Life with Tedder and Tamara

Laughing at Sue

2012-01-24T21:18:00.001-08:00

He ingested some ribbon before Christmas. After bringing him back from the vet, his body wasn't working terribly well.

Cats, November 2011

2011-12-12T09:28:00.000-08:00

I won cookies from the mom of Scarlett and Melly! It was a reminder I need to post our cat pictures. Here are some of the 50 from November.

Grommy in his "hottub":

Snuggleboys:

Snuggleboys on the llama mama:

Playfighting!

Sleeping.

Our Amazon wishlists

2011-11-28T11:31:00.001-08:00

We visited our families over Thanksgiving, and they were asking us about Christmas gifts.

So, first, we generally buy what we want. We'd prefer an Amazon gift card so we can buy Kindle books and whatever we want.

Second, if you are shipping us something, use our PO box or talk to us. Don't ship something to our apartment! We probably won't get it.

If you'd prefer to buy us something:

Tamara's wishlist (and she would love this)
Ted's wishlist

Love,
Ted & Tamara

Helmetcam video from late-summer SF/Oregon trip

2011-11-22T15:29:00.000-08:00

This video is of me leaving San Francisco. I shot it on my ContourGPS. There's some fun sidewalk riding and lanesplitting.

I'm unhappy with the audio, so I dumped some music onto it. Feel free to mute.

As a side note, I cut it together on Linux's Kino. I'm horribly underwhelmed by the editing options on Linux; I just want a NLE that is easy and works. Kino is the only thing I could find that let me chop one clip into several segments. If I "chop" and then "join together" in seperate apps, it might be easier- but what's the point? Argh.

Culver City motorhome

2011-11-19T22:16:00.001-08:00

Very vibrant motorhome in Culver City.

The Peter Problem: Wikipedia and Nerdist (or: tedder on a big podcast)

2011-11-18T22:35:00.000-08:00

Summary

Don't want to read the whole thing? That's fine. It's aimed at techies and people with long attention span. For the "too long, didn't read version", Hardwick is upset with the Wikipedia notability guidelines and I went on his podcast. Listen or download the episode; my part begins perhaps 20 minutes in.

Getting started

First, I love Wikipedia, and I also love Chris Hardwick. I’ve written dozens of articles on Wikipedia, improved content on hundreds, and watch thousands of others for vandalism. On the Hardwick front, I’ve listened to every Nerdist podcast. I’m also a member of the Node (though I’m not creative enough to contribute much).

In February, a listing of all Nerdist podcast episodes was added to the entry. This list didn’t exist outside of Wikipedia- all of the podcasts are still online, but there’s no index on the nerdist site. There were about 60 episodes of the podcast at that point.

Anyhow, several users created and began improving the list; I made some small changes beginning in April. By the end of October, the podcast had about 120 episodes, and a user (Pnm) removed the entire list, stating "Listing every guest and every episode is excessive detail for encyclopedic coverage of the show. The episodes themselves aren't notable – they haven't generated significant secondary-source coverage like Star Trek or Seinfeld have." The list was readded a few days later by an IP address, then re-removed by Pnm. A new user (Lydia69) added the list back, and again Pnm removed it, pointing editors at the talk page.

After these "revert wars", the talk page erupted in conversation, partly spurred by Chris Hardwick himself joining the discussion. Here’s where the discussion stands. Hardwick got pissed at Orangewick and a few others.

This is a normal part of the Wikipedia process- does the information belong in an encyclopedia? Are there sources to prove it’s factual?

Quemments to Hardwick

So I reached out to Chris Hardwick in several ways. He replied to me, and after a quick conversation he invited me to come onto the podcast. It’s only a few miles from my workplace- in fact, I’d been to the E!/G4/Universal studios several times for Web Soup tapings. So, I motorcycled up there, parked, then went in and waited for maybe 25 minutes. I was 10 minutes early, but they were also running late. Finally Matt Mira walked out and grabbed me and escorted me into the radio studio.

I was nervous to face Hardwick’s rage, but also excited to be in a studio with Matt, Jonah, and Chris. Even better, it was the infamous low-tech Seacrest studio that records to a CD. I asked the crew about that and why they don’t plug in a Zoom H2. Chris really didn’t want to modify the cabling. I suspect he is not only afraid of the Seacrest wrath but also didn’t want to get burned by losing a podcast.

The Podcast itself

So. The podcast. Chris told me he wanted to do the normal podcast and then would bring me onto the microphone later in the podcast. Podcasts are weird, especially compared to being on a radio show- they start in a very casual way. In fact, I thought the three of them were simply testing the microphones until the podcast had been going for a few minutes.

It was fun to be the one-person audience to the podcast, but the topics weren’t in my nerd subject domains. I had no idea who Jenna von Oy is, had no idea what Jodie Foster’s career was like, hadn’t heard of C2E2, and... the biggest Nerdist sin of all, I’m not a Whovian (hi Sierra, that’s your job). I avoid the Harry Potter franchise, but I walked past Whimsic Alley almost every day when I worked near the E! studios.

Still, I had a good time listening and smiling. Matt had a habit of looking over to me- did he think I was going to beat him over the head with a shoe or was it nice to have feedback that something was actually funny?

Chris then introduced me. Later he said he was purposefully just using my first name because he didn’t know what I wanted done privacy-wise. I don’t really care, but that was nice. He then went through the story (above) and ranted about the fiefdoms that Wikipedians tend to build. He also mentioned that entirely incorrect information was on his biography for a long time.

While Hardwick has some points, I don’t completely agree with him. There are two fundamental problems- first, the notability barrier on Wikipedia has nothing to do with storage space. It’s a fundamental decision about what should be included. Secondly, even if the information is worthy of inclusion, it is crucial the information on Wikipedia be backed up by sources. This is helped by the podcasts all being available on the internet, though it would help if there was a centralized listing of the podcasts outside of Wikipedia.

While Hardwick mentioned Wikipedia contributor Orangemike in his description of the events, it was midway through the wiki talk that Hardwick really got ugly towards Orangemike. Obviously, the "not facebook" comment really bothered him. That’s too bad. On the other hand, he has a point- Wikipedia has a problem attracting new editors, and this is a good example of why editors can get discouraged.

I was proud that I was able to contribute some Nerdist fanboyism- specifically, I referenced Siri jokes that came out of the Nerdist Portland live podcast, teased Chris about his upcoming 40th birthday, added the "$14 inside joke" of marshmallownipples.com and a few other things. At least one thing was missed- my reference to the DSM-IV.

Analysis

Hardwick uses these two arguments in a strange manner. On one hand he complains that the information was removed about the podcast, yet complains false (and extraneous) information was on his own biography. The same knife cuts both ways; the information shouldn’t have been on his biography, but that also means the podcast article should be kept sparse.

My biggest disagreement with Hardwick is his opinion of editors who have spoken up on his podcast talk page; he’s generally very inclusive and positive, yet he railed against individual editors. It certainly didn’t help matters to see Hardwick lashing out against an editor the morning after we recorded the podcast.

In closing

Here’s the quote I heard on KPCC from John Hodgman:

Wikipedia, obviously, is one of my favorite sources for dubious scholarship. I really do love Wikipedia, but that is a world of self-appointed experts, many of whom are extremely passionate about their little individual fiefdoms there, but it is a self-appointed expertise that is defining our culture now.

How do we go forward? Well, the Nerdist community won’t get anywhere by warring on Wikipedia. It would be nice if Wikipedia policy moved towards inclusiveness of editors and information, but hopefully Hardwick and the rest of the Nerdist community can start to develop a fansite off of Wikipedia for information.

Enjoy your burrito,
-ted

how to manually deploy and start a WAR via Tomcat

2011-11-15T15:56:00.000-08:00

If you are playing with WAR files and need to occasionally run it locally outside of an environment like Grails or Eclipse, here you go. I needed this for a work project with stock ubuntu EC2/AMI instances, so I figured I'd post it so I could google it later.

How to deploy and start:

Copy war to `/var/lib/tomcat6/webapps/ROOT.war`
Run `unzip -d /var/lib/tomcat6/webapps/ROOT/ /var/lib/tomcat6/webapps/ROOT.war`
Run the startup command!

And the startup command:

sudo /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/bin/java -Djava.util.logging.config.file=/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/logging.properties -Djava.awt.headless=true -Xmx128m -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Djava.util.logging.manager=org.apache.juli.ClassLoaderLogManager -Djava.endorsed.dirs=/usr/share/tomcat6/endorsed -classpath /usr/share/tomcat6/bin/bootstrap.jar -Dcatalina.base=/var/lib/tomcat6 -Dcatalina.home=/usr/share/tomcat6 -Djava.io.tmpdir=/tmp/tomcat6-tmp org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap start

If tomcat isn't installed

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ lucid partner"
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre tomcat6 unzip

hooray!

1-2-3-4 I declare a Sue war

2011-11-10T13:40:00.000-08:00

The boys, having one of their playfights:

The photos are overexposed; the morning sun was very bright, and it's from my consumer camera, not the SLR.

building a PC at work

2011-10-30T16:34:00.000-07:00

I started at Jumptime, my new job, this week. I really wanted a nice PC, so I built it myself.

Redneck repairs on the mythtv server

2011-10-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

Our mythtv server is on a lightweight chassis. I mean, REALLY lightweight. It uses hardware that looks like a laptop without the LCD. It's really similar to an EeeBox.

Anyhow, the fan was failing. It's a proprietary design. I got a replacement on the interwebs but it's wrong- and it's the only hope I had for a direct replacement. So I hatched a Plan. Remove the fan from the motherboard, cut a hole through the case, install a standard-size fan pushing air into the case.

In the end it required some soldering and extra connectors from my computer junk bin. But it works!

So, the frankenfan:

Tamara, cutting the aluminum lid:

2011 miniwander day1 notes

2011-10-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

If you dislike ass-engined German cars, avoid Laguna Seca this weekend.

Reversing polarity on a SAE connector is hard to diagnose when your only tool are factory spare fuses, then spares from Ken's kit, then "I don't need heated gear today" fuses, then finally the "I can live without a horn" fuse.

Many companies in Bay Area provide rush-hour SJ-to-SF buses. Seriously, tons.. There are some for and very bad things about this.

More electric and plug-in hybrid cars than I am used to seeing.

A couple of Lamborgnis in bayarea rush hour.

If a ST1300 with side cases can squeeze through a laneshare gap, a 'strom sans side cases can too.

Thee is parked on the sidewalk in Mission Di.rict, wonder if it will still be there and ticket-free in two days.

last day!

2011-10-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

10 minutes of work remain. Then I'm off for a motorcycling adventure and time to see Chosen Family.

I start my new job at Jumptime on the 24th. I'm excited. They were even in the news today.

Steve Yegge on Amazon, Google, Facebook, SOA, platforms, and more

2011-10-12T11:43:00.001-07:00

Steve Yegge, who was at Amazon for six years and has been at Google for six years, posted a rant about what Google does wrong (among other things).

He took the post down and replaced it with a great apology/rationale, but it has been saved elsewhere. There are some fantastic tidbits on what is wrong at Amazon and Google and such. Emphasis mine.

I mean, just to give you a very brief taste: Amazon's recruiting process is fundamentally flawed by having teams hire for themselves, so their hiring bar is incredibly inconsistent across teams, despite various efforts they've made to level it out. And their operations are a mess; they don't really have SREs and they make engineers pretty much do everything, which leaves almost no time for coding - though again this varies by group, so it's luck of the draw. They don't give a single shit about charity or helping the needy or community contributions or anything like that. Never comes up there, except maybe to laugh about it. Their facilities are dirt-smeared cube farms without a dime spent on decor or common meeting areas. Their pay and benefits suck, although much less so lately due to local competition from Google and Facebook. But they don't have any of our perks or extras -- they just try to match the offer-letter numbers, and that's the end of it. Their code base is a disaster, with no engineering standards whatsoever except what individual teams choose to put in place.

micromanagement:

Jeff Bezos is an infamous micro-manager. He micro-manages every single pixel of Amazon's retail site. [...] The guy is a regular... well, Steve Jobs, I guess. Except without the fashion or design sense. Bezos is super smart; don't get me wrong. He just makes ordinary control freaks look like stoned hippies.

Goes on to talk about the problem with a service architecture. And how Google doesn't get platforms.

Google+ is a prime example of our complete failure to understand platforms... The Golden Rule of platforms is that you Eat Your Own Dogfood.

Facebook versus Google+:

Google+ is a knee-jerk reaction, a study in short-term thinking, predicated on the incorrect notion that Facebook is successful because they built a great product. But that's not why they are successful. Facebook is successful because they built an entire constellation of products by allowing other people to do the work. So Facebook is different for everyone. Some people spend all their time on Mafia Wars. Some spend all their time on Farmville. There are hundreds or maybe thousands of different high-quality time sinks available, so there's something there for everyone.

and:

Any teams that have successfully internalized the notion that they should be externally programmable platforms from the ground up are underdogs -- Maps and Docs come to mind, and I know GMail is making overtures in that direction. But it's hard for them to get funding for it because it's not part of our culture.

and:

It's not just them. It's everyone. The problem is that we're a Product Company through and through. We built a successful product with broad appeal -- our search, that is -- and that wild success has biased us. Amazon was a product company too, so it took an out-of-band force to make Bezos understand the need for a platform. That force was their evaporating margins; he was cornered and had to think of a way out. But all he had was a bunch of engineers and all these computers... if only they could be monetized somehow... you can see how he arrived at AWS, in hindsight.

his personal bias about blogging and Google Plus posts and such.

Facebook gets [platforms and APIs]. That's what really worries me. That's what got me off my lazy butt to write this thing. I hate blogging. I hate... plussing, or whatever it's called when you do a massive rant in Google+ even though it's a terrible venue for it but you do it anyway because in the end you really do want Google to be successful.

ultimately:

The Golden Rule of Platforms, "Eat Your Own Dogfood", can be rephrased as "Start with a Platform, and Then Use it for Everything."

Everything is a remix: Matrix edition

2011-10-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Kirby Ferguson's "Everything is a remix" series is fantastic. Here's the latest, showing how The Matrix isn't novel.

Everything Is A Remix: THE MATRIX from robgwilson.com on Vimeo.

My favorite part is when Philip K Dick basically spoils The Matrix in 1977.

quote from 'The Lean Startup'

2011-10-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

From Eric Ries's well-loved book, "The Lean Startup". I added some emphasis.

I often see this in my consulting practice. I’ve been called in many times to help a startup that feels that its engineering team “isn’t working hard enough.” When I meet with those teams, there are always improvements to be made and I recommend them, but invariably the real problem is not a lack of development talent, energy, or effort. Cycle after cycle, the team is working hard, but the business is not seeing results. Managers trained in a traditional model draw the logical conclusion: our team is not working hard, not working effectively, or not working efficiently. Thus the downward cycle begins: the product development team valiantly tries to build a product according to the specifications it is receiving from the creative or business leadership. When good results are not forthcoming, business leaders assume that any discrepancy between what was planned and what was built is the cause and try to specify the next iteration in greater detail. As the specifications get more detailed, the planning process slows down, batch size increases, and feedback is delayed. If a board of directors or CFO is involved as a stakeholder, it doesn’t take long for personnel changes to follow.

On motivation, autonomy, workplace

2011-10-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

These are some of my notes from Daniel Pink's Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. It reminds me a bit of Freakonomics, applying modern research to our world. Most importantly, it articulates some things that I've been struggling with.

(Before the quote, Pink was talking about how Wikipedia was written for free. Why do people do it?)

Nobody “manages” the Wikipedians. Nobody sits around trying to figure out how to “motivate” them. That’s why Wikipedia works. Routine, not-so-interesting jobs require direction; nonroutine, more interesting work depends on self-direction.

We have three innate psychological needs—competence, autonomy, and relatedness. When those needs are satisfied, we’re motivated, productive, and happy. When they’re thwarted, our motivation, productivity, and happiness plummet.

“This is a really big thing in management,” says Ryan. When people aren’t producing, companies typically resort to rewards or punishment. “What you haven’t done is the hard work of diagnosing what the problem is. You’re trying to run over the problem with a carrot or a stick,” Ryan explains. That doesn’t mean that [the new system] unequivocally opposes rewards. “Of course, they’re necessary in workplaces and other settings,” says Deci. “But the less salient they are made, the better. When people use rewards to motivate, that’s when they’re most demotivating.” Instead, Deci and Ryan say we should focus our efforts on creating environments for our innate psychological needs to flourish.

Pink describes "Type I" as an internally-driven person, compared with "Type X", who is externally driven.

Type I’s almost always outperform Type X’s in the long run. Intrinsically motivated people usually achieve more than their reward-seeking counterparts.

Ultimately, Type I behavior depends on three nutrients: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Type I behavior is self-directed.

In 2004, Deci and Ryan, along with Paul Baard of Fordham University, carried out a study of workers at an American investment bank. The three researchers found greater job satisfaction among employees whose bosses offered “autonomy support.” These bosses saw issues from the employee’s point of view, gave meaningful feedback and information, provided ample choice over what to do and how to do it, and encouraged employees to take on new projects. The resulting enhancement in job satisfaction, in turn, led to higher performance on the job. What’s more, the benefits that autonomy confers on individuals extend to their organizations. For example, researchers at Cornell University studied 320 small businesses, half of which granted workers autonomy, the other half relying on top-down direction. The businesses that offered autonomy grew at four times the rate of the control-oriented firms and had one-third the turnover.

Motivation 2.0 is the carrot-and-stick idea that came out of factory work. Motivation 3.0 is the "Type I" idea of engagement, autonomy and mastery.

Motivation 2.0 assumed that if people had freedom, they would shirk—and that autonomy was a way to bypass accountability. Motivation 3.0 begins with a different assumption. It presumes that people want to be accountable—and that making sure they have control over their task, their time, their technique, and their team is a pathway to that destination.

The opposite of autonomy is control. And since they sit at different poles of the behavioral compass, they point us toward different destinations. Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement. And this distinction leads to the second element of Type I behavior: mastery—the desire to get better and better at something that matters. As I explained... Motivation 2.0’s goal was to encourage people to do particular things in particular ways—that is, to get them to comply. And for that objective, few motivators are more effective than a nice bunch of carrots and the threat of an occasional stick. This was rarely a promising route to self-actualization, of course. But as an economic strategy, it had a certain logic. For routine tasks, the sort of work that defined most of the twentieth century, gaining compliance usually worked just fine. But that was then. For the definitional tasks of the twenty-first century, such a strategy falls short, often woefully short. Solving complex problems requires an inquiring mind and the willingness to experiment one’s way to a fresh solution. Where Motivation 2.0 sought compliance, Motivation 3.0 seeks engagement. Only engagement can produce mastery. And the pursuit of mastery, an important but often dormant part of our third drive, has become essential in making one’s way in today’s economy.

What are people motivated by?

[A] study of 11,000 industrial scientists and engineers working at companies in the United States found that the desire for intellectual challenge—that is, the urge to master something new and engaging—was the best predictor of productivity.

[Baby boomers and Millenials] “are redefining success [and] are willing to accept a radically ‘remixed’ set of rewards.” Neither generation rates money as the most important form of compensation. Instead they choose a range of nonmonetary factors—from “a great team” to “the ability to give back to society through work.”

On the curse of the billable hour:

Alas, at the heart of private legal practice is perhaps the most autonomy-crushing mechanism imaginable: the billable hour. Most lawyers—and nearly all lawyers in large, prestigious firms—must keep scrupulous track, often in six-minute increments, of their time. If they fail to bill enough hours, their jobs are in jeopardy. As a result, their focus inevitably veers from the output of their work (solving a client’s problem) to its input (piling up as many hours as possible). If the rewards come from time, then time is what firms will get. These sorts of high-stakes, measurable goals can drain intrinsic motivation, sap individual initiative, and even encourage unethical behavior. “If one is expected to bill more than two thousand hours per year,” former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist once said, “there are bound to be temptations to exaggerate the hours actually put in.”13 The billable hour is a relic of Motivation 2.0. It makes some sense for routine tasks—whether fitting doors onto the body of a Ford Taurus or adding up deductions on a simple tax form—because there’s a tight connection between how much time goes in and how much work comes out. And if your starting assumption is that workers’ default setting is to shirk, monitoring their time can keep them on their toes. But the billable hour has little place in Motivation 3.0. For nonroutine tasks, including law, the link between how much time somebody spends and what that somebody produces is irregular and unpredictable. Imagine requiring inventor Dean Kamen or actress Helen Mirren to bill for their time. If we begin from an alternative, and more accurate, presumption—that people want to do good work—then we ought to let them focus on the work itself rather than the time it takes them to do it. Already, a few law firms are moving in this new, more Type I direction—charging a flat rate rather than a time-based fee—with the presiding partner of one of New York’s leading law firms recently declaring, “This is the time to get rid of the billable hour.”

time is winding down

2011-10-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

A few days of work left before my Last Day.

I'll be motorcycling for a week, then starting at a brilliant startup.

Life is busy, though, I need to spend some time making the brakes actually work on my bike, and prep it for touring- I haven't put any distance on it since last year.

Kermit sticker orders, round two

2011-10-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

Sent out the second round of Kermit stickers and patches last week. There were only about 50 orders:

Kermit patch

2011-10-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

I finally put a Dread Pirate Kermit patch on my manpurse:

the music stopped, time to sit down (job foo)

2011-09-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

I just emailed my resignation and am moving on from my current gig.

I've given myself slightly more than a week between the end of the current job and the start of the next job. The last time I had an interval between jobs was 2003 when we moved from San Diego to Seattle.

If anyone wants to motorcycle or camp or hang out, I'll have a free week in mid-October.

moving apartments

2011-09-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

zomg, lotsa boxes:

my parents do a good job wrapping things for moving.

half packed.

partly unpacked.

Koreatown fire action

2011-09-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

A busy day for the firefighters in Koreatown. (August 12 2011)

Everyblock's feed said "Small fire on 5th floor. Sprinklers assisted in controlling. No injuries. 698 S Catalina St"

* Actual Size

2011-09-24T19:20:00.001-07:00

We went and picked up our new (to us) Mini today! We bought it, but since it's from one car enthusiast to another it feels more like we adopted it.

This car is so much fun to drive and has way more technology built in than I'm used to! I know the sunroof will be awesome here in SoCal, and it has traction control for those rare rainy days and stupid moments. Obviously, it's a manual transmission Mini. You shouldn't even have to ask. No, it's not an S - this little thing has plenty of power as is.

Shruti is sad to see her baby go, we had a great time meeting Rigved and Shruti.

The custom plates have a cute story, the owners had bought the car new for their first anniversary. It just happens to be our anniversary tomorrow... the sellers are releasing the plates so we can keep them, such strange timing!

We really love the blue color. Of course red with a red top and white stripes would have been awesome, but this blue is beautiful. If Ted gets his way it'll get some personality when we can afford it- paying cash for a Mini Cooper means no farkling for a while.

Our first modification occurred before driving the car away. What is it? A Dread Pirate Kermit sticker. I think Shruti was a little surprised to see the car be sullied so quickly.

Kermit orders, round two

2011-09-24T11:31:00.001-07:00

Only about 30 envelopes. Ran out of small envelopes and extra-rate stamps. Ah well, the post office is a block away and I needed to go there anyhow.

Lebowski Fest at the Wiltern

2011-09-24T11:29:00.001-07:00

Hi SteveL!

Hippoe Crew tagging in Koreatown

2011-09-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Hippoe Crew tagging in Koreatown.

I didn't know that was a problem

2011-09-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

Have many babies been placed in this dumpster? Would a stenciled sign keep baby-dropping from happening?

Seen in Koreatown.

Leaf smugness >> Prius smugness

2011-09-20T07:31:00.000-07:00

At the Helms Bakery charging stations. Taken for friend Ed.

more September cat photos

2011-09-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

Sue in a Sue-sized box. He LOVES this box.

Gromit on Tamara's chair. It smells like her.

Crappy WTF cars seen in LA

2011-09-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

I don't know what I like better, the faux vent/flame sticker or the "jesus lives" across the windshield header:

Poor color combination, sad landau cover, hilariously inappropriate rims.

Fastest-looking pedophile van, or fastest-looking Mormon family transportation?

Yeah, I know it's a Mustang. Classy rims, dude.

Oh, Grommy

2011-09-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

He's a serious longcat, and not so much of a jumper. So he scrambles between things.

moving the boys (a cat post)

2011-09-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

Mostly pictures of moving apartments.

Sue, carefully beginning to explore.

Grommy, afraid to come out of the cage. He stayed there for a couple hours.

Here are the boys, snuggled in a little nook. We generally tell the story like Sue doesn't ADMIT that the boys snuggle, but we do catch them together like this quite a bit.

Grommy, chilling in the cat furniture.

Snuggleboys. We have the love seat tipped on end, with a sheet over it. The boys think the top of it is their fort.

what foreclosure looks like

2011-09-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

A reddit post called "By request from the jobs thread: why my job is to watch dreams die."

One house had a gallon pickle jar filled with dead roaches on the porch. Somebody lived in that house and thought that was a logical thing to do. People like me are tasked with first contact.

later:

I open every drawer and cupboard making sure the house is clean and doesn't have old engines, toxic chemicals or dead dogs lingering anywhere. Sometimes the kids are there, maybe waiting in the car, maybe not. I see the marks on the wall showing how the kids grew over the years. I see the anguished poetry scribbled on the wall by stoned teenagers and the occasional hole punched in the wall. One woman handed me the key to her reinforced bedroom door - during the divorce her now ex-husband was still living in the house and she had to barricade herself in at night. Another said "right there is where I found my son - he couldn't handle losing the house".

Vantucky Cats, July 2011

2011-08-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

Note you'll need to go to the website to see all the pictures.

Random photos:

Rocky

Chloe

Grunther

Now, see that the internet is made of cats.

Koreatown 7th street road diet and bicycle lanes

2011-08-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

So this happened.

Here's a writeup at Streetsblog. It's sad to be moving as they get the road diet and bicycle lanes complete, but it's still a good thing.

Miracle Mile smog

2011-08-09T18:01:00.001-07:00

Ah, the smog of Miracle Mile. This was on Monday, 8 August 2011.

film shoot on 7th, Koreatown

2011-08-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

This is for the US TV version of Prime Suspect. They have the street shut down, which is unusual.

The stripes on the street were scraped/burned off in the last day or so, they are restriping for a bicycle lane. Which is awesome.

advice for introverts (image)

2011-08-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

This came across MLKSHK today, it's very accurate.

three of a kind

2011-08-03T10:50:00.001-07:00

Three generation-two SPOT devices. One doesn't work and was out of warranty, so the silver one is a full-price replacement.

monkey hands, 4 month old

2011-08-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

This is Magnolia. She is almost 4 months old. She really likes the monkey-head glove.

So, um, we're moving

2011-07-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

3rd floor (top floor) of a very tiny family-owned place. We met the awesome woman (Karen) who decorates the units. The timing is going to be tight- we'll move in three weeks, and we haven't even given notice. Guess it's time to start packing!

Here's a video of the unit.

Miracle Mile meter collector

2011-07-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Collecting the quarters from the meter in Miracle Mile, Los Angeles. The coins are in a cylinder, the cylinder opens when she sticks it into the locked transport box and empties. Good way to ensure her safety (she doesn't have access to the money) and a good way to ensure there's no employee theft (she doesn't have access to the money).

exercising my label printer- or, a tribute to Kermit in numbers

2011-07-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

There are 160 customers and four products.

Each label is 1.2x3.5 inches. That means I printed 47 feet of label, which is (conveniently) 4.7 square feet. If I was printing on normal size paper, it would have been about 7 pages.

Each label has the quantities of each item in the corner. The average order has 3.05 units of product A, 4.44 of product B, 2.09 of product C, and ~20 orders have product B.

To look at it another way, 35% of orders include A, 99% include B, 22% include C, and .. 13% include D. In tomorrow's mail will be products A and B, I have D, so I'll put all the labels on envelopes, then sort the envelopes for the 78% of orders that don't include C and fill/ship the remaining orders.

On the even nerdier side, I used gLabels on Ubuntu and printed to our Brother QL500 label printer loaded with DK-1201 labels.

And, dragging 47 feet of labels around the apartment freaks out Sue, the smarter of our cats.

Ken Morton memorial revoff

2011-07-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

The revoff from the Ken Morton memorial service:

Dread Pirate Kermit/Ken Morton memorial revoff from Ted Timmons on Vimeo.

If you prefer, here's the youtube version.

Check out the memorial page for Ken Morton at dreadpiratekermit.org.

Ken Morton memorial toast

2011-07-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

The toast I gave:

Dread Pirate Kermit/Ken Morton memorial toast from Ted Timmons on Vimeo.

If you prefer, here's the youtube version.

Check out the memorial page for Ken Morton at dreadpiratekermit.org.

new Kermit tattoo

2011-07-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

Look ma, new tattoo. This is 20 days in, and it's looking presentable finally:

Check out the memorial page for Ken Morton at dreadpiratekermit.org.

Cat update, July 2011

2011-07-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

Note you'll need to go to the website to see the whole story and all the pictures.

Random photos:

Sweet brothers

A tangle of paws

Mr Blue Eyes

Some of the text:

Sue may not want to admit it, but he likes to snuggle up with his brother for a nice short (only several hours!) catnap.

Now, go read about it.

Drinking on a motorcycle

2011-07-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's an adult beverage. Why do you ask?

in which we broach the subject of Ken's death

2011-07-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

That's Tamara and I during a toast. That's Tamara and I sharing a Moment. That's me drinking a recreational beverage while on a motorcycle.

A couple thousand photos, dozens of videos, and the full story/memorial will follow.

Seeking A Friend filming in Koreatown

2011-06-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

The Steve Carrell/Keira Knightley movie "Seeking A Friend for the End of the World" is filming at the Talmadge. It's one of the bigger productions we've seen. As usual, they are good neighbors.

Unfortunately, Keira hasn't asked to crash at our apartment.

SEIU janitors march on Miracle Mile

2011-06-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

I saw a lot of police and didn't know what the commotion was about. Apparently the local SEIU (union) was marching on Wilshire:

Koreatown's rape van?

2011-06-10T17:43:00.001-07:00

It's a rape van, right? I mean, nothing good could happen in a van like that. Maybe meth production.

End of 1st year of med school

2011-06-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

(Post by Tamara)

So, I'm finally done with my 1st year of medical school, and very relieved! It was an amazing, tiring year. Ted has been great through all of this, especially during my crazy weeks leading up to an exam :)

The night before my year-end cumulative exam, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, and my study area definitely reflected my inner chaos!

Here are my textbooks and other med-school related stuff on my desk at home.

My binders full of notes fill up the entire bottom shelf of this bookcase in our bedroom. Wow, I can't believe that I actually "learned" all that stuff! Wish it could all stay in my brain :)

Mice, cats, and zombie humans

2011-06-04T20:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a great article in The Economist about Toxoplasma gondii, a favorite topic of This Week in Science.

Basically, here's the theory:

Toxo grows in mice, but wants to be in cats. It has evolved a mechanism to make the host mice unafraid (or even attracted to) cats. So instead of running away from its natural predator, the mice are attracted to cats. Toxo then parties in cats, its favorite place to be.

There are a couple of strange things about this cycle. First, why go from cats back to mice? I don't know.

Second, what does this have to do with humans? Well, large percentages of humans are infected with toxo. The given article says 60% in some places. So? It is related to neuroticism, schizophrenia, shortened attention spans, and delayed reaction times.

Pretty freaky, eh?

Jacaranda trees and palms at Desmond's on Miracle Mile

2011-05-31T10:25:00.001-07:00

The building in the background is formerly Desmond's, a LA department store from the golden age of LA department stores. Here's a fantastic mini-documentary about Desmonds and here's a good article about the department store era. The base is now a Fedex Kinko's.

Scheuermann's disease, Chris Hardwick

2011-05-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

Comedian and nerd Chris Hardwick, aka nerdist, runs The Node, a social networking site targeted at being a positive place for nerds and creative types to come together. One of the members is Hannah, who has Scheuermann's disease, a spinal problem that leads to a "hunchback" look.

Anyhow, Hannah had major surgery to mitigate the spinal issues today. Here's a "get well soon!" video from Chris Hardwick to Hannah.

I raced to get the video posted last night, and was thrilled that Hannah got to see it before going in for surgery this morning.

UTLA protesters at RFKjr school

2011-05-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

Parents are protesting budget cuts in advance of the planned teacher protests tomorrow. Good times!

nice graffiti

2011-05-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

Spotted near a bus stop that I frequent. I like it!

Sue, napping.

2011-05-08T12:44:00.001-07:00

He's comfy. And floofy. And rarely shows his soft underbelly.

toilet humor

2011-05-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

corned beef / hash brown / egg breakfast

2011-05-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

Yum.

wanted: Car ID skills

2011-05-04T12:49:00.001-07:00

If it's a Ferrari, it's one of the ugliest I've ever seen.

Why Las Vegas is the suicide capitol of the US

2011-05-03T16:32:00.000-07:00

I was listening to a Freakonomics podcast about suicide. Here are my notes- I was typing these into an email but decided to share further.

Western cities tend towards many suicides. In the US, there are 2x the number of suicides per year than homicides.

* If you live in Vegas, you are about 60% more likely to kill yourself than if you lived in another city.
* If you are visiting Vegas, you are 100% more likely to kill yourself.
* If you live in Vegas and leave, you are 20% less likely to kill yourself.

That sorta covers the bases for causality (the reasons). This isn't all related to "sin city":

Reasons Vegas has a high suicide rate:
* city growth (weak government, weak services like counseling)
* high drug/alcohol use, gambling
* awareness of suicides (the "golden gate effect")
* frontier culture/mentality among residents and visitors. DIY mentality means little acceptance of counseling or sharing of problems.

Jacaranda trees on Miracle Mile

2011-05-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some blooming Jacaranda trees in Miracle Mile LA. I saw them this morning and thought they looked great.

The jacaranda trees always remind us of the Mexican Altiplano. (here's one of our pictures of a jacaranda tree from there)

I'm getting chunky

2011-05-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

Somebody needs to exercise more and eat less. Sigh.

Unfortunately it's me.

VersusTV sidewalk graffiti on Miracle Mile Los Angeles

2011-05-02T20:32:00.001-07:00

Shame on VersusTV/NBCUniversal/Comcast for advertising their NHL license with visual blight- namely, spray-painting graffiti on sidewalks. At least Banksy and Shepard Fairey do something that could be argued as art; this is simply street team marketing. We all lose.

Again, VersusTV, you suck.

The fun of a full-service apartment

2011-05-02T20:23:00.001-07:00

Yes, we have a luggage cart in our apartment complex. We had a laxcarshare, bought 150lbs of kitty litter and another 50lbs of food, and had a normal week's worth of groceries.

Used book pricing and how Amazon lost by doing nothing

2011-04-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

It's all over the interwebs that biologist Michael Eisen found a book by fellow biologist Peter Lawrence was being sold for over $23 million.

Read Eisen's blog for the full scoop. His spreadsheet showing the arbitrage rates is the most revealing to see how he discovered it.

But.. what does this mean? Well, who lost? First, Michael Eisen and Peter Lawrence didn't lose. They were both notabile inside their field. Big deal. The booksellers haven't lost, because the book didn't sell and that's the end of it. But, Amazon lost. Journalists have trouble writing about it, especially writing the article title, without making it seem like Amazon itself was selling the book for $23 million.

It's a bad mark on Amazon. I'm guessing there are engineers working long hours to keep the API from being used in this way.

Rockin' the screaming chicken in Santa Monica

2011-04-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

Can haz mullet?

Sue and Gromit, April 2011

2011-04-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

Note you'll need to go to the website to see all the pictures.

Random photos:

Snuggling

Two-cat train

Sideways sleepy Sue

Now, go see the rest of the pictures.

My visit with the LAPD

2011-04-16T11:28:00.001-07:00

So I spent some time downtown last night. With the LAPD.

I was tipped off to something happening by blogdowntown. What was going on? National Dispatchers Week, with tours of the LAPD's Metropolitan Communications Dispatch Center. In other words, the place that handles 911 calls in LA.

The building is about ten years old and the dispatch room is about 150x150 feet, several stories tall, with about 80 desks, each with six monitors. It seemed an excessive number of screens until Oscar told me what each of the monitors is for. If I remember correctly, here are the screens from left to right:
* Map of the callers' location (address lookup for hardlines, Phase1/Phase2 location for cell phones)
* Incoming call info (roughly, answer/hold/transfer, callerID, phone directory) and messages from other dispatchers in the downtown call center
* Incident status (see what the other incidents are going on, if police have are enroute, on scene, etc) and messages from other dispatchers at the valley call center
* Incident entry (look up recent events, enter a new incident, see if police have been dispatched)
* Radio (select which divisions should receive the radio transmission, including air units)
* Standard monitor (load documents, look things up)

So.. the number of screens is about right. It seems crazy though! The desks are fairly nice- they have several adjustments, two air vents, and supposedly a white noise generator to mask out noise in the room.

I was given a headset and was allowed to listen in on calls taken by two different dispatchers. One of the first calls was a suicide attempt. The woman was distraught but was at least able to communicate with the dispatcher, giving her location and telling what was happening. As someone who has an excess of anxiety it was very intense.

The rest of the calls were a cross-section of Los Angeles: teenage girls beating up another girl, a mentally disturbed individual repeatedly calling and talking nonsense, prank calls from pay phones, violent roommates, and plenty of Spanish calls. The dispatch center keeps bilingual dispatchers in rotation 24 hours a day and, not surprisingly, Spanish calls have been increasing in volume. One of the dispatchers told me that 10 years ago the Spanish calls were rare, but they are substantial now. Sort of interesting.

The dispatchers have acquired several skills from experience. For instance, they must judge the severity of a call independent of the caller's urgency. I saw events needing escalation and de-escalation. For instance, a hit-and-run is far less important than a caller might feel it is, and a car crash into a light pole, causing the light pole to lean precariously, is more important. Listening to the caller and seeing what information was entered into the incident showed me how the dispatchers can cherry-pick what the callers have reported. Finally, I was amazed at how well the dispatchers recognized addresses- they didn't have to look at a map to know that a given address was in the Valley or in Long Beach. I hardly know the name of my own street!

It seems there is some redundant work being done- the phone number and address are manually entered, even if they match the "caller ID" information. Second, LAPD and LAFD don't share dispatch information, so there is a lot of relaying over the phone.

The downtown dispatch center has a twin that is in the valley. They split the call volume (2 million calls per year, plus nonemergency calls). If one center was to go offline, the twin could handle it the full volume.

Photo credits: Ed Fuentes, flickr, Tracy Justus, freqofnature

found objects: street school edition

2011-04-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

I found a student's textbook at a bus stop and curiosity got the better of me. The following was inside. I'm fascinated by the very neat wording and the phrases. It was a French book, by the way. I was expecting ESL.

Orange Pelican case

2011-04-07T20:41:00.001-07:00

This is for my motorcycle friends. How cool would this look on a KTM or other dualsport?

"The New Girl" filming in Koreatown

2011-03-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

Looks like they are using the Prince's nightclub/restaurant in Koreatown for some filming of "The New Girl". Here are some shots of it.

There were only a half-dozen trucks parked nearby, so it looked like a small shot, but they have a large surface parking lot a block away. I'm still not sure how big of a deal the movie is; the production company is Seven Star Pictures (who?), and the ~~most noteworthy~~ only actor listed is Kate Maberly.

Eating and exploring at the Koreatown Plaza

2011-03-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Tamara and I trekked out to the Koreatown Plaza to eat some food, look for a fabric store, and hang out with @Koreatown. We didn't find a fabric store, but the other goals were certainly accomplished.

Tamara tried bibimbap and liked it. It was fun to try and she'll certainly eat it again.

Ted, eating jjolmyeon (cold chewy noodles) for Jocie. It was too spicy for me!

Brand-new family play center at the Plaza:

meatloafin'

2011-03-23T11:02:00.001-07:00

I have no idea what they were looking at.

Scary Sharp and an Intel CPU

2011-03-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

My CPU cooler has been making some jet noises. I know the CPU temperature has been higher than normal, so I guessed that the thermal paste between the CPU and cooler wasn't working.

Last night I tore apart my little Shuttle. Sure enough, the thermal paste was completely dried out, it wasn't providing a good seal (it's just ice cream!) to the cooler plate.

The paste wasn't going to scrape off. I needed to get the CPU surface flat so I could put new paste on. So, I grabbed some sandpaper and went to work. I tried some different grits before settling on 320. It wasn't aggressive enough to remove the ridges of paste- I attacked those with my Dremel. I went back to the 320 and some wet 600, stuck to a granite countertop, which gave the CPU surface a very smooth and level face.

I then dried off the CPU, put a moderate amount of thermal paste on it, and stuck the system back together. It worked! Sure enough, my CPU temperature was back to a happy level and the cooler fan was back to a non-jet level.

It was kind of amusing to use the Scary Sharp technique on a processor. Ah, what a strange world we live in.

Sue in a bukkit

2011-03-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

I dumped out a bucket of computer parts tonight. When I turned around, Sue was in it. Yes, he's a good fit.

my new messenger bag

2011-03-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't wanted to carry a backpack to work, but I needed something for my new bus commute. I settled on an extra-small Timbuk2 messenger bag. Here it is:

Thanks to my style advisors, Tamara and Jocie.

SoCal canyon riding with Gustavo, 2011-03-19

2011-03-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

Note you'll need to go to the website to see the whole story, map, video, and all the pictures.

Random photos:

Gustavo, after getting past some bicyclists

Gustavo at the Malibu Hindu Temple

Ted and bikes at The Rock Store

Some of the text:

Gustavo came to visit, so we went out for 250 miles of riding on the DL650 and Monster 696.
Here's what Gustavo had to say: I just came back from a long day of exploring the LA canyons on Tamara's Monster. It was a bit chilly (no, not chilly for LA, it was chilly. And actually cold on Angles Crest Hwy and it's closed half way though, so you can't ride all the way to Wrightwood), but dry and mostly pleasant otherwise. I came, I rode, there isn't much of a chicken strip left on the tires, I had a good time. What else is there to tell?

Now, go read about it.

happy birthday

2011-03-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

It's my birthday. I'm sick yet again, but I figured it was time I share my favorite birthday song with the world- it's by NOFX, known for singing about stalking and creeping out Teegan and Sara, about selling out and only giving it 60%, the decline of the music industry, the decline of politics, and a 17 minute song about the decline of everything.

So, happy birthday to me!

Craig Ferguson on the Charlie Sheen disaster

2011-03-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

Everyone's favorite alternative late night talk show host, Craig Ferguson summarized my feelings on the current Charlie Sheen disaster:

So, remember, if you are enjoying the Sheen chaos or other celebrity drama, how are you better than those that paid to watch the abuse in Bedlam?

If that isn't enough justification, think about why you are so interested in commenting on train wreck. Is it envy?

Med school: one more block done!

2011-02-24T19:29:00.000-08:00

(Tamara posting)

Last Friday was my exam for the Hematology block at school. What can I say about hematology? Only that I really liked it! It was a short block - 6 weeks, including time to study for the test, and I honestly wish it'd been a longer block. Blood is really amazing stuff, and I especially liked all the diagnostic tests that can be done.

Now I've put away my jam-packed 3" binder of everything blood, and even had to buy a new bookcase to accommodate my growing set of binders.

Monday I start on the Neurology block. I'm a little nervous about this one (no pun intended!), partly because I'm going to have to do head and neck dissection in anatomy, and also because I just feel like the nervous system is too abstract for me. I may just be surprised though - I can always hope!

seeing Cake live at The Troubador

2011-02-24T19:08:00.000-08:00

(written by Tamara)

Ted and I have long been fans of Cake- it's even part of our "how we met story". When we saw that they were touring, we knew we had to go. Luckily, it coincided with my 'spring break' too!

The Troubador is a small standing-room-only venue, but we were lucky enough to find a seat in the upstairs balcony. John McCrea was sick, and took a short break for cold medicine. He tried to avoid the high notes, but it was still a great show!

Here's the set list. We especially enjoyed our old favorite "stickshifts & safety belts". I loved hearing "perhaps, perhaps, perhaps" live, and seeing John McRea using the vibraslap was pretty cool.

Ted was disappointed they didn't play "Jolene", which is sort of their live party anthem.

Here's a video of them performing one of their new songs on Jimmy Kimmel.

And here's one from an upcoming DirecTV special:

the Berlin Wall in Los Angeles

2011-02-17T21:53:00.000-08:00

Not really, they are knockoffs. They were erected to commemorate the fall of the wall. Perfect, considering I was cropping these photos while listening to Cat Stevens.

my new microblog: Miracle Mile Mobile Eats

2011-02-16T06:36:00.001-08:00

I've set up Miracle Mile Mobile Eats to blog about the food trucks that come to Miracle Mile. I'll be eating at them and reviewing them. Hooray!

Mayor Sam Adams, Portlandia, why we love Portland

2011-02-01T12:05:00.001-08:00

www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-ca-portlandia-20110130,0,758922.story

But Adams points out that the city's progressive attitude can be traced way back to "the Fort Hall phenomenon," named for the Idaho outpost where the Oregon Trail diverged from the California Trail. "Settlers who came to Oregon had to decide that they weren't gonna try to strike it rich in California," he says, "so there was a real self-separation going all the way back."

Bibimbap

2011-01-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

No, the cats aren't trolling on the keyboard again. Yes, that's a word.

One of the reasons I love living in Koreatown is the variety of food and all of the great people we meet in the @Koreatown twitter community. Lee of @Koreatown put together an "eatup" (like a meetup, but tastier!) at Arisu, a local Korean restaurant/BBQ.

I went with Lee and a small gang to the meetup to try Bibimbap. Here's some of the food; photos by photographer extraordinaire @vegasandfood. Go read her blog entry, she knows food better than I do!

Fire trucks deployed in Koreatown

2011-01-23T17:31:00.000-08:00

There was a nice little event outside of our window, as the pictures show. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it was neat to see one of the ladder trucks deployed. Tamara said "poor firemen, having to suit up for nothing!" The fire department later said it was "an empty bird's nest that ignited inside someone's chimney. It was fully incinerated/no injury."

Craigslist Killer in our neighborhood

2011-01-23T10:31:00.000-08:00

Craigslist Killer was (partially) filmed in Koreatown, as well as over at UCLA. Here are a couple of screengrabs from the Koreatown bits. They are both in front of The Talmadge; I noticed some shots that were from inside the Talmadge, but it was less clear.

Christmas in Death Valley: Day 3

2011-01-18T11:13:00.000-08:00

Note you'll need to go to the website to see the whole story and all the pictures.

Random photos:

Finding the punctures

Moon through bank building

Coyote

Some of the text:

View Larger Map
This morning was colder than the previous morning. In fact, there was a tiny bit of ice on the puddles.

Now, go read about it.

Christmas in Death Valley: Day 2

2011-01-16T07:58:00.001-08:00

Note you'll need to go to the website to see the whole story and all the pictures.

Random photos:

Ted

Great pattern on sedimentary rock in Titus Canyon

Bikes along Daylight Pass Road

Some of the text:

View Larger Map
Coming into Death Valley was very pretty. It was worth a stop to capture it on film.

Now, go read about it.

Christmas in Death Valley: Day 1

2011-01-15T16:16:00.000-08:00

Note you'll need to go to the website to see the whole story and all the pictures.

Random photos:

Radar pod removed

Searles Valley Minerals factory in Trona

MacArthur Park (see also: Jimmy Webb, Richard Harris, Donna Summer)

Some of the text:

Ken got into Los Angeles on the 24th, Tamara got in late on the 24th, so we left fairly late- about 9:30am on Christmas Day. Traffic was light and weather was certainly on the cold side.

View Larger Map

Now, go read about it.

This is what 1/8 of medical school looks like

2011-01-08T23:06:00.000-08:00

So for any of you who might be wondering just how much stuff I'm supposed to learn in medical school, this is the set of binders for the first half of the school year. Note that these are just the lectures, and it doesn't include any textbooks/references (lots of those go along with this whole thing). There's probably 8-10 inches of paper solid in those binders! Oh, and we have a cumulative test at the end of the year, so I'll definitely be revisiting these troves.

The first semester here at USC is kind of a hodgepodge of subjects to introduce us to the basic concepts before we start systems medicine - which we just started this week. Now I have another binder full of dermatology to really get down for Monday's test - yes, a week to learn dermatology!

Cats, December 2010

2011-01-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

Note you'll need to go to the website to see the whole story and all the pictures.

Random photos:

Grommy and Tamara

Sue in a box. Really, the box is full, and he doesn't fit.

Grommy, asleep in a burrito blanket.

Some of the text:

Now, go read about it.

Teresa Strasser at Book Soup

2011-01-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

I went to Book Soup to hear Teresa Strasser read from her book and get it signed. It was somewhat anxiety-inducing for me (crowded, babies crying, Teresa thought I was with people she knew), but I'm glad I went- it was fun to hear "T" read from her book.

Random photos:

Signing my book

Now, go read about it and see the rest of the pictures.

Koreatown sunset, 2010-12-28

2010-12-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

Note you'll need to go to the website to see all the pictures.

Random photos:

Some of the text:

Now, go see the pix.

Rain in Los Angeles, part two

2010-12-22T21:01:00.000-08:00

The final storm in the pineapple express hit LA today. I'm still slightly wet from moto-commuting in it. Streets and interstates were flooded all across town; here's a few photos from laist. These are from Laguna Beach, which got hit with four feet of water. Some of the nearby mountains have seen over 26 inches of rain in the past week; Pasadena got 12.5, downtown got 8 inches, LAX got 7 inches.

Leverage scenes in Portland

2010-12-20T20:45:00.000-08:00

The TNT show Leverage films in Portland. It's interesting to have non-LA filming of a series, and mildly amusing because the show is supposed to be set in Boston.

Anyhow, in the last weeks we were in Portland, they were filming literally out our front door, as well as in Portland State University's pretty engineering building.

TECOTOSH art in front of the engineering building:

Faux metal detector and security desk at the entrance to the engineering building:

"Coroners office", also in the engineering building:

Our Gallery Park apartment building:

(pictures are used under "fair use" rationale)

Portland: home of the dream of the 90s

2010-12-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

This is both hilarious and true, and makes us miss Portland.

If the video doesn't load, try this link.

Consider this required watching for all three of my three blog followers.