Oscar the Homeless Grouch

I went to a party themed "Sesame St. Apocalypse" this weekend.  

I went as Oscar after he has to sell the trashcan after running out of money.  

It's probably because there are separate recycling bins for cans and bottles now so Oscar lost a major source of revenue.  Maybe he should get into the e-waste business.  

Also, wearing tights over slippers is fun and make for the perfect muppet feet!  Your feet get sweaty, though.  

Frank the Frankentable

I made a table out of some scrap wood from a shelf and an ikea table top that has two heights - coffee table and dinner table height.

I used hinges and then window sash locks.

It was really fun!  Window sash locks aren't the most structurally sound, though.  If we changed heights frequently, they might break.  But oh well, they look cool.

 ratcheting screw drivers are awesome!

so are clamps, magnets, and glue!

it LIVES!!!
as a dinner table

as a coffee table

New Hat

Yeah, I'm finally tired of sun in my eyes + baked forehead.  This way I don't have to wear sunglasses, sunscreen or worry about getting a glasses tan.

 

Eloquent Thoughts

I'm working on two research papers, both of which have the potential to be very good, and I was just thinking today, "I just need to not procrastinate like crazy so that I get a reasonable product instead of a giant pile of crap."

Main Interests

Today someone asked me what my main focus is for my career, and I momentarily forgot.  It occurred to me I need to have a more rehearsed answer for when people ask me this so here goes.

I have several main interests, and they are:

1.) carbon footprinting of banking and financial sector.
2.) decision making, data management, and information systems,
3.) social entrepreneurship

Where the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill of 2009 went wrong?

In the first term of the Obama administration, a big healthcare bill was passed while the Waxman-Markey climate change bill, otherwise known as ACES, sputtered out.

I read an article in my Energy Policy class by Theda Skocpol that had an interesting hypothesis about why the climate change bill didn't pass.
Naming the Problem: What It Will Take to Counter Extremism and Engage Americans in the Fight against Global Warming

According to the article, it's not because there's only enough political capital for one policy (see page 19) nor is it because there was not enough support from the White House (see page 18).  Instead, one major difference between the campaigns for ACES and Obamacare is that the proponents for the climate bill focused more on insider bargaining and media ads while a coalition outside the beltway was formed for healthcare known as HCAN (see pages 42 - 46).  The new coalition engaged interest groups outside of the beltway and influenced law-making.  HCAN formed the bridge between the Democratic DC insiders and the progressives further to the left outside DC ("liberal elite" + "hippies").  In contrast, efforts by cap and trade proponents are characterized by one-way communications from DC to the public (see page 47).

Fava Beans Look So Pretty

Fava beans are in season!  I boiled beets and fava beans in the same water, and it was pretty.

unlikely-look-a-likes

It occurred to me that Michael Cera looks kinda like Chinese comedian Feng Gong.

Survival and a cat dream

For some reason the humans had to run away.  We were on some really large planet/world that was inhabited by other advanced species, though.  I was part of a group of 6 friends.  We went to some place that was like a desert with a lot of rocks.  It was kind of like Arizona. We then found a place that was inhabited by some advanced species/alien race.  We went in a deserted house, and some of the lights turned on but not all of them.  I went into a bathroom that had a shower and had a lot of stainless steel.  You needed special permissions to turn on additional lights or to use the shower.  I tried to turn on the shower anyway, and then alarms went off so we had to run away again back to the desert.  Then we came across some more greenery.  It was an area inhabited by yet another species.  They looked like humans so we realized we could blend in.  We then went to a restaurant/motel, and our server was a woman who was being really friendly and explaining about the relationship between their species and the humans.  The restaurant was a series of wooden booths that had cushioned seating around a large square wooden table.  It was sort of like a covered patio.  After eating, I laid back and fell asleep.  I pooped my pants in my sleep (in my dream not real life) and was trying to figure out how to get up and go to the bathroom inconspicuously.  But then a cat came and walked all over me.  I pet it even though I was still asleep (in my dream).  The cat sat down next to my head and was purring.  It felt so real that I opened my eyes in real life to check if there was a cat, but there wasn't.

I need to draw the different scenes at some point.

Recology Exhibit

The SFO airport has a fun recology exhibit in Terminal 3!