Pyramid Brewery

Went to the Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley to celebrate Aly's graduation. Had some good food and beer. It was my first time there, and I'm sure to go back again. The Apricot Weizen was delicious.

Lamp Project

For my rapid prototyping and manufacturing class, I had to make a lamp on the CNC machine with a group. My group did most of the work, and I did the documentation. Here is our lamp.

Foam Model.

Ta-da!

And Upsidedown..
P.S. I got an A- in the class- woo hoo!

Commemorative Poster Project

Here is my final project for my Typography class from Fall of 2008.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Zack and Miri Make a Porno was great! I laughed so hard till I cried. There was a little too much nudity-although I did appreciate Jason Mewes' behind- but it was expected. There was some crude and disgusting parts too, and I was disappointed that they weren't able to stick with the "Star Whores" idea. I generally don't like Seth Rogen, only because I thought that Knocked Up was one of the dumbest films ever. He was pretty funny in this one, and Granny Panties (Elizabeth Banks) was memorable. Kevin Smith did a good job, and I would love to see this movie again. There were some really funny quotes too. And, I was unaware that Justin Long could play such a convincing gay porn star. Bravo!

Role Models

I wasn't too impressed with Role Models. I love all these actors, but I thought that this movie was kinda lame. There were a few good laughs, but it was predicatble and cheesy. I really hated it when Pauld Rudd was singing, and Jane Lynch was getting real creepy with that hot dog...


I did appreciate the KISS references and had a good chuckle at the end.

Christmas Tree

I was very excited to get my Christmas tree this year. Although, because I was so busy with school, I felt that I didn't really get to enjoy it. I did purchase a few new ornaments this year. At school, there is the annual ceramics guild sale, and this year, they had some rather adorable ornaments I couldn't resist.

Here is the barbie torso ornament that reads, "ho ho ho!"Birth Control Pinwheel- "Baby Proof 99%"
And my favorite new one... a fat gnome I found at the antique store for $5. Made in Japan

Alphabet Project

For another project in my Typography class, I had to take photos of objects shaped like letters of the alphabet. I had to do all letters, uppercase and lower case. Here are a few pics.

"g"
"Y"

"G"
"m"
I will post pictures of my book when I get it back. Lots of thanks to Mike and Erin who helped me a bunch on this project:)

Book Project

For my Typography class, I had to make a book on an activist. I was assigned Mercedes Sosa, who is a singer and political activist from Argentina. I had to research her life and design a book about her life achievements, etc. It was very time consuming and difficult. But I am really proud of the end result. Unfortunately, I ran low on time, and was unable to complete the rest of the project (which included a DVD box set) which was half-assed to say the least. I did a japanese stab binding myself, which really isn't that hard and turned out quite nice.

I will post pictures of the finished product when I get it back from school. (Which may be a while, because I think it is being shown in the Spring DAI Show).

Just because..

Here are a few fun pics from last night. I had a few drinks with Joe, Erin, Mike, and Jeremiah at the Lucky 13. We had a pretty fun night.

Speaker Box makeover

Several months ago, I purchased two speaker boxes at St. Vincent de Paul, in hopes of transforming them into something fabulous! I purchased them for $15 each, and took them to their new home. I painted them white, because the original color was awful, and I wanted them to match my living room. I have been working on them for quite a while, and they are almost done. I painted them and purchased fabric to put on the screens. My Dad made shelves for me:)

And now, they have been transformed from ugly speaker boxes, into an organized DVD shelving unit!

Ta-da!I am very pleased with my purchase and the outcome.

Coming Soon!

Due to my busy schedule, I will not be able to do any posts in the upcoming weeks. (sorry)
Some possible future posts may include: Costume Party, Halloween, Yosemite, Cashback Review, Restaurant Reviews, New films, Christmas Season, Must Haves, The Garden, Speaker Box, Projects, Alphabet, New Years, Santa Cruz, The Future, Mars, Paint Colors, Crafts, Shoes Shoes Shoes, Spoiled Cat, Television, and more... (!!!)

so, I will keep you on your toes.. check back later!

Halloween!

The Benton's annual Halloween Bash was a great party this year. I went as a FemBot from Austin Powers, and Joe was Antone Chigur from No Country for Old Men. ( I can't find any pics of Joe's costume... it was good though)

Becca and Jen where the "Sale" signs often seen at car sales.
Jessica, Lori, and Simone were the three amigos.Danielle, Nancy and Becca.Big Trouble in Little China--which I have yet to see... Cowboy and Fembot.

Yosemite

A few weeks ago, I went to Yosemite for a class field trip. We went to the lower pines campground for two nights, and had a real good time. It was for my Geology of National Parks class, which I am taking to get a minor in California Studies (not sure where that will get me, but I am enjoying it...). My teacher is the coolest guy ever- he looks a lot like Tommy Chong. He's about 65, always wears skull rings, has braids, and his shoes and socks never match (because he is in the club FABS- Folks Against Bilateral Symmetry). Overall, fascinating guy.

I drove to SF to pick up some classmates at school, in my mom's van, and we made our way to Yosemite. Took about 4 and 1/2 hours! When we got there, we set up camp, and went on a short hike. After that, we made dinner and hung out by the campfire. Met a lot of cool people on the trip.

The next day, was a big hiking day. We hiked to Vernal Falls, and Nevada Falls, then back to the camp site. It was an 11 mile hike! And, I saw some black bears on my way back! And a bobcat.

That night was a free-for-all, and I decided to pass out pretty early. Apparently there were some bears around our camp site at night.. but I was lucky not to bump into them. The next day, we drove back and stopped at In-n-Out- and it was delicious!

I had a great time and made some good friends. Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures, but I will try to scan them in and post them soon.

Happy birthday Joe!

It's my brother's birthday! Woooo!

Audium

My friend Ray asked me if I had ever been to Audium, and I had! I just forgot what it was called. It is similar to Sonic Vision, but there is no visual.. you just listen to strange sounds in the dark... It is an interesting experience (not recommended for the claustrophobic). It costs $15 and is about an hour long. If you're looking for something different, this may be right up your alley.

Speisekammer

In celebration of October and Oktoberfest, I went to Speisekammer over the weekend with some friends to have some drinks. We enjoyed some food and beer steins- it was pretty good. They had a recession menu and I had the St. Louis Lambic Belgain Ale (Raspberry)- delicious!

After Speisekammer, we ventured over to Lucky 13, where they were also celebrating Oktoberfest. (Also, Joe is pictured on the website... hehe). They had some great deals on beer steins, that you could keep.

We had a good time- wish I had pictures! Hopefully, I will be getting a new camera soon to document these nights out.

Burn After Reading

Went to see Burn After Reading and Alameda Theater on Tuesday night. It was definitely enjoyable-but overall a strange film. It really tried to have The Big Lebowski humor, and there were some funny parts. It was a little hard to follow, but was overall not that bad.

Frances McDormand and John Malkovich were excellent!
It got a little violent towards the end, but I suppose that is expected in a Coen Brothers film. I enjoyed No Country for Old Men more than this, but I think I just need to let it sink in.

Completely Obsessed with...

ASTRO BOY!


In Japan, there was a ton of Astro Boy products- key chains, shirts, mouse pads, accessories, etc.- and I am hooked. I bought an Astro Boy phone charm in a pink kimono- that I love.

I wish I bought more Astro Boy Stuff- aka the Mighty Atom- but, I will just have to browse Amazon and Ebay I suppose...

Chabot Space and Science Center

Went to Chabot Space and Science Center on Friday to see Sonic Vision (again). It was enjoyable, as always, and I would really like to see the other films featured at Chabot.

Great cheap date-fun, short, and enjoyable!
Normally Friday and Saturday nights- check it out!

Forbidden Island: Tiki Lounge

Went to the Tiki Lounge a few times last week- and had a great time! I went on Tuesday night to see my friend Chris win an award for completing the rum tasting- over 100 rum's- (not in one night, ha) and he received a plaque and a bottle of his favorite rum. He even shared some rum with us. I also went on Friday night for Em's boyfriend's birthday.

Here's a pic from Tuesday.

Parkway Speakeasy

I finally went to the Parkway Speakeasy Theater in Oakland- near Lake Merritt- last Wednesday to see Pineapple Express (again). On Wednesdays, they have a two for one ticket- for the bargain price of $5! How great is that. Plus, they have beer and pizza- and comfy couches, too. It's 21 and over only- but they have another theater in El Cerrito, which is 18 and up. They are also available for private parties! Which sounds awesome.Matinees are only $3- which is only on Saturdays. Here's their calender- check it out!

Personal Ad Project

Here is my personal ad poster project- that unfortunately, my teacher wouldn't let me present it to the class... Anyways, I worked really hard on it, and just wanted to put it up here for all to see!

Just a few more...

Few more pics from the Superheroes party!