Capricious Me

Hrm, so a lot’s happened. I went on a great trip to Thailand, the Netherlands (with a quick excursion to Belgium), and then England. When I came back, there was the annual Oakland conference and Google I/O. Then Shinteki… and then meeting other DASHers. (Oh yes, did I mention that I helped to put on a puzzlehunt in Davis? Now I have so much more appreciation for people who put on hunts and the work that goes into each puzzle.)

I’ve gotten into cryptic crosswords lately, and FF13. I got this book of cryptics that initially seemed like tons of fun, but I’m starting to realize that the clues are rather poorly written. I can feel how forced and contrived they are… but practice is practice.

I’m at the point in grad school where I want to graduate. I’m not confident that I’ll find my dream job, but at least my proximity to Silicon Valley means that I’ll at least find a job… I hope. This summer I’ll be working towards graduation and trying my hand at planning a puzzlehunt of my own.

Lyra’s not really a lap kitten. She’s more of a leg kitten, in that she doesn’t like sitting in your lap but she will sit and lie down on your extended legs, usually around the knees. She makes a great leg warmer. Back when she was younger, she used to climb on my lap and we’d watch nature documentaries together. Now, she mostly sleeps. And holds on by digging in with her claws.

Well, I start my internship at Parc in less than 12 hours. My legs are horribly sore from the Shinteki Decathlon on Saturday, which was roughly a 12 hour puzzle event. My team, Tvelve Metchsteek, did very well for its first time – we finished all the required puzzles and all but one of the bonus puzzles. A major feature of this event was the traveling one had to do in order to receive or find the next puzzle. One of those traveling bits involved climbing a rather steep hill, for which my thighs are punishing me right now, i.e. I have the mobility of a arthritic cripple.

Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to convince myself that come September or October, the new Prius, and not the oh-so-sleek Honda Civic hybrid is the car of my dreams, but its half-hatchback half-sedan design bothers me and I’m not sure why. I think it’s best that I stare at its specs and the promise of a super fuel efficient car… and remind myself that I will be able to pull an Andy Bernard and sneak up on someone in EV mode. If I die in a car crash, it will be due to the attention paid the monitor showing how efficiently the car’s running at that moment with its nifty little animations.

As for the Accord, which has served my familiy so faithfully since 2000… it goes to my little sister, who, I’m proud to say, will need it so she can continue experimenting on children (har har, just kidding, I believe the politically correct description is “Child Development Sciences”).

30 inch monitor. dell workstation with nehalem processor… WOOO. still waiting on 12 gigs of ram for it and 2 more hard drives… :-P

Derek, originally uploaded by pokester.

We got the kittens home last night. They’re currently exploring Chad’s room and bathroom. Derek is pretty mellow and… well, I don’t want to judge, but Lyra seems to be braver and smarter. And louder.

But how do you resist a shy little kitten with curled ears? Especially when he sits so sweetly in your lap?

So in an attempt to curb my gadget lust, I’m limiting myself to one “luxury” item per month. Last month I bought myself the Samsung T240hd LCD monitor/TV. I genuinely needed a better monitor and this can double as a tv when I no longer live with a roommate who owns a big one. (Chad’s TV matches mine. They’re both from the Touch of Color series. His, however, is 46 inches. :-D) Thanks to microsoft cashback, I’ll be getting back $130, so I don’t feel too guilty about it.

This month, I’m on the market for a nice rice cooker. Mine refuses to cook rice, after years and years of service. I’m thinking of getting one of the fancy Zojirushi ones that’s so smart it could probably save the world while cooking the perfect pot of rice. The consensus on the web seems to be that the best rice cookers are made in Japan… reviews are positive in that these machines seem to last years and years.

Next month, I’m thinking internal hard drive (at least 750gb) + external case. My WD MyBook has failed me with the click of death. I should have known better than to buy western digital, but alas, its cute design and irresistible blue LEDs overpowered my good sense. Luckily, black friday sales are going to occur during this month, so I’ll see if I can get good deals then…

Well, not a full day, but thanks to my advisor and a labmate, our security group had a fall outing over the weekend at the Chabot Gun Club in Oakland. My advisor gave us a quick tutorial for safety and operations and then we took turns firing with his gun. It was FUN. I didn’t expect to enjoy it quite so much… but I did. Overall, I think I did pretty well for my first time. The recoil surprised me every time, but my advisor gave us good instructions, so I managed to shoot fairly well. Most of my bullets hit the target, at least. I kept them for evidence that a lot of my bullets ended up close to the center, especially from 15 yards. ^_^

In case of zombie attack, I have a running chance!

So I’m back in Davis, for the weekend and a few days before I head back to the bay area for cooler weather for the rest of summer.

I came back to find that one of my roommates bought a PS3 and borrowed the Planet Earth series on blu-ray. We also had a super awesome surround sound system set up thanks to Chad’s speakers. When Planet Earth isplaying on our 48 inch hdtv with surround sound, you feel as if you’re in the deep ocean or grasslands or a cave. I’m having second thoughts about going back to the bay area so soon…

I walked into my room to find that a wall of Chad’s clothes, chairs, and other belongings took up the majority of my room. I have several small, distinct paths that allow me access to my bathroom, bed, and closet. I can even squeeze myself into the chair to sit at my desktop computer, where I proceeded to play Diablo II as an Amazon, but only until I completed the 1st act. (I think my favorite class is still the necromancer, because almost from the start you can summon odd creatures to do your bidding.)

My last night in Seattle was pretty awesome, thanks mostly in part to the people who came out to join me. A small group of us went to have delicious, awesome pho in a hole in the wall restaurant that was empty but for us. Then we headed over to Zig Zag for some drinks, which is where everyone else joined us. Zig Zag is by far the best bar I have ever been to for one reason: Habanero tequila. OH yes. One of the owners ages his own tequila, and happened to make one infused with habanero. This, mixed with tobasco, passion fruit juice and lime makes for a burning good drink, for those who like their spicy. This was my second time to Zig Zag and it is one of my few regrets that I did not find this place sooner. If you ever have a chance to go, sit at the bar by all means possible. Knock someone off their stool if you must, because watching the bartenders mix drinks is a sight to see. These guys are serious about making a good drink. I had at least two tastes of my habanero drink before the bartender was satisfied that I was satisfied and poured it into a martini glass.

I really should do a post about the memorable food memories.. particularly those of the otoro at Nishino…

… is meant to be dabbed, not doused.

The woman on the bus next to me today smelled like she bathed in perfume and then rolled around in a tub of baby powder to dry herself off.

Disgusting is an understatement by far.

Well, I’ve “moved” to Seattle temporarily. Wooo. I live right next to the convention center, so I’m planning on having many many crepes during my time here.

Current plans for tomorrow include visiting the International District which is really more of an Asian District to sample the no doubt awesome food.