the watchmen

The movie was okay. The graphics were freaking amazing but I think they over did it with the length. Just poor editing? With all the hype, I think people were generally expecting something different. But it was good to hear that the die hard fans just loved it because it was so true to the book. I personally thought it was un-necessary for the blue character to be walking around naked the whole movie but John was able to see the reference to Adam, before the fall.

The Dream Giver

Sometimes people ask how I know with certainty that God exists. I know He exists cause I can say without a doubt in my mind that my entire life has been a testimony about Him and what He can do in your life. With that said. It’s not easy being a Christian. I think it’s one of the hardest things to be in life.

Recently, I have been struggling with where I am in life. I know my passion and dream isn’t to be the best “number” person, I know I don’t enjoy my job. I love my company and the people I work with and all the perks that comes from being part of such a great team, but in all honesty, I hate what I do.

Five years ago, soon after my wedding, I had a chance to leave my field. I took a year off. Tried to start a flower/event planning company. It didn’t work. And now I’m really longing to follow my passion/dream again and don’t know if I’d be willing and able to make the kind of sacrifices that it would mean for me to do so. I would have to leave my comfortable job, making decent money and basically jump into the unknown. Who wants to do that? Clearly, not me!

But I’ve been getting “signs” of sorts. Not to bore you with details but I’ve been getting signs. One of them was this book. I had visited my old Pastor, while I was visiting LA and I just recently received a book from him called “The Dream Giver.” What does this mean? I am more confused than ever....

Synopsis : Welcome to a little story about a very big idea. This compelling modern-day parable tells the story of Ordinary, who dares to leave the Land of Familiar to pursue his Big Dream. You, too, have been given a Big Dream. One that can change your life. One that the Dream Giver wants you to achieve. Does your Big Dream seem hopelessly out of reach? Are you waiting for something or someone to make your dream happen? Then you’re ready for The Dream Giver. Let Bruce Wilkinson show you how to rise above the ordinary, conquer your fears, and overcome the obstacles that keep you from living your Big Dream. You were made for this. Now it’s time to begin your journey.

ROB!!!!!! Where art thou???????

Okay, so it's been some time. Did I mention that I have a full time job doing number thing? Anywho, was in LA for about 10 days at the end of February. It was great seeing friends and eating good food and it was just nice being somewhere warm.

One of the funniest shows on TV was a show called "Rob and Big," and although I don't know what actually happened to Big, Rob started another so called, Rob's Fantasy Factory. So one of the big "mission" that we had during our stay was to find the actual physical location of this factory. We never did. Cha Cha was absolutely no help and even after researching thru some online blogs, we were not successful. Gina wanted to drive around down town LA looking for the space, but we evenutally just ran out of time I think.

marc jacobs with my budget

I usually can't afford to buy much at Marc Jacobs without my husband getting upset. However, here are some items that I found at their "special store" store, all under $50 and some of them even under $10. Yes, this is how I roll....

manhattan portage bags

I grew up wearing penny loafters, buying clothes from "gap", not "GAP", and carried around Manhattan Portage bags. I think I've owned total of maybe 10 Manhattan Portage bags in my life. And I think I still have maybe 3 in my closet somewhere.

So as I was driving around Soho today, a small piece of me let out a big *sigh* while looking at the MP retail store with its lights turned off and its shutters down and locked. I'll have to remember to have couple of drinks for my small obsessions that are slowly being killed by the "times."

persimmons

It's funny how I forget that I am Korean and most people I interact with on daily basis are not. So today I met people who have never seen or tasted persimmons before in their lives. I don't know why I get suprised by such things....maybe my narrow-minded shelter view is to blame.

jack purcells

I can't even begin to tell you how much i loved my jack purcells. I didn't buy it cause they were cool or the hip thing to do, I bought them cause i was innately just drawn to them like moth to a flame.... Here are some old school ones and some new ones that i am thinking about investing again....

THIRSTY THURSDAY

so somewhere in history, someone coined thirsty thursday. most likely a college kid because let's be for real, who's had a friday class? and if you did? who actually went? (i had one in freshman year. yeah, grades weren't so good for that class) the weekend pretty much started thursday after your last class. then you swear off alcohol for the rest of your life only to be drinking again several hours later. repeat until monday comes (when you realize you're late for class).

nyu, here i come! thirsty thursday! let's hope i don't end up like this kid. ten bucks says this kid doesn't remember a thing? anybody? anyone? no? ok.

OOHHH MYY GOOOSSSHH

so one of my favorite snl skits is the surprise birthday party one. it's just so damn good. i don't think it needs any further explaining.  

and yes, you can catch me saying "oOooOoOOHhhhhh myyyyy goooooooossshhh"

suck it

so i go through phases with phrases. say that 5 times fast. 

ok, it's actually not that hard to say 5 times fast.  

i have several that i've been saying in place of actual sentences. and i have one that i've been saying every other sentence but it's slowing dying out (by slowly dying out i mean i say it frequently but not every other sentence). this phrase is SUCK IT.  

i first picked it up from 30 rock (great show btw). and have been using it beyond its intended use. it's a great phrase. you can use it for any moment. examples:  

in anger: 

joe: you smell! 

me: suck it!  

in jubilation: 

joe: damn, you're right. 

me: whhattt! suuuuckkk ittttt!  

to quiet someone: 

joe: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah lbah balhhf;aliwheg;aoiwhga;owehasfasf

me: suck it  

as exclamation: 

(trash talk. ping pong match. win match.) 

me: SUCK IT!!  

in a sentence: 

me: you can suck it.  

so you can see WHY i've come to love this phrase. but i realize, i'm always surrounded by real adults. real working adults. who are in charge of my career. probably won't understand my love for suck it. so with that i say:

Rock God

this is really old. but a friend of mine sent this link to me a while ago: rock god

freddie mercury, i can see. i don't know if he's my #1 but he definitely rocked out hard. definitely top 10 worthy. 

elvis presley is definitely a rock god. a different rock god compared to others but a rock god during his times. 

then there's jon bon jovi. JON BON JOVI?!! what the eff? how is this guy above jimi hendrix? i'd even put otis redding above him. otis redding rocked out during shows. no offense to all those worldwide jon bon jovi fans but seriously. come on. i think after the superbowl halftime show, bruce springsteen definitely should be up there. did anyone see his knee slide?

if bon jovi's up there, i'm not sure how this rock god's definitely not up there.

THE ULTIMATE ROCK GOD EVER

Merriweather Post Pavilion

for the past month i've been listening to the newest Animal Collective album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, religiously. above, i posted the album cover out of sheer optical illusion coolness. below is the official vid for the track "My Girls."

highly recommend watching the HD version, full screened, lights off, with the speakers up as loud as you can. dance if you want to.

Korean CF (Commercial Film)

It's like a scene out of "lost in translation." An American celebrity filming an awkward foreign commercials.

Daniel Henney and Gwyneth Paltrow in Bean Pole commercial (korea)

Jessica Alba in a cosmetic commerical (Korea)

Jennifer Aniston in a beer commerical


a banned commercial in korea. i'm pretty sure it would be banned here as well.

things i want for v-day

dinner at momofuku with anthony bourdain and john

triple berry cake from Sweet Lady Jane

any new laptop from apple

box of chocolates from marie belle

Website:Etsy

Okay, I just adore this site called Etsy. It's a incredibly clever site that sells ton of "handmade" products by individuals/companies around the world. I think I personally love this site because so many products on this site feels personable and one of a kind. And one of my favorite features on the site is their tool called "colors." It allows you to scroll around a color palette and they provide a product that matches the color that you're scrolling over. It's pretty fantabulous.

posted by j2k2

Listen Up!

Would it be really horrible of me to buy this and wear it around the office? There's always ton of whispering that happens around the office and I do get curious time to time. How could I not right? Whenever I see this commercial, I have to admit, I get totally tempted. Then I read these postings...

posted by j2k2

WTF - Snuggies

Seriously.... what is this world coming to? Why am I hearing about so much about these "snuggies" everywhere I turn and who are the crazies that are actually spending money on this stuff???? I don't want to have images of people sitting in their living rooms looking like monks. But this morning on TODAY show, BAM! I'm all about function over asthetics but this is just a bit nutty....

posted j2k2

Signs of Times

It's happening all around us really isn't it? Closing of things, lay-offs, losing of dwellings, loss of things, lack of money, gloomy news everywhere, and slowly it's making its way into our lives in one way or another.

Domino Magazine closes

Leave My Boobs Alone!

so i was hanging out with fam yesterday. and i told them how i've drastically decreased my coffee intake. the main reason for this is because i'm trying to be less dependant on other things, mainly cigarettes, legal drugs, illegal drugs, alcohol (always a losing battle on weekends), etc. BUT i didn't tell them that. instead, i gave them a more scientific answer from an authoritative source*.

drinking coffee makes your boobs smaller. 

that's right. 3 cups a day has a major effect on your breasts. and every cup after that too. now if you know/seen me, i can't afford to shrink my boobs. no back problems here! i'll take all the boobies i can get. ..only to make mine bigger. i would totally post a pic of my boob area. but we don't know each other that well yet. maybe after 150 posts. or 100 ...

*what? yeah, it's fox news. suck it. where are all my tri-state area fox 5 morning news people at?! mike woods, what! 

Cafe Cluny - Brunch

"Cafe Cluny"

Food - decent selection/good portions/pretty delicious

Decor - Shabby chic meets ecclectic collection

Service - not a typical nyc pretentious but not nashville friendly

I don't consider myself a "foodie". Rather someone who enjoys good food and I know what I like and what I don't like. So when my dear friend Claudia used to live in NYC, we used to do brunch once a month and never went to the same place twice. With Olga and Gina from work, we revived this routine in my life.

posted by j2k2

Super Bowl Ads that I just LOVED

Some commercials that I just LOVED.

"Knowing only is half the battle.... GOOOOOOOOO JOEEEEE!"

"Live long and prosper.... "

No American car commercials this year but have no fear my lovely one, AUDI is here! The commercial was eh, but my two loves, AUDI and Jason Statham.

On a side note, I think my husband might've shed a tear for the "land of the lost" trailer....

on Cadbury and why i love Shazam

i came across this Cadbury ad the other day.



held up my iphone, fired up shazam, and..

BEHOLD, MY JAM OF THE WEEK:



does anyone remember Debbie Deb's "When I Hear Music?"

I can't wait til we all start taking this kind of music seriously again...Freestyle, not Debbie Deb........maybe her too.

Fringe

Over the Xmas break, my husband made me watch all of the "fringe" episodes that were recorded on our DVR. I don't deal well with scary/suspenseful things, because I actually do get scared. But this "x-file"-like show has become one of my favorite shows along with "the mentalist". But since I have a clear love and hate relationship with all things JJ Abrams, I'm sure eventually this show wouldn't be any different from all his other creations. But for now, "fringe" has totally captivated me with, brilliantly written storyline/plot, characters with "depth/dimension", and the acting is pretty decent as well. Yes, even Pacey (Joshua Jackson) from "dawson's creek". "I don't want to wait till our lives to be over...." I know you hear it too.

Posted by j2k2

double shot at love

my brother and i went to new orleans once. we totally got these identical twins to make out with each other. this video reminded me of that.
you know how they say that when you die your life flashes before your eyes? i think that will be one of the flashes. no i mean i know it will be. i can tell because i see it almost everytime i close my eyes. even when i blink. and i blink a lot. does that mean i'm haunted?

Friday: What is

a weekly series defining cultural acute dysfunction

What is a ZOMBIE.
George A Romero is probably the father of the zombie. The Haitians and Creole cultures lived with a form of the living dead for decades, as part of their faith. turns out that was mostly the effect of tetradotoxin, a very harmful chemical that was really really bad for you. Those zombies were real. But the zombie as a cultural icon stems from the 1969 film "Night of the Living Dead". There were earlier examples of this kind of character in film and popular culture ("Nosferatu" from the 30s being one of the earliet examples) but none mesmerized American culture like the zombies who stormed the house from the cemetery, while the little girl ate her mom's brains.
It's been said in interviews that "Night of the Living Dead" was an indictment of America's institutionalized racism. Remember how the only survivor from the dramatic finale was african-american and the sherriff shot him dead? If, like me and you were 6 years old trying not to shit yourself, you might not have noticed the subtlety.
After "Night", Romero made "Dawn of the Dead" in 1978. Oddly enough, "Dawn" was made 4 years after the seminal classic "OJ: Juice on the Loose" about the killer/football player. I guess at the time it wasn't a horror movie. "Dawn of the Dead" contained a clearer message for his audience. "Dawn" took place almost entirely in a shopping mall. The undead were not as aggressive as those in "Night of the Living Dead" and subsequent films in the series. Instead these zombies wandered around the mall, shopping. They emotionlessly pawed through sales racks, holding clothes up to their chests in mirrors, stumbling and drooling. This was an obvious commentary on the consumerist nature of the so-called "me decade".
1985's "Day of the Dead" feataured aggressive, angry zombies tearing their way up to street level from a underground nuclear bunker. For those of us old enough to remember the mid 1980's, we clearly remember the nuclear cloud and the degree of fear was palpable. In my middle school we had nuclear war drills, like hiding under your fucking desk is going to stop your eye from melting down your cheek. The russian Enola Gay is flying over Cleveland and we're all rushing to stand under the doorway. It was fun though because we didn't have to read "The Tempest" so fast. What 11 year old understands the line "For I must now to Overon"? I mean really.
"Land of the Dead". 2005. Bam. It was just as corny as it was in 1969, but this was by far Romero's most political film. "Land" was about capitalism, the effects of unregulated greed. It featured homeless zombies this time. There have been hundreds of zombie movies before and after 1969's "Night of the Living Dead" with some very notable high points, but Romero is the James Brown, the Godfather of the zombie genre.
That's todays Friday

Tibi-Gray Suede Flats

Threre are several categories in my world when it comes to shoes.

1. Shoes I love but don't have the guts to wear them.

2. Shoes I love but can't afford them.

3. Shoes I love but it's too uncomfortable to wear them.

4. Shoes I love but I don't have anything in my entire wardrobe that goes with them.

5. Shoes I love that I can't live without.

6. Shoes I have cause I need them.

7. Shoes that I would buy and may not love them as much as I initially thought I loved them.

This would belong in #1, #5, and possibly #7

Posted by j2k2

Ozzie

Saw this on the bus the other day. It made me wonder what "Ozzie" has been up to for the past 10 years....

Posted by J2k2

Bang & Olufsen

Two words. Bang-Olufsen. You may not recognize these two words but you’ll understand soon enough why these two words epitomizes “status” in my world.

• Mr. Bruce Wayne aka “I will leave my husband for you BW!” furnished his cool/chic pad in Dark Knight with the B&O products
• Mr. Bond’s Aston Martin is equipped with a slick B&O audio system
• Tom Cruise wore the B&O earphones as cell-phone in “Minority Report”
• B&O stereo in the operating room of McNamara/Troy
• Both Samantha Jones and Big have B&O products in their crib
• Kanye West shows off his B&O gadgets on the web

YES, other than Kanye West, these are all fictional characters. But the point is, these are all really kick-ass/cool characters. Seriously Bruce Wayne owning B&O products alone is enough for me honestly. So can I justify ditching my $30 iphone earphones to a $200 B&O Earset 3? I haven’t figured out a way to convince my husband yet.

BTW, once saw a guy with this earset at the gym on a treadmill. I was pretty much staring with envy, although I'm fairly certain, that he thought I was staring for other reasons....

Posted by J2k2

The Knife Show

So the other night, I was hanging out with a friend until the weeeeee hours of the morning (sorry guy). We're watching tv and whatnot and he starts telling me how at some point (maybe 3am or something like that), an hour long program that sells knives comes on. An hour long program that sells knives at 3am EST.

He proceeds to tell me all types of knives that they sell like pocket knives, hunter knives, some Japanese swords, and they even sell you sets of 160 knives. They come in all sorts of sizes, colors, grips, cases, etc. etc.

I know, ridiculous. For two reasons:
1. Why is there an HOUR LONG knife show?
2. Why does he know all this stuff about an HOUR LONG knife show?

So time comes, and of course, there's the program. And of course, I demand we watch the program (What? How can you not watch it now?) So we're watching and of course the show is exactly how he explained it would be. EXCEPT it's a lot more ridiculous.

First, imagine it being like an HSN segment except REALLY REALLY poor quality. I'm talking, the producer of the show found a video camera he bought in the 90s and thought, "awesome, I'm ready to make a show."

Second, there are a RIDICULOUS amount of knives that are shown on that show. A ridiculous amount - which will be explained in the next point. Although this probably explains why the show's using such a shiesty camera - they spent all their money buying knives.

Third, you only have 1 minute (maybe 2? I'm pretty sure it was 1) to call and purchase the item. And the order number isn't simple. It's like C302018i9a;h;aweigh;oi104y102y[. So imagine how many knives they went through. Yeah, a buttload. We actually called. It took about 50 seconds to get to an operator.

Fourth, in the background, the phones are ringing off the hook. I mean, non-stop as if this was some PBS telethon special with Kanye West, Bon Jovi (apparently England's #3 Rock God), and other celebrities. Come on. It's 3am. I know it isn't live but seriously. That many people are buying knives right now? that many?

All in all, I'd say it's a definite must see. At least once. I think the ridiculousness of the program itself is entertaining. And if you're hanging out with my friend, a definite definite must watch. Because he apparently knows A LOT about knives.

i support you, Chris Tomlin!

All mp3s sitting in my iphone have been purchased. YES, I buy music. I buy music because I feel that it’s a way for me to support the artists, although I learned from working at Warner Music, that the numbers don’t work out that way for them. The last couple of albums that I bought belonged to one of my favorite Christian artist named Chris Tomlin.

I could honestly say, from my inner most being, that his music has an impact on my spiritual life almost every day. Why else would I fly out to Nashville for the first time, on my 32nd bday weekend, and convince not one but TWO of my dear friends to fly out from LA and SF to join me in Nashville, just to go see him at a tour that I’ve already seen him on 8 months prior? Why else would I buy 5 copies of his most recent album “Hello Love” and Fedex them to friends who maybe going through tough times? Honestly this kind of insanity/rationale stems from some kind of insurmountable gratitude! At least that’s what I tell myself when my friends look at me like I'm nuts.

Weekend in Nashville (airfare/hotel/car/food/etc) - $900
Chris Tomlin concert tickets spent so far - $150
Chris Tomlin CD/mp3 - ~$250
The “good” feeling I get from supporting Chris Tomlin – Priceless!

Most recent music purchase: Priscilla Ahn (20 songs for $11)

Posting by j2k2