Sunday, August 8, 2010

Saturday, August 7, 2010

EL wire

El wire is deceptively easy to do. The online instructions make it seem very complicated, but my friend Michael (a very clever guy with an Architecture degree) was able to do it no problemo. He brought his soldering iron over, and we used it to attach the wire to the battery packs. The way soldering works is to heat up a piece of soft metal that drips onto two wires to join them together. Once all the wires were connected to the battery packs, we attached them with zip ties to the bike. Each pack has an on/off switch and uses one AA battery. It's all done now, I'm just waiting for the darkness of night to take a picture of it lit up. I have a little bit of paint touch ups to do, but otherwise, this bike is ready for the Playa!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Setback #1


This is why I don't do projects. I'm impatient. Yesterday I touched up the bike with some white paint, then tried to spray paint the glow-in-the-dark stuff. But it's so light that you want to get real close with it..bad idea. It immediately started wrinkling. Shit. So today I scraped off the wrinkles, and repainted the entire bike white. Screw the glow in the dark, I'll just return it to Fred Meyer. It looked weird anyway.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Costume planning


I bought these two items online early this week, they should be here tomorrow or Monday. I actually had to get the men's shirt, because they don't have a mock neck HeatGear in women's. If I don't like the fit, I'll go with a V-neck women's. I also got the men's leggings because they don't carry white in women's.


I just drew this to figure out where the wire will be attached to the outer shell and what shapes to make the shell. Nice butt, huh?

Paint day #1


I spent about two hours cleaning and taping the bike yesterday, and two hours painting it today. It needs glow in the dark paint tomorrow, and I still need to paint most of the wheels.


I started to get intimidated by the number of screws I had to take off in order to get the fenders and wheels off, so I took pictures of them beforehand. I couldn't move the handlebars or seat myself, I guess I'm a weakling. So I'm just going to tape them off with plastic bags before I spray paint.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Tron Costume

So that was the bike plan. For the costume, I'm going to go for a white costume with more of a futuristic/minimalist look like the new movie, which has both black and white costumes. Here's the main chick from the new movie, Quorra, played by Olivia Wilde:





Here's the original movie's main chick, Yori, played by Cindy Morgan:


Not sure if this is really from the movie, but it's close:


And here's some general desert costume inspiration:


So my plan for the costume is to wear white Under Armour shirt and leggings, with white cowboy boots and motorcycle helmet, then make a outerpiece made from white nylon which is like imitation leather, to sew the EL wire to. And put EL wire in the helmet. I need to design that leather outerpiece soon and start experimenting with layout of EL wire. Oh, and I'm also going to store the battery packs for the costume's EL wire in a white belt kinda like Luke Skywalker had.

A Summer Project

So, I'm going to Burning Man this year. It will be my 3rd time. I went in 2006 for my 21st birthday, and the following year. So I've been away from "Home" for 2 years, and this time I'll have just turned 25. Crazy! That blows my mind. We're still not camping with a large camp, just our little posse of Ali, me, Jose, plus his bro Dom and my friend Steph. Pretty small camp. However, we are bringing Ali's geodesic dome, which will be rad. Also, this year I decided to go the extra mile in terms of bike decorating and costume, and also try to be more sustainable. No more throwaway glowsticks!

My plan is to modify a cruiser bike with EL (electroluminescent) wire to look like a Tron bike. I also plan on creating a Tron costume with EL wire. So today I bought the as-is bike and some basic bike tools. I already ordered the wire online and also went to Fred Meyer and Next Adventure to pick up some other random things I thought I might need.




That's a giant pack of AA's, black duct tape, Eco glue, EL wire pre-cut with instructions and battery packs, tiny tie things, clear/white futuristic lights, white enamel paint, gloves, and not pictured: glow in the dark spray paint. Also, an Aerobie disc.

This is what I'm trying to imitate:


Thursday, April 15, 2010

Spring Update

It's mid-April, so here's what progress I've made and what's new.

First of all, I'm not very organized or motivated, so that's why I haven't update the blog. I have a sort of laissez faire attitude about life, which is generally why I'm not as awesome as I could be, and I totally realize that. It seems pretty difficult for me to be the best me that I can (A hippie probably died when I said that) alone. Having the right kind of partner seems to be pretty crucial. Well, it's all sort of a cycle of improvement based on the reciprocal nature of being successful and being happy and being with the right person. Or even just around the right few people, a core group of positive, creative, loving friends who keep each other motivated and energized. Anyways, haven't had those things lately so this is where I'm at.

1 - No progress. Had a few officey interviews, didn't hear back after. Film stuff has all fallen through. On my own I want to make a video of some sort, probably a music video or short film, using a friends music and doing some trippy beach stuff. I'm not sure what role I want to play on that.. I have no real desire to be the cinematographer or director. But maybe I need to push myself ? I'm thinking something Highlander/Holy Mountain inspired.

2/3 - no progress.. I would need money for a car, and I don't have enough. I'm going to Burning Man this summer so a bunch of money will probably go towards that and the Peru trip my mom and I are going to in Oct. And love life is sadly nonexistent.

4 - I'd say I'm still at the same level of sustainable lifestyle I was at in Jan, but I've also started paying more attention to labels, and am looking at volunteering with an ethical consumer group. I'm going to a meeting today.

5 - This area I've definitely made the most progress in because all i had to do was sign up at a gym and get a personal trainer. So that's what I've been doing and so far I think I'm definitely stronger, more fit, and I'm happy with my decision.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Resolution #5: Exercise/Get fit

UGH OH GOD OK

That bouncy rubber ball helps a little. Walking the dog helps a little. Maybe working out with a partner would be good, or joining a gym. I want to play some bball at the park, and I know Liz and Erica are down, so I should really talk to them about that. Gym memberships are expensive. I might start doing yoga instead. Everyone raves about bikram but I really hate being sweaty/hot so that's probably not a good idea.

Resolution #4: Be more green

Ok, I've already started doing this by getting a reusable water bottle and coffee mug, and those little reusable bags you stuff in your purse or keep in your car. The tough part is remembering to bring them with you. My mom also recycles and composts, and we buy a lot of organic foodstuffs. The next steps I could easily take are:
-Cut down on meat
-Buy more local foods
-Don't buy stuff that has lots of packaging
-Make more food at home, don't eat out
-Don't buy new stuff if you can buy it secondhand

More suggestions?

Resolution #2 &3: Get a car, boyfriend

Secondary to Resolution #1

Resolution #1: Get a job

There's two separate strategies for this: get another office job, or try getting paid film gigs. I've been blaming the bad economy and tough competition for not ever hearing back for the office jobs I've applied for last year. I just keep applying via Craigslist or through corporate websites like Whole Foods, Nike, and Standard Insurance. I'm still only applying to companies I would actually want to work for, so no dentist offices, lawyers, real estate, etc.

As for getting paid film work, its more about who you know. Right now I'm helping a friend submit some short teen-created films to festivals to get experience. Also I'm involved in a feature that is trying to get a mid-level budget from Hollywood producers, and if it does, I'm not sure what role I could have in it. Hopefully some sort of producer's assistant. I'm also not sure if I would need to join the union or not. But I'm not going to worry about that yet.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

The New Year

I'm starting a blog so I can track the things I want to accomplish, learn, and do this year. I'm making it public so people can add their input/wisdom/encouragement and give me a boost of motivation, which I will definitely need. I have a lot of resolutions this year, which I normally never have, but the last year was dismally stagnant in many ways, and I really need to do something to shake up my life and make it better. Without some sort of imposed order, I tend to live in the moment (whether its good or bad), and lack direction and discipline. So I'm going to create a sort of project management approach to my resolutions, and see how that goes. I'll be evaluating my progress every month. Tomorrow's Monday, I'll share my list of resolutions and projects and figure out a plan then. Hey, its still the weekend.. time to watch a movie and make dinner.