iGoogle! June 18, 2008

Last week, I discovered that Google.com (which is set as my homepage when I log onto the internet) offers something called ‘iGoogle’ that you can use when you have a google account. Basically, it’s a way to customize your Google homepage. You can customize the theme and add ‘widgets’ to your page. Well, I’ve had so much fun with mine! I hate reading the news (no news is good news, is my philosophy), so I now have absolutely no news stories/links messing up my day. But now I do have the date/time, local weather, a translator (which I use a lot), a currency converter (which I often use when I’m shopping British, Indian, or Korean websites), Wikipedia (which I check pretty much every day), a Korean word-of-the-day gadget, my favourite games, a link to my favorite Bollywood music site, and even two extra clocks so I know what time it is in Bollywood and in Korea!

But my favorite part is the customizable theme. I selected the most adorable theme featuring a little Oriental fox who lives in a charming little house by a lake. At different times of the day, the fox does different activities and the lighting changes. It’s dinnertime now, so here’s a screen-shot of my little fox eating dinner on his porch. Early in the morning, he picks tangerines from his trees (like Yu-Rin in “My Girl!”), in the afternoon he does laundry in the lake, and at night, he goes sailing in his boat. It’s so cute! I don’t know what nationality he’s supposed to be, since I’ve seen him with a coolie hat sometimes, and sushi and Japanese geta at other times, plus those tangerine trees look to me like the ones on Korea’s Jeju Island. But I do know that he (or she) is awfully cute! Below is the screen-shot:

K-Drama Fashions: It’s not what it seems. June 18, 2008

Drama: “Get Karl, Oh Soo Jung!”

Episode: I can’t remember.

Man Soo (Karl) is relaxing at home. Regretfully, it is what it seems – it is indeed a purple, pin-tucked blouse he’s wearing. Of course, I’m not really paying too much attention to what he’s wearing.

K-Drama: “Coffee Prince” June 18, 2008

Right now I’m watching my 17th K-Drama, “The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince.” I’m actually enjoying it more than I thought I would. It’s really quite darling, although the plot is even more contrived than most dramas – basically, the heroine pretends to be the (straight) hero’s gay lover, before she ends up falling for him herself. And…POSSIBLE SPOILER!!!!…it takes him more than half the show to figure out that she’s not really a boy (and by that time, almost every other character has figured it out). END SPOILERS.

However, each of the four characters is quite endearing (partly because they each have very obvious character flaws). I was unfamiliar with most of the actors in this drama, except for the heroine (who plays the lead in “Goong/Palace”). Presumably her acting in “Coffee Prince” is considered to be much improved over her performance in “Goong” (although I thought she did fine in that). I didn’t think I’d like the hero (especially since he has an inexplicable earring), but he’s really quite charming. The secondary female lead is very pretty, and the secondary male lead has the most beautiful speaking voice! This is a very happy drama, overall (I’m up to episode 14 and no terrible tragedies yet), with lots of really cute scenes and a few very funny ones. There is a little more crudity in this drama than most (kind of on a par with “My Name is Kim Sam Soon,” which is probably the crudest K-drama I’ve seen), and the subject matter could be considered adult, but overall, my mom and I are really enjoying it! I would recommend this one!

Art Deco: Henry J. Daly Building June 18, 2008

On my recent trip to Washington DC, in an attempt to locate the National Building Museum (a great place to visit, by the way, especially if you like really spectacular old buildings!), I took a wrong turn and ended up walking past the Henry J. Daly building. However, I wasn’t sorry about having to take a longer walk, because it allowed me to photograph this fabulous deco building that now houses the DC police department.

There are many beautiful deco buildings in DC (perhaps built as part of the WPA program?), but I thought this is a particularly nice example. Notice the ‘District of Columbia’ etching near the top of the building, the wonderful sconce between the doors, and the deco-ish carvings on either sides of the windows. I tried to photograph the building without getting any people in the shot, but there was a constant stream of people coming in and out of the building, so that was kind of impossible. Still, I thought this was a nice shot of the exterior. (I went in and asked to look around but you have to go through a metal detector and a security check – like so many buildings in DC – and besides, when they found out I had a camera they wouldn’t let me in. They were very nice about it, though.)
As you can see, even the short pillars outside the front steps are deco! And I love the stylized eagle on the tall pillar. But my favorite part of the building is the metalwork above the doors.

K-Drama Fashions: You Don’t Look Half Bad Today June 17, 2008

Drama: “Get Karl, Oh Soo Jung!”

Episode: I can’t remember.

This is the dress Soo Jung wears to impress everyone (especially super-bachelor Karl Go) at her high school reunion.

Unfortunately, yes, she’s wearing a pouf-y, ruffle-y, champagne-colored satin skirt, an off-the-shoulder white t-shirt, and a pink hair flower. But I think the ladies room comment made by the secondary lead says it all:

No. You look all bad today! Poor Soo Jung. I know the point of the show is watching her get her comeuppance, but really! Aigoo!