Christmas at my house

A while ago I saw this recipe for mashed potato snowmen and thought it was the cutest thing on the planet. So on Christmas, I tried making my own little potato people. I think our potatoes were a little too yellow to represent snow well, but they were very tasty. And c'mon, how cute is that face? It's like he was reaching out his little carrot arms for a hug, and instead I just ate him right up. I am so evil at Christmas!!



My sister gave me a retro-looking wind-up robot toy, and I posed him in front of my parents' gas fireplace in an attempt to take some apocalyptic photos. It didn't really work, because in most of them you either see my hand or the edge of the fireplace, but this was the best one:

Sparkly holidays

I haven't seen any snow this year, but there are enough sparkles in my apartment to make up for it. Here's what my 2004 holiday cards looked like:




And here's the linoleum block I carved for making them.




In case you can't tell, it's a very light blue card (recycled paper -- I'm so proud) with a snowflake made out of light blue glitter on silver ink.



I sent out 50, so if you got one, it means I think you're cool, because I probably know more than fifty people. While I'm on the subject of holiday greetings, here is last year's card.

Robots on a platform

Robot guard dog

It's a cute idea, but I doubt a Roborior Guard Dog can really "check on your pets, teenagers or the elderly." Wouldn't even the least punk-ass of teenagers be able to outsmart that thing? And probably most old people, too? I know I don't want a damn robot checking on me, no matter what age I am. It feels very Big Brother and stalky. But maybe if I programmed it myself, like "Come check on me at 7 to be sure I stop working and eat some dinner," it wouldn't be so bad. I just wish it weren't so freaky looking. It's supposed to resemble a jellyfish, but to me it looks more like an extra-terrestrial.

If only I weren't vegetarian

Then maybe I could make some hot dog crafts! Click on the pictures for an explanation of how they were made. I like the little shark.

All these robot battles have to stop

I'm sick of the fighting. I like to think that if I lived in San Francisco, I might have gone to the Robot Fighting League 2004 Nationals and staged some sort of robot peace protest with big, friendly posters.

Tiny crocheted ghost
I went to the Giant Robot store the other day with some visiting friends, and got this happy little crocheted ghost. Here, he's shown shortly after purchase hanging out with Fingerbear in front of what, in their world, is one giant bubble tea.



After I got him home, I emailed the Giant Robot people because I wanted to know who made the ghost (I didn't write it down while I was at the store). Today I got a message back that he was made by a woman in Japan who goes by Anzoo. I found her website, but it's entirely in Japanese. I'm sure it's her, though, because when I clicked around, I saw a few drawings that looked a lot like my little ghost. I think sometime in the very near future I'm going to attempt to crochet something tiny and cute. If it comes out nice, I'll post a picture.

Birthday painting

It was my friend's birthday yesterday, and he likes giraffes, so I made him this little painting of a giraffe-stronaut. It's not exactly what I had in mind at first, but I like the idea of a giraffe in zero gravity, with its legs floating in different directions.

If you really want to match your car

Someone named Roxy just sent me a link to the Ford Streetka Dress. Click on the wallpaper images on that page to see what it looks like. For a dress made out of car parts, it's pretty stylin. I'm not that into the wire embroidery on the skirt, but I like the top a lot. It looks like futuristic armor.

Voice of the Woods

Ask the Ogham a question, and get some advice from a Celtic divination system based on trees. I like this combination of ancient nature and technology, but I wish the site's webmaster had consulted the Ogham about the use of frames. Judging by the Ogham's insights on my financial situation, I bet it's smart enough to come up with a better web design. (p.s. I just like the word Ogham. It's fun to type. Maybe because the letters alternate between my left and right hands as I'm typing.)

Art TV

While I was eating lunch, I had the TV on for a few minutes, and I came across a show on PBS called Sharing Art. It's a few years old, but in L.A. the episodes air on Channel 58 on Wednesdays, so I'm guessing they're probably still airing other places, too. From the website:

PBS 45 & 49's Sharing Art consists of fifteen 15-minute programs for students in grades 5 - 10. The first ten episodes of the series feature northeast Ohio art museums, artists and schools. The episodes include the following:

An introduction to a museum piece of art

A local artist explaining how he or she does comparable art

Students in a local classroom doing a similar project

The Pop Art one I saw had students using Photoshop to increase the contrast on photos of themselves, which they then printed out on transparencies. They painted on the back, and ended up with arty-looking self portraits.



It was strange for me to see kids in a public high school using Photoshop in art class. When I was in high school, there wasn't even one computer in the art room. Kids today probably take it for granted that an art project can combine digital images and real paint, and that's kinda neat.

Biotechnology is fun

Okay, maybe biotech is scary if I stop to think about it, but Baxter's Biotech Bargain Basement is a semi-entertaining little game. You have to build these cute little biotech creatures as fast as possible in your lab, or your customers will get mad.



Oooh, that reminds me of this Wired article I read the other day about how a geneticist used a "DNA antisense agent" to turn lazy monkeys into workaholics. It had something to do with blocking the dopamine receptors in their brains.



I know this kind of thing should freak me out (those poor monkeys), but seriously... anybody know how I can get in on that study? I have a lot of work, and it's not doing itself.

Your shirt called. Is everything okay?

I think it would be nice to have a smart shirt that can call for help. If something happens to me and no one is around to see it, my shirt could save me with a short text message. That's so Lassie, in a dogless sort of way.



But what if my comfy new vest turned against me? They're saying this thing could send an alert via text message, email or phone call. Do I really want a shirt that could call my friends and make plans without me knowing?

Voting

Only two hours and 15 minutes till the next debate!! Okay, maybe that's a little too enthusiastic, but I am excited about this year's election. I got depressed the other day by the Electoral Vote tracker on the L.A. times website (you can pick who you think will win each state, and see how the votes add up). Kerry doesn't seem to have much of a chance, if things go the way I predicted.



To people who think Kerry and Bush are the same, I say this: I care a lot about environmental issues. The League of Conservation voters gives each candidate a rating, based on how they've acted on environmental issues in the past. John Kerry has an "A" and Bush has an "F."



Oh, so you'd only vote if you had a chance of winning prizes? Check out this site, Get Off The Internet And Vote, to find out how a few digital camera pictures could win you some fun, arty stuff.

Creepy-looking peeps

Maybe I should've saved this link for Halloween, but it's October already, so close enough. It's a BBC article about a guy named Paddy Hartley who designs clear plastic "facial corsets." It feels weird and futuristic in a disturbing Clockwork Orange kind of way. That's not the kind of future I like. I guess I prefer plastic surgery the old-fashioned way, where everyone ends up with the same cute nose.



The article talks about how the facial corset idea can also be used to help patients who need facial support during surgery, but it's hard to get past the freaky photos.

Coolest speakers ever

I've also been meaning to link to this USA Today article about a Japanese gadget called Ka-on that turns plants into audio speakers. I totally love this because it seems so natural and also so futuristic. I can't believe this quote is from a real news article:

Lower your ear to the foliage and hear the music emanate from the petals. Touch a leaf, and feel it shake as though in a quiet dance.



Later this month, you'll be able to carry on a telephone conversation with a flower with a planned speaker phone model.

Sad little robot video

If you had access to a cool robot costume, would you maybe make a dramatic music video to the tune of Danny Boy? That's what one guy did. I came across that link a while ago and thought, "I should link to that." Then, later, I found out it was created by a friend of a friend. So now I'm linking.

Knitted wig

If I knew a girl with really short hair, I would totally knit her

one of these. (If I didn't have pink hair for real, I would need one for myself!)

Keeping my Brooklyn number

I moved to California in May, and told people "I'll keep my Brooklyn number for now." I figured once I settled in, I'd want an area code that signified palm trees and sunshine, but last week I made the decision to keep my Brooklyn number for the forseeable future. This New York Times article from Friday talks about how area codes are losing their geographic meaning, so I feel like I'm part of a trend.



The Upside:

Before you make assumptions, I'm not doing it for snobby, New York-loving reasons. (I mean, it's not like I have a 212 number, after all.) Most of my freelance work comes from New York, and keeping the Brooklyn number means my employers can reach me without calling long distance. Everyone else I talk to uses their cell phone all the time, so they don't care what my phone number is.



I'm also saving myself the trouble of having to deal with Verizon to get a new number. And I'm avoiding the annoyance of making sure everyone I know updates my contact information, so we don't lose touch.



The Downside:

When local businesses ask for my phone number, it occasionally causes confusion. My Brooklyn number starts with 718 and I live in the 818 region of California. Store clerks always seem to think they've heard wrong, so I better get used to repeating myself.



Another pain in the butt: I'll still get phone calls for that guy named Patel who had my 718 number years ago and never paid the bills on the property he owned in Florida. Since 718 is associated with the Eastern time zone, these calls occasionally come at 6 a.m. California time.

Floating in Zero G

I read Boing Boing religiously, but today's post by Xeni about her zero gravity experience is my favorite in a while. Her description of how natural it felt, and of feeling the urge to "fly" even once she was back on earth, made me nostalgic for something I've never experienced.



When I first read that she was taking that flight I thought it sounded really risky. (I sometimes get nervous on normal airplanes.) But now I'm just jealous that I still don't know how life feels without gravity. Maybe that's why I like swimming. I guess for now, floating in water is as close as I can get.

Wow, that's annoying

I was looking at something on Wired News when I saw an ad for this company called SitePal that lets you create custom avatars to use on your website. You choose how you want the character to look, and then record your voice, and then the character's mouth moves (badly) as if it's speaking what you recorded. I get frustrated when I have to deal with stupid people, and apparently that extends to fake people as well, so I hope this doesn't become the new trend in customer service.

They're kind of... sort of... floating

I just turned on my TV and saw the end of a newsy piece about a photographer named

Gay Ribisi. Yeah, apparently she's also Giovanni Ribisi's mom, and he's cool and all. But the photos they were showing on this news report were freaking awesome! She takes them all underwater, so it looks like the people are floating in space. I wish her website had a gallery. I hate this "Coming Soon" stuff. In the little clip I saw on the news, she was photographing a teenage girl painting her nails underwater. I want to see more of her work! Google, why are you letting me down? All I found were a few random mentions of her work as a producer, and her personal Scientology homepage. I sent her an email, so I'm hoping I'll get a note when she updates the website or maybe has a show in L.A. If I hear anything, I'll write a post about it.

W.T.C.

I'm home alone today and thinking about September 11th. I loved living in New York, but being there that day sucked a lot, and I'll never forget walking home to Brooklyn under a cloud of death and burning and chemicals that I could still smell in the air a month later.



I take September 11th very seriously, but I like this drawing by Natalie Dee a lot.

Retro technology

This New York Times article talks about people who like high-tech things that look old-fashioned, like these Pokia phones. I can see the appeal of having a real handset to talk into, but that thing won't exactly fit in my pocket.

Life in space



Responding to Keith's comment on my previous post, I started thinking about what it would feel like to travel into space. I did a Google search for interviews with people who've experienced it. A few highlights:



Here's an interview with astronaut Roberto Vitorri of the European Space Agency. My favorite quote:

In microgravity there is no laying down. Technically you could sleep in any position. The technique is to use a sleeping bag strapped to the walls, roof or floor, and then strap yourself to the bag. This is to avoid a sleeping cosmonaut floating round the station.

Here's an interview with NASA astronaut Dan Barry. A neat quote:

The clouds are so white it is hard to look at them. They're so bright you have to put sunglasses to look at them or your eyes will just close all on their own. Sunrises and sunsets are particularly spectacular, because if you remember we are going around the earth every 90 minutes, which means we see the sun rise and 45 minutes later we see the sun set and 45 minutes later we see another sunrise.

Here's a Scholastic interview with astronaut Sally Ride, where she answers the all important question, "How do you go to the bathroom in space?"

The space shuttle has something that looks very much like a toilet. And on Earth, a toilet works because of gravity. It pulls the water away from your body. In space, you have to use something to pull the liquid from your body, so the space toilet uses air suction. It pulls the liquid from your body, and it works very well.

Here's a Scholastic interview with astronaut Mae Jamison. She talks about what it feels like when the shuttle takes off, among other things:

It takes about eight minutes to get from the Kennedy Space Center into orbit. During the last four minutes, you feel a lot of pressure across your chest. You feel like you weigh about three times what you weigh on Earth.

Here's an audio interview where kids from a Texas elementary school talk to Commander Mike Foale through the International Space Station's ham radio. Many of the questions are pretty basic, but I learned that you can wear contact lenses in space (even in zero gravity, surface tension keeps them in your eyes). This is a fun interview just because of all the perky young voices introducing themselves and asking questions.



And, here's a thirty-eight minute audio interview from NPR's Fresh Air program with Astronaut Captain Jerry Linenger, who spent several months on the space station Mir. (I'm still listening to this, and right now he's talking about the overwhelming feelings of isolation he experienced.)

More Genesis:




This NASA page has an update, and a

video, both amazing and tragic, of the spacecraft plummeting to earth. If I made the kind of art that involved video clips, I would want to make something based around that little movie. At first you can't tell what you're even seeing, but after a while the tiny, shaky blob starts to look more like an expensive spacecraft, just in time to see it smash into the desert floor.

Space sadness

I'm sad that the Genesis capsule crashed down. This page has some pictures of how it looks now, sticking out of some desert sand. And here's a page about the data Genesis was collecting, and an artist's conception of what the spacecraft looked like in action. When I first read about this mission, I was excited about NASA bringing stardust back to earth. When I heard about the crash, I felt like all that potential magic had crumbled. But maybe the stardust broke free when Genesis crashed in the desert... And maybe even now as I type this, little bits of magic, sparkly stardust are starting to drift around the entire planet, granting wishes for regular people like us. It's sad that the scientists won't get to study the dust, but maybe stardust shouldn't be trapped in a lab anyway.

Robot radio

I know I haven't written much lately, but this morning I came across something cool that inspired an entry. I was searching for some kind of audio entertainment that might make the time pass quicker while I was working, and came across NPR's Studio 360 website. Studio 360 is a weekly radio program "where art and real life collide." Browsing the archive, I found a recent program that focused on robots.



The show's guest was Rodney Brooks, director of MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab and head of iRobot, the company that makes robot vacuums. He and I go way back, so I thought it would be neat to listen to his thoughts. It was. He talks about preferring "flesh-based companions" over robot dogs, how H.A.L from 2001: A Space Odyssey inspired his work, and My Real Baby, the robot doll he helped create.



Also discussed:



--The Robot Hut, a toy robot museum in eastern Washington that I'd love to visit someday.



--Girl robots, like the ones in Austin Powers and The Stepford Wives.



--Music composed by computers



If you have some time, listen to the program online! Even the interstitial bits, with sound clips from robot songs and robot-themed movies are fun.

Start thinking of wishes

NASA is about to bring some stardust back to earth. A spacecraft is capturing samples of solar wind, which carries electrically charged particles that were blown out of the sun. It never occurred to me before that stardust exists in the real world, and not just in fairytales and Disney movies. This part of the article talks about what the scientists are going to do with the stardust:

Opening the capsule in a modern clean room should allow an analysis with an accuracy unparalleled by efforts from the 1969-72 Apollo missions, says team scientist Don Burnett of the California Institute of Technology.

Since I still kind of think of stardust as something magical, I keep thinking they're studying it to figure out why it has special powers. But that's probably not the case.

bookmark it

Today (after the swimming part of the day), I was eating a fish taco at a place that makes very good fish tacos, and my friend looked at her receipt and pointed out that they had another location. The first thought that came into my head was "We should bookmark it." It was like my brain thought if I "bookmarked" the location of the other good fish taco place, I'd be able to go there anytime I wanted. This is like when I lose something in my apartment and my fingers subconsciously start reaching for "Ctrl-F," which is how you find stuff in most PC programs. I think I'm trying to turn reality into a web browser. Does this mean I'm using the computer too much?

Sometimes the future sucks

Today I went to the beach with some friends and had a really fun time playing on boogie boards and splashing in the waves. The photos I took with my digital camera are the kind that make you nostalgic as soon as you see them. We look so cute and summery and fun.



We were kind of joking about the beach being polluted (it is in Los Angeles after all, and you can see some smokestacks in the distance), so tonight I looked it up in NRDC's Testing the Waters report and Surfrider's State of the Beach report. Surfrider told me there was a pollution warning on this beach yesterday because of high bacteria levels. NRDC told me the beach was closed several times last year, for bacteria and sewage reasons. YUCK.



I hate everyone out there who is making my beach dirty. I guess it's all of us together, using electricity and sewage lines and everything, so maybe we all suck. With all the futuristic technology in the world, you'd think someone would come up with a way to keep the beaches clean.

Graffiti bike

As a former New Yorker who still likes that city a lot, I was annoyed when I first started reading this Wired article about a guy whose bike spray paints slogans on the street. But then I read that the stuff he's spraying is actually washable chalk, so now I think he's cool. Messy slogans painted onto the sidewalk are lame, but messy chalk slogans seem like a fun idea, especially when they're anti-Republican. The project, Bikes Against Bush, is Joshua Kinberg's master's thesis at Parson's School of Design.

More scariness

My Google newsfeed about robots just lead me to

this story. The most interesting part:

"The nanny testified that the man (Helge Fossmo) sent text messages that he said were from God to her cell phone. She claimed she was a robot that had been 'programmed to kill.'"

I'm glad I don't get evil text messages. Like maybe they said "u r a robot. kill them now!" OR "god (me) says u r a killer." I mean, how does someone convey in a text message that it's coming from god? Wouldn't you see the sender's phone number?

Molar Manor

I spent this morning at a haunted house called

Molar Manor. It's all set up inside a big warehouse, so it can be very dark and scary even during the day. (Their website has a good photo gallery.) The explanation for the tooth-related name is that it's owned by a dentist, which I guess is sort of creepy in its own right if you're not into dentists.



Today they opened very briefly for some kids from a camp. My friend works there, painting scary walkways and such, so I got to help scare the kids. Basically, this meant I wore a very unscary purple robe and tried to make sure the kids walked through in the right direction. I only really freaked out one boy, who was walking the wrong way until I yelled "Go that way!" in a creepy voice. I don't think he expected a real person to start talking to him in the middle of all the fake murderers.



I took a bunch of pictures of the creepy stuff, but this one is my favorite:

	I am being pulled in too many directions

Stress bot

I haven't been putting up many little robots lately. That's one I painted before I left New York, when life was getting really crazy.

Giraffes and painted quilty things and a girl in a red jacket

My friend Ilana and I went to this art gallery called

sixspace today, and those are some of the things that we saw. Follow that link to check out some of the artists' work online, but it's much more exciting to see it all in person. I liked that everything is just almost in my price range, so if I weren't buying a cool, futuristic couch this week, I could maybe have bought a piece of art. And I really liked a lot of the stuff. As an added bonus I got to meet Caryn, the girl who writes art.blogging.la, and she seems really nice.

New links

I just added three new links over on the left side. Mostly they are for me, so I remember to check out these sites I like, but if you feel like it, you can use them, too:



art.blogging.la lists lots of arty stuff that's happening around L.A.



Rhizome makes you donate money to read their content (after a free trial) but they have lots of info about technology-based art.



Styleborg is a blog about wearable computing. I'm interested in reading a girly perspective on this type of thing, so I want to remember to check it on a regular basis.



So, yes. New links.

Mmm... evil!

I have been working hard and not leaving the house much so my big excitement this week is that I bought some fake chicken nuggets at Ralphs. They are so good I suspect they might be evil. They have a strange hold over me, and if they are in my apartment I can hear them calling me from the freezer until I eat them all up in a toaster oven frenzy. I decided to make a little painting about what it might be like if Chik'n Nuggets were trying to take over the world.



NOTE: If anyone from Morningstar Farms happens across my page, I don't really think your product is evil. In fact, I would happily make a painting of some friendly nuggets in exchange, for let's say... three free boxes.

Some links I don't think I've linked to yet



I'm mostly a PC girl, but this custom painted pink iBook is freakin' hot.



This girl does a new drawing every weekday, and some of them are really neat.



This woman made a coat out of Tickle Me Elmos.



This website has one-minute vacations, which let you listen to audio from somewhere else for sixty seconds. New ones are posted on Mondays.

California is crazy

Proof?  You have to be naked for your driver's license photo. It's the law, at least, that's what the DMV worker told me. What, you don't believe me? Here is proof:




I blurred out my personal info, but I *swear* this is the actual, unretouched photo on my new license.



Doesn't that light blue background look pretty with my pink hair?

Sci-fi reality

From a USATODAY article:

Security has reached the subcutaneous level for Mexico's attorney general and at least 160 people in his office — they have been implanted with microchips that get them access to secure areas of their headquarters.

In case you don't read the whole thing, the last paragraph is also fascinating:

In fact, in March, Mexican authorities broke up a ring of used-car salesmen turned kidnappers who were known as "Los Chips" because they searched their victims to detect whether they were carrying the chips to help them be located.

Note to self

The next time I'm in New York with $14 burning a hole in my pocket, I want to go to

MetroNaps and rest in one of their futuristic pods for a while. The first time I heard about this, I thought it sounded like a giant waste of time and money, but that was before I knew what the pod looked like.

Feed me

By the way, Keith pointed out that I didn't have my site feed turned on. So if you know about RSS or Atom or whatever it is (I haven't done any of that stuff on my own yet), you might want to do something with this:

http://electricgirl.blogspot.com/atom.xml



It looks like the feed doesn't pick up images, though, so if you read my site that way you will miss out on the charming illustrations. And really, aren't they the best part?



Oh, btw I meant to mention in the other post that the keyboard I bought seems to be Microsoft's very basic ergonomic one. It's called the Natural Keyboard Elite. I'm going to tell people that I joined the Natural Keyboard Elite the day I bought one (doesn't it sound like a fancypants members only club?) Here is a link, in case you want to join, too. (I paid $10 more than that at Office Depot. Aargh.)

New keyboard




I got a new keyboard today, mostly because I've been doing crazy amounts of work lately and I started having weird little tingles in my thumb and forefinger. I figured it might be something carpal-tunnel-ish, which would be very bad because my leisurely freelance lifestyle doesn't come with health insurance. But then I talked to my friend and he said when the same thing happened to him, he got one of these ergonomic keyboards and the problem went away.



I've always been a little skeptical that a weird-shaped keyboard would make a difference, but I walked up to Office Depot this afternoon and bought one just in case. After setting it up, I noticed it kind of looks like it's smiling at me. And if I watch my fingers when I type, it looks like it's talking whenever I press the space bar. In reality, the keyboard is much better designed (and has more buttons) than it looks in my little painting, but I think you get the idea.



What's that, keyboard? I should stop typing now and go in the pool? I think you're right.

Mr. Silver

Something I saw on Google News mentioned Mr. Silver, a guy who covers himself in silver makeup and performs as a robot from the future. I checked out his website and found the scrapbook section, where he has photos of himself posing with various celebrities (including David Hasselhoff). I love robots, and I love pretending I'm from the future, but something about this guy just feels a little strange to me.



Maybe it's the whole silver makeup thing. In my view of the future, robots will either look human OR be silver-colored, but probably not both. I think if you want a robot to look human, you should give it human-colored skin. And if you're not trying to make the robot look human, it doesn't need to be human shaped at all. It can be short and boxy, or whatever shape is the most efficient for its purpose. In his skin-tight bodysuit, this guy reminds me more of Slim Goodbody. Maybe Mr. Silver should tell people he's from a 1970's version of the future. If that was how he marketed himself, I'd probably think he was cool, and way less creepy.

pink hair and potato salad

On trying to look futuristic



So for a while now I've had pink hair. I like it because it makes me feel like I'm from the future. Except for the time I spend every few weeks bleaching my hair (so the pink shows up) and then adding the temporary dye, I like to pretend that it just sort of grows this color. Like maybe I'm genetically enhanced.



When I lived in Brooklyn, tough-looking guys in my neighborhood would give me puzzled looks and ask "Is that natural?" But I think they realized it wasn't even before they asked. With little kids though, it's different. Walking through Times Square, kids would point at my head as if I were a bright colored tourist attraction. Even in the Village, where you'd think kids would be used to wacky hair colors, children would see me and get distracted. Once I was waiting for the subway and I heard a little girl nearby asking her dad, "Can hair grow that color?" I explained that I use dye to make it pink, and her dad looked seriously annoyed that I (a pink-haired freak) was talking to his child.



Today in Target, for the first time, my hair color got a little girl in trouble. I was looking at the discount bathing suits when I heard a woman yelling at her child, "Why did you leave my side? I told you to stay right here!" I looked over and saw that the little girl was staring at me as if she were under a spell, and pointing at my head. She had a look of complete confusion, and wasn't listening to her mother at all. Her mother didn't notice me; she never looked where the girl was pointing. She grabbed the girl's hand, still berating her about not paying attention, and headed for another section of the store. Meanwhile, the girl was half turned around, not wanting to take her eyes off my hair, and pointing at me with the other hand. The look in her eyes is what got to me. It was like I didn't make sense in her reality, and her brain didn't know how to process it. Maybe I should've run up and said "It's just hair dye! Don't look so confused!" Or maybe I should've said "Don't be scared. I'm from the future. I just came back in time to pick up some Target-brand dish soap and a $4.99 bottle of wine."

Phone cams

If I had a camera phone, maybe I could participate in cool stuff like SENT: America's first phonecam art show. But for now I'm happy with my old phone, because I have a new toy: a Canon Digital Elph. Soon, I'll put a photo gallery online so I can share a bit of California fun with those of you living in less sunshiny places.

Robots are nice, don't you know?

I went to see Spider-Man 2 last night (which was really fun, but I hate that I have to wait three years for the next one) and saw the preview for I, Robot again. I hope that movie doesn't make people think robots are mean. I mean, Robots Are Our Friends!



Watching that makes me want to improve my Flash skills.

Bioglyphs

I bet this living, glowing art would be fun to see in person.

I want to throw a space party!

The Space Store website has a ton of NASA and space-themed stuff, including space party favors and an inflatable astronaut. And if you think I'm too old for a space party: I bet these space wine charms aren't meant for kids.

Passwords from beyond

The NY Times has a little article about accessing the data of someone in your family who has died. It's a weird thing to think about -- do you want anyone to be able to access your files after you're gone? I think I'd want my email to go with me. So much of it feels like random personal thoughts, and I don't like the idea of other people reading through it.

Superhero Knitting

I just read on BoingBoing about Mark Newport, a guy who knits life-sized superhero costumes. (Click on the link and scroll down to see pictures.) I think the Batman one is my favorite.

Ironing robot

I don't really own anything that needs ironing, but this ironing robot I just read about on Slashdot sounds cool. Since ironing is one of those historically girly chores, it's interesting that they named it "Dressman." (That would also be a good name for a cross-dressing superhero who flies around in sparkly prom gowns looking for people to save.)

I, Robot

I can't decide if I think T-shirts with video screens are cool, or just another lame way to promote a movie. I was excited about seeing I, Robot right up until I saw the trailer. I hate that they turned such a cool book into another dumb action movie.

Robonaut

I'm trying to look up some web stuff for work, but I keep stumbling across cool links like this one about a robot astronaut called Robonaut.

Kitty infinity

The Infinite Cat Project is fun. If I had a cat, I would totally encourage him/her to participate.

Star Wars playset

Boing Boing mentioned Woman's Day magazine's instructions for a Star Wars playset. It's from 1978. I was only three then, but how cool would it have been if you were a big Star Wars fan and your mom built you one of these? I love that this was in Woman's Day magazine. If I ever have a child, I will totally build him/her an outer space playset. Even just as an excuse to go buy all those cool power tools.

Robot origami

Over on Slashdot, they're talking about this origami folding robot. (Visit that site to watch video clips of it in action). Just think -- if you had one, it could make you little origami hats to wear.

brainless wonder

When I get tired of working and packing all my boxes and doing all the stuff I should be doing, sometimes I need to go sort of braindead for a while. TV is good for this, but I've been in an anti-TV mood lately. So I've been playing this little game called Magic Punk. It's kind of like Tetris or Super Puzzle Fighter, but you play online (against what I'm sure are probably 12 year olds in another time zone, and not almost-29-year-olds who should be planning their cross-country move).

Ten percent of British people kind of suck

According to this CNN article, one in 10 Britons admits to dumping someone by text message. Maybe this is why British people need those text message affirmations?



I wonder what the statistics for this kind of thing would be in the United States. None of my friends are big text-message users (or if they are, they just don't send messages to me!) so I can't imagine this is as popular here. Unless they're surveying the pre-teen set, maybe?

Build a Robot

If you don't like that robot on the right, you can try making your own.



That's a little Flash thing I've been playing around with. I realize it would be more fun if you could resize and rotate the shapes, or maybe even change the colors. It would also be better if you could save the finished image or email it to yourself or a friend. But those things are more complicated, and this was really just something I was working on as a distraction. So play with it if you want, but don't complain, okay?!

Old cell phones aren't worthless!

My friend was shopping for a new cell phone the other day and I told her not to throw the old one away because a) cell phones have all kinds of toxic crap inside that shouldn't end up in a landfill, and b) even if an old cell phone is big and clunky, you can donate it to charity. Here's a Wired News article that talks about both things, and lists some places where you can donate old cell phones.

Robosaurus
Slashdot has a discussion about this giant, car-eating entertainment robot. I know I'm usually into friendlier robots, but I bet it would be cool to see Robosaurus in person. (I love that they call it "car-nivorous." I wish I'd written that.)

<no>circles</no>

This game (if you can call it that) was listed as a USA Today Hotsite this week. They don't explain it, and neither can I, but it's kind of fun to mess around with.

u r special

People who live in the U.K. can get free text message affirmations sent to their cell phones. The example they show on the site says "I believe in me!" but I think it would be funnier if the free text messages were in IM speak, so you could pretend they were compliments from your inner pre-teen.



The other possible result is that if cell phones start sending random daily messages that say stuff like "I luv u," it could totally change the way people feel about their electronics. (And this also makes me think of Kelly's Hello I Love You Keypad.)

D&D

This BBC article asks Whatever happened to Dungeons and Dragons? Well, let me tell you from personal experience: those twelve year old boys who used to play in the basement are now leading D&D groups in hip Soho apartments. Okay, well I only know of one case like that, but I'm sure it's not the only one. The fact is, it's fun to have wild Friday night adventures where you get to battle an ice giant and save a pegasus. Especially when margaritas are involved.

Koolio

When I was in college, we never had anything as cool as Koolio.

	Robot blender

New painting

Most of my robots are on little pieces of paper, but this one is on a 12"x12" canvas. At first it was on a yellow background like the other robot blender I made a while back (go here and scroll down to see it), but on the big canvas the yellow looked terrible. I decided to redo the background into a kitchen with very tacky wallpaper.



I like this robot. I hung him on the wall, and now I feel like he's watching out for me whenever I go into the kitchen. In a way, it's kind of comforting, but I think if I really had appliances that watched me, it would feel like an invasion of privacy. Maybe someday we'll all have futuristic houses with appliances that communicate with us, but I hope they are built to include a privacy option... some button you can press that means "Don't talk to me, any of you! And turn off your damn sensors while you're at it!" Sometimes I don't want my appliances to give me advice or make friendly conversation. Sometimes I just want to be alone.

	I have lots of big ideas

A robot, and some cool photography

I just read this New York Times article about a German photographer named Peter Bialobrzeski who takes futuristic-looking photos of the megacities in Southeast Asia. I like that he mentions Blade Runner as an influence. At his website, click on the photo on the homepage to go to an online gallery that has some really neat stuff. I feel like he went on some magic spaceship ride to the future and brought back a few rolls of film.

Here's a New York Times article about "circuit benders," people who turn electronic toys into musical instruments by messing with the wiring. I think that stuff is really freaking cool. I hope I learn how to do it someday. I need more electronically-inclined friends.



And along the lines of yesterday's eye implant article, here's a New York Times story about a few new technologies that help improve people's eyesight. The last time I got new contacts, the woman checking my eyes said, "Wow, your eyes are really bad! But it doesn't matter. You'll just get laser surgery someday!" I have a feeling she's right.

Is there a sparkle in your eye?

If not, you can go buy one.

Robot girls
I had nothing to write about today (I've been busy with work), but I just read my Google news alert about robots and found this great little story about a girls' robotic team. My favorite part of the article:

Each team also had to choose a research topic to present to the judges. The Super Nova Girls chose to simulate life on Mars using a frog named Comet and plants.

You might have guessed I like robots, but I also think frogs are really neat. And I love when people give their pets cute names! So this story has everything I would ever want from the news. (You might think I'm kidding, but I mean that in all seriousness. I have had enough stories about war and death and sadness to last me a lifetime. I will take girly robot news any day.)

Majority Report

I'm listening to Janeane Garofalo's radio show again. I will keep listening as long as it keeps making me laugh out loud at least once an hour. (That's a better ratio than I usually get from TV.) Tonight, Tim Robbins is on! He's one of my all-time favorite celebrities.

How did I miss this?

While doing something work-related, I just stumbled across this website about an '80s TV show that involved kids answering video game trivia questions and playing video games on TV: Starcade!



The show feels unbelievably retro, but yet also strangely futuristic. It looks like if you join the site (which seems to be free) you can watch the pilot episode online. Maybe I'll check it out later.

Tron-rific

Hey, check out these tips for making your own Tron costume. (I found that on Boing Boing.) Here's an article I wrote for Popcrazy a long time ago about how to make Tron cupcakes.

Links, links, and more links


EFF has a new blog.



And here's an unofficial Google weblog.



And here's a site where robots tell jokes. None of the ones I listened to were very funny (and some weren't funny AT ALL), but hey, at least they're trying.



Here is a Japanese game thing. Drag the stuff around the outside onto the sphere. The order you choose affects how well it grows. I got obsessed with this one night, and it sucked away a bunch of my time, so be warned!

The Majority Report
Tonight I listened to Janeane Garofalo's new radio show. It's on every weeknight from 8-11, and you can listen online here. I suppose I could listen to it on a real radio since I'm in NYC, but my only radio is in the other room. So web it is.



I think the little robot on the right kind of looks like a boombox from the '80s. If she were real, I bet she'd like Janeane Garofalo, too.

If I win the lottery...

I just read on BoingBoing about this underwater motorcycle. I don't think I really understand how it works yet, but I like the Flash animation on this page, where you can kind of watch the lady zoom in on one. Doesn't that look futuristic and fun?

USB toys

CNN has a story about wacky things that run on USB power. That little fan is cute. But since I've already got more USB stuff than I have ports, with no hub in sight, I guess I shouldn't buy it just yet. (or the USB duck.)



Monsters of Privacy

Monsters of Privacy only sounds like a hipster band name. The cutesy illustrations on that page show you how the government, and others, are trying to keep an eye on what you're doing. Even though they're not a band, the monsters do have a Flash music video with a catchy pop soundtrack.

Oops

So when I said my least favorite part of Robot Stories was the one with a human playing a robot, I didn't realize the human in question was Greg Pak, the writer and director. I hope he wouldn't consider my earlier comments insulting, because in fact I think it rocks that he not only writes and directs films about robots, but cast himself as one. That's pretty freaking cool.



Here is a story about a robot who builds houses.



And here is something I bookmarked a while ago (I can't remember where I found it) that lets you make a snowflake cut-out online. It's fun because you get to see your snowflake without making a giant paper mess all over. I can't remember where I found this link originally, but I think it's fun to play with. Lots of clicking and dragging. Maybe it's a nice way to say goodbye to winter. Or maybe I'm just getting dramatic because this will probably be my last snowy winter for a long time, since I'm finally moving someplace warmer.

Robot Stories

So last week I went to see this movie Robot Stories. It's a collection of four short movies, written and directed by Greg Pak, that explore the emotional relationships between humans and technology. In the first one, a woman and her husband are waiting to adopt a baby, and they are given a sort of test-run with a robot child. The babybot was cute on the surface, but also strangely creepy, and I think this one was my favorite. If I forced myself to pick a least favorite, it would be the one about a robot office worker, but only because I don't find it believable when human actors play robots. If this had been some big-budget movie with a CG robot in the same role, I might have liked it better.



Three of the four stories made me cry, but I'm still very happy I went. (And for anyone who thinks this movie might make them sad, I should include the disclaimer that I cry at everything from Everwood to The Simpsons.) Greg Pak proves that movies about robots don't have to be about scary futuristic battles. So if Robot Stories comes to your town, I think you should put on a shiny silver outfit and buy your robot-loving self a ticket.

Update-crazy

From time to time, my pop culture interests combine with my futuristic interests. I just wrote a little thing about the TV show Century City over on Popcrazy.



And btw, I just paid for my stupid comments to come back. I swear when I signed up, I was lead to believe that they were totally free, and then all of a sudden my nonexistant "subscription" expired. REAL NICE, huh? But nevertheless, the comments should be back within 24 to 48 hours.



I know I've been bad about updating the site lately. I'm frustrated that I haven't had the time to get my act together and make my robot website, which is where I'd like to be writing this stuff eventually. Every time I write here, it renews that frustration.

Writing inspiration

Today, I went to see William Gibson do a reading at the Columbia University Bookstore. He looked just like the photos from the back of his books, except that suddenly he was real and 3D and answering questions. I guess it was sort of a religious experience for me, because William Gibson has affected the way I think about the world and the future. Even though there was a small audience, I didn't have him sign any of my books. For some reason, I care more about the experience of being in the same room with him, and getting the chance (through the Q&A) to peek inside his brain. Like, I learned that he considers eBay a "vast museum of humankind" and "an astonishing research tool." (But he almost never uses it to buy stuff.)



Here's a quote from the bio on his website:

"I suspect I have spent just about exactly as much time actually writing as the average person my age has spent watching television, and that, as much as anything, may be the real secret here."

Gibson's latest novel is out in paperback now. It's not futuristic, but the story involves technology, online communities, commercialism, and branding, which all interest me.

Weekend

Stuff to watch

This music video makes me want to get crafty. The band doesn't seem that special (so I'm sure they'll be huge on MTV!), but I bet somebody had a lot of fun knitting all that random stuff.



I just read on Boing Boing about the video clips on this NASA website. They show what it looks like when water balloons get popped in a low-gravity environment. It's even better than you're imagining. The water just kind of stays there... like water... in space!

Historical robots

I just found this site about robots from the Victorian era. I want to read about all of them and pretend they really existed. I think I'm going to buy something little from the store just because this site is really fun. I like the image of the old-timey robot poking at the ice.

Robot me

That's a little robot self portrait I painted tonight. I am waving at you. I am not really a robot (ssh... don't tell anyone!) but here is a list along those lines:



Ways that I am like a robot:

I get along well with computers.

I am helpful.

I follow directions well.

I sometimes have trouble communicating with people.

I look spazzy when I move.

When my energy level is low, I process things very slowly.



Ways I am not like a robot:

I am made of bones and blood and stuff, not metal or synthetic materials.

I can't recharge by plugging into a wall or changing a battery.

I don't have any buttons (oh, except my belly button).

I have more common sense than a robot.

I have more freedom than a robot.



(I would think up more, but I want to go to sleep soon.)

Robot pets and such

The Christian Science Monitor has a great article called "If you kick a robotic dog, is it wrong?" It's about how people interact with their electronic pets, and how the relationships get more complicated as the pets become more and more advanced. And linked from that story, I found another good one about robots that act like people. A quote:

Professor Pausch says we should think of virtual humans as akin to Jethro Bodine on the old "Beverly Hillbillies" TV show. With Jethro, "you realize you're not dealing with something that is very smart," in common-sense ways, he says. Though Jethro is kindhearted, "and he will help me in any way he can," he must be asked for his help in careful, simple ways that he can understand.

Mousetronauts

A week or so ago, I read an article about mouse astronauts being sent into orbit to test the effects of low gravity. Now, I know I should be upset about this, you know, because of animal testing and all. But for some reason, every time I thought about it, I kept picturing these little mice floating around in astronaut suits, and it was just the cutest thing. So tonight I tried to paint my idea of mousetronauts. They kind of came out looking more like kitten-stronauts, but check it out anyway. (You can read more about the real "Mars Mice" on this NASA page.)



ALSO: This weekend I hung out with Kelly Computer in person and we made a rockin' painting!! I will scan it soon. Kelly was in Brooklyn for an art exhibit, and even though it was freezing cold here, we had fun and talked a lot about robots and friendly machines. It was really fun to hang out with my electric friends in person (we had dinner with My Robot Friend on Saturday).

My new favorite band

The First Vienna Vegetable Orchestra. If I had a cucumber and some peppers, I might make a salad, but these nine musicians use vegetables to make their instruments. The strangest thing? The experimental music is surprisingly good. I want their latest CD (on which they cover Kraftwerk!), but so far I've only seen places in Europe that carry it, and with shipping it's almost $30. I'm sure it's worth it, but still.



Lush green plastic

When I read this L.A. Times article about how Orange County, California is encouraging residents to install synthetic lawns, I cringed, picturing the cheapy kind of Astroturf you can buy on a big roll from Home Depot. But the promotional photos at SYNLawn and AstroLawn are entrancing. Is this what our future will look like? I wonder if they could make the grass out of recycled plastic. Here's a question I'd never have thought to ask, from Astrolawn's FAQ:

How do you keep AstroLawn clean?

Simply treat AstroLawn like regular grass. Use a rake or blower to remove leaves. When animals think it's real grass, simply scoop up the mess and wash the area with a garden hose.

I guess even a plastic lawn has to get watered once in a while!

Oh, he's such a rebel

On futurismic, I found a mention of a graffiti-painting robot named Hektor. The site claims to be under construction, but there's a video of him in action (although I like the graffiti shown in the photos better). The PDF has a bunch of photos and some background on how Hektor works.

Fun with my Google news alert



Wouldn't this article be a lot more exciting if it were really about a robot?

'Robot' gets jail, whipping for mischief



I mean, not that I want to see a robot in pain. I just like the idea of one acting mischievous. And if a real robot threw a brick at an ATM machine, it seems like the action would be all deep and meaningful. It feels very sci-fi. Maybe because I just finished reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, which has a lot to do with robotic people and animals and electronics and empathy. I think I want to read it again, which is not an impulse I usually have immediately on finishing a book.

I want to watch TV in my window

Andersen Windows built a prototype house in Utah with some fancy-shmancy futuristic windows. (I linked to the Google cache because it was trying to force registration.) If you press a button, your window can turn opaque, or turn into a TV or computer monitor.

The exotic windows resemble those you'd see in a normal house -- until they change colors or start showing you the latest "Friends" episode.

And another thing

Here are some oil paintings of sock puppets.



And lastly

I think Kelly Computer should consider this approach to baby naming.

We met on the web

My inner pre-teen likes this shirt.



And here's some hip hop style blog humor. Download the song. It's worth it.

Some stuff from Wired



Here's an article about three blind phone hackers from India. Okay, that sounds like a bad joke, but it's really what the article's about. Just go read it. Here's a quote to get you started:

He and his sightless brothers have devoted their lives to proving they can out-think, out-program, and out-hack anyone with vision.

And on an unrelated note, why does it seem like people in Europe are being so much more careful about genetically modified food? I'm glad I'm not an American farmer. (Well, I'm glad I'm not a farmer anywhere, to tell you the truth. I would kind of suck at farming.)

Aqua Robot



Awww... this aqua robot is cute. I like his little flippers. Also, the article uses the word "wonky," which is one of my favorites.

Since the robot's return to the test lab at McGill, Dudek said it's swimming legs have been a bit wonky.

Here are a bunch more photos of this underwater robot.



Maybe it would be fun if I did a series of robot drawings inspired by the news. I am too busy today, but I will think about it for the future.

Bat bot


That's a little bat bot I painted for my friend.



Someday, I hope I'm successful enough to hire someone to build me a Futuro house. But mine won't be made entirely of plastic. (Unless maybe it's recycled plastic.) Doesn't that thing look cool? And if I lived there I would dress all retro-futuristic like that lady in the red dress.



Here's a site called musicplasma that says it can help you find music you'll like. It's fun to play with, but I don't know what the information is based on. Maybe Amazon recommendations, since it seems to be associated with that site.



Flash in other languages can be strange and fun.

Robot mom

This little Flash thing is fun. But don't get confused. Mother's day is only March 30th if you live in the U.K.

Robot bookshelf!

While out in L.A., I painted some robots on my friend's bookshelf. [See them here!] (This was to replace a pitiful little collection of robot postcards that she had taped up.) If you check out those photos carefully, you can see that she got a robot Christmas card.

Airplanes rock

This week, I went from 13 degree weather in NYC to 70 degree weather in L.A. So that's why I haven't been writing much. I'm too busy playing outside.



I put up a few new robots here.

Casting a spell

In junior high, I rocked at spelling. I never went to the national spelling bee in D.C. or anything, but I came *this* close. And even though I like to pretend I'm from the future, I've always found dragons strangely fascinating. What could bring these random interests together? Dungeon Scroll.



In this amazingly addictive game, the more words you spell, the more creatures you destroy. You only have a few letters at a time, so it's kind of like Scrabble, but with creatures! The idea that you can kick ass by spelling words right really appeals to me. If fights worked that way in real life, junior high would've been REALLY different.



If you click on the link above, you can download a demo or buy the full game (since it was only $8, i decided to go for it.)

New project

I know the last thing I need right now is a new art project (I'm already way behind on everything else I'm trying to do), but yesterday I went to see this nesting doll exhibit. The dolls on display were painted by people who normally do graffiti, skateboard art, and that kind of stuff. One of my favorites was based on transportation, and had a big truck on the largest one, down to a bicycle on the little tiny one. So anyway, I got all inspired once I found out you can buy the blank dolls online for pretty cheap. I'm going to make a set of robot ones. And maybe another set, with some futuristic ladies. [Note: Part of the reason I want to make my own is that I really wanted to play with the ones on display at that gallery, which of course is not allowed. When I paint my own, I will play with them as much as I want.]

Good spirits

I'm happy that Spirit, the Mars Rover, landed okay. Aside from the fact that it's not very colorful, I think Spirit looks like something Kelly might paint. I like how the article says it "transmitted a simple hello to Earth minutes after landing." Here's the image gallery so far.



Random link I stumbled across the other day: this robot costume. How cute is that kid? If he or she showed up at my house on Halloween (if I had a house), I would give that robot ALL the candy. That costume freakin' rocks.

Crafty afternoon

Inspired by a conversation with some friends, today I watched some bad TV and knitted myself a watch cozy. You can see a slightly blurry photo of it below (along with my tekno-dinkie robot looking on!)






Basically, it's a little knitted arm band that has a hole for the face of my watch to show through. (I made up the pattern on my own and am impressed that it fits.) It makes me feel like Leela from Futurama, but I have a feeling her wrist thingy did a little more than tell time. Looking for a picture of it just got me inspired -- I should get some light gray and blue yarn and make a knitted version of Leela's arm band! Probably nobody but me would know what it was supposed to be, but isn't that enough?