godziggurat

Chinese innovation spaces

2011-12-08T09:54:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of a true weblog i'm jotting down these tasty discoveries for deeper followup later:

Institute for the Future had a short piece on Chinese makers:
http://www.iftf.org/ShanzhaiFutures

which lead me to a great article about counterfeit electronics:
http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=2037

and, in turn, to an open hardware web store:
http://www.seeedstudio.com/

and finally to the machine projects of Shanghai:
http://xinchejian.com/

it's like this every day

2011-06-04T19:38:00.001-07:00

Clear day from the 20th

2011-06-02T13:09:00.001-07:00

Work life

2011-05-27T11:52:00.001-07:00

Putting the M1 to good use

2010-08-03T16:25:00.001-07:00

Cupcake photoshoot

2010-07-25T13:43:00.001-07:00

Little sister's labor candle is lit!

2010-05-10T21:53:00.001-07:00

XXX the universal cartoon sign for poison

2010-05-06T10:18:00.001-07:00

Sunset jaeger dinner

2010-04-20T19:49:00.001-07:00

Little Caesar's grand opening

2010-04-09T19:12:00.001-07:00

Tonight was the grand opening of the little Caesar's on Echo Park blvd. It looked pretty empty at 5 when I biked past so I figured I'd go support them for dinner. A "hot 'n ready" cheese pizza for $5 couldn't be all bad, right? When I got there a 6:30pm there was a line out the door. Much relieved I turned to echo park spirits for dinner and found this tasty Salvadorian lager - REGIA extra.

Cabs from the lunch room

2010-04-06T13:55:00.001-07:00

Mashti's Malone

2010-04-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

Getting flack for my addition

2010-04-03T14:53:00.001-07:00

Opening time at Costco

2010-03-28T09:58:00.001-07:00

Fernandos famous salsa verde

2010-03-24T16:38:00.001-07:00

The lawns of san marino

2010-03-23T10:05:00.001-07:00

Wrong.

2010-03-21T14:14:00.001-07:00

Lunch at FIDM

2010-03-19T12:42:00.001-07:00

Note the holiday cheer

2010-03-17T10:23:00.001-07:00

Forbidden island of echo park

2010-03-03T17:19:00.000-08:00

With the light house on too...

The bike's day bed

2010-03-01T20:35:00.001-08:00

Working the desk

2010-02-10T14:59:00.001-08:00

Annenberg beach house

2009-09-22T15:30:00.001-07:00

Unfortunate transliterations

2009-07-17T16:23:00.001-07:00

I've discovered a whole world of temples in little tokyo and chinatown, but the Boo Shee temple wins for the name with the most unanticipated connotations.

Making trouble

2009-06-22T13:35:00.001-07:00

Who's idea was it to can giant squid?

Child author reading crowd

2009-04-25T17:46:00.001-07:00

Who knew a 4th grader's reading about life in 3rd grade could draw such crowds?

The final throes

2009-04-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

Only a few more days until the orals madness is over:

All knives

2009-03-26T18:02:00.001-07:00

Figured I'd pick up some forks and spoons at the thrift store for our group camping trip, turns out they have about 100 utensils - all of which are knives. Explanations?

Credito facil

2009-02-12T17:28:00.000-08:00

Not much doing downtown these days. Most shops closed, lots of jobless, more musicians on the corners - guess that's a plus. Ayup.

Holding patterns

2009-02-08T18:38:00.001-08:00

Seems like we both been circling the same spot for a few weeks now.

I'm on a qwest

2009-01-21T17:07:00.001-08:00

I hope to see a copper dragon.

Mmm 4 days

2009-01-20T07:06:00.001-08:00

Only thing as good as a day off is the 4-day week it accompanies.

The bunnies

2009-01-14T17:28:00.001-08:00

So far I've resisted, but how can you walk by them every day and not get ideas?

Foyer

2009-01-14T08:10:00.001-08:00

I love the reflections on the walls and floor that the foyer gets in the mornings. It makes me feel like I'mwalking on water.

A night hike in Griffith Park

2009-01-05T14:58:00.000-08:00

The duck got wet

2008-12-15T17:35:00.001-08:00

Duck umbrellas are a brilliant idea. I'm looking forward to giving his bill a nice new paint job at some point. Thank you duck for working so well for so long. Truly a lord among umbrellas.

Office parties

2008-12-12T14:15:00.001-08:00

Okay so office holiday parties are office holiday parties, but the biltmore sure softens the eyes.

Fidm and United Artists

2008-12-11T18:00:00.001-08:00

turns out the FIDM scholarship store is all that if you're in the market for small print swatches or unusual fabric. I left with a good selection of low and high loft fake furs and found myself at a new bus stop. Only 2 blocks further south, but this united artists building is amazing.

High on fire

2008-12-10T23:35:00.001-08:00

A rocking metal show, 70% of my hearing still intact, a $4 pabst and a free T-shirt -- not bad for a wednesday night in hollywood.

Take a bow

2008-12-08T17:36:00.001-08:00

Escaping history

2008-12-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

I just had a moment.

Critika and I switched essays: I to tease out the slippages in her boarding school / historical society application, she to breath positivity into my business school destitution essay. I was reminded that upon graduating from high school, indeed five years of high school, I was proud to have cleverly evaded all history courses -- required or otherwise.

Then I married a historian,

and in fact, some of my best friends now are historians. Enter the Japanther concert I went to last week; it has had me listening to Pandora's Japanther station for nearly a week now. Brings me back to the birth of emo, Anasarca, and that curly-red-moptop of a historian friend I roomed with in college to put an end to that question I never was able to resolve:

What is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican, and why did they register me as Libertarian when I said I didn't know which party I belonged to?

Some manga

2008-12-02T08:11:00.001-08:00

I've been on a hunt to read every graphic novel in the la public library system and it's high time I dipped into that deep pool of superhero manga. Turns out ragnarok has some decent storyline to it, but what's up with all the floating chests?

Busy week.

2008-11-06T17:22:00.001-08:00

The building on the NW corner of my downtown bus stop on a thurday night on the way home after an inspiring election and after our fun visitor has flown home.

Trio of Daikons

2008-10-26T12:26:00.001-07:00

Looks like the bounteous farmers market came through again.

The pumpkin party

2008-10-25T23:34:00.001-07:00

LA Public Library

2008-10-25T17:22:00.001-07:00

I discovered I can easily spend 30 mins at the library during my strictly enforced 1 hour lunch. There is a pretty good graphic novel section where I picked up the new satrapi, and found "american born chinese." I read it once yesterday then again today; really nice parallel story lines.

Might be the best name ever

2008-10-21T17:21:00.001-07:00

I just discovered them today near the bus stop. I'll need to put them to the test, see if they truly exel.

Good sunset

2008-10-15T18:44:00.001-07:00

Only 25 minutes from downtown to beach at 5pm. When LA is good it's really good.

4 am

2008-10-12T04:03:00.001-07:00

We were looking forward to a sunrise bird watching expedition, but it looks like somehow my internal clock got the wakeup time wrong. Been up since 3, oof.

Disconnect

2008-09-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

"The largest gathering of funds of hedge funds and their investors in the world." I just keep asking myself, if the GMAT is as difficult as my practice scores suggest. Why do mailings like this exist? Unless of course the extraplanetary investors were intentionally not invited to this gathering.

Victory

2008-09-25T17:34:00.001-07:00

This is a glimpse of the victory prize - most improved % of invoices processed by the 15th. Business culture is strange.

Autumn?

2008-09-24T17:03:00.001-07:00

Trouble

2008-09-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

With about 6 cruisers and 2 county coroners the credit union looked like trouble. Then I noticed the NYPD letters. Ahh LA is a special place.

Pig is home

2008-09-22T22:03:00.001-07:00

So as a kid I was always really excited to receive one of my parents prized keepsakes. There was the blue stuffed dog with a yellow beret - bluebell, there was the pearl handled pocket knife - pocket knives are especially easy to lose, and finally there is the silver piggy bank. Unlike those other keepsakes i've always been able to keep closer tabs on the pig. Probably mostly due to the fact that he always lived on my dresser. So now after 2 years of clothes in boxes, the pig can finally return to dresser pastures. Farewell sock box.

Photos on the sly

2008-09-22T17:25:00.001-07:00

I'll need to come up with some distracting camoflage so I can take photos of people on the bus. There was a real character this morning.

CSI Vegas...

2008-09-17T17:00:00.001-07:00

...finished filming at the tower theater on 8th and Broadway and the security guard let me in cause I promised to buy the place.

I think

2008-09-16T17:25:00.001-07:00

...that most of my creative energies these days are practiced while I'm asleep. My dreams have been vivid and elaborate and my days pleasantly routine.

No "pop-in" for me

2008-09-15T17:27:00.001-07:00

Somehow neither the Golden Gopher nor Slim's Dark Tunnel in Oakland ever inspired me to pop-in for a drink. Though I bet the gopher might really like slim's tunnel.

Happy knives

2008-09-07T00:17:00.001-07:00

Our knives haven't been so happy since their most recent sharpening episode! But now, no nicks, cutting convenience, all one could want - may seem to be a trifle but there is something wonderful about happy knives.

Sloth Attack

2008-09-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

In all, a wonderful weekend. Though I'm noticing that the "surprised" brother hasn't returned any texts lately.

Passed out by hour 7

2008-08-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Two hours on Newport beach knocked him out before he realized he'd landed.

Mezuzah is up!

2008-08-23T01:11:00.000-07:00

The wise man

2008-08-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

Looks at his deutsche post bicycle and sees the 2.5 hour conference call that will happen at work later that day. Oh if I should be so wise.

6 inch bat moth

2008-07-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

While I have many photos of the HUGE moth that showed up in our kitchen, (the one that made R actually shriek, "IT'S NOT A MOTH IT'S A BAT!") they are not saved on my phone. So instead an homage to those delightfully oversized sunglasses that have been rediscovered after being left behind at Christmas.

Must ration amusement

2008-07-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

By far the most fun in the office is this little coffee gadget with its robotic door sounds and instant steam. But alas each packet of amusement must be had at the cost of much caffeine which can quickly turn against the imbiber. Decaf to the rescue of friday afternoon.

Chocolate egg cream phosphate

2008-07-22T08:15:00.001-07:00

Club soda, chocolate syrup, milk.

LA Metro Tokens

2008-07-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

This is a rather unorthodox post as I'm blogging from a computer. You may have noticed a general photo / short note format of godziggurat; this is because it's usually being posted from the bus on my phone. So, on the subject of public transportation I'd like to include this photo:

Now I'm sure most of you will be confused, and this is quite natural. You may say to yourself: "Why, I didn't know LA had a metro." Indeed we have a metro, and metro tokens to prove it. Here's the catch: there isn't a turnstyle entry system, so to actually use the token you need to find a vending machine and deposit the token - just as though it were 5 quarters - to receive a ticket, which you can in turn use to board the metro.

In summary, buy the token, to buy the ticket, to board the metro - as though LA metro weren't enough of an oxymoron. This is why even ardent LA public transportation buffs have not discovered the enigmatic LA metro token.

Not bragging

2008-07-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

I told my sister that I wouldn't brag; so I won't identify which player was red and skunked all of the other players.

Unemployed?

2008-07-12T19:03:00.001-07:00

The industry is always looking for volunteers.

Smooth Jazz

2008-07-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

There was some live smooth jazz in our food court today, and while initially repulsed by the sound I discovered that actually everyone was playing some neat stuff. I believe the problem with smooth jazz can be blamed on one oversight: who let the keyboardist switch his sound to "string orchestra"?

Artistic Intervention

2008-07-09T16:40:00.000-07:00

The 5th floor may not know him by his name but they shall know the artist by his work.

Just 30 seconds late.

2008-06-23T07:37:00.001-07:00

I've finally discovered a reliable bus. Turns out the 26 is on the corner of virgil and clinton at 7:11. I knew I was going to miss it this morning, though I thought not brushing my teeth might buy me that extra minute. Fortunately the 10 comes shortly after; sure it puts me on the wrong side of downtown, but it's that or standing around for the less punctual 7:29.

Yes, a week has begun.

In California

2008-06-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

When the day gets tough there is always little coconuts with umbrellas.

A cloud.

2008-05-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

In an effort to scoop the LA Times I am reporting the presence of one medium-sized dark cloud over downtown. Abraham is the first weather we've had since the new year and as such starts the cloud season off early.

The Ladies who Lunch

2008-05-19T08:01:00.001-07:00

In chic french restaurants.

Temping at the big HR

2008-04-21T13:23:00.000-07:00

Things looking up

2008-04-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

Recordkeeping

2008-03-31T16:37:00.000-07:00

I recently got all my old computer files back up and running on a new drive and spent the afternoon browsing and consolidating old files. It turns out I frequently start some journal type project, often dream journals, sometimes artwork diaries, and apparently usually they start in november and last a couple days. I found this short-lived project particularly amusing: the haiku-a-day program that lasted nearly 4 days almost 4 years ago.

May 11th, 2004

Satellite sitings
36 Birds on life list
Popular physics

May 12th, 2004

Light magic: Ladytron.
Birdhouses in all my prints.
Haikus don't say much.

May 13th, 2004

Star Trek 5 was bad:
"God is mean, he lives in space."
80's movies rock.

The Kids may be gone

2008-03-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

But man did they leave a tasty biscuit recipe. I can tell it's going to be a while before this kitchen sees it's last tasty salty flour treat. In other news it's wire night, and the third cop car with its...make that the fifth cop car with its lights off just passed this bus stop. Huh. And there goes a paddy wagon...

Live moblogging from the living room

2008-03-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

The week of lively conversations has commenced to begin, and while most of this blogs audience is actually here we will still be providing live updates all week.

The Contrapositive

2008-03-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

The contrapositive is a delightful logical construction, for if it were not, then studying for the LSAT would not be nearly as delightful. And since not studying for the LSAT is not very delightful, the contrapositive is clearly not not a delightful logical construction.

The takeaway? Contrapositives make studying logic delightful.

We can infer the author of this blog:
A. Enjoys contrapunsitional diversions.
B. Is not not studying for the LSAT at this very moment.
C. Thinks other logical constructions should be more widely promoted.
D. Likes the smell of fake bacon.

The Walk to Work

2008-03-11T22:45:00.001-07:00

A staircase leading up the hill east of Silverlake Blvd just north of sunset, and the path to the announcement of my last day at the tracing gig.

The news went over well. It's easy for me to get nervous about having the, "I'm going to quit conversation," with my employers, but perhaps that's in part due to the difficult magic ex-boss. Tracing boss took the news quite well, expressed interest in my future exploits and wished me the best. I'll be working through the week doing a little carpentry on some nice crate-like devices for paintings on aluminum.

We're all still hoping that the Archaeology museum gig comes through; it'd be downright unheard of to have such a consistant job. And the westside? The breeze during the walk back from work carried with it the promising salty sea air of the west side (or maybe just mid-wilshire).

California eBirds

2008-03-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe the first post of this isn't quite so momentous and inciteful as one might hope, but rest assured I have several such entries in the Draft section on their way to production. In the meantime, I found a fun website: www.ebird.org, discovered while poking around the LA Audubon Societies' web offerings.

This morning I ventured out to my first SoCal birding expedition which was indeed an Audubon Society birdwalk. We met in a park (one which was new to me - precisely the reason to participate in such birdwalks) a bit west of here - Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir. We walked around for a few hours and saw a good 18 species, as outlined in my new ebirds profile.

The highlight was a pair of Hutton's Vireos building a nest only a few feet from one of the roads. The day turned warm and summery, a nice kick-off to spring in LA.