heathervescent

Flashmobs are dead

Newmindspace in Toronto/NY has an excellent post about what is not a flashmob. I'll admit, I have big dreams to creating events similar to the ones they do in Toronto and ones I remember from SF days. It's damn hard here in LA though - but not for a lack of trying.

We’ve had the pleasure of communicating with Mobile Clubbing over in London, who are responsible for, among other things, holding the first “exclusively internet-promoted massive pillow fight” and hosting a number of very successful public dance parties, with numbers up to 4,000! We are very enamored with them and certainly, their inspiration to our events is unmistakable. Their most recent event, just a few days ago, is being heralded as the largest flashmob ever.

However, I am hesitant to call their events “flashmobs”, and I hope they will be one of the first groups to abandon the word. This is part of a longer, ongoing struggle that will probably culminate in an essay on the subject, but in short, flashmobs are dead.

I've considered doing some mobile clubbing things... more like mobile clubbing - inspired from the Streetwars Moving Truck Rendezvous point. I've got other ideas on the back burner, which will hopefully get moved up soon.

I'm comitting suicide

<disclaimer for my mom: Don't Freak Out.>

Those of you who have seen me in a more morbid moment - or have known me for a long time, know how I feel about suicide. I'd do it in a moment, and I ponder the possibilities more than a casual observer might guess. I have come to terms with my desire to end my life, and yet, I continue despite, or perhaps maybe because of that desire.

I've recently come up with two solutions to the suicide question. The first, is my simple desire manifested through the use of technology. Don't get me wrong, the only reason I haven't done this yet is because I have too much to do on this earth and wow - it's such a cool place, with so much to learn and explore. But much of the time I share it with total idiots and that makes me very sad and wish I did not exist at all. Other times I want to remove myself from the equation - just stop existing. This happens a fair amount with work. People just piss me off, they make stupid decisions, they don't see the right/impeccable/most efficient way to achieve what they want to achieve. It's very frustrating. More so when there is a boss or client or someone you work for.

So, how could I commit suicide today? or someday soon? (without limiting my actual learning possibility in this world?) Two possibilities:

1. Have a clone of myself made, and then kill myself. Hey, I could even watch and tell myself what it is like.

or 2. (which is what I've been thinking about most recently)

2. Go with the assumption that I have already killed myself. That I am already dead. Act in my life as I would if I was going to commit suicide or had already. I could even stage my own funeral like in Satyricon. The for some purposes (but not necessarily practical ones) I'd be dead. Note: isn't this basically the same thing Monks do. I remember Paramahansa Yogananda talking about some ritual of burning in the fire, which was ritualistically the same thing.

But more importantly, would be my mental repositioning.

1. If I consider myself already dead, then every day I live is a magical gift. Instead of trudging closer towards death, I have tricked death, and gained an additional day through my cleverness. This is an excellent mindset on it's own. But generally difficult to cultivate. (And would I have to commit suicide over and over to maintain this mindset?)

2. Just because you are dead, doesn't mean experience is over.  Like birth, death opens a great door and far greater transportation. So long suckers.

3. The death of Heather as you know her (as I know her). That includes all incarnations of Heather, the vescent one, hbomb, the sister, the daughter, the lover, the friend, and my myriad other identities. There are many reasons to do this, none of which can be written.

I can't imagine the person I'd be (well, I can, and it's frighting - in an awesome way) if I committed suicide. To die and continue to walk the earth. It would be akin to taking the sword out of the sword kozy. It would be lighting the fuse. It would cut the onion.

Maybe it's finally time. 

The Major

I watched Ghost in the Shell again last night. Remembering the first time I saw it - in the dark University Avenue Landmark Theatre with the John Waters no smoking PSA in Berkeley.

My mind is stimulated as easily as the Major's nipples in the opening scene. As calmly and quickly as the discharge of her rounds. Has the movie so effected me that I have assimilated it's words, or visa versa. Or do both come from the whisper source: susurrator. The gentle lapping of waves on a dark sea of collective unconscious tree sap?

I love the Major's character. Between her, Aeon and Pippi, I had all the inspiration I needed. All the character guidance. The playful innocence, the audacity and techno introspection.

Tonight on the agenda is Part 2: Innocence. A long drink from the river before I head out into the desert again. It's these paths, these journey's, navigating the landscape. The same stories, same landscapes with a different character.

Still life at the Kitchen Table

  Look at that. That's my kitchen table. Light flickering on the white curtain. Cala Lillies in my grandmother's antique vase. A cool retro phone S picked up at the Melrose Swap meet.

I finally got a little bit of the sickness. That sore throat thing got me this weekend and I pretty much holed up at the casa reading. I didn't make it to a some things I wanted (sorry Pedal Party People!)

It was also the longest time I think I have gone without working in a long time. Working or desert camping (which is work in itself.) So I actually got to relax for the first time in a long time.

And cook. And I got to weld too. And I have hatched lots of new plans. It's a good thing the week starts tomorrow, because I have a lot to get done!

Woooooooooooo!

Note: Photo by the Sam.

Campfire Stories

This past weekend many folks were up in San Mateo at the Maker Faire. I headed out to the desert for the Maud-dib camping weekend. 

Here's a photo of one of the highlights. (Thanks Jenna!) After the flames burned down a bit, we took turns jumping the diameter of it. Then I pulled out my favorite fire candy and proceeded to blow the minds (almost literally) of some guys. Best quote, "We don't have girls like that in the OC."

We also played with the propane belching target that the boyfriend made. What's a propane belching target? Well, it's a target that when you hit the bullseye with a 22 (yeah, small caliber due to not destroying the toy) rewards you with a flame of propane high into the night.

I also got a chance to shoot a gun I've considered buying. I've been eyeing the Kel-Tec SU16 for some time. My friend K, had one and brought it with him. And boy was it swu-eet to shoot. Then I got to shoot my love of rifle loves - the AR-15. I'll have to leave CA if I ever want to buy me one. (They are currently illegal, but grandfathered). I love me the rifles.

Later after all the crew left, S and I explored the nearby hills and found several mines - one rumored to be a turquoise mine. I can't wait to get out there again.

Great to get out to the desert.

May LA g33k d1nner 2nite in Chinatown

Just a reminder that tonight is May's geek dinner in Chinatown.

• Plum Tree Inn
• 913 N Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012, (213) 613-1819 

We'll be back in the party room. I've got a bunch of swag from Twiistup, so come on by! We've got the usual crew of regulars and newbies. Don't be shy, come out from your terminal. :)

Hacking the Bell Curve

I use business and science metaphors, techniques and processes to create and map my spiritual growth and understanding. I've been recently pondering about bell and "S" curves. I'm constantly learning and trying to "get to the next level" while understanding and explaining myself and my world. I come across plateau's, places where I feel like I'm not "moving forward". And I'm desperately afraid of hitting the downward slope of the bell curve. (Does the Bell curve even apply to spiritual growth?! Maybe not.)

When it comes to enlightenment, I am not interested in the long tail. There are plenty of long tail religions, practices, cults, extinct and yet uninvented. I'm not interested in discovering, hypothesizing, explaining and proofing a Theory of Everything. (Luckily for me, Ken Wilbur has taken on that monumental task.)

My objective is track/create and then map the path. A path. From here to where I will go. To track the Bell curves, in fact, to hack the bell curves. To find the turning point, plateau, and then head up again... a Kurtweilian S curve.  A stairway to Heaven.  (An S curve includes the first half of a bell curve.) It's not a hard task and yet a very complicated subtle manoeuvre.

I'll tell you the secret of the manoeuvre and how to do it. When you reach the top of the highest point of the bell curve, jump. Abandon your grounding, focus on your goal and leap. (Innovate!) The net need not appear, but you can visualize it, if it makes you feel better. Your jump will fail, if you do not abandon the weight of the knowledge you just received. (Transcend.) Use the knowledge as a boost - a springboard, and catch the upswing, the rising thermals.

Congratulations, you've crossed the chasm. You've hacked the metaphorical bell curve. You're on your way to walking.

Two more items

Ok, I am sufficiently overdosed on the IIW, are you? I've got to finish up a couple briefs and I am supposed to be at a camping trip right now. :( But, before I forget, here are two items I think are cool:

1. Opening Space - the method used at iiW. It was both more structured and more open than any other ad-hoc method I have used or seen used. I am going to steal it and impliment it in all my future events. (To my own credit, I have used some of the main values in Open Space, in my barcamp and geek dinner events... but it's like finding GTD once you have been a master to-do lister.

2. Discarted. I found this site after someone emailed me about a b.la post. The photos are gorgeous. Check this out:

Speed Geeking: A Different How To

Quick and Dirty: 15 companies get to demo in 5 minutes

1. Everyone numbered off into 15 groups
2. There were 15 tables, each with a number
3. There was a sign up sheet with 15 slots. Companies who were interested in demoing, signed up in a slot
4. Each person announced their company or technology as they signed up.
5. Each group started at their numbered table. e.g. if you were in group 10, you started at table 10.
6. The bell goes off, and the first demo begins
7. After 5 minutes the bell goes off again, and each group rotates clockwise. (e.g. my group, #10, would go to table 11)
8. Repeat 13 times... or until you run out of time. We ended up having an hour slotted, so we go through about 12.

I really liked this method of speed geeking. It allowed you to see a lot of companies very quickly in an ad-hoc manner. I'm going to add it to my list of geek event methods, for sure!

iiW: Uses of Identity on and offline recap

I ran a session Wed afternoon that discussed how people use identity on and offline. Here are my copious notes. Please feel free to make comments. Especially if you attended and remembered additional info.

The Agenda

• How someone uses identity offline
• How someone uses identity online

Observations about Online Behavior around Identity

• I can ask questions that I might not ask in person
• A new layer of human expression
• I get to create my online identity.
• You’re not as easily recognized.
• People are programmed to be social, to have feelings for real creatures – the computer is not one of these.
• It changes when you see someone on video.
• Online is less emotionally bound
• Other people are not as strongly bound to your online identity. (Think after you have met someone, which identity super cedes the other?)
• A greater ease of changing the thing that is an identity on line.
• Online, you can create a new identity and throw the old one away.
• Identification online is fractured. It’s what I say it is. It’s who I display myself to be

Offline Behavior

• Most identities in the real world are created by other people.
• When you are online – you can make yourself.
• It’s not possible to have real friends that help you online.
• “I only need to meet you once”
• Context – once I met him, everything changed. I knew his context
• ComicCon vs Second Life: what is the difference?
• In real-life – it’s hard to change your identity - you have to get plastic surgery
• Loyalty is not revealed in real life

Internet Identity Workshop: Day 3

Here's my recap from day 3 of the internet identity workshop. The sessions I attended were:

• Identity Marketing
• Phil's Pythia Reputation Systems
• I wanted to hit EUCLID session, but I had a great discussion instead
• Then I held a session on how users use identity on and offline
• And then we had the closing session (which I participated in)

I took notes and photos of the whiteboard in the Identity Marketing sessions and an identity marketing mailing list/working group is going to be started. (I know that kind of sounds scary, but it was actually a great session). I'm collecting my thoughts and transcribing my notes. I'm coming away with lots of ideas both personally and professionally. After a week of goal setting, jumping back into the Silicon Valley scene and technology uber alles. I'm coming away with focused ideas on what I want to focus my energy.

Want to read more recaps? Check out the technorati tag: iiw2007

Griffith Park Burned Hillside

Griffith Park Burned Hillside
Originally uploaded by heathervescent.

I took this photo yesterday while walking the booger in the local park. I must admit, I loved walking in the burned out landscape. It was more than magical. If I ever felt like a magician walking through a demolished land, wind creaking through the dry branches, yesterday was the day. But then again, I feel like a magician when I walk down Hollywood Blvd, or out in the Mojave or when I stand on rocks near a tidepool in Northern California. The only thing that feels fake, is that I can't quite believe that that's what I really am.

fus7r

fus7r
Originally uploaded by ivetabrigis.

My Pals from the weekend in Mendocino. Now, it's time to execute!

Internet Identity Workshop - Day 2

I just got back to my hotel after day 2 of the Internet Identity Workshop wrapped up. This has really been one of the best events that I have been to in a long time. I continue to be blown away by the open space methodology. Then there's the at home feeling I get being in Silicon Valley, in a room filled with almost all techie guys mapping out technology and companies and how things work together. It's really an amazing kind of mindset that can only be found here (because the people are here).

Today was busy. I hit up sessions on:

• The Me Contract
• Mapping Projects & Technologies
• Tag Commons
• Privacy and Anon
• Best Practices for implementing Open-ID
• The T word (Trust)
• Reputation and Gossip

and then I had to run to a meeting. All in all today was fabulous. Here's my growing set on Flickr of the overall event.

My biggest take away is that it's a sargasso sea to try to figure out everything associated with online identity. Reputation. Opinion vs fact. The tools, the protocols, the tokens and the systems. There's been a lot of work done on the technology, but very little on user experience, user expectation and use cases. Tomorrow I am running a discussion session on User Identity (on and off line).

I have several more detailed posts to write on my thoughts about reputation, identity, who owns what data, identity agents, control, verification along with a lot of companies I can't wait to explore in depth.

Tomorrow is the final day. I'll head home to LAnd after everything wraps up. Apologies to my friends in the Bay Area, whom I haven't been able to connect face to face with. I have been busy non-stop. I promise to visit Silicon Valley soon and throw one of my famous happy hours.

On a final note. PPT Karaoke tonight went pretty well. Bob, Time and Phi, Brad, Doc and a final un named guy stepped up to the plate. It was met with mixed reviews. (I didn't have any of Danny O'Brien's funny presentations with me, so we used the ones from BarcampLA). I did however do a karaoke version of Total Eclipse of the Heart. That is such an awesome song.

Mountain View Oddfellows

Mountain View Oddfellows
Originally uploaded by heathervescent.

I always loved this "storefront". It only took me 8 years to photograph it.

Jello Shots are popular

My YouTube videos haven't reached insane numbers of people, (and I'm ok with that) but my how to on making jello shots seems to get comments fairly regularly. I know several people have used the recipe with good results.

That makes me feel really good. I always love it when I can be helpful!

Day 1: Internet Identity Conference

The Internet Identity Conference kicked off today at 1pm at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.  The workshop started pretty much on time with intros by the organizers: Kaylia and Phil and then an intro to identity commons by Eugene Kim. Then Kaylia put us into groups to talk about and ask the questions we came with. She numbered us off in sets of 15 and then we all played musical chairs. I ended up in 10 - which included Eve Maler (Sun), Mike Jones (MS Cardspace), Phil Windley (!), Mark Lentczer (2nd Life), Joe Steel (Adobe), Matthew Sploin (Resilient - a trust network for moving medical records) and Jim Fenton from Cisco. They were a great group of people and we had a very interesting discussion. We went around the group talking about our reasons for attending:

• Learn the technology
• Do right by the consumer
• Building Bridges
• Enabling Convergence
• Curious about e-commerce
• Understanding which is the right system I should impliment
• How to make money? How and who makes money? Who pays?
• Personas identity: separation or integrated
• Technology: separated or integrated (solution vs how to)
• PKI trust

Then we distilled out a couple questions to share with the larger group (money, personas, technology) and Kaylia went around the room each group sharing their distilled questions. She created a kind of mind map of the answers and that, I supposed, will drive the sessions the next two days.

A couple of interesting thoughts and questions:

• Optional opt-in age verification
• Who is the Identify provider?
• Who is in charge of the data? user? at the beginning? later?
• The driver's license is the gold standard of identity in the US
• Widely accepted ID vs cost
• (on another note: privacy/information being asked for more often because it's easier to get/verify the data)
• protecting identity in the world
• role
• multiple identities
• What makes people pick and use these systems? How do they choose which system they are using?
• Verify trust, reputation
• When do you not want to be verified? identified
• Custodial identity (for a child, minor) delegating identity verification

After the break we went straight into the technology presentations. In less than an hour, I had an overview of OSIS, the Liberty Alliance, SAML, Cardspace, Higgins, OpenID and Shibboleth. Awesome! Then came speed geeking. It was really interesting to see how Kaylia did speed geeking [more info]. It was very different from the method I used at the last geek dinner.

Then it was informally over until dinner. I got caught up on email (no wifi all through the weekend!) and had a roiling conversation over yummy thai.

I'm hosting Powerpoint Karaoke tomorrow night at the unTalent Show after dinner. 8pm @ the Monte Carlo in Mountain View.

So far, I have been really impressed with the ease of open space organizing. I am definitely going to pay attention to this method/process and take it back to LA with me.

I'm also planning on hosting/running/whatever a session on multiple personalities: how people (don't) see themselves in real-life and how they expect identity (and verification) systems to work (with web sites/applications, complimentary software and applications and beyond). I'm probably going to do this on Wed.

Note: Yes, I know this post needs lots of link love. I am tired and it is late, and I will add them later. If you want to add your link in the comments, please do.

A Short Hello

Just a quick hello to say, well hello. The weekend was awesome. Gualala was gorgeous. Organizing/goal setting was great. And I met so many great new friends! Lots of driving but a fair amount of confusion unfortunately. :(

I'm at the Computer History Museum here in Mountain View today attending the Internet Identity Conference. And it is really excellent. I've already met some great people and I ran into some new (old) friends. Really really nice.

Heather is Busy

First off - Hello to anyone stopping by because we met at Twiistup last night. I had a great time and have to write my shout out post. If you're looking to download ooVoo - go here to download the client. If you want info on the geek dinners and barcampLA - go here. And be sure to join the mailing list.

I have been really busy and it doesn't look like it's going to stop. I was at Twiistup last night - which was awesome.

Tomorrow I head north to attend an intense weekend called Fusion with a bunch of futurists in beautiful Mendocino. I'm very excited to participate.

Then, since I will be in the Bay Area, I'm going to attend the Internet Identity Workshop on Monday, Tues & Wed.

Oh - did I mention I'm back on Theory Radio and my show is tonight. In fact, I have an awesome show lined up. Matt is joining me and we are spinning music to trip out too. This music is absolutely insanely amazingly awesomely strange and unique and it blew my mind when I heard it. The show starts at 7, but Matt will be joining me at 8.

Oh yeah, and I still have to pack. So much for sleep these days.

Why Hello Desert Wind

It's been hot in LA the past couple days. Very hot. It registered 92 before 10am today. You know what that means? Sing along with me everyone...

"here come those Santa Ana winds again...."

Yup. What we are feeling is a bit of the desert heat. And I love it. I know fires are raging and I'm writing this from my 85 degree air conditioned office, but I still love the hot dry smell of chaparral. Just another reason, I love LA.

The Men I love

The Men I love
Originally uploaded by heathervescent.

These are the guys I see on a daily basis. Good thing they are good looking. I love that Romeo is showing off his snaggle tooth. It really makes him all the cuter.

Unicorns!

Unicorns!
Originally uploaded by heathervescent.

I am starting to have quite a unicorn collection. I splurged for the good vs evil unicorns, but have yet to acquire the cold war unicorns? What's next? Space unicorns? Macrobiotic unicorns?

My First Commission

Several months ago I discovered the work of Snake Jagger. His paintings of the desert at night stunned me. They perfectly communicated the surreal feeling of possibilities I get in the desert at night. I had to contact him to own his work. So I did.

A month ago S and I met him at the Indian Wells Art Festival. He had a lot of great work, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. So we talked and I asked him if he would paint something for me. A commission. I've never done this before - specifically asked an artist to make me a painting.

I told him the characteristics I liked about his paintings. He asked me about a size and we agreed on a price. And then a month passes. I waited patiently. I was nervous. I loved his work and I was pretty sure I would love the painting, but I still felt apprehensive.

Snake mostly paints low desert plant life - saguaro cactus. When S and I met him, S asked if he ever painted Joshua Trees. If you know me, you know I love the desert area around Joshua Tree and I love joshua trees - they are so surreal - especially at night!

A few weeks pass and snake offers me a sneak peak. I can't wait, but I can't look either. I want to wait to see the finished product. This is unusual heather behavior, because I generally like to know how things are going, as they happen. In this case, though, I didn't want to know. I wanted to be surprised.

Last Wednesday I drove out to Palm Springs to pick up the painting. It was a gorgeous day. The drive was fantastic. I was still nervous - I don't know why. I pulled up and saw Snake in his garden (it was like a mini-manicured desert landscape - just like in his paintings!). We talked for a bit and then he showed me the painting.

It was better than I could have imagined. It was gorgeous. A full moon over a rocky desert landscape of Joshua Trees. A rake and a snake and a secret UFO and the magic door. It was awesome. I loved it.

I hung it in front of my bed. So I see the desert, every morning and every night. Thank you Snake Jagger. S and I love the painting. You do such great work. Thank you for capturing the magical feeling of the desert at night.

Photo of the dread pirate Snake Jagger with Joshua Trees at night.

Dreaming

We are like the spider.
We weave our life and then move along in it.
We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream.
This is true for the entire universe.
- The Upanishads, via David Lynch's new book

It's MovieTime!!!!

Yeah, so I live in LA. And supposedly everyone here is writing a screenplay. And someone knows someone who knows someone who works, worked, produced, wrote, or whatever a movie. Right, this is LA, remember. Well, here is my first movie pimping. A movie by a friend of mine. But let me disclaim - this movie has nothing to do with LA. It wasn't written, shot, edited, post-produced, or anything here. It's being screened here. You should check it out yo.

Carmen de Jesus, my friend and co-conspirator on many things is the co-writer for Ang Pamana a Filipino horror film.

When the De Jesus-Reyes family get word that their family matriarch, Lola (Grandma) Nena has died, Johnny and his sister Anna must represent their parents in Manila for the reading of the will.  Dark family secrets, shocking revelations, and a world of supernatural forces await.

Are you in? It's playing Friday at midnight. I'll be there with a bucket of popcorn to throw.

FRI, MAY 04 - 11:55 PM    |  Laemmle's Sunset 5

8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood

(corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights)

Advance Tickets available here:  http://www.vconline.org/festival/program.cfm?program_id=66

More details and FAQ after the jump...

New Blog: Mesh and Lace

I'm working on a new blog about my favorite topic: Lingerie, called Mesh and Lace. It's been hibernating for almost a year, but I'm about to dust it off and get cracking again. Check it out.