The Smiling Nihilist

Movember!!!

2008-11-21T00:40:00.000-08:00

Yup, I'm growing a Mo. For those of you that haven't heard of it, Movember is the month where men all over the world stop shaving their upper lip and grow truly ridiculous mustaches to raise money for Men's issues. This year all donations go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative. The PCFA and beyondblue will use the funds to fund research and increase support networks for those men who suffer from prostate cancer and depression.

AND, if you donate $20 or more to Movember on my behalf, I will personally send you a headshot (including the Mo) in the pose of your choice! You want Magnum? I can go left! You want lame senior year photograph pose? I'm sure I can figure something out! Yup, a wonderful keepsake to commemorate my superbly unattractive Mo, and it will just cost you $20...

So, if you'd like to donate, help Men all over Australia, and prove that a month of an itchy upper lip is worth it, just go here:

https://www.movember.com/au/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=1754526&country=au

Oh, and if you thought you'd get a pict with me and my Mo before the end of the month you are sadly mistaken, I still have time to make it truly glorious!

Walking around Sydney

2008-10-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

I've moved into my new apartment! This means that I am living on an inflatable mattress with a severely limited amount of clothing as my shipping container is stuck in customs, but so far I'm still enjoying it :) Strange as it sounds, the best part of my new place is the bathroom. Huge tub and a VERY strong shower, everything else is gravy.

Since it was a 3 day weekend this weekend, my friend Casey and I decided to do a bit of walking around my neck of the woods (western side of the city, which is not to say inner west, so confusing). As you can see, it wasn't the sunniest day, it was a bit overcast and cool, which to me means prime walking weather :) Since I don't know the city well, Casey lead on to some outstanding places (including the little park at the tip of Glebe from which I took the above pic on my iPhone :) The highlights were:

Darling Harbor Fiesta! - Okay, coming from San Francisco, it was a bit funny to see what goes into an, um, hispanic? festival here. There were a few places selling churros and some people on a stage demonstrating salsa aerobics (which as far as I could tell was doing aerobics while wearing a frilly skirt).
Simon Johnson Quality Foods - mere blocks from my apartment and on the way home from work is a crazy cool specialty food store! Lots of chocolate, cheese, balsamic vinegar, you name it! I look forward to spending more money there. As it stood the best thing I got were Parisian candied ginger covered in tea infused chocolate...
Sydney Fish Market - Being a port city, Sydney gets its share of fresh fish, well, guess what? You can go to the fish market and buy it fresh every day. There are even a few places there that will cook it for you if you so desire!
Blackwattle Bay Park - Lovely park at the end of Glebe with views out across the city.
Chocolateria San Churro - I've got 2 words for you: Chocolate Tapas. Sydney has such cool and interesting Chocolate Places and this one is no exception!

So, yea, that was my Sunday wandering around Sydney. At some point when it is sunnier I'll take pictures of my walk to work. It's pretty cool, I walk by the Powerhouse Museum (Sydney's Exploratorium), the Chinese Gardens, and Darling Harbor. I couldn't ask for a better walk :)

Thanks Casey!

Everyday "Gadgets"

2008-09-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

Yo! I'm gonna take a break from Sydney-esque posts and post a bit about traveling in general. A number of the gadget blogs I read have lists of what people carry with them every day and what sort of gadgets they travel with. So, I thought I'd throw in my $0.02. I tend to go through quite a few gadgets trying to find the optimal set and, honestly, I'm pretty happy with my current set. This post is focused on what I carry every day, the next will be about what I take while travelling:

Timbuk2 laptop messenger bag (from JotSpot!): It's the last piece of shwag I got from JotSpot, and by far the best. I've grown quite fond of my messenger bag, its simple and big enough for everything I want to carry. It fits my macbook pro like a glove. It has enough pockets but no so many that they get in the way. Its got enough room for clothes for 1 overnight, more than that is just selfish.
iPhone: Shocker! I know, who would possibly sing the praises of the iPhone. Fine, I know this goes without saying but the iPhone is the best gadget I've ever owned. It's a great phone. It's the best iPod ever. I can use it to navigate through any and every city. Finanly, I can play hold 'em on it when I'm bored :)
Leatherman Skeletool CX: No gadget bag is complete without a gadget to fix other gadgets. The new skeletool is brilliant! Lightweight and has everything you need (knife, pliers, screwdrivers, bottle opener, etc). Buy one and you'll never buy anything else.
Granite Gear Shopping Bag: Yup, I often find I end up needing to carry a bunch of additional stuff around. Sometimes food, sometimes clothes, sometimes, um, we'll leave it at that. It's tiny, lightweight, strong enough to carry sand (don't ask), and can be easily washed out (same can't be said for the JotSpot bag).
Solio: Ok, you got gadgets, but what about power??? Solio is compact, holds a charge (I've gone for 5 months), can be charged using solar power, and will charge anything that uses USB (which is everything in my world).
Petzl e+lite: Always carry light. You never know when you're gonna drop your keys in a movie theater or hear something fall under the seat on an airplane. The e+lite is perfect, small, light, has it's own carry case, can be worn or clipped on to something. I never go anywhere without it.
iPod Shuffle: I love my iPhone but there are times when it is a bit much (and other times when it has no battery). The shuffle is so small that you can always carry it. It holds tons of music, and if you are bored, it is instant entertainment. I never leave home with it.
Light my Fire Spork: I'll spork your ass! Fork+Spoon+Knifey. It works, what can I say? Ever been in a hotel and get a pint of ice cream only to realize that you have no spoon. Fingers work but they don't leave the most appetizing container in their wake. This spork is worth the dollar it costs.
TOOB toothbrush: Gotta love the toob. It's a compact toothbrush with toothpaste in the handle. It'll survive as your primary toothbrush but I find it most useful to keep in my bag for when the lunch tabouli was a bit too much. It's also the perfect Vegas accompaniment, keep it in your laptop bag and you can hop right on the plane, who needs luggage???

Toss in a USB charger, a passport, some cash, and you have a go everywhere daily bag.

Up next... travel gear!!!

City 2 Surf!

2008-08-10T02:07:00.000-07:00

So, my second weekend in Sydney I decided to participate in City 2 Surf. It is similar to Bay to Breakers in SF (although there were not nearly the same level of costumes and nakedness as in SF) or the Bolder Boulder in, well, Boulder (although Boulder had a slip 'n slide which was conspicuously missing from Sydney). I finished in 2 hours and 10!!! Please don't ask how many k it was :) It was an amazing, er, run. It goes from the CBD (central business district for non-aussies, call it downtown and people will mock you, trust me) to Bondi beach. Just before hitting the top of "Heartbreak Hill" there was an spectacular view of the Opera House, then you turn a corner and see Bondi in all it's beachy glory. This was the first time I saw both and they were phenomenal! Post race I went over to a co-worker's house for apple pie!!! Seriously, Sydney rules.

And if you are following my tales of Sydney I'm still looking into various areas, haven't settled on one yet :)

Alaska!

2008-08-04T03:38:00.000-07:00

It's a little late but I've finally updated my travel blog with the details on my trip to Alaska with JB and Shirin. Lots of photos (mostly taken by JB!). It was an awesome trip, Alaska rules. Check it out: http://sites.google.com/a/kintama.org/travel/past/alaska-usa---kayaking

Hmm, where to live in Sydney...

2008-08-02T05:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a week in Sydney and I've spent most of that time working. Yea, yea, yea, what are you gonna do? My new team did take me out to Dinner at another awesome sushi place Sushi E (this one much more upscale than the last). This big thing though is that I was able to spend some time this weekend checking out various neighborhoods to see where I'd like to live. The relocation folks took me around the city and the front-runners seem to be:

Newtown/Chippendale - It's a bit grungy but it's got great food, bars, and clubs. I could probably get a bigger place for me money and it is close to the climbing gyms in town! The downside is that it would be a bit further from work, so I'd likely have to take a train rather than walking.
Kings Cross - You'll find all sorts of euphemisms about this but it is basically an assortment of strip clubs, junkies, high end restaurants, and bars. It seems like an interesting area. Close enough to walk to work but also has a train station for when I'm feeling lazy.
Pyrmont - This area is a bit more upscale. It is right next to work, so it would be a quick walk. The apartments seem a bit nicer and there are awesome water views and parks. There is a fresh fish market daily. Downside is that it is a bit touristy and doesn't have as much character as some of the other places I saw.
Surry Hills - This is the bohemian-ish area. Lots of small cafes, bars, etc. Lots of shops. A somewhat popular area so its a little more expensive. Its definitely close enough to walk to work, which would be a little bit of awesome.

So, those are the top of the list right now. Anyone want to chime in their thoughts?

Yea, I'm gonna like it here

2008-07-26T22:57:00.001-07:00

So, I promised to blog more when I got to Sydney and every once in a while I should keep a promise. I just arrived at 6:00 AM this morning (Sunday) and I am totally diggin' this town. My hotel room wasn't ready yet (duh), so I went for a little walk on the town. Sydney is an interesting, international, and extermely urban city. You can find influences from a number of countries. The highlights:

Passing the new Apple Store in Sydney at 8:00 AM and seeing a line down the sidewalk (they open at 10:00)
Found an AWESOME sushi place named Makoto (ok, it was the first result in the big G when I searched for "sushi sydney australia". At 2:30 on Sunday there was a waiting list. I was the only Gaijin there and it was some of the best sushi I've ever had. Crap, I hope I didn't peak early in this country.
After sushi I did more walking and found The Cupcake Bakery. They have Chocolate on Choclate cupcake with a hint of chili. Yes, please!
Continued walking and ran accross Max Brenner (Chocolate by the Bald Man) a few blocks later.
I made it back to my hotel and the city decided to regale me with a thunderstorm!!! I love San Francisco but I really miss thunderstorms :)

More to come soon. I start work tomorrow!

My Travel Site!

2008-06-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

I've had this long-term desire to create a place to post photos and descriptions of the trips I've taken as well as a place to plan upcoming trips. Sites seems like just the place to do this. So, I've created Travel with Greg. Take a look and let me know if you have comments. And if you've been waiting to see pictures from my recent trip to the Grand Canyon, I've built a page for it.

Now the real questions is where to go for my next trip. Italy to climb the Via Ferrata or Kayaking in Alaska. Decisions, decisions...

The Good Stuff

2008-03-16T18:31:00.000-07:00

Here's some things that I've discovered that I like since I posted last:

Food

Pro Bars: Yea, I know, its odd to think about bars as food, but holy crap! Why have I been eating crappy tasting bars when I could've been eating these things. They are awesome! I've started eating them instead of meals just because they are that good.

Books

The Science of Chocolate (by S. Beckett): Do you have a lust for details on the best substance in the world? Read this book.
The Witling (by Vernor Vinge): Its short but good. I've decided that part of the reason I like Vinge is that he loves to play around with ideas. In this case it is about what happens to momentum when something teleports, and what are the cool things you could do with it!

TV Shows

Deadwood: Thanks to Scott and Jul, I've now gotten the opportunity to check out this gem. It has interesting and complex characters as well Wild Bill! What more can you ask for :)
Dexter: I'm not sure I like glorifying serial killers, but this show is just so tweaked you gotta love it.

Stuff

ByrdRench: I mostly like this because of the concept. It folks out to a full size adjustable wrench and screwdrive to give you some actual leverage for a change.
Skeletool: Another tool, it's lightweight and useful. This is my new one for backpacking!

Enjoy!

This isn't the time for jokes!

2008-01-21T23:33:00.000-08:00

As long as I am chatting it up on my blog I had to highlight this awesomeness from Dreamhost (a place where many folks do some web hosting). You see, they messed something up and accidentally double billed everyone for the year. They then fixed it and told everyone precisely what happened in a fairly humorous manner. The best part of the post are all the responses. People went absolutely insane about how "unprofessional" the post was. If you have a few hours, read through the comments, its hysterical how crazy people get. And then you are reassured by the other folks calling them crazy. Seriously, Dreamhost overcharged people a few hundreds bucks (and paid it back), they didn't kill their children. But, this is one of those classic scenarios when I realize that I just don't understand how other people see the world and maybe I should. Why does it make any difference that the post had a light-hearted tone as opposed to being very stern and serious? If something bad is happening wouldn't you rather get a slight chuckle out of it?

This also reminded me of a night Freshman year of College when a bunch of us were doing an engineering problem set. Yea, it was hard, and, man, it was late. Chad and I were making dumb jokes (as usual) and Patrick's girlfriend (at the time) screamed "This isn't the time for jokes!" All I could respond was "It is always a time for jokes!" Ya know, I really, really hope that I will always respond that way :)

Always trying to do too much

2008-01-21T16:38:00.000-08:00

Well, as long as I'm gonna try to update my Blog more often. I'm gonna try to update my chocolate blog as well. I don't think I've mentioned this on my blog yet but if you are interested in my thoughts on chocolate check out Bittersweet Thoughts. I'm interested in thoughts and comments you might have on this. Now, I just need to update it every time I try a new chocolate. Heh, like I have that much time ;)

New Year, New Post!

2008-01-21T14:53:00.001-08:00

Yup, I know there are few readers left on this somewhat rickety and decaying soapbox that I built many years ago. But, what the heck, I'll see if I can get disciplined (ha!) and try to start posting again. You might think I am merely posting because it is a rainy Monday afternoon and I am bored, but, um, okay, yea, you're probably right.

So, it's been a while, here are a few things that have been going on since I last posted:

I'm living in San Francisco! I've even started compiling a map of my favorite eateries in the city.
I'm still working at Google (not including a link, 'cause if you don't have it, you don't need it) as a PM.
Still looking to eventually open a Dessert shop in either San Francisco or Boulder (still have my house there)...
I messed up my knee (while very drunk) on New Years Eve 2006, and then got it fixed (while sober). Strangely people persist on saying I'm "more fun" when I drink. I sorta feel like I'm simply less predictable.
I have a new Nephew! He's a cute little guy and you can follow his (often quite well written) adventures at The Changing Table
I'm drooling over the new MacBook Air, but I can't quite convince myself that I should buy it.
Recently visited NYC and took a chocolate tour, highly recommend it if you are in the area and in the market.
I only have 1 big trip planned for the year (Rafting the Colorado with John and Michelle), but I'm looking to plan another trip for later in the year. Any suggestions?

Chocolate-flavored by any other name would not...

2007-04-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

I know this post flies in the face of my Blog's title but I have to point this out! The FDA is about to commit a crime against man, nature, and chocolate (not necessarily in that order). They are looking to redefine chocolate so that it can contain vegetable oil rather than cocoa butter as well as other unspeakable, unnatural acts. This is being driven by the big candy companies who want to save money and lower quality. Think what this would mean. You'd go to a store and everything would say it's chocolate yet much of it would be low quality, oily muck. You would have to look at every chocolate label before purchase. The market would become flooded with cheap products, making it harder for the good stuff to get shelf space. You would never feel safe in your home. The US would lose all credibility in the international chocolate market, potentially hurting future American Chocolatiers...

For more information and some info about what you can do, check out:
http://dontmesswithourchocolate.guittard.com/

If this happens, it would cause the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since my suit against the film, "The Never-Ending Story", er, I digress.

Seriously, tell the FDA this is dumb...

Trivial Updates

2007-03-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

So, for any of you who didn't know yet, I'm now moving all my stuff from Boulder back to CA and getting an apartment in San Francisco. I'm bummed to leave Boulder but my job is in California, so I gotta follow. Not shockingly this all happened very quickly. About 3 weeks ago I thought "Hmm, this living in 2 states thing sort of sucks" I should see if I can rent my place. It turns out I can, I contacted movers a week later and here I sit among the boxes.

My friend Sarah has been housesitting for the last few months and was hugely helpful in helping me get organized and ready to move. Even more importantly she picked me up from the airport on Wednesday and took me to a pub trivia night where we completely kicked ass (think questions with answers like "Jan Michael Vincent"). Photo of the winning team shown here.

Gever

2006-11-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

3 posts in 3 days? Don't get used to it. Anyway, an old co-worker of mine (Gever Tulley) who liked to draw during meetings has recently flickr'ed a sketch of me, I had to post it :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gevertulley/285092937

He was one of my all time favorite people to work with and I just found out he is going on to build the Tinkering School. Cool stuff:
http://www.tinkeringschool.com/blog/

The Smiling Googlist

2006-10-31T09:21:00.000-08:00

Yup, I did not have bad timing! Google just acquired JotSpot (that's where I work)! You might be thinking "Um, didn't you just change jobs like 2 months ago?" and indeed I did. I also said I wasn't gonna change jobs for a while, and technically the job sort of changed under me :) I must admit that it was a shock to learn after a few weeks that the tiny startup I just joined was going to be acquired by a Big Company. That shock quickly turned into curiosity after I met the folks over there (and, um, had a free lunch). It seems like a fascinating place and one where there will be much opportunity to explore technology. And the best part, I will be working somewhere that everyone has actually heard of! In celebration of that, let me present:

My Work History: A retrospective told as party conversations

1996

Drunken Party-Goer: "What do you do?"
Long Haired Hippi Me: "I build torpedo simulators for the undersea warfare center!"
Drunker Party-Goer: "Um, is that punch over there..."

1998

Wine-Drinking 30-something: "May I ask how you spend your time?"

Frazzled Overworked Me: "I work for a small startup called Spectra Science building software for laser-tracking systems"

Wine-Drinking 30-something: "Oh how fascinating! You work."

2000

Silicon Valley Someone: "So, what is going to make you 20 Billion Dollars?"
California Me: "I work for a company making process streamlining and automation software"
Silicon Valley Someone: "..."

2002

San Francisco-ite: "You have a job????"
Climber Me: "I work for Nimblefish!"
San Francisco-ite: "Don't they store my photos?"

2004

New Yorker: "Get the hell out of my way."
Nomadic Me: "I do best practice management for an IT Governance Company"
New Yorker: "Where did that guy go, he was just standing here..."

2006

Random Street Person: "And you do?"
Me: "I work for Google"
Random Street Person: "Really? Can you tell me where I can find restaurants in El Paso"

So, when do we get a chip in our head that hooks us up to their search engine??? I look forward to kicking ass at Scrabble.

Google, here I come!

:)

New news reader?

2006-10-30T18:02:00.000-08:00

I often ponder how the oddest things push me over the cliff of effort that actually gets me to post to a blog that I can't imagine anyone reads anymore. But there ya go. So, I used NewsGator as my news reader for ages (thanks for the recommendation Josh!) but I've now moved over to Google Reader. To give you insight into my quirks, when I've found a solution to a problem that really works for me (which is incredibly rare, I typically am slightly dissatisfied with most solutions), I am usually loathe to actually change, but I've been convinced for the following reasons:
- Web based: Works across pc/mac and home/office
- Mobile: The mobile version works incredibly well on my Treo and since it is web based (see above) I don't have to figure out what I have and have not read.
- Shared Items: this is the best part and what I actually wanted to post about.

See, the way the reader works, you can tag any article as a "Shared Item" which means that it gets added to my personal feed of articles that I think are worth sharing. Now although I'm usually too lazy to write a whole 200 words in a blog post I am not too lazy to hit ctrl-S and share an interesting article. So, if you are interested in seeing articles that I find interesting (understanding that covers gadgets, oddities, and politics - in that order) you can check it out at:

http://www.google.com/reader/shared/06787200080425578803

If your doing the same, post your reader feed for pete's sake!

:)

Sometimes people do good things...

2006-09-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

My sister forwarded me this article today:

As the Nazis marched across Europe in 1939 and 1940, a Unitarian minister from Massachusetts and his wife rushed into the coming Holocaust to save Jews and other refugees, including dozens of children.
For their heroism, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will dedicate plaques today in memory of Waitstill and Martha Sharp. They are only the second and third U.S. citizens named to an honor roll of 21,000 "righteous" gentiles, non-Jews who risked their lives to rescue Jews.

I know many of you know my aunt Martha as an archeology teacher from Brown. When I was much younger I heard some vague stories about what her parents had done during WW II to help refugees across the border. I found as a child I would hear these sort of stories and they wouldn't completely make sense. I knew there was a War at some point. I sort of knew what a refugee was. I had an image of people taking a hike in the woods across some imaginary "border". Now being older and having a (slightly) better understanding of World War II and what it was about, I read this story in a whole new light. It was damn impressive of them.

I apparently think like a 67 year-old woman

2006-08-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

I need to stay more up to date on world news. I found out that some potential terrorists were captured because someone in a gadget blog talked about being annoyed that they couldn't bring laptops on airplanes in the UK (and for the record, you can't bring laptops on airplanes?!?!?!?!?!? Holy Crap! It doesn't even register with me, what do you do? Not travel?) Anyway, in reading an article about it my favorite quote was:

Margaret Gavin, 67, waiting to board a train, said she wasn't scared. "Why should I change my life because some idiots want to blow something up?" she said.

My sentiments exactly! There was a paper published recently (introed by the ever interesting boing boing) that talks about how statistically terrorism doesn't kill many people but everyone's reaction to it is what causes all the issues (yea, I know, duh, but it was a good article).

I am really not looking forward to the stupid policies that the US will put in place in reaction to this. No water on planes any longer?? No more iPods?? No more PSPs?!?!?!?! Will I need to resort to, um, books??!?!?!? The future does not look bright. Ack!

Neophiliac

2006-06-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Finally, I know who and what I am. I was happily reading through gizmodo rather than doing work this morning and came accross an article that finally articulates what I am. I'm a Neophiliac in all things! Think about it, constantly moving, taking new jobs, and buying new gadgets. When playing a video game it is all about getting the new guns or powers or whatever the hell they always dangle in front of you in video games. The great part is that this is apparently an affliction!

Now, in all seriousness, the question is whether there is a NEW drug to treat it. Heh heh.

Telluride Bluegrass(?) Festival!!!

2006-06-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

Check it out, a StoryBlog. I just got back from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival last weekend. I know, the first thing you are probably thinking is "Holy Crap, a whole weekend of Bluegrass, seriously??? Um, what does Bluegrass even sound like???" The good news is that was my thought as well, so you'll get an appropriate eval of it :) My friend Karen decided to join because, well, mostly because she had nothing better to do. And I am psyched she did, she was a blast all weekend, from when we got in the car to when she tripped on the stairs and dumped 2 glasses of water on herself (heh, heh, I needed to point it out). I would not have had nearly as much fun without her! So, to set the stage, our first rule was that as soon as either of us uttered the phrase "I fuckin' hate Bluegrass" we would leave immediately.

There are pretty much 3 things to discuss about this:
- The music
- The locale
- The festival

Let's start at the top. The music was AWESOME. As it turns out, there was not a ton of Bluegrass but rather an interesting mix of styles. Yea, I know, I kept wondering why the hell they would keep so many people away by touting this as a Bluegrass festival.
- The obvious highlight of the show was Bela Fleck. Damn, that dude kicks ass. If you haven't seen the Flecktones live, you are missing out on something that could change your life.
- The next best act was an Aussie chick named Missy Higgins that had a fantastic voice, more folk than bluegrass but she was great.
- I apparently am not up with current music, so I hadn't heard the Decembrists before but loved 'em. Bought the CD. Great and quirky lyrics. DEFINITELY not Bluegrass.
- As far as actual Bluegrass, the best band was the Yonder Mountain String Band. Funky and contemporary Bluegrass. And yea, I tapped my foot (although there was no leg slapping).
- The absolute worst band there was the Drive-By Truckers. A southern rock band that offended the ears. Even worse, they played right after Bela. Ack! Bad, bad, bad idea. I left after 2 songs and couldn't get away fast enough :)

So, the Music was great but my favorite part of the weekend was the Gondola!!! Telluride is on the flip side of a mountain from a town called Mountain Village. Yea, don't be fooled "Village" has no place in it's name for this shi-shi exclusive ski resort. The good news was that we stayed at my friend Julie's house (that had mountain views and a huge hot-tub). For the record, Julie is one of the coolest people that you will ever meet. She lived in Telluride for 5 years and so had many friends there. She welcomed us into the fold and gave us a seat on a tarp (more on the "tarp" below). She kicks ass, if you met her, I guarantee you'd agree :) Anyway, I digress, the Gondola. The way we got around during the weekend was call a free car service that drove us to the free Gondola that we rode up and over the mountain (did I mention shi-shi?). There was something completely peaceful about it, especially at night. Even better, we stopped at the top of the mountain one of the nights and saw the stars at 11,000 ft. Ah. Lastly was Telluride itself. It is in an enormous box canyon. So, picture this: huge cliff walls, red sunset touching cotton ball clouds, Bela Fleck gettin' down, and a crowd that couldn't get enough. It was glorious.

Finally, there was the festival. The craziest part about this whole deal is trying to get a seat. The concert was in a big field. The way you got a seat was laying out a tarp. Now, this sounds easy, but, um, there were a LOT of tarps. So, they devised a vaguely sadistic system to allow people to claim a spot. Each morning at 10 everyone lines up to get a number for their running groups (yea, you heard me, running). They set up in groups of 50. Line up against a rope. The rope is dropped and everyone sprints with their tarp and when they find a free space close to the stage they throw out the tarp and jump on it to claim a spot. Even better, people sleep out all night next to the river to get the best spots. Now, taking this to its logical conclusion, people then just set up schedules of people to immediately go back to waiting in line after they get a spot and wait throughout the day into the next morning to get the next spot. Yea, very entertaining, who knew hippies could be competitive. The bizarre tarp flinging system aside, the festival was done incredibly well. They cleaned the field every day. There was tons of port-a-johns that were cleaned and supplied twice a day. Lots of food booths. Free mountain water. And lots of clif bar samples. Whoever organized this festival deserves an award.

To sum it up, I can't wait to go back next year!

:)

Losing sight of the goal

2006-05-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

So, I'm in a really boring meeting right now and I got a piece of really incomprehensible spam. Don't worry, I won't forward it to you, but I did take a screenshot. This is really actually pretty interesting. Now, I understand that direct mail is a valid (albeit occasionally annoying) form of marketing, but what is this? Frankly, I'm not sure I even understand what it is telling me (maybe I need to learn more about erectile dysfunction medication). So, am I not smart enough to understand crappy spam? I don't think it is foeign language. So, why are they sending this to me? I understand that they are not expecting a 100% response rate but does ANYONE respond to this??? Why would they? What does it actually mean? Did some marketing "exec" look at this copy and say "Wow, this is gonna be one of our best marketing campaigns ever, I can't wait to get a lot of new customers from this!!!"

It really sort of begs the question of why would you try to circumvent spam filters? If someone has a filter in place, doesn't that mean they don't want an email and then in turn they don't want your product? In which case, why bother them? I'd be fascinated to see their response rates from these sort of emails. At this point though, it almost seems like a compulsion. It is as if they have lost sight of why they were trying to do it in the first place. It makes me wonder if I've lost sight of goals. Am I just running on compulsion even if it seems as incomprehensible to the outside world as this email seems to me. Probably not. Water anyone?

In light of the recent destruction of Blue Security. It actually makes me wonder if this is really just a war. We've all seen Underworld (or Fox News). Wars go on and the warriors often don't even know why, they just fight because at some point someone told them to fight. Spam was useful at some point but it really seems to have outlived its usefullness. Someone paid for it at one point. The big difference is that I think the spammers now do it as a matter of pride. They aren't expecting anyone to respond, they just want to see if the email can get through. They are a type of Ronin (masterless Spamurai who were told to fight and now do it for pride, ego, and lack of anything better to do).

All of that aside, the real question is what the hell is up with that poem at the bottom?!?!?!? Here's my theory: Gwyneth is an aspiring poet stuck in the dead end job of spamming. One day she realizes that no one reads the spam anyway so she can include her poetry and BAM, she is "published" :)

Meeting's over, I can get back to work now.

Holy Crap! They paid me!!!

2006-05-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

Ya know what's funny. If you look over the course of my blog and the significant gaps in "coverage" it will look like my roof came off, then I saw some elephants, and then they compensated me for the whole thing. As it turns out, it was much less exciting than that. Imagine long periods of hotel stays with short spurts of vaguely frustrating conversations. Yea, now you got the picture. Anyway, I am indeed rejoicing because they actually gave me a check for a boatload of cash today! Of course, I'm gonna go spend half of it on electronics and save the other half for opening the chocolate shop but that is neither here nor there ;)

The other interesting development is that my friend Amber is moving in! Yea, don't worry, I ain't living in sin, she's contemplating living in Boulder and wanted to try it out. I have a big house that I rarely occupy so why not? I think she will add some much needed spice to the GregD Show whose rating have slipped substantially in recent months.

Alright, other updates:
- Still flying to New York for work every week. You'd think that would get old and you'd be right.
- I'm going camping in Colorado! Finally gonna get out and see this awesome state's parks!
- I'm going to France/Switzerland in July with Faktor and JB to trek the Alps and Climb Mont Blanc and yea, it might just be an excuse to buy more gear.

As more news happens... well, you know the story...

Elephants on Parade!

2006-03-23T06:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, so far I've been pretty lucky flying out of Colorado every week. You'd think it being a mountainous and somewhat snowy area that there would be lots of airport delays, etc. Stangely there haven't been except for Sunday. I was irritated with United anyway because they have just the right combo of being a service that you absolutely need and no interest in actually serving you. As a side note, their website was broken, I was getting a DNS error, I called their support line to report it (because I'm that sort of dork) and they told me it was my problem. I rechecked a few things, made sure I didn't have some wacky DNS entries, etc and said that I had checked and was quite sure it was problem with their website. The support guy said that DNS stood for Detect Network Service and that meant it was my problem. I, ahem, quite sponteously called him an idiot and asked to speak to his manager. I know, I know, I shouldn't abuse support people but he was asking for it!!!!

Anyway, back to the story, so I was many hours delayed wouldn't get into New York until about 1 AM. Kind of sucked but what can you do? Well, it I hadn't had been dealyed I wouldn't have seen a line of ele[phants going through a tollbooth (made the requisite jokes) and into the midtown tunnel. It was one of those moments you just have to sit back and say, "heh, strange."

Odd Tests...

2006-03-23T06:28:00.000-08:00

Yea, I know, I haven't posted anything in ages and this is all I come up with??? Oh well, anyway my family has been sending around these online tests and I thought they were sort of interesting:

What kind of car are you? http://www.tomorrowland.us/sportscar/

As much as I desperately wanted to be a Honda Element I turned out to be a Lamborghini Murcielago. The description was "You're not subtle, but you don't want to be. Fast, loud, and dramatic, you want people to notice you, and then get out of the way. In a world full of sheep, you're a raging bull." Fairly accurate if you ask me ;)

Are you a nerd? http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take

This one came from my father (who, ahem, was). I turned out to be a "Modern, Cool Nerd" described as the sort of person who is fun to hang with but useful when trying to figure out how your computer works or when you need help in a trivia game :) All in all I think quite complementary!

My New Sunroof

2005-12-05T15:43:00.000-08:00

Could also be known as REALLY Raising the Roof :) Ya know that new place I bought. Well, I've been travelling a lot so I haven't gotten a chance to spend a lot of time there. This weekend I flew home for 40 hours so that I could fix my place up and go to the zoo (that blog post will come soon, prepare for the Lorikeet Adventure). So, I spent a good part of the day on Saturday installing my sweet new 42" LCD TV. Oh yea! I even got to watch a movie on it! Then the roof fell onto it. Have I mentioned that I have a knack for timing things just right? I got into work this fine morning in NYC (yea, all you New Yorkers I haven't called yet will hear from me soon) and got a phone call from my neighbor. That's odd I thought, I don't remember giving him my number. Well, it turns out that I didn't. Ya see at about 5:30 AM this morning 60 MPH winds ripped the roof off of my cool new pad. That little bit of blue you see in the picture is the beautiful blue sky shining on down.

For those of you who haven't seen pictures of my new place yet, this is what it looks like furnished. Well, okay, try to imagine it without the ceiling pieces and all.

I think the really funny part is that my personal server is in my loft area. At times before I have thought when I checked my email "Well, I haven't seen my apartment in a while but it can't be too bad off because my server is still up". Apparently that is not always an appropriate assumption ;)

The moral of the story:
- Don't bother cleaning up the dust after installing a new TV because the ceiling might just fall in anyway.
- Amy, Josh, Mandy, and Mark are superstars for going over to provide the lovely pictures and let me know how the place looks!!!!!!!! You guys rule :)

Update: More picts can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markandmandy/sets/1518938/ and http://joshandamy.org/photos/thumbnails.php?album=10

A brief rant

2005-11-20T23:14:00.000-08:00

One of the things I truly love in life is seeing something done well. Unfortunately one of the things that causes me no end of frustration is seeing something done poorly.

Tonight, I checked into "The Grand", pretty snazzy hotel in Silicon Valley. I'd heard good things and thought I'd check it out for myself. All in all, I liked it, until I decided to get ready for tomorrow. I pulled out the ironing board and what did I see but one of the worst contraptions I've ever come across. Where do I begin. I can only imagine that this device was designed to keep people from stealing irons (something that I'm sure absolutely plagues "The Grand"). They thought, "I know what we can do!" Let's just attach the iron to the board. I suppose in theory it isn't complete jackassery. The problem was their next thought which was "Hmmm, it'll be pretty awkward to have them attached unless we have a holder for the iron, fine notion!" So, then they said, "Let's attach that iron holder to THE MOST USEFUL PART OF THE DAMN IRONING BOARD." Ya know, I never thought about stealing an iron but I might do it now just to bring it to a board that I can actually iron my shirts on. I think next time I stay here I will bring a set of allen wrenches and just dissassemble the stupid thing and leave it in pieces. Me? Spiteful? Never.

I can't wait till they decide to attach the bathrobes to the hangers to ensure people don't steal them...

Ug, now I'm gonna go to bed and try not to think about it. For the record, this is what you call a pet peeve ;)

Metaphorically Speaking

2005-10-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, seriously, this is my last post of the day. What else am I gonna do until my stuff gets here? If you know me, you probably know that I sometimes read into things a little too much. I'm often a complete cheeseball. And I love a good metaphor for life. So, I got to Boulder 4 days ago. Slept in my new place for the first time 3 days ago. This is a completely new place so it doesn't have normal things, like, say, curtains (no this isn't going where you think it's going). I fall asleep on my comfy little air mattress. Sleep soundly through the night and wake up to find the sun trying it damnest to burn a hole through my retina. I was convinced I went blind (fyi, I didn't). Okay, I'm thinking, you need to do something about that because it just ain't a good way to wake up (yes, I could do it 20 times in a row and each time would be convinced I went blind, I'm dumb that way). I am something of a procrastinator though and so I go to sleep the next night without covering the window. Well, surprise, I'm once again convinced the next morning that our sun has gone supernova and I just haven't felt the burn yet (I also thought I went blind, told ya so). It sucked, I mean seriously, we're at altitude for god sakes, it is probably even BRIGHTER here. So, again, I think I gotta do those curtains. Well, another day goes by and when I go to sleep I think "Ha! I'm gonna outsmart that infernal, malicious, inanimate, fiery ball! I'll wake up early so it doesn't have a chance to do it's work" Well, I did, and I was greeted by a truly amazing sunrise (that didn't photograph well, although the attempt is below). It made me think about life. My reaction to unpleasant things is often to try to just block it out. Get rid of it. Ignore it. Every once in a while though, when you just try a different approach, look at it from a different point of view, that experience that was painful can turn into something really worthwhile. All, I know is that I'm waking up early again tomorrow and I still haven't put the curtains up.

Getting to Boulder Statistically

2005-10-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Faktor and I wake up head up to Boulder. The plan was to have lunch together at Crossroads Junction (a place on the map where the road for Arches breaks off from 70). He was gonna head down to Arches and I was going to make it to Boulder by 5 PM, just in time for a party (yea, I know, choosing a party over the wonder of nature, go ahead, judge me ;) Anyway. We get to Crossroads Junction and, well, that's the picture on the right. They didn't serve food so I continued on and left Mark to find his way alone.

I made it to Boulder in time for the Party (and just in time for my tire to go flat, oh yea, I got a nail in it in SF, used fix a flat on it and then drove 1400 miles on it).

I thought the various stats of driving from San Francisco to Boulder would be interesting (okay, maybe just to me, but there you have it):

- Peak Elevation: 11,206 ft (at the entrance to the Eisenhower Tunnel)
- Total Mileage: 1402 miles
- Max Speed: 103 MPH (on I15 to Vegas, everyone was doing it)
- Moving Time: 20 Hours 10 minutes
- Moving Average: 69.5 MPH
- Total Gas Used: 58.985
- Total Gas Price: $181.61
- Number of times I stopped to pee: 9
- Best Town Name Passed: Boron, CA!!!!!
- Worst Town Name Passed: Sulphurdale, UT
- Best Food Eaten: Veggie Sandwich at a little cafe near Zion
- Worst Food Eaten: Piece of exceptionally good chocolate that was melted and chilled too many times
- Number of people called when bored: 17
- Number of people who answered: 6
- Number of bugs killed on my bumper and windshield: Priceless

Driving Miss Faktorovich

2005-10-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

When last we left our intrepid hero (um, yea, that's me) he was leaving the filth, mayhem, and lovely ladies of Vegas behind for the greener pastures of the Utah Desert. Faktor was in Vegas and we decided to do a little caravanning. The drive from Vegas was especially tasty because neither Mark not I had gotten more than about 3 hours of sleep the night before. Yup kids, that's what you call responsible, say it with me: idiot. So, we of course had to try to keep each other awake by playing games such as seeing who could take a picture of the other one while driving 90 miles an hour (result is to the left).

Finally we got near Zion and after much reflection (I took a long pee) I decided to swing through the big ol' canyon and see what the hub-bub was about. Now, karma does have a lovely way of rearing it's all too familiar head. The only way to see the canyon's of Zion is on a shuttle bus (go Nat Parks!!!), and, well, what happens when you mix amazing scenery, a bus filled with middle aged tourists, and one very tired Greg? You get to miss most of the amazing scenery because you are having a very uncomfortable nap. Damn. I did get to see some of it, and it makes me feel like Yosemite should only allow shuttle buses in the valley because it wasn't a circus. In fact, it was very peaceful.

Anyway, we got back on the road at around 6:00 PM and wanted to drive to Arches. Ah, yes, very ambitious plans. Once we hit Utah, well, it was dark, there were no more "Services" (heh) for 120 miles and we decided, screw it, the Super 8 has free wireless access and HBO. We were sold. We watched "I, Robot". We then got a late start the next morning because "Alien vs. Predator" was on. Have I mentioned how distractable I can be?

On to the final day of the drive...

Merc World

2005-10-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

I'm currently sitting in a hotel room in the middle of Utah with Faktor, but it will take me some time to get back to how I got here. It's been a while since I posted anything to this blog. Plenty to say just not a lot of time to say it in. So, I'm gonna go back and write my thoughts up in chronological order. I'm gonna start with Mercury World. I realized that I usually abbreviate Mercury as Merc and therefore I could be talking about Mercenary World. Although a tad more violent I'll bet there would've been better shwag. Anyway, Mercury World is Mercury's once a year conference where all of their customers pay a LOT of money to come and listen to us and other folks talk about Mercury Products. All the Mercury employees have to dress like stagehands (shown above) except the Execs who walk around like they own the place (alright, fine, technically they sort of do) and say things that need to be revoked in Press Releases the following day. Yup, they lectured us first in email and then in person for a LONG time about how we can't say anything to analysts that could be interpreted as inside information and if we did they would then need to put out a press release saying that isn't true and we will be fired and maybe spanked and definitely talked to sternly (again). Well, our CMO (the guy who lectured us) then proceeds to go onto the main stage at the conference and tell everyone how great Mercury is and how we will make around 900 Million in sales this year. And, um, well, that isn't official, and would DEFINITELY be considered inside info and we needed to put out a press release. Heh. This is classic Mercury. Alright, I need to hit the road and drive on to Boulder, more to come...

LOL

2005-09-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

My friend Shan just sent this to me, it was one of those rare times I literally laughed out loud, good thing I was working from home :)

Songs that gave me pause

2005-09-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

I was recently reading Nick Hornsby's Songbook (which is excellent, BTW) which is basically a list of songs that he finds notable and descriptions as to why. A little while ago I started collecting songs that were appropo for my life and keeping them in chronological order. Yea, I know, I have too much time on my hands sometimes. At any rate, those songs were ones that had something to do with my life at that point. I liked the concept that Hornsby talked about in terms of songs that immediately strike you, not ones that get into your skull eventually but rather the ones that you can remember hearing the very first time and thinking, god damn that is one talented S.O.B. So, I of course pulled my list together. Nicky is much wittier (and more verbose) but here they are:

- The Blower's Daughter (Damien Rice) - Heard in the movie "Closer", unthinkably I actually stopped noticing Natalie Portman and just started wondering what in the world that song was. There was something in his voice that made me feel like he really meant every word of the song. Wonderful song with and awful title.
- Look what the Cat Dragged In (Michael Penn) - My friend Dave and I heard this during College while driving down to Philly. We are both talkers. This song came on the radio and there was complete silence, neither of us had heard it before and neither of us knew what to say.
- Such great heights (Iron and Wine) - Heard in the movie "Garden State", ok, maybe it is just Natalie Portman but this was another song that was charming, warm, and utterly beautiful. I later found out it was a cover of the song written by The Postal Service (which is great in its own way) but the intepretation makes all the difference.
- One Week (Barenaked Ladies) - I was driving home from a wedding with Emily Duquette (and old friend of my sister's) when this came on the radio. I don't suspect the Barenaked Ladies get plopped into many people's list of amazing songs but you gotta give this one credit. The premise is one we are all familiar with and it is immediately likable. Upbeat, fun, and flippant. I think it reminds me of me.
- Most of the time (Bob Dylan) - I'll go out on a limb here and say that I don't really like Bob Dylan. I find his voice grating, yea, I know, it is supposed to be. Maybe that is why I was so struck with this song, not only did it not annoy me, but I really liked it.
- Because (Elliot Smith) - Have you noticed the trend of songs from movies? I first heard this at the end of "American Beauty" when watching it with Matt. Part of it is just that the movie was excellent and poignant, but this song topped it off well. The song also stands well on it's own, but it will always have the association for me, and it's a good one.
- Time to Say Goodbye (Andrea Bocelli) - Going in a totally different direction is this song. I first heard it in Vegas at the Bellagio Fountains during Steven Loewy's bachelor party. We spent a good portion of the night hanging by that fountain. Watching the crazy spectacle that is Vegas. These fountains though are really well done. Sure, they're a bit cheesy, but than ain't always bad. After the fountains we went out to a "club" and I met a fascinating young woman and chatted for hours. Good and memorable night.
- Overkill (Colin Hay) - Ah yes, Colin Hay. This song was in the final episode of the first season of "Scrubs". It was an old Men at Work song. Listen to it sometime, it is hard not to like.
- Closer (Nine Inch Nails) - You ever hear a song and immediately you know what they wanted to do when the wrote it? Closer isn't just about sex, it is sex. The music takes you from the beginning to the end of a sexual encounter. Unreal.
- Porcelain (Moby) - I was hypnotized the first time I ever heard it. Moby does magic with music. He's put out some crap but this wasn't it.
- Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley) - There are a million versions of this song and many people will tell me this isn't the best one. Well, guess what, it is my favorite. My friend John Clarke first introduced me to Jeff Buckley. John has interesting taste. Some of it is awful and some is great. I think he is a bit more adventurous than most. Well, this adventure paid off.

I'm sure I'll run into more in my life, well, I really hope I run into more, but this is a good start.

The Toys

2005-09-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

Alright, as long as I'm moving to a new place I need new gear right? So, in my own little anal way I've made my new spreadsheet. I figure, if you're gonna go, go big. Now, I gotta buy bedroom furniture, couches, dining room stuff, etc. and that is all well and good and even a little interesting but the good stuff is the gadgets. Here is what I would like to outfit the place with:
- Panasonic Plasma TV mounted over my fireplace: TH-42PX50U
- Yamaha SoundBar (pictured above) to give surround sound without the messy wires: YSP-1
- Yamaha Subwoofer, cause, ya know, BOOM: YST-SW215
- HD DirecTiVo which has come down in price now that they are dumping it: HD DVR
- A sweet remote reccomended by Josh to control the whole thing: Logitech Harmony 768
- Sonos to spread music throughout the house: Sonos.com

Now, of course the question is do I take the plunge all at once or space it out. I think we all know the answer to that.

Hopeless

2005-08-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

I was just getting my typical fill of irritating idiocy from misc news sources and came across this gem from Rush L:

From the August 11 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: We just had Stephen Breyer saying, oh, yeah, totally appropriate, we must import what they're doing around the world in other democracies, it will help buttress their attempt to establish the rule of law, and we might learn something, too. Well, here's something I'd like to import. I'd like to import the ability that the Brits are doing to export and deport a bunch of hate-rhetoric filled mullahs and imams that are stoking anti-American sentiment. Wouldn't it be great if anybody who speaks out against this country, to kick them out of the country? Anybody that threatens this country, kick 'em out. We'd get rid of Michael Moore, we'd get rid of half the Democratic Party if we would just import that law. That would be fabulous. The Supreme Court ought to look into this. Absolutely brilliant idea out there.

Yea, I know he says these things on purpose to get people riled up, that is his business. Even so, when did we all decide the US belongs to the Republicans? We'd get rid of half of the Democratic party because they disagree with the obviously correct Republicans??? Seriously, what the hell? I think sometimes that I just don't understand people. Who would want to get rid of everyone who disagrees? We aren't so far from this, there are times I even wonder if my contributions to moveon.org will ever make me a target as being anti-American because obviously any website that can motivate such a large group of people to fight for what they believe in is anti-American. I keep hearing MoveOn being described as far left. Really? I think of them as left mainstream, maybe that means that I am far left.

Do you know what I would really love? A dictionary. I mean spouting "anti-American sentiment". You hear people saying it all the time, what does that mean? What is anti-American? Disagreeing with a President who obviously doesn't take his job, our country, our beliefs, and our's or anyone else's lives very seriously? Trying to empathize and understand people who hate us for what we have done to the world (which is just about everybody at this point but a small group of nut-jobs affectionately known as "The Far Right")? Pushing to get a "free" and "democratic" government to release information that shouldn't be private anyway? Expecting answers to hard questions and not just get justifications "spin"? Not being homo-phobic?

During the last "presidential" election I heard the VeeP debate on the radio. Just caught the tail end of it. Cheney was doing his classic move, spread fear and hate. He spouted all sorts of unfounded statements about someone wanting to walk into the middle of New York and set off a bomb (in retro-spect I'll bet the number of people who want to do that has in fact grown drastically since the last election). Edwards on the other hand was talking about hope and growing a new and better America that we can be proud of. Cheney couldn't care less about being proud of America, all he cares about is America looking tough. Well guess what, we reap what we sow. Fear defeated hope and hope is now lost to us. I find the more people I talk to about politics the more I find that people have lost hope. People talk more about moving away then they doing about fixing this pile of crap that we have built. I'm still vaguely convinced that the presidential elections were rigged, I certainly wouldn't put it past these madmen. If that is case though, it means they won't lose power because they'll keep rigging elections. Where is the hope? What is there hope for? A better world? We are destroying the world, one country at a time. We are living in a country ruled by someone that most of the world equates to Hitler. I don't know if I agree with them but that is one strong statement. Where can we find hope? I used to believe so strongly that doing the right thing will always be the best course of action in the end. I'm also a strong believer in karma, things have a way of balancing out. Sometimes it just seems like this country has built up such a karmic debt that it can never be repaid. Ick.

The Right

2005-08-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to note that there was an excellent post about the whole Cindy Sheehan deal on a conservative blog. Basically, the Right is starting to go off on Cindy Sheehan as either a self-interested mom who is betraying the memory of her son by trying to get into the spotlight or a sucker who has been convinced by the Left fanatics to go after Bush for their cause (it is honestly hard to tell which point they are trying to argue). Currently, they are trying to say that she used to support Bush and now is speaking out against him, how dare she. The think I loved about this Blog is that it broke the issue down into "Um, are we really harshing on a grieving mother, c'mon, seriously?" Her son died in Iraq, she wants to talk to the President, she is upset about the whole war. Why does she need to be smeared by people who never met her and have no idea what is happening with her. Is there something wrong with what she is doing? Apparently there has to be or it would mean, I don't know, their whole world view is crushed. The other thing that I find more and more fascinating with the more Blogs that I read is that the Liberal ones tend to have lots of Liberals commenting with atta-boys where as the Conservative ones have a lot of heated arguments in the comments. I suspect the reason is that the Conservatives don't feel a need to read the Liberal Blogs, they have already won, why bother understanding the enemy, but maybe that is just my bias :)

The Moutains

2005-08-12T12:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I got back from Peru last week and it was amazing!!! I'm not sure what I was expecting. I usually go into these things figuring, "we'll see what happens" and that usually works for me. Well, it did again. I was in Peru with Dave and Kristen (who will soon be moving to Boulder as well), Emily, Emily's friend Anne, and Anne's friend Mark. All in all I liked the group a lot. I spent most of my time with Dave and Kristen (I think because we had similar hiking styles, they tried to ditch me but couldn't, sucka!!!!). The trip did involve 1 trip to the hospital (Emily is allergic to peanuts and she almost died, but she didn't, it was the closest I'd ever seen anyone get though, people shouldn't be blue). There were a number of less life-threatening ailments (dehydration, altitude sickness, ankle spain, blisters) but we made it in the end. I didn't end up taking altitude medication even though we were going up to almost 15K feet. I'll admit it, I wanted to see if I could do it and I did. I think more mountains are in my future. Macchu Picchu was, well, what can you say about something like that, better than I could do?

Ok, let's get to the heart of the matter, what did I think about as I trekked through the Andes? First, I always find mountains humbling, they are gonna be there forever, I will not be. This being the case, what do I want to do with me time. I am currently treading water. I'm moving (still psyched) and have a job that I enjoy but doesn't take over my whole life. This is all good but is this the be all and end all? I was talking to my friend Ki-Wing last night and she seems to be in a similar place. We discussed that it might be our generation. We've gotten to a point where we have proven we can do anything, now the question is, what do we do? What is important? What matters? How do we want to spend the little time that we have? Um, sadly I don't have the answer. I think at this point I need to hunker down, move to Boulder, spend more time climbing and hiking, and see what tomorrow brings. I guess I just need some inspiration, once I get that and find a direction I'll feel a little better.

The Chasm

2005-08-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

I've been reading more recently about Politics than I should. It mostly just upsets me. I think on of the things that really saddens me is that our 2 party system has become so polarized. I was reading DailyKos recently and they were talking about the dangers of voting on single issues. Fine, I know plenty of people (sigh!) who voted for Bush because they wanted lower taxes. I think they were crazy because they didn't look at the rest of what he stands for. In this article though they discussed that if you are voting for a Pro-Choice Republican, you might as well vote for a Pro-Life one (granted this is a paraphrase). In the end, if they are a Republican they are going to support others in their party based on a whole platform and not a single issue. So, although Chafee is Pro-Choice, he will support Frist, who is, um, not. The thing that makes me really sad about this is that it means we really can't just vote for people anymore. We have to vote for parties because the whole system is so partisan that even if I like a Republican (granted, this is a stretch), I can't vote for them because they would almost certainly vote with their party. What the hell do we do now then???

The Loft

2005-07-19T22:58:00.000-07:00

So, here are some pictures of my new place in Boulder. I'm really psyched to get out there. I was just chatting with my friends Dave and Kristen tonight and they're moving out there as well. They are also joining me in Peru on Saturday. Heh, funny story, I apparently hadn't mentioned that one of the other people coming to Peru with us is my ex-girlfriend. I had fallen instantly in love with her when I met her and decided to move across the country after we spent 9 days together. I quit my job and was ready to go and, then, well, she dumped me. Although, to be fair we have spent a lot more time together after that and are now great friends. But, why would I tell them that, I want to get them a little nervous ;)

The Couch

2005-07-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

As I was driving home today I was just thinking about the couch on the Daily Show (yea, I know it's cliche and the current "in" thing but I do love it. It make the current insanity in the US at least seem funny :) Stewart kept talking about how everyone would whine about the new set and I just laughed along until I realized, I was a little unhappy about the new set. I miss the couch. The couch really stood for everything noble and true in this world. Well, okay that ain't the case but I just finished reading Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and so I'm hyperbolizing everything. But seriously, the couch was a nice way to have a fake news show seem relaxed and like they are just folks chatting on your TiVo. The new set has them chatting at a desk. They somehow moved from being a late night talk show to being a news show just by removing a couch!!!! That is one powerful-ass couch. Anyway, so I'm thinking about this couch and BAM. I'm reading through the misc things I read through and someone has made a blog about it. It is nice to know that in the world of the web. EVERYTHING is out there if you can find it :)

The Beginning

2005-07-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

You've gotta start somewhere and well, I'm starting here. I'm about to head off to Peru for a bit so I figured now was the time to start recording all of my thoughts (please refrain from any comments in terms of how much room that will take up).

The main reason I feel a need to do this is because I realize that there are too many good things that I forget. Every time someone says "Rememeber that time you dropped trou on stage to win a tattoo contest???" and I respond "no" I am reminded that the good stuff will get lost. Instead my head will continue to fill up with strange plot details from Smallville.

This weekend also marked the end of my innocence. Well, my financial innocence at least, I bought a house. A sweet loft in Boulder, CO. The whole time I was signing the paperwork I asked myself, why are you moving to Boulder again? The answer is really for no reason at all. I'm bored. It seems like a good way to shake things up a bit. The best decisions I've ever made were for no reason. I would say the worst were made while drunk, but hell those were fun too :) This house thing really drives home the point of how simple it is to drastically shift things if I'm willing to. I know, I'm in a position to do it and not everyone has that luxury. Very true, but I feel like I should at the very least take advantage of that luxury. I won't have it forever. So, consider the advantage taken. For now...