The OCD thoughts that get me through the day.

While flossing my teeth one cold late evening, I came across an epiphany, a realization if you may of huge significance. I have always been an epiphany type of person. I like huge forks in the road that make me choose what next major step to take in life. I wait for them. But there are so many things I wish I did better i.e. going to the gym more, reading more, writing more, public speaking more, and the list goes on. But these never get done because I wait for the forks. I hope that something significant enough happens that forces me to change my lazy ways and start doing what I know will make me a better human being. But those huge forks do not come when you want them to. This is what most Americans do on New Years. They hope that a new year will be the extra push they need to get things done.

Maybe this entry is turning out to be vague so I'll try breaking it down. Imagine not remembering to floss your teeth everyday. When you remember that you forgot to floss your teeth, imagine that you feel bad and worry about the condition of your teeth. There are a whole host of issues to be concerned about, i.e. gum disease and cavities. But you accept your laziness as the only route to take and your forgetfulness becomes habit. And eventually you look back, a month later and feel disgusted with your teeth and yourself. You should have known better. You have the tools to make better decisions but your lazy ass got the best of you.

So while flossing my teeth, I realized we cannot possibly stay sane by excepting huge forks in the road. I mean if you waited for a tooth to fall out before you started flossing, well that is just stupid. The best solution is to take it one day at a time. If you feel lazy that one night, after a long night of studying and garlic chicken pizza, put your laziness aside and floss your teeth. Don't wait for your teeth to fall out. If you are seeing a little bulge in your belly, just keep your hands in your pockets when the bagel carts come around. If you know the gym needs to happen but you feel lazy, put your feelings aside and get it done. You know its the right thing. Just do it then and there so you aren't looking at yourself in the mirror 6 months later 15 lbs. heavier.

It is overwhelming to expect perfection from yourself so by no means am I saying this. But if you are like me and you are hard on yourself and expect the best, then give yourself the best. Don't be your own enemy and screw yourself over before you get a chance to succeed. And I mean have fun in the process. This shouldn't be some life and death endeavour. Just handle your business when it needs to be handled.

It's funny that it took an epiphany for me to realize I don't need epiphanies or resolutions to get things done. Just take it piece meal, one step at a time, day by day. Before you know it, those little goals you set for yourself to become that amazing clean teethed writer or whatever else will come true.

Your teeth thank you.

Transit-Oriented Development

So I am a big fan of mixed land uses, as long as it doesn't push lower income residents out of the neighborhood and raise property values high, which happens A LOT. In class today, we took a tour of some transit-oriented development sites around Los Angeles and Pasadena. It is interesting to note how developers are ready to invest in blighted neighborhoods in hopes that the new hip yuppies will be willing to live next to transit so they can LIVE. WORK. and PLAY. in LA and bring in oodles of revenue. (LA Live is being built to make it the "24-hour city." Seriously, Los Angeles will never be New York.)

These developments that spring up next to transit sites are expensive. They tell you they are affordable but they aren't...for a 2 bedroom apartment in Lincoln Heights, next to a train....its around $450,000. Seriously. The people who can afford this force those of lower socio-economic status to be pushed back further to the periphery. Gentrification.

So how can we make this right. Engineers. Architects. Politicians. Developers. Public. They all have their own agenda. It is a planner's job to translate the jargon of each to the other. And especially if a planner is working under the same company, jurisdiction etc. That's how the decision-making process can the best outcome. That's how we plan better communities, by communicating and not blindly superimposing an idea onto land that doesn't mesh well with the surrounding community. Planning is for the people. Yes, it is about money and politics. But we can't forget quality of life, equity and sustainability. Planning Matters. deal with it.

Rhinolith

We had a sleepover at my friend's house and I was out cold at a pretty early time. The festivities continued without me but sometimes the voices got so loud that I heard them and maybe even internalized what was being said. One of my dear friends proclaimed, she never gets boogers. I was pretty shocked in my sleep at such a proclamation. This reminded me of how girls don't fart and when they do it smells like flowers. (The Persian man in the cubicle next to me farts and it doesn't smell like flowers but that's because he is a man and men stink but anyways back to my booger story.)

So this got me thinking...How could someone not have boogers? For scientific purposes, let's use the correct scientific name: Rhinolith(Dried Nasal Mucus.) I hope from now on all of you sound extremely pretentious and add rhinolith to your mental lexicon.

Nasal Mucus is produced by nasal mucosa and protects our respiratory tract and usually gets swallowed throughout the day. Rhinoliths form when the nasal mucus traps dirt that comes in through the nostrils. The mucus around the dirt hardens and becomes solid....Hence a booger. Having boogers is healthy, so I am guessing my friend may have a problem with her dirt capturing capabilities. People usually rid their nose of Boogies by "nose-picking," a social taboo, or blowing their nose in some Kleenex. This is usually called the process of creating a "snot rocket/farmer blow," meaning holding down one nostrils while blowing on another one.

Now let's talk about the word's etymology. (Dear Wikipedia, I love you.)

I guess you could say that scholars are confused as to how one word can take so many shapes and have so many different connotations. It is a word that is considered semi-vulgar and was used primarily in British print in the 1880s. But made famous by Dave Barry and the likes, Booger and its many forms (Boogie, Bugger etc.) made its way to our lovely American dictionaries and is now considered an appropriate way to address a Rhinolith.

Good day my friends, and make sure to blow a good snot rocket today. Your body thanks you.

Global Warming

For one of my classes, we had a guest speaker, a Professor of Chemical Engineering. He was an eloquent man, and the leader in the country on alternative forms of fuels, specifically hydrogen cells. This seems to be the topic of discussion, especially since Bush spoke about hydrogen cell research in his State of the Union and Al Gore has been on a "Save the Planet" campaign. I don't really care for either politician but Thank God our leaders are saying something.

I am not one of those tree hugging environmentalists, even though, global warming scares me. I live in California and the summers seem to be getting increasingly warmer and the winter colder.

Global warming occurs when air pollution mixed with CO2 creates a sheet around the Earth, trapping the sun's heat, causing Earth to get scorch up. Our biggest problems are coal-burning facilities, primarily in the U.S. and the automobile industry. Let's not freak ourselves out here and pull a Thomas Malthus, we have the technology to create fuel efficient vehicles and implementing conservation in our daily lives. But the real problem is convincing leaders, decision makers and stalkholders that we need to put these alternatives to use.

Let's Throw Globalization into the picture:
China and India are up and coming industrial economies, following in the steps of US, meaning a potential gi-normous auto-dependent economy. 1 Billion plus in China+ 1 Billion plus in India should scare people. That is a 1/3 of our population, that has been using other forms of transportation before but with their increase in discretionary income, God help us if they buy cars. Sustainable transportation planning needs to be implemented in these countries, meaning public transit, and fuel efficient everything.

What is Happening Now:

*Melting glaciers.
*Rising sea levels.
*Warmer sea surface temperatures (causing intense hurricanes).
*Destroying habitats.
...to name a few.

Don't Turn a Blind Eye

*Speak up and Educate.
*Buy a Yaris or an Hydrogen vehicle.
*Maintain your vehicle, make sure it isn't smogging up the joint.
*Buy an energy-saving fridge (or any applicances).
*Buy compact fluorescent light bulbs.
...do research and find out more ways.


The U.S. is the number one producer of pollution.

Picture: The depleting Ozone Layer (NASA)

Hi Friends,

I have done this way too many times before and I usually start up a blog when I am incredibly bored. I really have no reason to be bored with my incredible amounts of reading and paper writing...I should not even be near a computer unless it has to do with school but what can I say...I am a slacker.

So let's try this again.