Last 10 estrip Journals Written By twisted

Happy Birthday Paul!

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:53:57 -0500

Wow, it's been so long! Since I didn't get you a gift, here's an update.

For starters, my tenant gave notice and moved out last November. This was great news, but bad timing. It would have been crazy not to take advantage of the vacancy to pull out the wall-to-wall carpeting and refinish the floors, replace the kitchen cabinets, and tile the bathroom floor.

Only bad part is, I'm still deep in debt from my own renovation, and I already had plans to go "home" for Christmas before I knew about this. So naturally when the IKEA kitchen cabinet order turned out to lack certain key items the day before I flew east, it was hard to take care of everything before I left. But not taking care of it would have been worse, since the longer I'm paying for that unit without any income from it, the harder it is to pay off my old and new debts.

Anyway, I'm so sick of all this renovating now. It's like a second job, that apparently I'm not so good at. The scariest part was yesterday, when my contractor managed to leave two stove burners on (long story) while the floor guys were sanding and putting on the final coat of highly flammable finish. What are the odds? You can see my footprints on the floor finish since I had to get to the oven (9 hours later) to turn off the burners before the building exploded or we all passed out from the fumes.

Anyway! The good news is, now I'm planning to use the unit as a furnished vacation rental. So if anybody wants to visit me, they'll have their own, furnished apartment to stay in! This better be worth it . . .

Happy Birthday Paul! (And Happy Birthday to my brother Erik too!)

Best of Halloween Video

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:18:20 -0400

My friend Steve sent me a DVD with highlights from his past Halloween parties. I figured I'd do my part toward making 25,000 journals by posting it here. You might recognize some of these shots from (Twisted),36393 Ghost of Halloween Past post.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/xWithg4os_g&hl=en&fs=1"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true">http://www.youtube.com/v/xWithg4os_g&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344">[/youtube]

Have a great Halloween, everyone!

Google Dance

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:44:30 -0400

I will FINALLY get to verify a bit of Google-lure first-hand. Namely, heated toilet seats http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/05/DDGFOOEF4C1.DTL at Googleplex world headquarters. You can bet your bottom-dollar my tushy will be the judge!

I really didn't do anything to deserve this honor, other than register as a platinum (whatever that means) attendee to the Search Engine Strategies conference. Mostly I'm having major flashbacks to the last time I was in San Jose to drop (Paul) off at his conference. Not much has changed since then, I'm sorry to say.

I wish (Paul) and (Iriesara) could join me this time!

Catching up with the boys

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:49:05 -0400

If a picture is worth 1000 words, and a blog is approximately 1638 words, then this entry = 9.7 blogs.

I have approximately 3 dozen spots for cats. But suddenly Oscar believes the only place for him is exactly wherever Filippe is.

I finally pulled out my sewing machine. The cats really like to be helpful with creative projects.

Rare photos of all three cats together:

Oscar in a box and on a pup:

ps -- Looks like the rent arrived...

MapJack

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:01:40 -0400

You too can take a virtual ride down http://www.mapjack.com/?3mEnW2f5bFiB Lombard Street (or anywhere in SF and beyond)!

Nice drive-by shot of http://www.mapjack.com/?Pc7mWeY5bFyA City Hall. I wonder if I could recreate my bike ride to work every day? It's extra cool right now with all the rainbow flags flanking Market Street.

They captured http://www.mapjack.com/?Bh6mWM82bFVC my house the day the sidewalk was being repaired (April 12, 2007). I didn't get to see it in person because I was in Italy, right after (Paul), (Matthew) and (Hodown) visited. Hey Paul & Matt, maybe you can recreate your walk through Golden Gate Park to the Pacific Ocean. Who knows, you might even show up in some shots if they were grabbing images then. Plus, it's easier on the legs, haha.

ps--Too bad I left my car in Alameda while I was gone or my estrip bumper sticker could've been captured in a digital time capsule!

Another Day, Another Protest

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:14:07 -0400

Weird day. Much to say about it! Here are some pix.

I was glad to see my regular parking spot was available, considering all the hoopla!

View from my office of the plaza where the torch was supposed to end up.

Crowd at the ferry terminal clock tower.

Close-up of protesters. They don't look that scary!

Yeah, I did get to see the torch. On streaming video.

ps--I did tell you all about the cats right? They're still here . . .

torch song tragedy

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:46:26 -0400

It's so weird (but cool) to have my commute to work directly affected by the Freedom Torch and the Olympic Torch.

Today I couldn't cut through Civic Center plaza like I usually do because of the http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/08/BAAS101V1O.DTL&tsp=1 Freedom Torch. A small price to pay for freedom.

Tomorrow we are being advised to work at home because the http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/08/BAD4101QFL.DTL Olympic Torch (and any incidental protests) are scheduled to get their 15 minutes of Pacific Coast fame mere yards from my office.

Oh yeah. I'm really going to work from home then!

Juno

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:13:29 -0500

Hey (Paul) -- Kimya is all over the http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/47117-ellen-page-talks-ijunoi-soundtrack-kimya-dawson Juno soundtrack.

10 things I love about biking

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:44:25 -0500

1. Door-to-door service.
2. Easy, free parking.
3. Free, renewable fuel.
4. 0 emissions.
5. Good exercise.
6. No stereo to steal.
7. Cheap repairs.
8. 24/7 service with no schedules / transfers / waiting.
9. Puts me in direct contact with my environment instead of shielding me from it.
10. It's fun!

A Remembrance of Airlines Past

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:02:13 -0500

A recent shift in my living situation necessitated a reorganization (i.e., purge) of stuff. I've been putting this housecleaning off for years, although it's probably just as well I'm forced into it now. But like so many deferred tasks, it keeps sidetracking me on a trip down memory lane. Maybe that's why I kept putting it off...?

Anyway, I've now got a box of books slated for http://www.greenapplebooks.com Green Apple. Anything they don't want gets dumped on the "free" table in front of the store.

I could dedicate a whole blog to the books themselves: why I kept them, where they came from, what crazy-ass Harvard extension lit class I read them for, etc. BUT, I'm going to spare you all that. Because I'd probably just end up keeping the damn books all over again!

No, the thing that sucked me back to the past--and unexpectedly challenged my perceived historical timeline--is a boarding pass for Piedmont Airlines tucked into one of the books as a bookmark.

I don't know why this feels like ancient history to me. I looked it up, and Piedmont Airlines (now part of US Airways Express) was around as a brand from 1993-1997. Not really all that long ago (in my timeline, at least). But the thing that's so quaint is the "no smoking" vs. "smoking" sections, with my seating assignment sticker stuck squarely on "no smoking." Is it really that recently you could smoke on an airplane? Turns out, as of September 1, 1998, smoking was prohibited on 91 percent of flights to and from the United States. So that "no smoking" designation really did mean something.

I know there are still plenty of vestiges of smoking on flights: the "no smoking" signs; the ashtrays in the armrests. It all seems so absurd now though. What were we thinking? Like you could really have a "no smoking section" on an airplane! Yeah right! And sign me up for the "no airborne illnesses" section while you're at it!

Anyway, I just wanted to share that.