Day 272: Calculus: Concepts and Contexts

I loved math until I took calculus as one of my running start classes. My teacher did not speak English very well. Through out class he would say "Anybody? Anybody?" but it sounded just like "Emily? Emily?" so I kept thinking he was calling one me. I would have a brief moment of panic before I realized that once again he wasn't singling me out. He also would do problems wrong on accident and then spend the whole class trying to figure out why he messed up. I took the next two calculus classes in the series but my teachers were only marginally better and they weren't able to get me excited about calculus again. It bums me out now because I still love working with numbers and I think I would have loved calculus under different circumstances.

Status: Donated

Day 271: Talk Sport Like a Pro: 99 Secrets to Becoming a Sports Goddess

I've been a fan of Penelope Trunk's blog for awhile now and I think she has a lot of great ideas. Her point of view is unusual and I love how frequently she can turn me around from my initial "WTF?" reaction. One of her suggestions was to learn how to talk about sports in order to be more included in the workplace. She recommended this book and I thought I might try it. It was, after all, only $2 before shipping. I read the first chapter and still couldn't get excited enough about sports to bother.

Flash forward to earlier this year when the world cup occurred. Cody and I thought we might stop by Neumo's to check out the party and it was completely packed. We wandered across the street to The Comet, which had a little more space, and were pleasantly surprised by how many attractive people were in the room. All of a sudden we were much more interested in soccer. I started waking up early to watch games and improved my understanding of the rules. This was my first time really caring about sports and I'm excited for the next series to come around.

Status: Available

Day 270: Linchpin by Seth Godin

I'd be surprised if you hadn't heard of Seth Godin. He is like a god in the blogging world and his name shows up everywhere. I subscribed to his blog for awhile but hadn't read any of his books when I heard about the Linchpin meetup. It was a chance to meet other people in the area who were inspired by him. I didn't quite fit the bill but I thought it would attract some interesting people so I decided to show up. I ran out and bought the book and crammed as much as I could before the meetup. It was a fun event and I did meet some cool people so I'm glad I went.

PS - I will take a better photo as soon as I have the chance :/

Status: Dibbed

Day 269: Fasciinatiion - The Faint

Sorry about the horribly lit picture! I'm starting to want to buy a nice camera so the photos I take later in the day will no longer look like crap.

The Faint is an awesome indie rock band from Omaha. I first heard of them because they showed up on a mix cd that an ex-boyfriend gave me. He's not the first ex to populate my music collection; I'm entirely dependent on other people for discovering new music.

My biggest influence is one of my good friends whose name happens to be Emily. Her music knowledge is vast and she also has fantastic taste. I can count on her to recommend something good whenever I need new music. She just started a music blog called This Ain't Art and you should totally check it out.

Status: Donated

Day 268: Suitcase

I love this bag. It's a hard case in a beautiful cherry red. It's as big as a bag can get while staying carry-on sized. This suitcase has traveled with me all around Europe and to Japan. It has also accompanied me on many visits to California. I've never seen anyone with the same suitcase.

The only reason I'm getting rid of it is that my traveling style has changed. I need to be more mobile and backpack straps are crucial. My new bag isn't as pretty but it's well-designed and functional. It's convertible to a backpack or a messenger bag yet opens like a suitcase for easy access. It has a water bottle holder, laptop section, compressor straps, sturdy and lockable zippers, and a handle everywhere you would want one. It also was priced under a hundred bucks. Awesome.

If you are in the market for a highly functional bag I would definitely recommend the eBags bag, but if you usually stay in a hotel my old bag will serve you well!

Status: Dibbed

Day 267: Random CDs

The first CD is for a band called Larry & His Flask (IIRC). They were playing outside SCCC one day and I thought they were good enough to spend $1 on. The second is just a mix CD I picked up at an event sponsored by Scion. It was a free screening of the movie Heavy Metal in Baghdad. It was a pretty good movie following up on the lives of a heavy metal band that was featured in Vice magazine in 2003.   The stories were touching (of course, Iraq/Syria 2006), but it suffered from Blair Witch-esque filming style and Kim had to leave because she felt ill.

Status: Trashed

Day 265: Nintendo DS

Now that I've posted the R4 I might as well get this over with. The DS has served me well over the years. I used to carry it in my purse and play it on the bus, waiting in line, and just about everywhere.

The last game I played was Professor Layton and the Curious Village. It's a part of a fun puzzle game series. I was preparing for an interview and kept taking breaks to play the game. I would tell myself that at least it was somewhat intellectually stimulating. I love puzzles. We used to do these word puzzles in elementary school - the kind where the presentation of a word would lead you to a different word. We also had those grid puzzles where you try to figure out who did what and where. Now I just occasionally google interview puzzles for fun.

Status: Dibbed

Day 266: Kingsburg

I like many of the elements of this game but it just doesn't quite work for me. It is pretty fun though, and if I didn't have so many other games I enjoy I would probably play it more. When I select the games to bring to board game night I am seriously limited by my carrying capacity and this game just doesn't make the cut. Right now I still have Dominion in its original boxes which means I bring four boxes to every game night. I bought a plastic storage case and need to print out dividers but what I really want is this. It's a much prettier and cleaner solution. I wish someone would manufacture it.

Status: Dibbed

Day 264: R4 for DS

It's the R4 for my DS so you know what's coming up soon...

I'm having a difficult time getting inspired tonight. I am exhausted. I lost sleep for a few nights because someone put a tetherball in the parking lot outside my apartment. There is no better time than after the bars close to start a tetherball game... I tried yelling at some people to please be quiet but they didn't respond. It seems likely they didn't hear me but I was too tired to try again so I went back to bed and did my best to fall asleep. Noisy drunk people are definitely a problem in my neighborhood but for the most part I am able to sleep through it.

Status: Dibbed

Day 263: Vib Ribbon

Vib Ribbon is an awesome game for the first Playstation. It will only work with either a Japanese or modded console. You boot up the game and then switch it out with any music CD. Then the game creates levels based on the music you are listening to.

I've been trying to get a hold of a Japanese Playstation for the sole purpose of playing this game. I used to have a modded console until I naively lent it to a coworker who had a coke problem. I also had lent her several video games and a snowboarding jacket. She disappeared one day and I never saw my stuff again. Strangely, it didn't really bother me when she disappeared with my things. She had been fired from our workplace just before her disappearance and she couldn't afford much of anything. I just hope she continued to get some entertainment from the games rather than selling them.

Status: Dibbed

Day 262: Purple skirt

This is one of the jersey skirts that I commissioned for my trip to Thailand. I figured they would be easy to pack and would travel well. I had already purchased a skirt from the same designer (Outofline) at the store Velouria in the Melrose building. Unfortunately, this skirt turned out just a little too big for me. I had to constantly hitch it up my hips.

The color in person is much prettier and more vibrant than it turned out in the photograph.

Status: Dibbed

Day 261: Stars EPs

Stars is created two of my favorite albums so I thought I wanted to own everything they have released. Then I saw them perform their new album The Five Ghosts and hated it. These EPs are alright but not great - I never have an urge to listen to them. I've decided to get rid of them because I think that if I listen to them I will like the band less.

Status: Donated

Day 260: Make Your Contacts Count

I apologize for all the book posts lately; life has been a little wild. In the past three weeks I've had four couchsurfers, I had my last day at my old job, and this week I'm doing training for the Seattle Architecture Foundation. If all goes well, soon I will be conducting architecture tours of downtown Seattle.

Both my parents are incredible role models of compassion and generosity. I didn't appreciate it as a kid but I do now. For awhile, I've felt some guilt for not volunteering my time to any organizations. I tried doing a Seattle Team Works project recently. You join a team to do one service project a month for four months. I felt like was just going through the motions of volunteering but my heart wasn't it in at all.

A couple of months ago I met a new friend at a bar. Tino and I share a love of cocktails so it's fitting that we met at Vessel. He is an amazing guy, full of love and he really looks out for his friends. If he tells me I might like something I always follow up. He has been doing tours for the Seattle Architecture Foundation for almost three years now and he thought I might enjoy the organization as well. I joined him at the volunteer party, had a fantastic time, and this weekend I am being trained to lead tours.

I'm really excited about this training. I've now experienced two of the tours and they are a lot of fun. Seattle has some gorgeous buildings from early this century and you learn to notice new details about buildings you've walked by a hundred times before. Today we took the Design Details tour (guided by Tino!) which culminated in the Chinese room of the Smith tower.

The previous tour I attended was the Architecture 101 tour but there are a lot of great options. Check 'em out next time you have visiting family in town, or because you just want to learn something new about our fair city. Either way, it's an enjoyable time.

Status: Dibbed

Day 259: DS game cases

Handy little carrying cases for carrying DS games, except now I don't own any. I do still own an R4 cartridge. I've been thinking hard lately as to whether I want to keep my DS and PSP. It's difficult, there are some fantastic games on both systems but I'm not playing them.

Status: Dibbed

Day 258: 366 Delicious Ways To Cook Rice, Beans, and Grains

I bought this in attempt to improve my diet. I haven't made a single recipe from it. The best improvement to my diet has been a result of my spinach smoothies and my community supported agriculture box. Unfortunately, one CSA box is a lot for one person. I am ashamed to say that a lot of my produce has gone to waste. On the other hand, I've found a lot more uses for it! And I have a lot of blanched and frozen green beans.

Status: Dibbed

Day 257: The Art of Simple Food

I took some abuse for getting rid of The New Best Recipe so I figured I better drop the second cookbook as soon as possible. That way if I get any more backlash there will be overlap! 

I think this book used to have a dust jacket but I have no idea where it went. When I first purchased it I remove the jacket and took it to work with me. I ended up leaving it at a coworker/friend's house. Months later I was at her house again and I noticed this book on her bookshelf. I exclaimed, "Oh, you have this book to?" and she reminded me that it was actually mine. I took it home and it has been sitting in my bookshelf ever since.


Status: Dibbed

Day 256: Paradise Kiss

Occasionally I meet someone and felt inspired to post something that I want to give to them. I try not to do this often since it's not quite in the spirit of the blog but it's nice to know in advance that the item will go to a good home. I was not planning to give up my copies of Paradise Kiss but I wasn't reading them either. I love the art and the story - an ordinary Japanese girl who gets sucked in to the world of fashion.

Sunday evening I hosted a new couchsurfer. She was a German woman who has been living in Vancouver, BC. She is really in to anime and manga - much the same way I was at her age - and living in Germany they don't have the access we do here. I had already given away almost all my other comics but then it occurred to me that she would probably love Paradise Kiss. She was happy to take them off my hands and I'm glad that one of my favorite series went to a good home.

Status: Gifted

Day 255: Lampeberger

These little lamps are handy for getting rid of odor. I can't recall the exact circumstances that lead to me buying it but my best guess is bad roommate #1. The one who responded to my request to clean up three day old cat vomit with "I'll clean it up when the time is right." Oh yeah, and her cats would pee in the laundry room and the floor was sticky and gross all the time.

Fortunately, I got out of there after three months. A few months after I moved out I got a phone call from the property managers. According to them she had done $4-5,000 worth of damage to the apartment and was trying to claim it was normal wear in tear. They wanted me to write a letter on their behalf to support their case. I was happy to.

This lamp comes with fragrance oils.

Status: Dibbed

Day 254: Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters

This book is highly regarded as a resource for job hunters but I never got past page XV of the introduction. When I got to this page I found a side box by the wife of one of the authors titled "For Women Only". In it, she goes in to detail about how the best way to approach this book is to consider it like a recipe book.

"If you think of this book as a recipe book, ask yourself if it would be wise to leave out the eggs or the baking powder and still expect your cake to end up light and fluffy!"

After reading this section I completely lost interest in the book.

Status: Available

Day 253: The New Best Recipe

This is a monster of a cookbook but it's fantastic. It covers just about everything in a scientific manner. The only reason I'm getting letting go of it is that I never actually reference my cookbooks. With the exception of specialty cookbooks, like The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook, I get recipes online. I might have better success if I used this book but that's just how it is. I am keeping a copy of the classic cookbook How to Cook Everything so I'm hoping that will cover my bases.

Status: Dibbed

Day 252: Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations

This is my last Phoenix Wright game. I had the first one but I lent it to someone and haven't retrieved it. I'm posting it now because I'm supposed to be running out the door for drinks and I'm running late.

Status: Dibbed

Day 251: Tea thermos

Again, I don't manage to take photos during daylight hours. I wonder what will happen when winter truly hits? Today I am offering up my tea thermos. It has been good to me over the years although I wish the tea basket had a tighter mesh. The main reason I no longer use it is because it only holds ten ounces of water. Ten ounces of tea does not last me long at all. Plus the insulation of this thing is just too good. If you don't cool down the tea before closing it you are in serious danger of burning yourself for a good hour.

Status: Dibbed

Day 250: Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice

I'm going to be a little lame tonight and post another Phoenix Wright game. I had something else in mind but I waited too long to take the photo and now I can't get a decent shot. I had the same problem with the Pinkerton CD the other day but fortunately I had a guest with a nice camera.

My helpful guest with the camera happened to be a man I met in Thailand back in May. We were staying in the same couchsurfing house and although our paths only briefly crossed we got along quite well. Mathias had plans to visit friends in California and we made arrangements for him to take a side trip up to Seattle to visit.

I can go overboard with activity ideas but Mathias was a good sport and came along for the ride. Drove the ride, even. We had brunch at Cafe Flora with Kim to hear about her Linear A progressions. Watched a Husky game with Suz and Greg. Wine at Bottlehouse followed by cocktails at The Living Room with Emily and Nicole. We played board games at Captain Black's with old and new friends. He got to meet just about everyone I care about. And on top of all that, he made me lentil soup. It's delicious and I've been eating it all week.

Interspersed with all the activities was some quality time lying around the couch, drinking wine and watching TV. And playing Rock Band: Green Day. Mathias performed their songs well! It was a lovely weekend and it ended too soon.

Photo by Mathias

Status: Dibbed

Day 249: Metroid: Zero Mission for DS

This game is AWESOME. I'm pretty sure it was the first Metroid game I played but it got me hooked.* Ever since then, I've wanted a Samus costume. I have a decently size list of costumes I wish someone else would make me; I'm too much of a perfectionist to want my favorite costumes made by my hands.

* Yeah, I was a late bloomer. Didn't have a TV growing up.

Status: Dibbed

Day 248: Pinkerton - Weezer

Like many kids of my generation, Weezer was a huge favorite of mine during my early teens. It is one of my biggest regrets that I never got to see them play back then because I really don't care about seeing them now. I pretty much lost interest in them after Pinkerton.

I did get some memorable shows in back then. My first real concert was Radiohead on tour for OK Computer. My first smaller show was Mephiskapheles. My best friend in high school got me in to ska music and we also used to swing dance together. We had a lot of fun dressing up and going to RKCNDY.

All dressed up for a ska show!

Status: Dibbed

Day 247: Gold bracelet

This bracelet was a gift from my grandparents. Unfortunately, it's not something I can see myself wearing. I think it was a cruise ship purchase. My grandparents enjoyed going on cruises together and they have also brought the entire family along for three cruise vacations. We have done the Bahamas, the Mexican "Riviera," and Alaska. Alaska was the most fun because my sister and I were old enough to drink and our cousins are old enough that we can relate to each other better. It's weird knowing that my 18 year old cousin has similar taste in music as me!

Cruises always have all sorts of planned activities but we don't usually participate in many. For the Alaska cruise my sister and I decided to get up the nerve to compete in Westerdam Idol - the karaoke contest. I've always been terrified of speaking and singing in front of other people so this was a big deal for me. We had to sing in front of 300 people. I wasn't very daring back then so I sang "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer. I had a shaky start but by the end I felt pretty good. Suz is more experienced at singing in front of people so she sounded great. We didn't win but it was a good experience.

Since the cruise I have become a lot more comfortable with public speaking and singing. Toastmasters helped a lot and so did Rock Band. It's easy to sing in front of people when you're focused on the video game and eventually my confidence grew enough that I sing in front of people all the time now. Also, I recently did a presentation for a work conference and I was happy with how it went. It feels good to finally be conquering this fear.

Status: Dibbed

Day 246: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice For All

I decided today that I will be letting go of all my Phoenix Wright games. Phoenix Wright is my favorite Nintendo DS series. It's ostensibly a lawyering game but the game play is closer to detective work. You run around looking for clues and trying to discover who the real bad guy is so you can save the defendant. I looove this kind of stuff but the problem with these games is there isn't much replay value once you know what will happen. It's time to pass these on for someone else to enjoy.

Status: Dibbed

Day 245: Thailand travel guides

Take one, two, or all of them, but it would be a little strange if you wanted two copies of Lonely Planet. One of the copies has my notes in it of places I stayed at and activities I liked. I thought it would be nice to pass on that information to the next owner of my book and my writing is small so it it doesn't take much space.

Tonight I have a couchsurfer that I met in Bangkok arriving and I had a different couchsurfer the last two nights. The woman who left this morning is named Emily and she is an Australian but she's moving to Canada to work. She had been working on a farm in Chelan before heading up north to Seattle. I showed her around Capitol Hill and last night I took her to Knee High. She is the second couchsurfer I've taken to Knee High and they both have loved it.

My sister told her to "order what you feel" so she asked Gregg for a drink for the occasion of starting a new life in Canada and later an "I like your suspenders" cocktail. Gregg is a good sport and both drinks turned out well. Her first drink had Pendleton and maple syrup and I would definitely drink it again. I was drinking my pink foamy drink. It's a bastardization of the Hemingway Daquiri. I wanted a pink drink with egg white and this is what I came up with:

Rum
Equal parts grapefruit & lime juice
Creme de Cassis
Egg White

It's not very good for my tough girl image but it hits the spot when I'm in the mood for something fruity!

Status: Dibbed / Donated

Day 244: Patapon

It's not something I've thought about much before but one of the major changes in my life over the last few years is I finally stopped spending so much time playing video games. It's not that I don't enjoy them anymore but I just have so many better things to do - things that involve other people. It's hard to imagine putting fifty hours in to a video game now when I so frequently fail at scheduling down time. It does make me a little sad. Video games were a good friend for many years.

Status: Dibbed

Day 243: Purple leggings

I bought these leggings at Aprie without trying them on. They're cute but a bright hue and I don't have anything I feel like wearing them with. I've tried them on once but I haven't worn them out. I'm sure they'd look great on someone else though!

Status: Dibbed