Sunday, September 28, 2008

Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Bowl

I work across the street from this grocery store, and shop there at least twice a week.

It kind of sums up my feelings about Berkeley in a nutshell:

It may be a "town of hall monitors" but the food oh! the food!

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

My Job, In Wildlife Metaphor

I am a momma bird who eats data. I chew it up, swirl it around, cut it 100 different ways, and puke it back up in a digestible form for my baby bird clients.

If I'm doing my job right, it comes up as a coherent story about a place, a time and a community.

If I'm doing my job right, it looks easy. It isn't.

Despite my unappetizing description, it's actually quite an interesting and enjoyable process.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

WTF?

My mom just used the phrase OMG in an email.

I can't quite figure out why, but this struck me as odd.

Do your parents use internet acronyms?

Sunday, April 13, 2008

It Was 90 Degrees In Venice Yesterday

The menu:

Peach salsa and tortilla chips
New Orleans-style BBQ shrimp
Homemade cornbread with chipotle butter
Brazilian collard greens
Rum-glazed grilled plantains
Fresh margaritas, beer and wine

I've missed my kitchen...

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Cognitive Dissonance

Coming back to LA is like traveling back in time. I'm trying to roll with it, but if my hand starts to disappear I'm on the first plane back to San Francisco.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Thursday, March 13, 2008

So Long, Los Angeles


Thanks (to all of you) for the memories.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

I'm Going To Miss My Cakes


Cakes not pictured, but still missed: Julie, Eileen.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Ok, Guys

Who left the copy of Machismo in my bookshelf?

(Link NSFW)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Everything Changes

I accepted the offer. I can't figure out if I'm more excited by the new job or the new city.

I think I'm in shock.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Can't Work Out What I'm Supposed To Do

Everything will change next week. Or not.

For now, I wait.

Can't Go Out, Can't Stay In - Whitey

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Friday, February 15, 2008

Monday, February 11, 2008

My Imaginary Friend Is Real


And he likes pastrami....

Thursday, February 07, 2008

My First Time As Anything-Of-The-Month

I'll try not to let it get to my head.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Razbliuto

I recently heard this word on the Savage Love Podcast (episode 66, very nsfw). Defined as:
(n): the sentimental feeling you have about someone you once loved but no longer do
Razbliuto. It's fun to say, descriptive and meets a vocabularial need. Unfortunately, it's not a real word, but when has that ever stopped the English language?

Even better than the word itself is the context in which it was introduced. The woman who mentioned it has a grammar fetish - that is, she gets off on using big, fun, delicious words in bed.

How awesome is that? It's like, the nerdiest fetish ever. Go her.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Freaky Observers


The Boltzman brain problem suggests that, over eons of time, there is an infinite possibility atoms colliding in outer space to create recognizable things, from the mundane (the unscrambling of an egg) to the grandiose (a parallel universe). There could also be another you out there, just floating in space. Or, according to the Boltzman brain problem, an exact replica of your brain.

In fact, it is more likely that just your brain is out there than your whole body. Nature tends to do thing as simply and with as little energy as possible, and the creation of your brain is statistically "cheaper."

So it's entirely likely that your brain is floating somewhere out in space, fully aware, with your memories and the illusion of your world around it. Lots of your brains, in fact. And because the creation of our universe the way it is was such an improbable occurrence (ie there's only one "real" you, compared to many floating brains), it is statistically more likely that you are one of these brains in space, and not yourself in this universe.

Kind if disturbing, right?

The thing is that most cosmologists don't really believe this is true - but they can't figure out how to disprove it. And this flaw in the use of probability to predict the universe creates all sorts of issues in other parts of cosmology, which is in itself disturbing.

Or maybe it is true, in which case - wooooaaaahhh.

Check out the NYTimes article for a much longer and more detailed description of the whole phenomenon.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

I'm An Alien Rock-Star Spy!

Remember when you were a kid and playing pretend was basically the best game ever? You could be whoever, whereever, whenever you wanted, and reality was no hindrance to your fun. Fly to outer space and shoot lasers out of your eyes? Sure! Transform at will into a talking unicorn-pegasus hybrid? No problem! Die a dramatic death and come back to life? Practically a given!

We were talking about this the other night, trying to figure out at what age playing pretend went out of style. M played openly until his friends started making fun of him for being uncool. I willingly gave up public playing in a pre-teen attempt to rush adolescence. But we both admitted to playing pretend privately until we were much older, and eventually these pretend games dissolved into our modern-day fantasy lives...which then led us to ask if we've ever really stopped playing pretend.

And of course, we haven't. From silly daydreams to the occasional complete delusion to the half-truths we tell ourselves just to get through the day, we still do. So what's the difference between the way we pretend now, and the way we played then? Obviously reality is more of an issue now. But how many of our modern-day hindrances are self-imposed, the byproduct of our shrinking imaginations?

I don't have any answers. Just pontificating into the ether.

But here's one of my favorite songs about playing pretend (the adult way):

Aaron and Maria - American Analog Set

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

back on california soil

19 mosquito bites later.

Saturday, January 05, 2008

pig in a truck


now he's in my belly.