Thursday, July 31, 2014

Bird songs for your desk

Stuck in a cubicle?  No access to a window?  Is your view of a concrete wall?  Turn on Sound of Nature-Bird Songs (No Music) recorded by a YouTuber outside the person's home in Poland.  The all natural, high quality video lasts 180 minutes.  I pull up the video and minimize it while going about my work day.  The songs of the birds are calming and pure.  Today, I got really fancy and turned on a clip of a rainstorm while the birds played in the background. Pure bliss.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Jeremy & Donald: Cholafied

Jeremy Lin will be living la vida loca for the next three years as a Los Angeles Laker.  Perhaps we'll see the point guard eating around San Gabriel Valley.
I had a vivd dream that Donald Glover announced his return to Community, last week.  A girl can wish.

Photo via Cholafied

( Two stories about eyebrows )

 
ONE: In 1995, inspired by Gong Li in the film Shanghai Triad, I plucked my full eyebrows into thin lines.  I felt satisfied at my handiwork. My grandma, meanwhile, warned me not to over pluck because my eyebrows may never grow back.

TWO: Kayle, a British colleague of mine boasted bushy, robust brows.  They were, in my eyes, a wonderful blank palette.  One day in 2000, Kaye and I were having our hair cut at a salon in Seoul.  The salon owner styled both Kaye and me. At the end, she asked Kaye if she wanted her brows tweezed.  Kaye said yes, and after a few seconds emerged looking straight up like Kate Winslet.  The owner turned to me and asked if I wanted my brows trimmed.  I said yes.  IF I COULD STOP TIME AND REDO THAT MOMENT I MOST CERTAINLY WOULD!  The salon owner, despite standing only a foot from me, called across the room to the ajumma sweeping the floors.  She pointed for her to come do my brows.  The ajumma approached and with shaky hands took an electric shaver to my face.  In one swoop, she cut a quarter of my left eyebrow off my face.  Fourteen years later it has never grown back.

These days Gong Li is back to fuller brows, as am I, with my left brow limping along.  Koreans recognized years ago that full brows vs. thin ones give a more youthful appearance.  One can see tutorials all over the web how to create Korean-style eyebrows.  Funny, but the site that tickles me the most is a site dedicated to K-pop idols sans brows.

Gong Li photos courtesy of The Film's the Thing, HK actresses blog, and Hawt Celebs

My '80s movie boyfriend is...

I have to admit, I was pretty psyched to take the Who's Your '80s Movie Boyfriend? quiz.  I hoped I'd be matched with Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles (1984).  Hell, I would have been happy with Duckie from Pretty in Pink (1986).

Alas, I was matched with perma-stoned surfer, Jeff Spicoli, from Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).  Spicoli puts the "high" in...oh, never mind.  My girlfriend took the quiz and she landed Jake Ryan.  Argh!

Who is YOUR '80s movie boyfriend?  Take the quiz.

Previously on Ajumma's Pad: Yeah You, Jake Ryan

Pretty in Pink photo via Gallery Hip

Friday, July 25, 2014

Berries in the AM

My husband cut up strawberries this morning.  I thought they looked like cute, edible hearts.



Sunday, July 20, 2014

If you want breakfast in bed

I saw this witty sign while shopping today.  It appealed to the crabby old lady in me.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

The very best of National Lampoon's Vacation soundtrack

In the summer of 1984, my family along with my favorite cousin and his parents embarked on a cross-country road trip from Minnesota to Arizona.  Our paths mirrored that of the Griswolds on their infamous journey from Illinois to California in the 1983 movie, National Lampoon's Vacation.  Packed into our station wagons, we saw corn fields!  We saw The Rockies!  We saw mesas! Fortunately we did not see anyone like Aunt Edna or Cousin Eddie.  Unfortunately for my dad, he did not see anyone like Christie Brinkley. 

 As a tribute to the ultimate summer road trip movie, here are my favorite tunes from National Lampoon's Vacation:

1) Holiday Road by Lindsey Buckingham

 2) Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones

3) Little Boy Sweet by June Pointer

4) Dancing Across the U.S.A. by Lindsey Buckingham

National Lampoon's Vacation, starring Chevy Chase, was written by 1980s legend John Hughes and directed by brainy Ghostbuster, Harold Ramis.   

Photos via Big Pond Movies, Scientific American, ReMINDers, Save Colusses.  Thanks to MatthewSullivan83.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Margaret Cho, flaming idol

FlamingIdols suggests using this Margaret Cho glass candle votive on your gay altar.  If comedian Cho isn't your style, they also sell candles featuring Dolly Parton, Ricky Martin, and Bayard Rustin.

Top Tacos by Libby Vanderploeg

I'm quite taken by this vibrant illustration by Brooklyn artist Libby Vanderploeg.

THE GRUDGE as performed by animated bunnies


The Grudge is one of my favorite scary movies.  I never thought I'd see it condensed and performed by animated bunnies.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

♥ Comfy tee alert ♥

I snagged this colorful tee at Matrushka Construction on the 4th of July.  I'm thankful they were open for business. 

¡ Viva eloté !


A husband-wife team rolls a cart through my neighborhood.  Honking a clown horn, they announce their sale of raspados (shaved ice), chicharrones (those airy wheel chips flavored with chili sauce and lime juice) and my favorite, eloté (grilled or boiled corn on a stick, and in this case served with mayo, queso, cayenne pepper, and butter).  My first memory of eloté is from the 2006 Jack Black movie Nacho Libre. Nacho's sidekick Esqueleto was often seen with a stick of slathered corn in his hand and queso-covered lips.  As a fan of corn, I wondered how I could get my hands on that treat.







Learn more!  Eloté photo courtesy of dfw.com, Esqueleto via Mouthy Mag, Nacho & Esqueleto by Cheyenne, mixed media corn handmade by Jessica, and gift via Dinner from a Movie

Power in positivity


My husband once told me I was the most negative person he had ever met.  I found this amusing because he is the most pessimistic person I have ever encountered in my lifetime.

For about the past year, I've been trying to incorporate positive thinking into daily life.  It's been extremely challenging and I fail frequently. This weekend, I'm focusing on letting issues go. 

Clarification: Positive thinking is difficult on a daily basis precisely because of my evening commute which sucks balls. If it's not the person on the freeway letting everybody and their brother in front of them, it's the clueless Lexus or Mercedes Benz driver in Little Saigon driving 5 miles per hour.   Must. Let. It. Go.