enter my future?

microsoft, you scare me.

this weather is unreal.  I am particularly excited for 80 degree weather on Sunday for Bay to Breakers.  Our costumes this year, confused tourists, are much less iconoclastic than last year’s same-sex pairs of animals in Gay Noah’s Arc, but far easier to organize and execute.

I love this program by Colorwar2008, where people submit pictures of themselves “then” and “now”. I could browse these comparisons all day! I particularly like those pictures which have the same setting– usually their parent’s home– which contrasts the stability and consistency of “home” with the uncontrollable reality of growing up.

annie, me, tracy, michelle

things younger than John McCain

this blog is fantastic: a simple list of things that are younger than our dear republican candidate.

my favorite examples:

spam (the canned food)
the state of Alaska
McDonalds
the country of Israel
Ronald Reagan

I didn’t know the wii fit had yoga… I (think I) want one!  Any reviews/suggestions?

french toast assembly line

remembering every little detail

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always had an awful memory.  The bright side is that I easily forgive and forget (literally).   And I can pick and choose what I want to remember (it’s easy– I just blog or take pictures about the good stuff).

Anyways, can you imagine what it’s like to have a good memory?  What if your memory was SO good that you could remember every detail of every hour– even if someone gave you a random date a few years past.

This article is about a fascinating woman who has hyperthymestic syndrome, the ability to remember e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g:

Jill Price, 42, can remember every part of her life since she was 14 but considers her ability a curse as she cannot switch off.

She described her life as like a split-screen television, with one side showing what she is doing in the present, and the other showing the memories which she cannot hold back.

Every detail about every day since 1980 - what time she got up, who she met, what she did, even what she ate - is locked in her brain and can be released to come flooding back by common triggers like songs, smells or place names.

it’s been a rough couple of days.  I had a cyst rupture in my ovaries.  This is unfortunately common for women, but OUCH does it hurt.  And the tests they run at the hospital are quite uncomfortable and painful.  Anyhow, they have me on a good amount of vicodin to reduce the pain and I have wonderful friends and a boyfriend who have taken care of me :)

my boys, jeff + fabio

I love kiva.org

What a wonderful way to start my week! Back in August, I made my first kiva loan to Mrs. Sopath Mao in Cambodia. Less than one year later, and she’s paid back the loan! So I made another loan, to a Women’s Group in Uganda.  Microlending is the most exciting and powerful way we, as individual lenders, can empower entrepreneurs in developing countries and help them break the poverty cycle.

a better way to digest statistics

Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 410,000 paper cups used every fifteen minutes.

Artist Chris Jordan is known for his enormous photographs which visually examine consumerism and social issues in the US, through statistics and repetition. Below is just a segment of his larger piece, Prison Uniforms, which depicts 2.3 million folded prison uniforms (the number of Americans incarcerated in 2005):

It’s hard to fully digest and understand the statistics that are regularly thrown at us in the news, at work, or on the streets. I love the use of art as a mechanism for better comprehension of numbers.

the most boring vacation of the summer: the “US gas tax vacation”

You may have been watching the politicians pointlessly argue about the Gas Tax Vacation— McCain’s idea to lift taxes on gas for the summer.  Clinton endorses this idea, while Obama calls it a “short-term, quick fix”.  It’s not like either of these candidates will actually be in office to make this decision, but it’s one more argument that reinforces my alignment with Obama.

Frankly, it’s an awful idea.  First of all, it will only encourage people to drive more, which will increase the demand and price of gasoline— ultimately offsetting the tax break.  Not to mention the fact that we should be encouraging and rewarding those who find alternatives to driving.  How does this benefit the eco-friendly and cost-saving city gal (ahem, moi) who takes the bus in order to save a few dollars and a few drowning polar bears?

Secondly, economists project the savings to be an average of $18 per person.  Quite short of exciting.

If they really want to make a fair and realistic impact, why don’t they take the tax revenue from gas and put it towards R&D for finding REAL, long-term solutions to both problems of the economy and the environment.  This sounds much more meaningful than a few extra dollars in the pockets of truck drivers.

What would the world look like if everyone lived like me?

apparently it would take three mother earth’s if everyone lived my lifestyle. The American Public Media jumped on the 2.0 and the green bandwagon at the same time and ended up with this site, to help you calculate your impact on the earth. I don’t buy-in to their algorithm, but it’s a good guilt trip for those of you who are eco-conscious and want to be reminded that we can do better.

Seeing that I walk or take the zero-emissions bus, share an apartment with three other people, and eat mostly organic meals, I can’t imagine the score of my mid-west counterparts who shuffle around in SUVs. Try it out, they even let you make your own avatar.

hanging out with the Yoga Bear team at Relay For Life, where we sponsored two yoga classes for the participants.

the land of smiles

I’ve posted my pictures from Thailand:

Koh Phangan
Koh Samui
Bangkok

Thailand is the most beautiful, and affordable, country I’ve ever been to. The Thai take such pride in being great hosts, so much so that it is difficult to find them out of ‘hosting’ mode and in leisure situations. The tourism industry is enormous, particularly in the southern islands which are blanketed by seaside bungalows, resorts, and restaurants.

Speaking of restaurants, I had enough Thai food to hold me over for a while. With my strong love for
thai cuisine, I thought I had endless capacity to eat thai food. But after the first week of 3-course meals (which, by the way, cost no more than $5), I had enough. If I see another curry or pad thai, it might be the end of me.

flying on a koh phan gnan beach

I’m starting to get quite the collection of “flying” photos around the world…

I rode an elephant!

I had the opportunity to actually ride one of these gentle and majestic animals.  Notice, this one is a female (no tusks).

welcome to taiwan, bloggers

I have a 7.5 layover in Taiwan, I’ll try not to blog my way into court.

7 day dresses
7 tank tops
2 pairs of flip flops
5 books
Erica’s sun glasses
1 passport
1 stick of lipstick

I’m off to Thailand until April 25th!

really google, is it that difficult?

I just noticed that google is now offering public transit route on google maps.  But the only form of transportation they are including is the caltrain or bart– hardly useful for getting around within the city.  When I tried pulling directions from the Apple store in the Marina to the Apple store downtown, it suggested I walk 31 blocks. No thanks.

When I was living in NYC in 2005, a no-name company called hopstop.com had figured out this game.  Even the government has been able to pull together 511.org. So why hasn’t the company with so much information and so many smart engineers been able to create a useful product for me to take a bus ‘cross town?

Someone, Google- I’m looking at you, please make a better public transit router. Oh, and if I can send directions to my phone, even better.

how to win the airline booking system

theory: call again and again until you talk to a customer service rep who gives you the answer you want.

I learned this trick a few months ago while planning my trip to South America through Continental. I noticed that every airline rep I talked to was following a different rule book. Each one had different black out dates, fees, and available seats. So called 10 times until I found someone who could get me on the right flight using frequent flier miles.

This theory was validated again today. Jeff is currently in London and wants to change his flight. When he called British Airways, they told him it would cost $1400 to change his flight. Ridiculous. So I called. And I called. And I called. The first person I spoke to said I wasn’t authorized to change his flight. The second person I spoke to said it would cost $220 plus the difference in tickets, or roughly $1600, and suggested I buy a new ticket. The last person I spoke to not only allowed me to change the ticket, but only charged a $220 change fee.

Airlines are inconsistent and poorly managed. They enforce silly rules that even employees don’t understand. This can either make you frustrated, or encourage you to work the system. I say, work the system.

give a cat fancy feast, and he’ll never want to go back to dry food.

lickin’ his paws.

made my day!

who doesn’t love free stuff?

I recently started downloading books from Wowio. They have a great business model: free books if you don’t mind ads on the front page.  The site is wonderful and easy to use; it’s creating an account that’s a bit more difficult.  You must verify that you are a real person by providing a non-anonymous email address (no gmail account), CC#, or copy of ID.  I used my yogabear.org account, which worked just fine.  Since I’m used to insta-online memberships, the couple of hours I had to wait for my account to be activated was killer.

Anyhow, once you’re in, you can download up to three books a day, in PDF format (no reader required!).  Even better, they are beautifully accessible via the iphone.  This is going to come in handy on my 26 hour flight to Bangkok :)

feeling crafty or political?

This site lets you download your very own do-it-yourself finger-puppets of Obama, Clinton, or McCain. Just download, cut and fold, and you can have a candidate in your pocket.

my first corona, I kid you not

I’m still convinced that beer is disgusting, but at least this one matched my dress.

where does gas money go?

found this graph in newsweek.  The largest bar= the oil manufacturers.  The smallest = gas stations.  Simple supply/demand economics.  The good is nonrenewable.  Our government has no control to implement price caps.  Until we decrease demand for crude oil, there’s no where for prices to go but up.  So let’s stop running circles around this problem and finally solve it.

from the super playful and life-loving author/artist SARK