is a lot to consider, even after being caffinated.

And so i post this website:

www.delocator.net/index_full.php

This guy cracks me up!

Heard the Word of Blog?

And we're off... 2005 is racing on...

Another lapse in blog time, but all is well in my little world. December is a whirl for most people, but it also includes my birthday, my father's birthday, and of course, the wrapping up of work matters (and presents). Then January sails in, and it's my mom's, aunt's (they're twins), and my dog's birthday, as well as several good friends of mine. When it rains, it pours. Speaking of which...

My heart goes out to everyone afflicted by The Tsunami. I usually give my time (vs. money) when it comes to charity, but for this I made an exception. I like this charity b/c I know many doctors. They give so much of themselves to the profession, and they all respect this group:

Heard the Word of Blog?

www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

We all have bad days, pity parties, and hissy fits, but... thinking about The Tsunami victims' experience gives such pause for thought; it makes me count my blessings. I am grateful for every single one.

Thanksgiving

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I had planned to make most of the meal, host the family... but then my cousin and I thought it would be best to keep is simple. (KISS- keep it simple, stupid) So this year, we're meeting in Chinatown for dinner- it's a good halfway point for the family to meet. No slaving in the kitchen, no burn marks, no wrestling with a hot buttery turkey as I flip it to brown. And while I'll probably make a turkey breast (brined, of course... though I prefer a subtle marinade) with my deluxe mashed potatoes, it's not the turkey meal that counts. It's sharing good food with people I care about and am thankful for, even if it is in smelly ol'Chinatown.

Thanks to all my friends and family, for being there, and for every act of kindness. Here's to the holidays! :)

November 3

I woke up with a searing headache today. I hope it doesn't last for the next 4 years...

I know that statistics frequently lie, but I heard CNN say that 40% of the U.S. population believes that the world was created in 7 days.

Fortunately, I just got a enormous bottle of Alleve (my painkiller of choice) at Costco.

Happy Halloween!

I hope you all had a great time this weekend. We had some of the best Halloween weather ever- which was perfect for my costume, as a fairy. I'm so totally beat right now, otherwise I'd be at Cielo listening to Lee Burridge spin. Oh well, maybe next time.

Next (potentially) scary day coming up: November 2. Go out and vote!

Thrills will fill the chill (in the air)...

Autumn is my favorite season. Crisp weather allows for better fashion (accessorize more than summer, but no need to bundle up as in winter) and when the sky is shiny all the landscape shimmers with multi-colored jewel tones. Geese origami themselves to punctuate the sky. And that's just looking up.

Beneath my feet, lush green lawns are seemingly strewn about with the confetti that nature intended. Canary yellow, amber, ruby, ochre- dappled on a backdrop of emerald-moss-velvet. Leaves that can be picked up and pressed-preserved routinely desiccate themselves into little crackles that electrify each step and announce when something or someone is a-twitter. A sharp-eyed squirrel stashing nuts. Grandpa furrowing curbside, looking for dropped cash. And this weekend, perhaps a tremulous trick-or-treater.

Like any self-respecting foodie, my personal menu changes with the season. When mornings start so cold and dark I need food that is both warm and comforting in my tummy, to radiate energy into the day. Hot/crisp Pepperidge Farm cinnamon-raisin toast dotted with butter in the ephemeral state of solid/liquid. Or, a thick Wolverman's English Muffin fork-split and, of course, toasted, but spread with jam and lush, semi-melting Devonshire Cream. A cheddar omelet laced with ketchup and Tabasco. A steaming bowl of perfect oatmeal.

It has come to my attention that many of you are making oatmeal in the most un-delicious prison-style possible. That would mean: plain ol'instant oatmeal, with WATER. This is sad. This is why I never liked oatmeal growing up-- a substance akin to wallpaper paste, or paper-mache glue. Aren't they the same thing?

Here is how we do One Serving of Oatmeal in Mary World:

Start with 1/2-cup old-fashioned oats in a small saucepan. Stir in 1-cup cold MILK (soy, if you prefer) and a dash of salt. Only AFTER this is stirred up do you put it on the stove, high heat. This step makes for creamier oatmeal!

Stirring occasionally, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat so it simmers for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. Cover the pot for a minute or two, until it's the oatmeal-equivalent of 'al dente'. Pour into serving bowl.

Now, make your oatmeal unbearably luscious by topping it with:

Enjoy!

*******************************************************

I also love strongly-scented candles that warm up the house and keep the spooks away, so here are links to my two favorite candle e-tailers:

www.azaftigwoman.com -Soy candles with amazing scent throw; they burn very clean. Great shea butter body creams too.

www.sweetscentscandles.com -excellent 3-wick candle tins and always-changing scent selection. (I'd avoid the cherry scents though, a bit too cloying.) Has great flat-rate shipping (a-hem, good for gifts!) and sells on E-bay.

Sending warm thoughts out!

Happy Holidays! I hope you will avoid the nasty flu going around this season.

PLEASE take a moment to check out this website- for every viewer click, the sponsors provide a mammogram to a woman in need. I am thankful that my dear Mother is a 1986 breast cancer SURVIVOR! :) ... but she couldn't have done it without a mammogram.

Help out and pass it on............ It only takes a second and it's free!

Simply visit The Breast Cancer Site at www.thebreastcancersite.com/home every day and click on the pink "Fund Free Mammograms" button to help.

www.thebreastcancersite.com/home

How high the Moon? How near to Mars?

Stargazing has been the the activity du nuit lately, and I relish the moments to enjoy the cool of the evenings after the sun's vapors have vanished. But only after I've annointed myself with bug spray, of course. No West Nile for me, thank you.

We were blessed with pefect weather at the Bjork concert in Coney Island this past Saturday. Keyspan Park, a baseball stadium framed by the beach on one side and the jolly neon of the carnival on the other, was the ideal setting to see Bjork in all her animated elfin mirth. She glowed in the stagelights wearing some designer dress that resembled a wedding cake- complete with large swirly rosettes- that revealed her arms and legs and freed her to dance and bop around the stage, just as one would imagine Bjork does naturally. In between songs she would let out the cutest chirps of "Psank Yooh" tinged with her Icelandic accent, to quiet the applause of the crowd.

Bjork performed selections from most of her solo albums, including Vespertine and SelmaSongs, with a final encore of "Human Nature". If I had one disappointment with the show, it was that Bjork didn't have any costume changes, because it's always interesting to see what she'll wear next. However, I was thrilled to see an elegantly color-coordinated fireworks display for three or four of the songs. Subtle violets and pale yellows played off the fire of the sparklers on stage.

After the concert, we set off to the amusement park. I haven't been to Coney Island since I was four, so there was much to rediscover. We rode the 76 year-old Cyclone roller-coaster, creaking and groaning with its wooden rails. I of course screamed my lungs out, throat hoarse, pulse racing until the very end.

Then we did it again. Wheeeeee!

Next, a slowly supsenseful Ferris Wheel ride, with cars that swing on caster-railings. Everything would appear calm and we'd be enjoying the vista, and then suddenly it'd would be the moment "when the bough breaks, and cradle will fall"... a sudden whoosh as the skyline dips and you face the ground for a moment, and then the comforting catch of the pendulum swing. Once our feet touched the ground we soothed our nerves and throats with freshly spun cotton candy.

I hope we have good weather tomorrow night to hear Paul VanDyk spin in Central Park.

Chrystoph notice-

To all the other Chrystoph fans who have missed him since he left Vidal Sassoon:

Chrystoph called me and told me that he's at the Arrojo Studio, it's located on Varick and King St. downtown... I'm sorry I don't have the phone number off hand, but I'm sure you'll be able to track him down with that info. Turns out Arrojo's director, Nick, is the hair stylist on the TLC (The Learning Channel's) show, "What Not to Wear" and was the youngest creative director Vidal Sassoon has had.

Hope you are all having a great summer so far.

-M

Reality's a b*tch! (well, sometimes)

Hope you've been doing well. This Memorial Day weekend was awfully dreary on the East Coast and it's making L.A. seem appealing. Hmmph. I did go to hear Miguel Migs spin at Centrofly which was nice. Haven't been going out as much in NYC since I went to the Winter Music Conference in Miami, mid-March. The WMC was such a blast and the weather/beach/people were so warm and enjoyable. (Miami pictures to come....) There were so many great parties to choose from it was like being a kid in a candy store. Here's a party list: www.miamimasterlist.com Would definitely love to go to Ibiza next summer. ;)

Looking forward to June since some really kooky things happened to me this month. I'll blame it on the (double) lunar eclipse. Also, I've been having computer problems, so I haven't been as in-touch as I'd like to be.

The MAC Cosmetics cards are almost ready! I am the Three of Hearts. :) So glad to be a heart rather than a spade. A pack will be around $12.00 and will be available in MAC boutiques or on www.maccosmetics.com

Otherwise, I want to give props to my favorite hairstylist... Chrystoph, from Vidal Sassoon-NYC. www.vidalsassoon.com I trust him implicitly for his cool style and great technique.

-Blue Skies,
Mary

Joe- rebroadcast tonight

First, I want to wish John E. (my fabulous, compassionate, web-designer friend) a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Ok... now... on the East Coast, it will begin at 8 pm, on the Fox network. If you missed it the 1st time, here's your chance. I am curious as to what 'new footage' they'll have in there...

Also, they've completed the bios on the Fox site. http://www.fox.com/joem/

For your convenience though, here's the Q & A cut and pasted--

What drove you to television to look for love?
Nothing 'drove' me to specifically look for love on television. I am simply a person who is open to new experiences and adventures, including meeting new people. And realistically, with a ratio of 1-20 (which I knew going into the show), the odds were not in my favor for love. The odds were favoring Evan.

What is the most important thing you feel you need to achieve in life?
The most important thing I feel I need to achieve in life is to utilize, share, and expand upon the talents, knowledge, and love that I have been blessed with.

Do your friends say you are "Crazy" "Neurotic" or "really interesting"?
I hope my friends would say that I was 'really interesting'... but they'd probably say I'm 'crazy'. But one can equal the other, no?

What is your most prized possession?
My most prized possession is my sanity. I could also say my health or my loved ones. Everything else can be replaced.

What is your best feature?
My best feature is my sense of humor, and I've got a little dimple you can see when I'm laughing.

If Evan had approached you in a bar and offered to buy you a drink
would you have accepted?
Would this be a bar on the show or a bar in real life? I suppose I'd chat with him for a bit.

What is your ideal man like?
My ideal man is someone intelligent, honest, well-mannered, kind, and considerate, with a good sense of humor and ambition and aesthetics... someone dynamic who I can travel and explore and learn with... and totally relax around. And of course, I have to be attracted to him.

What is your favorite color?
To wear, black; otherwise, either blue or red.

What is your favorite flower?
Heirloom roses or anything beautiful and fragrant, such as gardenias.

If you were to go out for dinner on the town, which type of food would you choose?
Seafood, or any fine dining. Just not Chinese, because my mom cooks it best.

What is your favorite cocktail to order at a bar?
Grey Goose Orange and club soda, or a dirty martini.

Please provide three adjectives that describe yourself.
Kind, Positive, Articulate

Questions? Comments? Write to me: mary@maryworld.com

Joe Millionaire, show 1

Hello- Hope you all were entertained by the show. I was... because when we left France we had no idea how it would be edited or how it would all look on camera. I had a great time watching it with the support of my friends and two of the other women- Alison and Zora [who won in the end]- in New York. Somehow the NY Post showed up, [but the resulting article is no longer on-line, sorry].

-M

Hello, hello...

Welcome to my little world!

This is my 1st website, and I want to give many thanks to my friend John E., for all his invaluable help and for being such a great person. Check out www.backspace.com for more info on him.

Got feedback?
Email me at: mary@maryworld-dot-com