Clothes for Pixely Children





That's my favorite sweater from Fashion Beast, Malcolm McLaren's new line of clothing for kids. I also like this little outfit and this vest. The designs were inspired by old video games, but I wish the site included better close-ups of the fabrics. Even if I zoom in, some of the patterns are hard to see.

It's a tiny bit blurry, but I like it anyway

Squid-thing with a shawl-thing



I needed a break from writing quizzes, so I drew that little guy with some colored pencils I bought when I was in NY. I think maybe I should've turned another light on, because it's pretty dark in here, and now my head hurts.

Earlier tonight, I worked a little bit on a scarf I'm knitting for myself that's sort of ocean-colored. Mine isn't striped, so the squid creature and I won't match, but his shawl is nice, too.

I have a seriously geeky bookshelf

I just stumbled across this list of geek novels and realized I own a bunch of them (the ones in bold):

1. The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams
2. Nineteen Eighty-Four -- George Orwell
3. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- Philip Dick
5. Neuromancer -- William Gibson
6. Dune -- Frank Herbert
7. I, Robot -- Isaac Asimov
8. Foundation -- Isaac Asimov
9. The Colour of Magic -- Terry Pratchett
10. Microserfs -- Douglas Coupland
11. Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson
12. Watchmen -- Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
13. Cryptonomicon -- Neal Stephenson
14. Consider Phlebas -- Iain M Banks
15. Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein
16. The Man in the High Castle -- Philip K Dick
17. American Gods -- Neil Gaiman
18. The Diamond Age -- Neal Stephenson
19. The Illuminatus! Trilogy -- Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson
20. Trouble with Lichen - John Wyndham

I must have a thing for geeky novels, because these are some of my all-time favorite books.

New York Times silliness



This New York Times article is about how business people are drowning in unnecessary email. After reading it, I noticed the "email this" button at the top of the page. I love the idea of sending an unnecessary email about unnecessary email. If this story shows up on the "most emailed articles" list tomorrow, I will laugh a lot.

UPDATE: Aww, look, I got my wish:

People are so silly.

Compromising my principles

"I'll never move back to New York. I hate winter too much." -- me (about a thousand times since moving to L.A.)

Hah. I think I'm moving back in December. Just in time for what, again? WINTER.

"I'll never join Myspace. Social networking sites are an invasion of privacy."

Well, lookee here. Yes, I feel like a total sell-out, but I went to a teen media conference last week and realized that every teen in the world is on Myspace. Since I make a decent part of my living writing for teens, I figured I better at least see what it's all about.

Escalator fears
As much as I love technology, I definitely relate to Paul Davidson's fear of escalators. I appreciate that rather than just ranting, he suggests practical solutions, such as:

Harnesses for all escalator riders – at the first sign of getting your foot caught and chopped off by the sharp stairs, you will be whisked up into the air as if a parachute just opened.

Escalator rider chaperones, who will assist you in placing that first foot on a good place on a good stair (i.e., they’ll make sure both feet are placed centrally, away from the sides or the edges of the stair).

Escalators are freaky, but I don't like elevators either. In fact, they scare me even worse, because I don't like being trapped in that little metal box. Good thing I'm okay with stairs, or I'd have to live my entire life on one level.

I swear it was unintentional

I'm about to leave my apartment to run some errands, and I just put on a sweater and reached for my nano. The sweater I put on is turquoisey-blue, so my nano and I are totally wearing matching outfits.

For a second I was horrified, but then I realized this is AWESOME. I guess now I'll have to knit nano-sized versions of everything in my wardrobe.

My First Nano Sweater!

Note: I wrote this last night, but Blogger wouldn't let me publish it until just now.

I finally found a few minutes to finish the nano sweater tonight! Call it an iPod cozy if you must, but I prefer to think of it as a nano sweater. I don't want to be a cozy knitter, okay? Other people can make all the "cozies" they want, but cozies aren't for me.

I mean, really, does an iPod need a cozy? NO. Does an iPod need a sweater? YES.

What could be inside that tiny, charming, swimming-pool blue sweater?




My nano!



(I put an image of a cute little animal face in my nano's image folder just for moments like this. I think the backlight had turned off by the time I took the photo, though, because it's usually a lot brighter.)

Considering that I knitted this without a pattern, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The sweater could use a button so it stays closed on its own, but for now, I'll just wrap the cord from the headphones around the outside whenever I put it in my bag.

Downtown Yarns
Originally uploaded by lisabeebe.

Nano update

I LOVE MY NANO. Since this is my first iPod, I am completely obsessed with how the shuffle feature gives my life a soundtrack as I walk the streets. I love when I notice strange synchronicities between random song lyrics and the things that happen in my day.

I haven't made my nano a sweater yet, but yesterday, I spent $20 on some tiny knitting needles and a ball of yarn the color of a swimming pool. I told the lady in the store that I mostly bought my nano because I want to knit it little outfits (the MP3-playing capabilities were just an added bonus), and she acted like she completely understood.

The photo at the right is the view out the front window of Downtown Yarns. If I remember correctly, it's located on Ave. A, near 3rd or 4th St.

Giant Robot
Originally uploaded by lisabeebe.

Giant Robot NYC

Yesterday I went to Giant Robot's New York store for the first time. It was okay, but I like the one in L.A. better. This one is tiny and cute, but it felt overwhelmed by the utter hipness of its east village location. The one in L.A. feels more like a destination (especially since that one is right by GR2, and you can go to two Giant Robot stores in one trip).

Don't drop your cell phone in the toilet

*Don't carry your cell phone in your back pocket, even "just for a minute."
*Don't put your cell phone on the overcrowded shelf behind the toilet while you dry your hair.
*Just don't put your cell phone anywhere near water, okay? Because cell phones are drawn to water by some weird magnetic force.

I hope mine dries out by morning, because I'd prefer not to buy a new phone just yet. I hate when spazziness costs me money.

Update: If you do drop your cell phone in water, it might not be dead. If you take the battery out right away and then leave your phone alone until it's completely dry, it might be fine. Mine seems to be working fine now. This is just like the two times I spilled water all over my laptop and it miraculously came back to life!

You'd think I would've learned my lesson about keeping water near my laptop after one spill, but no. I must really like having water within arm's reach.

So far, the only technology that didn't like having water spilled on it was my ergonomic keyboard. But it was okay, because it happened right after I bought it. Since I still had the receipt, Office Depot totally let me return it, no questions asked.

The story of my nano, part 3

Today I bought an iPod nano.

I'm filling it with music as I type. And now I have to stop typing so I can get back to the little nano sweater I'm crocheting. (I'm calling it a nano sweater, because for some reason I think "nano cozy" sounds dumb.) I'll post a photo soon. I want to make my nano a million different outfits, because it's as cute as a new baby. If my friends were knitters, I would throw a nano shower in the hopes that they'd all bring presents for my new arrival. But since that's not the case, I guess it's a good thing I have lots of yarn around.

I want a nano, part 2

The other day, I wrote about how much I want an iPod nano. Well, yesterday I got to touch one, and it was even tinier and cuter than I had dreamed.

Earlier tonight, I was chatting with my cab driver about what it's like living in L.A. without a car, and at one point, I said, "I know I'll get one eventually, but there are just other things I'd rather spend my money on right now." At that very moment, I looked out the window and saw a giant billboard for the iPod nano. The timing was just a little too freaky. I think the technology gods are speaking to me.

And I am listening.

Update: While waiting for Blogger to post this (it seems to be having some problems tonight), I was reading the NY Times site in another window and came across this article about how no one can resist the nano's power.

Beware, however: to see one is to want one. If you hope to resist, lash your credit card to your wallet like Odysseus to the mast.

Sounds like hyperbole? Uh uh. It's true. That article also includes a video showing a few alternate uses for the nano. Anybody need a $250 bookmark?

I can feel the money sucking out of my bank account as I type...

An hour and a half without power

That's enough time to stress out, call everyone I know, have a glass of wine, and make a painting.

nano crush

I've been avoiding mass media like crazy, because Katrina stuff makes me cry, and once I start crying I can't get any work done. So when my friend mentioned the iPod nano the other day, I thought she was making a joke. Yeah, like the world really needs another little iPod. But then I got home and turned on my computer and saw a photo of the itsy bitsy Apple creation.

I had the same reaction I feel whenever I watch baby panda cams... a total sense of wonder that such cuteness exists in the world. I am powerless to look away, obsessed with this dollhouse-sized bit of technology. After a week of feeling like my country and its government are a hopeless mess, an innocent little storage device gives me hope for the future. I want to buy one and dress it in tiny handmade sweaters. I want to sew it a little panda-shaped romper, and put a baby panda face on its baby nano screen. I want to talk to it, and cuddle it, and feed it mp3s. I want a nano.

I don't have a regular iPod or an iPod mini. I was never that impressed. I didn't want another gadget to carry around, and I've never been a Mac person. I don't even have iTunes installed on my computer. I've been PC since the day I was born (well, more accurately, since the PCjr was born), and I know I'm PC 4 Life.

And yet, here I am, making a painting of what my potential nano might look like in a snowsuit...

(Note to self: The black outlines distract from its dreamy white perfection. Next time, don't do that!)

Question of the day: Is it wrong to buy a nano when I don't even have a car?

Tooth-kun

You know what this blog needs in a major, major way? A scan of one of the envelopes that came with my new Tooth-kun stationery.

HOW CUTE IS THAT? The only sad part (aside from the little crying tooth) is that I only have four sheets.

Oh, and in case you were worried, my weird shakiness went away. And I'm optimistic that it will never come back, because I learned a very important lesson: I can't handle a full-time job on top of all my freelance work. Taking one was the stupidest thing I have done in as long as I can remember. But now that's over, and I'm back to my regular freelance life. I still have lots of catching up to do, but I no longer have to work around the clock, which means I have time for things like painting. And writing letters on the cutest stationery in the world.

Underwater bloggin'
A few weeks ago, back when I still occasionally had time to be silly, and before this weird shaky/stress thing started happening with my legs that has me half-convinced I have MS, my friend Dan came over with his digital camera in its underwater housing, and I attempted to make an underwater video blog.



I think what I say is, "This is my #1 Video Blog." I guess I was hoping that it would turn out so awesome that I would have to make more. And maybe someday I will.

[UPDATE: I deleted the rest of this after rereading it and realizing it sounded like the kind of whiny, self-pitying blog post I hate. I will wait to post again until I have something happy to say or a creative project to talk about.]

Tofu robot
Originally uploaded by lisabeebe.

Tofu robot

No time for a real entry, but here's a photo of the shirt I bought at the Tofu Festival today. I love it. I would wear it tomorrow, except that I have to to go to an office and I suppose it's not work-appropriate.

Palm trees in Studio City
Originally uploaded by lisabeebe.

Palm trees

The reflection of palm trees on this building in Studio City feels really L.A. to me. Maybe the palm trees feel like Southern California, and the tall, shiny building feels city-ish, and the mirrored reflection reminds me of L.A.'s reputation for vanity? (Or maybe that's taking it a little too far.)

Next time, maybe I'll read the manual

I discovered recently, after months of wondering why my camera phone photos always suck so impossibly bad, that I had never adjusted the settings. Playing with the camera function one day, I noticed that it was set on "low" and "economy." I immediately switched it to "high" and "fine."

The photos still aren't great, but I think there's a noticeable difference. Both of these were shot when I was in a dark club to see a band.

Before (low settings)
Even though Meredith and Carmen were right next to me when I took this, they're barely recognizable.



After (high settings)
I took this one tonight at the Liz Phair show, because I didn't have my other camera with me. She's little and blurry, but with my old settings I don't think I'd be able to see her at all. The only drawback of the higher settings is that it takes a few seconds longer to upload a photo to flickr from my phone, but I can deal with that. Or else maybe I'll just give up on the camera phone completely and focus on thinking up ways to sneak my digital camera into rock shows.

System down for maintenance

I have discovered one problem with using Backpack for my to-do list. Today, whenever I try to access my personal pages, I get a message that they're experiencing technical difficulties.

I've been using that site to stay more organized, and most of the time it's great, but right now I wish my list were on a piece of paper in front of me so I knew what the heck I'm supposed to work on next.

Futuristicky

I've discovered lately that people who don't hear me talk on a regular basis have no idea how to say the name of this site. In conversation, I tend to treat lots of words as if they have more meaning when you put an extra y on the end, and that's all I'm doing here.

It's futuristic + Y (with a K thrown in so you won't say "icy" at the end)

Pronunciation-wise, it's "futuristic - e."

If you say it right, it'll sound kind of sticky, which I think is neat. And I don't mean "sticky" in the way that web designers use the word, because I don't pay attention to that stuff -- I feel like web stats are easy to obsess over, and that people who do are insanely boring. I mean "sticky" in a way that describes the giant mess in my apartment whenever I'm working on something creative.

Also, I think the word futuristic tends to make people think of things that are clean and smooth like polished silver or Star Trek apparel. But the future could just as easily be a sticky mess of unpredictable nanoparticles and toxic waste. (I hope it's not, but with all the idiots out there messing up the environment any chance they get, my hopes for a Jetson-like future dim a little further every day.)

New painting



"In my imagination, I am pretty and coordinated."

p.s. late last night, I wrote about having too many distractions and not getting anything done, and then just to prove myself wrong, I got a bunch of stuff done today. I don't even care if you think my little painting is messy or overly autobiographical, because I am just happy I finally sat at my dusty art table and made something. Sometimes if I paint a little robot that's fucked up in the head, I notice that I feel a little more stable myself. Or maybe I just feel better because it's fun to make a mess with paints and ink.

Another web browser feature I would like to incorporate into my life

I've noticed lately that I use Firefox's pulldown list of recent urls whenever I'm losing interest in the project I'm working on. If I'm doing something online for work and I get bored, it's so easy to just pull down a link and check blogging.la or boingboing or any of the other sites I frequent when I'm feeling lazy. Sometimes the only way I can get myself to focus on work is by clearing the history. It sounds dumb, but that stops me from absentmindedly using the pulldown links, and I get more work done.

Sometimes it would be nice to "clear history" for real.

If I could just press one button, and be rid of every distraction floating around in my head... I could stop thinking about all the art projects I wish I were working on, all the email I still haven't answered, all the writing projects I haven't looked at in months, and actually get some work done for once. If I could "clear history" on my life lately, I could forget about how I fell down like a total spaz in the Express store last week (why did I go in there anyway? I don't even like their clothes!), and how I can't seem to make any L.A. friends, and how I've promised everyone I know a screenprinted t-shirt even though I've still never screenprinted anything, and how my life just isn't where I wanted it to be when I turned 30. I could erase every memory of every stupid thing I've said lately. Ohmigod I would use that button until the letters wore off, and then I would probably use it some more.

And then instead of thinking about all those distractions, I could think about whatever I was doing right then, and I'd be amazingly focused and get about six more hours of work or creative stuff done every day. And I would make lots of money and be wildly successful and I'd never want to "clear history" again. (Although I would keep that button handy in case my successful new self still trips over stuff in public.)

Big hair

Mermaid hair
Originally uploaded by lisabeebe.

Here's another photo from the swimming pool. I wish my hair looked like this all the time.

Underwater Video Blog
Click on the image to watch a very short Quicktime movie (316k) taken in my pool.

I was surprised that the camera recorded sound even from within its plastic housing. Maybe the next time I do an underwater video blog, I'll try talking to the camera.

Another reason I need to get my sewing machine fixed:

I want to make myself a beautiful new jumpsuit. I'm thinking I'll go with the longer version on the right, but I have a feeling mine will be black instead of that charming plaid.
I'm not sure when this pattern was made, but a size 10 has a 32½ bust. Ladies, how crazy is that?!

Oh, damn, it comes with instructions.
I didn't realize the implications of the "wrap-and-go" name when I ordered this pattern online. I thought that just meant that it tied in the back, but the little images along the bottom make it seem more complicated:


Step 1
Pull remaining section between legs? Umm....is it a jumpsuit or a diaper? (Ugh, now that i think about it, I bet this thing's a real pain if you have to pee.)



Step 2
Clothes should not involve this much wrapping. I'm starting to have flashbacks to my Infinite dress. Oooh.... I was just about to complain about how the Infinite dress is lame and never looks as good as it did in the infomercial, but then I Googled to find an Infinite dress link, and discovered that the designer has also created an Infinite pantsuit. And the Infinite pantsuit, or as I'd call it, "a jumpsuit," comes in gold lamé. (Scroll all the way down on that page to see the photo.) Wow. I would be upset that it's $500, but it doesn't come in tall sizes anyway, so it would never fit me.


Step 3

Oh, good. Now I'm all set... as soon as I fix my sewing machine, find some cool fabric, stitch it all together, and master this three step "wrap-and-go" tutorial. I'm highly skeptical of all the wrapping, but if mine turns out as cute as hers, maybe I'll make a second one... in gold.

Underwater portrait
Originally uploaded by lisabeebe.

I'm underwater

I posted a bunch of underwater photos on flickr including some sexy bikini shots. Well not really. But there is one where I'm squashed up weirdly and my stomach muscles look like part of an alien.

Five minute craft project

A long time ago I had this brilliant idea that I should buy yards and yards of supersoft bright-colored fleece and sew myself a large robot-shaped pillow so I could hang out on the couch and not feel like I was watching TV alone. I bought all the fleece and stuffing, but then I got busy with other stuff and my sewing machine broke, so I still don't have a giant robot pillow. But this morning I realized I could use a tiny piece of the fleece to make a case for my glamorous new L.A. sunglasses. (They were cheap, but I still don't want want them to get all scratchy if I accidentally toss my keys into the same part of my bag.)

I've been working like crazy lately so this is all the creativity I've had time for. Someday I'll fix my sewing machine and make the big fluffy robot, and I'll finally order digital cable, and he and I will hang out all the time and catch up on Degrassi: The Next Generation. We will cry at the good parts and he'll get all soggy from my human tears and I'll get all furry from his stuffed robot tears, which probably look a lot like the lint that comes off of new fleece.

Self-portrait in a statue

Reflection
Originally uploaded by lisabeebe.

In the top part of this metal statue, you can see me taking the picture.

And here's a cropped version of just the part with me in it. I look shorter and far more muscular than I am in reality. Check out those calves!

Update: The statue is located behind the convention center in San Diego. More photos from Comic-Con are on fingerbear's blog.

Spacetastic bathing suit
I'm on the email list for a company called Newport News. Their clothes are kinda cheapy, but they sometimes sell jumpsuits, and I love jumpsuits. They don't have any cool ones in tall sizes at the moment, but the latest newsletter included this awesome bathing suit. I'm so tempted to buy it. I already have a bunch of bathing suits, but none of them have pockets. or a zipper.

A little painting of a girly bot that I made a while ago

"If my mathematical skills don't impress you, I bet my short skirt will."

Song in my head

"Lottery Winners on Acid" by The Crimea

I heard it on Little Radio earlier today, probably because the band is playing in LA this week. But tickets are $33, because the Crimea are opening for Billy Corgan. Since I really only want to hear one song, that's kinda pricey.

If you go to this page and click on 02 in the Flash player, you can hear it for free.

A few lyrics:

If she get a black eye
I want a black eye
If she get a splinter
I want a splinter too

If she get arrested
I want arrested
If she go tripping,
I go falling over

We walk through the streets like
lottery winners on acid
Everything she say,
I was thinking anyway

For some reason, that's just perfect for my mood today. And, no -- I'm not on drugs.

Guess what came in the mail?

When I opened the door, the mailman said, "Here's your hula hoop." I guess wrapping it in brown paper is the easiest way to ship one, because otherwise it would need a giant box.

I'm excited, because soon I will have the best stomach muscles in America. Well, probably not. But maybe the best stomach muscles in my building.

I can only get myself to exercise by doing things that are fun (like swimming), so I'm hoping hula hooping will fall into that category.

I probably won't try this anytime soon, though. Especially since I have a pretty small apartment, and way too many magazines lying around. Normal hooping seems dangerous enough (when I tried it last night in my little living room, I kept knocking things off the coffee table). So no flames for me.

Best online store ever
I just found this site called the Lipmedic International Lip Balm Boutique that sells over 500 kinds of lip balm, including a whole giant page of petroleum-free kinds and another page of organic and vegan ones. I am so excited I'm having trouble breathing.

I mean, I've been known to carry up to 23 lip products around with me at a time (though usually, it's closer to 5 or 7). Lipmedic has sparkly ones and flavored ones and foreign ones and ones that come in cute little tins. I MUST FIGHT THE URGE TO SPEND MY CAR MONEY AND BUY THEM ALL.

I wrote this yesterday, but Blogger wouldn't publish anything. So here it is again:

Lamp

I am having a self-critical day. I just deleted the last post because I decided it was stupid and off-topic. I want this site to be about futuristic stuff I like and projects I'm working on, and only occasionally about my life.

So back on the topic of futuristic stuff I like. I have a lamp by this dude named Tord Boontje in my living room. I got it last year. Even though it cost more than I would normally spend on a lamp, it required assembly. (It also required help from a friend, although it didn't say that in the instructions.)

When you buy the lamp, you get a light bulb on a long cord, and a flat piece of flowery silver stuff that looks like this:




As the lamp-buyer, it is your job to fold and bend and shape that flat thing around the light bulb until it starts to look all arty, and makes ice-crystal shadows on the wall:


I like this light is because it's kind of futuristic, but at the same time, it's also kind of white-trashy (since you can still see the bare bulb). Kinda futuristic, kinda white-trashy. Just like me...

Batman inspires me to make some changes in my life

I went to see Batman Begins tonight and realized what I love about superheroes. In both this movie and the first Spider-Man one, you get to see the hero make his own costume. That's hot! It's like, not only does this guy have impressive fighting abilities, he is willing to get crafty. That's my dream boy. He'd always keep me safe, and on quiet nights we could sit home and knit. (I'd work on my knitted skirt, and he could knit a new costume.)

Although actually, while watching the movie, I wasn't so much thinking that I wanted to date a superhero. I'd rather be one. I mean, I already know how to knit and sew. I have a hot glue gun, all kinds of supplies, and lots of paint. Now all I need are some battle skills. During the extended training sequences at the start of Batman Begins, I kept getting distracted. Instead of concentrating on Bruce Wayne's character development, I was sitting there thinking, "I wonder if the martial arts place on Lankershim is any good... I wonder how much lessons are." This movie is like a giant ad for anything ninja-related.

SUPERHERO CHECKLIST:

Come up with a name. Bruce Wayne seems to think I should embrace my fears. "Dying Alone Girl"? No, that's way too Bridget-Jonesy. And it doesn't have a good symbol. Maybe something environmental? The "Climate Change Lady"? No, that's lame. Lonely Girl! That kinda makes me laugh. I could help people who spend too much time alone in their apartments.

Learn some martial arts. I know this is key, but I'm not really sure how it'll come into play if I'm only helping lonely people. Maybe I will have to also keep them safe. In any case, I need to be prepared.

Make a costume. Once I'm done with my knitted skirt, this will be next on the list. Or maybe the knitted skirt could be part of the costume, so I'll already have a head start. I need to come up with a symbol to wear on my chest. And I should find some bulletproof yarn, just in case.

Get a car. Lonely Girl probably won't be able to fly. Flying seems kind of lonely anyway... all that time up in the sky by yourself. She needs a car though. (There's no way a superhero is going to stand on the corner waiting for a bus that only comes once an hour.) Maybe traffic is her one weakness. She knows she should hate it, but secretly, she likes being around all those other people.

I probably won't ever mention this checklist again, since it's about my secret identity. But if you ever get lonely, just shine my symbol on a cloud. (Dammit, I've got to figure out a symbol!)

Creature



I painted him a while ago. I can't remember why he has a plant on his head.

The power of blog

I don't even know this kid Tony. We both live in LA and we both take the bus, but we have never met. But today he said "go buy this cd" (i'm paraphrasing slightly) and so I did. Unquestioningly. I went to their website and ordered a CD from a band I don't know at all, only because he told me to. That freaks me out a little.

Dear Tony,
Please don't ask me to do anything violent or scary. I'm not sure I could resist.

Also, please don't start a cult. Unless it's a friendly cult of bus-riders, which is maybe just what L.A. needs.

Love,
Lisa

I hope this band is good.

beck rocks my socks
I'm listening to Beck's Guero cd. I love when I put a cd on and I don't have to skip around, because all the songs are good. I also like the little bat on his homepage.

I saw him in person at an art opening last year and he looked little and regular. But when he performs, he's such a rock star.

I just found out that Le Tigre are opening for him at the show I'm going to in July. That's gonna be fun. I love love live music in the summer. No, I love live music anytime.

Sometimes I just don't get America

I just read this article on Yahoo News about the House approving a flag-burning amendment. WTF? I am having trouble believing that 286 representatives honestly believe someone should be arrested, jailed, or god knows what for burning a flag. This is insane.

At least I'm not the only one who thinks so:

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said, "If the flag needs protection at all, it needs protection from members of Congress who value the symbol more than the freedoms that the flag represents."

Seriously, though. How can a country call itself "the land of the free" and pull crap like this? It's a good thing I don't have any flags (or a lighter) in my apartment, because right now I think our government sucks.

How I look from the outside

Justin left me a comment, so I checked out his blog, where he describes me like this:

first off, she introduced me to "Say Hi to your Mom". she wishes she lived on a far away planet populated only with robots, finger puppets and (im only guessing here), trees that grow free cups of starbucks coffee.

I guess that's pretty accurate. I'm still listening to Say Hi To Your Mom a lot. The song "Yeah, I'm in Love With An Android" gets stuck in my head (download it free here). But the truth is, I'm pretty happy on this planet, because we have robots and finger puppets here. And as for the Starbucks tree, I'd prefer a non-corporate, organic kind, but I'll take what I can get. Justin came up with the coffee thing on his own, but I have been on a caffeine kick lately. Maybe my writing sounds caffeinated?

Everything's in mono

I haven't heard anything with my left ear since Wednesday before I went swimming, and it is making me insane. At first, I didn't think it was worth going to a doctor, but I really can't go on like this, so I made an appointment for tomorrow morning.

Last week, I thought paying a $40 co-pay to fix my ear was a stupid idea. But now I think that's totally cheap considering how much it could improve my life. Tomorrow is the first day of summer, and I'd really like to hear it with both ears.

Dear audio gods,
I promise I'll never take my surround-sound life for granted again. I just want my left ear back. I'll take better care of it from now on, I swear. I even bought new ear plugs to use in the pool. From now on I'll always treat both of my ears like the treasures that they are.

Love,
Lisa

UPDATE, 6/21: I CAN HEAR! My typing, and the little noises my computer makes, and traffic in the distance!! Life is awesome.

No more blank walls

Today, as part of a video project some of my friends are working on, I finally put some stuff on my living room wall. I've been living in my apartment just over a year, so it's about time I put something up.

I don't have any money to buy real art so I made some of my own. I know painting on records sounds like a really hipster thing to do, but I wanted the paintings to look like portholes on a spaceship. Using records meant that they could be flush with the wall instead of sticking out like a canvas would.

Basically, I wanted it to feel like the living room is a spaceship, and these are the little windows looking out. Here's how they turned out:

Space Panda



A robot comes over to investigate



Planet with only two inhabitants




And here's a closer look at the little creatures in the last one. All they have on their planet is tufts of grass. One creature is so bored he is wearing some grass as a hat.



All the space creatures seem really happy that I'm floating through their galaxy. Maybe now I'll never feel lonely!

Sidebar news
I made a blogroll! It doesn't have many links at the moment, and mostly I just stole them from the blogging.la list, but still.

My bread is missing.

That sounds like bad slang, but I'm talking about actual bread. I ordered groceries from Vons/Safeway on Wednesday, and they got delivered yesterday afternoon. Lots of bags of stuff like laundry detergent and orange juice and cereal. And I swear I remember seeing a loaf of bread in one of the bags, but now I can't find it. It's on the receipt, so I definitely paid for it, but I can't seem to prove one way or another whether it actually arrived.

My apartment isn't that big, and it's not like I would intentionally hide the bread from myself but this is making me crazy. I should probably call and let them know that they charged me for bread that I didn't get, but I can't get past this weird feeling that I did get it, and I just put it somewhere dumb.

My left ear is still clogged with water from when I went swimming the other day (I swear I have deformed ear canals -- this happens way too often), and being half-deaf is bad enough. But now I am half-deaf and breadless. I don't know how to deal.

Update: I just emailed the Vons customer service people and told them I didn't get my bread. I've checked everywhere in my apartment that a bread-sized object would fit, so I guess my memory of the bread arriving is just wrong. This is the second time in 24 hours that I've "remembered" something happening and then been forced to accept that it didn't actually happen. I'm starting to scare myself.

Blogs, human and otherwise
A few days ago, I made a new Blogger blog for random life-stuff that I don't feel like putting here. (Having a "secret" blog makes me feel kind of lame -- it's a daily reminder that I'm not self-confident enough to post everything publicly. But whatever.) Futuristicky doesn't have the Blogger toolbar at the top, but since I created the new one under a different Blogger id, it does. I kind of think the toolbar is ugly, but I've been using the "next blog" button to randomly click through to stranger's blogs, one after another.

I think it's so fascinating to click from one to another, because I get to peek into different people's lives (unless they're in a language I don't know). A random Texas teenager writing in IM-speak, or a woman from Indiana writing about how happy she is being fat. I get sucked in. But I'm amazed at how many of the blogs consist entirely of spam. They're called things like "flooring info" and "1st vacuum" and "FreeGiftWarehouse" and every post and every comment on the page is spam. Random words and a bunch of links. No real content at all. I guess these blogs must be created by computer programs, and something about that is so strange. And they're probably read by other computer programs that figure out things like search-engine rankings. Blogging feels fundamentally human to me, but maybe the machines don't need us at all...

Are they time-traveling pants?
I went to see The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants tonight, and yes, I cried, because that's what girls are supposed to do at this kind of movie. But one thing about the story kind of bugged me: the complete lack of cell phones. When one of them leaves another one a message, it's on an answering machine! The book was written in 2001, so maybe that sort of explains it, but would it be so hard to make a few little updates?

In the movie, it's supposed to seem totally crazy that a magic pair of pants can fit four different-sized girls. I think it's a bigger fantasy to imagine that you could find a group of four middle-class teenage girls without a cell phone among them. Instead of a "friends and family" plan, the girls in the movie communicate through emotional letters that accompany the pants they're mailing around. Letters and shared pants are nice, but if I'm experiencing a personal crisis like the ones in the script, I'll take cell phones and email any day.

8 Reasons I should buy a Roomba Pink Ribbon Edition:

-I need a better vacuum.
-I like the idea of my apartment being able to clean itself while I am busy with other things.
-It is pink, and would coordinate nicely with all the pink hairs on my carpet.
-It might actually pick up those hairs, unlike my current vacuum.
-It has pop culture appeal, having appeared as product placement on Gilmore Girls.
-I once made some fan art for the president of the company, which seems sort of silly considering that I still don't own any of their products.
-The little neighbor girl who sometimes peeks in my window would finally have something to look at.
-I could name it and treat it like a pet, but I wouldn't have to buy it special food or empty its litter box (although I guess I would have to empty the filter).

Another fun Flash toy
A USA Today Hot Site, this Flash toy lets you play with fridge magnets at the same time as a bunch of other people. When I visited, someone had spelled out "where are you?" and the rest of us were attempting to spell our cities. It's neat and ghosty and fun. It reminds me of the friendly fridge painting I made a while back. I wanted a fridge that would spell out helpful messages like "You need OJ" or "Please make ice." Looking at it again, I realize I should've given my fridge more letters to work with.

Texty drawings

While looking for environmental websites for work, I found a non-environmental one that's fun to play with. It's called typedrawing, and it lets you create a sketch out of a word or sentence.

Shopping trip thought
If Fry's were a boy, I would want to date him. He would be smart and geeky, and he'd have lots of fun sci-fi stuff in his apartment. (The Burbank store, where I had this idea, is decorated like a science fiction movie. Lots of giant spiders and robots and such.) Fry's-guy would own obscure Japanese videogames and a retro-looking toaster, and just for fun he'd use his mad computing skills to fix my laptop so my wireless card would start working again.

No more blogspot!

Even though I bought the domain name ages ago, I didn't get inspired to change my settings until today.

I also went through and deleted a bunch of old posts that I thought were stupid. (I left a lot of stuff other people might consider stupid, but whatevs! It's my site so I can delete and keep what I want.)

Next up: adding one of those flickr sidebar thingies I've been seeing around.

Yeah, blogging, that's what you should be worried about...
Here's an MSNBC article about parents who freak out when they find out their kid has a blog or is a member of MySpace. Um, in order to use these sites, I'm guessing the kid is spending a bunch of time in front of a computer, safe at home.

Since I write for teens and young girls, I like to read the blogs they write. I've never seen one entry that seemed dangerous, and I've never seen anyone post contact information beyond an email address or IM name. My impression is that young people who are busy composing a hilarious rant about a bad day, posting photos of themselves and their friends, or making silly videos to put online, are not going to feel the need to turn to drugs or violence to make their lives interesting. I wish someone could shake some sense into these parents, so they'd support their children's creative projects instead of shutting them down.

Streaming Seal Cam

A year or so ago, I got rather obsessed with this streaming web cam of a baby panda bear at the San Diego Zoo. But then he got older and lost some of his unbearable (hehe) cuteness, and I stopped watching.



Lately, if I want to see something nature-y and I'm too busy to go outside, I check out the streaming elephant seal cam. You can see a bunch of seals on the sand, listen to their squawky noises and sometimes spot them swimming around in the background. Cuteness-wise, they're no panda baby, but I think the crashing waves make up for the lack of bear.

Fun with PS2
Tonight I was playing Katamari Damacy with my friend (the dizzying two-player way), and we noticed there were some unlocked characters. We decided to try one more game using them. I can't remember what one she was using, but mine was a gray one called Nickel.

A few minutes later, she rolled me up into her ball. I kept moving the controller, but I couldn't get loose. I started yelling at my little guy, "Wiggle, Nickel! Wiggle, Nickel!" Then all of a sudden I realized what I was saying. "Wiggle Nickel" has to be among the strangest things I've ever yelled at a television, and it made me laugh a lot.

If you are thinking of renting or buying the movie The Incredibles, think again. It is straight-up BORING. The characters have super-powers, sure, but they only use them for about the last fifteen minutes of the movie. For real entertainment, play Katamari Damacy instead. And be Nickel.

I'm nostalgic for a non-existant friendship.

This site needs a soundtrack, right? I've decided Say Hi to Your Mom is perfect. Really, it's just one guy named Eric Elbogen, who I heard for the first time when he performed live on Little Radio a while back. He got my attention by singing a song called "Yeah, I'm in love with an android, but so what?" That one's on the cd that comes out this summer, so I don't have it yet, but I did buy his other cd, Numbers and Mumbles. The whole thing is very low-key and hipster, but it gets stuck in my head like crazy. On the website, you can download "Let's Talk about Spaceships," which is one of the songs I really like from Numbers and Mumbles. I also like "But She Beat My High Score," which describes the tragic ending of a relationship.

Oh, Eric-who-I've-never-met! You make me wish I still lived in Brooklyn. You make me want to take the L train and dress in '80s clothes and learn how to play the key-tar that's leaning up against my bookshelf gathering dust. In another reality, I think we would've been great friends. You would have one of my paintings in your apartment, and I'd get to be one of the future-obsessed young ladies you write about in your songs. You'd have a lyric that mentions my pink hair and I would feel all kinds of special.

Maybe I'll play with my keyboard today in your honor.

Two robot paintings

More newsfeed fun
Here's an article about a robot that's shaped like a ball and chases after people.

It resembles a large, black bowling ball, and moves by rolling along the ground.

In future, it could patrol factories and warehouses in place of human security guards.

If an intruder is spotted, the robot could sound an alarm, summon help – or roll in pursuit, taking pictures.

Why do I suspect its designers grew up watching this show? (Although that one is white and maybe a little bigger, so I could be wrong!)

Another one from the Google news feed

I love reading articles about at-risk kids building robots.

One of the nice aspects of the competition is the “gracious professionalism,” Stites said. Under that credo, participants agree, “I want to win, but I cannot, shall not, will not annihilate you.” In other words, people help each other outside the competition.

Isn't that nice? Let's all start treating each other as if we're competing in a polite robotics competition, okay?

I'm feeling jealous of technology

I must be using the computer too much. I've written before about why I love electricity, and how I suspect that my computer is changing my brain. Lately, I've noticed a new technology-related frustration. On the computer, I can do a few things at once -- if I have ten windows open (which isn't a high number), I can be checking my email, searching for a file, checking the playlist for an online radio station, keeping up with a few websites, and organizing my notes for a work project all at the same time. Even if I'm not actually focused on each of those things simultaneously, I switch between them so quickly that I feel like I am.

The new problem I'm having is that I want to do too many things at once when I'm away from the computer. I keep wishing for the real world equivalent of clicking (or Alt-Tabbing) between windows. But if I'm washing dishes I can't just click over to a new window and be on the phone. I have to dry my hands and go get the phone. It's like I'm an old, slow computer that can't run two programs at once. I can't be typing a blog post while I'm making dinner. I can't put on my shoes at the same moment that I'm finishing an email (unless maybe they're just flip-flops and they're right under the desk, but even that would probably be too much for my one-track human brain to handle). Arrggh.

Robot valentine

This little robot thinks you're special.




p.s. I don't necessarily agree. I probably don't even know you. But the robot thinks you're cool.

If Google could talk

Okay, I have no real use for this site, but it's fun to play with. Speegle reads your Google search results out loud. You can pick which robotic voice you want, but the monotone voices all sound vaguely condescending. It's like they're trying to say your search results really aren't worth reading out loud.

Now that's a cool Valentine

I got an email from iRobot about their Valentine's Day Special. The email was cutesier than the web page. It had little pink hearts and stuff. Who wants chocolate or flowers when they could have a helpful little robot vacuum? I mean, it's the only gift that says "I don't want you to waste your time cleaning, so I bought a robot to do it for you."

Craft projects



Okay, these aren't very futuristic at all, but here are photos of some recent projects (all of which were made as gifts):



Crocheted owl pellet

Here's what it looks like with all the pieces inside. As the tag says, "It looks gross, but it is good clean fun."






And here is what the owl pellet looks like after it has been dissected:







How often do you get the chance to crochet a tiny bird skull? Not nearly often enough, if you ask me. I made that for my dad, because he likes outdoorsy stuff like owl puke. I thought it would be nice for him to have a crafty toy that resembled something an owl might vomit up.



Snow people

A long time ago I bought some blank Russian nesting dolls, because I thought they'd be fun to paint on. I finally got around to painting the first set. These are some snowpeople I made for my mom. If you can't tell, the snowlady is carrying a basket of snowballs. The big one is supposed to be wearing a top hat, but it didn't really work on his flat rounded head, so it mostly just looks like he's Jewish. Someday soon (so, um, in a year or so), I'll paint another set of nesting dolls as little robots or spaceships.







Cat-stronaut magnets

I made these for my friend who had a really great cat, but then it got sick and so now cat decorations in her apartment might just make her sad. I hope not. Maybe these catstronauts can wave hello to her cat if they pass by kitty heaven on their next mission.







I saw the glass magnet idea in a few places, but here's one set of instructions in case you want to make some at home. (I like her idea of giving them to people in a little Altoids tin).