Daniel's profilePhlargo's Reform Service...PhotosBlogListsMore Tools Help

Blog


    October 01

    Orchids

    Since Mom's away in Italy with Joe, I told her I'd take some pictures of her orchids if they bloomed.  Well, they did :)  Here's an album with some Orchid pictures.  They have been touched up a little, but they're really pretty :)
     
    September 11

    New Services!

    That's right, I've thrown caution to the wind and I've become a child-discipline specialist.  The best part?  No credentials, expectations, or results.   I just beat children.  And no more messy paperwork!  I understand that part of the educational reform programs currently being enacted not only permit, but encourage corporal punishment.

    Now there are some logistical issues to this point.  I don't have a formal place of business yet - the institution is currently under construction (permits for 'variety fetish' seem to be particularly difficult to get) - so, for now, I'm just driving around in my full-sized van with tinted windows, soliciting parents to let me take their child inside to discipline without the invasion of privacy that could result from a public session. 

    Update!  I just got word from the Czar of Early-Mid Childhood development than the new Obama-care program will subsidize my sections, classes and sessions with no pre-authorization.  While pricing for now is an ad hoc affair, I'll be willing to provide quotes for children.  Just provide height and weight, approximate BMI, relative intelligence, and applicable sports/self-defense experience.

    Also, because community interest has been overwhelming, there might be a waiting list.

    Sign up today.  Oh, and remember, I'm in my new Thousand Oaks location - so Seattle Area residents will have to wait until the market provides an opportunity for a Pacific Northwest satellite.

    August 01

    Discovery Park Sunset pictures & tools discussion

    I posted a new set of photos today.  It's taken at Discovery Park at Sunset (as the name implies).  Something new here - I've incorporated some new techniques, both in photography and in post processing (Adobe Lightroom is a fantastic new toy - I'd love to buy it someday).   There are a lot of shots that appear to be of the same thing.  There are differences in composition and timing (notice the sun) and I originally took over 200 shots - so you're just getting the very few I decided to keep.

    http://cid-d2ad83b102d2854d.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/2009%20-%20July%20-%20Discovery%20Park%20Sunset

    So a little discussion of why Adobe's Lightroom is so cool:  First, you can modify your histogram and any other settings on one image and apply the same modifications to other images, by copying and pasting the applied effects - that is fantastic for standarizing color affectations (I didn't do that on all those images - they are almost all hand-modified).  This means that if you take a lot of pictures in the same scene with similar settings, you can make up for the shortcomings of your camera (or exposure work) in single clicks.  Also, you can remove things like dust spots and CCD/CMOS errors (I have that nasty blue dot that appears in high contrast dark scenes).
     
    The interface is very nice - sufficiently robust to allow delicate regional changes: brushes for things like exposure and saturation are huge.  You'll notice, in the first picture in the series, the couple sittingo n the rocks looking at the sunset - I was able to increase the exposure slightly on them to make them more visible.  On the bug on the plant in the third or fourth photo, I was able to employ some regional tricks to bring out the bug without making it stick out too much. 
     
    You do lose out on some of the simplicity of Windows Live Photo Gallery for many tasks, unfortunately.  If you just need saturation, basic histogram, white balance changes and sharpness application, Live Photo Gallery is much easier and still offers a finer degree of control than Picasa.  Where Lightroom seems to shine is in providing a much finer degree of control and the preservation of resolution and quality on horizon changes and providing the choice on jpeg saving (very important for water scenes where the horizon is really obvious).  This is a problem I've seen with many of the free consumer products which is fully adjustable here.  On the minus side, I think it's a $200 product - however, much cheaper than Photoshop and more finely tuned to meet the needs of a photographer.
     
    It's seriously going to take my life away from me - this set was like 2 hours of work - but I'm happy with the results and I can't wait to apply these new post-processing techniques on future shoots.  And it's something that'll really make a difference as I move to higher quality images (when I get a new camera... some day).  All-in-all - I like it a lot so far, but it won't be really useful until I get lots more practice with it.
    July 14

    Pure Poetry

    Today is a special day.  An anniversary, actually.  Four months have now elapsed since I became unemployed.  What a four months it has been, really.  I could have, and have by many accounts, done next to nothing.  By my own measure, it and the preceding period have provided a wealth of experience.  I don’t think anyone would be surprised to find out I hoped to have found work by now.  However, some of you may be surprised to find out that in fact, I expected that it would be about now that I would be writing this email or something like it.

    Here’s the short.  I’m coming back.  I’m leaving Washington and moving back to California to seek refuge at home, to enjoy the company of my family and friends, to have a place where I can rely on the support of others.  Not out of necessity – I could find some work here if I wanted and, in fact, I could even sustain myself on it.   If I were really to be honest to myself, I could have found work three months ago.  Maybe not work I wanted to do, but I could have found work to make a sustainable practice of my tenure in WA.  No, the hardest reality for me is that I’m coming back because I want to.

    The other short is that I’m not coming back to work as an attorney.  Sure, I may decide to take the bar exam and join the California bar, but it will not be for the purpose of professional practice – it will be to enable me to continue to provide professional advice to friends and family, at least for the time being.   What will I do?  Well, I think that’s probably for another posting, and, to be completely honest, not completely decided.  Suffice it to say, I will have a plan – or 5 plans.

    Really, it is with a somewhat heavy heart that I have come to these decisions, but with quite a bit of joy in the same breath. 

    Let’s talk about the attorney thing first.  I recognize that this may come to a surprise for some, but I never specifically liked what I did as an attorney – sure there were a few moments of satisfaction and/or excitement, but the daily experience and the end results simply weren’t all that attractive to me.  I like the idea of it – our society respects (and often loathes) attorneys (insert discussion about necessary ostracization of specialized and revered individuals in society here) and frankly, I enjoy respect and distinction as much or more than the next guy.  The problem is that I’ve gotten a good chance to see attorneys: attorneys who own their own firms and support a full staff of happily working professionals, attorneys just finally making it on their own, attorneys succeeding in hard cases with difficult clients to unexpected financial success.  Sure, others have seen it more than me, but I’ve seen it.  The truth is, one question has never left my mind: is it enough for me?  Can I do what I want to do in that context.  Another difficult truth to reconcile: yes, I can do what I want to do in that context.  However, what I’ve decided is that the scenario where those needs are satisfied is distant and uncertain – maybe a dozen years or more away.  Frankly, it is those dozen years in which my concern lies and is the reason I am choosing to make a change.  I believe that I may be able to do things that I want to do and that would satisfy me long before those fruits could be harvested under my current trajectory.  Again, a risk, but one that only I get to choose to make.

    Now, the location thing.  In some ways, this is the harder part. There is so much I want to do up here, so many things I want to see and experience and places I want to visit.  Sure I’m as proud as the next and don’t want to alter my course, but the truth is the reason I’m sad to leave has nothing to do with pride: there is so much here that I will leave unfinished; so much that lies open to opportunity and so much I want to do.  I guess that’s true with much of our lives, decisions we make, risks we take; They come at a cost and they don’t come with guarantees.  But these moves are not the consequence of risk; they are the product of choice.

    A year and a half ago when I moved up here, I honestly didn’t really know what to expect at all.  Sure I may have had some ideas in the back of my head, but I’ve since learned that many of those ideas were understatements or complete delusions about just what’s going on up here. 

    The Pacific Northwest is really a culinary Mecca, of sorts, with fresh local ingredients and fantastic restaurants and dining available everywhere.  People are just more passionate about… well,  everything here.  And as you all know, I try to be passionate about everything in which I have an interest, so there is a natural fit. 

    There are literally more than 30 restaurants I really want to try here.  I love the availability of superb coffee and a strong commitment towards the investment and precision that that production requires.  The availability of local craft beers is also a special part of this region I won’t say that people here are more perceptive or sensory or better in any ways, but a unique confluence of factors has created an area where lots of cool things food-related just happen. It's like what I loved about Philadelphia - just huge and diverse (though there are definitely some wonderful thing I still can only find in Philadelphia, which I miss all the time)

    The wilderness and scenery up here can be breathtaking – I can’t recall how many times a little drive around the city netted some view or hidden glade or winding road that completely surprised me. I've really tried to take every opportunity to get around the Puget Sound region, often driving on an aimless course, just in the hope that I could find some new treasure nearby.  I have rarely been disappointed.  The hard part is that so much of what I want to do is further away than a 2 hour day trip can provide.  I want to go camping.  I want to drive to Eastern Washington.  I want to hike in the Olympics and in Rainier National Park.  These things take time.  And money.  Both things I don't feel I've been able to allocate during my stay here.  Something that makes me sad.  I have half a dozen weekend trips I want to take to different parts of Washington and Oregon, but without stable and decent-paying employment, they're just things I don't feel I can justify.  That makes me sad.

    The sad truth is that when I leave I really won’t have been able explore any of these opportunities at anywhere near the level of detail I might have liked to – I could easily spend another 10 years up here just to work on some of all the wonderful ideas I’ve dreamed up about what I could do.  

    My decision to return to California truly came only at the junction of these two decisions and with the aid of a multitude of other factors chiming in.  The funny thing is I think that the risk I am looking at now in making this move may actually be even greater than I took when moving up here.  I could stay here and “make it work”.  I could struggle through, continuing forward without looking back, without asking questions, without heeding my needs or desires.  That’s just not me.  I think that too much of the world spends its life blindly walking forward.  I can’t do that.  Continuing to walk a direction just because I’ve started that way may be a satisfying path to personal success for some, but it never will be one for me.

    So, why the change?  Why the reconsideration?  Why the need to defy convention?  Why do I ever do anything, really?  Well, if nothing else has become clear to me, it is that my life is about change and, more importantly, evolution – I’ve changed a lot in the last year and a half.  In other ways, I haven’t changed that much in the last year and a half, I've only refined the trajectory I set myself out on some 8-10 years ago.  I’ve had the opportunity to live alone for the first time in my life and in fact, learned to live very alone, but never really felt alone even though I've felt really alone.  A weird dichotomy that I'd have trouble reconciling in any meaningful way in such a brief posting here.  I have also spent quite a bit of time honing my observation and descriptive skills in sensory experiences: food and wine, photography, even about gym time and learned how little I know about any of those things.  I also realized how many experiences that I want to have that I simply have not had the opportunity to enjoy - time, space, money, desire, all inhibiting their fruition.  I have deeply expanded and reexamined my critical evaluation methods, recognized strengths in my past critique and identified areas that I could improve. 

    I have taken time to reconsider and reevaluate views I might have had about many things, but have also naturally evolved my experience through exposure and reflection.   I have begun to understand that for me, holding a strict point of view or position is a convenience I will never enjoy and probably won't want.  I have learned to become much  more strict with myself, but at the same time, learned to indulge.  I have learned to put less weight on the outside world: identifying virtues in simplicity and depravity and restriction, remodeled my perspectives of success and failure (which one I’ve grown much closer to would probably surprise some of you).   I’m sure someone could say there are some deep parallels to some enlightening Eastern religion/spiritual existence (I know there are, in fact), but I don’t care – they are my own decisions, my own growths and they don't enjoy such a framework.

    I’m not impressed with myself, if that’s what you’re thinking.  It's not even part of the equation, honestly.  I am pretty happy with my progress though – I recognize the forced perspectives I’ve had to adapt to to come to some of my conclusions and make some of my choices.  I do feel good in that I think I’ve figured something out  – something that many who read this may not even understand.  A series of maxims for my life; rules that sometimes even trump my most basic of social norms.  In fact, even in the wake of realizing the incredible financial costs of the opportunity I am choosing to set aside, I think I have gained something great.  I don’t, however, see it as the end of any roads – I’m not done with anything.  I’m not done changing or evaluating or reconsidering who I am or how I want to be.  I am nearly completely certain that I like the road I’m walking and revel in the truth and splendor that the goal is not to reach the end, but to keep walking it: to ask at every turn; at every fork; and to recognize every chance to stop – and even I choose to avoid that particular stop for a time, it is a place to which I will return.  Sounds kinda poetic, really. 

    Maybe it is poetic.  It’s undoubtedly highly idealistic and even takes for granted certain realities.  Maybe there's an eventual goal to share these explorations with others and maybe it'll be a journey that remains intimately personal and unshared.  I'm not going to make any guesses.

    So, enough of that particular tangent.  Let's get down to business.  "When?"  Soon.  Maybe the end of August.  More details to follow.  Or not :)

    "What I say is true: everyone can cook, but only the fearless can be great."  -Auguste Gusteau, Ratatouille



    June 30

    Golden Gate Park and Ride

    And now for the closing of my California trip travelogue:
     
    A late night of Sushi and sake did not prevent an early morning on Sunday - we were up and ambitious as we had a big day ahead of us.  I had been told in advance that I was going to 'get the opportunity' to join my sister and Chris for "Lindy in the Park" which apparently happens every Sunday in Golden Gate Park.  They've been involved with Lindy Hop classes for some months now andit seems they're really getting into the scene.  It's really pretty cool.  Golden Gate Park is a wonderful urban park and the beautiful weather of a Sunday morning meant the park was busy: people biking, walking, running, skating, picnicking, singing, panhandling, playing.  It was a busy Sunday at the park and that was really cool - I love seeing people out and about.
     
    So... Lindy in the Park.  For 30 minutes, I got to take public lessons swing dancing with about 100 new friends.  It's really amazing - people just show up and start taking a lesson.  As Leah put it so succinctly, it's the way that the dance teachers drum up new audiences - get 'em started for free - if they like it, they'll come to the classes.  It's amazing how skilled some of the people were there - I really enjoyed watching them and their complicated dance routines -I was also amazed at how a skilled leading partner could guide the couple in their routine - it was almost as though the subtle communication between partners was enough to inform the other of what was coming next. Any good Sunday-in-the-park always involves a lot of walking and walk we did.   We wandered around a neat little lake and through different events that were going on that particular Sunday - art work, statuaries, gardens, paths, bleh.  Lots of stuff :)
     
    Another plan for the day was to visit the botanical conservatory - a special exhibit on edible plants was the reason we went, but there were so many other wonderful and interesting plants that we spent 2/3rds of our time in the greenhouses checking out the well-maintained variety.  A tropical area, with at least 90 degree temperature and super high humidity was filled with an impressive selection of carnivorous plants, including some 8-10 different types of pitcher plants, among others.  It was unbelievably hot and uncomfortable in there (reminds me of our trip to Playa Del Carmen last year!) but the diversity of plants made enduring it more than worth it.  We considered trying to take a picture with Leah's camera, but humidity was so high that all it did was fog up and get dripping wet.  Hee.
     
    Following this, we were hungry again (view, eat, walk, repeat) and decided to take trip to a local café which Chris was familiar with - cappuccinos and lattes matched with a some special baked treats (have you recognized a pattern yet?) and sitting out in the warm sun, soaking it in.  Probably the closest I've done to sun bathing in a year or more.  We took a long walk back though the park and spent a little while in the afternoon hanging out back at their place, knowing we had a birthday party to attend in the early evening.
     
    One of Leah's colleagues-at-SFSU (not in her department, but a friend)'s husband, also a friend of Leah and Chris', was hosting a birthday event at his place that evening and we were to be in attendance.  It was a nice party and was a great opportunity to talk with a bunch of new people.  One of the themes of this particular party was the Birthday Boy's interest in photographing his guests (he's quite the photography fan).  He set up an impromptu outdoor studio with backdrop and synched flashes and we each got to go up and model for the camera.  It was fun to do, but got sillier and sillier as people in the party had had more to drink and, by late in the evening, it was quite the opportunity for people to express and be coaxed into their wild sides.   Really.. what a creative idea for a party - and seriously if you're the birthday boy, shouldn't you get to make your guests do humiliating things?  Though, to be fair, I make my guests do humiliating things even when it's not my birthday... or anyone's birthday, really.
     
    The last day of my stay in San-Fran (I will take this opportunity to reiterate a favorite mantra: I absolutely hate city abbreviations and am generally not a fan of any abbreviations where they are optional - so... I said that for effect, I suppose) was pretty quiet.  Leah and I spent a little while in Japan-town and walked around the Japanese-themed mall and restaurants and stores.  It's kinda touristy Japanese, but it's also really Japanesey - a lot of the writing is in Japanese and there are many stores that definitely are catering to Japanese consumers.  It was really a good backdrop for her and I sharing some additional discussion and made for nice scenery, me being the Japan-o-phile that I am. 
     
    Just before they dropped me off at the airport, we met Chris and stopped for a quick bite in The Haight (Haight-Ashbury District), where we ended up a great little taqueria.  I was very glad to have half a burrito for when I got home to Seattle - I knew I had a long trip ahead.  Plane flight went well and the bus went well enough (there was one scary moment where I was instructed to go the wrong direction to the bus stop and the bus passed me on its way to the stop, but I booked it and was able to make it to the bus (I mean really booked it - I regularly run, but I was positively panting from the extreme exertion that was necessary to run 1200 ft while rolling my suitcase and hoisting bags (about 80lbs total) in a way where it wouldn't lose balance). 
     
    Now you've heard the story.  Hopefully more stories to come!
     
    Incidentally, I just got done watching an episode of No Reservations (Anthony Bourdain's travel/food show) which covered the Pacific Northwest.  It was really neat to see a totally different side of where I've been living.  I know there's a wide variety of wonderful culinary delights here but really haven't had the means or opportunity to explore it as much as I'd like.  I don't know where I'll end up in my life or what I'll be doing, but I do know that food and beverage will be a big part of whatever future that is - wonderful sensory experience that they provide: touch, taste, smell, sight, even sound, all.
     
    I posted a little album including a few pictures from our Friday hike.  Also, a new album of pictures I took today while walking outside along Lake Washington in Magnusson Park.
    June 27

    Playing Housy

    Saturday.  Another day in the life of Mr. Daniel Wingard during his stay with his good friends and family (yes, both!) Chris and Leah in the Sanest of Franciscos!  As per discussion had the prior evening, Saturday's breakfast involved my solicitation for the delicate art of pancakery.  I put together a dry mix the night before and we worked out the product for breakfast.  The pancakes were strange - really quite unlike any pancakes I had ever made before - they were spongy and cakey.  There were some different ingredients (hey.. you gotta make due with what's around) and a different environment (they have this way-cool stove from the... I dunno.. Paleolithic era which outputs enough heat to roast a truck, but is somewhat hard to control).
     
    After breakfast, there were some very specific house buying duties to perform - a new place had opened up in south San Francisco and we went down to check it out.  It was a nice place - and there was a really funny discussion between Chris and Leah as to the level of suburbanness the property extolled.  A careful distinction was drawn between 'old' or 'classical' suburban - which was decidedly more urban in their opinion and newer suburban, which would be wholly unacceptable.  I just smiled along for the trip!
     
    The house was generally pretty great - huge storage, interesting design, good quality and tons of storage with an exceptional price.  Apparently, it was good enough that it really forced them to think about the level and type of obligations that would go along with seriously purchasing a house.  We talked it over during lunch at a lovely Vietnamese place on the 'old South San Francisco main street' - I had excellent noodles!  Yum - superb broth and tasty ingredients.  And spicy enough to clean out all pores, noses, sinuses, and some clogged gutters on neighboring buildings ;-0  It was a beautiful afternoon really - truly perfect weather.  We really enjoyed sitting outside having our lunch, under a nice umbrella in the sun with a gentle breeze.  I really remember how it felt to sit out there - it was so nice! 
     
    In the end, they decided it simply wasn't the best time for them to be looking for or buying a house (after having spend several months looking, making offers, discussing options, and visiting dozens of properties).  I think it was hard for them to come to that decision, but if I think about the situation as I saw it, it was probably the right one to come to for the time being.  We took a few hours of downtime (some of which was spent writing earlier parts of this account) and took a great walk along the beach, continuing the discussion and enjoying the sunset in the Sunset. 
     
    Saturday night was also a big treat: sushi!  Now, if you don't know already, there is probably nothing in this world I enjoy more than sitting back to a slow, rich, relaxing meal that involves fresh fish, beer, and good sake. <- I felt so relaxed just saying that.  I love sushi so much it's not healthy, really.  I make a point of saving it for special occasions and when I have it, I savor every moment.  This was a wonderful meal too - wonderful selection of sashimi and some superb sake to accompany.  Truly deep, pervasive bliss. <satisfied sigh, maybe eyes rolling gently back into my head>
    June 26

    Not a pony.

    Day 3 will be delayed.  I'm too tired to put it up tonight.  Sorry.  On the plus side, I've had a nice time reading some of my own older entries - I sure am an interesting guy, aren't I?

    Planning on a Tacoma trip tomorrow to visit the tea shop and buy some things.  Mr. Danny desperately needs to get out of the house.

    Fun fact: I leaned forward while typing this and realized I could see not only 4 speakers from my surround system from the vantage, but 3 different sets of headphones (two happen to be in a currently unusable state (repair pending) and the third is actually a headset).  Yeah... that and my wall is frighteningly blank and plain.  Sure it's a room, but it ain't home.  Creepy eggplant carpet can only get you so far (I actually made eggplant last night - roasted with sweet potatoes and onions).

    Night night.
    June 24

    Hike can see you.

    That title is totally straight from a punchline to some elementary school joke - make one up, it's okay, I won't judge.

    Friday, Chris had to leave quite early to head into work, so breakfast happened nice and early (for them) - I waited a bit and just had some plain cereal with milk along with some coffee.  The plan for the day was a nice long hike up in Mt. Tamalais (I think that's the name), the lovely state park located North of the Golden Gate Bridge.  We knew we were in for a little trouble as when we first crossed the bridge and it started raining and a good amount of fog made sure we couldn't enjoy any views from the beautiful mountain road that lead up to the park.  Either way, the road was stunning - thickly forested over, green, winding roads (I like driving and I like winding roads - but then you knew that.)

    I love the tall trees and rich green foliage along a twisty road - to me that's adventure.  You really never know what's going to be around the next corner.  Needless to say, it was a fabulous road and the thick ominous fog made it that much better.  Something wonderful about the mystery of thick fog around you - you could be at the edge of a cliff or sitting in the middle of a huge green field and you never know.  This reminds me of the drive I enjoyed coming up to Washington last year - if you remember those pictures of my car against the beautiful scenery covered in thick fog (see Phlargo Space, circa January 2008).  The fog was that much better on the hike when we were walking on a steep hillside, covered in fog, knowing full well that were it clear the view would have been spectacular.  Kinda cool, really.   But I'm getting ahead of myself - the winding road brought us about 7 miles away from the the highway and it really felt nice and rural and pristine. 
     
    The terrain was somewhat arid like Southern California and started at about 2200 ft.  We found the hike in a guide that my sister has about bay area hiking (I have one back home for Washington hikes that my mother bought when they came up to visit me in March) - there were two hikes in the Mt. Tamalais park that we considered, but the one we eventually decided on was rated 4/5 difficulty, ~6 miles and was supposed to take between 4-5 hours.  We had a nice little pack of snacks (including that fantastic charcuterie acquired from Lucca (the Italian market) the day before - Chris doesn't do beef or pork, Leah really enjoys a fellow carnivore when I'm in town)

    So, the hike:  it was really awesome and we were basically alone on the trail - we saw a few others, but really only 1 or 2 during our 3.5 hours of hiking.  The plants were so great (if you can't tell from my photography, I'm a big fan of natural beauty in plants and small things as much as I'm a fan of bigger, more grand things).  There were literally dozens of plants out there I'd never seen before and even though I had my camera along, it was really a hiking hike, not a photography hike, so I didn't get much of a photographic record.  It's almost like a collection for me - finding and remembering new shapes and sizes and colors of unique plants.  I don't really care about names or relationships of plants and animals, but I absolutely adore variety and uniqueness.  Even a special example can be a wonderful addition to my collection. 

    There were these great trees that were not only covered with moss, but they had splits down the middle so they looked they had been damaged, but it was all the trees of that type.  Those tree were also interesting because their skin (under the bark which was peeling) had a very human-skin like quality - a gorgeous mahogany color and were super smooth.  Another interesting part of the hike was the constant crossing of several little streams that were weaving across the trails during various declines and inclines along the mountainside.  There were pretty rocks too.  It was really something.
     
    On my own, despite what everyone may think, I don't think I'm a huge long-hike guy.  Truthfully, I almost always end up enjoying them when someone forces me along.  I find that I am more of a 1-2 hour hike person - I love the strenuous activity that a good hike can provide, but I also enjoy a slower more deliberate walk where I can take a close look at everything that I see (and take pictures).  I think in my mind, there is something wonderful about paying close attention to small things - we spend so much time traveling so fast and dealing with things in larger scale that it's super easy to ignore tiny things which can be equally as magical and interesting.  I'm a big fan of textures and subtle color changes. 
    The hike was a good challenge but not too difficult and by the end of it, the fog had really cleared up and we were able to start to enjoy the amazing view from up there. 

    We stopped about two-thirds of the way through our hike to have a little snack - we found a great little picnic area.  Our special meats and cheeses were a wonderful reward for a good hard hike on some rustic bread and went perfectly with some fresh cherries that one of Chris's family members had given them a couple of days before I showed up. 
     
    In order to enjoy the magnificent view, we decided to take an extra little drive to the top of the mountain.  There's this absolutely stunning view of the bay from the top of Mt. Tam (apparently that's what the locals call it) - you can see the East Bay, the San Francisco downtown, Sausalito, and a lot of other areas around the bay, along with the coastline.  It really looks like a fake model, being able to see so much from one place. 
     
    So we drove down the back side of the mountain, stopped for a little ice cream at a little roadside place and made it back to San Francisco just in time to meet Chris at home to make some homemade vegetable pizza with a whole wheat crust and four different sets of toppings (including fresh artichokes, asparagus, heirloom tomatoes, local sweet onions, heirloom garlic, and sautéed shitake mushrooms).  I must be careful again not to neglect the delicious little appetizers my sis put together: rustic Russian farmer's cheese with a spicy Bulgarian red-pepper tapenade on some whole rye crisps along with one of Chris's excellent martinis (gin, of course) each.  For dinner, it was German and Thai beers to start and followed with a lovely red wine.  Needless to say, by the time it was time for bed, I was feeling pretty giddy and we were all a little silly.

    Stay tuned - tomorrow's exposition will also clock in at 440 Hz.

    June 23

    "Mission" accomplished.

    Okay okay, you all win.  I give in.  I can't take it any more.  Email after bloody email.  Text messages on my phone.  Peculiar packages at my doorstep.  I get it, you want me to write something.  Here's the good news: I've already finished cataloging the whole trip.  Here's the even better news.  You don't have to read it all now!  I decided daily installments were a better choice.  I hate being responsible for people falling asleep at their computers, even when I can take pride in that it was my writing that accomplished it.  Buh. 

    San Francisco. So after I finished with the Southern California crew, Mom dropped me off at the airport on Wednesday evening.  I didn't get in to SFO until after 11:00 as my plane was a little delayed (apparently we had to do some extra loops around central California to avoid airport congestion). 
    Leah and Chris were, of course, waiting patiently for me at the airport.  We drove home and basically went to bed.   The night ended up being pretty short: the loud municipal light rail goes right by their front door and morning came awful quick as it rumbled by starting about 5:30, waking me bright and early.
     
    For those who don't happen to know, my sister, Leah, is a professor of communication studies at SFSU, so she was off for the time I was there (it turned out she was teaching a summer school class starting the follow week).  Her husband, Chris, is a post-doc researcher at a medical research company down in Palo Alto.  Since he was able to take Thursday off, we could enjoy a day out together. 
     
    After cooking a lovely breakfast (they like to cook as much or more than I do, so we tend to eat pretty well when I'm or they're visiting), we drove to the top of Twin Peaks and enjoyed a clear view of the city and the bay.  The weather was generally warm and mostly clear during my trip.  I remember how the sun and wind really felt great on top of the hills.  The view up there is quite nice.  We talked about some of the areas we might go during the day and during my stay and tried to figure out what various landmarks were looking at from the high vantage.

    We spent several nice hours Thursday in the Mission and it was really chocked-full of experiences.  Chris had an interest in seeing the mission (apparently the oldest building in San Francisco) and we scored a sweet parking place nearby, right in front of Dolores park.  They wanted $5 entrance for the mission, so we sent Chris in as a scout to determine if it was worth while to follow suit (I've been to a lot of missions and I suspected it didn't look all that different).  Leah and I sat on the steps to the church and talked for a nice while, watching the busy Dolores street action pass us by.  We talked about the uncertainty in my life and the potential for the same in Chris's and the choices I was considering in terms of how to proceed.  We both noticed while we were sitting how many people came by to capture pictures of the location - as though it were some special tourist destination.  It really was just a mission, but I guess for some that's pretty important.  We talked about how some people collect monuments and sights with pictures - like it was a measure of being well-travelled to have a variety of pictures from around your state or around the world (depending on exactly how well travelled you purport to be).  People in cities seem to go around finding the things they think they should have pictures of - maybe because they're the things that are featured in magazines or in movies.  I guess considering how I look at things, I wonder if they intrinsically more interesting or unique than anything else?  Some of them are, sure.. but most are just arbitrary favorites (in my opinion).  I've personally grabbed on to the model that beauty and novelty can be found and appreciated in anything and it's my job to dig it out.
     
    Oh, sorry about the little tangent there. 

    Chris returned fairly soon after with his review (of the mission that is: there wasn't that much to see, even though the cemetery was kinda cool and the stained glass in the chapel was quite impressive (his review)).  We snuck a side glance at the cemetery through the wire fence along the side and talked about the gravestones and plant layout.  Rich.
     
    Okay.  The good stuff. There's this fantastic café/pastry shop called Tartine here - a wonderful almond croissant, Mexican wedding cookies, and a 'three cheese taster sandwich' along with a cup of coffee (shared) were 'accomplished' in short order.  Now I'm a self-described baked-goods fan.  I seek out specialty bakeries everywhere and I've got a collection of favorite bakeries in most major cities I've been to around the country.  In fact, I think I've developed a pretty good eye for the top stuff and Tartine was no slouch: coarsely ground almond paste (with none of the alcohols that are typically used to preserve almond extract that are often added to cheap almond-based pastries, not too sweet or overwhelming, perfectly flakey layers with gobs of buttery goodness.  It may take the #1 or #2 spot on my almond croissant ranking system, which is definitely saying something.  The cheese sandwich was delightful as well - superb cheeses (I'm a huge cheese fan!!) from three different regions (the Spanish cheese was particularly enjoyable - I'm a big fan of the dry, grainy Spanish cheese - few curds beat a good iberico or manchego), rich homemade rustic loaf bread, no doubt soaked in butter and panini-pressed.  It was a day's worth of saturated fat and truly delicious.  I can't provide nearly as rich a commentary on quality of the wedding cookies - I've only been to three weddings in my day and none have served Mexican wedding cookies (go figure.)   Sure I've had them on various occasions in the past, but my experience is limited.  I will say the cookie part was fine-grained and light with that nutty consistency I associate with that type of cookie.  I think the powdered sugar on the outside might have been a little heavier than it needed to be as it managed to coat a decent section of the table Chris so astutely saw and grabbed as it opened up (this place was packed).  I don't mind a light dusting of confectioners sugar on occasion, but it was a bit much.  All in all, a solid A- effort from Tartine - I'd not only go back myself, but I'd take others too.
     
    We walked by lots of junky shops with plasticky trinkets and Leah was enticed, nay enthralled, by a particular shop and we ended up walking in this shop filled with a very odd collection of cheap imported goods and unusual novelties.  I usually avoid plasticky things of all sorts (well most sorts), but specifically those crafted from cheap foreign labor where I can, as I believe it fosters an unhealthy attitude about consumerism and the global economy and this place was absolutely full of them, to excess.  Even still, we couldn't help but wander around and marvel at the strange and wonderful things that plastic and unusual creativity can provide: fake laptop computers (with artfully redesigned logos from popular programs as to avoid copyright infringment (Mycrosift Werf), virgin mary clocks with dancing LEDs, incredibly cheap sandals.  Basically more junk than anyone needs... anywhere. 

    One important stop in The Mission was Ritual Coffee Roasters to buy a special little coffee gift for Chris's Mom.  As you all probably remember, I'm quite the coffee fan and this too was a choice destination - great roasted beans, excellent coffee ethic, nice environment = winning combo.  We ordered a drink called "Gibraltar"  which was a small shot-glass-style-glass (a gibraltar, if you will) with two shots of espresso and a light layer of steamed milk - it was really like a 5 ounce double latte.  It was executed superbly - a really wonderful balance of sweet rich foamy milk and a superb espresso pull.  It brought out the subtleties of the crema and body of the espresso and the small amount of milk permitted a little more longevity (usually espresso can't stand alone for more than 30 seconds to a minute without getting bitter... but then you knew that).  There was also a cool paper/publishing shop, an Italian specialty foods store with numerous sausages (samples and small quantities of several of these were brought back home for later eatings - more on this from Friday's hiking report.  It was a full experience!
     
    After an interlude looking at a prospective house (Chris and Leah were actively house-shopping) right near where they are in the Sunset district, early evening included a walk along the beach, followed by a homemade dinner of assorted sautéed vegetables (I think there were three separate dishes, as is usually the case here) and vegetable and chicken potstickers.  And we can't ignore the special appetizers Leah put together beforehand - delicious locally hot-smoked salmon from a favorite Russian market they like with a special melon variety and some hard rye crackers with a little sauvignon blanc.  Delicious. 
     
    Can you tell that food might be a focus here?

    Enough for now.  More bites later.

    June 20

    Update Coming Soon - I promise

    The story of my trip is almost readied - I just need to do some editing and formatting and I'll be posting about San Francisco within the next few days.  Hang in their, faithful. Expect segments - there's a fair amount of it.
     
    -The Managment
    June 03

    Halfway through

    Most of the people who read this already know where I am.  For those who don't, I've taken a trip down to Southern California for a little over a week to enjoy a special event.  My good friends Kara and Jason got married on Sunday and I had the pleasure of being invited and involved in the wedding.  The surrounding days have been chock-full of spending time with my friends down here: dinners, outings, parties, and more!  It's been pretty nuts, really and I've had a total blast.  It's so great to come back to all your friends when you've been away and remember how much fun you have together and really the contrast is even more stark given my current situation back home.

    I flew in late Wednesday night and was picked up by my sister down at LAX.  Thursday evening was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner with Kara and Jason's families with the 'wedding party' (this is a new phrase in my vocabulary and I'm still grasping the meaning).  It was a wonderful dinner at Leila's in Oak Park hosted by Jason's mom, Lynn and her husband Dave.  It was really a great time with lots of delicious food (and wine) - and since I had my camera along, I took a number of pictures of people there (they have been posted). 

    Friday was a little Bachelor event for Jason before his day of reckoning: a trip to Magic Mountain with the guys followed by dinner in Burbank and some drinks.  It was a late night as I think i finally tumbled into bed around 4:45.  Saturday was an early morning (relatively - Leah brought bagels from Western Bagel and Mom brought fresh strawberries - how the hell could I sleep?).  In the early afternoon I got together with MS and Jason for a little trip around Somis and the Santa Paula Valley to take some pictures and enjoy the scenery.  Saturday evening was a really nice dinner with Mom, Joe, Leah, and myself of barbecued chicken and sirloin steaks.  Yum.

    Sunday was the wedding day and it started out with saying goodbye to Leah (she drove back up to her Northern Californian locale) with a breakfast out at Country Harvest.  Jason came over about 2:30 and sat and chatted for a bit and then he and I head off to the big event, after donning our fancy tuxedos and contemplating an impromptu trip to Argentina.  Wedding ceremony was.. a wedding ceremony.  I mean, the lot of us will certainly enjoy some inside humor based on the somewhat odd decisions in the officiant's copy but it was generally very nice.  The reception was pretty awesome - very good food (Mom said it was some of the best catered food she'd ever had), wine, dancing, and lots of happy people.  I took a lot of pictures on Jason's camera (he said he'd try and post them soon - but it means I don't have them).  Even though I was really tired from the aggregate lack of sleep, I had a lot of fun dancing with Jon and David and Kim and Kara and others.  The dancing and reception died down around 10:00 and I drove back to Jason's place with Jason and got to sit with Jason and Kara and talk about the wedding and open wedding gifts.  It was fun :)

    Monday was a really lazy day and I slept in until at least 11:00.   I met with Jason in the afternoon so we could return our tuxes and pick up Kara's car and then Jason took Mom, Kara, and I out for a nice dinner of excellent Mexican food and talk at Yolanda's in Camarillo and some coffee back home afterwords.  Tuesday night, we had a nice dinner with Michael-Scott and Ginger, Kara and Jason, and Joe and my mom of wild Copper River salmon and lots of other goodies.

    It was really wonderful to get to spend time with everyone.  I'm glad I have such nice friends and am really appreciative that we enjoy each others' company so much.  It's nice to come back home!

    So what's next?  Tonight I start the second phase of my trip - I'm flying up to San Francisco to spend another week with Leah and Chris - which should be a ton of fun!  I'll be heading back to Seattle and my job search on the 8th (I've been doing a limited job search down here too).   I've posted several photo albums in the last month - so check 'em out if you haven't already - there are some nice outdoor pictures of flowers and of little drives I've taken.
    April 20

    A strange offering to my strange offerees

    Today the weather was beautiful (finally!!).  Seventy degrees and crystal clear and I had to get out and enjoy it.  I went back to Discovery Park in Magnolia and realized once I got there that I hadn't put my camera in my car before taking off (yeah.. I'm back to the old guy again.. my fancy Canon XTi days are over since I don't live with Liz anymore).  So, I used what I had: my cell phone camera.  I decided to make a little game out of it: do as much of a normal shoot as I could with just that little camera lens on the phone.  
     
    Now, I didn't start shooting at the beginning of my walk, but I tried to use some of my normal style to see how the camera on the phone could hold up.  The results were, frankly, mixed.  A few shots turned out okay but the tiny dynamic range on the puny little sensor meant that a proper exposure was much harder to accomplish.  Eh, it was fun to try.
     
    Oh, while on my walk, I asked someone to take my picture silhouetted against the sky and mountains.  Her name was Marjorie and she is featured in two of the shots.  We walked together and talked in the park for like an hour.  She even tried to hook me up with some niece she has - I told her if she really wanted, she was welcome to call me.  She is a social worker who lives in Queen Anne and is married to a political science professor at the University of Washington.  She apparently enjoys frequent walks through discovery park in the afternoons (which I think is an awesome way to spend an afternoon).  You never know who you'll meet if you keep an open mind, right?
     
    Discovery Park is really big.  I saw a whole new part of the park today that really impressed me - so different from the other part I walked in last time.  I think it'll be a wonderful resource for photography and walking in the future. 
     
    So.. check out my "cell phone shoot".  I don't think I'll make a practice of it, so get what you can from this one :)
    April 15

    Theatrics & The New Place

    It is official.  I am now a sardine.  One house, 9 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms (one is for the master bath, so it works out to 2 bathrooms for 8 people (+1 - one of my roommate's boyfriends seems to be here all the time) and the last bath for the master room holder).

    So why the tightly packed living conditions?  Time for a little story.  This may get long ;-)  (later edit: you may want to grab a glass of water).

    It started about two months ago when Elizabeth informed me that she wanted me to find somewhere else to live after finding that having me in the house was turning out to be more than she bargained for.  At that time, I had a lengthy discussion with her trying to ascertain what that actually meant to her and what things were troubling.  I was able to isolate a few things that she was finding difficult to deal with and I made a serious effort to curtail those problems immediately (none of it was very serious and mostly involved me stopping certain types of conversations from starting - as she felt alienated when she couldn't be involved in certain types of discussions Kurt and I would share).  From that point, I made not only a concerted effort to assuage her discomfort, I really tried to do anything that I could to settle the situation and restore peace and indicated that once my family had come and gone, I'd be looking for new housing in short order.  For a while it seemed good.  She even whole-heartedly agreed to have Mom and Leah stay at the Queen Anne house during their visit and was again satisfied with the situation.  Sounds good: I had calmed the storm. 

    Things happened.  Not my things, mind you.  Also, these things were not new - most of which preceded my stay.  Elizabeth herself is going through a rough patch of life, the story of which is not mine to divulge, but needless to say, she is going through many trying things.  Some people are able to compartmentalize their frustrations with the source of their grief.  This is not a skill which Ms. Liz excels in.  Once Kurt showed up as the boyfriend, I think she reslotted me to the redundant category - a bothersome person in the house to be tolerated.  This was a sharp change from the halo she had crowned me with for our first month and a half.  Accordingly, I believe that, in her mind, I began to embody the foul, acrid, corrosive, detestable source of all those problems which Ms. Liz was experiencing.  Not all the time, but there were at least two dozen or so moments where she looked at me in a way that told me she saw me as the most loathesome of creatures.  There were little moments of respite too, but the telling trouble occurred approximately 1.5 weeks prior to my family's arrival when Liz said in no uncertain terms: "I need you to find somewhere else to live, as soon as possible."  That prompted my retort: "I can promise that I'll get out of here as soon as I can, but, hmm.. you did say my family could stay here and they are arriving in two weeks."  Liz:"[<grunt> I don't really want them here]".   This particular discussion practically coincided with my Jager Law job termination and prompted the entrance of an important ally: Mr. Kurt Krause, who couldn't understand why there couldn't be a little more accomidation as he was certain she would offer a little leeway in light of my job loss.  No such luck.

    I had had it - she can mess with me and treat me as badly as she wants, but I won't have her messing up my special family visit!  So I turned to the most powerful of allies to restore her patients - kindness.  I decided that if I went over the top and did everything possible to show my respect and accommodation, she'd have a hard time playing such hardball.  I knew it was a gamble and that it would likely only have a short window, but it was worth a shot.  So I went to work.  Extra chores around the house, cleaning up after their dishes, taking garbage in and out, absolutely disappearing when I could, eating at strange late hours to avoid any interaction, let alone confrontation, offering to share food and experiences where reasonable, moving my car those extra couple of inches forward so she could have 6 feet of extra room to get her car into the driveway, always leaving the porch light on, folding their laundry, etc, etc.  I set up more electronic crap and did more organizing in those two weeks...  I spent ~10 hours helping out setting upher birthday party, setting it up to show her pictures, taking pictures.  As many of you know, these aren't crazy things and, actually, if it were a different situation, I'd be doing most of those things anyways, but here they were definitely a sacrifice.  The good news is that it seemed to work: A few days prior to Mom and Leah's arrival, Liz's mood had changed (thanks in no small part to a constant reinforcement of the message from Mr. Kurt) and she was being far more accommodating to Mom and Leah and even offered to leave the house for a few days (this didn't actually happen). 

    And then, when Leah and Mom showed up, we continued the trend and still tried to be as unobtrusive and invisible as was possible (Leah and Mom were real troopers here) - we all shared the two rooms I had my stuff in and spent as much of their trip as we could away from the house.  Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that Liz was not happy again.  She was ice cold to us much of the time we were around, so the interaction was lessened even further.  She even huffed and said something about being happy that they were gone after they left and again. 

    1 step too far, young lady.  I was looking for places to live within the hour, the day Leah left to go home - I had scheduled interviews, made contacts, and spent literally hours on craigslist looking for new housing.  There were some promising opportunities within a few days - this type of thing takes time, probably 2-3 days average from initial contact, meeting, to decision-making.  I visited 5-6 places, a few of which seemed fairly promising if more commitment than I wanted to make given my unemployment status and uncertain future.  At this point, it was totally clear that nothing I could do was good enough for her and she got really ugly.  Accordingly, here's where the timeline gets crazy.

    She began with disparaging me and my progress in searching and my staying there at every opportunity.  The housing situation was also going to be changing - her father was to be moving in within a week (yes, all of a sudden - he's 91 and things were happening quickly).  I got a note one morning (Thursday, April 2nd) informing me of this (she never wanted to ask me to do anything as that would involve confronting me, so she always left multi-page notes that had an air of insult, complaint, and irritation about them) asking me to move all of my stuff out of my room and the storage room in the garage by 11:00 am, because people were coming to look at the upstairs rooms.  So I did it all of that (I didn't get finished until like 1:30, but they didn't show up until around 1:00).   And I moved all my stuff from the kitchen.  And I moved all of her stuff from that room into the storage room.  I even tried to make it look decent.  Sure, I was a little pissed but I did it all.  And now the room downstairs where I had been sleeping was absolutely packed with all my belongings.  It was actually kinda nice - I finally had a room that was my stuff, as up until that point, I only had a small place in two rooms. 

    When she came home that day (at 11:30 at night, after spending the evening out playing), there wasn't appreciation or understanding, there was an acute complaint that we had to be able to move a large pull out sofabed into that room on Saturday.  Whatever.  I was ready to sleep on a concrete floor at this point as there really was no quality of life there.  So I made additional accommodations, stacking my stuff even higher and finding a place for the couch to go, all the while planning additional housing tours all while trying to maintain a job search. 

    Saturday April 4th - things changed again: all of a sudden, they offered that I might be able to housesit her father's place while he was gone.  And they were going to charge me.  They still had to talk about it, but it seemed pretty likely and, being in the tight spot I am financially and housing-wise, I figured it was a pretty good way to hold off on locking myself into something longer term or restrictive.  I put my housing offers on hold while this was discussed over the next 3 days (during all of which the aggressive/passive-aggressive behavior never stopped.  It was really miserable and I really just wanted to get out of there. 

    Tuesday, April 7th - Things changed yet again - the father (Robert) wasn't moving in anymore and the house sitting opportunity was gone.  Sadly, so were all my on-hold offers.  I had to start again.  This didn't factor into Ms. Liz's appreciation of the situation - she was wondering why I wasn't already gone, after having offered an alternative solution, which caused me to pause other obligations, and then promptly revoking that offer.  Again, I really just wanted to get out of there but nonetheless began a ~5 hour/day search for new housing.  For the next 3 days, I drove all over the Puget Sound looking at places, none of which were truly satisfying.  I had really no good choices.  Most of the places were shitholes and I felt completely disgusted visiting them.  Others (many of which were also shitholes) required 6 month or greater leases, something which terrifies me given my current fixed "income" and the steadily increasing level of unemployment in Washington. 

    Friday, April 10th I had 4 appointments to see 8 different properties (one guy had lots).  No real luck.  The 4th place I went to with the guy (Ryan Tacher, my new landlord) is where I ended up.  It was the newest and least ghetto of the properties.  By no means fabulous and significantly further away from downtown than I wanted to be, but it was cheap and it was relatively clean.  I signed the lease for 6 months at 4:00 PM, completely starving after having run around all day looking at places not having eaten.  I charged home, packed my car double-quick and just as I was about to leave with my first load, Liz and Kurt came home.  Kurt volunteered to help me rent a van from U-Haul and move my mattress and my few larger items.  I came back later and packed up the second load (which was almost everything else - and it could have been if I had planned a little better).  Kurt and Liz left to go out to dinner at this point, Liz giving me a big hug and telling me how much she cared about me as we said goodbye, trying to wipe clean the slate of awkwardness that had been so reinforced in the flurry of chalked hate speech of recent days.  I cordially hugged her back and told her 'how much I appreciated her patience'.  I felt a little dirty for it, but it was better that way.  She's not a bad person, she had just done some pretty nasty things.  I'm much happier keeping an awkward friend that making a spiteful enemy anyways.

    Second load ready to go - minor tragedy struck here.  I pulled my car to the top of Liz's driveway and pulled up the parking brake, so I could go down and close the garage door.  Now I had had my parking break looked at while I was having my car worked on a month before and while they did adjust it some, it doesn't completely activate until it is absolutely all the way up.  Unfortunately, I didn't pull it quite to that point and my car began to roll backwards.  Now I have good reaction time and was able to stop it within a few inches.  Again, unfortunately, the door was less than a few inches from the metal railing on the front side of Liz's house and in that brief slide, the two had a rather forceful chance encounter.  The railing rang out like a bell choir and my door frame got a nice little bend at the edge - the door closes just fine, but it looks bad and ruins the air seal slightly.  That made me sad. :(

    I dumped the next load at the new place, filling up the last of my small new room's floor space and decided to go back to grab the last few items so that I wouldn't have to come back another day and could be done with the awful situation.  Drove back to Queen Anne to grab the last couple of items and left the house with a sense of freedom.  That was that.  I didn't have to deal with that situation for one more minute.  Phew.  Other situations, sure, but that one was now over with.

    So where did I go?  It's an odd place really - a medium sized house that's been converted to accommodate as many people as the owner could squeeze in.  What was probably originally a modestly sized 4 bedroom (~2500 sq ft maybe) became a youth-hostel for 9 bedrooms.  Long, stale hallways with doors.  Coin-op laundry.  Locks.  Keys.  Chaos.  It’s a fairly cold environment and people keep to themselves and run on very different schedules.  One room is still open, but I’ve met 6 of the other 7 people now.  A nurse, a social worker, a coast guard, a couple of computer techs from Staples, a third-year med student on rotation in Tacoma, another guy who I don’t know what does (but I think someone said is gay), and me. 

    My room is around 10x8.5 with a small closet and it currently holds everything I own.  When I moved in I thought there would be absolutely no way to fit everything in here, but I spent 3 days converting it from what I have described as a crime scene to now something that more resembles a warehouse.  Sure it's packed and cramped - but now I actually have a little free space on the shelves and could theoretically fit more in here.  Don't give me any ideas.  The closet is jam-packed and all of my kitchen stuff is in my room (the kitchen already has far too many duplicates for me to put my decent/good stuff out there to have it soiled by some careless housemate).  The carpet is stain-free dark brown.  I told the owner he could slaughter animals over it and no one would be the wiser.  He smirked.  I have a window facing East, out to a cemetery, on the other side of which is a major thoroughfare, Aurora Ave.   

    Not many seem to use the kitchen much, so I’ve had a pretty good run of it and actually churned out some decent meals.  I don’t know if it’s that bad, but I’ll be straight with you all – I can’t wait to get the hell out of here.   I can only imagine that within a month or two I’ll feel even more certain about this J  But I only pay $485 with utilities and even though I’m locked in for 6 months, I can probably negotiate out of it if I have to.   Sure could be worse, but it could be a lot better.

    I posted a little album with a few pictures of my room and the house so you can get a better idea of what I’m looking at.

    http://cid-d2ad83b102d2854d.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/2009%20-%20April%20-%20The%20Sardine%20Tin

    There you are, more than 2800 words later (and two hours of typing) you made it through my story.  It’s a weird time for Danny.  Still looking for work everywhere I can but nothing yet.  I’ve steeled myself for the long haul here – loans deferred, unemployment contacted, all addresses updated, court dates set (for the ticket, of course).  Goals for now:  First: Survive to the end of May when I get to come home back to CA for Jason and Kara’s wedding and other happy things.  Interim: watch an assload of stored up television shows, look for jobs, get to the gym regularly (it’s not as easy to get to here), eat well, get outside when the weather permits (not yet, apparently), keep sane.  Spluh.

    April 12

    Californian Invasion, Part 2, and The Escape from the Harpy's Nest

    To continue... after a little lunch, Leah, Mom, and I sat down for a coffee at Seattle Coffee Works where I swear a picture that I had taken had been recreated as a poster on the wall.  It wasn't actually my picture, but the photographic design was based exactly on the composition I created.  I had emailed Sebastian, the owner, a full version of the original and told him he was welcome to use it for his marketing.  I'm hoping he took advantage of that license.

    Sunday afternoon after Pike Place Market involved a jaunt over to Gasworks Park.  After a brief stop at home, the sun came out and we headed out again for another outing.  Gasworks Park is along the north end of Lake Union and is what I'm guessing is an old gas works that has been converted into a park.  It has these cool old rusty steampunk-looking structures and lots of grass and a beautiful view of downtown from across Lake Union.  Mom and Leah enjoyed this outing especially because it was sunny for the first and only time during their trip.  We took some pictures, wandered around and soaked in some sun. 

    The big plans for the rest of the day was our special birthday event (Leah had just had a big birthday (the type with a 0) and Mom's birthday is at the end of February), a trip to Teatro Zinzanni which I had been planning for the last month or so (I'm glad I paid for the tickets before I lost my job - it's a pricey event).  It's kind of a dinner cirque/comedy show, something akin to a small Cirque du Soliel with dinner and a lot more comedy.  Jager Law took us there for our holiday party and I knew that it would be a great place to take my family when they came to visit, especially if I could time it around some sort of celebratory event.  Two birthdays - perfect.  The show was really fun as it had been before, but we had the strange treat of getting some entertainment, which we are still not sure as to whether it fell beyond the bounds of the show.  It's a crazy show, but I think this might have been just a little too crazy.  I'm going to talk about our unique experiences here and so if you're interested in the show, I suggest you check out Teatro Zinzanni's website (www.teatrozinanni.org) to learn more about the "planned show".  Our show was called "Under the Gypsy Moon".

    Let me preface our experience with the fact that the general manager gave me his card and told me he'd make things right, they refilled all of our wine glasses and gave us 4 $25 off tickets at the end AND our server explained that the whole staff was pretty stunned, two guests from our table were evacuated to another, safer table, and when we were leaving, the table next to us expressed their amazement. 

    What happened, you ask?  Meet Tami: When we arrived, a young couple was already seated at the table and when we joined them, two empty seats remained.  Shortly after the show started, a very enthusiastic woman arrived.  We quickly found out her name was Tami.  She sat next to me and explained that her mother (the owner of the adjacent seat) couldn't make it as she was undergoing treatment for late-stage brain cancer and was likely on her deathbed.  Tami was extremely energetic... or maybe maniacal is a better word.  She started off only slightly odd, acting a little too interested in what everyone else was doing.  She asked me to help her put on her necklace and dumped her stuff on the table.  She was loud and raucus and was, by any definition, over the top.  By the time our salad course was served, she had practically sat herself in my lap, drunk half my wine, fondled me, made inappropriate comments to just about everyone at the table (perhaps it was mostly me).  I didn't mind really: Mom, Leah, and I, at this point, figured she might be a plant for the show and was just causing trouble - the staff was very attentive to her and us.  It wasn't until she disappeared for 20 minutes during the show, came back in a new outfit, knocked over our bottle of wine, effectively wrapped her legs around me, told me how horny she was, kissed me on the cheek, disappeared twice more to return with new outfits, hid from Leah and I as we were going to the bathroom, practically did a pole dance during one of the musical numbers and then finally disappeared not to return prior to dessert that our guess about her involvement in the show waned.  I'm still not sure about what happened, but I know the staff and management, if she was a plant, was damn good at maintaining their stories. 

    Tami gave me a business card when she told me about herself - that included a link to a real website with a picture of her.  Leah maintained that she was the real deal and just hopped up on drugs or completely drunk.  I'd like to think she was some obscure plant for the show.  The truth may lie somewhere in the middle - we kinda guessed she may be one of the owners' relatives.  The seat she was sitting in would have been a terrible seat for a paying customer as the view of the center of the tent/stage would have been at least partially obstructed and would have likely been one of the worst seats in the house.  Accordingly, it would have made sense for the management to put a plant or family member in those seats.  The truth is, we'll never know.  I kinda like it that way.  I was a little conflicted as whether to ultimately complain about the experience (and maybe petition for a 2/1 deal for Leah and Chris to go to the San Francisco show or something), but I decided it was okay.  Sure, I didn't get to enjoy some of the comedy and performance of the real show, but the show we got was arguably way more crazy than I had possibly expected.  So maybe the night wasn't a rousing success in the way originally planned but it certainly made for an exciting, unexpected, confusing, awkward, and ultimately titilating experience.  Needless to say, long discussions were held afterwards about our crazy tablemate -especially after the staff told us they were all talking about Tami in the back and our server even indicated that someone had seen her walking around outside behind the tent during the show.  I guess we'll never know.  And I kinda like it better that way. 

    Monday was Mom's last day - she was to fly out about 5 PM.  The morning was a very lovely brunch trip to Senor Moose (the well-known brunch place I think I mentioned in an earlier post which serves pan-Mexican cuisine, dabbling in various items from regions all over Mexico) in Ballard.  We all had great food and some of the best drip coffee to be found at a breakfast restaurant (at least according to the popular consensus).  Following this was a stroll around Ballard that included a tour of the lock system that allows boats/ships in Lake Washington and Lake Union to exit out to the Puget Sound, the accompanying visitor center and the salmon run which is designed to let visitors watch the salmon jumping up the fresh water lakes (there were no salmon during our visit).  We spent some time watching ships being raised and lowered in the locks and checking out the dam and enjoying the ships passing through with the banter of the lock attendants.  On our way back home, we stopped at Chocolopolis in Queen Anne after a little wandering around the Queen Anne Ave and enjoyed a very special treat - their hot chocolate, but not just any hot chocolate - ours was made with one of my favorite chocolatier's couvature, Amedei's Chuao, an estate Venezualan chocolate that is on its own magnificant and the beverage captured all the beauty of the chocolate.  It was delicious.

    We dropped by the house to grab Mom's stuff and then went up to Capitol Hill for a little trip out to Lake Washington before we dropped Leah off at the Downtown Seattle branch of the library.  Mom and I travelled over the 520 floating bridge to Medina and Bellevue and drove around looking at the old charming housing in that area.  I then took her down to Seatac and dropped her off at the airport so she could make her flight.  I picked up Leah on my way back into downtown and we drove back to Queen Anne for a little Happy Hour hopping.  We stopped at two places to enjoy different happy hours - drinks and little small plates to accompany.  It was lovely and it gave Leah and I a great opportunity to spend some time talking and hanging out together.  Early Tuesday morning, on the way to the airport, I took Leah to Macrina bakery (which was four blocks from Liz's place) to pick up some special treats for the plane.  Leah  selected two muffins and I got an Italian Plum Roll.  I heard from Leah later that day and she indicated they may have been some of the best muffins she'd ever had :)  I dropped Leah off at the airport around 10:00 (if I remember correctly) and it was time to enjoy the not so subtle adventure back to my reality.  It was so wonderful to have Mom and Leah visit and I'm so glad they were able to make it.  I think they really enjoyed their stay and, as with anyone who visits me (ever), they got to see as much as could possibly be jammed in during their visit.  I would say it was most definitely a successful visit.

    With their departure returned the abrupt reality that my housing situation was falling apart - Liz had been growing increasingly unpleasant and impatient about my departure.  This has come and gone and I think is best saved for a later posting.  Stay tuned for part three - hear about my flight from Queen Anne to my current home in Greenwood (I moved Friday night, top to bottom, from 4 PM - 10 PM). 

    Never a dull moment.

    April 09

    Californian Invasion, Part 1 (what an embarassingly bad title...)

    I am going to suspend discussion of my current problems for a future post because I wanted to provided a detailed account of what was enjoyed by my two special guests at the end of March.  I had the wonderful pleasure of being visited by both my mother and sister for 5 days.  And since I'm sure many of you have already seen the photo collection that documented this visit as it was posted nearly immediately after they left, you probably don't even need to read this, 'cause you already know what we did.

    While we all missed our good Mr. Chris's involvement in this particular adventure, Mom and Leah turned out to be plenty of guests, given the circumstances of limited sleeping arrangements.  We were actually all able to stay in Ms. Atkin's house and even if she wasn't thrilled about it (even though she had described it as being "just fine" a few weeks earlier - more about this later as my housing has fallen into terrible disarray), it ended up working out just fine.  We spent most of our time out of the house.  So, as long as we had a place to come home to after long days of checking out the scenes, it would all be fine.  We did actually end up eating some meals here too and that also managed to work out.  And maybe a fist fight would have broken out had they been here much longer, Mom and Leah's stay went great.  I'm not bitter.  Really. 

    Okay okay... So what did we do in their 4 days in Seattle?  Well, as many of you can guess, there's no way they could see everything I've found in this brief stay, Mom and Leah's stay was jam-packed with Puget Sound area explorations.

    Leah showed up Thursday afternoon at around 4:00 PM and we took some time to wander around downtown Seattle after I picked her up from SeaTac airport.  We went to Franz Chocolates (which is a famous chocolatier in Seattle) and got some sweet samples (hot chocolate and truffle samples!) and got Leah some shoelaces.  Once we picked up Mom (she flew in around 8:00 PM) we took her back home to drop off her things and we went out to our first Seattle coffee experience, which was really my first experience in the beginning of 2008, Zoka Coffee in Greenlake.  It was fun to take the fam there.  I actually remember the day I went there a year ago with a friend of the family I was staying with in Federal Way where he introduced me to the now famous Zoka bar (one of which was enjoyed by my family too - the very reason it's now famous).

    Friday was a trip down to Tacoma.  We went to West Seattle and checked out the cool park that offers a beautiful view of the Seattle cityscape.  We drove down along the coast of the sound despite the bad weather (it rained almost the whole time they were here - people think the weather is intentionally bad to drive off possible immigrants).   We drove through Federal Way so I could show where I had lived early last year and then along Dash Point to the port of Tacoma.  I managed to get a $700 ticket for going 30 miles per hour in a school zone and having an expired insurance card (the insurance fine has been removed and I'm actually going to court to contest the other part as I'm not sure it was fairly "awarded").  Nevertheless, the coast was really beautiful and the Port of Tacoma, even if not totally clear and pristine was still pretty.  We then drove out to Point Defiance and drove along the five mile drive route and had some lunch at a little cafe and stopped at my favorite Tacoma coffee institution (Satellite Coffee) before visiting Mr. Tobin Ropes at Mad Hat Tea where we sat, drank tea, and chatted.  Tobin was all too quick to "extoll my virtues" at length.  It was funny. 

    The last outing of the day was to see the works of Dale Chihuly and other glass artists at the Glass Museum in Tacoma.  They have a live glass blowing studio where we learned something about the process of making art glass.  It's a neat museum if you're into art glass.  I enjoyed the experience but was a little sad we couldn't take more pictures - we couldn't take pictures of the galleries as they are "copyrighted" according to the curators.  We took some pictures of the Chihuly glass shown on the bridge outside which are included in the collection from their trip.  Amazing what they were able to do with blown glass.  I remember the first Chihuly glass I saw - it was at the National Liberty Museum in Philadephia - a pretty decent free museum with an unbelievable 2.5 story art glass centerpiece, The Flame of Liberty.

    Saturday was a trip to the Kitsap Peninsula.  We took the Bainbridge Island Ferry after a quick pancake breakfast.  If the weather was poor on Friday, Saturday's weather was awful.  It poured much of the day and it was cold.  But we got by and it really didn't impede our enjoyment of the trip at all.  We walked around in the city on Bainbridge Island, walked around the Scandinavianesque town of Poulsbo (and had delicious halibut and clam chowder at a well known fish and chips place) drove up to and crossed the Hood Canal Bridge to the Olympic pennisula and drove some along the Hood Canal and drove down South along the Kitsap Penninsula and stopped in Gig Harbor for another afternoon coffee stop at a somewhat disappointing place called Suzanne's (it was hard to keep up with the other excellent coffee experiences.  Dinner was in University Village at an Indian restaurant.  It was delicious.  Kinda fun to see the U-district at night too - some colorful characters.

    Sunday was the all important trip to Pike Place Market and Downtown Seattle.  Lots of walking, coffee at Seattle Coffee Works, oils and vinegars at Sotto Voce, and panini at "that good sandwich place I can't remember the name of". 

    I'm falling asleep, so while I could finish this tonight, I'm going to save the amazing conclusion of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday morning for a future posting.  More soon!  Nighty-night!


    March 24

    Unemployment and Life Update

    So what does one do when they suddenly find themselves unemployed after being terribly busy for 4 months?
     
    Strangely, not much different.  I still go to the gym in the evenings (in fact I go a little later now so I can avoid the crowds), I haven't spent noticibly more time preparing myself dinner on a nightly basis.  I have, however, been staying up much later - I was averaging a 10:30 sleep time two weeks ago and now I'm at about a 12:15 sleep time (it seems to better fit with this household's schedule).   I still watch an obscene amount of TWiT (live.twit.tv, if you're curious) while doing other things, download lots of files, organize my computer, take pictures, eat, sell preteen organs at auction, etc.  I still like beets.
     
    I have had time to pick up some Japanese dramas again and I just finished the second season of a silly show called Hana Yori Dango. It's a story about a poor girl (very poor) who goes to a rich kid high school (very very rich), where a group of thr richest meanest guys, called "F4" start a  little war with Tsukushi Makino (I liked her name, as I rarely remember the character names).    Of course, the lead F4 guy and her, despite hating each other, fall in love.  Insert usual collection of awkward rich people/poor people relationship stereotypes, rinse, repeat... ad naseum.  And then there was a second season.  Oh!  And an amnesia sequence.  It was cute at times, but it was so cliche and so preditcable it was one of the most disappointing dramas I've seen to date.  The writing was pretty sad.  Here's the strange part - this is one of the most well known, famous dramas in the last 10 years.  Go figure.
     
    I have also had time to make some posts here - which I was sorely underperforming on during my period of employ.  For that I am sorry, dear fans.
     
    So about work.  I've been doing quite a bit of stuff but nothing you care about - searching for jobs, filing unemployment documents, rendering beef tallow, renting beef tallow, considering alternative locations/careers/lifestyles/anger management classes.  I've sent out about 30 resumes so far.  About 70% to law firms with the others going to Microsoft, Amazon, and a few other techy companies that had either law related positions or other openings for things I can do.  And I heard from Elizabeth that my former firm had already hired a new associate by the middle of last week (yep, that's 3 days after I was let go).  To me that makes me think that my departure was a planned event as it probably takes about 2 weeks top to bottom to find and screen a candidate, even if you're very efficient at it (like I'm sure Steve is). 
     
    Kinda strange really: I would have thought that there might be more indications that there was some disatisfaction with me.   It may go down as one of the more unusual employment situations in my experience... but no regrets.  As I explained before, in many ways I'm really happy to be moving on.  I've been thinking again and again how doing that for a year and a half or two years or however long I would have stayed there would have been a rough and unpleasant experience.  At least now, the future is completely blank again.  Sure it means I won't be paying off my student loans any more quickly and that Ferrari is one additional step away, but at least for the day-to-day, I'm really glad I don't have to be doing something that I didn't find very interesting.
     
    Here's to finding something better and more interesting, for you and me both.
     
    So, as usual, my post will end with an explaination of the new set of pictures that got posted.  These don't require much thinking through though as the title is pretty self explainatory: Ms. Liz turned 60 this weekend and her boyfriend Kurt, her daughter Kayla, and I prepared a lovely party for her at the house.  I chopped vegatables and fruits and meats and cheeses and concrete blocks for at least 4 hours before the party.  It was a good success - a smallish gathering (by Liz standards) of 20 or so new and old friends, a lot of food, and a good amount of booze.   People mostly drank bubbly things.  As usual, I was the photographer, taking pictures of the event to memorialize the experience.  Hey, it's just what I do.  Accordingly, here are some nice pictures of the party.
     
    Oh and one bonus picture of Liz dressing up for St. Patricks Day.  Kurt made corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage and we had irish soda bread with it.  tt was a fun little evening with the three of us.
     
    Next up, later this week I have the glorious opportunity that some ofmy family will be visiting me.  Two of my favorite ladies, Mom and Leah (Mr. Chris is not coming this time) will be coming to the Puget Sound region on Thursday afternoon/evening for a 5 day trip.  We have lots planned and there should be some really nice pictures from the event.  Can't wait to share with you all... but you'll have to wait a week or so :)
    March 13

    Change of Plans

    Okay.. time for a post.  But probably not the one you were hoping for.
     
    I was fired today.  Four months after I started, Mr. Jager decided that I wasn't doing or being what he wanted me to be at his firm, so he let me go.  I know it wasn't easy for him, because I genuinely think he liked me.  Well, he told me as much.  I don't make any excuses - I worked hard while I was there to produce a quality product and put my best effort into being satisfactory.  I did things that many would be very impressed by.  However, many is not all. Steve's been a lawyer for a long time and has an idea about what he wants.  He is entitled that as a small business owner and I would never begrudge him it.  I can't say anything bad. It was a good experience.  The people were nice.  Sure, maybe they weren't 'my people', but who is, really?
     
    Of course, now comes the tough part, but maybe also the opportunity.  I wasn't perfect for me - you all know that I demand a lot.  I want to be challenged and stimulated and frankly, I don't know where that's going to come from.  I've been extremely careful in these months and have managed not only to pay back some of the money I borrowed from mom, I've managed to save almost everything else that didn't go to housing, transportation, student loans, insurance, and food (so, basically, I got about 10 bucks left ;-) ). 
     
    All those times where I said no, I don't need to eat out or I don't need to buy anything... people may tease me about it sometimes, but really, it'll be what saves me in the end.  I've denied myself many times in the last year.. and I'm glad.  I've been pretty happy, even when unemployed or looking for work.  Sure I might've been down one or two days a month.. but generally, I've been happy.  Satisfied?  Eh.. okay, maybe I've given that one up for a while. 
     
    I could bitch and moan all day, but it wouldn't do me any good.  So, before I left work today, I sat down with each person and wished them well, I carefully bundled up all my things and carted them off in one go, head held high.  I did what I could.  And for me, that's good enough.  I even smiled.  Hell, I think I was a little happy, in a kind of strange way.
     
    When I got home today, I updated my resume, my cover letters, my references (Steve'll be a good reference), I filed for unemployment assistance, and I even managed to send out 8 resumes to different firms.  I'll be okay - I'll be better than okay: I'll succeed.  It's what I do, even if it looks like something else, I believe that success is so personal and intrinsic, I'm the only one who can decide.
     
    Oh.. I posted some new albums of recent photographic exploits.  I'll probably have more time to post for a while again, now that I'm on the hunt again.   And now it's time to finish up my dinner - first I've cooked in a while.  Time is a luxury.
    March 07

    Bad Phlargo.

    I need to post a new entry soon.. it's been too long.  Sorry everyone to have disappointed you sorely.  Maybe I can write a little something tomorrow :)
    January 25

    Pictures!

    Two new albums are being posted, as we speak.  Now that 2008 has come to a close, it is time for the second annual installment of my Picture Favorites!  The new 2008 collection has now been posted.  It was a great year for photos.  So many to choose from.  As with last year, I'll remind everyone that these are not the 'best' pictures, they are my favorites. 
     
    Further, another album has just been posted which was taken during a photographic walk yesterday.  It was a long walk (probably close to 9 miles) and the idea as that I could get a chance to see where I'm living and show the rest of you.  I borrowed my roommate Liz Atkin's (
    Canon xti DSLR (file picture not found) and took nearly 500 pictures.  I don't know if it was my inexperience with the camera or some equipment problems (she bought a cheap polarizing filter and I was using a mediocre, if versitile lense) but every picture I took into the light had terrible chromatic abberation, resulting in a drastic reduction in the number of shots which were worth keeping.   I normally get about a 60-70% recovery rate on pictures taken.. but this collection only ended up with about 100.  I'm gonna do some more shooting with the camera.  It was a lot of fun to use a fancy camera, however, and I even more look forward to having a DSLR of my very own.  You'll notice that some of the pictures have some strange fuzziness/haloing - I kept some of the funky ones that were worth keeping.  It was a little sad as I thought it was a fantastic shoot.  I'll run some more experiments to try and hone my skills and determine whether it was me or the camera ;-)  Enough excuses.  Enjoy the collection that survived.  Each enjoyed a certain amount of post-processing, including color-temp changes, contrast enhancement, etc.  I think it was a better product for it.
     
    There are several pictures of the house, my car, and the cool commercial street that's only a block away.  Notice the picture with 3 coffee places in frame.  Starbucks on one corner, Pete's on the other, and an independant place called Cafe Ladro two doors down.  Across the street is the tea place and the chocolate place is like 4 blocks down the road.  It's a busy street: nice to live near!
    January 19

    Gritty Kitty Gifties! Now with Birthday-Style updates!

    UPDATED FOR BIRTHDAY!  Updates are in bold and identified with an UPDATE! prefix.  Btw.. Gritty Kitty was the brand of cat litter that Stimpy liked.  Also.. you don't need to send me anything, ever.  I'll just cry.  Enjoy my fun little update narratives.  Maybe I'll post this on my website as well. (UPDATED!  Now posted to website, with bonus content!)


    I'll post this on my website as an entry as well... Hopefully this will help family and friends in addressing the upcoming holiday and birthday season.  Please forward this to other people as you see fit
     
    Higher Priority Gifts:
     
    1. UPDATE!  Leah got me some good stuff for repairing my razor burn, which seems to be a good thick moisturizing cream I'm putting on after each shave and it's too soon to tell how much it's doing for me.  I'm still having some problems, but I'm checking it out.  I might still want to tweak my shaving system more, but I've gone to better shaving cream after enjoying the Anthony shave cream (I purchased a <cough, gasp, wheeze> $10 5oz thing of Zia's shaving cream at our local PCC Natural Markets.)  For now, I'm going to do some more experimentation but I may want that badger brush at some point...
     
    New shaving solution.  I've been having a lot of trouble with sensitivity and my neck and a lot of redness (and I still haven't been shaving every day).  Maybe a new razor type and one of those cool shaving applicators (badger shaving brush - I've heard they alone may be able to solve this problem) and some good shave cream (the TJs stuff just isn't working for me anymore).  Maybe some new technology.  I don't know.  I do know that my neck gets very red when I wear a tie (turning your head with a tight collar facilitates significant chafing, augmented by any shaving failure)   Here's an article to consider: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6886845/
     
     
     
    2. UPDATE!  Chris got me a pot for Christmas.  I'll eventually want a second one (gotta have one for greener oolongs and one for darker oolongs, of course, but for now I'm sated.
     
    YiXing tea pot.  Ideally, I'd eventually like 2 or 3 of these for different types of oolong.  I'd like to buy it from Mad Hat, if I can - so I'll probably pick one up locally and someone can sponsor me.  The ones he has are about $25 (some of these pots go up to several hundred dollars).  Here's some information about them: http://cart.greenteapots.co.uk/index.php?p=page&page_id=guide  I want one that has really tight tolerances, so the lid fits perfectly - some are made really nicely.  With this size pot, I'll probably want some small tea cups - regular mugs won't do it justice (as they are typically a small capacity tea pot).  Let's start with one.  Sanction it and I'll pick one out and bring it back. -
     
     
    3.  UPDATE!  I found a sweet chocolate shop near me.  Joe gave me a healthy pile of chocolate and there is a special bag of Santander chocolate sitting ready for fancy hot chocolate.  I suspect I'm good for now.
     
    Chocolate.  Specifically something from Pralus, Bonnat, or Domori.  See www.seventypercent.com for more ideas.
     
    4.  UPDATE: I have purchased Mass Effect on my Steam Account - it was on sale this weekend.  I can't wait to play it.  I'll still will definitely want the others, but I can wait 'til they drop in price - and they may wait until I have some new computer upgrades (likely happening within 6 months)
     
    Computer games.  I know we had an informal moratorium on computer game gifts in the past.. but the reality is I haven't bought myself a game in nearly 2 years.  There are a few I specifically want and have been waiting for.  I know I mentioned Mass Effect.  I'll also be looking for Fallout 3 in the next year.  Mass Effect is the one I want first as Fallout I'll likely wait with until I upgrade my hardware.  Here is some information about and pictures of the games I want:
     
     
    5.  UPDATE!  My lovely mother got me a notebook back for my computer.  I don't know if it'll be enough to carry around the ridiculous amount of deposition exhibits I may be expected to tote around town, but for now, it's a great start.  As the firm gets more on the technology train, this kind of solution is going to be increasingly important.
     
    Work document storage and portability solution.  Think shoulder mounted device which will allow me to carry more than a small folder to a work event.  Right now I have to walk across town and have to carry my notebook or whatever.  If I need to bring discovery materials or my computer along (or the occasional something to eat), I need something that'll protect them against the elements and will be easier than carrying it without aid.  Don't need to be fancy.
     
    6.  UPDATE!  Problem solved!  Mom got me a wonderful bag for Christmas.  It's perfect for storing my stuff in during the day and keeping my work clothes in for the trip home.  Now I need to figure out a way to keep it from getting stinky from having my shoes in it
     
    Gym bag.  I currently use a plastic bag left over from a supermarket trip.  I managed to lose my small lock from a small hole in the bag.  I need something better so I can store my stuff in my car or have a place to put my clothes, food, or a towel before/after I work out.
     
    7.  Sunglasses.  My sunglasses are terrible - scratched, twisted and losing structural integrity.  I'm tempted to creep up the sunglasses ladder again to something more decent.  The $25 sunglasses have had very poor longevity, partly because I don't care enough about them to put them in a hard case.
     
    8.  UPDATE!  I got pictures.  I might want one of Dad too, but my desk is now family-laden.
     
    Analog pictures of my family.  I have one framed picture of Leah.  And one paper-housed picture of Mom and I from a Royce Christmas Party 5 or 6 years ago.  It'd be nice to have a few pictures of you guys - maybe to have at my office or in my home.  Maybe something that shows you in your full adult glory!
     
    9. UPDATE!  I haven't purchased anything, but I'm considering a small player that does some sort of video (sure my current one does it.. it just looks terrible and is very small).  For now I'm going to hold off on this one. 
     
    Fitness-time-media-player-retention-device.  I'm sick of carrying my portable media player in one hand while working out.  It gets in the way and I end up not using it on the days I don't have my 1 pair of workout pants with pockets.  I'm not sure of the solution - use your brain!  If form factor is a question, my current player is a Sandisk Sansa E280.
     
    10.  UPDATE!  I purchased the replacement headphone cable for my IEMs.  It was $20, but it appears they might have engineered a slightly more durable solution.  Let's hope this one lasts (I mean, I guess I can't complain too much - the last one lasted like 3 years)
     
    Headphones cable.  My little IEMs are working great, but the cable is starting to tear through the shielding at one place.  Ultimate Ears offers replacement cables on their accessories page:  http://www.ultimateears.com/_ultimateears/products/accessories/universal.php
    It isn't super high priority because it's still working - but once it stops working, I'll be sad.
     
    Lower Priority Gifts:
     
    1.  Digital Camera and Optics money.  Within 12 months, I'll likely be trying to get a new digital SLR.   Or at least a used one and start building up my lens collection (and, if used, a new camera in the 2-3 year time frame).  $1000+ lenses are expensive but you can always get a newer, better camera - but lens technology doesn't change much - so I plan to buy good ones.  I might start with a few cheapies just to get some practice, but good lenses are the goal.
     
    2.  Knife money.  You all know, I'm going to buy knives.  It may be 3 months off, it may be a year off. 
     
    3.  Shoes or shoe money or a belt/belt money.  I need one more pair of fancier brown dress shoes and another belt or two to complete my professional wardrobe
     
    4.  UPDATE!  I think this should wait.
     
    Kindle or other electric reader.  I'd like to switch to a digital reader at some point.. I don't know if it's going to happen now or in a few years
     
    5.  Money for the furniture and furnishings fund.  I don't know how long it's going to be, but I'm going to be buying furniture and more housewares within 6 months.  It will require endless funds... contribute
     
    6.  Specialty foods gifts.  You know I enjoy quality chocolate, cheese, coffee, tea, wine, and beer.  I accept any and all gifts that facilitate my furthering of these interests, holiday or no.
     
    7.  UPDATE!  I'm looking towards something that has more of a screen and can decode videos.  I think one way squeeze more into my day is to get at least one show in while I'm at the gym.  There are several good choices - but I'll need to do more research - contributions towards this end will push my decision-making process along.
     
    Contributions toward replacing my digital media player.  Technology marches on - my Sansa still works perfectly.. it's just not fast enough or sufficiently capacious to handle all the new opportunities I could be enjoying.
     
    See you guys in a few millennia (UPDATED!)!