A comparative study of two useful discrete-valued random fields for the statistical modeling of images*

*Is the title for a Computer Science paper from the late 80's. No I didn't read it, just borrowed the title.

I did this yesterday:


Which is a huge improvement from this:



When I am done with what I'm doing right now, I will share it with you.

Some free publicity:
My friend Dan Hill is a "modern day prophet denouncing the hypocrisies of our time". He is also a very talented artist, writer, filmmaker, historian, librarian, entomologist, space cowboy, time-traveler and connoisseur of all that is vice. He has a bi-monthly periodical that exposes, well... the hypocrisies of our time. Each issue is a journey through the deepest darkest secrets of human nature.

You can order it via his website "The Fifty Flip Experiment" for $2 an issue, or buy a 1-year subscription for $10 (includes shipping!).

Me and Dan once drew humanoid elephants together.

I hope he doesn't sue me for copyright infringement.

There she is!

Waldo, I found you!

Fugitive Friends Forever

Parisa, what did you do?!

Minor milestone

Today I gave a short presentation to our research group about my work. I felt like it went relatively well, though I wasn't in the audience, so it may have been garbage. In my presentation I tried to make up for whatever lack of substance with entertainment, thus I used lots of clip-art. People welcomed it more warmly than I expected. Who doesn't love clip-art?

If you want to be in on it, my presentation is here.

Parisa, I really want to post my polaroids, but I have to find a scanner first. I'm on it! ok?

Reporting from the trenches

My little summer vacation was fabulous. I feel so motivated and full of energy to tackle a new semester full of research and control courses. Right after Caracas and before going back to Boulder I went to the Bay area and visited some of my favorite people. I am of course speaking of Andrew Bird, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Manu Chao, Radiohead, M. Ward, Los Amigos Invisibles, Wilco, Cold War Kids, Beck, Regina Spektor, Devendra Banhart, Cake, etc.

Oh! and I got to see Steve and Parisa too! San Francisco's Outside Lands Music Festival. it was by far the most significant musical experience of my life... yet. The line up was out of this world and it was really well organized. SF's Golden Gate Park is massive, it takes up about half of the city, no kidding. I wish I had written this post right after I got back, because then I would have been more inclined to comment. My favorite performances were:

• Andrew Bird: I am simply infatuated with this dude. I would have his babies any day.
• Rodrigo y Gabriela: I couldn't believe how much energy two guitars can bring.
• Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings: That woman has so much presence. She really owned the stage.
• Manu Chao: His beats make me jump, it's uncontrollable.
• Los Amigos Invisibles: I have to support the motherland, plus it's just really fun danceable music.

I would love to be able to tell you that Radiohead's performance blew my eyes right out of their sockets. But the truth is, I was so far away I couldn't see what Thom Yorke was wearing. The music sounded really good, but I was overall unsatisfied. I guess that means I'll have to go see them again the next chance I get.

So back in Boulder: I am taking two different control courses and I have started climbing. Finally bought some shoes and started going to the gym. It's something I've been meaning to do for the last year, and finally got around to it since I was able to save a little money over the summer. It's really fun though I feel like my arms are not strong enough yet (and I have realized I am a little scared of heights too), but I'll keep working on it. Everyone at the gym is cut as hell, so it is obvious it is great exercise. One of my favorite things about going to the climbing gym is watching all the pros strut their stuff and climb in unimaginable ways, it's a guilty pleasure I suppose.

Oh my! I almost forgot! In California I stayed most of the time with my friend Steve Hanna in Berkeley. Aside from his overall awesomeness he is also a really great (and overly modest) photographer. We had some good fun with his camera, him shooting, me posing and you should check out his gallery here.

Errr. I have to go do homework :-(

Score Sheet

I am now back my happy slacking self. In the past two weeks I've been avoiding work and other responsibilities as much as possible. I've also been to a concert, a waterpark, hiking, laying by the pool, and I even went Bouldering today! Thanks to all of you who kept encouraging and motivating me at my darkest times. Rawr.

Random thought: I just found out Amy Winehouse is 25 years old! I thought she was in her late thirties. Comparatively, I'm looking damn good.

I wanted to make a note of a recent conversation I had with one of my newest acquaintances, which for now must remain anonymous, but we'll call him (and yes it is a him) Timmy. Timmy, like so many of us, is looking for his better half. Now Timmy is a nice guy, he's really smart, making decent money, fun, his looks are not too shabby and more importantly, he is straight! And why am I not dating this guy?

Anyhow Timmy and I were talking about what we are looking for in our significant other. I didn't bring much to the table, nothing unexpected that is, I'd like to meet somebody smart, fun, interesting, not-too-shabby looking and somebody who has goals, I really admire people that continually challenge themselves in life. Timmy agreed with much of that but he told me about his "score sheet". Yes, my friend grades the women he meets. As the night progresses he keeps some sort of mental checklist that will lead him to decide whether this woman is worth his time. A few examples of the items on his score sheet follow (split into categories):

Conversation:
Can she handle multiple topics?
Are we equally involved/participating in the conversation?
Is the tone flirtatious?

Intellect/Culture
Does she read?
Does she enjoy music/ movies/ theater/ art?
Does anything intellectual excite her?
Does she speak other languages?

Career:
What does she do?
Does she have goals?
Are the goals realistic?

Attractiveness:
Nice face?
Body type?
Is she active or athletic?

Personality:
Do I feel charmed?
Is she humble/ nice/ kind/ happy?

Why isn't this guy dating me? I totally ACED his test.
And that is all my memory serves me, but pretty fascinating no? It made me wonder if we all have a checklist like that, only we're not aware of it. Most of us certainly don't verbalize it the way Timmy did. I can't judge him for it, at least he knows exactly what he's looking for. But yeah, maybe you should start thinking about your own score sheet. As for me, I'm going out to the bar tonight, putting on my beer goggles, and looking for the love of my-next-10-minutes. Monogamy is so hard as it is, specially at my age! Wish me luck ;-)

Shoot Shoot Shoot

July has been hell. Working long hours trying to get my system to work. Must submit digest for conference next year. I must... what? just one more week.

P. S. Check out the line up for San Francisco's Outside Lands Music Festival. It is AWESOME. If you (or a friend) decide to buy a ticket, please buy it by clicking through my banner on the right, help a sister out!

Terror's Advocate

Can't wait to see this....



Courtesy of the Dirty Daily, unbiased news and political events from our generation to yours.

This is a test

But to make it not an entirely worthless test, enjoy Iron & Wine's "boy with a coin" video. kisses!

A Taste of Caracas

I went to Boulder reservoir yesterday and sat in the sun for about.... 4 hours, I applied sunscreen about 4 or 5 times, and still I got sunburned!! I look like a lobster and everything hurts... a LOT :-( specially my butt, I look like the Coppertone girl, only red instead of tan.

So I was officially disabled both yesterday and today. I went to work but I left around noon because it was simply too uncomfortable. So I bought some Aloe Gelly and layed around naked in my room all afternoon watching movies and applying aloe every hour. I still sit down and stand up pretty awkwardly.... but we'll just have to give it a few days.

In any case, what I really wanted to share with you guys in this post was a recipe for Tequeños!!! Which are these really really tasty cheese sticks type thing wrapped in dough and fried. My friend Alvaro from high school gave me the recipe and they turned out WAAAAY better than I expected. So here it goes:

Ingredients:
- 500 grams of all-purpose flour (about 4.5 cups)
- 250 grams of unsalted butter at room temperature (about 1 cup = 2 sticks)
- 1/2 Tablespoon of salt (this sounds like a lot, but it was ok)
- 1 egg
- Luke warm water
- Cotija or Oaxaca cheese cut into 1/2 inch strips (these are mexican cheeses that you can find at most grocerioes stores these days, they come in a block) you can also use Farmer's cheese

Preparation:
Ok, first of all you must be patient and do this slowly. Mix the butter and flower in a bowl and when it is all even, add the egg. At this point you got a pretty crumbly dough, and so you need to add water very slowly, maybe a few tablespoons at a time. The amount of water varies with the humidity of your location. Here in Boulder it is really dry, and I used about a cup of water. You will stop adding water as soon as the dough comes together and it is malleable and flexible.


Then I cut the entire thing in half and rolled it really thin (I'm talking 3 millimeters thin) with a rolling pin. The dough was more yellow than it looks in the picture above, I think it was just the lighting in my kitchen.


Then you cut into strips and wrap the cheese sticks in it! You have to make sure that everything is sealed pretty tightly, you don't want the cheese oozing out. So I also rolled it in my hands and used my fingers to make sure there were no gaps. Next you get some oil in a pan and make sure it is really hot before frying, but not quite smoking, that is too hot. Fry until golden brown and drain on a paper towel.


They are usually served as an appetizer. Serve hot with some ketchup or my personal favorite "pink sauce" (salsa rosada), on the side. Pink sauce is just a mix of ketchup, mayonnaise and ground pepper, in whatever proportions you prefer. You can also add Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or whatever you please. If it looks pink in the end, you got pink sauce :-)


I didn't have any mayo, so I enjoyed them with a little ketchup. They turned out delicious! and now I know I can enjoy a little taste oh home anytime I want!!!
I had 12 ounces of cotija cheese and about 30 tequeños turned out, but I only used half of the dough. I wrapped the rest in plastic stuck it in the fridge. I'm not sure how long it'll keep, so I plan on buying more cheese tomorrow. Yuuuummmmmm!