May 2006
Summary: Hawaii Vacation: Chris's Graduation
Dates on this page
Mon May 1, 2006
Breakfast: fruit cup, toast. Part D video work. Lunch: salad and calistoga lemon, sat in the sun outside the library. Helped out at the student awards ceremony. Part D video work. Got home late. Patrick had already eaten, so he made me turkey burgers and corn off the cob. Patrick bought a small desk from Ikea for his office in the second bedroom. He assembled it and it fits well. He just needs some lighting over it. Uploaded photos to Flickr, organized. Chris C pointed out to me today that a group action photo which includes me is on the UCSF home page as part of the Medicare Part D event on Saturday. I might not have noticed for several days if he hadn't told me.
Tue May 2, 2006
Breakfast: my favorite breakfast plus a fruit cup. Lunch at Nan King Road Bistro with Joel: he got kung pao chicken, I got double happiness. Dinner: leftover double happiness. Today at work I mostly spent time on the Part D video project. I also met with the Student Computing Committee with Doug C guest starring. Patrick bought a desk at Ikea today.
Wed May 3, 2006
My favorite breakfast at home plus a grape, banana, pineapple smoothie. Telecommute day. Spent the whole day on the Part D video project. Lunch: two sandwiches and a salad with mushrooms. Removed bounced addresses from the Lodestar Quarterly mailing list. Today the sky was overcast and although I wanted to use the heater the last utilities bill frightened me into thinking it's okay to wear my faux fur cap with earflaps inside the house. It reminded me of our apartment on Junipero Serra Boulevard where we had to pay for electricity and the bills then (2000) were enormous too. It's a strange feeling, I think, to have such easy access to comfort which you cannot really afford. I realized in the middle of the afternoon I have a banquet to attend tomorrow night but I don't have any dress pants. The banquet is for the graduating students. I can't not go because Cindy is paying for me to go and I already said yes a long time ago. And I can't go even in my best jeans—it would be too embarrassing. I've been without dress pants for a while because a few months ago I realized I don't have any that fit—somehow I had outgrown the ones I had. I never got around to shopping for new ones—chalk it up to a severe dislike for clothing manufacturers who never make clothes that fit me properly. I want Patrick to go with me to assist with shopping and selections, but he's helping his mom this afternoon and evening, so I go by myself. Sent Robin C a thank you note for a spot award she sent me recently for helping her with a PowerPoint problem. Spent 4 hours shopping at the mall. Got something that I think will work for at least tomorrow night. Late dinner at Taipei Restaurant: Taipei Special Chow Me Fun. My fortune: You have an unusually magnetic personality.
Thu May 4, 2006
Breakfast at the cafeteria: oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, a banana, nonfat milk, orange juice. Part D video work, link checking, minor web updates. Lunch: salad and orange juice from the cafeteria. Dinner at the Golden Gate Club (135 Fisher Loop) in the Presidio with the graduating class of 2006 and some School of Pharmacy staff and faculty. My favorite part of the evening was seeing Cindy in the amazing photo and video slideshow created by student SD.
Fri May 5, 2006
Breakfast at home: oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, fruit cup, hot water. Helped Jeff with interviews, had lunch with Julie and John. We first tried to go to Eliza's (I mistakenly said Ella's but I was thinking Eliza's as Julie suggested), but it was packed. There was one table with 14 people and another with about 24 people. We instead ate at Pasta Pomodoro, getting a lot of walking in beforehand. It was great to have lunch with them and catch up on projects and happenings. Julie has been testing out some new audio and video equipment—some microphones, mic cables, and a camcorder. Met with student TC, helped him with the Spring Auction web pages. Made the Part D video section live. Went downtown and picked up my new suit—my first one ever. It fits perfectly after alterations, so I'm happy. Late dinner at Osaka Sushi on Castro. Home. Bed.
Sat May 6, 2006
Breakfast at home: oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, hot water. School of Pharmacy gradution ceremony. I wore my new Burberry suit for the first time; it was a hit. Home. House chores, uploaded old photos to Flickr, caught up on organizing, tidying, and e-mail and computer stuff. Late lunch: turkey burgers.
Sun May 7, 2006
Breakfast at home with Patrick: he had grape nuts, I had fiber one. Chatted with Tina on the phone. Worked up some graphics for Joel's blog. Grocery shopping at Safeway. Nap. Shopping at Stonestown Mall. I had wanted to go to the Mermayd Parade today, but the shopping was more important. Maybe next year. In our candy drawer after shopping, I found a pair of cookies that Joel had baked some time ago. I thought, "These can't still be good," but they were! Crunchy, oatmeal raisin, but still delicious, and so good. Dinner: canned soup: beef burgundy with noodles. Archived receipts, organized stuff, did monthly backups, folded laundry which Patrick did earlier in the day. Patrick visited with Aaron this evening at his place. Heather recently let me borrow her Brookstone fabric shaver (aka fuzzbuster, sweater deballer, pill remover). It worked so surprisingly well that I bought one of my own—it's only $20. It feels just like ironing when I shave fabrics, and it turned an embarrasingly pilled track jacket into like new condition. Recently I tried to find a web page describing the correct usage of the word everyday versus the words "every day" but could not find it easily, so I'm putting it here. "Everyday" may only be used as an adjective to describe something ordinary. "Every day" means daily. I never make this mistake, but it annoys me when others do. Especially in print.
Mon May 8, 2006
Today was very productive. Breakfast: oatmeal and raisins, a banana, orange juice. Forwarded e-mail accidentally tagged as spam. Checked in with John K about the mysterious problem with one of our web servers. Helped Cindy understand the difference between liquid and static web layouts and the problem of getting accurate color on the web. Lots of small web edits: graduation, faculty and staff pages. Removed old bios for Susie. Ordered some hardware: one keyboard and two mice. Joel and I had lunch at Cybelle's. We shared a chef's salad and a monster slice of hawaiian. I mailed a package at the post office. Resolved a problem with CMS Systems BounceBack for Chris. Created a new VPN configuration page for Norton Internet Security 2006, sent it to Rick and Kirk for review. Chatted with Nate. Dinner at home with Patrick: french fries, rosemary chicken, corn off the cob. Chatted with Chris. Investigated whether it was a good idea to see Don Ho's show (answer: maybe, in the style of Charo). Showed Patrick some of firefoxflicks.com. My favorite one is This is Hot with the igloo. I learned today that shortmenssizes.com is no longer selling short length, short width ties because their supplier stopped making them.
Tue May 9, 2006
Breakfast: oatmeal with raisins. Forwarded mail accidentally tagged as spam. Converted a Word document to secure PDF for Cindy and a student. Asked John K about a cache problem with one of our servers. Helped a student understand e-mail privacy settings in SAA's student portal. Did a little Part D video project work but couldn't proceed—our contractor just had a baby! Set up Cindy with a new keyboard and mouse. Lunch: Panda Express. Doctor appointment. My fortune: If your desires are not extravagant, they will be granted. Firefox and Windows updates for the office. New homepage news story for Susie. Uninstalled Visio for James. Removed and reinstalled Quicktime for Cindy. Checked in with Judy F about compiling information about public art at UCSF. Dinner at home with Patrick: chicken noodle soup, chicken fried rice with Chicken Helper which was overly salty. Dessert: fat free Dreyer's chocolate frozen yogurt. Windows updates for home computers. Uploaded photos to Flickr.
Wed May 10, 2006
I recently finished reading The Commitment by Dan Savage and even though it was the most poorly edited book I've read in recent memory, I still enjoyed it very much and recommend it highly to others. Mr. Savage quite clearly and reasonably describes why marriage doesn't always succeed or offer rational solutions, mirroring ideas I've had myself of marriage since the early 1990s. Patrick read the book after I did, and we both found rather uncanny similarities between Dan and Terry's relationship and ours. I flew to Honolulu. (Patrick could not go because of school.) After I arrived and picked up my rental car, I drove to Chris and Nate's. Weather was warm and mostly sunny. Nate took me to an end-of-year party for the library staff where Chris works where Chris was already celebrating with his co-workers and a few students. Hilarity ensued when Steff (Steph?) happened to notice (or claim) that Chris's ears pull back when he tells a lie, so we all tried to get him to lie again so we could see it, but he was laughing so hard (or maybe it was embarrassment at having been caught) that we couldn't get him to lie again. Afterwards we dropped off some final paperwork at University of Hawaii for Chris ("I'm done!"), shopped for groceries, came home and took a nap. Met their friends Alex and Paul at Panya Bistro (808-946-6388, Ala Moana Shopping Center, 2nd Level, mauka side, Honolulu, Hawaii), a well-decorated earth cuisine restaurant where the food was good but the service was mostly awful. When we arrived, they claimed they didn't have the reservation that Chris and Nate had made earlier, and we had interrupted one of the 3 teenaged waitresses who was busy sitting in a chair behind the counter and text-messaging someone on her phone. The menu was truly con-fusion, or, to be generous, "world cuisine." If you wanted, you could order your meal as: Japanese green tea, Vietnamese spring rolls, Russian borscht, French creme brulee, and Italian Illy coffee. (!?) Our table ordered spring rolls and potstickers as appetizers, Chris (to my left) had an oriental chicken salad, Paul (continuing clockwise) had szechewan beef stew noodles, Alex had laksa, Nate had dan dan, and I had an oriental chicken salad. All the food was delicious. The teenage waitresses paid very little attention to our table, and though the bartender was more attentive and more in the spirit of creating a rapport with our table, he neglected to bring us dessert menus after promising them. We had a good time talking and eating nonetheless. Even with our nap, we were too tired to do much else, and by then it was past midnight for me. (Notes for today added on January 28, 2007—I can't remember what some of these notes mean anymore: SFO airport sign still claims that Canadian flights are "domestic," Hawaiian versus Delta, Dan Savage and excrement, dark blue blanket on Hawaiian Airlines left lint all over my shirt and shorts, I forgot to bring earplugs again, Sesame Street at the KCC staff party.)
Thu May 11, 2006
Woke up at 5 AM Hawaii time this morning, went for a short run and a warm rain started to fall on me—it was nice. I made a mental note to look for new shoes: the right shoe is squeaking. I was dazzled by the appearance of a rainbow over Waikiki, and then I laughed when Nate sort of shrugged it off, presumably because he sees it so often. I took photos of the rainbow and of plants and flowers on Chris and Nate's deck. Uploaded photos to Flickr. Within minutes, Eric had tagged a photo of a yellow hibiscus with its scientific name. Nate had office hours and a meeting in the morning. Chris and I picked up his parents and great aunt Yvette and Yvette's fiance Jay at the airport. Jim wasn't feeling well so Chris and I took him back to Chris and Nate's, and he immediately went to sleep. Meanwhile, the others had gotten lost on their way to the hotel because the Google Maps instructions were incorrect. They were to meet us at Chris and Nate's and eventually showed up around 2:00 PM. We met Jen and Nate at Tiki's Grill and Bar (808-923-8454, 2570 Kalakaua Av, Honolulu, Hawaii) around 2:30 PM (minus Jim). Jen took a nap. The rest of us checked Chris's family into their hotel. Nate and I walked around Waikiki for a bit. The weather was warm and sunny with occasional, light, warm showers. We got cold drinks at an ABC store. Chris picked me up at the zoo parking lot, and Nate took his moped home. Jen met us at home. We chatted in the living room for a while then decided to get a late dinner at Big City Diner. Jen and I got veggie chow mein, and Chris and Nate each got chili. No dessert—too stuffed. Back at home, I uploaded more photos to Flickr. Chris's blog links to some really great sidewalk chalk art by Julian Beever and Kurt Wenner—amazing and fun!
Fri May 12, 2006
Woke up at 8:30 AM local time. Breakfast: fresh pineapple, cherry yogurt, a banana, an orange, white grape peach juice. Lunch at Duke's Restaurant and Barefoot Bar (808-922-2268, 2335 Kalakaua Av #116, Honolulu, Hawaii). Everyone laughed when Jay's drink arrived; it was called something like Tropical Itch and it came with a long wooden backscratcher. After lunch, we walked around Waikiki a bit, seeing the walkthrough aquarium and walking along the beach. Dinner at Ninniku-Ya (808-735-0784, 3196 Waialae Av, Honolulu, Hawaii) aka the garlic restaurant with Chris, Nate, and Jen: We started with garlic mushrooms and 2 orders of garlic bread. Jen got the sizzling chicken platter and garlic rice, and I can't remember the names of the other dishes we got, but the photos are on Flickr. For dessert, I think we shared coconut ice cream and a slice of chocolate cake.
Sat May 13, 2006
Chris and I drove to Costco to pick up party supplies. On the way, we saw a surfer riding a scooter. His surfboard was strapped to the side of the scooter, and a small, white dog rode in a towel-lined basket behind his seat. I can't remember what we did for lunch. Maybe this was the day Chris made turkey burgers? Nate cooked dinner for all of us—me, Jen, Chris, and Chris's family: pocket bread, Lebanese meat pie, salad. In the late evening, Nate and I ran out to bring home a box of Leonard's (808-737-5591, 933 Kapahulu Ave, Honolulu, Hawaii) malasadas, delicious, hot, sugar-coated doughnutholesque pastries. I had had Leonard's malassadas (alternate spelling) on my last trip—they are divine. For serving, Nate pulled out beautiful Williams Sonoma plates they had received as a gift from Tina.
Sun May 14, 2006
After a glass of orange juice, I went running today again to the little nearby park. I decided to go a little past the park to see what was there and I suddenly got very dizzy. I sat down on the curb for a few minutes, then started walking back (since the road there was slightly downhill and I didn't want to ruin my knees). I picked up jogging again when the grade got easier, and I again got dizzy. I stopped for a minute or so and then started again. Did okay once I got to Chris and Nate's street, but when I turned the corner, I got dizzy once again. I stumbled forward and I recall hearing a neighbor ask from his window if I was okay. I said yes. I woke up in the back of an ambulance. Two EMTs, both female, were taking care of me, and one of them was asking me questions which I was able to answer. The ambulance was moving. My head, left knee, and right shoulder hurt. I was wheeled into an emergency ward. They lifted the board I was on and put me down on a gurney. A nurse operated a machine to take my blood pressure and pulse—the results seemed satisfactory. Next they needed a CT scan of my head to make sure it hadn't cracked open. I was wheeled to the special room and it felt very Star Trek having the scan done—especially the whirring machine noises. After that, they did an EKG which took about 10 seconds it seemed. Then it was a lot of waiting. The ER was nearly empty when I had arrived and completely full within about 60 minutes. We were told there was only one doctor on duty. I was not allowed to leave unless the CT scan results were okay. By this time, they had contacted Nate and Chris, and they both came over to see how I was doing. I got to chat with each of them for a while while waiting. A nurse had told me that my eye looked to be the worst thing that happened to me, and I didn't realize how true that was until I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My right eye had gone black, blue, and swollen, enough to cause Chris and Nate to gasp and cringe upon seeing it. The staff in the emergency room don't give anything away like that. A nurse cleaned up and bandaged the abrasion on my left knee, another brought a cup of water and a straw when I asked, and the results from the CT scan eventually arrived—all was well. I was told to expect the next 2 days to be worse (they weren't), to take over-the-counter pain medication for the pain, have someone stay with me for the next 24 hours, and no exertion. Chris left to go to brunch with his family—we had planned a morning brunch at the Ala Moana Sundowner for just before his graduation. Nate took a cab with me home. The emergency room people gave me a large blue polo shirt to wear home. Jen came to watch over me, but I mostly slept the afternoon, getting up once to drink some water and eat some yogurt. We both missed seeing Chris's graduation, which was the reason for my visit. In the evening, Chris and Nate had planned a small party at their place. Their neighbor Valerie helped out with an extra table and chairs, bringing ice, etc. Catered food arrived. I was so hungry that I ate a full plate of food in about 10 minutes. Many of Chris's friends and family came to celebrate, and though I was still groggy from the morning's incident, I enjoyed meeting and talking with everyone. Chris and Nate's neighbor John was there, so I thanked him for calling 911 so quickly, and he related what he saw of what had happened. I think Chris received more leis than he could wear! Marta gave many of us fuzzy yarn leis which she made herself—so sweet!
Mon May 15, 2006
Chris went to work at the library—he's working half days. Nate went to work to help write a grant proposal. Jen canceled dim sum brunch for this morning—she wasn't feeling well. Breakfast at home: pineapple, vanilla yogurt, Lebanese meat pie, grape juice. Sat in the sun on the deck for about an hour. Caught up on writing journal entries (saved as drafts in e-mail). I sneezed today—the first time since yesterday's blackout episode. It hurts my head when I sneeze, but the sneezes are involuntary! Argh! More sunbathing on the deck. Chris and I went to the pet store, health food store, drug store. We didn't need to go to the pet store, but I wanted to see doggies and we parked in a parking spot for pet store customers only. Turns out the pet store didn't have dogs—only fish and birds. At the health food store, I paid $6 for a tube of Tom's of Maine cinnamint toothpaste! Short nap. Met Chris's family at their hotel. Walked to the Royal Hawaiian hotel for their luau. I can't remember the last luau I was at—probably in my childhood? I pictured it to be low picnic tables with your feet in the sand, bamboo poles holding up thatched roofs covering the tables, a half-sunken clay oven nearby cooking kalua pig. Instead, at the Royal Hawaiian we entered a beautiful, plushcarpeted hotel lobby, waited in a huge line for about 15 minutes, checked in, got leid by a hunky (native?) young man, and got seated at long tables with cloth tablecloths and comfortable folding chairs. A live band played Hawaiian music as we entered, and atop our tables were pineapples—lift the top to reveal chunks of pineapple to snack on while waiting for the show to start. Nate described the general agenda of all luaus, which this luau seemed to follow exactly as he described. They explained the different foods for those who didn't know what things like kalua pig and lomi lomi salmon were. They invited people from the audience to learn how to hula on stage. They played more Hawaiian music and dancers danced. They invited everyone to eat. (I thought it was going to be a madhouse rush for the food, but it was all quite surprisingly orderly.) They played more music and dancers danced more. They asked couples celebrating a marriage or anniversary to stand and be recognized and then invited them to a romantic slow dance. More music and dancing, including fire dancing. Dessert was served—these were not particularly Hawaiian things like chocolate cake and lemon tart. If I can ever get Patrick to come to Hawaii, we'll have to go to this together.
Tue May 16, 2006
Errands at Long's Drugs. I felt well enough today to drive, so I drove to Chinatown, parked in the Chinatown Municipal Garage (where Chris and Nate says there's inexpensive parking), got hong kong style seafood chow mein at Little Village Noodle House (808-545-3008, 1113 Smith Street, Honolulu). The food was good, service was inattentive. Walked around Chinatown, which was depressing because there wasn't a lot of activity and some of the storefronts are closed up or in really bad condition. One really nice part was seeing an elderly woman making leis at a folding table in the entry to one flower shop. I wanted to take a photo, but it seemed too intrusive, so I didn't. Went to Queen's Beach, sat on the beach for a few hours. The sky was overcast, but it was still quite warm. I watched people take surfing lessons. Stopped at Times Supermarket on the way home for some groceries. Chris went to dinner with his family, Nate and I had turkey burgers and salad at home.
Wed May 17, 2006
I got a haircut at Paul's Hairstyling (808-734-3336, 3118 Monsarrat Ave, Honolulu, Hawaii), recommended to me by Chris. Chris and I got lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant called Torito's, then we went to Lili`uokalani Botanical Garden and National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and took some photos. My 2nd set of camera batteries ran out—so quickly as compared with the first set, I don't know why. Dinner with Chris and Nate: salad, leftovers, pineapple cheesecake, fig bars. We watched Baraka on DVD, which I had brought with me since from my last trip I remembered that they said they hadn't seen it. Nate seemed to like it more than Chris, as I had expected.
Thu May 18, 2006
Suntanning on the deck. I didn't know it, but where Chris and Nate live there are a fair number of mosquitoes, so I got bitten dozens of times before I realized I needed insect repellant if I wanted to sun on their deck. Oh, the bites made me miserable. I think I ate leftovers for lunch. Nate made pizza for dinner.
Fri May 19, 2006
Returned to Queen's Beach, sat in the sun eating fresh pineapple. I can't remember what I ate for lunch. Dinner: Chris made sloppy joes. Dessert: Bubbie's ice cream (chocolate hot fudge sundae for Chris, mocha chip for me, coconut something for Nate). In the evening, the three of us watched the Will and Grace 2nd-to-last and last episodes.
Sat May 20, 2006
Breakfast with Chris and Nate at The Original Pancake House (808-596-8213, 1221 Kapiolani Blvd, Suite 103, Honolulu, Hawaii). Nate stayed home to work on his dissertation. Chris and I went to the Aloha Stadium flea market (aka swap meet), which we both found rather boring after seeing the same junk over and over again. Although it's common to return from vacation with small gifts for people in the office, I was not tempted here because it was all really tacky tourist stuff of very questionable quality. 8 t-shirts for $20—things like that. Chris and I had a really hard time finding the correct street, onramp, whatever to leave the flea market I think because of poor signage. I felt like screaming out of the window, "Help us leave the flea market! Please!" Next we went to Foster Botanical Gardens, then to Don Ho's Island Grill (kalua quesadilla; pepperoni, onion, mushroom pizza; iced teas). Chris took a nap. Dinner with Chris and Nate at OnJin's Cafe (808-589-1666, 401 Kamakee St, Honolulu, Hawaii).
Sun May 21, 2006
Dim sum at Mei Sum (808-531-3268, 65 N Pauahi St, Honolulu, Hawaii). Returned to San Francisco.
Mon May 22, 2006
First day back at work after vacation. I missed 8 days of work, and my inbox had 113 items and my junk e-mail folder had 112 items. Lunch: vegetable prawns lunch plate at Eliza's. My fortune: It's a simple task to make things complex, but a complex task to make them simple. (9 22 3 34 28 19). Spent the day going through e-mail, got the inbox down to about 35 items or so. Tried to do some gift and shoe shopping at 9th and Irving but I left work late and everything had closed. I almost chose to eat dinner at Kiki instead of Ebisu, but I changed my mind at the last second. "Coz I'm worth it," I thought, even if I don't resemble Cybill Shepherd in any way. I'm so glad I ate at Ebisu instead—it was so worth the $27 (after a $4 tip) for a rainbow roll, a California roll, and some hamachi not simply because all the food is great but also because of the evening's company. Shortly after I was seated a man took a seat at the bar on my right and a young man and woman Asian couple took seats on my left. The sushi chef directly in front of me seemed like he had been making sushi for decades—he was extremely fast at building very creative works of art out of fish, eggs, seaweed. I admired the man on my right not only for his handsome looks but also because he did exactly what I read you ought to do when eating sushi—let the chef decide what to serve, ask for what's fresh. "I like everything," he said. I'm not that brave. The couple on my left were celebrating a birthday for the man, in his 20s. The woman claimed jestingly that they were "going to get rowdy" and apologized in advance for disturbing my meal, but I smiled and downplayed the possibility of any derangement. They seemed to know the sushi chefs well, and it seemed drinks appeared for them out of nowhere—beer and sake for both them and some of the chefs. After the woman, Marisa, engaged me in similar jesting, friendly chit chat, she ordered me a glass of sake (I think) which I successfully refused as politely as I could. We talked some more and I realized I enjoyed hearing the sound of her voice because she had an interesting range to it—sounding deep and sexy and serious one minute and then lighter and higher and sans souci the next. I traded business cards with the man, Jason, who had said he was looking for a web coder. I had already told him I was too busy to take on new side work, but perhaps I might know someone who would work out for him. I enjoyed talking to them both, and when I left, although they had already had a fair amount to eat and drink, it appeared they were only getting started. Home. Patrick arrived after I got home, having spent the evening with Wei. I unpacked, uploaded photos, tidied the apartment, did some weight training, took a bath. Bed late.
Tue May 23, 2006
Birthday celebration for Ena. Lunch: Joel and I followed Ena down to the hospital circle to pick up a present from her sister Pam before going to the cafeteria. Joel got a nachos meal, I got a salad. I spent most of the day arranging software licenses for our incoming fall classes for the Dell laptop and the software CD-ROM. Briefly met with a student about computer problems. Chatted with another student about e-mail: Outlook shows his inbox but doesn't show his Sent Items folder and I couldn't imagine why not. Dinner at home with Patrick: french fries, orange mustard dill garlic roasted chicken boobs, corn off the cob. Reviewed Hawaii photos and movies with Patrick. Uploaded de Young photos taken last year. Bed.
Wed May 24, 2006
Breakfast: oatmeal, yogurt. Joel brought in a beautiful red velvet cake with snow white buttercream frosting—yum! More ImageBuilder and CD-ROM prep work. I ate lunch today in 10 minutes: orange juice, salisbury steak with roasted vegetables and brown rice and a dinner roll with butter. Caught the shuttle to Mission Center Building. Sat in a conference room for 10 minutes before realizing that the meeting must have been canceled. Took the shuttle back to the office. Found out that the meeting was cancelled 50 minutes before the meeting started. Oh, well. Met with a student about computer problems, did some troubleshooting. Medicare Part D QuickTime work. Got the QuickTime page working and made it live. Still had trouble with the SMIL file for QuickTime. All the tutorials on the web I could find are incomplete in that they show you one file but not another or they don't account for various possibilities. For example, they might show you the object/embed code but then not show you the contents of the SMIL file that that code points to. And it's not easy to open a SMIL file to see what's in it because by default those filetypes will open in Real Player or QuickTime. Weight training. Dinner at home with Patrick: teriyaki boneless pork ribs, bamboo rice, Mediterranean bread with butter. Watched about the first 90 minutes of King Kong on DVD with Patrick.
Thu May 25, 2006
Watched the remainder of King Kong on DVD with Patrick. I remember saying somewhere in the middle of the movie, "Man, they spent a lot of money on this film." I'm a little of mixed opinion on the whole result because the story seemed rather implausible not just once or twice, but perhaps dozens of times. However, I really liked seeing how Kong came to love her—that seemed like it was done rather well. The special effects are amazing, but I could have done without some of the really intense, really implausible action scenes.
Fri May 26, 2006
Breakfast: oatmeal. Lunch with Joel at NKRB. I took photos on the way and back around 9th and Irving. We ran into Heather outside of On The Run and chatted with her for a few minutes. She was in the 'hood to pick up some accoutrements. Archived documents. Dinner at home by myself: canned soup. Watched The Powerpuff Girls on DVD with Patrick.
Sat May 27, 2006
Breakfast: Patrick made macadamia nut pancakes from a mix that Sam gave us. Cut my hair, showered, archived documents. Patrick took a bath. I cleaned the apartment, folded laundry, archived documents, and reviewed photos from yesterday. Lunch at home by myself: ramen. Patrick left to spend time with his mom and visit Wei. Travis came over and we went to Golden Gate Park to shoot some photos. We went to the de Young Museum sculpture garden, the music concourse, the Golden Gate Park rose garden. Chatted with the neighbors about who's moving out and who's moving in. Dinner at So Restaurant with Patrick: deep fried beef, spinach and garlic, shredded pork with noodles. Grocery shopping at Safeway.
Sun May 28, 2006
Breakfast: continental breakfast. Tidied the apartment. Lunch: turkey sandwiches on whole wheat french rolls, butter snap pretzels, grapes, fig bars, carrot juice for Patrick, hot water for me. Visited my sister's family and my cousin's family. Got to visit with Samantha for the first time after her recent delivery. Auntie Julie was in town helping out; she cooked us rice noodles with shredded pork, mushrooms, and dried shrimp. Stopped at Valero for gas and a car wash before driving home. Rob and Lani gave us giant shrimp given to them by Uncle Peter as well as a merry-go-round photo frame set from Pottery Barn that they couldn't keep in the house with all the kids (too fragile, dangerous).
Mon May 29, 2006
Memorial Day Holiday. I have a sore throat and runny nose. Stayed home instead of shopping as planned. Brunch at home with Patrick: tacos. Did some resting, also installed a blue and green paper lantern that Tina bought us over the dining table, repaired a broken wooden frame with some glue, mounted a full-length mirror on the wall in Patrick's office (formerly the second bedroom). We recently received issue one of the CB2 catalog (cb2.com). Lately, I've been reading it just for the marketing copy. Example: "glow string lights. epcot meets escher. part architecture, part sculpture, part party. white plastic construction mini globes light up on white electrical cord. indoors or out. set of 10 lights, 10 feet 5 inches. $14.95" Another example: "porcelein oil and sauce bottles. cruet duet. porcelain white forms decant a drizzle of extra virgin, a splash of balsamic, a hint of tamari. sauce bottle, 12.5 oz, 7 inches high, $2.95. oil bottle, 8 oz, 8 inches high, $3.95." Over my recent vacation, I finished reading Michael Chabon's The Final Solution, which I liked. I started reading Don't Tell Me The Truth About Love by Dan Rhodes—the story about the Violincello is excellent. Uploaded photos. Reviewed the website of an interesting exhibit called Ashes and Snow which Tina and Daniel had visited in Santa Monica recently. Worked on journal entries from May 10 to 21. Archived documents.
Tue May 30, 2006
I forgot to mention that Patrick and I browsed Top Favorites videos on YouTube a day or two ago. Best vids we liked: Ryan vs Dorkman (ryanvsdorkman.com), "YoYo Man!" (Hiroyuki Suzuki) added by EthanAddict, "Robot Dance !" (kollaboration.org) added by ib6ub2. Stayed home from work today—the cold I caught is miserable. Started as a sore throat, turned into coughing, stuffy nose, runny nose, sneezing. Porno Cue Cards by Steve DePena on Google Video is pretty funny. Watched the first 69 minutes of Once Upon a Time in the West on DVD with Patrick.
Wed May 31, 2006
Home with a cold again. Took a bath—the hot water ran out when the tub was only a quarter full. Lunch: tacos (again). Napped. Fleshed out journal entries from my recent vacation to Hawaii (May 10 to 21). Browsed Veoh (without signing up) and couldn't find anything good to watch. Read about the Apple Store opening on Fifth Avenue in New York City, including the people who got stuck in the elevator. The store looks really beautiful! Today Patrick ran errands, visited his mom, stopped at Aaron's, visited Jamie, and picked up soap from Walgreen's. Dinner at home with Patrick: tacos, fried rice, spinach and garlic. Watched the remainder of Once Upon a Time in the West on DVD with Patrick. An incredible film! There's little to not like about this film—everything seems at its best—the sound, the music, the extravagant sets, the acting, the cinematography. The plot is a little difficult to grasp at first, but it matters little since the film is worthy of repeat viewings.