heathervescent

Unicorns and Religion

How did I miss the Invisible Pink Unicorns? (All this time I have been talking about invisible pink elephants...) Unicorns on wikipedia. And more invisible pink unicorns?

The Invisible Pink Unicorn logo represents atheism.
It is a fusion between the mathematical void symbol and the stylized representation of an unicorn.
The void symbol (empty set Ø) is an allusion to nothingness and in this case meaning "no faith" or "no god". The unicorn is a reference to a kind of story that atheists often tell to make their point.

Very delightful - but I am far far far from being an atheist. In fact, I had a delightful conversation with two Christian missionarys when I was in Sedona. The part that freaked me out the most (but really didn't freak me out that much) was that I could completely understand and agree with most of what they were saying. In fact, I live my life pretty much exactly the way they live their life. The big exception, I don't think Jesus is the only bridge. The other exception, I have no interest in going to heaven (or hell for that matter) I have my eye set on something .... else. The other exception, I don't quote from the bible (although I was quite interested in what they were quoted and totally understood the point of the quotes).

I do believe that I speak a different "religion", "spiritual" language. The problem is, I can speak many languages... but people don't all speak my language. That's ok, because I have a direct link/line to "G-d" which I call something different.

My favorite part of the conversation was when we were talking about good and evil and they were telling me how deceptive Satan was and I said, exactly, the whole concept of good and evil is a deception (because well it is). It is a method to distract us and get us to play on sides against each other - when really we're all one big thing. The deception is that there is no good and evil (and yet, there is most definitely good and evil).

Anyway, talking with them crystallized my possible explanation of this paradox (at least in my mind). Back to the circle with a dot in the center. Or, when you peel all the layers of the onion- where is the onion? (ps, it's the layers)

Angsty = Awesome

So last night I made Kaliya (who was in town visiting) meet me at LA Angst. I dug out two of my old journals 10 minutes before I left. One was the infamous Brazil journal - which is green and falling apart. The other was a journal I occasionally write and give updates to (it was started in 1991 and there are years between entries) - hey, who says I have to have only 1 journal? I mean, I've got this blog, my paper journal, my nav log, my GTD notebook and a variety of other notebooks. Anyway, I even found some poetry stuffed into the brazil journal (amazing because I burned all my love letters and most of my writing 2 years ago)

Here's the line up from last night. It was a total blast! Thank you to Leah (top o the list) for organizing it.

LeahPeah

Mocha Momma

Katronika

Redleather

West Coast Grrlie Blather

Heathervescent

Yay for us!

Updated: g33k d1nner July 17 - Galanga in WeHo!

Mah geek homies! It's that time of the month. The reminder for the monthly geek dinner. I know, you have many choices when it comes to geeking out - with Mixergy's web feedback hour, the ruby on rails meetup, the demo hour, the drupal meetup, the podcasters at the brewery, bloggers read, etc, etc. That's all good, but let's just get our geek on and eat what I think is the best Thai in LA - Galanga.

When:

• July 17th, 8pm

Where:

• Galanga in West Hollywood. 7440 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90046
• Free easy parking
• We'll be in the back patio

If you're new to the concept:

The Geek Dinners are a monthly gathers of Internet technology lovers in Los Angeles. We are loosely affiliated with BarCamp - because many of us met there. Anyone who has an interest and passion for technology, the internet, internet technologies, software or you just know you're a geek is welcome. Come play with us.

Last month, uWink was nice enough to host us (and Twiistup bought us dessert) and everyone had a great time. I think we had some of the best pptKaraoke. So come on out to West Hollywood and let's do it again. Word has it, we may just have a drink sponsor Verse Studios is buying drinks, so be sure to RSVP! This especially wonderful because Galanga does not usually serve alcohol.

RSVP to the wiki and/or upcoming. We'll have the usual crew, name tags, announcements, etc. It should be fun. Did I mention free easy parking and the best thai in LA? We've got the entire back patio to ourselves.

ps. I still have swag, so I'll be bringing stfuff!

Being Ruthless - Healthcare in the LA area

A while back I wrote about the word ruthless. This article indeed shows a ruthless man. Whether his motivations are for the good of society or his own empire is not a judgment one can make. Still, it is a good example on how being ruthless is portrayed as bucking a system that needs to be bucked and building an empire.

What is more extraordinary is how Reddy is building his empire. Modern healthcare is largely based on the model in which insurers seek to control costs by paying fixed amounts to doctors and hospitals. Reddy is tearing that down.

When Reddy's company, Prime Healthcare Services Inc., takes over a hospital, it typically cancels insurance contracts, allowing the hospital to collect steeply higher reimbursements. It has suspended services — such as chemotherapy treatments, mental health care and birthing centers — that patients need but aren't lucrative.

I think Reddy's challenges are good - but he's certainly not paying his debt to man forward. His attitude:

Patients, he said, may simply deserve only the amount of care they can afford.

"Why is it in healthcare we expect to have the same?" he asked. "It's an entitlement mentality. Why aren't the same people asking why everybody shouldn't be eating the same foods, or have the same clothes or same homes? Those are as essential services as healthcare."

This is a very petty and small minded view. Yes, you can justify intellectually, but karmacally, it does not help human evolution. If Reddy cared less about growing millions and being a powerful man, he could take his millions and work to change the system in another ways - one that benefits both his organization and new paradigm and the people doctors heal.

Click through for the Hippocratic oath.
h/t to DangerGirl.

Feeling Angsty?

I remember when I learned what the word angst meant. Or actually the first time I heard it. It was being used to describe some kind German angst or something... I think it was about the time I ran away from Germany in Europe and had Interpol looking for us. That's another story. (Teaser: I was 17 at the time and visiting my best friend in high school who was studying abroad outside of Hamburg. It was a dare gone awry... in a not so bad way - basically we did it for the adventure and to prove we could actually go through with things (we were pretty noncommittal those days).)

Anyway, besides introducing me to Campari (which was my favorite drink until I was 25), the Germans introduced me to angst. According to dictionary.com, there is good reason I associate angst with Germans.

angst [(ahngkst)]

A kind of fear or anxiety; Angst is German for “fear.” It is usually applied to a deep and essentially philosophical anxiety about the world in general or personal freedom. (See existentialism.)

Ah, yes, my old friend existentialism. Love ya Sartre. Simone de Beauvior. Camus. Depeche Mode. The Cure. Etc. Needless to say I was a very angst teenager. Actually, the angsty part of me has changed very little, matured a bit, doesn't come out as often. Any given day you could come home and find me pondering the nature of reality and depressed at how little the evolution is happening (I did that already on the blog today).

Anyway, the point of this blog post is PIMPING this cool event that LeahPeah is putting on called LA Angst. Actually, it's the second LA Angst.

LA Angst is a monthly reading series hosted by Leah Peterson in the greater Los Angeles area. We gather together to read our most embarrassing, humiliating, angst ridden and otherwise absolutely wonderful writing from our youth. Every month, selected readers comb through their middle school and high school writing and pick something that represents how completely impossible it is to grow up without looking back in shame. Join us for some entertaining, therapeutic and hysterical fun!

Yeah. Maybe I can even wrangle up some angsty teenage heather prose from that running away from Germany trip. Or minimally the first time I was in Brazil. Come along to Tangier - they have great pots du creme and martinis.

Pownce anyone?

So pownce is the next web 2.0 application. Blah. I looked at it over this weekend and am like, blah. I can't exactly figure out why I should care. Maybe if I had some friends I would figure out. I've got 6 invites. So the first 6 people who comment on this thread - or if you are witty and charming - can have an invite. But really, so far it just looks like a threadless t-shirt online...

LA Story

From the "another day in LA" category. I was driving down Santa Monica Blvd yesterday evening for Andrew's Web Review Meeting. The road was not it's usually jam packedness. The temperature has cooled off and I was listening to an old mix CD filled with my favorite mashups from two years ago. I was in a strange mood and missing the time when everywhere I turned I seemed to be in love with LA. Whereas recently I have been tired with the heat, the noise, smell, pressure.

I was in Beverly Hills, where SMB goes from 3 lanes into 2 lanes to 3 lanes or something like that. It was here that me and another guy started merging into the same (middle) lane. I'm not sure if he actually had a lane, or was pulling one of those, right turn lane moves, where you gun it to pass the right/center lane car to get in front of it. I was in the left lane, had my blinker on to get into the center lane. We both started merging into the center lane about the same time. I was accelerating because I saw he looked like he was merging into it too. He gunned his Black Truck and started yelling at me at the top of his lungs. I don't remember when I heard the last time someone yelled so loud. I could clearly hear him over my blasting base mashup. I was shocked at his reaction. He was as responsible for the situation as I was.  He zipped in front of me and I took my standard reaction to let him get as far away from me as possible. He was clearly crazy.
But you don't get away from someone so easily in this part of town. In fact, he later slowed down, whereas I passed him and he unloaded another barrage of negativity berating my "bad" driving. Whereas I responded back at him (yes, we were having a conversation while driving...) that he needed to chill the fuck out, and I had my blinker on, and that he might have a better life if he changed his attitude. Fate stopped us at different levels at the stoplight so our conversation could cease. I was thinking that the world is turning in a bad way and the negativity is sometimes too overwhelming for me to deal with it.

However later, the guy drove up next to me and apologized to me. He explained he was having a bad day and just wanted to get home. I can certainly understand his need and it's nice to see the small enlightenment he had (and his apology). But still... sometimes this world is just too much. The small steps of enlightenment are just that. I should be grateful for any small pieces, but instead, it just reminds me how fucked up we are.

No Surprise Here

I got sucked into this quick karma test. The response is no surprise, but remember enlightenment is not necessarily a goal, it's a state of presence that is as flittering as it is possible.

                       

TrueLifeKarma.com

n, Your Karmic Alignment is: Enlightenment!

Score: 23 You have a lot of positive karma, and have good intentions in life. People would normally characterize you with being a kind, sensitive giving person. Remember that by creating positive karma seeds, they will soon blossom. If you work hard enough it is capable to gain enlightenment, and maintain inner peace.

A Puppet Circus

My body is quivering with anticipation! Will you join me?

Shadow Circus uses life-sized latex puppets to create a seething underworld of
drugged-up dinosaurs, giant cockroaches and bizarre mythological beasts. For the past
seven years, they've inspired both acclaim and terror from the San Francisco arts
community. But this summer, the Bay Area's most belligerent puppetry troupe is
unleashing its surreal vision to its neighbors to the South... That's right, kids, Shadow
Circus is finally coming to Los Angeles...

Wooo! Thanks for the info Wa! xoxox.

Mainstreaming a Subculture

I drive around LA, I go to the grocery store. I drive on the freeway. I go to the Korean spa and pass through various neighborhoods. I go to the club, driving down sunset on Saturday night. Everywhere I go, I see communities. Subcultures. Choices. Options. Possibilities. People can be leaders and invisible at the same time. Subcultures are everywhere. It's a matter of who you want to be. What you want to do. You can rise to the top of any of them. You can create any one of them. You can participate in many numbers of them. It depends on what you want to do. And who you are. And who you want to be.

There are communities that are mainstream. Communities many people participate in. Many people identify with. How do you create a community? How do you take a subculture mainstream? _you_ don't create a community. _you_ don't take a subculture mainstream. A community is a collective vision created by participants. When that vision is so tantalizing and appealing to many people, easy to integrate their views, fills a void/need and allows individuals to grow and stretch, is easily integrated and has a bit of momentum, that community/subculture can go mainstream.

So how do you create a collective vision? And how do you make it so tantalizing to appeal and integrate to many people? And how (and who) decides when and what is appealing. And who leads, herds, trims, guides that vision? And how does one know what to include and what to trim? What to pay attention to and what to ignore? What are the applicable trends, who are the guerrilla glue connectors and what is the explosive firestarter? I know the answers to these questions. And, I know how to do this. The question to me now, is what is worthwhile of my efforts to do so?

Traveling Men

I recently came across another group of guys on a travel adventure. It's the ScootStars. Two guys travel across the US on 49cc scooters!

Add them to this growing list of travelers with a cause...

• Tuxedo Travels
• Project Pedal
• ScootStars

Rock on guys! Sounds like you're channeling Bruce Chatwin or Che! I'm excited to see how things turn out!

Magic Juniper

magic juniper
Originally uploaded by heathervescent.

One of many twisted juniper trees.

Oak Creek 6am

Oak Creek 6am
Originally uploaded by heathervescent.

This is the last photo I snapped on my way out of town. The moon was still up and it was 59 degrees.

Taking it Higher

*Note: This post is staying at the top for a while. For more recent posts, scroll down a bit! :)

For the past year plus I've been busy trying to bring together the Los Angeles technology community. I've been very successful at doing this - although this is not because of my efforts alone. A community is built by the people in it. The people who show up, who collaborate, who contribute. Two years ago, there was no LA technology community. I heard rumors of VIC and Coco's events, but these were phantom dreams. Today we have a very different environment. Before the end of this year there will be monthly g33k dinners, twiistup2, barcampLA4, startupcamp, web 2.0 mixers, drupal meetups, lunch 2.0, demo feedback sessions, ppt karaoke nights and more.

The community has created the demand for these events. (Please note, I do not produce, coordinate or organize all or even some of them.)I want to take it higher. To do this, I am calling the Los Angeles and greater technology community to participate. To be active in creating this community of individuals and companies.

Here's how you can help:

1. Join the list
2. Show up in person (to the geek dinner, barcamps, twiistup, meetups)
3. Support - I hate asking for money (well who likes it).  Most of these events are done dirt cheap. I'd like to see more technology companies financially involved. As sponsors in addition to participants. It's cheap to financially support these events and the companies that do gain amazing goodwill in the community.

Here are some ways you get involved now.

Twiistup2
There are still sponsorship opportunities for interested companies. Come to Venice August 8th. It's gonna be a great time.

Startup Camp LA
I'm helping kick off StartupCamp in LA - a 2 day event in the fall that will focus on best practices, dos and don'ts, VC pitch review and practical how to advice to start a tech company. Including a competition with a cash prize! We're looking for sponsors, speakers, biz plan reviews and general help. Attend, learn what it takes to start a company, build a product or pitch an idea. Come to scope out brand new idea and maybe find the next big Socal Startup.

Lunch 2.0 in LA
Some of us are kicking around starting up Lunch 2.0 - where a different tech company hosts lunch, a tour, a technology conversation at their company. Want to host?

Geek Dinners
I've started offering geek dinner sponsorship. About $200 sponsors drinks or desert at the geek dinner and gets goodwill in the geek community. Totally cheap and gets your insane goodwill in the community.

BarcampLA4
BarcampLA4 is happening this fall. Want to help make it happen? Want to find out when it's happening? Then get on the List!

I leave you with a quote recently arrived in my mailbox

As I let my own light shine, I unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. My playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around me. I was meant to shine. I was born to make manifest the glory of God that is within me."
- Adaptation of Nelson Mandela's Inauguration Speech

The community has been created. How will you participate?

Sonhando

I like this video I came across on YT. It reminds me of the final scene in the Sargasso Manuscript.

I like this one too. Although to get the full joke, you should know portuguese!

600 miles, 122 degrees

The temperature fluxuated from 59 to 122. I hit 122 just south of Tecopa in Death Valley. There was no one on the road. Just me and the heat. My air conditioning was set at 82 and that felt like an ice blast. I hit the 59 on Oak Creek Canyon on my way out of Sedona. Top was down and I put on my driving gloves and heated seat. I snapped a final shot of the red rocks. The waning moon was watching over my twisted mountain driving.

I took a circuitous route. Flagstaff (to which I internally chuckled, since Bjork was singing "Raise your flag, higher, higher") as I navigated the pavement and concrete byways north to west. Route 66 took me through Peachtree and Valentine, former an Indian town and the latter a gorgeous rocky area with a boarded up school. I dreamt of buying the town and turning the school into a club. The rocks reminded me of my gorgeous Joshua Tree Mojave land. Then off to Kingman, where I gassed up, bought some cool water and stopped at a little rockhound stores. Picked up some purple stones and headed to Nevada.

I have had Amargosa on my to visit list for a while and here I was a mere hundred miles or so from it. I also wanted to check out Pahrump (lots of motorcycle race events are held here) and possibly Tecopa (standing water in Death Valley!). However after 5+ hours and 300 or so miles I had to bail on Amargosa. I took the turn off to Tecopa and was rewarded with a blank slate of pavement and the raw heat on blistering rocks. For a moment fear rose in my throat. It's been over 115 for the past 4 hours, I've been driving my car to the bone with not a complaint (except for that rock chipping my windshield south of Prescott, AZ). Last time I was in Death Valley the truck died and my colleague in adventure and I hitch/hiked to the nearest phone to call in for help. I did not want to repeat that adventure.

When the temperature hit 120, I rolled down my windows. In 10 seconds the heat circled through the car. Scrolling through the radio gave a Billy Corgan Smashing Pumpkins rock block! Empty roads, whiny white boy rock and heat gave my eyes their favorite delight - prehistoric landscapes. Land not touched by man. My eyes flicked from dune to mudflat to rock pile to mountain of rock. Creosote bushes gave the only color until Tecopa palms flooded the grey with green!

For a moment I considered I stopping at the hot springs (and taking a refreshing splash?!) but I headed south to the Mad Greek's swarma and carrot/orange juice. Then it was a few short hours until I hit the cool double digit Los Angeles area. I rolled into Hollywood just as the sunset painted colors across the sky.

It was a fabulous Independence Day Drive.

Declare Independence

For the past two days I have had Bjork in my head. C put it there and it won't get out. But that's ok, because it's the theme song for today: Declare Independence.

And in a few moments I will pack up MsVescent, put the top down and we will drive away from this land of red rocks. It's my Independence Day Drive through the desert!

I'm excited because I'm taking a northern route and swinging through Nevada. I may hit up Death Valley and most definitely the Mojave National Preserve. It's too bad I'm not in an offroad vehicle, because the backcountry roads I know and love best are gonna be right off the pavement. Another time.

Desert Driving, Sedona Cicada

a few choice memories from yesterday
- top down on the 10 driving heat speed
- goosebumps on my flesh when 95 on my tempeture gague and speedometer met. Was it the adreneline? the wind?
- hot desert drive, up to 116
- lunch stop in blythe
- off the beaten trail
- twisted scenic roads (but my Puima Canyon training seems to have paid off). My wheels didn't scream around the curves
- Prescott, Jermone - a city on the side of the mountain
- and then the descent into the land of red rock
- this morning, the cicadas serenade me as I drink my coffee and plan adventures for the day.

City sayonara

I'm headed to Sedona as soon as I pack this cool LA morning into my suitcase. Goodbye noisy city. Hello deserts that I love.

Brazilian Morning

Ah, the sweet moist morning before the sun rises. Water on the pavement. Stench of sweet sewer. Raking, sweeping of leaves. Cafe. Mas ondé é o pão de queijo e o cafezinho? Marisa Monte, Bossa Cuca Nova, Suba singing in my ears. I sit on Sunset Blvd watching the cars, my memory miles away. Tehno muito saudade pra Brasil, mas - mas não é pra o brasil. É pra a pessoa era. Mas, eu me lembro, e no memória, seja ella hoje.

I'll take that memory, the feeling and apply liberally to the day. It's always great when you can inspire yourself from the past. :)

Note to self:
port characters
port translation
port grammar reminder

Some reminders...

"My life is a mess, let's have a Brahma!"

"Sai dess, abre un Skol!"

"Uma cerveja antes de almoca e muito bom, pra fica pensando melhor!"

"Aproviete!"

Ah, the memories.

Queen Elvis

Blast from the past. Queen Elvis by Robyn Hitchcock...
means differently than you might think...

People get what they deserve
Time is round and space is curved
Honey, have you got the nerve
To be Queen Elvis?

See that man who mows his lawn
He'll hang in drag before the dawn
Some are made and some are born
To be Queen Elvis

It could break your mother's heart
It could break your sister's heart
Coming out's the hardest part
When you're Queen Elvis

Justify your special ways
Justify your special ways

Getting blowjobs from the press
Oh, I'm jealous can't you guess?
I could never fit your dress
Queen elvis

Oh and I'll sculpt you
So very hard
Oh and I'll sculpt you
Til you bleed

Everybody must get stoned
All together all alone
Babbling beside the throne
Of Queen Elvis

Justify your special ways
Justify your special ways

Two mirrors make infinity
In the mirror you and me
Find out just what love could be
Queen elvis

Oh and I'll sculpt you
So very hard
Oh and I'll sculpt you
Til you breathe

People get what they deserve
Time is round and space is curved
Honey, have you got the nerve
To be Queen Elvis?

Community Next

Hey Blogreaders,

Is anyone going to Community Next?

I'm thinking about going, but pricey! Anyone want to gang up and do the $150 pricing. You gotta get 3 people to sign up all at once...

If you're into it, lemme know by leaving a comment.

Experiment

For some reason, my right-click menu (I use a thinkpad) added a funny top line. Check out the screen shot below.

I like it. I only wish there was really an option to "experiment" in the right click menu. ;)
ps. if you want to find more about naughty pilates, you'll have to read my review over here. (link coming soon) I loved it!

Recapitulation - why - a Hofstader story

Recapitulation is an exercise to recall, review, release, and recharge energy.  It rids a person of assumptions and preconceptions. Recapitulation is remembering or more precisely, reviving events and experiences. [Source]

I've alluded many times to Douglas Hofstader's new book, I am a Strange Loop. One of the reasons this book fascinates me so much, is that much of Hofstader's descriptions, describe almost exactly knowledge I learned through other sources.

But first, I'll come clean. I studied and practiced the teachings of mystic G.I. Gurdjieff actively for 5 years and in a school for at least 3 of those. (Much of what I know of Wilbur's Integral Theory reminds me of those Gurdjieff lessons.) Then I flowed into Aikido and practiced martial movements and paratheatrical rituals. One fine Berkeley day, I was coming back from aikido class and on a whim, I stopped in the temporary Berkeley Library. I frequent bookstore more than libraries. I had no idea what to look for. Them I remembered someone told me about some teachings of don juan. It was the last person I talked to at college. I had no idea who the author was, so I started looking up titles. I couldn't find that particular book, but I found the section that included other books by the same author. I picked two at random and took them on vacation with me. The author turned out to be Carlos Castaneda, and the first book I read, was The Fire from Within. (Shamanism was not new to me. Another fluke library stop, more than 10 years previous got 13 year old Heather obsessed with Lynn V Andrews. I accepted these stories as the myths and fairytales I had read.) I read the stories with a skeptics disbelief - the activities in his books are truly impossible, but I found myself agreeing more and more on the explanation and belief structure. It was so similar to my own, I realized that I was holding in my hands a book I would write had this book not been written. Rather than get angry (like I did at Taoism 10 years previous) I wanted to learn more. I gave myself a year to experience these impossible things. That year was the first of many years of practice and studying personal freedom - true freedom.

So what does this have to do with Hofstader?

Much of the more difficult concepts I learn (and try to explain) about true freedom Hofstader has explained with the ease of mathematical terms, analogies and stories. He easily explains Plato's cave - much more eloquently than Plato did. Here's an excerpt he uses to explain our warehouse (of symbols) and I can use it to show the importance of recapitulation.

(book excerpt after the jump)

Bjork Days - Rolling with the changes

"I don't know my future after this weekend
and I don't want to"

Today was another rolling with the flow days. I had planned to run a bunch of errands when my car wouldn't start. Battery dead. Similar to the tire blow experience in SF, fluidly I took care of the problem. Just jumped in the truck and added a pep boys stop to the errand list. It took all of 15 more minutes out of my day. Lots of phone calls and conversations. Lots of possibilities. Even some not so good news that surprisingly didn't phase me. (I must be seasoned!) Despite all this, I hold one vision in my mind. A vision I dare not write until it starts to become real (as soon as  I buy some sheet metal!)

These are the days I love the best. When there are many possibilities, opportunities and things change on a dime in ways I could have no idea. This is the turning of the tornado. I'm not always this fluid, but when a day like today happens, I feel good. Really really good. And happy to be alive, practicing being the human I strive to be.

Dog does not eat Avocado

Yesterday I came home to find an avocado on the bed. Apparently while I was gone, the dog decided he was hungry (or more likely - wanted some attention) and jumped up and snagged the fruit. What's funny is that there was only one small puncture hole in the avocado and then it was left for naught. I guess the dog didn't want avocado after all. He has recently scored a stick of butter. Ah, the joy of pets.

Internet Radio Silence Day

Today is the Internet Radio Day of Silence (PDF). Beloved Theory Radio is going silent today. But don't tune out. SomaFM suggests

All of us at SomaFM ask that you excuse the interruption of our normal broadcasts, and ask that you take action to help ensure this silence is not permanent. Please call your Congressional Representatives today. We make it easy, and it will only take a few minutes. If you've already called your representative, please call them again and ask them why they're not supporting independent internet radio.

Even if you don't regularly listen to Internet Radio, please call and support online broadcasting. For more info and to see a list of participating stations, go here.

Thoughts Percolating

Friday I was hit with a big does of project creativity working on the various unicorn forms for my burning man camp. I was mocking out the 7ft metal structure, when staring out into the yard, I spied a pair of sawhorses. And the vision of transformation hit me. Or rather a vision that transformed the sawhorses into unicorns hit me. So I mocked it all out and proceeded to plan to work in wood.

That put on a trip down memory lane. Back to shop class in 8th grade (I was one of 4 girls) and metal working class in 7th grade. It was great fun to map out the plans and make templates/patterns. I imagined this was similar in a way to what Suz did when she was a pattern maker. And I could see the challenges in doing this work. Then I spent 2 hours at home depot gathering materials. I realized how thankful I am that I do not have to cut the trees myself or plane them for smooth edges. And I realized the amount of work it took to be a carpenter back in the day. You had to have tools, building knowledge, wood and tree knowledge (like do you want to map out your template against or with the grain of the wood?) and which wood is best for the thing you are working on?  And then of course my mind wandered to Jesus. (Disclaimer: do not think I am going all Christian on you, I am not - it's just the Jesus Year, ok.) And I was thinking about being a carpenter was about creating. Starting from a basic idea and some basic materials, a carpenter makes real an idea - cabinets, furniture, a house.

And the act of creating, the practice of creating something over and over gives one a lot of power and insight, not to mention skills.

A comment on my suicide post a few weeks ago. There is a follow-up rattling around in my head called, the human is dead, long live the human. When the human sheds its form and becomes something different and at the same time retains human shape.

Which reminds me of detachment. Recapitulation. Self-observation. The Confessional. The act of Confession, practicing Buddhist detachment, the warrior's method of recapitulation, and Gurdjieff's self-observations methods are all methods to the same end. Awareness of the many facets of our personality, (bonus points for understanding that others have many same and different facets), detaching from those facets as our ultimate identity (realizing the collection of facets is not You), and forgive oneself when those personalities manifest themselves to us/in us again.

Hey, wasn't that one of the roles of the pantheon of Gods? (I am just remembering an idea I had about this.) It was because the Gods/desses were making you do it, or you were under the influence of that Goddess, or you pissed one of them off. The Gods gave standard metaphors for a  personality characteristics that you and I have. It's a facet inside us. The gods and goddesses are in_side us. But they are not us. Yes, we are puppets of the gods, until we are master of ourselves, and then the gods are the puppets.

Anyway, enough on this subject for Sunday morning. I've got some projects to manifest.

Transcendeffervescence

A friend sent me a link to a galley page by Jonathon Earl Bowser. I don't usually go for this type of imagry, but one caught my eye. Gee, I wonder why??? Source.

Now, if she only had purple hair....

Double Booked! Anger

Argh!!! I never never never been able to go to Scott's uber fun Laughing Squid party - even though I have been a charter customer. For almost 10 years. This year, the problem is that I forgot to mark the event on my calendar and then I promptly scheduled myself stunt car driving school.

STUNT CAR DRIVING SCHOOL vs SQUID LIST PARTY

Arghghghghghghghgh! What would you do?

Post Claim

Pay no attention. Nothing to look at here... just some behind the curtains wizard work going on...
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geek d1nner takes over uWink

That was fun. First off - the announcements:
- Did anyone notice LAists coverage of the geek dinner? Here's a little ego-rub (no I did not pay her to write that. I am not that clever.

Thank Heathervescent for bringing LA's true geeks together in a social setting and for two years straight. Heather brings together some of the most interesting, talented and fun geeks in town to eat, swap demos and sometimes even grab some swag.

- Twiistup 2 announced for August 8th in Venice! Your's Truly is gonna host! (Twiistup also sponsored dessert for the geek dinner! Woo!)

- BarcampLA4 is October 6 & 7 @ Little Radio (that the weekend after PodCast Expo in Ontario, California)
- geek dinners are now available for sponsorship. I'm offering very affordable sponsorship options to help
build the LA Technology community. Contact me for details.

- Next geek dinner is July 17th @ Galanga. More details coming up.

And now, onto the fun. We had a great turn out and seven brave souls took to the stage (ahem chair) and did PPT Karaoke which was projected on the wall. I passed out swag and had great conversations with lots of familiar faces. Rizwan was awesome liasioning between us and uWink. The system was a lot more stable from our previous visit, even getting a networked game of trivia going. We also had the flickr stream projecting photos of past barcamps and geek dinners. Riz even took us back into the cooler, ahem, server room and showed off the servers. I heard that Nolan stopped by for a bit, but I missed him. Brent was off in China, and missed the fun. Beyond that, the restaurant was packed. uWink is doing a good business and there are plans to open up additional locations - some closer to the usual geek dinner locations. So we are definitely staying in the loop.

Thanks to everyone who came out! That was a lot of fun.

Kiva in Action + Kiva extended

I've been watching Kiva for a while now. My pal Kareem first told me about it last year and I checked into it and then promptly forgot about it. Well, I didn't really forget about it. I started thinking about it in a new way.

You see, I love science - scientific research - scientific breakthroughs. So Kiva got me started thinking about a way for scientists to fund their research with private microinvestments - similar to what Kiva is doing. Now, this mental masturbation distracted me from Kiva itself, and I started mapping out what kind of site it would take to set up a Kiva structure for scientific research. Here's a story about a researching who went and found independent research monies (thanks S for the link). And then there is Moller, who has been working on his dream for a long time. I think this is a great idea, and I definately want to make it happen. So if you want to collaborate with me (hi M!) then let's talk.

But back to Kiva. Kareem recently reminded me about the site again and this time, instead of getting sidetracked in my own ideas, I executed. For less than the price of dinner, I could make someone's dream come true, I could help the world and Kiva made it possible for me to do it. I started looking through the borrowers. I wanted to pick one where my amount would be the final amount and then the loan funded. I found Olga, who is a furniture maker. My $25 was the final amount to fund her $1000 loan.

As I was looking through borrowers, another story caught my eye. Maria lives in Mexico and runs a grocery store. She is 1 year younger than me and has 8 children! Wow. What a totally different life. I contributed $25 to her loan (which is about to be funded).

To realize that $50 can make a difference in Olga and Maria's lives make me ... grateful for being able to help. Make me realize that I really am in a privileged position and I must do everything I can to raise the pyramid from the bottom - not scramble to the top.

You too can make a different. With a tiny amount of money. $25 is so little. Please join me and help raise the pyramid from the bottom. Because in doing so, you raise yourself as well.

PPTs for tonight's g33k d1nner meeting

I am about to jump in the car and drive to Woodland Hills for tonight's geek dinner, but first, here are the ppts that I've queued up for tonight's fun.

Reporting Web Analysis
An Introduction to Second Life
Why we wait for the babel fish
Venture Capital post web 2.0
Logo digitage web 2.0
Using and Enabling the emerging GeoStack
Disruptive tech lifestyle
GeoBlinki!
KFC
Que es la web 2.0?
Social Software for Robots
Web 2.0 and mashups

Ok, that's probably enough. But wow, we're gonna have to do this more often. And it's a great way to get caught up on those conferences you missed. Now, that gives me an idea...

Even if you can't make it tonight, these are some good presos to check out. Thanks to slideshare.net!

What's good?

Looking at icanhascheezburger with my mom on the phone - and hearing her lol!

LOLCode Recap

LOLCATS_2
Originally uploaded by heathervescent.

Well, that was fun.

• Lol Code
• Lol Code Spec
• Lol Web Compiler
• Lolcats Buildr

My notes after the jump.

 

lolcode

Yo, taking a break from the lolcats programming class@Machine.

cat macros create a .gif economy and reinforce social bonds. Ok, then here's my first .gif received.

 

A New Look

I thought it was about time to refresh the look of the old heathervescent blog. If you read this in a feedreader, why don't you pop on over and take a look. (And if you're looking and thinking WTF, why don't you do a hard refresh on your browser right now.)

Oh, and why you are here, why don't you subscribe. And add me to your technorati favorites too. *mwoh*

Kicking it Old School Social Networking Style

Last Friday, C (aka Patient Zero) and I were taking a little internet walkabout and I ended up at Ryze. I was wondering if it was still around and it IS!!!! I was saying how Ryze was the first online social network - and she was saying that Friendster was the first social one because Ryze was "business networking". Well anyone who was on Ryze in the early days knows that it had a different ... ahem, reputation. I consider it was the first social network for all practical purposes.

So when I came across my old (le original heathervescent) social network identity it was a trip down memory lane. I wondered what happened to Ryze. Why is it not being used? I created one of the first (beta) "tribes" (before tribe). Then I started skipping through my friends profiles. Ryze is where I met C. Imagine my delight in reading the friends of my friends and finding people I didn't know then, but do know now. Two stand out - Scout and danah (don't kill me for linking to your profiles). When I met Scout in person at New Years and we shared a few words, we found out we had circulated in the same circles when I lived in the Bay Area, but never actually met. What a delight to meet someone new from a common circle. danah has gone on to be one of the de-facto voices on social networks and teens. I didn't meet her until we were in the same session at Blogher last year. Two people I could have met 5 years ago.

But isn't it interesting? where we started and ended up? Like ourselves, the social networks are evolving and changing. And that is the most interesting part of the internet. The easy creation of an personality snippet in time. And the ability to go back to that snippet and remember.

Planned Funness

yay! I am learning lolcode this weekend.
10 day waiting period over next week.
Stunt Car Driving Dream scheduled for next month!

Fko Interuption

We interrupt the two posts in process with this one - of pictures. Buck has his bday party this weekend and received Meat Shorts from Kasey and Vanessa. Totally awesome. I brought a cake for the birthday boy (Sparatacu5 aka Buck.). See how nice it looks? And totally color coordinated as well.

Later, nosebleeds were the rule of the evening. There is more than one make-up artist in the house. And we sang America (by Neil Diamond). Neil Diamond Rules. (Thanks mom!!!)

And here's me sporting my unicorn temporary tattoo! Watch out for Rainbow Unicorn Camp! I'm just saying.

Now back to some serious cognitive science & mathematics yo!
* All photos by kmo (my co-singer in photo 2)
And yeah, I am digging on the purple!

4 Virtues

I was having an IM conversation with a friend this morning where she reminded me of one of the four virtues: Ruthlessness. Since I could only remember 2 of the 4: sweetness and ruthlessness, I wanted to remember the other two. I could have looked to my books, which was what I did at first, but lacking finding the volume I wanted in 1 minute, I returned to my computer and googled the two words. The very first item that came up - was a post on the subject from my old Aikido teacher, Nick Walker. Reminded they are

• Ruthlessness
• Cunning
• Sweetness
• and Patience

He's got a good overview of them:

Patience and sweetness are almost universally regarded as virtues, even by those who don't possess them, while cunning and ruthlessness are generally not regarded as virtuous traits. This is because so much evil is perpetrated by those who possess cunning and ruthlessness but are deficient in patience and sweetness. Ruthlessness, as I understand Castaneda's use of the term, isn't the same as callousness or bloodlust. It's the ability to draw a line, to stand firm, to do what has to be done no matter who it pisses off, to do the right thing even if it's not the polite thing. Gandhi and Martin Luther King were masters of combining ruthlessness, patience, and sweetness.

Cunning, as near as I've been able to figure out, is largely the ability to make clear-headed tactical decisions, including decisions as to how and in what measure to apply the other three virtues in a given situation.

Cunning is indeed one of the trickiest virtues. And that is part of the meta-phor. (Oh I love that one!) It's akin to trickery - which might seem like betrayal, and it is, and yet not. Cunning is the mobius strip. It is the trickery of the spirit. It's controlled folly. A Godel reflection on PM aka a strange loop (I can't help Hofstader jumping in after reading 3 chapters on proofs, godel, and PM aka Principia Mathematica). Cunning uses you as a puppet, or tool and with full awareness of the use and still being used. And cunning is using things and situations for your use to explain, create synchronicity, magic or any number of other illuminations.

But all these virtual have many layers. And I have been on both sides, meting out and receiving blows from each of them time and time again. And each provides a deeper layer of the onion. Today, was the ruthless reminder. And it did not go unnoticed. Thank you!

Weekend Highlights

What I did this weekend

• Remington
• Garden
• The Sickness
• I am a strange loop
• Relax
• Indian Jones dream
• Nose bleed party (Everyone in nosebleeds!)

What I didn't do this weekend

• the land auction
• the gun show
• the future salon
• pixelodian

And here is a video for your Monday morning pleasure.

Quiet = Blackness in the Universe

Again I've been quiet. It's because I'm working on several tracks simultaneously. It's like those darks spots in the universe. It's not black because it's void. It's black because something is here blocking the light. Well, my quietness is here because I'm talking other places.

1. It's amazing to have weekends back. For pretty much the first 6 months of the year, I was busy. Now, everything is wide open. Funny, that now I have a dopplr account and have few travel plans.

2. I am dreaming about the desert and my flock of goats again. I'm sure I'll buy desert property before the end of the year. And I still have my 40 days to spend out there.

3. Rainbow Unicorn Camp. In a fit of inspiration, I have decided to coordinate Rainbow Unicorn Camp at Burning Man this year. It will be inside Gigsville, because I love Gigsville. I have been spending the last couple weeks planning out the insanity. I had planned to build two art cars and some flaming fire structures in addition to shade structures, but I think that's a little aggressive. Especially with all my other projects going on.

4. Work has been going great. I'm working on two new websites, in addition to my regular clients. And I've got two additional projects (websites) slated after the first two launch. More news on those in a couple weeks.

5. Doggy Love. Romeo has stolen my heart. I was not really a dog person. I really love cats (and goats and chickens), but this dog - he is so cute and we have so much fun together. It's awesome.

6. Keep on plugging on. I'm really excited about everything I am working on. I remember back when, when I worked in an office and how I dreamed of the "independent" lifestyle. It's take a lot of work to get here - mostly reframing my mindset (which I continue to have to do) and take these jumps and leaps of faith. And it has challenged me and made me grow in so many ways (and I can yet see many more ways I need to grow). Sometimes it's frustrating seeing all the things about yourself you can improve. But it's inspiring to see my projects take off, and it's exciting to influence and activate people to follow their own dreams.

Here's a great example. My friend Melanie (who kicks ass in so many ways I probably don't even know yet) was in my Fusion group a couple months ago. One of the things we (everyone in our group) tried to do was convince Melanie to color her hair (purple! we said - inspired by my own purple hair). However she was not having any of it. During the weekend she had also mentioned how much she liked the "do you know who I am?" t-shirt. So I hooked her up with one and she surprised me back with this photo. Score one for Melanie on achieving her goals!

Reminder: LA G33k D1nn3r June 19th

Here's your monthly reminder for the geek dinner. We had a great time last month in Chinatown - Jellyfish - Yum!

We didn't break uWink last time, so we're back, and we are able to do ppt karaoke. So bring your powerpoints on a flash drive in PDF or HTML format.

Details are at the usual location:http://barcamp.org/BarCampLA-Geek14
Upcoming: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/196450/

# Date: June 19th, 8pm dinner, uWink, Map
# 6100 Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Woodland Hills, California 91367 at the Westfield Promenade
# Reservation under "Heather"

Thanks to the Riz for coordinating. I think I have a sponsor covering desert and I'll bring more swag so be sure to RSVP if you be the LA geek.

Star Wars

Star Wars
Originally uploaded by SReed99342.

Yikes! Who are the good guys now?

WonderTwins

Twiistup 1
Originally uploaded by mikemacadaan.

Mike Macadaan is my wonder twin. Here's a photo of us from Twiistup1 - a technology event he produced here in LA.

Socially Underground

June has arrived, and with that, my calendar has emptied. For months and months I've had every weekend booked, most evenings booked and been basically running from one thing to another, when not working on several projects. That kind of experience is great for my self-importance, and it keeps the activity level high but it's not what I'm really all about. In addition, I've been slowing down my email and internet consumption. I finished the Lathe of Heaven, then I went on to read Stanislav Grof's impossible happenings and now I'm reading Douglas Hofstadter's I am a strange loop. These are my favorite types of books. I love the culmination of technology, identity and consciousness.

So this blog post is just to say, that yeah, I know I haven't been out and about recently, and I probably will not be as much out and about, because I'm working on some things that are really important to me. And soon, I'll share them with you.

Corporate Lunch

Mobley Cafe aka The Hilton Employee Cafe
Originally uploaded by heathervescent.

I had lunch with some friends in Beverly Hills yesterday and although they don't work for Hilton, we ate at the Hilton Corporation Employee Cafeteria. It reminded me of corporate life back in the Valley (Silicon Valley!) and since we were talking tech, it was all good. I actually quiet enjoyed myself.

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.