now ain't that shiny

the princeton casa 2.0, bigger, better, stronger, prettier-like a real house

PS- since these photos were taken the carpets have been cleaned and look brand new too.

really? REALLY?!

now don't get me wrong, i heart my iphone, and i use it for all kinds of things including text messaging. but dear sweet holy st. pete's gramma, if you gotta start padding things like lampposts to protect people from themselves whilst texting...what's next cellphones with airbags or proximity alarms?! read the uk yahoo newslink here

so here's more of what i did on my Christmas vacation

a friend sent me a link to an article about the "growing continent of plastic garbage" in the middle of the pacific ocean (also labeled the pacific trash vortex), and then asked if i had heard about this. i hadn't and i did my usual curiosity thing and searched the interwebs far and wide. it seems to be a lot of exaggerated bunk, especially because there is a lack of any photographic evidence to support greenpeace's claims. but that's another post. one of the sites i found that addresses this trash vortex thing, along with tons of other cool science-y stuff, is called sciencepunk, and it's one of my favorite new sites. go, learn, laugh.
while i was sciencepunking away, of the many posts i loved, i really liked hugecrab.com, but beware don't go there if crawly things creep you out, but DO go there if you want to be amazed by aquatic arthropods of gigantic proportions.
and then my favorite sciencepunk video so far would have to be, because i am a snow junkie, is this gem. watch this massive steel-wheeled ironhorse of radness and be amazed.

How I Got LOST on Christmas Vacation

Alrighty, I know that the Christmas break isn't over and that many of you don't even have a "break" like I do, so I'll try not to remind you that I am on a 3 week break from school. For the most part, I have been spending my break in front of the TV. Today, my roommate Morgan busted open his shiny, new LOST season 3 boxset. I forgot how much I love LOST. LOST is AWESOME. and if you disagree I will fight you. It has been about 6 months since the LOST season finale, and the new season starts January 31st. That still seems so far away, but it's only a month. So I'll be LOSTing my way thru Christmas break, I still have 2 weeks left and gimme a call if you wanna come over and re-cap on season 3, catch up, or just wax poetic about LOST. Season 4 begins soon.Very soon.

bikes are fun: the sequel

there is a story behind that alta bike in my last post. the short version, is it's this slimmed down back to basics approach of a bike. no gear options, shifters, or frivolous stuff, just the bare minimum to get your bike on. the alta bike comes from a design collective in Norway, sadly the bike currently is only available in europeland, and it would basically double the cost to buy and have it sent here. boo. so in my search for an equivalent off the shelf options available here in the US of A i found this gem from Specialized. i think we have a winner. it's called the langster, it comes in different "city" versions, with options and colors inspired by the city or the demands of its bike ridin' population. i love the chicago version, it's matte black, and so sleek but tough lookin'. new york is my number 2.
here are the links to the whole series:
chicago
boston
london
new york
seattle

PS apparently since nobody gets anywhere in LA except via automobile, we don't get a signature version.

bikes are fun

click 'em-

alta

hug some bike

It's The Little Things

Plastic makes things taste funny. Plastic cups are for kids (or clumsy people). Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi tastes significantly better in a glass, or a ceramic mug, than in a plastic cup. Glass and stoneware are more refined than plastic. Plastic has many great uses. My preferred drink container isn't one of them.

I moved recently and was without any mugs or glass glasses for a little while, I bought some mugs and tumblers this week and it has been wonderful enjoying real flavors again. Hot chocolate is hot chocolate-ier, water is snow-melt-mountain-spring-fresh (okay maybe that's due to the new brita filter), dark carbonated beverages, of the regular and unleaded varieties, are far more gratifying. Friends, get a glass, mug or both, take the taste test and tell me you don't notice the difference. Expose your taste buds to a whole new world.

Sometimes it is the little things.