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101 posts under this tag.

Every taste is an acquired taste. 2
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6
Aug
16

Magic Balls 2
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6
Aug
14

I really digged those balls. I’m giving them away! :)

Magic Balls
Magic Ball 1/3 Magic Ball 3/3
(Notice the “Give you a very interesting feeling” cute engrishWP)

Bizcochitos de Poder 2
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6
Aug
14

I can’t believe it has been almost 20 megaseconds since I started this blog (so long already?) and I’ve never talked about them:

Bizcochitos de Poder

Well, if you must know they’re simple cookies I got quite obsessed with some years ago. An acquired tasteWP, they’re way too dry for the uninitiated but just perfect with constant (cold) sips of Arizona Lemon Tea, Bonafont Levite, or milk. They come in several flavors but for chocolate all of them are to be avoided like the plague. They’re advertised like energy biscuits (“bizcochitos de poder” for the in-crowd) and I say the label’s fitting, though in my opinion not so much for any energizing properties they may or may not have, but because they can quickly, cheaply ($1), and somewhat healthily fill your stomach and let you go on with your late night spree (remember Bere?).

A small bakery from my cityWP, La Integral, makes them, but I’ve had reports they now sell them (in your nearest OXXO) as far as MonterreyWP (near the US border) and I like to think I had a tiny wee part in it. ;)

(I’m only linking to the products’ websites out of some sense of customer loyalty, the pages themselves are as lousy as you can get—really, truly, blatantly hideous.)

Memetic Alert: Color-changing Whatchamacallit! 2
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6
Aug
07

Amazing Color-changing Whatchamacallit 3/3
Amazing Color-changing Whatchamacallit 2/3
Amazing Color-changing Whatchamacallit 1/3

Now that I think of it, I’d seen similar contraptions before but this one is particularly elegant and interesting: you throw it in the air and it changes color! Pure witchcraft. And the forms—the forms!—are beautiful in that uniquely arresting way that only mathematics can give. It’s our generation’s geodesic domeWP.

I remember one high school philosophy class where our fantastic teacher (James Kurtz) had nothing prepared but a smooth, solid piece of metal he had found inside his car engine. The assignment for the one-hour class was to write an essay on what we could infer from the alien civilization that created the artifact if we suddenly found it on its own on a faraway planet, with no cues whatsoever of its purpose. It was jolly good fun with a pretty nondescript ferrous blob, so I wonder what I’d have said had he brought this color-changing whatchamacallit.

To begin with, I guess it’s fair to assume such civilization had to know its math pat. Perhaps several alien PhDs went into the theory of this ball and its theoretical inspiration even carries the name of some great alien topologistWP, à la Poincaré sphereWP. I’d be willing to bet that they have computers, there’s no way they could have built this without CADWP. And the material itself, plastic, and the way it’s shaped, is nothing trivial—it shows some deep knowledge of chemistry, materials scienceWP, and manufacturing techniques.

And had I known that the whole thing was available for the alien equivalent of one dollar in the alien equivalent of a flea-market, and that it had no application than to be amusing, well, I’d have gasped!


At any rate, don’t (don’t!) let my babbling discourage you, go buy one!

The 2nd BookBatch! 2
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6
Aug
01

Now, this is getting interesting. Too many books but too many commitments.

The 2nd Bookbatch!

Chep's back! 2
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6
Aug
01

Take the day off, my sister’s back from California!
Chep's back!

Cronica de una caida anunciada 2
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6
Jul
31

Mi storyteller hermana Shmito nos narra su mas reciente patoaventuraWP:

Manoloooooo!!!

I am in pain!!!

Tengo una lesion abrasiva en la parte inferior de mi gluteo derechoooo!!!!

Deje le hago la cronica de lo sucedido:

Antes de la CaidaPues mire, sucede que aqui en Guadalajara los domingos de 8 a 2 de la tarde cierran varias calles por el centro de la ciudad y le llaman Via Recreactiva. Va mucha gente a andar en bici, caminar, correr, on en patines. Yo opte por la ultima, los patines, porque me los compre alla en Houston y los queria estrenar. Pues fuimos mi familia y yo a la mentada via recreactiva. Todo iba bien—shhht-shhht—deslizandome por las calles de cemento, hasta que llegamos a un paso a desnivel (de los que son por arriba, no los subterraneos) y pues con todo mi esfuerzo subi, y a la bajada dije ”uju! Voy a agarrar un impulsito super cool!!”. Fui estupida, lo se—inocencia quiero llamarlo. Total que iba hecha la madreeee!! Manolo, agarre muchisisisisimo impulsooo!! no me podia frenar!! Temi horrible por mi vida! Mis opciones eran, estamparme intencionalmente contra el camellon o el como barandalito de los lados (lo que era un madrazazazo seguro y una probable muerte en el intento), o seguir bajando e intentar lograrlo. Antes de la caidaAsi que segui bajando, agarrando cada vez mas y mas velocidad, temiendo cada vez mas y mas por mi vida, tratando de esquivar toda imperfeccion de la calle que pudiera causar mi caida. Todo iba bien, casi lo logro Manolo!! Cuando inesperadamente me di cuenta que justo cuando se termina la bajada, se termina tambien el cementito bonito y empieza un asfalto horrible lleno de pequeñas y letales piedritas e inumerables baches (imperceptibles a los carros y bicicletas, pero la pesadilla de cualquier patinador). Pero a esas alturas era muy tarde para intentar hacer algo. Asi que iba yo con todo el impulso de la bajada… llegue al asfalto… y sucedio lo inevitable… cai Manoloooo!!! Fue horribleeeeeeeeeeeee!! Me fui como de lado, raro… porque cai con mi mano derecha apoyada (ahora raspada) y con mi trasero-pierna derechos (raspadisimos). No me podia levantar Manolooo!!! Barandalito del overpass de Mariano Otero sobre Lazaro CardenasMi piernita temblabaaaaa! Pero unas señoras se apiadaron de mi y me ayudaron a levantarme, y como no habia desayunado nada, como que del susto y todo me empeze a marear. Pero bueno, me recupere y segui patinando, ya no me quedaba de otra. Me dolia mi pierna en el lugar del golpe, pero no habia baños ni nada donde me pudiera ver. Asi que segui como por una hora y media mas, hasta que terminamos nuestro recorrido en un restaurante para desayunar. Para esto ya traia super super hinchada mi piernita en esa areaaa!! Cuando entre al baño a verme… Santa madree Manoloo!! Me asuste!! Se ve horriblee, es como una gran quemada, mezclada con raspada, mezclada con el aporreamiento del sentonazo!! Se ve super super feo, y duele aun peor!!!

Llegando a mi casa me iba a bañar, pero me quede dormida y despues de como 8 horas me desperte. me lave y #$$%&x%x madre, me dolio hasta el alma, pero bueno, ya esta limpito ahi.

Ahora solo tendre que esperar como 1 año de aqui a que sane esa horrible herida.

Bueno, esa es mi historia. Se la platico esperando que se divierta un rato a expensas de mi sufrimiento.

To be young 2
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6
Jul
24

Eran las ocho y media de la mañana, yo subía la escalera del metro, mal dormido y encantado de la vida, porque nada es más hermoso que ser joven, subir unas escaleras temprano y aparecer en la plaza de Saint-Michel.
Fernando Savater, Mira por donde, p257
It was eight thirty in the morning, I was climbing the metro stairs, poorly slept and delighted with life, because nothing is more beautiful than to be young, climb some stairs early in the morning, and appear in Saint-Michel’s plaza.

Wallpaper 2
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6
Jul
23

Inspired in part by Schockwave Rider’sWP Kate, I just redid my wall to mark a new stage in my life. Here’s the result (click on it to see notes on each picture). I will explain some of them in more depth next week, for now, I’m quite proud with how it went out, I like it.

Wallpaper

On a sidenote, here’s an iibb: Flickr’s on-picture notes were, and still are, a stroke of genius, but by now one should be able to embed a picture together with its notes into another page, akin to how one embeds YouTube videos.

Ladies & gents, the first bookbatch! 2
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6
Jul
23