Summertime

by the Sundays from Static and Silence

Hello again after a long break. Yeah, this blog entry will serve as my "What did I for my summer" update. I really wanted to update sooner but things got in the way, and by "things" I mean laziness. So what has been up? First things is that I have gotten some recognition (of sorts) this past summer. Who has two thumbs and started the 10th best career services blog according to Willie Franzen, career services blogger? This guy! Yeah, as almost none of you may have remembered, I thought up the idea and pushed for my grad program's career services department back at the University of Michigan School of Information to start a careers blog. I even wrote the first entry. Even though that was two years ago and the blog is being maintained by someone much more dedicated than I was/am, I still maintain that since it was my idea, I deserve at least some of the credit.

But I can let that slide because I officially have arrived since I appeared on blogoscoped. It is because of the Street View photo of the Google campus. I'm the guy holding the giant candy heart that says "True Love." Now maybe one or two of you may be wondering why I happen to be holding a giant candy heart that says "True Love." That's a long story. Needless to say it involves flying to and back from Minnesota from SFO, a field study that involved stealing van keys, 20 degree weather, and theft from the airport all within in literally 24 hours. We used to prank other Googlers by hanging the heart in front of their workstations but currently the giant candy heart is sitting right outside my cube.

Other than blog recognition, what else has been going on. I went to NYC (for the fifth or sixth time) last month for work. It was a short trip (only 3 days) but the highlights were that I got to eat at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn again and see the Brooklyn Bridge Waterfalls. Other than being way too hot, the trip of NYC was notable because I lost my cell-phone. It fell out of my pocket in the car ride from JFK. But its loss allowed me to get the iPhone 3G, aka the Jesus phone. More than one person says that I lost my old RAZR on purpose so I could get the iPhone. Nevertheless, I must say that the iPhone rocks. It has really saved my ass about half a dozen times already and I have only had it 3 weeks. Directions are super convenient plus being able to check my mail and access the web are super easy. I have long been a yuppie (well not so young anymore) but the iPhone cements my status.

What else has been going on? Well I am still continuing my active lifestyle. I have an open water swim + run coming up Thursday night that I am bit worried about. In addition, it appears that I am doing the swim portion of a full triathlon in September. As part of my training, I have been hitting the San Jose State pool on the weekends. Training has rekindled my fondness for swimming, which I swore off for many years. Needless to say 1 hour a week in the pool seems like quite enough for me at this point. Plus with the Olympics going on, it did bring back a few memories of when I actually knew and cared about swimming.

Weekend before last, I again took part in the Lake Tahoe biking trip, which is in its third year, that was organized by CWP$. This time, we (CWP$, Percy, Doris, Joe, Amy, and me) did some road biking by biking around Lake Tahoe. I did half of it (~32 miles) to South Lake Tahoe before my legs gave out. Needless to say there are many many uphills which I found out, I suck pretty badly at. The downhills were awesome as was the view of the lake. The next day, was the traditional downhill mountain biking or more accurately called "Careening down a mountain at breakneck speeds while holding on for dear life over rocky terrain." No major wipeouts for me but I can't say the same thing for others who will remain unnamed. As new for this trip is that we took a trip to the beach near the lake which I actually stepped into Lake Tahoe for a change.

This has been a pretty active summer for me. I went to Santa Cruz for a birthday beach party earlier in July. I also went to some clubs in SF twice this summer. Which is two times more than I should have. I have never been a fan of clubs (I am much more at home in bars and lounges were the primary objective is to get as drunk as possible and attempt to have conversation). But now that I am 29, I realize that I really don't like going to clubs. For one, most clubbers are now younger than me which makes me feel old. Plus I don't like spending 9 bucks for a vodka tonic that is 80% tonic, 5 percent vodka, and 15% ice. Also I found out who are the adult equivalents to the "popular high school varsity quarterback who isn't smart, not very good looking, but popular simply for the fact he is the quarterback on a shitty high school team." The adult equivalents are doormen and bouncers at clubs. Sure, they get sucked up to if girls in skimpy clothes and act like big shots because they can grant access to clubs, but in the whole grand scheme of things they are pretty much failures. Just like that quarterback who is the overload of the high school hallway, club doormen and bouncers act like assholes who throw their weight around their tiny velvet covered kingdoms every Friday or Saturday night. But guess what...the rest of the week they are just dumbass losers who never amounted to anything special which is why they apparently take issue with me holding my plastic drink glass full of tonic, ice, and too little vodka "too close" (roughly 3 feet away) to the balcony edge. I take heart that in fact, I make much more money than they do. Btw, the once-popular captain of the water polo and swimming teams at my high school now works at Costco. Go figure. I don't think they will be putting him or any of those doormen/bouncers on StreetView.

Other than that, I have been doing typical summer activities. I saw the Dark Knight, which kicked ass. I also saw the The X-Files movie, which tanked at the box office. It was a good movie but lacked punch. I mean it really could have been done on TV. Maybe because it had a small budget but I was expecting a bit more of a climax but didn't get it. This past weekend, I went to the city to see the debut of CatLady, my co-worker Alex's new band. Granted it was a house party but the performance rocked. I say it was on the level of the opening ceremony of the Olympics, granted if you were drunk on Stella and whiskey. That won't be the only performance I will be seeing this summer. Next week, I am going to see Oasis in Seattle. I am super psyched about it. Plus I decided that I should go see more concerts so I am on the look-out for more.

Anyway, that is all from me for now. Hope everyone is having/had a great summer. Until next time, peace.