Video Phone Magic

Recently, Nokia armed a handful of film makers with their model N8 phone and gave them the challenge of filming a short film entirely on the cell phone. I find the quality comparable to professional movie cameras which goes to show that you don't need expensive equipment to make something of quality.

Below is the winning film which I find very clever:

buuuut... this one is super cute:

You can find other Nokia Shorts 2011 entries here.

I don't want to complain...

...but I'm going to anyways.

This summer season, I have been introduced to the real world. This requires working 7AM to 5PM, and sitting in at least two hours of rush hour traffic each day. It sucks. Really real world? This is how you are? Please help encourage me to look forward to my future post-grad life, not run away from it!

Don't get me wrong, I feel fortunate that I was able to find a job in this economy and have all the learning opportunities that came with it. For example, I now know new ways to disguise my distaste for people who complain because they chose to be lazy and not "Read this entire manual before setting up your product". Also, I know that I do NOT want to be one of those "let me talk to your supervisor" people, as well as the perks of reading the fine print. Most importantly, I now know that a cubicle nor a call center are places I would want to be...not that I ever wanted to be there in the first place. This office job experience has just inspired me to work harder towards my goals to avoid falling into a job that doesn't require intellectual challenges or adventures.

Even though this summer is almost over and I have only seen a few glimpses of the sun, I would conclude that my time spent in the cold, windowless office has been worthwhile. I just need to jam-pack my last few weeks full of family, friends, adventures, and food. I just need make some room to pack for France too!

Bodhi Tree Vegetarian Café

     During my very short spring break, I went to lunch with my best friend in my hometown. We went to Bodhi Tree Vegetarian Café to use the great Groupon I bought. Everything on the menu is meat free but, it was confusing how dishes were labeled with meat in the title. Hali, my beautiful best friend, has been a vegetarian since birth so she had to check multiple times with the waiter that it was in fact mock fish she was eating, and not the real thing.

     For an appetizer, we ordered spring rolls with this incredible peanut and something-else-I-can't-remember sauce.  Our lunch specials came with soup, a mound of brown rice, their version of chow mein noodles and the entrée. The food was delicious to say the least. After that, we still had money left on our Groupon so, we indulged on some vegan parfaits. Luckily, I have another Groupon so I plan on going back!

So, here I am...

 ...in my attempt to look more put together.

It's difficult to do this because I am in that transition phase from a place where I didn't have that much responsibility or professional acknowledgment, to a place where everyone I meet might be my future colleague or employer. So, I decided that I need to at least make an effort each morning to appear professional. Don't get me wrong, I love fashion, dressing up, and getting compliments on my clothes or my put-togetherness however, sometimes sweatpants and a messy bun seem much more practical for these college days that I usually spend in the library, alone. But I'm not a sloppy person so, I want to never appear that way. Here's to change... and possibly some very mild narcissism when it comes to posting photos of myself.

Finals and a new obsession

   Winter quarter's finals felt chaotic but, looking back, they weren't all that bad. To tell the truth, during winter quarter I really only focused on my Primate Behavior class and that continued into finals week. I know that I'm paying a ridiculous amount of money for my education and I should absorb every ounce of information thrown at me, however, last quarter Archaeology did not catch my interest and Transformative Action came too easy to me. But Primate Behavior, I will cherish that class forever.
     For my final paper in that thought provoking class, I decided to research and write on a topic only briefly mentioned in class: what is the function and trigger of bimaturism in adult male orangutans? Before I explain this topic know that it fascinates me so much that I plan to do more independent research and continue to develop the paper. Adult male orangutans come in two different phenotypes, one appears juvenile while the other develops secondary sexual characteristics such as fatty cheek flanges, a throat sac, long hair, and extra weight. Although the these two types appear completely different, they can be the same age. It seems that there can only be a few "mature" males in a given area so there must be a reason for this. Many anthropologists and primatologists speculate that too many males in a given area leads to too much aggression and risk amongst them so other males remain juvenile-looking in order to avoid aggression and survive longer. Eventually every male will "mature" and develop the extra traits and this fact made me wonder what determines which individual will develop over others. So I did the research and it appears that  no one really knows what or why. Well, I'm determined to find out and I would like to do field and lab research on the topic in the future. It would be incredible to work with orangutans and learn about them and their bimaturism. Maybe if the reason and trigger is discovered it would shed some light on human maturity, diversity, and evolution. I can only hope!

Here are some pictures of orangutans for your enjoyment :)

Snow in Santa Cruz?

On the morning of February 26th, 2011, it snowed in Santa Cruz, California. 

Now I know the photo above looks like a piece of hail but, it was the only "snow" I could find that didn't melt right away. It was silly to see everyone come out of their California apartments barefoot and in their pajamas while it was "snowing". I'm 20 years old and  it was the first time I had ever seen snow fall out of the sky. Events like this make me want to go to the east coast all bundled up in coats and gloves. I want to take a trip to New York, Boston, or D.C.!

Garden Food: Part 3

I'm still catching up on all these Garden posts! Three weeks ago we made a giant pot of minestrone soup, pesto pasta, and salad. This week we made lentil chili tacos with avocado, and salad with three types of edible flowers!