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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
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7:06 pm - More Birthday Stuff
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Sophie pulled off a pretty convincing "dinner for just the two of us" last night, but when we arrived at El Mansour for our first sampling of Moroccan food, just about everyone I could have imagined making it was there. Very cool :)
Friends, super tasty food, and belly dancing: what more could one ask for?
Well, a few rounds of pool and a bottle of port would be cool. And I got that too :)
Then today I woke up to find that California has legalized same-sex marriage.
All around a good start to another year on planet Earth.
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| Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
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1:46 am - Napa
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Sophie took me up to Napa this past weekend for my birthday. Fe and Cam were in attendance, and she contracted a driver so we could all get goofy safely. T'was beautiful up there. Good food, wine, and friends. Rather than describe in detail, I'll link to Cam's Pics.
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| Sunday, April 27th, 2008
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2:15 am - The coolest thing at Hooters
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Went to Hooters for dinner. As we got seated near to the pool, we noticed an ancient old dude in Speedos dancing by himself on the patio. He was probably 70; his mop of jet white hair was styled more or less like Einstein's. His skin was an ill-fitting bag of wrinkles and liver spots hung over a slightly stocky frame that bulged mostly in the wrong places. And there he was out there by himself, in his Speedos, dancing up a storm to an odd mix of 80's music. There were people sitting all around at nearby tables observing and chuckling.
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| Monday, April 21st, 2008
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2:49 pm - A Laugh
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Nothing solid to report. But I did find the following video link, which I leave on my desktop. I watch it every once in a while and so far it has never failed to make me laugh:
3 Year Old Talking About Monsters
Her logic and sincerity at 0:15 is just too funny. I've probably watched it about three times a day for the past week. She's gonna grow up to be awesome.
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| Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
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2:09 pm - 180
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So I should probably mention that I've changed everything since my last post.
After two days at BluBet, I decided that in fact I am not able to go back to work at this time. I liked the people, the company vision, and the job... but I just don't have it in me. In fact, I think the last 10 years was all I had, and it's all used up. I have various theories and explanations to explain why I'm at where I'm at, but if you want to hear them you'll have to buy me a latte at Ritual. Suffice it to say I've got too many things I want to do that I've been putting off for too long.
What are these things I want to do? I'm not 100% sure. I suppose the first thing I want to do is to figure that out. I'm lucky enough to have a little time to experiment, given that I do so in a very frugal manner. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm considering the feasibility of doing my own startup. I'm writing up an Indigarden business plan to shake the ideas out. If it looks good I'll go for that. If not, I'll look into something else.
I want to record some music again in any case.
Speaking of which, here's a little clip of me practicing (sorry, no streaming... it has to download 10MB completely first). I just recorded it today. It wasn't intended for public consumption, but what the heck: I only look of average dorkiness and I only make a few major mistakes. It's a song I wrote back in Dec 2000 that applies just as well to my state of mind eight years later.
I'm not actually as sad and apathetic as I look in the video :)
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| Saturday, March 15th, 2008
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8:41 pm - Update
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I seem to have less reason and desire to blog these days -- does that mean my life is less interesting or that I'm taking more interest in actually living my life?
Honestly, it's the former at the moment. But here's something: I've been interviewing and I got a few offers and after much deliberation I decided to work at BluBet.
It's a very small startup, just a handful of people in a borrowed corner of someone else's office at the moment. But they're good folks, have a fun little site with a fast growing membership, and some cool ideas for the future. I start on Monday.
Ethiopian food last night at Assab... damn yummy!
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| Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
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9:26 pm - Missing Africa
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So Alan and Donna have gone off for this year's adventure in Dundee. They posted an ad for someone to come along with them, and found a young lady in the New England area that was up for it. So they'll have help this year. Neat that someone would randomly join them like that!
I'm a little sad because I would love to go again myself. I just don't have the money or time for it this year. But their good work goes on. Maybe I'll be able to swing it next year...
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| Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
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11:20 pm - Vegas Baby!
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I'm currently in Las Vegas, but I'm leaving first thing in the morning. Sophie and I drove here as part of her mom's 60th birthday which we celebrated in Los Angeles. The plan was to be here for just a day, then for me to drive my one carful of stuff back up to SF.
Upon arriving in Las Vegas a few days ago, Lisa had organized a splendid barbecue so that I could see the maximum number of people during my brief visit. It was fun to see everyone but of course much too brief. However it did include some 12 varieties of meat and we finished off with four of us visiting old Vegas for deep-fried twinkies.
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| Thursday, January 31st, 2008
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2:17 pm - Chuggin' Along
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Hmm... not a lot to report!
My political page got over 300 views, which was inspiring. In the day of web counters that may not seem like a lot, but I'd feel pretty good if even half of the visitors read some of what was there and watched a video or two. How often do we get to positively influence even a handful of people?
I'm enjoying San Francisco, but I'm listless these days. There are lots of things I'd like to do that aren't really an option: like take another year off to record music or write or something. There's also lots of opportunity to get paid for doing something I'm probably not that excited about at the moment, like developing web applications. I've interviewed at a couple places anyway.
On the upside, I found an N64 emulator and I've been playing a lot of Super Mario 64 on my laptop. I've won it before, back in 97, but only with 70 or so stars. Right now I've got 92 stars (out of 120) and I'm methodically playing through to completion.
Damn, it's such a great game.
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| Monday, January 21st, 2008
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1:44 pm - Political Coverage
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| Thursday, January 10th, 2008
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2:23 pm - Cost of living in an intersection
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I just got a chain email me that attacks Barrack Obama as being unelectable because he is descended from the union of a Muslim and an atheist. The email goes on and makes various assertions about Obama trying to cover up his radical Muslim heritage. Much of this email has been debunked.
But true or not, the email made me feel like shit.
It was forwarded around by people who profess to love me.
Emails like this are an ongoing thing: this is just the latest one to circulate around with my friends and family. They are usually emails that rally people around distrust and hate of a particular group. Previous topics of distrust and hate have included liberals, homosexuals, and immigrants. Add that to the Muslims and atheists of this latest email, and the list of enemies must nearly be complete.
Since in the past I've spoken out against such divisive emails, I am no longer on the email list. I didn't actually get this one directly: it was forwarded to me by someone still on the list who was upset by it as well.
There's only a small number of people who get these emails and also read my blog, but for them I want to say this:
When you talk badly of atheists, you're talking badly about me.
When you talk badly of liberals, you're talking badly about me.
When you talk badly of homosexuals, immigrants, and muslims, you're talking badly about people that I know and love.
And when you stand by and silently acknowledge such talk, you are betraying me and people that I know and love.
If that's how you really feel about me and my choice in friends, fine, but then don't tell me how wonderful I am. Resolve the contradiction: either decide that you don't like me, or realize you like at least one atheist liberal homosexual-loving immigrant-loving muslim-loving secular humanist.
I don't expect everyone to agree. I don't agree with most of my family about a great many things. But I don't partake in conspiratorial emails ignorantly deriding whole cultures, groups, or individuals based on what group they or their parents are members of. I've not yet seen an atheist email chain going around about how we should distrust all Christian presidential candidates, but if I did you can bet I'd be speaking out against that too.
Peace.
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| Saturday, January 5th, 2008
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5:40 pm - Neat Photo Collection
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| Friday, January 4th, 2008
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12:39 am - First Movie of 2008: Blade Runner
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Had a nice low-key New Year's Eve with some friends. We hung out at Sophie's place with snacks and drinks. And now it's time for me to re-enter the job market. My year of adventure is at an end... yet it leaves me hungry for more. I think I'll have to wait for the time being.
Sophie, Eric and I went to see the re-re-edit of Blade Runner tonight. Didn't notice anything different from the director's cut that came out in the 90's. But that's okay, because I love that cut and I'd never seen it on the big screen.
Man, I really dig that movie. It's got one of the most morally ambiguous cast of characters I can think of. The run-down high-tech city atmosphere and the pervasive multiculturalism are spot on. It's got a slow deliberate pacing that they just can't do in Hollywood anymore. Such that you can think and feel as you watch. And it asks a great question without every stating it: "what is it about us, if anything, that makes us worthy of respect?"
Let's see if I can answer that to my own satisfaction by the end of the year.
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| Sunday, December 23rd, 2007
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10:02 am - New Season!
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A quick group photo session with some friends before a night out on the town resulted in a photo that just begged to be turned into this.
Camryn was the first to note that the original photo looked like a TV sitcom title card, and that I looked like the "goofy guy". I threw together the graphics, and then he created a facebook group.
And, lord willing, that's where it will end.
(One open question is what my "catch phrase" would be...)
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| Friday, December 21st, 2007
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1:46 pm - World Records!
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| Thursday, December 20th, 2007
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7:34 pm - Week Of Return
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Soon after surviving the Rhode Island traffic disaster, I wrapped up things with my family and headed back to San Francisco. The idea is to settle down a bit and restart some semblance of a normal life. However we skipped normality for the first couple days...
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| Thursday, December 13th, 2007
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12:53 am - Rhode Island Lockup
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First off, you have to understand that my sister and I grew up in Massachusetts, and have driven plenty of times in the snow. It's no big deal. Sure, your car swerves around a bit, but anyone who's driven in New England for a few years knows how to manage it. You keep moving, no sudden changes in speed or direction.
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| Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
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1:59 am - New England Update
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It was 25 degrees the other day as my Dad and I drove from New Salem to Shirley Massachusetts to visit the old Field farm house. It was much as I remembered it, crooked and full of character. Nobody lives there at the moment, but my Dad and I took a walk down the snowy hill to say "hi" to the place.
I just got a neat picture of Zenzo dressed in traditional Zulu garb. This is from last May, at the party for his sister that I missed. Donna sent me the pictures just now, after we caught up with each other over some excellent Thai food with Alan and my Dad.
I've been staying at my sister's for the past couple days. Having lunch or dinner with various family members.
My sister's pregnancy is coming along. It's going to be a girl (if the doctors are right), and they're having a hard time picking a name. "Willow" is in the running, and as a certified oddball I'm rooting for that.
I played the Wii for the first time. It's pretty neat. Zelda seems like it would be a lot of fun if I had a few weeks to devote to it. But I don't.
I'm back in San Francisco this weekend!
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| Thursday, November 22nd, 2007
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1:07 pm - Thanksgiving!
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It's Thanksgiving here in Florida. Maybe it is where you are too.
Sophie's here and this afternoon we're going with to visit with a lot of the family (some twenty people... yet only a fraction of the whole!) and have a nice dinner together.
May you have a moment to think about how fortunate you are, and without pride or pity appreciate your short and beautiful life.
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| Friday, November 9th, 2007
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10:44 pm - What's wrong
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I think this graph might actually represent everything that is wrong with mankind.
No no, it's not a Bush bashing thing at all. It doesn't matter who the chart is about. It could be about me or your mother. What bugs me is how the presidential approval rating shoots up on 9/11. I mean, why would anyone's opinion of a president change at all (least of all go up) from an unexpected attack? I can certainly see rallying behind the president as he moves forward, and I can see approval rising as he took actions, but how could the attack itself make you feel he was doing a better job the day after than the day before?
Yeah, this is old news, but I came across the chart the other day when looking to see exactly how disliked our current president is, and that spike at 9/11 jumped out at me again.
What weird, weird, creatures we are.
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