Disney Hall
Over Thanksgiving, while in LA, my family and I went to check out the new Gehry concert hall in downtown LA. I couldn't resist taking a bunch of pictures.  ¶ 11:47 PM

family relations
Happy Thanksgiving. I'm in LA (South Pasadena, to be precise), staying with my sister and her fiance (Caroline and Matt). My parents (I call them Mom and Dad) flew out for the event, and Chris and Yaochung also came over for dinner.

I don't understand why my sister and I get along so well when there are at least 100 miles separating us, but can't deal at all within the same space. Not that today is bad. Last night I was composing a post in my head about how annoyed I was while making the pumpkin pie, but I've gotten over it. There was also the post about the fight we got in while on the light rail... and all the times I kept my tongue to myself.

But families are weird, aren't they? Anyway, brilliant Thanksgiving. Aside from the fact that they ordered and paid for a fresh turkey, and got a frozen one, and so we were delayed several hours in eating, it was an overall positive experience. Plus, we played Boggle today, and its just such a good game. We also played this card game I learned in Maine this summer with Julie's family - it's kind of like bridge, but different, but not spades or hearts. It's a good game, but I have NO idea what its called. Do other people's families play games?

I still want to have a friends-only thanksgiving sometime. I was so jealous last year of my friends that had Thanksgiving in Brooklyn. I wanted to go, but there was just no good excuse to give my parents in New Jersey for not showing up at their house. I feel like the friends thanksgiving is like the really elaborate dinner party that you get to plan for forever, and can extend over 12 hours. Good times, all around. Except for the turkey, maybe.  ¶ 7:15 PM

Wonder who these people are that I'm talking about?
For the most part, the only people I know here are the product design grad students, some classmates (both grad and undergrad) and the shop TAs. Put faces to names for the PD folk.  ¶ 9:40 PM

dancing on the table
On Saturday night I went into San Francisco (second time!) for Tobin's birthday party. Party at his girlfriend's, and the we went out to a couple of bars. The second bar was a huka bar.

So, there is music playing, and people are dancing. We grabbed a table and started dancing on the benches. All good, until Ian convinced me (and Emily) to get on the table and dance. Now, these weren't particularly high tables - I'm going to say 2' high. This was my first (and possibly only) table dancing experience.

Shortly after the table dancing begins, they turned down the music and ordered us to get off. And kept the music down until we did so. Totally mortifying.  ¶ 9:37 PM

moodiness
Last week I had some sever bouts of moodiness (see below). In fact, I had to go cry out in the back of the loft more than once. Jesus - what's wrong with me? Here is where it gets more personal than you may want to know:

I just went back on the pill, and it's the first month, and I've decided to blame it all on that. It's all because of the pill! Things have been better since I figured that much out.   ¶ 9:30 PM

casting catastrophe
Last week I had a little moment, where I got very upset. We were casting, and we had 2 more flasks of bronze to cast. Each flask gets a different amount of molten metal, a calculation based on the weight of the wax molds.

We're releasing the metal for Elyssa's flask into the investment, and were a bit confused, because there was no button - clearly not enough metal went in. Oh well, guess Elyssa didn't measure stuff out correctly.

We readied the last flask (mine) for casting, and I went to quench Elyssa's flask. Oh, wait, it wasn't Elyssa's, it was mine. I now have a half of a candlestick holder.

I took some deep breaths, and decided it wasn't the end of the world - there were going to be 2 more castings before thanksgiving. And then, the next day, we decided it would be only 1 more casting, and it would be a week later (tonight and tomorrow, as a matter of fact). That was when I got upset. I really wanted to be more on top of things.  ¶ 6:42 PM

Bagel hunting
California does a lot of cuisine very well. Burritos, for example. Sushi. Avocado (yes, I consider this a cuisine). However, it is poorly lacking in the bagels and pizza. Cynthia and I were complaining about this on Saturday night after her recital, and we were pointed towards a bagel place in Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz is about 40 miles away from Stanford, but since Cynthia is a violinist, and I'm a student, we decided to make the trek on Wednesday. It was a beautiful day, nice drive, in the miata, of course. The bagels... well, not real. They do boil them there, as opposed to most of the bagel chains around here, but the inside was still just bread. And they toasted my bagel without my permission! They said, do you want it toasted? and I said no, and then they toasted it. I think I'm going to have to pick some up in NYC over christmas and freeze them and bring them out for my bagel cravings.

The good news is that we went shopping in Santa Cruz, and I got new shoes! They're great. They're a dusty orange, with maroon accents. Sneakers. Part suede, part vinyl-y, lace up, and fun. I had to wear them out of the store I was so excited. The last two pairs of shoes I've bought I've also done this with, and I think its a good new rule - only buy shoes I want to wear out of the store. Yup, I'm 6 years old.  ¶ 9:16 PM

Making wax
I feel like most of my time recently has been devoted to making my wax mold(s) for investment casting, or thinking about ways to make my wax mold.

I had one piece come out already, so its nice to have a backup. But I'm not happy with it, so I'm trying to improve upon my process. For the mold that came out, I used brown (soft, very malleable) wax and just kind of spread it onto my renshape mold. Took the brown wax off, "wax welded" (my term) the pieces back together, voila. However, the result had a really poor finish, and was super thick. I also discovered that I didn't love my shape, and sanded the renshape down a bunch for something better.

So now, my process is still similar, but more dipping than before. I'm using blue jeweler's wax, and melting it, and then dipping my mold in and out to get the shell. Couple of problems though.

1. I tried to melt the wax over a double boiler. However, it just wouldn't melt! After 2 hours! (I later was told the reason - the melting point must be higher than 220 defrees, also known as the boiling point of water...)
2. I turned to the microwave, which works, eventually. However, the blue wax actually gets hot enough to burn through ceramic. So, I'm using Pyrex, but the only Pyrex I had was a 1 cup measuring cup, which meant I had to dip, turn over, and dip again, which resulted in a seam and also different thicknesses of wax on the different sides.

So, I went to the biology lab store on campus, and perused their pyrex beakers, and bought a beaker! I'm so irrationally happy about my beaker, it's ridiculous.

3. Beaker in hand, microwave available, I went at the melting again last night, in the Loft. And managed to overload the microwave. Apparently, one of the microwaves we have here, the "Magic Chef", turns off when it gets too hot. I thought I broke it - it wouldn't turn back on. About an hour later the Magic Chef dinged again, and all was good again.

I wasn't ready to risk damaging the Magic Chef again, so I brought the science experiment home again, and scared the roommates again. It's all good.  ¶ 8:58 PM

birthday
I'm 26. That's cool. I feel good about my 26th year.

My birthday was Saturday, and I didn't do anything exciting. That's not true, I just didn't do anything for my birthday.

I went to Dim Sum in Cupertino Village with the first years. Then I returned to my optional make up lab for sand casting. So, I got really dirty and sweaty and got a bronze plaque out of it. Then I rushed over to Cynthia's (violinist friend from Yale - lives in Menlo Park) house for a carpool with her husband to her recital in Berkeley. Of course, there was heinous and horrible traffic and it took 2 1/2 hours, but we got there, grabbed burritos, and went to her recital.

That was my 26th birthday. It was fine.  ¶ 8:48 PM

shop geek?
I am now worried I'm becoming a shop geek. The first sign happened last week when my professor used the phrase "atmospheric debris" to describe dust, and I didn't blink an eye. Next, I started to notice that words like "radially" and "axially" started coming out of my mouth.

Last night finally confirmed it for me. I went into San Francisco to have dinner with Brendan, and on my train ride back I started noticing the different types of fasteners in the car. Plus, I was totally checking out the arc-welding on the railing - such a nice even bead. I need to add shop geek to the list of geek types I embody. But I'm a mild grade. Trust me, I know worse.  ¶ 12:26 PM

Design Project 3
For Innovation and Human Values in Design (ME313), I'm working on DP3. We're supposed to study waiting rooms and identify latent needs for new products at either the doctor/dentist, the car wash, or the DMV.

I'm working on the DMV, and am focussing on teenagers getting their first license. It's this exciting day for a teenager, but they have to go through the hell of the DMV in order to get their freedom. Where during the waiting process can something fit in?

My first prototype (to be tested tomorrow - joy, another day at the DMV) is a "new driver kit". The way it works is you either wait a long time or not at all (appt), in chairs, and wait for your number to be called. Then you go, hand in your form, pay money, and get directed to other lines (for your picture, to take the test, to have the test graded, and if you pass, to take the eye test, and then get your interim license). The thing about these lines is that you don't sit in a chair, and no one seems to do anything in them. They're long enough to be annoying, but short enough to think that you shouldn't pull out a book, your pda, your cell phone, etc.

So, where my kit comes in is that after you pay your money, you get a new driver kit to look through while you wait in the standing lines. Inside (currently) is:

How to change a tire

How to check your oil

A DMV keychain with a little tile game built in

A list of things you should do if you're in an acccident, and information to collect

A disposable camera for taking pictures if you're in an accident

A single use ArmorAll pack

An air freshener

An area map

A coupon for a free car wash at a local car wash

...etc

We'll see what the folks getting their license tomorrow think. Any thoughts?

The point of the assignment (I think) is more to get you going through the observation process and prototype-iterate cycle, more than creating something truly unique and exciting. At least, I hope so.  ¶ 11:02 PM

Halloween
For halloween, my art class has to carve pumpkins. Its an annual tradition, and both classes of Art 60 get involved. The result in around 60 pumpkins, from the more traditional to outlandish creations.

They are all showcased at the home of our professor, Matt Kahn, on the night of halloween. Trick or treaters combine with journalists, alumni, and other community members to enjoy a party and gaze at the driveway filled with jack-o-lanterns.

You can see pictures from the night at http://home.mindspring.com/~saness/halloween.html, including my pumpkin.  ¶ 10:57 PM