http://www.sockparade.com/

Buttons at Scroungers’ Center for Reusable Art Parts...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:19:18 -0800

Buttons at Scroungers’ Center for Reusable Art Parts (SCRAP)!

Trying a new recipe called “Too Much Chocolate...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:28:13 -0800

Trying a new recipe called “Too Much Chocolate Cake”!

Jacob Sutton’s L.E.D. Surfer Fashion photographer and...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:40:58 -0800

Jacob Sutton’s L.E.D. Surfer

Fashion photographer and filmmaker Jacob Sutton swaps the studio for the slopes of Tignes in the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France, with a luminous after hours short starring Artec pro snowboarder William Hughes. The electrifying film sees Hughes light up the snow-covered French hills in a bespoke L.E.D.-enveloped suit courtesy of designer and electronics whizz John Spatcher. “I was really drawn to the idea of a lone character made of light surfing through darkness,” says Sutton of his costume choice. “I’ve always been excited by unusual ways of lighting things, so it seemed like an exciting idea to make the subject of the film the only light source.” Sutton, who has created work for the likes of Hermès, Burberry and The New York Times, spent three nights on a skidoo with his trusty Red Epic camera at temperatures of -25C to snap Hughes carving effortlessly through the deep snow, even enlisting his own father to help maintain the temperamental suit throughout the demanding shoot. “Filming in the suit was the most surreal thing I’ve done in 20 years of snowboarding,” says Hughes of the charged salopettes. “Luckily there was plenty of vin rouge to keep me warm, and Jacob’s enthusiasm kept everyone going through the cold nights.”

(via Nowness)

Pork Shoulder over Fried Rice @ Sai Jai Thai

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:38:55 -0800

Pork Shoulder over Fried Rice @ Sai Jai Thai

X-ACTO

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:06:37 -0800

X-ACTO

Caldereta (Filipino food from Cheryl) — lucky me!

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:59:00 -0800

Caldereta (Filipino food from Cheryl) — lucky me!

FARMGIRL FLOWERS farmgirl flowers — the best florist!

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:49:00 -0800

FARMGIRL FLOWERS

farmgirl flowers — the best florist!

GOODBYE, NIKON After much thinking and lamenting about the loss...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:57:00 -0800

GOODBYE, NIKON

After much thinking and lamenting about the loss of my Panasonic GF1, I’ve decided to sell all of my Nikon SLR gear and invest in a 4/3 system. I’m eyeing the newly announced Olympus OM-D E-M5 but will wait and see when it comes out in April whether the reviews are as good as the announcement. Planning to get the new system in place before our trip to Europe this summer.

My D200 has served me well over the years. It was my first big purchase after graduating from college and has helped capture a lot of special memories. When I bought the D200 I thought that would be the one and only camera I would ever buy and I also thought I would become a serious student of photography. Here I am selling it years later and I have long since realized that I’m never going to be a serious student of photography and care more about capturing moments than I do about using my manual settings to the max. I’ve also developed a love for capturing video and my next camera will definitely have to have HD vid capabilities.

Here are my listings on Amazon. Thanks Enoch for pointing me to Amazon, it’s much easier than eBay. I already sold my 50mm f/1.8!

ALAMEDA POINT ANTIQUES FAIRE This has been on our to-check-out...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0800

ALAMEDA POINT ANTIQUES FAIRE

This has been on our to-check-out list for over 2 years! We were strictly on a look-see mission and the only things we bought were a bag of kettle corn and 2 carne asada tacos. Lots of great knick-knacks — not really the furniture selection I was hoping for but then again we went at 10:30a which is considered late in scavenging time.

Will definitely be back — especially if the skies are as blue as they were last weekend.

Ceiling at Shattuck Cinemas

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:51:38 -0800

Ceiling at Shattuck Cinemas

2nd Attempt: Successful! We now have cable in the library!

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:34:00 -0800

2nd Attempt: Successful! We now have cable in the library!

Fried Shrimp Rolls @ Thanh Ky We went to Vien Huong and Thanh Ky...

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:00:00 -0800

Fried Shrimp Rolls @ Thanh Ky

We went to Vien Huong and Thanh Ky on back to back weekends and I think I can finally say with confidence that I like Thanh Ky more. I’m generally not a stickler for cleanliness at restaurants but last time we were at Vien Huong I just kind of got grossed out. Maybe it’s because I went to use their restroom or because I saw them fanning out all of their chopsticks to air dry. Thanh Ky just feels SOO much cleaner. And! I really like the Fried Shrimp Rolls pictured above. A little fried, crispy goodness goes really well with a hot bowl of noodle soup. #1 if you want egg noodles, #9 if you want ho fun.

Please consider donating to the youth program I work for! Only...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:12:35 -0800

Please consider donating to the youth program I work for! Only $10 makes a big difference!

www.myeep.org/every10

My favorite extension cord.

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:38:18 -0800

My favorite extension cord.

POPUPHOOD (by Eva Kolenko) Here’s some Oakland...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:58:00 -0800

POPUPHOOD (by Eva Kolenko)

Here’s some Oakland <3:

“The POPUPHOOD is a new urban initiative and small business incubator revitalizing Oakland, block by block. This short film documents the founders and participants of POPUPHOOD, and was created by Oakland photographer Eva Kolenko in hopes of introducing their inspiring stories to others and in some way improve the community in which she lives and loves.”

Cupcake!

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:33:00 -0800

Cupcake!

all i really need to know i learned in elementary school

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:30:20 -0800

Do you remember those posters/books? They had a lot of variations. I remember there was one that hung in a classroom of mine that said, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”. I remember it annoying me because I was probably in the fourth or fifth grade and while I agreed with most of the things written on the poster, I did not like the notion that life was so simple and elementary. How could a kindergartener know everything?

Looking back, I think I get it.

There are two vivid incidents from my elementary school years that are deeply ingrained into my mind.

The first incident relates to trust. This is such a silly story but it still rings true for me today. I remember there was this girl who was in love with one of the boys in my class. She truly adored him and made it known to him on several occasions and he always rejected her in an uncaring way. I don’t know why but one day I approached the boy and told him that he should say out loud that he loved her. Instead of refusing, which I wholly expected him to do, he said, “I’ll say it if you say that you love _____.” I don’t remember the name but I remember that he said the name of a boy who had curly red hair and was notorious for eating his boogers. He said it in a way that suggested he didn’t think I would ever say it and I was going through a “prove them wrong!” phase so I quickly agreed. I notified my friends of this great happening and with a small group of witnesses I said, “I love _____.” I looked expectantly at the boy to comply with his end of the bargain. He burst out into laughter and said, “I’m not gonna say it!” That is the precise moment that it dawned on me that while we have police that are supposed to keep us safe and a complicated court system that is supposed to keep things fair, there are some things, such as a private promise or commitment between people, that cannot be trusted. There are people in this world that will try their hardest to live with integrity and there are people who will get by and possibly ahead by taking advantage of people who are trying hard to live with integrity. I think I was meant to be a trusting person so my heart is always inching itself out there but my mind is super suspicious and is constantly preparing myself for the worst.

The second incident relates to power. In fifth grade I was on the Yearbook committee and when the time came to choose a Yearbook cover, I boldly suggested that we should put it to a class vote. Well that’s not the bold part. The bold part is that there were 4 or 5 stock covers that were available from the Yearbook company we contracted with and I suggested that I could draw a cover and include it in the options to be voted on. I painstakingly hand-drew a cover with the name of the school with block letters and kids doing various things around the block letters. I misspelled elementary as “elementry” and even still, my cover was voted by the majority to be the Yearbook cover. Instead of redrawing the entire cover, I taped a piece of paper over the misspelled part so that I could add extra letters. It was close to the edge of the paper so the “tary” in “elementary” was sort of squished. It looked terrible. Fast forward to a few weeks after school when I picked up my copy of the Yearbook. Instead of the cover I drew, there was one of the generic stock covers that did not win the class vote. It was of a super messy room, with pizza and books and clothes scattered all over the cover. It looked way better than the cover that I drew and I knew it. I never said anything about it to anyone and I don’t think any of my peers noticed or remembered. I learned from a pretty young age that a vote doesn’t always mean a true democracy, you should realize where true decision-making power lies, people don’t always pay attention to outcomes once they feel that they’ve had a say, sometimes the powers that be can make a better choice than what the majority votes for. I know that last one sounds awfully socialist… I don’t mean it to be. I guess a better way to say it is that people don’t always vote what’s best.

Brunch at Zazie!

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:06:46 -0800

Brunch at Zazie!

lulz

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:22:18 -0800

lulz

we have a rodent problem at work

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:52:00 -0800

As much as I want the mouse traps to work — I’m really dreading the moment when I look over and see something wriggling in the trap… or worse, since the sticky trap isn’t secure, something dragging the trap towards me. This is not a metaphor, people, this is real life.