Enshin Karate

Ok, I think I have this figured out. Enshin karate seems like it fits exactly what I want to get out of martial arts — Japanese and not just grappling or weird elbow bends :) Karate was the obvious choice, but most of the highly rated places in San Francisco are out where I used to live (Taravalish). This place I'm looking into now, though, is in Japantown, which is ideal. Not that the Mission wouldn't be ideal, but...Japantown is nice because I like to be there anyways. Also, the instructor is Japanese. I really hope that a) their schedule fits my schedule and b) they have room for me. I hope I hope.

Boxingかな

I've been thinking about the Third Street Gym for a pretty long time now. In fact, I wonder if I blogged about it the last time I looked at it...(but I'm not going to go look and see). Anyways, it is an actual possibility now, to join.

Hesitation:

1) Lots of people. I watched their training video and it looks really good for you and fun, but it also looks like a TON TON TON of people.

2) I don't want to like...get in the head and be injured forever. I guess there is the danger of that with many things. And I guess you just have to be a good boxer and not get hit? Is that the idea? lol

I dunno. I think I would enjoy it, and I think it would get me in really good shape. Just being a pussy, I guess. Maybe I will try their beginner class on Saturday if they are open...

Thinking about tris again. Thinking about lots.

I went jogging yesterday for 7 minutes and I'm very sore today to the point where I had to flake on a potential tennis partner. Luckily, he was hungover this morning and was also inclined to flake :)

Things are going pretty well in general. I never update this blog anymore, I see, but I'm not sure what it would be for when I have Twitter and my study blog.

Jogging was interesting. I felt pretty good until the muscles in my back started getting tight. Today I am feeling it a lot in my left ankle/calf (which is a little scary since that was the tendinitis foot last winter). I stopped at a stoplight, though, and nearly threw up. That's when I decided to start walking, so I could concentrate on continuing to not throw up.

Today back, calves (especially left), thighs all sore. Knees are fine, though, which is good. Maybe I'll give it another shot tomorrow, after drinking more water. I need to get some good headphones that I can run with. Buds don't work for me.

Psych Dump: I have a talent for making things unfun

Last night and this morning I sort of had a breakthrough about triathlon training:

I don't have to do it.

I set this goal that I would complete a triathlon by the time I'm 30, which is totally doable. I could do a triathlon next YEAR if I really wanted to. (Maybe the excessive time span is a hint about how badly I really want to do it...)

Look, here are the reasons I did it:

- I like to bike.
- I like to swim.
- I would like to improve at both.
- Learning how to run would be good for me.
- Goals are good.

None of this necessarily SAYS triathlon. It says, "Ride your bike and swim!"

That is what it says to me. Running is good for everyone, that doesn't mean we all have to do it. I hate running. You know what I like? Sure you do: biking and swimming.

And tennis.
And tap dancing.
And studying Japanese.
And working.
And watching old movies.
etc.

I don't need to complete a triathlon, I need to have FUN. I am sooooo good at setting goals and giving myself unnecessary challenges. All of my hobbies turn into chores because I think I need to accomplish certain things by certain times and be the best and blah blah blah. I'm not gonna be the best at anything. That's not pessimism, that's just recognizing that even if I get really good at something there will be someone who has fewer hobbies than me (i.e. razor focus) and probably a better memory who is the best. In the whole world. And that is toooootally fine. I want to ENJOY MYSELF and meet people who also enjoy themselves. Happy people. I'm a happy person, but all of this attempting to be over-productive in every field is just going to wear me out...

not to mention distract me from fun.

I'm gonna try NOT to make my life harder for a while. I'm one of those people who likes to cram cram cram till there isn't a second to breathe, but trying to rock all socks at once is probably the best way to rock no socks. And doubly so for socks you don't really want to rock.

As a side note: It surprises me that I'm not a power-vacationer. When I go on vacation I pretty much want to do nothing. I don't need to see much or do much. I just want to wander around and eat local food. You'd think with the cramming personality, I would be one of those over-schedulers (like I am normally) and try to fit every point of interest in in like two days, but I'm not at all. Sort of bizarre.

Anyhow, that is all. I'm gonna try to have more fun and set fewer stupid goals that aren't actually things I care about :)

PS - if you are from Twitter and still reading -- wow! This blog kind of sucks ;) There may or may not be revitalization plans in the works, but eve if there are, the last thing I would do is set a goal about them ;)

PPS - OMG -- my motto: "More hobby, less bullshit." It's so fitting.

I don't blog anymore!

It's a little alarming, too, since although tweets don't really disappear, they don't archive either. These past couple months are pretty much lost to the ether. Might try to pop in here more often for a check-up (and not just when it's emo time).

Work...

is going well. Twitter is great. I dunno what else to say about that. Still trying to get clear of my own personal backlog. There's no pressure, apparently, but I think that might just make it harder!

Reading...

need to do more. I subscribed to The New Yorker and Wired, which are the two magazines I always grab at airports for long flights, so now I can just...bring my copies ;) but there are other things I'd like to be reading, too. I haven't finished any books since starting at Twitter, ha...ha...sigh. Also haven't checked my google reader at all, despite the fact that it is stocked with really great stuff.

Social stuff...

same. old. But not really, since I have lots of new friends from work. Been especially enjoying tap class. And you would think I might meet some people at the SF Bay Club, too (where I go to swim, etc.)

Videogames...

not finding time to play! I brought a bunch with me for the trip to NYC but forgot my DS charger, heh...ha...CRY.

The Internet...

OMG I MISS YOU. It's weird that when you work for the Internet, you suddenly have no time to take it in anymore. I need a good rickroll.

A second degree does not help you focus

and am I really trying to prove anything? (No.)

So maybe I will just take this book my friend gave me and see what I can do with it.

Lately I'm in that ultra planning mode that results from thoughts going too fast. You can plan a thousand different things and not actually do any of them. I'm gonna join the athletic's club tomorrow. Maybe swimming will clear my head ;D

Computer Science

requires a LOT of math, and I never really took most of it. And even if I had, it was in high school. If I can test out of elementary algebra, I will be really excited. I'm hoping that I'll be able to take Math 860 Tuesday/Thursday and the Intro to Programming M-W in the morning. Then I could even take the Asian American Experience Since 1820 on Saturday and maybe LGBT Studies or Economics. I need to remember that I also have a full-time job and tap-dancing lessons and a Japanese tutor ;) I think, though, that I will not get a gym membership if I decide to do school. I'll be biking so much. That and the Ocean Campus has a pool that I could probably use if I were a student there!

Not out of the woods

I'm frustrated because I have a lot of things I want to do and a lot of catching up do to before I can do them. Actually, a guy gave a speech about this at work yesterday -- "yak shaving" -- don't things that don't relate to your ultimate goal, but are necessary before you can proceed. 

Everything is going fantastically well right now, but I have to roll out my new plans in stages to avoid, well...running out of money, basically. How disappointing. Why does it always have to be about that? Well, it is, so...*sigh*

The thing I want to squeeze into the budget as soon as possible is Japanese lessons. I've been recommended a tutor, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how that goes. It looks like I will be ok to start next month. 

Actually, next month might be when it's ok to start tap dancing, too. (Yeah, I'm gonna learn how to tap dance, I decided.) We'll see...

I AM WASTING TIME

once again, trying to figure out how to fit all of my hobbies in. And I forgot trumpet. Damn.

Well, there are just so many things to do. I've inadvertently found myself in the middle of way too many books, which I have collapsed down to two, but one is in desperate need of attention. There's also my completely neglected GoogleReader, which contains things I really do want to look at. Let's not also forget Twitter. I'm thinking of starting one in Japanese (and Spanish?) I guess maybe to go along with my blogs, but more just for practice. I can follow Japanese people, too. Although that could end up taking a lot of time, especially since I'm already going over the Twitter.jp site for vocab, etc. so I can be useful at work when Japanese support tickets come in.

I've been actually managing to stick with those three anime shows I have been watching, even while watching another one for work. I think my goal will be to finish the box I am working on this week. That doesn't seem impossible.

I dunno, though. I have a lot of goals. Like picking back up the push-ups and crunches. Not to mention tennis. Not to mention bicycle commuting. (Yeah, I've had a cold, so it's been less cycly around here than normal.)

I guess I'm just wondering if I have time for everything.

Push-ups/Crunches
Tennis
Cycling
Japanese
Spanish
Anime
Freelancing
Videogames

It seems like the only freelancing I do anymore is for Otaku USA, which I guess is fine. I'm clearly off in Twitterland, anyhow, and Otaku USA is fun, pretty low-key, etc.

Emo "lifestyle" post, ahoy! Like, how do I fit all my hobbies into my day and still make the number of support tickets go down? This is where I go all schedule crazy and try to make a table or something like this

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY
push-ups
japanese
bike to work
work
bike home
shower
spanish
work
read
freelance
sleep

TUESDAY-THURSDAY
tennis
shower
bike to work
work
bike home
japanese
spanish
work
read
freelance
sleep

SATURDAY
anime
tennis
shower
japanese
work
spanish
videogames
read
work
freelance
sleep

SUNDAY
cycling
shower
work
anime
japanese
work
spanish
videogames
read
work
freelance
sleep

Theoretically that is all totally possible, even with food, and some social interaction, but of course, the age old conundrum that has come up time and time again IN THIS VERY BLOG is that you just can't do that unless you are a robot, which I sometimes wish I were... There needs to be more flex room.

I AM SO BAD AT THIS!

This is about where the post started (two attempts) to go off the deep end, so I'll spare you the outcome. Rest assured, I still have no idea how to budget my free time, or perhaps it's that I haven't learned that free time shouldn't have a budget. We'll see. Stay tuned. I promise to post something more interesting next time.

I work for Twitter! :D

I think the whole world knows about it now except this blog. Poor blog! Even the bike blog got the news before you!

Let's see, though. It's funny, because it's not as if I was expressingly looking to escape Cryptic or something. No, I loved my job! And the commute was treating me as well as it could have. I just saw the posting on their site over the three-day weekend, wrote what I considered to be a kick-ass application, and apparently someone at Twitter was a) reading applications on Memorial Day b) agreed with me, because they requested a phone interview between the 1st and 12th.

The 1st worked for me, so we did that. I was locked out of my house at the time, so I took the call in Dolores Park, which was fabulous. It went very well -- so well that I had my second phone interview that afternoon (from my friend, Daniel's, living room). Then they wanted me in the office -- asap! So I went in on Wednesday and met six people, all of whom seemed really cool. Biz Stone and I talked about random life stuff (in addition to Twitter). It was so chill, haha. The next day I met two more people, and that was that. It really was, too. Got the offer that afternoon, bing-bam-pow, start on Tuesday.

I'm still not entirely sure how it happened, even though I feel like I just explained it.

Quite excited about the whole thing. There are less than 60 people who work for Twitter and now I am one of them o_O Can't wait to start!

If you ever want to learn Danish...

check here. The free resources listed there are pretty much incredible, and include all-important (especially in Danish) audio samples.

How cool would it be to help rewrite the California constitution?

"First, delegates to the convention should be chosen through the general jury pool to ensure that the whole population, as opposed to partisans or voters, is represented." ("The Ungovernable State" The Economist)

Post-Eurovision: Top Three

Surprisingly, I managed to pick the winner. HOW did Norway win? I have no idea. As I tweeted, it must have been all teen girls voting or something, because he was certainly the cutest, and his whimsically emo (as I FB'd) song surely stole more than just MY heart ;p

My top three:

Moldova (from the 2nd semi-final, but obviously they did a decent job to make it through)



Armenia (video from the first semi-final)



and finally, Norway -- w00t

Fairytale Official ESC 2009 Video


I'm part Norwegian, although I don't speak it...yet. How cool would it be to study for a year and then go to the freaking Eurovision finals? I dunno how I would make enough money for a trip like that, but boy it would kick ass.

Edit: Wow, apparently no country has every scored as many points as his song did: 387. Way to freaking go, man.

Train time is "me" time

It is really hard to get it through my head that, no, on a work day I do not get to do ANYTHING besides come home and sleep. That is going to have to be The Way It Is. I can't keep on with this four-five hour a night stuff, so tonight after Jenn's party that will have to be the end of the Doing Things. 

Last night I just needed groceries pretty badly, so I hit up Whole Foods on the way home. Managed to get out of there pretty affordably, actually. Some sale items, yadda.

I feel like I had something more important to say than, "Why the hell am I here blogging when I have 15 minutes to shower and get out the door?" but maybe what is important that I answer that question with an "Exactly!" and run for it : /

Oh, my final work schedule, if you haven't seen it in every other location yet:

M-R, 11PM - 10AM

i.e. three-day weekends on the actual weekends

I almost feel like a pussy for taking this shift, and I'm realizing that it will be easier than most of them, probably, since the weekend is the busiest time. I better have some kickass weekends if I'm not gonna be working lol 

The job is going well, but I don't have time to talk about it. At all. Haha, CANNOT BE LATE for the train, although I do at least have a ticket this time. "Thanks, bank, for believing me when I say that I am not committing fraud by buying my monthly CalTrain ticket!" Just gotta find the validation box...

Volunteering for the San Francisco International Film Festival

IS SO MUCH FUN. I'm really glad I decided to do it. It's keeping me really busy this weekend, so I don't have to just sit here and think about how cool my new job at Cryptic is going to be tomorrow ;D

My first day was Friday, when I did two shifts at the Kabuki. First I was line wrangling, which was pretty easy. This nice lady was talking to me the whole time and this cheerful Australian guy kept bringing me water and programs to leaf through, etc. Very easy way to start off. The second shift that night was part line wrangling OUTside (much more exciting since there is more actual wrangling) and then devolved into taking ballots and seating the late show. 

Saturday I worked at a hall at the not-yet-open Disney Museum in the Presidio. Had a hell of a time getting there, but once I did it was great. I first helped other people figure out where to go and then go to bus tables. The coolest part was that one of the brothers who wrote a ton of songs for old Disney stuff (back when Walt was around) was there playing the piano and singing. Really classic stuff, and he was a classic showman, too. Very entertaining. Lots of the songs everyone knew, of course, so it was sort of heart-warming to have all these adult cinema patrons singing along to Winnie-the-Pooh, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, etc.

Bussing tables at a cocktail party is actually more complicated than you might think. You have to be sort of aggressive with some glasses that are half full or a plate with a crumb of cheese left if it looks like no one is around, but on the other hand, you don't want to take away a glass that someone is still working on, or saving for another round of the traveling wine. I love when you can walk up to someone right when they need you, like right as they put that last bite-sized cream pie in their mouth, so you can take their plate in one smooth motion and they thank you for being so attentive. So satisfying. I could definitely see myself doing more catering-type stuff. It's really fun to work schnazzy events. 

Incidentally, a tangent: I've meet at least two people who do this sort of thing for a living -- traveling around working different film festivals while freelance writing or maybe having one main gig (at Sundance, in the case of the Australian guy) and then loaning themselves out to other places. That is a lifestyle I would be very interested in. It's really eye-opening lately, the amount of jobs I'm seeing that I think I could be quite happy doing. 

Today I met a really cool lady at the Kabuki. We chatted a lot while working the will call table together. Will call is pretty fun, except when the tickets aren't in the box. Then customers get upset (understandably) and we have to call over a box office manager *sigh sigh*

Anyhow later on I will be at the Castro doing line wrangling or ushering or whatever they assign me ;D Looking forward to it. I'm gonna try to pick up some hours next Saturday morning, I think. This is really one of the coolest things I've done in the city (as I tweeted earlier) so I want to take advantage while it's around. (Not to mention that I'm going to get a free San Francisco Film Society membership :D) W00t!

Please to Bike and How to not suck at Spanish

Yep, not just one, but TWO more blogs:

Please to Bicycle 

How to not suck at Spanish

Excellent.

Urgh @_@ Plus: Mates of State, Haircut, Jury Duty, Cycling Adventures

Urgh @_@

So I'm running completely on sugar free RockStar right now, feeling a bit horrible, haha. I decided it would be smart to walk home at 3 am, stopping off at Orphan Andy's for some late night food, uhm, and generally not sleeping. My allergies are going bonkers for some reason. Dust, pollen, all that air junk is messing me up.

Mates of State

Were in town tonight at The Independent. I felt sort of bad because the bf had meant to make it (had a ticket and all) but MoS went on second instead of last. Anyways, I was really excited to see them. It's been quite a while, and this time I got up really close (only one girl between me and the stage) and really rocked out. Love their music, love the chemistry they radiate as they play together. They smile at each other and the whole world feels right.

Haircut

I'm gonna link to another Yelp review, mostly because I have been Yelping a lot, but also because it will be a good illustration of how awesome the salon is and what a deal I got. Then I can just focus on the haircut itself.



Yep, that's the one. What's interesting is that despite the fact that it is a boy haircut, people seem to think I'm a girl now. I guess the boy cut highlights what little femininity I possess. Of course, I'm pretty sure all the lesbians are checking me out now, but that is fine. What is hilarious, is that I think I caught the eye of some tourists in the Castro today, "Look honey, a real live twink!" (Nobody actually said this, but this is the feeling I got. I could just be high on my haircut ;D) Anyways, time will tell whether I am still ambiguous or really just broadcasting lesbian all over the place.

Jury Duty

...is officially over as of Thursday of last week. Nope, I didn't think of baking cookies for everyone until after. I could describe the trial in detail now (domestic violence in my neighborhood, albeit not the exact part of it that I live in), but I think I will just say that I actually really enjoyed the experience and would recommend not trying to get around it. That is really just me. I think for many people it stresses them out to have to shoulder the responsibility of making such an important decision and also feels like a hassle since you miss work, but it's great to exercise some critical thinking and group facilitation and things. During the deliberation phase I talked a lot, took notes on the blackboard while we compared inconsistencies in testimonies from both sides, pushed early for a vote just to gauge how aligned we were (had to be unanimous, which it was in the end). We found our defendant not guilty. The prosecution had a very tough case, and he knew it. I think my favorite part was getting the chance to talk with the lawyers afterwards. I expected to just sort of head out, but the judge mentioned that the lawyers would really appreciate feedback, so we all hung out in the hall for a bit, and I learned that you CAN ask leading questions on a cross-examination.

Anyways, I know that my experience was a really easy one (just four days a week, three hours in the afternoon, a tad over two weeks like that) and more interesting than many cases (people were mentioning asbestos trials that last for months), but I would still like to do it again. I'll never try to purposely get dismissed.

Cycling Adventures

I had planned on keeping a better record of where I've been biking. In fact, I'm considering starting a biking blog, since I am going to be doing so much of it and am really getting into it. Bicycling is one of the most exciting things I have going on, really, and it just seems like it would be more of a resource for people if I break off the topic. Maybe I will just do that (and NOT call it "Cycling Adventures" ;p)

Anime is cheap?

I was just reading this blog that says anime is cheap now. AND HOMICRAP if each slayers SEASON doesn't cost $24.99 on Amazon!! I need to make more money so I can afford cheap anime and take myself on awesome memory road trips. Seeing Slayers again would be such a great time *tear tear* YOU GUYS REMEMBER THAT'S HOW I GOT INTO JAPANESE? RIGHT? RIGHT? T_T I'm becoming a geek all over again. Whenever I have free time I feel so good. I got so much done today but I also got to watch anime and blog and read and I even when on a bike ride. Was this the most productive day EVER? So happy! Yeah, man, sometime soon I will get some Slayers and force my boyfriend to watch it with me. AT LEAST A DISK OR SO. You didn't have to be there, I promise. Slayers rocks!! Everyone should watch this show. SO MANY GOOD SHOWS!!!

More hobby, less bullshit :D

Guilty Pleasure, tra la la

It's only the first episode and she already has a crush on a married guy! YES--I mean....



Nope, this show really does rock. We totally deserve some fan service in the opposite direction now and then. I know there's plenty of shonen ai floating around, but this is completely different, you'll agree. Like that whole scene of close-ups on Claudio suiting up for work? Come on, it's so great.

And I LOVE Nicoletta. She's sooooo adorable. When she smiles??? AH! I'm hooked.

w00t six miles

On a bike. Let's recall my schedule:

2.7ish miles to CalTrain

an hour to an hour.5 on the train

8-9 miles to work

Then the whole thing in reverse 11 hours later:

8-9 miles to CalTrain

an hour to an hour.5 on the train

2.7ish miles home

So even at the most taxing of any one technical "time" I still only did about 3/4 of the ride. And it's give or take a quarter of what I will be expected to ride in a whole day (~24 miles because I need room to make mistakes).

I did make some mistakes, but what's nice about being on a bike and making mistakes is that you can just hop onto the sidewalk to figure out what to do next.

Despite a couple incidents like these, today went really well. I biked to Caltrain and back all in one go, got a little lost because of some one ways and some freeway entrances, but it really didn't go so horrible as you might expect. Of course, I'm exhausted, and that will never do, but Cryptic has showers, I found out, so we already know who will be arriving early to take care of THAT. I'm feeling more optimistic, although I haven't ridden at night yet. I will be doing that during this week, though, and then next weekend I will go south to figure out a route from San Jose. 

Also, I'm still on antibiotics with puffy nodes, so I think when all is said and done today rocked. I'm also getting work done, so that is awesome. I'm gonna do another level on this guide and then reward myself with dinner and some an episode of Ristorante Paradiso. 

w-h00t!

Now for an orange...