spicy! tonight i headed over to orochon ramen with hong and jenn to eat some incredibly good miso ramen. the cool thing is that after choosing your ramen flavor, you get to choose a level of spiciness (from 1-7, 7 being the least spicy). i went with "osae orochon" (level 5), the first one under the "launch!" category, and i think that was perfect. somehow jenn managed "impact orochon" (level 3) which is pretty impressive. the crazy part is that it goes beyond "extreme orochon" (level 1). there are two higher levels, "special 1" and "special 2" under the "eat at your own risk" category. apparently "special 2" is the ultimate... i wonder what its like. here's a picture of the menu.

wav 5 continues to progress nicely and of course we have some amazing surprises in store. it continues to pick up subscribers and there's been alot of great fanmail and praise, which definitely makes me feel good about what we're doing. the magazine isn't perfect, but nothing is, and i think we're getting some good information across to a receptive audience. thanks to cool hunting for the blurb which boosted our traffic and subscriptions. i think they summarized the magazine best, hitting it pretty much spot on:

"A casual writing style and eclectic layout belie the glossy's youth (this is only their fourth issue), but that's often the case from what's likely the output of a no-sleep work ethic of an underpaid and understaffed independent publisher."

'twas a great, relaxing weekend stuffed with nanospore unveilings, fried bananas with brown sugar and green-tea ice cream, endless battles of mario power tennis interrupted by endless battles of kirby's avalanche, surreal discussions of the existence of future wives and their current whereabouts, basketball, and castlevania-inspired guitar solos. good times.

i got an envelope addressed to "ms. shadi a muklashy," which was a little insulting. inside were two complementary tickets (a $300 value!) to the "women's conference." apparently this conference features "6 of the greatest super stars all live and in person ... sharing with you their life changing stories and inspiring you to achieve your unlimited potential." and, quoting from the rest of the invitation:

at this once in a lifetime women's conference you will learn how to:

1. use the 7 keys to build lasting relationships at home and on the job.
2. apply the 21 secrets of self-discipline to always look and feel young.
3. be recognized and rewarded for your efforts.
4. buy real estate for 31%-48% below market value.
5. rapidly expand your circle of influence.
6. develop opportunities for networking.
7. use the top money-making secrets millionaires are using.
8. improve the quality of your life and the lives of your loved ones.
9. use the essential principles of highly successful women.

EDIT: for my buddy, and a better self. :)

i was cleaning up some unpacked boxes last night and stumbled upon one of my favorite photos, and it made me cry a little bit. its hard to look at it - it seems so foreign. two happy faces from the not-so-distant past. it used to sit on my desk at work and i loved looking at it. now it seems surreal. its amazing how a moment frozen in time, can bring you happiness or sadness depending on when you look at it. it seems that time is the only antidote to mend the heart... arg.

well, one method of time-passing is to set up for nanospores! the show's gonna be cool...

what a wondrous eve.

kazu and amy treated myself, david and chris to some delicious home-cooked korean barbeque which i've never had before. its pretty fun to wrap some garlic, spicy sauce, meat and rice in a piece of lettuce and munch it down. top it off with some asian pear and you have yourself a deal.

earlier, on the drive back from santa barbara, i kept seeing brighter and brighter flashes of light as i neared LA, but for some reason it didn't seem like lightning. it was definitely lightning, and its been getting closer as the night rolls on. apparently a bolt hit a tree right by kazu's house after i left and set it on fire, and fire trucks had to come put it out. madness! the last crack was so loud and powerful, i decided i had to record these booms. i just got out some recording gear, and waited. and waited. of course, no more thunder. i am managing to pick up some japanese radio stations while touching the cables though, pretty weird. i'm gonna stick it out for a while longer to try and capture that thunder...

it is raining though, and i love sleeping to the sound of rain.

after a good run of basketball with the wav crew and some friends, the io core headed over to the studio/control room to rehearse. we cooked up some solid material... i am so excited about this project and all it stands for. here's a photo from our journey, and there's more in the gallery:

i've also posted some snapshots from my figure drawing sketchpad in the art section. i'm aware of my obvious lack of skill in this area, but i wouldn't forgive myself to not post it up here. i'm glad i took the class as i learned some valuable lessons and met some great people.

this week i joined the engineering crew (around 100+ now) at work for our tech retreat to catalina. we ferried over from long beach landing and arrived in avalon, greeted by perfect weather and beautiful land/seascapes. right away, we were guided to our awaiting golf carts, ready for our island fact-finding challenge. our team was one man short, but we were ready for the challenge as i drove the cart along the path. avalon/catalina is beautiful, and i really enjoyed driving the speed-regulated-20-mph cart around the paths and avenues, taking photos and soaking up the sun. the town is awesome... golf carts everywhere. its like some fantasy bumper-car town. our team did an excellent job of fact-hunting, talking to the locals, and data gathering. i couldn't pass up the opportunity to draw avalon's famous 'casino' when we came to that part of our guide. this drawing netted us 30 bonus points, and our team came in first place! we all got ipod shuffles, crazy! i have to figure out when i'm going to use it now...


the rest of the day was occupied by setting up camp, enjoying a nice toasty fire, laughing at jokes/stories/impersonations, avoiding very large campground deer, singing along to campfire songs and participating in (i got recruited) a good old fashioned skit. it was truly relaxing...


the next day we walked back into town from our campsite and it was basically a free for all. after a nice burger and beer at luau larry's, i went to see the tour of the casino ballroom which was actually pretty incredible... i have to remember to try and set up a gig there some day if possible. i took a ton of photos, viewable in the normal spot.

she was drawn to my eyes,
i was drawn to her boldness.
we peaked around our barriers
of fire and ice,

and we danced!

she loved our silence;
i loved our innocence.
but she was smothered with attention,
so she tasted from another.

though the storm had passed
the water seeped into everything -
our flesh, our veins, our hearts,
our foundation.

she learned to hate our silence
and she missed the attention,
so she walks with another.

now we dance our separate ways.

there's a piece of me inside of her
and when she moves around,
i can feel it shuffle.

big things are brewing; the future draws near. are you excited? we certainly are. 2:00am, nucleus lot, lone jetta awaiting cargo:

yesterday was a kick-back day full of barbequed goodness and lengthy, lengthy space-jams in the studio. good times! today, i celebrated by purchasing a brand new refrigerator. its sweet, has plenty of space (18.3 cu ft), an energy-saver, and black! i think it fits me.

yesterday was a day to celebrate the female. to kick it off, we focused on muscle groups in life drawing and the female nude. i added some photos of our school, classroom, and our instructor's lecture pad to the photos section.

later we all headed over to the nucleus for the opening night of the girl show. this featured over 40 female artists depicting the feminine in some way, shape or form. there were so many awesome pieces of art, it was overwhelming. the place was so packed too you could barely move, and the dj's were pumping out some cool music. top if off with some awesome and interesting people, bra and panty shaped cookies, some mixed drinks and some late night food and you have yourself one good time. stay tuned for the next issue of wav for some interviews with some of the artists and a write up of the show, and check the photos section for more pics.

today i drove out to santa barbara to catch dredg. i had alot of time to kill before the show, so i picked up some food and walked out to ellwood to enjoy it. its been a while since i've been there and it was really nice to see it, touch it, smell it; it was very therapeutic to sit on a log, enjoy a sandwich and just think. here's a photo from the sunset, more are in the gallery.

after a couple hours i drove out to velvet jones only to find out that the show was sold out. i wasn't used to buying tickets at vj, so this was unexpected and frankly i was unprepared. my friends were already on their way to meet me from LA. eventually after a bunch of phone calls we thought we had some hookups to get in the club, but they just let us in anyway. dredg rocked it. they seemed more 'punk' about the whole performance... not so anal about nailing everything perfectly. they seemed to be a little looser, which is actually nice - somehow more real. they got some copies of wav and i left a stack at the table by the door. people seemed to be grabbing them right away. a great night, i'm exhausted. zzz.

the ratio of how much our country spends time and money killing as opposed to saving lives is staggering. if bush could run for a third term (thank god he can't), i doubt louisiana would re-elect him. my heart goes out to those suffering in new orleans and iraq.