.: Bit by Bit

South America Photos

2011-08-04T09:51:00.001-07:00

So I haven't updated in almost a year, I know ... but I've been busy. Or let's face it, Facebook has made personal blogging somewhat irrelevant.

That said, why not at least post pictures from our trip to South America this summer. Oh, wait, you didn't know about that? I guess I never mentioned it til now.

In any case, enjoy!

#6: Ginger Cake with Pumpkin Ice Cream

2010-08-26T23:14:00.001-07:00

The sixth entry in our ongoing list of the best desserts San Francisco has to offer was a bit of a head scratcher to be honest. It wasn't because of the type of dessert ... afterall, a ginger cake with pumpkin ice cream is nothing to scoff at, but the destination, however, was.

Chow's is a local Castro restaurant that's popular in the neighborhood, but not on my list of great, or even good, eateries. I personally find it pretty average and middle of the road, though I'll give them credit for being sustainable and proponents of organic produce where possible. In any case, we grabbed dinner there, and topped it off with the recommended dessert.

Now don't get me wrong, there's no such thing as a bad dessert usually ... and their ginger cake was perfectly good. It just wasn't particularly remarkable or unique, and the pumpkin ice cream while tasty, didn't leave me with much of an impression. Overall, for something that sounded like it had so much promise, it kind of felt ... average. Which I guess is in line with the restaurant.

In any case, good, but this won't be something I'll be itching to go back to and revisit.

#5: Lemon Cookie Ice Cream

2010-08-19T21:18:00.001-07:00

After three failed attempts, which threw off our regular weekly schedule of dessert tasting, we finally nabbed ourselves the fifth entry on the list: Lemon Cookie ice cream from the Three Twins Creamery in Lower Haight. This flavor is apparently so popular that they ship it into the store in the morning and sell out by the afternoon, and after getting our hands on it, I can tell why.

It's basically a light, citrus tinted vanilla ice cream with delightful chunks of lemon cookie mixed in, and half the joy of eating it is mining those bits of cookies out. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I could swear I've had them before and I'm sure my brother would recognize the flavor as well. This was definitely one of the better desserts on the list we've had, and we look forward to going back and getting more (especially when friends come to visit).

Lassen National park

2010-08-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

T and I made the 4 hour drive up to Lassen National Park over the weekend for a long overdue camping excursion. Lassen is the site of a massive series of volcanic eruptions that, prior to Mount St. Helen's in 1980, were the most powerful on record, leaving behind a group of active volcanic domes in the Cascades.

We spent the first night at a hotel near Redding, then drove the next morning to the camp site, pitched our tent, and proceeded to hike to the 5 mile trek to the peak of Mount Lassen, which is nearly 10,500 feet above sea level. T had a pretty cool GPS app on his phone that let us track our route, and as he took pictures, it recorded their exact position and stored them accordingly. You can check out our route here. The hike was pretty grueling ... 6 hours of what amounts to a constant, never ending 20-30 grade incline along cinder cone rocks and pebbles, with a total elevation gain of 2500 feet. That said, the views from the top are breathtaking, and ultimately worth the exercise.

Once we made it back to the campsite, we cooked up some yummy dinner, and spent the night laughing and enjoying the meal underneath a crystal clear blanket of stars. It's funny ... we spendmost of our lives under a roof, or protected by walls, but nothing makes you feel more naked or vulnerable than being out in the pitch black of night. Not to be cheesy, but it's truly awe inspiring.

The next morning, we woke up early, cooked ourselves some breakfast burritos, and took a walk around the nearby lake for a couple hours. We had initially planned to do another hike around the cinder cone, but were both exhausted by the last day's hike, and facing another 4 hours on the road, we decided to head back home early.

And with that, here're some pictures from the trip!

#4: Caramel Ginger Hot Chocolate

2010-08-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

Since we'll be camping up at Lassen Park this weekend (blog post on that forthcoming), our scheduled dessert tasting came a bit earlier this week, but it turned out to be the perfect San Francisco summer day for hot chocolate: dreary, foggy, and crisp.

This week's entry led us to Christopher Elbow, a local chocolatier located in the ever quaint and charming Hayes Valley district. Despite the lure of fancy truffles and artisan chocolates, we stayed focused and limited our order to the recommended hot liquid variety, with T opting for the caramel ginger flavored version while I settled for the citrus infused one.

The caramel ginger one tasted great, though my "citrus" flavoring was practically non existent, and I had to settle for what seemed like good ole fashioned plain hot chocolate. That said, we really enjoyed the dessert, though nothing has come close to dethroning the Alfajores from a few weeks back in terms of wow factor. Guess we'll be going back for those ...

In Honor of the Prop 8 Ruling

2010-08-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

#3: Banana Tapioca Pudding

2010-08-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

This week's entry in our ongoing tasting was The Slanted Door's coconut tapioca pudding, so we made our way to the ferry building on Sunday afternoon to etch the third notch in our dessert bedpost.

The Slanted Door is a renowned high end Vietnamese restaurant on the water's edge, and despite living in the bay area for over 6 years now, it was my first time dining there. I've heard so much about it, and thought the food was really tasty, though it didn't knock my socks off or anything. Great stuff, just not mind blowing.

Unfortunately, the chef is fairly creative and changes the menu every few weeks, so 7x7's recommendation, the coconut tapioca pudding, had already been replaced with the banana flavored equivalent, paired with avocado ice cream and a lime meringue. All in all, it was very tasty, though we're both not fans of the texture of tapioca, and thought the presentation ultimately outweighed the final result.

6.38

2010-07-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

In keeping with weekend traditions, T and I embarked on one of our urban hikes through the city, joined by my friend Coco of Greek shipwreck fame. We walked from T's house down to the water's edge, up north along the embarcadero weaving our way through Jackson Park towards Coit tower, at which point we made our way back south through Chinatown, Nob Hill, and finally downtown and SOMA. A healthy 6.38 miles, with some steep hills along our way to and from Coit tower.

It turned out to be a lovely day, and having Coco join us just made the day that much brighter.

50 Treats in 50 Weeks

2010-07-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

7x7, a local San Francisco lifestyle magazine, just published a top 50 list of the best desserts and sweet treats to be had in the city before you die. Naturally, we've taken it upon ourselves to try these first hand, over the next 50 weeks, selecting each in order and seeking them out in their various neighborhoods. At first glance, I'll admit that I don't necessarily agree with all of the editor's selections ... for instance, omitting Tartine's morning buns in favor of their lemon creme tart is borderline sacrilege, and not giving a nod to BiRite's salted caramel ice cream is puzzling at best, but we're just going to roll with it for now and trust their judgement.

Naturally, I figured it'd be fun to share these adventures on the blog and document our progress in gaining 20 unwanted pounds. Last weekend, we tried the first candidate on the list, Tartine's Lemon Creme Tart. T loved it ... I was less enthused myself, but mostly because I don't care so much for lemon custard.

Coming in at number 2 were Chef Guisell's renowned alfajores, which we nabbed this weekend at the Alemany's Farmer Market on the backside of Bernal Hill. These are some of the best cookies I have ever tasted ... and I'm not usually a fan of alajores. They were so soft they practically melted in your mouth, and the dulce de leche binding the two was surprisingly creamy and not overpowering. 7x7 definitely nailed this one on the head.

Next up is Slanted Door's coconut tapioca, which we'll be trying next week. Stay tuned for more updates and pictures!

Jury Duty

2010-07-14T15:50:00.001-07:00

A month or so ago, I received a summons to report for jury duty, a first since moving to California six years ago. I didn't think much of it, and figured the chances of my getting selected were so slim, that it'd be a waste to postpone the request (you only get one such opportunity).

So, like a good law abiding citizen, I showed up to the court house and listened to the instructions which, by and large, let me know that the state of California didn't give a damn what my circumstances were, and that quite frankly, none could be dire enough to avoid my responsibilities. Touche.

The next week, I reported for the jury selection process, which began by amputating a good two dozen people from the proceedings due to the limited space in the courthouse. What was left were a hundred fifty or so folks, all of whom shared my fate: spend the next four days going through the arduous task of randomly selecting, and by some measure, randomly eliminating prospective jurors. What began as a somewhat interesting interviewing operation slowly devolved into a civic case of Groundhog's Day, with the same remedial questions asked over and over again to each passing victim.

By midweek, lottery chanced upon my name, and I was called to answer the same set of questions I had heard in the previous days' testimonies. After a relatively short back and forth with the attorneys, it seemed like my fate was pretty much sealed. While counsel would revisit other candidates over the next few days, I was left untouched after the first round of questioning, and before I knew it, with the courthouse dwindled to less than a third of the original pool of candidates, I was sworn in among 11 other jurors.

The catch? The trial lasts a month, including said week. All in all though, I'm pretty thrilled. I get a chance to observe an extremely interesting process unfold while doing my "civic duty", not to mention a handful of other perks. For one, this will be the first time in my adult life that I have what anyone would call a "normal" schedule. That is, I go to "work" at 9 and get off no later than 5, which may not seem so significant to anyone else, but coming from someone who has either worked full time while simultaneously being a student, or only held a job with a 60-80 hour work week on average, this is an amazing experience. One week in, and I *love* it.

Plus, I get to live and "work" in the city, which means no traffic and no heavy commutes across the Bay Bridge, and that equals less stress. I also get to have lunch with friends who live and work in the city, as well as join in on happy hour, which is a complete novelty to me. I even got a month long membership to the gym, and have found that getting home at five grants me enough time to get errands and chores done, eat dinner, hang out with friends, and get to sleep on time, helping me wake up early to workout. Under my normal schedule, I'd hardly have had time to step in the door, scarf down my dinner and browse around before having to turn in and do it all over, exhausted.

A boy can get used to this ...

3 = 100

2010-06-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

It's always hard to believe when the day actually arrives, but Toy Story 3 is officially released in theaters, and to phenomenal acclaim no less! 125 reviews in, and we've still got a perfect rating on rotten tomatoes, which is practically unprecedented. Though my time on the movie was shorter than the nearly two and half year stint I had on Up, I'm still super proud of the result and my small contribution to the film. Speaking of which, watch for the final act to see some of my handy work ... I don't want to spoil the film though, so I'll leave it at that.

As always, we're going out tonight with a big group of friends, getting in line, and watching it in the theaters with the rest of the city. I can't wait to see the reactions, and I hope everyone enjoys the film!

9.97

2010-06-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

9.97. That's the distance, in miles, that T and I walked on our little urban hike in San Francisco this past Sunday. It was a gorgeous day, so we took advantage of the fantastic weather and hiked to the Land's End trail in the north western tip of the city.

It's amazing that after living here for 6 years, winding your way through the neighborhoods of San Francisco is still so fun and interesting. In just four hours, we walked through the latin Mission, quiet and quaint Duboce Circle, the infamous Haight which was busy throwing a crazy street fair, Golden Gate Park, the opulent mansions of Pacific heights, the practical suburbs in the avenues, the dramatic cliffside views of Land's End, and finally ending at Ocean Beach. I don't thik I've ever been to another city that packs such diversity in such a relatively small area. It reminds why I love living here so much.

Mexico

2010-06-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

To celebrate my 30th Birthday, T decided to take me on a surprise vacation to the Mexican Riviera, which I've never been to before. White sands, crystal blue warm water, and balmy weather makes for a happy birthday boy!

Unfortunately, we had quite the dramatic week leading up to the festivities. On Thursday, I started noticing a bit of discomfort in my front tooth while at work. By the time Friday night rolled around, the excruciating pain made it clear the tooth was abscessed. I hadn't slept for days and was miserable by the time I went in for my root canal the following week, 2 days before I was scheduled to take off on the plane, mind you. Then, the morning before said flight, T calls me in a panic, as he had just discovered his passport was expired. Really? Cut to a nail biting day of frantically jumping through hoops, and you'll understand why by the end of the week, we *needed* the vacation. But, all's well that ends well, and by the time we arrived at the airport, T had a a newly minted passport and I was finally on the mend.

We landed in Cancun, and made our way south to our final destination, a beautiful little beach town called Playa Del Carmen. The next week was filled with adventures visiting ancient Mayan ruins in Chichen Itza, Coba, and Tulum, snorkeling on the beaches of Cozumel, and conquering my fear of heights via death defying zip lines 30 stories above the Mexican jungle. We sprinkled in lazy and blissful beach days in between all the adventures, and the combination made for a perfect vacation. Of course, I had my cameras in tow, and thanks to my brother and Gracie's gift (a waterproof case), I was even able to capture the underwater adventures as well!

Click Here for the full set of pictures (turn on the comments for the full story)

Thank you so much for such a sweet and memorable vacation, T! What a fantastic way to kick off a new decade.

30

2010-05-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it, but I turned 30 this year. To celebrate, T threw me a surprise birthday bash with all my friends, complete with my favorite food, picture slideshow, and photoshoot for all the guests. We had a blast, and it was a wonderful way to kick off a new decade!

The theme was "A Night Of A Thousand Puppies", and as you can see, the house was decorated accordingly. Even Muggs showed up to the festivities, though the poor girl was all tuckered out by the end of the night.

Among all the great food, T got me 100 of my absolute favorite cupcakes as a birthday cake. These are custom made, all natural cupcakes made from scratch by a single woman who runs a business out of her house. They're the best cupcakes you'll ever eat. No joke.

One of the nice touches of the party was a photoshoot setup upstairs, complete with an outlandish wardrobe of wigs, jackets, and plush dolls for everyone to take wacky pictures with. It definitely left a fantastic set of pictures to look back on, and I pulled out a few from the 200 or so pictures to post here.

Goodbye 20s ... I can only hope that my 30s are remotely as amazing as the past decade has been. Thanks to everyone for making it so memorable!

Uncles For Easter

2010-04-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

T and I made a trip down to Dallas over Easter weekend to spend time with my brother and his wife, my parents, and most important of all, the newest addition to the family, little Ciela. It was a heart warming experience to see my brother as a father and hold Ciela in my arms ... she really is adorable! We spent most of our time talking and catching up, playing games, taking care of the baby, competitively painting easter eggs (I won), and thanks to my parents' generous babysitting, a chance to spend a day leisurely exploring Dallas.

In between the family festivities, we had a chance to hang out with two of my closest friends, Leah, who I've known since high school, and Marium, who I met while working for the school paper at A&M. When you've known people more than half your life, there're lots of hilarious stories to share over a beer or two ...

Sadly, Sunday came around, and it was time for us to head home. Visiting my family and longtime friends is usually bittersweet ... it's always a fun and grounding experience, but it leaves me missing them as well. Here's hoping I'll see them in the bay area soon ... wink wink, nudge nudge.

Love you all, and thanks for such a great trip!

A 1000 Frames of Cuteness.

2010-03-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

Shooting at a 1000 frames per second is something that's been done before (and for reference, movies are usually shot at 24fps, and videogames are lucky to hit 60fps), but I always love the effect it captures. This isn't slow motion, mind you, it's just that playing back those frames at a normal 24fps gives that illusion, but there is so much more fidelity and nuance in this method.

It also doesn't hurt to have such an adorable subject matter.

And you may be asking yourself if I'm ever going to update this blog with something relevant ... you're not alone ... I ask myself the same thing all the time.

Toy Story 3!

2010-02-11T10:33:00.000-08:00

It's here ... the official trailer for Toy Story 3!

Watch it in it's full resolution glory here

They're Back!

2010-01-20T10:35:00.000-08:00

So, I still have a blog to write about this past weekend up in Tahoe and a general 2009 retrospective entry that I need to get to to reboot my journal ... but in the meantime, I can't help but post this. Last year, I linked a live feed to a puppy cam of Shibas, and lo and behold, the folks have gotten a new litter of puppies and started recording their day to day activities again!

The pups are pretty young right now, so there isn't much going on beyond feeding and a lot of napping it seems, but it's still cute as all hell. In a few weeks, as they grow up, they'll get pretty playful and fun to watch.

Live TV by Ustream

Welcome Baby Ciela!

2010-01-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

I'm officially the proud uncle of a beautiful 8lb 11oz baby girl! After a long day, Gracie gave birth to little Ciela, who already looks so much like her, and is the cutest little bundle! I mean, look at those little cheeks!

While I'm sad I'm so far away for this moment, I'm also very excited and proud for my brother and Gracie as well as all of our family! It's so weird to grasp my brother having a little girl ... I guess it's official, we're all adults now! I can't wait to meet her in a few months and spoil her rotten.

I'm gonna be the best uncle ever!

The Cutest Thing ... Ever

2009-12-12T17:33:00.001-08:00

So yeah, I haven't posted anything relevant in forever ... maybe when work dies down a bit and I get a chance to catch my breath, I'll start writing again, but in the meantime, I present the cutest puppy ... ever.

Whistling Puppy @ Yahoo! Video

Happy Anniversary!

2009-11-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

Today is the anniversary of T and I's first date, back when he asked me to go see Bolt with him in theaters. I can hardly believe it's been a whole year ...

We've rented an amazing house on the coast of Bodega Bay, and plan to celebrate by relaxing the weekend away. Considering I've been working like a dog for the past month, it'll be nice to catch my breath and enjoy some quality downtime.

As a present, I'm giving T a cartoon portrait I drew of the two of us, mounted and framed ... this is an unfinished version of it, before I put some final touches and fleshed out the background. I hope he likes it!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

We went to a friend's pumpkin carving party this afternoon, and here are the results! Can you guess which one we designed?

Lebanon Pictures

2009-10-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

On the plane ride back from Lebanon, I wrote up a long entry about the entire trip ... and about 4 hours into it, as I was wrapping up the last bit of details, the blogging app on my phone crashed, and with it, my motivation to recount the trip. I've been sitting on it for a month, hoping I could conjure up the same funny stories and insights, but that's obviously failed. Instead, I'm just going to post pictures and call it a day, and with that, keep blogging. Sorry, but hope you enjoy the pictures, both in set and slideshow form, via the links below:

The Flickr Set
In Slideshow Form

A 24 Hour journey

2009-09-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Beside the hairline connection I had to make in Newark, where I boarded 5 minutes before takeoff, my trip to Paris was largely uneventful. I watched one movie, Atlantis, which reminded me why Disney's animation studio faltered in it's waning years ... the animation was nice enough, but the whole thing just lacked that magic spark. Thankfully, I had my DS and a newfound obsession with Way Out West to keep me happily occupied, and seeing as how I tend to cherish my alone time, these intercontinental flights are right up my alley.

I met up with my brother and parents in the terminals of Charles De Gaulle in Paris, which wins a gold star for the biggest clusterfuck airport I've seen in a while. As we go through security, herded roughly through what must be my twentieth slow-moving line of the day, I catch my brother's glance, and without saying a word, we both can't help but crack up. Thank God he's here.

I think it really hit me when we pulled up to the Middle Eastern Airline jetliner, it's tail emblazoned with a cedar tree ... I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. The oddest part was the fact that, for the first time since living in the states, I was sitting on a plane surrounded by people who, by and large, looked like me. Wall to wall brown ... It's funny to feel like you so fundamentally belong, and at the same time, not. I'm self conscious of my lackluster Arabic ... I wonder if I obviously stick out as the American in the group ... are my eyebrows not bushy enough?

Now I'm killing a bit of time on the plane, hoping to look busy as not to offend the pretty young girl next to me who's probably wondering why I'm being an anti-social (and therefore, spectacularly un-Lebanese) asshole. The truth is, looking like a full fledged adult and sounding like a remedial 2nd grader won't do much for my ego, so a blog entry it is.

-- Mobile Post

Returning Home

2009-09-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

After nearly two decades in the making, I'm finally making a trip back to Lebanon tomorrow. I can hardly believe it to be honest, considering all the failed attempts our family had at organizing a reunion all these years. I'm not sure the reality will sink in until I get off the plane and take the drive back to the house I grew up in.

It's really a combination of excitement, anxiousness, insecurity, anticipation ... everything rolled into one. I'm looking forward to seeing the family I grew up with after so many years, eating all the food, seeing the sights, having my deep seated memories triggered by the smallest little details, and taking hundreds upon hundreds of pictures. It's going to be amazing, but I'm also nervous about the culture shock of it all, having the entire red blooded family under one roof again and the dramatics that'll surely ensue, and the short time to absorb it all. It's going to be a roller coaster ride, but I can't wait.

I'll be pretty disconnected while there ... no laptop, and likely little internet access at the house, but if I get a chance to flick some photos up in the next week or so from the phone, I'll make sure to do so. Looking forward to posting pictures and stories when I get back!

Seattle Pictures Are Up

2009-09-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

Just posted pictures from the Seattle trip to Flickr ...

It was funny this time around, as I had my SLR, my point and shoot, and the iPhone, switching and using all three equally. I've been doing a bit of a pet project, taking a picture a day with the phone, and I'm really starting to like the process ... they're definitely lo-fi and need some filtering, but it's like little photo confections ... quick snapshots of daily experiences, empty and fluffy, but somehow satisfying.

I'll Fire That Bitch Who Wrote The ViewPort Cube!

2009-09-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

So, not everyone will appreciate the content of this clip, but if you're in the business, this is hilarious. To briefly put it in context, Autodesk, the software giant responsible for AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max, acquired Alias, the developers of the competing and most widely used 3D suite, Maya, several years ago. That left only a few independent programs to compete with Autodesk, including SoftImage, and the open source Blender. This set the community on fire, as geeks are rabidly opinionated and loyal to their preferred software programs ... it's as if the Yankees bought the Red Socks, or Microsoft bought out Apple (ok, maybe not quite that dramatic, but you get the point) ...

The Trigger Slips

2009-09-04T16:30:00.001-07:00

T has been eagerly planning a secret labor day getaway for a couple months now, leaving only the most obscure of hints along the way. I never really fished for any details, as I'm happy to be surprised, but from the tiny morsels he'd tease me with, I gleaned we'd be flying to our destination and it involved some body of water. And that's about it.

There would still be some planning involved though, as the bay bridge closure over the weekend meant I'd need to Bart into sfo, and coordination was necesarry. On Thursday morning, as we were getting ready for work, it struck me that I'd need to bring my backpack and camera bag along with me, and since we can only bring two carry ons, I casually asked T, "are you planning to bring your backpack?"

Without the slightest hesitation, he blurts out "to Seattle?" If the moment could be played back in slow motion, you'd probably see him try to catch the words as they were flying out of his mouth, a look of shock plastered across his face. Cue what felt like minutes of hollow silence as we both stared at each other, internally assessing the damage; T hoping quantum physics would, in that moment, reveal the secrets of time travel to him, while I considered how to pretend I'd momentarilly gone deaf.

Neither turned out to be much of an option, so we did the next best thing. I went up to give him a hug, while he laughed in frustration at himself for a good two or three minutes.

-- Mobile Post

Happy Birthday Pop!

2009-08-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Arguing With a Dining Room Table

2009-08-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

The Happiest Place on Earth

2009-08-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

T loves Disneyland. I'm talking about full blown, eight year old kid in a candy store sort of love. Naturally, this meant that a trip down to Anaheim was in order, but I struggled over the logistics for a few months, until august. One of T's best friends was down in LA for that month, so I decided to plan a surprise trip down south under the auspice that we would be visiting her.

What T didn't know was that the vacation to LA would happen a weekend earlier than what I was "planning", and that Disneyland would be Involved. So suffice to say, he was pretty surprised when we ended up boarding a plane a week early with "when you wish upon a star" playing on my iPod.

It was a lot of fun to surprise him, and we all had a great, if not exhausting day at the park. The last time I had been to Disneyland was two decades ago, so experiencing it as an adult was a trip ... I haven't seen such an odd (but probably accurate) cross section of the American population anywhere else. It's a fascinating place from a sociological standpoint.

Anyway, we spent a lot of time riding the roller coasters, playing games, and enjoying the shows on display. My favorites had to be the Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania (which is a blast), the Screamer, and Space Mountain. By one in the morning, we were all happy but exhausted after 17 hours on our feet, and pretty much passed out at the hotel. The next day was spent recovering by the pool and enjoying all LA had to offer, including star sightings over brunch and more plastic body parts and Botox than you could shake a stick at.

Here's the whole set of pictures from the trip:

The Healthcare Debate in a Nutshell

2009-08-12T23:19:00.000-07:00

Canvas

2009-08-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

Yup, I know it's been over a month since I updated. And yep, I know it's lame to post a video as a comeback, but I'm hoping to return to form with an update about our weekend in L.A. I've just been running out of steam lately, and to be honest, I think Clint's death kind of made everything else feel trite in comparison, and I just lost my spark for this.

More on that later, but for now, I wanted to throw Canvas on here in anticipation of the release of Imogen Heap's new album, Ellipse, which debuts in a couple weeks. First Train Home might be the more radio friendly single, but Canvas has this beautiful, haunting quality to it. Judging from what little snippets I've heard from the rest of the collection, Ellipse may be her best yet, and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

That's a Weave if I Ever Saw One

2009-06-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so just watch this, all the way through. Then read the comment, but only in that order.

Good Bye Clint

2009-06-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

I don't usually write anything personal on my blog, and I don't really want to start either. But I also don't think I could post another entry without acknowledging what happened this Monday, so I'll keep it brief.

David and I took Clint, David's 14 year old lab, in to the vet to be put to sleep after his kidney's had failed beyond help. It was one of the hardest, most heart breaking things I've ever had to do, and I've been a wreck this week.

Good bye Clint-erodomy. You're were such a good boy, and I'll miss you terribly, little buddy.

Unky Eric

2009-06-03T11:51:00.001-07:00

The biggest news of all to come out of Dallas is that I'm soon going to become an Uncle!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am to introduce the first ever picture of my little nephew or niece!

It's funny ... so many people I know have gotten pregnant this year ... I went from knowing no one with a kid, to everyone having one now. But this is the big one ... when I got this picture yesterday, I started giggling and tearing up in the office. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to having this little tike in my life. Congrats to my brother and Gracie. Love you guys.

Update: As if it wasn't exciting enough, it turns out that Laura, Gracie's sister, is ALSO pregnant, and only days apart from Gracie. Looks like I'm gonna be an uncle, double time! What an amazing set of events. Congrats Laura and Nathan!

Dallas Wrap Up

2009-06-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

Dallas was, simply put, a blast and picture perfect weekend. I couldn't have asked for much more. We strolled around the arboretum during the day, spending the afternoon enjoying Gracie's new found part time profession as a cheese connoisseur by means of a delicious picnic, feeding all forms of fuzzy woodland creatures along the way. Then, we spent the afternoon touring their newly bought house, which was beautiful ... I can't wait to visit in a few months when they're all moved in and done renovating the place. We followed it that up with a quick visit to downtown before sending the folks off to Houston.

The afternoon consisted of splashing around in Laura's Hotel pool, where we played water polo to the backdrop of the Dallas skyline and enjoyed the pleasantly warm weather in Texas. Famished after a long day, we grabbed dinner then headed to the Old Monk for drinks with Leah and Marium, two friends I've known for well over a decade now (holy crap!). It was a lot of fun catching up with everyone over some yummy chocolate beer, and as luck would have it, I'll likely be making my way to Dallas more and more, so it'll give me a chance to see them more than just once every couple of years. Then next day, after touring some neighborhoods in Dallas, we capped the trip with a Freebirds Buritto, and all was right with the world. Nom Nom Nom!

What a perfect trip ... it was so great to spend time with my family, and share the moment with them and T. Thanks to my brother and Gracie for putting us up and making the stay awesome, and to my parent for flying up to see us.

Dallas

2009-05-31T07:28:00.001-07:00

I'm in Dallas for a short visit with the family which has already been great ... Despite a few hiccups at the airport thanks to the craptastic turd that is American Airlines. They all met T and loved him over drinks and dinner (tex-mex no less), then we caught a sold out showing of Up which looked amazing on 35mm film. Today, it's the arboretum followed by a tour of the newly bought house, then some time by the pool and drinks out on the town with friends.

Yay for good times ...

Get Out and Go Up

2009-05-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

Up is now officially in theaters, and I can hardly believe it! That was a long haul ... to put it in context, I started writing this version of the blog a few months after joining the production, which amounts to almost two and a half years. That starts feeling like a long time when I teleport back to the first entries of the journal and realize just how much has happened since writing my inaugural post in the quiet den of my old Oakland apartment.

But that's all really beside the point. What matters is that the movie is out, and I hope everyone goes to see it. I know I will ... not only am I seeing it tonight with a big group of friends in the city, I'll be flying to Dallas first thing tomorrow morning to watch it with my family, which has become something of a tradition now.

Hope everyone likes it!

Blue Lips

2009-05-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

Regina Spektor, with an amazing performance of her beautiful new song on Jools Holland from the forthcoming album, Far. I loved Begin to Hope, and can't wait for June 23rd to roll around!

Oh My God, I Want One!!

2009-05-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

Pictures From Germany

2009-05-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to post some pictures from my trip to Stuttgart, Germany, and despite not having much free time to explore the city, we did get a chance to check out the newly minted Porsche Museum. I'm not a big car freak, but it was pretty fun to see the whole gamut of classic cars, especially the earlier prototypes.

Under Control

2009-05-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

For the first time in a while, iTune's free single of the week by Parachute is actually a good song, reminding me of a cross between Ben Folds and John Mayer. Nothing earth shattering, but catchy, fun pop ... check it out:

29

2009-05-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

This is what you get when you ask for a low key birthday celebration. Thanks to T and all my friends for taking me out and showing me a good time!

Black and White People Furniture

2009-05-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

Boy, does this remind of the commercials in College Station. Local furniture and auto dealer commercials are notorious for their shitty and awkward production, but this takes the cake ...

Mr. Andraos, Can We See You In The Back?

2009-05-07T05:44:00.000-07:00

So I'm in Germany, and after 5 days of a fairly hectic schedule, I'm finally able to relax a bit. I've given my talk on shading twice now, cobbled together over my flight to Stutgart and the few hours I'm able to scrape by at the hotel, and finished 4 hours worth of panels. My first rehearsal of the presentation was when I got in front of the audience of a 100+ people, and well, gave the talk. I'm just relieved it wasn't a complete disaster, and the second go round the next day went smoothy too. Yay to good luck.

Unfortunately, that can't really be said for my flight to Germany ...

I flew British Airways, which considering all the hype, I wasn't terribly impressed by ... maybe business class is the way to go. At least I got an aisle seat, and as I sit down waiting for the plane to fill up and people are streaming in, I spend some time txt messaging my brother to tie up a few loose ends. As the plane is leaving the gate, I put the phone in airplane mode, check a few thing, and replace the iphone with my book, which I hadn't read since my days in Hawaii. As the plane is taxying, about 10 minutes later, according to one of the flight attendants there seems to be a weird issue with my seating arrangement, so they ask for my boarding pass and disappear into the front cabin of the plane. I continue reading, shrugging my shoulders, until it dawns on me 20 minutes later that we've now been on the tarmac, motionless, since the attendant took my boarding pass.

Just when my uncomfortable "uh-oh" instinct starts kicking in, the flight attendant reappears, walking swiftly down the aisle towards me, stopping at my seat, leaning in, and gravely requesting "We need to see you, please come with me". Naturally, this is right around the time when every pair of eyes in the goddamn plane turn towards me ... and in some cases, don't release their gaze for the next 11 hours of my life.

The flight attendant takes me a few step back to the coffee station, where I'm surrounded by 3 other flight attendants. Not surprisingly, I happen to be joined by another decidedly brown person, who at this point I'm guessing is of Pakistani origin.

"Why were you texting one another?" the stodgy old Brit attendant barks at us. "We know you were texting eachother"

I look at the brown guy, he looks at me, both confused, to which I reply "I don't know who the hell this guy is." He darts a look at both of us, accusing "So you mean to tell me you weren't texting each other?", and brown guy looks at him, holds up his iPod touch, and lets the jackass know that the device isn't even a fucking phone. I think at this point, the attendants all realize that their brilliant profiling skills have backfired ... and start stuttering nonsense about shutting off electronic devices in a plane, all the while never toning down their absolute hostility towards the both of us. Instead of elegantly stating that this was a misunderstanding, sorry, we're on high alert, or anything resembling a contrite apology, he looks at us and gruffly tells us to go back to our seats.

To call the rest of the flight an awkward experience would be an understatement. None of those BA attendants made any eye contact with me the rest of the trip, and I was surprised by how seethingly angry I got when I returned to my seat after the whole ordeal. I sympathize with the need to be vigilant about security, but for Christ's sake, refine your remedial profiling system ... how can you spend 20 minutes running a background check on me without realizing that the potential that I'm a terrorist is slim to none, despite my Lebanese nationality? I mean, really, all I have to do is google myself and I know that in one minute. Or ask me something about myself ... "Sir, what brings you to Stuttgart today?", to which I could answer "Oh, I'm giving a talk at an international animation conference, cause, you know ... I make family friendly cartoons for a living. Oh, and on this trip, I'm reading a book entitled 'The God Delusion'. Oh yes, and I'm gay. Probably like you."

So yeah, British Airways ... you can suck it.

Auf Wiedersehen

2009-05-02T12:40:00.001-07:00

I'm off to Stutgart, Germany to give a couple talks on shading and sit on some panels for FMX, the European mini equivalent of Siggraph. With the late nights at work and crazy go go go pace of life, I've barely thought about my presentation, but let's hope that the 12 hour plane ride across the Atlantic will give me some uninterrupted time to coblle something together ...

I might take a day trip while I'm there, maybe to Munich or Zurich, depending on my mood and free time ... I'm sure there'll be a good story or two over the course of the week to report on.

Texts From Last Night

2009-05-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

Yet another brilliant idea ... some choice ones among the infinite wealth of txt message humor:

(845): At my boss' house at a bbq. Had a few beers. Taking a poop - there's no TP...this is my nightmare.

(803): We're hooking up, I have a toothbrush at her place, and yet on leaving her apartment a minute ago we said goodbye with a hi five. WTF?
(843): You're upset about this?

(816): I'm in a cab, in a strange city, and my driver looks like he's going to eat me. My facebook password is **** I want you to have the one thing I hold dearest to my heart.

(401): my mouth tastes like poor choices

Thanks Z!

This is Why You're Fat

2009-04-30T18:01:00.000-07:00

Good lord, why didn't anyone think of this sooner? I'm particularly fond of the Circus Waffle, topped off with soft serve ice cream, sprinkles, coconut shavings, and get this ... Cap'n Crunch!

Observe:

And That's a Wrap

2009-04-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

Almost three years since I started on the film, and I can hardly believe it wrapped and will be released in a little over a month ... what a wonderful ride that turned out to be. The screening and subsequent black tie party Saturday night was definitely a proud moment.

Lots of fun, food, laughter, drinks and dancing was had. And I got to wear a derby hat ... not too shabby.

Earth ...

2009-04-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

... A breathtaking, beautiful achievement in cinematography. A wondrous view of nature and our world that we rarely see. Simply stunning. All these things, I'm sure, are true of the new documentary, Earth, but, personally speaking, I couldn't really tell you.

Why is that? Well, because, to be more accurate, Earth is Disney's equivalent of a snuff film for cute and cuddly baby animals. Seriously, what the fuck? I lasted about 15 minutes, which is right around the time a newborn Kariboo gets caught by a wolf, this after a heart wrenching two minute chase. Weeping quietly to myself for the following 10 minutes, I swore that if another innocent baby animal "gets it", I'm leaving. Sure enough, before the tears even dry, we cut to a tiny newborn elephant who gets lost from its tribe in the harsh desert, desperately trying to find his family by following the tracks of his mother. Except, as James Earl Jones informs us ominously while the camera pans out to reveal an endless parched landscape, the poor thing is following the tracks in THE WRONG DIRECTION. Cue to me clumsily climbing over people in their seats, blinded by my own tears, trying to get the hell out of the theater as fast as humanly possible.

I just don't have any defense mechanisms built up for animal tragedy, especially baby animal tragedy. I was taken aback by how much the Kariboo's failure, despite running its little heart out in desperation, completely broke my own heart. The end of its' struggle, when it gets tagged and caught by the wolf, exhausted, alone, and resigned, haunted me all night long. It was just an overwhelmingly sad moment. And I understand the whole "circle of life" argument and all, but that doesn't take the edge off.

I may also just been having a rare bad head space day, and it might just be an issue of wrong timing. Given the fact that I had another one of my sparsely recurring apocalyptic dreams that night, which always ends with the big flash of an atomic bomb, followed by bursting into flames, moments before being finally blown to bits, I'd guess my suspicion isn't too far off. Not pleasant, and like I said, rare ... but sometimes it crops up.

In any case, as much as I wish I could watch it for all it's beauty and majesty, I just don't have the heart to see the rest of Earth.

Mario Kart Death Race

2009-04-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

Brilliantly executed ...

Up 3D Featurette

2009-04-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

So, my tentative plan is to send out an invite and get a big group of folks to come out to the theaters and watch Up on opening night, May 29th. Fonzie and I sent out a loose last minute invite last year for Wall-e's premiere and got about two dozen or so friends out to cinemark. This year, it might be fun to try and fill up a majority of the theater if we can help it. The big question is, should we go 2D or 3D? I'm personally leaning 3D, especially since by the end of May, I would've seen the movie in its completed form at least three or four times already. Plus, Disney released this featurette which kind of sells me on the idea.

So help me figure this out ... should we do it in 3D?

Mike Birbiglia

2009-04-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite programs on NPR is This American Life, a show focusing on a specific subject each week, and a few months ago, their theme was Ruining it for the Rest of Us. I had loaded up several of the episodes for my flight home to Houston, and in Act II, a comedian, Mike Birbiglia, shared his own personal story about how he single handedly ruined a charity golf event. It was some of the funniest stand up I've heard in a long time, and left me giggling outloud to the chagrin of the passenger next to me. It so happens that he made another guest appearance last week, and so I decided to look him up and share some of his stuff.

If you check out the original This American Life Episode, you can listen to the full show. His act starts around the 35 minute mark, and highly recommended. And I found another funny skit (though not quite as awesome as the link above) on You Tube. Oh, and I have no idea why he has a sign interpreter on stage with him for this skit ...

Welcome To England

2009-04-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Oh happy day! On a larf, I checked out the happenings with Tori Amos and just found out she's releasing a new album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, in less than a couple months. Even better, we get a taste of it via a new lead single.

Like most of her music, at first listen, it's pleasant but somewhat inscrutable and shapeless, with little hints of brilliance to pique my interest. But it's amazing how after repeated listens, the songs kind of open up, and I'm not sure why exactly, but I always fall in love with them.

In any case, I guarantee you won't love it at first listen, but if you play it a few times, who knows? In any case, yay!

Thailand Pictures Are Up

2009-03-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

I've finally gone through the 2000 some odd pictures of Thailand and narrowed them down to about 400 or so and uploaded them to Flickr over the weekend. I'm still busy putting captions to all the pictures, but for the most part, everything is up and organized.

Here're links to all the different albums:

The Full Collection (easy access to all the sets)
Bangkok
Ko Samui
Ko Phi Phi
Chiang Mai
The Elephant Sanctuary (subset of Chiang Mai)
Thai Cookery School (subset of Chiang Mai)
My Favorites (photos that turned out nice)

Here're a few of the ones I liked from the trip which I hadn't posted during the adventure.

Luke, I Am Your Father

2009-03-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

You could say this in so many ways. Another one bites the dust, iCaved, or simply "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!", but which ever way you put it, it's true. I finally got an iPhone, fashion-forward-status-conscious-bourgeoisie labeling be damned. I simply call it the consolation prize for having to return from a month long vacation.

I'm the first to admit I'm not one of those religious Apple zeelots littering San Francisco, and to be perfectly frank, some of their products and business practices really irk me ($30 for crappy headphones anyone?). At the end of the day, I really do consider myself a technological agnostic, but that said, I can't deny the sweetness of this phone, and it's been a long time I've been this giddy over a gadget. The writing was on the wall though ... my Verizon contract had just ended in March, my previous phone which I had replaced a few months ago was again on its last legs and barely functional, and I'd had an ample amount of time to research the device in Thailand (i.e., saying "gimme!" everytime T had his handy).

My first week's impression? Glowing ... I love it, and it's amazingly practical and fun to customize. Coming from a crappy flip phone, this is quite the leap forward for me, especially since I've always regarded mobile phones in a very pragmatic way (as in, I just want to make a call). This really is less a phone and more a compact laptop, focusing on connectivity.

So there you go ... at least this will help me get betterr at keeping in touch with folks.

Sawadtee Thailand, Aloha Hawaii

2009-03-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

The last day in Thailand found us completely lacking in our travelling mojo. For starters, we'd been using the iPhone as our alarm clock, as well as our gauge of time, with a simple equation of adding 3 hours to the current time according to PST. We never took into account the impending day light savings time, which threw us off a bit and resulted in an extra hour at the lifeless Chiang Mai airport.

We landed in Bangkok with a plan to visit the ancient ruins in Ayutthaya, but between getting a late start and an emergency rescue of Captain Peanut from our breakfast diner where he was accidentaly left, we missed the window to make our trek. So instead, we opted to check out Chinatown ... and all I have to say about that is: Our Chinatown in San Francisco is all cleaned up for us.

My last night in Bangkok, while searching for dinner on my own, walking past a pickup bar for old white men and young Thai girls and into the crowded night bazzar, a block of hookers to my left, a teenager leading a baby elephant to my right, I felt an odd sadness. For all of it's madness, I'd miss Thailand.

Our last memory of this country would come in the form of a near death experience via the cab ride from hell. Sixteen hours later, following a 5 hour layover in Japan, we groggily stepped back on American soil in the form of Hawaii, where I've given myself the license to pretty much check out, so to speak.

So that's it for now ... A few more days to relax, snorkel, cook dinner, watch movies, and just sit around with the sound of the surf in the background. Looking forward to posting pictures when we get back home!

Cooking, Elephant Rides, and Road Tripping

2009-03-07T23:40:00.000-08:00

T and I spent a couple days getting out of the city to explore the sights around Chiangmai, and in doing so, took our lives in our own hands and rented a car. On paper, this may not sound like a big deal, but considering that Thais drive on the left side of the road and regard traffic laws as nothing more than friendly suggestions, you should award us with a medal for bravery. Hell, crossing the street here is the real life equivalent of a game of Frogger.

In any case, We head out of the city the first day, driving through an outer loop in the hills around Chiangmai, stopping of at several places along the way. The first up, an orchid and butterfly farm where we got to see some flowers and little butterflies flying all about. This was just a warm up though, to the real upcoming attraction of the day ... the Mae Sae Elephant Camp, which is a safe haven for dozens of Asian Elephants which you can pet, feed, and ride as well. Naturally, we did all three.

Elephants are adorable ... its just a simple fact. They're these frighteningly gigantic creatures with the warmest temperament I've seen in any animal, not to mention the little baby ones. We spent some time in the camp taking pictures and watching the workers take care of them, then decided to hop on board and ride one for a while. I have a video of this which I'll post back in the states, but suffice to say, it was a hell of an experience. I'm not sure how to describe it, other than as a really slow, bumpy roller coaster ride. After that little adventure, we got to feed some elephants, and right as we were about to leave, one of the elephants sat down and put out his leg, while one of the workers motioned me to come up. He told me to sit down on the elephant's outreached knee, and the beast just wrapped his trunk around me, almost like a hug ... it was adorable.

Our last stop of the day was a beautiful (if not altogether touristy) Wat perched on a mountain, overlooking the city, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. Unfortunately, part of the temple was under construction, which was a photographic buzzkill, but other than that, a great experience. The haze in Chiangmai is so sever though, that you could hardly see the city a couple miles away.

We capped the day off by grabbing some food at one of the only places serving Burmese food, which is surprising considering how close the city is to the border of Myanmar. In any case, we got ourselves some Tea Leaf salad, which though a bit different than at Burma Superstar, was still delicious, along with 3 other dishes, all for 130 Baht ... or somewhere along the lines of $3.75. Not too shabby, and minus T ever so slightly hitting a car in an alley and drawing the ire of a saucy Thai woman, the day went off without a hitch.

The following day, we initially intended to make our way up to the Golden Triangle to visit Cambodia, and hop quickly over the border in Myanmar (Burma), but the 6+ hour drive and questionable regulations about doing so made us rethink our plans. Instead, we headed down to Lampang to check out one of the oldest and most revered Buddhist temples in Northern Thailand, Wat Phra That Lampang Luang.

The grounds of the temple are beautiful, and unlike most of the other Wats we've visited which have been meticulously maintained, this one felt as though it hadn't been touched since the 15th century. Almost no upkeep or real preservation, which made for a fascinating walk through the place.

Satisfied, we made out way back home, and spent the night strolling through the outdoor bazzar, intent on actually purchasing some keepsakes this time, which wasn't difficult at all. I'm not much of a shopper, but man there's a ton of shit here, and its fun just to look around at the crazyness of it all.

Today, we spent the morning doing one of my favorite activities of the trip ... cooking. Though I'm not much of a cook at home, I was really excited to take part in the cooking school here. Its a half day course where you basically go to the street market, learn about the basic ingredients of Thai cuisine right in the heart of it all, and choose your menu for a seven course meal, preparing and cooking most everything on your own. I ended up making fried banana rolls, tom kah gai (coconut chicken soup), som tum (papaya salad), pad thai, red curry (from scratch), and finally sticky rice with mangoes for dessert. Surprisingly enough, it was some of the tastiest Thai food I've had on vacation till now! T and I are looking forward to trying everything again at home and having friends over for Thai dinner one night.

Next up is the Sunday market tonight (not to be confused with the other night markets), and we head back to Bangkok tomorrow morning to visit the ancient ruin in Ayutthaya, and fly out the day after. So, the first leg of the vacation is almost over, but we both feel like we've accomplished a lot in just two short weeks in the country. Thankfully, next in line is our vacation from our vacation in Hawaii, where we hope to slow down a bit and get some relaxation in ... stay tuned for more!

Chiang Mai, The Little Big City

2009-03-05T02:44:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Chiang Mai in the afternoon and promptly got settled in our charming little "boutique" hotel, grabbed a quick bite, and headed off to the famed night bazaar. The city is famous for it's crazy street markets which are comprised of hundreds upon hundreds of street vendors selling practically everything under the sun, almost desperately so. We treated it as our first pass through, so there wasn't much shopping to be had just yet, but the spectacle itself was a sight to behold. I can't wait to go back and take pictures in a few days.

The next day was spent touring the city center, which is no more than three square kilometers and contains three hundred wats ... The equivalent of a starbucks on every corner in New York City. Of those, we checked out four significant ones, including a wat built almost entirely of teak and another containing ancient monuments from the 13th century. There's a ton of history and architecture packed in this tiny city, and we both love it, since it has all the culture and charm of Thailand without the madness and glitz of Bangkok. The only downside is the excessive pollution, which is at it's peak in March since all the rice paddies are traditionally burned this time of year, lending the whole city a copper tinted, Mad Maxxish haze all around.

After a full day of sightseeing, we grabbed dinner with a friend of a friend who just happened to be in Chiang Mai on business, and in doing so, provided us with our first opportunity in ten days to socialize with anyone other than ourselves ... We talked the poor guy's ear off I'm afraid.

So, I'm typing this on an iPhone, which should explain the dryness of this entry, plus it prevents me from arranging the pictures in any sensible order, but I guess it's better than nothing for now. Check back soon for updates on our adventure riding an elephant through the woods!

Ko Phi Phi is Paradise

2009-03-04T05:23:00.000-08:00

After sinking a day in Krabi, which in its own right was interesting, we made our way first thing in the morning to Ko Phi Phi, hoping to make the most of our (now) single day there. Unfortunately, our traveling mojo was still MIA from the night before, and we found ourselves in a frustrating bind upon arrival to the island. Long story short, our hotel had no sign of our reservation and was an hour boat ride from the dock, expedia sucked a big fat one when it came to helping us resolve the issue, and in the midst of the heat and this vacation wrench, dozens of locals kept pestering us with offers of rides to our hotel (at this point, one of them had "marked" us for the others as live bait apparently). We finally decided to cut our losses, get another hotel, and battle it out with expedia later, especially considering our time was already all too short and valuable and we were at our wits end.

With that matter settled, we dropped of our luggage along with our frustration at the hotel, and made our way back to the dock to book a day trip to the neighboring island, Ko Phi Phi Ley, an uninhabitted natural reserve ... and what an incredible experience that turned out to be.

The trip starts with a ride to an isolated, 50 foot cove called Monkey Beach, where dozens of monkeys live and hang out. The tide was a bit high that day, so most of the monkeys had fled up into the trees, but we still got to see several of them up close. We then rode out to see some caves before stopping off in a tiny alcove, where we had the chance to dive off the boat and snorkel for an hour or so with all the fish, squid, coral, and infinite sea life. This was my first experience snorkelling, and it was amazing. Literally breathtaking. As if that weren't enough, in the middle of all this sensory overload, a giant thunderstorm rolled in and started dumping on us ... I'm not sure how I can do this experience justice with words, but it was absolutely surreal. I took a video and some pictures of it, and will upload those when I get back to the states.

The next stop was Maya Bay, the single most beautiful beach I've ever laid eyes on (and the location where they filmed The Beach). The water looked like it was made from emeralds and felt as warm as bath water, and the sand was so soft, it reminded me of putty when it was damp and wet. In one corner of the bay, we spotted an odd dark circle in the water, and soon realized it was a giant school of fish that morphed and seperated when you walked through it, only to reform a circle around you when you got in the center.

The final stop on the trip was a remarkably delicious meal on the boat, overlooking what should have been the sunset, but instead was the view of the passing thunderstorm, which was awesome in its own right.

After such a shitty morning, this was the most blissful afternoon I'd had on the trip, so much so that I was upset about the idea of leaving the next morning. I mean, here we find ourselves in paradise, and barely get a chance to experience it before having to rush off in less than 24 hours. So, in the spirit of a flexible vacation T and I said "fuck it, lets just stay another day", and did just that, despite a bleak weather forecast.

The next morning, we handled the details of shifting flights and hotels around, and spent the entire day beach hopping and truly relaxing. The morning was gray and overcast, but we didn't care. By the afternoon though, we switched beaches, making our way to an isolated patch of sand in the western side of the island where we found a couple chairs to ourselves, a beautiful view, and a swing tied to a tree. As the day passed, the clouds rolled away, leaving only the sun in all its glory, defiantly ignoring the crap forecast of the day, and leaving behind two very happy guys.

Blissed out, we've since made our way to Chang Mai with little complication to wrap up the final leg of our Thailand trip. We've got 5 days here, and a pretty interesting plan for things to do while we're in the north. Hell, we might even visit another country while we're at it ...

Anyway, I've rattled on long enough for now, but there've been so many little interesting stories throughout this adventure that are hard to keep up with, especially with so much going on, but they're all really funny.l I think I'll have an entry at the end looking back at all these little tidbits that includes finding cats in the fridge of our restaurant, riding in a pimped out cab to the airport, and the uncontrolable giggling thai receptionists have when encoutering two men who don't want two twin beds in their hotel room ...

Exploring Koh Samui and Krabi

2009-03-01T05:02:00.000-08:00

First off, thanks for the comments everyone, makes it that much more fun to write these entries!

Ok, so following the bliss that was our first night at the hotel, we rented a couple scooters and jet- setted about the big island, exploring the entire thing, from one end to the other. I had done something similar while in Greece and let me tell you, nothing beats the freedom of riding around in the open air of an island to get around. It was a ton of fun, and gave us the chance to see and do things we couldn't have had we cabbed it to specific destinations.

We headed south, stopping by a waterfall where elephants are kept for riding, then made our way through several tiny villages and the main port town, with a break at our intended destination, Bo Phut. We laid down a couple towels, made ourselves comfortable, and dipped in the the water here and there to cool off. A nice relaxing beach, away from the crowds of the more popular beach town Cha Weng. We followed that up with a stop off at the Big Buddha, a sanctuary on the northern tip overlooking the entire island. To cap things off, we scootered our way into Cha Weng, and after 3 solid days of nothing but spice, decided to give our intestenal tracks a break and ate, of all things, Mexican. Which, believe it or not, wasn't half bad. I'm just as shocked.

We crashed at the lovely hotel, and the next day finished up our sightseeing for the day, with a trip to Lamai beach to soak up some sun and visit the grandfather and grandmother rocks, which as it turns out, are nothing more than stones weathered by nature to look, um, phalic. We, of course, couldn't resist reverting back to 5 yeard old children.

The plan was to originally leave the rest of the day for relaxing around the hotel, but it seems that our laissez faire planning of the the second leg of the island adventure bit us in the ass. What seemingly should've been an hour of preparation turned into a three hour marathon to square away the trip, as all flights to Krabi, which was our hub point to get to Ko Phi Phi, were booked. We finally decided to go with our only option at the time, a boat ride to the mainland, from which we took a bus, that then dropped us off in a no name town, Surat, where we caught a connecting bus to Krabi. Just a note about this town, Surat. We walked around a bit trying to find something to eat, and stumbled upon what looked like a pet shop, with caged little puppies, rabbits, birds, mice and the like, though assuming its a pet shop is just that, an assumption. The likelyhood that it was a restaurant where you could just pick your dinner on the spot is a 50/50 toss up at this point in our adventure. And you think I'm kidding ....

By the time everything was said and done, the day was a complete wash, and we ended up missing the boat to Ko Phi Phi, so here we are, in Krabi for the night, making the best of the situation. And how the mighty have fallen ... we went from a luxury hotel with its own infinity pool to a shithole in a basement of a deteriorating building, where our "bathroom with shower" consists of nothing more than a 2x3 room with a toilet, a drain in the corner, and a shower head sitting, perhaps, a foot away from the john. Ah well, we were up for the adventure, and at least we got to see the countryside in the process.

So here we are, in Krabi, awaiting a boat first thing tomorrow morning to get to the real thing, Ko Phi Phi. Unfortunately, this leaves us only with one day on that gorgeous island, but we'll try our best to make the best of it, we always do. I feel like I'm whizzing through a bunch of details, but its hard to encapsulate everything in one go. Once I post pictures on flickr when I get back home, I'll tell a bit of a better story. More to come!

Koh Samui, and the OMFG Factor

2009-02-26T17:19:00.000-08:00

Where'd we leave off ....

Well, The first night in Bangkok, after taking a quick dip in the pool on the roof of the hotel, and relaxing a bit after the hustle and bustle of the city, T and I headed out in search of food, and grabbed what I can only describe as a mediocre meal at a Restaurant recommended by our book. M'eh ... not terrible or anything, but it didn't blow our socks off either. Then off to the Red Light District, despite the fact we were both pretty wiped. We hung out on the outdoor patio of a bar, and while T got his second wind, I fell asleep ... right in the chair. I pulled it together though, and rallied for a couple more hours, until we headed back and passed out.

In terms of the red light district, all that stuff has never really been something I've been interested in. Its good to just see it for the sake of it, but there's something very sad underlying the whole ordeal, at least from my standpoint. To highlight that sadness, a man was walking around the night streets of Pat Pong leading a baby elephant, getting people to pay him to pet it and feed it nuts. The elephat was adorable, but you gotta wonder where he keeps the poor thing at night, in the middle of a city.

The next day, we had big plans to tour Chinatown and Indiatown, but where sidetracked by an adventure through the shopping centers of Siam Square. We were on the hunt for a few items (shorts for T, in particular), and after a couple hours of wandering through the ritzy, upscale malls and being accosted by the "tourist police" on the streets, we had just about given up on the day, but little did we know we were about to hit pay dirt.

On a whim, we visited the last in a string of malls, and sat down for a meal, where we got to make our own meal in something I can only describe as a marriage of a sushi boat concept and a mongolian style, do it yourself attitude. Following that little adventure, we stumbled upon the black market section of the mall, hidden on the top floor, in the back corner, where seas upon seas of densely crammed shops sold you anything you wanted. And being the geeks we are, we found a shop that could create a custom DS cartridge with literally every combination of games you ever wanted, all in one, and for about 15 bucks ... and we wept with dorky joy. The catch was that it would take a half hour to create, and we had to check out and head to the airport in less than an hour. So, T and I split, with him rushing to the hotel to pack, and me staying behind for the catridge, and then rushing like a madmen back to Sukhumvit to meet him and the taxi.

Crazyness. Long story short, we made our way to the airport, boarded a plane to Koh Samui (following another mini crisis of being at the wrong gate), and landed in what can only be described as paradise. Both our jaws dropped when we got to our hotel, and once the very sweet Thai receptionist gave us the tour and left us to ourselves, we literally did a happy dance together. The view is breathtaking, perched on a cliff over looking the eastern shore of the island, with an infinity pool and outdoor shower and hot jacuzzi to call our own. Sweet!

After taking a quick dip while the sun set and the stars came out (along with a shooting star), we grabbed our first amazing dinner of the vacation at the hotel. Stuffed, happy, and still dazed by the whole thing, we went to sleep, with the view of the island being the last thing we saw before drifting off.

Today, we're off to explore Koh Samui!

The Adventure Begins

2009-02-25T01:19:00.000-08:00

So, I'm on a timer so I'm going to just vomit my thoughts on this entry and hope it sticks. Plus, this machine is running Windows 95 on a native resolution of 640 x 480, so no luck with downloading any pictures at the moment. That'll just have to wait till a little later. Update: Posted a couple pics ...

Let's see ... we excitedly boarded the plane sometime at noonish yesterday, and made the 20 hour trek over the pacific to get to Bangkok, with a short stop in Narita, Japan. I was happy to see that as we boarded the plane to Japan, about four dozen Japanese schoolgirls dressed in appropriate manga attire joined us, and I couldn't help but smile thinking of Matt. With the hour layover in Narita, we explored the airport, marvelling at all the little differences in just about everything in Japan. This is the fun part of travelling to a completely new place. Even the most mundane things, like snacks and chips, are exciting to discover. The 11 hour flight to Narita left us a little tired, so we weren't exactly jumping for joy to board another 8 hour flight to Bangkok, but it really wasn't so bad afterall, despite the fact that we tried our hardest not to sleep on the flights. God knows we loaded up on enough videos, movies, audiobooks, and games to keep us busy the entire time.

Landing in Bangkok, we cleared security and got our bags remarkably quickly, caught a cab to the Sukomvit district, and checked in to the hotel at 2am, Bangkok time. All said and done, the trip door to door was 24 hours. The hotel is pretty kick as, and reminds me a lot of an asian version of the W here. Happy to take a warm shower and collapse into bed, we passed the hell out, and woke up the next morning totally in sync with the time change. No jetlag whatsoever.

The day's been all about exploring the city. We grabbed a quick bite in the am, and were out of the hotel and into the chaotic streets of the city by 9, making our way over to Lumphini Park and soaking up all the craziness on the way. Bangkok really is a mish mash of a place ... modern high rises and hotels dwarf tiny ramshackle house made of rusted tin in the alley ways. In some ways, the vibe reminded me of Beirut. We then caught the sky train to the river's piers, and hopped on a boat to reach the hitorical district of the city. All in all, travellin from one end tot he other cost each of us no more than a dollar and a half.

We spent most of the afternoon exploring the Grand Palace, which is a spectacular sight to behold. Its one ridiculously ornate building after another, encrusted by a mosaic of smal stones, gold, and tiny mirrors, and temples housing all forms of gold leafed Bhuddas inside. All the walls are painted with hyperly detailed murals of mythical Thai stories (ok ok, derived from and Indian fable ... but I guess they didn't have plagirism back then), and the whole place just has this air of history around it.

One thing to note, I was pretty proud of us for not getting suckered by this guy outside the temple, who lied about the place being closed for lunch and trying to get us to take a taxi out to some other sites. Beyond that, we made our way to the nearby Wat Phra Kaeo, where the largest reclining Buddha is housed, and its now joke. Theat sucker is fucking huge. We exited the building by making a wish and sealing it by dropping fifty 1 Baht coins in 50 jars.

After about 8 hours on our feet in the 90 degree humidity, we started getting sapped for energy and made our way back to the hotel. Probably gonna take a quick dip in the pool, freshen up and rest our feet, and then head out to check out the nightlife a bit. We'll probably go see a few more districts tomorrow, before we take our flight down to Koh Samui in the afternoon, and kick start the vacation part of the vacation. I'll hopefully download a few pics if we find an internet cafe with machines that are less than a couple decades old, and do another update.

Wow ... day one of a month off. Let's see what the rest of em turn out like.

30 Year Old Pandas Are the Best

2009-02-22T18:54:00.000-08:00

Friday was my last day at work for a month, which in and of itself is surreal. If I consider the fact that I've wrapped a two and a half year project, and it only felt like yesterday that I started, it's a bit scary. To top it off, I'm about to board a plane bound for Thailand in less than 24 hours. Holy crap.

That said, nothing is better than warming up to vacation with a pre-vacation, this one being up in Tahoe with friends to celebrate Andy's 30th birthday. I could go on and on about how fun the whole weekend with the gang turned out to be, how we played games, cooked delicious meals, drank and laughed all night long, and tackled one another in the snow. But I don't have time to elaborate as I frantically tie up all the loose ends before heading out tomorrow. The pictures will just have to speak for themselves.

Happy Birthday Andy!!

The Eyeball Game

2009-02-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

Or, the nerdiest but most satisfying time waster on the internet. The goal is to calculate just how accurately you can judge geometric problems intuitively with your eye. I think the lowest single round score I was able to nab was a 2.3, but its hard to keep up a streak for three games, which is how the final score is averaged. What's your score?

Surprising Fonzie

2009-02-16T17:42:00.000-08:00

Fonzie turns 30 next week, and since I'll be halfway around the world at that time, we all decided to throw him an early surprise birthday party to celebrate the momentous occasion. We filled my house with pink balloons, made pink "Fonzmopolitans" for all, and even got him his own princess sash, cause we're classy like that. To top it all off, everyone helped paint a giant canvas to commemorate the night and offer to the birthday boy at the very end. A fun time was had by all and I survived my first foray in hosting a big event at my house. Yay.

And here's a slideshow

Look No Further

2009-02-14T08:23:00.000-08:00

Vanilla Gelato, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt

2009-02-13T14:47:00.000-08:00

T, Coco, and I grabbed some drinks at Berretta last night, which replaced the god awful Supper Club months ago, and has apparently become fashionable enough to attract the Marina girls to the Mission. Amid the ear piercing shrieks and dangling hooped jewelry flailing about, we decided to treat ourselves to some late night dessert.

Along with the vanilla affogato which kept us up late into the night, Coco ordered a bowl of freshly scooped vanilla gelato, encrusted with coarse sea salt and swimming in a small pool of warm, virgin olive oil. I'll admit the idea of that combination might seem a bit revolting, but the reality is actually pretty damn tasty. Just when the thick coating of oil starts feeling overwhelming, the sweet taste of ice cream takes over, followed by this odd kick of salt at the end. It made for a really odd and refreshing combo of flavors. Wouldn't be too hard to try at home!

Paper Art and Stop Motion

2009-02-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

Pretty damn awesome.

Grey

2009-02-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

It was inevitable really, and it's not as if I dreaded the moment or anything. But I noticed it last week, and as I was drying off after my shower this morning, it caught my eye again. A grey hair on my temple ... actually, three grey hairs, glinting and begging for attention against a wall of black. It was more a curiosity than anything else. I didn't freak out or have some sort of revelation about a midlife crisis or my impending doom. More than anything, it reminded me that if I ever grow up to have a head of grey hair, I'd just count myself lucky that it was still there at all.

Sony Does It Again

2009-02-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

Rex, I really hope you don't get fooled by this one too. Thanks for the link T!

Dropping Like Flies

2009-02-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

I know everyone can't stop hearing about the economic downturn, which seems to be the headline of every other news story these days, but I started noticing a disturbing trend. Non corporate mid size businesses are dropping like flies around the bay area.

Factor 5 , the independent game developers behind Turrican, Rogue Squadron, and the recent Lair closed it's doors abruptly last month, and Free Radical, who brought us the Time Splitters series, averted near disaster when Crytek bought them out at the last minute. Even EA's laid off employees and shut down one of their houses. These aren't new companies either ... Factor 5's been around since 1987, and Free Radical was founded by ex Rare members in the mid 90s. I have friends (one of whom just closed on a house) that lost their jobs suddenly last week when the Orphanage, the Fx gurus responsible for Iron Man among others, locked up it's gates without warning.

The trend isn't isolated to the tech industry either, like the 2001 recession was. Elephanet Pharmacy shut down last week, Bell Market is getting replaced by a Whole Foods, and saddest of all, Scharffenberger the local chocolate factory and only one of twelve chocolatiers in the country that still harvests their own beans, closed their doors. I'm noticing that everywhere I go, there're for lease signs and stores that felt like mainstays keep disappearing.

Whenever I'm out with friends, inevitably someone among the group has either lost their job, or a friend of a friend has. It's kind of nuts how fast the bottom's dropped out, and sad that all these independent businesses are getting wiped off the map. I guess with CircuitCity filing for bankruptcy and liquidating it's assets, even big business is collapsing, but still. I'm watching it with a bit of awe, and wondering when things will level out.

And So You Know, You Want To Be .... Dinner

2009-02-04T07:34:00.000-08:00

Trust me, just watch this till the end.

Thailand (and Hawaii) Bound

2009-02-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

So, I'm going on vacation, and sooner than anticipated. I was originally planning on a mid March or April target, but some scheduling snafus at work pushed my date up by a month, meaning that I'll be shipping off in three short weeks now.

After batting some ideas around, T and I settled on Thailand, with a short stop in Tokyo (and I do mean short), and a stay in Hawaii to cap things off. All in all, it'll be month of time away, which after two and a half years of production, is much needed. The timing is a bit crazy, but I'm really looking forward to the adventure. I can't wait to try all the great food, relax in a hut on a deserted beach, and take pictures of all the exotic architecture. And maybe, just maybe, I won't get shipwrecked on a rock this time.

One can only hope.

Barack, Michelle, and a Tub of Crisco

2009-01-24T09:12:00.001-08:00

Wow.

Waltz With Bashir

2009-01-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

Mat's been eager to catch Waltz With Bashir ever since he heard of it months back and happily targeted me as his movie watching buddy, seeing as how "I'm in the business" in more ways than one. Waltz is an animated pseudo documentary that analyzes the experiences of Israeli soldiers during the early years of the Lebanese civil war, and I guess Mat was interested in my opinion on both fronts.

Artistically speaking, it was a mixed bag. While the technical execution and production design were top notch, rendering an impressively hand painted quality to the 3D underpinings, the animation was frankly stiff, and distractingly so in some sequences. There're a lot of things an animator can get away with, but human motion is not one of them, since an audience is subconsciously atuned to reading those cues. That criticism is a bit harsh though when watching the rolling credits, which consisted of no more than a dozen animators, so with that in mind there's some room for forgiveness. That's especially true when the artform is not just a means to an end, but actually elevates the surreal narrative in a way that traditional film never could. As a whole, accompanied with a haunting soundtrack, the film is a beautiful undertaking,

On the political and historical end, again a mixed bag for me, although I highly recommend watching it. It's commendable for rendering an unapologetic and sobering look at the war, albeit through a specific lens. And honestly, I understand why a single lens in film is necessary, especially to support a structured narrative. Afterall, the premise of the film set out to explore and unearth the haunting memories of some Israeli soldier's role in the Sabra and Shatila massacres, so you really can't expect a more fleshed out account than that. On the other hand, it fell victim to a frustrating conceit, where a clear role was assigned to each involved party as a means to satisfy either the audience or the director's own desire for a moral compass. The Palestinian refugees settled into a familiar victimization, the Israelis were revealed as an unwitting third party, and the Christian Phalangists as cold villains.

This is okay from a story telling standpoint, but the reality of the situation is far denser and inconveniently void of morality, and it's precisely the lack of that dialogue in general which frustrates me. No one can argue that the Sabra and Shatilla massacres were anything other than tragedies, but the reality of the civil war in Lebanon was that it was a no holds bloodbath and to paint it as anything else strikes me as somewhat disingenuous.

Our dinner, ironically enough at La Med, was dominated by these very themes, and amid all the political and historical discussion, Mat asked me a pointed question: "Did you have a hard time watching the movie?", and I guess I was a bit surprised by my own answer, which was "not really." Don't get me wrong, I still can't sit through Saving Private Ryan, and I'm averse to watching any kind of portrayal of violent suffering (you'd think that's a given for everyone, but I just point to the popularity of movies like Saw). But the way I explained it was that it's no harder or easier for me to watch a war movie just because its set in Lebanon, at least in regard to the human equation. What is difficult and heart wrenching though, is seeing the country itself. The imagery of tanks in Beirut, of leveled neighborhoods with plumes of smoke rising, of walls plastered with images of Bashir Gemayel and the cedar emblazoned flag everywhere. I was lucky not to have lost anyone growing up in the war, so maybe my association with it is more deeply rooted in the symbol of Lebanon itself, of hearing about it's splendor and beauty, but only knowing a city where not a single building wasn't scarred by bullet holes.

In any case, I don't mean to be overly critical of Waltz with Bashir, and as a matter of fact, I highly recommend it, if not as a historical account of the breadth of the civil war, than as a moving account of war from the eyes of a haunted soldier.

Finally, a Rug!

2009-01-19T20:10:00.001-08:00

To accelerate the very slow process of furnishing my apartment, I bought a rug. Exciting, huh? Thankfully, this means I'm finally allowed to buy pillows for the couch.

Am I In Grad School Again?

2009-01-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

As I'm leaving work, walking across the deserted parking lot and surprised at how warm it is for a January night in San Francisco, I spot my lonely car and head towards it. I toss my gym bag, which is increasingly nothing more than a symbol of good intention, into the trunk, get inside, put the key into the ignition and start the car. The familiar orange lights all come alive, the car purrs as it warms up, and my eyes drift to the digital clock on the dashboard. 1:04.

In that moment, a thought creeps into my head, I would imagine in the same way a recovering alcoholic might feel at a frat party, or a former gambler who happens to find himself in Vegas. "What's the point of even going home?" The familiar voice whispers "You can just sleep in your office ..."

Thankfully, I internally debated my way out of that option, fumbling through an argument that suffering the office equivalent of the walk of shame and having no clean underwear just wouldn't do. These were things I wouldn't think twice about in grad school, where sleeping at home was the exception, if I slept at all. But I'm a respectable adult now, right? Perhaps I should behave as such.

Apple Mac Book Wheel

2009-01-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

"It remains to be seen if the Wheel will catch on in the business world, where people use computers for actual work and not just dicking around."

A Parting Shot

2009-01-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

As much as I like going back home and spending time with family and friends, I'm no fan of Houston, and to be more specific, Sugar Land, a southeast suburb of the sprawling concrete bayou my parents have settled in. Factor in the holidays and the fact that said suburb is one giant shopping hub, lined with malls and their accompanying angry shoppers as far as the eye can see, and my dislike naturally begins to border on something more sinister. Let's call it hate.

That sentiment was validated the day after Christmas, a time in which the market value of a human soul is apparently discounted and marked for clearance alongside all the other useless crap retailers couldn't convince you to buy. This couldn't be truer than one location in particular, the bargain basement of civility in this analogy: the shopping mall parking lot.

This is where my brother and I found ourselves circling endlessly, having made a flip decision to check out the local mall. Finally agreeing that our best chance was to wait for a space to open, we settled into one of the many aisles of parked cars and staked our claim on any and all incoming shoppers. Ten minutes pass, and we were delighted to see the lights of an suv flash, as though it were greeting its driver after a long day of shopping. My brother signals his intent and as the SUV begins to reverse, another car suddenly appears, coming from the opposite direction. It stops and waits behind the departing car.

"You've got to be kidding me, they're not about to just take that spot, are they?" I think to myself, and sure enough, despite seeing us waiting and signaling, they take the parking space which we've been claiming for ten minutes. The pear shaped driver, alongside her two equally plump passengers and a celery stick of an adolescent exit the car, at which point I notice our window rolling down.

"Excuse me," My brother calls out "We've been waiting on that spot for a while now, and you clearly saw us signaling for it!" The woman and her companions respond by pretending we didn't exist, turning their backs to us and walking away nonchalantly, their body language communicating a very clear message: "Well, you can just go fuck yourselves ...."

This fuels my brother's frustration as he continues to call them out on their inconsiderate behavior, which is met by a silent, almost spiteful indifference. There's a swagger to the woman's gait that's downright offensive, and my brother, in response, leaves her with a parting shot. A phrase which left my mouth agape in embarrassment and one my brother will likely never live down:

"Well ... then ... I guess you're just too cool for school, huh?"

Way to stick it to the bitch.

And a Happy New Year

2009-01-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

In stark contrast to the intensity of the past twelve months, I rang in the new year in the most civil manner possible. Cooking a wonderful meal with a small handful of friends and enjoying said dinner with lights dimmed, wine glasses full, and laughter intermittently drowning out the croonings of Frank Sinatra. It seemed a fitting end for a year filled with unexpected surprises and adventures at every turn.

I'm not much for reflection or sentiment when it comes to the New Year, and certainly don't subscribe to resolutions or anything of the sort. But with that said, so much has happened this year, so many things have changed, clicked or been readjusted, and I can't help but feel that it all just keeps getting better ... more refined. I'd be a lucky guy if 2009 turned out to have half the experiences and opportunities that 2008 did.

So, here's to another one, and hopefully there'll be a couple good stories to share along the way.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

Off To Texas

2008-12-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was my last day at work until the New Year and I couldn't be more excited to have some time off! I was originally planning to go back to work Monday of next week, but it seems I've maxed out my vacation time and was forced to take the days in between the Christmas and New Year break. I'm certainly not complaining and really looking forward to spending some time with the family, as well as unadulterated downtime when I return to San Francisco.

So I'm off to board the plane in a couple hours. Freebirds, Mom's cooking, and friends and family I haven't seen in over two years, here I come! Merry Christmas everyone, hope you're warm and happy today.

Making Bagged Lunches Awesome

2008-12-19T14:39:00.000-08:00

Each day, this father draws a new design on the brown paper lunch bags for his kids and documents it on this website. What a cool idea and dedicated undertaking ... I hope those kids are keeping the paper bags instead of throwing them out with their lunchables.

Sigh ... I really need to start drawing again ....

TMHDOTY, #45

2008-12-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

and a one, and a two, and a three ........

It's the most happiest day of the year™!
It's the most happiest time of the year
It's the happiest day of the happiest days and it seems like it seems...
It's the most Happiest Day
(in deeper voice) It's the most happiest day
It's the most happiest day
of the year!
of the year!
of the year!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Butters!

The Snuggie ...

2008-12-16T22:02:00.000-08:00

... Or, how to look like you've joined an underground Greek Orthodox cult in one simple step.

Inanimate Murder

2008-12-14T21:03:00.000-08:00

My only social engagement of the week was Benji's "straight to bed" birthday party, which in true form required all participants to dress up in their preferred choice of evening attire, mine being simple pajama bottoms. I originally figured I'd suit up in a bathrobe, but since I don't actually own such luxuries, I decided to borrow one from David instead, and dropped by his house before heading back into the city Friday night. He wasn't home, so I just collected the bathrobe and pajamas (I have keys to his place), let the dog out, and dropped off a little present in the form of a plushie Wall-e.

As I placed the oddly cuddly version of the robot alongside his favorite stuffed bear, I noticed a new plush sitting on the bed. A penguin, given to him by his new boyfriend Chad while they vacationed in Toronto, and I thought to myself "oh, that's kind of cute."

Three years ago, when David and I first started dating, I picked up a little brown stuffed bear, fitted with a maroon shirt emblazoned by the word "Aggies", thinking it'd be a fun little gift to bring back from my visit to College Station. Its remarkable that such an unassuming gesture could have such a lasting impact, as David not only loved the bear, but promptly became obsessively attached to it. Little did I know at the time, but he has a knack for imbuing inanimate objects with a full fledged personality, evidenced by the fact that we both can't bear to throw out our first Christmas tree, now withering at the ripe old age of 2 years and counting. Why, you ask? Because his name is Tree, and he's apparently sentient, fire hazard be damned.

So it should come as little surprise that this stuffed bear, who promptly was dubbed RenderBear, or RB for short, gained a life and character all his own. Speaking in a series of seemingly incoherent "Ba Ba De Ba Ba Ba"s, the little plush developed an oddly evil, if not charming, personality. You needn't look further than this blog and it's comments to get a taste of what I'm talking about, and the crazy part of it all ... it started making sense. You could predict what this bear would say, think, or do in any given situation, and it was usually evil or mischievous in an adorable way, a correlation to David's own personality which was not lost on any of us.

In any case, despite going our separate ways, David still sleeps with the little bear, each and every night. And when the bed is made the next morning, RenderBear sits atop the pillows, looking blankly across the room, like a king perched on his plaid throne. There he sat, as I placed David's new plush that night, now accompanied by a little penguin that looked oddly out of place. I sat and stared at these three stuffed toys for a good minute, the penguin slumped sideways, and thought to myself, "this just won't do ..."

So I busied myself, rummaging through the house until I found an old mouse, connected to an even more ancient iMac in the kitchen. I disconnected the mouse, slung it over the chandelier hanging in the living room, and fastened it to one of the screws. I then walked over to the bed, picked up the little penguin, and fashioned a noose from the cord of the mouse. Once the head was slipped neatly through the loop, I tightened, making sure that the tips of his little flippers were tucked into the cord as well ... it only makes sense that he should struggle a bit.

I left the penguin hanging there as I packed up the bathrobe and pajamas in my bag and headed out. Approaching the door, I paused and thought to myself, "Wait, this just doesn't feel right ..." and looked back at the penguin hovering there in the middle of the room, morbidly still. I took a few steps forward, reached out, and tapped it firmly. While I shut the lights and locked the door behind me, I imagined the silhouette of the little penguin swinging gently in the living room, greeting David as he came home, and I couldn't help but chuckle a little. Afterall, RenderBear would never approve of sharing the bed.

Candied Bacon Martini

2008-12-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

Ok, so if any given bar would serve this, I'd be prone to drinking more. Much more. Maybe as much as Gracie ... *runs*. Seriously though, I'm gonna have to try this one for new years ...

Happy Birthday Mamman!

2008-12-04T00:09:00.001-08:00

Prop 8, The Musical

2008-12-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

Funny video concerning prop 8 that's been floating around today, though I guess it'll just be fodder for the right, as its brought to you by the liberal media elite in Hollywood.

Palm Springs Wrap Up

2008-12-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

Minus the hiccup with camping, the rest of the weekend in Palm Springs went along as planned, which meant lounging poolside on a beach chair, sipping margaritas without a care. I have to say, Palm Springs is a great little getaway in the winter ... it felt like I was teleported back to summertime, as surreal as the feeling was amid the flurry of smiling turkeys, aparenlty unaware of their impending doom, and rose cheeked Santa Claus cardboard cutouts.

Apart from some much needed sun and relaxation, we checked out the nightlife and enjoyed a few drinks out and about. More than anything else though, it was a great deal of fun to hang out with Mat, Jarrod, and Michael, the latter two which I had only met on this trip.

The ride back to San Francisco was a little more brutal than the one coming down, since a good deal of it was done during the night and lasted a solid 10 hours amid holiday traffic. But in the end, it was good to be home and curled up in bed after a satisfying break from the madness of day to day life.

Oh, and for the visually inclined, I've posted some pictures of the trip for everyone's viewing pleasure:

Joshua Tree

2008-11-29T09:59:00.000-08:00

After a much needed solid night's rest, Mat and I made our way into downtown to grab a bite to eat and get ready for our night in Joshua Tree, but it seems the road to camping is paved with good intentions. By virtue of coordinating 4 people, one of which was driving in from LA, we were running a couple hours behind schedule, much to my "antsiness", since the daylight becomes scarce this time of year.

Worse yet, when we finally arrived to the park, a big fat sign reading "All Campgrounds Full" bitch slapped the gleeful smiles right off of our faces. It would seem that one should actually plan for a night of camping, as opposed to, well, just showing up. To say I was disappointed is a bit of an understatement ... I really had my heart set on sleeping under the stars and waking up to daybreak the next morning, all while having enough time to take some pictures without any pressure. Unfortunately, life threw us a lemon, and while I sulked a bit to myself in the car, I came around to putting some damn sugar and water in the bowl and made some bitter, bitter lemonade.

But it was fine in the end. We drove through Joshua Tree and hiked around for a few hours, taking in the magnificent scenery and fresh air. I'd really love to come back again to camp and explore the park at a more relaxed pace. I'll post an album when I have a bit more time, but here're a few from our hike yesterday.

Road Trip!

2008-11-27T18:55:00.000-08:00

I woke up bright and early this morning, packed my car with some camping gear, and headed down south with Mat to start a mini getaway to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree. After weeks of non stop work, I'm craving sunshine, water, and some fresh air, so this is just what the doctor ordered. Instead of taking the 5 and finding ourselves gridlocked in traffic amid a sea of concrete, we took a more convoluted route through the central valley and high desert and enjoyed a slower paced and often scenic drive.

Along the way, we stopped off at Casa De Fruta, a south bay institution of sorts, filled with merry go rounds, petting zoos, local produce, and Asian tourists aplenty. And look Butters, they had ... Salt Water Taffy!! Mmmmmmmm .... salt water taffy ....

The drive took about eight hours, but between catching up on one another's going ons (we're both fairly long winded) and California's natural beauty, the time just flew by . This'll be the first time I skip any sort of Thanksgiving celebration, but I guess my "Macho Burrito" from Del Taco will have to fill the role of a delicious holiday banquet.

Tomorrow, we'll be heading out to Joshua Tree to sleep under the stars. I can't wait, and as long as we don't freeze our asses off or get eaten by mountain lions, I'll update soon! Happy Turkey Day everyone, hope you all enjoyed it!

Congratulations Nathan and Laura!

2008-11-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

Nathan and Laura (my sister-in-law's sister) are getting wed right about now, back in Houston, Texas. I only wish I could be there with them and my family today to celebrate, but I hope to make it up to everyone when I'm back home over Christmas break.

Congratulations to both of you from the bottom of my heart! I can't wait to see pictures and hear all about it. Hope you know I'm there in spirit and wish you the very best.

A Whirlwind Week

2008-11-25T09:47:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a crazy ass couple weeks this has been ... things have been building up on all fronts for a few months now and it kinda feels like the crest of the wave just hit shore. All is well, it's just that I've spent every waking minute spinning plates at work as well as struggling with some personal stuff, so I'm in a bit of a daze, and quite frankly, exhausted. And here I was being so good about updating this month!

I'll try to give the cliff's note version ... let's see. In terms of work, I haven't been leaving before 9 or 10 each night, and coming in on the weekends to push out as much inventory as I can. It's not so bad really, since around this time in production, you have to get in a zone and kind of feel like some superhero speeding through all the villains, knocking them out left and right. It's challenging and brings out a hyper efficient, no bullshit side of me which is satisfying in its own way. And while I'm running on the pure rush of that efficiency and energy right now, I'm sure when February rolls around, I'm going to collapse and need to take a break from everything. In the meantime, I really need to focus on taking care of myself, which admittedly, I haven't been doing very well.

My non work activities have been a bit limited, but I did get to do a few fun things. Watched Bolt over the weekend which was a great little film and made for a nice evening. I remember seeing the reels a little over a year ago, and everything was in storyboard form. They had barely modeled and articulated the main character at that point, and my thought was "Christ, how are they ever going to get this done?" Well, I'm happy to report that not only did they complete the movie, they made an impressively beautiful one at that ... and from a technical point of view, hit every cylinder. My hats off to the folks down at Disney Animation, they should be very proud of their work.

I also grabbed some Burmese in the avenues, a reminder that there's nothing better than Tea Leaf Salad, Coconut Soup, and good company to make for a fun night. My Sunday was spent decompressing, but after bumming around the house in a not so great mood all day, I headed down the mission to hang out with Fonzie and Ben, whom I haven't spent any time with pretty much all month long. We rented "Forgetting Sarah Marshal" and spent the night alternately laughing and cringing, and I left thankful for being surrounded by such good friends.

Last night, I grabbed a quick dinner with David, and we had a surprisingly good talk ... after so long and so much heartache, I think we've reached a really good place in our friendship and I'm glad we both stuck through the tough parts to get here. Thanks for everything Butters.

It gives me hope for where I am now and some people dear to me.

And so to cap things off, I'll be leaving to drive south on Thursday for a camping/sit-my-ass-near-a-pool-and-do-nothing trip. It couldn't come at a better time and I hope it'll give me the recharge I need to plow through whatever life decides to throw at me the next few months.

Prospekt's March

2008-11-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

Coldplay just released Propspekt's march, a small collection of b sides from the Viva La Vida sessions, an album which I fell in love with this past year. Yeah, I know they've become slightly bigger than their britches, but it doesn't make me like their music any less, especially considering a Rush of Blood to the Head is one of my favorite albums.

This release only reinforces that sentiment. The EP is worth the price of admission based on the title track alone, a beautifully haunting and delicate little melody that harkens back to their sound on Parachutes. It made me feel warm this morning.

I'm No Trekkie ...

2008-11-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

But this trailer looks pretty sweet. Definitely worth checking out in HD.

Update: Okay, in perusing more trailers, I ran across this one based on the best selling book "Marley and Me" which chronicles the real life adventures of raising the world's worst dog. I'm such a sucker.

Visitors From The Outside

2008-11-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

Considering Saturday marked the first in a series of national protests concerning Prop 8, not to mention the fact that it was a downright gorgeous day, I was none too pleased to find myself in the office this weekend. My camera's been collecting dust since Becky's wedding and I was itching to shoot San Francisco's rally down at city hall, but instead found myself basking in the cool glow of my 3 monitors.

It wasn't so bad though ... work came along fine and with the less manic pace of a Saturday, I was able to fit some time in the gym as well, which I've resolved to be more disciplined about, deadlines and drop dates be damned. We were also treated to a screening of the Quantum of Solace, so it offered a perfect opportunity to have some friends come by, watch the film, and take a tour of the grounds.

Billy and Trigby have been itching to check out the campus, so I invited them over, along with their friend Zabe for a night of Bond, Lebanese, and good ole fashioned lessons on how animated movies are made. It gave me something to look forward to all day long and turned out to be a super fun night. I did my best to be the good little tour guide, explaining parts of the process along the way and giving them a rundown of my place in the grand scheme of things. Of course, Billy practically lit up at the sight of our Renderfarm, unabashedly letting his inner geek frolic and prance for all to see. We capped things off by visiting Wally's and practically infusing ourselves with garlic, which is always gratifying.

Regarding Quantum of Solace, what can you really say? It's a bond movie and in form fitting fashion, delivers ridiculous action sequences garnished by skimpily clad women and creepy villains that have issues blinking correctly. And I don't understand why these people bother driving nice cars ... I mean, was there ever an instance where they didn't completely total the damn thing? I say just use a Camry like the rest of us ...

All Work and No Play ...

2008-11-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

The past couple weeks at work have gotten intense (more so than usual) and I'm prepping myself for the mad dash to push the last bits of inventory out the door. I'll be in the office on weekends from now till the new year (and likely beyond), so you'll have to excuse my lack of thrilling updates, cause, well ... life's mostly boring right now. My likely wrap date is at the end of March, after which I was hoping to take a 3 month sabbatical, strap on my dusty backpack, and go travel the world.

Unfortunately, with stocks tanking and the general economic state being a mess, I decided to hold off and instead just treat myself to a two or three week breather. I'm still mulling over what I may do or where I'll find myself, but I picture it'll involve warm weather, crystal blue water splashing in the background, and the never ending sea as my entertainment center. Maybe the Virgin Islands? Playa Del Carmen? Any suggestions?

I can't wait ... it's still a ways off, but at least my mini adventure down to Joshua Tree in a couple weeks will give me an extra boost.