Last weekend at Nightlife at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco, the band "Wallpaper." performed outside on patio deck as part of the pre-party for the Treasure Island Music Festival. They were SO FUN. I loved them instantly. It's sort of like a slightly updated version of Jamiroquai. Good stuff.
Here is a music video for "I Got Soul, I'm So Wasted."
My roomie Danny showed me this Janelle Monae video last week. It's gorgeous. Nearly made me cry myself.
Kind of summarizes how I'm feeling right now:
Will, it's Michelle -just out for dinner with the crew and we were talking about how rad u are! Happy wednesday!
Today a heat wave continued in the Bay Area, with SF hitting 90 degrees again. I drove up 19th Ave. on my way home from work, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, only to see the fog roll in around 6pm. I haven't seen the fog in a few days. The heat wave is officially over, at least for San Francisco.
I arrived home to my apartment with a weird juxtaposition in temperatures. My apartment still thinks it's 85 degrees outside (i.e. hot and stuffy despite the windows being open) when in reality it's in the 60's, cold and misty.
Oh San Francisco, I heart thee. Even your bi-polar weather.
I've been having dinner with my friend Jon Jon more frequently because I enjoy his company. Not that I haven't previously, but I'm making more of an effort cause he's an awesome guy. More Jon Jon time is a good thing.
Yesterday, we celebrated the good news of him getting a new gig at DNA Games. He previously worked at YesVideo for a 5 year run. He's now moving to a job that fosters his true passion in creativity. Go Jon Jon! :D
Do you know the even BETTER news? He's gonna be my work neighbor. Yes, he's only a couple of buildings down from me in San Bruno. He, along with Eric To, work right near me at YouTube. More outside of work lunches slash guest lunch visitors! Weee. So excited. :)
Jon Jon and I usually meet somewhere in between San Bruno and San Jose when we have dinner. This time we conquered Palo Alto, on the last episode, we conquered Castro St. in Downtown Mountain View. Since he'd been baking cupcakes (his cupcake interpretation of Philz Mint Mojito Coffee) up a storm this weekend, he wanted something lighter. So we went for Sprout Cafe, on the southern part of University Avenue. I'd been twice before -- both on uncrowded off-peak weekend hours. This time, it was a super crowded weeknight with lots of strollers and students. Sprout is like an upscale Pluto's --- except with better ingredients, selection, presentation and atmosphere.
I ordered the Asian Chicken Noodle Soup and the Steak Sandwich. I wasn't feelin' salad for dinner as I usually get it for lunch. Jon Jon got the Summer Rolls with chicken and a salad with seared tuna. We also shared their guacamole. (which was HELLA bomb, actually maybe borderline magical)
We concluded the evening with a stroll around Downtown PA and some tart Fro Yo (which melted quickly) at Fraiche. I ran into my co-worker Stef, who also works in HR. We sat in the courtyard and continued to talk. Jon Jon later went his "productivity party" with Mark. I like the idea of "Productivity Parties" because it's essentially how I studied in college. You go to a cafe, squat in a corner with several friends and crank out work. You don't really socialize but it's the mere presence of being around those you love. I should do that more. :) Neil used to tell me about these "parties" as well.
Anywho, I took a few photos while at Sprout Cafe (via my cameraphone)...
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| ASIAN CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP From Sprout Cafe Palo Alto |
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| GUACAMOLE From Sprout Cafe Palo Alto |
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| STEAK SANDWICH From Sprout Cafe Palo Alto |
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| SUMMER ROLLS From Sprout Cafe Palo Alto |
A co-worker in a nearby cubicle broke a fingernail. She used nail clippers and I think my whole side of the building (HR) just squealed. What is it about that noise? I think it was just the fact it was at work. I think my whole team gave the nail clipper shit for about a good 5 minutes. My bosses' reaction was precious.
So, if you're gonna be a work nailclipper, do it outside or away from others. :D
It gave us all the creepers. Expect some squeals from girls and gay boys if you choose violate this work norm.
Last night, Kevin and I boarded my 2001 Honda Civic and drove to lovely Sacramento, California.
It was my friend Sean's 22nd Birthday celebration. Someone was a little late to his own 10pm partay, but I can forgive that.
The night started out at the Mercantile Saloon, affectionately called "The Merc" by locals. Can I just say how much I loved this place? The indoor portion is total dive bar, but the outside patio is quite lovely, especially when the weather is good. It reminded me of a mix between a dive bar in San Diego, the vibe of Fiesta Cantina in WeHo with patrons that could be found in the midwest. The place was plentiful with drag queens, mostly of the latin flavor. One had a full on seniorita status dress and looked like she was on her way to a bull fight.
The great thing about this bar is that when you order drinks, you get the choice of two sizes. The tallest size is $8, which is quite cheap considering it's about 3/4 alcohol. It'd estimate a good 2-3 shots minimum. I didn't drink very much last night, but the drink I did have got me all warm and toasty. Oh, yay for being a cheap date.
Josef, who goes to grad school at UC Davis, joined us and well all later scurried on over to Badlands Sacramento. It's clean, polished and very open. It has tremendously high ceilings and a big 'ol disco ball. The upper level has a lounge and an outdoor patio, to boot. The music was pop/hip hop/remixes. Cover was $7, which isn't nearly as bad as I thought it was gonna be.
After Badlands closes at 2pm, people go next door to the connected bar called "The Depot." This totally reminded me of Hawaii's Angles/Fusion setup.
Josef was hungry so we all went nearby to Hot Rod's, which is the nearest late night grub around Sacramento's boyztown area. A funny little thing happened in there. The guy in line in front of us was like "You... You're Will from San Francisco." I was kinda confused. He was like "I've checked your ID before." I was even more confused. So he musta been a bouncer at a bar in the city. I asked where he worked and he said "Badlands." So yea, it was kinda weird but flattering nonetheless. The number of people that go into those bars and he remembers who I was. Anywho, I asked him whether or not Badlands in Sac was affiliated with Badlands in the City and he said no and that they have different owners. So there ya have it. Mystery solved.
We then tried to go over to Sean's friend's place but that wasn't very successful. We all parted ways and gave everyone lots of hugs. Kevin and I were then on a mission to find my car. Um... that took a while to say the least. At this point, it was probably 3am or so. We ran around Sac like little tourists. People in cars and on the streets did offer to help on occasion, which is pretty nice. We eventually found my car and made our way home. I got fairly tired around 4ish am, which was the halfway point. So I pulled over in Vallejo and slept for a few hours. Kevin was too tipsy and tired to drive.
Around 6:30am, Kevin and I continued the drive and ended up in San Francisco by 7:30am. I dropped him off in the Richmond and I went back to The Sunset. I woke up around 12:30pm. Kevin late texted me and we both LOL'ed at his incoherent text messages from last night. Twas an epic evening.
"Will, I just wanted to let you know that words you said to me last year stuck with me. I know we didn't get to see each other much this summer. I also don't know if you even remember saying this, but when we were outside over there <points to the outdoor seating area at Crittenden>, you gave me an image that hasn't left my mind. Do you remember that Spaghetti analogy? You told me try a wide variety of things until you learn what sticks. Just like when you throw Spaghetti against the wall to see if it's properly cooked, you'll eventually learn what sticks. I've really taken that to heart and have been living that idea daily."
Yesterday, JetBlue announced they would be doing "AYCJ" (All You Can Jet) for a second year in a row. Presumably, it's to get our attention off of the Steven Slater flight attendant scandal. Nice PR attention switcher there, JetBlue.
They have two different flavors this year, the AYCJ7 ($699), which is good 7 days a week, or AYCJ5 ($499), which is good 5 days a week, excluding flights on Friday and Sunday. It's essentially unlimited travel to anywhere Jet Blue flies domestically with taxes/fees included from Sept. 7th, 2010 to Oct. 6th, 2010.
I went with the AYCJ7 for $699. I'm actually still shocked I committed to this.
Why Did I Get It?
Well, I'll actually be going to NYC, one destination JetBlue flies, for work from Sept. 7th to Sept. 17th. I can presumably get a portion of this comped by work. I have to go to LA on the 18th for a relatives 85th birthday. Then I plan on taking some time off to relax and roam around the country. So basically, I already had plans to travel but didn't book quite yet.
I've still yet to decide where I'll be on my birthday (Thursday Sept. 23rd) and Birthday Weekend (Sept. 24th to 26th). Now I've never been a birthday celebrator, but friends have been amazing at surprising me the past two years (and I cried both times). I'm not really counting on anything, as I never really have, so I may just be solo.
What Am I Going To Do With It?
Well, the first part of the month will be for work. But presumably, I could have dinner in a nearby East Coast city close to NYC just to check it out.
After that, it's up in the air. I have > 20 vacation days. I think this could be really fun!
During the next week, I'll research where JetBlue flies. Part of me really wants to see Seattle, Austin, New Orleans, Boston & parts of Florida. I also wouldn't mind visiting friends in DC or Chicago. I also would love to check out random ass places as well. :)
I could potentially visit other places that aren't domestic (Costa Rica, Columbia, Mexico, etc), but I would have to pay the taxes and fees.
If you have any itinerary ideas, please shoot them at me!
I love the Harvard Business Review blog. It's always an interesting read. It's common to have HBR Case Studies for business and MBA classes, but they are often long and dry.
The HBR Blog articles are short and powerful. They also translate to situations outside the business world, which makes them all the more useful.
Here are a few interesting reads:
I happened to be on my sister's Twitter and saw the following image. It made me smile slash laugh. It also has a good point. ;)
I'm actually surprised my sister posted this to be honest. She always used to cringe whenever I would mention the word "gay." I think she's been surrounded enough by LGBT's over the past few years, including myself, to be educated on our perspective. I remember when she told me when her really good friend started to date a girl after being in a relationship with a man and having a kid. I think at that moment, the tide turned for her. One of these days, I'll get her out to a gay bar. Shit, I've had to go to sporting events with her....
I walked into my bosses office today to discuss some of the recruiting efforts I'm working on. Last week I wanted to grab coffee with him because I felt a lot of stress.
I mentioned to him a bit of what's going on in my personal life, mainly because it's been affecting my work habits. I know you should check that stuff out at the door, but it's not always so simple.
He gave me an anecdote of a friendship that went sour with Preston. He and Preston had been friends for a few years. They ended up getting into a huge fight over boyfriends and how often they invited the other one out. For example, my boss would be paired with a guy and would continue to invite Preston out to events and gatherings even though he was single. When Preston was paired up and my boss was single, it was a different story. This was the situation on the surface level but escalated into much more.
They got into a huge fight and my manager hung up on Preston and never picked up his phone calls for a year. After a year, they ended up working at the same company and Preston reached out to my manager to have lunch. Even though they hadn't talked in a year after a huge fight, they picked up their friendship like nothing happened. The main difference was that my boss didn't invite Preston out to events as often as he once did.
Essentially my boss conveyed time was the healer. That I can understand. I went through a situation with my best friend from middle school (and eventual college roommate) where we hadn't spoken to each other after a year or so after a huge tiff. We eventually picked our friendship like nothing ever happened. We still talk to each and visit each other often, even though we're not in the same city any longer.
I guess I'm just impatient with the current situation but am getting over the immediate need to have a resolution. I dislike conflict heavily (Oh, Libra traits...). I'd rather fight than flee. However, not everyone operates the same way.
Things get super complicated when friend sets are shared as well as living close in proximity to one another.
After not speaking to each other for over a month (on top of a few months of a rocky friendship prior), I'm ready to talk again. I honestly just hope he's doing okay and that he's getting the support he needs. I know that we're both retreating. It's incredibly hard for me to not know what's going on in his life since we were both each others go-to-guys. It's also hard for me not to reach out to him and ask for advice on things, especially since I'm going through a whole bunch of shit outside of this friendship complication.
It would be nice to have a time machine right about now...
The more I walk around the Sunset District, the more I see gentrification slowly creeping along. There are signs of modernity and trendy places along parts of the Inner & Central parts of the Sunset District.
A few examples:
Kinda excited to see what comes next to this foggy part of town. I'd really love a kick ass Single Drip Coffee House a la Blue Bottle, etc.
I saw a really interesting article on Discovery Health's website that talks about metabolism. It essentially shatters and confirms all the myths about metabolism.
Original Article Link via Discovery Health.
As someone who's seen a drastic change in weight over the years, I intuitively knew a lot of this information. It's not completely a shocker, but it's a good list to keep in mind when you're trying to achieve a weight goal.
When I lost 120 lbs in just over a year (circa 2006-2007), I relied upon 4, 5, 9 and 10. I vaguely knew about muscle mass improving metabolism. So my strategy in my early exercise days was to build a ton of muscle in my legs, as it was probably the easiest place to start. With the boost in metabolism from muscle gain, I was able to supercharge my workouts in the future. :)
Hi Will,
After four and a half years and 13 managers at Google, the time has come for me to move on to my next adventure. I had plenty of adventures during my time at Google from beginning as a temp reviewing AdWords ads "in the bin" to leading the company's customer email marketing efforts, sending more emails in more languages than I could count.
Being able to share those adventures with you—whether launching an email campaign to a million users from the base of the Himalayas, riding the conference bike with Conan O'Brien, or hosting Authors@Google events in Mountain View—was the highlight of working here. For that, I am nothing but grateful.
Perhaps, none of those experiences influenced me as much as my trip with fellow Googlers to Tanzania, where I met an artist whose work I was able to bring to a greater audience with the help of Google. It embodied what I felt was at the core of Google's vision—to use technology to better—really better—the conditions under which people live, no matter how remote they might be from us—technologically, geographically, or culturally.
It's that end to which I hope to direct my passions for technology and design in the coming years, as I'll be devoting more time to running my nonprofit, BRUTE LABS, and a new incubator for socially responsible, design-oriented businesses.
And although I'll no longer have the privilege of working closely with you, I don't doubt that the people I met here will continue to be a great inspiration to me in my new work. And if any surfers want to come to Mavericks, my new office will be there. Surfing or not, I'll hope you'll stop by or keep in touch!
On to my next wave,
Josh
Man, I really loved my Verizon HTC Incredible (the first time, before it was stolen during a mugging in NYC). My second one has been nothing but trouble.
I'm now suffering from what is know as the "Low on Space" error that basically makes your phone a brick.
Essentially, upon startup, I receive an error message that states, "Low on Space" when I have over 6.5 gigs still free. From doing research the past few days, it seems the only cure is a hard reset, which wipes all data. People have deduced that they think it's an issue with HTC's Mail Client as the error seems to be popping up on Windows Mobile Phones made by HTC as well. Both HTC and Verizon aren't owning up to the issue and it's getting really annoying. People are hoping a Fro Yo upgrade will fix the issue. Here's hoping, b/c I don't want to clear my data with a hard reset...
On ZDNet: Is your Droid Incredible low on disk space?
On Android Central: HTC Mail Memory Leak/Big ("Phone Storage Getting Low")
Today I had a semi-impromptu reunion with some old teammates, some of whom are still at Google and some decided to leave. We were all part of a team called the "Workflow Team" that focused on a variety of functions but never really had an identity. We then split into two different teams, but always stayed close.
Pictured above is me, Erin, Britt, Tolu, Renee, Ziv & Vickie. It's been probably been a year since we got a group of this size together. Here's what we originally looked like:
We basically just shot the shit and caught up with each other at the "hidden" Starbucks --- aka, the one near Best Buy and not 7-11. We're a fairly gossipy bunch. It's always fun because we're all don't take ourselves too seriously. Tolu and Renee are now married (albeit, not to each other). It was fun to hear about wedding life and honeymoons. It's also nice to get an outside perspective from former Googlers, because it keeps in check with reality.
I think we all feel like we're on the game show Survivor. Who'll be next? What if we all rigged the game and walked out together?
Let's be honest. People are dropping like flies. I'm getting upwards of 2 to 3 "Bon Voyage" emails a week. It makes you really think...
I love having 1:1 lunches with my girlies. I used to do it ALL the time in Mountain View. Now I'm lacking girlies in San Bruno.
I got to have lunch with my work wife, Cheryl, last friday in Mountain View. It was good to catch up (which we had LOADS to catch up on) as well as try food at a new cafe. Afterwords, I carpooled with friends down to LA/Riverside for the weekend.
Today, I got to catch up with my old teammate, Brittany, in Mountain View. We worked back in 2007/2008 on the same team as well as spent 3ish months in Ann Arbor together. We got to quickly catch up on boys, work, personal life, vacations and well, gadgets. :D
She recently took a vacation to Hawaii and Mammoth. She's also been with her guy for over a year. Boy how time flies! :D
I think I do so much better with 1:1 interactions than anything else. Anything more than 4 or 5 people and I tend to take a backseat. Anywho, I'm now of the philosophy there isn't a reason why you need to schedule lunch. Just do it! No reasons are needed. :)
Yesterday evening, after a long drive from Los Angeles, I had my college friend Vince let me know he was in Nor Cal on a whim. Turns out he was staying with family in Fremont but was up here learning more about an organization that devotes getting new technology resources for undeserved schools in the Philippines. He wants to volunteer with an organization that helps his home country and has an educational element to it.
Turns out that the timing was perfect as I was in the South Bay and he was on his way to drop off a friend in Millbrae. We met in Millbrae and I drove us to YouTube in San Bruno for a late night chat/coffee sesh. We'd last seen each other a few months ago during his last few weeks living in Hawaii. He spent 4 years going to school and teaching there. Now he's back in Southern California while studying for graduate school exams.
We had a lot to catch up on --- personally, professionally, etc. I love the simple act of a late night conversations. The tiredness ads an element of delirium and realism. People tend to be more honest. Usually settings are more quiet and intimate.
I'm proud of him for the goals he's set out for himself as well as a making a few personal strides in being comfortable with himself.
He was one of the first people I ever came out to and I will never forget that moment in West Hollywood (@ the Target off La Brea & Santa Monica Blvd.). It's an awesome story.
It's funny how we've known each other for most of our adult lives and it seems like yesterday we were taking business classes together at UCR. Crazy how time flies.
I've never had the often raved about Chicago-based Intelligentsia Coffee before, although I have been inside of their location on Abbot Kinney in Venice, CA. This location is in hipster-ville/gipster-ville in Silverlake (LA's answer to San Francisco's Mission District). It's surrounded by gentrification --- fancy pupusarias, brunch spots and shopping. More importantly, it's also across the street from an El Pollo Loco.
I was originally going to meet my friend Paul at Casbah Cafe for a cup of coffee but I got a text from him exclaiming, "The coffee at Intelligentsia smells good." So we made a quick change of plans.
Upon entering, you'll notice the cute outdoor seating area. Once you enter it was semi confusing on where to go as the interior layout is sort of like a gay bar, but taking into account nicer materials and the fact you can see people in the lighting. It sorta reminded me of a coffee bar in Rome with the bar style seating that was available as well.
I ordered my friend an Americano while I had to ponder for a minute on what to get. My take on a good coffee house is drip coffee straight up. No cream, no sugar. They had 4 drip coffee specials today starting at $3.50 and going up to $7. I asked the barista which one he liked. He suggested the most expensive one, that being $7 for a cup of Joe. I said, okay, what the hell? I think it was some sort of reserve coffee called La Tortuga from Honduras. However, I wasn't quite paying attention, but that's what I deduced from their website. He described it as any gay man would, "lush" and "bold."
I finally sat down with my friend and sipped on my $7 drip coffee while we caught up on life. Holy hell it was like heaven in my mouth. I hadn't quite tasted anything like that before. It started out super light but finished bold and smooth. Maybe lush. If it weren't for the fact I could have gotten a meal at El Pollo Loco for the same price as an exquisite drip coffee here, then I'd place it at 5 stars. So i had to knock it down to 4.
Now go rush there... and have a gay barista suggest the $7 drip coffee. Mmmm... lush.
I'm so proud of UCR! :) It's one of the gay friendliest campuses in the nation! It's one of 19 schools to earn a 5 star rating by CampusClimateIndex.org. It's one of only 3 UC Campuses (UCLA, UCB, UCR) to earn top marks. People often confuse thoughts on UCR vs. The City of Riverside in terms of being gay friendly and liberal. UCR is incredibly liberal. The City of Riverside swings conservative with pockets of liberalism around campus.Carleton College; Humboldt State University; Ithaca College; Oberlin College; Oregon State University; Princeton University; San Diego State University; Syracuse University; Ohio State University; Pennsylvania State University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, Riverside; University of Maine, Farmington; University of Oregon; University of Pennsylvania; University of Southern California; University of Vermont; and Washington University in St. Louis.
More information on the Advocate: http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/08/04/UCLA,_Princeton_Top_Friendliest_Colleges_List/
