hiyaa

Hippie Please: Corn Bread & 2 Sausage Stuffing

2008-11-25T21:43:00.002-08:00

My American't friends suck at stuffing. Why not just eat Chinese food for Thanksgiving then? I'm so disgusted by this poor stuffing effort that I'm going to Canada to hang out with my friends at BootUp Labs. Nobody in America has ever held a lunch with my face on it. Ok fine, here's the recipe. I've never actually had specific amounts for any of these ingredients. I just mix stuff, get a little drunk, and let my BFF plate the finished product. Stuffing tastes like love.

CORN BREAD & 2 SAUSAGE STUFFING
Ingredients
1 loaf corn chopped
1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage chopped
1/2 lb Portuguese sausage chopped
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup chopped onion
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons ground sage
2 cloves fresh chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup vegetable broth

Directions
1. BROWN SAUSAGE: Brown sausage and drain.
2. MELT BUTTER: Melt butter and brown onion and garlic.
3. MIX: Add the remaining ingredients - add the vegetable broth last, slowly stir into rest of mixture.
4. ALMOST THERE: Turn off heat and cover stuffing for 10 min. Fluff and serve.

Rest, Projects and Missed Birthdays

2008-11-23T20:51:00.006-08:00

This weekend was a bust as I was so tired after hosting a Lunch 2.0 that I passed out in the middle of my living room floor by 10pm on both Fri and Sat nights . I missed two birthday parties.

Still, it was good to rest and go over a few ideas. I updated my website, stopped writing for Meme.ca in order to work on some of my own domains (coming soon) & I've been playing with the QL bar code generator tool that Rolf sent me. I also noticed that my idea for SF Drinktrain already exists. This makes it much easier to plan something in the near future. My usually better half slept for most of the weekend including during the days; however, he managed to find his doppelganger. Isn't the dude on the left in the photo a dead ringer?

Home: Tree Forts, B&Bs and Blissful Retreat

2008-11-20T20:12:00.006-08:00

I miss home. I'm counting down the days until I get back to Vancouver. I've forgotten about the rain and the fact that I can't get along with my mom for more than 3 days. All I can remember are the nice things like friends, trees and sushi. We've got 3 friends who've gone off the grid and I'm honestly a little jealous. They are:
- Dave with a Bed & Breakfast;
- Keith with an island meditation retreat; and,
- Now Joel with a tree house.

I'm thinking it might be a good idea to branch out in my projects and make something bigger than an apron or a website.

Stress

2008-11-17T22:55:00.001-08:00

GAHHHH!

Girls Girls Girls

2008-11-16T18:57:00.002-08:00

This was a fun-filled girl-strava-ganza weekend and that rarely happens anymore. I went to a rally with my non-sexual life partner Rebecca, I had a jammy party and watched Kim Cattrall in Mannequin, and then I had 3 mimosas at a girl brunch in Noe Valley. If this were Sex in the City, I think I might be Carrie's chubby gay friend, Stanford. And like Stanford, I actually want to be Kim Cattrall.

My President is Black!

2008-11-08T13:08:00.005-08:00

This week was crazy! Barack Obama was voted the first racialized president in the United States. I wrote about my feelings here.

Proposition 8 passed, and San Franciscans lamented in seeing a piece of regressive garbage get codified into the California state constitution...And the Web 2.0 Conference was this week.

While equal marriage rights and Lessig, O'Reilly and Lionel Ritchie are great, I couldn't stop thinking about the US presidential election.

After my grandparents were interned during WW2, they were afraid of having their home, fishing boat and bank accounts seized again. Sixty years after the war, and a week after my grandma's funeral, we found thousands in cash hidden in their home. Watching a person of color elected the President of the United States is like watching a dream. This is an amazing moment in history.

Halloween

2008-11-02T22:52:00.002-08:00

Halloween is always a time of anxiety for me. SF is so full of costume parties that I tend to put too much pressure on myself to make something clever and then I choke. This is also why I can't make it to Burning Man. I have a sewing machine and I'm not afraid to use it. I'm just looking to produce something spectacular.

I saw an ecard that read, "I spend more time worrying about my costume, than I do about my career." This is true. I know I'm doing the best I can at my job...but lately, my costumes have been piss poor.

My friend Eugene did a great job as a giant penguin. He thinks he can also get multiple uses for it at hockey games, mall nativity scenes, swimming pool openings, ice carnivals, impromptu fire hydrant openings and global warming demonstration days. I think because he's Russian he should take a trip to Wasilla and tell people he's on a secret trade mission.

Itsumo - Progress through Pictures

2008-10-29T23:45:00.002-07:00

Today has been a thoroughly productive day:

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: After my stern letter, my landlord finally came over with a ladder so I could mend my curtains. I sewed them up lickety split. EGAD, IT'S LARRY LESSIG: I got to hear CopyLeft giant Lawrence Lessig read from his new book, Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy.
KNIGHT NEWS CHALLENGE: I finally finished my entry for the Knight News Challenge. My project is a daily photo widget slideshow of construction-related projects. It is meant to save NGO's time and money by allowing orgs to compliment traditional grant and donor reporting with imagery. As well, the widget can be embedded on grant and donor sites as an indicator of sound investments. Essentially, I'm trying to help NGOs increase their direct services and decrease administrative grant reporting and online promotion requirements. Vote for my project or leave me a comment.

A Winter's Tale: Canadians & the Economic Climate

2008-10-22T22:16:00.006-07:00

Yesterday evening, for the first time in meat life, I met Boris and Danny from Bootup Labs and James from AdHack. As I sat there surrounded by jovial Canadian entrepreneurs, I thought to myself, "Where was this group of hungry pioneers when I lived in Canada?" Then I realized they were there, but that I had not yet developed an interest in technology.

My laptop was once a typewriter. It's sort of similar to having telekinesis and only using it to change TV channels.

I'm proud of the fact that I came from a legitimate Joe six-pack (or rather Johnny eight-ball) town and have taken the time to learn something complex during my adulthood. Although the American economy is seriously hitting the fan, I feel damn lucky by what I've been given and shown in life. Things are going to be fine. We remember living cheaply. We just need to put our heads down and stop screwing around on the indoor climb walls.

Exit stage left...pursued by a bear [market]...

Fair Trade, Organizing & the WTO

2008-10-04T09:11:00.003-07:00

Alright, I feel dirty for mentioning Dance Floor Dale in my last post. As the campy deejay at my now defunct roller rink used to say, "Let's take a little moment now and slow it down for the sweethearts.

So yesterday I wrote emails to some politicians on behalf of my sister-in-law(ish) in order to pit them against each other and create a sense of competitiveness around a good cause. Basically the point is to get folks to agree to purchase Fair Trade for 30-days. It made me miss working at nonprofit organizations. I don't miss the low pay or having people treat me like an idiot whenever I suggest social media campaigns. But I saw a 10-year anniversary poster for the 1999 WTO rally and am reminded of how much I've changed. I believe most of the same things, but my approach has changed dramatically. I'm trying to catch flies with honey, and trust me, when you're full of as much piss and vinegar as I am, it's actually pretty difficult. My old self would call my new self an "armchair activist." My new self realizes that I have always had a roof, support network and the voice to change the attitudes and perceptions of my peers. There is no big bad evil. There's only stupidity, apathy and life-saving flashes of brilliance.

Dancefloor Dale & Baconman

2008-10-03T15:00:00.005-07:00

I was sent 2 videos today. One was perfectly fine, the other was incredibly offensive. Baconman is a random video about this big goofy dude in a bacon suit. It's just sort of bizarre. The other horrifying cinematic debut was created by Warp Records and is entitled "Dance Floor Dale", a half-animated video of a man and woman committing unspeakable sex acts . I've decided Dance Floor Dale is quite possibly one of the grossest videos I've seen in a while. Dance Floor Dale is the new Goatse. I refuse to link to it. My eyes are bleeding.

Mashable Monthly: I Is a Reporter

2008-09-30T18:18:00.010-07:00

Last night, for the first time in months, I looked at my Google Analytics and found that my most popular keywords are "insists upon itself" and "diarrhea bear". Thanks to all three of my loyal readers who continue to raise the intellectual bar. As a result of your influence and power, I've been accepted into the blogger lounge at Mashable's Monthly event to cover four demoing companies - Oosah, WeAre.US, Artiklz, and Strands.

OOSAH
Oosah allows for 1TB of storage and is a site for users to manage their media files; however, according to their backgrounder, Oosah "is emphatically not a file sharing site; it is a user-generated content hosting, management, and sharing site". What does that mean? Oosah is a media file storage service with easy mobile access.

WEARE.US
Weare.us is a site that aims to "empower patient communities to take control of their lives by providing social resources and an environment for sharing". As the former online strategist for the Breast Cancer Fund, I see this site as the darling site of the evening. I was fortunate enough to happen upon the founder's wife who told me that the idea for the site came about after she experienced health issues during her pregnancy and could not find the right online community in which to interact. The site fills a need for individuals to share real life experiences with real people. I think this might be the next generation of Ning - with communities pending approval of course. [My profile on Weare.Us >>]

ARTIKLIZ
Perhaps the most elusive service of the night due to their lack of public demo, Artikliz allows content providers to aggregate info on each of their individual blog articles. Good or bad, any comments or votes pertaining to your blog article (across platforms and services) will appear on the same page. In other words, Artikliz aims to increase transparency and give a one-stop psychographic 360. It's like Sylar from Heroes' ability to hear what everyone is saying.

STRANDS
According to the website, Strands "gives users the ability to record their activities and keep track of their friends across multiple social networks and services. Based on aggregated profile info, Strands enables discovery of new things based on your own behaviors as well as those of your friends and influencers." In other words, we are looking at a combination of Me.dium, Delicious and FriendFeed.

THE FRINGE: What Would Cory Doctorow Do? As a Canadian, I love obscure Cory Doctorow References. Naturally, Fake Cory Doctorow Twitter Feed speaks to me. Some of my favorite lines include, "Googled my name. Still less hits then Lessig. Damn" and "Putting together a papercraft scene from my young adult novel Little Brother". I am one of only 90 or so followers, but I know bizarre, geek hilarity when I see it. Fake Doctorow is the XKCD of Twitter. Whoa. That last sentence was too nerdy to handle. I'm going to need to turn up the hoser. Memo to self: Lucky Lager pyramid + woods + bb gun

Thanks But No Thanks on that Product Road Map to Nowhere

2008-09-29T19:03:00.004-07:00

I wrote a post on the train about how it was surreal to see Perez Hilton alongside Neal Stephenson in this month's Wired, but now I just want to leave you with a classic Garfield moment. In other words, sigh...Mondays...

We've all been here before. It reminds me why I could never be a full-time graphic designer. Developers and designers should take a page out of the Sarah Palin play book and say (in true Alaskan accent), "Thanks but no thanks on that product road map to nowhere."

The High Seas, 2 Cups and one girl & Ukuleles

2008-09-24T08:14:00.003-07:00

Two major great events have happened in the past week.

1. Firstly, only two days after Talk Like a Pirate Day we went sailing on the high seas of Santa Cruz with Cen, James and Swerdlow. My sweetheart played Captain Calico Jack Rackham while I played Anne Bonny. Judging by the amount of weight I've gained lately, I'll have no problem pleading my belly.

2. I made matching cups. This is not a clever innuendo. I actually sat down with 2 different clumps of mud, plopped them down on a spinning pottery wheel and sculpted 2 matching cups with my bare hands. This is a real accomplishment given that my hands resemble tiny brown hams. I now know how Michelangelo felt when he formed David from a single piece of marble. Firstly, comes the realization that you've created more byproduct than actual product. Secondly, despite what the world may want you to believe, you realize that you are in fact a useful human being with hidden talents.

There is a guy on the Caltrain playing the ukulele and he's great. Today is a great day.

Caltrain

2008-09-17T09:31:00.001-07:00

Yesterday they had to pull a person off the Caltrain tracks in the tunnel between the 22nd St. station and the Bayview station. As I sat there under the dimmed lights of the emergency sign, I realized I was more nervous about the gangster staring at me across the aisle than I was about the kid on the tracks. This morning the homeless man sharing my bench got pooped on by a pigeon. I thought it was better not to tell him since he was already swearing under his breath. The young thugged-out Latino on my other side didn't tell him either. At 8:02 the homeless man, the Latino guy, the train conductor and I shared a hearty laugh when a man wearing a blue tooth and carrying a recumbent bike, threw a fit after missing the 7:59 train.

Typography

2008-09-14T21:52:00.003-07:00

Typography has been hot for a while. The acclaimed film Helvetica paved the way, with Font Conference close behind. Today I noticed a really beautiful Smashing Magazine post on Table of Contents design. While you may turn up your nose at my obvious font fetish, would you seriously trust a bank whose logo incorporated Curlz MT? A friend recently told me she refused to interview a designer with a curriculum vitae written in comic sans. When in doubt, keep it clean. If you like something you see and don't recognize it, check out What the Font.

Crested Butte: Colorado Musings

2008-09-08T23:26:00.002-07:00

Last night we got back from a wedding in Crested Butte, Colorado and this morning I'm back on the Caltrain to work. I had forgotten all of the great things about being in a small town. The stars are bright, people smile at you on the street, and without all the noise, there's always time to think. This last one is important. I see how people from NYC, LA and SF judge small town folk and I don't think it is warranted. It's true that there are redneck towns, but there are also towns where you don't lock up your bike, where your steak is a 4H club champion and where you're welcome everywhere. Crested Butte is the latter. I'm glad I got to see it, and it's telling that Jane and Joe hold it so dear. Congratulations kids!

Nerds!!!!

2008-08-31T16:48:00.002-07:00

You know how in teen movies, the girl everyone calls a nerd is just a regular girl in glasses and a ponytail? Well today I went to the Richmond District bespectacled and ponytailed and after trying on a few outfits at a Chinese boutique, a great looking Russian lady (sans glasses) co-opted my clerk and left me cast aside like the $10 bin. I am convinced if I had shown up geek-to-chic as opposed to chic-to-geek, this would have never happened. I spent money to appear more attractive. It only made me seem desperate.

TechCrunch just covered a one page Net Neutrality debate article by Opposing Views . I like that they covered it. I don't like that they did it on Labor Day Weekend when only nerds like me are online. It's like they are preaching to the ugly choir.

Getting Published: Being an Influencer

2008-08-24T11:26:00.006-07:00

I just got home from Gnomedex and checked my personal email. I've been asked to contribute to an anthology of stories targeted at 11-14-year-olds. I don't even know if 11-14-year-olds want to read a story written by some wizened old crone rambling into obsolescence. I'm sure every rebellious thing I ever did would be tame for today's teen. Still, here are some myths I've refuted in an effort to cobble together some practical survival advice:

1. POPULARITY DOESN'T MATTER OUTSIDE OF HIGH SCHOOL: The easiest way to get a job is to be likable and to know someone already in the company. I work 10-12 hour days. I would rather hire someone pleasant and moderately intelligent, than someone who is brilliant and psychotic.
2. SEX IS FOR PROCREATION: You don't have to be embarrassed to want to get with someone. Just always wear a condom, try not to have too many partners, and more than anything - only get with partners who are discreet and respectful. You are a human being and your sex life shouldn't be your identity. If it becomes your identity, you're more likely to experience creepy situations.
3. IF YOU MAKE A PLAN AND STICK WITH IT, YOU'LL GET WHAT YOU WANT: Do you really think that 94% of the world living in poverty is composed of a bunch of loafers and poor planners? Find a purpose that makes you happy and surround yourself with solid people. It doesn't matter what you do, just feel strongly about something and prepare for some nice surprises.
4. DRUGS ARE DRUGS: Marijuana won't kill you. It will make you slow, giggly, sometimes paranoid, and worst of all, fat (as you are more prone to eating an entire bag of Frito Lays in one sitting). Meanwhile, cocaine, meth amphetamines, heroin, crack, GHB mixed with alcohol, MDMA cut with speed, and high concentrations of LSD might hurt you. There is no such thing as a trustworthy drug supply. Your friend's brother's LSD was made in a bathtub and there is no guarantee that the same batch will produce the same effect on different people. If you're going to experiment, read about chemicals on the internet from a credible source.
5. THEY'RE JUST JEALOUS: If you're like me, you have a sneaky suspicion that the hot people only invite you to do stuff in order to laugh at you. Congratulations on having this level of self awareness. Your other geek friends won't figure this out for years. Still, when the cool kids pick on you, they aren't doing it because they're jealous. They're doing it because they think you're a snotty asshole. If you think someone is an idiot, don't let them know it. Be nice, ask questions and try to learn something.

Allen Ginsberg, Geist & Talent

2008-08-17T09:22:00.005-07:00

Yesterday I realized that for a good part of my life I've been chasing ghosts. I found out that my friend lived in the same apartment as Allen Ginsberg. Then I realized that despite the fact that my friend is a regular fixture in our home, I know more about Allen Ginsberg. I'm tired of assuming that the remarkable people in the world are either dead or far away. I'm ashamed that I haven't talked more about the talented people that I know firsthand.

GEIST
My friends Koshi and Jess finally made it to their 40th day at Zeitgeist. Koshi blogs the dive bar experience here.

Koshi is a visual designer and photographer, while Jess is the technology editor at the Institute for the Future and an extremely savvy and honest writer. While they don't know it, once these two decide on an independent full-time project, whether together or separately, they are going to be unstoppable. Once they read this, Jess will say something mean in order to mask her embarrassment. I don't care. Someone needs to fund their graphic novel / asshole bumper sticker series / rock 'n roll podcast biking tour of SF / whatever. The ironic silkscreen poster series shtick has been co-opted by hacks. These two are legit and we're all fans.

Travels: From Humble Beginnings...

2008-08-14T21:26:00.005-07:00

Wow. Today is a day of travel planning. This morning I booked my ticket for Gnomedex in Seattle and then my honey bunny booked our Christmas vacation - in Kauai! Things are looking up.

Yesterday at a networking event, I actually spoke to a bunch of strangers without having to make awkward small talk. I am having a breakthrough.Everything is coming up Dana.

You can see how it might have been initially intimidating to be in a room full of well-known creatives and feel like you're wearing a big "kick me, I'm podunk Canadian" sign on my back. Nevertheless, the more I get to know people, the more I realize how podunk we all are (in a good way). The nicest man I know is literally from a rock in the middle of the ocean. Podunk is good. It seems to breed some pretty solid human beings.

Guns Guns Guns!

2008-08-07T14:20:00.004-07:00

Whoa. Two strange things happened today.
1. I went to the gym and exercised - ouch
2. I saw a news story about how a Maryland mayor's home was mistakenly raided by the S.W.A.T. team in a marijuana drug bust and that the mayor's two dogs were killed as a result. Mayor Cheye Calvo held a press conference calling for an investigation into the raid and emphasized how his dogs were members of the family. Then I realized that during the raid, the mayor thought he was being attacked by armed robbers. The police believed that the mayor's two black labs were a threat. Imagine if one of his family members had reached for a gun? We watched the beginning of the gun control episode from 30 Days. I wish people could settle their disputes in obstacle course relay races. I think Canada might still be pretty non-threatening.

Together At Last...

2008-08-06T17:32:00.002-07:00

This weekend was a whirlwind. Mr. Wonderful went to a bachelor party in Aptos and I went dancing with the girls. Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder. On Monday we ate a West African berry and drank all sorts of foul things that tasted sweet and then turned sour in my stomach. I woke up in a cold sweat. It was not good.

Things I discovered this weekend on my own:
1. Fanboys of the Universe: First off, I had no idea that there was a GLBT community dedicated to comic book fandom including a gallery of same sex superhero duos smooching. The Batman and Robin is my favorite.

2. Doodle Defender Game: This game is addictive.

3. The Man is a Woman: Female cops are extra vigilant about cellphone use in the car, even when you're in park with the hazard lights on. Swearing when you've forgotten your wallet and are caught driving without a license is also frowned upon.

Dig a Tech Girl

2008-07-30T15:16:00.005-07:00

So my friend PVH alerted me to Dig a Tech Girl and Dig a Tech Guy - two "Hot or Not" sites for tech industry workers. It's no surprise that the tech women are for the most part marketers and vloggers; however, there only seem to be 1-2 pages of tech men and no sign of Mashable's leading man, or my personal crush, the amazing Linus Torvalds.

Linus my little Pingu, while you are not safe I am not safe, and now we're really in the total animal soup of time.

Don't forget to register for Linux World next week, the Exhibit Hall pass is free until the 3rd and the kick off conference keynote features the DARPA Grand Challenge robotic car.

UPDATE: In the spirit of "Hot or Not" I just found this Top 10 List of Female Stormtroopers. You know, with my physique I'm bound to get an honorable mention on an Ewok list.

Jury Duty

2008-07-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

Jesus. I'm at jury duty and the orientation video is bloody awful. While a woman in the video was raving about how much she enjoyed the thrill of the judicial system, two Latina women rolled their eyes and I started laughing. I've only been here for one hour but everything and everyone is beginning to look dowdy. I've counted 33 people guilty of fashion crimes against humanity and one guy on a cellphone guilty of acting like an arrogant loser. There's tension in the air as everyone sits quietly crafting a plan to get excused from their case.