Assorted Notes

I should still be asleep. Inexplicably woke up at 5am (out of a decent dream, i might add - sigh), spent two hours failing to drift back off, finally gave up; rolled out of bed and made coffee. What does one do this early in the morning (on a virtual Saturday, no less)? This reminds me of when this same thing happened during (i think) my senior year of college. I was so annoyed at the lost sleep that i refused to do anything useful; instead i sat around and watched Sailor Moon.

I lieu of dubbed anime (i prefer subtitles, hmmph!), i thought i'd catch up on some writing.

Spent yesterday walking around San Francisco with a group of friends (and new friends) - one of my coworkers led a "city hike" as he called it. We started in the Mission District and took a scenic route up to Twin Peaks. I really enjoyed finally getting a non-touristy view of the city, passing through various neighborhoods and spectacular viewpoints. It's way too easy to forget that i now live in the proximity of viewpoints like this:




It felt like a summer day, but apparently it was autumn on this street:


And a shot from Twin Peaks (we arrived right around sunset):


I'll post the rest of my photos on Facebook (probably later today).

The exercise itself felt great (we covered maybe 6-7 miles total) and also satisfied my recent craving for some quality outdoor time. We're so spoiled on the weather out here, there's no excuse for wasting it. Also provided much-needed motivation to start organizing group hikes again. I have a growing list of bay area trails i want to hit, and enough people in the group expressed interest in joining. Rock.

We ended up getting dinner at this ah-MAZing sandwich shop in the Castro called Ike's Place. (To those of you who live in the city, it's near 16th and Sanchez - go eat there, you will not be disappointed.) I went with a simple turkey and ham with brie and a touch of pesto, served hot on a whole wheat sub roll. Mmm, that sandwich was so good - i wish i was eating it right now.

...

Hmm, what else. I finally got my shredder this week and started tearing through the boxes of ancient bills and bank statements that i saved for no good reason. Last year i finally went paperless, at least as much as possible. E-statements from all of my banks, e-bills for everything supported. I started using online billpay years ago (greatest thing since sliced bread). I still get paper bills from a few of my utilities ("Looks like someone's living in the past! Contemporiiizzee, man!") as well as health insurance and other stuff, so i've established a 3-year retention policy for such rubbish. Everything for a given year gets dumped into an Amazon box; after 3 years the whole box gets introduced to my new friend:


(Feeeed me!)


Speaking of new, inanimate friends, i finally got around to building the data storage solution i've wanted for years:


The enclosure is the cute little D-Link DNS-321; it plugs right into my router so i can access it anywhere inside my network. I'm running 2 Terabytes of hard drives in a RAID-1 configuration (full redundancy, so if one drive crashes, all of my data is still preserved on the other). FINALLY, my data is safe - finally i can sleep at night, knowing that all of my irreplaceable photos, email, and journal entries will no longer eat it if my Seagate dies. Now my only threat is fire (my next step will be to stash an external drive in a safe-deposit box).

Ok, off to get some more coffee, then get some work done, and then hopefully be tired enough for a nap. Happy Sunday, everyone! T-minus 2 days!

Moby -- "Play" [Album Retrospective Series]

I listened to Moby's album "Play" today, and it got me thinking about how long it took me to warm up to his music. Indeed, it took a series of significant events which spanned a number of years. Anyone care to travel through time with me? *Wayne & Garth effects: diddly-ooh, diddly-ooh, diddly-ooh*



1999
"Play" hits the shelves; i'm unfamiliar with Moby and don't really notice.

2000
[East Lansing, MI] I see the video for "Natural Blues" on MTV and enjoy it (partly because the song is good, but also because i have a crush on Christina Ricci). But it's just a one-off; i'm not really inspired to go looking for more of his songs.

2001
[Champaign-Urbana, IL] "South Side" hits the airwaves. Another one-off for me; i like the song at first, but after approximately 1 skillion viewings of the video (back then i used to watch MTV in the mornings while getting ready for work) it plays out. I lose interest in the song (and Moby by extension).

2002-2004
I continue to be indifferent to Moby.

2005
Someone (i'm assuming Marc or Kurt) plays "Natural Blues" towards the end of a Thursday night swing dance. The lights are turned down, providing a nice-feeling atmosphere which fits the song perfectly. I dance the song with Tessa, and it is rich and mellow and awesome. It's one of those where you manage to really *connect* with your partner and the music and border on transcending reality. During the song, Tessa says to me "Dancing with you is like zen". This later leads my friends to refer to her as "Zen Girl". But i digress. Major points for "Natural Blues" (and Moby by extension).

2006
Rosana and Drew use "Run On" in their intro to blues class. I quickly fall in love with the song (i'd managed to go this entire time without hearing it). More points for Moby - enough to draft a bid for me to break down and buy the cd.

I tell the "Run On" story to Melissa while we're at Za's for dinner. By coincidence, there's another Moby song playing at that very moment - a lovely mellow tune which Melissa recognizes as either "Porcelain" or "Everloving" (she couldn't remember which). She gives me a copy of both songs; "Porcelain" was the one playing at Za's and i quickly fall for that one too.

Critical mass achieved, i finally buy Moby's album "Play" on February 24th, 2006. At first i only really liked about half of the songs, but the rest have been growing on me ever since.

2008 In Review

I'm not sure how to summarize what 2008 was for me. A lot of things happened; good times and bad; personal progress & accomplishments offset by setbacks and failure. Perhaps it was a year of laying groundwork - calibrating my attitude, gathering tools, identifying what i need to do. Settling into a new town, trying things & seeing what works. Trying to heal & rebuild my life.

Time seems to pass more quickly with each day, yet i feel like 2008 was a long year.

...

The Good:

- Made some new friends, reconnected with old ones. Special thanks to Facebook for faciliating a lot of this (read "saving my social life").

- Finally started to build an online presence, mostly with Facebook, Twitter, and my blog.

- Live music is one of my passions, so it's pretty awesome to be able to catch so many of my bands when they come through San Francisco (as opposed to the 3-4 hour drive to Chicago from Champaign). Before i moved here, i was able to hit about 4 shows per year. In 2008 i attended 18 (more on that in an upcoming post).

- Started up made progress on a personal project.

- Started following news, current events, and politics to the point where i no longer feel clueless. Huge thanks to NPR for keeping me in the loop, especially KQED's Forum.

- The Floor of Dreams Lindy Exchange, back home in Champaign-Urbana. One of the best weekends i've ever had, at a time when i desperately needed the boost. After wondering if i'd lost swing dancing forever (more on that below), it was it was a relief to find that it was still possible for dancing to be good. To *feel* good. And having so many wonderful friends welcome me home with open arms just elevated the experience into the realms of overwhelming.

- Speaking of overwhelming, it was wonderful to reconnect with and strengthen ties with some close family friends and their kids over holiday break. Not only did my mom and i host dinner on Christmas as planned, but i ended up spending 6 days straight with some or all of them. 3 families, 7 kids total ranging from 4 to 12 years old; i've known them almost from when they were born - they're growing up fast! Hanging out with my little friends reminded me what life is about. Photos on Facebook.


The Bad:

- The thing which i've struggled to come to terms which but is still on my mind most of the time. I don't want to talk about it, and i'm sure you guys are tired of hearing it. Thus, i'll leave it at that.

- Lost the time & place for swing dancing. FDLX notwithstanding, i did not dance at all in 2008. I did check out a few local swing dance scenes after moving here, but i found myself not enjoying them much so i slowly stopped going. I considered the depressing possibility that i was just done with dance, but FDLX strenuously disproved that. I must revisit this issue in 2009.


The Ugly:

- Made good progress with diet & exercise, but then hit a wall and eventually regressed to being a lazy fatass.

- Managed to stop watching tv entirely for most of the year, but then went on like a month-long bender with the Olympics, Netflix, and whatever crap i could find on broadcast. Back to the old pattern of wasting hours every night watching useless stuff. Need to re-establish a balance - just follow the few shows i actually care about (Fringe, Heroes, Lost, How I Met Your Mother), and free up the remaining time for useful stuff.

- Started rock climbing; took a class at Planet Granite, got into a nice climbing routine, making noticable improvements, and had a nice synergy with my (then) workout routine. Then my belay partner ditched me; went through a couple of flakey belay partners before finally giving up.

...

I'm working on a goal package for 2009 which i may or may not post here. I'm trying to address all of the Bad and Ugly items above, but i'm also trying hard to make my goals realistic, and to prioritize so i can actually make things happen without failing halfiway through or regressing a few months later. Stay tuned.

OMG this is so frigging awesome!

Best musical since Dr. Horrible.

[Nostalgia] The Best of 1991-92

Inspired by a friend's discovery of an old mixtape, i dug out my shoebox full of old cassettes (which i refuse to get rid of even though i no longer own a tape deck (except for my old, dead Walkman which i also refuse to get rid of)) looking for a particular artifact from my youth. I found it:



Note that this isn't necessarily the *best* of 1991-92, but rather the best songs i managed to tape from the radio. Which is what we had to do back in the old days before the internet or digital music existed. (And yes, i did walk to school barefoot through three feet of snow uphill both ways.) It wasn't easy - queuing up the right spot on your blank, listening intently, ready to hit the record button at just the right instant. For a while i was obsessed with getting "clean" recordings, i.e. without the DJ talking over the intro, but that was just about impossible. Anyway.

The Best of 1991-92

Side A
1. Naughty By Nature - O.P.P
2. MC Shy-D - Shake It
3. O.P.P. (sunny days remix)
4. Grandmaster Slice - Thinking of You
5. Michael Jackson - Black or White
6. MC Hammer - 2 Legit 2 Quit
7. Ghetto Boys - My Mind's Playing Tricks on Me
8. MC Hammer - The Addams Family
9. O.P.P (another remix?)
10. Color Me Badd - Slow Motion

Side B
1. Michael Jackson - Black or White
2. DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince - You Saw My Blinker, Bitch
3. Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch - Wildside
4. Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch - Good Vibrations
5. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
6. Prince - Diamonds and Pearls
7. Paula Abdul - Vibeology
8. Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch - I Need Money
9. Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last
10. Maria


I also found another tape labeled "Popular Songs From 96.3 FM" (do you guys from back home remember 96.3?) containing many of the above plus Kris Kross, a lot more Color Me Badd, "Drop The Bass", and tons more.

Go ahead, pull them up on youtube - you know you want to :-)

Just call me Forgetful Jones

I've always been forgetful and sporatically absent-minded. Everything from putting the cereal box in the fridge and milk carton in the cupboard (doh!) to grabbing a stack of outgoing mail to drop in the box on my way out, getting in the car, and then realizing that the mail is still in my hand.

My morning routines have generally worked well enough, but after moving out here and enduring multiple instances of forgetting (or almost forgetting) things, i came up with a mantra to use every morning before leaving for work: "Wallet, Phone, Badge, Keys, Data.". ("Keys" refer to the spare house and car key i wear on a belt loop, just in case. "Data" is the flash drive i carry, containing music, working drafts, notes, etc.) Before heading out the door, i mentally say the words and verify that all five items are on me; many times i've found one missing - good thing i checked.

[Sidebar: Is "mantra" the right word? Maybe i mean to say mnemonic device. But isn't that where you take the first letter of each word to form another word? Like HOMES for the five Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior). Or the other way around, like Foxy Chicks Get Down After Every Beer for the order of sharps in a key signature (FCGDEAB). Oh, and before you say anything, that line was suggested by my high school band director - some things you can't unlearn. Anyway.]

Here's what happened this morning: I was in a rush to get out the door (flex hours => Neilam oversleeps every day). I'm heading up to the city after work for a concert (In Flames and All That Remains - both tier1 bands, i'm so excited!!), so i had a few extra items to remember (ticket, earplugs, camera, etc) plus a few quick errands (check tire pressure, hit ATM). In my rush to get going, i failed to use my mantra; i just grabbed everything and took off.

Somewhere between the gas station and bank i realized that i was missing my spare keys (i'd left them on the pants i wore yesterday). Not mission-critical, but i'd feel better if i had them - especially since i'll be up in the city tonight. Fortunately i was still close to home, so going back would only take an extra 5 minutes. Parked on the street, ran up the stairs to my third-floor apartment, pulled the keys from yesterday's pants, cliped them on, ran back out. Done and done.

I was on the freeway, halfway to work when i was hit with the uneasy feeling that i was still missing something. But this happens a lot, and i frequently re-mantra and pat pockets from the drivers seat just to make sure. And so i ran through as usual. Wallet - check. Phone - check. Badge...badge...oh bloody hell. Can you guess where my badge was? That's right, safely clipped onto YESTERDAY'S GODDAMN PANTS! ARGHHH!!!

I had about 30 seconds until the next exit during which time i debated whether or not to turn back. Again. I decided that the lost time sucks, but i didn't want to deal with the hassle of not being able to scan myself into buildings and feeling awkward all day. And you never know when you'll need your RSA key - which is why i keep mine clipped to my badge, so i'll always have it :-/

Sigh. Drove all the way back, parked in the same spot on the street, ran up the stairs, stormed through the door again, grabbed the infernal badge, ran back.

I made it to work just barely on time for our daily standup meeting.

Moral of the story: Never skip the mantra, or it might skip you. Or something.

Rally in San Jose

I marched in my first protest yesterday - i was in the San Jose arm of the amazing nationwide rally coordinated by Join The Impact. Here in San Jose we had 4 groups march from different meetup spots and converge upon our city hall from 4 different directions. Once we all poured into the courtyard we had some speakers, including city council members, a religious leader, and our vice mayor. Then we lined the streets, waving signs, chanting, and cheering as all of the cars drove by honking their horns in support. (I have to admit, after i left i took the long way home just so i could drive past & honk my horn :-) ).






It really was moving; seeing so many people come together in support. High energy; high emotion. And some amazingly creative signs; here are a few of my favorites:




Even more moving are the countless photo galleries and stories pouring in from all of the other protest locations across the country. Images from Seattle, Boston, San Francisco, and so many other cities where people just flooded the streets - overwhelming. Also inspiring are spots like my old home in Champaign-Urbana where tight groups held strong. Props to the crew back home for pulling this off! Check out their facebook event for some awesome photos; i especially like the sign which reads "Discrimination is *so* 1950s".

I've felt strongly about this issue for a long time, so i'm glad i can finally help do something about it. And this is only the beginning.

<soapbox>
Yes, it blows that Prop 8 passed. But maybe that was a much-needed wakeup call. I think too many people just sat back and assumed that it would fail. Until about a month before the election, i was one of those people. Then i saw the polls and freaked out; "What do you mean we're losing? This is CALIFORNIA! Who the fuck is actually supporting discrimination?" I know i'm not the only one who reacted to that - i started to get involved, and was encouraged by the support of so many individuals, community groups, politicians, and even a group of silicon valley business leaders (including open support from execs from Yahoo!, Google, Apple, and many others - check it out here).

But it wasn't enough, and maybe we were too late. Prop 8 passed, along with similar ballot measures in 3 other states, making a grand total of 37 with same-sex marriage bans written into their constitutions. This is not acceptable. But on the flipside, 2 states - Massachusetts and now Connecticut - carry equal marriage rights. This is a start.
</soapbox>

Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into a political blog. I'm sure i'll be writing a little about future events i get involved with, but the random silly stories and concert writeups will continue on as well (although i'm behind - Bloodwire & Claire Voyant were amazing last week, and i haven't even looked at my photos from Dragonforce yet).