Life Across The Pond

Lonely Planet

2011-05-17T05:48:00.004-04:00

Great right-handed cup...
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

About a week into my first leg of (f)unemployment travels, I've learned the following:

1. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, while conveniently in one Lonely Planet book, are each fairly different. If anyone does this trip at some point, I'd recommend going in the order above rather than the reverse as listed in the book. Pros: people seem to get friendlier in this order. Cons: things definitely get more expensive.

2. When traveling alone, all I do is eat, wander, drink, wander, eat, wander... And if I start too early in the morning, by noon I'll be on my third cup of coffee and my hands start getting shaky. It's now 12:41 and I'm wondering if I should control my coffee intake and wait for the shaky hands to go away or start counter-acting it with beer.

3. It takes me about a week of traveling alone before I'm bored enough to start talking to strangers.

Leg one is almost up. Leg two to follow soon.

End of the School Year...or 10

2011-04-11T06:46:00.000-04:00

Some 10 and a half years after starting my current job, I'm now in the final 3 weeks of it. Must say, feels a bit like the last couple of weeks of the school year. Now if only I can get everyone to sign my yearbook.

And some 5+ years after talking about taking a few months off to travel, it's now time to start that planning. Any ideas gladly appreciated.

Too Old To Be Homesick, Right?

2010-06-22T20:34:00.002-04:00

San Francisco in 4K from Patrick Lawler on Vimeo.

Goodnight San Francisco...Good Day London

2010-01-12T16:18:00.002-05:00

Port of _an Franci_co
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

Just over three and a half years after returning to the San Francisco Bay, I've uprooted and relocated to London. The downside of the move are the friends who are now an 8 hour timezone away (5 hours for those on the East Coast...and 6 hours for the random friends in Houston.)

The upside is that this new adventure will hopefully come with some blog fodder. Stay tuned!

Finally!

2008-10-24T22:17:00.003-04:00

I have to admit, I've heard of these phishing scams. I've seen the e-mails through newspaper articles and blogs. I've even just recently listened to an NPR podcast where they featured guys who spent hours scamming these scammers (in really cruel ways I might say). But, I myself had never received an e-mail notifying me of the wealth that awaits just a simple reply from me to my Nigerian friends...until today!

From: Mr.Micheal Elton

Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 6:42:29 AM

Subject: Fund Release Order!!!

Attention,

Get back to me immediately for necessary steps concerning your inheritance, Sequel to your none - reply of my earlier email to you last three (3) weeks. On behalf of the Trustees and Executors to the Will of your deceased relation,

I wish to notify you that your name appeared in the codicil and last statement of the deceased and you entitled to his fund US$10,000,000.00 deposited with a Bank here and the bank here has made me know that the US$10,000,000.00 will be release to you through their paying centre Access Bank of Nigeria,Also you are advised to reconfirm to me your details as required below to enable the Access Bank of Nigeria release of your funds worth of US$10,000,000.00 to your account.

Below information are required to provide for the proceed and process with your payment file.

Your full name

Your address

Your sex

Your age

Telephone number

Fax number

Your occupation:

Regards,

Barrister Micheal Elton

Tel: +234-702 768 2606

michealelton007@googlemail.com

I was beginning to feel a bit left out. Glad I can now say I relate to those people who have been the victim of a Nigerian bank scam. I can see why so many people fall for this. I mean, the mastery of grammar alone makes this so convincing!

The Run

2008-07-22T14:48:00.001-04:00

The Run
Originally uploaded by crazypete04

I fly by about halfway through this video. Okay, not "fly". More like slowly jog.

Run, Forrest! Run!!

2008-07-10T09:22:00.000-04:00

Check one off the bucket list. Ran with the bulls in Pamplona today. Still alive.

Snow!

2008-01-25T20:38:00.000-05:00

Nice.

Warriors 103, Mavs 99

2007-04-30T14:22:00.001-04:00

War-riors!
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

I'm not a die-hard Warriors fan yet but a few more games like this and I could see myself getting there.

Stand? Lean? In-Between? (Warning: Not lunch time reading)

2007-04-26T20:56:00.000-04:00

For as long as I can remember, I've had what some may consider a quirk, an idiosyncrasy, maybe even a problem. No, it's not the fact that I don't know how to swim or that I can distinguish certain shades of red and green. It's that I don't like to do my business in public restrooms. Yes. That kind of business. The kind that some do while reading a magazine and others while talking on the phone. No, I don't talk on the phone but I've seen enough hotels with phones in the bathroom to assume it's fairly common.

Unfortunately, in my lifetime, I've been in several situations where it was unavoidable. And trust me, I've tried my best to avoid it. When I was younger and touring with a drum and bugle corps - sure, band camp if you want to call it that - I once held out for longer than you'd think was humanly possible. I'm not talking one day or even two. I'm talking days! Okay, more information than you'd care to know but the point is, sometimes you can't avoid it. In college, I readjusted my business cycle to drop the kids off either mid-day or late night when I stood the best chance of having the co-ed bathroom to myself. There's good reason to want to avoid the public restroom. Cleanliness is one. The lack of privacy, another. But really, it's just overall not a good experience.

Today I had to break the rule again. I thought I could last through the day but finally, at 5:30pm and no end in sight to my pile of work, I broke down. Luckily, there was only one other person in the restroom at the time and being fairly considerate, I waited until he was done, zipped up, hands washed, and out the door before I started my business. However, and finally to the subject of this entry, I realized another reason to dislike the public toilette...

...the seat liner! What's the deal with this seat liner anyway? Firstly, it's so thin that when you're tearing away the center area, the two connections somehow never tear but the rest of the seat liner does. Today I went through two before I finally got one right. Then, it never fits the seat properly. I realize that not all the seats are universally sized but how many variations can there really be?!? Do these things fit any of them properly?!?

Finally, at the end of your business, I find they just seem to not be fully cooperative for the final tidying up process. And then it dawned on me. Perhaps I'm not doing this correctly. Somewhere along the way, I learned to be a leaner. This means that in order to clean, you must lean. Either left or right, depending on whether you're a southpaw or not. That's how I do it. And this is where the problem lies. The liner is not made for leaners. The tissue paper is slick and you risk injury. It's thin enough that it will float around on you while you're navigating your neatly folded TP to it's destination. And depending on how long that article you've read is, it may decide to line your backside more than the seat and move with you when you do the lean. Really, it's just not cooperative. Or could it be that I'm doing it all wrong??

What's the proper method for this? Are you supposed to lean? Maybe you're supposed to squat in which case the slick paper isn't an issue anymore. Who knows? Maybe some actually stand completely straight (though I find that this can't be the most effective posture). Somewhere along the way, you've learned your method. But is it right? How would you know without comparing techniques? Much in the same way that I now know most people do not fold TP on the dotted lines or that soaping and then shampooing seems to be the preferred shower order, I now open up the forum for the informal, even possibly anonymous poll of "Stand? Lean? Something In-Between?"

Well?

Fancy Cameras...who needs 'em

2007-02-21T21:20:00.001-05:00

Golden Gate
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

A few years back, I thought I'd try my hand and some photography. I read a book or two and then went out and bought an entry level Nikon SLR. A few trips, a couple dozen rolls of film, I came to realize that it'd be an expensive hobby if I stayed at the 1 good shot per roll ratio that I was at.

A couple of years ago, on a trip to Asia, I decided to pick up a digital point and shoot. I thought it would be a good way for me to develop that eye for lighting, contrasts, framing...all that good stuff that I read in that book or two...without the expense of the having to develop film at my 1/36 decent picture-to-bad picture ratio.

Last year, before driving back from the East Coast to the West, I decided to splurge on a Digital SLR and a new lens. $1600 towards the idea that I'd managed to capture a couple good shots with that little point and shoot and that maybe I was ready to fiddle with depth-of-field, shutter speed, metering...all that good stuff that I read in that book or two.

This past Monday, I took a quick trip to Point Reyes for a little scenic hike with Terry. On the drive back, we stopped by the lookout point in Marin to catch a shot of the bridge overlooking the city (I'm sure there are at least a million of exactly the same shot taken from this point). After about 20 minutes opening up apertures, maxing out shutter speeds, and bumping up ISO levels...all that good stuff that I read in that book or two...I whipped out that cheap, bonehead, $300 point-and-shoot and, voila(!), the best shot of the day.

The logical person, at this point, would take that book or two, toss it in the fireplace, and post a couple of Craigslist for-sale ads for used camera equipment. Instead, I'm now in the market for a bigger, faster, more expensive lens. I suspect all it takes is a few thousand dollars more and I'll be able to take that big fancy digital SLR and take a picture that looks like....well....the one from this cheap point-and-shoot camera.

Tourist for a Day

2007-01-07T23:29:00.001-05:00

The Yard
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

While in New York, I never did manage to do the touristy things that you should do at least once while you're there. No Statue of Liberty, no top of the Empire State Building, no Radio City Christmas Spectacular. So when the opportunity came up to go with a friend to Alcatraz, I figured if I passed on this chance, I may never check that off my list.

Plus, my pro account on flickr is about to expire so I thought it might be a good opportunity to dust of the ol' camera and take a couple pictures.

Retrospective

2006-11-18T21:23:00.000-05:00

With each passing year, I feel I should look back to see what I've learned during that time. Unfortunately, I never actually come up with any particularly novel or incisive revelations. However, given that this day is an arbitrarily significant milestone, I find that it's a good opportunity to look back not on the last year, but the last three decades and note any useful insights that might serve me well over the next three decades. So here goes:

Decade 1:

Crapping your pants is not the best way to get people's attention. However, if you've already done so, additional crying is a good way to expedite your attention-seeking efforts. (This tidbit may not be useful over the next 30 years but it's sure to come in handy for the 30 that follow.)
Being a man of your word and earning the trust of others is important and will serve you well throughout your life. For example, early in life, your mother may not trust your ability to judge the fullness of your belly. Therefore, if you say you will vomit if you eat even another spoonful of soup, you should do so, all over the bathroom floor, after she forces you to finish your bowl of soup. Only then will you truly earn her respect as a man.
The pockets on the sides of Kangaroos (esp. blue Velcro strap ones) are not for use. If you are foolish enough to use them, step aside to let others pass when you get to the front of the lunch line and discover that in order to get things out of the pockets of your 'Roos, you have to take your shoes off.

Decade 2:

Be considerate. If you have to spend weeks travelling the country on the same bus and are fortunate enough to have a seat that's not by the bathroom, show consideration for those sitting by the bathroom and hold your stuff until the next truck stop unless it's an emergency. This same rule applies to your friends' bathrooms.
It can be scientifically proven that my mouth can fit 24 grapes. At 25 grapes, slight laughter will cause one grape to lodge itself into my trachea. Once this happens, drooling will not dislodge the airway-obstructing fruit. Nor will three friends rolling on the floor with laughter. Luckily, spitting out 24 slobber-laden grapes and a quick upward flex of the diaphragm will. The scientific proof can and has been shown with the repeatability of this experiment...minutes after the first.
In near-death situations, I am a calm and rational thinker. Such situations may include being inside a car, upside-down, underwater, in near freezing temperatures, and in the middle of nowhere.

Decade 3:

75% alcohol does not burn so quickly that the finger that it burns from will not see some damage. In related observations, toasting to birthdays by clinking flaming shot glasses is a bad idea.
Snowboarding out of bounds through waist high powder by yourself is not advised. Also and again, in near-death situations, I am a calm and rational thinker.
Good friendships seem to be a result of shared suffering. School, job, and life in New York seem to be good venues for this. Bad teachers, unfulfilling work, and New York summers and winters all can provide adequate suffering upon which good friendships can be based.
Three decades go by faster than you think they will.

Fair and Equitable Sucks

2006-10-23T20:29:00.000-04:00

There's a book out there titled something along the lines of "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." I've never read it but I'm sure it's full of things like "don't hit other kids", "say please and sorry", and "share your crayons". All great ideas.

However, I believe there are other kindergarten lessons which should be forgotten, ignored, or at least outgrown. For example, you shouldn't hold your friends' hands to cross the street. Especially if it's a busy street and your friends and you can't agree whether you can beat the oncoming traffic. Worst case scenario, holding hands will get all of you run over. Best case scenario, you look like a group of grown people holding hands as you cross the street.

As a more practical case, not everything requires lining up. In kindergarten, I can see the benefit. Lines make for easy head counts to make sure all the kids that left for recess come back from recess. It probably also instills some sense of discipline and maybe even purpose to those kids who always rush to be the first in that line. In this case, fine, lines are great. On a BART platform with limited width during rush hour, lines suck. Okay, I see that there is limited seating on the train and that imposing the "line" rule is equitable in much the same way that the line for the playground equipment rewards the kid who has waited the longest with his or her choice of the least battered four square ball. However, the platform is only so wide which means that if you line up perpendicular to the tracks, you've now prevented all cross traffic from freely walking to the stairs without having to say "excuse me" two-dozen times along the way.

That's problem one. Problem two is that you now have one line going into a door that clearly allows two people to pass at the same time. Great! you say. That should settle the problem of people trying to get off the train while other people get on. Well, that would all work in theory if that single file line didn't line up smack in the middle of the door!

And then, perhaps most ridiculous of all is the single file line consisting of people whom, once into the train, like to stand right at the entrance, looking left, looking right, trying to find the open seat that they'd like to sit in. "Hmm....should I sit in that seat to the left? No, that fellow looks a bit dirty. Should I sit in the seat to the right? No, the cloth on that seat is fairly soiled..."

For the love of (insert deity here), Man!! Pick a direction and move! Don't you realize that there's a singly-filed line of people standing behind you, stretching across the platform to the opposite train whose doors are opened and whose own passengers are trying to push around the other singly-filed line queued behind the middle of the its doors, both lines of which are blocking the few passengers who have managed to get off the train from walking through the singly-filed lines of indecisive people waiting for the person who just got on the train to choose which of the dirty BART seats they want to sit on?!?

All I really need to know, I learned in kindergarten. All I later learned I should forget, I discovered by riding BART.

Just Not Meant to Be

2006-10-10T11:10:00.000-04:00

I am not a morning person. I think the last time I voluntarily woke up early on a regular basis was about 23 years ago and that was only once a week to catch the Smurfs at 7am. Since then, it's only occurred due to some set of obscene circumstances - like work, for example.

This morning, I decided to get a jump start and was up at 4:30am and remotely logged into my laptop at work to do some last minute work on a presentation I have today. Thirty minutes later, I notice that for some reason, the laptop battery meter was showing 20 minutes of life left. How could this be?!? Had I forgotten to plug the power supply back? That can't be it since it would have died a long time before this. Had the cleaning people knocked the plug out or run over the power strip switch with their vacuum? Possibly. Well, the only thing to do at this point is to shower and head into work.

Shower, teeth, ears, hair. Shave?? Nah. (A benefit of being Asian is that I can skip a day between shaves and the few slow growing hairs on my chin will still barely be noticeable. A drawback is that I will never be able to grow an Al Borland beard.) Shirt, pants, belt, socks. Fly check #1. (The first noticeable sign of deteriorating mental capacity is that I no longer trust myself to remember to zip my fly so I now need to check several times a day.) Wallet, keys, phone, iPod. Jacket, shoes, work bag.

By 5:35am, I'm at the bus stop waiting for the 30x - the express bus that bypasses the mess of traffic, old ladies with grocery carts, and loud kids otherwise known as Chinatown. 5:45am. Still waiting. Fly check #2. Hmm....there goes the regular 30 bus just down the street. 5:50am. Still waiting....and by myself. Could it be that this bus doesn't start this early in the morning? Damn. Guess I'll walk to the 30 line down the block. 5:58am. Waiting. This sucks. Oh wait. Is that someone walking over? Yes. Someone clearly in his corporate monkey gear, bag slung around his shoulder, is walking towards me...towards me...towards me...and passed me. Damn, he's heading to the 30x stop. Crap. Okay, suck up the ego and admit to him that I'm stupid for not checking the schedule before leaving my house today by turning and following him to the 30x stop that I had just been at for 25 minutes. Click, clack, click, clack. I'm about five steps behind him but I'm sure the hard soles of my dress shoes are eliciting at least a mocking smile at my idiocy if not a full, hearty, struggle-to-contain-yourself internal laugh.

6:05am. 30x bus. 7:10am, I reach my desk with coffee in hand. 7:11am, I read the e-mail that says,

Please be advised that there was a localized power outage in Berkeley this morning. The outage lasted from 2:12AM PST until 5:25AM PST.

So had I hopped online after showering and before leaving the house, I would have known that (1) the first 30x is at 6:05am and (2) the power was back up and I didn't actually have to come into the office early to plug anything back in. Nice.

Zip Zip

2006-08-22T17:06:00.000-04:00

For the past two and a half months, I've been trying to live by way of San Francisco public transportation. The impetus for this is two-fold. First, having lived in NY for a couple of years, I grew accustomed to this carefree mode of travel - I don't have to drive in stop-and-go traffic, I don't circle around looking for parking, and I don't worry about getting home after a night out. Secondly, and while I'd like to say I'm being environmentally conscious, it's really that I like not being in debt and making car payments.

Unfortunately, SF isn't quite as conducive to being car-less as NY is. Busses don't run all night and definitely not as extensively as they do in NY and unless you're in the right area, finding cabs can be a tricky proposition. On top of that, you can't get everything delivered here like you can in NY. Case in point, last Saturday I had to lug my own clothes the four blocks from the wash-n-fold/dry cleaners - 30 lbs of laundry in one arm, 5 shirts, a sweater, and a pair of slacks in the other. (Sure, I could have done my own laundry in my own building. But that's not the point.)

So, last night, I decided to finish out the rest of my zipcar credit for the month and picked up a car from the BART station one stop from my office and kept it overnight. And while having the car to go look for furniture and pick up groceries was nice, the fact that I was able to get down to San Mateo, find out that they don't stock furniture at that Crate and Barrel, and then head back into the city to pick up some groceries all in the same time it would take me to ride BART, transfer to the non-express bus, and walk the four blocks home from the bus stop was even nicer.

With each day, my commitment to public transportation seems to be fading. Watching clips like this probably isn't helping much either.

64...

2006-08-09T18:11:00.000-04:00

...minutes between the moment I locked my apartment door and the moment I sat in my cubicle at work. There's a chance I may have moved just a little too far from work. In fact, these times are courtesy of the luxury of the morning express bus. Unfortunately, I leave work too late to catch the express bus going home which means it takes about 10 to 15 minutes longer to get back.

On the bright side, that's 2+ hours of reading time a day which means maybe I'll get caught up on the growing stack of books that I've started but haven't had a chance to finish. Current bus/BART book: A Confederacy of Dunces. I started this one about a year ago.

73

2006-08-03T13:55:00.000-04:00

71

2006-08-02T11:50:00.000-04:00

62

2006-08-01T11:22:00.000-04:00

Goal Oriented

2006-07-12T17:20:00.000-04:00

I've never really considered myself a goal-oriented person. While I can see the obvious benefits of such a quality, I often find that short term goals like deciding which shirt in the dryer is the least wrinkled and thus most easily ironed or figuring out what combination of edible items in my apartment would qualify as dinner take up an exorbitant amount of my free, waking time.

However, a friend recently provided me with some inspiration towards setting loftier goals and seeing them to fruition. This week, iron all my work shirts immediately after washing. Next week, the world.

Road Trip Redux

2006-07-12T13:25:00.000-04:00

I decided to try out a bit of self-service publishing and ordered a book of my road trip pictures through QOOP. After a couple days at the printer, I received my e-mail confirming the shipment of my order. Ironically, QOOP is based out of NY and my book is shipping via DHL Ground. In essence, my book of pictures of my drive across the country will be making nearly the same trip I did. If only I could tell it to pick me up a burger from the whole in the wall joint in Jackson, Wyoming. I'd also warn it about not speeding in Ohio. Looks like that's where the book is right now.

East to West - The Summary

2006-06-08T09:50:00.000-04:00

12 days
4704 miles
14 States of the Union
204 gallons of gasoline
1 speeding ticket
4 National parks
3 movie shoot locations
1 bird casualty
100,000 insect casualties (estimated)
17 mosquito bites
Lots and lots of pictures

Unfortunately, due to a lack of internet connectivity and probably more so, sheer laziness, days 7-12 have now been summarized in the above statistics. To be honest, while there was a lot to see between New York and Dyersville, Iowa, I think the best parts of the road trip took place during that second half of the drive. It was there that I drove the completely remote and deserted two-lane roads that you imagine a cross-country road trip to entail. It was there where you run across the natural beauties, and oddities, that exist between the man-made wonders of the US.

And while I'd like to say that the Grand Tetons or the Badlands were the best part of the trip, as cliche as it is, the destinations were really just stopping points and the journey itself was the part I enjoyed the most. If I were a slightly older and wiser man, I'm sure I would find the parallels with life. Alas, I'm closer to being old than wise so I'll just leave it that the road trip was awesome and that I would highly recommend anyone and everyone do at least part of this trip if not all of it. And of course, see and do what you can, but don't forget to enjoy the ride along the way. The end comes quicker than you think.

Day 6 - Field of Dreams

2006-06-06T04:53:00.000-04:00

Crossing Home
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

Day 6 was a big driving day. Having made some fairly short drives to this point, I needed to make-up some miles. I did manage to stop at the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa. Sure, it's a little ironic - going out of my way to see baseball field in the middle of nowhere which was built for a movie about a baseball field in the middle of nowhere which attracts people out of their way to go see. But hey, it broke up the 14 hour drive up a little.

Day 5 - Still in Chicago

2006-06-04T12:07:00.000-04:00

Day 5 was spent meeting up with old friends. Unfortunately, having spent 2 nights here, Day 6 is shaping up to be a 14 hour haul across I-90. I think I need to make up some time since more than a third of my time has passed and I'm still only in Chicago.

On a related note, Yahoo Maps Beta has been invaluable during this trip to figure out exactly how long I'll be driving each day including the side trips to see sights. Click on the map below to follow along up to the start of Day 6.

Day 4

2006-06-04T02:44:00.000-04:00

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

It's true. People in mid-America are friendly...even the Ohio cop that pulled me over and gave me a speeding ticket. I guess it was bound to happen. The friendly officer did tell me that I shouldn't get a point on my record as California doesn't cooperate with Ohio in that regard. Joy. On the bright side, the fine for traveling 16 mph over the speed limit is cheaper than New York City parking tickets. A mere $105 covers the fine. Of course, we'll see what happens when I get to California and sign up for car insurance!

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"Touchdown Jesus"
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

So for the past 3 days, I've had my iPod with nearly 20 gigabytes worth of music set to shuffle through all 2000+ songs. Just as I was pulling off the Notre Dame campus after stopping to see the stadium and "Touchdown Jesus", the Notre Dame fight song comes on (which I have from the Rudy soundtrack). Coincidence??

Chicago Skyline
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

Finally in Chicago. A nice break to mark the 1/3 point.

Fallingwater - Day 3

2006-06-02T10:01:00.000-04:00

Fallingwater (from the walkway)
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

If you'd asked me anytime time in elementary school what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have told you that I was going to be an architect. Okay, sure, it's nerdy and I'm sure I was supposed to say something along the lines of fireman or astronaut but when I was a kid, the thought of carrying big tubes of blueprints and having a cool drafting table intrigued me.

I never did become an architect. However, on day 3 of this road trip, I did manage to stop by one of Frank Lloyd Wright's more well known designs - Fallingwater. While there, I met an architectural photographer that was in my tour group. We chatted a little about photography and pubs in New York City. I'll sum up our 30 minute coversation with these two points: (1) Randomly cropped photos are a telltale sign to pros that the shot was done by an amateur shooting on digital and (2) if you're ever at McSorley's in the East Village of NYC, look up at the wagon wheel light and see if you find chicken bones hanging from it. If you do, take a sip of your next beer in honor of the doughboys who never made it back from WWI to take that chicken bone down.

Day 2

2006-06-01T11:24:00.000-04:00

Gettysburg
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

After a few first day glitches, day 2 has gone much better. Due to some interesting pricing schemes, I saved $250 by returning my rental car in Philadelphia and then re-renting. Luckily, they just re-rented me the same car saving me the hassle of unloading all my stuff and reloading it to a new car. On the downside, I'm still driving the same, not fun, Ford Taurus.

I also managed to switch the now useless cassette adapter for an FM Transmitter at the Apple Store in King of Prussia, PA. Why there's a city called "King of Prussia" beats me. I guess maybe you eventually run out of -ville or -burg names that haven't been taken. Who knows, maybe there's an Emperor of Japan, Wyoming or Dictator of Cuba, Kentucky out there.

So with my travel accessories in order, I covered about 265 miles yesterday, stopping at Gettysburg along the way. Walking around the Gettysburg National Cemetary and following the driving tour signs which take you around the various battle sites is quite a somber experience. Within the cemetary are rows and rows of unknown soldiers marked with small grave markers with just numbers engraved on the top. And while there's no doubt that these soldiers, known or unknown, died for their country in a war which ultimately ended slavery in America, I wonder how many of these soldiers actually fought and died for the cause and how many enlisted because it was a job that provided food, clothing, a paycheck, and benefits for their families and may or may not have known what the war was about in the first place.

Going Cross Country...Well, Sort Of (Day 1)

2006-05-31T12:59:00.000-04:00

After a morning of packing the rest of my belongings into the rental car, I finally made it on the road to start the first day of my cross-country road trip in the early afternoon. I pull out of my block and reach for my iPod and cassette adapter gearing up for a relatively short leg to Philadelphia. What's this?!? I knew it! The nearly new Ford Taurus that I've rented only has a CD player. Crap. Well, no big deal. It's not too rural between NY and Philly. I can deal with the radio until I get to Philly there I'll pick up the FM transmitter iPod adapter there. Crisis averted.

And so I continue. One hand on the steering wheel, the other poking at the radio's "Scan" button. I was making good time. And while I'm a bit tired, I've managed to sing my way through Phil Collins, Bobby Caldwell, Earth Wind and Fire, Kool and the....OH NO!! 40 miles out of NYC, I've realized that the bag of laundry that I brought to the wash-and-fold in the morning and asked to have ready by 1pm is sitting washed and folded...back at the laundromat. Damn it! Foiled again by the cursed Old Man Brain and it's failing memory.

Old Man Brain, you owe me $10 in extra tolls and two hours of my life back.

I'd like to thank...

2006-05-30T08:46:00.000-04:00

The Skyscraper.
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

It's actually been quite a while since I've seen an episode of Saturday Night Live. I assume they're still using the same format though - the show starts with and host screaming "Live From New York, it's Saturday Night!" and ends with the host thanking the musical guest and the cast and crew.

Just shy of two years and three months, my stay in New York has come to a close. And so, I'd like to thank the great friends that I've made out here. While I can definitely say I've made a few lifelong friends, experience has taught me that I've also made great friends out here whom I'll slowly lose contact with. So I thank those the most.

Years from now, when I tell someone I once lived in New York and they ask me how I liked it, I might not remember the details of the crazy nights in the East Village, the fun I had playing volleyball on the West Side, the dinners at great restaurants, or just the strolls through the city. I might not remember the details of the conversations or the course of those events, but I'll undoubtedly tell that person that asked that I loved New York. What I'll really mean is that I loved the company of those great friends that were with me. New York was just the backdrop.

So goodnight, New York. It's been a great show.

The Met

2006-05-16T12:04:00.000-04:00

The Met
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

I've been in New York for two years and 2 months now and, save the first month here, I've lived in the Upper West Side about a block and a half from Central Park. That means that anytime during those two years, I could have walked twenty minutes through the park or even just sat on the cross-town bus for 10 minutes and I could have walked passed this lobby at the Metropolitan Museum of the Arts and enjoyed one of the finest museums in the country if not the world.

Instead, 2 weeks before I move back to California, I've only just now made my first trip to the Met in the two-plus years that I've lived here. What a waste.

A few more pictures from the Met here...

Super Wide

2006-05-01T01:24:00.000-04:00

Don't Touch My Crepe
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

In preparation for my cross-country drive back to California - and in truth, the only preparation that's been done so far - I finally picked up a digital SLR this week along with a super wide lens. I thought that the fancyish camera and the fancyish lens would automatically equal fancyish shots. Turns out no. So after a weekend of toying around, this picture of the wooden waiter is the only interesting shot I managed to get.

Baseball Fan?

2006-04-26T00:31:00.000-04:00

When I came out to New York, it was pretty much a certainty that I would be returning to California at some point. And, as I've always wanted to make the cross-country drive, I told myself that my return trip would be the opportune time. So now that the return trip is coming up, I'm starting to give some thought to what I want to see during as I make the 3500+ mile trip.

Some friends who have made the trek before me have given me some great recommendations: hop from National Park to National Park, drive some scenic routes, and of course visit good friends along the way that might house and feed you. However, one idea that's come from a couple of different sources is to stop by ballparks along the way and catch as many baseball games as you can. Doing a quick Google search returns a number of websites, books, and even tours you a can take. However, it seems that I missing one big requirement for this kind of trip - I'm actually not a big baseball fan. I mean, I've been to games, I generally like being at ballparks, and I like the notion of drinking a cold beer on a warm summer day. But, I don't follow baseball, I couldn't tell you who plays on the Reds or the Indians or even the Twins for that matter.

So along with spending time with the friends I've made out here in New York, packing my apartment up, and trying to get around to the touristy stuff that I haven't done here yet, I'm adding "becoming a baseball fan" to my list of things to get to in the 5 weeks that I have left here.

Morning

2006-04-15T18:49:00.000-04:00

Lone Tree
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

I'm not now, nor have I ever been a morning person. However, there's nothing quite like being out on a weekend morning, just before dawn, to catch New York City at its most tranquil and serene. For an hour or so, other than a sporadic couple stretching the last few minutes of their night out, or the lone driver making his rounds to stock the morning papers, you've got arguably one of the loudest, fastest paced, and most chaotic cities in the world resting peacefully while nobody's watching.

Countdown

2006-04-13T00:26:00.000-04:00

As much as I've enjoyed New York over the past 2 years, my days here are now numbered. At the end of May, I'll be returning to California. That leaves me with just under 7 weeks to do everything that someone who's lived in New York and the East Coast should have done. The problem is, I haven't actually figured out what those things are. So far, I've come up with going to the Empire State Building and riding the Staten Island Ferry. And to be honest, I wouldn't be too disappointed if the Empire State Building trip never happens.

So any recommendations of things to do, sights to see, places to eat, and the like would be appreciated. In the meantime, I'll continue to work on the goal I've had since moving here: seeing every subway station in NYC. I might have to scale that down to just Manhattan since I've only got about 45 days left.

Wasting Time

2006-04-11T01:07:00.000-04:00

Hayden Planetarium (Autographed!)
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

I have a couple friends visiting this week. On Sunday night, while one was out meeting with some of her old college friends, the best I could come up with for my other friend and I after a long day of walking and bellies still full of Sylvia's fried chicken was to snap a couple of shots around my neighborhood. If the walk didn't burn off that juicy (read: fatty) chicken, I think this name writing silliness did.

Curse this old man brain!

2006-04-04T22:51:00.000-04:00

Lately I've begun to notice early signs of my aging body. On a trip into the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History, a friend laughed at my old man eyes that needed more time to adjust from the bright daylight of the glass-walled hall to the darkness inside the Hayden Sphere. On my 29th birthday, my leg decided to give the rest of me the gift of a "slightly arthritic" knee (according to the doctor). And I've begun to notice that I have to ask people to repeat themselves more often than I used to - normally with a nice polite "huh???"

But possibly the most disturbing sign of deterioration is my growing inability to remember things. As a kid, I could tell you what was on what channel at what time (granted this was pre-cable so there were a whopping 5 channels to choose from). Likewise, appointments, assignments, phone numbers, exactly where I'd buried my GI Joe man...all easily remembered without notes, Post-Its, Outlook reminders, or the like. But now, I'm lucky if I remember to zip my fly up in the morning. (I usually remember to check...oh....about half a block down from my house as I'm walking to the train.)

So, as an effort to replace my natural brain functions with technology, I've finally succumbed to what I've always said I'd never use - Friendster. Friendster is now my crutch (or cane if you will) to remember names of friends, friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends. Now if only there was a field for "Where We Met" and "What We Talked About", I'd be set.

Goodnight, New York

2006-03-25T16:13:00.000-05:00

For some reason, the folks I've met in NY the last 2 years have been predominantly immigrants from California. It's not an unusual phenomenon I suppose. It seems in large cities all over the world, you'll find enclaves of ex-patriots - Roppongi in Tokyo, Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong, the Golden Triangle in Kuala Lumpur. And in New York, on any given weekend, you can wander into some bar, usually in the East Village, sometimes the Lower East Side, and occassionally in the Meatpacking district, and run into a group of Californian ex-pats in NY, all gathered for some drinks and some laughs.

This morning saw the departure of a big catalyst to most of these gatherings and the friend to whom nearly everyone I've met in New York can be traced back to. After one final all-nighter, one last drink, and one last hunt for food at 4:30am, his two year stint in the City that Never Sleeps has come to a close.

Thanks friend. It was a good run.

Unnecessary Walking

2006-03-10T02:33:00.000-05:00

I've started to realize that I do a fair amount of walking in this city. Every weekday, there's the 69 stairs that I walk to get down from my 5th floor apartment, the 2 blocks east and 1 block south to the subway station, two more blocks from the station by work to get to the office, and then the reverse commute home...including the 69 stairs back up. And really, other than the four flights of stairs, it's not all that bad.

However, in the last few days, I've done a good deal of unnecessary walking on top of the regular commute. I always wonder how far it is that I've walked on any one of these unnecessary walks that I take. Thanks to the wonders of Google Local (apparently their new name, so as not to be mistaken for Google Earth I assume) and the Google Maps API, I've found a site that will tell me. So I've mapped out some of my walks and here's what they work out to:

Movie-night Stroll: After watching Dave Chappelle's Block Party, I felt inspired to pick up some music. So after walking some friends home, I continued on to Virgin Records in Union Square and then went to hunt down the start of the M7 bus line going uptown.

2.24 miles - Here's the route

East to West stroll: My friend threw her back out so rather than make her catch a bus home, I rode with her in a cab back to the Upper East Side with the plan of meeting another friend up there for drinks. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, that friend had already made his way downtown. So instead of catching a cab or bus back, I walked home instead.

2.88 miles - Route

Field Trip

2006-03-06T00:28:00.000-05:00

I stopped by the American Museum of Natural History this afternoon to check out the somewhat controversial Darwin exhibit. Unfortunately, this was only my second trip to this museum. As a friend pointed out, it's somewhat dated in design - some of the wings look old, not in the classical Greek architecture kind of way but more of the Brady Bunch early 70's kind of way - but there's still something about this particular museum that others in NY seem to lack. Kids.

And while I'm not generally a fan of kids - at least not on airplanes, in restaurants, at bars - seeing the pride on a kid's face when he's figured out that the skeleton in the plexiglass display is that of a fur seal or the look of excitement of one kid running to show his friend the live iguana display that he's found just around the corner makes you just that much more enthusiastic about being there yourself.

As for the Darwin exhibit, I enjoyed it. If you do happen to go by, somewhere past the model of the HMS Beagle and that live iguana, there's a couple pages of a letter written to Darwin from his wife that's worth a read.

The Coffee Shop

2006-02-23T18:31:00.000-05:00

I've spent the day at a coffee shop by my apartment to finish up some documentation I've been trying to do all week. There's a variety of activities that take place at coffee shops that I would have otherwise been unaware of had it not been for the 5+ hours I've spent here. And in the spirit of having more lists, here's the top 3 non-coffee related activities that I've witnessed today:

A lady who came in, ordered no coffee, but instead sat down at the counter next to me to breastfeed her baby
A job interview of a potential nanny who'd rather not have to remove Christmas trees by the mother of a child who'd rather not have to remove his tonsils
A child who "Wants to do the choo-ga, choo-ga, choo-choo train!" She really, really, REALLY wants to.

I don't know what the "choo-ga, choo-ga, choo-choo train" is but it seems it's not allowed until mom has a cup of coffee and they all sit for 5 minutes. I've finished my cup of coffee and have sat for 345 minutes now. I'm going outside to see what all this train fuss is about.

Firedancing Shiva

2006-02-22T00:46:00.000-05:00

Firedancing Shiva
Originally uploaded by T_Lo.

I've been toying with the idea of uprooting for a couple of months to travel the world. Normally, people do this at some chronologically opportune time - after high school and before college, after college and before work, after work and before grad school, after grad school and before working again, after working again and before dying. Any of those seem like logical points at which to take a hiatus from the daily grind. However, between my friend Terry's e-mails, blog postings, and pictures (like the beach party above), logic seems to be fighting a losing battle.

Google Result #1

2006-02-15T01:20:00.000-05:00

My sister recently informed me that I'm the top result for the search string "peter chan blog". Sweet.

"BLIZZARD OF '06"

2006-02-13T00:32:00.000-05:00

83rd and Amsterdam
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

All the overhyped news stories aside, 27 inches of snow in a day really does wreak havoc on a city. Trains aren't running. Buses are stuck in the streets. Cars are hidden under piles of snow.

But, for a car-less person with nowhere important to be, two feet of snow turns the city that never sleeps into a quiet, peaceful, and beautiful little town.

Neither snow nor rain...

2006-02-07T00:04:00.000-05:00

Antarctic Barware
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

...nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

It seems neither does lack of night. I received an unexpected parcel from a friend stationed down in Antarctica. For a mere $6.05, the USPS delivered this nice beer glass from Gallagher's Pub in McMurdo Station and a postcard all the way from the bottom of the world. Not a bad deal.

Thanks Giff. Much appreciated.

(Note: It seems the above "motto" is actually not the official motto of the US Postal Service. It just happens to be on the Post Office building on 8th Ave. and 33rd St. in New York. Another perfectly useless fact to add to my collection.)

Half-Right

2006-01-30T23:00:00.000-05:00

I was half-right with the last post. Turns out we now know who was behind the assassination plot and the stolen nerve gas. But, I also now know that I can't make a good meatloaf on the first try. Next time, more breadcrumbs.

Just made it...I think

2006-01-30T20:58:00.000-05:00

With 2 minutes to spare before the start of 24, my first attempt at meatloaf made it into the oven. In exactly 62 minutes, I still won't know who stole the nerve gas and is behind President Palmer's assassination but I will know whether or not I can make a decent meatloaf.

Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock...

New York Delivered

2006-01-24T19:06:00.000-05:00

I've briefly mentioned my love of delivery service in New York in a previous post. For example, tomorrow morning I plan to call the laundromat to have my washed-and-folded clothes delivered. Thursday night, my groceries will be brought to the door of my 5th floor walk-up apartment sometime between 6-8pm. And at any given time on any given day, I can order from one of hundreds of restaurants and within minutes, someone will buzz my apartment with anything from cuban food to chinese food to cuban-chinese food.

Tonight, the restaurant of choice was the Chirping Chicken, a roasted chicken place a few blocks away. Now normally, when I answer the intercom, someone on the other side replies "delivery" or "laundry." This time, I picked up the intercom and hear a very enthusiastic "chick-ENNNN!!" from the other end. Now there's a guy who likes job. I tipped him an extra buck. Not sure if it was for his extra enthusiasm or for the laugh I got at someone yelling "chick-ENNNN!!" into my intercom but it seemed well deserved.

Johnny Who?

2006-01-18T23:50:00.000-05:00

Johnny Who?
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

Apparently, Bostonians aren't so happy with Johnny Damon's move from the Red Sox to the hated Yankees. How do I know this? Most of my Flickr pictures have somewhere around 10 views. Yesterday, I posted this picture from my weekend trip to Boston and the current view count is 89.

To be honest, I don't even know how people are happening across this picture but I've got mixed emotions about the fact that someone's marked it as her favorite. While I'm happy that one of my pictures is a favorite, it doesn't say much about the rest of them that this Johnny Damon one is it.

Happy New Year

2006-01-04T02:44:00.000-05:00

I've got an aunt who has recently discovered the joys of e-mail. Of the many e-mails she's sent since this new epiphany, I think only 10 or so had subject lines not prefaced by "FW:". So it's understandable that I don't necessarily read her e-mails on a timely basis if at all.

Yesterday, I finally replied to an e-mail of hers asking for mailing addresses for the various extended family members spread out across the country and a few abroad. I clicked the reply button -- note that I clicked reply and not reply-to-all -- and sent her my relevant information. To this, I got this reply back, with all the family members magically back on the "To:" line:

From: Peggy Chan
Date: Jan 4, 2006 2:24 AM
Subject: Fwd: Re: family mailing address
To: Dan Chan, Frank Chan, jackie chan, Janet Chan, Joe chan, Laikan chan, peter chan, raymond chan, rita chan, ron chan, steve S chan, walter chan, wendy chan, nadine live yu tong, sam pederson, teresa tsang, lillian tsang, nally tsang, william tsang, winston tsang

Dear Peter: Happy New Year, I have a long conversation
with your mother this x'mas, we both think you and
Steve need to find a girl friend this year, good
luck. Love Aunt Peggy

--- Peter Chan wrote:

> Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2006 13:52:20 -0500
> From: Peter Chan
> To: Peggy Chan
> Subject: Re: family mailing address
>
> Sorry, I forgot to send this to you earlier. Here's
> my address:

Joy.

Jesus = Santa??

2005-12-08T14:54:00.000-05:00

I've recently been turned on to reading the daily White House Press Briefings by another friend via his blog. And, nearly without fail, there is something in there worth laughing about every day. Today, stuck in-between actual questions and "answers" about topics ranging from oil revenues in Iraq to Katrina relief and response investigations, the Press Secretary took a few minutes to clarify that, indeed, the President does not believe that Jesus and Santa are one and the same:

Q Scott, just one question today. At yesterday's briefing, the transcript records my quoting the President in his saying, "Each year we gather here to celebrate the season of hope and joy and to remember the story of one humble life that lifted the sights of humanity. Santa, thanks for coming." When I asked you WorldNet Daily's question, will the President apologize to Christians offended by his referring to Jesus as Santa, you responded, "The President meant exactly what he said, Les." But last night, I received an email which had your name on it, which said there were two separate -- (laughter.)

MR. McCLELLAN: Keep working on my emails, sending you things.
Q There were two separate thoughts --
MR. McCLELLAN: Must have been a little -- must have been a little elf. (Laughter.)
Q Well, wait a minute, let me just tell you what was on the email --
MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead. I want to give you the stage.
Q -- which it said, there were --
MR. McCLELLAN: I think I know where you're going with this.
Q -- two separate thoughts -- after he spoke about the meaning of Christmas, he then recognized Santa. And first of all, I want to ask, was that your email? And was it your final and conclusive answer rather than, the President meant --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, it was my email. He wasn't, as you phrased it yesterday, comparing the two. Santa was at the event for the children that were there, and I don't think you want to take Santa away from all those children.
Q Oh, no, no, I just want to clarify that the President did not mean exactly what he said, and your good correction.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, the President -- that's what the President was saying in his remarks. He was changing topics in his remarks. He stated the meaning of Christmas --
Q But you didn't say he was changing topics in his remarks, yesterday, did you?
MR. McCLELLAN: Les, I actually did not attend the event. I looked back at the remarks after the briefing to see exactly what it was --
Q But it's all clarified now.
MR. McCLELLAN: -- but what the President said stands.
Q Can I ask a related question? (Laughter.)
MR. McCLELLAN: No, no. (Laughter.)

Balloons "On Line"

2005-11-24T02:04:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Eve
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

One night a year, the streets around the Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side of Manhattan become the site of the Thanksgiving Eve activities. In preparation for the following morning's parade, balloons are inflated and tied down overnight until the they're let loose down Central Park West.

And in true New York fashion, you can wait in line, I mean "on line", with thousands of other people to catch a preview of what will be floating down the parade route for everyone to see. Luckily, since I live just down the street, I managed to sneak out in the middle of the night to snap this shot.

365 Days Left of My Twenties

2005-11-18T00:01:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of the day, I figure it's good to have some perspective:

Things that are older than me:

Apple Computer - April 1, 1976
Sen. Bob Dole's long-standing attempt to get to the White House - 1976 (as Gerald Ford's running mate)
Charlie's Angels - Sept. 22, 1976

Things that are younger than me:

The NBA 3-point line - 1979
The Rubik's Cube - 1980
Post-its - 1980

Voted Off the Island

2005-11-11T13:37:00.000-05:00

Having spent much of the last month in Malaysia and the Philippines where an overwhelming majority of the populations are Muslim or Catholic, respectively, I was once again in awe of the way in which religious doctrine seemed to dictate the way that thousand of people acted towards one another. It was very much the "Do unto others" attitude that you wish you would see more of here in New York.

Of course, then there's the flip side of that. Yesterday, on "The 700 Club," Pat Robertson commented on the elections in Dover, Pennsylvania earlier this week in which several school board members who pushed for the teaching of "intelligent design" lost their seats.

"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city."..."And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there."

When did God become a reality show contestant and will he be doing the obligatory talk show circuit after being voted off?

J-E-L-L-O

2005-11-06T14:02:00.000-05:00

I didn't quite get Elizabeth Hickok's "San Francisco in Jell-O" series. Was it food art? Was it a photography exhibit? It wasn't until I watched the 1-minute video clip that I realized the seismological genius of it all.

Lunch at the Volcano

2005-11-04T06:41:00.000-05:00

Overlooking Lake Taal and Taal Volcano
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

Just returned from my side-trip to the Philippines. All in all, it was a great trip albeit a short one. With the help of some friends of friends who graciously spent some to all of their long holiday weekend showing me around, I squeezed in a lot in my 3 days there.

However, I also added a few things to the list of "to-do's" in Manila:

Dirty ice cream
Local music scene
Mass in the mall
Ayala Museum (and the highly recommended cafe inside)
$2 movies with La-Z-Boys

There's more to that list but the point is that I think I've added more things to my list than were there before my trip. I guess that's the sign of a good vacation.

Shiny shoes

2005-10-31T10:16:00.000-05:00

Highlights of my trip to Manila thus far (in no particular order):

Balut from the balut guy on the street
"Malling"
Eating halo-halo with Imelda Marcos at the Manila Peninsula Hotel, shiny silver shoes and all

XX-press

2005-10-25T11:40:00.000-04:00

Back in Malaysia one more time. I think I'm starting to get used to life out here. Granted, life consists of living in one of the nicer hotels in the city so it's probably not so representative of typical Malaysian living.

As for the picture above, this is the express elevator on the way up to the 42nd floor of Tower 1 of the Petronas Twin Towers. From there, I transfer to the local elevator to make it up to the 56th floor where I'm currently working. The 42nd floor is basically my Malaysian equivalent to the 72nd Street subway station in New York. (And yes, that temperature reading does say 28 degrees Celsius. What it doesn't read is the 90% humidity!)

Go East, Young Man

2005-10-16T17:45:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if it's the use of a new flight path (now over Russia and China instead of Europe and the Middle East) or maybe a change of jet stream strength but the flight from New York to Singapore only took 18 hours instead of the 19.5 it used to take. Unfortunately, I couldn't get on any of the 2 earlier connecting flights to Kuala Lumpur so I'm stuck here at the airport for the next 5 hours.

Fortunately, Changi Airport is not without it's amenities. Xbox station, here I come.

Yo! Tax-iiiii!!!

2005-10-14T00:10:00.000-04:00

New York is full of interesting experiences...cab rides being a good source of many of those. Sure you'll get the occasional smelly cab driver. And of course, there's always the white-knuckled rides courtesy of the cab driver who's intent on making that green light 5 blocks away.

Then there's the conversations that you can only have with random cab drivers who you'll never again see in your life. So far, I've discussed the pros and cons of interracial dating with insights into centuries-old African tribal feuds and how it lead to this particular cabbie moving to the US. Then there were the insider secrets on how to drink plenty of vodka without getting sick (although I'm not sure self-induced vomiting really qualifies as not getting sick).

Tonight, however, was my first cab accident experience. Nothing to exciting. Just a slight rear-ending by some drunk suits in a rental car with Massachusetts plates who proceeded to pull up next to us to give the cabbie the finger. I can't help but imagine the two guys sitting in that rental car, neither of whom are probably even from Massachusetts, glowing with pride about how "New York" they both are. In general, I've found most New Yorkers to be much more friendly than the generalizations that the rest of the country imagines. Unfortunately, the same can't be said about all the visitors here.

Nevertheless, another exciting NYC cab ride.

Blocked

2005-09-28T23:15:00.000-04:00

I've recently realized that I'm somewhat socially retarded. It seems that I'm now doing things that I think I should have done about ten years ago - moving away from home, making new friends, riding the bus by myself. So, in that spirit, I've lately been trying my hand at another first - talking to random girls at bars. Fortunately, this seemed to be slightly easier on a recent trip to Vegas to celebrate my friend's thirtieth birthday where other people apparently are there to do the same. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean I've had any amount of success at this.

So this past weekend at the Ghost Bar atop the Palms, I found myself in the beginnings of a conversation with a lady that I introduced myself to. Not two minutes later, a kid walks up and introduces himself to me. He then proceeds to introduce himself to the lady I had just met with the line "Since Peter had an opportunity to meet you, I thought I should have the same." Blocked! After that, I couldn't think of anything else to say to work my way back into that conversation so I excused myself to rejoin my friends.

On the bright side, I've now got one more experience to add to my list of firsts.

Alma Mater vs. Alma Mater

2005-09-03T00:18:00.000-04:00

This Saturday, my Alma Mater plays host to Sacramento State, my Dad's Alma Mater, for the opening day of college football. I've just found out that KGO streams their broadcasts live so I'm looking forward to listening to Joe Starkey call the game. It's not exactly the same as listening to the game from my car but it'll be a nice dose of Bay Area life out here in NY.

It's a strange turn of events for Cal to be on the winning side of an impending blowout. I remember just a few years ago, sitting in the lodge of a Michigan dude ranch (a whole other story altogether), watching the season opener against Illinois sharing beers with a Fighting Illini alumnus. Unfortunately, there's not really much excitement in watching Illinois steamroll the Bears on their way to a 44-17 victory.

But now that the sun shines a little brighter on the Golden Bears football program, come Saturday afternoon, when that game-ending whistle blows, I'll probably give my Dad a call to talk some trash about how the Bears just steamrolled his Alma Mater. Of course, my Dad's not much of a football fan and I'm not sure the words "school spirit" have ever come out of his mouth so much of that trash talking will be lost on him. Either way, it'll feel good.

Mmm.....Spam

2005-08-23T13:16:00.000-04:00

1 hour and 42 minutes after my 36th post...my first blog spam. 24 minutes later, a suspected, more cleverly disguised 2nd.

Top 3 List

2005-08-23T00:36:00.000-04:00

I met up tonight with a coworker of mine whom I used to work with in the Berkeley office. And while we still both work for the same company, he's now in the San Francisco office and I'm here in New York so, unfortunately, we don't get together with the old group of regulars for happy hour anymore.

After the requisite "what's so-and-so up to?" and "have you heard from such-and-such since they left?" questions, he asked me how I liked living out here in New York and specifically, what my favorite three things were. Of course, I'm never good at these favorites questions. Favorite food - depends on the day. Favorite movie - maybe Home Alone?

Anyhow, so I gave it some thought and the best I could come up with were:
3) Delivery everything
2) Cabs everywhere (most of the time)
1) ....

Well, that's as far as I got. I think this is going to be my project for the transcontinental plane ride this weekend - come up with top 3 lists for everything so the next time people ask, I can pull out my laminated list.

Productivity

2005-08-19T17:46:00.000-04:00

Today marks the end of the first full 5-day week that I've actually come into work at the office in several months. Sadly, I honestly can't remember when the last time this occurred actually was. Admittedly, only one of those five days was anywhere close to a full 9-hour working day. Still, this qualifies as some level of achievement to be celebrated. To top it all off, today my desk phone actually rang with legitimate work-related calls. The most disturbing part of this all is that my expectations of any work satisfaction has been scaled down so low that I actually feel like I've accomplished something today. I believe this is the highest lowest point of my working career...or is it the lowest highest point?!?

Random related fact: Florida is the state with the lowest highest point in the U.S.

The Wrath

2005-08-18T20:01:00.000-04:00

Update: Apparently it's not a good idea to mention a majority of the major religions with an air of skepticism in a blog post. On my way home from work today, I was pooped on by a bird. Sorry, God, G_d, Allah, Buddha, and karma (and any other deities which I may have failed to mention).

The Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and Google

2005-08-18T17:38:00.000-04:00

With the recent events in the Gaza Strip, I decided to spend some of my free time at work Googling some of the historical context behind the conflict there. I found one explanation on ChristianAnswers.Net. Curious that you'd go to a Christian site to find answers regarding Muslim and Jewish conflicts.

Anyhow, after some searching, I found that the best information I got was actually from the guy that sits next to me at work. He provides me with unbiased background info on Judaism from the perspective of a somewhat jaded and cynical Jew. Now if I could find a cynical Muslim, a jaded Christian, and maybe a disenchanted Buddhist to sit by me, we could turn our corner of the office into a nice non-practicing, religiously skeptical, theological learning center.

*Disclaimer: this post is in no way an attempt to promote any one particular religious doctrine nor belittle any other.

The Bronx, check.

2005-08-13T01:27:00.000-04:00

The Stadium
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

After having lived in New York for nearly a year and a half, I've finally made it to my fourth borough. Granted, just going to Yankee Stadium doesn't really give me any real representation of what the Bronx is really like but I'm counting it as a visit nonetheless.

Next up, Staten Island.

City of Brotherly Love

2005-08-09T01:27:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, I caught one of the many Chinatown busses out to Philadelphia. Sadly, having been on the East Coast for over a year, this is only the second East Coast city that I've managed to visit (not including New York, of course).

I did managed to do some touristy stuff however. First was my trip to the intersection of E. Passyunk Avenue and S. 9th Street. It's at this corner that Pat's King of Steaks and Geno's Steaks duke it out over who invented the Philly Cheesesteak and who currently makes the better one. Unfortunately, I only tried Pat's so I can't cast my ballot yet.

I also managed to catch glimpses of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. I didn't manage to actually go inside Independence Hall. Turns out, in order to get into the building where our country's Founding Fathers discussed ideas like unreasonable searches and seizures, you have to stand in a forty-five minute line to walk through a metal detector and have your belongings x-rayed. Ironic.

Now there's a name!

2005-07-27T00:08:00.000-04:00

Came across this in Bellevue, Washington (just east of Seattle) and had to stop to take a picture.

I fell into a torpor at work this week.

2005-07-23T18:19:00.000-04:00

In the fine tradition of Tai Fraiser, here's my word of the day:

torpor |tôr' per|
noun
a state of physical or mental inactivity; lethargy : they veered between apathetic torpor and hysterical fanaticism.

Photo Plug

2005-07-19T02:26:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't seen the furl entry on the right, I'm plugging Terry's new website of photographs from his various treks around the world. Enjoy.

Back in the Driver's Seat

2005-07-18T02:11:00.000-04:00

Kayak in Puget Sound
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

After almost a six month hiatus, I'm back on the road in my rental car. Sure, it's not a great car but it also isn't big, yellow taxi and I actually get to sit behind the steering wheel. And if just being able to drive isn't good enough, Seattle's got some great views along the way.

Fish For Sale

2005-07-10T01:46:00.000-04:00

If you notice in this picture, there's a sign that says "We deliver to all Downtown hotels!" I'm wondering, what do you do with a 20-pound salmon in your hotel room?

Ahh...the joy of cool summer weather

2005-07-07T02:14:00.000-04:00

I've finally made it to Seattle after yesterday's plane debacle. Being here has made me realize how much I love cool summer days. And actually, Seattle has also reminded me of a few other things that I've forgotten: the smell of clean air, normal driving patterns, cordial people, and what not hearing sirens every two minutes sounds like.

The Stars at Night, Are Big and Bright...

2005-07-05T13:01:00.000-04:00

...deep in the heart of Texas.

This is where I've unfortunately ended up. I missed my flight out of New York this morning by 10 minutes (which not so coincidentally is the amount of time my cab sat in traffic trying to get from the freeway to the terminal). So instead of sitting on a direct flight to Seattle right now, I'm sitting at the Dallas-Ft.Worth airport waiting on standby with the hopes that someone doesn't show up for this fully booked flight.

The moral of the story: If you're planning on staying up all night so that you don't miss your early morning flight, don't fool yourself at the last hour that you can take a 30 minute nap without setting some kind of alarm.

Poop

2005-06-29T23:49:00.000-04:00

First a word of warning: This is a post about poo. For lack of other interesting subjects, I've chosen this one to blog. While I don't plan to go into detail about smell, size, color, consistency, or the number of wipes it took to finish, the topic may still be offensive to some. If this is the case for you, please feel free to skip this post.

I'm normally an after-work person. However, it seems my schedule has been slightly off lately. I've narrowed the cause down to either eating breakfast more often or the heat and humidity (which forces me to drink more water). Whichever the case, several times this week, I've need to take care of my business during business hours. Unfortunately, I've never really been the type of person who liked doing my business in public bathrooms.

Today was one of those urgent business days. While I was sitting on the thinking chair pondering my situation, someone else decided to occupy one of the other two thinking booths that were available. Conscientiously, he left a buffer thinking booth in-between us. And while there's the obvious benefit of the extra distance that any lingering aroma would need to travel from one thinking booth to the other, there's actually a second, possibly more important benefit which might not be as obvious. The extra buffer protects the anonymity of the thinkers.

Let me explain. When I was in college, I lived on a co-ed floor in the dorms. This meant we also shared the same co-ed bathroom. Now in general, this wasn't a problem. Floor to ceiling shower stalls meant there wasn't any issue with that situation. However, the thinking chairs weren't enclosed by floor to ceiling walls. This meant that, on occassion, you would be in the process of tending to your duties when a girl would come by to occupy the stall next to yours. Now, sounds and smells aside, I think the worst part was that the wall doesn't quite stretch low enough to prevent you from recognizing whose flip-flops those were in the stall next-door.

That being said, I'd like to thank whoever the person was who came into the business area today for the consideration of leaving the buffer stall.

Christmas in June?

2005-06-19T22:10:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

Just loading up some old pictures and I figured with the dog days of summer still ahead of us, anything to remind me of cooler weather is a welcome thought.

New Project

2005-06-19T01:50:00.000-04:00

A commencement speech, a movie, and three strikes - sometimes something comes around to open your eyes or kick your ass a different direction. Fortunately, this week I've had three (counting the strikes as one, of course).

An Evening in Central Park

2005-06-16T01:24:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

After days of wishful thinking, the heat finally broke and tonight felt almost like a nice summer day in San Francisco. I ventured out to Central Park for the annual Met in the Parks series which brings the Metropolitan Opera to various parks around New York City.

Turns out that most of the people that go (and there were A LOT of people) weren't really there to watch Saint-Saens' "Samson et Delila". Instead, it's more like a huge picnic that just happens to have some of the world's premier opera performers providing the dinner music. Then again, good music, good food, good weather, and good company - can't really complain. A few days like this sprinkled through the other eighty-something days of brutal heat and humidity almost makes New York summers bearable.

HOT!

2005-06-14T22:03:00.000-04:00

Day number who-knows-what of hot and humid New York summer weather. I can't say that I've missed the feeling of sweating before getting to the subway station on the way to work in the mornings. Nor do I miss accidentally brushing up against someone else's sticky arms in crowded shops. And is it bad that I've thought about giving up my seat on the subway to the guy who seems to have run out of deodorant just so he doesn't have to keep his arm up to hold the bar? I've definitely need to get out of the city at some point this summer. Canada's got to be cooler, right? Maybe it's time for that East Coast road trip I've been meaning to take while out here.

On the subject of hot, the good thing about having my own broadband connection at home is that I can post blogs while sitting shirtless in my sweltering apartment with my belly full of barbecue hanging out waiting for the air conditioner to do its thing. Hot.

WiFi all to myself!

2005-05-31T21:12:00.000-04:00

I've finally made the plunge and am paying for my own broadband connection. Got my cable modem and WiFi router and now have my own reliable connection to the vast quantities of information that the internet has to offer. Huge quantities of current events, op-ed pieces, academia, and fine arts to expand my horizons and satiate my curiosities about the world around me.

But first things first, I'm off to play PS2 games online!

Back to Apple (and geek-dom)

2005-05-24T14:15:00.000-04:00

As of last night, I've made the switch to Mac OS and Apple by picking up a Powerbook. Part of me feels that I've succumbed to Apple's marketing schemes. However, there's also a part of me that feels like I'm returning to the brand that introduced me to the world of personal computing with the Apple IIe that still sits in my mom's house to this day. Of course, I haven't completely made the switch from the Windows world yet since I'm still composing this post on a Windows-based PC. Once I get used to not having my right-click button, I'll start posting from the Mac.

This seems like an appropriate end to a week-long stint of geekiness. Sadly, I'll have to admit that last week I immersed myself in coverage of this years E3 show through G4 TV's coverage and a host of web pages, watching for breaking news on upcoming video games the same way people wait for word of trades and free agency pickups for the upcoming football season. I followed this up with the final Star Wars prequel. I think tomorrow I'm going to pick up a new pocket protector and protractor!

Spit bubbles

2005-05-13T14:10:00.000-04:00

A friend e-mailed yesterday making mention of her almost 7-months old son's ability to "gurgle and blow bubbles". By bubbles, I'm assuming she meant bubbles of saliva. When I was about nine or ten, I knew a kid who could make similar such bubbles, gently blow them off his tongue, and watch them float softly down to the ground. He tried to teach me but I could never manage to prevent the bubble from bursting right as it was about to take flight. On occassion, I still try (and have yet to succeed) to get a spit bubble to float off my tongue. I'm a 28 year old man who still blows bubbles of saliva.

So, Happy Birthday, Brandon. Take comfort in knowing that some 335 months later, you'll still be doing some of the same things you're doing now. Just try to make sure that pooping in your shorts isn't one of them.

Gone Bananas

2005-05-08T04:19:00.000-04:00

Okay, I change my mind. Chimps are not always funny. On occasion, chimps go a little - okay, I'll say it - ape sh*t.

Lessons to be learned?

Chimps are funny on TV. Chimps are not funny when they've escaped their cage in the zoo and decide to bite your fingers off.
If a chimp has previously bitten off part of your finger, it may not be a good idea to bring the rest of your unbitten fingers to a place where they may once again be targets.
When chimps have "chomped" your thumb off, it's no longer an appropriate time to try to reason with your primate relative.
When in a chimp fight, protect the family jewels.

Raindrops

2005-05-07T04:55:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

For about 1 hour, everyday, it rains here in Kuala Lumpur. And when I say rain, I mean downpour, thunder, lighting, the whole works.

On a somewhat related note, the downpour out of my nose continues. Using WebMD, I've self-diagnosed myself as having anything from the common cold to bronchitis or some other viral infection. Apparently, WebMD is not a substitute for medical school. Once I finish this post, I'm going to have to see how well my American health insurance policy covers housecalls (or hotel calls) in Malaysia.

Dragonfruit

2005-05-03T09:56:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

Malaysia's got some crazy looking fruit.

Flying

2005-05-01T23:52:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

I have a few friends who dislike flying. I'm not sure if it's the hassle of airports, the discomfort of coach seats, the varying but constant motion of the cabin, the ceaseless drone of the engines, or the frustration of a right-handed person trying to eat his or her meal off a tray the size of a textbook while bumping elbows with the left-hander in the seat to their right doing the same. Needless to say, there's much to not like about flying.

But, at least once a flight, if you're lucky enough to have a window seat, you can glance out and see something amazing.

Twizzlers Revisited

2005-04-27T11:13:00.000-04:00

At last, my 20 year mystery is solved. Turns out that twizzlers can't hold an electrical charge and hence, cannot be used to pause iPods or turn off alarm clocks.

My trusted friend (and teacher!) - the television

2005-04-25T13:57:00.000-04:00

I knew it! After years of singing the praises of the television as a learning tool, I stumbled across a like-minded article in yesterday's New York Times Magazine. In the article, Steven Johnson argues that the increased complexity of the story lines in today's tv shows compared to those aired 20 or more years ago challenges the cognitive abilities of its viewers in order to follow along. He contrasts the multiple storylines and numerous developed characters offered in Fox's "24" with the simple, single-plot episodes of "Starsky and Hutch" during the 70s stating that for the viewer to follow along with "24", he or she is forced to follow multiple, interrelated threads, make inferences from clues which aren't explicitly stated, and most importantly, think - all cognitive functions that weren't required to enjoy an episode of "Starsky and Hutch" where all the thinking was done for you.

While I understand Johnson's arguement, I'm not sure I would jump to the conclusion that watching shows like "24" necessarily make you smarter. I will concede that more involved programs will exercise deductive reasoning skills (which I think was called "critical thinking skills" when I was in school) to some extent but I don't think that watching a prime time drama is really going to teach someone these skills if they haven't already developed them.

However, I happened to watch 12 episodes of the first season of "24" this weekend. I'm taking special care to note any increase in "smartness" that I feel over the next couple of days in case Johnson is indeed correct.

VLOOKUP and Twizzlers

2005-04-20T16:16:00.000-04:00

Today at work, I've re-learned the VLOOKUP function of Excel for probably the 5th time. I've decided to start learning more transferrable skills in hopes of finding a new job in the near future. However, I can't imagine that I'd actual want a job that asks me in the interview whether or not I can create linked spreadsheets. Sadly, I've also spent the last 5 years learning that I don't want a job that asks whether I can explain a multiple factor risk model or a monte carlo simulation derived value at risk number.

So, on a more exciting note, today at work, I also learned that you can not use a strawberry Twizzlers twist to push the buttons on a 3rd generation (non-click wheel) iPod. I then followed this experiment by trying the corner of my wallet, the cap of a mechanical pencil, the antenna of my cell phone, and the edge of a styrofoam cup. None of these worked either. Turns out that only my finger and my finger through a paper napkin will work on the touch pad buttons of my iPod. About 18 years ago, I got my first clock radio with a similar touch pad button to turn off the alarm. I remember running a similar experiment back then.

Strange, 13 years of formal education since and I still haven't learned how that touch pad technology works.

Rachmaninoff in the Key of Periwinkle Blue

2005-04-18T13:49:00.000-04:00

This morning, I was woken by a friend phoning to let me know she was returning my Netflix movies. So granted, I should have been up and getting ready for work already, but I wasn't. On the bright side though, since I was up, I caught a pretty interesting piece on NPR about synesthesia, a condition where one sense produces sensation of another.

In this story, the subject is a pianist who hears tones as colors. In other words, for her, a C evokes the color black in her mind while an F# evokes yellow-green. The interesting part comes when she explains how she couldn't figure out why certain color combinations didn't look right to her while they looked okay to everyone else until she realized that in her auditory color spectrum, these color combinations formed dissonant intervals.

This led me to think that perhaps there's a visual counterpart of a tone-deaf person. I suspect that I'm missing the ability to discern matching and clashing colors the way some people lack the ability to tell that they're singing off-key or out of tune. Sure, I know that red and blue match well (at least on a flag) and that brown shoes don't really go well with a black suit. However, rather than actually seeing that these colors match or don't match, I've really just memorized it as a rule. So potentially, today I might be wearing some combination of colors that makes other cringe sort of like how I cringe when I listen to someone sing a halfstep off-key at the karoake bar.

Even Steven

2005-04-05T11:20:00.000-04:00

I've never really considered myself a super manly man. Sure, I'll gawk at a '67 Shelby Mustang GT500, dream of one day owning an 18" radial arm saw, and will actually sit through a 40 minute classic UFC fight waiting for Royce Gracie to lock in a triangle arm bar. However, I also enjoy chick flicks and have been to a few musicals in my day.

This past Sunday, I met up with a group of girl friends for lunch. Lunch was then followed by what seemed to me as a marathon shopping session which consisted of the them shopping and me trying to find a comfortable seat to park myself on. And shopping was followed by talk about hair, make up, and area-specific weight gain over tea and desserts. While I enjoyed the company and the lunch and desserts were good, by the end of the night, I felt somewhat out of kilter.

Last night, I met up with a group of guy friends for beers and college basketball at Hooters. This morning I feel balanced again.

My old car...trapped in video game land

2005-03-31T14:22:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

I've now been in New York for one whole year and while I've learned to do without good burritos, Zachery's pizza, clean air, and sunsets, I still miss having my old car.

Fortunately, Gran Turismo 4, which I finally did find a copy of (and not at Circuit City), does a respectable job of helping me to relive some of those old times. Unfortunately, what it doesn't allow me to do is drive to the grocery store, fill up the back with a month's worth of food, and driving it all back home.

On the other hand, a month's worth of groceries wouldn't fit in my closet of a kitchen and it's shoebox sized refrigerator anyway. So while I'll still enjoy driving my virtual car around video game land, and thanks to the nifty new "Photo Traveller" enhancement in the latest release of GT, take pictures of my virtual car in video game land, back in real world land, I'll have to live with my actual old car substitute which alternates between a beat up yellow Crown Vic, a chain of steel boxes on rails, and a trusty pair of sneakers.

World Wide Waste of Brain Space

2005-03-28T11:12:00.000-05:00

This past week, I've filled my progressively shrinking brain with two new useless bits of knowledge from random websites. Sadly, the more useful of these is that the word "congee" (as in the the Chinese porridge also called jook is actually derived from the word roughly translated as the water that you've boiled rice in.

The less useful is the definition of "cupcakin'" which apparently can have multiple meanings all of which are graciously provided by various amateur lexicographers on yet another of the webs time-killing sites (sorta like this one).

Thanks to my "freakin' undercover cupcakin' baker" friend for initiating the course of events which has introduced me to yet another time and brain wasting site.

New York, New York

2005-03-22T21:36:00.000-05:00

Ah, after over a month away from home, I've finally made it back. In my first 24 hours back in town, I've almost stepped in dog poo on the sidewalk, had the cashier at Circuit City rudely...I mean straightforwardly reply "Yeah, can't answer that. NEXT ON LINE!!" when I asked when they'd get more copies of Gran Turismo 4 in, and listened to cabs honk their horns outside my window at 3am. Welcome home.

I hear ya Bobby Brady

2005-03-15T12:30:00.000-05:00

F1 is making its stop in Kuala Lumpur this weekend. There's been an influx of people at the hotel this week including the Petronas-Sauber team who are doing publicity events locally before moving to a hotel closer to the track later in the week. I shared the elevator with several of the team members this afternoon and realized why kids grow up saying they want to be race car drivers and not risk management consultants - driving suits look a lot cooler than monkey suits.

Petronas Twin Towers

2005-03-13T07:23:00.000-05:00

Petronas Twin Towers
Originally uploaded by crazypete04.

So it's nearly a year later and here it is, the second post. This has been my home away from home for the last few months. I've gotta admit, I'm getting used to hotel life. Someone comes by to clean up twice a day, there's snacks in the lounge, and hotel staff are starting to recognize me here. Not bad.

2004-04-28T23:43:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the wonderful world of blogs. After months of browsing through hundreds...or at least dozens of random blogs about high school friends, college reminiscences, movie reviews, and at least one drunken answering machine message, I've decided to leave my mark on the information superhighway by adding even more completely useless information to this world wide web. Stay tuned...