a new sort of adventure: San Francisco!
July 12, 2008
I’m going to try something new here. Instead of sticking all the videos at the end, I’ll embed them throughout the post. That way they can do substantive work (in terms of explaining what’s going on in the post) instead of being more like an after thought.
So! To explain what this post is all about I give you video one!
So steps one and two were finding food and making our way to WALL-E, which was playing at the big shopping center up Market.
Now in terms of food in San Francisco I have what some might find to be a weird goal and practice. I try and avoid going to any and all big chains. Why? Because we’re in San Francisco! There are like a trillion zillion good one-of-a-kind restaurants around and they’re all yelling out into the ether, “try meeeeeee!” So I make it a bit of a goal to try lots of new places. But, sadly, meal number one today didn’t align with this mission. First off, we were starving. It was already eleven and neither of us had eaten anything. Secondly, we ended up not feeling like Tartine (we were more in a lunch mood) and that BBQ place I was referring to wasn’t open yet. So basically as we made our way up Market we were just looking for anything edible! Walking on an empty tummy is just no good. And, as I’ve been told by numerous people, I have a bit of what’s been called a “hunger grouch” — this basically means that when I’m hungry I get a little feisty and, well, grouchy. So Eric, fearing the emerging grouch, was quite keen on Subway. Plus, I swear to you, in LA Eric and I would eat at Subway at least two times a week most weeks. So, to my dismay, we ended up at Subway.
After that we made our way to WALL-E. It was totally adorable. Seriously, WALL-E is the cutest little guy ever. There were more “awww” moments that I can count. Plus, I love that Pixar always puts one of those short movies right before the main feature — and this time I was laughing aloud through that one, too! (seriously: it was adorable). The only contentious bit about WALL-E was how it equates consumerism/the stereotypical “American” lifestyle with obesity. There’s no denying that WALL-E has a political/green message to deliver, and it’s a good message (delivered in a most Platonic of ways!), I just think the obesity thing could have been left out. And, as a nice Slate article also points out, obesity is most rampant not with the upper consuming classes but instead with the lowest - with those who are eating the most cheap fast food and don’t have access (nor the time to prepare) a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. So judging by the trajectory laid out today, I’d guess in a techno-dystopic future like that there’d be a lot of really skinny really stupid and really ‘plastic surgery pretty’ people floating around instead.
but either way! The movie was super duper good and adorable. You must go see it.
After the movie Eric and I were reading for our epic exploring day. So we continued down Market until we hit water. Then, a bit hungry again, we saw this little cafe area near the Ferry terminal. When we went over to check it out (and get a few of the new Bay bridge… which we couldn’t locate) we stumbled upon an entire giant indoor market thing! I’m talking serious awesomeness here people! A bunch of speciality scrumptious sellers all lined up inside that big building. And Eric and I both being Taurus, were jumping up in down for these earthly delights!
After looking at pretty much every stall, we decided to get a snack of lobster chowder. Here’s the video of that (oh and my “wait for it” comments have to do with getting Eric to wait to have his first bite of yummy chowder until I could film it… he wasn’t that enthusiastic about cooperating with that bit!)
So after looking at some more shops (where I stumbled upon the most pretty of flowers!!) we continued our trek down the Pier area. Passing Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Warf we came upon a little mechanical museum that was showcasing a bunch of games and the like from years past. We invested a quarter to watch a flip-book-esque movie and then headed back to the road.
Next up: sugar! I was starting to loose my spunk so we needed a pick me up! And, in order to complete our touristy vibe, Ghirardelli Square was the obvious choice.
On our way up to the ice cream place of wonders I saw this cupcake place and just had to take a picture. Do you notice anything amusing about the line of people waiting to buy cupcakes? Awesomeness.
After having a good laugh about that we got a cookies and cream rootbeer float. And it was just what the doctor ordered. Of course while waiting in line we saw these two girls, the younger of the two couldn’t be older than 15, who had (sorry) the dumbest piercing… ever. Alright, you know your bottom lip? Now, right under that imagine moving in about a pinky fingernail length in on both sides. Got it? Not stick a metal ball there (on both sides). That’s the piercing they had. Why?! I have no idea. What is aesthetically pleasing about that? And, perhaps more importantly, how the hell did a girl that young get that piercing?! It was pretty obvious that she was following in her big sister’s footsteps, which was sort of sad. However, she was blazing her own path when, while we were all in line, she came up behind me and petted my hair (without asking!) and said how much she liked it! I still am always shocked when people do that (”that” being touch my hair without asking first). But oh well.
So we had our ice cream and then made our way up and over the hills. By the time we got back to the Mission we were hungry and decided to eat at the Ethiopian place down on Valencia. I’d been there once before and really liked it so I was totally up for that.
But on the way we decided to play a game. We shall call it the Hipster-Watch game. We watched all the hipsters ride down on their fixies and single speeds, decked out in their hipster attire, and tried to determine what the ultimate hipster exemplar (both male and female) would look like. It was good clean fun. And, for further research, we entered one such hipster shop to get a better feel for the hipster style. I think I’ll hold off on saying much more and instead do a post entirely dedicated to explaining this hipster life. I find it highly entertaining. Eric has informed me that if and when he moves to SF he will most definitely be taking up this style. And I don’t think he was joking.
After all that was done we ate! Yay! We were both starving.
Afterwards, to practice our hipster ways a bit, we headed down to Ritual for a latte (coffee latte for me, chai latte for Eric) and sweet foods.
To see the Ritual video you must, temporarily, go here. The server is supposedly too busy so I can’t embed it. LAME!
But anyways! That was our SF exploring day! If you’re curious, we walked approximately 10.5 miles (in flip flops mind you). To see a map of this walk, click here.
And to see all the photos, click here.
And ok ok, one hipster picture!
A Decidedly Delectable Day
June 20, 2008
What a great day I had today! I’ve felt this quixotic whimsical goodness rushing over me for hours now and it’s time I write some of this down (so that I can focus on actually packing!) 
First off, today was my first time biking to work with the SF2G group. SF2G stands for “San Francisco to Google” and it’s basically a group made up primarily of Googlers and ex-Googlers who ride from San Francisco to Google. Friday is NRLB (No Rider Left Behind) Day – which made it the perfect day for me to try the group out for the first time.
First I should say that I’ve been very very excited about this group. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted to move to San Francisco and live near the Mission was that this group existed and meets most mornings at Ritual coffee (which, I’m sure you’ve gathered, is located in the Mission). The only problem (and thing I’ve been stressed about) was that I had no real grasp for the skill level of the group. Were these people going to all be at the level of the UCLA Cycling Team (in which case I was going to get my ass handed to me on a daily basis) or were they more a mesh pot of lots of different skill levels and sets where people from all over the spectrum could join together and ride (in which case, I’d be fine)?
Well let me just paste in a (slightly modified) clip from the email I sent out to the group after our ride today:
“Now that I have a spare moment I wanted to say what a blast I had this morning. And, it being my very first SF2G ride, I thought I’d write up a little somethin’ somethin’…
So my ride report really has to start the night before… well actually we’ll start even before that. So I’ve been super excited about this SF2G business for some time. I just moved up here from the Santa Monica office on Monday — and down in Santa Monica I rode with the UCLA Triathlon team (where I was, perhaps unsurprisingly, on the UCLA Triathlon team)So anyways, I’ve been very excited but very nervous. Nervous primarily because I had no idea what the skill level was going to be AND I’ve been on quite a few "no drop" rides that ended up being drop rides. And, since I had no idea how to get to Google, getting dropped would be a problem.
So flash forward to last night - there I was laying on my temporary bed (read: my couch) last night at like 12:30AM thinking "shit, I’m going to be dropped… and then I’m going to be screwed". This went on for some time but it seems eventually I fell asleep.
Then I woke up this morning and was like "Oh god… what do these people carry their stuff in? Do they carry stuff? Are they all super speed demons who would never carry any sort of extra weight (like flip flops) because it’ll slow them down? But I need my flip flops! Well…I could walk around barefoot today… but then again probably not…Oh god oh god oh god…."
Eventually I got out the door (with my flip flops).And from there on out it was smooth sailing (except for that one "mountain biking" second on that narrow evil bit). Everyone was super friendly and it was great to see so many people riding!
So thanks everyone! When I get back in two weeks you’ll definitely see me out there a lot. Bayway any day!”
So as you can see, the ride went SUPER well. I ended up sticking with the lead pack. How awesome is that?! Plus, I met some really cool people. And when we made it to Google we all got breakfast together and hung out for a second before heading off to the showers and work. Oh And! Throughout the day we were all emailing each other little random things. And! And! They even invited me out tonight… but I had to decline this time (mainly because I’ve been out with different people every day this week and I need some chill time… and I really wanted to write this post [hehe]… and I need to pack for tomorrow!)
So there’s the scoop on SF2G. I think when I get back from Europe I’m going to try and aim to ride in to work three times a week. I’m so excited about it I could freakin explode into a trillion rays of sunshine and goodness!!
The next awesome thing I want to share is really about where I (literally) am right now. I’m writing this post from the deck of my house, where I’m looking out on my big giant lush wonderful beautiful garden (with Redwood trees and lots of flowers!) that I just watered today (and watering plants always puts me in a super positive mood… probably because I sing to them as I water… you know, because they and all the fairies that live in/around them really like that sort of thing.) To the side you’ll see a few pictures of what this all looks like. Can you believe this is a house in San Francisco?!
What is also making this sitting-on-the-porch business so awesome comes from three additional points of goodness:
First: I’m listening to awesome music.
Second: I walked across to the most awesome grocery store in the history of time (Rainbow Grocery Store) and got lots of delicious things for dinner (where this includes: Kombucha drink, a super juicy and tangy nectarine, and the strongest soft goat cheese EVER [mini story: they have a cheese person at the awesome grocery store and she asked me what I was craving and I said “a really strong goat cheese” She said “Oh, man, I’ve got the perfect thing” – she then gave me a taste of it. It was delicious!! I then, in all my joyousness, fell in love with three things: the store, the cheese, and the cheese chick.].
Third: I bought myself a new camera for my trip – and the pictures you’re seeing of my backyard are the first pictures I’ve taken with it. Not bad, hey? I’m just happy I now know how to upload pictures and all that. Because starting tomorrow I’m going to be uploading a friggin mega-load of them!!
This then brings me to the final awesomeness that is currently going on: My European Extravaganza!! Right after I finish this post, finish my Kombucha drink, and calm down just a little, I have to go inside and pack up because at 11AM tomorrow morning Leslie is picking me up and we’re going to SFO baby!! Next stop: Europe! 
For two weeks of nonstop action-packed adventure!!!!!! I’ve never even been to Europe before so this is a huge deal for me. I’ve fantasized about this sort of backpacking trip for years and years and years. And finally I have the money and guts to just go do it. It’s going to be epic!
I won’t bother saying anything more about the trip because starting tomorrow (probably starting tomorrow from the plane) I will be posting to this blog EVERYTHING about my trip. I am really really going to aim and post every single day. I want to post videos and pictures and stories and everything!!! Our first stop is Dublin – where we have some long layover. But then… to Rome!!
So today was and continues to be a decidedly delectable day! 
Graduation Time! Day One Complete!!
June 13, 2008
So it’s 12:30AM and I’m running on but a few wee hours of sleep (had to catch a 6:55AM plane back from SFO this morning) and yet here I am drawing a doodle and uploading a video to my blog. And why? Well, because I want to see if I can write something up every day of my graduation celebration! And why do I want to do that? Well, I know how badly (desperately in fact!) you wanted to be down here celebrating with me but, you know, “situations arose” and blah blah blah- so I’m trying to do the “good friend thing” and share as much as I can with you.
So!! What was today? Well, today the family all congregated in Los Angeles (minus sissy, who is flying in from Berkeley in a few hours). My mom drove up from Oceanside and my dad, Melissa, granny, and Cindy (Melissa’s sister) all crammed into Melissa’s boat giant SUV and drove out from Vegas! Oh and Eric made the epic journey by coming on over from Westwood.
After we all arrived and settled in a bit(and Eric, my mom, and I watched “Perfume” - a sort of Grimm fairytale-esque [and like real Grimm not Disney-Grimm] movie that has been totally under appreciated by larger audiences…) we braved rush hour traffic to go to my Phi Beta Kappa initiation ceremony.
Basically this ceremony consisted of each of the initiate-ees going up to the microphone and letting everyone know what there plans are for the next few years. This to me was super exciting because I was thrilled to hear of all the adventures these people are embarking upon. There are students going directly to top-notch law, medical and graduate schools, a few doing either the PeaceCorps or Teach for America, hippiees that will be traveling until they reach enlightenment or run out of money (whichever comes first), and a few with actual jobs. So it was fun.
Once that was all finished with, we drove down to the PF Chang’s on third street and gathered for our first group dinner. The video below is from early on - my dad wanted to make a toast… and I wanted to capture it for the website! But, since my dad is the biggest ham known to mankind (followed closely by my granny, followed closely by…), he ended up giving quite a performance!
Today we’ve got the college honors ceremony and our “official” group dinner at the Stinking Rose. Because I love garlic!!!!
Jewelism or Dualism: Studying for Philosophy of Mind with David
June 9, 2008
So… I haven’t been able to dedicate enough time to the blog recently due to extenuating circumstances (i.e. FINALS), but I made a promise to myself to find some glimmer of hope and joy in this finals experience (which generally has a vibe more closely resembling the picture to the right).
So last night, when David, Eric, and Matt came over for a finals studying jam session, I was like a hawk on a high branch somewhere forest-y… scanning for a moment to capture with my love, the Flip. And the homies came through (or so I like to think!) While reviewing philosophy of mind with David he had a question… a question that led to this video.
Enjoy and I’ll post more once the seas have calmed and I’ve graduated!!!!
The Best of Westwood (with some of the best of homies!)
June 2, 2008
I’m going to make the writing short because I so badly want you to watch all of the videos! On Saturday night Peter came down from the ghetto of Pasadena (explained in a video!) to spend some time with us UCLA-ers. We tried to show him the best we have to offer: dinner at Bombay Bite, dessert at Diddy Reise, and a short stop at the precious home of Galaga, the best video arcade game in the history of time.
For a bit of background - you are looking at some of my very best homies… ever. Peter, Matt, and I met as sophomores in high school and we all met Eric our senior year. And, we’ve all been super great friends ever since! To get a better sense of our unique and magical personalities, please view the image to the right.
Anyways, Enjoy!
