[Super Duper Fantastic] ISFP/INFP. 4w5. World Explorer. Super Hero. Rose-colored Glasses.

Another year, another WordCamp. Once again, I was a volunteer. Woke up early on a Saturday morning to sign volunteers and Automatticians in. I think the day went well overall. I knew more people this year than last, which was very nice. Similar to last year, only some of the talks were relevant to me.

I think there were many [myself included] who wished that there were at least two-sentence descriptions on what the talks would be about. You’d find yourself in one spot because of an interesting title, and then five or ten minutes in, you wish you’d been at the other talk instead. Luckily, all the sessions will be made available on WordPress.tv! So if you missed WordCamp, didn’t take enough notes, or were hanging out at the wrong session, no worries. I can’t wait to watch some of the early sessions that I missed while registering the volunteers.

Sadly, I couldn’t make it to the Automattic anniversary party in the evening. But it wasn’t without a very good reason. We went to Asian Rock Fest instead, where Festizio [below - middle], Johnny Hi-Fi [below - right], United High [below - left], and Burning Tree Project [above - left] tore it up. It was great!

More iPhone-quality photos from the concert: here!

On Wednesday evening, I had the opportunity to attend an early screening of Robert Kenner’s Food, Inc. [Thanks, Yelp!] in downtown SF, followed by a Q&A session with Kenner and Michael Pollan, author and activist. It was definitely an eye-opener and a reminder that we are what we eat. The film exposed the food industry for what it is, how it got that way, and we’re going to have to do to fix the problems. A handful of corporations control the food supply, basically giving up maintaining the health of consumers, safety of workers, as well as the environment, for money.

One of the featured stories of the film details the struggles of one mother while fighting for regulatory agencies to have more power and involvement in oversight of the various meat producers after her two-year-old fell victim to E. Coli. Another focused on genetically modified seeds, and the harm caused when all a corporation focused on was making money and taking over the market share. This not only wiped out any chance of a seed that wasn’t genetically modified, but it put people who relied on the processes required for maintaining seeds out of jobs.

To say the least, the film is graphic. Animals are slaughtered on screen. It’s not recommended for those who cannot stomach it. Food, Inc. is very informative and doesn’t end in a bitter note. In fact, there are easy ways for making steps in the right direction when it comes to food. They list ten simple ways [click for more details!] to change the food system.

1) Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages. [Yup, I don't do this much anyway.]
2) Eat at home instead of eating out. [Guess I'm learning to cook!]
3) Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards. [A given, really! What do they have to hide unless they don't know either?]
4) Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks. [Many school districts have done this.]
5) “Meatless Mondays” – Go without meat one day a week. [Isn't that Friday for some?]
6) Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides. [I think true organic is hard to find, but we can try.]
7) Protect family farms; visit your local farmer’s market. [Yes, luckily there are a ton of farmers' markets in San Francisco.]
8) Make a point to know where your food comes from – READ LABELS. [It's surprising what you will find.]
9) Tell Congress that food safety is important to you. [Clearly, not enough is being done.]
10) Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections. [Absolutely!]

Highly recommended film. The movie is a pretty general picture, touching on a lot of different areas. Ignorance isn’t bliss. It’s your life!

So now I have more to add to the reading list: The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, and Fast Food Nation. There are others! Yes, I know that I should have picked those up long ago.

Update on the 101 in 1001:

022 – Learn to use make-up to give yourself multiple looks.

Never thought that I would wear false eyelashes and be able to pull them off, but the gals at Shu Uemura hooked me up. I signed up to attend a seminar with Jason Hoffman, one of their principal makeup artists, and then went and got makeup done. At first, I was hesitant on doing lashes as well, but I thought to myself How often will I attend these? Might as well give it a shot.

They picked out subtle lashes that would only enhance rather than stand out. Application was pretty simple since she did the work for me, so the true test will be when I try to put them on myself at home. The makeup done was nice too [couldn't stop looking at myself in mirrors!] and made my eyes look bigger than they really are. I didn’t buy the makeup, so hopefully in the future I’ll take the chance and try to recreate the look.

An update on the 101 in 1001:

026 – Pass the CPA exam.
I’m not done yet, but I am one step closer! Checked the results of the last exam I took, and it appears that the advisory score is PASSING. *happy dance* So close, yet so far away. The last exam is the one I’ve been struggling with for some time. I’ve got videos to watch online to help with the studying, but basically I will have to do problems and review concepts over and over… I will settle for just PASSING the exam. I don’t need perfect scores!

028 – Redirect the career path. Find a new job.
Having been laid off, I’m on my way to redirecting the career path. I have been interviewing lately [waiting to hear from them they found someone else :(] and have a few others lined up as well [phone ones and in-person ones]. It’s interesting because all of the positions are related in that my previous position provided the background to do those jobs, but they are all in different industries with very different companies. Most are smaller than the last company because I’d rather move away from being a statistic at a large firm, lost in the numbers.

I really do hope that I find something before unemployment actually kicks in. But just in case, I’ve bought a bunch of stamps from Costco. They’re cheaper there – $0.44 stamps for $0.4375! Only thing is, I had to buy 100 at a time. At least they last forever?

So the Radar store is finally up, and my torso is now internet-famous! Yup, that’s me and my unusually long arms. The best part is that everything is priced at cost [the clothing, not my arms - hah!].

So what’s Radar? A photo-sharing community. You post photos by emailing them in or through the various phone applications [I use their iPhone app!] out there. It links to Twitter and Facebook, but I prefer it over Yfrog and TwitPic because 1) it looks a lot nicer, and 2) there’s a community there. You can hold conversations about the shared content. After all, the main reason you share photos on Twitter is to get some kind of response from people who follow you, yeah?

Last week, RV and I made a surprise appearance on Radar Live, a weekly Justin.tv broadcast where the community manager of Radar.net [Hi Morgan!] discusses Radar news and answers questions.

An update on the 101 in 1001!

#34 Buy a sewing machine and sew something!
A few weeks ago, I took an uber basic sewing class and ended up making this small orange pouch. While it does count as meeting the requirement for the completion of this item, I’ll probably take a few more classes and make something a little more complex than the bag. It was a great experience, and I’m not afraid of using a sewing machine now. The instructor went over all the parts of the sewing machine and how to load up the thread in all the right places.

#43 Flavor-trip on the miracle fruit.
Jenn invited me to her 27th birthday party, which was basically a miracle fruit party! It was very cool tasting how normally sour things were sweet! I probably ingested too much in the acidic category though… I wasn’t feeling so great in the evening, but it was also due to the mixing of drinks and being out in the sun much too long in the early afternoon before the party.

Sadly, I missed Bay to Breakers this year. Was still recovering from the previous day.

On the plus side of having more free time, I am getting to do more things that I’ve been meaning to check out. This past week has been full of randomness – a book signing, sewing class, online television appearances, a birthday happy hour, moving furniture, lunch dates with friends… It eases my mind a bit that I’m not just wasting away at home. It really helps having supportive friends to fill the calendar!

I’m starting off the next week with the SanFran MusicTech Summit. Some very interesting panels about music and technology that hopefully don’t coincide with one another! The conference runs from 9AM onward with three panels every hour or so. The schedule is up for the picking and choosing of panels [15+ to choose from]! Some of the topics are: Music in Audio-Visual Works, Reaching Fans, Doing Deals, Webcasting Issues, Musicians as Active Participants in Their Own Careers, Social Networking & Music, The Future of the Music Industry, Brands & Bands: The Evolution of Music Marketing.

I’ll be learning, connecting, and of course, taking notes! If you’re at all interested in attending, registration link here!

Not having a job is getting tiresome already. I know that I can pick up and go somewhere, but at the same time, there are random things here to take care of. It’s frustrating to be overqualified for some positions and not qualified enough for others. It also does not seem to be a good time to seek a completely new line of work because there are those who are experienced in those fields already who are looking to fill those positions. Why would a company want someone inexperienced over someone dedicating their college studies to that field?

On a side note, I’m working again on my 101 in 1001. I showed up at Bar Method [#17 on the list] earlier this week for a workout. Yikes! My body was soo sore afterwards. I only went once this week, but the plan is to finish up the courses now that I can. My body will be mad at me at the beginning, but I’m sure very appreciative at the end.

In an attempt to sew something [#34 on the list], I signed myself up for a sewing class. It’s going to be tomorrow afternoon! I’ll learn the basics of the sewing machine, so that’ll get me started. I’m a bit inspired to create something cute, but we’ll see if I can even get the machine going first. What I have in mind would require that I learn to work with various types of fabrics, so we’ll see how this goes!

It’s been so beautiful lately.

World Endeavors is offering one full scholarship and nine partial scholarships for a 4-week volunteer trip to Bangkok, Thailand. Scholarship recipients will embark on a life-changing experience in Thailand, volunteering in one of three areas: environmental conservation, teaching English, and health care and health education. Applicants answer one of the three questions below on issues related to international volunteerism and the role of corporations in promoting volunteering.

What is the role of international volunteerism in promoting cultural understanding?

Is the notion that only non-profit organizations “do good” outdated?

While I have an opinion on all three, I only submitted an answer for the last question.

The notion that non-profit organizations are the only ones capable of doing good is definitely outdated. Companies and individuals have just as much potential for making a difference [and more are doing so], whether the projects are local or international. The partnership of individuals, companies and non-profit organizations in sharing resources could bring us closer to solving issues that affect everyone.

It’s a short answer, but I also included the following comment:
I’d also like to present an example of an individual who is working on a project of his own called The Uncultured Project. Shawn picked up and went to Bangladesh to see what difference he could make to help the poor. He raised $ through donations from friends and strangers alike and very recently purchased 200 Geometry sets for a Buddhist orphanage/hostel!

Please vote for my idea, submit any comments you have on it, or if you’d like to win the trip, submit your own! Thanks for reading. The link to your idea is: http://www.justmeans.com/competitionidea/17762/promoteidea.html. I’ve traveled to Thailand before, so it wouldn’t be my first experience there, but I’ve never volunteered there. I’m certain it will be as rewarding as the volunteering I did in South Korea.

I was convinced to purchase this particular game after playing the eight levels they give you in the free version. It was only 99 cents, and considering that I’d had the chance to play the game before buying, I shouldn’t really complain. Just Fillin’ reminds me of Jezzball, except with bubbles.

The objective of the game is to create bubbles to fill the water while avoiding the spikes that bounce around. The graphics are not all that complex, and it’s definitely not as cute as the icon might have you believe, but it’s a quick and easy game to play. It kills time. There are an unlimited number of levels, so this game could go on forever! playtoniq ALSO has a few other applications out called Aqua Apps. They are also 99 cents each.

On a side note, I got all gold medals on Sway last night. There were two levels that were particularly difficult, but I had them beat using the right combination of characters! So until they come out with new updates, I’ve beat the game!