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What I love about my new apartment is that it stays pretty cool inside when it is 80 degrees. But today was the first day that I woke up wanting to turn on the A/C. Luckily I was off to work and didn’t have to.

Now that things are really heating up, I’ll be trying many different ways to stay cool and avoid using the air conditioner. One, like I did today, is to just spend the day outside, do something wherever.

I’m home from work and it’s still warm tonight at 8:30pm, but not that bad. In a moment I’ll be getting some orange juice and taking a bath. Only question is now, take a HOT bath and sweat it out and feel refreshed after getting out of the bathroom, or take a COOL bath to cool my body down now and relax? I’ll experiment with both this week. But I am known to take hot baths and showers no matter what, even in 95+ degree summer weather and extreme humidity in New York.

Avoid your A/C by staying out of your home! Here's a summer photo from my Lomography Fisheye camera from last year in Santa Monica.

Some ways to keep cool and save energy, including a couple I mentioned above:

1. Go out instead of staying in. Luckily I have the beach and would be happy just hangin out in the Malibu water all day then come home for a cool shower.

2. Take a cool bath.

3. Someone mentioned on another site to soak feet in water. But I think most of your body heat gets released from the back of your neck and your lower back, so maybe put a cool towel or iced gel pack in those areas?

4. Wear light clothes.

5. Place plants near windows to absorb sun energy.

6. Open windows at night if the air is cooler outside and turn on fans to circulate air.

7. Close blinds in daytime.

Yummy BCD Tofu House's Vegetable Tofu Soup

8. I’ve heard this one often: eat spicy food. I knew Koreans love to eat spicy food in summer, but never really thought about why. But there is nothing like a good sweat!

9. Wet your sleeves or t-shirt so the evaporating moisture will cool you down.

10. Try not to use the stove or oven much.

11. Get an old-fashioned paper fan to wave yourself with! That’s right, the manual air-conditioner.

12. Drink water (or in my case, juice, and lots of it!). I think it would help to drink Gatorade since it keeps you energized when you sweat….

13. Watch March of the Penguins. SEE the penguin. BE the penguin. In other words, think “cool”. Your brain itself does wonders.

14. Turn off your computer(s)!

Blackberries With Sweet Cream

This would be a fun time to make sweet, chilled, refreshing desserts like this one that the “Pioneer Woman” made! YUM. Check out the recipe here.

So here goes to a 2010 without using the air conditioner!!! I know I can do it. I just feel bad for future house guests that will be staying over at my place (hehehe).

While looking up coffee tables on Etsy.com, I found all sorts of really cute and chic ceramic tile coasters! I should at least get a few, but there are so many!

Check out many more coasters from robotcandy at Etsy.com.

I am also having a hard time trying to decide between different sets of cups/mugs to use for coffee and tea or to put little plants in:

I probably won’t get a coffee table through Etsy.com, but will definitely get a set of mugs and coasters. I did however come across this cute metal tray coffee table:

I don’t think I want to be spending $90 on a table (and it’s for local buy in NY, anyway), but it did give me the idea to try to find something like this, a tray-looking small table, here in LA. Perfect for the living room where I don’t have a lot of space between the couch and TV.

Or maybe a tray on top of a little ottoman? Some things to keep my eye out for at the Melrose Trading Post today:

In Response To: RadioLab’s “Helicopter Boy” podcast, 11/03/2009

Today, I caught up on the last two episodes of RadioLab (a WNYC podcast).

It’s been fundraising time and RadioLab produced a short and sweet podcast using a story from one of their listeners called, “Helicopter Boy” as an incentive to remind listeners why they should donate and what their money supports.

The thing is, the radio stations are right. If you love listening to something everyday, why not contribute to it?

In the beginning of this year, I was very optimistic, more than I have ever been before. My friends and I said, “2009, this is going to be a great year.” I don’t know why, maybe because it’s the first year without any school for me!

Anyways, I went through the whole stress of job searching and struggling to pay bills and all. It’s still not easy, never easy, but I still think that it’s good to support things like radio stations, non-profits, local communities, and so on. I’m starting off this holiday season by setting aside $20 right now and choosing four different organizations or people I’d like to support. It’s not even about the amount you give that counts; just get in the habit of it.

First stop for my $5 is RadioLab. I’m picturing this money going toward a coffee each for RadioLab hosts, Jad and Robert.

Give a little bit to start the holidays off on the right foot!

Click here to listen to the podcast, “Helicopter Boy”. If you’ve wasted precious hours of your life following Balloon Boy, make up for it by hearing this story of a real inventive young boy.

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UPDATE: Hehe, just came across this! Check out RadioLab’s Ramen Challenge!

“My glasses are a little foggy”: http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2009/10/23/the-ramen-challenge/

“Creative Block – Design ideas for when you’re out of ideas.”

The site gives you tips to help you out of your creative block, one at a time as you refresh the page.

Interesting. If there were a collective of visuals to go along with it, that would probably help someone like me more.

In light of this Fong-Torres doc I’m working on, I’ve come across some amazing classic rockumentaries. I think It Might Get Loud is a new must-see rockumentary, and I’ve yet to see it (but plan on it). Different approach, a modern cinematic style, and new concept, it should be fascinating for many audiences.

So I finally got to this episode of Family Guy in my Hulu queue, and came across this joke that Stewie told in the universe where dogs have people for pets:

Stewie: “I swear to God, I hope the next universe we go to is all Koreans.”

Note to self: be good to dogs.

By the look of the patterns and trends of plantations, genetics and technology, and viruses, are we headed toward a “Banana Apocalypse”?

For those of you anti-banana-arians (you don’t like the mushiness, the sound people make when eating it, being left with a floppy yellow peel…), this may not matter to you.

But either way, check out this site, ByeByeBananas.com for the latest articles and videos about bananas:

This evil creature below attacked my friend and me yesterday just outside of Book Soup in Hollywood. It stayed on my shoulder to try to sting me and I waved it off, but it came back around, so we ran inside the bookstore flailing our arms above our heads. Quiet bookshoppers gave strange looks as we checked ourselves to make sure we didn’t get stung (I grew up allergic to stings and bites, so this reminded me of a couple not-so-fun experiences).

Only Audri had a good eye, I was too scared to look at this thing in the eyes. She described it as a mutated bumble bee that was dark with green wings. I tried finding the bug online, but no success. I thought maybe it was the metallic green bee? I sent Audri about four or five possible suspect images from Google to help narrow it down. She claimed it was the carpenter bee, as pictured. All I remember is that it was dark, and BIG, and really loud, like a wasp.

*Sigh* I forget the bee seasons in LA. Be careful of the bee swarms and also, remember to always look before opening your car door on the street. A mini cooper driver yesterday parked on Sunset Blvd and flung his door out which, of course, got completely smashed and shattered by another car driving by. Elder African-American man from New York saw the whole thing and went on about how people in LA will not survive in New York. “If they went to New York, they wouldn’t be comin’ back.” I could believe it.

Ha! It’s true when they say you are never alone in this world, especially when I find an entire online group of people that also wish they had a pet elephant!

See here:
http://www.experienceproject.com/groups/Want-A-Pet-Elephant/125689

Elephants are probably my favorite animal, I just realized, after looking back and realizing that some of my favorite possessions were Elephant-related.

I wish I had a mini Elephant as a pet.