Fri Feb 09 10:38:01 negative: Today I found out I am HIV, Hep B, and Hep A negative. I am lacking antibodies to Hep B, but this is expected as I declined the vaccination to Hep B in January 2005, but have now begun the series since my scalpel incident. I have never been tested for any of these things, and it was a strange feeling to know for confirm for certain what I assumed.

Sun Feb 11 00:16:25 Eric Schwartz aka "Smooth E": Drew put on my del.ici.ous account a cartoon about Channukah bird; it seemed similarly funny to a cartoon song about matzah; turns out it is the same author, eric schwartz at http://suburbanhomeboy.com where other funny videos are posted. It is a funny coincidence that we separately found this guy within a week of eachother, through totally different means.

Sun Feb 11 10:44:39 dave dameshek:

I'm listening to dave dameshek's new radio show at http://keepdave.com

I'm so glad that he is back on the radio after the horrible catastrophe of when he got canned from the adam carolla show and replaced him with the terrible danny bonaduce.  he makes our ears bleed.

(2) Mon Feb 12 08:26:08 cake: I made a cake yesterday for our friends. It was the most sugary cake ever, as I it had homemade frosting. I have a photo which I will try to post. The cake was to celebrate the end of a hard year. Among other things, the have been having the parents living with them for an entire year to help the parents with a housing crisis. However, it looks like there is an end in site, which is to be celebrated by all, as they were five living in a small house with one bathroom.

Mon Feb 12 10:01:45 loveline: I'm so sad that this once great show had degenerated into stryker's surfer-talk for two hours. He seems nice enough but he really doesn't contribute anything. I hope somehow either Dave Dameshek takes his place (that would be great pay-back) or the adam carolla show presently cohosted with danny bonaduce, fails, and adam goes back to loveline. As I'm sure all the westwood one, and freefm executives read this blog, they will duly take note.

Tue Feb 13 15:26:04 Oxygenics® Body Spa® SkinCare™ Handheld Shower Head: We bought this shower head from bed bath and beyond last night; it was fun. Shopping together is pretty fun, we should do it more often. Anyways, this head will replace his broken plastic head in his shower. The big requirements for the head were for it to have a hose that could be handheld, and also for it to be metal for no more breaking. It seems to work well. Drew will wish I wrote this with RDF based Reyvu, but I am not yet convinced.

Thu Feb 15 11:39:20 celebration: Yesterday was cause for celebration: I got my new treo 700p, upgrading from my treo 650 which I wore out. Secondly, I got a promotion; it had been pending, but was made official yesterday, so we celebrated. where better to celebrate than san leandro chevy's? unfortunately, we didn't take the fact that yesterday was valentines day into account; thus we got to chevy's and were met with an hour wait. we instead sat at the actual bar; which we had never done before (as neither of us are alcohol drinkers). I was surprised at the high level of service; our drinks were always filled and our food came very quickly in spite of the crowd.

Thu Feb 22 14:01:29 travel companions: today I flew on crowded flight. among my copassengers were a man who kept an unlit cigar in his mouth the entire flight, and a man from texas, evidently in his late 60's to fly back to thailand to be with his wife who was a 'nice young lady'. without prompting, he proceeded to explain how their marriage was 'good for her and good for me'. I flew to san antonio to stay with my friends, karla and paul and to the american board of criminalistics certification test.

Wed Mar 07 10:54:43 good day: today I got the highest score in the class on my analytical chem midterm and our offer for a house was accepted! we move on June 1!

Wed Apr 04 19:29:36 hospital visit: things were a little scary yesterday when I went to kaiser for dr. appointment for my sore throat (thought I might have strep). After the dr. saw my heart rate too high, & too low blood pressure, he then gave me iv of saline and did an ekg. apparently the dr didn't like the ekg enough and he sent me to the hospital. the way they do that at kaiser is via ambulance; the paramedic and emt were really nice and made it not at all scary. At hospital they thought my ekg was fine but with my symptoms and the fact that I had recently travelled across country via plane, they wanted to rule out pulmonary embolism, so i stayed a few hours, had a bunch of labs, chest xray, and CT scan. luckily no pulmonary embolism. still don't know why I have high heart rate. at home getting rest for now. strange adventure.

Tue Apr 10 08:43:39 wikipedia: I have been addicted to reading wikipedia for a while, and toyed with the idea of editing/adding to pages for a while, but last night I finally created an account and edited two pages. It took me about an hour, and it was really fun, though I could see how I would quickly sink dozens of hours a week into it, so I am putting a limit of one hour per week of wikipedia edits (not including reading). Wikipedia posted this image today which I love: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:STS-116_spacewalk_1.jpg We closed on our new house in belmont but do not move in for six more weeks.

Wed Apr 11 00:34:36 green/sustainable building: I've recently been in contact with my friend, Victoria Makol from high school. She is in grad school studying sustainable business and I consulted her regarding the best way to make our new/old house more green (we're thinking solar panels). She wrote an essay of an email which I found very useful, and thought some of my friends would find useful as well. Too bad the comment function of my blog is non-functioning, otherwise there could be added info.

here it is:

Overview of dimensions of "Greeness" in buildings

There a few basic dimensions of sustainability when it comes to greenness in buildings. First is the 'embodied energy' of each of the materials used to make the house. This refers to how much energy it took to make each material from the very beginning to end, from mining/logging to when it became part of your house. For example concrete has a high amount of embodied energy because it requires a lot of heat to make it and it usually has to be shipped from far away. Whereas, a reused door that you buy at Urban Ore has a low amount of embodied energy because it is being recycled and probably came from someone's house in the Bay Area.

Second is ongoing energy usage, or efficiency. For example, a well insulated house uses less energy than a poorly insulated one and is thus considered greener. Third is toxicity. There are two parts to toxicity - toxicity generated during manufacturing and toxicity experienced by users. An example of the first is during manufacture, PVC pipe production releases bad chemicals into the water. An example of the second is conventional paint and carpeting releasing harmful odors into your home, which is called 'off-gassing'.

Fourth is anticipating future needs. One of the most wasteful parts of building is demolition, where a whole house gets knocked down and thrown away. Chances are in fifteen or twenty years, your home will get remodeled either to suit future needs or just to keep up with trends. Therefore, it is considered green to plan for this by choosing things that can be deconstructed, reused, or perhaps composted. It is also good when doing major remodels to design in such a way that your home can easily be remodeled in the future. This usually involves just avoiding putting any bearing walls in the middle of the house. Last is any social concerns. You can imagine what this is. Probably comes up the most in the question of whether your contractor uses immigrant labor and how well those employees are treated and compensated.

Resources on Green Building

There are two great resources in Berkeley, which are perfect places to start to find what you need. One is Builders Booksource. It is a bookstore in Berkeley with an excellent green building section. You can go in there and just browse the books available. There should be at least a couple geared at homeowners looking for ways to remodel their home to make it greener. Stick with things written in the last five years. It is a great place to see where the field is at right now, learn about possibilities, look at pictures and get ideas. A second great resource is Build It Green, a non-profit that promotes green building. They offer a number of resources including a hot line that you can call with green building questions, and some displays that you can go look at of different materials and stuff. They also put on one or two home tours a year, where you can buy a ticket for $10 and tour about a dozen houses that use green building techniques. A third good resource that focuses just on energy is the PG&E Pacific Energy Center. They are located in the SOMA district in San Francisco. They have a small, but excellent and educational display showing residential energy efficiency techniques. I love going there. They offer lots of free free classes on energy, although most of them are geared towards more in depth knowledge of energy issues than you probably need unless you plan on doing some remodeling carpentry and electrical work yourself.

Hiring a Contractor

If you decide at some point to hire a contractor to do some remodeling work for you, look for somebody with a certification from either Sonoma State, LEED, or Build It Green's "Certified Green Building Professional" . Also if you hire a contractor, you seem like the kind of lady who would know this, but be sure to get a contractor who someone you know has hired themselves and personally recommends. Your friend/acquaintance should have actually hired this person and successfully had the contractor COMPLETE the job. That is the only way you should hire a contractor. Don't get someone out of the yellow pages, don't get someone who is currently doing a job for a friend but has yet to finish it, and don't get someone that your hardware store recommends. They may be nice people, but the only way to assure that contractor is competent is get a personal recommendation on a job they have completed.

Also, make sure you are comfortable with the contractor, that they answer all your questions, that they are licensed (licensed contractors usually have their # right on their business card), that they make good use of contracts that spell all the billing out, and that you have a good vibe about them. Most contractors are not good, that is just the reality. Picking a good one is as important as picking your therapist or surgeon. If you pick a bad one they can cost you a ton of money and make your life miserable. Don't be afraid to meet with five different ones until you get a good fit.

Alternative Sustainable Building Techniques

Build It Green and PG&E focus on greener methods that still employ traditional 'stick-framing' techniques. If you want to learn about the very sustainable, more alternative building techniques like straw-bale, cob, and round pole, the Solar Living Institute is a good place to start. These aren't as applicable for remodeling. But if you do an additional on the house, or if you want to build a bench or a shed in the backyard, these can be great possibilities. They have a very cool campus up in Hopland and offer lots of extended classes for people who want to do some of their own building. For more place to learn from, check out the 'Resources' section on the Solar Living Institute's website.

Solar Panels

Solar panels are very cool. But if you were to rank the things you could do to make your home greener in order of the value they offer (in terms of impact on the environment * capacity to reduce your energy bill / upfront costs), photovoltaic solar panels usually fall in the middle of that list. There are probably 15 things you could do to improve your home's sustainability that offer a better value. However, if being energy independent is just this really important thing for you, do what makes you feel best. There are a variety of financing schemes for putting photovoltaic panels on your roof that make it more financially feasible. Typically, people take out a small second mortgage to finance the panels, which including installation costs $20,000+. Various non-profits, for-profits, and utility companies are looking into ways to put panels on your roof where the company owns the panels, and then just sell you the power they generate or lease the panels back to you for a fixed rate each month rather than have you own them outright. I am not on top of the specifics of options right now, because the field is changing so fast.

For the last five years, CA has been subsidizing about a third of the cost of putting up an array, but those offers have expired recently. The million solar roofs initiative in CA has recently come online, and that may be offering a new set of subsidies now. Basically, tax credits change every couple of months, and you probably need to talk to someone on the phone to know what is going on right now. There are lots of solar installation companies. One of the oldest, well-established and reputable companies is Sun, Light, and Power, which is based in the East Bay. You can probably get a reasonable primer on what a customer thinking about PV solar needs to know by reading the pages on their website. If you are psyched about solar, but feeling hesitant now about photovoltaic panels, I suggest looking at solar hot-water panels. They are very cool - a simple yet effective technology that can also take a bite out of your utility bill for gas used to heat your water.

There is a ton of information about green building out there, and it is an evolving field. Try to stick with people and sources who seem very current, like the last five years. There is a wide range of building techniques that fall under the green heading, so there is no need to learn everything, unless you just want to learn about it for fun. Once you figure out what you want - Do you just want to remodel your house or do you maybe want to put on an addition? Are you thinking about major remodeling like knocking down walls, or do you want to make a few simple changes to create a more sustainable house? What is your budget? Do you want to work in phases by doing some things now and some things in 5 or 10 years? If so, what do you want to do now? Do you want to try to do some work yourself or do you want to hire a contractor? Is it important to you to make the absolute greenest choice possible or do you just want to choose an improvement upon what you have now? Look for sources that are geared toward people with your needs, and stick with that. Everything I pointed you at should be good. Last, try to keep it fun. I bet now that you own a home, you are in a phase of where you love to think about it. Try to ride that wave as long as possible by not stressing out about making exactly the right decision. The main thing to get right is choice of contractor, if you choose to get one. Use a few guidelines, like favor low maintenance, durable materials. After that, wood or stone, fluted molding or flat is all just details.

Sat Apr 28 00:02:35: I wrote an email to this organization before asking the question which is answered in the link. funny as it is a finnish organization, and I have a finnish last name, Perttula. Eurovision admitted the song, although earlier media reports state that they considered banning its nuclear-war-themed song for being inappropriately political. my question being answered: http://www.eurovision.tv/content/view/522/263/ the song: http://arabist.net/archives/2007/03/03/the-teapacks-push-the-button/

Sat Apr 28 00:04:30: I wrote an email to Eurovision song contest asking the question which I found out tonight is answered in the below link. funny as it is a finnish organization, and I have a finnish last name, Perttula. Eurovision admitted the song, although earlier media reports state that they considered banning its nuclear-war-themed song for being inappropriately political.

my question being answered: http://www.eurovision.tv/content/view/522/263/

the song: http://arabist.net/archives/2007/03/03/the-teapacks-push-the-button/

Fri Aug 17 10:33:18 shameless political plug: It has been a busy summer of 5 weddings and even more birthday parties. I was sad to hear John Edwards 'concentrating' his resources in early states other than Nevada. He is a super candidate who doesn't take special interest money like the other 'front two' in the democratic race do. He is so smart, and has policies more progressive than Obama/Clinton, yet he comes in an electable package (nationwide, maybe the democratic party just doesn't think he is sensational enough to get behind at this point). I've decided to urge all of my like-minded friends to give what they can to edwards. I've donated $25 here and there, my first political donations ever. I've never felt an election to be so important as the one coming up.

Sat Sep 29 01:15:40 target and poetry: I want to tell people that if they receive a gift from Target stores and try to return it without a receipt, this will only work if the item is being sold for less than $20. It used to be $40 but since august it is $20 which seemed like a pretty silly policy to me. In any case, it isn't too important to me, but seems like a bad decision which is bad for the consumer and as a result I will try to avoid shopping at Target.

I really dislike poetry.

(1) Tue Oct 02 13:13:48 wait for the primaries: we haven't had one single primary election, and yet the way the SF Chronicle writes, its done: Hillary Clinton is the Democratic Nominee. What did they use to tally this vote? It seems to be political contributions. This is our new democracy: who can get the most money from special interests, big name contributors, etc. It makes me sick to my stomach that this is the best we can do for an election process. It seems evident to me that campaign finance reform is needed very badly.

John Edwards for President, 2008!

(5) Mon Nov 05 13:31:03 Burning man: I may be known to blurt out my dislike of Burning Man without giving proper supporting evidence.

Today, The Chronicle made my case for me:

"The couple's two children - a boy, then 6, and a girl, then 5 - were in the house when Nina Reiser was there, but Hans Reiser's mother was out of town at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, authorities said"

Original Story

People who raise alleged murderers go to burning man.

Sun Nov 11 23:15:25 Piano, New York, and John Edwards: This week, as I came home from class after 9pm, an old man and his dog were walking in front of my house. As I got out of the car he greeted me and asked me about 'the piano playing'. I was surprised as he told me that he had heard me play a few times on his nightly dog walks. He said he really enjoyed Handel's Largo. He (Bob) introduced himself. I said I hope to see him around. This made me happy as it is one of the friendliest neighbor interactions I've had (excluding the nice little boys next door) since moving. I have played piano two times in the four days since I met Bob. I played Handel's Largo but am also teaching myself a new piece by an Italian composer.

Drew and I just returned from a really nice trip to New York. We stayed with his aunt and uncle who live in Yorktown Heights, 40 miles north of Manhattan. It is unbelievably beautiful near their home. We went on nice hikes where we could see the green, yellow, and bright red trees for 40 miles, leading to the NYC skyline. We also saw a fun Broadway show and enjoyed dinner at a fancy village restaurant (Otto) and several home cooked meals. I can't wait to go back.

I'm going to meet John Edwards at a grassroots-type fund raiser this Friday. I hope to be memorable in some way.

Here are some photos from our recent trip to NY:

(4) Fri Nov 16 23:50:25 Met John Edwards: I had an amazing time meeting John Edwards at a campaign party in a beautiful (and huge!) house in San Francisco. There were two main age groups and I was in between them. Everyone was really friendly. The house was really hard to find in a really nice neighborhood at the top of a hill (on Cortes Avenue for those who know S.F.; I don't, and it was a small miracle that I found the house through the fog without getting lost).

I arrived at 7:35 pm, and I think John Edwards must have been there by 8pm. I was the second hand he shook as he came through the door; it was something different as I've never been this active in politics.

I spoke briefly with him and said I hope I could help do whatever it takes for him to get the nomination (since most of us believe this is the big fight; not the general election--he will win by a landslide against any of the Republicans). It was really neat to talk with other like-minded people who felt as strongly as I do about so many issues. We agree that we're at a critical point in history with so many huge issues impacting the globe. We're in great need of a principled leader after the last 8 years of the current administration and the damage it has inflicted.

John Edwards' priorities of fighting hard against poverty while ending all fighting in Iraq or potential fighting in Iran is so refreshing. It is so great to support a candidate who is genuinely compelled to do the right thing. It will be hard, but it will make our country better, and I believe his presidency would make our citizens better people. Not to operate purely out of self interest will be such a change of pace, and I think America is ready to see some altruism in Washington, compared to the utter corruption that exists now.

Prior to attending this party, I knew I wanted to be involved and possibly go to Iowa if I could be helpful, but I wasn't sure if they wanted or needed me. At this party it became clear that besides money, having people go door to door in Iowa is imperative. Therefore I'm now pursuing the various options to campaign in Iowa and/or New Hampshire. I can't wait. I hope I can be helpful. At the tail end of the party, I think I convinced the two Wolff brothers to consider going to Iowa as well. They will be making a road trip out of it. Instead, I think I will maximize my time off work by flying, in spite of how much I hate flying.

Mon Nov 26 22:25:11 Going to Iowa: it is official; I am going to Iowa. I leave on Dec. 29 and fly into Des Moines. Then, I volunteer all week long, and fly out of Omaha which is in a different state, but apparently "just across the river" from Iowa. I am looking forward to things, though am a little nervous. It will surely be an adventure different from all others. Here is a photo from my house party with John Edwards from last week. I was trying not to be too conspicuous, hence the bad photo. I hope to get better photos in Iowa.

Wed Nov 28 13:37:17 great john edwards blog postings: My friend Damon sent me this blog posting which I found enjoyable:
http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/27/17420/490

Another post from the same blog list just a few of the reasons why John Edwards is the candidate to support.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/27/162929/02

In some non-John Edwards related news: I was ecstatic to find out that the horrible writing requirement of my SJSU MS in Chemistry degree has been waived. The requirement was to take a 3 unit class for undergrads/grads which only meets in the middle of the day twice a week. I only took four classes which were not math, chemistry, or physics at Berkeley. Thankfully one class was good enough for the Associate Dean.

Fri Dec 07 14:43:37 Preliminary done, another vote for John Edwards: I finished my preliminary seminar about my research completed so far, and plans for the future. It went pretty well, and I am glad I have passed this milestone on the way to my Master's degree. I really feel like it won't be too long.

On another note, I think I convinced my classmate to support John Edwards. I think that brings my total up to six. I hope to have this kind of luck in Iowa. I feel like it is a fine line between expressing my beliefs and being too forward. But if people are willing to talk about politics at all around me, they better expect to hear me say John Edward's name at least a dozen times.

News about my campaigning got to a friend-of-a-friend, who thought it was really confusing that I was going to campaign for John Edwards, the apparently famous psychic. I really wonder about this friend's political aptitude. But I think he has been set straight since then.

Drew and I babysat for our friend's two year old toddler last night. She is so great; we like to dance, and so we were looking at cool videos on you tube of Natalie Merchant singing/dancing. (I taught her to say "Kelsi's Mom" whenever a close up of Natalie would appear).

She kept saying something that sort of sounded like "bye baby song". I searched just that in you tube, and one of the top hits that came up was "Bye Bye Baby" from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" with Marilyn Monroe. This did the trick; as she was quickly mesmerized. Drew thought this was a coincidence, but her parents confirmed that this was one of her top songs since they watch this musical at home from time to time. In any case, I was surprised how accurate you tube's search was for a two year old.

Fri Dec 07 14:45:16 Preliminary done, another vote for John Edwards: I finished my preliminary seminar about my research completed so far, and plans for the future. It went pretty well, and I am glad I have passed this milestone on the way to my Master's degree. I really feel like it won't be too long.

On another note, I think I convinced my classmate to support John Edwards. I think that brings my total up to six. I hope to have this kind of luck in Iowa. I feel like it is a fine line between expressing my beliefs and being too forward. But if people are willing to talk about politics at all around me, they better expect to hear me say John Edwards' name at least a dozen times.

News about my campaigning got to a friend-of-a-friend, who thought it was really confusing that I was going to campaign for John Edwards, the apparently famous psychic. I really wonder about this friend's political aptitude. But I think he has been set straight since then.

Drew and I babysat for our friends' two year old toddler last night. She is so great; we like to dance, and so we were looking at cool videos on you tube of Natalie Merchant singing/dancing. (I taught her to say "Kelsi's Mom" whenever a close up of Natalie would appear).

She kept saying something that sort of sounded like "bye baby song". I searched just that in you tube, and one of the top hits that came up was "Bye Bye Baby" from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" with Marilyn Monroe. This did the trick; as she was quickly mesmerized. Drew thought this was a coincidence, but her parents confirmed that this was one of her top songs since they watch this musical at home from time to time. In any case, I was surprised how accurate you tube's search was for a two year old.


Update: I'm quite ashamed to report that I am unable to embed a youtube video. here is the url of a video which is all the rage with my favorite two year old: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTNKPYAJscs

Sun Dec 16 12:05:38 Edwards is more electable, period.: As I've said from the beginning, Edwards is sure to beat any Republican nominee. Here is data: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-welsh/edwards-is-more-electable_b_76577.html I'm preparing for my trip to Iowa. Turns out I will be in western Iowa. More updates soon.

(1) Wed Dec 19 12:45:23 Chanukkah Party: Our Fourth Annual Latke Festival of Lights Party was last weekend. It is by far the hardest party of the year, as cooking potatoes takes a lot of time, plus all the prep work, plus the fact that people eat them really fast. But it was really fun; lots of people crammed into our house, and I got to use my new ipod for music (previous parties have not had music). We had nine guests under 18, and five of them under five years old. I was a little sad that some of our close friends were unable to make it, but others who couldn't make it last year came this year.

Here is a photo of some of our backyard lights with Lila's special Jew-vision glasses.

Wed Dec 19 13:30:19 The Chronicle Surprises: The SF Chron has finally reported on the strength of John Edwards. Here is the article that has made my afternoon:

SFGATE

Unless otherwise noted, all content licensed by Kelsi Perttula under a Creative Commons License.

Title image by cobalt123.