Meet the Elements

They Might Be Giants! I am also in love with videos from their new album, Here Comes Science.

Crying at Work

I haven't posted in a while, and I thought I would tonight because I am too hyper-active to rest my brain. I just started a position at a local museum, and I think I love my job.

One of the reasons why I love my job is that I get to chat with a lot of strangers. It seems that as an adult, I have overcome my fear of any stranger danger. I smile, say good morning, and rub elbows with people I meet throughout my adventures. These people include boyfriends, neighbors, hoodlums, hipsters, babies, grannies, doggies, and especially strangers who look funny (I believe they may be innately funny people who will make me laugh). So, one of my duties at the museum is to discuss classified museum data with visitors from near and afar. And I try to wow them with science! (Now I sound like a mad scientist)

Seriously though, I love cities for the wealth of strangers, and I would hate to move back to the 'burbs. I enjoy stumbling upon hidden grand events, like free movies, street fairs, dog parks, and free books. Or, maybe the probability of free stuff in cities are higher. Who knows? I also like the higher probability of crazies in cities. I certainly won't forget the strangers in the street who happened to forget to put on pants (both men and women!), the get-rich-quick dreamers who try to sell me aluminum foil from their trunk, or people with headphones looking to dance with passerbys.

However, this is not the title of my post. The second reason that I love my job is that I have been unabashed about reading at work. One of my coworkers lent me this book, which is endearing and thought-provoking:

Since I am full of emotion for things unrelated to me, this book makes me cry. Last Thursday, I had puffy eyes and a red runny nose as I reached the conclusion. I was super embarrassed when a guest came in shortly after.

I'm not sure if this post makes sense, but I think it's alright. Time for bed. (I wish I could sing really well)

Where do NYC Homicides Take Place?

NY Times has a great map sorted by location (zip code), date of occurrence, age of victim or perpetrator, and type of weapon used.

Making Multimedia

Sometimes in my free time, I like to make flash animation and videos. I just saw (500) Days of Summer, featuring a girl named Summer and a girl named Autumn. In keeping with the seasons, I made a flash video reminiscent of winter, and a video about clouds. Enjoy, and feel free to let me know your thoughts using the comments link or the new "call me" widget at the right sidebar.

Breaking the Bank

I made 3 big purchases today because I am such a big spender.

1. I had to pay my tuition for graduate school, and of course they charge $1000/credit. Whatever.
2. After walking 30 minutes to work and standing for 4 hours, I decided to start working to class. I stopped for lunch at McD's, and got a cheeseburger and chicken sandwich off the dollar menu. It was the first take out place that I saw, and sidetracked my original intention for a Cosi signature salad or Qdoba.
3. As I started walking from center city Philadelphia to University City, I decided that flip flops just do not cut it. My feet ache everyday, because I walk at least a mile a day. So, I stopped in Benjamin Lovell, and purchased me a pair of $170 Noat shoes (they're Israeli!). The shoes are described on this website, and they look like this:
I think I will be poor by the end of the year.

Reflection on July 4th

As you may or may not be aware, I really haven't blogged lately. In a way, it's a bit odd, because I no longer work full time. So what do you do with all your free time, Vivs? The answer I like to give is, anything I want. But that's not really the case, as I keep myself busy (or pretend busy, as JR likes to remind me).

I'd like to take some time this afternoon to discuss why I haven't blogged to my full potential. I've actually been meaning to write this for a bit, but life is full of distractions. There's the ADD I have on the internet, the time off I take to get fabulous haircuts, the weird interactions I have in the part time work realm, the countless hours I spend just listening to people, and my compulsive desire to read anything I get my hands on. Right now, my printer demands my attention, and has lovingly printed me 5 test pages when I installed a brand new ink cartridge. (How annoyingly sweet!) Nevertheless, now is the time to reflect, so let's get serious.

I started this blog on 12/1/06, when I did work full time and interacted with the same 10 people everyday. I'm pretty confident about this estimate, as it includes my family and coworkers in my daily cycle of home to work and work to home. Overall, I felt socially drained, in that my conversations revolved around work, or questions like, "Did you get the mail?". (Really stimulating stuff.) So, I created this blog for 2 reasons:

1. To share my thoughts with you, the readers of this blog, because I really couldn't nudge the person sitting next to me on the bus to start a discussion about the cleanliness of pigeons sitting on water fountains, my first post
2. To chronicle the events in my life, from the mundane to the extravagant, in such a way that I could both uphold my digital citizenship and supplement my terrible memory

(In re-reading this post, I think I have a 3rd reason. I wanted to develop my writing and spelling skills, to ensure that I could write creatively, without the technical components of a professional environment. I think this blog helped with that too.)

And so that is how Vivi Villa progressed, with an average of 10 posts a month until recently. Posts generally lagged during a month when I was sick of looking at the computer for 14 hours a day. However, starting in 2009, I believe you can see that the topic of my posts transitioned toward reason #2 for this blog, and less of reason #1. I started sharing more outside the blog world, and enhanced the quality of my daily conversations (though the quantity dropped from the consistent 10 people). That being said, I rather like it that way.

Throughout 2009, I've been learning more about my strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and dislikes, with more intensity than before. I feel like I've been thinking about issues that I had previously disregarded. This past Tuesday, I came across something that put things into perspective.

Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences describes the distinct learning styles of an individual. Feel free to read about it on wiki, or by conducting a google search of your own. By taking an online assessment, I realized that I like to learn things through discussion or self instruction. Further, I am able to grasp concepts easier when it was logical or when I can physically play around with an object.

Through Vivi Villa, I was able to review my thoughts introspectively, and independently go over my ideas (to fulfill reason #1 why I started this blog). I shared them with you publicly, in hopes that I can bounce my thoughts on you, to understand your perspective. If you would like to see my intelligences, check out this link using the secret code hgq2331165. If you would like to see my perspective on how these intelligences affected my academic life, you can read my post on this blog. Realize though, that the assessment is limited to your answers, and could depend on your mood or your truthfulness. Feel free to take other assessments to pinpoint your ideal learning styles. I would love to share my thoughts with you!

Thank you for listening today, bring on the fireworks! You can also read the following articles on bike health and financial health.

Brooklyn Renegade 2009

I went to the Renegade this past weekend, and the variety of goods cannot compare to Art Star last weekend. Regardless, here are some vendors that I came across:

• The Intuitive Garden - jewelry
• Vivi Sun - jewelry
• Fluffy Goodness - unique fluffy creatives
• Modati - chalkboard tees
• A.S.I.S. - crochet embellished clothing
• King Popcorn - embroidery
• Destroyed by Design - clothing
• SKT - ceramics
• Blue Barnhouse - letterpressed goods
• My Zeotrope - prints
• Wren Handmade - crochet jewelry and decorations
• nervous system - experimental jewelry

Other artists I've come across lately:

• Colette Fu - photography / pop ups
  
• Blacklava - tees
• Moonlight Bindery - books
• Adopt-A-Bot - Robot Orphanage
• Rocks and Salt - Contemporary Headwear
• Lowdtown Friends & Freaks - Cool Tees