Chinese Takeout

Christopher Knight displays a critical understanding of the project "In the Name of the Place," part of the "Uncommon Sense" exhibition at MOCA ("The Socio-Art Gene," March 18). Normally, I would be encouraged to receive a concise appraisal of my work. However, in this instance it would be inappropriate to claim sole authorship of the presentation. While the initiation of the project can be clearly traced to me, the many individuals, including myself, assuming the collective name of the GALA Committee would have to be recognized as the creative and decisive force behind the body of work presented at the MOCA exhibition.

My husband and I can never finish the steamed rice from Chinese takeout, so I came up with a fast-and-easy Shrimp Fried Rice. I store the leftover steamed rice in the freezer in a zip bag and take it out in the morning before I leave for work. I always keep a bag of frozen and deveined raw shrimp in my freezer. I take approximately 10 frozen shrimp out of the freezer and store them in the refrigerator.

My husband, Tony; my daughter, Callie, 15; and son Zeke, 12, and I spent 10 days traveling in Spain in July. Callie had been living with a family there for three weeks before we met her in Málaga, on the country's sunny southern coast. From there, we traveled to Ronda and Granada before settling in Barcelona for five days. It was a lot to fit into a 10-day trip, but I had it all mapped out. Day by day. Hour by hour. In my effort to anticipate problems, I over-worried, over-planned and underestimated my kids' resourcefulness.

Looking for something for a college graduate who has just about everything except money and domestic skills? Take some tips from Susan Kleinman, author of "Real Life 101: (Almost) Surviving Your First Year Out of College." For the multitudes who will live on pasta and Chinese takeout: "A dozen boxes of assorted pasta, a large pot and a colander." For those who want to create their own fast food: a microwave oven. "For fun, throw in a few chocolate bars and wooden skewers for fondue."

Clothes buyer Becky Bauer wants to bring a little bit of edgy L.A. to Orange County. She's stuffed Awear House of Fashion's tiny space in Tustin with slick casino-inspired jackets for men and purple color-washed jersey dresses for women. But the merchandise isn't the gamble. The site is. Awear is squeezed between a chain Chinese takeout place and a bagelry, attracting, she says, "looky-loos who are just waiting for their food" rather than those serious about alternative clothing. But that's OK.

Re "Bush Remarks on Taiwan Defense Cause a Furor Over U.S. Policy," April 26: I would like to know how this escalated rhetoric regarding the defense of Taiwan is compatible with the Bush administration's campaign statement that it would pursue a foreign policy that was in tune with the United States' vital national interests. If our vital interests include spoiling 30 years of diplomacy and starting a new arms race, we may well have accomplished our goals. To even entertain the notion of sending American boys and girls to fight for Taiwan is beyond ludicrous.

Uh . . . Uh . . . Uh . . . Uh . . . Uh . . . Oh, Yeah, The Scene: MTV's dynamic duo hit the big time Sunday night at Mann's Chinese Theater as they celebrated the world premiere of "Beavis and Butt-head Do America," a feature-length animated film, wherein the boys take a cross-country odyssey and have many adventures --some of them kewl, others that suck--while they un-successfully try to accomplish what they've been trying in vain to do for years on the TV series: score.

The idea that something good might be happening in Eagle Rock again is wonderful to imagine ("Mayberry, Shmayberry," by Dave Gardetta, July 29). My father moved our family to Eagle Rock from the Midwest when he opened his jewelry store in Highland Park in 1946. He designed our home and, with my uncle's help, built it. My brother, sister and I feel that we had close to an ideal childhood growing up in Eagle Rock. Maybe it wasn't Mayberry, but it was close enough. My nephew and his young family now live in that house my dad built.