painaporo

    1.    We live in attached housing which means our home is much more efficient because it is insulated by other dwellings on both sides.  We hardly ever need to turn on our heat in the winter and when we use the AC in the summer we are able to retain more of our chilled air.
    2.    We live in a walkable neighborhood where we can shop, dine, or get groceries without using our car
    3.    We live within walking distance of a light rail system that we use both for commuting to work and going down town.
    4.    We only own one car.
    5.    Our electricity is provided by 100% wind power via the purchase of renewable energy credits.
    6.    We buy local produce from the 32nd street farmer's market including milk, cheese, fruits, and vegetables.
    7.    We use 7th Generation natural, biodegradable, phosphate free laundry detergent and dishwasher powder.
    8.    We use biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning products from Method for cleaning our bathroom or kitchen.
    9.    When we paint rooms we use only Freshaire Choice paint which is odor-free paint with no VOCs or harmful chemicals
    10.    We recycle.
    11.    We use organic and biodegradable bath products.
    12.    We use CFL light-bulbs whenever possible.
    13.    We buy natural/non-synthetic fabric and materials whenever possible including 100% cotton clothing, shoes from simpleshoes.com, and even a non-synthetic futon cover.
    14.    We have significantly reduced the amount of meat in our diet.  We eat meat approximately 1-3 meals a week.
    15.    We use wheat-based or pine-based renewable cat litter instead of toxic clay-based litters that come from surface mining.
    16.    We use a variety of window fans and ceiling fans to cool our home before resorting to air conditioning.
    17.    We live in an appropriately sized house for two people (and two cats). 
    18.    We use reusable grocery bags and decline unnecessary plastic bags at stores when we're only buying one or two items.
    19.    We use internet downloads and streaming options for movies and music instead of purchasing CDs and DVDs.  These items have a larger carbon footprint than you might think.  They're basically lumps of plastic produced at factories and then shipped around the world.  Eventually they all end up in landfills, so why not just watch or listen to the content without the tangible (and poorly designed) packaging?
    20.    We use a push reel mower to mow our small front lawn.
    21.    We use magnetic vent covers to control the flow of forced-air heating to the rooms that need it most (i.e. the den).
    22.    We buy organic products (mostly Wegman's brand) whenever possible.
    23.    We have major electronic devices on power strips that are turned off when not in use.  Stereo systems, TVs, DVD players all continue to consume electricity when powered down (or in standby mode).  It really isn't necessary to let them continue to draw power when we're not using them, though we do need to leave the DVR plugged in.
    24.    We never buy bottled water and use reusable aluminum bottled (SIGG bottles) for water.

Neil Finn's next project is a double album written and recorded in just 3 weeks in his Auckland studio.  He invited members of Wilco, Radiohead, and Modest Mouse along with singer/songwriters Bic Runga, KT Tunstall, Liam Finn, and more to write and record the album and give a series of concerts all in support of OxFam International.  The album is called 7 Worlds Collide and will be out later this year.  Neil did a previous project back in 2001 which resulted in the 7 World Collide live album.  The difference is that this time it's all new songs and a studio album.  Here is a documentary that was recently released about the recording process which include a cameo from Murray from Flight of the Conchords.


... Part 5 coming soon ... i guess.

Hi everybody!

I am working on a group project for my Research Methods class and we've decided to research the elements of community created in virtual spaces.  Specifically, we've decided to study sense of community in the online role-playing game, World of Warcraft.  We will be conducting our research through an online survey with the option of follow-up interviews. 

We're looking for anyone who has ever played World of Warcraft and would be willing to share their opinions about the sense of community the game creates (or does not create). 

If you would be interested in participating in this survey please email me at AdamWLindquist at gmail dot com or simply reply to this post with your email address.  If you have friends or family who are really into WoW and who might be interested in participating in this survey please forward this invitation to them!  We need as many participants as possible.  All information will be confidential.

Thanks a lot for your support!

-Adam

Sarah said I need to post some new pictures so she took this photo of Sophia sitting on my head while I'm sleeping:



In other news, my mother visited last weekend. Here's a video of her dancing in our living room:

( More Photos of stuff and things ... )

Now that I've bought this fancy new expensive camera I need to take more pictures.  Since you guys are probably tired of seeing cat pictures and I'm tired of taking cat pictures, I talked Sarah into letting me take photos of her in her pretty purple dress!  (we'll get back to taking nature photos when the weather gets nicer again)


This is Sarah.  Man, that alarm system on the wall back there looks really ugly ... along with the light switch, thermostat, and that black thermometer.  I should really take the time to photoshop them out of this image but I'm too lazy.

( See more ... )

24 hours ago our bedroom looked like this:



As I sit in bed typing this blog the bedroom now looks like this:


( And here's how it happened ... )

This weekend when the pipes froze I at first thought that I had broken the shower.  I woke up at 7AM on Saturday to go to my negotiation class for the 8th day in a row.  I turned on the tub facet and pulled on the piece that switches it to the shower and suddenly the water just stopped.  I spent the next 5 minutes messing with the tub/shower switch thinking it was broken before I thought to try the sink.  It was then I realized that there was no running water at all in the upstairs bathroom.  Interesting because our landlord had instructed us that when winter came we were to plug in a special heat strip that wraps around a pipe that goes from the basement to the outside of the house to the second floor and back into the upstairs bathroom.  Our landlord said this was to keep the pipe from freezing.  Logically, I figured that it must have been so cold outside that the pipe had frozen in spite of the heat strip.  So, I went outside to check out the whole heat strip/pipe situation and was surprised to find the heat strip wrapped around the sewage pipe that obviously transports or waste water from the bathroom down into the sewers and NOT a pipe that brings water up to the bathroom.  It was then that I realized that there was no running water anywhere in our house meaning that the pipes that run from the city water line to our house must have been frozen.

Now I come from New York, a state where buildings are constructed with winter in mind.  In Baltimore, however, buildings seem to have been built with the belief that it never gets cold in this city.  Our previous apartment had no insulation in the walls and this weekend we learned that our water meter is in a hole in the ground out front between the street and the sidewalk.  In New York your water meter is typically in your basement where it can't freeze.  In Baltimore it's outside under a metal cap where in brings water in from the city line and then through an underground pipe into our house.  Our next task was to find the point at which the outside water line entered our house so we could attempt to warm the pipe and restore our water flow.

To find this mysterious water line we logically began at the water heater.  Sounds simple right?  Unfortunately, following the pipes was easier said than done.  There is a crazy maze pipery along our basement ceiling which goes from the water heater behind wall panels and behind heating ducts.  One pipe we followed actually went to the dryer which was bizarre because why would our water heater be connected to our dryer?  It was at that point we realized that we must have a gas powered dryer; something I never even knew existed!  That does explain why our dryer is so powerful.  It can dry a load of towels in under 10 minutes.  While exploring behind the dryer we also discovered that the duct that connects the dryer to the outside was not connected.  This explains why the basement gets so humid when we're running the dryer.

Eventually, we found the point where the outside water line enters the house.  We had to remove a wall panel to get to it but at last we could get to the pipe warming.  Sarah used a blow dryer on the pipe and in 5 minutes or less we were back in business.  Of course, by this time my morning class was well over.  Ah well, I didn't feel like driving through the city anyway.  A number of major roads were closed for Obama's Bmore visit and traffic was probably terrible.

On Sunday we worked on insulating the house since it's finally been cold enough outside that we've had to start turning on the heat.  Sarah put plastic over the windows and put foam around the doors.  I bought these large magnetic sheets that you cut down to size and place over your heat vents.  I did this because we don't need heat on the second floor and we barely need heat on the first floor but the basement, where we watch all our tv and movies, needs as much heat as it can get.  So now, when we turn on the heat it all blasts into the basement which finally feels very comfortable and then slowly seeps upwards in the house where it's needed much less.

The end.

I think I listened to more instrumental music than pop music in 2008. Bands like The Album Leaf and Helios, performers like Yo-Yo Ma and Zoë Keating, composers like Bear McCreary and Bach have all been on high rotation. Nevertheless, I think I can still pull together a decent list of songs that were a way of life for me in 2008. I'll even post youtube versions so you can sample them if you like!

The Avett Brothers - Die Die Die
I stumbled upon these guys when someone mentioned them in a music forum.  Their EPs The Gleam & The Gleam II are both full of catchy and quirky acoustic folk songs. "Die Die Die" is from their newest album The Avett Brothers Introduce Emotionalism and features more of the same only with a bit more instrumentation.

Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You
Swirly dreamy pop music at it's finest.  I would have loved to have danced to this song at my wedding (note that the lyric is "no one's gonna love you more than I do"). I love the guitar line and the melody ... very simple and pure.

Ben Folds - Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hits His Head)
Ben Folds' new solo album Way To Normal came out sometime near the election and I remember listening to this song on my iPod as I walked home from eggytoast 's election party.  It seemed to really capture the celebratory mood of the evening.  Though the song isn't really about triumph, it's based on the true story of Ben falling off the stage while performing in Japan.  Musically it's a tribute to Elton John's "Benny and the Jets".  Ben latest album is probably his best work since Whatever and Ever Amen and has several other great songs including "You Don't Know Me" featuring a duet with Regina Spektor.

Youtube won't let me put this video in my blog so here's a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp6jEo6GNrQ
It's a really bad video anyway ... but great song!

The Frames - Falling Slowly
I know, if you've seen the movie Once then you're probably sick of this song by now but this is my favorite version.  Rather than the movie's stripped back acoustic rendition this one is played by The Frames (Glen Hansard's band) and it rocks out a bit more.  I love it when a new song comes along that's destine to become a timeless classic.

Flight of the Conchords - Business Time
I've already mentioned that these guys have their own comedy show on HBO that's hilarious.  Here's a live performance of one of my favorite songs off their album.

Rachael Yamagata - Elephants
Rachael released a rather bi-polar 2 disc album this year called Elephants/Teeth Sinking Into Heart.  The first disc is very dramatic and orchestral while the second is more raucous and up beat.  The song "Elephants" is a mini masterpiece that is probably ruined by the low quality audio in this clip.

She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here
Thanks to clothdoll for pointing out this dou made up of actress Zooey Deschanel and multi-instrumentalist Matt Ward.  Their album Volume One is full of great original country/folk ballads and a few well chosen cover songs.  I could have picked any number of songs for this blog including "Sentimental Heart," "Change is Hard," and "This is Not a Test" but "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here" has by far the best video!

The Envy Corps - Story Problem
Dwell was definately one of my favorite albums of the year and full of amazing alternative rock stuff (like what Coldplay would sound like if they had any originality or what the Decemeberists would sound like if they could rock out).  I don't think you can listen to this song and not come out smiling by the end.  I'd wish I could explain this god awful music video ... but I can't.  At least it looks like they had fun making it.

Iron & Wine - Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car
I could have chosen any song from The Shepherd's Dog album, they're all amazing, unique, and beautiful.  For a singer songwriter who's previous album was just him and an acoustic guitar you've gotta give Samuel Beam a lot of credit for writing something so full of color and texture and unusual song topics.

Vedera - Satisfy
Now heading in the completely opposite direction from Iron & Wine here's a song by Vedera who I saw as opening act for Eisley last Spring.  I haven't found any other songs by them that I like but this one works really well.

Tim Finn - Out of this World
I wanted to show "Saw to the Tree" but I couldn't find a video.  At any rate, this song is just as good and the first single from his brand new album The Conversation.  He's been releasing albums since 1974 and still sounds great and is perhaps writing some of his best songs ever.

Dido - Never Want to Say It's Love
Had to edit to add this song.  I secretly love Dido ... I know that sounds lame but she really does have good songs ... you're just gonna have to trust me though because I know it's totally below you to check out something as pedestrian as Dido.  Her new album Safe Trip Home is just as good as her previous two albums.


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For those of you who don't know, I am afraid of flying.  Nothing scares me more than the thought of getting into an airplane and taking off.  My fear is so bad that when I'm on a plane I border on having panic attacks.  My fear has kept me off airplanes ever since 9/11.  My last flight was just prior to 9/11 when I went on a family vacation to the Bahamas which I survived but barely!  after 9/11 I pretty much decided I was done with flying forever!  Unfortunately I have a lot of travel dreams and desires and 2009 may be the year that some of these dreams come to fruition.  That is IF I can get on to the plane.

This afternoon I took the first step in a long application process to study abroad in the coming Summer.  The Urban Planning program is sponsoring a month long trip to St. Petersburg, Russia to study at the Saint-Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (I don't think Russia sees "planning" as a legitimate field of study yet).  This would go from June 16 - July 10 and it is not feasible to travel by boat.  Nevertheless, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity and I don't want to be that old man someday who could have done something really cool but didn't just because he had an irrational fear.

I am also planning to attend the National Conference of the America Planning Association in April.  This year the conference is being held in exotic Minneapolis, MN!  Maybe I should wait another year or two and go when the conference is held somewhere worth visiting like anywhere on the west coast.  I would love to go to the west coast someday.  On the other hand, I'm probably at a point in my planning education when I would really benefit from attending a national conference.  Flying to MN would also be a nice preliminary flight to help prepare me for the much longer flight to Russia.

I've considered seeking professional help to teach me how to relax while flying but it's pretty much going to take all of the money I have to pay for these two trips with little left over for such an extravagant purchase as professional therapy!  So I guess I'm just going to refuse to be one of the many people who let their fear of flying prevent them from pursuing their dreams and career goals.  I mean, if I die then at least I die while trying to do something with my life and not while regretting missed opportunities. 

Sarah and I recently watched what has got to be one of the best movies to come out in 2008. It's called The Fall and it is very much in the same vein as Pan's Labyrinth and other grown-up fairy tales.

The main story takes place in a 1920's hospital where a movie stunt man befriends a 6 year old immigrant girl. He's was seriously injured while working on a film and decides to trick the girl into stealing him morphine. He does this by telling her a fantastical story and then threatening not to continue the tale unless the girl helps him out. All the while the story, as imagined by the girl, is played out on screen.

The movie was filmed in 18 different countries and in the most exotic locations you'll ever see in one film. It is simply a visual feast. Impressively, it uses almost no CGI though your eyes might have you think otherwise. If you like beautiful and emotional fantasy stories this movie is not to be missed!