* Living A Girl's Adventure Tale: Machu Picchu

I will take a short break from blogging for a week for I will be traveling to Peru to fullfil one of my lifelong dreams, and hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.  

Upon my return, I will document my adventures, and everything I learn while there, in a series of posts endowed with pictures.

And In My Absence
Enjoy The Silence:

Holiday Cheers, to you all!  

Time Zero

Time Zero: The Last Year of Polaroid Film is a documentary about lovers of instant-photography, made after Polaroid company announced ceasing production of instant films.   Maybe it is true that Polaroid photography is magic created by little elves in the camera, and perhaps we should feed them for the sake of keeping this disappearing form of image capturing alive.

Headphones For Small Ears

I have small ears.  That makes it almost impossible for me to wear any kind of headphones that go into my ears for prolonged periods of time without giving me pain.  Since I love listening to music, and do not own a megatronic sound system, earphones/headphones are my only solution.  I am always on the hunt for good headphones that are stylish, light in weight, and have excellent sound quality.

And I think I finally found one that combines all my requirements:

Aëdle is a Paris based startup company that is about to launch their first limited-edition headphone VK-1 in select stores starting April 2013.  VK-1 is stunning in its minimalistic design, combining soft leather and aluminum that is built to perfection by hand.  With titanium and neodymium components, VK-1 delivers a high-performance audio with the lightness of its luxurious design.  You can pre-order for February 2013 delivery at their website, and while you are there, be sure to watch their video on the VK-1 headphone story.

School Of Seven Bells

Yet another indie rock band from New York City came into my view today.  School Of Seven Bells' last album Ghostory - released in Feb. 2012 - tells the story of a girl lost in her quest to understand life through the ghosts that populate her mind.  The moods of this band swings from the calmness of Enya to dreaminess of Mint Julep to boisterousness of Kate Bush, making it mesmerizingly sinister at times.  A captivating album indeed.

The Ebers Papyrus

Working for the Diabetes business of world's largest bio-medical company, I take every opportunity to learn about this disease.  The history of this disease seems to go back many centuries, and Egyptians have left the oldest recorded information on how to diagnose and remedy it along with many others.  

The Ebers Papyrus is one of the oldest and most complete medical records that has remained intact to this day, that offers ways to examine possible diabetes patients, magical chants for relief, and an array of foods from honey to juniper berries for dietary supplements in curing the disease.

Tony Sam Is Hilarious

It has become my Monday night ritual to attend The Happy Hour Story Experiment at The Hollywood Studio Bar and Grill, and I always stay for the What's Up Tiger Lily show.
One of the comedians on WUTL was Tony Sam. If you can catch a show with him, don't miss it, and hope for his Twitter 101 class!

I Shall Turn Right At Machu Picchu

As the sweet anticipation for my impending trip to Machu Picchu rapidly builds up, recommendations from dear friends keep flooding in as well.  The latest came from a hiking friend with a guarantee to make me laugh while educating.  The book Turn Right At Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City  One Step at a Time is about the unadventurous author Mark Adams' adventure to the ancient city to recreate the original 1911 discovery trip of Hiram Bingham III.

Book purchased and added to the top of the reading list!  Thanks, J! Board Game night was as awesome as the hike!

Crumpled Hotel

Hotel Marques de Ristal looks like a pretty colored heap of crumpled metal thrown on the backhills of the capricious little village of Elciego, Spain.  This luxurious hotel, clashing with all things that surround it, is a masterpiece by the great architect Frank O. Gehry.

Every space in this elegantly designed building is worth spending at least a moment of your time to experience the outer and inner views through the vast spaces left to surround you in your solace.

A special destination, indeed, especially for Europhiles, and wine enthusiasts.

Polka Dot Public Bike

Aaaaaand I found the ONE!  The one bike I want (and of course need)!  And I mean, reeeaaaaaly want!

Public is a San Francisco based company that makes bicycles to reclaim the urban streets.  Its founder Rob Forbes is a design conscious man who also founded Design Within Reach.  Here's a video of him sharing his thoughts on why design matters:

Yes!  I will get the special edition polka dot bicycle with all the "gear" that it can come with; a rear rack with spring clip, a red brass bell, a basket in the front, the polka dot red helmet, and of course the flower vase!

Happiness Galore!  :)

Stretchy Electronics

A new material developed recently by Swiss scientists, mimics the structural behavior of tendons connecting to bones, and makes it possible to have electronic circuits that can be stretched without breaking the connections between components.  The flexibility this material brings might have many surgical applications as well as wearable electronics.

Do Touch The Artwork

Jake Barton recently gave a speech at Leaders In Software and Art Conference LISA2012 at the Guggenheim Museum about a new kind of museum experience where the visitors touch and manipulate the exhibited artworks through digital medium.  This connection created between technology and art is a shared land of endless creativity for the museum enthusiasts like myself.

Star Trek Is Sherlocked

It makes my spine tingle to know that my most favorite actor of the past year is in the next Star Trek movie - Star Trek Into Darkness.  Here's the Japanese trailer teaser with a little bit of extra footage:

Hand Carved Moon

Tugboat Printshop owners Valerie Lueth and Paul Roden spend long hours bent over pieces of wood, hand-carving the beautiful images they print.  Their latest, and largest work is a beautiful visage of moon.

Bow Respectfully

Today's learning came from a friend who is the master of minimalistic lifestyle.  We were talking about food, and tools to make and eat food, and, as always, he picked that perfect moment to introduce me to the very simple and elegant designs of Sori Yanagi - a Japanese designer of many things.  His designs, spanning outside of the realm of kitchens to bridges, cars, and olympic flames, reflect his light-hearted & lively disposition in elementary lines, and uncomplicated curves.  His products can be found at places like MoMA, both on exhibition, and for purchase.

Thank you, E!

Let's Feel The Rain

Gentle love story of un-seeing eyes, un-hearing ears, and deep-feeling hearts:  Planet Of Snail

Ultrasound Sensations

One of the newest and very exciting discoveries in Neurosciences is that different sensations in the neural paths can be stimulated by pulsing ultrasound to periphery of humans.  This discovery has very promising applications especially in pain diagnosis as well as treatment of neuropathy in diabetic patients.  The application of pulsating ultrasound waves to areas like fingertips causes sensations like pain, itching, heat, or tingling, depending on the setting.  Makes me wonder if it will be possible to induce more favorable sensations like love, and happiness one day.

Own Your Seasons

For as far back as I can remember, I always visualized a year as a ring of colors representing changing of seasons, and I imagine myself standing on the side of the ring depending on the date.  My ring of seasons is not a perfect circle, but rather an oval on which the winter and summer reside on the longer sides.  

Apparently, I am not the only human being with such a visualization of movement of time.  The inventor, and filmmaker Scott Thrift had a similar conundrum for visualizing what present means in the movement of time, so he came up with 'The Present', a clock with a single arm that completes a single cycle every 365 days, and has a color scheme to mark the changing of seasons.  He put his project on Kickstarter a year ago, and successfully made it to the commercial market.

I am not sure if I will get one of his clocks or hold on to the image in my head, but if I ever get his product, I'll have to hang it upside-down! 

Encyclopedia Of The Exquisite

To the joy of the Francophiles and the Anglomaniacs with a taste for sumptuous earthly delights, Jessica Kerwin Jenkins authored Encyclopedia of the Exquisite: An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights in 2010.  Would make a great gift, don't you think?

Fit With FitBit

It was a very pleasant surprise to find my new FitBit One waiting for me when I came back home from my yoga class tonight.  This little gadget will be my new motivation to keep moving, and collecting data about my activities.  The best part is, it syncs wirelessly with all my Apple products!

Sit Mark Hang

3 very simple clever designs from Tschus Design:

Words That Would Melt In Your Hands

Discovered this fantastic song to run to today by the Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club:

And this video was too cute to pass up:

They will be playing at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angles on Dec. 8th, 2012.

Disambiguation

Ozymandias

by

Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:

And on the pedestal these words appear:

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Thanks J. for the lovely day.