Forum Thread: Explore - Doug Herrera

#2

Walk around block

9/25-6:30-manchester and gulana- amy found a caterpillar on the ground. small and green, once on the stick it camouflaged itself quite well.

6:38- gulana and redland- a middle school. the mural on the wall is really well done. straight lines on the edges of swirls, somewhat symmetrical. colors are vibrant, image is psychedelic 

6:41-gulana and redland- a really cool old mustang. looks like crap on the outside but could be a good fixer upper. 

6:47-falmouth st- another cool, old crappy car. VW bus is cool but why are the always parked on the side of streets? I like them and want them to have a comeback.

6:49- falmouth st- a fountain underneath a bridge is an uncommon thing around here. peaceful, but out of place. Secret garden-esque

6:56-manchester- in front of apartment complex is this dolphin statue. Gold dolphins. I dont like this statue because it is reaching a bit far. Why not silver whales?

#3

Plastic bag-transparent, yet highly reflective. wrinkles make less transparent, yet more refractive.

water bottle- transparent, creates almost a lense. ripples on plastic diffuse light as well as condensation.

sunglasses- highly reflective, dark translucence. creates wide angle lense, and lessens light refelection

ipod-reflects light well on outer surface, only when ipod is off. not perfectly flat, as light bends on the surface like water almost. out of all, most reflective.

#4

daily walk to car

cup, leaf(green), wrapper, bent straw, plastic bag leaf(brown), flower, leaf(red), small cardboard box, pinecone, stripped pinecone, small electric motor, dead grass, cigarette butt, bark, flower stem, sandpaper, plastic cup, small pine branch, dandelion

#5

Green leaf and Styrofoam cup

White vs. Green.

Green paper folder, 9"x11" / Green mushroom from Mario, metal, about 3"x3" / Green sandals, foam rubber (?), about size 11

White computer speaker, plastic & metal, about 8" tall / white paper towel, paper or cotton fibers, 14"x14" / white twist tie, metal wire and plastic sheath, 3" long

#6

I first shose the playstation controller because it reminder me of my friend stu. When we were younger, I would play Playstation sometimes at his house. One day, his older brother bought a videogame called Resident Evil III. Stu's brother played it himself for a few days, then got stuck on a level. That night we played from 8pm to 6am trying to beat the last damn level, and finally did.

 The little white-yellow thing is a lemon sucker. My late grandfather always kept lemon drops in this house. Everytime I went there, I would have one with my grandfather and we would talk about nerdy things-arts and crafts, rock collecting. To this day, lemon drops remind me the stale smell of old books.

An inhaler basically sums up my life between the ages of 6 and 12. I have asthma, though during these years it was really bad. I had an inhaler plus all these attachments to go with it. It reminds me of asthma attacks and not breathing. Not a good memory, but prominent nontheless.

#8

1-small deep crack on the southeast corner of Manchester and Gulana

2-going 8' east along the manchester sidewalk, long skinny crack

3-another 10' east is a cobbweb of cracks, probably from tree roots

4- farther along is a huge crack from roots that has been partially repaired

5- semicircle crack, halfway between gulana and saran

6- two cracks together, 60 ft. from corner of manchester and saran

7- skinny crack underneath bus stop bench, manchester and saran

#9

 Pringles,loaded baked potato: nasty. what happened to regular pringles? And how do you get the flaovor of baked potato, bacon, sour cream, and chives on a small chip.

Cell phone case: no strap, nothing to connect it to another else. no point.

bag clip: only works if the bag gets mangled and you can somehow use harry potter magic to create a seal. useless.

sunglasses with a visor. the visor has a point, but its transluscent. it doesn't shade the eyes. I got no use for them.

#10

Fan

 Top

-white-ish pale color

-made of plastic, slightly reflective.

-detacheable remote on top with a clear plastic covering over a flashlight. a button on top turns on light.

-power button middle of top, gray and white in color

-black screen on top with red indicator lights for fan power, timer, cooling type, and oscillation.

-four buttons below correspond to options, and have black lines leading to the options.

-a crease below the buttons separates the controls from the actaul fan.

-the opening for the fan has slits, each about a centimeter wide

-the opening is also split vertically, creating 3 coloumns of slits

- behind opening at a metal mesh, in between the plastic openings and the fan.

Bottom

-Slits and fans continue to bottom.

-below slits is the brand name in black: Honeywell

-fan base width gets smaller. goes from approx. 6" in diameter to approx. 3"

-Fan base becomes circular and slightly beigger before connecting to base.

-the base is made of plastic, and circular with about 10" diameter. plastic is split into four even parts.

-power cord comes out back of base

#11

Febreze air freshener vs. J. Lohr wine bottle

Similarities:

-Cylindrical

-get skinnier towards the top, or at the "necks"

-both contain fluids

-both can release fluids from the top

-each has writing on the outside

-each are pressurized some way

Differences:

-wine has low pressure inside, febreze has high pressure inside

-febreze contained airfreshner, bottle contained wine

-wine bottle has cork top

-febreze only opens when release trigger is pulled

-febreze sprays, bottle pours

-febreze is blue and white with other colors, bottle is mostly a solid blackish green

#12

Adat Shalom Temple (sorry, they did not want me to take pictures)

Large square room, unlit exit sign, fake wooden floors, green bushes, woven baskets, car keys on the ground, stacked chairs along side of room, emergency medical bags, brown paper bags, purses, arm bags. Removeable walls, an opening in the wall reveals more stacked chairs, wooden pews, a lit exit , and white cupboards. On one side of room was a raised platform, up stairs,carpeted, with an altar on top, speakers, ceiling speakers, ceiling air vents, the star of David, a door to the chapel, and a big wooden brown squares on the wall. The Yin-Yang symbol is dotted throughout the room as well, and the Tai Chi code is on the far wall.

This was because of the Tai Chi class I came to watch. 3 people wore tangzhuang uniforms, and the master wore one as well. other were in shirts and sweats, but all had on the slipper like shoes that martail artist wear. "Han!" the master yells out. The group then did rythmic moves, in the form of blocks, counters, punches, and kicks. Smoothness is the key ( or so i think). One young man is extremeley enrgetic, emphasizing all the moves. Master takes him aside, works on a specific step for 30 min. After and hour they take a break. There is weird stretches taking place. The other master there says it is boring to watch. I told him I was interested, and want to join next week.

#13

Lettering on Machester Ave. 9/26

Graffiti- light blue, curvy and loopy. Manchester Ave. sidewalk, 7:04pm

Front Door Sign- also blue, hand painted on wood. Font looks like a Times New Roman, but much more playful. House on Machester, 7:06pm.

ADT lawn sign-logo is a simple font, letter overlap to create depth. in front of House on Manchester, 7:10pm.

FOR RENT sign- bold font, sharp edges. very serious. In between apartments on Manchester. 7:13pm

Trash can sign- not very serious, but academic almost. catches the attention. Corner of Manchester and Saran, 7:15pm

#14

Tai Chi class and the sounds I heard:

-Chatter between people, with an echo

-foosteps

-bone creaks/joint cracks

-crinkle of plastic bag

- paper crinkle

-pen scribble

-gulps(from me)

-thunk from book on plastic table

-whispers with a slight echo

-foot taps

-foot slides(acroos wooden floor)

-door opens, slams shut

-cars drive by

-trucks drive by every now and then

-police siren

#15

9/27

Breakfast, 8:00am- a bowl of plain cheerios, 1 % milk, and a little sugar.

Lunch, 1:20 pm- 5 Trader Joe's Mychicken taquitos with Trader Joes red salsa. I munched on a few pieces of broccoli

Dinner, 8:30pm- Marie Calendar's chicken pot pie. Not microwaved, but oven cooked.

I usually do not eat even that much for breakfast. I don't like eating dinner laste, but thats how it usually happens.

SORRY. HAVING PROBLEMS UPLOADING PICTURES, BUT I WILL HAVE THEM ON A FLASH IN CLASS.

?  Why are you having problems with pictures ?  You did a great job earlier.

#9

#10

#11

#13

#16

1.     1.How long have you been practicing tai chi chuan?

2.     2.What is your age?

3.     3.Do you prefer practicing the routine faster or slower?

4.     4.How healthy would you consider yourself to be?

5.    5. How often do you practice?

AVERAGE RESPONSE

1.     8 years

2.     18-68  years old. Mostly 35-55

3.     slower

4.     very healthy

5.     15 min every day (on average)

#17

used candlewax, soda, wrapper and pens to make a little man

#18

Ceiling/wall corner

            Never really look in this general direction. It is there because the wall extends out for the fake fire place that doesn't work. If it were on the other side I might see it once in a while.

#18

In between shelf and wall

            Even more remote and "secluded", if you will. A lot of dust in the space. Close up it looks very different than if you were to look at it from afar. The black and white pattern of the bookshelf is a horrible match with the off-white wall.

#19

STAINS

Red stains on this brown couch cover. Not traditional stains, but stains from light coming in the window.

Makeup stains on my girlfriend's pillow. Looks like eyes shadow.

Sap stain on my girlfriend's sweater. I think is from a time she came to visit me in my hometown and we went on a walk. This is just one of the many stains on the sweater.

Bruises. Not stains, but it looks like them. Blood stains on the human flesh if you will.

#20

-Right now I am thinking about work. I just got off work but need to go back to talk to my boss.

-homework has been on my mind this past week, because my weekend was spent entirely on set for a grad student film.

-Other than those two, my thoughts have been somewhat placid.  I picture this freerunning movie I want to do everyday, and that makes me calm.

-My grandma's birthday was on Sunday. She is 80! Thought about seeing her more often.

-I have a good scene to do in my directing actors class; its from The Producers.

-Thought about this internship I just got, and I hope to work with a cinematographer at the company.

#21

Manchester near AMPM

Only one tree in front of my view, in the middle of the median. Two bus stop benches are out front with real estate agents advertising on them. To the left is a street light, and to the right is a trash can and a newspaper vending box. At the moment there happens to be a black car parked underneath the AMPM sign, near all the manhole covers. Those covers are for the gasoline I believe. To the very right past the black car is a street that has another entrance to the gas station. There is always a black Escalade parked in the back left corner. A building for Knights of Columbus is off screen to the left.

#22

People watching

I do this anyway. This bustop has interesting characters.

-Man walking dog: a huge Labrador

-kids going home after school: one guy has on the most colorful clothes I have ever seen

-Lady walking dog: small scruffly dog. Looks like a rescue.

-2 lady's waiting for bus: the thing that stands out the most is that they do not smile at all.

#19

STAINS

1Red stains on this brown couch cover. Not traditional stains, but stains from light coming in the window. 

3Makeup stains on my girlfriend's pillow. Looks like eyes shadow.

4Sap stain on my girlfriend's sweater. I think is from a time she came to visit me in my hometown and we went on a walk. This is just one of the many stains on the sweater.

2Bruises. Not stains, but it looks like them. Blood stains in the human flesh if you will.

#23

1. What kinds of objects are magnetic?

2.  "Magnetism is the force where objects are attracted or repelled to one another. Usually these objects are metals such as iron….The attraction repelling of two magnets towards one another depends on how close they are to each other and how strong the magnetic force is within the magnet. The further apart of the magnets are the less they are attracted or repelled to one another."

"When a magnet is broken into little pieces, a north pole will appear at one of the broken faces and a south pole. Each piece, regardless of how big or small, has its own north and south poles. The are around a magnet can also behave like a magnet. This is called a magnetic field. The larger the magnet and the closer the object to the magnet, the greater the force of the magnetic field."

http://www.mcwdn.org/Physics/Magnetism.html, 10/20/10.

3. My friend Tanner is a genius. I asked him about magnetism and he said that everything is magnetic. All matter has magnetic forces. Iron is magnetic and a few other metals; but everything?

4. and 5. Things around the house that are magnetic. Practically everything that I touch is, but I cannot see how to test the theory that everything is. Wikipedia….?

"Magnetism, a non-contact force, is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. For example, the most well known form of magnetism is ferromagnetism such that some ferromagnetic materials produce their own persistent magnetic field. However, all materials are influenced to greater or lesser degree by the presence of a magnetic field. Some are attracted to a magnetic field (paramagnetism); others are repulsed by a magnetic field (diamagnetism); others have a much more complex relationship with an applied magnetic field. Substances that are negligibly affected by magnetic fields are known as non-magnetic substances. They include copper, aluminium, gases, and plastic."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetism

#24

#25

#26

water

bed

#26

toothbrush

toilet

shower

#27

#28

  1. Smooth and hard. Has moving parts and buttons. Weighs a decent amount for its size.(phone)

2. Flat and hard, but malleable. Plastic feeling. Bumpy on one side and indented on the other.(card)

3. Rough but not hard. Fabric feeling. Shifts when squeezed. (wallet)

#29

 Feeling on cheek (starting with chip, from left to right): Rough and brittle, hard and sticky, soft/brittle, sticky and hard but melts, rough and plastic-feeling, papery and soft, hard, rough and papery, cold and metallic.

#30

The Grocery Store Excursion- On this fair day I made my first stop at Ralphs, where I got my liquids and healthy foods. Then of course, I had to make a stop at AMPM to get energy drinks and candy. The chips, however, were brought from campus

Minute maid energy: Ralphs

Rice crackers: Ralphs

Jalapeno chips: LMU

Lemon tea and candy: AMPM Gas station

Fruit and Vegetables: Ralphs

Water and Milk: Ralphs

#31

Percussion

The sunglasses make a good scratchy sound on the wood floor. The kaleidoscope is hard and sounds like a really tight, high pitched snare. The string is also scratchy, but makes a nice tick.

#32

The Silver Throwing Star of Destiny will not hurt, but will instead let the person see their whole life from birth to death. The Hat of Redemption will allow the person to travel back in time-5 min into the past to relive. The Nerdy Buddha can convince you to do anything that you don't want to do. Beware. Can also help one achieve enlightenment.

#33

#34

Jolly Rancher wrapper; found on the kitchen counter 10/25 @7:30pm

lettuce leaf; found on kitchen counter next to wrapper (mistaken for a wrapper) 10/25 @7:32pm

candy bag on shelf (never going to be eaten); found on shelf 10/25 @ 7:36pm

#35

#36

Two gloves break out from the drawer and go play the piano. Shoes, however, hate the piano. They are jealous because all they get to do is press the pedal. So the shoes confront the gloves and get in a big fight. But all is well when they realize they are all distant cousins.

#37

Here on the couch, I see that the TV is a good way to keep track of time, using the show's airdates, commercial schedule, etc.

The clock, but that is too obvious.

Kids playing outside. Every night they play until 6:30, almost without exception. Once the laughter starts, I know its time to eat dinner.

Light coming through the shades. When the light that passes through the bottom of the blinds, it is before 4pm. When the light disappears, it is after 4pm.

#38

CEREAL and CRACKERS

Variable: Box size and shape.

Grape Nuts, veggie crackers, Everything Crackers, Wheat Crackers, Frosted Mini Wheats, Chex, Raisin Bran, Fruity Pebbles, Rice Crispies, Frosted Flakes.

#39

CORNBREAD

I take honey, my girlfriend takes jam. 5 senses:

Sight- the cornbread looks good

Hearing-the sound of the oven as it preheats is a buzz

Smell-doughy corn smell that sticks in your nostrils

Touch-the oven pan is hot as hell. The cornbread is warm.

#40

Red Filter and Blurred Motion

#41

#42

LMU Pool deck, 12/5 @9:30am

My co-worker tells me that she hates this bench. Why? Because she thinks it is used by vagrants and hobos. She claims she saw one sleeping on the bench early one morning.

#43

#44

BOOK TITLE POEMS

A White Whale

It comes from beneath

Moby Dick

Many 'o' people wear rings,

And nothing ever come of it.

Unless they are the Lord of these

Then they should be a hobbit.

Crazy crazy puzzles,

That stop and make you think.

Startling conclusions

Are missed if you Blink.

#45

1 aspect of my existence

How long it takes to make and eat breakfast:

11/22- 1m 21secs

11/23- 5m 45secs

11/24- 4m 8secs

11/25- 6m 5secs

11/26- 15m 18secs

11/27- 6m 30secs

11/28- 8m 21secs

AVERAGE- approx 5 minutes.

#46

#47

An exact replica of a smudge

#48

#49

Words I find interesting

#50

A Walk Around the Smelly Block

Nasty funky smell near the bus stop- Source most likely bus stop.

Flowery smell/chloroform- Source is bushes on sidewalk

Pine smell- Source is dead pinecones

Air is not too fresh, considering how close to the beach I am.

Bad, Bad smell- Source most likely gardeners using fertilizer

Wet air-Source might be puddles of water next to parked cars.

#51

3 sites: Arrowhead bottle, Tap water, puddle/drain water

Day 1- I leave the water out in the sun but not much has happened. There is not much sun.

Day 2- looks like there is some condensation on the inside. Most of the water is at the bottom and it looks clear.

Day 3- A brown spot! Near the bottom something started to happen, looks almost like rust.

#53

INKS: graphite, guacamole, chocolate, dish soap

UTENSILS: pencils, wooden skewer, stick

#54

The Blair-tree Project. Tree's say evil things so dispose of them in their natural habitat!

#55

Almost every single morning I drink this lemon-tea drink. It is so addicting, but I never really savor it. It tastes fine, but I drink it because it gives me energy. I actually savored one of these drinks. It was delicious, and now I feel I must give respect to this drink always!

Usually routine- drink an energy drink.      Change-savor the moment

#56

#57

What if humans were merely energy waves in space?

What if turtles could fly?

What if animals could speak to you?

What if my dreams predicted the future?

What if it rained fish and we ate water?

What if we could breath water?

What would it be like to be made of hot lava?

What if we could change out physical appearance at will?

What would it be like to physical receive information by touch?

What if you inherited everyone's memories?

#58

#59

Here is the bag.

Eventually, I was lead to under the bleachers. The bag was of no use.