Thinking 24/7: These topics are on my mind

My mind is a bit off today. I didn't get any sleep and tried to recover this afternoon, but with that said, I have a lot of thoughts running through my head:

• I'm happy to be back in California. It's home and always will be. But I still have the desire to live many other places.
• I'm excited to have a social life again. Not that I didn't have a social life in MIchigan, but it wasn't MY social life to some extent. Again, it's the being taken out of your comfort zone thing. Dating, movies, working out, dining out in SF... all things I'm looking forward to!
• The Staph Infection hitting the Castro is scary. Although the drug resistant bug has hit LA, Boston, and New York, it seems to be making the biggest impact in the gay community in San Francisco's Castro District. As reported in the SF Chronicle, one out of every 588 is infected with the drug resistant form of MRSA. This is super scary.
• Strangers have been super nice to me. I try to help out where I can. But I've been in a lot of random binds lately and complete strangers usually step up and help me out. I'm not sure if it's Karma, but I truly believe what comes around goes around. I had an unbelievable amount of luggage to carry around via mass transit, and many people helped me out today. It was cool.
  
• I like mass transit... a lot. Even thought it's not the most time efficient necessarily, I love living in an area where I can get around via Mass Transit. I got from SFO to my car in Mountain View for around $12 -- mixing BART, CalTrain and a Cab. How great is that?
• I'm sad I left Michigan a bit earlier than I wanted. This week is very big in Michigan. You have the Republican Presidential Primary and the Detroit Auto Show in one week. I found it pretty cool to see the Republicans duke it out in Michigan... via Advertising on Radio and TV. The Detroit Auto show is a huge deal. It's all that's covered on the news and it's all people are talking about. It's very cool. And the best part? I feel optimism in the American Car Industry.
• I've added the Volvo C30 to my Test Drive list. I saw an ad in a magazine for the Volvo C30. I thought, what a cool little car! It's pricey, but I love the modern Scandinavian interior. So far it's hit most of my future car requirements... hi tech advanced features, awesome audio, available sunroof, power but still decent gas mileage, smaller design for city living, ipod connectivity and something visually unique (stand out from the crowd).
• I'm excited for MacWorld! So when flying from Detroit to SFO, I sat next to Troy, who was heading to MacWorld. We bonded and he reminded me how excited I am for whatever Apple has up it's sleeves tomorrow. I'm most excited for the new ultra thin laptop. Wired has mock photos of what it thinks Apple will release.
• I'm excited to put my Digital SLR to good use. I got a Nikon D40, an entry level Digital SLR camera. That might require me to travel around the bay more.
• Sunnyvale gets an Art Institute of California! The newest Art Institute of California is in none other than my current home of Sunnyvale! I saw an ad on TV and I got a little excited. If I ever wanted to take classes on the side, I'm excited to have a legit institution nearby. :) It joins the other California Art Institutes in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, the Inland Empire, San Francisco, and Sacramento.
• American Gladiators on NBC. Even thought it's one big testosterone fest --- an overload to some extent --- American Gladiators is entertaining and reminds me of my childhood. I'm not sure how I feel about Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali as hosts. I do like some of the over the top effects... like when the bullseye is hit during Assault. Explosions and Water Drops, oh my!

Last Day in Ann Arbor

I'm returning to Northern California after my 3 and a half month stint in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Today is my last full day living in Michigan. I'm flying out tomorrow morning to return to the daily California grind.

I'll be the first to admit that this city probably isn't representative of the Midwest as a whole, but I had a great time here. The town can be described as 'college,' 'liberal,' 'artsy,' and even 'pretentious.' I'm going to even miss living in the snow a bit. I'm going to miss the people the most, though. I don't think I'll miss the food all that much --- I could do without the college town grub.

Often times I felt like I was out of my comfort zone, but I think I needed to be. You don't create memories if you're always comfortable.

I've conquered The West Coast, East Coast and the Midwest. All I have left is the South. :P

ABC's 'The Mole' Returning to TV after 4 Year Hiatus

ABC is resurrecting 'The Mole,' one of the first competitive reality television shows from early in the decade. It hasn't been on TV in over 4 years. The host is still TBD. If only Anderson Cooper weren't being all professional on CNN during a presidential election year. He is to this day, my favorite Reality TV show host. He's also my favorite news anchor. ;)

The best part: they're casting soon. I'm totally gonna apply! It's my DREAM to be on The Mole.

Casting Information Soon on www.molecasting.com.

News Source: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20169920,00.html

Weight Loss Picture Timeline

This post is meant as a preface to an entry with content. I still haven't come up with a snazzy title, but it will contain my tips, tricks, and FAQ to my 100+ lb weightloss.

I get questions all the time, mainly from girls. They always seem to be the ones focused on losing weight. Blame the media. They're usually hot.

Over the past few weeks, I've heard the following comments in LA, the Bay and everywhere else I've been:

• You're hot!
• You're beautiful!
• You look so conservative.
• How did you lose the weight?
• What's your secret?
• Do you even eat?
• You have definition in your face!
• You're a medium? I'm a medium! Whoa.

Picture 1: January 2006 @ ~300 Lbs.

Picture 2: July 2006 @ ~275 Lbs.



Picture 3: July 2007 @ ~190 Lbs.



Picture 4: November 2007 @ ~183 Lbs.

About being stupid...

I arrived back in the Midwest yesterday after a 4.5 hour flight from San Francisco.

Nai was gracious enough to wake up at 5:45am and take me to the Cal Train station in Downtown Mountain View. I then took the 6:23 Caltrain to the BART to SFO. They changed the way you get to SFO via BART. You used to be able to do a direct shot from Millbrae (the Caltrain/BART connection station). Now you have to go from the Millbrae BART to San Bruno and then shoot down to SFO. It wasn't a big deal, and probably only added 3 or so minutes to the ride.

I get to SFO for my 8:15 flight with plenty of time, well... just enough time. I get to Security at around 7:15am and to the Terminal by 7:30. So I was fine. The flight was easy breezy... and didn't nearly feel like almost 5 hours (which it pretty much was because we were delayed 20 minutes).

My next challenge. How to get from DTW Airport in Detroit to Ann Arbor? I took a Taxi with my roomie Kev when I left Ann Arbor. I read about the Michigan Flyer, a bus from a hotel near my apartment to DTW (and the reverse) for $15, vs. $60 for a taxi or sedan. I knew there was a 4:45 shuttle to Ann Arbor that i could catch. It showed up 15 minutes late. No Biggie. I get to Ann Arbor around 5:50pm. I was dropped to a hotel about 3/4 of a mile from my apartment. Now, how to get from this hotel to my apartment... when there aren't taxis around. It was 13 degrees outside and all I had was a thin sweatshirt and no gloves. I thought, why not walk? I always hear about how people had to trek miles in the snow... surely I can go this short distance with my two suitcases to my apartment. WRONG. I pretty much had frostbite on my hands after 5 minutes outside.

I made it to Briarwood Mall and in the parking lot a woman parked up next to me and said, 'You want a ride? I have kids your age and It's wayyy too cold outside.' She said, 'It's not a problem. Where are you going? You better not hope I'm a mass murderer! You know you're stupid for not wearing a jacket in this weather.' I thought, 'Um, I'll take my chances about you not being a mass murderer.' So it turns out she's a doctor at St. Joseph's in Ann Arbor. We bonded quickly because her daughter lives in Menlo Park (near me in the Bay Area) because her husband is getting a Ph.D at Stanford in Engineering. We talked quite a bit in our short 3 minute ride to my apartment.

We got to my apartment and I defrosted myself.

Someone was totally watching over me... and I thank you Deb Oberdoerster, MD.

Xmas at Home

You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to going back to Los Angeles for Christmas. Even if It's above 50 degrees and raining, I'll still be a happy camper!

It would have been cool to experience my first White Christmas, but I'll save it for another year. :)

DTW > LAX on Thursday 12/20/07. Arrive ~ 7:30pm, weather permitting.

Random Food Combination

I just had 'Golden Brown Sugar' Quaker Oatmeal with Organic Vanilla Soy Milk. It says to use water... but I thought I would be different.

It was a phenomenal decision. Super scrumptious. :)

It's nice not to travel for a change

I really need this weekend for recovery. I feel like I've been traveling so much lately. I'm usually in an airport, car or train station on the weekend it seems.

Yesterday was the Ann Arbor version of Google's Holiday party. I had a blast. It was nice to be in a small venue at St. John's Inn and know almost everyone. Part of me wanted to be in Mountain View, but I'm going to be in Ann Arbor and live it up, dammit! It was fairly depressing because everyone brought their significant others, but I still have fun with the singles.

It was nice to hang out with Ray, Heather and Ariel -- who came in this week from Mountain View for the Holiday Party as well. I have pictures that I'll upload later.

I booked a room with John as a crash pad so we didn't have to drive home after the party. It was one of the nicest hotel rooms I've stayed in in a long time. :)

After we woke up, I thought about buying Spice Girls tickets, but I'm still unsure if I want to go in Detroit, Chicago or DC. I'm leaning toward DC.

After we got back, John and I stopped by Ann Arbor's world-renowned Deli, Zingerman's. It was amazing. Read my review on Yelp!

Possible Missed Connection on Craigslist

I always love reading "missed connections" on Craigslist. I've always wanted to be one. Lol. It's like getting to read someones mind.

Anywho, I was just passing through the Chicago version of the site because I was there this past weekend. The "missed connection" below sounds like it could be me, because, I was in fact standing on the left side of the stage by myself standing next to two guys for a little while at Roscoe's. Although, I think I'd be an egomaniac if I responded...

Saturday night. guy at roscoes dancefloor - m4m - 25

---

Reply to: pers-496597447@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-12-02, 5:08PM CST


You were standing at the roscoes dance floor on the left side of the stage on the ledge standing area. You were alone and looking very hot.

I was with my friend and we were standing next to you. I was hoping you'd come talk to me but you left suddenly.

Hope you read this.

• Location: Lakeview
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 496597447

Personal Goals

I feel like 2007 was a year of a single goal of mine: Weight Loss. I've achieved that, but now I want to become well-rounded again. I feel like I've lost interest in my passions and don't have hobbies. I used to be on top of my game in entertainment, hollywood, politics, technology, etc. Now I feel like I don't keep track of any of them.

In the next couple of weeks, I will be setting my personal OKRs for 2008. An OKR is an Objective and Key Result. Basically, it's setting a benchmark and later evaluating how you held up against those benchmarks. It's often times used in the workplace, but can be used in life as well. People also refer to these personal goals as New Years Resolutions.

The key to these goals are making them metrics based. For example, a sample OKR could be:

Running and completing two 5K races.

What makes this an OKR is that (1) It has an action [running in a 5K] and (2) has a metric associated with it [2].

Then in 2009, you build upon your 2008 OKRs. So I could for example run a half marathon in 2009 to stretch my 2008 goal, etc.

What's important to remember is that you often times set goals that you can't necessarily achieve but can get darn near close. That way you stretch yourself.

Some of my personal OKRs will be silly but some will be super serious. I think i'll be adding to the 'list' frequently until 2008... but my mind has been running on overload with goals I want to achieve.

More Travel Ahead.

I've been using my time in Ann Arbor as an opportunity to take loads of mini trips. It's no secret I love to travel, talk with locals and discover the hidden gems of a city. Each city is unique -- whether it's the people, food or traditions.

I've spent 2 weekends in Chicago, 1 weekend in Toronto and 1 weekend in Las Vegas.

I'm heading back to Chicago this weekend. I think I'm going to Washington, D.C. the weekend of Dec. 14th because my old boss, Brent, is having a Holiday Party. The weekend in between is open game, but I'll probably keep it local because I have my Company Holiday Party on that Friday.

I'm planning on returning to Los Angeles on Dec. 20th and won't be going back to work until January 2nd, 2008. I only need to take 3 vacation days to get all of that time off, so I'll be taking advantage of it. :)

After Christmas, I'll probably head back to Northern California after spending some time with the Fam and Friends in So Cal. I want to check up on my apartment and just get back into my groove.

It's possible my time in Nor Cal will be super short. But I'll talk about that later if and when I find out any news...

Here's a story... of a lovely lady...

So a few weeks back I mentioned how I absolutely adore my housekeeper. We had a pretty long conversation about the single life and just random talk. She's just so full of spirit.

I had the pleasure again today of chatting with her. I left work a bit late and knew she would be coming by. We chatted about Vegas, trashy celebrity gossip, shopping and our Thanksgiving plans. She's had a lot of life experience and just goes with the flow. I love that.

I finally 'formally' introduced myself and got her name. Her name is Carol and she's a wonderful woman.

So Thankful

I've come to realize how excellent my life is right now. My gripes are pretty minor. Because I'll be traveling this thanksgiving to Las Vegas for a little R&R, I'll write what I'm thankful for now. These are in no particular order, just train of thought:

• My Family - Even though I haven't lived in LA for just under 2 years, my family still makes it point to keep in contact with me. It might not be as often as it used to, but such as life. I talk to my Mom, Dad and Sister often.
  
• My High School Friends - I've been trying to do a good job to keep in touch with as many of my High School friends as possible. Even though I say 'High School' some are really grade and middle school. At this point, I've known many of these people for over a decade. That's a long time. We've been through a lot and I hope our friendships only grow stronger.
• My College Friends - You know who you are. We've all diverged and went our separate ways to some extent. But we make it a point to have semi-annual 'reunions' and keep in contact by phone and email. You guys are all super smart and doing very well for yourselves. Considering it's been only a little over 2 years since we graduated, I think we're all off to wonderful careers. I have no doubt we'll be lifelong friends. I mean, who else can hold up a pinky finger and burst out laughing like we can? We left college during a bad job market and still managed to carve our name into the business world.
• My New Friends - Over the past few months, I've been lucky to meet new people by living in the Midwest and doing a bit of traveling. I've made new friends in Ann Arbor, Chicago and Toronto. From my Irish roomie Kevin to my new friends, such as JD in Toronto and Matt in Chicago, I hope that we'll be able to make future memories together. I've had a great time getting to know people in different cities around North America and I hope to make many more friendships to come.
  
• My Career - I've worked my way up at Google a good amount. I've tried to make a long term impact that will shape my division for some time to come. I started out as a temporary contractor, converted into an Account Associate and was recently promoted last week to an Account Strategist. I worked really hard to get ahead and I'm happy that everything is going well. I've gotten to work in Ann Arbor, MI and I hope this opens the doors to new opportunities in the future.
• My Co-Workers/Friends - Working at Google, It's hard to separate the distinction between friends and co-workers. Never in my life have I been surrounded by such sharp, motivated, and down to earth people. I love all of my fellow Googlers and Gayglers. I hang out with you all the time and I couldn't ask for a better set of people to spend my life with on a daily basis. Even when I moved to A2, you've done a great job keeping in contact. I appreciate it. :)
• My Online Friends - Don't think I forget about y'all. I still read your blogs and posts from time to time. I haven't met many of you in person, but I feel like I know you.
  
• My Health - To some extent, this is what I'm most thankful for this year. I never realized how much good health has on the quality of my life. Before about a year and a half ago, I weighed nearly 300 pounds. Today I weigh close to 180. Yea, I lost an average woman. I sometimes cry when I look at older pictures. I can't believe I let myself go so much. I'm happy I'm healthier in mind, body and spirit. I'm not totally where I want to be, but I'm damn near close.
• My Love Life - This is something I don't talk about much. I guess I'm relatively private about dating and relationships. But I'm thankful I've gained a lot of experience in dating over the past year or so. I've grown by getting to know other guys at a deeper level. I went from zero experience to more experience than many people I know. By no means am I an expert, but I now have people I can lean on to to give me advice. To some extent It was a whirlwind. I'm starting to look into settling down a bit more in the near future. I'm talking with someone, but It's hard because it's long distance. I hope things work out alright.

Soon I'll have a post about what I want to accomplish in 2008. 2007 has been a HUGE year for me. Hopefully I'll have a list created before the holiday rush.

Last Minute Trip to Toronto

I love to travel. I'm not very seasoned at it, however. I have NO international travel experience. Actually, I've never been abroad. That includes Canada and Mexico. I don't have a passport either. Sad, I know.

I was talking with John, my A2 ex pat extraordinare, and we were looking at our calendars for future travel while in A2. We both realized we have NO weekends left left to travel. None. We're both booked to the brim with other travel or personal plans. We both realized we did however have this weekend free. Ohio State is playing Michigan this weekend, so It's gonna be crazy in A2 anyhow. It's the biggest week of the year as far as college football is concerned.

I looked at Hotels, John looked at Travel options and we booked everything in about an hour. We somehow got some KILLER deals at the last minute for this weekend, Friday to Sunday.

We're driving to Windsor, ON, the closest part of Canada to Michigan. It's about half hour away, right across from Detroit. From there, we're gonna take the Canadian Train, ViaRail. The train takes about 4 hours to Toronto. We'll be arriving around 9:30pm. Just enough time to get to the hotel, change and hit the Nightlife. As it turns out, ViaRail has a 'youth' discount. It's 25% off for those who are between 18 and 25 years of age. Sweet! John missed out cause there wasn't a 'middle age' discount. Hehe. j/k

I booked a room at the SoHo Metropolitan in Downtown Toronto. It's right near the Harbor and in the middle of everything. We were able to score a good deal for about $125 CAD (133 US) a night. That's very good for a 4 star hotel in Toronto on the weekend, especially at the last minute.

We're not really sure what we'll be doing, but our Train leaves at 7:00pm on Sunday Night. We'll be back around Midnight. Yay! So if you have ANY tips or places to visit in Toronto, let me know. :)

I'm looking forward to a clean Metropolitan city! Yay!

Top 10 Best Resale Value Cars

I'm thinking in 2009 I'll probably look into getting a new car... if only to establish some credit for myself. I'm pretty practical, so there 'Top 10 Resale Value Cars' will most likely be on my test drive and research list.

These are the Top 10 for 1007, according to CNN/Money:

• Chevy Corvette, 50% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Honda Civic Sedan, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Infiniti G37, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Mini Cooper, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Scion tC, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Scion xB, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Toyota Corolla, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Volkswagen Eos, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Volkswagen Jetta, 51% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Volkswagen Rabbit, 51% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years

The only cars on this list I haven't thought about are the Chevy Corvette and the Infiniti G37.