heathervescent

Headed a North - maybe

Hello Frisco! Well, maybe hello. I'm considering heading North this weekend to celebrate one of my old friends US Citizenship. Lars has been my Swedish bodyguard on multiple occasions and traveled with me to South America and the South Pacific. He's also a rubix cube champion. And a programmer at Google. And I've known him for ... yes, 10 years. Ten years. He's cool, smart and has a very dry sense of humor.

Then there is Maker Faire that would be fun to stop by with another of my friends, who I also have known for 10 years - barbarizinho. And not to mention my various friends performing and otherwise participating in Maker Faire. And my other friends who I have promised to visit, and this G35 in the driveway with a radar detector. Anyone need a ride?

And you can't forget

One of the best songs of all time - Under the Milky way.

Wish I knew what you were looking for.
Might have known what you would find.

And its something quite peculiar,
Something thats shimmering and white.
Leads you here despite your destination,

And this one, I imagine, inspired JK for Cosmic Girl. It's Terra Nova Cain.

The Church I like

Here are two clips of some early Church songs that I love. When commuting down the 280 to Mountain View I used to listen to the album "Of Skins and Hearts" and these were two of my favorite songs. If I had the option, I'd want to be reincarnated as a character in one of their songs. Or maybe I already have. ;)

and this one

Thrown Back in my Seat

The saab's in the shop to fix the damage that happened on the AZ trip. She was really looking beat up and I'm very happy to get her back in tip top shape. I was hoping she'd be done by the time I returned from my east coast travels, but she's got a few more days in the car spa. I could have limped by on foot here in Hollywood - but I can do that any day, so I went out and got a rental car. In the past, I have gotten the most basic rental car - nothing special, and definitely missing my quirky saab luxury. But this time, I did something different.

I'm of two extreme minds. The first is the rough and rugged beat up old pick-up that you can take anywhere, put anything in the back and generally slide around and get dirty. My second mind loves luxury. All comforts already thought of, anything you could want, there before you form the thought of desire. A perfect example is that Vegas trip, where I went from historic quirky hotel in Tucson, where I had to wait for the hot water to heat up, to uber luxury over the top pad on the Vegas strip, to rough camping in death valley without even a tent!

I decided to use this car rental opportunity to indulge a dream. I first asked for a Lotus, but there were none in stock (apparently they are crashed more than not) so I ended up with an Infinity G35 sedan. It's a bit more parental styling for my tastes (Coupe is more my style) but the horsepower impressed me.

I picked her up and ran some errands to get the feel of her. Whew, I forgot all about automatics and their automatic desire to go forward unless foot is on the brake. Then the boyf and I decided to joyride to Malibu.

We zipped along sunset in the dark carving the curves. As we were stopped at the 405 interchange I had finally gotten an open bit of pavement in front of me, so I floored it from the stop. We were both immediately thrown back in our seats as I accelerated the 40 feet. Wow. We spent the rest of the evening playing with our new found power and enjoying it immensely.

Welcome

Hi! You've come across the personal blog of heathervescent.

• I run my own technology product consultancy, The Purple Tornado, where I help build and market technology products.
• I founded the Los Angeles Geek Dinner.
• I am a writer, philosopher and wanna-be scientist. 
• I am active in social interruption events to bring about self-awareness.

This site is the world through heathervescent-colored glasses.

Note: I have been posting many excellent articles to my Facebook Feed. They are in the sidebar of the blog or you can subscribe to them.

NY at night

One of my favorite things to do in NY was to walk the streets at night. It was perfect. Cool, darkly lit streets. Fewer people and I was wide awake due to my California body clock. Bars were open. Cafes were open. I could buy pizza and french pastries at 3 in the morning just down the block from my hotel. And I did.

It was at night the majesty of the city was apparent. The architecture. The buildings. And the infrastructure. We walked down the avenue to Madison Square Gardens to the 24 hour post office - with its row upon row of columns and steps. I reflected on the Greek and Roman architecture of our founding fathers. Earlier in the day I had admired the new glass buildings being constructed from the observation deck of the Empire State. I enjoyed the mixed architecture - the old and the new.

Walking the streets with the boyf I remarked that NY is like the internet before the internet. The sheer quantity of people in the limited space. And because of the quantity you're going to find people with your same interests, no matter how subcultural they might be. I imagined people came to NY to connect. To find people like themselves. To find acceptance. And to make it big.

I walked so much In my 3 days in the city. I didn't like the crowded sidewalks or the loads of people during the day. I have always loved big spaces where people gather when they are empty. And the streets of NY at night were a huge stage. I saw the trash trucks stopping in for pizza along the route. I saw the grocery store delivery trucks restocking NYC shelves. The moist streets from power washing - preparing for the day.  I looked to the sky to see if I could see stars and got distracted by the reverse-vertigo of the buildings and the twinkling of the top floor lights.

NY you showed an LA girl a good time. Thanks. I'll be back.

ROFLConing

Carmen and I are busting it up at ROFLcon in Cambridge. Tomorrow we'll be shooting some video for a high profile video blog. If you're around come by and say hi!

Art Show!

The I am a Heather art show I am involved in opened in Pittsburgh today at Future Tenant. !!! This is so cool and I'm really excited to be included in it! Here's a photo of the materials!

In <3 w/ NY por causa de Chelsea Hotel

Oh man, what a day! I awoke at 6am to LA sunshine. Cozy dog sleeping by my face in an otherwise empty bed. I heard the text messages to my phone in my office and pretended to sleep for another 45 minutes when I finally drug myself up. I could have slept in, but I had 8 million errands to run before catching my flight to JFK.

Walk Dog. Check. Shower. Check. Finish packing. Check. Post Office. Check. Bank. Check. Storage unit for banana suits. Drama. (Shout out to TC at the storage unit this morning, who made me cry with his impeccable view of the world.)Check. Drop car off for body work repair. Check. Coffee and bagel @ solar while I wait for car paperwork. Check. Back to the house. Check. Move the cars. Check. Repack in bigger suitcase. Check. Walk the dog. Check. Wash dishes. Check. Oh yeah, check email. Check. Feed dog chicken to distract him while I take luggage out to car. Check. Drive to LAX. Check. Wait patiently in long security line. Check. Watch TSA dude check my ID for fakiness and then harass him about fake IDs. Check. Flight gets delayed for 3 hours. Check. I reschedule for another flight. Check. Bop around LAX entertaining myself until flight leaves. Check. Get on flight. Check. Hang out in the back galley and chat with folks. Check. Get into JFK and wait for a llllllooooooonnnnnnnggggg time for bag to arrive. Check. Get all agro on the limo people. Check. Arrive at the Chelsea Hotel.... Yesssss!

The limo was zipping on freeways not unlike the ones I zip on and I wondered... where was NYC?! I kept seeing signs for Midtown Tunnel and I kept thinking of Mid-Wilshire. And then we crossed over. And I felt the electricity crackling all around me. I was in the land of skyscraper buildings. Bricks!!! Gorgeous architecture. And I started chilling out. I started getting excited for being in NYC. And then I arrived. About 10 years ago I took an x-boyf for lobster at the Chelsea for dinner and old kicks. We are still sporadically in touch. This time, I remembered in time to book a room. AND I LOVE IT!

Really, this is completely and utterly my vibe. Of course I've spent the last hour + talking with the guys at the front desk about mercy, guns and getting away from it all. As I walked down the 8 flights of stairs looking at the art and thinking of my pal Neil whom I'm not going to be able to meet up with cause he is out of town :( I thought, if I ever move to NYC I will be an artist. But then, aren't I already one?

Voices in the Desert

In Wrong is Right there was this Arab leader who would go into the desert "to hear voices". I thought of this as I packed some basic gear and the dog in the truck for a short trip out. It occurred to me that the reason I go to the desert is "to hear voices". Sometimes those voices are my own. Sometimes they are what is playing on the radio. Sometimes they are my friends. Sometimes they come on the wind or the movement of the flames in the fires I build.

I watched the fat moon rise over the prehistoric mountains of rocks. In my rear-view mirror the god effect reins down from the clouds. My reality is shifting as I pull off the pavement and onto the sandy desert road. The moon continues to rise and I see a tent city, flickering lights. I hear pounding music. I pull up only to find unknown faces in a familiar setting. Eventually I find the host - one of my cherished friends. We immediately dive deep into a conversation of consciousness - probably because I mentioned my week in Tucson - and he says something that stops me. "Everything is an illusion. The illusion is necessary so we can experience being individual." And I agree.

I had been thinking about suicide, death and killing on the drive out. I had been thinking about cliques and communities. Divisions, exclusivity and inclusion. My irritations. My own activities that are divisive, cliquish and exclusive.

I asked him about Mercy, since I figured he would be able to answer my mercy question, and he suggested thinking about compassion instead. Compassion I get. It's mercy, I have in my claws. It's mercy I want to understand. Elusive Mercy.

The music pounded all night long. I watched people I didn't know dance with fire and hoops and each other. I lurked in the shadows stoking the fire, throwing pallets on it, building a fire ring, pushing the wheelbarrow full of wood through the dance floor. Spider weaving the web. Playing the harp strings.

The music still pounded when I left this morning and headed into a silent desert. As I drove through the basin I saw the whole area as a lush ocean - the rocks and mountains under nutrient rich water. I saw the desert patina echo back to coral, algae and moss.

And then I was back on the 101, speeding through Hollywood, thinking about New York and Boston and the Purple Tornado travels. Remembering all the errands, emails, things to coordinate before I leave tomorrow. I'm glad I took the time to go out there and listen to the voices.