Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013!

2012 was a good year, but one devoid of inspirimint blog posts! So, I'm here to make up for that. Here are some photos of food I had in 2012. Hope you all had a good year, and here is a toast to a prosperous 2013!

Let's start with some homemade goodies. 

Buns!

Homemade banana bread muffins

Homemade ostrich steak, mango chutney, & mango arugula salad

OMG! An unbroken shelled walnut!!

A ridiculously complex bowl of yogurt

Homemade truffle butter!

We also ate out a lot...

Everyone loves brunch.

Had fugu for the first time at Gari.

A delicious macademia nut vegan cheese wheel!

"Jasmine, cucumber, honeydew, chartreuse" at WD~50

A lot of sweets...

Veggie bun & soft serve at Momofuku Milk Bar

Deconstructed s'more at WD~50

Cheesecake at Robert

...and last but not least, delicious macarons from Ladurée!

Hope your 2013 will be delicious as well!! 

Snow

East Coast weather is weird. We've been getting random days of super warm (60-70°F) weather interspersed among the typical 30-40°F winter chilliness. Last week I saw ladies in dresses and guys in flip-flops, but a few days ago, we had hail and snow thunderstorms. Was California weather ever fickle like this? I can't remember anymore...

Living in a part of the world where snow is to be dealt with on a daily basis during the winter is something brand new to me. Apparently, the blizzards this year were especially bad. I've never been in an East Coast winter before, so I have nothing to compare it against. All I know is that the apartments are kept nice and toasty, and that waking up to a fresh layer of powder is absolutely magical. 

Oh, so this is what a "big storm" looks like? Okay, I can deal with that.

Ice skating at the Rockefeller Center during Christmas.

 

I love disrupting virgin powder. When nature lays down a vast blank canvas, what's better to do than to explore it with creativity? One night, I found this blank spot in Central Park. I couldn't believe it hadn't been walked all over yet, so I took it upon myself to trudge out a little design:

Of course, art isn't limited to two-dimensions, when you have such a versatile medium. On my way to the grocery store, I saw a guy hunched over the sidewalk carving out "Paul" from the massive snow pile that was pushed onto the space between where people walked and where cars parked. I asked for and was granted permission to photograph his work.

"Hi I'm Paul." Hi Paul. :)

There are always random pieces of art in NYC. I really like how snow sculptures are ephemeral, so time plays an important role in both its creation and appreciation. I'm glad there are other people out there who like playing with snow too.

Creepy? 

This guy (gal?) in Chinatown/LES was massive and had fruits for features.

Someone went around my hood carving faces in the snow blown on trees.

My first winter in New York is almost over, and spring is just around the corner. It probably didn't feel as bad for me because I knew I didn't like cold, so I stocked up on proper winter gear. I'm not really sure what to expect next, but I guess that's all part of the fun and excitement!

A new year, a new life

Inspirimint has been on such a long hiatus that I feel like now is an appropriate time to take this blog in a new direction.

2010 was a year of change. Since I moved to Manhattan, New York in August, I haven't had any down time to think about writing here. NYC is such a beautiful and inspiring place brimming with culture and creativity, and I want to use this blog as a tool to document my journey as well as to assist my continued exploration of the city.

Inspirimint will probably continue to evolve in the coming months, but for now, it is a photolog that captures curious and capricious moments, my experiences & projects, food, and anything else that tickles me fancy.

View down 42nd St towards Times Sq. from the Hudson River

A Celebration of Things Made

The inner workings of a pinball machine--wow!

I attended Maker Faire last weekend. It's a weekend getaway put together by the creators of MAKE Magazine, which focuses on the do-it-yourself community. Both the magazine and the fair bring together a community of artists, engineers, and designers who love working with their hands, and who wish to spread the value of hand-made goods to others. 

They replaced the typical casing of a pinball machine with clear acrylic plastic.

The fair is a gigantic arts and crafts festival, involving anything made. Since "being made" is a pretty broad criterion, you can expect to see anything from robot duels to fire displays to knitting corners. Much of the fair is dedicated to technology, art, and exploration. 

What's so cool about making things? You can learn a whole lot by deconstructing and then reconstructing an object. Using your hands to figure things out is a key skill in life that is, unfortunately, no longer as emphasized in the classroom anymore. Attenders of Maker Faire value the hands-on experience, our innate curiosity, and the importance of fostering burgeoning creativity. 

This guy pictured above made the most amazing puppet. It's a humanoid skeleton worn on the hand, whose arms, legs, and head can be mechanically controlled by the guy simply moving his fingers. Each body part could be manipulated independently when the fingers pulled on various combinations of wires and string. The skeleton could even hold up its arm, move its fingers, and grab a piece of paper! 

People not only sold knit, crochet, and sewn goods, but also brought materials to teach anyone interested in learning. 

Steampunk enthusiasts display highly ornate creations that replicate the retro-futuristic style, including two fully-functioning mini cannons.

One thing that I love about Maker Faire is walking around and seeing the unique uses of various materials. Inspirational makers make you think about where materials come from, how things are assembled, and why hand-made goods have a much more positive impact on the community. One common theme that makers address is the huge amount of waste generated by society today. Most attendees are much more supportive of locally-made and quality goods that have a lower environmental impact than cheap, mass-produced items. 

An outdoor fire sculpture.

A giant human-powered tricycle.

Broken iPhone? Don't just throw it away! ifixit.com will show you how to fix your belongings.

The most memorable display goes to ArcAttack, a band that performs music using Tesla coils. The coils are connected to a computer or DJ pad that controlled its frequencies, and created lightening arcs of different intensities and pitches. The high beat trance-like music was exciting...

Lightening is so much more intense in person because you can actually see the 3-D space they occupy.

The man isn't hurt by the electricity because he is wearing a Faraday suit.

...until a guy in a Faraday suit jumped in!! Then it got way crazy. This guy was dancing between arcs of lightening. He wore a full-body suit made of chain-mail (ie, a Faraday cage), which deflects the electricity around his body. When we talked to him after the performance, we learned that although he doesn't feel anything from the lightening itself, he feels pressure from the heat that's generated. The sparks were quite loud from about 30 feet away; I can only imagine what it must be like when the lightening hits him in the face! 

I attended Maker Faire to man the Ambidextrous Magazine booth. Ambidextrous is a high-quality publication centered around design produced by students and alumni affiliated with the d.school at Stanford. The magazine just launched its most recent issue, "Cheap," which tackles issues such as the value of the dollar store and repurposing recycled materials. If you are interested in the broad vision of "design," what it means, and connecting with those in the community, Ambidextrous is a fantastic magazine to check out. 

A display of issues, past and present. 

Booth babes are imperative for sales.