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December 25, 2005
Be Back in a Bit
Posted by Akira at 7:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 24, 2005
Things I Learned in 2005
Do things throughout the year that keep it interesting.
Read more. Listen more.
Don't believe what people say, watch what they do.
Find time to be quiet.
Keep up with family. Be nice.
Don't get attached to what comes too easily.
Mix it up.
Pay attention to what's really going on.
Take trains.
When it's sunny, play outside.
Put in commas. Breathe.
Go see glaciers before they're gone.
When it snows, play outside.
Do things only if you mean them.
Decide, then act. Don't just react.
Posted by Dipika at 8:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 23, 2005
メリークリスマス
ますますクリスマス！
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December 22, 2005
Hot Vlog
Just in time for the holiday season, here's our first foray into video blogging - of a particularly cheerful hotdog in the U District.
related links: videoblogging | joshleo
Posted by Akira at 12:33 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 21, 2005
Design Kompany 2006
Remember how I said we were setting up Design Kompany?
I just got back in touch with one of our past clients in Ireland to see if everything looked okay on this new page I made. A+, she said.
Out of cheesiness we made this little greeting card (left) to email to folks. Yes. I'm getting into the idea of using our photos for some commercial purpose. Akira took this one. There are more.
Pre-New Year Design Kompany slogan:
2006 is where it's at.
Posted by Dipika at 10:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 20, 2005
Carolina in My Mind
My parents are writing. For the first time, I am seeing exclamation points in their e-mails.
See, the thing is, we are going to Asheville, North Carolina, for... a family reunion, I guess you could call it. Though I don't know what that really is, since we've never had one. Okay, there was a wedding in recent memory, but it happened so quickly we hardly had time to greet one another. Y'all know how it is.
This time, we'll make mince pies. We'll watch the Christmas Special of The Office. We'll bring our espresso maker and some coffee from Seattle.
Time will go slowly, since we've decided to let it.
Last year Akira and I thought it would be neat to go somewhere warm. We flew to San Diego and Tijuana, then caught the train straight to Los Angeles. The point was to get away from the dreary rain of the sort we are experiencing today, shortly after the winter solstice. But after we checked into our hotel in LA and put our stuff down and headed out, it started raining.
"It never rains in LA!" everyone gasped. That year they had a record downpour. Meanwhile, a tsunami hit a coast in Indonesia.
Posted by Dipika at 6:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 19, 2005
Ravioli, Lattes and the Skyline
Isn't it important to get out of your comfort zone once in a while and try new things?
It's easy to fall into a routine and spend all your time in places you know with people you know. Harder to move about in a space that's unfamiliar. Which is why some people don't like traveling. But I love traveling. And so, yesterday I spent the whole afternoon and evening exploring another neighborhood, Queen Anne.
First stop, Uptown Espresso, of course. Crowded there. Later I "discovered" a cute boutique and checked out Easy Street Records for the first time. Akira met me, and we headed to K and J's place where together, the four of us made ravioli.
We folded rectangular strips of lasagna over spoonfuls of a vegetarian filling that looked a lot like Indian food. We trapped the filling by gluing the edges shut with water, and pressing the perimeter with the tip of a fork. The finished works looked like little pillows.
After dinner, we strolled along in the cool night air to Upper Queen Anne, where Cafe Diablo's baristas made this amazing design on my coffee. I've never seen anything like this in Capitol Hill.
On the way home, we stopped at this popular viewpoint, Kerry Park. I had been here in the afternoon, but now there were no tourists setting up big cameras with timers. Seattle's skyline looked good. This time, it outshone a darkened Elliott Bay. And the night breezes felt closer.
Exciting stuff, getting to experience the same viewpoint and the same city from a new perspective. Good to know to do that, there's no need to go far.
Posted by Dipika at 8:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 18, 2005
12th and Pine
"I get the computer on Monday, Thursday and Friday. Sometimes, though, it's Tuesday, Thursday and Friday."
Posted by Dipika at 10:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 17, 2005
Lines from Cloud Tectonics
Tonight is the last evening this play by The Motorcycle Diaries' screenwriter Jose Rivera is on in Capitol Hill.
Cloud Tectonics, showing at Capitol Hill Arts Center, is really good if you like thinking about how art and math collide, though many reviewers don't write past the fact that most of the time we hear about time.
Or more precisely, the slowing or stopping of it. Yes, this is intriguing and sets the story's frame. But hooked onto that is much more than actors playing out a "what if?" supposition that time could somehow pause.
Earlier in the day I snapped this picture. That evening I heard these lines:
"What better way to respond to a miracle than to fall in love with it?
"The anatomy of the wind.
"The architecture of silence.
"Cloud tectonics."
Even the dynamics of astrophysics figure into the script. Consider the names of our players: Anibal de la Luna and Celestina del Sol. Subtle references throughout touch on energy, chemistry, and spaces powerfully packed with charge.
Not in matter form, mind you, but the shape of blooming love.
Posted by Dipika at 12:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 15, 2005
Once in Florence
Once upon a time around this time of year, Akira and I bumbled into Italy on a last-minute fare.
As other passengers, mostly natives, unpacked themselves from the aircraft, they put on sunglasses. They relaxed. They wore clean, well-manicured shoes with labels ending in vowels.
Dazed but optimistic, we followed.
It was winter, yes, but here there were no rain-soaked winds like in our green corner of Europe. Tan earth. Dry air. We weren't in Ireland anymore.
Sure, we could have done with some cassette-tape language lessons and travel guides. But despite the lack of background knowledge, something about this place was comfortable. It was easy to wander aimlessly and enjoy the light, which was always perfect no matter what the time of day. It no longer became so important to get to the next musuem. What was nice, we found, was to pause.
Posted by Dipika at 8:20 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 14, 2005
Ninjas
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December 13, 2005
Western and Columbia
"You can't ask him anything. The only way he communicates is by wiggling his toes."
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December 11, 2005
Wind
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December 10, 2005
Evite: Just Say No
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December 9, 2005
Pine and Boren (2)
Last week after "the Trey show" we stopped at Bauhaus for Italian sodas. Then we spied on the guy in this car.
The cafe has huge glass windows so everybody can see what's going on. It took this guy a few tries to back into the parking spot, but it was right in front of us and we got a clear view of what happened next.
So he gets out and pops the trunk. Gets a black leather bag, shaped like a laptop. Goes back to the drivers seat. Shuts door. Opens bag. Soon a white glow shows us his features.
A: What is he doing?
D: さあ。
A: Wait. Is he going online?
D: ... Oooh. Looks like he is.
A: Of course. They have WiFi here so he can hook up.
[Driver claps open a cell phone]
D: Man, this guy looks like he's done this before.
A: Why can't he come in and pay for a cup of coffee? What the?
D: Maybe he doesn't want to leave his car. Unattended, I mean.
A: What the?
D: Give me the camera, please.
Posted by Dipika at 7:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 8, 2005
The Man at the Info Desk
I walk up and there's this man in front of me in line. The Seattle Public Library woman has big earrings that look like moons.
[Play scene at about three words per hour]
Him: .... card.
Her: Your card appears to be lost.
Him: So what should I do?
Her: You need to go to that desk [points] and get a new card. It costs $1.
Him: You wouldn't have a lost and found box?
Her: [glances at computer screen] Your card appears to have been missing since August. You need to get a new card. It costs $1. You don't have to pay right now but it costs $1.
Him: I don't have to pay right now?
Her: No.
Him: But could you check the lost and found, please.
Her: We don't have one. When we find a card, it goes to lost status.
Him: What?
Her: It goes to lost stah-tus. We don't have old cards. We cut them up and we throw them away. You have to get a new card.
Him: Can I still get onto the computer?
Her: Yes, you can still get onto the computer.
Me: Excuse me. Mind if I cut in quickly?
Her: [heaves sigh] I'm helping him right now. When I'm finished with him, I'll help you. Okay? [sigh2]
Him: Thank you.
Posted by Dipika at 6:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 6, 2005
ナイス Show!
Artist Yuki Omaki (top right, right) now has a web site. Right.
Posted by Dipika at 1:25 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 5, 2005
Summit and E. Mercer
"He's married to a vegetarian, you know."
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December 4, 2005
Yellow Space
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December 3, 2005
Setting Up DK
We are redesigning the web site for Design Kompany (suggestions welcome) and we're also reorganizing our office.
A: We really need to get some kind of big calendar. Big.
D: You mean, like "year at a glance?"
A: Something like that.
D: A rolly uppy calendar.
A: What? What's that?
D: You know. A rolly uppy one.
Today Akira picked up these items:
box of 30 binder clips
two yellow in-trays
one blue pencil/pen holder
four tiles of cork
a white board (magnetic)
one 30-Day "rolly uppy" wall calendar:
Posted by Dipika at 6:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 2, 2005
Snow
Posted by Dipika at 5:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack