krstn1982

simulated transparency crosses

2009-05-14T16:29:33Z

The effect of transparency is created by choosing a middle square color which is somewhere in between the colors of the arms of the cross (rather than just taking two swatches and lowering the opacity of one of them in photoshop.)

Do you think Palin is qualified to be a leader of our country?

2008-09-20T19:45:04Z

There is a poll on pbs, it only takes one click to vote!

http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html

Also, in case I haven't emailed you this

ASK YOUR TV STATIONS WHY WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE THE BIGGEST RALLY IN ALASKA ?
Enjoy….pass it on!

[The] Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was to be held outside on the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtown Anchorage . Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men. I had no idea what to expect.

The rally was organized by a small group of women, talking over coffee. It made me wonder what other things have started with small groups of women talking over coffee. It's probably an impressive list. These women hatched the plan, printed up flyers, posted them around town, and sent notices to local media outlets. One of those media outlets was KBYR radio, home of Eddie Burke, a long-time uber-conservative Anchorage talk show host. Turns out that Eddie Burke not only announced the rally, but called the people who planned to attend the rally 'a bunch of socialist baby-killing maggots,' and read the home phone numbers of the organizers aloud over the air, urging listeners to call and tell them what they thought. The women, of course, received some nasty, harassing and threatening messages.

I felt a bit apprehensive. I'd been disappointed before by the turnout at other rallies. Basically, in Anchorage, if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it's a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren't sent by Eddie Burke, we'll be doing good. A real statement will have been made. I confess, I still had a mental image of 15 demonstrators surrounded by hundreds of menacing 'socialist baby-killing maggot' haters.

It's a good thing I wasn't tailgating when I saw the crowd in front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody's trunk. When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep! I could hardly find a place to park. I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join in from every direction, carrying signs.

Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn't honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn't happen here.

Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn't be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.

So, if you've been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin's rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy the photo gallery. Feel free to spread the pictures around to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska , who know her best, have things to say.

A bunch of pictures of that rally:

if you know anyone diagnosed with hypoglycemia ...

2008-08-13T13:40:41Z

Since I was diagnosed maybe a half year ago with hypoglycemia I haven't received much help from doctors. Basically, they teach you how to carb-count and send you on your way with some emergency snack ideas and a glucosameter.

I did some of my own research. I've been taking an array of vitamins - a multivitamin with high levels of B vitamins and vitamin C. The multi-vitamin also has 100% of manganese and selenium. On top of that I take magnesium twice a day, chromium, and zinc. These extra vitamins are about 200% of my daily value.

Also, according to one visit with an acupuncturist I've started eating more red meat and having a lot more salads with dark green things. (red meat is to tonify the blood, salad is to add fiber and live enzymes).

The difference is dramatic. I don't wake up in the middle of the night anymore in a cold sweat, or get woozy at work. I still have lows but the lows aren't so bad. I have been able to eat less food lately as well and less frequently. More like 5-6 times daily vs 8-9 times daily. I've also been able to have some things with sugar in them without getting sick immediately afterwards.

If anyone has severe hypoglycemia or knows someone with hypoglycemia I would recommend trying the above vitamins as a way to help balance out metabolism, as well as eating red meat and lots of salad.

WTF

2008-07-18T13:03:49Z

The Bush Administration is continuing its war on you and your bodies, and they've just stepped it up a notch:
The HHS releases a proposal to define the Birth Control Pill as Abortion
Pertinent Info:

The proposal would cut off federal funds to hospitals and states that attempt to compel medical providers to offer legal abortion and contraception services to women.

The proposal circulated to media defines abortion broadly to include many types of contraception, including birth control pills and intrauterine devices.

The governemnt wants to own your body. They want complete control and they will not rest until they have it. It is your duty to protect yourselves. Do not sit idly by while they attempt to make you second-class citizens again. Fight for your rights.

Contact the HHS here and let them know that they do not own you:
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C.
20201
Telephone: 202-619-0257
Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775

health care - it can be done!

2008-04-16T03:46:04Z

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/

krstn1982 @ 2008-04-14T14:56:00

2008-04-14T19:49:48Z

health care is getting worse not better

"But the new system sticks seriously ill people with huge bills, said James Robinson, a health economist at the University of California, Berkeley. “It is very unfortunate social policy,” Dr. Robinson said. “The more the sick person pays, the less the healthy person pays.”

Traditionally, the idea of insurance was to spread the costs of paying for the sick".

Now apparently cancer patients or patients with MS (and other illnesses)WHO HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE can be stuck with bills for thousands of dollars a month for life-saving medications.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/us/14drug.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

April Fools

2008-04-01T16:01:15Z

Minnesota - hey people! It's spring, oh wait, here's 6 inches of snow! April Fools!

Whoever is in charge of the weather needs to be told that they should stop smoking crack because its affecting their performance.

krstn1982 @ 2007-12-14T09:23:00

2007-12-14T15:18:53Z

(As taken from mcindah's last post)

krstn1982 @ 2007-11-14T10:43:00

2007-11-14T16:44:53Z

"American civil life has died like a sack full of puppies thrown onto a rush hour freeway"

http://www.slate.com/id/2177830/

krstn1982 @ 2007-11-10T13:08:00

2007-11-10T19:11:57Z

I went to a yoga level 2 class today with my sister ...

It basically kicked the crap out of us. Some of the poses I had to do modifications for were more because I didn't have the endurance or energy left towards the end of the class to comfortably do them. By the time we got to dolphin pose (sort of like a push up position where you are on your forearms which works out core muscles) my legs were shaking from being really tired. Also, the class was more fast-paced and had more strength challenging modifications on poses all around. Also, the instructor is really good. I finally managed to do a triangle pose that didn't hurt me. I can only bend down a quarter of the way, but apparently thats more than enough to get a stretch for me ...

I've heard some people say that yoga isn't enough of a work-out for them. You should go to this level 2 class!

code monkey like fritos ....

2007-08-06T20:06:42Z

I don't know where my friends get this stuff, but its funny ...

http://www.jonathancoulton.com/mp3/Code%20Monkey.mp3

oh no! sick cat!

2007-08-05T20:38:00Z

my best friends cat usually runs up the stairs when I let her into the house, but today she dragged herself to the foot of the stairs making a sad mewing noise and tried to get up the stairs but couldnt. So I carried her upstairs and into the house, and she dragged herself to her food bowl. So she is eating/drinking which is good. I think she is favoring her hind leg, or seems upset when I touch it so hopefully she just pulled something, poor kitty!

article about happiness and emotional contagion

2007-07-29T19:51:12Z

"remember the flight attendents advice, you must put on your own oxygen mask first"

http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/04/angrynegative_p.html

krstn1982 @ 2007-07-24T16:43:00

2007-07-24T20:45:44Z

A friend just published the first ever video game style guide, pretty cool for geeks and word people alike:

http://www.lulu.com/content/922500

A sign perhaps???

krstn1982 @ 2007-07-01T15:28:00

2007-07-01T13:48:09Z

Husnes Norway (where I'm living)

Taken from the hike yesterday! It was pretty strenuous, I am so sore today!. We got even higher than where that picture was taken from, at which point we figured out that we missed the lake trail we had originally intended to go on, and were looking down on it actually:

The intern I was hiking with was in very good shape and it was a bit difficult to keep up, actually, but definitly worth the trip. We found a little cabin on the way and some sheep up top, where it started to get pretty cold. We were out about 3-4 hours of hiking with some wandering around on top. Today I am trying to catch up with work a little bit, listening to Of Montreal, and going for a hopfully not very cold swim a little bit later.

edit: view more pics here ...

http://picasaweb.google.com/krstn.k/HikeUpTheMountainHusnesNorway

Recomendations for reading?

2007-06-30T11:41:58Z

So! I am currently about to finish reading Perdido Street Station, thanks to being lent it from rev_e which I actually like a lot now that I have gotten into it. It's been really nice actually to have the time to read here, which I haven't done consistently (for non-school stuff) in ages. There is a library here that lends books in english and I have no freakin clue what kinds of stuff they might have, but I thought I might ask for recomendations in case they happened to have any of them. Anyone have any good reading recomendations that a small library might have?

Things got a bit rocky this week with the work situation here but things have settled down after some communication was straitened out. I guess I'm still settling into whats going on here and what kinds of expectations there are of me. Its been difficult in some ways getting into the work groove as there are a lot of things they don't teach you in school, and since I am here for a short time there isn't much time to learn everything and then be productive at the same time. However, I'm going to try my best to do that, which means putting in some extra time, which is ok with me actually. Overall I think it is a good learning experience of what to expect and how to approach new working situations in architecture. I am learning a lot but there are definitly some growing pains.

Anyways! Today I am going hiking with another person who is interning here for the computer geek business which shares office space with the firm I'm working for. I think we are going to attempt to find the trail that leads to the two beautiful mountain lakes that are close to here. So, I am excited about hiking and also getting to know another person who is closer to my age. I might try to take my camera but its always about to rain here so I'm a little nervous about bringing it sometimes. Also, I'm greedy lol, and like to spend time looking around rather than taking pictures of whats around. But I'll try to grab some pics and post them later from the mother computer ...

krstn1982 @ 2007-06-27T07:50:00

2007-06-27T06:01:40Z

I keep promising people pictures (all I have time for right now, a bit busy with work)

The first day here (the ferry I took from Flesland airport near Bergen to Sunde, a couple of miles from Husnes)

Heres what it looks like as I'm walking to work

Here's pic I took on a bike trip around the lake

And, the coolest part about the constant sun and mountains is seeing the sun shine through the clouds onto the mountains bellow

More later ... off to learn sketch-up layout ...

massively long journal update

2007-06-25T18:50:13Z

Sorry for the lack of posting. Also sorry for not getting back to other people's posts! I have kind of random internet access.

Last week was the first full week of work. I have to admit that it got off to a little bit of a rocky start but I think things now are normalizing. So far I'm steadily learning sketch-up (google 3d modeling program) via fixing up a small model. Its a little bit frustrating because I'm so used to rhino (Michigan's modeling program of choice) and being able to do draw something five different ways, and work back and forth. Sketch-Up is a bit more rigid, but it has a nice simplicity to it.

This weekend I went fishing for like the first time ever! We (my host and his two cute kids) went to this place called Tveitedalen with a few lakes and some trails on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I caught a little mountain trout, which I later ate (after cooking 'course). Sunday we went in search of higher-up mountain lakes, where the fish are bigger (colder water I guess) but we got really lost, lol, and wandered around for a couple of hours, until we stumbled on a little stream and fished a little there.

The past week I've been biking a lot, as I am borrowing the grandpa's bike. I biked around the lake a few times, and then Saturday I biked to the next little town Sunde, which took about an hour round trip. My host was describing the trip to me so I wouldn't feel lost (its hard to get lost out here, not too many places to go). Part of the description was ... it goes up, and then up for a little bit more. UP! HOLY SHIT It was the mother of hills, haha, I had to get off and walk, and even that was painful. Also a little embarassing, because nothing says foreigner here like the wobly american who can't climb the big hill, lol. Everyone here is born on a bike, or something. However, I was rewarded with an amazing high-up view of the sun setting behind the mountains and lakes around Husnes (where I am living). Basically, I have been sleeping *really* well at night.

Today I went to the store to pick up something and nobody was speaking English and I still don't know the language at all here. I had some trouble with the kick-stand on the bike, and this really nice old guy came up to help me, speaking Norwegian. (most older people don't speak English) I also look like I fit in here. My haircut isn't even all that uncommon. So frequently people don't realize I haven't a clue what they're saying. He fixed the kick-stand and grinned and made a happy little gesture laughing. I thanked him in English, and then he gave me a really weird look, and then an even weirder one as I was wobbling off on the bike (its a bit too high for me, and fuck I have lousy ballance). It made me feel sooo lonely for some reason. But then I had to remind myself as I was going around the too-gorgeous lake on the bike, that this is my life! I am riding a bike around a beautiful lake in Norway, (a small ammt, lol) while interning, which is not only helping my career quite a bit, its also fun and interesting. What the hell am I complaining about? lol and then I felt better.

krstn1982 @ 2007-06-20T19:06:00

2007-06-19T17:26:43Z

Finally heard back from the department. Not what I was looking for funding-wise, but they are trying to find me a teaching position, but they aren't making any promises. We'll see what happens.

In other news, Norway is still beautiful. Went for a couple hour bike trip around the lake yesterday, woke up today feeling so achy, lol, but the good kind, and also ravenously hungry. I just ate a gigantic dinner, my hosts probably think I'm a pig, but I feel soooo much better. I'm going to def make the trip around the lake some more times and try to take some pics.

Right now I'm trying to pick up some sketch-up (3d modeling program) at work, but I'm feeling retarded distracted. Trying not to panic too much about school stuff but its not working very well. I feel really torn by the whole situation. Loving the academics at Michigan, but feeling horrible about the culture in the studios. Not wanting to leave some of the positive relationships I'm starting to make oustide of school. Yep, not really succeeding here.

krstn1982 @ 2007-06-17T20:31:00

2007-06-17T18:43:02Z

I'm settling in a little bit more to Norway and living here. Friday evening I went on a long walk half way round the lake, which was very beautiful, though by the time I got back I was like, *thud* Sat. I checked out the local beach, which is small but pretty. The water was reaaaally cold, so I just waded a little and hiked up some rocks nearby. In the evening I went to a dinner party with the family to see some of their friends. They had cooked a feast, pretty much, and it was very delicious. A little bit weird at first, again being the only non-norwegian speaking person. However, the group was pretty diverse and interesting, and I got to chat a little bit with everyone.

Today was mostly relaxing and reading. I went for a run/walk for an hour or so this afternoon close to the Aluminum refinery nearby to get some exercise. There are a bunch of trails sort of starting from that area. It was pretty nice/beautiful. I'm slowly starting to get myself oriented to the area.

sooo, its about 8:30 Sunday evening, and real work starts tomorrow, I'm excited!

I will try to post some pics when I get a chance.

Also, happy father's day to all male parental-types!

krstn1982 @ 2007-06-15T16:47:00

2007-06-15T15:32:14Z

First part-day of work today.

I didn't do anything too exciting, just getting used to the metric system (in about 5 seconds, lol). I also finished up/corrected some elevation drawings for a small project. Nothing too intense. The firm I am working with shares their office with some computer geek business, so I feel somewhat at home, haha. They all seem really nice, but no one likes to speak in english, so its a little bit akward at times sitting at lunch or in the office. Everyone does speak English, I guess they just don't like to speak it. I think I'll try to download a norwegian podcast once I get to hook my computer up to the internet to try to pick up a few words so I might be able to understand a little, and also try to start some conversations in English when I get a chance.

Yesterday afternoon I went for a walk down to a harbor on the ocean, on the edge of town. I took some pics, very pretty. I climbed some rocks along the shore and sat looking at pretty scenery for awhile before heading back home. I decided to try a different route for the way back to avoid walking on the narrow, 50 mph road lol. I was walking through a pretty field by a church which dead ended into some brush so I tried to hop back down onto the road from a little stone fence. I sat down onto the fence and heard something crack, but it didn't break. I noticed that the jump down was a little steeper than I thought so was trying to decide if I should jump when I started to feel a pain on the tops of my feet. Apparently I had cracked an ant's nest, and also apparently the ants here bite! So then I got to run through the field batting at my clothes and cursing, lol, probably (hopefully) to the amusement of the one person I saw who was, inteligently, walking on the road. Luckily my feet stopped stinging in a couple of minutes. Note to self, beware of Norwegian ants.

Oh, and my baggage finally arrived last night, yay! Also, still trying to adjust to the time difference. I have to wake up at 6:45am on Monday, which is 1:45am EST. I feel somewhat zombie like.

In Norway!

2007-06-14T13:04:49Z

It's beautiful here! I am staying with the family that I am working for. They live in a very small village called Husnes, which is about a 2.5 hour boat ride from the city I flew into, Bergen.

I had some difficulties on my trip over here, as there was bad weather in New York which caused our flight to leave an hour late, which caused me to miss my transfer in Coppenhagen. SAS put me on the next flight to Bergen, so I ended up hanging out in the airport for a couple of hours, which was unfortuneately not long enough to get out into the city. When I finally got to Bergen, they had lost my baggage (yep, I've got no clothes or anything but my laptop currently!)

I had to wait a couple of hours to catch my boat from the aiport, and bought some coffee because I felt so out of it (the plane was really cramped/uncomfortable so I didn't get to sleep much) - 5$ for a latte! Luckily the family here is feeding me (and has coffee too, haha) The boat ride had some nice views from the water and I met a few students on the boat who kept me company and told me a little bit more about the area and language (though everyone speaks good English here so far).

When I finally arrived I couldn't believe how amazingly beautiful it is here. There are a couple of really beautiful and clean bodies of water surrounded by clear skies and green/craggy mountains, some with a little snow on the top. I was dropped off at the house and left to my own devices for awhile so I went for a walk. I walked through the neighborhood a little bit, then down to a lake (I think, the ocean is also really close by) where I walked a little bit more and dangled my feet in the water. There are a lot of familiar plants and animals (buttercups, dandelions, seagulls), and some unfamiliar. It's peaceful. I will have to post pics when I get a chance because the verbal description doesn't do it justice.

I met the whole family in the evening. They seem really nice and their kids are cute. I watched Lost with them after dinner (3rd season is still running here) before turning into bed.

Today I slept in and then had lunch at work, though I'm not doing any work yet. My hosts suggested that I take it easy today and do my own thing, and I will do a little work tomorrow. I plan on going for another long walk today to see what else I can find.

krstn1982 @ 2007-06-10T10:23:00

2007-06-10T14:28:29Z

dammit!

The r key broke off of my computer this morning. That makes four missing keys and no time to replace them or get a new keyboard. (Yes, I know you should be able to snap them back in, but I have tried that with the 4, y, and n, and usually it just snaps back on for a little while, then breaks off completely).

krstn1982 @ 2007-06-04T01:10:00

2007-06-04T05:11:29Z

wow, got a ton of stuff to do tomorrow

eeeeeeeek

krstn1982 @ 2007-06-03T02:32:00

2007-06-03T06:42:51Z

Got to hang out with some college friends this evening!

We ate at this cute Italian restaurant in Columbia, MD then went back to a friend's place.

We simultaneously watched Howl's Moving Castle and played this silly card game called Plimpf (Sweedish?) which has also been renamed "Bruce"

To play Bruce/Plimpf:

This is a game based off of taking "tricks" like Hearts, Spades, or Bridge (only simpler, and much sillyer)

Each player bets on how many "tricks" or hands they think they can win based on looking at their hand, and with the knowledge of which suit is Trump, which changes every round.

You only get points if you win the number of tricks you said you would, and get the same points subtracted if you go over or under the number of tricks you origonally bet.

The first round starts with one card per person, and goes up each round to an agreed upon number (changes based on how many players). After the top number is reached, you go back down in number of cards again until you get back to one.

Final round: Each player has one card, only this time, each player puts the card on their forehead, so that everyone else can see it but them. Then betting proceeds as usual. Very silly!