I know that I talk a big game. Some of you may have heard me make grand claims:
- I don't believe in getting sick
- I NEVER sleep
- I never get cold
Well, the first two are *definitely* true. The third one was true until yesterday. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you all already know that the east coast gets cold. Earth to readers, I knew this, too. But oh my goodness, when it's 19 degrees out and then an icy wind blows all through your clothes. DAAAAAAMMMMMN!
Anyway, you read my not-so-harrowing adventures that led me to buy a new iPhone, but that was just part of the story. I flew into DC on Wednesday morning after taking the red eye from Oakland on JetBlue. There were less than 60 people on my flight which meant that I had three seats to stretch out across. When's the last time you got to do that?
Upon landing, I picked up my baggage and then the rental car (different uses of "picked up") and drove to Seth and Karen's place in Silver Springs. Seth and I were roommates in college for three years, including one year where we decided to situate our two room double by putting both beds in the "inner sanctum" and both desks in the "outer study room". Suffice to say, the Inner Sanctum saw absolutely ZERO action sophomore year. Since Seth was working from home in the morning, we chatted a bit and then I took a nap and he went to work.
Later in the day, I ventured into DC and met up with Rebekah (friend from high school) in Adams Morgan at Cashion's Eat Place. We went back to her place to watch the State of the Union address. Strangely, I hadn't watched it at all during the Bush years. It was actually pretty cool watching the speech in DC, but more on the speech in a future post.
Thursday was lunch with Tim (former advisee) and all sorts of shenanigans around the town. Following that (and the new phone), I met up with Irena, Sharon, Dan, Alexis, and Ben for dinner at Oya. It was a loud restaurant, but was a great call by Irena. Their food was quite good and fusiony - I had a Tuna Tempura roll that was phenomenal. And the drinks were good - I had a Darker and Stormier and a Manhattan that were both good. The company was even better!
Friday was spent relaxing and then exploring a bit of the city. I went to Tryst for lunch and Chai Masala Tea. Lunch was a sandwich with turkey, sundried tomato spread, and brie on a toasted olive focaccia roll. I headed to Metro Center and then FINALLY made it to Starbucks (where I had tried to go the previous day). Sima (former advisee) and I caught up for a bit and then she had to go back to work. What's this about people with jobs?
After a brief visit to Kramerbooks and Afterwords, I headed back to Silver Springs to have dinner with Nicole, Gino, and their son Nico. Nicole and I went to junior high and high school together and actually lived like two blocks away from each other in Burlingame. As a brief aside - one of my favorite stories about Nicole was from Mr. Perry's Algebra 3-4 class my sophomore (her junior) year. I'm sitting in the class, a little intimidated and she sits right in front of me, turns around and says, "You're smart. I'm going to sit near you." Anyway, I hadn't seen talked to them in over a year, so we caught up for about four and a half hours and also got to be entertained by Nico. By the way, Gino has motorcycle boots that make him look like Jetfire.
Saturday was spent sitting inside with Seth, Karen, and Julia admiring the snow through thick-paned windows. Actually, Saturday was a pretty momentous day for the Yoskowitz family - Julia had her first non-crib day that day AND she also managed to go potty a couple times in the toilet and not in her diaper. Uncle Josh may have accidentally taught her to lick her own toes, though. I guess that deserves its own paragraph...
So Seth, Julia, and I were all playing and at one point Julia said something that sounded like, "I'm going to lick my toes now." Now me, being less-than-fully experienced with kids SHOULD have said, "What did you say?" Instead, like an idiot, I said, "Did you just say that you were going to lick your toes?" I could see the lightbulb go off in her head. IMMEDIATELY, she started taking off her sock and stuck her left foot in her mouth. Seth and I, laughing, tried to get her to stop. Seth picked her up (upside down) to try to distract her...to no avail. I also tried the same thing and the moment I put her down, she went right back to the toe-licking. This is my fault. I'm sorry.
No really, I'd be a great baby-sitter to your kids.
Anyway, with it snowing all day yesterday, I decided to wait until today (Sunday) to drive to Philadelphia. But this post is long enough. I'll regale you with toes tales later.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Restaurant Review - Cafe Gratitude
You'll probably notice that most places where I eat are pretty good. You could say that it's because I'll eat anything. Or it could be that I get really good recommendations from friends with exceedingly good taste. It should be pretty obvious what I think.
(By the way, I'm about to watch an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Hell yeah. Ooh, the episode is called The Vengeance Factor and is about "The Gatherers." What I would give to have Patrick Stewart narrate my life.)
On Friday last week (January 22), Hoodie and I had made plans to meet up for lunch. He suggested Cafe Gratitude, a mostly raw vegan restaurant on the corner of 20th and Harrison. Now you may be thinking, "Raw vegan? WTF?" I'll eat anything and after the enormous volume of food I had eaten during the holidays, raw vegan sounded like a very healthy change.
I'll be honest, the place is a tiny bit hippie. Each of the menu items is entitled "I am x" with x being some positive adjective. For example, I ordered "I Am Whole" and a bowl of "I Am Glorious." The server repeated my order as "You are whole and you are glorious." That was nice. And not wholly necessary, but when in rome...
It was delicious. I Am Whole is a grain bowl (I got it with quinoa) with kale, sea vegetables, garlic tahini sauce, homemade kim chee and sprouts. The tea wasn't bad, but I was blown away by the grain bowl. So blown away, in fact, that I returned there Friday night on a roommate night out with Leslie A. This time, we got the I Am Graceful (quinoa bowl with veggies, basil, cilantro, mint, and cashews) and I Am Giving (kale and sea vegetable salad with cucumbers, shiitakes, cilantro, scallions, sesame seeds, and teriyaki almonds).
The portions are large. You can get by with a half bowl (even though the full bowl is a better value). And you will be paying a little bit extra for the quality of the food - keeping it vegan and local and sustainable.
One last thing, they have a board game they created called "The Abounding River." If ever there was a game that went completely against any game that my family would play, this is it. For example, there are Sage cards and Reflection cards. When you get a Sage cards, one player is supposed to read the card aloud and everyone is supposed to sit and contemplate. This would NOT fly with my family. We would want to know who had the best Sage card or who could get the most of them which runs completely counter to the intent of the game. I didn't notice the game when I was there with Hoodie. I did when Leslie and I were there. I could see her both playing the game and mocking it (and feeling bad about mocking it).
All in all, Cafe Gratitude works great for lunch and for dinner. This isn't a great first or second date place unless you know he/she is vegan and you want to impress him/her with your knowledge of those places. The atmosphere is very cafe-like, so if you are looking for romance, this isn't your place.
(By the way, I'm about to watch an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Hell yeah. Ooh, the episode is called The Vengeance Factor and is about "The Gatherers." What I would give to have Patrick Stewart narrate my life.)
On Friday last week (January 22), Hoodie and I had made plans to meet up for lunch. He suggested Cafe Gratitude, a mostly raw vegan restaurant on the corner of 20th and Harrison. Now you may be thinking, "Raw vegan? WTF?" I'll eat anything and after the enormous volume of food I had eaten during the holidays, raw vegan sounded like a very healthy change.
I'll be honest, the place is a tiny bit hippie. Each of the menu items is entitled "I am x" with x being some positive adjective. For example, I ordered "I Am Whole" and a bowl of "I Am Glorious." The server repeated my order as "You are whole and you are glorious." That was nice. And not wholly necessary, but when in rome...
It was delicious. I Am Whole is a grain bowl (I got it with quinoa) with kale, sea vegetables, garlic tahini sauce, homemade kim chee and sprouts. The tea wasn't bad, but I was blown away by the grain bowl. So blown away, in fact, that I returned there Friday night on a roommate night out with Leslie A. This time, we got the I Am Graceful (quinoa bowl with veggies, basil, cilantro, mint, and cashews) and I Am Giving (kale and sea vegetable salad with cucumbers, shiitakes, cilantro, scallions, sesame seeds, and teriyaki almonds).
The portions are large. You can get by with a half bowl (even though the full bowl is a better value). And you will be paying a little bit extra for the quality of the food - keeping it vegan and local and sustainable.
One last thing, they have a board game they created called "The Abounding River." If ever there was a game that went completely against any game that my family would play, this is it. For example, there are Sage cards and Reflection cards. When you get a Sage cards, one player is supposed to read the card aloud and everyone is supposed to sit and contemplate. This would NOT fly with my family. We would want to know who had the best Sage card or who could get the most of them which runs completely counter to the intent of the game. I didn't notice the game when I was there with Hoodie. I did when Leslie and I were there. I could see her both playing the game and mocking it (and feeling bad about mocking it).
All in all, Cafe Gratitude works great for lunch and for dinner. This isn't a great first or second date place unless you know he/she is vegan and you want to impress him/her with your knowledge of those places. The atmosphere is very cafe-like, so if you are looking for romance, this isn't your place.
Restaurant Review - La Mediterranee
Apparently I was late to find about this tremendous restaurant. Of our groups of five (me, Shing, Leslie C, Tammy, and Mike F), I was the only one who hadn't been there multiple times. So let me tell you about Cafe La Mediterranee.
As far as mediterranean food goes, this is really tasty. Tammy, Shing, Leslie and all shared four orders of the Mediterranean Meza. It was WAY WAY WAY too much food for us to eat in one sitting, but you need to get one per person so that you get one of each of the main items: ground lamb balls (not testicles, but lamb meatballs), chicken pomegranate, chicken cilicia in fillo dough, and grecian spinach and feta fillo dough, not to mention dolma, hummus, baba ghanoush, and tabuleh.
I'm trying to pick my favorite of these and it's really hard. I think I'd have to go with the chicken cilicia - it was actually a sweet dish - it was fillo dough filled with chicken, almonds, chickpeas, and raisins and topped with cinnamon. On top of everything else in the meal, I made sure that this was my last bite.
There are locations in Berkeley, Noe Valley, and Fillmore and we were eating at the Berkeley location last Thursday (Jan 21). I thought it had a really good ambience - it felt open and relaxed. If you are going in a group, I suggest that you send one person ahead to write their name down so that you get seated faster. Those of you who are wine aficionados aren't going to find much there to impress you, but they'll give you house wine for $4.50. They do have a full bar, so you can get whatever you like.
Overall, it's a great informal place to eat. Even if you get the Mediterranean Meza, you won't be paying much for dinner - most entree items are in the $9-12 range (the Meza is $16). It could work as a first date or as a place to catch up with old friends.
As far as mediterranean food goes, this is really tasty. Tammy, Shing, Leslie and all shared four orders of the Mediterranean Meza. It was WAY WAY WAY too much food for us to eat in one sitting, but you need to get one per person so that you get one of each of the main items: ground lamb balls (not testicles, but lamb meatballs), chicken pomegranate, chicken cilicia in fillo dough, and grecian spinach and feta fillo dough, not to mention dolma, hummus, baba ghanoush, and tabuleh.
I'm trying to pick my favorite of these and it's really hard. I think I'd have to go with the chicken cilicia - it was actually a sweet dish - it was fillo dough filled with chicken, almonds, chickpeas, and raisins and topped with cinnamon. On top of everything else in the meal, I made sure that this was my last bite.
There are locations in Berkeley, Noe Valley, and Fillmore and we were eating at the Berkeley location last Thursday (Jan 21). I thought it had a really good ambience - it felt open and relaxed. If you are going in a group, I suggest that you send one person ahead to write their name down so that you get seated faster. Those of you who are wine aficionados aren't going to find much there to impress you, but they'll give you house wine for $4.50. They do have a full bar, so you can get whatever you like.
Overall, it's a great informal place to eat. Even if you get the Mediterranean Meza, you won't be paying much for dinner - most entree items are in the $9-12 range (the Meza is $16). It could work as a first date or as a place to catch up with old friends.
Upon Reflection...
Now that I've had a bit of time to gain perspective, I'd like to reflect on my "bad" day yesterday. (And thanks to Shing for helping me to reflect during a chat late last night!)
It's really hard to think that a bad day includes buying a new iPhone, eating very good food with old friends, and sleeping at my college roommate's house in the suburbs. Relatively speaking, I had a pretty freakin' good day. Of course, it's really hard to see that when you're in the middle of it and are frustrated when nothing seems to be working out. But it really helped for me to sit on a bench right after I lost my phone and take a few deep breaths. I needed to remind myself that all that really happened was that I lost my phone (a phone I had been thinking about replacing for almost a year). I wasn't hurt, I wasn't in any physical danger, I had people and places I could go, and I had my wallet.
I know that I often take for granted what a privileged life I've had. I have been given so many advantages through the love and hard work of my parents and also through the support of good friends and family. To try to list them here would almost seem trite.
The book I am currently reading is definitely highlighting this point for me as well. It's Freedom Summer by Doug McAdam and is a recounting of the Mississippi Voter Registration project taken on in the Summer of 1964 (and before). About 1000 volunteers, primarily from elite universities went to Mississippi to get disenfranchised Blacks to register to vote. White Mississippi and the federal government were both actively opposing this activity - four students were killed (you've probably seen the movie Mississippi Burning), many others were beaten, and many buildings were bombed as a way to intimidate the volunteers and the permanent residents. What is remarkable is reading the accounts of how much the actions of these volunteers affected them personally and opened their eyes to their own privilege. Most of them had known about their privilege on an intellectual level, but it wasn't until they were actively involved that they understood it. This all reminds me of the importance of taking action and not just becoming better educated.
I would like to think that I have the strength to actually do meaningful work in making the world a better place (or in Hebrew, Tikkun Olam - healing the world) and not just sitting in my comfort zone. But in reading accounts such as these, I don't know if I would really put myself and everything on the line. I know that I am comfortable donating money for Haiti relief or for many other causes, but would I actually go into a "bad" part of a city (like I was in yesterday) and assist at a school? Tutor? Mentor a child? Would I really fight for someone else's rights as strongly as I would my own? I often have used the excuse that I don't have the time to do it, but I think it may be that I'm too uncomfortable. Am I too privileged to really go outside my comfort zone and to assist with the people who live in the worst poverty? I hope not, but I'm not sure that that is actually the case.
It's really hard to think that a bad day includes buying a new iPhone, eating very good food with old friends, and sleeping at my college roommate's house in the suburbs. Relatively speaking, I had a pretty freakin' good day. Of course, it's really hard to see that when you're in the middle of it and are frustrated when nothing seems to be working out. But it really helped for me to sit on a bench right after I lost my phone and take a few deep breaths. I needed to remind myself that all that really happened was that I lost my phone (a phone I had been thinking about replacing for almost a year). I wasn't hurt, I wasn't in any physical danger, I had people and places I could go, and I had my wallet.
I know that I often take for granted what a privileged life I've had. I have been given so many advantages through the love and hard work of my parents and also through the support of good friends and family. To try to list them here would almost seem trite.
The book I am currently reading is definitely highlighting this point for me as well. It's Freedom Summer by Doug McAdam and is a recounting of the Mississippi Voter Registration project taken on in the Summer of 1964 (and before). About 1000 volunteers, primarily from elite universities went to Mississippi to get disenfranchised Blacks to register to vote. White Mississippi and the federal government were both actively opposing this activity - four students were killed (you've probably seen the movie Mississippi Burning), many others were beaten, and many buildings were bombed as a way to intimidate the volunteers and the permanent residents. What is remarkable is reading the accounts of how much the actions of these volunteers affected them personally and opened their eyes to their own privilege. Most of them had known about their privilege on an intellectual level, but it wasn't until they were actively involved that they understood it. This all reminds me of the importance of taking action and not just becoming better educated.
I would like to think that I have the strength to actually do meaningful work in making the world a better place (or in Hebrew, Tikkun Olam - healing the world) and not just sitting in my comfort zone. But in reading accounts such as these, I don't know if I would really put myself and everything on the line. I know that I am comfortable donating money for Haiti relief or for many other causes, but would I actually go into a "bad" part of a city (like I was in yesterday) and assist at a school? Tutor? Mentor a child? Would I really fight for someone else's rights as strongly as I would my own? I often have used the excuse that I don't have the time to do it, but I think it may be that I'm too uncomfortable. Am I too privileged to really go outside my comfort zone and to assist with the people who live in the worst poverty? I hope not, but I'm not sure that that is actually the case.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Restaurant Review (DC version): Cashion's Eat Place
Last night, Rebekah and I went out to eat at Cashion's Eat Place in Adams Morgan in Washington DC. The last time she and I had dinner together several months ago, she was bemoaning the food scene in DC and how hard it was to be a foodie in DC. So I was skeptical about eating anywhere in our capital city.
It turns out that the food was really quite good. I was much less impressed with their wine and their sommelier.
For appetizers, we split a Veal Cannelloni, Bechamel, and Parmesan dish and a salad of Local Beets, Pipe Dreams Fromage, Walnuts, Pomegranates, Frisse, Mizuna, and a Mustard Seed Vinaigrette. The cannelloni was stupendous - it was light and cheesy and absolutely delicious. There were two cannellonis on the plate, but I could have eaten four. The salad was decent, but the cheese was unremarkable. I could have done with some more pomegranate seeds or some slices of mandarin, but it was still good.
For entrees, Rebekah had the Whole Mediterranean Dorade Fillet with Fingerling Potatoes, Escarole, Aioli, Laconian Olive Oil, and Sea Salt while I had the Berkshire Pork Chop, Korean Spiced, with Black Rice, Red Peppers, Haricots Verts, Pickled Vegetables, and Micro Cilantro. Rebekah let me have a bite of hers - it was tasty (and she said it was delicious). The pork chop was phenomenal. The cilantro was possibly a little too strong, but the pork chop had a great taste to it on its own. When combined with the rice, peppers and green beans, each bite was better than the last.
For dessert, I had the Chocolate Mousse filled Profiteroles and Rebekah had a Tangerine Tart. Both were excellent - we liked our choices so much that we barely spared a bite for each other.
As for the wine, the sommelier picked out a bottle of Barbera (Barbera d'Alba, Altare '07) for us that he described as very full bodied. I am not a wine critic in any stretch of the imagination, but this was not a full bodied wine. It took a long time to open up and only after about 15 minutes started to do anything interesting. Even then, it was not what we had been looking for. However, he was extraordinarily polite and exchanged the bottle for a bottle of Bordeaux (Medoc, Chateau Antonich '03) instead.
Overall, I highly recommend the place for those of you DC people out there. I also had a glass of the Hot Apple Cider while I waited for Rebekah and that was excellent, too!
It turns out that the food was really quite good. I was much less impressed with their wine and their sommelier.
For appetizers, we split a Veal Cannelloni, Bechamel, and Parmesan dish and a salad of Local Beets, Pipe Dreams Fromage, Walnuts, Pomegranates, Frisse, Mizuna, and a Mustard Seed Vinaigrette. The cannelloni was stupendous - it was light and cheesy and absolutely delicious. There were two cannellonis on the plate, but I could have eaten four. The salad was decent, but the cheese was unremarkable. I could have done with some more pomegranate seeds or some slices of mandarin, but it was still good.
For entrees, Rebekah had the Whole Mediterranean Dorade Fillet with Fingerling Potatoes, Escarole, Aioli, Laconian Olive Oil, and Sea Salt while I had the Berkshire Pork Chop, Korean Spiced, with Black Rice, Red Peppers, Haricots Verts, Pickled Vegetables, and Micro Cilantro. Rebekah let me have a bite of hers - it was tasty (and she said it was delicious). The pork chop was phenomenal. The cilantro was possibly a little too strong, but the pork chop had a great taste to it on its own. When combined with the rice, peppers and green beans, each bite was better than the last.
For dessert, I had the Chocolate Mousse filled Profiteroles and Rebekah had a Tangerine Tart. Both were excellent - we liked our choices so much that we barely spared a bite for each other.
As for the wine, the sommelier picked out a bottle of Barbera (Barbera d'Alba, Altare '07) for us that he described as very full bodied. I am not a wine critic in any stretch of the imagination, but this was not a full bodied wine. It took a long time to open up and only after about 15 minutes started to do anything interesting. Even then, it was not what we had been looking for. However, he was extraordinarily polite and exchanged the bottle for a bottle of Bordeaux (Medoc, Chateau Antonich '03) instead.
Overall, I highly recommend the place for those of you DC people out there. I also had a glass of the Hot Apple Cider while I waited for Rebekah and that was excellent, too!
Sometimes You Just Have a Bad Day
Ugh.
Well, let's start with the good. I woke up in Washington DC after a good night's sleep and got to see Seth, Karen, and their daughter Julia before they left this morning. Julia is adorable (she's two) and I don't think she's scared of me the way that lots of kids are when they first meet me. Then I took a nap.
That was mostly the end of the good. The Bad was really all of my own doing:
So I was going to meet up with one of my former advisees, Tim Meyer, for lunch at Gordon Biersch at 9th and F street, right near the Metro Center station. As I left Seth's place to walk to the Metro station at Forest Glen, I realized that I left my phone and my map at his place, so I walked back to go get them. I was already running late before I turned back, so I decided to drive to the Metro station and park to save a couple of minutes (it's about a 15 minute walk to the station). The lot was full, but I managed to find legal street parking about a quarter mile away. I could have been more decisive in finding the spot - this cost me about 30-60 seconds worth of time (which will become relevant soon).
I got to the Metro station and took the elevator down to the platform. It was 11:46am, and I had told Tim that I'd be there at 12:10pm (I called to tell him I was running late). As the elevator doors were about to open, I prayed to myself, "please let the train to Shady Grove be arriving." The doors opened, and I managed to see the last tail light leave the station on its way to Shady Grove. Next train: 12 minutes.
Well that was unacceptable, so I went out to the parking lot to see if there was a cab there. There wasn't...predictably. However, I walked out to Georgia Ave and managed to find a cab stopped at a red light. The cabbie let me in and I asked him to take me there. It took 30 minutes. Ugh
Finally, I arrived at Gordon Biersch at 12:30pm and had lunch with Tim. That was actually really good - I hadn't seen him in several years. He is doing quite well - he just accepted a teaching position at Georgia University teaching international law (this just happened two days ago!). He, his wife Willow, and their kids Wyatt and Cash will be moving to Athens soon.
After bidding farewell to Tim, I explored the area a little bit and managed to walk to the IRS building. It was quite coincidental given my future profession as an accountant. I managed to get there without even looking!
Around 2pm, I figured that I should start heading out to meet with another one of my former advisees, Sima. She and I were planning to meet at Starbucks at 1401 New York Ave. When I put the address into google maps, it spit out 1401 New York NE which is way out there past Gallaudet University. I knew I should have asked her about it, but I didn't (and I think the street view would have dissuaded me). Anyway, I took the Metro to the Florida/Gallaudet stop and walked through a very pretty Gallaudet campus. (For those of you who don't know, Gallaudet is the only university expressly for deaf students.) I learned about it in Sign Language class at Stanford, but had never been. After walking through the campus, I found myself in an increasingly bad neighborhood... here's the route I took. Lots of doubts swirled in my head as I arrived at a 1401 New York NE that never actually existed. The thing that really pissed me off is that I KNEW IT as I was walking. The voice in my head kept saying "this isn't right. This isn't right. This isn't right," but I just kept walking. Stupid stupid stupid.
After realizing that I was in a bad neighborhood...on foot...with very few public transportation options...I tried to get a cab for a while, but none were stopping. FINALLY (after about 10 minutes), one stopped. Relieved, I hopped in. It was about 3:18pm and I was 18 minutes late. (Plus I didn't have Sima's number.) Just as we got to 1401 New York NW, I hopped out of the cab, left a few bucks for a tip, and started to run across the street. Another guy had just gotten in the cab as I exited and I left in a rush because the light was about to turn green. Halfway across the street, I patted my front pocket where I keep my phone, and NOTHING. I turned quickly and the cab was gone. I ran half a block one direction and half a block in another, but I couldn't find them. OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT. It was like a scene out of The Game. Extremely frustrated, I walked into Starbucks and Sima wasn't there.
This just wasn't my day. At all.
I actually had to sit on a bench and remind myself that this wasn't the end of the world. I've been through much harder things, but still, I had been sooooo stupid in so many ways. There were about 15 things I could have done today to prevent my losing my phone. Oh, did I mention that I heard something drop in the cab? That was my phone. I should have picked it up, but I thought it was something of the cabbie's.
By the way, I was in such a desperate place where I caught the cab that I didn't catch the name of the cab company NOR did I catch the driver's name. I was useless.
Luckily, there was an AT&T store right next to Starbucks, so I walked in and bought myself a new iPhone 3GS. I had been putting off doing this for quite some time, and now I did it. Not only that, but DC only has a sales tax of 6% compared to San Francisco's 9.50% so I ended up saving a little bit of money. Now I have a phone again but no phone numbers.
Ai ya.
OK, tonight I'm off to have dinner with Irena, Dan, Sharon, Alexis, and Ben. Hopefully I find the restaurant without being a total idiot. I've got an hour and 18 minutes to get there and it's about 5 blocks away. Let's see if I actually make it on time!
By the way, this game called Click Once a Minute actually managed to calm me down a bit. My high score was 27.
Well, let's start with the good. I woke up in Washington DC after a good night's sleep and got to see Seth, Karen, and their daughter Julia before they left this morning. Julia is adorable (she's two) and I don't think she's scared of me the way that lots of kids are when they first meet me. Then I took a nap.
That was mostly the end of the good. The Bad was really all of my own doing:
So I was going to meet up with one of my former advisees, Tim Meyer, for lunch at Gordon Biersch at 9th and F street, right near the Metro Center station. As I left Seth's place to walk to the Metro station at Forest Glen, I realized that I left my phone and my map at his place, so I walked back to go get them. I was already running late before I turned back, so I decided to drive to the Metro station and park to save a couple of minutes (it's about a 15 minute walk to the station). The lot was full, but I managed to find legal street parking about a quarter mile away. I could have been more decisive in finding the spot - this cost me about 30-60 seconds worth of time (which will become relevant soon).
I got to the Metro station and took the elevator down to the platform. It was 11:46am, and I had told Tim that I'd be there at 12:10pm (I called to tell him I was running late). As the elevator doors were about to open, I prayed to myself, "please let the train to Shady Grove be arriving." The doors opened, and I managed to see the last tail light leave the station on its way to Shady Grove. Next train: 12 minutes.
Well that was unacceptable, so I went out to the parking lot to see if there was a cab there. There wasn't...predictably. However, I walked out to Georgia Ave and managed to find a cab stopped at a red light. The cabbie let me in and I asked him to take me there. It took 30 minutes. Ugh
Finally, I arrived at Gordon Biersch at 12:30pm and had lunch with Tim. That was actually really good - I hadn't seen him in several years. He is doing quite well - he just accepted a teaching position at Georgia University teaching international law (this just happened two days ago!). He, his wife Willow, and their kids Wyatt and Cash will be moving to Athens soon.
After bidding farewell to Tim, I explored the area a little bit and managed to walk to the IRS building. It was quite coincidental given my future profession as an accountant. I managed to get there without even looking!
Around 2pm, I figured that I should start heading out to meet with another one of my former advisees, Sima. She and I were planning to meet at Starbucks at 1401 New York Ave. When I put the address into google maps, it spit out 1401 New York NE which is way out there past Gallaudet University. I knew I should have asked her about it, but I didn't (and I think the street view would have dissuaded me). Anyway, I took the Metro to the Florida/Gallaudet stop and walked through a very pretty Gallaudet campus. (For those of you who don't know, Gallaudet is the only university expressly for deaf students.) I learned about it in Sign Language class at Stanford, but had never been. After walking through the campus, I found myself in an increasingly bad neighborhood... here's the route I took. Lots of doubts swirled in my head as I arrived at a 1401 New York NE that never actually existed. The thing that really pissed me off is that I KNEW IT as I was walking. The voice in my head kept saying "this isn't right. This isn't right. This isn't right," but I just kept walking. Stupid stupid stupid.
After realizing that I was in a bad neighborhood...on foot...with very few public transportation options...I tried to get a cab for a while, but none were stopping. FINALLY (after about 10 minutes), one stopped. Relieved, I hopped in. It was about 3:18pm and I was 18 minutes late. (Plus I didn't have Sima's number.) Just as we got to 1401 New York NW, I hopped out of the cab, left a few bucks for a tip, and started to run across the street. Another guy had just gotten in the cab as I exited and I left in a rush because the light was about to turn green. Halfway across the street, I patted my front pocket where I keep my phone, and NOTHING. I turned quickly and the cab was gone. I ran half a block one direction and half a block in another, but I couldn't find them. OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT. It was like a scene out of The Game. Extremely frustrated, I walked into Starbucks and Sima wasn't there.
This just wasn't my day. At all.
I actually had to sit on a bench and remind myself that this wasn't the end of the world. I've been through much harder things, but still, I had been sooooo stupid in so many ways. There were about 15 things I could have done today to prevent my losing my phone. Oh, did I mention that I heard something drop in the cab? That was my phone. I should have picked it up, but I thought it was something of the cabbie's.
By the way, I was in such a desperate place where I caught the cab that I didn't catch the name of the cab company NOR did I catch the driver's name. I was useless.
Luckily, there was an AT&T store right next to Starbucks, so I walked in and bought myself a new iPhone 3GS. I had been putting off doing this for quite some time, and now I did it. Not only that, but DC only has a sales tax of 6% compared to San Francisco's 9.50% so I ended up saving a little bit of money. Now I have a phone again but no phone numbers.
Ai ya.
OK, tonight I'm off to have dinner with Irena, Dan, Sharon, Alexis, and Ben. Hopefully I find the restaurant without being a total idiot. I've got an hour and 18 minutes to get there and it's about 5 blocks away. Let's see if I actually make it on time!
By the way, this game called Click Once a Minute actually managed to calm me down a bit. My high score was 27.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
What To Wear For My First Day Of School
Before I get started with my post today, I heard a recording of an artist on Friday night that I had never heard before. Her name is Doris Svensson and she was a funk/soul singer from Sweden who put out a solo album back in 1970. Awesome stuff. Here are a couple of links to her music:
- This first one is a song that I want Sinister Dexter to play called Beat Maker.
- The second one is a song called Flowers in the Morning. I love its sound and melody - it has a bit of a haunting quality to it that just sounds terrific.
Play those in the background while you read this post...
Wednesday was my first day back to school since June 1998. It has been a long time, but since I'll be pursuing a career in accounting in the near future, it's probably wise for me to start taking some accounting classes so that I know what the heck people are talking about in the office once I start there. I'm taking two accounting classes - an intro to accounting course and financial accounting - plus a business law class. The business law class will help me with the CPA exam once I finally take it.
I am enrolled in the illustrious College of San Mateo or CSM for short. Never mind that my friends in high school referred to it as the College of Small Minds or Harvard on the Hill. It's a bit daunting to be in school for the first time in a while, but on the other hand, it's such a difference from work. I really can't see the classes I'm taking being any harder than the work I was doing the last 11 years. Plus, a lot of the stuff I'm learning is just very logical. Nonetheless, I will now be taking a 10am and 11am class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until late May. The business law course is a televised course, so there is no class time for that.
I guess to be perfectly honest, I wasn't really all that concerned about the first day of school - it's more that I need to get into the "taking classes" mindset. It's easy to fall behind on the reading and I want to do very well in every class, but I also don't want to publicize the whole Stanford grad thing. I don't want the professors to think that I'm trying to rest on my laurels - I want my classwork to speak for itself. Plus I don't want to wear a bunch of Stanford stuff to class. Either way, the fact that I'm spending any time worrying about this conveys a sense of overinflated self-importance - I doubt people would notice one way or the other.
Anyway, class was fine - these were orientation classes. I met with the Accounting Dept academic advisor and got some good direction. Then I ran to a Chinese class that Shing was encouraging me to take. It turns out that rather than being offered at Skyline from 3-4:20, it was being offered at Westmoor High in Daly City. As I drove there, I realized that this was going to be like the calculus class I took in high school that was offered through Skyline College. Lo and behold, when I arrived at Westmoor, I went into the classroom and found it full of high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Not only was I the only White person in the class, I was at least twice the age of just about everyone there. The only person there older than me was the not-so-gracious teacher. It was clear that I was out of place and I had a hard time seeing myself taking this class every Monday and Wednesday afternoon until May. I was on the waitlist anyway (and it was clear that the teacher wanted to keep this a high school class) so rather than force the teacher to kick me out, I bowed out before she began the lesson.
Wednesday night, I met up with my dad for dinner. We went to a restaurant called Vega in Bernal Heights (the link to the restaurant website on Yelp doesn't work right now). I wasn't too impressed while I was there, but in the end, I thought that it was really good. We had grilled artichoke hearts stuffed with goat cheese and topped with pesto as an appetizer followed by a homemade gnochhi with mushrooms and sausage and an italian pizza with homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, prosciutto, and an egg. The gnocchi was decent, but the other two dishes were pretty fantastic. The ambience of the place is part family feel part romantic - it has dark walls, but it's a bit airy and narrow. Overall, I would recommend it, plus it wasn't too pricey. The entrees were still about $13-$19, but it tasted really good. The service is a little slow, but I didn't mind at all.
I guess I should let you all know what I did end up wearing to school: jeans, black shoes, and a red polo. I would have preferred to iron it, but I ran out of time with the horrible weather. It actually took me an hour and 15 minutes to drive to CSM from Oakland. That was a bit way too long.
- This first one is a song that I want Sinister Dexter to play called Beat Maker.
- The second one is a song called Flowers in the Morning. I love its sound and melody - it has a bit of a haunting quality to it that just sounds terrific.
Play those in the background while you read this post...
Wednesday was my first day back to school since June 1998. It has been a long time, but since I'll be pursuing a career in accounting in the near future, it's probably wise for me to start taking some accounting classes so that I know what the heck people are talking about in the office once I start there. I'm taking two accounting classes - an intro to accounting course and financial accounting - plus a business law class. The business law class will help me with the CPA exam once I finally take it.
I am enrolled in the illustrious College of San Mateo or CSM for short. Never mind that my friends in high school referred to it as the College of Small Minds or Harvard on the Hill. It's a bit daunting to be in school for the first time in a while, but on the other hand, it's such a difference from work. I really can't see the classes I'm taking being any harder than the work I was doing the last 11 years. Plus, a lot of the stuff I'm learning is just very logical. Nonetheless, I will now be taking a 10am and 11am class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until late May. The business law course is a televised course, so there is no class time for that.
I guess to be perfectly honest, I wasn't really all that concerned about the first day of school - it's more that I need to get into the "taking classes" mindset. It's easy to fall behind on the reading and I want to do very well in every class, but I also don't want to publicize the whole Stanford grad thing. I don't want the professors to think that I'm trying to rest on my laurels - I want my classwork to speak for itself. Plus I don't want to wear a bunch of Stanford stuff to class. Either way, the fact that I'm spending any time worrying about this conveys a sense of overinflated self-importance - I doubt people would notice one way or the other.
Anyway, class was fine - these were orientation classes. I met with the Accounting Dept academic advisor and got some good direction. Then I ran to a Chinese class that Shing was encouraging me to take. It turns out that rather than being offered at Skyline from 3-4:20, it was being offered at Westmoor High in Daly City. As I drove there, I realized that this was going to be like the calculus class I took in high school that was offered through Skyline College. Lo and behold, when I arrived at Westmoor, I went into the classroom and found it full of high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Not only was I the only White person in the class, I was at least twice the age of just about everyone there. The only person there older than me was the not-so-gracious teacher. It was clear that I was out of place and I had a hard time seeing myself taking this class every Monday and Wednesday afternoon until May. I was on the waitlist anyway (and it was clear that the teacher wanted to keep this a high school class) so rather than force the teacher to kick me out, I bowed out before she began the lesson.
Wednesday night, I met up with my dad for dinner. We went to a restaurant called Vega in Bernal Heights (the link to the restaurant website on Yelp doesn't work right now). I wasn't too impressed while I was there, but in the end, I thought that it was really good. We had grilled artichoke hearts stuffed with goat cheese and topped with pesto as an appetizer followed by a homemade gnochhi with mushrooms and sausage and an italian pizza with homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, prosciutto, and an egg. The gnocchi was decent, but the other two dishes were pretty fantastic. The ambience of the place is part family feel part romantic - it has dark walls, but it's a bit airy and narrow. Overall, I would recommend it, plus it wasn't too pricey. The entrees were still about $13-$19, but it tasted really good. The service is a little slow, but I didn't mind at all.
I guess I should let you all know what I did end up wearing to school: jeans, black shoes, and a red polo. I would have preferred to iron it, but I ran out of time with the horrible weather. It actually took me an hour and 15 minutes to drive to CSM from Oakland. That was a bit way too long.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Earlier This Week
I'm faced tonight with a difficult decision of what to watch in the background while I update my blog. The choices are: Warriors basketball, Duke vs Clemson basketball, Predator, Anaconda 3, Predator 2, Bring It On: In It To Win It, Lethal Weapon 2, Click, or Titanic. Predictably, I'm watching a combination of Warriors basketball and Predator. "If it bleeds, we can kill it." Aaaah, I love Ah-nold.
Earlier this week, I got to go up to Tahoe (technically, Soda Springs) for Monday and Tuesday to go boarding at Sugar Bowl. Went with Jon and TC and Judy. Jon is a friend of mine who I've known since 7th grade when he moved here from Texas, TC is his wife, and Judy is a friend of theirs and mine. We left SF early on Monday morning after grabbing some food at The Bagelry and La Boulange (oh my goodness, that was tasty) and drove through rain and snow the entire way up and managed to arrive somewhere around 11:30am. Jon and I headed up to Sugar Bowl and did a half day of boarding. The snow was amazing and there was no one on the mountain. It helped that we were boarding in the middle of a blizzard. The second ride up the lift, a gust of wind came over a ridge that chilled us to the core and blew our seats around a bit. It was about then that I thought we were doing something that wasn't too smart. We got four runs in before getting worried that Jon's car might get snowed in, so we took off. It was a good re-introduction to boarding.
Oh, here are a couple more Predator quotes:
"Bullshit. You ain't afraid of no man."
"There's something out there waiting for us, and it ain't no man."
"We're all gonna die."
We ate a very tasty stew on Monday night and then watched a Korean movie called The Host. Think Cloverfield crossed with Godzilla. It wasn't nearly as scary as it could have been. If you're looking for a good thriller and you are not all that big into horror movie, it would be a good one to watch. It mixes comedy and horror pretty well, but you aren't missing anything if you miss it.
After a leisurely morning, we headed back out to Sugar Bowl on Tuesday and got up to the slopes around noon. Jon, TC, and I went up for a few runs while Judy headed out for her lesson. Since at least a foot of snow was dumped on us overnight, the conditions were fantastic. Plus it just kept on snowing while we were out there. And on a Tuesday, hardly anyone was out there. Aside from the poor visibility and bone-chilling wind gusts, it was perfect. I tried a couple of ollies for the first time ever and managed to ride down the mountain very well on my regular side and also on my switch side. On the last run, I went down without stopping and felt terrific. I am TOTALLY hooked and am looking forward to my next trip up.
OK, gotta run out to a Sinister Dexter show. I'll update again soon. I hope.
"I'm gonna have me some fun."
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Adventure Begins
I am officially on week #3 of my layoff and I've decided to keep a running blog of my adventures over the next seven or eight months. We'll see what happens after that.
Several months ago, I learned that I was going to get laid off due to a reorganization in Residential Education at Stanford. Long story short: jobs were being eliminated, other jobs were being created, I applied for one of the new positions and was not offered a second round interview. The end result is that I am getting paid out three months of vacation that I had accrued and four months of severance. I think I'll find a way to manage.
I've always had mixed feelings about blogs. I think it would be fun and interesting to keep one, but I never read anyone else's except on occasion. It seems a bit conceited to think that other people would spend their time reading about me. On the other hand, it is nice to be in a position where I can answer the question, "What's new with you?" with something other than, "oh, more of the same - work, soccer, music." If nothing more, this will be a good way to keep track of the things I spend/waste my time doing the next seven months.
Well, since this is my first post, I'll keep it short. If you are reading, thanks for reading. I'll try to keep things interesting - though that's more for me than for you.
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