Missing Dorsal Fin

Southern Right Whale Dolphins are a beautiful smaller dolphin species that live in the cooler waters of the southern hemisphere. Even though they lack the dorsal fins, the still can gracefully jump out of water and show off their black and white slender bodies.

* Denetko

Today's l-verb was 'longing'.

My mum called me early this morning to let me know that her and dad made it safely to their summer home on the Aegean coast where I spent many summer vacations growing up. All through the day today in between frantic working hours, my heart was filled with momentary pangs of longing for that place, the hide-and-seek games at night, bonfires on the beach, fresh figs picked right from lower branches, laying in the grass and watching shooting stars, the nectarine tree I grew from a seed, mum's Turkish coffee corner, and the patio swing my father designed wide enough to have my brother and I sit between mum & dad watching the sunset in the lazy evening hours. I longed to be with my family today...

* Out Of Blue Comes Green

I love the red bicycle I purchased from my friend, and proudly rode it on the day of CicLAvia. Since then every time I wanted to bike somewhere I was in skirts, and my bicycle did not let me for it is a men's bike with 28 inch wheels. I had no choice but get a women's bike for my cycling adventures in my neighborhood, and contributing to the green movement.
Although I wanted this bicycle so much, a quick risk analysis revealed that a cheaper, and less prominent bike is less likely to be stolen, so after some research, I decided to get a Novara Jaunt XX from my favorite store. Besides the five star reviews, I was sold the moment I saw this cutie in Robin's Egg Blue:

The other bike is up FOR SALE now for only $200.00! And you might be eligible for a significant discount if you are part of my family or my friend! :)

Leave a comment if you are interested!

Sleek Solar Glass

Solar Glass by Fan Wu is an iF Design Award winner for its very simple and efficient energy saving design. Not only it keeps your drink at the temperature it should be with its heat-absorbing inner coating, but also has a very sleek design you can proudly display on your desk.

* Zen Monkey For Breakfast

I was looking for cream cheese at the local Whole Foods for the cucumber sandwiches (yes like the ones British royalty has for high tea) I was planning to make for the Memorial Day beach picnic when someone stopped me and fed me a tiny spoon of the best cold oatmeal I ever had! The perfectly blended flavors of apples, oats, and yogurt were accentuated with the mildly sweet taste of agave nectar. I was instantly sold and said "what is this and where is it?". The nice guy that fed me pointed in the refrigerated food section while he told me about the new Zen Monkey breakfast products. I could not resist and tried the blueberry one before I picked up several apple flavored ones.
This is as simple and tasty as healthy breakfast food can get. Not only all ingredients are recognizable food items, but the entire 8oz. cup is only 270 calories. And it comes with its little spoon!

Bon appétit, indeed!

* Rivas In Temescal

Today's hike was at yet another location I've never been before. Rivas Canyon is part of the Temescal Gateway State Park in Santa Monica mountains. Although shorter (~4 miles roundtrip), and lower in altitude (~1200 ft) than the other hikes I've been doing with my hiking buddies J and R, it is not at all an easy one. You gain 500ft in elevation in the first 0.5 miles of the hike making it a very steep start, but the breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, and Santa Monica make up for your troubles.

Vicissitude

Learned a new word from the book I'm reading today:

vi·cis·si·tude

  [vi-sis-i-tood, -tyood]

noun

1.

a change or variation occurring in the course of something.

2.

interchange or alternation, as of states or things.

3.

vicissitudes, successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs: They remained friends through the vicissitudes of 40 years.

4.

regular change or succession of one state or thing to another.

5.

change; mutation; mutability.

Periodic Table Song

Being the daughter of a chemical engineer, the periodic table has a very special place in my heart. Today I learned about the very entertaining Periodic Table Song by AsapSCIENCE. 

I dedicate this song to my wonderful father! :)

Parallel Lives

With a very strong cast, Behind The Candelabra seems to be a timeless movie, re-iterating an ever-existing topic. Liberace was not only a globally famous artist but a pioneer, and a role-model for others like him all around the world. One perfect example from my country was Zeki Müren, a contemporary of Liberace, and a very talented singer. Cannot wait to see this movie on Sunday!

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane

Neil Gaiman's new book The Ocean At The End Of The Lane will be out in less than four weeks.

Coffee Face

Mike Breach is a self claimed expressionist artist that uses a very tasteful media to create his art. You can find his work on display at Baristart.

Where Are We Now?

The inimitable David Bowie does it again. His new album The Next Day was released in March 2013, and is better than ever.

Tree Tent

Tree Tent is a very environment friendly design by Luminair in which aluminum, wood, and cotton blend to create a lightweight elevated dwelling for those of us that enjoy being cradled by nature. If you would like to try out one of these spheres, you can visit the Red Kite Barn TT Hotel in Powys, Wales, UK.

Triangle Walks

Fever Ray is a universally acclaimed electronic band from Sweden that lures you into their looping sound with tribal sounding vocals. Combined with their cold sound, the almost android-like vocals creates an eerie atmosphere in which you want to dance around a bonfire. Their haunting cover of Peter Gabriel's Mercy Street is one of the best I ever heard...

Suppressing Thin-Film Interference

Inspired by the non-reflecting structure of moths' eyes, a team of North Carolina State University researchers developed a nanostructure that suppresses the thin-film interference on surfaces of contact where several layers of substances contact each other like thin-film solar cells.

The problem with thin-film interference is that some wavelengths are lost at contact surfaces of layers due to reflection and the more the number of layers the bigger the loss. I hope this innovation can be improved to larger scale commercial applications to prevent energy loss.

Potoo

Learned about a bird genus today. Potoos look like they set out to be owls but changed their minds mid-way through evolution. The common Potoo call sounds like "poor, me, all, alone". So sad...

Marshmallow Laser Feast

The musical laser forest creation of Memo Akten, Robin McNicholas, and Barney Steel is worth taking a stroll through. Watch the forest move and the story behind it here.

Sovrappeso Mona Lisa

A Colombian coworker introduced me to the unconventional paintings of Fernando Botero Angulo. The Colombian figurative artist's full-figured characters in his paintings seem to have cheerful dispositions that makes me want to keep looking at them. My favorite so far is his interpretation of Mona Lisa:

Exacting Proportions In White

My mailbox presented me with a heavy catalog today that was meant for one of the previous tenants that occupied my unit. It was from a company I was not familiar with, but the picture on the cover that was of a blank white room with a very ornate ceiling and doorways extending into other rooms made me keep the catalog. Flipping through the pages, I found out about Restoration Hardware's many products with an old world feel. Most of the things in the catalog - although beautiful - are not to my taste, however the Authentic Chinese Porcelain Classic Coupe Collection in white can easily be my next tableware set when it is time to replace the old. 

The Necktie Fraud

For the ones that were annoyed by the complicated nature of the Eldredge Knot I posted about a few days earlier, here's the Zip Tie by Josh Jakus. Made for the laziest men on earth, this necktie is manufactured in California from the finest Merino Wool Felts. Enjoy!

* Not Quite To The Top

Today's hike started with an intention to make peak of Mt. Ontario, however was edited on the fly to end at Icehouse Saddle due to non-technical difficulties. Though shorter than planned, once again this hike presented many opportunities to learn new things for me:

1. Hikes are not cure for hangovers (and, no, I was not the hungover one)
2. Never cut switchbacks - this was on a sign and when I claimed to not understand what it means, my friend R clarified by saying "You know how the path goes 'zu zu zu'" while waving her hand in a zig-zag pattern, "you should not just go straight through".
3. The one-size bigger boots were a great investment - my toes are pain-free and happy as can be.
4. Some mountaintops have cell phone reception that turns us into tweeting, facebooking, instagramming little monsters.

Thanks to my lovely hiking buddies J and R, this was another great hike in the arms of nature with amazing scenery. We will be back to peak Mt. Ontario soon...

Plug In To The Sun

Window Socket is a new power outlet with a solar charging battery that can be mounted on a window with its suction cup. Although it has deficiencies like its 1000mAh battery takes 8 hrs to charge, harnesses just enough juice to power small electronics, and current design only supports European plugs only, it still is a very useful gadget especially when you are traveling/camping and desperately need to charge your smartphone. With some improvement this socket could easily become an indispensable travel companion. 

Defenestration

Thanks to my coworker A, I learned a new word today:

de·fen·es·tra·tion

  [dee-fen-uh-strey-shuh-n]

noun

the act of throwing a thing or especially a person out of a window:

the defenestration of the commissioners at Prague.

Origin: 
1610–20; de- + Latin fenestr ( a ) window + -ation

There is even a lego defenestration:

The Eldredge Knot

It is no secret that I love a finely tailored suit on a man but the suit must be completed and complemented by the right shoes, shirt, and necktie. When I came across this image of the Eldredge Tie Knot, I could not peel my eyes away from the screen for a long while.

And for the gentlemen out there who would like to give it a try, here's how it's done:

Tiny Loft

Tim Saggerman's makeover of a 180 sqft. NY city apartment is the perfection of efficient living with  a literal small footprint. Not only every inch of this apartment serves a purpose but the simple & clean lines and lighter color of the wood actually makes it appear larger. The best part is hidden upstairs in the bedroom loft - a reading nook that shares a sliding door with the laundry nook!

The Othermill

Otherfab's Kickstarter project The Othermill is a very portable, affordable, and user-friendly desktop CNC machine which is a dream for both pro and amateur electronics enthusiasts. Besides electronic circuits, this well designed machine can be used for engraving on different sufaces or creating small molds. Well worth backing!

* The Power Of Powerlessness

I'm learning right now how powerful a power outage can be. Sitting in the flickering light of my fireplace and three candles, I cannot even boil some water to make tea. I guess I'll just do what a good cave-woman would do and go to bed early!

* A Tasteful Japanese Pairing

I spent my morning at Japan's Modern Divide exhibit at one of my most favorite places in L.A. - the Getty Museum, learning about two Japanese photographers. Hiroshi Hamaya and Kansuke Yamamoto are post WWII contemporary artists that represent the opposite ends of realism/surrealism spectrum. While their frustrations in post-war politics of their country are very similar, the visualization paths they take diverge greatly. I would definitely recommend this exhibition to my L.A. friends, before it leaves town on August 25th.

And while you are at the Getty, you might also want to check out the Looking East: Ruben's Encounter With Asia and Overdrive: L.A. Constructs The Future 1940-1990 exhibits.

Swiss Army iKnife

It won't matter anymore if you take your iPhone with to camping and there is no signal. With a TaskOne Swiss Army Knife iPhone Case, you can do a lot more with your iPhone - saw branches for fire, fix your mountain bike, open your beer bottle, and cut your hair. Lovely gadget, indeed!

* Something New, Something Old, Something Red

It took me a Mt. Wilson peak (5713 ft/1741 m), a Mt. Baldy peak (10068 ft/3069 m), two Inca Trail peaks (12795 ft/3900m and 13776ft/4199m), and four lost toenails to finally realize that maybe my hiking boots are not quite right for me. 

I walked into the REI Santa Monica store with my old boots in hand, walked right up to the first associate I saw at the shoe department, and said "I need help!". She hesitated for a moment, cocked her head to the side, and asked "Shoes?". She inquired about what I was planning to do and how much weight I would be carrying. Then proceeded to measure my feet at which point I learned that hiking boots (much like running shoes) should be a size bigger than your regular size. Obviously, mine weren't...

She showed me three options, and told me to try them out on the inclined rock formation in the corner to make sure my toes had enough room going downhill. One pair was too heavy, one pair was too stiff, and the last pair was perfect. After I made my purchase, I walked a block to the local Goodwill, and donated my old boots for someone else to enjoy them.

Hello new boots

Goodbye old boots

Oh, yes, the new boots have Red on their soles! :)

* Peach On The Beach

More than two months after moving into my current apartment, I finally visited the Breakwater Bistro that is located within the apartment complex. This cute little eatery has a very healthy and tasty selection of sandwiches, wraps, salads, pasta dishes, and desserts. I greatly enjoyed their Grilled Veggie Sandwich with sweet potato fries, and have my mind set to getting the Peach On The Beach smoothie next time I go for a walk to the beach.