American Clay Walls

As you may know, it's been an utter pig sty in our house due to the recent renovations. A major milestone was accomplished just a couple of days ago. After many months of discussion, we finally hired someone, Jamie Cole (jamiecoleis@gmail.com), the owner of earthinteriors, to apply American Clay to our walls.
The price was prohibitive, but we absolutely love the swirling, sparkling, rock-like effect . "American Clay" is a natural non-VOC emitting clay that we learned about from Calie, our interior designer. It has more of a Southwest feel than regular Italian plaster.

I would recommend our artisan, Jamie Cole (jamiecoleis@gmail.com) again. He charged about half as much as other artisans (about $4.50/sq. ft.), which is still very expensive. This charge includes materials, but does not include color matching. Honestly, I can see why this process is so expensive. Jamie said he nearly got carpal tunnel syndrome when he first started out. The mixing of the American Clay, and the troweling looked like it required more muscle power than I have, and I'm no slacker in the strength department. Also, the rocklike burnishing looked like it required quite a lot of experience and skill. However, if I had to do it again, and if we weren't buried in other house projects, I think I might give the troweling a try.

Below is a picture of the colorant being added to the American Clay "Luma" mix.
The picture below does not do our wall justice as the wall is still drying, explaining the dark black spots on the wall. But note the sparkles and the rock like burnishing.

Christmas in Seattle 2007

This Christmas was spent in Mukilteo at my fiance's parent's house. Mukilteo is a suburb just North of Seattle. This is perhaps the fourth time I've visited the Seattle area, and as usual, the time has been extremely pleasant and enjoyable.

Christmas in my fiance's household comprises of 3 things: (1) Christmas decorations up the wazoo, (2) lots of movies, and (3) sitting on the couch. Above is the magnificient Christmas Tree that Mark's mom decorated this year. Mark's mom is famous for her Christmas decorations. This year's Christmas tree is the best I've ever beheld. Note the Christmas ornaments inlaid deep within the tree itself, and note also the tree's perfectly symmetrical tiers.

Below is a typical scene of watching Christmas movies in the comfortable den.
Finally, our nephew, "Toss". The only grandchild yet to grace my fiance's family.

Christmas Dance Performances

This Christmas, I've been unusually blessed by attending two moving, and artistic dance performances:

Nuestra Navidad

Nuestra Navidad is a collection of Christmas inspired Mexican folkloric dances that my friend, Coco, performed in. Coco has been taking Mexican folkloric dance lessons all year, and she has really been enjoying them. She really stressed to me how serious the dances were, and how each individual region in Mexico had their own dance nuances.

First of all, I really appreciated the multicultural audience that surrounded me at the Montgomery Theater, in San Jose. There were Spanish speaking families around me, but also Asians, blacks and whites, as well. My own friend, Coco, who danced, is Chinese, but with the makeup, she was indifferentiable from the other performers on stage. This was so typical of California: anything and anyone goes.

What I had envisioned before the performance was what most people think of Mexican dance: blaring horn music, and joyful and festive twirling of colorful skirts. In actuality, the performance was very reverent of tradition, and solemn in nature. One particular dance stood out in my mind. The women were dressed in cowboy hats and gorgeous skirts. The music was haunting and sad, reminiscent of bluegrass music. The beginning of the dance had a peasant girl slowly being dressed up as the Virgin Mary. It was very moving in its ritual slowness as the peasant girl slowly took on the role of the Virgin Mary. Later on in the long, 10 minute+ dance I was moved virtually to tears by the rustic singing combined with the simple ritual dances, speaking volumes about the hard life these simple Mexican peasants must have led.

Coco was particularly humorous as an old man in a long chain of old men with walking sticks. As the women danced at the forefront of the stage, the old men would topple, and would get dragged off the stage by their fellow geriatrics. All in all, a very worthwhile performance that I was glad to have attended.

Nutcracker Ballet

I wanted to feel Christmasy this year, inspite of all the renovation that is going on in our house, and I thought that inviting friends to the Nutcracker Ballet would infuse us with the right amount of Christmas spirit. I certainly wasn't disappointed.

My coworker, M, came with her husband all the way from the Concord region. Her rationale for attending: "I've never seen a ballet performance before, and I may never will when I retire and move up to Oregon, so here's my chance." My friends, J and E, newly announced that they are getting married and are going to have a child, also attended.

There are certain things about a live performance that a superior televised performance can't beat. The San Jose Ballet is nothing to speak of in terms of prestige, or even size, but I can say that I was completely transported by the story, the byproduct of an innocent young girl's fantastical imagination. And the performance of the lead ballerina, the role of the young girl, as well as the performance by the Tsarina, were particularly impressive, not necessarily by their technique, but by their individual style.

Maria was played by a Japanese ballerina, Mira Noda who played the role with particular verve, and spunk. As she danced with the Nutcracker doll, I sensed a tenderness and vulnerability that I've never sensed from the televised performances. And when she danced with the prince, she flitted about like a hummingbird.

I forget the name of the African American women who played the role of the Tsarina (or Sugar Plum Fairy) but she was also set apart by her style. She danced with a combination of athleticism and haughtiness that I really enjoyed. I'm sure noone has ever seen a televised performance of the Sugar Plum Fairy performed with the same sort of arrogance and muscularity.

Outer Pinnacles on Dave's Boat

My goal for this dive was to get wet after 3 months off with no diving. Therefore, when Dave M. said he was diving on his boat on Saturday, I jumped on the opportunity. (I'm trying out my new philosophy of having fun for fun's sake.)

This time I came prepared for the cold, bringing an entire garbage back full of two layering fleeces, hats, ski jacket and ski gloves. I will tell you now that it didn't work. I was still rendered incapacitated by the cold of the 50 degree F Carmel waters, made much much worse by the heaving of the ocean on Dave's boat. I can't wait for my drysuit, which is coming in the middle of December, I can tell you. Also, the next time I go, I will be medicated with Scopalamine, for sure.

Details of the dive:

Dive #148
Depth: 78 ft
Time: 29 minutes
Visibility: 40-50 feet
Surgey: 6 feet

As we descended along the anchor line, my view was initially met by a school of 60 strong blue fish. I lingered in the school for a moment before fighting the current to the anchor line.

The next thing that came to view as we descended was bull kelp being thrashed about by the surge. Imagine three foot long green ribbons on a mound of rock headbanging in the waves. It was kind of amusing to see Dan trying to take pictures with the surge pushing him 3 feet in each direction.

When the bull kelp wasn't being flung into our faces, I was able to see wonderful colors and wildlife. Imagine a myriad of pink, purple and yellow hydrocorals (up north, California Purple Hydrocoral isn't just purple, I was told, but come in a variety of colors). Sculpins, kelp greenlings, strawberry anemones and sponges completed the tableau. A cabezon rested on a sponge. There was a glimpse of an enormous ling cod tail as it flitted into a cavern.

On the safety stop, we encountered a group of gorgeous sea nettles (see pic of sea nettles above). I think Dan took a picture of me getting close to a watermelon sized sea nettle before I finally backed off.

Afterthoughts

1. I am overweighted at 14 lbs. I plummeted like a stone at 60 feet. Also, the safety stop was hard to maintain and I ranged from 12 feet to 30 feet. I guess all that working out is paying off pound for pound in muscle.

2. At London Bridge Pub, where we had lunch and coffee afterwards, a bunch of instructors/old salts gave Dave a hard time about bringing people out on his boat. The subtopic was why had Dave let his dive instructor's insurance lapse. The undercurrent of the conversation, however, was that Dave M. was really running a charter boat rather than bringing "friends" along for a weekend's worth of diving.

For a fee less than the amount that professional charters charge, friends and acquaintances of Dave's can go diving on his boat for the weekend. Not only will he go to the normal Monterey dive sites, but will cross over to the Carmel side for the awesome, more challenging dive sites. The professional charters, on the other hand, will tend to cater to the least common denominator on the boat and stick to the less gas consuming, safer dive sites in the bay.

Apparently, the professional charters have given Dave a hard time regarding this issue, I was told. I do know, however, that the people who do go diving with Dave are not complete newbies, such as the type you might see on Monterey charter boats, and on the most part have quite a bit of experience.

All in all, I chalk it up to PADI professionals' tendency to bash others with less experience than they, and their tendency to be overly paranoid about litigation from newbie divers who get themselves into trouble.

Dive Check List

Because I haven't dove in a while, I thought I would create a universal scuba diving resource and checklist as a reminder of the myriad of things I need to bring, plan, do.

Gear List



Map Directions

Fun for Fun's Sake

I recently had a conversation with a coworker, and I realized that I hadn't had fun for fun's sake in a very long time. My fiance and I never seem to go anywhere for long weekends anymore. This recent Thanksgiving was the first in a while when I haven't actually gone anywhere. "Working on the house is fun, but it is fun that is focussed towards something constructive. What about having fun for no reason?" My coworker poised this question, and it took me aback. What do I do for fun's sake? I couldn't think of anything, really. Here is a list of fun things that I think I do for no apparent reason:

(1) Read
(2) Watch movies
(3) Soak in the hot tub
(4) Window shop
(5) Yoga
(6) Soak in the sun
(7) Instant messaging with friends
(8) Painting
(9) Blogging
(10) Cafe society

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is one of the best Thanksgivings ever! Our house is completely wrapped up in polyethylene drop cloths. There is dust from all of our sanding everywhere. No family or friends to be seen. The kitchen has the wonderful smell of turkey and herbs. This has got to be the strangest, and best thanksgivings ever. I am not being sarcastic, really! Or maybe it's the wine talking.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

The Vote is In

The vote is in. Seems like most people prefer #3 but with modifications. Your comments:

M.F. says:

Torn between 2 and 3. Personally my aesthetic is for more space between items, less freestanding decoraction (such as plants). However if 3 does not come across as crowded in the amount of space that you have available, it could work as well.

Re the size of the rug, I have heard conflicting opinions about how big a rug should be. One of the constant rules of thumb is that any piece of furniture on a rug should have all its feet on the rug: no front feet of sofa on the rug while back feet are not on the rug action. I don't know if that works for you, doesn't work for you, etc., but I mention it in case it's useful.

Lastly for now: do I understand that in each arrangement the furniture is basically arranged to facilitate focus on the entertainment center (TV and whatever)? You may want to play around with putting the TV against a shorter wall, like the one that turns up as the opposite wall to where the Swedish fireplace goes, to avoid arranging your living space around the TV. That's probably the best piece of advice that the interior designer whom I paid $300 actually had for me several months ago. To make it work in my apartment I would have attached a flat-panel TV to the wall or put a very skinny/slight table under it if I could not get on the wall. Minimizing the number of inches from the wall that your TV protrudes can make it more like a painting that hangs, which can be focused upon or not, than like a big statue in the corner, which draws a lot of attention. Living rooms should be organized to facilitate conversation, said my interior designer, not home theatre entertainment.

C.Y. says:

I like your concept #2. #2 makes the room roomier by a large
carpet. It feels you can accomondate a big group doing different activies
in the same room. One watches TV while the other reads. I like the
closeness between a reader and bookshelf.

C.M. Says:

Concept 2 -- It does seem like a rectangular, so might not feel very cozy.

Concept 3 -- I like this layout, however, I would prefer the bookshelf close to thereclining chair, for convenience. Also, looks like the bookshelf might come inthe way when you enter the living room.

Concept 1 -- I like this the best... The bookself is in the corner, next to the recliningchair. So you can easily grab a book and relax on the reclining chair. Also,the entrance to the living room seem spacious. The runner will make it lookinviting.

M.H. says:

I like number 3... Make sure the recliner has lot of room so it can sit up or recline.

J.M. says:

I like option 1, because I would like to lounge under the lamp and read the books from the nearby bookshelf. It does kind of have the fireplace blocked off though.

A.C. says:

I think 3 is the best. Fireplaces should have open space so that you can cuddle up with a blanket. Besides putting a large chair by there closes off the warm space.

G.G. says:

Maybe a bit cluttered? A thought to pull the sofa back so you have more access to the chairs, sofa, & TV....

B.B. says:

I'll vote for #3 but what do I know about interior decorating!

Living Room Arrangement Ideas

We are currently turning the house upside down prepping for painting. However, during a break, I found this nifty furniture arrangement tool on the EQ3 furniture website. It's called the Icovia Space Planner and it is very simple to use, and you can place EQ3 furniture, or generic furniture, in any way you like in a room of your specification. However, you do have to login to the EQ3 website to access it.

Currently the area near the wall opposite to our fireplace is empty, and is a big eyesore. Calie, our interior decorator told us that we should try to highlight it, not ignore it. The following are a few ideas on how we could fill this empty space.

There are some constants in all three concepts. The following furniture is in each concept, furniture that we already have:
-EQ3 James rocking chair (see below)
-EQ3 Stella sofa
-Coffee table
-Swedish fireplace (see previous blog)
In the above concept (Concept #1), I've placed a chaise at a diagonal, accompanied by the iconic EQ3 'Cast' floor lamp (see below). This lamp would illuminate this dark corner and would also illuminate reading that can be done on this chair. We need a bookshelving solution, so I chose to place bookshelves in the upper right corner.

In my second concept (Concept #2, below), I've again placed bookshelving in the upper right corner. The differences are that the area rug is very large, and that I've chosen to place a small swivel armchair near the fireplace (perhaps similar to EQ3's 'Commander' chair. I like this concept the least due to the extreme rectangularity of this concept.

In my third, and favorite concept (Concept #3, below), Ive placed a tall potted plant, a floor lamp, and the EQ3 'Crush' divan chair (see below) near the opposite wall. The bookshelving I've placed against the bottom wall.

This is my favorite concept because the previously ignored space opposite the fireplace looks artfully put together. If a bold piece of art was placed on the far right wall, it could look like a store front window. This concept looks the least symmetrical, and the least rectangular of the concepts. I like the use of the round carpet to set the reading area apart from the TV area. The below side table is what I would use in this corner.

Macho Things I Want to Do

Since I'm on a "macho" streak, I wanted to make a list of the macho things I've always wanted to try. I don't know too many girls who can lay claim to wanting to do these things, at least heterosexual women such as myself. Well, maybe one. My friend, Valerie, who is twice as macho, and is more charged with adrenaline than anyone I know. She prides herself in being a "mangina", owns a Ducati motorcycle, likes to spearfish, and is a hard-core scuba diver. She is also very pretty, which is really surprising combined with her gung-ho personality. OK, here's my macho to-do list:

(1) Own a gun - for my self-protection, of course, but also because it is bad-ass to own a gun
(2) Learn Krav Maga, an Israeli street fighting martial art - of all of the martial arts, I think this one is one of the most lethal
(3) Set off explosives - not for destroying property, but purely for cathartic reasons
(4) Learn how to handle my car expertly - my car (a Mini Cooper) is built for superb handling, and I would like to know where its limits are
(5) Learn how to ride a motorcycle - this I unfortunately tried and failed miserably at. I had even got a motorcycle (Kawasaki Ninja 250) picked out for myself, but got kicked out of class before I could become a terror on the roads
(6) Do pull-ups (see previous post)
(7) Be a good machinist - this was a previous goal of mine, and I was on the verge of being 'apprenticed' by the machinists at work. But I really don't want to do this anymore, because I would rather pay someone else to do this, leaving me to do more design:)

Some observations on being a "macho girl":

• This tendency seems stronger in Asian women than in Caucasian women. Or perhaps this is just a relic of being in the Silicon Valley, where there are more Asian women than Caucasian women.
• Society these days encourages women to explore their masculine side, and men to explore their feminine side. My fiance for one, is not ashamed of what can be considered as his feminine interests. He enjoys tending to orchids, cooking, and pruning bonsai trees. His focused interest on these traditinally unmasculine hobbies is perhaps one of the things that attracted me to him.
• For better of for worse, society has seen women foray further and further into male domain. Women have gained enthusiasm for sports, since the advent of Title IX. They've also been more masculine in their sexual aggression, as expressed by this NY Times article on "Macho Girls". But I have not yet read about a growing movement of women wanting to fire guns, or outman men in the weight-room. I guess we "macho" women are still ahead of the curve.

Macho Throwdown - Pull Up Contest

Some coworkers and I are organizing a pull-up contest for April. A pull-up is where you hold onto a bar, knuckles facing in, and pull your whole body weight upwards until your chin is level with the bar. We haven't figured out the format of the competition, or the prizes yet, but so far there is a lot of enthusiasm. There are tons of coworkers wanting to get involved, including at least one other female coworker other than myself. Also, my female weight-lifting instructor at my gym, who does 100 pull-ups/day could probably best all of the guys participating. She is also going to participate. Another words, this is going to be a macho throwdown designed for girls to beat the guys.

As for me, my personal goal is to do at minimum one pull up, with my stretch goal to do three pull-ups. I can not do one as yet.

Some of the muscles utilized for a pull-up:
Latissimus Dorsi
Brachialis
Brachioradialis
Biceps Brachii
Teres Major
Deltoid muscle
Infraspinatus
Teres Minor
Rhomboids
Levator Scapulae
Trapezius Lower
Trapezius Middle
Pectoralis Minor

Drysuit Ordered!

After a year of deprivation, I'm finally getting my drysuit. I promised myself I wasn't going to get one until I had achieved certain things at work, and got rewarded for doing it. Well, I finished what I set out to achieve, but did NOT get rewarded for it. Instead, I saw other people around me get rewarded for accomplishing less.

My friend told me, why not get the drysuit, because in your heart you know you should have been rewarded. I was feeling pretty beat down lately, culminating in an outburst last week that was more uncontrolled and more crazy than I've had in many years. I decided something had to change. I decided I had been depriving myself too much. This whole year, I had set things aside in anticipation of my reward. The reward never happened.

Anyways, on Friday I talked to Richard at DiveTank. He quoted me a CLXse Select for $1400, including undergarment, rockboots, hood, and gloves. This is an excellent deal not beaten by any local store due to the volume that goes through DiveTank nationwide.

To be precise, however, the CLXse Select is NOT a fully customized suit, but a suit selected from 16 women's sizes. But, they can shorten the legs on these suits easily without extra cost, which is one of my main concerns regarding ordering a stock size. I forwarded them my measurements to see which Women's size is best suited for me, so we'll see what they say on Monday.

Color Scheme

I am excited to present the color scheme for our apartment. We met our interior decorator, Calie Anderson, through a coworker of mine. She is quitting her job as a graphics designer to embark on a new career as interior designer. Her blog is nohealookbook.blogspot.com.

To fill new readers on the details, my fiance and I have been debating which color to paint our apartment. We were at an impasse, and decided to consult someone with better taste than us to choose for us. We hired Calie to figure out what we should paint our walls. I think we got a lot more from Calie than what we originally scoped for the job, which is great. Not only did we get our color scheme, but we also got specific Benjamin Moore color formulations, AND we got furniture ideas, designer tidbits, and even furniture layouts.

Hallway Mood Board

Hallways
For our hallways (see above for mood board), we will be painting one wall Benjamin Moore "Tequila Lime Green" (2028-30), and the rest of the walls "Feather Gray" (2127-60). Some ideas for artwork to place in the hallways are shown above.

Living Area Mood Board

Living Area
For our living/dining area (see above for mood board), the style is mod to fit with our red Swedish fireplace. As you can see, the color theme is red, green and gray, with mod lucite furnishings, green and red accents and geometric style furnishing.

Accent Wall Idea

Calie even came up with some accent wall ideas (see above). She thought that we were ignoring one of our walls in our living area (she was right), and thought that a nice graphic would liven up the area some. She knew that we like to go on bike rides, so she thought of a cute tandem bike graphic.

Kitchen Mood Board

Above is the moodboard for the kitchen. Once again the lime green and gray colors predominate. I like the idea of the gray slate floors.

Guest Bed Room Mood Board

Our interior designer suggested the above for the guest bed room. Simple white and black colors with modern chairs. I wanted to have a blackboard wall somewhere in the house, and this seemed to be a good place for it.

Darjeeling Limited - A Movie Review

I wanted to write a very positive review of a movie I just saw with a couple of friends this past Friday night, Darjeeling Limited.

Darjeeling Limited is a Wes Anderson film. Wes Anderson is the quirky director behind the "Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou", and "The Royal Tennenbaums", among others. Darjeeling Limited is like many of Wes Anderson's other films in that it has beautiful art direction and quirky characters.

There really isn't a classic story behind this movie. The movie feels more like a journey, one that takes place on a train called, the Darjeeling Limited. Three brothers, Francis (played by Owen Wilson), Jack (Jason Schwartzmann) and Peter (Adrien Brody) are going on a spiritual journey through Northern India in the wake of their father's funeral. Each brother is tortured or emotionally maimed in one way or the other. Jack is trying to escape his former girlfriend (played by Natalie Portman) by flying to far-flung places of the earth. Francis, has just had a horrific accident that has destroyed his face. The accident itself is never portrayed in the film, however, the implication is that Francis has been suicidal since his Dad's death. Peter, is on this trip in order to escape his wife, who is 7 months pregnant. Although he thinks he loves her, he is clearly detached from his wife.

This film was enjoyable for its whimsy, its comedy, and its style. An example of the movie's whimsy is its unique structure. Before the film starts is a short 15 minute short called "Hotel Chevalier". This is the prequel to the main film, and sets up the background of one of the brothers.

The film was much funnier than Anderson's other films. Owen Wilson is especially funny as the oldest brother who micromanages his younger siblings every moment, from what food to order at each meal, to what to meditate about during prayers.

Finally, the fashion in this film was a feast for the eyes. If there is a single reason to watch this film, it would be for the fashion. The three brothers are completely outfitted in Marc Jacobs, the designer behind the Louis Vuitton fashion house. Striking a particularly stylish figure is Adrien Brody (see above) complete with gray suit, mod hairdo, and oh-so-courant big-eye sun glasses. The opening scene of the film is particularly striking with Adrien Brody running in slow-motion to catch the train, his suit flying behind him, and burdened with custom Louis Vuitton luggage, designed specifically for the film (see above). I am hardly a fan of LV luggage and purses, in fact I make a point of making fun of people who don the distinctive purse line. However, this animal print luggage, almost a main character in this film, was absolutely gorgeous.

Mina's Guide to Chicago

A couple of friends of mine are visiting Chicago for a weekend. As I grew up in Chicago, I promised to provide some insider details on what to experience while in the Windy City. Some of my suggestions here are favorites from my childhood and have been included here for nostalgic reasons.

The Museum of Science and Industry

If you are going to hit the Museum of Science of Industry in Hyde Park, then here are my favorite things to see while in the Museum:

1. Watch chicks hatching under hot lamps (always a favorite of little kids)
2. Go see an Omnimax (IMAX) film
3. Walk through the gigantic anatomical model of a heart
4. Walk inside a real German U-boat (Okay, I didn't actually remember this exhibit when I was a child, but now that I am older, and read the book Shadow Divers, a visit to this U-boat would be a must-see for the current-age Mina)

An interesting factoid: Mina actually worked as a tour-guide at this museum one summer.

If you're hungering for a bite to eat, hit my favorite restaurant in Hyde Park: Medici's on 57th street. This place is the coolest hang-out in the neighborhood. Here, you'll sit with gray-haired hippies, spoiled private school kids (like I was), and U. of Chicago students. The place is just covered with graffiti (including my own). Food of note: "garbage" pizza, eggs scrambled from espresso steam, and super strong mugs of coffee.

While you're in my childhood neighborhood, pay a visit to my favorite bookstore, 57th street Books. Here, you can find an eclectic book and magazine collection catering to the left-leaning Hyde Park residents.

A Stroll Down Michigan Avenue

A visit to Chicago is NOT complete without a stroll down Michigan Ave., in my opinion one of the most beautiful shopping streets in the world. Here are some must dos:

1. Stroll down Michigan Ave. at night, when the trees are all alit.
2. Shop at Sugar Magnolia on Oak Street, perpendicular to Michigan Ave. This little boutique has funky finds and designer jeans at discounts.
3. If you have a load of cash, visit Ultimo, also on Oak Street. Inside is a collection of famous designers such as Manolo Blahnik, Stella McCartney, Christian Dior, and more.
4. Banana Republic flagship store on Michigan Ave.
5. Nike Store on Michigan Ave - with a full size basketball court!
6. The giant Christmas Tree at Bloomingdales
7. If you're hungry after all that shopping, have a bite to eat at Tucci Benucchi at Bloomingdales, at the Food Court inside the Water Tower Place. If you have a load of cash, eat at Cafe Spiaggia (Michigan & Oak Street), which has a first class view of Michigan Ave.

Other Touristy Things Not to Miss

Take an Architectural Tour of Chicago. Chicago is famous for its architecture, not just for the world's second tallest building, the Sears Tower, but also because of great architecture dating from all periods, from the art deco, to the Prairie Style of Frank Lloyd Wright, to more recently with Frank Gehry's Pavilion at Millenium Park. Also, it didn't hurt that Chicago got obliterated by the Great Chicago Fire. This created a blank slate with which architects could work. Take either the walking tour or the river boat tour (left).

The Art Institute of Chicago houses one of the best art collections in the world. Some of the most iconic art pieces you will see here are Seurat's Sunday in the Park, and American Gothic (see below). I could dedicate several blogs to my favorite works of art in this Museum.

Addresses for Mentions above:

Museum of Science and Industry
Intersection of 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive

Medici's on 57th Street
1327 E 57th StChicago, IL 60637
Phone: (773) 667-7394

57th Street Books
1301 East 57th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
773-684-1300
(Fax)773-984-2804

Sugar Magnolia
34 E Oak St Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 944-0885

Ultimo
116 E. Oak St. Chicago, IL 60611
312-787-1171

Cafe Spiaggia
980 North Michigan Avenue, Level 2, Chicago, Illinois 60611

Art Institute
111 S Michigan Ave Chicago, IL 60603
(312) 443-3600

Human-Walrus Interactions

Here are some pics from my recent visit to 6 Flags Marine World. Here, we encountered a huge walrus that interacted with us humans in an unprecedented way.

This walrus tapped on the glass with it's tusk, and waited for us humans to return the tap. The walrus and I played Simon for what seemed like 5 minutes. The kids at the exhibit just went wild over the walrus. And the walrus seemed to derive as much glee from our ebullient reaction.

It continually surprises me how human-like marine mammals are. We should never underestimate these creature's intelligence, or their sense of play.

Here also is a cute penguin that paced the edges of its exhibit, begging for its picture to be taken.

Picking a DrySuit

DUI TLSse
-nylon trilaminate material
-rear entry

Why buy a drysuit? For me, the answer has been long in coming. I've been diving in my 7 mm wetsuit in Northern California for 3 years and have stubbornly resisted getting one. First of all, drysuits are prohibitively expensive, running from $1500-2500. They are also baggy and create a lot of drag in the water. Feeling at one with the water is very important to me, and being encased in a drysuit would only separate me further from the water.

Why have I changed my mind? We were starting to do deeper and colder dives. I was tired of ending each dive shivering uncontrollably and near hypothermic. With a drysuit, if I wasn't exactly warm underwater, I at least could quickly warm up on the surface by staying dry. Also, pulling on or pulling off a tight wetsuit especially a 7 mm one is not a fun experience. A drysuit, would be far less strain to don, then a wetsuit. Finally, a nice drysuit seems to be something every long-term self-respecting diver should own.

After almost a year of on-and-off research, I've narrowed down my top choices:
-DUI (Diving Unlimited International), TLSse (see picture above)
-DUI CLXse
-Diving Concepts Pinnacle
-Pinnacle Evolution

DUI CLXse

-Cordura Blend exterior

-Rear entry

DUI TLSse

Walk up and down the Breakwater, and you will see the DUI TLSse (or TLS350) on almost every diver walking by. It costs about $1498 for the fully customized version, as advertised on the DUI website. In summary, this is a drysuit composed of a nylon-rubber-nylon trilaminate material. Trilaminate material, is just a three layer material that was invented for the military in defense against chemical and germ warfare. Usually rubber is the middle layer, providing a waterproof barrier. Because trilaminate material doesn't stretch, these types of drysuits tend to be baggy. The TLSse is less baggy than other trilaminate drysuits offered by DUI because it is a rear-entry (back zipper) drysuit, rather than self-donning (diagonal front zipper). The reason for why rear-entry drysuits are less baggy escapes me.

DUI CLXse

The DUI CLXse is the more hardy version of the TLSse. Like the TLSse, it is a trilaminate drysuit, except instead of having a nylon exterior, it uses a Cordura blend. It is slightly more expensive, running at $1798. (See below.) The Cordura blend makes this drysuit much more abrasion resistant than the TLSse, which is important if you're diving in rougher conditions, or just plain careless with their gear, as I am.

Diving Concepts Pinnacle

The Diving Concepts Pinnacle has cornered the market with the most experienced divers in the Monterey, CA. Instead of trilaminate material, it is composed of a single layer of compressed neoprene. This drysuit is perhaps the most durable of the bunch, and also the most streamlined. Being slightly stretchy, you can get away with using less fabric on this type of suit. The Diving Concepts stock sizes are cheaper than the cost of DUI stock suits. However, the customized Diving Concepts suits are much more expensive than the DUI customized suits, running at around $2000+.

Diving Concepts Pinnacle

Pinnacle Evolution

The Pinnacle Evolution was a front-runner because one of my local dive shops, Blue Water Aquatics, had a good offer on the Pinnacle Evolution. This drysuit also uses the durable Cordura blend trilaminate material. For $1800, the local dive shop was offering the suit at an attractive price, and was giving me the opportunity of patronizing a neighborhood small business that I wanted to support.

Pinnacle Evolution

-Cordura blend exterior

Final Choice - DUI CLXse

My final choice is the DUI CLXse, and it was based on the convergence of price, streamlinedness, durability, customizability, and warranty agreement.

People on Scubaboard rave about the prices for DUI suits offered by Divetank. I called, and found out that they were offering the CLXse, fully customized for fit and color, for $1400. This price also includes the undergarment, a drysuit hood, boots, and gloves. This price was truly unbeatable, by local dive shops and other internet sites.

Streamlinedness was also important to me. The drysuit had to be as conforming as possible in order for me to move easily through the water. Short of the Diving Concepts suit, this suit was as streamlined as any.

Knowing how much abuse I would inflict upon my gear, the durability of the drysuit was paramount. The CLXse was many times more abrasion resistant than the TLSse I was considering. Cordura blend is used on high end sporting equipment and I know first hand how durable this material can be.

Most important was the customization of the drysuit. All customized DUI drysuits are designed around 20 or so body measurements. Neither the Pinnacle, nor the Diving Concepts drysuits have near the sophistication around fit as DUI. Having looked at DUI, Diving Concepts, and Pinnacle's stock size measurements, I realized I would never fit into a stock size. Being Asian, I have wider calves, and shorter legs than most American women. Customization was my only option. At $1400, Divetank was offering an unbeatable deal around the fully customized CLXse suit.

There were various other factors that contributed to my final decision. The sales service around the Diving Concepts drysuits was non-existent. After several e-mails and phone calls, I was told to look up a local dive shop. In contrast, DUI is very well established with accommodating customer service. DUI's 7 year warranty far outlasted any other warranty offered by any other company. Also DUI, I was told, manufactures their drysuits with more care than other brands. The gluing on the interior of their trilaminate drysuits is hand done. The Pinnacle Evolution, by contrast uses machine gluing.

Annual "Diving Singles" Point Lobos Club Dive

Sunbeams shining through the kelp forest

On August 11th, Chuck Tribolet had his annual Diving Singles club dive at Point Lobos State Park. Chuck Tribolet is the "Diving Singles" club leader, the Bay Area Diving Yahoo Group moderator, and is well known in the Bay Area for his erudite Northern California scuba diving weather web site: Monterey Bay Sea Conditions at a Glance.

Today's dive was a treat. The Point Lobos State Park is well known as one of the best dives in Northern California. Only 15 dive teams are allowed per day and the park is protected from fishing, or scavenging of any sort. As a result, fish are plentiful and unafraid, and the colors here are vibrant.

Everyone gawked as our Mini Cooper convertible rolled into the Point Lobos parking lot. Almost every other vehicle besides ours was a "dive mobile" -- a truck or an SUV built to contain the plethora of equipment typical of temperate water diving. Our convertible top folded away to reveal both my and my fiance's dive equipment tightly packed into our backseat like a Tetris game.

While setting up for the dives, conversation touched upon the death of local diver and photographer, Kawika Chetron. We discussed how he was diving somewhere on the North Coast, and disappeared retrieving his anchor. The most likely hypotheses are either that he got swept to sea, or gotten eaten by a Great White Shark. There are normally several scuba related deaths in Northern California every year. But in Kawika's case, there was extra attention because: Kawika was young, extremely bright (Harvard and Stanford educated), and a talented photographer. See here for Kawika's favorite photos, which combined with his explanatory captions, are great meditations on diving in Northern California.

We did the first dive with two divers unfamiliar with Point Lobos. They seemed anxious to pair up with people who had dove Point Lobos before, so we agreed we would show them around. This dive was fraught with problems,which began as soon as we were dropped off at the mouth of Whaler's Cove. First off, Dive buddy #4 (I forget his name) had problems clearing his ears, so he cut his dive short and swam to shore. Dive Buddy #3 had a continual free-flowing regulator problem, and hence had a low air supply, which cut our dive short. Dive buddy #2, my fiance, had constant mask leaking issues, caused by his mask being set overly tight. He had to surface to calm his nerves and told me he nearly wanted to quit the dive. When we finally got our dive started, I made a bee-line to shore, with little time to enjoy the 50 foot visibility. I was nervous to get back to shore safely.

Below, Mina posing with a Ling Cod

Our second dive was much more enjoyable. We paired up with Dan, a diver we met on Dave M.'s boat. All photographs in this blog entry were taken by him. Starting at the mouth of Whaler's Cove, we did a slow and leisurely crawl back to the boat ramp. We saw a cormorant underwater (my second time). I also encountered some unusual cabezon behavior: I turned over an abalone shell to investigate, and a cabezon shot out from under a ledge to look at the shell as well. I never knew cabezons were so curious, given their usual behavior of perching on a rock. Below is a photograph of a cabezon taken on the dive.

Cabezon

Big Sur, and Interior Design

My diving friends must be wondering right now: "Why would you drive all the way down to Big Sur and NOT dive?" My reasons are the following: (1) To see the iconic McWay falls which I had never seen before (see below), (2) to hang out with friends, (3) and I don't have a drysuit. Either my wetsuit is starting to lose it's insulation, or I'm diving sites that are deeper and more exposed than before, but I am clearly getting tired of being cold.

It's time to get a drysuit, but right now, I am forcing myself into funnelling money into the house (see rest of blog).

Interior Decorating

On Sunday, we met our interior decorator for the first time. How did it come to be that we have an interior decorator? It happened within the last week or two -- a lot faster than you would expect:

I complained to one of my coworkers over lunch that my fiance and I can't agree on what colors to paint our interior walls. We want something non-traditional and vibrant, something that will match our red, Swedish fireplace, and modern, minimalist furnishing. My coworker mentioned that his girlfriend had just started an interior decorating business, that she was a color expert, and that she would give us discounted rates for an opportunity to use our home as part of her portfolio. Well, it has been 2-3 weeks of color gridlock (my fiance can't agree with my choices, and I don't trust myself), so we decided it was time to make a decision, and if it involved bringing a third party, then so be it.

Above, example of decor that we like

Calie impressed me from the get go. She felt no compunction with disagreeing with our ideas ("That's too traditional"). And she immediately had ideas we never had. For example, she thought that we should head away from mixing too many colors in the living room/dining room area because it would make our place seem smaller. Also, she thought we needed an extra floor lamp, and a seating area to utilize the empty corner in our living room.

She also impressed me as someone who has discerning taste, with a clear opinion on who makes the best color paints (Benjamin Moore). Now, I love color, but I don't think I can tell whether Benjamin Moore paints are superior over the ones on display at Home Depot. But plenty of interior design magazines extolled the Benjamin Moore color line, so maybe there is some truth to this...

Here is Calie Anderson's interior decorating web site: http://www.noheainteriors.com/

And here is a link to her blog, where she mentioned meeting us. Some interesting colors, and cool ideas for our house are in germination: http://nohealookbook.blogspot.com/

By the end of our initial meeting, we had gone over magazine clippings that we bookmarked, and agreed to set another date to go over her color proposals.

A Tale of Two Kelp Forests

The title above is the name of a science lecture I attended yesterday at the U. S. Geological Society. The lecture was being delivered as part of "Sea Otter Awareness Week". It addressed the difference in health between two sea otter populations, one in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, the other in the adjacent Commander Islands off of Russia. The population in the Aleutian Islands is in serious decline (down 90% over the past 15 years), whereas the sea otter population in the Commander Islands is at steady state, at presumably the ecosystem's carrying capacity.

The lecturer described:
(a) How the marine ecology in those respective islands differed as a result of the numbers of sea otters.
(b) How the population density of otters affected the sea otters' behavior, diet and health

The lecturer also sought to explain why the sea otter population was in decline in the Aleutians, while the the population in the Commander Islands was not. Also, a few fascinating slides were spent detailing the difficulties of studying sea otters in these remote environments.

Impact to Marine Ecology

A solid case was made, in the form of box plots, bar graphs, and photographs that sea otters have a huge impact on the surrounding marine ecology. In very simplistic terms:

*An abundance of sea otters keep the sea urchin population in check, which keeps the kelp forest from being killed off.
*An absence of sea otters allows the sea urchin population to explode, which destroys the kelp forest.

Sea Urchins eating and killing Giant Kelp

The presence or absence of the kelp forest also has manifold effects:
*The kelp forest provides a nursery for healthy fish populations.
*A kelp forest also introduces increased nutrients in the water, which encourages the growth of filter feeders (mussels, clams etc...)

In summary, sea otters are what are called "keystone" predators. Their presence or absence has a large influence on the ecosystem. A subtle point, which I'm sure I don't fully understand, was the non-linear relationship between the number of sea urchins and the biomass of the kelp forest. As the number of sea urchins increases, their destructive effect upon the kelp forest accelerates.

My only challenge to the scientist's assertions are:
(1) Why are Monterey/Channel Island kelp forests relatively less impacted by the lack of sea otters? There are far fewer sea otters off California (2-3,000) vs. off Alaska, Canada, and Washington (~70,000), yet the kelp forests in California continue to exist.
(2) If there are other predators in California that keep the sea urchin population in check, why don't those predators exist off Alaska (wolf eels, for one)?

Impact to Sea Otter Diet/Health
Fascinatingly enough, the sea otters in the Aleutian Islands have grown in size in response to their population decine. The sea otters in the Aleutians (low populations) are the fattest, healthiest sea otters the scientists have ever seen. The scientist called them, "rotund", "jumbo" and happy. With so little competition, these few sea otters have plenty of sea urchins to eat. In comparison, the sea otters in the Commander Islands were smaller, equivalent to the size their Aleutian neighbors were before their population declined. Furthermore, the Aleutian sea otters also have a far less varied diet than their Commander Islands neighbors.

Funny Science Anecdotes

The lecturer got a few laughs describing the difficulties of studying sea otters, from their capture, to surgically implanting radio transmitters into their bodies. Here are some observations:
-Sea otters have a nasty bite
-Catching sea otters in a net is a nightmare, particularly when you are catching a dozen per hour, as was the case when they stretched a net across the sheltered lagoon.
-Rebreathers are required to encounter awake sea otters underwater, because they can smell your bubbles hundreds of feet away.
-A lot of hiking is required in the Russian islands, where there are no trails.
-Mina's aside: science is truly hard work, and often enormous amounts of effort is required to prove every logical step of one's scientific assertions (that's what doctoral students, and master's students are for).

Commander (Komandorski) Islands on the Left, Aleutian Islands in the Center and Right

Probable Cause for Sea Otter Decline in Aleutians
The answer might surprise you: the scientist from UC Santa Cruz hypothesized that the decline in sea otters in the Aleutian islands is attributed to increased attacks from orcas. The main evidence for his hypothesis are as follows:

(1) An increase in orca attacks witnessed over the past 15 years.
(2) An absence of sea otter carcasses found, or sick otters found.
(3) The sea otter population protected by a lagoon that was inaccessible to orcas declined much less rapidly than everywhere else in the Aleutians.
(4) A computer model accounting for the metabolic requirements of both orcas and sea otters predicted that it was a possible for a small group of 6-10 orcas to decimate the sea otter population over the years.
(5) Sea otters in the Aleutian islands stay closer to shore than they used to 15 years ago, and also stay closer to shore than the the sea otters of the Commander Islands.

One of the grey-haired scientists in the audience challenged this hypothesis and wondered if the population decline could not be attributed to pollution instead. The speaker did not have an excellent response to this challenge. He stated that the pollution was the same between Russia and Alaska, but he did not provide any numbers to back up his assertion.

Another scientist wondered why the orcas didn't attack the sea otters off of Russia. Apparently, different orca pods have very different geographical domains. Also, differing orca pods are extremely variant in their diets, behaviors, and even genetics. The "transient" (read: mammal-eating) orcas that supposedly ate the sea otters don't wander into the Russian islands. Supposedly, these orcas developed their sea-otter eating behavior due to the dwindling in their other food sources (harbor seals, sea-lions). The most fascinating thing I heard was that "resident" (read: fish-eating) orcas are as much as 1000 years genetically different from the "transient" orcas.

I went up to the mike and had to ask my bone-headed question. I was probably the only non-scientist in the 80-100 strong audience, and was perhaps the only person below the age of 50, but I braved it out with my unscientific question. I asked if: (1) the rumor that the California sea otter population decline was caused by "feline leukemia virus" was true, and (2) what could have been the cause of death for the 4 foot long dead sea otter I encountered off of Monastery Beach.

The scientist was quite nice in his response. First of all, it wasn't "feline leukemia virus" but another feline borne disease, Toxoplasmosis that was attributed to 17% of sea otter deaths a decade ago. He asserted that sea otters most likely caught toxoplasmosis through the prey that they ate, rather than kitty litter. Toxiplasmosis as a cause of death is in decline, however. He wouldn't elaborate on what caused the myriad of other causes of death in the pie-chart.

He couldn't elaborate on what caused the sea otter that I encountered to die. But he did mention that more than anywhere else, more sea otter carcasses were found in California than anywhere else. Also, a necropsy had to be performed on a fresh sea otter carcass in order to find the cause of death.

I left the lecture feeling good that there was so much science left to be done. There is still much to understand about why sea otters in California are not reaching carrying capacity. There is also so much yet unknown about orcas, and their behaviors.

Alaskan Cruise, Aug-Sept 2007

Here's a trip report from my recent Alaskan cruise with my mother earlier this month. This was my first cruise, and also my first trip to Alaska. I definitely see myself coming back to Alaska, someday. Alaska's Inside Passage, is a mystical, spiritual, beautiful place. Cruising itself, was also a surprisingly pleasant, eye-opening experience. I probably won't be taking a cruise anytime soon, due to there being too many limitations inherent with cruising. This I will describe in more detail later on in this report.

For those of you who have never been on a cruise, here's a little about cruise ship life. I shared a suite with my mom. The cabin was nicely appointed, with a shower, head, seating area, and even our very own porthole looking out to sea (see left).

We were on a Celebrity cruise line, which, is a top-of-the-line (read expensive) cruise line. The clientele were mostly my mother's age. There were very few people my age in attendance, other than those accompanying their parents. This was a veritable floating hotel with glass elevators (see right), and private nooks from which to view glaciers (see right).

Below, leaving the protected bay of beautiful Vancouver for Alaska's Inside Passage The most mind-blowing thing about this cruise vacation was seeing wild-life surrounding you while carrying on with everyday activities aboard the ship:

For example:

• While contemplating the ocean view while in the sauna in our bathing suits, I spot the a group of humpback whales. This was a particularly zen-like experience.

Below, a view of Hubbard glacier from the cafeteria hall

This wouldn't be my only surprise encounter with wildlife from aboard the ship. Other moments:

• Running on the treadmill: watching as the cruise ship approached, and ultimately overran a sprinting pod of 30+ strong porpoises. I remember hoping that no porpoises were hurt.
• Jogging on the deck: stopping in awe at humpback whales.
• Eating lunch: running out to gawk at orcas alongside the ship. The image of the male orca's 6' high dorsal fin making its cyclic, mechanical slice through the calm waters has forever been burned into my memory.

Below, enjoying the sun in the Inside Passage

The other nutty thing about cruise life, is the incongruity of having all of this entertainment packed into a boat. It was like Disneyland, but afloat. There was a full scale two story amphitheater, inside of which one would have never suspected one was on a boat. There was an art gallery from which daily live auctions were held. A smoke filled casino straight out of Vegas, a state of the art gym, a saltwater whirlpool the size of a pool. Shops selling expensive diamond encrusted watches. Countless bars, restaurants, night clubs and even an Italian cafe to drink espressos.

Above, drinking a martini flight with Andrea (a friend I made on board the cruise)

If you enjoy gluttony, than cruise life is for you. There was a never-ending parade of food. My favorite meal of the day was breakfast, where I and my mom could eat al fresco on the stern of the ship.

Above, breakfast with my mom

Breakfast consisted of the usual eggs and bacon, but there were also nods towards Alaskan cuisine, such as smoked salmon, smoked trout and pickled herring. Catering to the Asian clientele was a Chinese rice porridge station and Japanese miso soup station.

Above, dinner

Dinner was my least favorite meal of the day, due to there being a strict dress code (formal wear-2 nights, semi-formal wear-1 night, jeans were never allowed). Also, by the middle of the week, I was becoming slightly stressed by always being seated with my mom's high-school classmates.

This Alaskan cruise also happened to be my mom's 40th high-school reunion. There were about 40 other former classmates and their families on board. At any rate, as on any extended boat trip, one eventually wants to get away from people, no matter how nice the company.

The shot I took of the top deck, above, looks straight out of a travel brochure

Earlier, I mentioned there were certain limitations to cruising. The biggest limitation is never being able to truly experience a place deeply. I always felt as though I was viewing Alaska behind a thick pane of glass. We stopped at 4 stops during the week long cruise. At each spot, one was limited to a few daylight hours to explore the spot. This prevented one from exploring beyond the touristy areas designed to ensnare cruisegoers.

Above, salmon spawning in a stream

The first stop after a day at sea was Ketchikan, Alaska. On this particular stop, I chose to do a snorkeling excursion. The dive operation was Mountain Point Snorkeling. The water was warmer and clearer than in California. But the water that day was also more barren.

Below, a picture taken by Belinda Li of entering the water

We saw unfamiliar starfish, including the sunflower star, that is supposed to be the same as the ones in Monterey, but which seemed more fragile than the indestructible ones I've encountered in Monterey. I freedove to a depth of about 20 feet to watch a couple of wolf-eel for the first time. One wolf-eel was slithering out in the open and chomping away with its powerful jaws on a poor crab. To my surprise, the wolf eel had stripes. As I faced it on the bottom, it stopped chomping and stared back at me stupidly with its beady eyes. (Sorry, no photos, don't have an underwater camera yet).

Below, a picture taken by Belinda Li of myself free-diving

Below, a close up view of Mendenhall Glacier

I asked about scuba diving in Ketchikan. They don't take too many people scuba diving in Ketchikan due to the strong current in the passage. The tide comes twice daily in Alaska, and is famously strong, sweeping water up and down as much as 20 feet. The current I experienced that day was wickedly strong.

Another fun excursion was viewing the Mendenhall glacier (see above, and below). I took a detour from the main path to get as close to the glacier as I could. There were only a few people who got to witness the glacier from such close proximity. I nearly missed the bus on my way back, however, since I got detoured, and had to climb several steep rocks to get back on path.

At right and below, Mendenhall glacier up close

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, my mother's favorite excursion was salmon fishing off of Icy Strait Point. She was pretty excited about catching her Coho salmon (below). I caught two Coho salmon. The Coho salmon are famously tough. My first salmon had been bludgeoned in the head, but still beat furiously in the icebox for a good 15 minutes before expiring for good. I had to go inside the boat to escape the horror.

Below, Alaskans dressed in Tlingit costume at Icy Strait Point.Juneau was my favorite stop. Juneau is a charming town that is accessible only by plane or boat, and is surrounded by an ice field and glaciers. It has the same bohemian, laid back spirit as Seattle (see below). There was one good coffee shop in which I enjoyed a very good caffe latte. I thoroughly enjoyed shopping for native American Tlingit inspired art. See here for an example. I bought two prints of orcas (my self-proclaimed totem animal), and one print of a harbor seal, which I intend to hang up on my walls.

From Juneau, we also went on a whale watching and wildlife excursion, which I highly recommend, despite the price of $100/person. We ended up seeing porpoises, Stellar sea lions, humpbacks, and bald eagles. I was fascinated by seeing the Stellar sea lions, who are much larger than the sea lions we see here in Northern California, and whose voices, consequently, are much lower. Their calls sound more like growls, rather than barks. I learned from Seneca, the Juneau born naturalist on board, about the various behaviors of the species there, which is probably too boring to include here.

As we headed back to Vancouver, I tried to capture the magical mystical quality of the Inside Passage. Here is a view taken at sunset: