Straight Up Veto Power

Last weekend I was having a conversation at Verde with Adi when he talked about a concept he practices with his straight friends that I found fascinating and might even adapt into my life.

It's the concept of Straight Veto Power. Being a gay man in your 20's is a very difficult balance. You're getting to know yourself, the gay community and often times neglect your straight friends. You always end up doing 'gay things.' So Adi's straighties, once a month, get to veto a gay event that Adi goes to and instead hang out with him.

There may be cases where Adi looks like a flake because he said he would go somewhere but at the last minute gets struck down by the straighties.

I know that it sounds ridiculous having such a need for this power. But as it turns out, the gays like to plan... and plan a lot. We're talking having a calendar booked at least a month in advance. Thus BOOM... VETO POWER comes into play. :D

Naughty at work

Yesterday I had dinner with Nai at work after he got his Lasik check-up from his doctor.

Somehow the topic of people having sex at work came up. All I got to say is that I haven't laughed that hard at dinner with him in a long time. Dude... I miss hanging out with my main straightie.

When dating doesn't work out: The Mr. Y aftermath

So I really never wrote about this, but me and Mr. Y had a conversation after Christmas about how I felt about him. I really wanted to date Mr. Y but at one point in my heart of hearts I realized he wasn't interested. This was probably around early December. I of course didn't want to believe this so I kept my pursuit on.

My heart needed a concrete answer to more forward either way. How it all went down as far as me telling Mr. Y that I liked him and was interested in something beyond friendship was kinda amusing. Mr. Y told my friend Ty that he wasn't interested in dating me one night while we were clubbing with friends. Ultimately Mr. Y knew he would have to tell me in person how he felt too.

In the meantime, I didn't know this and decided to set up a coffee convo with Mr. Y to let him know how I felt about him. At first I was kind of surprised he agreed because Mr. Y was a bit stand-off-ish the prior evening when we hung out with our group of friends in LA. I give Ty a call to let him know what I was going to do and also just asked him to recap the previous night because I was so drunk I blacked out much of the evening (First time, ever, mind you.) Side Note: To be completely honest, I decided to drink because I knew Mr. Y wasn't interested and I just wanted to have fun. Apparently I'm a cheap date and my tolerance is uber low.

I digress. So Ty and I have a phone conversation where he was like '3 things happened last night, two of which you should be proud of --- but there is a bit of bad news.' I wasn't entirely sure what was about to come. Ty broke it down at first and started with the two positives:

• You met Anthony and there seems to be mutual interest.
• You made out with Chris. (Really, I didn't want that at all... not entirely sure how that happened... oh wait, it was the alcohol.) Chris asked me out on a date the next day.

Then Ty was like I have some bad news. At this point, I kinda knew what would be coming.

• He said Mr. Y and him stepped outside the club last night. Mr. Y told Ty that there was no interest on his end.

My initial reaction of the rejection when Ty told me was one of anger and disappointment, then sadness came in. Ty was really impressive with helping me through the bad news. He was really supportive.

Fast forward back to the day after when a coffee date was scheduled. I get a hold of Mr. Y on the phone to set up deets of the coffee excursion. I pretty much start off by letting him know that Ty told me everything they talked about the night prior but I still think we should meet in person to discuss everything and clear it up. It was sorta nice because now I knew going into the convo what was going to happen. Instead of the original scenario, where I knew nothing and woulda looked like a fool being shocked upon rejection, I knew walking into the coffee talk that I would be rejected.

Mr. Y and I hung out in Old Town Pasadena, grabbed some Tea/Coffee at Cafe Alibi and chatted outside in their garden. The conversation was very interesting and heartfelt. I upfront set up the expectations that I expect nothing but honesty to come out of this and I prefer the truth over anything sugarcoated. That evening was the closest I felt to Mr. Y ever. Ironic how a rejection conversation brings you closer as friends.

I let him know that I appreciated that he took the time out to chat when we both were winding down our holiday vacation stay in LA when time was a bit precious with friends and family.

He let me know that 'As cheesy as this sounds, I don't want to lose you as a friend.' Mr. Y cheered me up and we both decided to stroll a bit longer in Old Town because 'Fuck, we paid for parking!'

We went to a book store and checked out the Sexstrology book I had referenced prior in the afternoon. We both got a good laugh.

I let Mr. Y know that It's going to take a while for my feelings to subside, but I'm cool with being friends. Often times people say 'Let's be friends' when the really mean, "Um, I actually don't want to make the time for you, but It sounds better if I say 'Let's Be Friends!"

Ultimately I feel comfortable telling Mr. Y things I notice, even if I feel he may think it's awkward. I let him know I noticed he was avoiding dancing with me if we ever went out clubbing. I think subconsciously so was I, so no feelings would come back.

The best part about the whole thing is that we have a stronger friendship in comparison to anything we had while we were dating (for lack of a better word because I'm sure he'll say we never really dated... but whatevs).

Even though I've only know Mr. Y since October '08, I feel really comfortable around him to tell him anything that's on my mind. Occasionally we're both silent after we say something to each other and we're unsure of what the other is thinking, but I'm amused by that.

One of the best things is that Mr. Y lets me know he's thankful he has me as a good friend. I let him know the same...

I know she'll pull through

One of my Livejournal (LJ) buddies, Amanda (mandalvn ) was in a serious car accident on Dec. 22nd. I'm keeping track of updates from her husband. The doctors said the chance of survival initially looked grim. She has a subdural hematoma that was caused by multiple skull fractures. They were able to remove the hematoma, however there is a lot of swelling in her brain. Her femur was also shattered while trapped in the car.

She's a strong woman who's been through hell and back in life and I know she can fight this. Girl, keep fightin'! You're in my prayers. :)

Last Update: She squeezed her dad's hand even though she's unconscious. Good sign. :)

I love it when friends visit!

Yesterday I got to have dinner with Seymour and Ritchie, who are up here for the week from So Cal. Ty, Danny, Mark and I met up with them for dinner in the Castro at Thai House Express. It's sort of our 'Go To' restaurant for solid food for a good price. We then headed to The Mix for some drinks and lastly ended up at The Midnight Sun . Fun times all around... especially dishing about boys and watching funny clips at The Midnight Sun.

So here's an interesting friendship connection story...

I used to use Livejournal.com like a madman during my youth. It was a way for me to escape, make online friends and share my thoughts. Then one day I came across Seymour's Journal. He was a Med Student in the UCR/UCLA Med School Program. We both wen to UCR, but didn't know each other while we were both there. Seymour was technically the first person I uttered (errr... typed) the words 'I'm Gay' to. Well, Margaret Cho was the first person I said something that 'implied' I was gay, but Seymour got the full deal. Haha. We started to hang out in person and became really good friends.

Flash forward to Dec. 2006. I meet Seymour and Ritchie at the Abbey for some drinks to catch up. Ritchie had brought some of his friends... including his former roomie Ty. Now, I don't know any Ty's. Except I had recently seen that a 'Ty' had joined Google and I sent him a welcome message on Downelink. Turns out, it was the same Ty, except I didn't really connect the two.

So the chain goes like this ---> Seymour ---> Ritchie ---> Ty.

Over the past few years I've become really good friends with Ty. We share advice. I probably would have gone nuts without bouncing boy talk off of him. So yea... It's interesting how small the gay community is, especially between Northern and Southern California. I'm happy that good people know other good people. Yay!

Mark, Seymour, Ritchie, Me & Ty @ The Midnight Sun

A Total Surprise

I just want to keep a mental note: today was by far and away my best birthday ever. The only really tragic part was having to enter '25' into the age portion of the workout routine on the Elliptical at the gym.

I'll write more later.

Random Bits

So here's a recap of what's on my mind, what I've been up to, etc:

WORK

• I'm really content with work, probably more so than any other time in 2008. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing, though.
  
• I can't believe I've been at Google for 2.5 years. It feels like no time has past and yet at the same time everything has changed so much.
• I've noticed my managers have always been good at convincing me to stay on my current team. I'm not sure if this is a good thing in that they want to keep me or a bad thing in that I'm not good at making an argument as to why I need a change. I've been on my current team for a while and I was thinking about a switch... but got good perspective to nix the idea. I love my current team because the people are amazing.
  
• Very shortly, I will be become a volunteer mentor for minority college students through a new program called BOLD. Nai and I wanted to start to do some volunteer work and thought that this would be a wonderful start.
• Coworker drama is at an all time high. I really can't believe the small bullshit people make judgements on.

SCHOOL / MBA CLASSES

• I'm taking an Organizational Behavior MBA class at Google from Berkeley Professor Holly Schroth. She is amazing. Like quite possibly the best teacher I've had. She's super engaging and loves to teach in a way that you absorb the information.
• This is the 2nd MBA Class I've taken at Google, on top of the Business, Management and Society MBA Class I took at UC Riverside.

LOVE LIFE

• At this moment, my love life is not my strength. The well of guys has run dry for the moment.
• I've learned I REALLY lost my ability to flirt in public. I would honestly say I was much better at it a year ago and now I'm just pretty much holding on for dear life.
• Confidence seems to be an issue again. It's like I know on the exterior people might think I'm confident on initial glance, but little do they know how bad my confidence is.
• My buddy Ty set some goals for me... that are quite impossible to achieve. I laugh, but hopefully I'll make improvement.
• I need to be more honest about feelings and expressing them at the moment I feel them, rather than waiting for shit to drag on forever.

MISC

• I'm going to be taking a mini-break next week. I'm taking Fri 6/6 & Mon 6/9 off work. I'm flying to LA on Thursday 6/5 to just chill and enjoy LA Pride Weekend. I'll be flying back to the Bay Area on Monday Night.
• My Canon SD630 Camera died suddenly. I quickly purchased a new camera because I can't stand not having something I'm used to. My replacement is the Canon SD1110IS in Bohemian Brown. It's slick looking...
• I bought the Wii Fit last week on the morning it was released. It's totally fun and relatively motivating. At moments, It's pretty bitchy at you. Lol. I have really bad balance. :P
• I'm thinking of buying Madonna concert tickets tomorrow morning for her Oakland Arena show.
• I'm seriously considering buying an iMac or Macbook. I would buy an iMac immediately but would wait until the next Macbook is released if I got that. My parents are getting a new iMac! I'm so happy for them! Finally they're dumping AOL and Microsoft Windows Sweet!
• When I'm back in LA, I plan on spending time with Jack and Cindy to plan our birthday celebration vacation. Cindy and I are turning 25 and Jack will be 26. Exciting! It's going to probably be around a 2-week vacation.
• I went to the restaurant Xanh in Downtown Mountain View last week, making it the 2nd time I've been there. The food was much better the 2nd time around. I went with Danny, who apparently knows exactly what to order. :P
• I went to Thaiphoon in Downtown Palo Alto this week. The food was also very yummy. Score!
• I'm a total Red Mango lover, now! I've done Pinkberry, Fraiche, Yogurtland, etc. I'm a huge fan of tart Fro-Yo and Red Mango is a great choice! The hottie winner of Survivor Cook Island and former Googler, Yul Kwon, is the owner of the new Red Mango downtown Palo Alto location. He actually serves the yogurt, too! Mmmm... eye candy!
  

Road Trip Back Home - Los Angeles April 16th to 20th

I drove down Wednesday afternoon last week to visit my family and friends in LA. I haven't seen much of my family since the holidays and even then, that time was minimal due to holiday craziness.

WEDNESDAY

• Drove down around 3:30pm... arriving around 8:30pm.
• Surprisingly, in the middle of no-where on the 5 freeway had the cheapest gas... around $3.62/gallon for regular unleaded.
• My car was covered in bugs... icky.

THURSDAY

• Had a 7:30am meeting to video-conference (VC) in to. I thought leaving a hour before work, around 6:30am, would be enough for the 15 miles between the Valley and the Santa Monica Office. Geez. Even at 6:30am the 405 is painful. I got there a few minutes late, because I ran into security issues and weird office logistics.
• I had lunch with Cindy at this cafe called Abbot's Habbit on the hip Abbot Kinney St. in Venice, CA. That area is pretty spiffy. Kinda like a modern version of Melrose.
• Left around 5pm to get dinner for my sister's birthday at PF Chang's in Woodland Hills. My sister, mom and dad all sat down and ate together. It was kinda nice to be together. My sister likes chains, I guess. The food and service is usually good.
• Since I was taking off Friday, I decided to party it up like a person who is either unemployed or doesn't have to work in the morning. I decided to meet up with Albert at the scandalously delicious Tigerheat, who I met a few weeks ago at Ty's Birthday in SF. Tigerheat is the one place that continuously makes anyone over 21 feel old. However, I had a blast because the venue moved from the Arena to Avalon. Avalon kinda reminds me of the classier big brother of The Abyss in Sunnyvale. I know... you can't compare Sunnyvale to Hollywood, but there was my attempt. One interesting moment was that I think I was dancing next to Danny Norriega, former Top 12 contestant on this year's American Idol. I also won a 102.7 KIIS FM beanie, when i caught it in mid air. Aww... fun times...

FRIDAY

• I had an early Dentist Appointment with my family dentist, Dr. Pinter. I love her, even though she has a tendency to tell me to 'brush and floss more.' She even complimented my mouth this time. 'You have a beautiful mouth.' Aww.
• I chilled for a significant portion of my afternoon at Panera Bread in Northridge. It's got free wi-fi and yummy food. Plus the staff at this location is usually uber friendly, because it's quite new.
• I took a bit of a nap and then decided to meet up with Ty and company in WeHo. I had dinner at Topz, ordering a turkey burger combo. It's always fun to dine in WeHo, because you can find healthy stuff fairly easily... unlike the Castro in SF. I then had dessert at Pinkberry. Yes, a fro yo run is required in Los Angeles.
• I met up with Ty at Rage (Friday's are Gameboi), after spending a bit of time at the Abbey. Ty's friend John was in town from Washington DC. He also went to school at the University of Michigan and was born in Northridge! So there was a bit of cool things we had in common. Albert who lives in WeHo, so he also came out.
• Ty, shall we say, had a bit too much to drink, but it wasn't his fault. The shot we had was a bit much and twice the normal size... so I took care of him. Everything turned out okay and Ty crashed at Albert's place. I also ran into Chase, who was studying his law school stuff at Java Detour, the posh new Coffee Bar in WeHo but later joined Sherif and I at Rage.
  

SATURDAY

• Saturday was super chill. I shopped and had lunch with my mom at the Westfield Topanga (Topanga Plaza to all of the old school peeps). I came up empty handed, but bought a pair of shoes at Nordstrom and had them delivered to my work. They were out of my size. They are these black Adidas shoes designed by Porsche that look super sleek and clean. They're called Men's Porsche Design S2.
  
• I took a break to run and then meet up with my friend Galen at The Grove (and Farmers Market). We chilled at Pinkberry and just chatted away. We did a bit of shopping too. Fun times. I tried not to judge his shopping at Pac Sun. Lol.
  
• I ended up meeting up with Ty, Albert and his roomie for some Sushi at Niko Niko in West Hollywood. The sushi and service were good. Ty was obsessed with Angelina Jolie in TV and couldn't get his eyes off the TV screen. Lol. Whatever new roll that Albert got was amazingly tasty.
• We mad a pit stop at Walgreens for booze that I didn't drink, and neither did Ty. Lol.
• Ty and I then headed to Here Lounge to meet up with John. I also met up with my friend Kenny and middle school friend Sherif. It was a chill night overall.

SUNDAY

• Woke up uber late and went to Target to get some jams for the road.
• Took the 101 North to the Silicon Valley because the weather was nice outside and I wanted a bit of an ocean view free of Big Rigs.
• Got home around 6:30pm, with bugs attached to my front bumper and all...

Trip Back Home to LA - April '08

2008 Mantra: Focus on Myself and not Romance

So I was watching Oprah last week on the rare occasion I'm home on a workday. The episode discussed the power of positive thinking and 'The Secret.' They also discussed this in a love/relationship fashion. Basically, to sum up, the positive thoughts you put out in the universe will come back to you in a multiplied form. They gave a couple of examples of women creating lists of their ideal man/relationship and when they weren't expecting it, their man showed up. Basically, the trick is to be positive and be content with YOURSELF before seeking that ideal partner.

I ended 2007 and started 2008 with being asked out on dates. In late 2007, I ended a 4-month long distance relationship with Tony, whom I met in San Francisco but he lived in San Diego. I wasn't out looking for love, but I gave going on dates a shot in January. I kind of knew this was a bad idea, given the fact I was still in Michigan until Mid-January and was in a transition phase. I also wasn't where I wanted to be in my own life. I still have a lot of things I want to accomplish before I focus on relationships.

To be honest, I wouldn't want to date me now. When I go out and meet new people on dates, the inevitable 'So What Do you Like To Do?' question comes into play. My answer: uhhhh.

In 2008, I plan to focus on myself, not romance. The idea being, focusing on myself will lead to a solid relationship in the future.

I will focus on the following, and have action plans accordingly:

• Continued Education: I love learning about business. It's a passion. I especially love marketing and advertising. I'm also interested in other aspects of the business world and would love to continue developing my analytical skills. How am I going to foster this? Take an MBA class, courtesy of Google. I'm enrolled in an Operations Management course, which I started this week. It's also no secret that I would like to earn an MBA in my late 20's. I also took an MBA class while in undergrad at UC Riverside.
  
• Sports: I would like to take up one sport in 2008. I've been talking with Nai about this. We're thinking of doing Tennis. He's currently in a bowling league.
  
• Health/Wellness: After losing 100+ pounds over the course of a year and a half, I want to continue to improve my health and wellness. I need to go to the doctor. I need to go to the dentist. I will get this done. I also would like to learn more and educate myself on the Human Anatomy and Nutrition. Getting a personal trainer in Ann Arbor was a start, but by no means is the solution to everything. I want to subscribe to Men's Health Magazine as a start. I also want to run a 5K for the first time.
  
• Photography: I have a new camera that I plan to use. I want to explore the Bay Area landscape and photograph it like no other. I would like to at first dabble into photography and then refine my skills later in the year. Maybe a course at a community college. I also plan to get a new computer to help me re-touch my new Digital SLR shots. I took pictures this past weekend in Napa Valley. I'm excited to share them!
  
• Travel: I've got domestic travel down (except for a cross country road trip and a few more cities I want to visit). It's now onto the rest of the world. My first step was getting my passport, which I've already done. I plan to take an international trip in the Spring or Summer. It would be nice to have a travel companion, but it isn't a deal breaker. I don't mind traveling by myself.
  
• Work: I've been at Google for over 2 years. I know, I sometimes can't believe it. I've specialized in Quality Control, an area I never thought I'd get into. Over 2008, I want to seriously evaluate my career path. I need to (1) Evaluate my current path, (2) Decide whether or not to move to a different team/division, or (3) Consider other options (i.e. Self Work, Going Back to School, etc.)
  
• Reading: I've never been much of a book reader. I like magazines, but don't have the time to read them. I'm going to MAKE time and read them. I'm also going to explore books more, both fiction and non-fiction. I want to read one book a season, at minimum.
  
• Finance: In years past, I started to educate myself on 401K, Mutual Funds and Online Savings. This year, I want to learn how to do my own taxes, learn to invest in stocks a bit more, and learn other ways to invest, save, and improve my credit.
  
• Friendships: This year is the year of solidifying old friendships and making some new friends outside of work. In the past few years, I slowly realized my whole social life is surrounded by co-workers. That is cool, given the fact that Googlers are amazing. But I want to meet new friends and develop new relationships, outside of work.
  
• Cooking: I've relied on Free Google Food during the Week and Restaurant Dining on Weekends. I occasionally make a Whole Foods or Safeway grocery store run. But I rarely cook. I want to learn how to cook better. I want to research recipies, buy cookbooks, and throw a dinner party/potluck.
• Politics: I need to follow the Presidential Election. I've been out of the loop a bit. I need to research, read and make more informed decisions. I intend to watch more news (BBC, CNN, etc.) and listen to NPR.
• Attend More Live Theater, Explore Museums, Listen to Live Music (i.e. Get into the Arts): While traveling in late 2007, I started to go to more Museums and More Live Theater. I intend to keep this going. A group of my friends has set personal goals to attend 'More Live Theater in 2008.' The Bay Area has such a good scene, why not take advantage of it? I NEED to hit up SF MOMA and the de Young for sure. I went several concerts last year and intend to keep that up. I would also like to go to more low key live music venues. For example, I want to explore the live Jazz scene in the Bay Area.
  
• Volunteer: This is one area I've neglected most of my life and I really regret it. I donate money to causes I believe in, but I really want to do more. I should first narrow down which causes I want to give my time to and then from there move on to donate my time.
  

There you have it. Happy Valentines Day and Singles Awareness Day! I've declared 2/14/08 'Me Day not V Day.'

Real friends have your back

I don't really like relying on anyone else. Becoming dependent on others makes me feel a bit awkward. I always go to the worst case scenario. What if they don't follow through on what I'm depending on them for?

I guess by not relying on others and being independent, It helps me from not thinking about that 'worst case scenario.'

So last night rolls around. I had a fantastic time with some friends after work playing poker, eating a bit of pizza and playing a karaoke game on the PS2. I came in 3rd of 6th place in poker, in case you were wondering. I lost on a full house with the winner having a four of a kind. :/

Anyways, a few of my friends who i was playing poker were going back to SF. I wanted to go to a club in SF because I would get to see some of my friends who I haven't seen in a while (John, Devon, Milo) and some of my friends who I will be seeing less of because of going to Ann Arbor and other circumstances (Ty, Evan, Eddie.) Heej was kind enough to offer me a ride up to SF. I called Alex and Joe, because Joe was in the city and heading back down to where I live in the Silicon Valley. So I could get a ride back home from him. At least I thought that was the case...

When it came time to leave the club, Joe was plastered (I can't drive his car because it's a stick), Alex didn't give a shit that I was stranded, and I now had to deal with that 'worst case scenario.' Ty, one of my good friends and co-workers who I was hanging out with at Dragon, came to the rescue and asked Fred, who was heading to San Jose, to see if I could get a ride back to my apt. in Sunnyvale. Fred was kind enough to give me a ride, even though it was a little out of his way. I was rescued by real friends. Before I left, Ty said 'I Have your back, Girl!' Now he needs to know I have his back anytime, too. Also, before I left, Devon said, 'Anytime you need a place to crash in the city, You're more than welcome at my place.' My friends know I have their back and I know I have theirs.

I guess I learned my lesson. Either (1) Don't depend on others or (2) Only depend on your real friends.

I had a great time last night. It will most likely be my last club experience in the San Francisco Bay Area until 2008. I can't wait to go to A2 but I have a sour taste in my mouth from last night

UCR San Diego Reunion 2007

Last weekend I spent my weekend in San Diego, California.

I had a nice mini-vacation with several of my fellow UCR Business buddies. It was a nice way to catch up.

What did we do? Here are some highlights:

• Rented a 10 person speed boat and cruised around Mission Bay.
• Chris proceeded to get pulled over from the Ocean 'Police' pretty much as soon as he took the wheel. Haha.
• Loads of stories from Cindy that shocked pretty much everyone.
• Salt water in eyes = Ouch.
• Dinner at Black Angus. I hadn't been to a Black Angus is years...
• Loads of silliness in drug stores. I think we almost got kicked out of one store.
• Random Hotel Antics. Pretty much the worst bed I've slept on in a long time. Go Ramada. Haha. But we made the most of it.
• Late breakfast/brunch at Denny's. I hadn't been to Denny's in years either. Dan and Mike ate wayyyy too many packs of sugar. That's what happens when too much testosterone is at the table.
• A lovely stroll and picture session in Balboa Park.
• Drove back up to Irvine. Got loads of Fro Yo at Yogurtland. Coolest Fro Yo concept yet. This is the longest line I've stood in for food in a while. You pay by the ounce. As much yogurt and toppings as you want. You can totally go overboard... like me... haha.
• We departed ways after taking some final pictures.
• Drove back with Dan to his Apt. and played with his doggie Smokie. Cutie pie. :)

Pictures can be located here.

Team Offsite: Horseback Riding in Half Moon Bay, CA

Last Tuesday, my team in AdWords went on an offsite to in Half Moon Bay at Sea Horse Ranch. First off, the weather was picturesque and quite out of the ordinary for Half Moon Bay. It tends to be cloudy there.

I was a bit afraid of riding horses. I've never done something in while another thing was in control of me. After a while, I became 'one' with my horse. We understood each other. I felt at peace. It was such a beautiful offsite in which you could connect with your co-workers. We chatted while making our way from a long trail that ended at the beach. After the two-ish hour horseback riding adventure, we had a picnic dinner to end the evening.

This made me think about riding horses in the future. Okay... if I were rich I would do it more often. But I could totally see what people love about horses. Loved it!

Nancy in SF / Dinner at Incanto: Fri. June 1st, 2007

Nancy, one of my old co-workers, who now is based out of Kansas City, came to SF last weekend. Jackie, Danny, Jen, Steph and I had dinner with Nancy at an Italian restaurant in the SF district of Noe Valley called Incanto.

I thought the food was inventive and an unconventional approach to traditional Italian food. One of the cool things is that every table gets complimentary sparking water or filtered water. That's a nice touch if you don't feel like drinking. I ended up getting the Balsamic-braised pork shoulder with polenta. We also had some wine and nice desserts. I believe the desserts were the 'Milk chocolate mocha with frozen cherry pearls' and 'panna cotta with strawberries & 15-year balsamic.' The panna cotta was pretty amazing stuff. It was a nice night out with fun conversation involving boy and girl talk. What else can you ask for?

Nancy in SF / Dinner at Incanto

Cinco De Mayo: From Being Productive To Being Attacked

Yesterday was productive and fun. The first half of the day involved working out, doing laundry, and getting my hair cut. I also tried to catch up on some TV.

At night, I met up with Alex in the city. We haven't had a hang out session in a while now that he moved to SF. Earlier in the day, he went on some drunken Cinco De Mayo scavenger hunt that was intense. He was pretty tired, but he was still willing to grab dinner and go to a bar. I know how tired he was, so thanks!

I picked him up at his Pacific Heights apt, we drove to the Castro and got dinner at Fuzio: Universal Pasta. At first I was trying to figure out why the place looked familiar on the outside. It was because there was one near the UCDC center in Washington DC in Dupont Circle. (Although I hear it's closed now) It's a tiny chain, with fewer than 10 locations. I ended up getting the Classic Chicken Parmesan and a Blackberry Cosmo. The food was cheap and good. Although the drink was nearly as costly as my entree. It was a nice twist on a Cosmo though. I liked how the entree came with a bit of pasta and some spinach. Nice touch.

After Dinner, Alex and I went to the Cafe. The people who go are kinda sketch. The music was okay. I mean we've been before, but Alex didn't want to go to Badlands because he was tired. I think we should have went to The Bar instead. While there, there was the Jose Cuervo promoter who gave Alex and I sweatbands. He also gave me a free shot of something. I think it was something peach flavored with Cuervo. Not bad. After the Cafe, Alex decided to leave at midnight because he was uber tired.

I decided to stay a bit longer and head to Badlands. I haven't been in a while. The line was super long, but It didn't take all that long to get in. The music was really good. I had a pretty good time just releasing energy. Interestingly enough, I ran into JESSE from WORKOUT on Bravo. I saw him last Thursday in LA at the Abbey. It felt like a bit of LA right in San Francisco.

The weird moment of the night: A guy at Badlands attacked me from behind during 'I Will Always Love You' by Whitney Houston. He would not let go of me. I tried escaping several times. I decided to just dance with him and bounce right after the song. He slow danced like in High School... putting his head on my shoulders. He tried to get fresh with me and I totally wasn't having it. That was my cue to leave Badlands. Haha.

Weekend Plans: Christina Aguilera & Random Bay Area Travel

So this weekend will be super fun. Cindy, my college buddy, will be coming up to Nor Cal on Friday.

I have the Christina Aguilera / Pussycat Dolls / Danity Kane concert on Saturday night in San Jose. I'll be going with Alex. We bought our tickets like in October of last year. Craziness. There are TWO parties going on Saturday night that I would love to go to, but with the concert and all, it will be nearly impossible.

I'll be hanging out with Cindy on Saturday night after the concert and Sunday afternoon. I'm still trying to decide what we should do. I was thinking Santa Cruz or maybe Half Moon Bay. Something picturesque and away from SF. Or maybe we'll do both... I dunno.

Alex Is Movin' On Up

So one of my best Nor Cal friends is moving to San Francisco. Alex C. got an apartment and will soon be moving. I never thought I'd see that day so quickly. So much for our pilot TV show 'The Real Gays of the South Bay.' I guess it sorta caught me off guard initially, but it's what he's got to do. I really think this will make him happier. I just hope he doesn't start boozing on weeknights. Lol.

With that being said, I really do think this will change the dynamic of our friendship. He'll be 40 miles away. There will be fewer dinners, shopping excursions, and randomness. Most interestingly, I will no longer have a carpool buddy to go up to the Castro with. My drives up will be alone and somber :/

To tell you the truth, that has been some of the best quality time we've had together. It's like 40 minutes of un-interupted face to face time. On top of all of this, we haven't been on the same work team in quite some time. I guess I just feel that all of this put together will mean things just won't be the same. That makes me sad. :(

On the bright side, I MIGHT have a place to crash every once and a while. Although, Alex has emphasized that option being very unlikely to never. *Le Sigh*