Smoke and Mirrors

Favorite Software Interaction

2008-12-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

You open up your favorite application. For simplicity's sake we'll call it "Adobe Dreamweaver". Immediately, you get a message stating "there's an updated version, would you like to install it?". You click "yes". Installation process begins. Warning message appears "cannot update this program at this time because the following applications need to be closed: Adobe Dreamweaver."

that rocks.

Like an Elephant...

2008-11-24T21:28:00.000-08:00

Are you one of those people who can't remember what you had for breakfast this morning, but can remember the specifics of an insignificant conversation you had 20 years ago? Do your friends tell stories about the old days, only to have you correct them because they don't remember the details correctly?

This is my life. Mostly it's good, but when you remember everything, you remember EVERYTHING. Yes, even the embarrassing details. And it's not easy being the one who remembers every line from movies like "The Cheap Detective", and "Straight to Hell".

Could be worse, I suppose. But I will never, ever recite every line from "The Holy Grail" or "Spinal Tab" in a ridiculous British accent.

Pops Update

2008-01-21T15:34:00.000-08:00

Since my previous post, Pops has not been in the neighborhood for one single performance. Maybe he's just letting things cool down a bit. Maybe his feelings were truly hurt. Maybe I need to pop the champagne cork.

I would do just that, except that Pops was just 1 piece of a large puzzle. At 2am on a freezing Monday morning in January, I had to contend with some of the loudest conversations known to man outside of the Cyclops last night. Where does it stop? Do I schedule an appointment each night to speak with the night owls about how they should shut up?

Though I consider the results of my battle with Pops to be a small (probably temporary) victory, I'm going to have to concede defeat on this one. I figure a box of earplugs will carry me through until the condo sells this spring, especially since a high-powered rifle is not really an option.

The Elusive Land of Nod

2008-01-17T02:58:00.000-08:00

Here I am at 2:58 on a Thursday morning. The night started out blissfully enough. Hit the pillow at about 10:00. Fell asleep soon thereafter. Then it started. Pops was up to his shenanigans, playing that empty water cooler he calls a drum and howling away with stray drunks on 1st ave. I was asleep when it happened but had dreams of ripping him a new one from my balcony. Then I was awake. He stopped for a bit, but when he started up again, it was the last straw. I ran down to the street and told him to knock it off in pretty uncertain terms, and reasonably enough, he did just that. But then that's when the adrenyline kicked in. Now I'm typing a message to the world rather than sleeping, and in just a few hours I'll need to get ready for work.

Damn I hate insommnia, and damn I hate Pops!

And for tonight's special...

2008-01-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

Still not going out on any limbs with the photos. I took a picture of my dinner tonight - Thai Basil Salmon with Rice. It was hella good! Maybe I'll just turn this into a photo diary of the food I eat.

Shortcake Biscuit

2008-01-15T22:01:00.000-08:00

My snack. Tonight I took my photo of my snack. I got home from working out, was hungry, had no idea what I was going to shoot, and there it was... a shortcake biscuit on a plate.

Today was busy. I finally broke down and bought a new network card for my computer. Maybe now I can use the internet for a few minutes without having to reset the router, search for available networks, repair wireless networks... the whole routine. Anyway, perhaps tomorrow I'll have some time to shoot something interesting.

Chilly, and the ground was icy today. Almost a third of the way through winter. Woo hoo! Also, today marked my 7 month anniversary at Expeditors. Can I push it to 12?

Just Me

2008-01-15T07:21:00.000-08:00

Not to creative yesterday. I met Lauren at the Owl and Thistle for a drink after work, and by the time I got home Leilani needed some computer support and all I could really do is snap a few photos of myself:

On another note, while at the Owl and Thistle I met with the owner, Jack Geary, as my parents' friend Bob MacFarlane knows him from his days of playing at the Lamplighter in Bedford NH. That took me back! Nice guy. Liked my Patriots hat.

Geraldine's

2008-01-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

This morning, the better half and I drove over to Geraldine's Counter in Columbia City. I've been hearing for years that Columbia City is the up-and-coming neighborhood. After looking at the outside wall and seeing a poster for some shamanistic ceremony being held in the neighborhood, I had a feeling that the neighborhood was probably much different than it was say 10 years ago. But I liked the little town center, and brunch was good. Some crispy french toast and chicken sausage for me, and I was happy.

I captured the picture below while waiting for a table to open up. The little doggie in the foreground is a very friendly basset hound who howled in sadness while his folks were indoors (still just a few feet away). The day was gorgeous. A rare January occasion where it was sunny while not freezing.

Why do these weekends go by so fast?

Sculpture Park

2008-01-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, I wandered into the Sculpture park for the first time, and took some pictures. The day was somewhat clear, but windy as hell, which made it tough to steady the camera on the little tripod. I think the most interesting picture is the one below. Nice use of perspective, and you can sense how chilly it was by the bundled-up walkers, and the cloud formation.

Ima luv me some Mac

2008-01-11T22:19:00.001-08:00

So, for Christmas this year I decided to set my girlfriend up with a new system. She had been using a dinosaur of a Dell, and complaining about how slow it is, how it plays a weird sound when the speakers are on, and other stuff on top of that. Her brother and sister are both Mac users and like most Mac users I've met, can't say enough good about their product of choice.

So, she's the pickiest person on earth as far as gifts go. If she didn't ask for it, don't bother, unless it's something really frivolous. This was a huge risk, but I went and got her a Mac Mini. Tonight was the night I plugged it in. Now, she has barely glanced at it, being that she was exhausted from her day. But I must tell you, as the set-up guy, I'm pretty damn impressed. For one, I took her old hard drive out of her PC, put it in a external cradle, and jimmy'd it up. To my pleasant surprise, it recognized it immediately, and I double clicked on it and all her files were there. If this were the reverse situation (on a PC), something would have gone wrong for sure.

After the transfer of her old files was complete, it was time to format a 200GB drive that she had bought a year ago, and use that as her external. So, I put it in the cradle, closed it up, plugged it in, and then went through the process of formatting the thing. I did this a week ago on my own computer, and it took about 1.5 hours for the formatting to be complete. So, I hit the "Go" button, and was prepared to watch a DVD while this was to happen. To my surpise, it was done in under 10 SECONDS. Let me say that again... 200GB drive, formatted in 10 SECONDS!!!

I'm rarely pleasantly surprised when I get under the hood of a computer. What I predict to be a one-hour job usually requires a half a day's devotion, at best. Tonight was a rare occasion where I got everything done, and have some time to enjoy a beer and write in my blog to top it off. Apple, you have my vote. Were I not invested by the hundreds in my PC, I'd switch back in a second.

Below are two photos commemorating the occasion.

Pioneer Square

2008-01-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

At lunch today, I wandered over to Pioneer Square to take this shot. I had to do some color balancing in Photoshop, as the original was very blue. I'm thinking it may have been because I left my light settings at "indoor incandescent". Either that, or it was just a blue day in Seattle today. Pretty rainy, anyway.

Dead Before Arrival

2008-01-09T21:02:00.000-08:00

Today's pic of the day is me playing dead before hitting the pavement for work in the morning. I knew I was going to be busy this evening, so I decided to get the shot out of the way before leaving the house. Happy that it came out so clear without a flash. You can make out West Seattle and the Sound in the background, and a dead me and messy living room in the foreground.

Evil Trolls

2008-01-08T18:53:00.000-08:00

I took more than one picture for my pic-o-the-day today. First, the evil trolls staring out from a window at me during my walk home from work:

This one is also on my walk home. Here, we are on 3rd avenue by Benaroya Hall. In the center, you can see the clock that tells me I'm aproximately 5 minutes late for work each morning.

Also newsworthy, today was the NH primary. The "straight-talk Express" seems to have had an impact on my home state, as MacCain won on the Red side. Still a toss-up between Hillary and Barack, with Hillary slightly ahead. Not sure I have any strong feelings either way, but mostly happy to see Rudy 9-1-1 kicked to the curb. He's injecting those three numbers into nearly every soundbite these days!

Fireworks!

2008-01-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

Belated Happy New Year!

Here is a photo of the malfunctioning NYE fireworks at the Space Needle this year.

One Photo Each Day

2008-01-07T20:10:00.000-08:00

I was reading my friend Jana's blog, and she had a new year's resolution to take one photo each day for a year (or perhaps for life), based on an article she had read. I have a hard time seeing myself keeping that resolution, but heck, I'll give it a try.

This is a photo I just snapped in my living room. It represents two other resolutions I should make: do more illustrating, and play the clarinet once in awhile.

Having enough trouble staying on top of the eating less and exercising more resolutions, but if you don't try....

Maiden = Bogeymen

2008-01-02T15:53:00.000-08:00

So I'm listening to a bit of Iron Maiden this afternoon, and I'm wondering what on earth made these guys the "bogeymen" when they were in their heyday... Their message wasn't particularly evil or radical. There is a song called "Flight of Icarus" which is merely about the old Greek myth. We're not talking Charles Manson here.

I think like a lot of metal bands of the day, they just sounded angry about whatever they were saying. Think Twisted Sister... They just sang a song about how they were no longer going to take it. They never mentioned what they weren't going to take. Corporate Violence? Intolerable working conditions? Objectification of women? Advertising saturation? It's anyone's guess, but I have a difficult time believing it was any of the above. Maybe just a snarl and an angry tone was enough.

I guess the ultraviolent cover art may have added to them being the devil incarnate.

What a Croc!

2007-12-29T10:37:00.000-08:00

Another Seattle institution is vanishing before our eyes. I'm speaking of the Crocodile Cafe, which had shut its doors for good earlier this month. This morning I arose at 6:30 am to capture it before it becomes another Starbucks or Subway. Here are a few angles:

My first visit to the Croc was in summer of 1992, to see Terry Lee Hale, who opened up for Solomon Grundy. Probably one of the more memorable occasions was the night in 1993 that I went with my brother Steve to see Polvo. He was egging me on from across the room and I ended up hurling a glass of water in his direction. I think a few people were upset about being splashed, and one of the employees asked that I not do that again. Probably the closest I've come to getting ejected from a club. Steve ended up hugging Polvo's drummer that night.

My last visit to the Crocadile was to see Joseph Arthur in the Fall of 2006. The Crocadile never changed a whole lot over the years, and never tried to modernize as other clubs did. It was a simple cafe and club where you could go see good bands relatively cheap and in small space. I'm not optimistic about what is to spring up in its place. I'm envisioning someplace safe and comfortable for the yuppies to enjoy an exquisite meal.

Alas, nothing lasts.

Time-killing Strategies

2007-12-28T12:10:00.001-08:00

Work is slow. It's the Friday before New Year's. It's way too chilly to go for a walk about town. So what does one do? Today, I've found enjoyment in looking over the "worst film" lists for 2007. Thankfully, not one dime of my hard-earned money was wasted on any of the, though I could have seen myself taken in by the likes of Guy Ritchie's "Revolver". Thankfully, I wasn't.

This quote regarding Eddie Murphy's "Norbit" pretty much sums it up:
"I saw Norbit in a 'black' movie theater...if you're gonna see that movie, that's the way to view it. Some dude kept yelling out 'I'm high as a mothaf__ka and this sh_t still aint funny', which got the biggest laughs"

I know I would have laughed.

Another source of time-killer has been surfing through the archives of The Onion. Here are some gems:

Jon Lovitz and Subway ads: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/49386
Catwoman not being completely awful: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30654
Preemptive raves for Blues Brothers 200: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29684
Robin Williams = imbecile: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38611

I close with this question: why is not enough bad being said about Robin Williams?

Snow

2007-12-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

I'm thinking it's going to snow this evening. It's awfully wet out there, and when I was out at lunch earlier, it was pretty chilly to boot. I'm planning on returning to the gym after work tonight after a six-month hiatus (okay, maybe four months). It'll be interesting to see 1. if I can get through a half hour on the treadmill without keeling over, 2. if it's a snowy walk home, 3. if I can get to a changing closet without waiting a half hour.

Smell that Crisp Car Exhaust!

2007-12-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

Every night on my walk home from work, on 2nd and Pine, I witness a horse and carriage sauntering through rush hour traffic. People pay to experience some of the busiest streets of Seattle during the busiest time of day this way. Now, I can understand being in Manhattan, and fantasizing that you are in a romantic historical era where friendly gentlemen sweep the streets, children play marbles on the sidewalk, and a salivating dog peers into the window of a bakery, tail wagging behind him... all while you roll through central park in your horse driven carriage. But for god's sake, this is downtown Seattle. All such images are a lie. This place was founded by rough gold-diggers who came into town looking for hard liquor and prositutes. Wake up, the closest thing to a magical era here was the smack-fueled 90's where gunge rockers reigned supreme. All your horse and carriage is doing is clogging up our already over-crowded streets. So take a deep breath of that fresh carbon monoxide tourists! You're living a lie! And your lie borders on abuse for slave-driven horses, while trying the patience of drivers who just want to get home to their families.

I call BS on the horse and carriages rolling through downtown during rush hour.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-26T16:54:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas #39 in the life of David Berlinguette has just become a done-deal. Overall, we had a good one this year, though low-key. I think one of the highlights was celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of Tito Romy and Tita Aurora on Sunday night (Dec 23rd). It was a nice evening, with a room rented out for the occasion at Anthony's Homeport down on Shilshole bay. I was especially surprised by the number of Aurora's coworkers from Fred Meyer who made it. I think they were expecting about 5-6, but got closer to 20. She's obviously well-liked.

On Christmas eve, I spent most of the day getting things together around the house. We then went over to Fred Meyer (popular theme in this post) for stocking stuffers and staples. Afterward, we went out for sushi and sukiyaki, following which we went home, drank some wine, and broke tradition by opening the gifts on Christmas eve rather than Christmas morning. I'm very happy with the little tri-pod I received, the electronic Karaoke, a hutch for the computer table, portable hard drive case, a book or two, and a generous gift from the parents toward something for the home. We scored! Leilani seems like she likes the Mac Mini. I know she'll love it once she gets it up and running. I'm sure of it.

Christmas day was spent baking tortiere in the earlier part of the day, and then off to Issaquah in the afternoon, where Lew and Charlene were hosting the gathering. I provided Dewayne with the gifts of a blown up framed photo of a flower I had taken, and a nice sweater from Macy's. In return, I got a copy of Guitar Hero 3, and a Tully's coffee card from Larry. We drove home in a wet snow storm, and chilled out for the remainder of the evening.

Now I'm back at work as if I never left. Good times. It's all about the GCI and Certuspact.

Best wishes for a Happy and healthy 2008!

Late again...

2007-12-17T11:45:00.000-08:00

So, sometime back in August I stated my intentions to have my Christmas list ready and the shopping process begun by early Fall. Christmas is now a week away, and I'm just as clueless and unprepared as I was back in August. The trouble is, nobody wants anything! This is not a bad thing. I think there's already way too much junk in this world and each year at about this time we fill the landfills with more of it. But when you feel obliged to get gifts for the people in your life, it doesn't make for an easy situation.

So here I am, scrambling to get some things taken care of, but obviously at this point there will be some "surprise gifts", reaching their destinations a few days generous of the actual holiday date.

Yelling at Homeless People

2007-12-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

Last night was a dilly. I had spent a mostly relaxing evening at home. Leilani was at a meeting for the radio station in Everett. All good. When she got home I was relaxed in bed. She ran into the room in a tizzy. It was late at night, and the garage door decided not to work. There was a whole line of cars parked in the alley, and in the meantime, she had placed about six calls to building security. God forbid anyone needed to drive a sick loved one to the hospital, because they weren't going anywhere, and security wasn't checking their messages. The whole thing got her more agitated by the minute. Finally she conceded that the car was staying in the alley for the night. We tried going to sleep.

Literally, not seconds after our heads hit the pillows, our local homeless drummer / singer was out on the sidewalk putting on his nightly show. I finally did what I've been wanting to do for a long time. I went out to the terrace and shouted "WILL YOU SHUT UP!!!!"

Funny thing... it worked. Didn't hear one more drum beat for the remainder of the night.

Where Have I Been?

2007-12-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

It's been since October since I've typed in one single character on this blog. What have I been up to during that time? Here's a quick rundown:

Sick for the past two weeks. Spent my 4-day weekend in bed. Just now getting over it

Taking zero pictures

Spending 4 hours per week in class, about the same amount for out-of-class work. We conducted some usability studies on the website Localharvest.org. I'm happy to say that I've completed my course of study in User-Centered Design. Good experience, but a lot of work outside of the normal work of my day job.

Not doing any artwork (outside of the occasional birthday card)

...and not doing any holiday shopping. Gotta get on that!

So now I'm back and I'll try to come up with some things to write.

Happy 85th, Rafael!

2007-09-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight we celebrated Leilani's dad's 85th birthday. We were expecting about 8 to show, and we got about 30. I think he was really happy to have the whole family around. I brought a bottle of Sake, and he Lew, Larry and I had a small glass. Very enjoyable.

Toward the end, he put on the new World War II documentary by Ken Burns, and he and Dwayne were very engrossed in it. Even some scenes from the Philippines at one point.

Happy birthday, Rafael! With your health and attitude, I'm sure there'll be plenty more!

Messing with Photos

2007-09-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I decided to look around online for some Photoshop tips and tricks. I'm taking some nice photos with my new camera, but I'd like to couple that with adding some character to them. Here are two that I played around with tonight:

This is Sun He's dog Penny, in a film noir kind of mood.

Here's what I did to a sunflower:

I gotta admit I miss the color, but it does set a mood.

Dining on the Needle

2007-09-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight, we are wandering over to the Space Needle and using last year's birthday gift before the new birthday arrives. It is a crystal clear September evening, so the opportunity will likely not be as good as now for awhile. Dinner is at 6:15.

Other than that, my toe hurts.

KEXP Barbecue

2007-08-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went to the KEXP barbecue, in the south of Lake Union area. It ran from 2:30 to 9:00, so it was roughly 6 1/2 hours of beer drinking and photo shooting for me. Leilani was there for the music. So I got there early, scoped out a piece of ground to call home, and proceeded.

The set list included The Blakes(above), The Cave Singers, Pela, the Blue Scholars, and Cloud Cult. Of all, I think I was most impressed with the Cave Singers.

On Friday night, I bussed up to Everett and met Leilani to spend time with Susan, Eric, and Brandon. They were in town for a wedding, and if I was to have a chance to see them, this was my only window. They were skating at the Everett Arena, so I joined them. First time ice skating for me, probably since childhood. A little wobbly for the first 10 minutes or so, but then it came back pretty quickly. Kim and Jessica (just in from South Carolina), were there as well.

Today, we had breakfast at Cyclops, and I've just been sorting through my hundred or so new photos. Good thing to do on a rainy August Sunday.

The Snapper!

2007-08-14T21:50:00.001-07:00

So, Leilani was away at radio class tonight. After making some Cajun shrimp, I hit the pavement with my new camera and tried to give myself a bit of practice. I'm happy with the photos it takes... very clear and colorful.

Once I got to the top of the hill, I took the typical aerials of Seattle from the park at the top of the hill, but then wandered down to the end and took this one of the grain silos and the Puget Sound at Sunset:

Birthdays and Bakings

2007-08-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow marks the big 3-9 for Leilani! That means mine is not far behind. We both have just one year left of our 30s to enjoy. And what a decade it was! I found a career that I can live with during this decade. I became a homeowner during this decade. I developed a LTR, and it looks as though it's truly for the long haul. Now there are two major passages to make it through, and it's all looking like they might happen before my 30s are complete.

So, this weekend has been spent running around at the bequest of my better half. She had a full agenda set up for yesterday. I think we accomplished 2 thirds of it. We saw Ocean's 13, went for noodles in the International District, drove up to Totem Lake, and went to Trader Joe's and Taco Bell.

I was hoping to be able to stay close to home today, baking and birthday-prepping. Cake's in the oven, but now it's looking like my presence may be requested at a family photo shoot in Everett. The dreaded "8'oclock on a Sunday" hour will get here before I know it.

Lastly, the new camera arrived last week! Haven't had much of a chance to play around with it yet. May get that opportunity this afternoon in Everett. It's definitely not the type of thing I can have around my neck and be ready for that magic shot at a moment's notice. It's a bit bulky, and will probably require my going out with that specific purpose in mind.

Happy birthday Leilani! Love you lots!

El Positivo

2007-08-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

You didn't hear it from me, but a certain test came in positive today. The posts in the months to come will be highly influenced by this, if this is indeed the case.

A picture I took this morning on the way to work. Can't really tell, but the girl walking is dreadlocked and I've seen her around. Very cool look... should be recommended to Pike and Pine, the blog about Seattle street fashion. In the background is the world renown Nitelite tavern. Many a crazy night came out of that place!

Amateur Photographer

2007-08-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

Money has been burning a hole in my pocket these days. I'm normally in an extreme state of frugality. I mentioned my worry at being in debt on a credit card to my friend Mike a few weeks ago. He asked how much I owed, and I told him it was in the 1000$ range. He laughed and told me he's in the hole for a figure in the 10-15,000 range. I probably worry too much, but I've never owed the big banks much money, and I like to keep it that way.

So, that said, I've had the interest in picking up photography as a hobby recently. My supervisor has really gotten into it, and I must admit he's piqued my interest. I spontaneously shelled out over 6 bills for the Canon Bandit yesterday. I was starting to have second thoughts, but then I realized that I don't often buy nice-to-haves for myself, and I'm not getting any younger. So there you have it. I'll be recording my progress from time to time here. Hopefully something nice will come of it.

In the meantime, I've been taking lots of random pictures with my point-and-shoot. Yesterday, I got some around Belltown. I took this one facing South on 2nd avenue, and decided to compare it with the one shot in 1918, from the same angle (mine was on Battery, the other was on Lenora).

I like seeing how the city has changed, but even more fascinating is seeing the pieces that haven't changed that much. For instance, look at the Moore Hotel sitting right at the horizon line. Virtually the same after all this time.

So, here's to hoping that this new toy doesn't collect dust!

Bellingham, WA

2007-07-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

On a whim, we decided to go for a drive up to Bellingham WA yesterday. Our plan was to spend some time at the farmers' market, go to the Museum of Radio and Electricity, walk through the Whatcom Falls park, head on over to the Fairhaven district, and back to Bellingham for dinner. We did all of the above with the possibility entertained for spending the night there, but that didn't pan out.

Bellingham is a nice town. I often think I might have liked to go to school at WWU. I was surprised at how quiet the downtown area is. I'm sure things clear out once the Spring semester has ended, but I guess I was expecting a little more activity. At one point, I was considering the possibility of relocating to Bellingham. Leilani wouldn't have bought into that plan, but it was an idea. I like how laid back it is up there, but I think for what the price of a home is, mixed with what I'd be giving up leaving the Seattle area, it would probably end up being a raw deal.

None the less, we had a nice day there yesterday, outside of Leilani finding a plastic sticker in her Thai meal.

Still Into Music...

2007-07-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm going to be 40 in a year, 2 months, and some spare change. I have a secret. I won't even let my girlfriend in on this one, especially when she plans on attending the Cure concert on a weeknight. Yes folks... I still like music. I like discovering new music. I like being one of a handful of people "cool" enough to know about and like some obscure band. I like walking down crowded 3rd avenue on my way home each day from work, with my headphones on and deluding myself into believing that I'm actually some sort of hipster... even with my tie and graying hair and middle-age gut. Somehow none of that matters.

Recently I dumped Rhapsody for Yahoo! music, and I've never been happier. Rhapsody is so damn buggy that I began wondering what I was paying for. Now there's no question. Songs download seamlessly to my Zen, I still have all my favorite selections, it's great! Passes the day at work in a wonderful way.

So what am I listening to these days? Well, here's the list:

The High Water Marks - "Songs About the Ocean"
The Arm - "The Arm"
The Ponys - "Turn the Lights Out"
Downpilot - "Leaving Not Arriving"
Sufjan Stevens - "Seven Swans"
Radio 4 - "Enemies Like This"
A Band of Bees - "Free the Bees"
The Marked Men - "Fix My Brain"
Peter Bjorn and John - "Writer's Block"
The Ponys - "Turn the Lights Out"
The Prids - "Until the World is Beautiful"
Blond Redhead - "23"
Brakes - "Beatific Visions"
Dirty on Purpose - "Hallelujiah Sirens" (5 out of 5 stars!)
Kings of Leaon - "Because of the Times"
Laura Veirs - "Saltbreakers"
Midlake - "Balloon Maker"
Nick Drake - "Pink Moon"
Nada Surf - "Blizzard of '77"

And yesterday I pulled out my Neutral Milk Hotel cds after not listening to them for over a year and realized that they're pure genius.

Yeah, I'm a dork.

P.S. been a while since I've posted. will try to do better.

"Guy in a Tie"

2007-06-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

Way back in 1995, I attended a halloween party at the home of my friend and classmate, Phil Valdez. I didn't really have a costume in mind so I threw on a tie and penciled in a fake moustache. Not sure what my motive was, but I attended his party as "guy in a tie". Pretty lame, but it worked.

Well, every day is Halloween now. I'm required to sport a tie 5 days a week now. So far, walking through downtown Seattle at mid-day, I've heard lots of "nice tie!" comments, and feel like I have some sort of aura of higher respect (okay, I'm deslusional). However, in spite of all the fears and insecurities, it's not all that bad. The folks at Ramp said things like "I'd never wear a tie! I'd quit!". Whatever. I'll wear a clown suit to work each day if the money's green enough.

Anyway, it's not all that bad. One thing I find is that it levels the playing field quite a bit. At previous jobs, the person of authority was always he or she who was not dressed in cutoffs and sandals. Now, everyone is dressed at pretty much the same level. This threw me for a loop on my first day. One of the guys who interviewed me seemed to have that air of high authority... older, looked more distinguished. Well, I stopped by his cubicle the other day and he and his cube mate were swapping comic books and goofing off on the company clock.

Very refreshing to know that you can put lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig. You can throw ties on your employees, but it's still the same circus. So come on y'all! There's nothing to be afraid of! Throw off those sandals and cutoffs and slip into a tie and some slacks! It's going to be an outstanding day!

One Year Ago...

2007-06-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

One year ago yesterday, I was on family vacation in Switzerland. I had let the others take off on their early morning routine, and took a leisurely morning showering, reading the paper, not being in a hurry. I told the elders that I'd catch up with them in Luzerne around noon, under the wooden covered bridge. I carried the walkie-talkie just to get ahold of them once I got there (I believe my Dad's code name was "banjo 20-20"). So I hopped the rails, and ventured from Reuti to Luzerne. It's really a no-brainer getting around in Switzerland. Signs are usually in 4 different languages, English included. In spite of this, the folks were still concerned about my traveling on my own in a foreign country.

So, I arrived in Luzerne, right about at noon as promised. I called out banjo 20-20 on the radio, and lo and behold, he answered. When I met up with the folks, I could see the stress on my dad's face, almost as though I had put them through hell with worry.

After putzing around Luzerne in flock formation for the afternoon, little brother and I decided to hang back when the elders traveled back toward Reuti. We drank a lot of lager and stumbled around what is one of my favorite cities on the planet. ( I think my list includes Montreal, Vancouver, San Francisco, Portland, Paris, and of course Seattle). After many beer, we decided it was about time to head back toward Meiringen. We wanted to find a pub to watch some world cup. I think it was Italy vs. America that night. Not sure. I know it was Italy because the Swiss were shouting "Mamma Mia!" when the Italians met with misfortune.

As nightfall became a reality, we began to realize that a plan was indeed in order for getting back up the hill to Reuti. Of course, we thought about it over a few more beer. Then we decided it was time to make the trek.

Now, Reuti is situated on the top of the hill from Meiringen, and there is a very steep wooded path that goes right straight up. However, if you want to get there by road, it is a ten mile walk. We weren't up for that, so we headed toward the woods. Unfortunately, we couldn't see our own hands in front of our faces. After about 15 minutes of "okay ready... take another step", and wondering if that would lead us off of a steep precipice, we decided that our efforts were fruitless, and headed back down toward Meiringen.

We were screwed. We ducked into a few establishments and tried to locate a taxi, but the town was asleep. We were starting to resign to the notion that we were either in for a 3 hour stumble home, or sleeping on the sidewalk. Then it happened. An angel ascended from the tavern we had been buying drinks from all night, and we put on our best puppy dog faces and asked "what way is it to walk back to Reuti?". She looked at the fellow bartender and laughed, and looked like she didn't know how to handle this. Then she blessed us with 2 seats in her car, and mercifully gave us a 20 minute ride home. As we exited her car, we kissed the ground on which she walked and I gave her a bottle of wine. My brother offered her money, but she refused.

We ended up back in our remote cabin without injury. The next morning was typically ungodly early, and painful. The clear air seemed to cure our headaches pretty quickly, and we saw some more nice scenery.

I can't for the life of me remember the name of that bartender, but if by some extremely remote chance you happen to stumble upon this (perhaps Googling "Meirengen"), please know that you are a goddess among mortals, and I worship before your altar before eating my Cheerios each morning.

Sleeping Like a College Boy

2007-06-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's because I'm in a steep transitional period, being in-between jobs and all. Maybe it's allergy season exacting its toll on my system. Maybe I refuse to grow up. I've had three days off this week, today being the last before I start my new job. Regardless, for the past three nights, I've gotten more sleep than should be necessary for a guy approaching 40. Last night wasn't so severe, with me getting a solid 8. The night before, however, approached 10 hours! I emerged from the bedroom and took a serious glare from Leilani. It immediately communicated "I've got stuff on the agenda and your sleeping for 10 hours is preventing me from reaching my goals". Now forget about the fact that it was still only 8am, and the only thing a person should be worried about at that time is either getting to work, if you're going, or what the latest danger your baby faces, as presented by Matt Lauer that morning. What I'm wondering is when I'm going to graduate from having the constitution of a college dorm-dweller. I've heard that you need less sleep as you age, but I haven't reaped those benefits yet.

To quote Leilani on a typical morning as I emerge from the bedroom, "What the Hell???"

The Go In-Betweens

2007-06-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

So, it's over. It's done. My involvement with Ramp ended on Monday evening of this week. It was an odd one because out of all of the jobs I've left, and there seem to be plenty, this was the first that my reasons were not either getting shown the door, or leaving due to the inevitibility of a mental breakdown. I mostly left Ramp just because I knew there were better opportunities elsewhere, and because of quality of life choices, i.e.: being able to walk to work each morning, thus gaining back 2-3 hours of each day.

In retrospect, I gained a lot from my 8 months at Ramp. I got into the UCD process pretty heavily during that time, grabbed another peek at Microsoft culture, and walked away with a handful of lifelong contacts. The dark side of it all was that being there also put me in some of the most stressful situations of my work career. I mostly felt like I was on my own to get a handle on some pretty complicated problems, during some high intensity situations. When I met these challenges, it was very rewarding. But going through it all put the first gray hairs on my head. There were some days where I walked away thinking "I just can't do it. It's not worth it." So now I'm headed for a much lower-stress, seemingly more longterm situation. My promise to myself is that no matter how things turn out in the beginning, I will always look at this in terms of months down the road rather than days and weeks. The idea of being at the same place for the long haul suddenly seems attractive to me.

So now we're in the "go-in-betweens". I'm on day two of my 3 day period between jobs where I'm trying to get caught up with my life. Yesterday, Leilani and I spent a lot of time organizing the home, and what we would do to make it a better place. I slipped out for a haircut, a prescription refill, and Fathers day shopping. I also picked up a new shirt and tie. Will be needing a few of those.

Today, we've mapped out some furniture shopping. Our plan is to immediately find new blinds for the sliding door, as well as a new dining room table. Less urgently, we need to find a sofa (Lei would argue it's more urgent), and a new coffee table. In between that, we'll be bringing Leilani's friend Molly to the airport.

To wrap up the go-in-betweens, I'd feel much happier returning to work knowing that I've cleared out unnecessary junk from my storage, and did a bit more organizing around here. May be biting off more than I can chew. When you look down the road at 3 days off, it seems like enough time to clear out all the clutter of your life. In reality, it slips away with you being lucky if you cleared out 2/3 of your list.

Sex Ed. and Paper Routes

2007-06-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

Do you remember being 13 years old? Farts were the funniest comedic act known to man. An extra quarter in your pocket meant the difference between playing one more game of Pacman, and not playing one more game of Pacman. Having your buddies and being cool was the most important thing on earth. Football and pro-wrasslin' are in, poetry, art, and anything deemed even slightly effeminate are out.

Now, picture this age, and being the unfortunate son in a family that frequents the most touchy-feely, liberal church in town, the Unitarian Universalist church. Picture this church offering a sexual education class for middle-school aged kids. Finally, picture your parents forcing you to attend this weekly class, backed with the threat of no HBO for the next week if you happened to miss it. Such is the hell that my life was during the winter of 1982.

Every week I was forced to sit through this class with some of the dorkiest kids in the metropolitan area of Manchester, NH. We would sit in a circle on the floor and discuss penises in a class led by a guy who resembled the pre-conservative version of Sonny Bono, and a woman who probably knew Gloria Steinham on a first name basis. One week, we had to sit opposite of another class member and close our eyes and stroke the face of this person. To what end we did this, I'm not sure. It was awkward and I found myself daydreaming of getting the toughest kids I knew in my school, arming them with tire irons, locking the doors to this room and beating everyone in the class to a bloody pulp. My hair would stand on end at these thoughts. Unfortunately, there's a Walter Mitty in all of us, and these fantasies never came to fruition.

After these classes, my parents would routinely corner me with questions like "what did you discuss today?" I'd usually respond with something like "nothing", or "not much", typical of the conversation level a pre-teen has with their parents, no less with the subject matter in question. Unfortunately, it wouldn't usually end there. The old man might prod me by giving me the LBJ lapel grab and in a Clint Eastwood, no-nonsense tone, repeat "WHAT DID YOU TALK ABOUT TODAY?" I wasn't giving in. There was no way I was going to volunteer a discussion about the scrotum with my parents. So I kept it at a vague level, at the likes of "oh, just relationships". The whole affair was very disturbing, and probably enough to mess up my sexual well-being to this day.

As much as I'd like to point my finger at my parents in this story and charge them with being true demons, I can't say they were the lowest of the low in this story.... well, I guess maybe I can. However, my brothers deserve some recognition as well.

My older brother was sitting pretty throughout all of this. He was in his mid teens, and got by with throwing on his Black Sabbath t-shirt, and spending church time making out with cute girls and getting high in his youth group. Forcing him to go to church on Sunday was somewhat similar to handing him a beer and saying "you need to drink this, and you're going to like it!".

My younger brother had it differently. He hated going to church nearly as much as I did. He had a "get out of jail free" card, however. For he was blessed with having a paper route during this period. January in New Hampshire tended to be cause for longer time required to complete this route, what with the snow and below zero temperatures. That little bastard was able to make a three hour ordeal out of what was normally a half hour process. He also timed it so that he'd finish off at a spot where he could view from a safe distance our family car traveling to church. There, in all of its glory was the old Volvo station wagon, the folks in the front seat, dressed to the nines and amped to hear an uplifting sermon, my older brother in a psychedilic daze wearing a Black Sabbath Mob Rules t-shirt, and me at his side, sporting the angriest scowl a 13 year old is capable of.

Upon seeing the passage of the car, my brother knew he was home free. He'd shuttle it on back to the house, turn on the "Top Cat" cartoons, and enjoy a long leisurely, sugary breakfast, knowing full well that I was enduring the worst hell imagineable.

In retrospect, I admire my brother's angle. Had I been smart, I would have set myself up with a route of my own, had a little cash in pocket to play more Pacman, and would have escaped a particularly damaging episode in my young life. However, in some weird way, I like to imagine that I am stronger because of it. And the touchy-feely liberals still hold a place in my heart.

One Week...

2007-06-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

Ah... we're approaching my final week here at Ramp. To be honest, the final period did not go as awkwardly as I expected it to. I think I've been more or less busy during this time, which has made it a thousand times more bearable than if I had to stare straight ahead, with my boss's watchful eye looking over me. Thank god for activity.

Today is the first day of June. The weather here this past week has felt more like late July! Sunny and in the high 70s / low 80s. It's been nice. In one week, I will have completed my class, will be on the verge of a commute-free job, and will be making preparations for my parents' visit at the end of the month. Life will be completely different.

Last night I watched United 93. It was much better than I had expected. It didn't tug at the heartstrings like I thought it would. It didn't push a patriotic fervor. And there were no NYC firemen wrapped in an American flag with a rescued child at their side. Some tears, but mostly it was an adrenyline rush as the passengers stood up to 4 bad men who had put them in the most awful of situations. It was well done.

Tonight, I see Emily for the first time in at least 6 months. Heading up to Capitol Hill for lots and lots of beer, but not enough to make the weekend worthless. Need to get a final paper written.

Carl's Jr - Vancouver WA

2007-05-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

Every so often I get a reminder of how different city living is from the sticks. We were traveling to Oregon for Memorial Day weekend. Leilani and I have never been to a Carl's Jr before, and knew one existed down toward Portland. We were heading South on I-5, just north of Vancouver WA, when Leilani yelled "CARL'S JR!!!", so we caught the next exit and found it strategically located adjacent to the local Wal-Mart.

After placing our order the clerk asked us "for here or to go?", as they normally do. Leilani quickly chimed in "to go!" Well, I'd been driving for close to 3 hours already, and I wasn't going to settle for hopping back into the car, burger in lap / drink in hand, and continue unrested. So I inserted a "for here" to correct that misunderstanding.

We settled into our booth and proceeded to eat. As we were eating, I began to observe our fellow patrons. A family entered the restaurant. I think it was 4 girls and a little baby in a carrier, plus a dad and his dad. Everyone seemed to be sporting ponytails. The dad was wearing a tanktop, exposing shoulders furry enough to compete with Sonny Corleone from "The Godfather". While he ordered, he placed the baby in carrier on the counter with the other burgers and food on trays. His father was still shuffling in (he had a ponytail too and looked like Uncle Jessie).

Okay, so my point here is not to mock people who are different from me, but just to point out the differences and how I'm always surprised by how vast those differences are. The family settled in to a table for their meal as we headed into the restroom. When I emerged from the men's room, they were all holding hands in a circle and blessing our lord for the food they were about to receive. I found it humorous, yet inspiring at the same time. They didn't care how it appeared to others, and it was important to say grace, even if in the middle of the local Carl's Jr.

This event did, however, conjure up memories of my younger brother being in film class, and making a movie starring our father. He had my dad kneel down and pray before a giant fake cactus along the side of the highway. Also, he filmed him in Burger King, down on his knees again, praying before eating his meal. This time, my dad fell out of character and laughed as some kids almost ran into him while he was in this position. The film ended with my dad eating a burger with a Burger King crown on, and a song playing in the background... something about appreciating the songs of a bird.

Wine and Bibliographies

2007-05-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

Last night was a gem. I have two weeks left to finish up all of my assignments for my Methods of Research course, then all of this will be a mere image in my rearviews. To my delight, MBH surprised me with a full course dinner of salmon marinated in curry sauce, brie and sourdough bread, and a nice bottle of Cloudline Pinot Noir. All of this with the understanding that we would enjoy dinner together and then move to our separate corners to get our work done. The bottle of Pinot got in the way.

After finishing dinner and the first glass, I decided that 8:00 would be a good time to get started with writing my annotated bibliography. All good, but then the first glass became the 2nd glass which then became the 3rd, and then we were staring at an empty bottle. In short, I wrote a very important assignment with 3 sheets facing the wind. I'm kind of afraid to go over what I wrote (and already sent to Elisabeth). Taking a quick glance at it this morning, I didn't see too many of MS Word's red underlines, except where it was acceptible. Hopefully a good sign.

Now we're moving straight toward another Memorial Day weekend. We're pondering another stay at Cascade Harbour Inn, on Orcas Island. I've been there twice now and both times treated me quite well, except for the 3-4 hour wait to catch a ferry on Monday morning. Maybe if we get up (uggghhh) early that morning, we can make short work of it.

Modes of Qualitative Research

2007-05-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Qual or Quant? What is you?

I'm here sitting in my second-to-last Research Methods class. The end is not coming soon enough. Tonight is the night where each student has paired up with another to present one of the following:

Grounded-Theory Research - theory that emerges from observation of a group (this was us)
Ethnographic Research - study an ethnography
Narrative Research - tell a story
Action Research -specific solutions to a specific problem

It's going fine. Lauren and I intelligently had a beer before class. Definitely softened the edges. We were the only pair who didn't use handouts (people throw them out anyway...). But I'd say this has been the most interesting class yet, mostly because it's discussion and not lecture. Also, Qualitative methods are more attractive to me than the Quantitative methods. More humanistic, I suppose.

Elisabeth gave us her opinion of contextual inquiries, saying that it was basically "pop" techniques, and could stand the influence of the methods from books by the authors below:

Corbin and Strauss
Spradley

Okay, more beer...

The Nitelite

2007-05-19T08:53:00.000-07:00

After what was probably one of the craziest weeks I've had in a long time, I capped off my Friday with a reunion of sorts with the old crew at the Nitelite, in downtown Seattle. A little background about my week: I tried giving notice this week, as I've been hired for a new gig in downtown Seattle. The lack of commute would even out my life / work balance tenfold. I'd still be doing the work I do, albeit at a much less sexy level. Still, work is work, and being able to forget about it once I leave the office is hands down the better option than sitting in traffic for yet another hour.

So I gave said notice on Wednesday. I was called back in for a 2nd discussion at the end of day Friday. The boss was trying to negotiate 6 more weeks so that I may finish up a project. That's six weeks of sitting at my desk awkwardly, with everyone knowing that I'm just a ghost of my former self... I told him I'd put four weeks on the table for the hiring manager. Haven't heard back yet. This whole situation sucks.

So, that said, I hopped on my bus to get over the lake as fast as I could. With Mariners traffic, the commute clocked in at 1 hour and 15 minutes. Then I drank, and drank, and absorbed everyone's advice on the situation. Luckily, the whole thing is win-win for me, but somehow it doesn't feel that way. Anyway, the general concensus is that the time gained in not having to commute each day would make even the most painful job worth taking.

Giving this a shot...

2007-05-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

I've given this whole blog idea a feeble attempt once, and gave up after maybe three or four posts that looked pretty much the same. I'm going to try it in earnest this time around. My goal is to give a report of the following topics:

school experience
thoughts on User Experience Design
general observations and stories
posting for my pics
music I'm listening to
movies I'm seeing

We'll see how well I can stick to it. Stay tuned.