Support

I'm a big fan of webcomic artists quitting their dayjobs and focusing fully on their art (mainly entertaining me) but even in these dire economic times, people are focusing on their wallets and not on donations.

So support Family Man. It's a realistic period drama that keeps me on the edge of my toes because I want to know who the damn werewolf is.

Also, Family Man's creator did NOT quit her job (it's not clear what happened, layoff/termination/etc?) but for whatever reason, SUPPORT YOUR WEBCOMIC MASTERS!

....they feed us, you know.

Officially Looking For a Second Job

The Economic Crisis (recession, my ass. This is a Depression Remix) is getting us all in little bits. Several months ago I was contemplating leaving my job to find something better suited to a schedule for full-time college status.

Forget that. I can't even get a raise to compensate the rent increase for my studio. Who honestly raises the rent when everyone's getting laid off? They must be really stupid or really greedy (or both).

So now in leiu of finding another better paying job, I've just got to work on supplementing my income and work every living hour I've got off from work. Or work two part-time jobs. I'm actually considering the latter. I'd leave the 9-5 for the 4-10 or 7-12? I mean, it would free up SOME unconventional time for me to pay bills, do schoolwork, go to the library..attend class..

So I'll just submit my resume some places. Anyone else feel the same sort of crunch?

My mini-essay to a Nonprofit Organization hiring fieldworkers for transportation lobbying

Like many in my generation, I believe that a return to mass public transportation in the form of rail lines (light and underground) is a statement to the future. No longer can Los Angeles depend solely on roads and freeways; we need something else for those who care for the environment, who cannot afford luxuries like cars and the insurance and upkeep it requires, who want something easier than dealing with a daily dose of road rage.

I think there needs to be more pressure on these issues, probably more than one thinks. Ultimately if a large urban structure like Los Angeles operated primarily on rail - and to a lesser extent buses - and relied on cars as a secondary form of travel, several happy side effects would occur. For one, tourism would increase if there was easier ways to travel across the vast expanse of L.A. Another happy side effect: jobs, jobs, jobs. More rail, more jobs - in every sense of the word; jobs to operate and navigate mass transit, jobs to upkeep and take care of those operations, and jobs to build the machinery and infrastructure. Ultimately, I think that this route would make more sense than the senseless repairing of roads (not to mention all the potholes in L.A. that will never be filled in anyone's current lifetime) and would actually give long-term profit and make fiscal sense.

So I want to make a difference in this area and inspire others to take charge and remind them that above all, mass transportation has the most to benefit and offer Los Angeles (and the world) and its citizens.

Etsy Mania?...

[These are so cute. I wonder though where to get that nifty ipod cover?]

[Annnnnd so are these.]

And I wonder if my boyfriend views me as this:

[Hubba, hubba.]

Or this:

[Meooooow.]

Perhaps something a bit more practical...?

[The Bike Burrito]

[... Not as tasty as it sounds.]

Also:

• For those who have a sense of humor and know people who still call the saddle a "seat".
• The "The Hipster Who Ironically Lists Off Bicycle Parts on His T-shirt" shirt.
• For the fashionable lady on wheels.
• Trashion knows its time, dontcha know.
• Know your place, bike.
• Sweet mother of god, someone get me this.
• Even though the movie sucked, this leatherhead rocks.
• Probably this truest button in the world.
• I normally think bike necklaces are lame, but these are TOO CUTE!
• So my bf's vibe.
• If I remotely liked bells and horns adorning my bicycle, this would be it.
• This bag actually looks hip.
• Hot belt, bitch!

Etsy, you have impressed me, but you're oversaturated with crappy unoriginal overpriced tshirts and jewelry. Come on, now!!

Pigeons?

My bf's neighbor brought up an interesting point: what about radio frequency dependant homing signals like the ones they use on homing pigeons?

Also: link. This looks promising.

Totally Random

I know.

But, I found this interesting. Commoncraft is genius.



They've got a lot of different videos not just on the financial sector, but Blogs, Internet, and even a Green category. They can also make custom videos for your company!

Sa-weet!

It's like they're picking my brain...

Oh My God.

They know me. I feel like they do.

Sometimes BikeForums can be redundant, but other times they're a true melting pot of ideas, especially for the project I want to persue.

Several people pointed out stuff I thought I came up with:

• "I bet it would work pretty well inside a carbon frame. Inside the seat tube would be my suggestion as well, or simply fabbed into the frames on high end carbon bikes. The device itself wouldn't have to be that expensive - it's basically just a cell phone.The biggest problem I see with this is that it would require a battery that would have to be recharged periodically, meaning it would have to be accessible somehow." RazorWind
• "...I know this may sound completely off the wall on first glance - but what if riding the bike actually charges the battery? Either through the motion of the cranks or... something... Again, it may be a little off the wall of an idea." Prendrefeu
• "Seems like you'd have to design the whole bike around it in order to make that happen, and I think the battery would need to be replaceable, as even the best rechargeables wear out after just a couple of years...The people I could see thinking this is useful would be the folks who use bikes as transportation - urban dwelling freds and fixie-riding hipster doofuses. The fixie scenesters might be willing to pay for it, but I'm not so sure about the urban freds. I have a feeling it would be hard to sell them on a subscription service that costs more than a few bucks a month." RazorWind
• "At a reasonable price it would be mostly oriented towards the commuters - but also anyone, really. I would pay a low fee per year for coverage. I mean, low fee to recover a bicycle saves time and stress if the bicycle is stolen - a lot of work, time, and energy goes into getting that bicycle just right for each rider/owner. Customization, fitting, parts... in a sense, it does become as 'valuable' to someone as a car. How low can the monthly fee be? Pretty damn low if the service business is set up on an intelligent and efficient platform." Prendrefeu
• "stash it in a water bottle, or they should make one that looks like something else, like a bikepump, or u can hide it under something like that. they could also make it so it is a feature in a bike computer, or bike gps. u could also hide it under your handlebar tape too. and for the identification chip, i think i heard u an register your bike at most police stations, so if they find it they can know whos it is by the frame number or something or other." The_Spaniard
• "put it in the steerer tube, sitting on the brake caliper mounting bolt and run the antenna through the fork.you can power it through some dyno type device." AEO
• "Depending on the size of the technology, you could drop it into the down tube with the seat post removed. The antenna would have to feed through the seat post and somehow be adhered to the under-side of the saddle. ...at least that's one option. Great until someone rips off your seat/post.Yeah, but it could be really deep in the seat-tube. There's usually a lot of distance to cover/place a transmitter between the BB shell and the space where a seatpost would typically occupy." Prendrefeu
• "Has this been attempted before? Does this service exist?Is there someone on BF who has the capital to start a company offering this service?I'd pay for it." Prendrefeu

Yeah, I hear ya Prendrefeu. But I know how people are. If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself.

And once you get the ball rolling and people want that ball - competition starts, more efficient models come out, we get progress...

And THAT is how America is supposed to work people. :D Free enterprise, dreams coming true, "the ball is rolling".

I'm gonna come back to this post and the BikeForum dialogue periodically. For now, I'll continue my research.

This would be a lot easier if I knew anything about Electronics.

A power solution?

Bicycle Generator by Instructables user dbc1218.

I was hypothesizing last night to the bf (who rolled his eyes at my frantic efforts) that what if the best power source was not a clumsy large battery (or a small unrenewable one which would have to be replaced frequently) but.. THE BIKE ITSELF.

(dun dun dun)

I scare myself with my geniousity.

Truthfully, this is a fantastic option for those who are familiar with how a Prius works. Now, I'm not in favor of the vehicle because it still needs to be improved to run either on pure fuel cell or pure electricity (forget solar, unless you live in an arid area like Arizona that can take solar power and store it for cloudy days), but I digress, running away from my point.

A Prius (and any other vehicle modeled after it) works like this (link).

"The car is capable of driving just with the electric engine (the red one in
the diagram). When you get in and turn it on, the gas engine doesn't even
start up. That's part of what makes it so great in city driving: when
you're not moving, the engine isn't idling. It's completely off.

When the batteries run low, the gas engine (the blue one in the diagram) turns itself on. It doesn't drive the wheels, though. Instead, it just turns the alternator to power up the batteries.

The electric engine is fine at low speeds, and accelerates great, but it
isn't enough to drive the car at highway speeds. Around 40 MPH, the gas
engine turns on and helps to drive the wheels.

The other great thing about city driving in the Prius is "regenerative
braking". Instead of just applying brake pads, the Prius is capable of
running its engine in reverse, letting the wheels power the engine to turn the alternator to produce more electricity, which is stored in the batteries. That both slows the car and powers the batteries to start up again. A regular car just turns the motion of the wheels into heat, which is wasted. "

I think this project has the potential for establishing a good renewable source of energy. A battery that can be powered by a bicycle - which in turns powers the tracking device so even when you aren't biking, you can keep track of it. And when the thief nabs it, he unwittingly powers up his own demise: you finding the signal and catching him!

Yeah, sure, I gotta fine tune the schematics, but the concept IS genius, right?

Right.

Breakthrough?

I haven't given up on my "tracking device for bikes" dream.

Every few days I devote myself to mindless wandering and then something will spark. An idea, a thought, a plan - a keyword: make.

Makezine is probably the best resource out there for DIYers. Sometimes I feel frustrated with the website because I remember way before when, when the zine didn't focus so much on the robo-microchip-fetishistic worship it does now. You know. When it used to throw a bone to the mainstream.

I guess now it's too concentrated and weird sometimes, but it's nevertheless an excellent resource. And I'm thankful now that they did get a wee bit techie, because it led me here: sparkfun.

See, I don't want to just buy a tracking device and pay a fee to have it monitored. I want something affordable. I want something small. I want something HACKABLE.

So this shows promise.

Also, a coworker informs me that there's lojack for laptops (how about a free version, yo? 40 bucks is too much).

If it weren't for the stunning logic that bicycles have no power sources, I'd declare this an outrage (aside from the lack of demand and price that prevents an average cyclist from getting the available yet undesirable tracking devices on the market).

I'll continue to update you. I feel I am close.

Also: bike alarm. I'm on the waiting list to hack this for my own devious means.

L.A. Times

Sometimes I feel like the Opinion/Editorial section is the only place that matters.

Only now do they cover the election when it's actually, uh, over.

Sheesh. Let me hurrah the end of newspapers, because the end of the Times can't come soon enough.

Re-election

I think elections should mean something. I think they're the perfect opportunity to express your voice.

If you don't like something, run for office.

And it feels like lately, there's nothing I like in Californian politics.

So I think next election cycle, I'm going to serious run against whoever is "unopposed". I want to ask questions and stir up drama.

But mostly, I guess I shouldn't be disappointed in the people of L.A. for not showing up in droves. A lot of them probably weren't aware that yesterday they had to vote (for Mayor, for City Controller, for a bunch of measures that shouldn't have passed yet did). I blame the media for not 'hyping' it up like they should've - afterall, if they can on a regular basis make mountains out of molehills, why not at least do some coverage? Do candidates need to do publicity stunts to get attention for their elections? Sometimes I'm disappointed in the city of L.A. So much potential, yet so little delivery.

So now they'll have to suffer the consequences. It only fuels my anger that we have to go through this (again, and again, and again).

But it all goes back to education: those that are educated about the tools they have available to use will most likely use them. And a good majority of Los Angelinos are not educated, let alone the percentage that are legal citizens.

So I guess the lesson here is guys: when your opponent is big and rich, 'underdog' it. Use the resources that you DO have available: the internet (twitter, blog, myspace, facebook, chat, IM, youtube), word of mouth (friends, relatives, random people), viral advertising (posters on poles, buses, freeways), and best of all - your diligence. Your strength and determination and pride are all on the line which is all it takes to gamble it all.

Go big or go home.

Seriously.

Wrap Me Up

I'm a bubble gum enthusiast. The foil wrappers, the tangy artificial taste, and the numbing occupation of chewing for hours and hours on end.

Since I was a kid, I haven't kept up with my bubble gum chewing habits in a while. Recently though, Elixir gum made me rethink this.

It's not the flavor, kids. It's the wrapper.




Beautiful, brocade-ish, pink wrapper. I feel like I'm on cloud nine everytime I look at it.

And so the inspiration begins: this would make a beautiful fabric. Unfortunately, not many people believe in the ability of "thinking out of the box" as far as sewing together foil bubble gum wrappers. I believe in my heart of hearts I can pull this off (if only I knew how to sew.)

So I'd like to kick off my project outline: Candy Wrappers - The Unknown Frontier of Crafting.

Sure, everyone knows how to make Starburst Wrapper Bracelets.


Or you can shoe it.

Even a dress, hat, and really, that's it.

My ambition is to take it one step further. To actually make a dress out of bubble gum foil wrappers. Oh yeah, it's hard, but is it do-able?

Theoretically, sure - why not? Bond the individual wrappers, cut out a pattern, maybe even line the wrappers with a softer malleable fabric/material.

Maybe a mini dress like Pinto's.. or something like Belle's (which is a flippin hot pattern).

So I'm going to start to collect my wrappers! Squee!

In other news, I'm still eyeing this old chair I still have from my salvaging expedition four months ago from a Hollywood residential street.

I was inspired by this. Of course, I don't think I can pull off a duplicate without the whole thing screaming: KNOCKOFF!! But with this sort of chair "shape", patterns wouldn't work because of the 'curve'. So probably a solid color.

I just have difficulty picking a color, buying the fabric, and deboning the damn thing like I said I was going to four months ago. It's now unofficially the cats' hangout, happy to have something they can climb all over and scratch and ruin because it's already ruined anyway. And now I'm thinking about getting this chair (even though it's in CHATSWORTH of all places, and I have no real mode of transportation to get it to me). But it's sooooo coooooool looking and it's got potential up the ying yang to be OFF THE HOOK.

I mean, come on - I can tell it can be a REALLY cool lounge chair. And it's FREE (unless you remember the fact that upholstery can run up to 200 bucks even if you are doing it yourself.)

But I almost don't want to get it just because, well, I HAVEN'T EVEN REUPHOLSTERED THE OTHER ONE. I don't want my place to be FULL of chairs I'm not USING for sitting down (instead of a dump ground for papers, broken locks, and cats).

BUT IT'S SOOOOO COOOL LOOKING and I know how hard it is to find a chair like this FREE!

So I'm gonna stew on it til the end of the day and then beg whomever can pick this chair up for me (at a minimal cost, gadzooks!)

Every weekend, I tell myself: okay, I'm gonna do something, gonna do something, gonna get something finished.

And I almost never do. Not in the sense of physically putting together what's inside my head.

Like for instance, this past weekend was going to be focused on planning/building my kitchen table. The closest I got was doodling the dimensions on my sketchpad and handing it to the BF.

That's it. That's all I did.

And it's like, well look man... All I need is a table with four stools. A nice high bar-inspired table, rectangularish.. maybe a square. Small enough to be quaint in my kitchen - but enough space to put a few dishes on there, a game board, something like that. And I don't want to break the budget of $100 total.

Inspiration: Apartment Therapy's Katzies!

Cayenne Pepper Mistake

Ooooh.

Never again.

Never never never again.

I don't even know why I even picked UP the cayenne pepper canister and decided "well, gee, this would make a nice spice rub for some shrimp.. and oh, why don't I just POUR MORE OVER THE TOMATO SAUCE? BECAUSE I'VE NEVER HAD CAYENNE PEPPER BEFORE!"

Foolish me, I forgot how it tastes. I normally have an aversion to spicy stuff. I'm more of a "light to heavy MILD, thank you." It's the white in me.

So when I decided to invent a tomato-spaghetti-shrimp sauce of my own (with udon noodles of course) I'm not sure what I was thinking when I added paprika (spicy), cayenne pepper (ouch), regular pepper (okay), and spied what was also JALEPENOS in the canned sauce as well. What was I thinking?

I'll post up the ingredients to the sauce anyway. No pictures, sorry!

SUPER NONROMANTIC SPICY SHRIMP TOMATO SAUCE

1 lb. raw deveined shrimp
Garlic salt
Sea salt
Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Paprika
Fish seasoning
Basil
(1) Canned Stewed Tomatoes
(1) Tomato Sauce
Garlic
Canola Oil

Directions

For the rub:
3 tbs. cayenne pepper (note: I would recommend you cut this back to 1 tsp., lol)
1 tsp. paprika
2 tbs. fish seasoning
1 tsp. garlic salt

First I lightly fried the minced garlic in canola oil before adding one by one the spiced-rubbed shrimp to the pan.

Then after all the shrimp is cooked, add the stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir.

Add spices to taste, as well as salt. Enjoy!

I could NOT eat this at all. I normally eat a plate and a half before I get full and this time I ate barely half a plate. It was way too spicy for me to handle. The BF gulped it down without much comment - because as he puts it, "spicy doesn't bother me like it does you."

*pout*

Right. Okay. Well, for now the cayenne pepper is on temporary ban because I am a little scarred.

Also, the ride was a perpetual disaster. Totally disorganized. Usually the criticism is that Critical Mass stops TOO OFTEN. This time they didn't stop ENOUGH. Two hours before a stop happened! We ditched before that happened.

Also noticed a good majority of literal drug addicts in the streets of L.A. Saw a homeless man's penis (please, don't ask). Saw at least three crackheads get in conflicts on the sidewalk/in businesses.

It's getting to the point where I'm really afraid to go out at night even with someone else. I really wish L.A. advertised women's defense classes more - that the government pretended to care about how women feel at night, alone - how we want to stand up and be independent, yet we need boyfriends to escort us home. It's ridiculous: how come we have ten billion dance classes, the majority on how to be a part time stripper---



BUT NO FLIPPIN' WOMEN'S DEFENSE CLASSES IN THE CENTRAL L.A. AREA? If I'm wrong, please, go right ahead, correct me.

It's really frustrating.

It's not enough just to carry a bottle of bear mace. There's a thousand scenarios I can think of where a woman is in a situation that mace could not fix.

I think the L.A. City Council needs to think long and hard about who pays their salaries. After all, women are graduating more on average from high school, we're slowly turning the tables on men as far as education, getting jobs (in most areas), and as powerful consumers/breadwinners.

I demand protection and education. Is that so much? (Yes.)