i forgot that i’d signed up for a typepad account at the beginning of summer. i only realized it because i’d signed up for a free trial and had subsequently been charged $8.95 per month since… i had no idea where the charge was coming from so i investigated and discovered this gem of a post (which i downloaded… and then i immediately cancelled my account!)

Posted at 07:33

1. denny’s: they’re friggin’ everywhere
2. andersen’s pea soup: you can’t drive 5 miles without seeing a giant billboard for it…. though i’ve never been there
3. in-n-out: it’s not so much that they’re everywhere, it’s just that they’re such morale boosts! gilroy + kettleman city… if you gotta stop somewhere…
4. casa de fruta: and casa de coffee, casa de toilets, casa de candy…… what an enterprise!!
5. harris ranch: aka cowschwitz… smells absolutely terrible (as an aside – terrifyingly, spell check didn’t take issue with “cowschwitz”)
6. the giant drive-through starbucks: the last bastion of caffeine before you hit the grapevine heading south
7. the ikea distribution center: you know how huge ikea usually is? how it should have its own zip code? well, this thing should have its own state abbreviation. giiiiiiiinormous!

yep. driving home to socal tonight. gonna see all of the above.

1. meet with 6 students to advise them about their machining projects
2. teach a student how to vacuum form plastic
3. brainstorm with the biodesign fellows
4. website planning meeting
5. ship a bracelet to australia
6. meet with friend for coffee
7. pack for my week at home

so much to do. so little time.

1. the overachiever – always alone. always intense. usually a smelly, smaller (in stature) dude.
2. the girl who looks like she might die at any moment – this one’s a doozy. she’s clearly anorexic and really actually looks like she might die at the drop of a hat. a friend and i were so grossed out / concerned one time that we actually talked to the staff about her – they told us they were aware of the problem and that it was being handled…. i remain unconvinced….
3. the cheerleader – she’s allllllways wearing high school cheer tshirts, is always wearing too much makeup, and always graces everyone with the loud + clear presence of her butt cheeks hanging out of her shorts. cute!
4. the athletes – these are former athletes who still work out like they’re current athletes. they’re more inspiring than intimidating.
5. the old guy - he’s a ringer! you don’t know how he does it, since he looks super frail and like he should need a walker to get around, but this dude runs on the treadmill and does yoga poses like you can’t believe.
6. the socializers – they’re not there to work out, really. they’re there to chat… and maybe do a few situps, too.
7. the student – you’re not quite sure how or why, but he’s always got a textbook open when he’s on the treadmill/stairmaster. it’s impressive. and terrifyingly stanford.

yep. it’s a special gym crowd. many many more stereotypes, but i stand by my list of seven M.O.

it dawned on me this weekend how very different my life is now from how i thought it’d be last year at this time. it was a jam-packed few months. behold, seven things that were going on at this time last year:

1. my grandfather had just lost his home in the san diego fires
2. i’d just gotten a job offer from mckinsey
3. i was in the throes of building a mechatronic penny arcade game
4. i had just joined buxfer
5. i was listening to deas vail’s album “all the houses look the same” pretty much on repeat
6. i played guitar hero II religiously
7. it was the last week of our CSA delivery…

frivolous mixed in with the not-so-frivolous. i get emotional thinking about my grandfather’s house still, and in some ways i can’t believe it was only a year ago. it seems like so much has happened since then. and i can’t believe a year ago i thought i was really going to be working at mckinsey. not that it would have been a bad thing, it’s just that what i’m doing now is so different from what i was going to be doing there. looking at my interests and habits from a year ago, i guess i’ve changed a bit. what a difference a year makes.

1. make sure your layers are level before you assemble the cake
2. use a hearty filling between layers — otherwise the cake will settle after a bit and ruin your decorations
3. let your crumb coat set before you try to put more frosting on
4. never lift your spatula straight off the cake while frosting.. unless you want that lovely patchy look…
5. don’t let your cornstarch get clumpy when you’re rolling out fondant, otherwise the fondant won’t be smooth
6. use lemon extract instead of vodka to make paint out of luster dust. vodka doesn’t evaporate quickly enough. and lemon extract smells better anyway. but one annoying thing i’ve found about lemon extract is that once the bottle has been opened, it’ll all evaporate away in less than a month no matter what you do… so whenever you buy lemon extract, buy lots of small bottles and keep them sealed.
7. have plenty of toothpicks on hand when you’re piping for damage control!

i hadn’t made a cake since my d.school application in the spring, so i was a little rusty when i made my friend’s birthday cake… every “real” cake i’ve done has been entirely covered with fondant, so i wanted to try something a little different. my piping skills were terrible yesterday, though, so i’m not thrilled with how it turned out:

i realized something else, too. purchased frosting, though convenient, is really crappy to frost with. it’s goopy, sticky, and really difficult to smooth out. it’s mighty tasty, though…. and at safeway you can always find tubs for $1.50. what a steal! anyway… i think this cake looks crappy. the only reason i’m bringing it is because one of my roommates came home last night and said “oh my gosh! this is awesome!” so i feel like maybe my standards are too high…? hmm. i don’t know. but if she thinks it looks ok, i think it’ll be fine. i want to make more cool cakes in the future though — anyone have any birthdays coming up??

1. the “hard core” — these few stay well past when everyone else has left, including the organizers
2. the “waywards” — no one’s sure who they are or why they’re there, but they do show up…. and don’t really talk to anyone
3. the “internationals” — these students don’t speak english well enough to get on with the rest of the crowd… but you gotta admire their willingness to step out of their comfort zone
4. the “frat boys” — these guys are allllllllll about the beer. they show up just a bit fashionably late, consume as many beers as possible, and are gone the instant the alcohol runs out
5. the “eager beavers” — these people live for office hours, and happy hour is treated as such. these schmoozers use happy hour to “get to know” their professors…. and seem not to notice there are tons of other cool people there to talk to
6. the “groupies” — they come in a group, stay in the group, and leave with the group. it’s like oil + water with these folks.
7. the “functionalists” — they come for exactly one beer and try to leave without getting stuck talking to anyone before they make their escape. happy hour is seen by these folks as a source of free beer, not as a social event.

oooooo, in writing this i came up with so many more! the ME design group hosts a happy hour every friday, and the location changes based on who hosts it. the dschool hosted yesterday, and i was totally blown away by how differently everyone uses the “hour”. if i had to categorize myself, i think i’d fall into the “intensely conversant” group. i’d get into relatively deep conversation with one or two people and then there’d be silence….. then “ok i’m gonna get another beer now” or “ok, i gotta go, nice talking to you”. made me think there’s really no graceful way to end a conversation minus an outside stimulus. if someone else walks up to the group, it’s an automatic out. phone call? nice out. you can always “go to the bathroom” but you gotta be careful not to use that one too much. no human being needs to pee five times in an hour.

1. hit in the chest with a finger blaster…. shot by my boss…
2. discussion about peanut and butter jelly sandwiches resulting in this advertisement idea: “now for a limited time – anti-worm pb&j!” (wasn’t my idea. i have interesting co-workers.)
3. woman in the showers this morning — this is a big, open space, mind you — chooses to use the only shower DIRECTLY in my line of sight. she wasn’t exactly easy on the eyes.
4. i had a car flash its lights at me this morning. when it was light out. and i was on my bike. ??
5. a student showed up at 9am thinking he had a meeting with me. 9am!
6. while i was walking my bike into the gym this morning, a man held the door open for me (how nice!) and then started laughing at me, saying “i wish i hadn’t held that door for you, i wanted to see how you were going to get that bike inside” (how bizarre!!!)
7. two co-workers just had a somewhat long phone conversation with each other that echoed like crazy!

i can only imagine what else i’m in store for today. it’s only 10:30am, for pete’s sake. is it a full moon?

1. i’m so ridiculously nervous about the outcome….
2. …yet i know that everything happens for a reason
3. i’m so ridiculously relieved that it’s all over…
4. …yet i still have 4 letters of recommendation to secure (they’re not due till 12/1)
5. i’m so ridiculously happy to have finally had the experience of writing a grant proposal
6. …yet i find myself sort of dreading having to do this sort of thing time and time again throughout my career
7. i know now that what i’m doing is absolutely the right thing for me to be doing!

(which is a pretty damn good feeling)

i’m applying for funding through NSF’s graduate research fellowship program (grfp) and the deadline was today. i submitted my whole application package last night at 9:30pm (yay!) but still have four letters of recommendation yet to be submitted. all of my recommenders wanted to have my whole application package before they started writing – which makes a lot of sense — but it just sort of prolongs the whole process. i know everyone will turn in everything on time and will do a fabulous job, but it ain’t over till it’s over, y’know?

i’ve met a striking number of people throughout this process of writing up my proposal essays. i can think of no fewer than 8 people who have been critically important to me. i’m just incredibly lucky to be plugged into the design scene around here. goodness knows how i would have pulled this off if i were a new student! it’s just amazing to me how willing everyone is to give advice. not just off-the-cuff advice, but really truly thoughtful and well-considered advice. these are busy people, and their generosity has blown me away. i hope i can give back to the community in the same way once i’m….. a professor…? well, whatever i end up as, i just hope it involves mentoring of some sort. this process, more than anything, has convinced me that mentoring is what i want to do in the future.

1. cheap. $55. holy moly.
2. colors are sweet
3. leather — so i can ostensibly work in the shop with these puppies
4. suuuuuuuuper comfy
5. YELLOW soles!
6. everyone has ooooo’ed and aaaaaah’ed
7. i accidentally ordered the wrong size and yet somehow they still fit… sweeeet

did i mention i love sneakers? i’ve worn my old ones to near-death, and i decided to splurge, given the swell state of the economy… (but i am loving gas prices! yay economic downturns!)