in the summertime...

Full blown anger!, originally uploaded by yen yen yen.

this picture has absolutely nothing to do with the post. i simply love it. the ninja twins are not pleased.

just a little update missive. because i feel like it.

summer has begun. it's may, and summer is here in florida. the humidity wraps around your skin at 7 am and only leaves down the shower drain. love bugs have popped into existence and our windshields have been christened by their little buggy insides. i'm sure the paint on anthony's car is already disintegrating as i type. perhaps the daily afternoon thunderstorm will wash away some of the whitely smeared innards.

i just arrived in ft myers and am awaiting my dad's return from the farm on pine island and my mom's return from work. i haven't had a haircut since october, the wedding. the house is dark with curtained light and the gardenias smell so lovely. the coffee is still kicking and i'm considering munching on some of those chinese baked goods i brought; they're waiting on the table downstairs.

... yep, they're calling my name. my stomach can hear them, they sing so sweetly, to be eaten completely.

NOM.

double feature sunday!

i was unable to visit family for mother's day since i was on call for the library. however, i will be visiting twice in the next 3 weeks, so i'm sure that will make up for it. (my niece and nephew are coming back from hong kong to live in the states!)

to while away the time and stick it to The Man, ant and i pulled a double feature at the theater! star trek and wolverine. ant thinks it's cute how nervous i get when we do this (official count: twice). my hands get all clammy and it's all i can do to stop my wide eyes from tracking down every theater employee in a 300 ft radius. i would not make a good criminal.

some mathematical reviews:

star trek > wolverine
x-men 3 > wolverine
wolverine = daredevil

wolverine was really not that great. bad wire work makes me feel dirty and i wasn't engrossed at all. suspension of disbelief was utterly missing.

star trek, however, was awesome. i'm not a trekkie, but i was still able to appreciate the movie and its iconic nature. and sylar made a really great spock! it was nice to watch him and not be irritated at his character (as with this season of heroes). rather clever to use time travel as a means to completely change the background story. (j.j. abrams loves his time travel.)

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

the preview for 'night at the museum 2' ends with an uproarious scene (read: sarcasm) of 2 monkeys bitch slapping ben stiller:


me (deadpanned): monkeys make everything funnier. (counting off on fingers) night at the museum. night at the museum 2. that last indiana jones movie.
ant: (counting off on his fingers) gorillas* in the mist.

*yes, yes, we know. monkeys <> gorillas.

pleased

i absolutely love our bedroom. well, one wall of it, at least. the dresser is stacked with books, completely at random. i find it slightly ironic that i work in a library full of organization and yet have books in 4 different places in the house, barely organized at all. craft-y books in the craft room. everything else... scattered. i kind of love it. it feels secretly pleasing. perhaps though, as rachel mentioned, it's not so ironic after all. a simple act of rebellion against work standards and lists and tasks.



here's a semi-close up of the potholders i made for mine and ant's mom! they're about... 8 inches square. and slightly disfigured. however, they are COMPLETE and i am content. please ignore the yellow cast. i am too tired to attempt color correction. must mail these out for the morning!

*raises a glass*

to a-mo, to jean, who passed away on sunday morning.



these are from 3/29/09, when my family got to see her last.



we played cards (go fish) and talked, watched chinese television and picked and ate too-tangy kumquats.



her kitchen table had at least four kinds of crackers or cookies on it, without fail, and she'd never stop asking you if you wanted something to eat.

heart! you will be missed.

compliment?

creepifying email from a co-worker:

Dear [gimchi],

You may be pleased or at least amused to learn that:

Yesterday, when I went to [the] Outlook Training, I did not recognize you. My excuse, I haven't seen you for some time. I was greatly put out believing that the Library had laid you off and hired a younger prettier girl, that ironically, looked like you. I thought to my self "I don't want younger and prettier I want [gimchi]." You can imagine how embarrassed I was when you introduced yourself to the group. Anyway, I'm glad you're still with us, and thank you for the training.

Sincerely,

A Crazy

crafty "resolve"

attack at the crow collection of asian art, dallas

my 500th post! i thought it would be more exciting than this, perhaps including a video of a song and dance number fully choreographed and performed by myself, but it does not appear to have happened. maybe 1000 is the lucky number? don't hold your breath!

the title of this post refers to my feelings about using my studio space (aka the second bedroom, the atelier, the sweatshop, the craft room, the storage space). this weekend i painted a little, thought about redesigning my website, sewed 3/4ths of 2 potholders (for mother's day) and ironed a ton of skirts. all done in the craft room!!

i also browsed etsy's resources for crafters and people who have been able to quit their day jobs. inspiring, uplifting, vaguely depressing. yet again, i find that i need to hone my motivation. i'm a cat on the 'nip - running about here and there with nary an 'expertise' in one area or another.

the good is that i've lowered my expectations. ... wait, IS that a good thing? basically, i know i'm not an overnight success in the crafting world, what with my lackluster output. and i am ok with that! i am keeping the craft fires going, but when they aren't burning flames ("flames, flames, FLAMES, on the SIDE of my FACE" - please tell me you know this quote), but warm glowing coals, i am perfectly content with a firefly marathon + a rum and coke with anthony or having some super delicious trader joe's wine with rachel. bliss!

begin stream of consciousness:

also, have i mentioned that i'm gaining weight? this isn't really that big of a deal, however, the irksome part is that i have to buy new clothes!! we're trying to save our moolah like crazy-cakes, which is hard enough, but i also really hate shopping. especially for bottoms, which is what i desperately need. hopefully i can make a passable skirt (sans pattern, that's how i roll) sometime this week. skirts are just easier. plus, the weather is just starting to get unbearable. summer always surprises me with its heat and humidity.

off to make some more biscotti!


emo-myspace overhead shot, dallas aquarium

tay-hoss!

{i am baking chocolate biscotti (and it smells delicious).}

this past week i broke my conference hymen and attended one in dallas, tx, put on by the user group of our library's ILS (integrated library system) vendor. kind of thrilling!


alexis, thrilled

i admit that i love to travel and that was a real big reason for wanting to go. however, i did meet some wonderful people and learned a huge amount of information. it's good to feel excited about work again (but only from 8-5, of course).

we left saturday morning and met up with ramon & alexis, proceeding to catch up and sight see, have brunch with bekah and eric, eat inhuman amounts of sushi and drink delicious brews. we had heard so much about deep ellum, but it turned out to be a bust, even with an arts & crafts festival that weekend.




at the house of blues, where we declined paying $40 each for their gospel brunch.


anthony at the jfk memorial






the aquarium in dallas is wonderful!! it's like traveling downwards from the top of a rainforest.



i am such a foodie that the serendipitous "happy hour" sushi that we stumbled upon at gui was one of the highlights of the trip. $20 all you can eat sushi on sundays and tuesdays. and all you can drink hot/cold sake on sundays. needless to say, we were there both days.

wonderfully enough, we also had time to take in the dallas museum of art and the crow collection of asian art (FREE).











the first evening of the conference, a "rodeo roundup" was hosted, complete with dancing cowgirls and cowboys performing lasso tricks. tons of free food and booze! alexis had unfortunately left for home by this time, however ramon crashed the party and rode the mechanical bull. not to be outdone, i quickly followed suit. (and i was not drunk! only 1 glass of wine, people. had i been drunk, the bull riding would have been sloppier from then on from the copious quantities of vomit that would have hurled forth from my maw.)

... and there's video.

it's on my coworker's phone, so i'm trying to see how i can get a hold of it. suffice it to say that i completely rocked the plastic bull riding and i bounced a lot when i finally slid off. *boing* on my back, legs splayed. very attractive.


me, post bull riding

all in all, a lovely week free of the confines of work. still doing work stuff, but frolicking in the hotel shower and having our bed made for us every day. also, endless hot water and a dynamite view from our room at the top of the north tower (32nd floor).


me, post conference