a new way to make coffee

headphones

i love headphones.

i started this post with the three words above as a draft on 9/7/2009 at 10:58pm.

it's almost a year from then. what the heck am i waiting for? in fact, i have 25+ ideas in queue. some have a few paragraphs, some have a few words. i chose this one because it's simple, and i have no idea what i was thinking about when i started this draft, but it'll be easy to take this idea and write with it. i feel like i need to do that because every day that passes, and i don't post on my blog, it gets tougher to create/write a post. so consider this an exercise, picking back up a routine.

headphones come in so many shapes and sizes. over ear, in ear, canal, earbud, over the head, behind the neck, and even molded to your personal ear canal. one of my all time favorite headphone pictures is the album cover of ice cube's lethal injection album.



there was just something so cool about that syringe and the kid laying down with headphones on.

the thing is, headphones have been around for a long time. but just recently (err, the past 5 years) i've noticed that headphones have been on a huge increase in popularity. the biggest to blame, apple computers. i could dive into pages of data that prove just how much the portable mp3/ipod blah blah blah but what i'm getting at is that it used to be a pain in the ass to go mobile with music, which in turn made headphones not so popular.

instead of lugging around a disc player, which would skip if you weren't standing still, and could only play 15 songs lasting up to 4 hrs you can carry a small piece of metal that clips on your shirt and plays 500 songs for 24hrs. it's easier to do, so people do it, and headphones are required.

this works for me, cause i like how people look with headphones on. it gives them mystery, i try to wonder what are they listening to at this moment.

like i said earlier, there's not much substance to this post besides the fact that i like headphones, so i leave you with this music video, yeah yeah, where everyone seems to really enjoy wearing headphones.

the eggling pt. 6

ray is doing well these days.

look at those healthy green leaves!

and little rondo is coming along nicely.

sometimes a little company, some family, and loud music can turn dirt into life.

now i suppose with all these egg posts, the world has got wind that i'm some egg collector-connoisseur. as i have recently been gifted a wooden egg, from the lands of far east asia.

you see, the egglings are plants that grow out of eggs. the wooden egg is an egg made from a plant (tree) that most likely was hatched out of a similar eggling many many years ago in a far away land.

so you ask yourself:
are plants that mimic procreation styles of birds and reptiles a healthy post topic for this blog?
i say yes. and leave it at that.

five oh three, "that's my area", p-o-r-t

"welcome to portland"


"and back to the city"

the eggling pt. 5

not only has our little eggling found a nice cosy place to call home, it's also got a new friend!

in fact, these egglings are twins, who were unfortunately separated at birth. but today they are reunited again!!

you may be wondering, if these are twins, why is one so big, and the other looks either newborn or just plain dead. well, if you did wonder that, you've just earned your "observation badge" for the year.

the truth is, the other twin came from a very dark household (literally, not much sun). but after only a few days here, reunited, there's signs of progress and hope.

the eggling pt. 4

it's one week later and we* have successfully moved, and the eggling is settling in nicely.


lots of afternoon sun allow the eggling to sleep in, and bask after lunchtime.


the eggling's leaves are really starting to branch out and create a nice full plantlike shape


just look at that color! i'm such a proud parent.



*we = me + eggling

current state

panoramic picture taken one week after move in (click for full size).

road master pro tour

i've been riding bikes ever since i was a little kid. and i hated it. my first bike was yellow, and i must have asked my dad 1,000 times to raise the pedals on the bike. when i’d turn/lean and pedal, the pedals would scrape the ground.

later on, in middle school and early high school i'd have to ride my bike to my friend's house if i wanted to play. everyone else would get rides in cars with air conditioning from moms or older car driving brothers. getting my driver’s license was not only a moment of transit freedom, it was also a goodbye to my pedal powered nemesis.



then in college miraculously bikes were cool again! cars cost money to park, run, maintain, and bikes could get you to a friend’s dorm or an apartment party much faster. most of the guys in my dorm followed my lead and purchased bmx bikes like the one i had. since i had experience owning and working on bikes, i was the dorm go-to guy for a quick tune up, flat change, or even a new paint job. no other dorm had so many bikes in top condition at all times.

one dark night my yellow bmx was stolen, and i haven't had a bike since. i was crushed, but it happened just as i moved 15 miles away from campus. not too long after it was stolen my bike would have simply taken up storage space in my new apartment. a word from the experienced: use a u-Lock. cable locks can be cut through with a simple hacksaw, chain link locks can be snipped with bolt cutters. it takes the power of a small car jack to bust open a u-lock. my yellow bmx was just chained.

to sum up my bike background, i’ve disliked owning and riding bikes (aside from a small stint in the college dorms).

fast forward to the present day. one week ago i moved to the mission district (link). the mission has a reputation as being the hipster neighborhood. and one thing that comes with hipsters are their bikes. i figured when in rome you realize that it wasn’t built in a day, so when in the mission you accept your mission and get a bike.

after a few days cruising craigslist’s bikes for sale, i got a pretty good idea what was out there. my decision would be between a bmx, road, mountain, or hybrid bike. a hybrid is a mix between a road and a mountain bike.

bmx bike – small and portable, cheap and rather abundant. plenty available at $40-$70.
road bike – the most expensive yet the most desirable. $100-$1,500.
mountain bike – the most abundant, the least cool, and they are big.
hybrid – almost as costly as the road bike but didn’t see many listed.

i continued my craigslist combing for 3-4 weeks, and developed two requirements for my soon-to-be-bike, i decided to find a bike that is 100% functional yet cost me <$50.





on july 15th it showed up. 40miles away, a fresh grad from berkeley was looking to clear some space out of his trailer park home. he posted two pics and two sentences about the bike, and that was all it took to grab my attention.

actual listing:
Road Master Pro Tour for sale - $35
I bought this one to ride in my school few years ago from another owner; however, in the end, I didn't ride it at all.

I will also throw in a free master lock ( U shape).
Just want to get rid of this junk out of my house. No low baller plz. Pick up only

i emailed him promptly. within a few minutes, he replied, and a time was setup to see the bike. he then took the craigslist listing down, as he was being overwhelmed with responses of people wanting to buy the bike. i was the lucky first to reply!

his name was phat, hey he was vietnamese, and he had just graduated from berkeley school of engineering with a mechanical engineering degree! what do you know, same as me (except uc irvine is no uc berkeley)

as i pulled up to his driveway i noticed that he was a very smiley fellow. we exchanged greetings and headed towards the bike. i rode it up and down the streets, and could tell that with a few adjustments this bike would run tip top. he said he just wanted to get rid of it because it’s been sitting for a while.

in random conversation i told him that i too hold a mechanical engineering degree. he asked me where i worked, and i told him a bank. “but i used to work in aerospace down in los angeles!” he said he'd been job hunting for 2 months (since graduation), and was getting nowhere. i could tell he was a bit beat up by the job search. i know his struggle. i assured him that something would come up, and that with his engineering degree he could do more than be an engineer.

i didn't have $35 dollars exactly, so i handed him $40 and told him "since i didn't bring 35 dollars exactly, will you take $40 for the bike and u-lock?" he smiled yet again and we went our ways.

watching the world cup to boot