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March 31, 2003
Brown Leaves Rand and Flash Goes Beyond the Browser
So UPS has re-designed their logo and has a new identity simply known as "brown". Designers across the nation are mourning the loss the design. Paul Rand, one of the most influential figures in American graphic design, was responsible for the original logo.
Macromedia has a new Flash technology called Macromedia Central. Apparently this extends Flash beyond the browser, allowing users to read internet content both online and offline. It won't be available until this summer, but you can read the white paper to get the full scoop.
Posted by kafi at 04:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 29, 2003
Yeah for the Weekend!
What a long week! I finally found an apartment after several weeks of fretting. I was a month shy of finding myself homeless and stressing big time. With the thought of layoffs in the back my mind, I steered clear of looking for awesome expensive places and stuck to my frugal plan of finding a nice and simple cheap place. In Capitol Hill, of course. Right now I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. So beginning in May, I will once again be a city dweller. I am looking forward to it. Goodbye, cookie cutter land!
I also have a birthday coming up, so I'm also in the process of working on a birthday wishlist. Since I don't like owning lots of "stuff" (I anticipate at least two more trips to the Salvation Army in the next couple of weeks) I am having difficulty coming up with much. I updated my about page with my wishlist for all interested parties.
Posted by kafi at 01:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 25, 2003
Pesce de Argentina
Saturday was a your typical spring day on Capitol Hill. The weather was mild, and the air was sweet with the scent of flowers just beginning to bloom. Okay, it wasn't that beautiful, but it was literally a breath of fresh air. The diner women were in rare form, smiling and laughing and teasing the regulars. In warm weather they can double the number of customers they serve with outdoor seating. I'd be smiling too. I did a little apartment hunting, but saw nothing worth mentioning.
Saturday night though, was a treat. We stopped by Horace and Dickies for my first fried fish carry-out experience. It was a perfect spring evening in the city. Since the caryout could hold no more than 10 customers comfortably, the line stretched outside the building onto the sidewalk. Music blared from cars driving by as the young guys behind us checked out the girls who were inching their way inside. The smell of fried fish hung in the air, but wasn't as offending as you might think. All of the fish came frozen in boxes from Argentina. About every 15 minutes or so someone would go to the back and pick up another box of fish, dump it in the sink, transfer it to another sink and then toss the fish in cornmeal, all in preparation to be fried. At any given moment, dozens of fish were fried in one of the 4 deep fat fryers.
Our counter guy was especially considerate and fried everything fresh for us, which resulted in a platter of 6 perfectly whole fried fish and french fries. The regulars "dress" (hot sauce, ketchup, salt & pepper) their platters, sandwiches and fries right on the premises. We just took our fish and left. Nothing like beer and fried food on a warm spring night.
Posted by kafi at 11:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 21, 2003
Speechless
Not feeling too sassy lately. Much going on. Past two weeks have been exhausting. You know things are hectic when you have to take the night off to do little things like laundry or cook a meal. CNN, MSNBC, Fox, now command my complete attention. I spend hours siting in front of the TV, fixated , just as I did during the days following 9/11. The difference, for now at least, is the silence. I remember the screaming emergency vehicles and more recently the sounds of helicopters monitoring my area. Now I hear nothing, except the sounds of the TV, which is both comforting and discomforting.
I chose not to warblog since there are so many others who have voiced their opinions:
Split - the war Gunnar Langemark
On the war Meg Hourihan
Eve of destruction Scott Rosenberg
The war Jason Kottke
Posted by kafi at 09:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 19, 2003
Must Be Jelly 'Cause Jam Don't Shake Like That
Okay, I admit, the title is terrible. But I can't help it. The tractor man who had been causing massive traffic jams in the District is finally in police custody. Some folks have commented on his actions so I haven't felt a need to say much about it. Except that I am glad the situation has been resolved and life can return to its preparation-for-war normal.
Posted by kafi at 01:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 16, 2003
Cross the Street, Durnit!
Saturday I took a day trip to New York City with my mom, sister and several others. It was a full service bus trip complete with a drive past the UN and a short trip to Harlem before taking in a show. Money earned from the trip went to a scholarship fund for one of my mom's organizations. The bus trip alone was enough to justify taking the trip. They showed the blaxploitation movie, Claudine, a romance film made in the '70's featuring a young James Earl Jones and Diahann Carrol. Imagine James Earl Jones about 30 years ago. He spent the first half of the movie creatively nude!
Since I wasn't particularly in the mood for a show, we went shopping. It was nice to have mother-daughter time. Unfortunately there wasn't much time left for visiting museums. We had planned on spending a little time at the MOMA but it was too time prohibitive (although we did make it the musuem gift shop). I couldn't believe how long it had been since I'd been to the museums. A few years ago I went to Christie's, but that doesn't really count.
If there is one thing I can say about visiting a unfamiliar city is act like you have some sense. I cannot tell you the number of times my mom stood on the opposite side of the street looking out for my sister. The girl refused to cross the street unless the pedestrian sign said "WALK". I'm not suggesting anyone jay walk, but to stand on the side of the street paralyzed by the chance a car will hit you? You are just asking to be mugged! I think she eventually realized it was safer to cross the street then get plowed over by a crowd pushing you into the street.
Posted by kafi at 08:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 13, 2003
Eau de Toilette
I have been trying to refrain from discussing potty matters but this one just could not be avoided.
The ladies room at my job is not your luxury bathroom by any measures but it does have one stall that contains both a toilet and a sink. I am partial to this particular stall because of the privacy; however, I have taken great pains to avoid it since Tuesday.
Tuesday
Like a proper lady, I went to flush the toilet. Normally the flush sends water down into the toilet, but the complete opposite happened after I released the handle. Water came swooshing up out of the toilet, up over the seat and onto the floor, and yes onto my boots as well. I was so horrified I decided to absquatulate, choosing to wash my hands at the public sink. It wasn't until I had gotten back to my desk that I realized my boots had fallen victim to the potty water. It was good fortune that I was wearing last season's boots and not my new boots, which were in need of a trip to the cobbler. Oh, and when I called maintenance to report the problem, they weren't at all suprised; apparently this commode has high water pressure issues.
Posted by kafi at 10:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 11, 2003
Buy American!
So, would you care for "freedom fries" or "freedom toast" with that order? This is the question now asked in 3 House office building cafeterias and some private restaurants across the United States. Or would you care to buy French?
Posted by kafi at 01:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Why Why Why?
Why did Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, mate with the daughter of the King of Rock n' Roll®? And then name his children Prince?
Why is vegetable shortening used in place of lard in Twinkies?
Why are Ginger Altoids pastey like the peppermint-flavored mints and not hard like the candy-like lemon and tangerine flavors?
Posted by kafi at 09:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 10, 2003
56 Days and Counting
My residence in the Commonwealth of Virginia is slowly coming to an end. I now have 56 days to find a new apartment in a new city. My options are Baltimore and D.C. and all I want is an inexpensive place to live that won't compromise my safety. The search began on Saturday in D.C. taking me NE and SE around the Capitol. There are a lot of cute English basement apartments and obscure 4 and 6 unit buildings scattered throughout Capitol Hill. I don't really care for living in someone's basement, not matter how "cute" the unit may be. The thought of bars on my window and people at sidewalk level being able to peek into my place makes me a bit uncomfortable.
Next weekend I'll check out Baltimore, which looks a little more promising for two reasons. It is generally more affordable and I'll be close to a couple schools where I can get a master's degree.
Am I excited? Not really, the thought of moving is enough to make me want to throw all of my material items out the window. I am currently engaged in arranging my second trip to the Salvation Army in hopes of reducing the material gains I have made over the past two years. Well, back to the classified ads...
Posted by kafi at 09:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 06, 2003
The Little Minivan That Couldn't
The situation:
Last night I arrived home to a minvan stuck in the mud in front of my apartment. Not unusual, except that the parking lot is about 50 yards from my apartment and in between is a nice muddy, tire track strewn lawn with picnic tables and barbecues. An SUV was hooked to the minivan, in a lame attempt to bail it out. Let me also explain that ALL of the snow has melted and the lawn now looks like a swamp. And in the process of trying to tow the minivan, the SUV looked like it was digging itself a hole.
Someone apparently reported the fiasco because the management company was taking down license plate numbers and shooting photos of the mess. I was pissed off because I'm moving soon and I had planned to drive the truck up to the apartment. While I don't think there are any rules against this (yet) it is terrible tacky and causes undue stress to the neighbors. But hauling heavy furniture causes undue stress to my body, which I couldn't bear to endure again.
The solution:
The owner of the minivan miracously appeared around 8:30pm and again around 12:45. Something about the sound of burning rubber in the mud that just makes one want to yell things out the window or call the police. But I did neither. I waited patiently in my bed, just as all the other neighbors did last night. Eventually a huge tow truck found a way to get up onto the lawn and yanked the damn minivan out of the mud. But at this point I was already irritated and any hope for a good nights rest had been squashed.
The morning after:
The front lawn is an atrocity, mud and tire tracks are EVERYWHERE and the roommate and I are PISSED. No sleep last night and mud for days. And as luck would have it I overslept this morning, had no coffee beans in the apartment and barely finished a project I was working on. Late as I was this morning, I was still able to snag a not-so-obvious parking spot for compact cars only. Go Civic!
Posted by kafi at 01:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 05, 2003
For Lack of Better Words
It is not that we should simply seek new and better ways of managing society, the economy and the world. The point is that we should fundamentally change how we behave.
-Vaclav Havel
Posted by kafi at 11:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 04, 2003
Spring Cleaning
To get a jump on my spring cleaning, I decided to tidy up the site. I now have a clean and well organized past that matches the present. My photo section still needs some work and I'd like to launch the re-design of my recipes section. All in due time of course. Over the next week I will be very busy with freelance and personal stuff.
Posted by kafi at 01:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 03, 2003
Big Boss
At least a few times a month, we frequent a small diner on Capital Hill. It's your run of the mill greasy spoon owned and operated by a group of Vietnamese women. While there is noting special about the food, the service keeps us coming back for more. When we walk in, the older waitress shouts at us" Hello, hello, come in. How you doing Big Boss? Two orange juice? " They must think Kevin is a celebrity because he ALWAYS get the star treatment. Ohh, how those women love to call him Big Boss.
Posted by kafi at 06:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack