spacekadet

in a few hours i'm takin' a plane to lovely san francisco for a fun filled spontaneous weekend. i'm pretty excited - texas is as west as i've been in the usa. many props to tizzle for making this all possible.

Posted by monica at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

the sparks beverage has a website.

(thanks to Ginger for her investigative reporting)

Posted by monica at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i had an internship interview with an internet start-up today. the job is something i could really get excited about as it deals with online peer-to-peer transactions (dude i love ebay) and this company is really young and seems to have a lot of potential -- how cool would it to be to contribute to the success of a company? success being the key word - it's easy to contribute to anything, but to actually have a role in the future profitability of a company is somewhat inspiring. why do i say i'd do this? well the company currently has 3 full-time employees. they don't have office space. they need funding. but first they need to grow. this is where i come in. without going into detail, the job is something i could really get into, as i've often said "i wish i could make a living selling stuff on e-bay". furthermore, i would eventually like to start my own business, and this would be a great chance to learn about what it's like to start a company.

the guy i met with is also extremely cool and seemed to like beer -- i got a company coozie ("for your beer") and a water bottle ("for your beer").

so many great things, but also, so little money. i hate money. i've always been one to "roll the dice", but now it seems like practical matters are giving me fjear: student loans, food, insurance. gasp. this move to london is feeling further and further out of my reach. this is troubling, because all i seem to be thinking about is how much i'm looking forward to getting out of this town. i look forward to it, and yet it scares me - i know when i leave i'm going to have to let go of a lot of things i currently hold on to - just certain hopes and dreams that are all in my head. i'm a little kid when it comes to reality, 'cause i always like to think things will turn out my way. i need to learn that they won't. i need to accept and come to terms with the gaps and move forward. as much as i change scenery, i'm still in this town and i'm still confronted, everyday, with ... well if this were a song i'd compare it to salt on an open wound. but since my life isn't nearly dramatic enough to warrant a song, i'll just say that certain things are hard for me here and i'd like a fresh start in a place that doesn't constantly confront me with triggers that cause me to think about certain things.

speaking of cheesy songs, it's been revealed that i like joshua kadison, as if this is a bad thing?

and now i realize the title of this entry: my pretty good day.

post interview i met up with ginger. i was feeling woefully hungry, so we popped in at the crown. i had a grilled cheese with tomato. i normally don't like tomato but this was delicious. this would be an appetizer for the trip we took soon afterwards to the parlor. but first we popped into the parlor's neighboring record shop. they had some Squeeze which made me happy. finally, the parlor and a sad game of pool. they had $5 pitchers of lone star. i tried to enjoy my beverage which was both alcoholic and frugal, but it just made me want to drink water to rinse out the taste (or lack thereof?) in my mouth. finally more people came, and so did pizza which was like a warm comfy blanket for my tummy. eventually there was heffeweisen (sp?) and pale ale. marcella was there; she bought a guitar recently and seems to have taken to it despite having not mastered it in 5 minutes or less. i explained that i'm selling my musical instruments which brought on a rather depressing discussion on my part about forgetting the pipe dreams until i have the time and money to hire an instructor. but i picked up rather quickly when it came to "Degrassi High". i was depressed again when we had to leave - it wasn't even 10pm but it is a school night so i didn't put up too much of a fuss. i had beer and it was good - this may be reflected in my typing. i want to be in my bed now, and to never drink Lone Star again.

oh yeah, i also want tim to come back from californ-EYE-AYE.

Posted by monica at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

boingboing has posted a link to adbuster's "Black Spot Sneakers" campaign (dude, that link is so 5 months ago). while i think that the "Black Spot Sneaker" idea is rad, i have to wonder: is this actually a campaign that intends to fulfill its mission, or just more "culture jamming" on adbusters' part? something like a year ago they first published the page that said they had the design ready to go and they were looking for a.) enough people to sign on and say they'd buy a pair when they became available (i did) and b.) a factory that was suitable for production. check out their production update. that's all good and well but, i got so tired of waiting for these shoes that i bought a pair of (Nike) Converse All Stars. and yeah, i hate buying from nike. but i also hate reading about what "black spot sneakers" mean to the consumer when i myself cannot actually purchase said black spot sneakers. reading this in their update made me give up on ever seeing these things come to fruition:

But then, I thought, why stop there? Why be an organization marketing an anti-brand, when it can become so much more than just that? Why not turn blackspot sneakers into an anti-corporation? Fight fire with fire. Make the shoes' owners the company's owners. Whenever someone buys a pair of blackspots, he or she is buying a share in blackspot sneakers. A cooperative. An anti-corporation...

stop analyzing everything and just make the goddam sneakers already.

Posted by monica at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i've finally started posting again to my training for the apocalypse blog.

damn classes and life getting in the way.

Posted by monica at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

finished the second series of The Office last weekend. The Office is so painfully true to life that i'm not surprised at all it won all sorts of awards. it's a comedy, but it's also a bitter commentary on the the state of the typical 9-to-5 working individual. the plights of the characters on the show are so relatable that the program is occasionally difficult to watch. it's final episode was definitely the best. during one of his interviews, tim (played by the dashing martin freeman) says something like "sometimes in life you roll a 3. you can roll again, and you might get a 6, but you might also get a 1." and when tim finally does roll the dice, he fails and is left back where he started. this show made me so depressed. as i enter the working world, i hope i continue to roll the dice, failure or not. what's great about this show vs. most other things on tv, is it details how life isn't drama - there are rarely big breaks, most of us won't like our jobs, and love isn't all heated passion in the pouring rain.

right, so rent The Office. it's fantastic.

can someone explain to me Liz Phair's deal? i'm confused by her recent pop-ness. what happened to the ol' "fuck and run"? i've never been a huge fan either way but i felt her older stuff filled a void. now she sounds like just another pop singer whining about the boy who won't notice her. maybe the rest of her CD isn't all average every day sane psycho. someone fill me in.

i'm finishing up my last CS project - sigh of relief. i am looking forward to the end of it all. two more exams and then, the rest of the world.

Maureen is in town on bidness and i was able to catch up with her last night at Trudy's. apparently my garage apartment is bigger than the "shoebox" she lives in in Boston. shocking!

i'm feeling the way i usually do when i know the day ahead of me will consist of a boring class, an even more boring lab, and an evening spent debugging: extremely lethargic.

coffee.

Posted by monica at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

so far my job prospects have been null and/or void. at the moment i feel like i'll be lucky if i land the $12/hour job i applied for at the austin american statesmen. i sent them a very mushy cover letter about how much i loved being editor of my high school newspaper and "classifieds girl" at the Daily Illini - both humble truths. now that i'm departing from graduate school, why not do something i've always wanted to do? since i'm monica shaw, it makes sense for me to move onto new dreams that i probably won't fulfill, like working my way up the ranks at a newspaper. this leads to interweb notoriety as bloggorbator chick extraordinaire. then finally, the book on training for the apocalypse.

training for the apocalypse: the blog (speaking of dreams) seems to be on temporary hold. the training continues, however i have little motivation or time to keep a detailed log. this is facilitated by a recent unwillingness to give up beer or cigarettes.

seems i have a lot of growing up to do.

but for now i'm 24 which seems like a good age to get some things out of my system. sew some oats. live large. last night i hung out with ginger and tizzle at casa del timothy. recently, spurred on by a fond memory of mangia's deep dish pizza, i've been craving some deep dish spinach. i finally fulfilled that craving last night. this pizza was new to ginger, and the sparks beverage was new to us all. sparks: $1.39 per can malt beverage containing caffeine. 6% alcohol. tastes like redbull. i think we have a winner.

today i woke up feeling like doing nothing that pertained to school or the ominous job hunt. so i took on a task i've been meaning to do for some time: learn some cocoa programming. i've been wanting to write an OS X diet/weight/fitness app that keeps track of, well, diet, weight and fitness. trouble is i don't know how to write OS X apps. so today i started by writing a little GUI that calculates basal metabolic rate. the app was simple at heart but i learned a whole bunch and feel super motivated to write something sleek and comprehensive. so now i have a summer project, and something to do on my computer aside from pointlessly surf the interweb.

charming, aren't i?

once again, time to dish out some props:
mad estrogen props to sheribomb for taking me shopping last thursday for interview clothes. i hate the mall and she made it tolerable. i now own a pastel colored article of clothing - fuck you, it brings out my eyes. i also got some "sassy" shoes with a super high heel so as to give the illusion i am not a hobbit. finally, necklaces. it was a sad day this semester when the necklace i'd been wearing religiously for years finally bit the dust in the middle of class (fortunately i sat in the back that day, so when the beads came tumbling off their skeleton, they rolled and sung a song of death and departure down the lecture hall - a proper burial in my opinion). since then i've been looking for a replacement, but failing hard. it's as if i've lost my love and i'm coping in gaudy hotel rooms with casual encounters and cheap jugs of wine. so i've acquired quite a few necklaces since then, and two more last thursday. from the urn that is my pencil case (where i stashed the few beads i was able to save), my necklace is screaming: "slut!"

Posted by monica at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tim got me the most wonderful scarf and hat from New Zealand for Christmas. They are made from possum fur! I just read on BoingBoing that I can also purchase possum fur nipple-warmers, also made in NZ. If you know me at all, you know I hate nipping out, and my birthday is quickly approaching... hint hint.

Posted by monica at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

this is too funny to keep to myself.

so i rode my bike to school today. all the while i listened to uplifting music like Enrique's "Escape" and generally felt good about being alive.

when i got to school i parked where i normally do: in front of my building on the fence post. as i bent over to U-lock my bike, i felt a sudden powerful gush of water

the first thing i thought was "who the hell do i know who would serve me like this?"

when i backed away and took off my sunglasses, i realized it wasn't a prank. no, the sprinklers had turned on.

while i must admit that the cooling effect of the water was rather nice, the present soakatude of my shirt and hair is a tad, oh, inconvenient.

this is both funny ha-ha and funny wet. i love it.

Posted by monica at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

remember when i used to post to spacekadet blog several times a day? where is the love? how do i get

last sunday my neighbors had a "garden party" celebrating the completion of the "focal point" in the center of our back yard. it was fantastic. food, sangria, beer, and token members of the austin "arts" community. the "austin now" guy on klru was there (he actually has a personality!), as were a couple of lipstick lesbians. i drank so much wine. so much wine! and i got to know my neighbors better. it was a blast and i reaped the benefits of leftovers: beer, juice, pecan pie, and asparagus.

it's felt like a busy work week, but really i've been busy scrounging for a job. i've decided to find an internship in austin for the summer. experience, money, all good things. and potentially: Prince.

saw Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2 and oh my god what an amazing couple of films! two completely different masterpieces in their own right. the first was all kung-fu action, with a brilliantly done anime piece. but Volume 2 really told the love story. amazing. epic. and damn i love it when Uma Thurman says "bitch".

i have an interview on friday with a company that may lead to a job in the UK. this is very exciting.

Posted by monica at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

for instance, the "What Kind of Girlfriend am I?" quiz. why do i bother? i have hobbies. i have interests. and yet last night i found myself watching the movie The Rundown staring The Rock and Stiffler from American Pie. what a waste of time, especially when The Rock only took his shirt off once during the whole movie. and speaking of The Rock, what do his friends call him: "Hi THE ROCK, what's up?" I'm confused.

Posted by monica at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

-Perfect- You're the perfect girlfriend. Which
means you're rare or that you cheated :P You're
the kind of chick that can hang out with your
boyfriend's friends and be silly. You don't
care about presents or about going to fancy
places. Hell, just hang out. You're just happy
being around your boyfriend.

What Kind of Girlfriend Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

right, so i took this quiz off of a link on katla's site. the results are true, but the evil truth lies in katla's recent post on geek guys and their complete inability to deal with women. basically she was at a LAN-party and a bunch of loser dorks were taking video close-ups of T&A. it makes me sad because i know the trend all too well. in general, i tend to agree with Dugan's comment (which applies to far too many geeks, not just the Norwegian ones):

Pathetic. I guess it's true about the Norwegian geeks. Fat, pasty white, and sexually inept.

Pussies.

Posted by monica at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

last night, after a week of schoolwork so fruitless that it's not even worth mentioning, i decided to assemble a posse and have an evening out at the parlor. the planets were properly aligned for maximum cosmic connectedness between the whole crew (if that's not true, then the Fireman's No. 4 definitely helped make it seem so). in particular, i enjoyed catching up with my astral friend, Marcella for tales of bulbous sperm sacks, bumpin' nasties, and googootoobars. i also met some new rock star peoplez. via Ginger, there's Katherine (not sure if that's with a "K" or "C") who was pro-mechanical pencil because of the fine tip. i claim that a finer tip can be attained with a regular pencil. i don't care what you say, obsessive-compulsive pencil sharpening has its charm. via Sheri i met Ryan. after a preliminary interview, i determined that under his wild head of hair is a fellow geek, musician, and lover of elite links. if i had pressed the issue, i bet i would have learned that he's also a fellow dancer.

meanwhile, other people in the world endured more unfortunate fates.

here are some mostly fuzzy photOS of my evening.

Posted by monica at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

and it was actually part of the lecture (vs. my usual goofing off on the internet).

Posted by monica at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by monica at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i am not hugely invested in this project i have due tomorrow. i was tested on non-mathy things this afternoon and i'm left flowly and thinking about the tweezers. sometimes when i'm working i start pulling out my eyebrows. then when i realize i'm doing it, i'm drawn to the mirror in the bathroom (recompense). what's so rewarding about scrutinizing my blonde eyebrow hairs, plucking them out one by one? one bye one.

what makes me think they won't grow back?

jason had lunch with freeman dyson today. that's right, the ET guy -- how cool is Jason? he works on SETI stuff. he also makes me wish i were smarter so i could keep up with him, or least be the devoted scientist he thinks i am.

The Office: Series 2 is coming out on DVD this month, and once again i am left a little ashamed for being a sucker for the glowing box, but also extremely excited to see what happens between Tim and Dawn.

Posted by monica at 08:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[ Ivy Goes Berserk.mov | 4.1MB ]

What do you do on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Austin when all you've got is a digital camera, a feisty cat, and a wicked hangover?

How about make some movies?!

I spontaneously took a few movies with my Canon S50 while Ivy was in a particularly playful mood. Then Tim put them all together in iMovie, added a little punk rock and some special effects, and ta-da!! iMovie is rad. Check out the awesome slow-mo bit of Ivy's open mouth ready for attack!

Posted by monica at 12:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

before i move, i'm going to go through spacekadet blog's past entries and compile a list of my austin-related experiences during my 3-year stay in the Lone Star State. you know, stuff like Enchanted Rock, Spamarama, and apparently Mother's Cafe and Garden. i was just studying some bio and it crossed my mind how nice it was to live in Texas for a while and see this part of the States. then i recalled that i came here largely for that reason (grad school was just a convenient way to foot the bill). then i thought i should document this phase of my life as part of my effort to preserve my travels. but then i realized that that's what i've been doing all along - taking notes so i don't forget.

so i wanted to write down my intention to log austin before i forgot.

i have a very bad memory.

it's not my fault.

i was left in the womb too long and i lost oxygen to my brain! sometimes i even forget important things; i know it hurts people and this causes me great amounts of pain and guilt. but if you think about it, if i had received that oxygen, i wouldn't be me: maybe i'd be smarter and quicker on my feet. maybe i'd be taller. maybe i'd understand sobolev spaces. maybe i would have gotten my PhD. maybe we never would have met.

even with all my forgetfulness and constant fuck-ups and breakdowns, it's all smiles and memories in the end. 'cause i remember the moments. even the crap ones. sometimes when i look back it makes me a little anxious and gives me goose bumps. but i love the march through time. coming and going. showing. growing. connecting with people is the best part. the older i get, the harder it is connect with people. especially when i keep getting served. hopefully i serve back with something worthwhile. whatevs, i heart them all 4 ever anyway. i wish i was better at expressing myself. i wish my love was more constructive. i really wish i tried my hand at makin' pies. 'cause then i'd let the pies be the messenger of my love. then i could just give out pies to people, and they'd get it: "hey she made this with love!". and since i don't really find that many people who i love in the sort of soulful-connection sense (verses the love we should have for all living creatures, even meat), it's not like i'd have to make that many pies.

it'd be so special.

instead i've probably bought something like 8000 pitchers and pints of beer: that's something like $108439 dollars just to speak my mind.

and then i forget what i say anyway!

i'm sad that it's getting to the point where there are people and places in this town that i'm never going to see again. but i'm excited to start the next "chapter".

so a list of links to past entries about austin, and potentially some reflective notes. that's my plan. good night sweet prince.

Posted by monica at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i have heaps of work to do. i'd say it's all rather sudden, but since the class i have an exam in next week holds its lectures in a computer lab, i am hardly surprised that weeks of diverted attention equates to a weekend of cramming. that said, i'm finding little time to log my web meanderings, and even less time to update my training "progress".

i've also got my mind on the move and all the stuff that needs to get done. but in the end its pretty simple: "i'm selling all my stuff and moving overseas."

i mean, why not?

sometimes the weather in austin makes me want to stay here forever. other times it just makes me feel hot. what is it about this town, though, that sucks me in? i dare say i'll miss it when it's gone.

but i'm not ready for all of this studying on the weekends, going to the same bars, settling down bullshit. sure there's plenty of drinking and good times, but i can't help but feel that there's more out there that i'll miss out on if i don't make a clean break. it's my eternal anxiety, the search for greater "meaning", the pang that i'm missing out on life. it probably won't ever go away cuz i can't get no satisfaction.

but i can try.

mostly i just want to see the world, take some pretty photos, learn another language, write a bit, compute a bit, and listen to linda rondstadt.

oh yes, and become independently wealthy.

Posted by monica at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm always seeing previews for movies that look interesting, and yet I'm always at a loss for what movies to add to my Netflix rental queue.

Cin-o-matic is a new site designed for dealing with this problem. The accounts are free, and users can add movies to a "watchlist" which keeps track of when these movies are released in the theaters and on DVD. While this may not sound hugely novel, they present the information in a very simple and easy to read format, without the deluge of images and ads you get on Netflix and similar sites (I hope this doesn't change if cin-o-matic takes off). The list also show's the film's genre, runtime, MPAA rating, and critic rating. When you click on a film you can see what individual critics rated the film (which is useful if you know a film critic you generally agree with). They also have a utility which shows what theater it's playing at, but it doesn't seem to work for my zip code.

So the site is cool but I'd be more apt to use it if I could get my watchlist in an RSS feed, so I emailed the cin-o-matic peeps my suggestion. I was very happy to receive a personal email in response that not only said they were working on the RSS thing, but also asked what information I'd like to see in the RSS feed.

It's refreshing to know that there are still developers out there who actually pay attention to input from their users. This makes me so happy!!

Posted by monica at 12:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you've ever been to Mother's (4215 Duval, Austin, TX), you've either come out of the restaurant feeling very good about what you ate, or entirely dissatisfied with the bland food you spent your money on.

My affair with Mother's has been intermittent. We took a year long hiatus while I replenished myself with salt and flavor.

Recently, however, I was in the mood to go out to dinner, and I didn't want a fat bomb. Stumped by my options, I decided to give Mother's another go. Since then I've been back about once a week and I've decided to get back together with the bitch for the rest of my stay in Austin.

Rule of thumb: embrace the salt shaker.

So here's a list of Mother's dishes I've tried that met with the approval of my flavor-demanding taste buds:

At some point I've had their cheese enchiladas and their vegetarian ruben sandwich. As I recall they weren't hugely memorable. My issue may be with the black beans that comes with the enchiladas: VERY bland. Their weekend brunch is decent, though I always prefer eating breakfast at home. Their chalupas suck. Their guacamole is VERY good. Their chips and salsa is good enough to potentially ruin the rest of the meal. The hippie factor is occasionally overwhelming but tolerable, just don't sit in the garden room when they have the harp player; it's just a little strange. They don't do fountain pop so no free refills (except on iced tea), but we shouldn't be drinking that crap anyway.

Bon appetit!

Update (04/11/04): I asked people on austin.food (I love usenet) what they thought of Mother's. Here's the thread.

Posted by monica at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wired's new blog: Cult of Mac.

Posted by monica at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've posted Saturday's highlights from my mom's visit to Austin. Here's what happened on Sunday:

Woke up entirely too late.

Had brunch at East Side Cafe, who did a very nice, not-flooded-in-grease-and-cheese take on migas (I still think mine are better). According to my mom, the Huevos Mexicana (like lasagna with tortilla instead of noodles and egg instead of typical lasagna filler and covered in verde sauce) were also quite good.

Checked out the Austin Fine Arts Festival. The kinetic sculptures by Jeffrey Zachmann were very cool. But the highlight was (finally) seeing a performance by the Gourds (famous for their country cover of Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice"). I wasn't sure what to expect, wary that their fame to me was due only to a single song, and a cover no less. But the Gourds rock the house. They're energetic, funny, and they play good music. The Gourds are why Austin is such a cool place to live in: you can pay $7 to go to a decent outdoor festival, and see great musical acts perform from just a few yards away, all the while sipping Tecate from a can and sitting in the shade.

Took a break to nap/drink some more beer.

Had dinner at the Clay Pit. And by dinner, I mean, pre-dinner girly drinks made of mango, followed by an insane amount of food including samosas, tandoori veggies, curry, rice, and naan. Admittedly, I was painfully full afterwards. But it was oh so good. I had a mango pina colada for dessert.

Photos.

Posted by monica at 12:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

too busy to compute these days, and for good reason: my mom is in town, visiting from Chicagoland. we've been pleasantly busy and i'm quite literally burnt out. here's the rundown of activities so far:

coffee at La Dolce Vita - poncy but the $1 coffee came with a biscotti
dinner at Mother's (how appropriate) - delicious special!
we did something on Friday evening but i can't remember: duh
lunch at Serrano's - and the "Shadow Box of Tragic Corks" was born
spamarama - the highlight was the Spam toss
a wicked sunburn
shopping on South congress
after 2 years in austin, i finally got a cowboy hat - wishing i had it earlier to protect my pale complexion
got a ring with a green amber stone and some earrings (just to see if the holes were still open - and they are)
dinner at La Sola Luna or something - don't bother. decent food, bad service.
a peek into the continental club
coffee at Halcion
jazz/convo at the Elephant Room

here's a photo of me and my mom with spam.

more pics and potentially more detailed tales to follow.

Posted by monica at 01:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Prince is performing in San Antonio on Wednesday, June 9! As I will probably be far and gone from Texas in June, you must go in my place. I'm jealous of you already. Oh, my heart! (You must tell me if he sings "Dirty Mind".)

Tickets go on Sale Saturday, April 3rd. Check out the article for more info.

Posted by monica at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)