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sadly, i hear <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/hyperbolation/220439990/in/set-605108/">these</a> are going extinct

<a href="http://flickr.com/photos/hyperbolation/24384603/in/set-605108/">buoy</a> at the greenwich maritime museum

<a href="http://flickr.com/photos/hyperbolation/34128206/in/set-605108/">this</a> is at the hamilton wood type museum in wisconsin

<a href="http://flickr.com/photos/hyperbolation/29869661/in/set-605108/">view</a>

<a href="http://flickr.com/photos/hyperbolation/55393914/in/set-605108/">view</a>

<a href="http://flickr.com/photos/hyperbolation/261188153/in/set-605108/">view</a>

this <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/hyperbolation/24195010/in/set-605108/">penguin</a> ate something sour!

knives chau from 'scott pilgrim', drawn by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/radiomaru/421008297/">bryan lee o'malley</a>

m.s. corley has redesigned the covers of the harry potter and lemony snicket books to look like penguin classics. i love this style and wish these books with these covers actually existed. alas.

My mom, aunt, cousin and I went to the Gala and had a great time - we got all dressed up and there was fantastic people-watching. The food was almost shockingly good and the people at our table were friendly and fun. We saw Dick Durbin and had our photo taken with Ernie Banks who was super nice.

The next morning, Inauguration Day, Mom and I got up early and took the Metro to The Mall. Four hours, miles of walking in the freezing cold, a fence jump and several potentially-dangerous crowd bottlenecks later, we were sandwiched into an area on the rise above The Mall. Mom could see just the edge of one of the Jumbotrons and I could only see the back of the guy in front of me. But, the loudspeakers were clear and it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone in the crowd was in good spirits - the energy was amazing - and when President (!) Obama gave his speech, everyone was teary-eyed. It was totally worth the cold and the crowds and the not-seeing-anything to be present, even if far away, at such a historic moment.

After the speech people started to clear out of The Mall, so mom and I fought our way forwards so we could finally see the whole crowd. It was breathtaking - millions of people as far as the eye could see. We made our way back to Union Station, fighting through crowds that were being funneled to specific Metro stations (no thanks, l'Enfant Plaza). We walked in front of the Capitol and saw people sliding around on the iced-over reflecting pool. We got trapped at the escalators for Union Station for about 40 minutes, but when we finally got back to Melissa and Norman's, we had happy people and warm food waiting for us. We spent that night talking with one of Norman's friends over dinner, then collapsed into bed.

On Wednesday, Mom, Aunt Jo and I went to Ben's Chili Bowl for lunch. It was recommended to me by one of my friends who lives in DC. However, the week before, Obama had eaten there, so the crowd was crazy. Police had part of the street cordoned off, there was a big 'Obama' ice sculpture, and the line stretched down the alley. We didn't have any other plans though, so we waited for an hour before we got in. The chili and half-smokes were really good, but probably not quite worth an hour wait in the cold

Once we got back to Brookland, I walked to Catholic University and met up with my friend Chris, who also was in town from LA for the inauguration. Chris's brother teaches music composition at CU, so we met outside his classroom then visited for awhile in Steve's office. Then, after making plans to meet back at Steve and Emily's apartment for dinner, Chris and I went downtown to the International Spy Museum. The museum was pretty cool, and impressively designed. After we'd had our fill of listening devices and dead drops and ring guns (?), we walked around the corner to a pop-up store and bought tons of cheap, cheesy Obama swag.

Dinner at Steve and Emily's was great - steak, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted veggies and ice cream with crumbled pretzels for dessert. This crumbled pretzel thing - I had never had it before, but it is now a must. Steve is a genius.

Steve and Emily had just been to India, and they brought Chris a singing bowl. After a few tries I got it to sing - a nice bright clear tone. Steve and Emily had one too with a lower rounder tone. Chris and I played the bowls for probably longer than was necessary, but they were so much fun!

Thursday, Mom, Aunt Jo and I went to museums. First, we went to the Museum of the American Indian for lunch at the Mitsitam Caf]]> Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:13:34 -0800 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1087049 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1079179 this xkcd once again proves that randall munroe has some sort of direct link to my brain.

99% opacity

SUPERUSELESS SUPERPOWER: Achieving 99% opacity, a.k.a. The Slightly Invisible Man.

This throwaway power lets you vanish into thin air as long as that thin air is obscured by enough thick air to cover up the other 99% of your completely visible body. Sorry, no dice on landing that plum invisibility role in the sequel to Ghost Dad either.

13th bullet bulletproof

SUPERUSELESS SUPERPOWER: Eventual Kevlar Skin.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Boink.

via io9

]]> Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:42:09 -0800 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1065039 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1065038 despite the questionable terms of service agreement, i signed up with plinky, once i looked over my blog and realized it's wanting for original content. however, plinky does not direct-post to moveable type blogs, so you'll have to hit up my tumblelog, miscellany to see the posts, check my plinky page, or see them posted up on facebook. if there are any that are really good i'll double-post them here. here is the first prompt i answered:

3 overplayed songs i love anyway

i don't listen to much radio, but when i do, a lot of it sticks.

Misery Business by Paramore

so fun. so catchy. happy, yet angry.

Sara Bareilles by Love Song

loved it from the first moment i heard it. really catchy, simple but great piano part. good pop songs are hard to write, you know?

Flashing Lights by Kanye West

the first time i heard this song was in a store in LA. i had just moved away from chicago, and this song took me back to dancing at darkroom or subterranean.

]]> Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:42:08 -0800 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1065038 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1054719 ellen sent me this and...wow.

]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:44:36 -0800 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1054719 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1037549
A group of us headed down to Long Beach for whale watching and it was the perfect day for it: over 80 degrees in January and plenty of whales in the ocean.

]]> Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:39:14 -0800 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1037549 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1037548
So much geeking out, so little time.

battlestarprops.com Pasadena Convention Center

]]> Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:39:13 -0800 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1037548 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1036074 dude down the street changed his 'la cucaracha' car horn to the theme from 'the godfather'.

]]> Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:06:48 -0800 http://virb.com/hyperbolation/posts/text/1036074