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August 25, 2006
Curve Ball
Life threw me a curve ball today... My consulting workgroup has quarterly meetings/networking events and today was the "fun one" for the year. We had hired a professional adventure company to come in and facilitate a massive GPS aided scavenger hunt, for the entire city of San Francisco! Lots and lots of walking, and then some running, followed by dirty busses and trollies, and more walking.
The scavenger hunt really went in depth with the city and I learned some amazing things as a result. It also gave me a bunch of new ideas for artistic photographs. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera so I'll be back tracking at some point but a few of my friends did take pictures and I'll load them up here on aCore soon.
The curve ball you ask? Well, after the three hour scavenger hunt was finally over we all met back at our building. The networking piece of the event was a free happy hour that was put on at a nice resturaunt a few blocks away. We regrouped at the happy hour and all was good. There was fine wine, fancy cheese (that I can't eat because I'm lactose intollerent) and tiny little grapes with intense flavor. After just a few moments of hanging out and chatting it up, one of the waitresses approached me and said I looked familliar. I agreed with her and we started talking. It didn't take long to figure out that we went to high school together... in Colorado! How crazy to meet someone from that far and long ago, just randomly!
I only got a bit of her story, and it turns out she went strait from high school to London where she traveled all over and then chose San Francisco to take up residence! We didn't get to chat much because our group was really big and she was super busy but what a neat surprise. I gave her my card and I expect to have more details soon :)
Posted by pocket at 11:00 PM | Comments (1)
August 20, 2006
Surf Comp / Music Sesh
Saturday was a big day... It all started on Friday night when I got home from work early (I left for an appointment at the San Francisco Apple Store to get my computer fixed and learn more about Final Cut Pro). So I got home early and breezed through the local surf shops, checking out winter boards, chatting with friends, and it turned out The Log Shop was throwing a competition! I'm not sure why I hadn't heard about it before but the comp was the very next day! Saturday... So of course I entered the comp and went home to wax my board and get ready.
Saturday... The big day: My heat was at 1pm so spent the morning and early afternoon stretching and getting ready. The waves weren't looking all that great but it's an all day thing so it's hard to keep that consistency for every heat. I got the chance to make some new friends and chat with a local photographer about taking some pics.
1:15pm the horn sounded and I paddled out with the other 17+ yr old short boarders. Unfortunately the waves hadn't gotten any better, pretty small and mushy, but I was stoked just to be there. Each heat is only 15 minutes and each guy gets up to four waves in that timespan. I started off pretty well and ended up with one solid ride all the way in along with two shorter rides. The horn blew and my heat was up.
1:45pm the scores were added up and I took 5th place in my heat, not enough to advance... but quite a few people said I performed really well for having only been surfing ~2 months. Here is a pic from the event, this is one of my better runs... Note the tiny waves and the fluorescent green sponsors rash guard :)
It was a good time all around and I ended up with a free hot dog from the event... Well, it was actually $25 to enter so the dog wasn't completely free but the comp was a blast and there were tons of prizes and different catagories. One of the most unique heats was called "70's Grab Bag" and it was set up with 10 boards from the 70's and a random drawing for who would be riding what. Most of the other events were for long boarders and it was neat to meet so many surfers from around Linda Mar and Santa Cruz.
Okay, that's only half of my Saturday...
During the competition that afternoon my friend Eric stopped by and watched my heat. After the 15 minutes were up and I had my results and knew I wouldn't be advancing we decided to head on over to Monterra beach where the waves were better. For the next four hours we surfed and had a blast. We also met this guy who worked for Digital Chocolate making video games for cell phones. I guess his boss was one of the founders of Electronic Arts! Thats a big deal for all of you non-gamers out there... We exchanged info and just kept surfing.
Eventually we were completely worn out and it was time to get out and grab some dinner. Eric is getting his PHD at Stanford and some of his friends back on campus were planning a late night musical free for all at the tiki statues. I play the guitar so I decided to jump on board and head over with Eric.
This Music Sesh was crazy! The tiki garden was intense and some of the wooden statues were made into benches and could actually be played with sticks and stuff. The totem poles are intense and very detailed with interesting animals and spirits and sexual symbols and stuff... Also, the guys and girls who met us there were very interesting and everyone brought a different instrument. It was like a musical potluck... We had drums, bongos, cowbell, guitars, harmonica, trumpet (yes the trumpet was loud and apparently the cops had been called last time this type of thing went down). My favorite song was Turtle Satan, but many of the others were equally creative and intense. My friends recorded some of the later songs as things got crazier and crazier so maybe I can post one here... I especially like the pirate song so keep an eye out for that :)
Posted by pocket at 05:51 PM | Comments (0)
August 05, 2006
When nature attacks!
There I was, Linda Mar beach, 2pm, beautiful day, and all was right in the world. Hunger drove me to the beachfront Taco Bell where I ordered "the regular" a bean burrito, a taco, and a water. Everything seemed normal until SPLAT. I felt a warm gooey substance on my head like someone had spit on me or something. I looked down to my leg where part of the substance had gone and found it to be bird droppings...
For all you science nuts out there:
"Birds excrete nitrogenous waste products in the form of uric acid in a white semi solid state. This is because birds drink little water and cannot afford to excrete voluminous amounts of urine. Not carrying a big bladder full of urine also cuts down weight which is essential for the evolutionary success of birds which fly. Humans, however excrete nitrogenous waste as urea* which dissolves in urine. Freshwater fishes which absorb lots of water effortlessly through osmosis excrete nitroge-nous waste in the form of ammonia dissolved in plenty of dilute urine."
Well, at first I was a bit bummed but then I remembered one of my favorite new products from aM done by Shibby & Colus the Anatomy of a Sparrow shirt and it made me feel a bit better. I really need to get a camera phone or start taking my minicam around with me because this picture would have been priceless... I actually considered leaving it on my head until I got home so I could take a pic!
Oh well... Next time.
Posted by pocket at 04:16 PM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2006
Global Status Check
Two nights ago I went out and saw An Inconvenient Truth. As one might expect from such moveis, my emotions were stirred and I wanted to do something to help solve the problem. Adding to the energy of the movie was the sense of helplessness that working for a global corporation can bring... A sense that I have been dealing with for the past couple of months.
I began asking myself questions like "is this type of work that my life is about?" and "do I want to end up like my boss?" and "is there anything I could do to make a change for the better?" I finally convinced myself to stick with my current job, keep car pooling and turning off lights, and simply keep an eye out for bigger opportunities when they arise. I can be a bit spastic in times like these because I really do want to make a differenct... even if it is only going to save the same shallow people that are currently creating the problems I so fear. One day man kind will again have to face the harsh tormenting found in history books and science theories, even if humans are eliminated though I'm sure life will remain in the form of some kind of three eyed toad or something. My point is: we aren't saving our planet, we are saving ourselves...
So, on the brighter, happier side of things... I decided to offset the harm I have been doing to our environment with my car and housing through Native Energy and TerraPass. These two programs are designed to help people become aware of how much CO2 they are emitting in their daily lives and then offer them a solution for offsetting that same ammount. For example, I donated $50 to TerraPass to offset the emissions of my mid sized car and they will in turn use that $50 to invest in alternative energy projects like solar panels and wind turbines, hence, offsetting my energy use.
This is what I saw driving in to NorCal
Check these programs out and definitely see An Inconvenient Truth! I'm glad to see change happening and it was a joyous occasion to drive through the inland parts of Northern California on my way from Boulder Colorado to San Francisco California and see all of the wind turbines that had been built. It was almost like being a tiny ant in a field of white grass. Towering propellers in every direction... To learn more about wind energy, check out this article in the Environment News Services archive.
Posted by pocket at 10:34 PM | Comments (2)