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...

Chocolate Work Day

Yeah, despite my virus issues I am eating peeps (ok, just one) and chocolate eggs on Easter morning because that is what I have done for 23 years (or this is 24, maybe). So tasty! 

But wait, there was an actual purpose to this post! Oh, I know. I was going to discuss some anime because for some reason I was being really nerdy and watching some shows from THIS SEASON (cutting edge!) yesterday. I would have taken screens, but I don't know how on my Mac...and I'm supposed to be working now. This is a quick post!

Eden of the East

Actually, this is how I got started on this quest. They promised exhibitionist boys. Oops? Did that really lure me in? I guess so. Well, I mean. I saw the screens they had, so it wasn't really necessary, but then I was looking up the show because I liked the character designs (no, not THOSE designs; jeez, they wouldn't actually show it) and the story sounded cliché as usual, but interesting enough, given the cute characters. I also like the look of the secret agent cell phone. 

Anyways the first episode was pretty much what we were told to expect! Nudity! It's amusing that it starts off in the United States and even more amusing that the girl gets in trouble for throwing things at the White House haha (She wants to make a wish in the fountain, but it's so far away!!) I will definitely watch more of this show, partly because I am a sucker for cute boys with amnesia, and...ok, maybe that's the entire reason. Go superficiality!

K-On!

While I was browsing the streaming site I was on, I noticed they had K-On!, too. I remember hearing this was about a group of cute girls who makes a band, or something like that, and that sounded appealing given the cross-like tendancies it could have between something like Beck and, say, I dunno...Azumanga or Lucky Star? I was hoping sort of. And it IS high school freshman being sort of cute. And the main girl is a total weirdo space-case with no life. It could work, we'll see. 

Ristorante Paradiso

I haven't actually checked this out yet, but just read the description:

"21 year-old Nicoletta leaves her grandparents' home in the countryside to work in Rome at a restaurant owned by her estranged mother's lover. But something sets the popular and elegant Casetta Dell'orso apart from its rivals: the entire restaurant is staffed by older gentlemen wearing glasses (as per her mother's preference). Thrown into this adult world, Nicoletta must try to find personal and professional stability - things that become increasingly difficult to achieve as she falls under the spell of Casetta Dell'orso."

RIDICULOUS! And I love it!

Oh, and I learned how to take screens now, but it's too late! You'll all just have to suffer through another boring textwall! 

Back to that work, now. Enjoy your bunnies or Jesus or whatnot :D

In sickness

Today I am at home working all day because there are so many things to get done. 

Also, I am sick. Yesterday pretty much all I did was go to the doctor (the thing on my head is a lymph node, reacting to [some virus?], go to jury service, and go to bed.

I continue to be motivated an astonishing amount towards a great many things (PMI certification, C++!), none of which help me immediately RIGHT NOW. 

But let's see, I gave my trumpet a bath. It still looks like hell, which is fitting, because right now it sound a bit like hell, too. Not like it's a terribly good trumpet, but hey, I refuse to be limited. I will rock this thing (eventually). For right now I am lucky if I can hit an E at the top. I remember those days, though, and how if you just work at it, you'll be at the point where hitting a G above the staff is nothing and hitting a C off in the stratosphere is just what you do. I mean, the pros do it, right? So it must be possible ;D I've nailed the D above that C, back when I was a trumpet player who actually played trumpet, so I know it is possible for me, too. Practice, etc.

So far none of the neighbors have come knocking down the walls. I'm not sure if they realize this could be a daily event. Well, that's the thing, isn't it? Four days a week I will be unable to continue what should be a daily ritual. The plan is to bring my mouthpiece to work, I guess, and buzz around outside for a bit before having lunch. That doesn't help your fingers much, but it does wonders for your chops, really. I guess it's also really boring, since you don't sound like a trumpet, but more like a kazoo or something. I'll have to find some interesting exercises to work on.

But yeah, high, don't play trumpet when you have a swollen lymph node in your head. It sort of hurts. Go eat an orange instead, and get to the post office before it closes, and finish clearing your inbox so you can attend to all the rest of your PRESSING MATTERS.

Some good goals

Again, it's really hard to be getting excited about LIFE AND STUFF when there are things to take care of, but I've been thinking of some good goals as we move forward with, uh, LIFE AND STUFF: 

1. Obviously I'm committed to living in the Mission. If I'm going to train up to biking around 24 miles a day to work, and buy a 200 dollar train pass, then that much is clear. Why don't we take that a step further by paying more attention to local news and taking up Spanish (and not jut for a lark like in high school)? 

1a. I guess the understated goal here is my commitment to biking. I NEED to bike everyday, at least a little, and more likely, a lot. Otherwise I will never get up to doing the commute and I NEED to get up to that as fast as possible. This weekend will be a big push, for sure. 

2. The programming thing, I'm actually pretty excited about this idea. I think it will really help me gain some cred at work if I can show that I'm not just some customer service chick, and I bet it would also be really fun. Plus, what if I could get involved in some indie projects? Maybe there is some awesome designer out there who just needs a programmer zombie to put their ideas into code. I will be that guy! And I will be a more well-rounded producer eventually, because of it.

3. Let's please not forget Japanese. There are good books lying all over my room, just need some time, which I will have. 

4. Lately I've been doing a good job of this, but ALWAYS READ. Always! There is no excuse for not having a book with me at all times. I don't have to go fast, just pay attention. Novels and non-fic and magazines. Just keep reading. It's not like I run out of stuff!

5. Play tennis on a least one of my days off, if not two. Swimming, maybe, but it's probably not really in the budget at this point.

Anyways, maybe you can tell I'm feeling inspired. Unfortunately, being inspired doesn't help me get any work done. FUNNY HOW THAT WORKS. I did get my oranges, though. And strawberries! They were really cheap because they are going to go bad, like, tomorrow ;D

I'm in a good mood.

Further afield

but not by much. Today was similar to yesterday in that upon my return from jury duty I decided I had better, once again, take the bike out. I really do have to force myself, because it is, as I have stated previously, terrifying. Besides that, jury duty tends to leave me a little sleepy, not because it's boring, but I guess just because I'm walking several blocks, listening intently, and then walking several more blocks, lounging in the BART, and slumping home, so I really have to drink some water, get psyched, get alert, and then, well, get in the street. 

*eats the carrots out of her stir fry* I am liking carrots less and less all the time, it seems -- at least the frozen ones that come in my stir fry veggie packs. Maybe I should just start buying fresh veggies so I can pick what I want in my dinner ;D I'm sure fresh carrots would be fine...

Anyways, the plan was to take Capp all the way to where it runs into Mission, go left down Mission until it runs into Valencia, and then return on Valencia, but when I reached the end of Capp, it was right turn only, so I ended up actually riding down Mission to the next intersection where I had a tiny bit of difficulty turning left because one guy thought he would just go. I guess maybe I should've yielded to him : / 

Actually I had some trouble with a bus before getting on Mission, too, but I think that was actually him being lame. I had stopped and then he stopped so I figured it was my turn to go, but he start going straight away again. Not much else I could do at that point besides wait, unless I wanted to broadside a bus with my new bike ;D

So I think then after turning left off of Mission I turned...onto...Valencia, going left, because I figured it would be good to take advantage of the bike path, which it was. That, of course, runs into Mission, so I did that for a while, and then turned and came back down San Jose, which was pretty easy. Took that all the way to 22nd, turned right, had a pretty easy time taking the left onto Capp and then walked my bike across the street to my house. 

*nom nom nom* This stir fry is so much better once the carrots are gone. It's amazing. I'm almost tempted to start throwing them out before I cook it, but that would be such a waste...of yucky carrots. 

Overall, I'd say today was...the same as yesterday. I didn't sense cars being more or less annoyed by me than yesterday, and I didn't feel like I had any more or less trouble communicating what I was trying to do, either. The only time I changed my plan was because the road wasn't going to let me go the right way, not because the cars intimidated me, so I guess in that sense I did better, but I also didn't really have much of a plan, either. But that's not true, because I did plan to take San Jose to 22nd and then turn, etc., so I guess I was successful. You wouldn't really expect less than that, though. It's not complicated (like riding from downtown San Jose to Los Gatos...)

Rather than going to the doctor in the morning to see what there is to see about the mysterious hurting bump on my head (which is not a bruise), I think I will go inquire about lights for my bike, and a rack. I definitely need front and back lights, but I'm still sort of on the fence about a rack, just because I think it will make me feel like I can take a whole bunch of stuff with me, when really I want to be traveling as lightly as possible. 

Ideally I would pack some a book or magazine, my DS/PSP, Japanese books, my laptop, food, and water. That's a lot of stuff. If I were just taking trains I would actually carry all of that with me everyday, but on a bike that is way too much, even if you're lugging it in panniers. I will have to think every morning what I really want to bring. I will have at least three hours everyday (train rides and lunch) where I can just do whatever, so it'd be good to have some Japanese to study or some kind of diversion. That said, I've proven time and time again that sometimes all I want to do in a train is chill out, stare out the window, or at the seat in front of me, and think about nothing (although that still seems like a waste of time)...

Even if I pack light, though, I don't think I will want to carry it on my back. I will be disgusting enough after all that riding without a backpack making my back even sweatier. So, I will need something suuuuuper sturdy that will not fall off the back of my bike during bumps in the road, where I can keep at the very least some books and videogames, if not my laptop. Hopefully the shop can help me out with all of these things and make it relatively inexpensive. (I know it's possible to spend 400 on a front beam alone -- not happening!)

As for everything else besides the bike, there is just a lot to do. I'm nearly done playing catch up, but there is still one titanic obstacle left. There are no more hoops to jump there, though, so I just have to set about the conquering. Originally the idea was that everything would be square by tomorrow night, but having my computer in the shop really borked that, so I have to just accept that it will take longer. Difficult, but not impossible! I think the hard part is understanding that yes, it will take longer, but no, that doesn't mean you don't have to start work on it right now and bust your ass till you are barely awake anymore. 

I am gonna go buy some oranges first, though ;p The bf has me sort of hooked and I think it will be a perfect wake up tactic when I start to get sleepy later. 

Probably this weekend I will try to take a more sizable ride. Hopefully actually TO somewhere, if my lock shows up in the mail. In fact, there will be a slow trickle of packages arriving at my house, since my trumpet should get here tomorrow, and I also ordered a book (which will be written off taxes next year) for work that was recommended to me at GDC. 

Oh, and I'm gonna try to learn some programming. Ahem. Yes. If anyone has any advice here, that would be great, since I'm starting from scratch! Unless someone highly derecommends it, I'm going to learn Python first... Edit: C++ it is!

Anyways, now I'm really frustrated that I can't just get excited about this. I don't have time right now. Otherwise I'd be reading this textbook I just found, etc. Grr. Ohhhhh well. 

For a spin

Today after jury duty I decided I had better take the bike out. I already know it's going to be impossible to get up to 24 miles a day by the 27th, but it I won't be able to ride at all if I never start. I need to find a loop I can do in the mornings once I get some of these loose end work assignments out of the way, something where I know how many miles it is so I can just keep looping until my ass is sufficiently kicked. As for today, well, it went ok.

It took me a second to get used to how the gears work. It was set pretty low and at first I could only figure out how to get it to go lower, which obviously didn't help me at all. Then I realized that there were two buttons, that it didn't just loop, and that helped. Of course, it just means I was able to tire myself out embarrassingly fast, for someone who is planning on biking 24 miles a day in the not tooooo distant future.

I just took it easy around the back of the Mission today, pretty much between 21st and 23rd, I think. I'm still terrified of riding with cars. There was one intersection, I don't remember which one, where I was going to turn left, but got freaked out and went right instead. That was obviously pretty lame, though, so I made myself go around the block and do it again turning left. You just have to be assertive.

Anyways, it's hard to tell if I was annoying any cars -- one guy definitely zoomed past at an intersection -- but I don't think I was doing anything wrong. Needless to say, I'm still really nervous. Yawn, mrrf, mlah.

Only other news is that the local tech dudes changed their prices, so that while some services are cheaper, the specific one I require (and I'm sure one of their most popular requests, hence the raise) went up 20 bucks. "Gotta pay rent..." Yeah, me too : / I am so poor, but hey, my PC is back. Let's hope it works. Gotta crank on some things.

What day is it? Oh, Tuesday.

Is it more hardcore to move or commute?

I think finally being down in Campbell/Los Gatos has taught me that the one true path is going to have to be commuting. Moving down there would not be hardcore, it would be masochistic. I'm not saying that it's not possible to be happy down there, I'm just saying that it's not possible for me, especially given everything up here I'd be unceremoniously scrapping for no good reason. Oh wait, my job is a good reason.

And it really should be, I think. But you know, being so miserable this morning (and talking to my dad) made me remember that this is just a 3 month contract. I'm sure they would love to see me being so gung ho as to move down there, but isn't it also ridiculously gung ho to bike 24 miles a day? I thought so. I still think so. Let's get me on the freaking bike already. Maybe when they are ready to commit a little more to me, I would be willing to sacrifice more. But hell, sacrificing the entirety of your waking hours four days a week is a pretty big sacrifice already.

The other thing is that my concern is reliability. I don't really EXPECT my bike to break. What I expect is to be hit by a car. If I get hit by a car, whether during a 3.5 mile commute or a 12 mile commute, the result will still be me probably not being able to quite make it to work that day. And they should understand that. So, I don't know what my problem is. I'll just pack dry clothes in a waterproof bag and go with the rain jacket. Yee hoo.

I will either be the healthiest I have ever been or the least healthiest I have ever been. I think that will just depend on what I eat and the quality of the sleep I get. No sore shoulders!

Party = canceled (and other assorted end of the day ramblings)

My new job is so cool that I cannot have a Eurovision party this year. WOWOW -_-

...

Meh, it's ok. I can still watch the videos and everything will be on youtube later, anyhow.

I guess.

Booo.

In other news, I'm really tired? That isn't news these days. Spending time with the 9er (Is that nickname number three now? It won't last much longer, but it should still count. For some reason this kid is really good at sprouting spontaneous nicknames...) is reminding me how weird it is the way being a kid works. I mean, we all used to be goofy little kids. What the heck? There was a period of time in high school where I was really upset about the ways I had changed. Now I guess I'm over it. Maybe I've had a paradigm shift, or maybe I don't care, or maybe I really was a little too silly sometimes as a kid.

Who am I kidding? I'm still a little too silly sometimes.

I'm guessing I will have to go be on a jury tomorrow. That sort of throws a wrench or five in a lot of things.

I really really really need a vacation more than anything right now. Just some time for nothing. For lolling about drinking tea and reading books and playing videogames and watching cartoons and learning to ride my new bike@ around the best city in the world*.

@ Yeah, I might be getting a bike tomorrow. Then it's time to train train train until I am pro-commuter girl.

*Heartfelt hyperbole. Despite loving Paris and Tokyo and New York, though, San Francisco really does have something pretty freaking rad. Maybe it's the hills. I keep coming back to that.

007 and other such fun

I learned this game from a fourth grader yesterday. It's like janken only with deeper strategy. Or at least I feel like the strategy is deeper.

Pat your legs as you chant "double" and then "O" ending with two beats of hand gesture "se-ven" in one of three positions:

reloading your gun
arms crossed over your chest (defense)
shooting

You can only shoot if you have loaded, but if you are loading when someone is shooting, you die. So for instance let me see if I can remember what happened last night.

Double O: We both loaded.

Double O: I let him shoot and blocked, myself.

Double O: I think we both reloaded.

Double O: I let him shoot and blocked, myself.

Double O: I shot and won.

If you want to be no fun you could just block the whole time, but that would get old.

Maybe I will teach him how to play jan-ken with "atchi muite hoi," although I would have to practice myself first.

Oh that reminds me of standing in line for the Ghibli Museum last time I was in Japan. There were these kids playing and instead of saying, "Aiko desho?" the boy said, "Atchi muite hoi" and his sister started making SO MUCH fun of him, even to the point of calling her mom and dad, "Hahaha, he said atchi muite hoi instead of aiko desho!!!! XD XD XD"

There was also a really good jump rope chant (apparently he can double dutch) but I can't remember it. It's not one we used when I was a kid, but I never really know the jump rope chants. This one was something about yadda yadda "Who's your girlfriend? I forgot! Is she A? Is she B? Is she C?" etc. Something like that. Very cute.

My friend (formerly known as Nila) Reon is in Japan and her blog is fantastic

Please to read and enjoy

Eurovision TOP TEN TO WATCH Coming Soon

And yes, I will embed the freaking videos this year. Sheesh.

Can't wait to have time to peruse this stuff, man. You better all come to my party.

Oh, it's spring

How nice.

Now if only I could spend a little more time outside? Soon, soon.

Distracted by the future

I'm REALLY preoccupied, which is bad because I have so many things to do RIGHT NOW. It's another one of those hinge moments, though, where everything is going to change DRAMATICALLY so you just want to know what's going on, don't want to/can't make too many plans, need to just hold tight a little longer.

I just want to know what my life is going to be like. No matter what I have to make some changes:

On the one hand we have the super commuter girl, gradually working up to CalTraining with her bike (new hobby) and riding 24 miles a day, employed full-time at an awesome company, presumably making an actual living.

On the other we have isolationist contractor girl, holed up in her house doing work online, walking everywhere to save money on BART, ultra poor, getting creative with meal planning (new hobby).

Granted the latter is just about what I am now, except I think I would really have to take a harder look at my budget, since things aren't really working.

Can't wait until things pan out!

What I had for lunch on Sunday

No joke:

Spicy Black Bean Soup
Antipasto Salad with Green Olive Tapenade (which I made)
Bruschetta with Broccoli Rabe Pesto and Pecorino

Crispy Chicken Parmesan with Homemade Marinara
Chiang Mai Curry Noodles
Gemelli with Peas, Lemon, and Black Pepper
Individual Meatloaves with Carmelized Onions
Spinach, Prosciutto, and Goat Cheese (switched to Gruyère) Frittata
Quick Cioppino (which I also made)
Szechuan Pork with Basmati Rice

Strawberry Cupcakes
Milk and Dark Chocolate Pots de Crème
Vanilla Scented Beignets
Tart Lime Wafers

Yeah, we were pretty full at the end. My dad got me a cooking workshop at Tante Marie's, in town, for X-mas, which I attended this past Sunday. There were 13 students, including me, so they paired us off and set us to make two recipes each. I think I was the youngest person there, but I got paired with the probably the oldest person. He was sort of a kooky guy, but very friendly. Sang a lot. He ended up cutting his fingers and bleeding all over our work space, which was a little (ok, a lot) stressful, but we got everything made and it was delicious :D

Actually it was pretty cool that we got paired together. He was in awe of my planning prowess (Basically, I just said we should make the salad while the soup simmers, lol), so he always just asked what he should do, and I was perfectly comfortable with delegating responsibilities, although I felt bad that I made him mince so much garlic, especially since the first thing he did, as I said, was chop his fingers.

Cooking is a lot better with a partner! That is for sure. I hope to replicate some of this tastiness at home, but I need a pal, for sure. OLEYA, I MISS YOU! We could've made so many tasty vegetarian variants!

Another blog, wtf?

Yes, it's true, but this one is different:

http:://www.duckduckgame.com

Right now it is still just a hosted blogger blog, but we shall see what the future holds *squints nobly towards the horizon*

Please to read about videogame adventures (and other such geekery).

So much to do, so...much to do

Even when I have a little time, I end up trying to go in so many directions at once, I get stuck. Example, I finished work before bedtime (NO WAI!) so I have a couple hours here to do something really great. Any number of things:

*read some fiction
*watch a TV show
*watch some anime
*read manga
*read some other comics
*read The New Yorker
*read Google News
*read about videogames
*translate some Famitsu
*translate some Japanese Google News
*play videogames
*practice kanji
*do some [Japanese] grammar drills
*work more

This is such epic fail. How can I be so good at thinking about all the things I want to be doing and be so bad at doing them? My brain hurts so much with all the stress of "free time" that I kind of just want to go to bed. Lame!

I was just trying to do some kanji and I couldn't even concentrate because of this game I found out about that I feel like I have to cover IMMEDIATELY, but I can't do that because I should be writing about Onechanbara RIGHT NOW, but I wanted to take a break from work first! Round and round...

And now it gets really meta, cuz what am I doing now? I'm blogging about it. Ugh. And I already updated my FaceBook status about it. The only reason Twitter doesn't know is because they are down for updates. I.e. they are accomplishing things while I think myself into total paralysis.

The other thing that is bugging me is how I'm supposed to eat out twice this weekend on a budget of approximately 3 dollars.

And as long as I'm emptying my brain here I've been having some issues trying to figure out who to pitch stuff to. Obviously I need to get paid, but obviously I also need to just BE WRITING. It's very important that I just produce SOMETHING. I should be writing everyday. Should I make my own game blog? I have a blogger address all set aside, but who will read it? Should I work for free? Once again I'm at a loss because all this thinking is meaning that I'm not actually PRODUCING. Maybe I'll register a domain and do something.

Trend pic

I took one last year, so I might as well this year. It's me! Single! On Valentine's Day. Mom sent me some cash dollars for a treat, which probably means ice cream. I got some work done this morning, so maybe I deserve it.

Valentine's Day on a three-day weekend

Non-single people must feel so lucky!

Notice my new Twitter sidebar

I joined a lonnnnng time ago, but just realized that it's handy for updating my FaceBook status remotely. We'll see how that works out. I've read other user's complaints about the FaceBook app, mainly that they don't want EVERY tweet going up. I feel like if there is something I'd rather say privately to someone, though, I can just text their phone? That makes sense to me.

In other news, uh, work :D lol What did you expect? I might play tennis tomorrow if it's nice. I will eat half a burrito for lunch and return the iPod I borrowed from my friend. I will review write my Crayon Physics Deluxe review, finally, and be ready for the new deluge of stuff from Otaku USA (as much as they will give me). I will play Flower and Henry Hatsworth. Hopefully there will be other exciting things to get up to...

Encouraging discovery for those rainy no tennis sadface days

I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but over X-mas was I realized I am much better at running in place than at running running. It was snowy and icy and freezing outside, so I jogged for a while in the basement and felt really good.

Granted running in place is way easier, but maybe if I start there I can work my way up to running forward. I did some sprints on the tennis court the other day and it nearly killed me ;D This way I was actually succumbing to muscle fatigue before breathing problems or weird heart palpitations could crop up, which, you know, IS AWESOME. It's awesome to not feel your heart trying to flutter up your throat when you're trying to just work out and have fun.

The i.e. of all of that is that the tennis courts were soggy today, so I jogged in the apt. Feels more purposeful than dancing around ;D although Perfume is some good dancing around music...

Back to the dating, chillins

Singleness. I guess it's silly to note having a boyfriend and then not note being broken up. Things weren't working out at all, really.

Keeping myself busy, though. Lots of work to do, even if it isn't always writing about videogames. Actually, it seems like it rarely is these days, what with all the slashed freelance budgets.

I know I need to update my study blog, more, but you know, I also need to study more ;D

It's been suggested that I learn Spanish, and at this point, I don't think I'm against that (not that I ever was, obviously...but I've just been trying to find a way to get to Japan). I'm sure I could get a good job if I were bilingual Spanish, and it would be a hell of a lot easier to do that around here. I mean, I could just hang out with the people at the gelato shop downstairs, even. We'll see. I really want to just get fluent in Japanese -_- It seems like focusing would be best, but I dunno. I was learning three languages successfully in college, so...I dunno, I dunno.

Tennis is still going well, I think. Trying to figure out my serve. It's been rough. I have a new partner, although I think our first meet-up will be rained out. It's decided to be winter proper again, for a bit.

Tonight had dinner with some colleagues. Pretty exciting to see people, actually. I really like feeling like I have co-workers, or at least, you know...colleagues. People. I don't like being alone in the living room all day...

Tomorrow I'm going to Berkeley. I haven't been in ages, and really the only time I was downtown in the happening area was for an event at the comic shop. Gotta make sure I get a bunch of work done before that, though. Like maybe some user support and at least one article. I can take Henry Hatsworth with me on the BART. Working on that review has been the highlight of my week, probably.

Huge oversight (the return of sucknot)

Wow, so check out the TOP LINK in my blogroll now. Yes, it's mine. Maybe that is tacky, but I don't care. It's BACK and it's ROCKIN', so check it out.

EDIT: 9 months ago to the day I started the first post on that blog like so,

This is the first step to not sucking at Japanese. Admit it, you suck! I suck! We try and try, but we are un-near to fluency. We are far. Knowing you don't know is much better than assuming you do. You can say まだまだ行きます and keep on plugging away.

KEEP ON PLUGGING AWAY! :D

Also, Happy Obama Day. Damn, I gotta go to bed so I can wake up in the morning, lol.

So, you know what is going well?

Tennis! Oh, hell yes. Started last week. Played Monday, Wednesday; skipped Friday in favor of Saturday--a mistake which will not be repeated--and got pushed back to today. It's been lovely. No sore hand, no sore foot. Just the minor, oh-hey-it's-working muscle aches. So far been playing just an hour, but I'm kinda hoping to up it a bit soon. 90 minutes seems fair. Haven't been playing sets yet, so it's mostly just whacking back and forth.

Today was sort of frustrating. I think I just need to keep hitting. I seem to be able to adjust my swings pretty well when I screw up, but there is still a wide range of errors: the over-lobbed, the over-spun, the just plain wrong angles that your racket should never be held at. Most of the time I just feel like I'm not hitting that sweet magical spot. I sort of wish I could spend some quality time with a ball machine and drill drill drill drill drill drill drill. I'm big on placement. Straight down the line, crossing to the line--I just want to be able to whip the balls wherever. I know my swings just need work. I mean, especially when I'm backed up practically to the wall. It's hard to know how far back you can get without running into something. I've been slicing a lot of backhands to compensate which is not what I need to be doing right now. Every once in a while I really rip a cross court backhand, and that's the kind of thing I need to be looking to do.

Other than that, what, I need to eat healthier and all the fish lately is a good start. Still trying to come down off the holidays both in terms of food and just work ethic. I've been super lazy , but the gearing up for Japanese grad school has given me some pretty ambitious goals to work with. I should really try to figure out exactly how much money I need, so I can figure out how much money I should try to somehow make. Luckily, it sounds like I can keep my (new, upgraded) user support/spam warrior job even while I'm in Japan, as long as I can keep it up everyday (which, why couldn't I?)

I guess for the first time ever I'm going to watch the inauguration. That should be interesting.

I need to keep up with my blog better, even if it's just two sentences, because otherwise I'll be really upset when I look back in a year or two and find that I hadn't been keeping a record ;p

LOLtastic

So last night driving home from seeing Milk (Awesome movie on an important topic! Please go!) with my boyfriend (which, yeah, what? When did that happen? XD XD XD I guess I should post more often...) I very nearly said "lol" with my laugh response. It wasn't going to be instead of laughing, but rather that the "lol" would set up the laughter. Or who knows, maybe I wouldn't have ended up laughing. It's hard to say, because the sudden "lol" impulse REALLY cracked me up. Is this true geekhood?

Today Three is visiting from Japan, which rocks. I'm excited to do pretty much whatever he wants to do, although it sounds like our interests for this lazy Saturday coincide pretty well: movies and videogames. We'll have dinner with Mikael (=boy) at El Metate. I wish I could bring Oleya, too.

For now I really need to do some work.

But what about weaknesses? That's more interesting, I think.

Your Top Character Strength

Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness
You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life in a genuine and authentic way. You are down to earth and without pretense; you are a "real" person.

Your Second Character Strength

Love of learning
You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.

Your Third Character Strength

Curiosity and interest in the world
You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.

Your Fourth Character Strength

Fairness, equity, and justice
Treating all people fairly is one of your abiding principles. You do not let your personal feelings bias your decisions about other people. You give everyone a chance.

Your Fifth Character Strength

Zest, enthusiasm, and energy
Regardless of what you do, you approach it with excitement and energy. You never do anything halfway or halfheartedly. For you, life is an adventure.

Via Survey

Pannnnnnndemoniummmmmm!!!

So today is the day--buy the book! Make Daryl Gregory's mom proud (I'm sure she already is ;D) and all that jazz. I got my copy at Borderlands, down the street. They weren't open when I dropped by the first time so I actually ended up checking like 5 or 6 different places in the meantime haha, but I figured they were the most likely to have a copy. Sure enough, they had three! I would've bought them all, if I could've. Happy Pandemonium Day :D

Life is so good sometimes

GTD FTW

i lose at GTD...

?

oh

yeah

we've been over this ;D

uhhhh

i was gonna say

yeah me too, but not really

i'm gonna GTD

no, you have too many T to GD

;_;

but i will G some TD

if not all T

GTD is one of my favorite T ;D

and one i'm D with T then I'll be G something else ;D

feeling motivated

also, i think i just ROCKED at talking about GTD

so we'll see if i can walk it

i think you just blew a fuse in my brain o.O

FUCK YEAH BABY!

pwnt

Life on Mars Ep 4

So good! Go watch it! That's all. And yes, that's right. I took a break from work. It was wonderful.

Double Oh -freaking- Seven

If you are having trouble getting ahold of me, it's because I'm TOO BUSY being a secret agent.

Ok catz, are you ready for this? I'm telling you what book to buy and when ;p

This is what you do: you...

BUY PANDEMONIUM DEC 15!!!

And tell your friends.

Taken by a fit of whimsy, I launch myself whole-heartedly into the promotion of a book I have not read, by an author I don't know, because of a blog post I happened across at work.

But ok, if you haven't clicked through, I'm gonna repost the salient quote yet:

Why should Pandemonium be the next book that everyone reads?

DJG: Do it for my mother. When I started my writing career, she said, You know what you ought to do, DJ? (My family calls me DJ.) You should write a best-seller.

This seemed like excellent advice. But how to execute it?

Your question, Ken, points the way. If everyone—and I mean everyone, each man, woman, and child on this planet, plus any Russians and billionaires currently in orbit—makes Pandemonium the next book they read, then my mother’s dream can become a reality. You don’t even have to read the book, you just have to buy it. Let’s pick a day in December. December 15th. On that day, go out or get online and buy a copy for yourself and one for any relative that is bed-ridden and/or computer illiterate.

Come on, people, we can do this. If we can just put aside our petty excuses—for example, that you don’t like science fiction, or that you don’t read English, or that your refugee camp doesn’t have a decent internet connection—if we can just stop all that whining for a minute and buy my book, then, finally, my mother, Thelma Gregory, will know I’m a success. For more information on Do It For Thelma Day, see my website.

So yeah, we've been blogging. And I made a couple groups, which you should join, especially the Facebook one, which I have linked again twice now. All you have to do is buy a book in like a month, and rally as many catz as you can to follow suite. It doesn't seem that hard. Someone needs to design a t-shirt, though. That I can't do.

10 Minutes of Cereal Bliss

1. The hall light was flickering when I walked out so that even though it was more light than dark, it felt like a survival horror game. It had stopped when I came back.

2. There was a guy riding a unicycle while carrying a box. It looked really difficult, but I'm glad I didn't see him wipe as I looked over my shoulder. (He could have since then, I suppose.)

3. I now have milk to pour over this DELICIOUS freaking cereal.

Loving Daniel Craig is a little like loving David Tennant...

but that don't make me love him any less ;D

Watching my first Bond movie. It wasn't meant to be like this lol. I was supposed to start at the beginning with Dr. No. Anyhow, given that I'm doing a guide for the Quantum of Solace game, I figured I should see [Casino Royale]. New movie next week! Yeeeeee-hoo.

Anyways this is trippy enough in and of itself given how much I love the other Casino Royale.

OH WOW SO GOOD

Obama-rama on Valencia

I was at a s.f. bookstore event, but right as it ended the news came through. Phew, right? And everyone was screaming and honking their horns. A party in Modern Times spilled onto the sidewalk; they offered me champagne in a plastic cup. Fireworks in the street. Every intersection! Honking cars! It was a good feeling. I had felt good on the way to the bookstore, too, because it was so quintessentially autumn--crispy, that smell the air takes on. And then on the way back I get to smile and eat the rest of my macaroon and think about how awesome THE FUTURE will be. Science fiction, indeed :D

Perfume was meant to be played on a Mac

and danced to.

42Blips Book Club Starts Today

I started a book club over at my new(ish) part-time job, 42Blips.com. We're reading Ender's Game, a chapter on Monday--that means today (!!) chapter 1 (!!)--and a chapter on Friday.

Unfortunately, I waited until exactly the lost possible instant to find a copy and ended up wandering around in the rain to all the used bookstores I could think of. That didn't work. They had OTHER Orson Scott Card books, but not that one. I guess because it's good, so people keep it when they buy it. End result: I'm now the proud owner of a shiny, new, expensive reissue. Better be worth it ;D It does say it's the "Author's Definitive Edition" though, so that is something.

The Halloween Post

So this year Halloween was a Friday. All day it was totally, gloomy, drizzly, not conducive to trick-or-treaters at all. That said, it was pretty warm, and then in the evening it cleared up. Amazing weather. I don't even know how it happened.

Of course, I figured I would be working anyhow, so it didn't really matter to me. Been very busy with some reviews and a guide for Wii Music, so I didn't really expect to do anything, although I had been craigslisting for someone to watch a Vincent Price movie with (since that is what I almost always do on Halloween).

Had mostly given up but then I got a promising e-mail, which turned into a groovy date, so that was good. I like surprise awesome. We ate sushi (at We Be, where I almost always order nigiri: hamachi, sake, nasu--they always bring miso, too), talked about videogames, and watched Vincent Price at my awesome house.

Yes, my house is awesome, still. I love living here.

Yesterday had lunch with a guy from Brookfield (WI, for those keeping track) which was trippy. He actually lived on Prospect for a while, just a few blocks down from me, although he left soon after I moved in.

If anyone has a copy of Ender's Game I can borrow, that would be great.

As for the rest of the weekend, I am finally getting my new-old laptop today, and then it will be work work work unless I can find a distraction later. I know Josh and I will watch some BSG, as well...

MOAR WAR

Started a WAR blog.

The latest craze(s)

Still on the BSG kick, and oh, what a kick it is. Started my new job at 42Blips so any and all sci-fi is go, as I mentioned. I'll be starting at MassiveBlips on Monday.

That said, I'm making a concentrated effort to study, read, etc. as well, but this means a very tight schedule.

Finally go to the doctor on Tuesday. Took all day, but the outcome is a rocker boot and a recommendation for acupuncture (which quite frankly, terrifies me, but if I can afford it she said it would actually help me get better...and, you know, I'd be able to say I had acupuncture...)

Mom has been in town for a couple days here and I feel sort of bad because mostly she and her bf just took me out for food and bought me a mattress and assorted textiles haha, but it was so nice to see them. I had actually never met him before, and last time I saw Mom was X-mas.

Actually let's discuss the bed for a minute, because I'm really happy about it. Not only do I have an Ikea foam mattress to lie on, instead of the floor, but I have one of those (fakey) down comforters I've been wanting since I was 15. When I went to France for the first time I did a homestay for a week near Nantes and the bed my host family provided me with had this AMAZING comforter. I had never used one before. So light and fluffy, so cool to the touch at first, but traps heat like crazy. I could just live in one of these things. I'm so happy I have one now. Maybe I will come around to naps now that I have somewhere so comfy to rest. (Ok, honestly, I hope not lol I'd rather just hop into bed all terribly exhausted at 1 am and drift away...mmm...so toasty...)

But yeah, Wednesday night we had fish tacos and veggie nachos at El Metate and then took a spin down to the wharf where we got sundaes at Ghiradelli's (which always manages to upset my stomach, but maybe it's worth it, I dunno). Road the cable cars--my second time (first was with Scotty and co. after an awesome afternoon on the wharf) and got dropped off at home.

Yesterday I met up with mom and took her down Valencia and 18th. Stopped at Bi-Rite (I had honey lavender and she had mint chip). Showed her Dolores and the view from the top of the hill. Later on we took BART out to Dublin to meet up with her bf and the car so we could head out to Ikea. After that we ended up at this really tasty Thai place on Folsom. My first time having mango with sticky rice, which is surprising, given my unyielding passion for mango.

Today was Tartine for lunch (No ham Croque Monsieurs left = fail, but the tomato and fromage blanc was tasty anyhow, and they gave me leftovers of their sandwiches--spicy chicken and pastrami. How do you end up with three halves of sandwiches? Cuz seriously, if those are thirds then they should think about chopping the price and the amount of sandwich in half.) They did some sight-seeing while I saw...anime for work 6_6 and then picked me up for a burrito. I guess maybe we should've gone to Cancun or somewhere. I didn't really feel like La Taqueria was at their best. Have they been slipping? Felt sort of skimpy on their ingredients (which taste the best!! Dammit!) and still have that soup syndrome. Anyways, it was nonetheless delicious and they weren't put out by the soupiness.

I guess tomorrow they are doing their own thing and then just getting ready to leave, so I may not even see them. I gotta work, so I guess that's ok. Blah.

Anyways, you can tell I've been busy. Been a little overwhelming, but I think I can handle it. I had a phone interview with GameSpot, so let's cross our fingers I get some sort of follow-up next week. Being invited in for an interview would be a start...

OMG BSG

Yeah, yeah, I know, so skip the slowpoke emote. Anyways Josh and I popped in the first disk and watched for two hours before realizing they had slapped the entire miniseries on it without breaks, haha. I jokingly suggested this, but didn't expect it to be true. We're gonna finish it tomorrow. Good stuff. I mean, at this point, I realize there's not much to say. Everybody knows how awesome Battlestar Galactica is, but I finally get to watch it now, so wewt.

Massive Sci-Fi Geekery Underway

Star Trek? Check. Battlestar Galactica? Check. Lost? Check. Heroes? Working on it. Babylon 5? Check. Doctor Who? You BET! How could I not? Anyways, so I got this job community managing at 42blips, a Sci-Fi social news site, and not only am I fresh off finishing up Firefly with Josh, but we sort of meant to steer towards Battlestar Galactica, anyhow. I can't wait! Now it's like I have a professional excuse to be a total junkie. Just gotta make sure there is time for videogames as well...

My foot is still hurt, so not playing tennis should making finding time for all of this pretty easy, but then the trick will be finding time for tennis again.

Officially sick of the web boyfriend

Bored clicking on him hoping to get some interesting event and then being disappointing when he just says, "fufufu" or something. I think my favorite part of the site was the buddy icon type interest indicators. For example, the avocado one. I <3 avocado.

Last night I met my net friend Terje irl and we cooked pumpkin coconut soup and lemon green beans. Turned out pretty good. I didn't take pictures, though.

Oh yes...the web boyfriend.

To which I say, "hell yes"

This makes sense

Your result for The Best Thing About You Test...

Discipline

Discipline is the act of enduring that which you don't dig ("the shit"), even though you could be doing something else more fun, because the shit is better for you in the long run. And you? You are remarkable. You can endure a lot of the shit, sometimes self-imposed. All 7 virtues are a part of you, but your discipline runs deepest.

Discipline is the key to success. In the picture above, the climber is finally having fun and unwinding, after a life of preparation.

Disciplined famous people: Ghandi, Jesus, Hitler

Your raw relative scores follow. 0% is low, and 100% is perfect, nearly impossible. Note that I pitted the virtues against each other, so in some way these are relative scores. It's impossible to score high on all of them, and a low score on one is just relatively low compared to the other virtues.

YOUR VIRTUES

0% Compassion

56% Intelligence

38% Humility

56% Honesty

63% Discipline

29% Courage

33% Passion

Take The Best Thing About You Test at HelloQuizzy

My brother made it look so easy

Staying off a foot is hard to do. It's not really feasible to use full crutches around the house, but I don't think I'm adept enough to use one as Josh has suggested and hopping isn't really any good. Short of crawling around I'm not sure what to do, but resting a possible injury doesn't really seem like the sort of thing that can be half-assed...

Crutches--GET

Yes, they were free off CL and now I can "walk" to wherever the closest free clinic is that can take an x-ray of my foot. Whoooo hoo. I'm excited about the rest of this week. Good games to play, gonna grab lunch with Randy tomorrow (I got a check today! Groceries!), cooking with Josh at some point, starting a hopefully on-going (paid!) English conversation partner deal, having fun despite the hurt.

And then even next Tuesday I will still be having fun, since I am getting Xav back for the awesomeness that was Monday by taking him out to a concert (Outdoorsmen!)

We might play Warhammer together, too. Josh wants in as well, so that pretty much convinces me. We'll have such a blast. I love playing MMOs with friends.

An Unprecedented Monday

Most of yesterday sucked. Then Xav invited me out for dinner and drinks with him and his friend V. They wanted sausage and I had made up my mind to go with whatever the flow would be, because I was having a horrible day and just wanted to completely relax. The special at Rosamunde was lamb with sundried tomato and potato, so I had that with onions. Pretty tasty. V felt it was intensely lamby. Xav's brat was unconventional (I warned him!) but still delicious with sauerkraut and mustard. We split a ginormous pickle and I had a sip of his oranges and cream soda.

Then we headed to The Bar, in the Castro, where an 80s night with super cheap Cosmos was gearing up. Danced until 1 am, which, I mean, when have I ever gone dancing? I did ONCE in Milwaukee, also, oddly enough, at a gay bar. Go figure. Anyhow, it was actually really fun, and on a Monday! Who does that? Apparently everyone there. We had arrived early, but it got pretty crowded after a while as V predicted.

I'm really happy I went out. Xav has always been good at cheering me up :D

Now check out the ninja I made:

Thursday?? Really?

The weeks fly by...

I did a pretty good job not getting a cold, I think! So I played tennis for two hours today and then proceeded to eat everything in sight all afternoon while getting lost in Infinite Undiscovery/crashing out of Warhammer.

I'm sort of realizing that tomorrow is going to be an insanely busy day, but at least it will start once again with tennis. I think tennis will keep me pretty happy. Today I played more doubles with Russ, which is really fun. He's friendly and helpful--recommended a coach in case I want lessons (which I totally do, as soon as I'm not so damned poor). Then Anatoly showed up and we played a singles set in which he eventually schooled me. It's sort of like being back in high school JV though because of how many of the points still depend on whether we can serve/return/hit our groundstrokes for realz.

Wherein our hero refuses to get a cold

WHAT THE FREAK

Updating video drivers

and other drivers. And will defrag, hopefully. I wish I knew more about computers, but of course, the same can be said for a lot of things.

I'm just trying to get my work done, by which I mean, play lots of Warhammer.

M&Ms Premiums

I meant to blog about how awesome tennis with Anatoly was this week, since we played some actual games, and even doubles with this really friendly older couple.

BUT instead I'm going to point out this FABULOUS quiz (hurr) that you can take at the website of M&Ms Premiums (which come in flavors like mocha, triple chocolate, and mint). I'm not quite as outdoorsy as they think I am, but I like that they called me "clearheaded." It's pretty much completely offensive, as the whole thing is marketed towards girls--not just girls, but the girliest girl girl girls in the universe. Josh stumbled upon the official site by clicking a banner ad (Premium M&Ms? Are they made with Swiss chocolate or something?) at a recipe site... Anyways, if you take the quiz, you'll know what I mean. They don't even pretend a guy could possibly be taking it, even though I bet they wouldn't mind if a guy decided that Raspberry Almond M&Ms sounded pretty good. Poor Josh is still sucked into the website making an avatar (I told him I didn't even want to know, heh) but hopefully he'll escape soon.

"The Latest Rig"

For whatever reason, this became the in-joke among Andrew's friends from high school after one of them asked me if I had it. I was at Andrew and Heather's wedding reception today at the Lafayette Park Hotel. Pretty nice place. Had a classical quartet playing in the courtyard, sparkling apple cider, tasty beef and plenty of veggies for lunch with a chocolate fountain and assorted dippers for dessert rather than cake because the cakes they tried "didn't taste like anything." Plus chocolate fountains are just more fun.

It was nice to see them, as I hadn't in a while. I didn't know anyone else there, but was welcomed into the high school pals crowd and even given a ride back to the BART. (I cabbed it on the way.) There were some little kids running around, too, dancing a bit, which was funny because Andrew and Heather were very insistent there not be dancing at the party, but the kids were allowed because they were tiny.

Andrew's sister seems really interesting. She wrote a book but I can't remember the title. Has to do with Japanese night clubs, or something. I should read it...after I ask him to remind me what it's called.

The 18th Street Block Party

I went, but I did not take any pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps I should have, but sadly, you will not get your visual fill of this event from me.

Actually, I didn't last very long. My main objective was to buy a meal ticket for some "Fulton Valley chicken grilled under a brick with a Tuscan bread salad." What is bread salad, you may ask? It turns out to be this delicious greens, tomatos, onions affaire with, instead of croutons, soggy bread. I may sound like I'm being snarky, or something, but that soggy bread was actually quite delicious. You might instead call it "marinated" or "soaked" or something, but soggy just fits the texture so well.

Lots of people milling around. A pig being rotisseried before our very eyes. Dancing children. Free yerba mate soda and apple samples. Two police officers taking away a guy in a khaki vest that said, "CIA SWAT" on it.

The Psychotherapists were on stage, and turned out to actually be a bunch of young kids, like middle school? Oh, silly me, here is their myspace. They sang about giant robots, cannibalistic monkeys, and a nerd named Hector. It was a good backdrop for carving up my chicken with a compostible fork and knife. They wrapped up right as I wrapped up and then my options were either dessert or...

Well, see, that's the thing. I realized I could go home and play more Mother 3 while enjoying a rootbeer float (without spending more dollars) and the hot hot hot sunny sunny hot hot sunny outing came to an abrupt end :D Worth going, though. It's on until 4 if you're in the hood.

Melty Tennis Heat

Today at Dolores there was a really shouty fellow. I thought at first he was freaking out at the other guy, but it turns out he was just freaking out at himself. I guess that's a little better, but come on. I mean, everyone has their frustration moves, but they don't have to be quite so mean and violent. He would roar and swear. It was awkward.

My tennis pal didn't care, much. Lucky! I was constantly terrified of incurring this fellow's wrath. Actually, though, his outrage contrasted heavily with his decent manners. He's just wayyyy serious about tennis. He kinda looked us up and down when we came onto the courts. I'm serious about tennis, too, but what that means is that we're gonna start working on serves next week. Hahaha. This guy was way better than that.

After playing for nearly two hours (in the HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOTNESS of this bizarre San Francisco heat wave), we did what anyone at Dolores Park should've done: eaten ice cream at Bi-Rite.

I always meant to blog about how much I love Bi-Rite, and why I liked them better than Mitchell's (where I went for the first time last weekend), but I'm not gonna do it now. Suffice it to say, a kid's scoop of toasted coconut (or ANY FLAVOR) is the perfect way to end...anything.

Tomorrow's fakey pizza plans, today

This pizza needs...something. It has: plain crust with olive oil, very small amount of leftover mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, olives, parmesan, pepper, red pepper (the spice.) Tasty, but not quite mealish.
What I am thinking is that next time either do this with pesto or garlic. Tempted to bake garlic into the crust. Also, more mozzarella. There was not enough cheese happening on this pizza. Luckily, we do have more tomatoes, so I can make another one.

I also came up with this wacky cinnamon-raisin pizza bread thing, where you put cinnamon in the crust and press raisins into the top. Brush with button and sprinkle sugar. That sounds stupid tasty. I might do it one of these days.

Tomorrow's fakey pizza plans

I'm gonna make a pizza with all the cheese in the fridge (ok, not all of it) plus a ton of heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil. We'll see what happens.

Also, let me just say that this week officially fails at being awesome. I can only hope my luck turns around by Friday at 2:30, when I have my interview at IGN.

Pictures for Sad Children

makes fun of the book I am reading and my entire life, back to back.

Oh yeah-- pix from Puttanesca night!

Josh bought capers--the jar was so hard to open!!--and this cheese and bread! It was clearly time to make Puttanesca, finally.


We had fresh basil in the fridge (but no oregano, even dried : /) and Josh grated some fresh Parmesan to sprinkle.


In addition to black and green olives, we had some of these mixed ones chopped up and thrown in there. So it was almost just like when I went to Canada with dad.


For some reason it turned out a bit too salty--maybe too many anchovies? But it was still pretty delicious.


See?

A really great time at tennis today

despite the post work-out burrito being less than awesome. (I'm tempted to write my first yelp post so that others aren't tempted by the location of this taqueria. How can you go wrong with 18th and Valencia? Who knows? I wonder if that's how they stay in business. Not that it was BAD, but there are far better places.) Sorta wish I had sucked it up and walked another couple of blocks with the last of my useful silver change.

Anyways, we played at Dolores for a change and what a beautiful day. Labor Day, so everyone was out and about. The line at Bi-Rite was typically long and the park was packed full of picnickers. The wait for a court went surprisingly quick, though. We sat behind a couple of adorable little girls playing. I would guess maybe...7 year olds? 8? I dunno. I don't see enough kids.

When we got on the court the really cute one (shoulder length black hair in tight waves, fuchsia cargo shorts and a t-shirt) asked if it was our first time playing there. She was so precocious and adorable. When I said, "No, have you played here before?" She answered. "Yes. Are you a boy or a girl?"

Hahaha, I love kids. They can never tell! "I'm a girl."

"Oh, cuz you have short hair and look like a boy." To be fair, I wear my boy shorts to tennis because the deep pockets carry lots of balls (no...pun...intended...*snicker*)

"That's ok," I said.

I sort of hope I run into her again. I'd like to make friends with such a cute and outgoing kid.

It was very sunny and quite windy, but we played about an hour and a half. Or maybe just an hour. Not sure how long we were waiting. Got some good shots. I think we really are a pretty good match. I hope I'm not just saying that, but I guess he wouldn't want to keep playing with me if he didn't feel like he gets anything out of it.

I love San Francisco. Xav always says it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself, because I remark on the sentiment so often, but man, being out on days like today is just the greatest.

Skype

I finally installed Skype, although I don't have a mic or a headset or anything, hahaha. Not sure really why I need it at the moment. Get in touch if you want my info.

I might be getting a haircut

I haven't seen this in ages, but she's still the first girl I think of when I think "pixie cut."

A Tasty Pizza I Made

I cobbled together recipes from here and here.

Fig, Prosciutto, and Chevre Pizza

Crust:

1 cup luke warm water
1/4 oz envelope of active dry yeast
3 cups flour
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp fennel
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp salt

Topping:

a little more olive oil
fresh mozzarella (I used several medallions spaced pretty generously)
prosciutto (I used a whole package...probably like six big slices or something all ripped up?)
red onion (I used 3/4 of a med-large one, probably could've just done the whole thing)
fresh figs (sliced up all tasty)
chevre (I bought a four oz pack, but didn't use it all.)

Preheat the oven to 450. Dissolve the yeast in the water. Mix in the rest of the crust stuff and let it rise for 45 min. Then poke it a bunch and do your best to stretch it out to 1/4 in thickness. I didn't do that great a job, but it still came out terrific, so don't worry toooooo much. Brush it with a tiny bit olive oil and prebake it a couple minutes (without forgetting about it) while you...

Saute the onion and prosciutto in a tiny bit of olive oil for a while. Like, get it brown and caramelize-y. (Don't forget the pizza crust prebaking.) Then once that is pretty done you can turn it off and get your medallions read on your crust. Next add the prosciuttonion mix, then the figs, and crumble chevre on top.

Bake the whole thing for 15-20 minutes (till the edges are brown and it looks like food).

It is soooo tasty. We ate half of it (half in the fridge--w00t!) with a green salad plus heirloom tomatoes. I made the dressing Randy taught me:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
a blob of brown mustard
salt and pepper
a minced shallot (or tonight I just used some red onion)

Just whip all of it together and drip it on whatever. So tasty.

Phone Interview

With IGN, either Wednesday or Thursday. I wonder if I can finagle my way into an in-house spot. That would be pretty fancy, I think.

On Spontaneity

So I've realized that I'm the type of person who is up for bonus spontaneity. I was worried I was one of those people who actually enjoys living and dying by a schedule, but while I make my fair share of To Do lists, I'm happy to report that this is not the case.

I like having things to look foward to and I like knowing when my work needs to be done. In fact, it's quite frustrating to not have any plans. Full-on spontaneity 24/7 is, therefore, quite frustrating, but interpolating something spontaneous into vaguely (or un)defined time is hot.

That last bit is the key that saves me--I don't plan everything. Actually I used to try, and that was just an exercise in failure, haha. It's better to just set some milestones and phone the rest in as you go.

More Sackboy Thoughts

I've decided he will be the wallpaper of my new laptop, when I get it. I'm sure someone has made awesome Sackboy wallpaper...

Finally!

Japan pix are up in Facebook :D

Tennis woes and otherwise all cured by Sackboy

This little bugger always makes my day.

Even when I revert to my "comfier" tennis grip and hurt my hand. Grah! What to do, what to do. I hit way better forehands with this grip, but it hurts after a while. I think I get really into it and loosen up or something, resulting in MASSIVE JOINT SMASH of doom.

Came, kayaked, conquered

What? Man, I never blog anymore and the fact of the matter is that I don't have TIME at the end of my JAM PACKED days to kick back and reflect. Sometimes I reflect during the day, but I can't call for a break and post it right then, so the moment passes and yet again we are left with a huge gap and a pointless whiny "I'm not posting in my blog" post.

Hurr.

See now I can't even remember what I was going to post. Oh, maybe it was something about my new pseudo-not-really-studying tactic of compiling videogame related vocabulary at the game-no-vocab blog. In fact, I think I will change the title to make it that stupid Japanglish, because ゲームの単語 looks sort of intimidating.

I bet it wasn't, though. It seems like I should have a lot more to say about all the crazy gourmet food we ate and the cocktail hours and the dogs and the lake and the Canadians, but I don't really. I mean, I could, but then my flight back got delayed for four hours and I didn't get home until 3 am. I'm just glad to be back.

I REALLY missed San Francisco. More than the Internet, if you can believe that. It was fun to see my Dad and hang out in the woods, but man, having a sunny day in San Francisco today really made me smile...and bounce off the walls. I'm such a dork when I'm happy XD

Whut? I post in a blog?

Hurr, I'm on vacation until the 12th so this is just the post that tells you not to expect any posts. I know that's hard news to take after no updates for almost a month, but man...MAN!

I had tasty paella tonight for dinner in Flemington, which is where my dad's gf lives. We're leaving at 5:30 am tomorrow, stopping on the way for an egg sandwich, and driving to Canada--whoo!!

Did I just lose my usb cable AGAIN?

Give me a break! Did I even get to use it? Come the freak ON...

You can tell packing for E3 is going well. My laptop is offline for some indiscernible reason, and the usb cord for my camera is gone...again...somehow. I give up. At least I'm not moving anymore. I really need to just find everything and keep it in my backpack. Forever.

I'm packing one bag full of clothes plus the Wii, and one bag full of laptop and chargers, travel diversions, etc. Hoping to fit my actual bag bag inside one of those, but it may not happen.

I'm so tired. Maybe I'll have a nap for an hour before I go. Or 45 min, at least *sigh*

Tme for some firsts

My first 7 inch, from the band my friend/colleague is in, The Outdoorsmen. I went to the Knockout to see them (another first--they have an awesome Godzilla portrait that...is it glow in the dark? Rock!) I had Electrick Limeade--what an awesome drink, despite the somewhat overblown name.

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First time playing tennis at Dolores Park. I know, I know! So intimidating! We were waiting for a court and before the guys who finished were even completely of it yet we were shooed on by the people behind us in line. Neither of us were pros, but we had fun. Seemed like a pretty decent match, maybe. Just hit the ball for a little over an hour (it was hot!) and then got ice cream at Bi-Rite. Well, he had iced coffee next door...but I can't have coffee, so ;p

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Sunday is E3! My first! So I have a TON of stuff to do before my first trip to LA. I should get down to it, probably.

Who is the NARUTIMATE NINJA?

OH yez, me. Because I am now completely caught up with the Naruto manga. I guess that's the entire point of this blog post...

so...



Now I can just wait for updates like everyone else. I realize it's not such a big deal to have read all of Naruto for a true nerd, but uh, I'm kind of a wanna-be so I'm excited :D

July 4th in The Mission and Beyond

Oh, a Friday holiday! Somehow despite the fact that my schedule doesn't really change, I was already mistaking it for Saturday on Thursday, which I guess I was mistaking for Friday. In reality, it wasn't Saturday until TODAY. Battle Hooch tonight. Wewt!

I think many things can currently best be described by one of my favorite if less-oftenly used words: copacetic. I have found that magical space and time.

Yesterday I worked, went to my roomie's friends' BBQ, came home, and worked, socialized via the Internet. Met a slew of new people at that BBQ, not sure if any of them will stick or not (in terms of me--I'm sure I'll see at least some of them again, as they are friends of the roommate!) It's not too early to tell, it's just copacetic and nothing more.

His friends have a particularly large and awesome...condo? in the Haight, to which we walked from our place in The Mission. You know, it's a great walk. San Francisco, in general, is a great walk. I have full confidence that I would thoroughly enjoy walking to the wharf, to Ocean Beach, to the embarcadero--to pretty much anywhere at all worth going--if given a day of copacetic weather.

And I think in San Francisco, copacetic is often the best you can hope for (!!) It's not often sheer brilliance, but it does seem to more than do you good. Yesterday it turned pretty cold after a while, though, so I peeled out of the party a bit before Josh did.

Today will entail more games. Two of these assignments will wrap up quickly (Monday and Tueday, I imagine) and then I can get to my belated review of Tactics A2. To continue dancing around my main plot point (as of yet unresolved, but rather perfectly fitting the description, copacetic), The Bourne Identity is...either copacetic or slightly better. I haven't decided. Probably just a solid copacetic. It may well depend on how this awkward and frustrating tank fight turns out--unprecedented pain and death, so far!

Last night there were fireworks out the window, which I barely witnessed. The Mission was full of hoodlums shooting off their own (illegal?) varieties, so the cops were out. There weren't nearly as many as I thought there would be, though. I mean, I remember in the Bronx it was just crazy firecrackers, but then maybe the laws are different there. I stayed up till like 3, though, and there were still bangs going off then, on occasion.

Of to work with me, now! Work and a shower. This is the contents of my day, pre-concert. I am happy about it, but at the same time a bit miffed because I know that many more tank deaths await...

Yum, in fact

I meant to put pepper on this sandwich, but then I forgot. It's sort of like taking pictures of your food, adding pepper. If you are hungry and enthusiastic about eating, you will forget.

At least if you are me.

It is also like adding Parmesan cheese to pizza, but that's not really something to do all the time, anyhow.

So, I think all the pipes in the building run past my room. No matter who is taking a shower, I seem to wake up. This time, though, it was the neighbors directly through the wall. I lie awake and take a minute to decide from whence disturbances appear to be arising, and this morning it was definitely there. Our bathroom is also just through my wall, but it is the other wall.

I listened to a LOT of music yesterday and somehow I still have someone else's stuck in my head! But then, this is a good thing. Much better than the 90 thousand-th repitition of Buddy Holly (which...isn't mine either. Blame that one on Rock Band.) Of course, now that I say that I'm the danger has become imminent.

Oops, I meant to take the trash out yesterday.

I suppose now that I am awake I can use my consciousness to my advantage. The start of the day was me finally feeling that maybe I've slept long enough on the floor. For instance, my neck is killing me. Perhaps the key to floor sleep is an extra pillow, but I don't actually have one of those. It would be awkward to use the small, but bulky throw pillows that came with my (momentarily) superfluous couch, but clearly my sleeping self needs something, because I keep waking up with my ugly monster either behind my head or very near it.

The continuation of the day will be work, work, work, and this I am grateful for. Sometimes I don't feel thoroughly prepared, but when I wake up early I have more time.

PS - The poster in the background of this picture is brilliant. Like, prime Euro-bishi. Wowow. Also, I still really like that blog. It never gets less interesting.