Hunters Nighclub / Video Bar - San Jose, CA

Friday night was the 'pre-party' for San Jose pride at the new gay bar in San Jose, Hunters. The only other gay club that really competes is Splash.

To tell you the truth, I don't go out socially in San Jose that much. If I did, it would probably be at the more posh (i.e. straight) Lounges and Clubs around the city. I don't mind shopping or having a nice meal in San Jose because it's a pretty nice city. However, I usually keep it low key in Mountain View, Sunnyvale or Palo Alto. If i'm really clubbing, It's in SF.

Who did I go with? Well, I met up with someone I knew in High School, Kyle. He doesn't look the same at all. He brought some of his friends along, like Rick, Mike, David, etc. Someone asked if he knew I was gay in High School. He was like 'Um... Ya! Hello!' We then started to say who we knew was gay at Alemany. Lol. Fun Times.

It was nice to hang out with a new set of people. It's refreshing to have people in the South Bay to hang out with. Kyle and I will probably grab dinner and watch a movie one of these days to catch up. I also (albeit at the last minute) went up to a guy I thought was cute. We gave 'the look' to each other quite often but never went up to each other. While outside, I asked him his name and he wanted my number. He's a nice guy and we chatted for a few minutes tonight on the phone.

About Hunters:

• Parking is okay in the area. You can park at the garage at 2nd and San Carlos with no problems.
• The club has only been open for two weeks but has got some local press.
• The line situation is okay before 10:30pm. However, I hear that around 11 it got really whack. 30-45 minute waits were typical, even, when it wasn't all that packed in side.
  
• The sound system isn't all the good. When I walked in, I was pretty shocked. I think eventually they were able to get the sound levels right.
• The LCD TV's are a nice touch, but often times the 'VJ' playing the Videos had some technical issues.
• There are two patio areas. A small one in front and a large one in back. I wonder if there will ever be a 'front patio scene' a la 'Rage' or 'Fiesta Cantina' in Los Angeles. Places in the Bay don't tend to have a front patio due to space issues and rent prices. I'm also sure Zoning is also involved.
• The main bar area is nice, although slightly small. There is also a nice front section with seats to just chill.
  
• The bar hasn't quite found a personality yet. I'm sure that will come over time. I wonder if they'll have theme nights in the future. (A Dragon-type night would be FANTASTIC!)
• There is small open area for dancing, although no-one really started to dance until midnight.
• They had trashy Go Go boys. Although, none were my type.
• The crowd is really all over the map. I would say the crowd reminds me of Badlands in SF, but with less white guys.
• Drinks are slightly more expensive than the gay bars in SF, but they use better alcohol.
• I'll be back for sure.

Pictures:

Hunters Nightclub - San Jose, CA

John Mayer / Ben Folds Concert (Tuesday June 5th, 2007)

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of seeing both John Mayer and Ben Folds in concert at HP Pavilion in San Jose.

I drove up from LA and made it to the South Bay around 6pm, which was a perfect amount of time to meet up with Nai and drive to the concert. Nai was a bit sick, but I still think he had fun.

The Highlights:

• Saw the one of the Google VP's I know at the concert.
• Ben Folds using a synthesizer to cover 'Such Great Heights.'
• John Mayer babbling about random 80's nostalgia.

The Set List:

John Mayer's set list was pretty phenomenal. I liked how he did a mix of new and old. Past concerts tend to lean toward new stuff. According to his website, this was his set list:

Belief
No Such Thing
Good Love is On the Way
Gravity
Bigger Than My Body
Dreaming With A Broken Heart
Vultures
I Don't Need No Doctor
Wheel
Why Georgia
Waiting on the World to Change
-- encore --
Slow Dancing (acoustic)
83 (acoustic)
Who Did You Think I Was (acoustic)
I'm Gonna Find Another You

Some Pictures:

John Mayer & Ben Folds - June 5, 2007

So Cal Post 4: The Highlander Reunion & Gay Karaoke (Mon. June 4th, 2007)

Monday night after working at Google, I headed over to lovely Riverside, CA for the annual banquet for the UC Riverside Highlander. After possibly the worst traffic I've experienced in some time, I finally made it to the Mission Inn in Downtown Riverside around 7:15pm. The Mission Inn is by far one of the coolest landmarks in Southern California.

I parked on the street and walked up to the hotel. In typical fashion, there was brand new Lamborghini parked outside. I made my way to the Spanish Art Gallery room only to find not one single person I know. I called James in a panic and found out that James, Brian, Milt & Steve were at the Bar. I met up with those guys. I haven't seen some of them in years... so It was pretty damn fantastic... just like old times.

We eventually made our way to the banquet in the Spanish Art Gallery. I saw more familiar faces like Joe, Danielle, Mrs. B., Zuhair, Chapman, etc. However, it made me miss all of my old co-workers who couldn't make it.

After drinking alcoholic drinks, long conversations, picture taking, grubbing, laughing, trash talking and the awards ceremony, the banquet had ended.

What is a post-college student to do? Fear not! Karaoke at a Gay Bar to the rescue! We headed on over to The Menagerie, one of a whopping 2 gays bars in Riverside. That's not bad, considering how conservative the city is in general.

We sang a mix between 80's songs and boy/girl band pop. James got into the Karaoke a lot. He kicked off the night by singing a drunken version of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' by Bonnie Tyler. Make sure to check out the karaoke video on YouTube! We sang a group version of 'Come Sail Away' by Styx. Lastly, Chapman and I butchered a Spice Girls song.

We parted ways after Karaoke. I however, got a little reminiscent about Riverside. So I decided to drive random places around the city. Mainly spots around the University, Downtown and Riverside Plaza. I'm still amazed at how quickly things change for the better in Riverside.

Highlander Banquet & Reunion - June 4, 2007

So Cal Post 3: Rage, Cindy & Santa Monica Google (Sun & Mon - June 3rd & 4th, 2007)

I drove back to LA from San Diego on Sunday Night. I arrived around 11pm. I met up with Cindy at her Redondo Beach pad for a few minutes. Her place is totally swanky. Nice find, girl!

After visiting Cindy, I went Rage in West Hollywood to meet up with Simeon. It was probably a bad idea because I had to wake up early to drive to work in Santa Monica from the Valley.

On Monday, I made the commute on the 405 to the Santa Monica Google office. I decided to work from this office so I didn't have to waste a vacation day. This office is mainly engineers, so It was a bit weird being surrounded by guys who talk about javascript and ajax all day. Nonetheless, I still had my fab snacks and ocean views. I even figured out how to VC into a meeting in Mountain View. Yay!

I met up for lunch with Cindy at California Chicken Cafe in Venice. I love this place, but this was the first time I've been to this location. I usually go to one of the valley locations. We talked about boys and work. It was a nice mid-day convo. We parted ways and I went back to work...

So Cal Post 2: Semi-Sunny San Diego (Sun. June 3rd, 2007)

On Sunday, I met up with my old Washington DC boss from the US Chamber, Brent. I haven't seen him since this time last year, right around when I got converted at Google. He and a few of his friends ran the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego.

We met up for Dinner at Rama, this fantastic Thai restaurant in the Gaslamp District. I ended up getting the Pra Ram, spinach with chicken in a peanut sauce. It was very tasty. After that, we grabbed some dessert at the local Ghirardelli a few blocks away.

All and all it was a nice little getaway. Brent made me realize how much I miss DC. And apparently smoking is banned at Bars in DC now. That was my MAJOR bet peeve before. Lol.

San Diego Trip - June 3, 2007

So Cal Post 1: The Abbey & Buddah Lounge (Sat. June 2, 2007)

As many of you know, I made a kinda last minute trip to So Cal last weekend (June 2 to 5). I made it home around 6pm after leaving the Silicon Valley via car around 1pm.

I convinced Kenny to go out to West Hollywood on Saturday night (after about 30 minutes of begging... lol). I haven't seen him in forever. We've never actually hung out on a weekend night before because he's never in Nor Cal on a weekend. But we've hung out plenty of times in Nor Cal on weeknights. We met at the Abbey and grabbed some coffee. Neither of us drank, but we caught up with some convo.

Later in the evening, Simeon and Paul came and met us. I've met Simeon a few times before but this was the first time I've met Paul. So far I haven't met a friend of a friend I haven't liked. After chilling at the Abbey, we made our way to the revitalized Buddah Lounge LA at Ultra Suede. Apparently it was the poppin' gaysian club back in the 90's and early 2000's. After 5 or so years of being away, it's back. It's basically a 21+ version of GAMeBoi on a Saturday night. I had a great time there.

Kenny bounced a bit early. Simeon left around 2am. I stayed and talked with Paul for a bit. Then he was kind enough to drop me off to my car which was parked way down Santa Monica Blvd. I liked the white Apple logo on his Honda Accord. I knew we would get along. Haha. Paul was kinda excited to see Madonna's choreographer at Buddah Lounge. He was a bit star struck. Lol.

Buddah Lounge LA - June 2, 2007

Dragon SF: Fri. June 1st, 2007

I ended up going to Dragon (held at Club Eight) last Friday. I was kinda talked into it by Ty and Devon. I had a pretty good time and met loads of new folks. I also ran into some familiar faces, that being Kelvin and Ronald. The photos can be viewed below:

Dragon SF

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

Work at Google: Past, Present & Future

I've been working at Google for just over a year and a half. This week I hit that mark and I actually didn't really think about it until now.

Quite honestly, If I look back on everything, I never thought I would be working at a tech company in the Silicon Valley or doing what I'm doing. I thought I would be working at some ad agency in LA, commuting on the 405, and slaving away with a salary less than $25K. Salary has never been my focus, so I'd be happily working for $25K, as long as I am loving what I'm doing and who I'm working with.

The Past

I came in at Google as a contractor/temp worker working in their AdWords department under their Online Sales and Operations division. AdWords is one of two advertising products Google has, the other being AdSense.

I started off as a 'representative' reviewing online ads. You had to be sharp, quick, and able to understand a vast amount of policies and apply them on a constant basis. During this time, I had Dara as my manager. She really helped me stay focused on improving performance. I also learned a lot from Kenji, who was not my direct manager, but the manager of some members on my team. From there I converted after 6 or so months of the stress as a temporary worker and turned into a 'coordinator.' As a coordinator, you actually interact with advertisers by answering emails, phones and chats. I didn't have any dedicated clients, but this was the time when I ramped up on product knowledge to understand a very very complex product. During this time, there was so much change. Flexibility is quite possibly the best trait to have as a Googler.

The Present

Recently, our 'coordinator' title changed to 'associate.' No promotion really, it was done out of making sure all departments had similar titles for the same job roles. I've continued to improve my product knowledge. However, for the past two quarters, I've mainly focused on internal mentoring, quality control, and customer satisfaction. I've had less interaction with clients, but I do truly enjoy helping people make the most of their online advertising.

The Future

I'll hit my 1 year working as a full-hire employee in July. I've virtually had the same manager, who had the same start date as me, since I converted. I had Matt as my manager my first quarter. But ever since then, I've had Megan, who I've learned a lot from. She's good at making me look at the big picture and not getting so focused on the present. Quite honestly, I'll miss having her as my manager. Everyone is sort of going different places next quarter.

I found out what team I'll be joining next quarter. It's a new team that's small and highly needed. I fought like nobody's business to get on this team. The primary focuses of this team will be (1) mentoring, (2) training, (3) quality control, (4) project management and (5) account management. It's sort of a hybrid team. That blends all of my interests into one. After being at Google for this long, I truly realized how much I like mentoring people. I always thought my first profession would be a teacher. So you could kind of think of it as being a teacher in corporate America.

Although I'll have a new manager, I wouldn't be where I am today without my temp manager Dara and my full hire managers Matt & Megan. I look forward to the challenges of Q3 and beyond.

Graham Norton Back On BBC America

I was excited to hear that Graham Norton's new show, The Graham Norton Show, will be playing on BBC America starting June 2nd, 2007. I really liked his old stuff when they played it a few years ago. I saw him when he made a week long appearance in Hollywood for his V Graham Norton (UK) series back in 2003. The guest that episode was Shirley MacLaine.

John Edwards at Google 5/30/07

Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards stopped by the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA on Wednesday 5/30/07. He followed previous visits from presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Now I want Barack Obama to come.

Enjoy the fireside chat on Youtube below:



Here is a pic of my buddies Roxanne and Dru with John Edwards on Flickr

Fun Week Ahead

So the next week or so will be great. I'm looking forward to a few things in particular:

• Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards stops by the headquarters of Google in Mountain View, CA today.
• The grand opening of Hunters Nightclub in San Jose on Friday.
• Driving to Los Angeles on Saturday morning. Just a random weekend visit. You can probably catch me roaming WeHo at night.
  
• Possibly meeting up with my old US Chamber of Commerce boss, Brent, in San Diego this weekend. I haven't seen him in about a year.
• Working from the Santa Monica Google Office on Monday 6/4/07 so I don't have to use a vacation day. I love this office!
• Going to the Spanish Art Gallery at the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA for the annual UCR Highland Banquet on Monday 6/4/07.
• The John Mayer Concert at the HP Pavilion in San Jose on Tuesday 6/5/07. Ben Folds 5 is the opener. Yay!

Memorial Day Weekend 2007

FRIDAY

• Kinda last minute decision to go to Gay Day at Paramount's Great America in Santa Clara, CA. Bill texted me at 7am and asked me if I wanted to go. I'm glad I did!
• I ran into a TON of people at PGA. First off, a ton of Googlers and other friends. Evan, Doug, Brian, Heather, etc.
  
• Second... someone from HIGH SCHOOL! Ah. It was a bit weird considering I didn't go to high school in this area. So, as it turns out, Kyle, who looks totally different then what I remembered came up to me. He was like 'Is your name William?' I was a bit confused. No one ever calls me by my formal name. He's like, 'We went to High School together.' He proceeded to whip out his Drivers License. I remember his name and he totally didn't look the same because he lost a lot of weight. Which is why I'm surprised he recognized me too because I don't really look the same either. He's like 'I never forget faces.' As it turns out he lives in Cupertino and works in Santa Clara. So we'll probably get coffee or something one of these days.

Doug, Bill, Me & Stavros
Notice the Hair Color goes from Lighter to Darker when you look left to right. Haha... random.

SATURDAY

• Went to San Francisco and explored the city randomly. Shopped and got some grub at SF Centre.
• Proceeded to drive randomly around the city. I saw one of my former co-workers on the street while in my car. I waived at Evan M. when he was on some random street in the Marina. He waived back. Haha.
  
• Chilled at Peet's Coffee on Market St. in the Castro. I got some tea and read some magazines. It was so nice to just relax and people watch.
• Met up with Simon for some dinner at Fuzio's on Castro. We then grabbed a couple of drinks at The Mix. I've been to the Mix and Fuzio's once before. I like both places a lot. The Mix was just a great place to get a drink and have a convo. The music isn't too loud and people are just super friendly.
• I ran into some co-workers, Ben & Marl, while walking back to my car after getting drinks at the Mix. I guess Ben lives nearby... probably in the Mission.

SUNDAY

• I trekked back to San Francisco. Ya... that's super rare. I actually wanted to shop and buy some new clothes in Union Square. I ended up buying stuff at Macy's Men, H&M and Armani Exchange. I wanted to get stuff at Express but they didn't really have anything good. I was happy to see Ben Sherman will be opening a store in Union Square that should be opening soon. It was Friends and Family weekend at H&M so I ended up saving 25%... yay!
• I ran into my old co-worker Melissa on the street while walking to my car. That was such a great surprise. Turns out she was calling my name for several seconds, but I was listening to my iPod really loudly. I took her back to her place instead of her having to take the bus. It gave us a good amount of time to get a nice convo in.
• Met up with Bill to hit some clubs at night. We though about going to Fresh @ Ruby Skye, but I'm not a fan of circuit stuff or the druggie scene. We decided to instead try someplace neither of us had been to. We went to Ntouch, off Polk Street. There wasn't a huge crowd, but It was Sunday. I really liked the music and the bartender was super cute. We stayed probably longer than we would have because we meet some nice folks named Shaun and Chia. We ended up going to the Castro around 12am. We hit up The BOC and Badlands. I saw Simeon, who I know from LA, outside Badlands. It's nice to see familiar faces. We left Badlands around 2am and stayed outside for a while to mingle. I then took everyone home. It was a fun night!

Weight Loss Update

Last week I was 3 pounds away from my initial weight loss goal. I lived 22 years being huge and couldn't take it anymore.

Quite honestly, I don't believe I've came this far. There were several experiences that inspired me and/or made me think about life differently:

• Jack's Mom whispering in my ear about her wanting to see me lose weight.
• Not being able to ride something at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk in 2006 with Danny.
• Josh T. starting to go to the gym and drop the pounds. He inspired my initial start.

Although these are the three main things, Nai has kept by my side and pushed me hard. We've been through a lot together and I would not have had another human on this earth help me through this other than him.

So I'm here to officially announce numbers. I started working out around July 2006. It's been about 11 or so months since I first started on my weight loss track. Here goes it...

Initial Weight | ~300 lbs.

Initial Weight Loss Goal | 100 lbs.

Initial Target Weight | 200 lbs

Weight Today | 198 lbs

My Next Goal | 180 lbs

So, I've met my target weight in less than a year... the hard way. No pills, no surgery. Purely discipline, exercise and eating better.

Quite honestly, I hit a rut around 210 lbs. It took me a long time to get from 210 to 200. But here's to the future. Wish Me Luck!

Shrek 3

I went with some Googlers to the AMC Mercado in Santa Clara to watch Shrek 3.

I thought it was okay. No plot to really speak of. A lot of it was farce, but not as funny or creative. I did think Justin Timberlake did a good job.

I honestly think the best thing about the experience was the preview for Hairspray.

Overall: C