The xx – VCR (Four Tet remix)

(via Four Tet)

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

The lives of nine-year old Oskar, his grandmother (as a girl, woman and crone) and grandfather (as a teen and adult) overlap in Jonathan Safran Foer’s story about our lifelong struggle to come to terms with loss.  In Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, JSF skillfully weaves wordless suffering throughout the novel, illustrating how loss is loss is loss, with or without eloquent expression. The 3 narrators use photographs, sign language, written notes and imagined inventions (like a shower that reacts to the emotional chemistry of the bather, pigmenting the skin like a living mood ring to better communicate feelings — to others and the self) to communicate when feelings overwhelm the ability to speak.

Purple. Or green?

Oskar, like his grandparents — one of whom struggled with English as a second language — uses any means necessary to convey emotion when words fail. To this end, JSF uses images thoughtout the novel to demonstrate how the power of some feelings are easier to show visually than describe verbally. Take the notion of writing the name of a color (purple) in a pen of a different color (green). A lengthy description could talk around the concept of how we struggle to say the WORD purple when written in the COLOR green. Or, as JSF does, a picture of the word black written in red ink can be shown, allowing the reader to experience the confusion first hand.

Similarly, photographs of movement are paired with their description in the plot, giving the reader a chance to call up memories of sound, smell and light to complement what each character struggles to describe. Reading about the flock of birds that flies near Oskar, “extremely loud and incredibly close”, then seeing an image of such a flock connected me with an amalgam of other groups of other birds from my own memories. The feel of air against my face in sync with wingflaps; the dusty smell of dander stirred by sudden, rapid movement; the unmistakeable sound of wings beating — all called to mind with a single image. And for this, the novel is a richer and much more personal experience.

The birds were extremely loud and incredibly close

Some readers object to the use of a nine-year old protagonist navigating a post-9/11 theme, claiming Oskar is unable to adequately speak about the tragedy. But his inability to hold an adult conversation about many things, including the 9/11 bombings, is actually the point. What is Oskar if not a metaphor for the post-9/11 US? Shock, feeling strong emotions but being unable to articulate the grief, confusion, overwhelm and a general lack of understanding — all are sentiments that correctly describe Oskar and what was felt nationwide after 9/11.

The selection of characters who struggle to communicate, along with relevant images throughout the story make this book a successful exploration of how we strive to understand life — especially when loss flings us beyond our vocabulary. Well done, JSF.

The rusty underbelly of Moss Landing

Given my childhood romps amidst rusty machinery and cogs hidden beneath years of motor grease, it was with nostalgia that I found this beautiful pile of discarded labor.

Rebar

Rust and rope

Femme

Boi

She & Him

(Taken in Moss Landing, June 8, 2010)

My first: Acupuncture

Hua Shou. Expression of the fourteen meridians. (Tokyo, 1716)

A friend made the resolution to have more “first time”s in her life this year.  There is something to first time experiences that nudges our personal growth along, intentional or otherwise.  While not making a formal resolution, I include the intention to try something new in my decisions.  In the East Bay it’s fairly easy to try new restaurants; recently I’ve enjoyed Flora, Aunt Mary’s, Quince and Actual Cafe.  My career path is meandering down a new path with volunteer work at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum and Monterey Bay Aquarium.  For physical well-being I’m racking up firsts: a sacro-iliac belt, an adjustment by a chiropractor, ultrasound treatment and now acupuncture.  The goal is to find something that will eliminate the need for my first back surgery.

Many friends have suggested acupuncture.  However, my limited understanding of how the practice works has been holding me back from making my first appointment.  I understand the biochemical pathways targeted by medicine, while the pathways used by acupuncture elude me.  It seems other scientists share my curiosity about the biological mode of action for acupuncture.  The authors of a recent neurobiology study actually refute the traditional theory of Qi used in acupuncture:

Rats with damaged spines can walk again thanks to acupuncture. But it’s not due to improvements in their energy flow or “chi”. Instead, the ancient treatment seems to stop nerve cell death by reducing inflammation.

Despite my craving for a reconciliation between contemporary biology and the ancient practice of acupuncture, I’ve decided to have a first experience with the needles.  There are numerous acupuncture clinics in the East Bay and San Francisco, so it wasn’t difficult to find a reputable practitioner.  My first acupuncture appointment will be tomorrow morning at the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley.  Good fortune is on my side, as there is a promotion this week and my visit will be half off — only $15!

Several kitty alcoves

I share a house with 3 cats.  It gets hairy around the house — in more ways than one.  Weekly vacuuming is a necessity.  So are several kitty alcoves scattered throughout the house.

A few months ago I saw a hack for the IKEA lack wall shelf: by rotating the zigzag-shaped shelf 45 degrees the the left, a cat-sized stairway is created.  The vertically-oriented cat, Arlis, has been very finicky about her hangouts.  I took a chance with this LACK shelf idea, and luckly it worked out!  She spends a fair amount of time on what are exclusively her steps; the other two cats are not “arboreal”, and prefer to spend their down time in dark cavernous areas close to the ground.

Arlis on the IKEA LACK mod

I’ve been thinking about ways to create more indoor cat microhabitats.  So when I came across a link to The Cats’ House on Apartment Therapy today, it was as though inspiration dropped into my lap from the clouds* up above:

Feline lovers, get ready for some pie-in-the-sky dreams come true: The Cats’ House designed by Japanese architecture firm Fauna+DeSIGN is dizzying in the amount of playful, yet tastefully designed, details created to amuse 16 very fortunate felines. Rounded corners throughout, bookcase steps, tunnels, skylights, ceiling catwalks and a floor to ceiling scratching post make this possibly the coolest pet-centric home we’ve ever seen.

A clever way to fit 16 cats into one house

Check out the full details (but in Japanese) over at The Cats’ House website.

*Pun intended.  It’s too easy to spin off the cloud computing concept sometimes.

My parents were awesome

I’ve been working at my current job harder than I ever have in my life.  I wake up, drive (carpool!) for over an hour, get to work, and focus on “work”.  After 8 or 9 hours, I get back into the car and decompress.  When I get home, I pull up my email and dash off replies to any new messages, and push through any tasks of my own to keep the projects I manage on schedule.

Whew.

When I can steal a minute in between meetings (like now!) I like to check out My Parents Were Awesome.  NPR described the blog with a question: “How did your folks look before they were parents?”  A hard question to answer, unless you have evidence…like pre-digital photographs.  For those of us in a certain age bracket, that is.

Paul (submitted by Chris)

To do:  Scan pre-digital camera pictures to share with the world.  The past can be awesome.

A full-time, professional fun-maker

Dream job alert: being a full-time, professional fun-maker.  The Fun Theory is an initiative of Volkswagen, and the following sums up the purpose of their website:

This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.

Check out this short video showing the genius of how adding fun to function can have a huge effect on behavior:

 

Chirping his curious song

Juniper "Joon" Pearl

Nearly 4 years ago my cat Joon disappeared.  He was an innie-outie and didn’t show up for dinner one night.  Or brekkie the next morning.  Or any other meal, ever again.

Time passed; I moved into SF, around SF, and back into the house Joon and I once shared.  All the while, I frequented animal shelters looking for Joon among the dozens of cats waiting for a new chance.

Joon would be a hard cat to mistake.  When he was a sturdy young cat at the age of 2y, he weighed in around 16 pounds.  He stood at least 6-8″ taller than the other cat he grew up with.  Joon was also incredibly long, and was covered with long buff-colored fluff.  In colder months he had a thick mane surrounding his head and running down his chest.

His personality was just as unique as his build.  He was born of a partially feral cat mama, so he was on the shy side.  One of his favorite places to hang out was under a circular table that suffered from a skirt.  While the table may have languished beneath the skirt, Joon thrived; the skirt served as a one-way veil between him and the world.  He could be detected at night, slinking around the house and chirping his curious song.

I randomly stopped by the neighborhood animal shelter this afternoon to touch kittens.   Cute kittens stuck wee paws out through crate doors.  Adult cats snoozed.  I did a quick scan of the room, without knowing what I was looking for until I saw this mass of fluffy buff-colored cat crammed into the far corner of a crate.  The stats on his door matched those of a would-be Joon.  A volunteer removed the guy from his crate and put us into an introduction room together.  I sat in awe, struggling to reconcile this new cat with my memories of Joon.  I left the shelter with the intention of digging up old photographs of Joon and getting copies of his vet records for more information.

At the end of the day, I ask myself if it matters whether that cat is the same Joon I raised from kitten-hood.  He is a 6yo cat at an animal shelter that will euthanize him if he stays there long enough, isn’t that reason enough to rescue him?  But how can I communicate that gem to the critters I live with?

An adult playhouse

Among my dreams is to have a backyard shed.  The best way to describe my ideal shed is as an adult playhouse.  My shed would have concrete floors, an expansive desk, power tools, art supplies, a high-end sound system and windows with coverings that allow the space to be drenched in light or choked with blackness, even on the sunniest day.  I might throw in some central heat and A/C for comfort.

Considering my fondness for sheds, I was pleased to find Shedsploitation, the blog of SF Bay Arean Seth Boor.

Shedsploitation

Shedsploitation explores the design of tiny backyard sheds, small enough to build without permits, using found and recycled materials. Seth hopes to unite a “community of backyard artists” around the creation of these dreamy little buildings…

San Francisco’s building code allows for the permit-less construction of a single-story, eight-foot-high building with a footprint of 100 square feet. Shedsploitation explores the creative possibilities within these space limitations. How about a little backyard theater for a family of artists? Or an eco-friendly bathhouse with a wetland on its roof for water filtration? Or maybe a little music-studio-slash-guest-room, with guitars hung on the walls? No permit means electrical and water have to be off the grid, too, so the sheds are perfect for exploring green technologies like solar power and gray water systems.

Seth hopes to engage other local designers, architects, and all-around creative types in a discussion about building backyard sheds like these. His brand new blog offers ideas for books and websites to read for inspiration, as well as places to shop for salvage materials.

(via Apartment Therapy)

If a DIY shed isn’t your thing (no judgement!), there are also prefabs to consider.  Modern Cabana makes pretty prefab sheds of various sizes.

Modern Cabana (10 x 12)

While precious, at 10′ x 12′ their smallest shed is just large enough to require a city permit to build.  I’m a good citizen and will stay within code.  I’m also averse to city intervention, so I’ll stay small.   So the shed search continues.

Real women

Ruby

That’s Ruby, or what Barbie would look like if she were a size 12/14.  There’s an interesting story behind Ruby, who is now banned from appearing in advertisements.

I wonder what it would have been like to play with Ruby dolls as a child.  Instead I had hand-me-down Barbies.  One day I discovered I could use the cement curb as a form of sand paper; I ground Barbie’s chest down to nubs.  After making significant progress toward “correcting” the small collection of Barbies we had, the post-op dolls were discovered, and  I was reprimanded for mistreating my toys.

Interacting with Barbie was a perfect introduction to the concept of “supermodel”.  While I no longer have dolls, I see Barbie everywhere.  Mostly she is a walking, size zero androgynous waif who, like Barbie, has the sole purpose of modeling how clothing should look.

A size 12 model leads the final walk-out at the Mark Fast catwalk show at London Fashion Week. The designer used size 12 and 14 girls alongside more conventional-sized models to showcase his knitted dresses

I was intrigued when I saw a post in femail about knitwear designer Mark Fast and his decision to use curvy women to model his new line of dresses.  A deliberate move, Fast intended to challenge the obsession with size zero models by showing how “fuller” women may actually look better in his slinky creations.

It’s impossible to ever be a perfect women, it seems.  I certainly can’t walk around airbrushed and flawless from every angle.  I’m glad there are voices challenging the way women are represented in society, voices like AnyBody who are anchors to help ease into accepting the body we have:

Remind yourself that the images in magazines are all digitally touched up, stretched and lit in extraordinary ways and that they are there to make us buy products rather than being pictures of real women.

(Thanks for the links, Sadie and Kat!)