red sash

today i am wearing a red sash.

i feel very 1984.

[in the george orwell way, not the big hair way.]

morning ramblings

the walk this morning from the parking garage to the building i work in reminded me of travelling. sometimes mornings do that. it's a combination of temperature, a slight chill, the soft light, being mentally tired, the scent of dew and slightly the smell of morning traffic not too far away - it triggers my wanderlust feelings of just wanting to walk away and go anywhere else, preferably with anthony. it reminds me of all the times i've travelled in the past - waking up early headed towards places unknown and unfamiliar. of seeing the world - something bigger than just the drive to work and the inside of your car filled with blueberry bagel crumbs and that huge stain on the passenger seat from when you spilled soy milk all over. bigger (and far better) than sitting at your desk or cubicle bathed in the light of dual monitors.

in any case, i haven't actually really written on this blog in a while. i think it's because people know about it now and i feel weird when i know people are reading my writings. this blog is more of an online journal for me than anything else. well, ok, sometimes to also share photos.

daniel, this boy at work, has implanted a seed of becoming a pharmacist in my head. funny, considering how my dad spent all those years trying to get me to enter the medical field, only to have me major in studio art. i think it was a total rebellion against what he thought was best for me education-wise. all those elementary & middle school years where he would rant and yell at me to always get straight As (when i already *DID*) and i would end up crying - they just took their toll. you want me to be a doctor? hell, no! you want me to major in business? hell, no! though i will say i attempted to please him - i visited new york university's school of business and even sat in on some classes (and practically fell asleep in lecture).

**this has become an all day ramble, methinks**

so, in order to be a pharmacist, i would need to take biology I & II, chemistry I & II, organic chemistry I & II, physics I & II, anatomy I & II, analytical geometry, calculus I and public speaking.

13 classes.

i have taken one. public speaking. *sigh*

maybe we should just move to firenze. i could start an online business! to keep the same standard of living i have now in tampa, fl - i would actually need $5,000 LESS a year to live in firenze.

pretty cool, eh?

bidet of evil

this last sunday was spent with anthony on the couch for 3 hours finishing the last season of buffy.

seven seasons, 154 episodes, four months.

our obsession is frightening (and expensive). it all began at christmas when i bought the first season for a paltry $12 on sale at best buy and it's since been a blur of blond hair and bumpy foreheads. it's been fun, but i definitely think it's time for a break - good god! no more tv!

re: principal wood
buffy: there he is, on the hellmouth - all day, every day. that's gotta be like being showered with evil. only from underneath.
willow: not really a shower.
buffy: a bidet. like a bidet of evil.

cantonese

i realize i am going to have to give up my regular morning & afternoon npr sessions in the car if i am to ever learn an inkling of cantonese. listening to the cds while at work just isn't going to cut it and i have yet to get through the first cd.

*sigh*

oriental

so&so just asked me if i spoke oriental. : /
sms from kimberly kimono to anthony pants, 1:50 pm, 4/22/05

you have an uncanny ability to speak with rugs and vases.
sms from anthony pants to kimberly kimono, 1:52 pm, 4/22/05

ramon's irreverent song:
"you say tomato, i say tomah-to;
tomato, tomah-to;
potato, terry schiavo..."

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so red room cinema played last thursday at new world brewery. and quite excellently! sometime in may they are planning a recording session.

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mmmm... made brownies tonight (clean & unfettered by nuts). ramon & saad came over. they previewed anthony's japan import berserk video game (in which a 7 ft hunk of iron sword cuts enemies into many bits) and we watched the incredibles. seriously, that movie is really good. the animation is incredible and the writing is perfectly witty. a shame that the next movie looks like so much poop in the toilet. cars? what the?!?

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me & anthony eating at an outside cafe in hong kong (not shown: steph & vince)

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tonight i walked my body straight into our bookshelves. and i bit my tongue in my hunger & excitement over the brownies.

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also: toyfare=hilarious. someone's actually put a scan of some of their comics online here.

never enough time

a whole weekend and i have yet to update my page. it will have to be done during the week, i suppose. saturday was spent scanning in tons of photos (during which time i realized i really would like a tremendously expensive, double digit mega-pixel slr digital camera) and sunday was spent washing our cars and visiting anthony's family in brooksville. mmm... spinach lasagna was excellent (i almost wrote "sexellent" - HAHAHA! i am so tired. ok, i did write it, but erased it and then confessed.)

hm. definitely bedtime. cannot think straight and my head hurts tremendously. *sigh*

SUCCESS!

I DID IT I DID IT! I GOT RID OF THE BLASTED LINE IN IE!

sure, it only took me hours of racking my brain trying to think of other ways around it. tried to make a rollover image map. ALMOST worked.

and finally - i just... put the code all on one line. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! sometimes coding sucks like that.

anyways, i took out the javascript, so hopefully putting it back in won't suck too bad... *sigh*

laser tag = pain / kim = out of shape

sunday evening was a laser tag extravaganza of fun (and for me, pain).

our local q-zar was nothing like i expected it to be. not that i know what i expected, but it had apparently just been remodelled. it just seemed so... old and dated. still, laser tag is laser tag and there's that awesome thrill that comes with black lights and fake guns and colored beams of light and vibrating armor. oh yes, and techno. we cannot forget the techno.

the laser tag extravaganza, only 15 minutes long, was enough to inform me that i am "out of shape." or maybe i just got into it more than others. no hiding and sniping the enemy for me. i was crouching along, sprinting, shooting - my own team, unfortunately - 11 times!! by the end of it, my legs were a little jello-like. they hurt when i get up from a sitting position.

to refresh ourselves, we all headed to the tampa ale house. thank god their wings are good. i now have a place to sate my hot wing cravings - last time i went out for wings was at wing house, full of scantily clad females of the plastic persuasion. rather uncomfortable & distressing - i hate the blatant objectification of women, not to mention that the combination of pantyhose, super-short shorts and sneakers are the most disgusting fashion statement ever. oh yea, and the piggish men who eat there aren't a plus either.

mission: get a stationary bike and GET IN SHAPE.

website!

so i finally did it. i finally put down some money and got a website up and running. now i have no excuse to get my portfolio online and no excuse to eventually sell fun crafty items. except procratination, of course.

visit my continually-under-construction site here: http://www.kimberlyyau.com

creative, creative, i know. :p i wanted some sort of tag, maybe keep with the "gimchi designs" or something, but couldn't find a way to make it work. simple is good, right? also, easy to remember (if you know how to spell my name).

the frustrating thing: holy mother mary, how the hell do i get rid of that stupid space between my table rows in internet explorer?!? the header image looks fine in firefox - but i can't get rid of it in ie.

SHOOT ME.

at some point i know that redroomcinema will come onboard and share the webhosting space. fun for all! the more the merrier! share the bill!

silverback

the bleach and dye process to the ends of my hair has resulted in me resembling a gorilla - my neck and part of my back has been dyed blue. very attractive. and i have an urge to live in the mist. (but not get killed, of course.)

2:20 am & going strong

red room cinema's show tonight went off really well - their playing
was spot on. it was held at the harbor club - no one seemed to have
heard of it - just that it was near the dog track (hmmm). i was a
little skeptical and quite dubious. (was that an oxymoron?) we got
there around 9 and NO ONE was there. super empty. me, star and jen
(along w/ our respective band boyfriends, ant, david and brian). huge
building hidden near the river and i saw a prostitute on the drive out
there!

in any case, we were happy to see that it was clean and not that scary
(except for the haunted stories star kept telling) and the place
filled up before long. i am turning into such a band groupie! i am
totally recognizing people from other bands at these shows. i am
privy to the "music" "scene."

and i am also getting the navigation image done for my website.
considering either lunar pages for the hosting or some free site mary
jo mentioned... instead of banner ads on the actual page - they email
you banner ads. not too bad if i set it up with my crap mail account.
mwahaha.

hello, shower-time. i am all smoke-smell and grimyness. i needs be
clean and fresh and if there's cat litter in the bed, there'll be hell
to pay.

plastic and bacteria and death!

Jenn Shreve writes about her quest to find an portable, environmentally-reasonable yet non-toxic water container:

Being the green gal that I am, but not wishing to sacrifice my own health for the planet (sorry, earth, just being honest), I decided just to re-use the flimsy plastic water bottles for as long as I could. I was happy with this solution for quite some time, until I learned the horrible truth: HARMFUL BACTERIA! Yes, with each refreshing sip I was backwashing germs into my water and providing them with a warm, wet place to grow.

So I did what any bacteria-fearing primate would do and bought a nice, reusable Nalgene bottle. Boy oh boy, nothing makes you look or feel more like a tree-hugging, mushroom hunting nature girl than one of those bright, hard plastic bottles! Until it comes out that Nalgene gives you BRAIN DAMAGE! Yes, Bisphenol A, used to make Nalgene bottles and other hard plastic projects, apparently seeps into the body and can, in certain doses, mess with the function of the brain. (I’m paraphrasing/exaggerating and not everybody agrees, so look it up.) I could almost dismiss the fear as environmentalist fear mongering, but it turns out that California legislators take the threat seriously enough to consider banning it in children’s products.

via boing boing

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ok, maybe a little paranoid. but i wholly admit to a little paranoia regarding chemicals in my life. i try to avoid them whenever possible.

things that scare me:
- labels that warn "do not use in area where runoff occurs"
- dry cleaning & how you should air out your clothes to remove at least 30% of the chemicals
- synthetic estrogens in low grade plastics
- boxed dinners and preservatives - ESPECIALLY that gross pasta anytime no-refrigeration-necessary
- chlorine in water
- pee molecules from flushing the toilet with the lid up (they can travel up to 5 feet when you flush! close that lid! cover your toothbrushes!)

*shudder*

so, as i was saying...

before i drifted blithely off to sleep:

we made ravioli! not just open the bag, pour into boiling water - we're talking fresh egg pasta and ricotta & asparagus filling. thank you deborah madison! the recipe for egg pasta is really, really easy.

2 cups flour, 2 eggs, 2 tsp oil. mix. let rest, covered, 10-15 minutes. roll it out, cut, cook in boiling water till al dente.

she mentions that you can actually mix this dough by hand. uh.... that's a negative. unless you have really strong hands and arms and a lot of time to kill - i would go the food processor route.

if you're making spaghetti, it's not too bad to roll out the dough yourself - it just ends up rather thick (like linguine). but if you're making ravioli, definitely invest in a pasta machine. anthony's wrists were paining him something fierce from rolling and re-rolling all the dough.

starchy egg pasta goodness

the last few nights anthony and i have gotten back into our cooking phase. for a while there, we were all store-bought pasta and veggie burger stagnancy.

***now anthony makes me go to sleep knowing how i can't wake up***

garage sale = cha-ching!

i had totally and completely forgotten about the group garage sale until jen called me up late friday night to remind me. oops! if only she had done this sooner - about 4 months ago i took 6 boxes to the library and thrift store in my frenzy to lose my packrat tendencies (it worked, this time around i could find very little to get rid of)(or... i only just tightened my grip on all the belongings i decided to keep).

in any case, anthony and i were able to sell some old toys, clothes and vhs tapes; we made $30! not that much, but seriously, we had very, very little to sell. saturday was far busier than today - we only had 2 or 3 people drop by - max.

oh, it was wonderful. each day was spent dragging myself up at an ungodly hour and then slowly waking up with jen & sheena - in the sun, relaxing while the day warmed up. this morning's activities involved a quilt and a lawn, mottled shade, good coffee, a panera blueberry bagel, stray cats, talking about the pope, good conversation and planning future trips to tuscany and spain.

i could actually understand why people would enjoy getting up early - weird, since i'm such a night owl. well, only if getting up early inovolved quilts and lawns and sunlight.