Parma and language

I love words, I think they are wonderful. Also learning other languages and I always think the more you know the better you can communicate with more people. I coined the term "PARMA" which is a mix of parking karma. This term is used when my friends and I are looking for that hard to find parking spot. Usually a friend has parma when the parking spot is found very quickly in a normally more time consuming manner in that area. IE Finding a spot in Back Bay, Chinatown or Harvard Square on a busy weekday or weekend are perfect examples.
Knowing other languages, I find more times than not, English does not accurately represent what I want to say. I find that either Mandarin and Cantonese is more descriptive and more apt in explaining what I want to convey.

Just this past Sunday, I had an interesting conversation about the usage of profanity. Personally, I do not swear alot. Blame it on my folks and their influence on not allowing us to swear growing up. Granted my dad has a colorful vocabulary but I never copied him. Or so I thought anyways. One time when I was seven, I used a term and I got a good earful from my mom. The gist was a "good girl" does not have a potty mouth. Even in high school, it was an event when I actually said "damn" for the first time. This titillated all my friends with feigned horror and shock.

To this day, I do not use the "F bomb" much. I use friggin more (not often) and avoid the "f" bomb. But I find swears in other languages to be more meaningful. One of my HK friends mentioned growing up in elementary school there is this rhyme of 50 characters that kids would sing that would cover all the swear words. Even with many friends who want to learn phrases , the first ones they want are swear words. Not "please", "hello," and "thank you".

In Cantonese, I can tell you our swear words wound the person and the families. I notice that one swear loosely translated means "may all your family die". This is bad as family is very important to the Chinese people! In other languages, one's mom is involved too in the swear phrase. Why is that? The giver of life being maligned, I guess that is a big insult, and swears are not supposed to be flowery words either.

But I must admit, all my close friends are not potty mouths. I feel there is a time and place to swear. If you are very frustrated and stressed out swearing releases the stress and tension. But I find if you use it often, for me it loses its allure or specialness.
Just my two cents for what it is worth.

Loser Leech Club

Ok, I have a smart, funny gal pal who seems to attract men who should be in what I coined the term LOSER LEECH CLUB. She just wants to find a decent guy and love who she is attracted to. She is a starving artist and has lots of love to give and talent too. She is extremely funny and has a heart of gold. You cannot miss her in the room, as she is very charismatic and strongly believes in achieving her goals. Though right now times seem very hard, I am sure she will achieve it.
The reason I call these men loser leeches is simple enough, they initially seem like guys you want to be with. After spending more time they drain her of all her love, support, encouragement, empathy and bank account (not a good thing as she is a starving artist) and they are leeches as they suck suck the life force out of her. Plus their outer packaging is very attractive which makes it hard for her to let go. Or their brief moments of brilliance (treating her nice -when she should be treated with respect ALL the time) once in a blue moon.
The last one was the last straw for me. He is handsome and tall and talented actor who goes to therapy. He had the gall to tell my good friend that she should manipulate and use people to get to the top. Furthermore he chastised her that she needed to wake up and listen to her because he goes to THERAPY. Now how high is this guy or what?

Furthermore he has the gall to tell her they are dating and then goes on dates with other gals. When she finds out and wants to break up he gets upset. Once they are just chilling as friends he has the nerve to tell her about his dates (stupidly or not he mentions the time it happened and it is during the time during their "supposed courtship"). How clueless can a guy be?

Or the prior one who was noncommittal but knew how to turn on the charm. He was very verbose on the phone and acted very effusive about wanting to see my lovely friend. But once he saw her in person (not email or phone) he was a totally different person. He did not talk and expected my friend to be on constant entertainment mode. No fair and he could not even hold a decent conversation. Hello some mental stimulation to the brain and basic communication is nice when you are thinking of dating someone. But alas this scenario was one sided and my friend wisened up quickly. I think it must have been that European charm that lured my gal pal--the Italian accent always does.

Maybe it is the environment she is in or I think she should trust her gut instinct more. Plus keep surrounding herself with people who love , care and are supportive to her!
There should be an end to this loser leech club. Hon you know who you are, I love you and you deserve the best! Can't wait to see you soon!

Tina Kim - go see her!

TINA KIM--go see her FEB 2006
My friend the talented Korean comic Tina Kim has some upcoming shows along the west coast. If you are able to hit her show, you should. She is a starving artist who truly needs your support. Show your love and support and spread the word! We need to have more Asian women comics out there!
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In 2006 I am for the first time going to try to get a manager. I HAVE a big time manager in mind, so for my show at the ICE HOUSE, I REALLY NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO COME OUT b/c I will be inviting this person.

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TINA KIM LIVE UPCOMING SHOWS....ALL TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED AT MY WEBSITE.

****************************************************************************************FEB 19th SUNDAY @ 7:00 PM -- PASADENA CAIce House Comedy Club24 Mentor Ave Pasadena, CA 91106Tickets are $15.00 in advance on my website or $20.00 at the door.& and there is a two drink minimum. 18 years and older.

******************************************************************************************FEB 25th, SATURDAY -- two shows 8:00 PM and 10:30 PM -- OAKLAND, CAOakland Metro Theater201 BroadwayOakland, CA 94607Tickets are $20.00 in advance on my website or $25.00 at the door.This is a theater and there are no drink minimums...ALL AGES WELCOME

**********************************************************************************************MARCH 10 FRI @ 9:00 PM -AND- MARCH 11 SAT @ 9:00 PM -- SEATTLE, WAChristoff's Gallery6004 12th Ave. SouthSeattle, WA 98108Tickets are $15.00 in advance on my website or $20.00 at the door.There is NO drink minimum all ages welcome.

*********************************************************************************************One day I will have a publicist, agent, manager, assistant, hanger-ons, hairdresser, husband, stalkers, boytoys,make-up artist, BUT FOR now it's ALL ME!THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!CLICK BELOW TO WATCH MY BOOTYLICIOUS STAND UP CLIP!

It will open automatically!!www.youtube.com/w/v=oCrwHcC3ohc tkcomic@yahoo.comwww.tinakim.com to purchase tickets...

Gung Hay Fat Choy! & Favorite Topic

Happy Chinese New Year this coming Sunday, January 29th! This year is the year of the DOG. Wow time sure flies!

I celebrated last night with the family, my roomie and my sister brought along her boyfriend Chris. We ate a big meal and we were all stuffed after wards. We had alot of food from the seafood soup, two types of chicken, lobster, flounder, garlic peapod stems, beef with peppers sauce we ate well.

This coming weekend is the busiest Chinese New Year's ever for me in terms of activities. Tomorrow night, I am heading to drinks with some friends then a NEW YEAR's dinner at a friends newly renovated house (kitchen I heard is the bomb now). Saturday night, celebrating with another friend and her buddies having Japanese at OGA. YUMMY! Sunday planning for Taiwanese dim sum and chilling with some friends. A weekend filled with friends and good cheer, seems like a great plan for me!

Lately, I have been blessed with much great news from friends from new job, getting engaged, getting married and getting pregnant. I think these changes are blessings and great for my friends. I am sad that my honey is moving to NYC and I am going to miss him terribly.
Last Sunday, I got to catch up with two great friends. One who is married and we had brunch at NEIGHBORHOOD in Union Square in Somerville. Truth be told, I adore Zaftigs more. But with Neighborhood, I can see why people go. The food is OK, tight quarters, but a great value for the buck. For only $10.99 we had toast, choice of cream of wheat or fruit, eggs, toast, OJ, coffee, either bacon or sausage, potatoes and I had pumpkin pancakes. The pancakes were a bit on the dry side, the fruit was a slushy weird mess (should have opted for the yummier cream of wheat), but glad we got a side of corned beef hash. Not bad I must admit, I adore corned beef hash but ZAFTIGS still rocks on that dish.

At night, I caught up with my college little sis Wen Wen. I love her alot. She just glowed and looked so beautiful. I was so proud to see her and tell her that she has changed and prospered so much since I first met her back at Smith. I will always remember seeing her dad in the sea of parents when I was chatting them up at a parents /student panel for prospective students. I was one of two students on that panel. I remember telling a story about my mom not knowing what college I was attending. Here mom and whole family are very sweet and good people and she is the only friend where I met up with her family and she was not there!

Here goes, when I got accepted to Smith my mom did not think much of it. Plus I did not know the Cantonese pronunciation of Smith. She was not impressed at all as it is not a "hah vard". After my first month at Smith, I returned home during my first break (over Columbus Day Weekend) and wore an ASA (Asian Students Association Tshirt). On that Tshirt, Smith was translated into many languages--Hindi, Korean, Japanese, Chinese etc. Suffice to say the shock on my mom's face when she read my tshirt. She exclaimed, where did you get it? Turns out, when she was 19 years old, she read a novel with her friend. In the novel, the main character attended Smith. At the time, my mom asked her friend, what is Smith? Her friend Rosemary said, Smith is a great woman's college in western Massachusetts. Then my mom proceeds to say, my future daughter will be going there. Of course her friend said, who says you will have a daughter, and if you do it is a good school. Doesn't mean she will be able get accepted into this school as it is part of seven sisters. Truth be told, I did not know I achieved my mom's dreams (I never knew this story). Weird and funny at the same time I must admit.

While in college I wanted to escape my family. I had University of Toronto on the brain or alot of out of state colleges. It is ironic how I came to choose Smith.

My oldest friend, Mateo whom I met in middle school when he transferred from Indiana recently got engaged. I am excited for him. Funny how life is and how many shared school memories we have of it. He is the only person in my high school graduating class I keep in touch with now. The other two people I keep in touch with from high school are not even in my year. One is Jen (we got to meet up this YEAR!) and Mags (lots of speech tournament memories).
I am loving life and happy for all my friends. I am making plans to visit some and I am excited. There is so much to see and do while I have this time to think.

Still making time for walks/jogs during the day this week has been nice save for the nasty weather on Monday. I heard from a friend it took him three HOURS to get home from NH. EEKS and blech!

Tonight is a time to meet up with another good friend who is also a foodie and great all around person. We are checking out ZITA a new recent addition to Downtown Crossing.
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January 26, 2006 A favorite topic

*Sigh Travel is such a fave topic of mine along with food and meeting people. In this short life of mine, I have visited almost 25 countries thus far. I caught my first plane ride back a few years after college. Much to the surprise of friends and even teachers as they assumed I had much more travel experience before then. Yes it was via cars to Orlando at the tender age of 5 or Canada to see my dad's side of his family in Toronto.

Since my first fateful plane ride non stop to LA, I have made many more trips to LA. I thank Karen K. for saying to me, why not travel? What is stopping you? It was just me and my head thinking I could not travel. I ADORE my passport and I love the stamps, I find my VISA to China (two years ago) to be a cool addition. Lots of the Western European countries do not stamp if you are traveling via train. (sigh I felt sad at that as I wanted more stamps).
Travel has been an eye opening experience to food, people, culture, art and architecture. I love watching the commercials, eating the snack foods , food stalls, checking out the local farmer markets or supermarkets (if time allows) and catching up with friend who happens to be a local. Taking the public transport or just meandering around on my own two feet are the transportation of choice for me. I try to avoid the big TOUR BUS that take you around in comfort around the city. I would rather do a walking tour (I recommend them alot). I admit in the past with a time crunch, I have taken the bus/trolley rides around a city (mainly in the USA-San Diego, Montreal , Nashville etc) to save time. If I can avoid it, I will.

I find whenever I am talking to friends travel is something that is exciting that binds me with others. Whether we can swap stories of talking the pros and cons of the Boston "T" compared to European and Asian public transport (cannot compare) . Even discussions on local cuisines that you cannot get in the USA, I still crave the lovely crispy wings in Central area in Hong Kong at a hole in a wall, the wonderful pork and beef jerky in Singapore, flavorful gelato at Vivoli in Florence, excellent Indian cuisine in London, delicious Chocolates in Belgium (Marys in Brussels) to the superb pastries I had in Vienna, to the dreamy marbled Kobe Beef... always linger in my mind making me want to visit those places again. But the world is so huge I want to visit other places.

I am going to Italy again in the SPRING to attend a good friend's wedding in the Amalfi Coast. This time I will be able to do Cinque Terra, Sienna, Pisa and Rome as well as try to see Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii and possibly Napoli. Another friend mentioned getting married in Vietnam at the year end. I have a friend getting married in Israel next month, I would love to attend but I cannot.

Definitely on the radar is Korea (the Korean dramas and watching Dae Jang Geum) as well as having a good friend live in Seoul is tempting to go NOW to visit her! I want to try to the street food and other great goodies not obtainable here! My Korean is atrocious --I only can say a few terms (culled from the dramas and from my Oh-nee Audrey).

Japan--is also on the list due to some great roomies and I wanted to visit an ONSEN when there, see Kako's super cutie daughter, see Ai chan in Nagoya and see her mom who is also a foodie aficionado as myself.

Malaysia would be a pit stop to see friends there and also Singapore but a big trip is Thailand. My good friend Lek is there and I would love to see her lovely country.
Then South America would be great to go and practice my Spanish. I always wanted to see Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil.

Just too many places in the world I want to see and visit and we have wonderful variety that I do not know if I can see all I want to being stuck in the USA.

But traveling keeps up the excitement for me.....til my next travels.

Being healthy

Those who know me are aware for my DEEP affection for food! I love FOOD in all its shapes, flavors, and aromas! Through my friends, visiting various restaurants, food markets, hole in the walls, travels and recommendations I have been introduced to the dizzying delights that awaken and tantalize my senses! Of course, food network and PBS compliment the other experiences as well.

This year I am finally getting into the role of being healthier while not denying myself any foods. I know, am aware, watched and read many an article , magazine that healthy living has to be maintained and practiced. *sigh But eating well and being healthy at the same time can be a trial. I ADORE snacks baum cakes (thanks for the recent shipment Ai chan!), doritos, potato chips etc. I know I cannot be allowed to eat them in copious amounts.

Since the last fall, I have kickstarted taking care of my health by eating more reasonable portions (being in Europe) aided that process and the constant walking around. Now that I am back, winter and the holiday season are big culprits of weight gain. At a recent New Year's Party I ate cucumbers, tons of carrots and had once piece of the bruschetta. (I avoided the nachos, chips and guacomole like the plague --my usual faves). As each new year rings in, I am made aware how much slower my metabolism is getting! (Not a comforting thought I must add)
It is true what they say the little steps are helpful for the overall picture. Thus far I have been successful on my path to being healthier for myself. Clothes that were once very snug are big and loose on me. I drink copious amounts of water and dilute the juices I drink. I have the occasional sweets and baked goods and not allow any foods I could INHALE in a few seconds to be around in my kitchen cupboard.

I detest working out plus with no gym membership and it being winter (I do like walking) it makes it hard. But I try to walk between 30-60 minutes a day. I use the stairs and take two steps at a time. I find that I feel lighter on my feet and better about myself.
Now I just have to tell my folks, to stop forcing a ton of food to me. They show their affection with food --on the one hand they want to be healthy and complain I should watch my portions but when we eat out---I am told to finish the many dishes we have on the table. Very frustrating indeed!

But it has been many baby steps and I am continuing in the process! It is true what they say, nothing worth having comes easily! *sigh

Happy 2006

Happy 2006 everyone! I had a good past few weeks, given the circumstances I have hung out mainly doing personal things. With the cash flow problem, I have been good about getting personal stuff done.

I had a friends of friends visit the last few weeks. I like to entertain so I got to check out the Ansel Adams exhibit at MFA (ends tomorrow). The ceramics and textiles show (by contemporary Japanese artists) was cool. I got to attend a New Year's Eve party in Brighton met some nice people. Caught MUNICH on Xmas day with my friend Mil who was in town for the holidays. I must say I truly enjoy Eric Bana's acting every since he was in TROY opposite Brad Pitt as Hector. He truly shines as a gifted and talented actor.

My sis has been sick and I have been cooking for her lately and taking care as best as I could. At least I get to try different things and combine different foods. It is interesting trying to make foods with only the food in your pantry without having to buy other NEW food. I find that definitely a true test of your cooking mettle for myself anyways. I ended up making a pretty decent vermicelli noodle soup with shrimp and beef for my efforts.

Went recently to Vinny's at Night an Italian restaurant specializing in Sicilian food behind Vinny's superette on Broadway Street in Somerville. They make their marinara sauce by the gallons daily and it is divine! The food was great I got the pasta al forno (yummy) mix of pasta, peas, eggplant, cheese baked together. My sis got the stuffed lamb chop with a great sauce with mushrooms and something else I cannot recall. The calamari was good without much excess greasiness but there were only squid RINGS (we like a mixture with the tentacles as well). The service was attentive and the space was cute and basic. We went on a Friday night early (it packed up quickly after we were there for 20 minutes).

I have been trying to increase my cardio and exercise quotient (so easy not to exercise). It is hard but I think I am doing it gradually. I had a good walk on part of the Harborwalk with my ex colleague and friend from my last job. We had tiramisu in North End at Cafe Vittorio an institution since 1929. We got a rice plate with char siu and awesome soy sauce chicken near South Station train station. Thanks to my mom's great suggestion. She is always on the hunt for good Chinese food in Chinatown.

This year, I plan to keep on the path of good health, maintaining my relationships, strive to find a job, and always be a constant student and learn and continue to be curious about the world around me.

Day to Day

It is weird being back. But also I have a new perspective on life and happenings. You really do become stronger and more capable and alot of it helps with a great attitude. I find that it has aided me in this journey called life.

Lately, I have been volunteering, catching on Kdramas--My Sister in Law is 19 (I think Kim Jae Won has a nice smile! Plus Jung Da Bin I adored in RoofTop Cat). Another one was First Love of a Royal Prince (also showing on AZN right now) so I am definitely improving my Chinese reading (subtitles are in Chinese both traditional and simplified script). Catching up with friends and also doing some activities recommended by the career services center orientation I attended this week.

There were some great things recommended such as creating a portfolio to accompany your resume (even if you are not a graphic designer etc) you can have one. The exercise itself will take some time to execute and create. But I think it is a splendid idea.
The weather today is gorgeous and warm! I heard that this weekend is going to be rainy (BOO HOO!).

Contemplating where I want to be in the future, after seeing more of the world. I love Boston and its charm and proximity to my family but there is so much out there to be offered in the world. I always know that from my constant travels and meeting many great and fascinating people. When you travel, I find out that I myself am more open and helpful to others especially if they are travelers. I believe in reaping what you sow. I have experienced many a time the kindness of strangers through my many years of travel. It warms the heart (I know it sounds corny) but small acts of kindness are always appreciated by me.

For this Christmas, I got a digital camera from my folks. I know many of my pals have been pestering me to join the technological age. I still do no have a computer. Those in the know are aware when I relented to get a cell how hard it was for me to succumb to it. I must admit it allows me to keep in better contact with alot of my non local friends. But now with the digital camera, I am feeling a bit weird. I love my regular camera, the feeling of surprise and excitement whenever I go to pick up my latest foll of developed film. In this world of hurry hurry for fast results, I get alot of disappointed looks when I tell people I have a "regular" non digital camera. Now I cannot say that, I did not even ask for one. My parents said that they want me to take photos for them ergo they gave one for me. Hmmmmm.

Now I find is a great time to have many projects around the apartment that must be done. Since I moved into a new place, there is so much organizing and still unpacking that needs to be done. I guess I must take my folks on their offer to use their home as storage for my stuff. It is true my current digs is half the size of my old place. But there are so many more positives---newer area, nicer floors, better heat, more security and better management. But this all comes at a price, cramming three into a two bedroom. But alas the third roomie is never around, she is always hanging out with her boyfriend.

The last two months marked me going to see alot of films--The Libertine, Chronicles of Narnia, Pride and Prejudice to name a few. Now on my list are Munich and King Kong (I got rave review from my roomie HF).

I have been catching up on my reading too. Many novels but one non fiction one I enjoyed was Freakonomics. I think I should add some more career and job search books too such as What Color is My Parachute?

Another year has passed, this year I got the most self reflection. I have rediscovered some things about myself, found myself grateful for the wonderful people in my life, appreciating the small things in life-kindness of others, small gestures (I always try to do this) and spending alot of time with those you care about and feel good around. I find for me, the relationships I have are important. With all good and bad relationships, you really do learn from each one. Not to sound too corny and cheesy but it is true.