Random quote

Whatever you give a woman, she will make it greater. Give her sperm, she will give you a baby. Give her a house, she will give you a home. Give her groceries, she will give you a meal.Give her love and she will give you her heart! She multiplies and enlarges what she is given. So if you give her… crap, be prepared to receive a ton of shit!

My future home - wishful thinking

I'm totally digging this home! Love the abundance of natural lighting, the neutral palette and the organic elements.

"The First Grader" trailer

Did you National Geographic also has an entertainment division that produces movies? This month, NatGeo is releasing "The First Grader." Watch the trailer below. I haven't seen it and I doubt it'll come to little 'ole Oxford, Ohio, but it looks like an inspiring film and an homage to the power of education and literacy.

There are also several other films that look equally interesting on their webpage, especially "Desert Flower."

Moscow metro

Came across this Russian blog featuring photos of the Moscow subway system taken with wide-angle lenses. Everything is written in the Cyrillic alphabet so I have no idea what the captions say. Some (like the one above) are quite ornate and others are more akin to modern day subway stations seen elsewhere. I've always wanted to pay a visit to Russia to soak in the Soviet architecture, take the epic 7 day trans-Siberian railway journey, and of course to visit its famed metro system. It's supposedly the second most heavily used rapid transit system after Tokyo, and some places run 86 meters or 276 feet below ground!

However, I'm guessing this trip I have conjured up in my head will have to stay there for a while given the unrest and violence in Russia these days. The metro has always been a target for suicide bombings and political protest. The most recent bombing was in March 2010 and killed around 40 people. To be honest, that wouldn't stop me from visiting, but the anti-racist attacks definitely make me think twice. Anyone who are not ethnically Russian are at risk, and there have been reports of acid attacks and stabbings to Muslims, Jews, Central Asians, Chinese, Africans, etc...

Kickstarter

If you have a project that needs funding or a "kickstart," then check out the website KickStarter. This is just one example of what I love about technology - it's a tool to disseminate to the masses that wonderful idea and to receive support. Their slogan is "A new way to fund and follow creativity"

In a nutshell, Kickstarter is an all or nothing funding platform that allows people to present their projects and others to pledge donations. Every project is assigned a goal amount and pledge deadline. If you meet 100% or more of your indicated amount, then you get all the money. If not...tough luck, you get nothing. Of course there are other details and guidelines to hold people accountable.

Take a few minutes to browse the website and discover some projects; maybe you'll discover one you want to help support.

Who knew porcelain has such great acoustics

Damn clever those Koreans :) The design team of Joon & Jung (based in the Netherlands) managed to discover the natural properties of ceramic/porcelain to provide resonance and amplification. They claim the speakers project a sound "resembling the distinct flair of an acoustic instrument right in front of you." If that's true, I'm sold. Also, it's SO aesthetically pleasing.

Minimalism

My lease ends in a couple of weeks and I will be subletting a friend's place for the summer months while she goes back home. In preparation for the move, I've been selling off a lot of my belongings. All of my furniture have been claimed (futon, night stands, giant bean bag chair, bookshelf, etc...) with the exception of a damn pair of red side tables - I shall remain optimistic. I've also sold some electronic gadgets, used books, gently used clothing, and my electric guitar. This was actually all before I stumbled upon a few minimalist blogs.

• The Minimalists
• Miss Minimalist
• Becoming Minimalist

They all basically extol the same principle: free yourself from materialistic possessions. Of course, they practice it in varying degrees. One woman has only a mattress on the floor and two chairs in her minimalist apartment <-- I'm not there yet; don't ever plan to be. To be fair, it's not entirely about possessions and anti-consumerism. The idea is to free yourself from all societal expectations and pressures.

I'm by far not an expert since I only recently discovered this whole blogosphere devoted to the practice. However, I CAN definitely say it has its virtues. There's something very liberating about being able to fit all of your belongings in a couple of suitcases or one car. Plus the apartment is less cluttered, easier to clean, and things don't get lost very often.

Why are some people so creative?

Came across this a while back but it's so cool I just have to share. It just goes to show how a lot of innovation can maximize a smaller space (46 square meters or 500 square feet). I love the neutral tones, the eco/sustainable feel, the clearly defined spaces, and of course the details. Those step drawers are so clever and practical!

Craftsmanship at its best

A terrific HD video about the making of John Cho Moore's bamboo, canvas and leather bags. Not sure if I'm a fan of the bag itself but it's inspiring to see the amount of time and passion that goes into his work. Wonder how much it costs...

iCovet

Awesome camera lens mug - comes in "Canon" and "Nikon" What's your preference?

Get a load of this...

So I took an EMT course a while back and decided to sell my book on Half.com to help pay back the tuition (that's another story in itself). I come into work today to grab an envelop and print out the shipping label. Of course it asks for the weight and I don't have a scale...so I decide to get my coworkers' opinions. You have to understand, this is a damn heavy book.

Here's what went down:

Coworker #1: I'd say like 2.7 lbs...maybe 3.3 lbs. (Gotta give her points for being so precise.)
Coworker #2: Definitely more than 5...I'd say 8 lbs. It's like a bowling ball.
Coworker #3: Ooo...that's pretty heavy. Um...probably between 5-6 lbs cuz a gallon of milk is 8 lbs.
Coworker #4: Definitely more than 10. (Us: WHAT? No way!) Well, it weighs more than my dog and he's 14 lbs. (Are you telling us the book is 15 lbs???)


We never did find a scale but I googled the book and the publisher said it was 90.6 oz which is a little under 6 lbs...so coworker #2 won. I just find it incredible that they could come up with answers varying from 3 lbs to 15 lbs! WTF???

Amazing cover of an amazing song

One of the songs off of Brandi Carlile's latest album - Live at Benaroya Hall w/ the Seattle Symphony. I can't even express how much I love her voice. Go see one of her live shows if possible - she will rock your world!

10 constants of air travel

I just read an article (again, on the Matador website) about the 10 constants of air travel. Not all of their comments I agree with, but all of them I've encountered.

1. The seat hogger: these people are everywhere; guaranteed to be on at least one of the legs of your flight. The worst one I encountered was actually a teenage girl who elbowed me *hard* in the ribs when I was sleeping.
2. The breakfast sausage: what can I say, I like airplane food - sausages included. Most of the time I'm just happy to be getting any kind of food at all!
3. The nasty flight attendant: "May I have a blanket?" "We're out"
4. The too-nice flight attendant: lots of "honey" and touching of the shoulder
5. The bathroom hogger: I once had to get up 5x for someone during a 3 hour flight.
6. The annoying child: 'tis the reason why invested in noise-cancelation headphones. For anyone who knows me, that's a huge investment.
7. The snorer: see #6
8. The movie you really want to see but can't hear: in my case it's the movie I really want to see but can't SEE. Yes, even as late as 2010, I took an international flight without the inflight entertainment system.
9. Faux orange juice: see #2
10. The bizarre neighbor: sure, sometimes they're bizarre and too chatty, but other times you can score the flight neighbor lottery. I met the most interesting girl once when I was 16 and on a flight to France. She was Greek, 22-ish, a naval architect, last one to board, and was in a huge faux/real fur coat. I still remember her name after 10 years.

For all you oenophiles

Matador's list of 15 epic wine regions to visit before you die.

Welcome

Nothing but random thoughts and select musings here. Just a place for me to unload my opinions and share things I think are cool.