I entered a Silent Auction at work today. Basically, people donate a bunch of gifts which get numbered, and they’re displayed in an empty cubicle. Then, you can enter bids into a binder full of sheets for each item for as long as the auction lasts. Unfortunately, very few things stood out… so I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to bid on a DVD set of Season 3 of Gilmore Girls. There was only one bid, for $2, and as a proud Asian American, I just couldn’t resist the bargain. One poor female coworker will be very sad when I win with my $4 bid.
May 9, 2011
Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.
- Gore Vidal
Nice… good words to live by. Also, probably a very good quote to base a blog off of. Kind of like how people always seem to say “No offense, but…” or “I don’t wanna say …” (and then say it right after; I admit, I’m totally guilty of this conversation faux pas.). If you preface your blog with that, it almost unconsciously gets rid of the pressure of trying to write something for the sake of getting readers. Of course, this is absolutely useless if that IS the goal of your blog. But for me, it works. It also doesn’t hurt that people don’t actually read my blog… how can I get performance anxiety if there’s no audience?! Speaking of which, the “imagine the audience is in their underwear” trick totally doesn’t work. If anything, it makes the audience seem even more confident and menacing! Not only are they here to watch me screw up, but I’m the only one NOT IN MY UNDERWEAR.
After a 4 month hiatus, I finally decided to start up my journal again, thanks to M.Ton. We were talking about some old conversations we had, and I could not for the life of me remember this specific conversation. But I DID write about it in my journal, and a quick cross-reference of the day with some expert ctrl+f-ing got me to the right entry. And while it is quite a time sink when I need to work to figure out what I’d actually done the week before, it’s totally worth it. Might even make for some fun reading material for me or my kids in the future (after some redacting and editing of course :D). So THANKS MICHELLE for pushing me back on track. You rock!
March 29, 2011
These days, instead of listening to music while I work, I listen to this amazing podcast called “RadioLab” that was introduced to me by Julia. Radiolab, produced by WNYC and NPR, is hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, and each episode is sort of an exploration into a theme that intrigues and fascinates them, typically something scientific or philosophical. In addition, the podcast is woven together in a storylike manner, with Jad and Robert narrating a sort of script, interjected with audio clips of interviews, sound effects, and the bantering between two hosts. Essentially, it’s a perfect geek podcast. The ideas they explore are incredibly interesting, for example, what life would be like without words or numbers, or the intricacies of time, or how we can get better at fighting addiction or temptation.
Here are just some small tidbits that I learned from the podcast.
A Ulysses Pact is a freely made decision designed to bind oneself in the future. This is named after Ulysses (Odysseus) from the Odyssey, where he commands his men to lash him to the mast of his ship, stay their course, and prevent him from escaping as they sail past the Sirens. To prevent his men from falling under their spell, he orders them to stuff their ears with wax. In the context of the podcast, it was a cognitive method to prevent oneself from being tempted into doing something, for example, smoking a cigarette. The person who was interviewed promised herself that, if she smoked another cigarette, she would donate $5,000 to the hated KKK. In doing this, she was no longer pitting the temptation to smoke against her desire for future health. Instead, it’s pitting two PRESENT tense ideals, and her disgust with the KKK was more influential than her desire to smoke another cigarette. By tying together the immediate feeling and her future desire (to quit smoking), it turns the cognitive battle into one about the present, things that matter RIGHT NOW to her; the “right now” is always a stronger influence than the “later”… that’s why it’s so easy to be tempted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disulfiram
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia
Did you know that, before the railroad, there was no universal sense of time. There was only “local time”, which varied even in the same town. However, when the railroad began running through much of the country, the timetable that the trains ran on became a unifying “time” that people all over the country used, regardless of where the sun was in the sky (which, of course, was the old method for determining time; noon happened when the sun was directly above you, dusk and dawn being reference points for when the day would start, etc).
March 24, 2011
Today, I hit up the “Ragin Cajun” food truck for lunch with Calvin. And on my drive home, I got a glance of a Twisty Burger Truck (or some other weird name… basically, their theme seemed to be hamburgers). And that got me thinking; with all this food-truck hype buzzing around LA, what is it that draws hour-long lines to some food trucks, while others seem only to garner the attention of a few loyal fans?
Well, if I knew that answer 100%, I would probably go out and start a food truck business. But I don’t. I do, however, know what I look for when I want to patronize a food truck.
In my view, the most important aspect of a successful food truck is that it must serve UNIQUE food. Let me explain. Why do you think the food truck crazy only exploded recently? I’m willing to bet that, for years prior, there have been hundreds of mexican food trucks all over LA. Yet, the mainstream public never went crazy for them. They usually served the same location, the same patrons, and were essentially mobile restaurants.
What kicked off the craze was the Kogi Truck. Korean food, Mexican style. No one’s done that before! The Kogi Truck went for a unique fusion, and took a well known concept (mexican food from a truck) and Spiced it up, Korean style.
Then you have the Grilled Cheese truck. There’s nothing really unique about grilled cheese, but what IS unique is being served grilled cheese while on the go, and for lunch and dinner. This time, it wasn’t really the food that was the draw, it was the fact that there are rarely any restaurants that flaunt the grilled cheese on their menu. A long forgotten comfort food, the Grilled Cheese truck brought the cheesy sandwiches back into prominence, and reminded people why they loved it so much! And succeed they did, in reminding people, as well as attracting customers to their truck! I’d venture to say that it unique in it’s venture to make grilled cheese popular again!
When I think of food trucks, those 2 are the ones that immediately pop into my head. They are the top tier in both uniqueness and creativity. Almost all the other trucks, I’d say, are a tier below these. They rely on the novel idea of serving different food from a truck. Breakfast food from a truck? Never done before! Dim sum from a truck? Probably also never been done before. But that’s all they really have going for them; it’s just normal food, served from a radically different style of restaurant. But, the public got caught up in the hype and is still high on the idea of expensive food from a large vehicle, so it’s still a great time to be in the food truck business.
Personally, though, most of them are just poseurs milking the hype for all it’s worth. If you’re going to start a food truck, I think you have to come up with a great idea first, and not just hope that people will come flocking to you because “durr…. it’s a restaurant on wheels”. Get creative!
March 17, 2011
This month’s Gizmodo Video Challenge was to create a unique video utilizing reverse playback. The videos were pretty interesting, though I would say that there is little artistic value in the act of reversing a video. Rather, what takes talent, creativity, and skill is the ability to recognize that a particular event would be unique, surprising, beautiful, or in some way compelling when viewed backwards, and also the knowhow to film the scene in such a way that makes it enjoyable to watch.
I think if I were to do a reverse video, I would want to film an event which, when viewed backwards, can be as surprising and unknown as one would expect of a normal forwards video, where ever event is (chronologically) preceded by something you wouldn’t expect to have happened. Like a closeup of popcorn popping, that’s being heated in a pan, which is actually sitting in an oven, that isn’t on but is contained within a burning house. Yeah, kinda weird, but unexpected, and reveals the story bit by bit. Kind of like the movie ‘Momento’, where the backwards telling of the story is what made the story so compelling.
I also discovered a band called “Tryad”, a ‘global’ band consisting of musicians who collaborate virtually and who believe in free music; they distribute all their music for free under a “creative commons” license. I heard one of their songs in one of the videos. Have a listen!
Tryad – Lovely
March 16, 2011
How did I just learn what the significance of a clef was!? I learned piano when I was probably 6 or 7, and all I knew was that the treble clef goes on top, and the bass clef goes on the bottom. I didn’t realize that the treble clef is basically a “G” clef, centered around the second-from-the-bottom staff line, and that a bass clef is basically an “F” clef, centered around the second-from-the-top staff line. THAT is why the “C” notes are located where they are. And to think, all this time I just thought they were squiggly lines that told me which staff was the top, and which staff was the bottom. Seriously… it’s crazy how many things I take for granted in my life.
Of course, when I told Yuki this, he knew. And he made sure I realized I was a total nub for not knowing haha.
P.S. Oh yeah, I just remembered. I also learned why, in music theory, certain notes are called “major” or “minor” (like thirds), and why others are called “perfect” (like fifths). In music, a semi-tone is the smallest interval of music. Basically, when you play a diatonic scale (imagine playing every key on the piano in order from left to right), the steps you take are single semitones. So a C and a C# are one semitone away, as are a E and an F.
So when you play a third (with relation to some root note, which is the base note of a particular set of notes), what it really means is that you are playing a note that’s 3 staff positions away from the root. That is, when you read the music, and you start with your root note, you move either up or down 3 spots. However, on a diatonic scale, spanning 3 spots on the staff equates to spanning either 3 or 4 semi-tones. That’s due to the fact that E/F and B/C are both separated by one spot, yet are also separated by one semitone, while all the other notes are separated by 2 semitones. Visually, on a keyboard, most white keys are separated by a black key, except two pairs.
Thus, a major third is the “larger” of the two distances, meaning a note that is 3 spots away on the staff, but separated by 4 semi-tones. Meanwhile, the minor third is the smaller one, with a note that is 3 staff positions away, but separated by only 3 semi-tones.
Now we get to the fifth. Due to the way a single octave is laid out, a note that is 5 staff positions away is ALWAYS separated by 7 semi-tones; hence, a “perfect” fifth.
March 14, 2011
“What do you believe in?”
I have never been asked that question, nor have I ever heard it in a typical everyday conversation. It seems like it’s a line only used in movies, for dramatic effect; it’s how you make the hero of a story realize that he believes in something so much, that it’s his destiny to stand up for it, fight for it against all odds, and realize his full potential to achieve whatever he sets his mind to.
But maybe it’s something we should ask ourselves more often. Between work, sleep, and eating, most of us have very little time for ourselves. With what time we do have, we occupy with hobbies, socializing, entertainment, exercise. For a lot of us, regardless of how spontaneous or well planned these things are, it all ends up fitting into that ever-haunting concept: routine. We do these things because we’ve done them in the past… we’re exist in a wide valley, with lots of freedom and lots of room, but it’s a rut nonetheless. It’s a rut that prevents us from setting our minds on things that are over the hill, even if we may once have considered it or thought about it. I’m definitely guilty of that. It makes for a very easy excuse to not do things that I would probably enjoy; I don’t have time for it. The problem with routine is that, like work, it tends to fill the amount of time allotted for it. Which means we’ll never have time for new things, because routine already occupy’s 100% of our life.
I think we all need to be reminded, every so often, about what we believe in. Center ourselves and put things in perspective. Otherwise, it’s easy to get pushed along with the tide. If it’s 5PM and you don’t know what you want to do or need to do, the default choice is probably going to be “dinner. Or “TV”. In other words, routine. There’s a reason why industry functions 9-5 and grad students don’t. Real cool stuff can’t be done while on a clock.
So what do I need to begin thinking about, to get me out of my rut and into doing something that I really love and enjoy and care about? What do I believe in?
Balance
Open-mindedness
Compassion
Learning about the Universe
Good Chinese food
Organization
Far sightedness
Spontaneity
Good Friends
Enjoying life
Good music, whatever genre it may be
Peace – globally, socially, and personally
March 10, 2011
Ultracrepidarian – One who gives opinions and advice about things they are not knowledgeable about.
logerrheic – excessive talkativeness or wordiness
chintzy – cheap and low quality
otiose – producing no useful result, fruitless, lacking use
