Summerized

Speedo Clock

summerpowell — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:37:33 -0800

Last year, I designed this clock, cut out of acrylic with the laser cutter. It's comprised of shapes created by layering an image of a guy wearing a Speedo, and creates kind of an abstract, baroque form. I was really excited about the way it came together, and was looking forward to further experiments with patterns created from body shapes, and the way the clear acrylic interacts with light.

Unfortunately, the fumes from cutting plastic made me really sick, and I was out of commission for quite a while. This was a real disappointment, as I had lots of other acrylic projects in the hopper.

Recently, I changed direction with some new ideas, and started cutting some paperboard for another project. Unfortunately, the fumes from other people's projects (others cut plastics in the same facility) made me a little sick when I went in. I'm not really sure what to do next, as I work pretty iteratively, so mail order laser stuff seems like it wouldn't work as well for my projects.

Dolores Street

summerpowell — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:35:07 -0800

Yesterday, we saw a small grey rat walking in brisk circles on the sidewalk. "A rat!" cackled a wheelchair-bound woman with large, pink bare hands and feet, and cat-lady hair. "Someone must have poisoned it. I wish I had something to hit it in the head with."

Other stuff I should have blogged about sooner...

summerpowell — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:09:48 -0800

My sister and Michael got married this summer. The wedding took place on my parents property -- a beautiful wooded hillside with views for miles. It was a gorgeous day, and everyone had fun, enjoying the wonderful quirkiness of their wedding. Boston terrier Rufus was one of the groomsmen. Brittany and Michael played paper rock scissors to decide who said vows first.

Everyone danced at the barn reception.

Dad got to show off progress on his Germanic chalet.

And Dan wore a praying mantis.

Jason and I went to Ireland briefly this summer too. We visited Newgrange, a Stone Age burial and religious site with Adam.

The swirling carvings on parts of the structure were very interesting. They may symbolize multiple things, including being an abstract map of the local geography.

Toward the end of the summer, we camped near Santa Cruz with Lisa and Wai, and several of their friends.

With that many foodies, there were lots of tasty things to eat, like Tom Yum chicken skewers, salmon grilled on a flavorful board, and sour plum filled rice balls.

Wai showed us where he surfs every weekend too.

Hawaii Big Island

summerpowell — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:38:27 -0800

This summer, we went to the Big Island of Hawaii for a week and a half. Can't believe I'm blogging about it this late, but here goes.

We stayed on the west coast, in Kailua Kona, in a mildewy apartment, with a courtyard suitable for a Filipino inmate new Michael Jackson routine. Fortunately there was a lot to keep us out of the apartment.

Tattooing services were offered below our apartment.

And the Islands' oldest church was next door.

Walking around town, we occasionally saw a small weasels running around. They are one of many invasive species on the islands. Regardless, they are cute.

Our favorite meals were at a hole in the wall restaurant called Rappa Nui (which is the Polynesian name for Easter Island). Run by a New Zealand ex-pat and his American wife, they served delicious Asian fusion food with strong Indonesian and Malaysian influence. Really good nasi goreng! And the limited dessert menu was inventive; we liked white chocolate truffles with wasabi and coconut.

It was fascinating how the island's climate varied from one area to the next. North of Kailua, there were lots of lava fields, like this one, with varying levels of vegetation, depending on when the lava had covered the land.

There were also several world class beaches north of Kailua. Sigh.

South of Kailua, the climate was jungle-like, with some of the world's best coffee plantations. This is where Kona coffee comes from. We drove through the verdant landscape to Kilauea Caldera, to see the famous volcano. Unfortunately, there was no lava that day. But the steaming crater was impressive nonetheless; you could feel its power.

Hiking through the jungle near the crater, one trail went through areas that had recently been covered by lava. It was stunning to see the contrast between lush jungle and moonscape lava field -- you could literally stand with a foot in both.

The Big Island has a lot of historical Hawaiian sites as well. As we toured the Place of Refuge, the ranger showed us how to play the traditional Hawaiian nose flute. We loved his tour.

Diving off the Big Island was lovely. The waters are the calmest in the Hawaiian Islands, and it was nice not to deal with any chop. We saw some great underwater fauna, including a few nudibranches. The fried egg nudibranch looks like its namesake. Orange gumdrop nudibranch was my favorite.

A live conch about the size of my fist, had its pink mantle wrapped around the shell. Having only seen conch shells, I didn't recognize the live animal.

On a manta ray night dive, we hoped to see a herd of Volkswagen beetle sized manta rays gliding right above our heads. Unfortunately the mantas were elsewhere; at least we got to see one in the distance.

The daytime dolphin swim was more successful. We swam with a pod of about 50 wild dolphins for an hour and a half. Snorkeling in the clear deep water, they surrounded us. At times there were 10 in a row, swimming many feet below us, or three off to the side, or a mother and baby at the surface. Their staticky calls and R2D2 yips filled the water. I swam hard to be next to 3 of them, and was beside them for most of the minute, before I had to catch my breath. They were close enough that I could see little nicks and scratches in their skin. We didn't bother with pictures that day.

At one crowded public beach, we were immediately greeted by large green turtles, the minute we put our heads under water. Snorkeling in general was pretty great on the big Island. At another site we saw so many adult and baby puffer fish, several varieties of triggerfish, and many other fish.

I spent the last day at a calm little beach in town. Perfect.

Found 2 blocks away from home: Braided, soiled and discarded weave

summerpowell — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:41:27 -0700

Tap Plastics again

summerpowell — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:52:27 -0700

I needed more plastic to practice gluing, so I stopped by Tap Plastics scrap bin. Though I haven't started gluing anything dimensional together yet, it seems like it will be difficult. The salespeople at Tap suggested using a jig; they actually build their own, and sold me this one. It seems there is a real art to gluing acrylic together. I also bought some silicone sealant, for possible future use. I left with a plastic contact high.

Laser cutting and gluing experiments

summerpowell — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:30:40 -0700

I have some project ideas that involve laser cutting and gluing pieces of acrylic; some of which would be like "laser marquetry." But I need to learn a few skills and methods before going forward with the projects. One thing I'm trying to learn is how to glue pieces of see-through acrylic to each other, so that they look neat, and don't have bubbles between them. My friend Marcia showed me how to use Weld-On 4 with a little dropper bottle to do this.

Trying it at home, my results are not as good. This is probably because I'm working on an extremely dusty slab of cement by our basement and the pieces are getting dirty as I work on them.

My first experiment involved trying to glue transparent red pieces of acrylic (star and hexagon) into the corresponding shapes that I cut out of a black piece of acrylic. I tried to confine the glue to just the edges, so the red acrylic would remain unmarred, but the Weld-On is kind of hard to control and watery. The results are really unattractive. Both pieces of acrylic are marred by the glue, and there are little gaps between the pieces of acrylic, which are made more an attractive by the globs of glue lodged in there. I don't think this method will work.

My second experiment involved gluing some interlocking acrylic shapes (and transparent red, milky white, and black) onto a thin piece of transparent acrylic. This method is more promising. The only problem is that there are still some bubbles between the pieces of acrylic - you can only see these on the red pieces because they're transparent. But I'm thinking that this method could work well if I was working in a less dusty environment

Felt Cocoons and the High Line in New York

summerpowell — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:37:10 -0700

I went to New York for a couple of days last week. It was great to catch up with a few friends, see some exhibits, eat great food, and do a little shopping. We're really sorry we didn't get to see everyone; we're trying to see different people on each trip, as it's just impossible to see everyone we want to in a few days.

The Fashioning Felt show at the Cooper-Hewitt had some lovely pieces, including this cocoon-like installation. It's a great place to sit and decompress.

Walking around the lower East side, I was surprised to see lots of small galleries. And the southern part of the neighborhood is a lot more gentrified than I remember. Tea and pastry at Teany was tasty.

Isabel, Catherine and I watched Isa's a friend Brassy sing at Duane Park. She was quite good.

We were lucky enough to have a couple of delicious homemade meals at friends homes.

And we indulged in a few new culinary adventures, the most exciting of which was deep fat fried Oreos at Cafeteria. Recommended. Artisanal bacon gravy at Char Number 4 in Carroll Gardens wasn't too shabby either. And it was nice to check out the old neighborhood.

Dan and I went to the Model as Muse exhibit at the Met. He thought I should see all the fabulous mod fashions on display. He was right. I especially loved the planar mini-dresses constructed from sheet metal.

And the Roxy Paine installation on the roof was stunning. It's made out of regular old hardware store pipe, yet is so graceful. A combination of natural and artificial that reminded me of Terminator trees, it creates a great interplay of sky, people, park and New York skyline.

And we arrived just in time to see the newly opened High Line park. The High Line started out as a very short elevated railway that transported food and manufactured goods from factory to warehouse, within Manhattan. It was abandoned in the 80s. When my friends and I would gallery-hop in Chelsea, the High Line cut an eerie silhouette against the night sky -- an overpass carpeted in tall wild grasses swaying in the breeze. I was always slightly tempted to climb up.

After much finagling by Friends of the High Line and others, the abandoned High Line was saved from destruction, and converted into a one-of-a-kind park, featuring wild flowers and plants growing amongst railroad tracks. The design team included Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The High Line stretches for blocks, giving you unique, gritty views of the city and the Hudson River. We really enjoyed walking along the park, and it made the Hudson feel ever so slightly like a Riviera. What an amazing achievement.

Clock Parts

summerpowell — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:10:00 -0700

I completed the cutting of the other clock components a couple weeks ago, and will assemble and photograph the clock shortly. This material is so luminous.

Maker Faire '09

summerpowell — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:51:00 -0700

Jason and I went to the Maker Faire last weekend. There was less steampunk than last year, and more rapid prototyping. I'm so excited about that technology, and have been wanting to work more with it.

And I totally want some of these jumping stilts.

Hikes

summerpowell — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:07:50 -0700

We've been doing a lot of hiking lately. There are so many wildflowers out this time of year. This hill was quite a schlep.

And when we don't get out of the city, we take stairway walks. Most of them can be reached from our front door. The Vulcans Stairs are one of my favorites. They're the length of a city block; in fact they are a city block -- an official street comprised only of stairs and lush gardens. The gardens are gorgeous, and are maintained by neighbors. Quaint old houses along the Vulcan Stairs have no other access than the stairs, so residents must carry everything they bring from up or down the stairs.

Squid Typography

summerpowell — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:25:07 -0700

My sister and her boyfriend recently got engaged. I whipped up this SquidFont™ congratulations card for the occasion.