okay, so i realise that blog equates to a web log, which implies that one writes on a daily basis to keep one's logs in a maintained and comprehensive condition. a written record, a lively journal, and outpouring of in-the-moment thoughts and ever-dynamic activities and events.

ha. ha.

i feel like i'm wasting the self-publishing privileges of our interwebbed (that's for niknak!) era, as it slips away from underneath my nose, the aluminum keys of my powerbook mocking me with their gleaming, blogging-finger-oil-less surfaces. oh, how they mock.

to my credit, there exists a balance between living your life and writing about your life, and this last week has been no exception. so much happens that it sometimes feels exhausting to re-experience it again in authoring, broadcasting mode.

here's the past week in blitzbliublog mode, served to you like tiny plates of typographic tapas. pour yourself a sangria and let's get started:

on the domestic front, it's been an ambitious start to transform an old-but-new 4-bedroom apartment into an actual home. after the whole ikea adventure, the they-never-show-you-that-in-the-catalog DIY assembly of all the stuff created an instant bonding exercise as my fellow roommates and i sweat and screwdrove and slid lots of heavy particleboard around. we had the pleasantries of assigning chore schedules and kitchen-cleaning, and on saturday we managed to do some home improvement, mounting a towel bar and toilet-paper roll holder in the bathroom (it is absolutely mindboggling to imagine how the previous tenants survived without a toilet-paper roll holder for at least two years), and some cute ikea hook-and-rail systems in the kitchen. i am especially proud of the lime-green yarn i tied to the papertowel holder over the sink. i also assembled the $2.99 wine-bottle rack from ikea, a completely shoddy constructed piece of sloppily cut scrapwood, but it actually turns out to be a cute design, so it's cool if you squint and let the ill-fitting joints magically turn into right angles.

on the sigtronica front, last week i had the pleasure of interviewing morgan packard of microcosm music. head over to the sigtronica site to hear the archive of the show and bask in the wonderful music and interview near the end, but what's remarkable about this whole incident was that i got to meet morgan's wife, named (you ready for this?) christine liu. yeap. i was completely awestruck when i discovered that. morgan wrote in his introductory email: "ps -- I have a good friend (well, actually my wife) named christine liu. It's a good name." what's even more eerily coincidental is that she goes by a nickname, crissy. my nickname is chrissy, and i know the 'h' stands in the way, but still. both of them were great sports during sigtronica, and she in particular was superfriendly and bubbly and witty. she gives us christine lius a good name!

on the media+technology front, last friday night i made it out to the MASS MEDIA exhibit ataxiom art, one of those new gallery spaces that i've been meaning to visit but have been relectant to because i despise the green line. (yes, my disdain doth dwells that deeply.) however, i had orkan (new smg blood, mmm) by my side, which distracted me from the plump boston coeds and the erratic stop-and-gos of the train. the exhibit space was impressive (if not a little hot and stuffy), and there was a proponderance of video-based art. it was mostly hit-and-miss, with more on the miss end of the scale, but i probably needed to spend more time there to really 'understand' 'the' 'art.' however, i will definitely be back, since the scene in boston needs all the cultivation it can get. i am particularly looking forward to the 'art cake' event, where you basically build anything and then eat it. sounds like utter splendor, especially if you can incorporate a diode in there somewhere.

after that, we swung over to unlockedgroove's performance at art interactive in central square. met up with fellow medialabbies, and nodded our heads to the incessant breakbeat mediated by the dj in the corner. i mostly wanted to see the audiopad in person, james patten's tangible interfacing dj'ing darling. i have photos and videos to show, but everything's still packed up in uhaul boxes at my place so i still can't find my usb camera hookup. anyway, it was definite eye candy for about five minutes, but there was minimal if not any audio feedback (as far as i could tell). the spinning colorful circles are a hypnotic, attractive component of the UI, but it was difficult to comprehend much beyond that. but yes! i can now proudly say i've experienced the audiopad! it is pretty cool in theory. :) and in practice, for sure, except next time i would like to have a hand playing with it myself...

on the eating front, saturday night featured another unbelievably over-the-top dinner party at a.z.'s cushy pad. appetizers featured stuffed eggplant, marinated mushrooms, and herbed brussel sprouts; we feasted on onion tarts stuffed with goat cheese and mushrooms; and hedonised on grand marnier + valrhona chocolate pudding. excellent wine on top of that, too. infuses me once again to have a dinner party at my place supersoon, especially with my large new dining space! (hear that, s-p?)

on the eating front part 2, niknak and i ventured to zoe's in somerville for a shanghainese lunch. we got the hottest thing on the menu (helpfully marked with not one, but two, spicy icons), the spicy beef with vegetables, plus lion's head casserole (scary! just kidding, it's just pork), chive pie, and a long fried cruller soaked in bowls of salty, seaweeded soymilk. so yummy, so yummy. i should really go to zoe's more often... there's usually no one else there (these people don't know what they're missing), the service is really good (the waitress says "you're welcome" when you say "thank you"), and everything's super-authentic. my shanghainese mommy would be proud, and then feed me another bite of soft rice noodles.

on the six feet under obsession front, niknak and i tearfully (well, at least i wiped my eyes) watched the series finale. i have only gotten hooked this last season, but nick, who had been watching this faithfully from 2001, was saddened to see the series end. or more like, "what am i going to watch now?" but yes, six feet under is seriously quality. i feel a particular affinity to claire's character, since she's about my age and sort of dealing with lifeish dilemmas (especially in the "am i good enough to be an artist?" questions, kinda impulsive and headstrong but often lashing out when particularly overwhelmed or insecure. i loved the ending, it really gave me hope. we all will die, one day, someday (scary!), but between now and then, we just do what we can and be happy in all of it. which is not so scary.

on the knitting front, i've done part of a secret project, but i think i will frrrrrog it tonight since it's about an inch too narrow. gauge really doesn't work unless you do it in the stitch pattern you plan to do in, does it? ha! the socks are looking cute (though i haven't touched them in the last week), i've finished the leg part of one of them, and will hopefully complete them over the week. kinda poking along on the ballet pullover, but i'm almost done the body part. i'm still obsessing about yarn; i espied the most beautiful shade of 'anne' at LYS by schaefer yarn, with an honest-to-goodness streak of chartreuse running through bright greens and blues. i promised myself i would wait until i finish my pair of socks first! amazing how your rationality flies out the door when you see something chartreuse.

on the traveling front, i will be heading out to portland, OR (the home of many things, including the original package house, of course) with niknak. why portland? you may ask. ahh, because mama and papa of niknak live there! i will be meeting them for the first time, so i'm very excited, and hope they find me agreeable as their niknak's little liucubed. heehee.

i'll be leaving tomorrow and getting back next monday, the 29th, i.e. my birthday! i'll be turning 23, an oh-so-prime age. (something i won't experience for another six years, so i better like it!) i remember growing up with an august birthday was kinda different... you never did the whole cupcakes-in-the-classroom thing since school wasn't in session, but i always without fail hosted a pool party at the local swimming pool. bathing suits versus botched frosting. you can tell who had more fun.

bon voyage everyone! sweet days await.

p.s. three links that help me get through the day: you knit what (which is a tidy little complement to my other mainstay, go fug yourself), overheard in new york (the slate article on this site takes the cake), and I.D. magazine (can you guess why? here's a hint).