I Watch Movies, Read Books, and Eat Food

As you've probably heard by now, I was admitted into the the hospital a couple of days ago for blood clots in my legs.  For those of your who are interested in the medical miracle that is me, or for those of you who just want to know how I am doing, please read on for a detailed description of the past few weeks. On July 6th, flew back to LA from a super fun trip I had in Houston.  I was there to visit my family and had a great time at a beach house.  The next day I felt a little iffy.  I kind of just shrugged it off as jet lag and went on with my life. On Thursday, July 7th I noticed I was cold all day at work.  I thought it was the air conditioning because my office building likes to blast the A/C on days when it's super hot outside.  I kept asking my co-worker, "Are you cold?" and she thought I was insane.  My drive home from work that day was awful, I was shivering the whole time, even though it was like 90 degrees outside.  That's when I ...

We have reached the end of my month long project!  For day 30, I am writing this blog entry. If you're friends with me on Facebook (which I'm sure most of you are) you would have seen my 30 Days of Creativity Project.  June is creativity month (www.30daysofcreativity.com) and the goal was to do something creative for 30 days straight.  I felt like I had to participate.  I like to think that I have a little talent in art, and I used to do it all the time, but as I've grown up, life just got in the way.  Not that I abandoned it or anything, I would still do a little sketch here and there, but I just didn't have time to do it as much as when I was a kid.  Lately (and when I say "lately," I mean maybe the past year or so) I've been wanting to draw more.  But I just made excuses not to.  Not enough time, too tired (that one was ridiculous because it takes very little energy to draw), too lazy to get out my supplies, whatever!  I always had an ex...

Do you know I love The Pioneer Woman ?  Let's for a moment pretend I'm as cool as her.  (Yeah right!)  I am going to teach you guys how to cook one of my most favorite things to eat ever.  Ever. It's no secret that I love to cook, and certainly no secret that I love to eat!  I always loved to eat, however, I didn't really have interest in cooking until about my senior year of high school.  One year before moving out of my parent's house.  How convenient, huh?  So in that year, I learned a few of my favorite dishes, but unfortunately, not all of them. I did, however, learn the dishes that mean the most to me.  One of my favorites, the ultimate comfort food for me, the dish that will take me back home and make me think of my Mommy, the dish that I will make till the end of time, is tomato and eggs.  It is the easiest dish in the whole world!  It only calls for seven items: rice, tomato, egg, olive oil, soy sauce, sugar, and salt....

Lloyd first came into my life three years ago. I was not thrilled. I didn’t like him at first. In fact, I think I may have hated him. I thought he was ugly and I thought he would get in the way of the real me. I feared that when people looked at me, they weren’t really looking at me. They were looking at Lloyd. They wouldn’t bother to get to know who I really was because Lloyd would always be in the way, staring them in the face, inescapable. I wished and hoped that Lloyd would eventually go away. It was becoming increasingly difficult to pretend he wasn’t there. People kept making comments about him, asking questions about him. Which I honestly didn’t mind, I was happy to answer any questions, but at the same time, I again couldn’t help but think that they were only curious about Lloyd, and once their curiosity was fed, they were done with me. I even heard that some people flat out didn’t even like Lloyd and wanted me to somehow get rid of him. Well, getting rid of Lloyd ...

I have now officially gone one whole year without eating fast food. One year ago, I read the The Omnivore's Dilemma and it completely traumatized me. Those factory farms that produce the meat that fast food restaurants serve are hell on earth!  They are filthy, dangerous to the employees, toxic, and not mention cruel to the animals themselves.  I am a huge believer of the circle of life.  I know it sounds cheesy (especially since it's the title of a Disney movie song) but it's how nature thrives in a perfect balance.  Or, at least, it did before humans came along.  Now, nothing we eat is natural.  The cows we eat are fed corn, something their stomachs can't even process.  Sometimes they are even fed cows!  They're also pumped up with hormones and live in an enclosed area full of shit.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you that when you feed a cow something that it's not supposed to eat, and inject it with chemicals it's not supp...

It's Oscar night!  You know what that means!  It's time for Kim's Top Ten Favorite Films of the Year list!  10. I Love You Phillip Morris  This movie took about two years to come out in the USA!  There was a moment where it looked like it would never see the light of day.  That made me really upset because I am a huge Jim Carrey fan and also a huge Ewan McGregor fan!  So them playing gay lovers in a film intrigued me to no end!  I was so happy when it finally got an American release!  I was the first in line and I was not disappointed.  I would argue that Jim Carrey has now been snubbed by the Academy four times.  He should have been nominated for The Truman Show, he should have won for Man on the Moon, he should have been nominated for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and he should have been nominated for I Love You Philip Morris!  But for some reason, the Academy hates Jim Carrey.  But it's okay.  I love hi...

Best Picture My Prediction: The King's Speech My Vote: The Social Network      Isn't it funny how the two top contenders are complete opposites?  The King's Speech is about a middle aged stuttering man who befriends someone who helps him overcome his handicap.  The Social Network is about a young quick talking kid who pushes away and eventually betrays his best and only friend.  Of course my vote goes to the movie about a genius traitor.  Unfortunately, I think most Academy voters are too old to care about Facebook, or the generation that created it. Best Director My Prediction: David Fincher My Vote: David Fincher      Fincher all the way!  He's been one of my favorite directors ever since Fight Club (12 years ago!) and I am so glad that he's become such a respected filmmaker.  He is truly one of the greatest!  He is the probably the only person who can make a story about the invention of Facebook as eng...

Here is the recipe for my second salad of Salad Week.  Also found in Cooking Light magazine! Getting all my ingredients together.  I'm trying to make it an artsy shot.  I think the plate in the kitchen sick really seals the composition, huh? I know last time I said I couldn't really describe the taste of fennel before.  Now I can.  It tastes like liquorice.  Yes, that is in fact exactly what it tastes like.  I'm not usually too fond of liquorice, but for some reason, I like fennel.  Because I couldn't resist. And here is my finished product.  (Plus a biscuit.  Because I like biscuits.)  It was quite tasty!  Well, until I got to the end and all I had left was raw onions.  Twas a bit strong for me.

Salad Week commences!  Here is the recipe I decided to start with, found in Cooking Light magazine. I've never had fennel bulb before!  I've always been a bit curious because Giada cooks with it all the time.  I figure if it's good enough for Giada, it's definitely good enough for me!  So here's the fennel bulb.  Looks kind of funky, huh?  But it tastes good!  I can't really describe it - let's face it, I'm no food critic - but the flavor is mild and a bit lemony. And here is my finished product!  All in all, day one was a success!

The Oscars are in two weeks (and two days) so I figured it's probably about time I compose my top 10 favorite films list!  But as tradition, I will post it on Oscar night!  Until then, I give you my ten least favorite films of 2010!  Because you can't have the best without having the worst! *Spoilers in my reviews!!** 10. Cop Out Dear Kevin Smith, Kevin, Kevin, Kevin.  What are you doing, man?  It pains me to put this movie on this list because I love you so much, but I can't lie.  You really disappointed me this time around.  Did you really think making this movie was a good idea?  I know you didn't write it, so I can't completely blame you, but couldn't you have at least told Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan that they really weren't that funny?  Couldn't you have gotten stronger performances from them?  Especially since both of them have been funnier before.  You probably took on this project out of curiosity, to see if you cou...

Me: Salad week is on!  My Coumadin levels are okay and I get tested again in four weeks! Chandra: Yay!  So...what is salad week? Me: Oh I didn't tell you?  I decided to eat salad for dinner the week after my blood test. Chandra: Oh!  I thought it was a national movement.  I totally Googled it. So let me explain.  Salad week is not a national movement, though it should be!  No, it's my own personal quest to eat more veggies.  In order to explain salad week fully to you, I need to give you a bit of background on my medical condition.  Because of my heart condition, I have to take a blood thinner called Coumadin, which is not at all an inconvenience  - I'm on seven different medications - except it requires me to take a blood test every four weeks.  That can get inconvenient.  But I digress. Being on Coumadin doesn't really affect my life except for two things: I don't clot easily so I have to be very careful not to cut mys...

Friday night after work I drove from Sherman Oaks to Seal Beach.  It's pretty much a straight shot down the 405.  Since it was Friday night, and since it's Southern California, what should have been a 45 minute drive was nothing short of an hour and a half.  But it's cool.  It's to be expected.  I was listening to good music and I am a very patient person, so I didn't really get mad...until I looked over to the carpool lane.  As I was completely stalled in the second furthermost left lane, watching the carpool lane drivers zoom right past me, I wondered, "How many of you 'carpoolers' are legit?" Have you ever paid attention to the carpool lane and how many people don't actually obey it?  I never have before Friday night.  I always assumed that most people would follow the honor system and not take the carpool lane unless they have a passenger in the car with them.  Isn't the fine something like $300?  Now, obviously, I didn't expect e...