tangalang

lofty times in Marina del Rey

2010-06-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

We stopped by our good friends Yuko and Jon's place this past weekend to say hi and see their new apartment. They live a few miles from the beach in Marina del Rey, in a new loft/apartment complex that's still being constructed. The place is brand new, so when Jon signed the papers he was able to kind of customize it to his liking--dark wood floors, glass shower doors, etc.

Instax Mini Nerd-Alert!!

2010-05-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

Oh, cameras. How I love thee. I spent several months this past year slowly circling the Instax Mini by Fujifilm, in my very best imitation of a vulture that's already had dinner--but has just spotted a big, fat, dead pig in the road. There's just nothing like pork.

Okay, so--metaphors of questionable taste aside, the Instax Mini offers sunny, fine, and indoor settings. It keeps count of your shots, which come 10 to a pack, 2 packs to a box. It produces thick, glossy instant photos the size of a credit card. There's a little space on the side of each picture that are perfect for spur-of-the-moment haikus.

I'm completely in love with these tiny, retro-looking pictures. Less in love with the price, but if you shop smart you can find a decent deal. WARNING: If you decide you have to have one of these--for goodness' sake, don't buy it from Urban Outfitters, which charges DOUBLE the price of some other places. I got mine from amazon.com. (I even settled for the pink one because it was cheaper.) And don't forget to tell all your friends you want film for your pending birthday, because that ain't cheap either.

python ahoy!

2010-04-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

I. Love. Snakes. They're gorgeous. Therefore, when my friend called me last night asking if I wanted to see his new ball pythons, fresh from the store, I yipped a little "HELL YES!" and got out the camera.

He purchased two young males: a baby and one about a year old. The baby wanted a warm hiding spot and casually slipped into the sleeve of my sweater. He lay curled contentedly against my forearm for the duration of the photo shoot--which is why these are all pictures of the one-year-old. It was tough trying not to jostle my sleeve while still getting decent shots of the other one, but I got a couple I liked.

cat nap

2010-04-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

Tigger is great for random sleeping poses. He takes burrowing to a whole new level. I took this one over the weekend while he was enjoying housecleaning day. He loves it when I do laundry, change sheets, or put the couch back in order.

World Pillowfight Day

2010-04-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

This year, Internationl Pillowfight Day fell on Saturday, April 3rd. At 3pm, hundreds (possibly thousands!) of people gathered in Pershing Square and proceeded to whap each other senseless with pillows of all kinds. I'd first heard about this event a long while back, and missed it consistently for the next couple years. This year, no longer!

A tip, should you ever decide to embark on your own crowd pillowfighting journey: wear a mask. We saw countless veterans with bandanas, health masks, and scarves over their noses and mouths, and they were SMART.

Featherthroat is an awful experience. :-P

Linda Vista ghost hunt

2010-03-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

I've never been particularly afraid of ghosts. Never had any personal experiences with them, and haven't had any spiritual disturbances in my life. That being said, I can still see why people say that the Linda Vista Hospital in downtown LA is haunted. It was abandoned in the early 90's and has since been used as a site for movie shoots, music videos, and random acts of vandalism.

Creepy things about the place:

- The doors on springs, that feel like someone's on the other side pushing back when you try to open them.
- The random mattresses, clothing, furniture, and personal belongings one finds left behind.
- The leaky mustiness of the basement, the floor of which is largely obscured with water from an unidentifiable (but definitely foul-smelling) source.
- The abandoned incubators, hospital chairs with stirrups, gurneys, cadaver drawers.
- The stacks of patient files that have been left behind.
- Much more.

In conclusion, an excellent spot for photo hounds! We rented the place out for a couple hours, which came out somewhat ominously to $16.66 per person.

Basement cobwebs, thick and shiny like the strings from a hot glue gun. They were incredibly tough and didn't break when I rubbed them lightly between my fingers.

Didn't manage to get a good shot encompassing this whole room, which was one of my favorites. It had pipes running through the ceiling, a metal staircase winding up to the second floor, and a mysterious lawn mower in the back room.

Found on the bathroom floor in that same room. (Nearby was a discarded makeup sponge.)

The entrance to the kitchen, of all places, was covered with this plastic sheeting.

One of the many mystery knobs, faucets, levers, and gears we encountered.

I'd never seen a real gurney before.

Broken windows, peeling paint, and filthy tile everywhere we looked.

Got this on our second voyage to the basement.

Stopped to get a better look at the patient files this time.

A bunch of old files were piled up on the desk.

massive blog fail

2010-03-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't been on track with this since we took our trip to Thailand. Big-ass blog fail. :(

*brrrrrrrring!* (magic wand fairy noise)

Presto change-o! You are now a general photo blog! Rejoice in your non-daily-ness!

Steve's disastrous birthday week continued

2010-03-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

I say disastrous because on his birthday, he worked till almost midnight and we didn't get to do anything. Then a couple days later, I'd planned a group get together for drinks and I worked till 1:30am and missed it. So this was the make up of the make up birthday. Just a quiet dinner at a nice restaurant with a few more little presents. :) And it was not ruined. Hooray!

dinner with David

2010-03-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

Had dinner with my good friend David tonight. He did not want his photo taken, so here's a shot of his new phone instead.

rob-sessed

2010-03-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

Feast your eyes on THIS piece of birthday goodness I assembled for Steve! Painstakingly arranged on a little table outside his office door (which he keeps closed), so that it's waiting for him whenever he should choose to emerge. We have a long-running joke about his feigned affection for Rob Pattinson.

(I do this to him every so often. This is the original one I left for him a while back, with a Heineken among the roses.)

mini college reunion

2010-03-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

Got together with maybe 10-15 people from college for drinks at Saints & Sinners near my apartment. Great time! Everyone's the same... except with wedding rings and kids and mortages now. Crazy!

promenading

2010-03-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

Took Steve shopping for his birthday presents down by the 3rd Street Promenade. Some of our favorite bookstores are down that way--Arcana, which is a little hole in the wall that's easy to miss, and Hennessy and Ingalls, which is bigger and badder but less book-nooky. Bought books. Only a few, but they were hefty. (Good thing I'm working all this overtime these days.)

Pink's

2010-03-12T20:50:00.000-08:00

One of LA's most famous hot dog joints. We pass this place every night on our way home.

Loren vs Patrick

2010-03-11T21:48:00.000-08:00

Another late night at the office. Meko dove out of the picture right before I took it.

late night breakdown

2010-03-10T23:48:00.000-08:00

My boss drives a hotrod. It's a '53 Chevy that he's had since he was a teenager, and it took him about 3-4 years to rebuild it and get it back in driving shape. He was trying to be nice and give me a lift home one evening when we were stuck in the office till midnight. Annnnnd then it broke down. Weep.

angela penguin

2010-03-08T22:42:00.000-08:00

Went to Derf and Angela's place to have dinner and catch up with them, and give them little Thailand souvenirs. :)

Oscar party

2010-03-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

Oscar party at Dan's place! Henry's prepping the last of the food before everyone arrives.

30 pounds of cat

2010-03-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

Maybe even more than 30 pounds. These guys are heavy!

home again, home again, jiggety jig

2010-03-05T23:28:00.000-08:00

Exhausted after over 18 hours of traveling.

rafting on the River Kwai

2010-03-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

The kid steering our raft was only 13. He was tiny, but buff!

pink thai popeye

2010-03-03T12:20:00.000-08:00

Taking the rickety, rocking train in Kanchanaburi.

gold flakes

2010-03-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

A lot of the Buddha statues in Ayutthaya had gold flakes stuck to them. It's something the people do as a sign of worship and prayer.

muay thai

2010-03-01T20:03:00.000-08:00

We got a chance to see a Muay Thai boxing match. These guys are hardcore! They train by kicking trees, and rolling broomsticks along their arms and shins to toughen up the callouses there.

bankgkok power lines

2010-02-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

This reminded me of living in Panama as a kid! The power lines looked exactly like this.

flower crowd

2010-02-27T14:57:00.000-08:00

Everyone was praying outside one of the temples we went to see, shoeless, holding flowers.

hello there!

2010-02-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

We took one of these photos every day that we stayed at the Eastin Hotel in Bangkok. Over here in LA, it was actually 2/26/10 since we lost a day in travel, so I posted two photos on this day. :)

off to thailand!

2010-02-25T14:03:00.000-08:00

Waiting for our flight at LAX.

that's some nice beard freeze you got there

2010-02-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

Angel's beard actually froze on the mountain this morning! The snow and wind were coming down like crazy and he still went out on the slopes. We put tire chains on the car for our drive back to LA.

MAMMOTH!!

2010-02-20T08:27:00.000-08:00

Passing the gondola on the way to a snowboarding lessons.

on the road to mammoth

2010-02-19T23:48:00.000-08:00

Pausing for fuel on our way up to Mammoth for the weekend.

the furminator

2010-02-18T08:28:00.000-08:00

Cat-sitting for a friend this week.

genital origami

2010-02-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

I almost died laughing a million times during this show! Yes, there are real genitals on display, attached to live people, folded into funny shapes. Yes, it's hilarious. YES, I recommend it to anyone who can go see it! It's playing through March at the Coast Playhouse on Santa Monica Blvd!

my pet roomba

2010-02-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

Best Christmas present ever!

waking up

2010-02-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

Waking up and starting the day. Had to go meet up with a friend for a trip to the Thai massage parlor. Life's tough... ^_^

Katsuya

2010-02-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

This place had the most AMAZING sushi, sashimi, short ribs, potatoes, vegetables, chocolate strawberries, cake, ice cream, hot chocolate shots, and cocktails! We did the chef's taster menu. Dinner was two and a half hours long, and we didn't even hang out after we were done eating. Ahhhhhhh... XD

fire up the firepot

2010-02-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

Traditional Chinese dinner. Someone needs to tell my mom that 6 people canNOT eat 47 pounds of food. I'd like to note that this picture shows less than half the food that was on the table. Also, it would be great if we could bring her into the propane age. Our old copper kettle takes charcoal and it was over half an hour before the smoke dissipated enough to bring it into the house.

Shen Yun Spectacular

2010-02-12T21:26:00.000-08:00

Went to the Shen Yun Chinese New Year Spectacular show with my mom and Steve. Lots of singing and dancing. LOTS. Like two and a half hours. x_x

don't call your retailer

2010-02-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

Jason hard at work.

sunny day

2010-02-10T08:54:00.000-08:00

In the morning on my way into work.

office toys

2010-02-09T13:53:00.000-08:00

The shelf of toys in my office.

the great hoover exchange

2010-02-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

Steve selling the brand-new Hoover vacuum to Jon! We've been trying to arrange this since Christmas!

superbowl sunday

2010-02-07T13:53:00.000-08:00

I made ice cream bars with cookie crust and chocolate sauce for the superbowl this year. We had to scramble like mad an hour before the game, because the host suddenly had cable problems. x_x Quickly rushed to Steve's place to get it ready for 9 people. Hahaha!

karaoke, costume-style

2010-02-06T22:22:00.000-08:00

When we karaoke, we do it costume-style! This is Vanessa wearing sunglasses from the 99 cent store, dish-washing gloves, and (that's right!) plastic body armor. We went from 10pm to 3am. Whoa, buddy!

couch pup

2010-02-05T22:20:00.000-08:00

A quiet night in, getting ready for a busy weekend.

Neil Gaiman!

2010-02-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

Sadly, we weren't allowed to take any pictures during the readings. BUT IT WAS AWESOME!!

that green guy loren

2010-02-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

Loren in the Buddha kitchen.

the drying process

2010-02-02T23:22:00.000-08:00

Moneypenny watching me arrange the fans to dry my carpet. :-P

house rain

2010-02-01T23:12:00.000-08:00

Ceiling leak. Booooooo!

tiny animal army

2010-01-31T12:23:00.000-08:00

They're coming for you...

once upon a time in the west

2010-01-30T19:28:00.000-08:00

Saw Once Upon a Time in the West at the Egyptian. One of the most amazing movies I've ever seen! (Really weird pep-talks to Claudia Cardinale, though.)

rubio's

2010-01-29T21:07:00.000-08:00

I love this place. Their fish taco sauce is like crack. We stopped in here Friday night before seeing Avatar in 3D Imax--or at least, we swung by so I could have ONE taco, then we went to Island's where everyone else wanted to eat.

label maker, hoooooooo!

2010-01-28T21:26:00.000-08:00

Why are label makers so awesome? I don't know. No one knows. They just are.

the mysterious hand of agent absent

2010-01-27T22:28:00.000-08:00

Had dinner with a friend at our usual restaurant. This is actually a candid photo of her hand gestures while talking.

mr. playboy

2010-01-26T22:34:00.000-08:00

A shot of my Mr. Playboy bunny statue. I accidentally left the camera in the car during the evening, so there is no out-of-house photo today. :(

couch day!

2010-01-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

The menfolk, after helping me move in the new couch. So cushy!

gargoyles!!

2010-01-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

I love this show...

madam tussaud's

2010-01-23T21:38:00.000-08:00

Pierce Brosnan and Colin Farrel at Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum. Could not BELIEVE how lifelike they were! ...I was kind of afraid of the Anthony Hopkins statue. :-/

pennyface

2010-01-22T23:36:00.000-08:00

Kitteh face.

leftover bouquet

2010-01-21T18:48:00.000-08:00

A flower from my coworker's bouquet. The rest of the flowers wilted and this was the only one left.

chicken adobo night

2010-01-20T20:52:00.000-08:00

Filipino chicken adobo night at Jason's place. I suddenly realized that I'd grown up eating this dish, and that it is EXACTLY THE SAME as Chinese soy sauce chicken! Except we never ate bananas with ours.

ms. pac-man

2010-01-19T19:48:00.000-08:00

It was harder than I remembered. :-P

oh my gosh. galoshes.

2010-01-18T17:26:00.001-08:00

People in California get very excited about rain. We run laps in the parking lot and splash in puddles on the street corners. (And we take pictures of it.)

the pee-wee herman show

2010-01-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

The secret word is FUN!

hussy

2010-01-16T23:28:00.000-08:00

Went for a quick overnight of camping (RV style!) with a friend's family. The dog kept stealing my spot in bed. :-/ Hahaha!

sake & sushi

2010-01-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

Dinner at Kabuki.

cookie monster

2010-01-14T20:15:00.000-08:00

Saw this sign on the wall outside Bevmo, while on an alcohol run.

gunslinger spawn

2010-01-13T23:04:00.000-08:00

Love me some cowboy.

jonesing for buddha

2010-01-12T20:04:00.000-08:00

Buddha with a Jones soda. That's how we roll.

a few Mini details

2010-01-12T16:33:00.001-08:00

As requested, I'm writing a bit about my new camera, the Diana Mini. Mine was a gift, but you can get one on Amazon, Lomography, or Freestyle. I think Amazon has the best price, by about $5 or so. Here's a great, detailed breakdown by Kai Yamada, of the exact Diana Mini package I received.

Kai has a blog and youtube channel that I really enjoy. His tutorials are clear and easy to follow, and he answers specific questions. He's recommended some great links to me while I've been learning about my Mini. (He also has lots of helpful posts about other cameras, such as the Diana F+, the Holga, etc.)

I'm still in the testing stages of the Mini--there are so many settings on it that it's much harder to get a handle on than my Golden Half. Many reviewers (including the one I just listed for the Golden Half) have disliked the Mini because it's kind of complex to use and costs a lot compared to other plastic cameras, but I think with patience it can yield great results. So far my main difficulty has been in making sure that my scenes are properly lit. Got lots of dark frames back on my first couple of rolls. This camera requires lots of light to work well--OR you have to be using a flash fairly close to your subject. A mini tripod and cable release (which I do not have) would help a lot too in low lighting.

I also received the Diana+ flash adaptor with my camera. It comes with a little pack of colored gel filters so that you can throw colored flash on your subject, like so. I've been told that an old Vivitar flash also works great, and might be much cheaper if you ebay it. The Diana+ flash takes a single AA battery, which has lasted me 4 rolls and counting so far. I've gotten some tips about using the flash WITH the long exposure setting to both freeze your subject AND let more dreamy light into the background. Have tested this, but not developed the film yet.

More when that happens! :)

post-Chang's

2010-01-11T22:30:00.000-08:00

Heading back to the car after dinner with friends at Chang's.

TACKLE!

2010-01-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

Chelsea gets tackled by a little girl in the bounce house.

Diana Mini

2010-01-09T14:16:00.000-08:00

The newest addition to my little camera family. :)

juxtapoz this

2010-01-08T19:28:00.001-08:00

Juxtapoz magazine.

sunglasses at night

2010-01-07T20:12:00.000-08:00

Passed a shop on Beverly, on the way to meet some friends at a cafe.

life on the island

2010-01-06T17:18:00.000-08:00

Nonstop work on Shutter Island this week. "From Martin Scorsese..."

^_^

2010-01-05T17:26:00.000-08:00

ain't no party like my nana's tea party

2010-01-04T17:43:00.000-08:00

My cousin got married about a year and a half ago. Bestowed upon me by my grandmother at the happy occasion was this golden gobbler of a pig. It weighs about 13 zillion pounds and holds highlighters on my desk at work.

holiday review: end of 2009

2009-12-31T14:31:00.000-08:00

Since I don't have my 2010 photos ready to go yet, I'm just going to post a few from the 2009 holidays.