Ritmo Latino

I must mention how much I love this podcast. All of the podcasts except one have been winners, in my opinion, and they are the only podcasts I save on my iPod Mini after I've listened to them, which says a lot. There's a nice mix of anything that's Latin, from salsa to electronic to bossa nova and more!

Plus, reading the show's history made me laugh. Like Neil Hohmann before he started the show, I have only a few CDs and don't really know artists' names, so listening to this show gives me an opportunity to broaden my horizons. You can also check out the Ritmo Latino MySpace page, which is the cleanest one I've seen. All the other ones confuse me and give me a headache. I guess it's a sign that I'm aging. I'm just not hip anymore.

With this ring, I thee wed

According to The Knot, I should be well on my way looking for wedding bands. And, what is a traditional Western wedding ceremony without the wedding bands? However, after reading in the National Resources Defence Council's June 2005 issue of This Green Life about dirty gold, I couldn't consciouly want a traditional wedding band. According to the No Dirty Gold website:

Gold mining is a dirty industry: it can displace communities, contaminate drinking water, hurt workers, and destroy pristine environments.

It seems like the problems with gold apply to other metal mining operations as well, so that also rules out platinum. What to do? The NRDC and other green wedding planning sites recommend:

buying vintage have existing jewelry that you have and no longer wear refashioned buying recycled gold from online retailer Green Karat or Sumiche Jewelry. Dear Abi recently sent me a link to another online retailer, Cred Jewelry (this one is in the UK).

Of course, these ecologically- and socially-responsible rings look just as beautiful as conventional rings. According to the New York Times, buying from Chicago-based Leber Jeweler's Earthwise line is another option. And most of Tiffany's gold is mined without using cyanide.

And then, there are...wooden rings! I immediately fell in love with these rings from Touchwood Rings:



A simple search on for "wooden wedding rings" on Google will yield lots of options, including:

• Artistree
  
• craftsman's Etsy store
  (also known as Chicago Joinery)
  
• Wooden Rings and Things
  

I also love the rings at Tropical Grains, but I need to do research to see if titanium is okay.


There's also this directory from the International Commitment Ceremonies Registrar. It's nice to know there are so many choices for ethical rings.

Billion Dollar Brows

So I've spent the past week in L.A. visiting my parents and attending my high school's 10-year reunion (gasp!). Before the trip, I thought to myself that I would have plenty of time to get to all those items on my to-do list, including ones for the wedding, because I'm on vacation. Not! Between jet lag and driving all over L.A. finding things to meeting friends and family, I haven't gotten much sleep at all. At least I've managed to catch up on listening to a bunch of podcasts while driving—can you believe over 8 hours of driving programming over the course of 2 days?

Anyways, I digress. I was so lucky to find in my inbox Tuesday morning a Daily Candy feature on Billion Dollar Brows. I find it helpful to go to a professional once in awhile, since sometimes one loses perspective when going the DIY route...and you end up with no brows.

It just so happens that the salon is within walking distance of Rodeo Drive, where my good friends Kuo and Melissa took me to so that I could gawk in appropriately touristy fashion. I was a bit disconcerted to hear BDB was in their first full day of business (could I have been their only customer?), but the service was great. After some waxing and tweezing action, I had defined, natural-looking eyebrows. They say your eyes are the windows to your soul, and now I have great window treatments to go with them.

For all the ladies in L.A. (and guys with unibrows, for that matter), you can now have browsy goodness.

Billion Dollar Brows, 9453 Charleville Boulevard, South Beverly Hills (310-270-4650). $35 for the first visit; $30 thereafter.

A good weekend

It's been a good weekend so far. I actually left work early Friday because I was afraid of missing the train. I took the train out to the beach house to meet someone who was interested in buying my board. Big Dave kindly picked me up at the station and the timing was perfect—he pulled up as I walked out of the station. Since I was tired and sick with a cold, I just went straight to Neil's room with my new cabinet shelf from Ikea and rearranged the cupboard. Yes, that Martha Stewart-side of me enjoys and finds relaxing organizing cupboards so that the snacks, dishes, and glasses are placed for maximum efficiency. I was in bed by midnight (good girl) and slept in. I meant to do yoga this morning, but when you're sick, it's more important to sleep in, right? ;) The potential buyer came, liked my board, and bought it - yay! Relaxed some more, folded laundry, and caught the afternoon train back to Taipei. On the train I finally updated some spreadsheets on my laptop. This afternoon I did another load of laundry, folded the clean laundry that's been sitting around my room, and was surfing the Internet when the place where I get facials called to say that a space had opened up (I was on the wait list). So now I've actually crossed many things off my to-do list, and I'd probably could cross more if I'd stop surfing the 'net...hmm...time to get off...

Anthropologist in the Kitchen

Today I found out a friend, Tzu-i, has started her own blog chronicling her cooking school adventures. It's in Chinese, so it will be good practice to read...when I have the time to sit down with a dictionary. :P

The tallest building in the world

Thanks to all who sent kind words about my vent on Monday. Today I went inside the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101. I've been to the attached mall several times, but today was my first into the offices section. When you enter the building, the security guards direct you to these computerized kiosks, where you can look up you destination location by company name or floor. Originally I found the system difficult to use since I managed to overlook the "English" button, but I eventually managed in Chinese. After you select the office, the kiosk rings the office, and if the receptionist gives clearance, the kiosk spits out the access card. Then, you go to the turnstiles (just like in subways), and feed your card into the reader, and then are finally directed to the elevators. The elevators are very swish, and I was up at the 24th floor faster than the hokey elevator in my office building goes to the 6th floor. Unfortunately, stepping out of the elevator, you're in a corridor that looks a lot like a mausoleum since the other elevator shafts are clad in granite. But now I can say been there, done that.

Monday morning blues

I hate my job. I truly do. Every Monday, I have a hard time getting out of bed. Not necessarily because I'm tired, but because I don't want to go to work. So of course, I'm often late on Monday - two to three minutes late. But, to add insult to injury, if we're late we have to pay a fine into the employee entertainment fund. I think I've contributed to about 30% of the fund. But if the kids are happy, fine. Whatever.

I still hate my job. The pressure, the work. I'm always torn because right now I'm getting managerial experience in an entrepreneurial environment which should be good for my career development. But sometimes I could give a damn about the product and our customers. I just want some time for me and to plan my wedding. It's sucking the life out of me, and the worst is that I can't quit because I have a wedding and a future to pay for. To further pile on the suckiness, this morning while rushing to work I slipped on a puddle and now my knee and toe are bruised. Wah! >_<