the office

Now that I work in an office, it seems that the episodes of the show are much funnier. Not that I think I couldn't really relate before, but I think I now better understand the context. Speaking of working in an office, I think I need to simply wear earplugs all the time. I get so easily annoyed by all the random noise and chatter around me! Someone in the office has their ring tone set to sound like meditation bells and it's really loud and clear. Which is great I guess, but not for someone who thinks it's time to start quiet reflection. And because of the short nature of the ring, I can't find out who it is (so I can smash their phone). I swear, when I get an iPhone (and I WILL, heaven help me!), my ring tone is going to be set to the sound howler monkeys during mating season and the volume will be at maximum.

happy made up holiday!

I was at Target tonight and it looked like a tornado hit the all pink Valentine's Day section. I have a new theory about why there are so many holidays. Like the answer to many a question, I think people are just bored. Sure companies want to make money, but I think the general populace will do anything to be entertained easily, and a feel good holiday with lots of products being pink or red is a sure fire thing.

The upside to all of the brouhaha though is that we can all take a moment to consider whom we love. I don't think you have to be in a relationship for that to happen, either. I remember many a past V-day spent single. I'm pretty sure I was bummed about being single of course, but it was the best day to commiserate with friends for sure! Bring on the food, drink, and/or games :)

I think I might have been going somewhere with this missive, but the deep thought train just left the station without me on it. Time for bed!

another day, another lunch

So I've discovered that not only does iTunes have a stream for Live 105 (which is FAR less kludgey than the stream from the Live 105 site), they also stream NPR (among lots of other crap that I don't want to listen to - power ballads of the 80's anyone?). So instead of getting the occasional brain building hour or so of NPR on the drive to or fro, I got a mega dose of NPR today for about 3 hours whilst I mucked around in illustrator.

I now know way more than I've ever wanted to know about how nominations are handled, what super delegates are (kind of), and how Obama could possibly win the popular vote for being nominated but still might lose out to Hillary (the super delegate thing).

Beyond politics, they had a very interesting guest come on and talk about her article in the Atlantic.com called Marry Him! It's about "settling" (definitions vary for what's considered "settling") for someone to marry once a woman reaches 40 or so. I heard a couple of really sad callers tell their stories, but also a few people calling in to tell the world to wait for passion plus connection. I haven't read the entire article yet, but I'm sure it's meant more to show a particular point of view and perhaps offer hope or at least discourse a day before the manufactured day of love.

I say, life is hard and often lonely. Even if you're already married, I think having a good group of friends and/or a good connection with family is just as important. No one makes it alone. No one. And if by some miracle they do, they probably wished they had company along the way.

the internet is just a fad

I admit it! I play way too much Warbook. Also, I tend to zone out in meetings. Can't someone just tell me what to do? I guess I'll learn to contribute one day and say stuff like, "maximize", "be the thought leader", and "these pretzels are making me thirsty!". Of course, I can't say anything now because I really don't know what people are talking about. I'm hoping that in a few months I get the jargon down. Plus, I'm working on getting more sleep to stay healthier and get stuff done.

Get this, it's almost 9am and I've done a bunch of small chores (that invariably add up by the end of the week) and I'm blogging (my catharsis). Going to bed around 11 really does seem to help and this could be the full-time schedule adjustment I was looking for. Of course, a lifetime of hating to get up in the morning wont go away quietly, so we'll see how long this will last!

Here's a shot of how the hallway fusebox looked during the electrical work (right now there's a cover over the box, but there are still several large holes in the drywall - sigh). We finally have updated stuff, which so far looks like it has made the dryer work properly once again (test load number 2 coming soon). The electrician, A & Zack's, did a great job. His son is apprenticing with him and beyond really knowing what they're doing, they're quite friendly too. The dad asked me where I worked, and when I told him, he said he'd check it out. It was great because he doesn't really use the internet and gets along just fine. I'm glad everyone isn't like him (because I would have not had much work for the last 10 years), but it's nice to see that you can live a perfectly happy and productive life without Googling anything. Crazy!

I voted! My caucaus for President.

Here are some pics from Cathryn's first hockey game. We went with Merima and John and got to watch the Sharks win it 3-2 in a well paced, well played, thoroughly entertaining game. We got to drink beer, eat delicious pub style food, and even found great free parking!



Here are some shots from our weekend in Marina. It was very stormy most of the time, but we enjoyed the energetic atmosphere and found really good local places to eat. Italian dinners with caiperina (I got special treatment from the owner because he was Brazilian and I happened to be wearing my Brazil Futbol shirt :), fresh made donuts, and micro brews all were had by driving around a bit (thanks to Cathryn's adventurous spirit - I woulda just went to the tourist trap restaurant on the resort grounds). At one point I ended up running around on the beach in shorts in probably 50 degree weather. Got chilled and had a headache for the rest of the day, but boy was it fun! More pictures to come...

please pass the dramamine

I got to catch Cloverfield the other day with the online store crew and it was loads of fun! We had lunch at a tasty pizza place in Santana Row and then it was off to catch the headache causing camera work that is Cloverfield. Not that it's such a horrible thing, as the way the footage is shot helps to suspend disbelief which is what all movies are about, yes? The critters are creepy, the running around fierce, and the screams of horror/pain keep on comin'. It's great fun and actually probably best caught on the small screen. Even then, you'd probably have to look away every once in a while to avoid dry heaves if you're like me.

The biggest effect this movie had on me was the feeling that I should be in much better shape. There was A LOT of running around and at one point, climbing 47 stories of stairs to retrieve an injured starlet. I'd be Cloverfield food in about 3 blocks - if that!

It's amazing that these old theaters are still around. Besides us, there were only 4 other people in the theater. A retired looking couple overhead saying, "This is the WORST movie I've ever seen!" and some other couple in the front who I think left sometime during the movie. Quitters!

Ah, old movie theaters. The land this place is on in San Jose would probably make more money as a housing development, a farmer's market, or a lemonade stand.

Probably I don't know.

Okay, so it's been a while since I've blogged. I've been mostly adjusting to a full time position and its accompanying 45-80 minute commute to and from work. I find that my ability to blog, answer emails and even phone calls has been pretty severely curtailed. I know lots of people do everything I listed and more (kids, TV, clubs, skeet shooting, etc.), so it's probably just a matter of scheduling. I hope to figure it out soon. I started this blog entry on Jan 13 at 3:02AM (blogger logged it), and I will finish it tonight!

I uploaded a bunch of pics that I thought the blogosphere might enjoy and there will be a random narrative. These images aren't in any particular order.

A foggy night on our block. I leaned on the door frame and held still for this long exposure. Be sure to click on this image, as I uploaded a really big version.

Our brand new fake pre-lit Xmas tree. It's tall and slender like a super model, but with less vomiting and more personality. I picked this up the day before all trees at Target went on clearance for 30% off. The next week, I found that some of the exact same trees were still in stock, so I bought one at reduced price and then returned it with my original receipt for a do it yourself price adjustment. Not my most honorable moment, but the exchange netted a cool 30 something buckaroos. So we got a great tree at a great price. Thanks Target!

I bought my sister a Sunshine Buddy for Xmas off of eBay and the seller included these really fun rubber bands. When you stretch them, they're round like a normal rubber band, but relaxed they take the shape of small rubbery figures. Fun!


The bottom of a delicious ice cold Pepsi. I think this was an especially good batch of cans. We never did get around to writing down the lot number.

Me circa 1980 with a 5 pound bar of Hershey's. Because we operated a liquor store at the time, it was easy to get the 50, 100, or whatever amount of Hershey's wrappers you needed to collect in order to cash in a very special chocolately offer. If you ever want your kids to not like chocolate, let them ravage a 1/3 of a 5 pound chocolate bar in less than a week, and then because it's a giant freaking bar of chocolate and takes up a lot of room in the fridge, force them to finish the rest of it over the following 4 weeks even though they can't stand the sight of chocolate any more.

My first meal at the Apple cafeteria was apple stuffed pork loin with seasoned potato wedges and steamed vegetables. I've since discovered other yummy dishes there like wood fired pizzas, curly fries, bacon cheese burgers, burritos, and got healthier fare at the double salad bar, and make your own sandwich bar. The food is very reasonably priced and quite tasty :P

Stairs in the men's room?

The above three shots were taken at the newly renovated Grand Lake Theater in Oakland. It's quite beautiful and I hope many people keep going there so it stays in business. We were there to watch the re-release of Blade Runner. The theater operator came down before the show to tell us about the quality of the print, where to sit for the best sound, and a bit about the theater. It was really neat to actually feel like we were supporting a business instead of being just another butt in the theater bringing in money. The whole experience was really good. I love Blade Runner and to see it on the big screen so clearly was a visual feast. By comparison, the DVD is muddy (though I'm sure the remastered versions are of the same quality that we saw that night). As a bonus, there's delicious sushi nearby.

I can't remember exactly what we were eating this night, but I do remember that the gravy we made from powdered gravy mix looked like this by the end of the meal. Even looking at it now I feel the urge to fling it on someone.