Tall, But Jewish

Fade to Black

Well, my once-loved but now abandoned journal, I suppose an update is in order, as there has been something of a change of plans since last we spoke.

I decided, after a semester’s talking about the international Chile-to-California trip that I was going to do, that I will instead be  going home. After months of planning and researching and dreaming and scheming, I’m currently sitting in LAX to catch Part 4 of my four-part trip home, about to rejoin the “real” world significantly ahead of schedule.

And, in between wondering if I’m making the biggest mistake of my life (so far), I couldn’t be more thrilled. › Continue reading

The Election, The People, and the Ley Seco

The second round of the Chilean presidential election has commenced today, shutting down the whole country and making today the perfect excuse to sleep in, lounge around, watch tv online and, perhaps, update the blog. The title of this post refers to the “Dry Law” imposed on Chile during election day, which prohibits alcohol sales. I was planning on writing about the election, but I’ve done way more than enough of that, so let’s talk about something else. Really, anything else.

The current plan, as it shapes up, looks like I’m going to be heading to Rio de Janeiro with a friend in early February and ending up in Salvador for Carnaval, which starts on Feb. 12. We’ll spend a few weeks traversing Brazil and then head down through Uruguay, Argentina, up through Chile and to Peru, all somehow within about a month and a half. If all goes to plan, I’ll be back in California in mid-March, just in time for the beginning of baseball season!

My new vice is something called iTunes U, which syndicates lectures from certain (often very prestigious) universities to listen on an iPod. I’ve been listening to an Intro to Psychology from an MIT professor, and I’ve been loving it.

That’s it, I think it’s going to be a short post today. I’m working on getting my Visa for Brazil and organize my trip there, and I’ll talk abou tthat when it’s more concrete.

Ciao ciao.

And the winner is…

Piñera: 44.03%
Frei: 29.62%
Enríquez-Ominami: 20.12%
Arrate: 6.21%

Whatever, close enough.

A New Take on the Handset

With school ending this past Thursday and a few hours to kill before the Thanksgiving meal, I decided to start a project I’d been thinking about doing for some time. The idea is basically a phone headset built into a glove, allowing a user to do a comical hand motion while actually using the phone (pictured below). Below, the steps taken and the final product, and finally the final product in use by its designer.

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What are you reading right now? Do you like it? Would I?

Bonus points to anyone who comments.

The Terror of the Chilean Seas

Thanks to my dad for the pic.

Shameless Self-Promotion! Subscribe and win a free postcard!

This is not a contest, this is an offer. You don’t have 1-in-1,000,000 chance. You aren’t going to be entered into a big hat with names on it to be drawn randomly. No purchase is necessary, nor is crossing fingers or knocking on wood. Rather, it’s a 100% thing. Really, where else can you have that kind of assurance in this 24-hour news cycle world? Nowhere, that’s where.

I will be writing and sending out postcards over the next week, and I would like to write one for each and every one of my subscribers. This will be a real, authentic Chilean postcard, written by yours truly with a real, authentic Chilean pen, sitting on a real, authentic Chilean chair at either a real, authentic Chilean desk or in a real, authentic Chilean café. Too much? Perhaps.

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Cheers from Chile!

I’m going to Peru!

Machu Picchu between Sept. 11 and 18th. See you when I get back!

I Fought the Law and the Law… has Tear Gas and Fire Hoses

So yesterday, in between bites of homemade Mexican food, I learned that there was going to be a protest that night, the latest in a series of public action sparked by the killing of a young Mapuche man by a police officer. The Mapuche are the biggest indigenous group in the country, and have been at odds with the government over mistreatment and a lack of legal protection, among other things.

Awesome, I thought. A protest! I’ve covered protests, because after all, I did go to school at UC Santa Cruz, right?

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Tags: bottles, carabineros, Chile, destruction, fire hose, journalism, mapuche, police, protest, rocks, santiago, special forces, tear gas

AHHHHH… Screw this

I just wrote a really long post, including saving compulsively every 30 seconds, and this blog client just completely ate it. Screw you, Qumana, I’ll try to rewrite as much as I can… later.

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