Phlargo's Spouse and Spruce

Will Post for Money

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:03:38 GMT

It's not that I don't love you all... it's just that I haven't felt like writing much recently. It's kind of a hard time for me right now: I'm not getting enough time at work, and the trip to California ended up being a pretty expensive endeavor. I further found out that it was likely in my best interest to pursue job opportunities away from Johnson, Graffe, Keay, Moniz, and Wick as there "could be no promises made" and that it would "make sense to keep my name out there". I got the message, so I went back into full gear last weekend.

I have some things in the works, but until anything is more conclusive, I'll reserve my progress. Needless to say, I've done a nice job of updating my resume to include my new experiences here and I've contacted several local firms to "get my name out there". I'm at work today and there's nothing to do so I'm writing a post. I left early on Monday because there was no work for me. I will probably end up having to do the same. I need to start making some money... any money. I realized I'm down to about 2 weeks worth of reserve. Not good. I'll probably have to leave early again - I can't justify sitting here getting paid for doing nothing. I just don't feel right about it. I like to work when I'm at work.

Perhaps the fool, given these financial challenges, I recently purchased the first personal/discretionary items I've purchased in several months. I've been studying Japanese but I've felt a definite challenge in understanding the gramatical structure of the language using the immersive method that Rosetta Stone employs, so I purchased a $7 grammar book from my local Borders and have been 'enjoying' 'reading' it. I also purchased a pleasure book (something I ran out of 4 months ago) that both Alaya and Jason had recommended to me in the last couple of years. I started it last night and read the first little bit. We'll see. You know Jason and Alaya: inherantly untrustworthy, what with their getting engaged and moving to Boston and buying iPhones. You know who you are.

Jon bought BioShock for my Steam Account as a bar-passing gift and I've been having a blast with it. I actually spent nearly 3 hours yesterday drudging through Neptune's Bounty. I love the combination of the AI in the game and the diversity of tools you get with which to interact with the wonderfully immersive environment and creepy opponents. Plasmids are genetic upgrades your character can inject himself with to reprogram his DNA to permit amazing new abilities. You get some really fun ones. There's something wonderful about using Incinerate to melt down a pool of ice to uncover an explosive barrel, using the Freeze plasmid to freeze a guy so he's a brick of ice and then using Telekinesis to hurl the explosive barrel at the frozen guy and watch him shatter into 1000 pieces and the blow up with the barrel. It's awesome. And really, best audio in a game, ever... seriously. Here's a Gamespot Review with pictures. It's a beautiful game - check it out if you've not heard of it.

Uncle Jerry is coming to stay with me for 3 days, starting tonight. This should prove interesting considering my (we'll be generous and call them:) "spartan" living conditions.

Oh.. my neighbors offered me a super ugly love seat as they got a full sectional couch hand-me-down for their apartment (it takes up 80% of their living room). So I took it. It looks ridiculous in my 'living room', just sitting there. I've never sat in it.. but I figure it'll at least give Jerry a place to sit while I play more BioShock ;-) I mean, really, it's hideous and utterly useless on its own: I don't have a coffee table; it's not comfortable enough to supplant my computer chair as a place to sit; my computer monitor is too small that I can sit on the 'couch' and watch shows. But at least it makes my apartment feel slightly less empty (I think...)

I need to find some good chocolate. When Jerry's here, we're going up to Seattle and I think I'll have to spring for a good chocolate bar - and, in fact, the chocolate shop near Pike Place is already a destination to get a good Michel Cluizel or Domori origin bar.

Okay, I better go ask if I can do anything for anyone again.

Xel'ha and Tulum

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:39:32 GMT

As a special honor, and for only the second time in history, I have requested the services of a guest writer for my site. Considering the amazing enthusiasm and intense feedback I received regarding my lengthy post about my Mexico trip with my family (two comments.. one from my guest poster!) , I have decided to fill in the gaps of my personal experience (if anything that could be classified as a 'gap in my experience' has any relevance...) with an account by our very own Mr. Wingard (haha.. Mom). I have been told that things happen when I'm not around. I'm not sure I believe it. I have, however, recently received this account which attempts to refute my position. Decide for yourself:

Joe and I decided that we wanted to see some Mayan Ruins - after all we were in Mayan country here in the Yucatan. We had already planned to take an excursion to Xel-Ha as Nancy had described it in such glowing terms and made it sound so inviting, I had to see what she was talking about. We could combine Xel -Ha with a trip to Tulum, a smaller ruins site down the coast from us, in one excursion so we decided to do that the day that the rest of our party went to Cozumel, snorkling, As far as ruins go, the premier site is Chitzenitza, very large, very old and very impressive. The drawback to going there was the distance - up to 2 1/2 hours each way by bus so even though it is supposed to be spectacular, we decided Tulum would do it for us,

The day started early - we had to meet our bus at 8 am in the Plaza Playacar, a small tourist shopping area next to our hotel. It was hot and humid, even at 8 am and the big, comfortable air-conditioned bus was a relief. Tulum, while newer that other ruins and not as impressive, has location going for it. It is located on a cliff above the Carribean, an amazing location, which during its heyday protected the inhabitants from the sea direction. It would have been impenitrable from that side. Our bus included people who were only going to Xel-Ha so we stopped there first - the two attractions are only minutes apart - and dropped off those people who were spending the entire day at Xel-Ha. We were advised by our tour guide to use the restrooms at Xel-Ha and stock up on water. When we reached the "town" of Tulum - and I call it that lightly - a bunch of ramshackle tourist shops strung together, our guide, Pepe, who was actually Mayan, began his narrative about the ruins at Tulum and about Mayan culture generally. To get to the ruins, we followed a road, walking, for about 10 minutes. We could have taken a tram but we walked. It became clear to me why we went to Tulum first - the temperature was already in the high 80s and it was bearable but getting hotter all the time. Once we reached the entrance to the ruins we followed a very densely forested path to a kind of anteroom with ruined walls where Pepe explained the significance of Tulum and how it fit into the Mayan world. Tulum was a much later site and was still active at the time Spaniards came to the Yucutan. It never came under the Spaniards but was actually abandoned by its inhabitants. Pepe told us that Mayan culture did not disappear nor did the Mayan people. The theory is that the population grew too big and the lower caste people upon whom the burdens of building and doing much of the work fell, rebelled and moved away to small settlements. Pepe also told us that about half the people in the Yucatan are Mayan, many nearly pure, who still speak Mayan, and when a Mayan baby is born, they have a blue spot just above their tailbone which goes away as they grow out of childhood. He also talked about the physical characteristics of the Mayan race. As we walked up on the plateau where the ruins were located, Pepe told us about the different structures and what they would have looked like and how they would have been used. Originally the buildings would all have been stuccoed and brightly painted. The Mayans had a very developed knowledge of astronomy and mathematics and the buildings exhibit this with their placement. Everything they built was carefully placed to face exactly certain directions and fit into their picture of the world. Similar to Stonehenge these buildings were built to have certain places where the sun or moon came through certain holes or places at certain times. All very orderly and mystical. At the cliff side of the ruins, there was an incredible wooden staircase down to one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Lots of people went down to the beach and took a dip while they were at Tulum. I can certainly understand the dip part - it was terribly hot and humid. Our clothes were soaked. We ended up sitting in a shaded area under some trees and watching iguanas for a while. I was glad we saw the ruins but I think I would have appreciated it more in the evening which we understood is quite beautiful. They light up the entire area and it being up on a cliff, the sight must be quite spectacular.

So it was on to Xel-Ha and we were ready for water! Xel-Ha is a natural inlet from the Carribean Sea, with fresh water underground springs bubbling up and meeting the ocean water. The name Xel-Ha means waters meeting. It is a beautifully developed park with all kinds of water features and things to do. We had been advised to eat first which we did. The buffet we chose (food and drink was all inclusive) was very pleasant, though outdoors. Fans kept it relatively cool and the food and drink was varied and quite interesting. We needed to cool down after Tulum so the break of sitting and eating and hydrating was quite welcome. The grounds of Xel-Ha were beautifully manicured, though still jungle. There were dozens of beautiful macaws just outside of the restaurant and after eating we took some pictures of them. We got our snorkeling gear and lockers and went snorkeling in the lagoon. It was a great success! The only other time I had tried snorkeling, I had failed miserably so I was stoked to be swimming around and looking at fish. They put a life jacket on you which makes it quite easy to snorkel. At first we did not secure the life jackets correctly and it got all messed up but when we finally figured out how to work the straps, everything fell into place. The lagoon had natural rocks in it and the fish tended to congregate near the rocks. I had a ball in there but when I got out, I had moved quite far away from where we went into the water and was totally lost. I guess I got out of the lagoon on the other side, probably several hundred yards away from where we went in. It took me some time to find my way back to our original location and poor Joe was nearly frantic. We then decided to go on innertubes from a long arm of the inlet where the current moved you automatically toward the main lagoon. This was supposed to take about 45 minutes. It took some time to reach the starting area - we walked for a good while and then took a tram. At the beginning of what they call "the lazy river" you put on a life vest and they drop an innertube into the water and somehow you are supposed to get yourself into the innertube. This was not easy for Joe and me as we are both older and portly to say the least. We both kept falling out. Finally I got going and started floating down the narrow river. It was unfortunately not very comfortable. I had to hold my head up all the time. Joe finally had to go and get a double innertube, meant for two people and that worked better for him. The first part went fine but after about 3/4 of an hour I was terribly tired and not feeling too well There was a headwind that kept pushing us backward and we were not making any progress. About 2/3rd of the way to the end, I was exhausted and we decided to get out and walk to the end. Now we didn’t have any shoes as they had sent our shoes down to the end, so we walked on dirt paths - not very comfortable - for about 10 minutes until we got to main path and then for about 15 minutes to the place where we picked up our shoes etc. It was getting late and we had to meet the bus at 5 pm so we got our stuff out of the lockers, had a cold drink - God knows we needed one! - and met the bus. We were tired and hot but it was a good day. Both of us fell asleep on the bus back to Riu Tequila. We slept like rocks that night.

Thank you, oh honorable Mom, for your quick response to my call for assistance. You enrich our very beings with your generous sharing of time and exposition of amazing detail in ways that only future generations of scholars will have the pleasure of understanding.

Mexico Trip and a chance to visit friends

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:42:27 GMT

As many of you know, I recently embarked with my family on a trip to Quintana Roo in Mexico for a week long vacation at the Rui Tequila resort in Playa del Carmen. If you don't know about it yet, I would highly suggest taking a look at the photo albums I posted from the trip about a week ago. It was a beautiful place and quite an amazing experience. I've included a bunch of links to pages about thing I'm discussing if you're interested in a little more information.

Let's start with the concept that I have not left the country for over a decade. Last I left the US, I was only 14 and on a trip to Denmark. I had to get a new passport (my office laughed at me when I showed them my passport from when I was 14 (wearing my Ren and Stimpy shirt!!)) and had to alert the local authorities that my car was not an abandoned drugie theft (not really).

Prior to going down to Mexico, I had a couple of days at home to spend time with Mom and some local friends (I spent some nice time with Michael-Scott, Jon, Jason, and Kara). I had a lovely dinner MS and then lifted some kettlebells together (his recent obsession) and watched some jdramas and ate "frozen dessert" with him and Ginger. Kara and Jason and I went kayaking in the Channel Islands harbor and went out for a kick ass sushi dinner - one of the first times I've had the pleasure of ordering the "Chef's Choice" Solid. Afterwards, Jon, MS, Jason, Kara, Ryan, and Laura (Ryan's recent fiance!) spent some time back at their place, watching some Planet Earth and just hangin' out. It was really great to get to spend time with everyone. Makes me realize how much I enjoy my friends, really!

Mom, Joe and I drove down to Van Nuys to take the airport shuttle at like 5:00 AM the next morning. We met Leah and Chris and the rest of the troop (Nancy and Alex Mireles and their family (and a good part of their extended family) & Danny and Veronica and their children) at the airport. The lines at the Delta terminal were absolutely amazing considering it was before 8 AM on a Sunday morning. In classic Nancy fashion, everyone was lined up and being processed in good order. The flight down to Cancun was about 4.5 hours. Flying into Cancun was quite something: it's jungle, jungle, jungle, then you're landing on a runway and it feels like it's in the middle of, well, the jungle. We waited in customs for a bit to be processed and admitted then we went out to wait for the bus which would take us down to the resort. The level of tourism was amazing - immediately outside the airport more than 100 services and offers came flying at us: car rentals, excursions, vacation packages, timeshare opportunities. It was quite warm outside and very humid and the bus depots were busy with the newly arrived travellers from all over the world. Finally our bus arrived and we were on our way down to the resort.

It was about an hour trip, or so, as we had to stop at several other resorts to drop off passengers. The area is absolutely amazing. It's as though the entire highway is built around these tour buses: moving people from the airport to their little resort safe haven. All the stores on the side of the road seem to support the tourist economy: building supplies, restaurant supplies, bulk furniture opportunities. And then every now and then, out in the middle of the jungle in the distance was a little shack that you could only assume was a holdout local who wasn't buying into the tourism game. There were literally dozens of these monumental resorts, each with more impressive, grand entrances than the last. And they were just plopped in the middle of the jungle. I figured that if you happened to wander off the grounds into the jungle for just a few feet, you'd likely be eaten by dinosaurs in short order.

"If you come to our resort, guess what? You're staying the whole week."

We arrived at the Riu Tequila in the early evening and the whole lot of us were starving, so, after dropping our carry-on items in our room (the luggage was moved for us), we all met in the main dining room. It was a huge affair, pretty well documented in the Rio Tequila picture album. Several hundred tables for two that were attached and removed as parties were larger and smaller. The food was generally pretty average, but there was almost at least a couple dishes at every meal that were pretty stand-out. The good news was that there was always a huge variety. Literally everything from pizza and pasta at every dinner, to cactus salads (the cold salads, many of us agreed, were a highlight) and other more traditional Mexican fare. The resort was pretty neat - everything was included in the price of entry, so all food and drinks were part of the deal. There were bars spread throughout the campus, including a 24 hour sports bar and a swim-up poolside bar. The rooms even had fully stocked bars, including self-serve vodka, rum, tequila, gin, and brandy, not to mention beer (Corona) and soda in the fridges. The landscaping was very much like the local jungle - very thick and pretty natural, if quite a bit more manacured. The pictures really show off the resort itself - so I'd check them out if you haven't already.

Each night, after dinner, there was an evening show at the on-campus theatre. The shows were maybe not the most interesting things (some were pretty cool), but it was a good time to get together in a group and share our daily experiences and have some drinks together. The first night was no exception and probably one of my (and many other's) heaviest drinking nights. The younger crowd was up until at least 1 or 2 that first night, heading into the little disco ("La Pinata") for some afterhours dancing and revelry.

Day 2 was a lazy one. Early awakening, but relaxed. Checking out the beautiful pool at the Riu Tequila and lunch at the pool side dining area. Pretty much took the day off to "recover" from the trip down. I did some walking out to the beach and checked out our neighboring Riu resort, the Riu Yucatan. The area where we were housed a battery of resorts - 6 Riu's and probably a dozen others. I think dinner that night had a Mexican theme, so there was a little more in the way of specialty local dishes (which I thought was some of the better food offered). The show that night was a Grease themed show, where they sang songs from Grease and showed clips from the musical or film. It was a pretty early night for everyone.

Day 3 was not so idle. Mom, Joe, Leah, Chris, and I took a walk into the town of Playa del Carmen Tuesday morning. It's about a 20 minute walk out there, and while it was quite warm (as it was throughout the trip - sweaty was pretty much a constant state for the full week, so I won't mention it again) we survived. The coffee snobs that we are, one of our top priorities in this shopping hell was a cafe. Leah and Chris, always prepared with the local tourist information, knew of the two spots in the town that were our best choice for a superior cup of joe to the swill that was offered at the resort. Playa del Carmen (at least the tourist district that's within walking distance of the beach and the resorts) is literally hundreds and hundreds of shops, each boasting callers trying to get the innocent tourist-passer-by's attention. At every corner, there were 10+ merchants vying for your attention.. and money. Silver jewelry shops (there must have been 50 of them), trinket stores, "tequila outlets", bars, ridiculously overpriced restaurants (one bar open to the street had Linguini with Shrimp advertised for 280 pesos (about $28)), each luring you in with refreshing air conditioning and "the best prices in town". It was truly surreal. The economy survives solely because people come and spend 10x or 100x the cost of production on touristy goods and services. Worth noting: I didn't buy a single touristy good or service, except for the coffee at the first cafe we stopped at, which I offered to pay for. Leah and Chris and I went on for lunch at a local (and yes, the kind of local that wasn't catering to tourists) chicken place and managed a really nice meal of roasted chicken, tortillas, rice, bottled water and salsa for about $10 for the 3 of us. Lazyiness and impatient won out: we took a taxi back to the resort (the prices for taxis to and from the resorts were fixed at $5 by the local government and they stopped at specific touristy places to make sure the rich outsiders could redistribute their wealth in the most effective manner).

The afternoon was spent at the beautiful beach. The water was beautiful teal and sky blue. The beach was absolutely packed with sunbathers. I've never seen so many people with such brown skin before (I mean, outside of Africa). These westerners (and they were almost all, at least once, fair-skinned) had spent so much time in the sun tanning that many looked like they were, in fact, African. Dark bronze and bright red were the two most common skin tones. I, fortunately never adopted either of those choices and maintained my lovely shade of dayglow pale with effective use of sunscreen and protective barriers (concrete suits, mostly). Leah, Chris and I ventured a walk down the coast for a good half an hour to do a little snorkeling practice and found a nice area under a large rock overhang to stow our goods and jumped into the tepid, calm, and shallow waters of the Caribbean. It was really great water to swim in and you could go out like 300-400 ft and still touch the sea floor with your feet.

Wednesday, Mom and Joe went to Xel-Ha ("Shell-Hah": a protected river/water theme park) and Talum (a Mayan ruin) for an all-day outing. LeaCh (hehe) invited me to go for another little excursion of our own to the island of Cozumel to go snorkeling at one of the most famous reefs in the world as a reward for my recent bar passage and admittance. It was a wonderful trip and the snorkeling was truly amazing. The fish swarm right next to us and the plant life was so beautiful. The tour we took consisted of three different stops at popular snorkeling and diving sites. At the final site (when I was finally getting the hang of diving down to the bottom), there was a huge school of fish (maybe 100,000 or more) that turned the bottom of the ocean black. I was able to swim down to the level of the school and swim through them and it was really a neat experience. They would flee, but the effect was that I was practically engulfed in fish. A little scary, really. The coral was so rife with biodiversity that I could have spent easily 3x as long looking at some of the neat structures and ecosystems it permits.

After our snorkeling trip, we wandered around the town of San Miguel on Cozumel and found an exceptional lunch at a restaurant. We may have had the best ceviche I've ever had - nice big pieces of fish with a wonderful tangy dressing. It was amazing. We also had some really great dishes to go with it. A traditional chocolate chicken mole and a local Yucatan mole and a fish that had been prepared with tomatoes and a light tangy sauce. But then it was time to head back to the mainland and meet up with the others. Or rather, it was time for us to head back and crash in bed for a few hours before dinner :)

Thursday was another quiet day that, for me, involved mostly walking around the area and picture-taking. I took a long walk down the coast and took some pictures of the coastline and beach. I went to the gym in the afternoon and met the others at the beach in the late afternoon. I also took the opportunity to check out some of the other local resorts, wandering through them to see what kinds of amenities and features they offered. Riu apparently has many different levels of resorts. Nearby were the upscale Riu Palace Mexico and Riu Palace Riveria Maya and the more plebian Hotel Riu Yucatan, Hotel Riu Lupita, and Hotel Riu Playacar to compliment our Clubhotel Riu Tequila. Apparently, Riu also has a Grand Palace variety for super luxury treatment. So the Riu Palace destinations were distinguished by fancier construction materials, design and the availability of 5 different reservation required dining service locations (still included). Also, I'm sure the rooms were fancier. The rooms in the Riu Tequila were perfectly serviceable, large and pretty well kept, but they weren't what I'd call fancy. They were functional and attractive, but by no means luxurious. On the plus side, they each had a balcony, plenty of space for luggage and storing clothes and goodies, a big shower, huge closet, lots of chairs, air conditioning, satellite TV (which I never turned on), and nice floors.

Friday was a big trip day for the whole family. We had an early meeting time to accomplish our big trip to Xcaret, a Mayan themed eco-park that includes an amazing diversity of entertainment opportunities. There is a focus on manual, non electric, natural presentation and maintenance to go along with the eco moniker. We snorkeled through the natural underground river (though parts of it are connected together with manmade additions) which was really cool, if a little crowded. Some of the caves went down quite deep and it would have been really amazing to have had the freedom to really explore all the nooks and crannies. The park has tons of activities available and the day went by super fast - and we only did about a third of what there was to do. We saw butterflies (check out my sweet butterfly pics), jaguars, puma, iguanas (yes, more iguanas), monkeys, strange raccoon-dog-bears, a baird tapir (taking a wicked crap as I photographed it, too), and giant sea turtles (I mean giant - like with shells 1 meter in diameter), a mock Mayan village, a Mayan cemetery, a beautiful aquarium, an orchid house (anyone surprised?), and a pile of other things. The pictures really do this destination more justice than my words as it was a total feast for the eyes. There was so much more to see too - it would have been cool to have had a lot more time. We had an amazing buffet meal that was part of our all-inclusive package. The buffet was really something and quite possible the halo meal for the trip - tons of good, finely made, authentic Mexican cuisine. The variety was absolutely mind-blowing: maybe 60+ dishes, really, 20 salads, 7 soups, 10 salsas, 50 desserts, 30+ sauces and accoutrements. The day ended with a highly reputable Mayan cultural show that took place in huge ampatheatre. It was quite the production, but we ended up only staying for the first half of the show - I think we had all had enough for one day by that point (it was like 8:30 at night and we had been going since like 8 in the morning). Xcaret was an amazing destination. If you get down there, definitely go - it's quite expensive, but it's a keen insight into Mayan culture and local wildlife and plant life that I wouldn't have seen elsewhere.

Saturday was another quiet day. We did some wandering near the resort, but mostly took it easy and Sunday was the trip home and saying good bye to our new friends. Not feeling motivated to run around Sunday morning, we kinda hung out in the huge outdoor lobby waiting for our bus after breakfast. Chris took a couple cute pictures of me with Isabella, Danny and Veronica's youngest daughter who was specifically adorable and entertaining. The bus ride to the airport was kinda fun as I elected to sit with the young ladies of the group and do my best to entertain the lot of them, showing my etch-a-sketch skills, as well as my ability to play silly trivia games that no 12 year old, 9 year old, or 4 year old girls could care less about :)

Back in CA, I had a day before heading back, but it was spent at home. I had a really nice time taking Mom out to a new Thai place in Newbury Park. We had a lovely discussion and meal together and then went home and met Jason for some coffee and picture sharing. Jason ended up hanging out until nearly 3 in the morning while we chatted our lungs out.

Joe was kind enough to take me to the airport shuttle in Van Nuys on Tuesday morning. My flight back to Seattle was uneventful, but the trip into Washington was beautiful as it was so clear you could see all the tall snowy peaks. They didn't replace my kitchen floor, which they were supposed to do while I was gone. That made me a little sad.

I've also been really sick for the last week and I'm just at the cusp of getting better - but it seems to keep coming back. Actually it's probably the sickest I've ever been as I was completely stuck in bed for 3 days and have spent several other afternoons near immobile. I really hope I'm at the end of it, as I've had to miss some work and that's something I really can't afford to do right now - since I'm part time, I don't get sick time or vacation time - so the last 3 weeks have essentially been unpaid. The next couple of months may be the most difficult, financially, so I'll really have to be careful and frugal (as if I wasn't already being so).

It was wonderful to have such a lovely trip and it only makes me realize how much I want to get the chance to do something like that again soon! I know it may be several years, but I really had a great time.

New Photo Albums

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:06:05 GMT

I just posted 6 new photo albums from our vacation to Quintana Roo, Mexico last week. Check em out.. no, really.. check em out! I'll post some verbage at a later date.. I don't feel like it now though :)

Oh, by the way, these aren't all my pictures.. They are actually pictures from my camera, Leah and Chris's camera, my mom's camera, and Joe's camera... so just assume the ugly ones are mine :) And this only comprises about half the pictures we took! Good challenge though - try to figure out who took what (though the file names give away the different cameras: One Panasonic Lumix FZ-15 (mine), 1 Canon Powershot G3 (mom's), 1 Canon Powershot S3-IS (Joe's) and 1 Olympus FE-330 (Leah and Chris).

Oh, and "Horse Repair" rules.

Leaky-mobile.

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:37:43 GMT

Took my first trip to the Olympic Penninsula today and I happened up on the neatest little seaside state park: Shine Tidelands State Park, right near the Hood Canal Floating Bridge between the Kitsap and Olympic penninsulae. I just saw a sign for a state park and pulled off the highway to check it out.. Boy was I in for a neat treat. It's really made up of just the area next to the water and there is a sheer cliff that is very highly vegetated (one of the pics shows the density..) But the narrow tidal flats are filled with life: interesting plants, animals, rocks, shells, old pieces of wood, dead trees. I could have taken hundreds of pictures there, really.

Oh yes. In case you didn't already - look at the album I posted shortly before composings this:

http://phlargo.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!D2AD83B102D2854D!1036

If this doesn't work, just click on the thing to the right. Make sure you use the Full View button - it does a full page slide show rather than the little one and it does it near full resolution and loads really fast. I hate to think of people looking at my pictures in tiny form!

I found some lovely critters, plant and animal both, which proved highly photogenic :) If you come to visit and we have the time, I'll take you up there... and on the way back, you can drive on North 101... goings south. That's right, the end of the 101 actually comes back down south to Olympia.

So, bad news. I found out I can't drive back to CA next week - my car just won't make it reasonable. Today's trip was just around 190 miles.. I had to add power steering fluid 4 times (I figure it empties the resevoir about every 40 miles) - This would require, in a trip to home and back, just north of 60 stops for adding fluid in an otherwise uncomfortable and not terribly enjoyable or fuel efficient vehicles. Further, I was figuring on about $400 for gas, $100 for food, and about $150 for lodging (just for transportation), where I can get a flight from SeaTac for $202... after taxes. I guess I'm flying.

I got my official membership cards from the WSBA (get to know this abbreviation: Washington State Bar Association) . I'm WA Bar member #40229. This means I've been sworn in, certified, given a bar number and anything else they can do to get in my way before letting me practice... which means now I can walk out into the street and start given legal advice as I please. Be warned.

Actually attended my first bar social event on Thursday, too.. a little evening social sponsored by the Young Lawyers division of the Pierce County Bar Association (PCBA). Got to meet some of the younger and older members of the bar too. It was fun. And they paid for drinks (microbrew beers for me!) and bought gourmet pizzas as appetizers from the place it was held at. It was fun.

Let's see. I've started a little tradition on Saturday mornings. Nothing serious.. but I sit around and listen to Car Talk, Wait-Wait-Don't-Tell-Me, and This American Life while playing Puzzle Quest, preparing breakfast and drinking coffee. Considering I'm nearly done with what I want from Puzzle Quest, my guess is the tradition will be short lived.

Okay.. I'm going to study some Japanese and then figure out some din. Enjoy your weekends!

Another Postcard with Chimpanzees

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:17:53 GMT

Okay okay.. so I guess I'm not all bad. In a recent gesture, the crazy downstairs neighbors gave me a dresser. They came up one afternoon and knocked on my door like they were trying to knock it over. I thought the police had come for me.. but I opened the door and there was all 4'11" of punchy old lady with a big smile on her face.

"You wanna dresser? We got one we're just gonna throw away."

"Sure! I'll take it!"

It sure ain't pretty. Dark green, cheap veneered wood with drawers that are falling apart. And the bottoms of one of the drawers looked like it sat under my car for 10 minutes (puddle of oily stuff... <sigh>) But I'm happy to have a big dresser thing. Makes my room look at least 3x less empty. It's pretty big mofo.. had to carry it up the stairs on end 'bout 5 1/2' wide x 3' tall and maybe 2' deep. But it's an improvement!

And it meant that I could reconfigure the ugly wire storage racks I got from Target for $12 into some 'computer accessory tables'. It's pretty clever, really...

And it meant I could use my "printer table" as a handy new "notebook/bedside table".

And then she brought me a small vacuum cleaner. And a broom. And left a plastic footstool outside my door one night (currently sitting awkwardly in my living room).

A lady at work, Jackie, also provided me with some hand-me-downs. A crock pot and a set of ceramic jars :)

Okay... so what else?

Oh yeah - I'm a lawyer now. I had my swearing-in ceremony last Thursday. Went down to courthouse in my fancy suit and tie and swore an oath, had a reception, and was admitted to the Washington State Bar Association, entitled to practice law. Kinda crazy really: someone like me <wink>

I got to interview my first witness last Friday, too.. that was kinda fun.

And my car is still broken. I went, on the same day I was being sworn in, to install the part I had gotten from Audi. They looked at the car some more and said, "Oh.. this isn't the problem. You need something much more expensive ($1500)" So I returned the part and ate the 15% restocking fee. And am continuing to feed my car power steering fluid in roughly equal amounts as gas (well maybe not that bad). As long as it gets me down to California and back, I suppose it's done okay. I may really consider getting rid of it then.

Japanese study is going very well. I'm far exceeding my 1 hour a day requirement (probably closer to 2 hours/day). It's fun.. some parts are really hard, but others I'm getting along very well with.

I just finished another Jdrama called Galileo which I really enjoyed (see my jdorama profile for a review.. if you care) and before that a great one called Koi ni Ochitara. I'm about to start one called Seikei Bijin (Artificial Beauty).

Been gyming a lot. The temp gym is okay.. but the new one is going to be spectacular. They say it'll be open by the end of July.. but I don't believe them. And on the days I don't gym, I'm taking long walks around Tacoma, trying to get to know all the nooks and crannies worth knowing in my immediate area. Checking out the cool local stores.. you know, coffee places, barbers, produce and meat sellers, home decorators.. I've seen everything.

I've actually got a wonderful Etheopian Harrar I purchased from a local roaster (Origin 23° - http://www.yelp.com/biz/origin-23-tacoma) I'm currently treating (not currently currently - I'm actually have a glass of 2002 Sockeye Merlot as I write tonight - not recommended - overly tanic, thin flavor) my sorrows with :) It's a nice coffee place and they have an indonesian I'm going to be getting at my next visit which is truly wonderful. They're also reasonably priced - like just around $10/lb.

And I got my hair cut from a local barber (he's about 3 blocks away).

The area is really lovely to walk in. Very interest variety of houses and people are super friendly. It's pretty this evening.. but it hasn't been pretty the last couple of days. Dreary, really. It stays light until after 9:30.. and really doesn't get to be "night" until like 10:45. It's kinda crazy.

Okay.. enough - time to study! Besides.. I'm tired of listening to Berlioz now.

Enemy of the People

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:25:28 GMT

I've now been in WA for 5 months and today I am officially an enemy of the community. A threat. A terror. A deliquent. A hooligan.

My landlady called me this evening and told me that two people complained about my loud music yesterday. The funny thing: I didn't listen to music yesterday. In fact, I wasn't home much of the day. And when I was home, I played Puzzle Quest (and much of the time, the audio was muted because I was on the phone). There was a cleaning lady cleaning out the apartment next door who was playing a loud radio with the door open. Grr.

Now there are times I've played my music loudish (nothing approaching remotely offensive and just barely audible outside the window - I stood outside and listened from different points) and there is a couple I already found out to be ultrasensitive (my guess is both complaints were from husband and wife (they live next door to each other in two different studios - the man has a scary security camera in his window and he told me that the lady beneath me was a meth-head and that he was glad there was finally a normal, decent person moving in. He also sits in a chair just inside his place right in front of the window.))

Now I know this place is older. And I know it's built with nearly zero sound insulation (I hear my neighbors regular voice conversations). But I listen to my music at a level barely what most people would consider normal television viewing. In fact, when I'm in the kitchen, it is barely audible. Now, to be a good citizen, I've not only turned down my subwoofer control to the lowest level, but I've actively reduced the bass (31, 62, 125hz to -10.6, -10.3, -6.8 db, respectively) in my sound card's control panel . Basically that means, for those of you who aren't audiology experts, that means the sound pressure between the lowest key on the average piano (Sub-contra A - around 27.5 hz) to the next two octaves up (great A - 110 hz) is being muted by a factor of 10. I've toyed with the graphic equalizer to make it as limited an impact as possible.. but it makes music sound funny, no matter what you do. Fortunately my speaker system overcompensates that range some, so it isn't as catastrophic a loss.. but it's still very noticible.

And I'm irritated about having to do it. I don't have any entertainment in my apartment other than my kitchen, computer, and bed. And two of those features are greatly enhanced by audible accompaniment in the form of some music. I have precious little to be excited about when coming home and it seems they are determined to deprive me of just those amenities. And honestly, people's kids make way more noise than I ever have - they scream all the time.

The reality is, that any music, even if played very softly, can be heard outside the window and if they want to make my life difficult, they can. So I made a little change. I'm going to continue playing my music at whatever volume I have, however. If they really wanna complain, I'll have Helen (my landlady) come and we'll do an evaluation of exactly what is reasonable at given times of the day, given specific locations and states of the window's openness on a convenient chart I will be happy to put together in Excel. Oh it'll be fun. And then I'll be counting the days until November 30th and taking every opportunity to chide people taking out their garbage after 8, walking too noisily or talking at anything above a whisper.

<sigh>

So what else is new? I joined a gym yesterday. LA Fitness. I prepaid 3 years membership to get a better rate and renewal rate. It was a lot of money but it's not like it's something I'm not going to use and to pay a little more upfront means that in the long run, I can save money. I'm okay with that kind of investment - it doesn't depreciate - it actually gets cheaper as the rates inflate and I'd have to make close to 40% per year in growth to make up the savings over 3 years, so your time-value of money argument is pretty hard to support (whoever you are!) It's actually really great. I got in on a great deal because they haven't opened up the new $13 million facility they're opening up next month, so I get to use the temporary location (they bought out another gym and improved it) until then. Even the temporary facility is really nice. I had a great workout yesterday and it was wonderful to get back to it.

So wonderful, in fact, I did it again today. I went to the one in Federal Way which was just recently finished (to get an idea of what the new Tacoma one is going to be like) and it's beautiful. It's enormous, extremely well stocked with very high quality weights, machines, and cardio equipment, very nicely appointed with wooden faced lockers and frosted glass entrances, big windows, big open spaces. It's not too noisy, it's really clean and there is so much equipment, even if it's busy, there's plenty to use. It's pretty cool. Not only is it cheap, it's gonna be a great gym. So maybe it means I have to wait 3 more months on my knives and table, but I think it was worth it.

I also took a couple of steps towards become more Washingtonian. I have WA license plates now and a temporary WA driver's license (the real one is in the mail). So, $150 later, I'm more of a resident than I was the day before :)

Next is health care and auto insurance. Gotta get those, yeah.

I'm being sworn in as an attorney in Pierce County on Thursday of this week. My firm said they'd give me a little bump in pay too.. that sure would be nice.

My car is still unhappy. The part has been ordered (a high pressure hose for the power steering pump) and should be arriving within the next few days. It was nearly $400 and installation will be another $100. My car died again at idle today (with the air conditioning off) so I'm not sure I'm out of the water yet.

I'm learning Japanese. I'm trying to spend an hour a day right now. My goal is 5 years - basic ability to speak and understand Japanese and Chinese. Reading is undecided. I started a week ago and have been working hard. It's been really tough at times but I'm enjoying it.

I went to sushi last night. It was a gift from Aunt-Cousin Leslie given for my passing the bar. I did a search on Yelp for Tacoma sushi places and ended up at Fujiyama. Fish was great: super fresh, lovely selection for the sashimi plate! Preparation was so-so. And, it's the first time I've ever been to sushi where none of the sushi chefs were Japanese.. or even Asian. I was served by Reyes and Juan. Now I didn't have a huge problem with that, in and of itself, but I'm afraid my chef, Juan, just wasn't as skilled as some of the better chef's I've had. His cuts were sloppy. I'm not sure if I'd go back. The price was great for what I got, but it just wasn't the same experience as that other place I've been to up in Southcenter I liked so much, Miyabi. Fujiyama does have a really cute Japanese server .. that always helps :)

But now, I've gotta get started with my language lessons before bedtime! I'll update with some of my smaller household purchases for the week in a few days.

Ciao!

Tacoma Living

Sun, 25 May 2008 02:07:40 GMT

This is a long post. It's got good news and it's got bad news. If you just wanna see where I moved to, look at the albums I posted. If you wanna know what's going on, enjoy:

We'll start with some good news.. I'm writing this while enjoying some Trader Joes fish tacos with steamed bok choy and a glass of Barnard Griffin Fume Blanc (which is really lovely). I was late in defrosting another meat today, so I had to go with a convenience product - a rare occasion for me.

Oh, and you guys are going to love this: I've gotten referals from search engines for my previous header name "Phlargo's Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man". There was a referal from someone who searched for "Wacky+Waiving+Inflatable+Tube+Man". (S)he apparently came and read my page too..

Four days ago, I moved out from the Stone family home in Federal Way to my new apartment in Tacoma. I had been looking for a new place to live for about the last week and a half. I found that Tacoma apartments were quite reasonably priced and really nice - if you found the right place to live (some of Tacoma is not very nice, other places are really lovely). So here, I am, paying $550 a month for a nearly 500 sq ft 1 bedroom less than 1 mile from my work. I would like to try and start walking there in the mornings now that the weather is getting nice. I've attached two new photo albums. The first is a set of pictures I took before I moved in and the second is pictures I took today, four days into my tenure here.

I ended up with this place after spending a week ago Thursday looking at 7 different places (it was my third day of hunting). This was the first place I went. There was another place I liked (a two bedroom less than a mile from here for $650) but they wanted a 12 month lease (this place only wanted 6 months). I didn't think that was the right move right now, so last Friday, I went and filled out an application for this place. Tuesday at noon, the manager called and told me I had passed muster. I asked her what time we could meet. She said 3:30. I packed my stuff and moved out that day. Sure I had no furniture, no dishes, no supplies. Just my clothes, my computers, my toiletries, a few kitchen things, and some food. But I slept here Tuesday night. On the floor with a foam matress I had borrowed from Jesse Stone.

Since then, I've been to to the following places to look for furniture and supplies: Target, Walmart, Kmart, Costco, Ikea, Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Fred Meyer, Nordstrom, Frys, JCPenny, Macys, Sears, Metropolitan Market, Trader Joes. Wednesday night I bought a kitchen cart, a lamp, and a few other odds and ends from Ikea. I got my matress and cookware from Costco and my desk from Office Depot on Thursday. I got my internet connection on Friday. That's the extent of my furniture so far (yeah.. internet connection is officially furniture). It's very empty right now, but it works. The kitchen is tiny and the stove/oven is only one step larger than an EZ-bake. So, cooking is a challenge, but possible

So I splurged on two things. A memory foam matress and a nice set of nonstick cookware from Costco. I've spent months questioning both and the matress was the easier decision to make. I knew that getting a good matress was a smart idea - sleeping is important. I was looking at $599 for a queen/box spring set, but I had always wanted to go memory foam... so I ordered one from Costco's website because they hadn't had them in the store. It was $699 and I was going to have it shipped to my work (they said it was fine). But on a subsequent trip to Costco, I found out that the Tacoma store actually had a rebranded version of the exact same matress in the store for $599. I sat in the store and cancelled my order online and got the in store version. Two things about this matress.. it comes deflated (think about the size of a small refrigerator) and weighs about 120 lbs. Sure enough, I hoisted it into my cart alright... but getting into the car was another issue. Me and two Costco employees managed to massage it into my back seat after 15 minutes of pushing, prying, and forcing. It resulted in a small tear (5 inches or so) in my rear seat.. but I don't really care. This was the easy part.

Getting it out of my small car by myself again and up the stairs into my apartment.. that was the hard part. Once I parked at home, I spent probably another 20 minutes trying to squeeze the huge box through the door. I found that no matter what I did, there was no way I could alone apply the right force to bend it around the steel door frame. I ended up taking the massive pouch out of the box and strong-arming the whole deal all the way across the path, up the stairs, and into to my room. That was not easy - no handles, nearly 3 ft in diameter and at least 4 ft tall and about 115 lbs - up a steep, narrow, dilapidated wooden staircase. When I move out, I'm getting help. No matter what. I bought two queen sized fitted sheets from Fred Meyer ($17 (250 t.c. tope) & $19 (300 t.c. muted olive)) to accompany my new baby.

So the matress spent the next 36 hours inflating on the floor next to my makeshift bed, working out all the creases and bumps. I slept on it last night for the first time. It's wonderful. It's like sleeping on the ground (it's hard and supportive) except the ground is shaped exactly like your body, no matter your position. It's super comfortable (in fact, I last night before bed I tested it out and didn't get up for nearly an hour). I think it'll be a great matress for many years to come. Now.. to find a bed (I actually have one from Ikea I really like.. but it's another $299.. so it's going to wait a while - it's doing just fine on the floor, thank you. Besides, it has a matching dresser which I think is pretty cool too).

The other splurge was $200 on a set of cookware. I got the same 11 piece set that Leah and Chris got for their wedding - the Circulon 2 Commercial from Costco. I've been using every opportunity to enjoy it (pancakes this morning, boiling water for coffee, eggs, steaming vegetables last night, etc, etc, etc..) and I will definitely enjoy it. I did a ton of research prior to buying it though - I've been looking at it and competitors for months. I had nearly planned to go piece by piece, but I found that with the 3 basic pieces I wanted to start with, I was already at $120, no matter how I did it. And they would have no matching lids - so I now have a set with an 8, 10, and 12 inch skillet, a 14 inch covered skillet, and 2.5q, 4q, and 8q saucepans with lids. It's not everything I want, but it'll certainly do fabulously until I can afford the last couple of pieces - a griddle ($35-100), a cast iron skillet ($25), and a stainless saucier ($110).

So what's next? Furniture and knives. I need a filing cabinet (~$100) and/or printer cart (~$80)and a dresser ($150-200) as soon as possible. My underwear, socks, t-shirts and shorts are in my suitcase and duffel bag. My papers are stacked in a paper shopping bag. It's mean. I hope to correct this within a month. A bed ($200-350) will be fine down the road.. I can probably live fine without for several months. It's not pretty, but it works. A lamp ($15-45) for my bedroom would be nice, so I could read by my bed.. but that too can wait. Much further down the road are a little dining table ($200) and some chairs (4 x $50-75)- so I don't have to eat at the computer... but I could probably do without those for 6 months (maybe 'til I move - the bed could probably wait too) Eventually maybe a small couch, a coffee table and an entertainment center (with media pc, of course).

In the kitchen, I will soon want an electric kettle ($50), a microwave ($90), and a toaster oven ($75 - I have a $6 place holder toaster from Walmart). And a couple of good knives (still not 100% sure on make though I'm waffling between Kershaw Shun ($300) and F. Dick ($250). And bread pans ($30). I really wanna make my own bread again soon.

I obviously need tons of other kitchen gear, but I strategically chose the most multitasking items I could think of in my initial purchasing to complement my current arsenal (1 small silicon turner, 1 silicon pancake turner, 1 nylon turner, 1 large bamboo cutting board, 1 8" stamped Victrinox Forscher chef knife*, 1 4" paring knife*, 1 Petite Carver Cutco knife, 1 12" salmon knife, tea and coffee supplies, 2 mugs, 1 hard-anodized non-stick 12" square grill pan, 1 cheapie Walmart wok*).

Here's my initial purchases for your critique:

silicon coated tongs ($6 Ikea)
wooden spoon ($5 Fred Meyer)
2 cup Pyrex measuring cup ($4 Target)
8 cup Pyrex measuring cup ($7 Fred Meyer)
4 quart Pyrex mixing bowl ($7 Fred Meyer)
1 fine mesh sieve ($8 Target)
1 collander ($11 Fred Meyer)
1 baking sheet (Free Fred Meyer - it was two metal/glasswear items get the 3rd free)
1 ceramic roasting/serving container ($7 Ikea)
3-pack trivets ($3 Ikea)*
Silicone pot holder ($5 Ikea)
28 pc rubbermaid storage containers ($25 Costco)
1 ceramic plate ($4 Target)*
1 ceramic bowl ($3 Target)*
1 melanine 20 oz tumbler ($2 Target)*
2 10 oz drinking glasses ($3 Ikea)
2 8 oz chardonnay glasses ($15 Cost Plus)
1 8.75"x11" small poly cutting board ($2 Target)*
1 wooden dish drying apparatus ($7 Ikea)
2 kitchen brushes (hard: $3 Target; soft $2 Ikea)
1 11" sharpening steel ($6 Ikea)*

* - items that are placeholders - eventually I'll get a better one but it was cheap enough that it made sense to get something

I agonized over this list, making sure that everything I was purchasing would be used regularly and nothing would be wasted. So far, in just two days, I've used just about everything (all, except the 8 cup measuring cup, baking sheet, and second drinking glass and wine glass, and 3rd trivet).

Why so careful and so reluctant to furnish all the way? First, I don't need it all right away - I can live pretty spartanly and do okay. I'll miss having comfort/luxury... but I haven't had it for a while. And secondly, well, I've done the math. If I work 24 hours a week at Johnson, Graffe, Keay, Moniz, and Wicke, LLP and I subtract my rent and student loan payments, I end up with less than $700 a month. This has to cover: all initial purchases (so far around $1700 - household purchases plus $300 deposit/cleaning fee), gas, car insurance, health insurance, internet, cell phone, electricity, and food. In my estimation, I'll be running about $300-500 a month in deficit for the time being. I'm going to try to pick up another job on Tuesdays, Thursdays (and maybe Saturdays and Sundays) to make up the difference, but it's not guarenteed yet, so I'm officially broke.

And I got some bad news today.. my car died on me twice while idling. I've been losing power steering fluid at nearly 100% per trip (I need to refill every time I drive the car). I'm taking my car to a local place on Tuesday to figure out what I've gotta do. I did figure out that the car stopped dying if I turn the air conditioning off - so that's good news.. I can live without air conditioning. But the power steering problem is getting really annoying. I need to figure out if I need to just dump the car and go from there. Knowing this might be a possibility, I stocked up on food today (nearly $200 worth), so that if I need to be without a car, at least I'll have stuff to eat for the next two weeks or so and should be able to supplement with the local meat and produce place (I hear it's awesome - and it's only about 2 blocks away - I may check it out tomorrow).

It's a little scary right now - new place (mostly empty) and a new bank (mostly empty). Ironically, while things seemed like they have been just on the up and up, it seems the real challenge starts here.

Mayday! Some things to share...

Sat, 03 May 2008 22:17:39 GMT

It's obviously been too long since my last post, which means that you all are due a long and detailed record.. right?

I decided that the best thing to do would be to start from today and move backwards... well, except for one little detail I'll save for the end (don't cheat!) I'm right now listening to Feist, an indy-rocker who was featured on an episode of the Colbert Report this week. I really like what I heard, so I'm giving her album (The Reminder - 2007) a shot. This was preceded by the new Portishead album (first one in like 10 years!) which is quite good. I can't wait to set up a more permanent music listening area - I really enjoy music. I want to have nice speakers and a good listening environment with which I can enjoy all sorts of music.

I've just spent the last hour or so posting on Jdorama.com (the website where I've learned about and engaged in discussions of Japanese dramas I've been watching - if you wanna see what I've been watching and how I feel about it, check out my profile: http://jdorama.com/viewprofile.37210.htm) and drinking a wonderful Sumatra Mandheling I procured from Victrola coffee when I was up in Seattle on Monday. That was preceded by some fantastic pancakes and a very late waking time (11:30 for those who are wondering).

Why did I get up so late? Well.. last night I watched the end of a J-drama called Orange Days until like 5 AM. I don't know if I had planned to or not, but I ended up watching to the end (I think I watched 5 eps last night) because I decided I had nowhere I needed to be today. So, I figured: go nuts! It was a great show and the final scene made my cry like nothing else. I actually have watched those last few seconds like 5 times since I finished it. Miraculously, every time I see them, I get very wet cheeks. I don't want to spoil anything (as I've got an increasingly large following of people who are jumping on the jdramawagon again), but it's such an amazing moment for both the characters of Sae and Kai.. the culmination of every Kai worked for in supporting her and Sae facing her worst fears. Truly legendary. The show gets far from a perfect review, but I'm so glad I saw it - a touching and wonderful experience (more detailed review on my profile there).

Last night I took myself out for some Thai food. I had planned to go out for lunch or dinner like 6 times earlier this week, but I managed to wait until Friday. I had a seafood dish with curry and sauteed basil at a local place called Indochine which had been recommended to me by Wendy and Lowell some months ago. It was a really wonderful meal and I topped it off with a nice Thai beer. This nice outing was followed by a trip to H-mart (Korean Supermarket) where I got piles of vegetables and a beautiful piece of fresh salmon for $12. It's really the best deal around here for produce, by a long shot. And they have all kinds of sashimi grade fish too (hmm...) I bought a couple green bean buns from the baker there too and had a nice little treat when I got home.

I've been playing an infernal game called Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords which is like Bejeweled with spells and role playing elements. It's a great background puzzle game to play while watching all my shows (at least the ones in English). It's dangerously addictive though - I've found several nights getting a little too late for their own good at the hands of that game.

Last weekend, I visited a little bakery in Kent, WA called Haley's Corner (http://haleyscorner.com/). I heard about it on one of my local NPR stations, KUOW - there was an interview (http://www.kuow.org/mp3high/m3u/SoundFocus/SoundFocus20080102.m3u). A gluten free bakery that was started a woman who had a friend who's daughter (Haley) was gluten intolerant. For years she had been baking for Haley trying to create delights that would reflect her unique needs. At the beginning of the year, she decided she would try and make a business out of it. So, after having searched several times for it, I finally got to Haley's Corner. I talked with the employees and saw the fabrication process at work and got several great samples while I was there. I walked out with a gluten-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookie and a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin (this was a real winner!) and proceeded back to another place I know in Kent for a little something to drink to go with my special baked goods, Xiu Xian Teas (http://www.xiuxiantea.com/). Mako was there, as usual, and treated me and a young lady who was contemplating buying loose tea for the first time to a lovely tasting and tea discussion. I bought a couple of ounces of an unfermented Puh-Er which is a wonderful fragrant, floral tea. But sorry.. there was almost none left, so you'll have to visit me in the next month or two if you wanna try it :) I also made a stop at Kohls where I enjoyed a part of one of my Christmas gift cards. I purchased two blue shirts. One textured tealish modal/poly polo and a button down muted royal blue linen/rayon blend. Also a pair of olive/grey slacks (my current ones are very tired!). All good deals and all things I really thought looked nice. Thanks Mom and Joe... they are nice things. I'll need to buy some more soon, but it made me feel special with some new clothes.

I got a very special treat last week from Leah and Chris. They sent me a wonderful package of special things they collected for me on their trip to Japan. It was so sweet and really made my day. I had come home and Jesse hade made an amazing mess (he's been sick and even less conscientious than usual) and was kinda pissy. But I got a pretty box with special goodies. Teas (a sencha, a handmixed genmaicha, and an exceptional gyokuro (the only one I've gotten to try so far) and a cherrywood tea scoop (so pretty!), and bookmarks (a foil one with a temple on it, a painted bamboo one with handpainted owls on it, and a handmade paper one from Thailand (the reason for the bookmarks was that the one Leah gave me several years ago was falling apart)), rice crackers, a beautiful postcard with sweet words, some 'hotel coffee' :), and a lovely, if non-japanese, basil-lime chocolate bar from Rococo. Oh yes, and an extremely explicit hentai manga (basically cartoon porn) that's in Japanese but involves some of the most comically large breasts (probably something like 44EEE) and explicit sex scenes I've ever seen. I would describe it more.. but i know I have a very diverse audience so I'll leave the rest to your imagination. I actually had the pleasure of telling Leah and Chris that they supplied me with the first pornography I've ever owned! But, in the light of an unpleasant homecoming, there was such a wonderful treat that really lifted my spirits. Leah and Chris once again prove to be the masters of gift giving and packaging!

I also met with Jonathan Forbes for dinner last week after going to an utterly useless job fair (it really was a waste of time). We had a lovely dinner at Chutney's in Bellevue as well as an enjoyable conversation. MS is coming up next month and we're all gonna try to get together! I also used the day to visit Microsoft's visitor's museum (which I found out is up for replacement in Fall '08 - it's pretty outdated right now) and drive some around Redmond and Bellevue. I went back to Bellevue's fantastic Whole Foods and couldn't help but walking out with two bags of exquisite coffee (a Papua New Guinea Peaberry and a Kenya Grand Cru), both of which have proved their worth since. Allegro coffee does some good work.

I've been feeling good. Positive, rejuvenated. IAlthough I desparately want to get back to the gym and get some physical exercise (and will do so the very day I establish a more permanent living space), but I feel so much better than I was feeling. Why the sense of freedom?

Well, starting a week and a half ago, I got a job. I had expressed to several people that I wasn't happy with how the job search was going and, within a couple of days, no less than 5 of you had suggested something I already kinda knew - maybe it was time for a change of strategy. I started a targetted law firm search (in addition to my "many hour scour" of the job search sites) where it was my intention to make 10 directed solicitations to researched individuals of small firms a day, with strict followup and recording procedures. I created a little database of my contacts and started the process two weeks ago on Monday. Tuesday, I got an email from a partner at a firm in Tacoma indicating that he had no jobs for my, but would be willing to meet with me to offer some suggestions. I immediately emailed him back, expressing my enthusiasm and excitement.

Wednesday morning, Chris Keay from Johnson, Graffe, Keay, Moniz & Wick, LLP (http://www.jgkmw.com) emailed me back and said that if I wanted to meet that that afternoon would be best as he expected to be very busy for the next two weeks. I got my clothes on and was there in 35 minutes. He sat down with me and gave me a bunch of great local contacts and told me about his practice and what he was working on. His demeanor changed throughout our meeting. I could tell he liked me, saw potential, and knew that I was greater than the sum of my parts (though my calves and fingernails are pretty great).

We talked for a little while more and he asked me to walk with him to the kitchen to go fill up his coffee. On the way back, he stopped abruptly by an office and stuck his head in and said "Phil, this is Daniel. What do you think of him? I think he seems like a good guy and pretty intelligent. I think he's going to do some part time work for us". So I met Phil. He then stopped by another office.. and I met Wade. We walked back to his office and he handed me a document and said, "Come in Friday and you can research this. How about Friday and Wednesdays you come in and help us out?" So.. I came in Friday and did the research. The other legal intern comes in Tuesdays and Thursdays, but for this week and next, she's out of town, so I've been going in full time since Tuesday and will be there all next week. So far, it's been really great. The people are really great and I really like the firm. I don't have any permanent promises there yet, but it's a good start and I appreciate the change. It's amazing experience - I'm having to figure out everything by myself and develop procedures and processes for getting whatever thing done I am asked to do. I'll post more details about what I'm doing in a later post. Needless to say, it's great. I can't move out of here yet (on part time salary...), but it's a huge step forward and things are looking up. And, in the end, 3 days after changing my strategy, I got a job. Makes you realize how much one's approach matters.

So.. something happened that many of you might be wondering about at this time. While writing this email, the mailman came. He had a letter from the WSBA (Washington State Bar Association) which was more than happy to inform me that I was to be admitted to the WSBA because I had passed the WA bar exam. As I've long promised everyone.. I'm taking myself out for sushi tonight. And there will be sake. And quite possibly beeru :)

Get Ready to Feel the Power of Attorney!

Disgusted.

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:29:10 GMT

So.. I had planned to respect the privacy of my cohabitants here but after recently being accosted for "late" rent payment last month and this (an agreement I had no knowledge of) and an awful run of messiness, the gloves are coming off. I took these pictures yesterday of some choice areas of the house I'm living in. I had really planned to keep it from you all.. but I'm pissed right now and I think it's a fitting retribution. I'm tired of being treated like I've done something wrong. I've only helped do my best to keep the house clean (I washed the kitchen floor by hand two days ago because I felt physical revulsion at its former state).

Here you are.. enjoy. I'm not.

"Dining Room":

"Living Room":

"Family Room":

The Kitchen Counters - what little area I maintain:

"Jesse's Bathroom"

The root of all evil: "Jesse's bedroom"

"The Baby's Room":

Note: The good news is that I have my own room and bathroom which are neat and tidy and, as you can see, the countertop in the kitchen is my last stand. The rest I just do my best to ignore and hole myself up in my room as much of the day as I can.

Dead in Federal Way.

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:11:25 GMT

Just wanted to share a few more pictures from Vancouver that I took the last day I was there. I came back to Federal Way on wednesday (long bus ride day). Spent lots of hours looking for jobs again. I talked on the phone with everyone I had been alienated from while exploring the Canadian frontier.. and now things are back to normal. Finalized my passport processing for my July Mexico trip with the fam. Ate a ham steak and some asparagus. Drank a beer. Sold children into slave labor.

Oh! Watched the Battlestar Galactica movie Razor last night. Wow! I can't wait to see the first episode from the new season now - what a fantastic show!! I think the movie was really an excellent addition to the story and a wonderful work on its own.

Watched a couple more episodes of the Honey and Clover jdrama. It's gotten really slow and overly melodramatic and totally formulaic. The first episodes were really good. Let's hope it gets better by the end (I've got 3 left). My final review will definitely reflect these weaknesses.

Here're some pics:

I know they cover scenes you've already seen, but I really liked the lighting and the way the mountain was peaking through the clouds. So, basically, if you like them great. If you don't... well that's just fine. :)

Enjoy your weekends!

Live from Vancouver!

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:49:39 GMT

So I've left the "refuge" of the Pacific Northwest of the United States for the dangers and confusion of our neighbors to the North (at least for a few days).

I've been staying with Xi in her new apartment in Vancouver. Her parents are going to buy a house up here later this year and she's here doing house searching and finalizing her immigration. She stayed with me a few days in Federal Way while she exported her car. I drove with her up to Vancouver on Thursday to help her get settled in her new apartment. We've been out shopping for the normal life things that are necessary to get when you move into a new place. The place was fully furnished so our lives were much easier than if we had to start from scratch. Here are some pictures from the windows (she's on the 31st floor of a really nice apartment building - so the view is pretty amazing).

The windows are right up against the side of the building - I took this picture so you could see that standing up against the window and looking down is just like looking out over the side of the building. It's a little disconcerting.

When it's clear, the view of the mountains to the north is way cool! Stunning, really.

Vancouver has super expensive real estate. Much of the downtown looks pretty old, but they've apparently recently started construction again of some fancy new buildings. It's actually really expensive here all around - the food is still based on a stronger US currency, so everything seems super expensive (we paid like $4.50 for a half gallon of milk. Fresh sausages from Capers (recently purchased by Whole Foods) were like $12 a pound. Wow! And people make less money here. Houses seem to start around $1.2 million. It's a mystery that anyone can survive.

I've been carrying on my job research and spending much of my time in the room (we only have 1 key and there's a security card which costs $50) so I'm feeling a little cooped up. It's amazing how being in a different country can make doing routine web things difficult (all the country specific restrictions on content and the like). It's been going pretty well with her. She's having a bit of a rough time away from her boyfriend Jesse (they went to Hawaii together) who's back in NY. I think she'll figure it out - though it may not be easy.

I suspect I'll be heading back in a few days - I kinda look forward to things getting back to normal.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

As little as possible

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:39:16 GMT

Nothing much really. Very little. Lots of Jdrama watching. Spending 3+ hours per day scouring job search sites. I'm trying to send out 2-3 resumes per day to decent candidates - but I'm finding relatively few. I had an interview with Amazon last week that I thought went pretty well, but I have yet to hear back.

Started playing Neverwinter Nights 2 but my heart just hasn't been in gaming since I finished S.T.A.L.K.E.R. I have the urge to drink sake! (all these Jdramas - lots of sake in Honey and Clover...)

Oh, one picture from Seattle Coffee Works from last Friday when I was in Seattle:

Hopefully more of something soon!

"My left name is tremendous savings, Ms. America!"

Involuntary Outing of a Saturday

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 07:06:40 GMT

Past week update: Still waiting on the job front. Bored out of my freakin' mind here. Pounded down a whole anime series (albeit a short one - Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) in 2 days (and really enjoyed it). Started another, Nodame Cantabile. I have some thoughts on anime, maybe I'll post them later. Got to play some Guild Wars with Jon and MS on Friday and that was a lot of fun. Been playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. again and lovin' it. Danny needs job. Insert Gauntlet joke here. I miss having a gym. I need to move and join a gym and get a job. Yeah. Let's do that.

New Stuff: Today I went out. I really had 3 goals when I left. Check out PCC (local co-op and natural market highly recommended by other supermarket employees I've encountered.). Go to Remedy Teas (to see if it's the same as the one in Philadelphia) and Vivace Coffee (because it's supposed to rock) in Capital Hill. Buy groceries from TJs.

I ended up visiting 2 different PCCs (the West Seattle one was way better than the Greenlake one - http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com) and bought some nice organic produce and some other goodies. Neat store that I'd probably regularly attend if it was closer to where I lived (it may be soon...) I got free sausages from the guy at the meat counter. He put 'em in a package and wrote "Sample" on the front. Told me to give 'em a try. The checkout lady thought it was so cool. I didn't go one after another.. I just saw another one while I was out (probably 5 hours later) and wanted to see how they differed.

I went to Teahouse Kuan Yin in Wallingford (http://www.teahousekuanyin.com) and, of course, after talking at some length with the employees about their selection, saddled up to a house favorite combination of their Yunnan and Yunnan Gold. Really nice teas there. Maybe a little on the pricey side. But pretty decent. Very decent selection. And definitely a great place to take visitors! You better like tea if you come visit me. Well, that and everything else. I sat and drank my pot of tea while looking out the window at the relative downpour (at least that I've seen here - NJ and CA rain put WA rain to shame! TX rain is probably the craziest I've seen in my life, though.) on the small city street. It was nice to be inside drinking warm tea knowing that once I finished my pot, I was going to have to slog my way back to the car... hurray!

I then drove over to the Capital Hill district - an area I'd not yet been to. It's roughly East of downtown and <gasp> on a pretty serious hill. Got to show off my manual transmission mettle in the face of hilly adversity. My clutch sucks donkey balls... or at least is just about as difficult as the one on the Celica <laughs> Who the hell puts a stop sign at a 45 degree angle on a 45 degree incline road and thinks to themselves "well gee, that's just fine...". Okay, I'm exaggerating... maybe.

In Capital Hill, I actually ended up at Victrola Coffee (http://www.victrolacoffee.com - a suggestion from the girl at Teahouse Kuan Yin) and happened upon Remedy Teas (I found out it was newer than the one in Philadelphia and my guess is that it is a blatant knock-off). You be the judge: Capital Hill: http://www.remedyteas.com; Philadelphia http://www.remedytea.com. Lots of walking around, driving, looking at houses and neighborhoods. Got a really lovely cappuccino from Victrola from a blue haired chick who was very impressed with her boobs. We had a little "discussion" about the virtues of various milkfat percentages in espresso drinks.

Drove a while more, took the West Seattle bridge out to... West Seattle and drove all the way to the North End and found a neat little park that allowed me to look back over at the cityscape. To be honest, I don't really like cityscapes. They're boring. They each show a slightly different city, perhaps, but they don't really offer anything interesting in the way of photography. They are not without hope, however. I enjoyed de-emphasizing the city in the later selection:

Boring City Shots:

Slightly More Interesting City Shots:

Most Overrated Landmark:

Okay.. it's a cool shot, but the Space Needle is really boring. Seattle needs a better icon. It's far too cool a city for that thing to be on absolutely every piece of literature in existance about the city. Boo.

Okay, then I went to the other PCC market and bought more. I realized I hadn't eaten anything since my meager breakfast, so I bought a cup of soup and a roll there. Saved my life, I think. I was really hungry! I then traipsed over to another TJs I knew about on the way home (and enjoyed a beautiful drive along the sound that I found last time I went to West Seattle - definitely a drive I will share with any visitors). Bought a big pile of groceries at TJs then drove home.

Lemony asparagus, yet another portion of my wonderful heirloom quinoa tomato dish from three nights ago, sauteed chicken breast with parsley and lemon, and a hefty bottle of MS's favorite Young's Double Chocolate Stout later and I'm saying good night to you all. I'll leave you with this shot of my suprisingly successful quinoa dish:

Talk with you soon, my friends. Hopefully I'll have some good news this week! If I don't, maybe I'll share a section of my brain with a bullet and the wall ;-) Let's hope we can just have some cake instead.

Unhappy Meals: American Diet & Food Industry

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:32:08 GMT

Michael Pollan, the author of a book I'm currently enjoying, has written an interesting article (it's about a year old) on the western diet and the recent history of nutritionalism. It deals with the separation of the concept of eating whole foods and eating nutrients (we market things like No Trans Fat rather than "bread"). This distinction arose in the late 70s and now dominates our eating culture. A high quality article, to be sure if a little academic (read: not exactly efficiently written), but it still has a rich content that makes for a solid read if you're even remotely interested in why our culture of eating packaged foods may be killing us.

http://www.ecoliteracy.org/publications/michael_pollan_meals_1.html

A little bit on The Omnivore's Dilemma (thank you Jason!): Corn corn corn. It's what we are as it's most of what we eat. Nothing new, but amazing to see it presented so. You never realize how much corn we actually get. I've actually been thinking about how my diet measures up as I really try to avoid packaged, prefabricated products wherever I can. It's undoubtedly better than average, but it's still surprising how many processed goods sneak into the most unlikely places. Hugely interesting if you've ever wondered about the relationship between dietary evolution and the leading causes of death. Mmm... sounds fun, eh?

The book suffers from the same academic writing plague. Sometimes you'd think they get paid by the word. Maybe I have been ruined by my study of the law, but every sentence that doesn't further your purpose shouldn't be included: like improvisational acting. I remember it from Anthropology: articles are often 10 times longer than they need to be. Just because you say the same thing 10 times doesn't make it any more true than if you say it well, once. It often feels like a stream of conciousness type writing rather than a carefully crafted argument. I find myself wandering past sentences that seem to have no effect and then having to go back to see if there was something buried in the text. It may just be that he's not the best author (I'm sure most academics who are forced to writing volumes of information aren't).