i just realized why the sudden war between los angeles and chicago

(other than the presence of julie)


it's the olympics!

given that hosting the olympics would be a zoo, and i probably won't even be here in 2000-a-billion (or whenever the games are), i'm still totally rooting for los angeles.

i should also note that its not just LA and chicago in the ring - there's a bunch of international cities (like prague and tokyo) also in contention.

via curbed LA

and on a totally un-olympics (but chicago and LA) related note, the history channel sponsored a really cool design competition to envision the future LA, NYC and chicago. you can check out the winning designs here.

my photo files are all stuck on my old computer and my scanner doesn't work with my new computer and my film isn't back from the lab yet

i'm far less visual lately.

i heard on NPR that today is officially the most depressing day of the year

i'm planning on wallowing, how about you?

if you insist on a good mood, please see the post below.

cute overload!

the fun never stops in economics

my professor assigned this as part of our homework the other day.

never. stops.

not bad to hear when i'm 6 months away from graduating

urban planning is one of fast company's 10 'hot jobs' for 2007.

urban planners: the career of the future

via curbed la

right back at ya, viv

vivian and i have webcams. we can show each other clothes, condition our hair, meet each other's friends.

i've finally found my teleportation device.

reconstructing memory

i joked before that the loss of my old computer was like losing a piece of my brain. the thing is, i wasn't really joking. i have a new computer now, and it's simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. it’s like a blank slate. my old computer was teeming with little bits and pieces of my life from the last three years - music, photos, writings, school assignments, emails...some of them were corrupted, some fractured and some hidden. some things didn't work right, some things had viruses and many had fallen into disarray. but it was mine. i knew how it worked and where to find things and what my limits were.

now i have this new computer, and its really up to me to decide how to compose it - what to bring over from my old computer and what to leave behind. this is good because i can pick and choose the music i actually listen (or want to listen) to, i can wade through the photographs and only bring the ones i truly want to keep and i can leave three-year-old finance assignments on my external hard drive. its a chance to organize and reconstruct my brain, without all the useless bits and corrupt files - to streamline. i'll free up memory and everything will run a bit better.

but its sad, too. there were some great things in that computer that i'll surely forget to bring over, or that won't mesh with my pc to mac transition. my physical brain's amnesia will invade my computer brain. and its the consciousness of this reconstruction that i find terrifying. we all do it, i know, but i don't like the idea of reshaping my memory. as imperfect and wonderful and painful as it is, i like it that way: as it is.

the ballad of katie and amanda

one day katie and amanda were sitting on the couch. they were very good friends.



katie was a little gross sometimes, but amanda loved her anyway.



on this particular day, something strange started to happen.
at first they thought it was funny...



but when katie grew two heads



they got scared!



eventually katie's heads grew back together.
although she never looked quite the same again,



they lived happily ever after.



the end

Tag of Four

via ryan

Four jobs I've had:
1. Sticky bun server
2. Ice cream scooper
3. Speakers Bureau Coordinator
4. Phone bank at a credit card company

Four places I've lived:
1. Wilmington, DE
2. Florence, Italy
3. Claremont, CA
4. Brooklyn, NY

Four favourite foods (at the moment - this is always changing):
1. grilled sandwiches
2. banana bread
4. shrimp
5. seared ahi

Four movies I could watch over and over (actually, I don't tend to watch movies repeatedly, unless lots of time has passed. but if I did):
1. Annie Hall
2. Kicking and Screaming
3. Spirited away
4. One Crazy Summer

Four TV shows I enjoy:
1. Lost
2. Project Runway
3. Heroes
4. Top Chef

Four places I've traveled:
1. Sao Paulo, Brazil
2. Innsbruck, Austria
3. Kiluaea, Kauai
4. Jinotepe, Nicaragua

Four places I'd like to visit:
1. The Sahara Desert
2. Shanghai, China (I guess I've technically been there, but not in the last decade)
3. Buenos Aires, Argentina (in the works!)
4. Reykjavik, Iceland

Four websites I go to daily (not counting blogs/social network sites):
1. Chowhound
2. Epicurious
3. LA Times/New York Times/BBC News
4. Curbed LA

Julie, don't hate me - but this one's all you!

he may be a republican, he may be an actor, and he may be kind of preposterous

but at least he has vision.

the nitty-gritty will inevitably have tons of unforeseen problems, but i love the idea of sweeping change. we need it - we need something.

damn

apparently my car is so well designed, that it is actually more fuel efficient to keep the windows closed and the A/C on than to open the windows and mess with the aerodynamics and wind flow.

damn, car.

5 little-known things about me

tagged for a meme by miss v

1) there exists somewhere in the world a video of my entire family wearing wigs and lip syncing 'groove is in the heart' against a psychedelic green screen background sometimes in the early 90's. it has been lost to the mists of time. it is my holy grail: i must find it. guess who sings lead.

2) i just bought a robot.

3) i recently found out that my dad and i share apocalyptic paranoia fantasies - i've stocked my house with gallons of water, tons of canned foods and a crank radio, and he's planting a subsistence garden in hawaii - 'just in case.'

4) i can only stay awake during scary movies - everything else puts me to sleep.

5) i recently dreamt of being attacked by shapeshifting zombie pillows (i think this may be connected to number 4)

julie, this one is all you!

incommunicado

my computer won't turn on. something happened between hawaii and los angeles and it just won't even talk to me. this is kind of like losing access to part of my brain. i'm not too worried - i think all the memory is still there, i'll probably just need some new hardware. but for now, i'm using an old computer and having a hard time posting regularly on a surrogate digital brain.

never fear, though. i'm still here, all is well and go beav!

oops

we've created a monster!

best of 2006

best (or perhaps just latest?) new music obsession:

kathy in her bedroom - bedroom walls


best girls to have with you in a pinch




best feeling




best cover of "last christmas"

last christmas - erlend oye


best cause of noise most likely to wake me up at 7am on a Saturday (tied for best source of construction workers likely to see me nekkid)




best imitation of garden gnomes




best use of "la la la"

black flowers - yo la tengo


best use of a flash drive




best constant




best kit for an afternoon on the beach




best song to listen to while driving fast on the freeway at night

stars above us - saint etienne


most flagrant abuse of a pandy




best song to get out of town to

junglebook - esthero


best

Like pedestrians, livestock can get confused crossing the road.

thank you, traffic school.

i've been feeling a bit skeptical of organized religion lately

so i think

these

are the birthes i'll be celebrating tomorrow.

i am thousands of miles away from any major land masses

if zombies come for the rest of you, i'm staying right here.

sweet, sweet bacon

bacon brittle

bacon baklava

bacon cookies
(have to scroll through entire post for bacon cookie recipe)

6 months

it's a long time, for me.

the year in blog

the first line of the first post of every month in 2006 (via ryansenseless, via someone else, and so goes the blogosphere)

January
maybe that's why i feel the dichotomies so deeply.

February
this is my old doorway.

March
mmmm...the truth is, i just like lying in bed anytime.

April
returning feels a little more like coming home.

May
to include mix cds from half-japanese canadians that correspond thematically to new kids on the block albums.

June
i don't remember ever not liking simon and garfunkel.

July
as lenny strolled the left path as the pepoi the bird said he thought a lot about what was wrong with him inside and maybe what he needed to change.

August
or, rather, i sat through it with my head turned and my hands over my eyes.

September
[diptych by m]

October
that i always spell the word 'monthes' with an 'e' in it, and then have to go back and take the 'e' out?

November
last night i dreamt that i was walking down a dark street in a small mountain town.

December
we were the dark horse.

at the game

are you fucking kidding me?

S.D. Democrat hospitalized, did not suffer stroke
By Noam N. Levey, Times Staff Writer
5:39 PM PST, December 13, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., was hospitalized Wednesday, but tests indicated that he did not suffer a stroke, his office said.

Johnson, a centrist who has largely avoided the spotlight since being elected to the Senate 10 years ago, became disoriented during a midday conference call with reporters. He was taken to George Washington University Hospital, where he was evaluated for a "possible stroke," his office said.

A spokeswoman said later that doctors had found no evidence that Johnson, who turns 60 in two weeks, had suffered either a stroke or a heart attack, but he remained in the hospital.

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, who will take over as Senate majority leader next month, issued a statement wishing Johnson "a full recovery."

"Sen. Johnson is a dear friend to me and to all of us here in the Senate," Reid said.

If Johnson is not able to serve when the 110th Congress convenes early next month, the Senate -- which the Democrats narrowly captured in November's elections, 51 to 49 -- could revert to Republican control.

Under South Dakota law, Gov. Mike Rounds, a Republican, would appoint a replacement, presumably from his own party -- giving each party 50 seats. Because a 50-50 tie would give the tiebreaking vote to Vice President Dick Cheney, Republicans would control the chamber if it is evenly divided.

Cultural Foundations of the US Urban Experience

* love of newness
* desire to be near to nature
* freedom to move
* individualism, and its accompanying violence (the fight to win, struggle to succeed)
* melting pot of peoples
* sense of destiny


Source: Muller, Peter O. 2004. "Transportation and Urban Form: Stages in the Spatial Evolution of the American Metropolis," in The Geography of Urban Transportation, Third Edition

blur

sharing brainpower

right now i'm sitting in a computer lab with about 20 other planners. every workstation is occupied. there's another lab lying empty just a few doors down. the empty lab is invariably quieter and less distraction-prone.

so what are we all doing in here?

redux

21st century outsider art

fan art:

buffy

legend of zelda

harry potter

my new shoes came with instructions!

i highly recommend clicking to enlarge.

a zombie ate my brains

meeeh!!!!

MEEEEEEEHHHHH!

moon camp!

los angeles ain't as bad as she seems

some local music

i'm a broken heart - the bird and the bee

mandy - bedroom walls

heart condition - lets go sailing

christmas!

we have a real, live 10 foot tree in the living room.

pine needles everywhere!

christmas!

cheesycakes defeated in final round of championship playoffs

we were the dark horse. the cinderella team. no one (including us) expected to make it past the first round. and yet somehow, 8 hours of bowling later, there we were: playing for the cup.

but the cakes were tired. i was sick. heidi still hadn't picked out an outfit for the dinner party of intimidation. we'd all had a bit too much to drink. marty (an honorary cake) was concocting game theory strategies to bring home the cup, but alas - even kelly's stellar bowling wasn't enough to carry us.

some say we choked. some say the other team was mean (they were). but i say: the cakes played their little hearts out.

and man, was it fun.

touchdown (redeye)

a planner's valentine

the arterial roads around UCLA (hilgard, veteran, wilshire and sunset).

the world according to alaska

the new monorail?

maglev in LA?

holiday giftgiving

a guide from treehugger.

and yeah, i do hug trees in my spare time. fuck all ya'll.

when time slows down

this weekend i: hosted my first thanksgiving, travelled 800 miles by car, made my first stuffing, saw two dear friends married, wandered around an amazing beautiful yayoi kusama room, received noise complaints from the neighbors, both flashed someone and was flashed, freaked out over my dress, cried with happiness, had my first interaction with the miracle of fashion tape, read the phrase "human beings are amnesia machines," met both my boyfriend's best friend and his sister in one drunken episode, made out on the goldsmith overlook, listened to half of two books on tape, barely managed to keep my cool, witnessed the unfortunate sprawl of phoenix, arizona, shot two rolls of film and came *this* close to buying a robot at target.

there's probably more, i just can't remember.

why i'm giving thanks

10 hours

5 people (plus luggage)

1 not-so-big car

we managed not to kill each other

we're having 22 people over for thanksgiving

god help us.

la in elevation

bright lights big city

the future times square of los angeles.

we'll fill our mouths with cinnamon

my mom and dad are in town. we're baking cookies.

in honor of them:

sons and daughters - the decemberists

i'm getting a gold tooth

jealous?

in my head at the moment

fidelity - regina spektor

what's the use - jamie lidell

tickets to crickets - ferraby lionheart

pico station

yoga is a journey, not a destination

as i stretched and flexed my way through yoga today, i began to notice how much my flexibility has improved. for those not in the know, my lower body is about as flexible as dried pasta.

i was kind of pleased with myself - after all, i've been practicing yoga for 4 years. strength came quickly, but the flexibility has been difficult. today's class was quite heartening.

until i remembered that my dentist had fed me a muscle relaxer this morning.

sigh.

equal parts pathetic and disgusting

O.J. Simpson to explain how he could 'hypothetically' have committed murders.

from the la times.

correction: measure h

in my earlier excited election exuberance i erroneously engraved that measure h was effectively elected to endow the city of los angeles with extensive equity to erect equitable economical edifices.

i was wrong.

lying down looking up

lesson learned

no more zombie movies before bedtime.

sam chats with a new friend

its time...

for apples and eucalyptus. the house smells divine.

tord boontje is designing for target

i'm not really into seasonal tableware, but if i were...

yeah, he's out too

dan savages definition of the santorum came up in polite conversation last night.

just thought i'd share.

its like christmas, halloween and thanksgiving all rolled into one

democratic house, 90 didn't pass, H did...

so now we're just waiting on the senate. it all comes down to the "macaca" guy.

this picture went missing the night of our party

i found it on myspace.

somehow he knew, without even asking, that i had tried dry dog food as a child.

but not snausages.

this is the kind of thing i find romantic.

someone left these (no note) in our mailbox the other day

curious.

i have been having the most cinematic dreams lately

last night i dreamt that i was walking down a dark street in a small mountain town. it was bitter cold outside and i could feel the ground crunch under my feet. snow! i thought. i dipped my hand down to taste the stuff but when it got to my mouth i realized it wasn't snow at all - it was sawdust. how odd, i thought. upon returning to my house full of friends (oh the little dramas and romantic twists among us - but that is a story for another time!) i told them of the sawdust snow. to them, it could only mean one thing: fire! fire? yes, fire! we stepped outside, and in the now-light sky the mountains were suddenly visible. and yes, they were on fire. as a visitor, i was aghast. as locals, they knew just what to do. we rushed to the center of town to join the firefighting efforts.

somehow in all the frenzy i lost my friends, and when i finally saw them again they (along with the rest of the town) were boarding dogsleds to head up the mountains. i ran towards them but my feet were clumsy in the sawdust snow and i couldn't get there in time. they were gone. i was stuck alone in the town square while all of my friends were out fighting wildfires.

but not for long. cut to me, soaring above the mountains in a giant yellow balloon. not a hot air balloon, mind you, but on the inside of giant blown up rubber balloon. this balloon was usually used to distribute condoms to the town, but i'd convinced the slightly kooky lady who ran it to give me a lift up the mountain.

as we safely alighted on the mountaintop, i realized that the filmmakers must have filmed that trip two different ways - once on the inside of a giant plastic sphere for my conversations with the condom lady, and again from the outside for the scenic view, perhaps tying a small helium balloon to the camera and dragging it up the mountain.

i'd always wondered how they filmed my dreams.

i turned my back for a second

and work took the opportunity to expand exponentially.

it's going to be a rough week, ladies and gentlemen.

2 days/3 nights in chicago

and i didn't manage to have chicago-style pizza or a chicago-style hot dog. therefore the trip was something of a failure.

i did, however, manage to save the world and meet mr t, not to mention see two of my favorite people, spend more than i have ever spent on a pair of boots, and have some serious city-envy.
these perhaps out weigh the lack of pizza and hot dogs.

perhaps.

butterflies taking flight

stars above us
cars below us

i miss my girls
and i miss real cities
with bodegas
and leaves on the wet ground (white stripes?)
and apartments
and spaces of manageable size.

this makes me wonder how long i can stay in LA. and stay sane.

off to chicago

to visit this one:

apparently they have seasons there, and its a bit cold at the moment.

i'm nervous.

no on 90

there's a few weeks yet before the elections, but i just had to get this out there. if you live in california, please vote no on Prop 90. its being touted as a way to reform eminent domain, which is actually something we need - but it goes much further than that.

basically, it gives private landowners the right to sue the government if any zoning change or new regulation (except those related to a narrow definition of health or safety) lowers their property value. this would stop urban planning in its tracks.

remember when inglewood changed their zoning to outlaw big box stores and prevent walmart from coming in? well, if prop 90 had been in place the people who owned the land that walmart was going to build on could have sued the city for millions of dollars. most likely the zoning change would not have happened, and walmart would have moved on in against community protests.

or have you ever, when travelling through south central, noticed that every grocery store is a liquor store, and every restaurant is fast food? well, there are currently zoning regulations in the works to prohibit new fast food restaurants, and require "grocery stores" to actually carry fresh produce. this won't happen if prop 90 is passed.

and don't even get me started on the environmental impact - the government could be sued for protecting natural habitats simply because the land has a higher value if developed.

it seems like this nice, innocent proposition aimed at protecting people from eminent domain, but its more like a trojan horse. please help get the word out.

we beat the number one team in the league tonight

everyone likes playing the silly girls in pink. until we win.

and then they get pissy.

fuck'em. seriously.

pan di stelle

years ago (in a land far far away) i fell in love with these little chocolate-hazelnut-starry night cookies, mostly because of their crunchy goodness, but also - i can't lie - because of their unbearable cuteness.

i found them the other day at the gourmet store just down the street. i'd given up on them upon my return to the states and basically forgotten they existed. one bite took me back like proust and his madeleines. i'm going to have to make these last.

party (m)

my friday mornings

marty's car was broken into last night

just outside my house.

the only thing they took was a biography of kurt godel.

nerds.

i had such a crush

on him in college. in an untouchable, from-afar kind of way.

now i just want to move to seattle and be friends with him and his all-encompassing love.

10th street

you know how in cheesy 1970's and 80's television chase scenes the car/motorbike/snowmobile always happens upon a truck that looks like it's going to block its escape route, but in reality has a ramp the the chasee uses to launch in the air and fly to the other side of the rising drawbridge?

i actually saw one of those trucks this morning. my head immediately started pedaling as fast as i could, determined look on my sweaty brow. onlookers tried to stop me, but i was having none of it. i flew up and off the ramp, over a stack of flaming tires, past the moon ET style, landing safely and gently about 100 yards down the road.

my body, unfortunately, pedaled gingerly around the beeping truck and then almost toppled over trying to pop a wheelie a few blocks later.

time and space

in transportation we study the urban form through the lense of transit. i'm used to thinking of space and distance in terms of inches, feet, miles and kilometers. but in transportation we measure it in time. although cities have grown larger in size over the years, they occupy the same space in time: a 45 minute radius around in the center of the city. as our transportation increases in speed - from foot to horse to streetcar to automobile to high speed rail - our cities increase in spatial distance.

there's also a universal travel-time constant: 90 minutes. from an ancient chinese villager on foot to the modern angeleno in her car, we all spend about about an hour and a half each day getting where we need to go...which suggests that there is some limit within ourselves that contains not only our travel time, but also shapes the physical space in which we live.

fascinating, no?

i'm learning how to make maps

i'm enjoying the design part, but i've got to work on my actual geography. notice how the pacific ocean is located in the middle of newport beach?

the world champion beer stein carrier

confidence is a powerful aphrodisiac

or should i say potent?

brian

i almost ran over diane sawyer today

she scurried out in front of my car like a cat. on wilshire boulevard no less.

in most cities you have to worry about stray pets. in la, it's celebrities.

@$%#& 8am meetings

this is why i'm not a #%@%#& joiner. never have been. now all of a sudden i'm not only a joiner, i'm a %^$##$$ leader. which means i not only have to attend, i have to prepare.

@$#%$^$.

why is it

that i always spell the word 'monthes' with an 'e' in it, and then have to go back and take the 'e' out? i've been doing this for years. i never ever get it right on the first try. its as if i've actually trained myself to spell months 'm-o-n-t-h-e-s-backspace-backspace-s'.

bizarre.

robyn