Fun at Sports Basement

One of the great things about being married is that you can act like total dweebs in public and without ever being embarrassed....they married you, knowing how much of a tard you are...

Molly's Bridal Shower

This Saturday was Molly's bridal shower held at her sister's house in Alamo. It was primarily a family affair with all the nieces in attendance as well. These are always fun as you get a bunch of girls together and then just spend the afternoon gabbing about stuff.
The young ladies seated and smiling at the camera. Everyone got to use the wine glasses for the beverages whether they be alcoholic or not.
Holly and Molly concentrating on filling out the wedding word scramble.
Molly opening presents...that bowl is SUPER cute. I think it was from Williams-Sonoma, they just have the prettiest earthenware from all over Europe...
This was funny...it was a HUGE box, with two little butter dishes. With a tip from her future mother in law to keep hosting Thanksgiving dinner. Just kidding, there was also a cake plate.

I am getting soooo excited about this wedding!!! The time has gone by REALLY fast and it's now less than two months away. All the pieces are in place and we're just waiting for the day to arrive now....

Here's what we ate
Here's the cake

Effing Great Burgers

Holy shiz...if you haven't been out there, you need to get out there. We saw Joe's Cable Car on a segment of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network and have been curious about the fresh ground chuck burgers for awhile. After returning home from Molly's bridal shower on Satyurday afternoon, I was a little peckish and so we drove out to Excelsior/Glen Park area...Joe's is on Mission Street south of 280. If you are going South on 280 from SF you take the Alemany/Mission St Exit and then once you're on Mission, it is about a few blocks up on your right.

It's an old school diner, not something like Taylor's Refresher...but the burgers are good. Since they are coarse ground chuck (from their onsite butchery) it was chewy in a good "tooty" way as if you were just eating a steak sandwich. The flavor was more "beefy" and the onion rings were fantastic - the kind I dream about....not the wimpy thin gourmet kind.

I can't wait to go back.

Dinner at Restaurant Charlie

As part of the week long stay in Vegas, four of us "foodies" at work got together to stuff our faces with some high end grub - we ended up choosing Restaurant Charlie, the seafood focused outpost of famed chef, Charlie Trotter based out of Chicago. The service was reminiscent of my experience in Chicago...fluid, expectant and professional without being too formal and making one feel very comfortable as if almost visiting an old friend's home for a meal. They were even super awesome by allowing only half the table to do the tasting menu while the other half ordered a la carte...fantastic

I have determined that I may need to get a camera like Chester's that you can adjust shutter speed for low light as I was a bit embarrassed using the flash in such a nice place. But then....I will forever need to carry around a big bag for said camera....agh.

This was a fish dish of some sort...I can't remember what it was called but it was delicious. The size reminded me of a sardine, but the preparation was lmost a light fry and served in the shape of a wave.. Tiffany said it's because in Japan, they like to serve fish in a manner to show movement.

This was a tuna tartar-ish thing.... I think the dark sauce is actually squid ink but I can't be too sure. I wish I had brought a copy of the menu home with me.

Quail...soooo tender and delish. I originally mistook the quail drumstick for a meatball on a stick - lol. It was frenched so it looked more like a meatball.

This was lamb with figs... soooo lamby but sooooo delicious
Canteloupe sorbet with cucumber as the palatte cleansing course.
A steamed cocoa nib cake with chocolate and vanilla gelato.

Lotsa Space at the Palazzo

OK so here are pictures of my room while in Vegas for the week. The place is HUGE....I almost didn't know what do to with all of that space while I was out there. In the first picture you see the sofa and there was also a desk and a 4 seat dining table... I almost wish I didn't have so much work scheduled so I could just lounge around in the big ass room in my robe.

Viva Las Vegas

I'm off to vegas tomorrow morning...and coming back late Thursday night. It is for work and I have to share a room....blech....well, at least it is at the Palazzo and not someplace crappy. I'm already tired just thinking about being in Vegas for more than two days. I am going to see if I can actually sleep more in Vegas this time around than I did back in April...when all I did was sleep in Vegas.

Chung & Yuko's Wedding

My running coach Chung married Yuko a few weeks back. We weren't at the wedding but went to the after party at Jade Bar in Hayes Valley where they first met. The pic above is courtesy of Jerry's camera. It was funny to see Chung in non workout clothes....I think I've known him for about two years and have only seen him in shorts, tanks and sweats for running so it was almost shocking to see the man in a suit. I think I just started to believe that running clothes was literally all he wore...he'd wear it to work then just meet us at the track to workout....

That's us at the bar upon our arrival. Funny thing with us is that we spend our time out talking to each other.... we'll go to parties and mingling consists of talking to each other the entire time. We're so lame.

Art & Donuts

I came across this website from the sneeze....it's author had gone to an Eric Joyner art show recently and had some pictures on his site about the event...

So I checked it out... and I think the stuff is hilarious. Forrest agrees and we might get one for the house (when it finally closes). It's robots and donuts...something for everyone.

Book Review: Chinese Playground

Just finished this book recently and I really enjoyed reading it. Bill Lee was my recruiter years ago that got me into my second job seeUthere.com. I had heard this was the same Bill that wrote this book, so I went and read it. This is quite an amazing story - you hear about how rough things were or are in certain cities but it's not quite real to you because you didn't live it.

My parents were immigrants too but having grown up in a quite suburb of San Jose, the only trouble we really ever got into was fishing for tadpoles in the "creek" which was probably the water waste drainage along the expressway. When you read stories like Bill's you wonder about the scores of people that have landed on these shores hoping for a fresh start and a chance at a better life....and what the reality ended up being for the vast majority of those people; hard grueling work that left them little time with their children in a foreign land where they didn't understand the language or customs.

Bill's story is fascinating because even though he was engaged in some pretty deep shit with the Chinatown gangs of the 70's, in the end he got out and made it...but not without a huge toll on his psyche - leaving him tormented. And I remember him as such a jovial person from back when he recruited me into seeUthere...Even as recently as 3 years ago we chatted when I was looking for work again and Bill once again found me online. I chose to go a different route than what he was hiring for but reading his book did remind me to reach out to him via LinkedIn to get back in touch....

Cupcake Meet Up - Justin Herman Plaza

Before
After

I went to a bay area cupcake meetup this afternoon where a bunch of other cupcake enthusiasts met each other, many for the first time. The idea is to bring one dozen cupcakes and you'll get the oppotunity to swap cupcakes with others and leave the event with one of each other delicious goodness. I had been super excited and nervous about this event. Forrest's coworker Cheryl is the organizer and she used to have the most popular cupcake website on the internet!

I baked a batch of passionfruit lime cupcakes (one of my best to date) and headed over. In the car I practically had a meltdown... I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, but as I get older it seems that I am becoming more and more socially retarded and uncomfortable with the idea of meeting new people. Maybe I am spending too much time indoors, alone, in the kitchen. Forrest was trying to talk me off the ledge too...

After a harrowing 3 seconds of walking around Justin Herman Plaza trying to find them - I noticed a half gallon of milk sitting on a concrete curb and headed over. It was all relatively painless and my anxiety quickly seemed silly.

Don't ask me what's going on here...

Just try and figure it out for yourself :)

Decision 2008

So I am undecided. I guess I still have a couple of months to get closer to each candidates platforms and understand what they're all about...but as of now, it really is Indecision 2008 for me.

Recently while visiting my sister in law and her husband, it came out that I was undecided and am a registered Replublican. Ann was asking "are you just more fiscally conservative?" as their eyes were bugging out as I am now the devil spawn - LOL. Being fiscally conservative but socially liberal is the saving grace for most modern Repulicans....although I think Forrest calls those folks Libertarians.

I don't know - I may be a bit conservative on both fronts....but really here's where I stand

1. I am a registered Republican and have been since the day I turned 18 (and proud of it!)
2. I haven't been this charged up to vote since I voted for Bob Dole back in college
3. I believe in smaller federal government, but more active state and local government as that is where real "change" can really happen. Some bloated fed tax for a benefit I'll never see or an increase in my local sales tax to better local school system? Guess which one I am choosing
4. I do not believe in broad sweeping social programs as they don't work. There is too much diversity within the 50 states to come up with one program that fits all.
5. I believe we need more personal responsibility to hold people accountable for the direction of their own lives. You can be whatever you want...so pick a direction and try
6. I believe people do care about their community and are vested in its success
7. I am not a hater that doesn't want to help or share. I just want the freedom choose where my money goes and have the opportunity to be involved in that organization. I don't believe in a blank check without knowing where it's going to and what it is doing.
8. I believe in freedom of choice...of all choices, regardless of what you or I may personally believe about that issue, we have to leave choice in the hands of the citizens.
9. I think all families should have the rights and benefits deemed to what has been considered "traditional" families. I think social evolution is constantly redefining the status quo and people just need to get over it and accept it - you don't have to agree with it.
10. I do believe the current administration is a nutty and not inspirational to the public.
11. I believe a public leader needs to inspire the people just as much, if not more than actually know what to do....if people feel they are empowered, many will make the neccessary changes on their own.
12. I do believe that there are some people you just can't help or make happy no matter what you do, what programs you create - some people are just unwilling.
13. This has been a historic year starting with the primaries. It is an amazing site to see a woman, african american, pack of old white dudes, a mormon and fundamentalist christian all weigh in for a chance at the presidency and to last as long as they did. It was like a representative slice of America (minus a few ethnicities) in a single race
14. The chance to elect the first female president was exciting....but not really when it was Hillary Clinton. She sounds smart and all, but their marriage is too much of a business partnership more than a family that gives the whole thing an air of deceit...like it was always planned this way.
15. I understand that the symbolism of electing the first non old white guy as a president is a moment in history that will likely re-define America regardless of what his policy is. Barack Obama is a transformative public leader this is a big deal....and his speeches do move me to feel inspired and hopeful.

I think that's it for now.... and you can see why I am undecided as I will need to make some concesssions on way or another when voting for president.

Book Review: Metropolis

Just finished Metropolis by Elizabeth Gaffney and after starting off a bit skeptical, I ended up loving the book. I found this book years ago via a Time or People magazine book review and had it sitting on my Amazon wishlist....for years. Finally purchased it (thank you drunken online shopping) and when it arrived I was totally over it.

But not wanting to waste my money and not read the book, I started it one afternoon and quite literally was surprised at how much I liked it. The story reads very well, is descriptive and entertaining. The story is set in the time period of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. It follows a set of characters that reminded me of the movie "Gangs of New York." Forrest pointed out that the year the bridge was started and Gangs of NY are not the same...but being a stickler aside, I pointed out that it was the same era in history and one cannot assume all the immigrant gangs came to a dead stop after the movie.

The book has murder, double crossing, violence, drama, mystery, a love story and some family drama as well...If anyone wants it lemme know.

Slow Food Nation 2008

Yesterday, Forrest and I headed over to Fort Mason to attend the Slow Food Nation Tasting Pavilion. Many thanks to Molly for giving us her set of tickets. The Tasting Pavilion was super fun....basically it was like a tradeshow of eating!! They had beer, bread, fish, pickles & chutney, charcuterie, wine, cheese, jams & honey, chocolate, spirits, coffee and ice cream.

The above was from the yummy yummy fish stand. You will see a sardine with pesto, a white bean puree with pita chips, marinated octopus with zuchini salad and a salmon crostini. The sardine....oh the sardine!
Over in the spirits section we had this Square One vodka cocktail...I think they called it a "tomato mojito" which basically was cucumber vodka, cherry tomatoes and basil all shaken together and served with a sliced cherry tomato and basil garnish. Very delicious and refreshing - I think our next party will definitely be serving this. We also tried some organic gin that I was not too hot on....it was too fragrant in a floral way, not an herbal way if that makes any sense. Definitely not a martinit gin....maybe a cocktail gin.
Pizza making at the bread stand. Oh they had this super tangy blue cheese and salami pizza...it was pungent - woo hoo!

Forrest posing in front of the bread snail over in the "history of bread" display.

The most interesting thing at this event for me was the information booth for urban farming. There is an organization called "City Slicker Farms" and they operate out of Oakland and primarily service the Oakland area but their philosophy is interesting. They go and install vegetable gardens in peoples backyards, either in their single family homes, multi unit homes and in local schools. I think it is important for young people to know where things come from, not in a hippie sort of way but in a way that helps kids learn how things are interconnected and the science behind how things work. Additionally, there is pride in cultivating something then being able to harvest the fruits of your labor and heck...they get to eat healthier too - double bonus. I was hoping they had operations in San Francisco but they are primarily an Oakland based organization....regardless, I am interested in learning more about them...and looking forward to getting involved.