Aaah... bi bim bop

I do like Korean food. My big addiction is the bi bim bap (sp?) in the clay bowl.

When the rice cooks along the edges, it's like candy.

Mmm.

Since I'm more-or-less stuck driving this week, I opted to corral some friends at work to head out for a run to Korean yesterday.

Nummy food.

A better day

So today's better. Here's some reasons why:

* I ate a satisfying lunch at Zao's Noodles (followed by a couple of brownie cookies that I shouldn't have eaten)

* I'm not in SoCal for the 5.8 earthquake (though, to be fair, 5.8 isn't really all that impressive. It might wake me up out of sleep, but that's all)

* I completed my DVD collection of "Avatar: The Last Airbender", thus confirming a special place in geekdom for me.

It's the little things. Really.

Not the most fun day ever

I wasn't more than... oh... two, maybe three hundred yards from the office yesterday when I noticed an odd feeling as my bike hit a bump.

My flat tire.

Coming in early yesterday morning, my bike chain kept "skipping", making pedaling a bit of an adventure (and at 5-something AM, an adventure is not desired). The flat tire? That was just icing on the cake.

As my co-worker Mark pointed out, it was the gods punishing me for riding my bike.

Maybe Mark was on to something...

So there I am in pervert park (or whatever the place is actually called... it's some random spot that I didn't really want to stop in) trying to get the damn bike pump on the air valve (which was bent and not cooperative) while some random kid has decided to stop and watch the show (and making me self-conscious of my steady stream of profanity... so I couldn't even swear!).

And then there was the usual assortment of random crazy people wandering by uttering nonsense at me.

Whee.

I got enough air in the tire to get me going to a bike shop I knew of en route home. I knew they were open on Mondays and they'd tuned up my bike before. I stopped in to see if I could just get a tune-up and have them fix the flat. They said they'd get to it by Sunday.

Since the Bike Gods were already expressing displeasure, I just left the bike there. Who knows? Maybe they'll get to it early. Doesn't really matter to me at this point.

And I hoofed it home.

And that? That was a long walk.

A long walk.

And the sun decided to take that opportunity to come out and burn down.

Yesterday was not a terribly fun day.

Here's hoping today is better.

Le sigh

My frakking bike chain keeps locking up. Gah.

Makes my early morning bike rides more fun than they need to be.

Guess I need to take it in for maintenance.

Well, that was a read

So I finished "Toll the Hounds" by Steven Erikson. Good lord that took a long time to work through. Towards the end I found myself skimming the bits that I found I just didn't care about to follow the parts I did care about.

Even though there was a climactic-ish ending, I find myself disappointed at it. The ending felt rushed. There were far too many characters. The threads didn't tie together very well. The overall plot was confusing. The pacing was too slow. The overall book felt bloated and far too... well too much.

Erikson's great for epic fantasy, but it felt like he wasn't taking time to step back and read his own stuff. All his characters feel like they're cut from a handful of molds and just given different, random names.

*sigh*

First Robert Jordan's stuff got waaaay too convoluted and focused on minutae that nobody really cared about.

Then George R.R. Martin seemed to lose it with his last novel, a plodding beast that he even admitted didn't do anything to address the fan-favorites of his readership.

Now Erikson's showing signs that his mythology is getting away from him.

It saddens me.

That was fun!

So I just got back from a fun evening with Erik and Jen in honor of Erik's birthday.

We hit Scala's Bistro for some delicious Italian food then cabbed over to Bourbon & Branch to finish off the evening with a variety of drinks.

While I'm a little bit fuzzy-headed, I'm hesitant to say I'm drunk. I'm closer to somewhat tipsy. I wouldn't want to be driving right now, but I feel pretty level overall.

I suspect the drinks will hit me as I sleep tonight. Whee!

In all, it was a fun evening. Erik seemed to enjoy himself thoroughly, which makes this a mission well-accomplished.

And, damn. I dressed up and everything and still those two looked better.

Halfway point

Okay, since I have Friday off, I guess I'm more than halfway done with the week.

Yay!

I'm debating seeing "Dark Knight" again on Friday. With one startlingly-hostile exception, everyone I know loved it and even that one exception seemed more like someone who just wanted to pick a fight for some bizarre reason than a hater.

So do I deal with Berkeley's insanity again or opt for a different theater? I hear IMAX is still running it...

Though this weekend is gonna be a bit crazed. Maybe I should just take Friday and veg.

Eh. I can decide on Friday.

So... Bourbon & Branch on Saturday! Woo-hoo!

I don't do a lot of fancy outings in the City, so this should be interesting. Dinner at some Italian place I've never eaten at followed by fancy drinks (which will somehow involve getting a cab... that should be fun).

Yay!

Disappointment

Steven Erikson was up towards the top of my list of authors.

Then I got "Toll the Hounds".

It's not a bad novel. Just to be clear.

It's just not knocking my socks off.

When compared with his past works, this is sluggish, bloated, and just... not exciting.

*sigh*

And I still have a few hundred pages to go.

Xmas in July

So after my friend Tim asked me about MP3 players and I told him what I use (a Creative MuVo V100), I poked around on their site and found they offer a 2 GB one for a pretty ridiculously-low price.

Having problems with impulse buying... well, you can guess what happened next.

And so I came into work this morning and my new purchase awaited me.

Happy!

Happy Birthday Erik

That about says it.

Happy Birthday, man!

Yes, I realize I'll always be older. That's the only thing keeping me from making an age joke right now.

*sigh*

Avatar the Last Airbender

So, my somewhat-guilty-pleasure, "Avatar the Last Airbender" ended about twenty minutes ago.

I'm still processing it.

Yes, I know it's a kid's show. Surprisingly, it's quite sophisticated for a kid's show with a number of plot twists and thematic elements that are quite adult.

Overall, I'm VERY satisfied with the ending. I like how the non-violent character of Aang reconciled his pacifistic beliefs against the necessity of taking down the main villain.

I won't spoil how he does it.

I was a little disappointed in some of the loose ends. It felt a bit like they rushed to tie up the series, but they might have plans for future specials... or they're just screwing around with their fans.

Who knows?

It's a fantastic show. I highly recommend it to any fan of fantasy or martial arts. Once you get past the goofier kid's stuff, it's probably one of the better shows that's been aired in the last few years.

Hellboy 2

So I just finished watching "Hellboy 2" with my friend Steve.

What a disappointing movie.

How hard is it to do a "Hellboy" movie? Seriously. The first one was great. Why did they feel the need to introduce all the slapstick crap?

Bah.

wow

So Act III is up.

Wow.

Typical Whedon, bless his twisted soul.

What a day for entertainment!

Dark Knight!

I just finished watching it. Then I jumped the rail in an attempt to emulate a superheroic action as I exited the theater.

Not really very impressive, but I didn't completely spill.

So... Dark Knight.

Words cannot describe how utterly awesome this movie is.

Seriously.

Best movie of the year.

Hands down. Nothing else comes close.

huh

I just tried the pasta sauce I made last night.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

And, clearly, I do.

I got in the mail an ordered copy of Invisible Man season two on DVD that I ordered from Jennyvision.com.

While I'm impressed with the professional(ish) looking packaging they did at Jennyvision, I'm a bit disappointed in the DVDs themselves. They're low-quality DVDs of episodes recorded from TV.

*sigh*

I'd hoped for something other than someone's TiVo results, but I guess you get what you pay for.


I'm about halfway through Erikson's "Toll the Hounds". This book is one of his slower offerings, but it's picking up now. Thank goodness.

All of this is really just a distraction from watching Act II of Dr. Horrible again...

Unfocused brain

It's 2:30 on my "Friday".

My brain? Done.

Been a funny, odd day. I think the mood in the office, and at large, seems strangely cheery. Ever noticed when people around you just seem to be in a better mood as though due to some kind of unspoken signal?

Maybe it's 'cause I'm sitting on the remote. Hang on. Let me switch the signal from the satellites.

So the three-day weekend will be pretty full. I had to do some schedule jogging due to that "events are cowards" situation. The people I'm flaking on I'll have to make it up to somehow.

And I have writing group on Friday. I've actually gotten stuff done... though not my goals.

Ah well. I have tomorrow.

I've had too many dark chocolate Joe-Joe's to be able to think coherently.

And my Friday appears

Act II is online. My morning is complete.

Joss Whedon? Beyond genius.

Oh, and this is my Friday. Yay PTO ceiling.

Yeah, you don't care.

I gotta say, I'm feeling a bit disoriented. Ever had one of those really disturbingly-vivid dreams in which you wake up and the dream seems more real than the alarm clock clamoring for your attention?

No?

Must just be me.

A few things

Thanks to that Sohmer pusher, I've tried out a new band: Great Big Sea

I'm hooked.

Further, while shopping at TJ's, I was introduced to their "all natural dark chocolate covered Joe-Joe's" while waiting in line.

GOD
DAMN
THEM

These things? Worse than crack. Seriously.

Worse.
Than.
Crack.

I'm trying to lose weight and it ain't easy with these things purchaseable.

F***ers.

So I've made the reservations. Erik, Jen, and I are hitting Bourbon and Branch for dinner a week from Saturday.

Their reservation process alone was totally worth it. I'm a little jazzed.

It's not a ... perfect... metaphor...

Good lord. I can't get enough of Dr. Horrible.

When the three acts come out on DVD, I will own this.

Must... patronize... Whedon-tastic... creations...

Aaah

My ISP makes me happy.

I realize I pay a lot for my service. I easily pay half-again what a Comcast customer might pay, but the level of service I receive makes my ISP worth every penny.

---

Act One of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is up!

I watched it this morning and found myself grateful that nobody can hear my braying laughter... at least as far as I know.

Good LORD it's funny! Joss Whedon is a genius. Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion are pretty much holy.

Nothing says fun like software issues

So yesterday, I was able to access my personal email through my ISP's webmail client without any problems. As a matter of preference, I opt to use Firefox so I can be one of those pretentious wonks who take umbrage with Microsoft, yadda-yadda-yadda.

Today? Doesn't work. I can access my webmail, but I can't actually view the email using Firefox. To do anything, I have to use IE, which I really don't like.

I swear that software exists purely to damage my calm.

weekend wrapup

Another weekend gone, and what a busy one it was!

I took Friday for much-needed "me" time. I was surprisingly-exhausted, given how low-key it was last week. Maybe I was fighting something?

Dunno.

Saturday was a game at Erik's.

[gaming-related rant follows... ignore if you are not a tabletop gaming geek]

I haven't enjoyed myself in a game that much in a long, long time. It was pure awesome from the get-go. Erik created the perfect combination of creepy ambience and challenging encounters that truly humbled me. Now I have something to aspire to.

The funny thing? The weird Ents? No problem. The trees that spat poisonous pitch? I wasn't overly-concerned. The pile of acidic leaves? Yeah... that bothered me, but I was far from danger.

What scared me? When the grotesquely-obese giant charmed one of the other characters and sent him after me.

I give Barton a hard time (sometimes with justification but usually I push it too far...) and in the game... well, my character and his don't mix well.

That said, I'm pretty clear that in a stand-up fight, I'm at a serious disadvantage against his character. There are scenarios where I can take his character down, but in most situations (like a swordfight), my character is well and truly hosed.

I was lucky that I was able to take him down with a special arrow and he didn't opt to use this magic doodad his character had that could deflect my arrows.

'Cause that would have sucked. My plan B wasn't as good.

In the end, good (well, players) triumphed and giant, super-fat, plant-blighting evil was smashed to the ground.

Good times.

I felt like I ran a marathon after all that, and I wasn't in as much danger as everyone else.

[end gaming commentary]

While at Erik's, I was exposed to some super-sour candies and got an education in chemistry (a subject I nearly failed in school).

Did you know that sour candies are acidic?

I didn't. And these candies were VERY sour.

My mouth and tongue are still fried from the acidic candy. I'm lucky my teeth are strong.

Sunday was family time. It was good times. I think I ate enough for a week. I'm still a bit full... and we ate lunch there. I skipped making myself dinner. Gah!

I had the weirdest dream, probably as a result of all that food. It turned into a classic anxiety dream (at one point in the dream, my car was stolen from in front of my parents' old house) and woke me up at 3am.

I couldn't quite get back to sleep. So now I'm in the office and more than a little disoriented.

Whee!

lazy

It's Friday. Most of the upper-level folks who affect me aren't in today (save my manager). The fog has rolled in with a cool ocean breeze.

And I woke up feeling damn lazy.

It's gonna be a long day.

The unnamed is supposed to return tonight. Yay!

Next week apparently they conclude Avatar the Last Airbender. I'm rather excited.

A few observations

The latest heat wave has driven home how really happy I am that I moved to where I live now.

Ocean breezes are very pleasant in summertime.

Thus far, this heat wave hasn't been unbearable at all.

---

On the topic of the "heat wave", it's been niiiiice riding my bike to work this week. I don't need a jacket in the mornings! Woo-hoo!

And my traffic-karma is headed off in new and interesting directions.

So, normally, if there's any way that my timing will force me to have to stop (a traffic light turns red, there's a stop sign on the route I pick, etc.), events will conspire to make me have to stop.

It's just my traffic karma.

Also, I can never find parking, but that's another issue.

This karma also hits me on my bike. Usually, one can be a bit more flexible about stopping on a bike if traffic is light to non-existent. Regardless, I usually have karma that makes me hit a red light and there's a car, so I have to stop.

Bleah.

This week? No problems. I've managed to hit green lights and just breeze into work. This morning I didn't have to stop at all from time I left home to time I get into work.

Yay!

---

"Burn Notice" starts its second season tonight. I'm quite excited.

Internet go boom

Ah, Microsoft. Why don't you play well with the other kids?

So I run the free Zone Alarm firewall on my PC. It's always worked well for me.

Yesterday, Microsoft hit me with another of the endless Windows updates. I went through the normal b.s. of having my workflow interrupted and rebooted. While that was going on, I got distracted by some bright, shiny, something-or-other.

I went back to my PC and attempted to access email.

Nada. Zip. Nothing.

I tried to hit some sites that I knew were up, like Google and my work. Nothing.

My modem's indicator lights were all fine. Everything was connected to the walls fine.

I ping'd my ISP and my work. I got results. The Internet connection was fine, my browser and email could not connect.

After rebooting (twice) and restarting my DSL modem, I was getting a tad irritated.

So I killed the firewall and tried.

And I connected.

So I installed an older version of Zone Alarm's firewall. No problems.

The Microsoft update doesn't play nice with the latest Zone Alarm. I'd blame Zone Alarm, but that updated a few days ago and I've been able to connect until the latest Microsoft update.

Gah!

There's a workaround I discovered on some newsboard, so I went back to the latest Zone Alarm but this is annoying as hell.

Then again, I guess I get what I pay for.

Back at the salt mines

After a looong and very relaxing holiday weekend, I'm back in the office.

And - GLEE!!! - a copy of Erikson's "Toll the Hounds" awaits me on my desk!

Now "Winterbirth" must go on the shelf for a time as I devour Erikson's latest.

Happy, happy, happy!

And, of course, I rode my bike today so I've no idea how the hell I'm getting this hardback home.

I have faith that I'll manage somehow, but it will be a bit of a maneuver.

Wall-E

So I finally saw it.

Damn but Pixar kicks ass!

It was so mind-bogglingly good that I almost could ignore the brat kicking my seat behind me throughout the entire movie.

Visually stunning. Entertaining story. I loved it.

Fried

So the 4th of July was mild-enough. I blew most of the early afternoon on Solano, wandering about and seeing if I could get into a new chocolate shop to beef up my gifts for Saturday.

It wasn't open, but I got a lot of walking in. Then I went running. Then I went to my friend's house and drank some beers, watched their kids play, and played some Wii bowling, baseball, and tennis. Quite fun.

I then hiked to the hills to see if I could see fireworks, but I couldn't find a good vantage point and it was pretty foggy, so I blew it off and went home.

I woke up sore today. The legs are not happy.

I spent pretty much all the daylight hours visiting Tim, Kaori, Kaori's mother, and Yuno-hime (Kaori's niece). They cooked me a delicious lunch and Yuno amused me with her antics of being 6 years old and kind of hyper.

I was glad she enjoyed the Disney princess coloring book and crayons I gave her. I wasn't sure it was the right kind of thing she'd enjoy, but apparently I chose well.

The post-lunch afternoon was mini-golf at Scandia. It was quite warm and a bit breezy. Glad I wore lots of sunblock.

I considered trying to see Wall-E tonight, but I'm beat. The thought of navigating to a theater and dealing with crowds does not appeal. Maybe tomorrow after family time.

Wow! What a day!

I'm pretty damn tired. I don't mind admitting it. The Conservatory of Flowers/Butterfly Exhibit was pretty cool.





Then lunch by the ocean at a brewery. Mmm... cake...



Then it was the Chihuly exhibit at the De Young.



Good fun!

Got kind of toasty, too.

I love my job.

My Friday-ish day

So I'm at work for the morning, then it's off to S.F. with the dev team I'm assigned to for a trek to G.G. Park and some kind of butterfly exhibit (yeah... okay...), then lunch (yay!), then some glass art show.

Eh. Beats working and I'm getting paid for this.

And unlike most of my dev. team, I'm actually doing some work in the morning.

I'd feel smug about that, but it's really more me being pathetic about the long list of things I have to do.

And, much to my surprise, I found out yesterday that I hit my PTO ceiling. That means I must take some time off this month.

So I'm taking Monday and having a nice, long break from work. I'm going to spice up the balance of July with three-day weekends to make things entertaining.

Good times!

Know your vines

I'm still laughing.

I'm a sick, sad fellow.

aaah

It's Wednesday (or Suiyoubi, if my Japanese studies hold true) and effectively this week's Friday (or Kinyoubi, if my Japanese studies hold true).

Tomorrow is a work day... technically... but I'll be in the City at a "team building exercise" (read: work-supported goofing-off). Good times.

I'm looking forward to the three-day weekend. I finally get to see fireworks, since the 4th is on a Friday and I don't need to get up the next morning.

This is, of course, assuming fog doesn't obscure said fireworks and I find a reasonably good vantage point.

Saturday I'm supposed to do lunch and mini-golf with Tim, Kaori, and Kaori's mother and niece. I'm looking forward to that.

And, best of all, three days of sleeping in. Glee!

I considered taking Monday as PTO, but I think I'll save it.