| Just found out today... |
[Jun. 12th, 2009|11:46 am] |
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It was too soon Carter. If there's a better life to come, we'll party again together there. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 5th, 2008|12:33 am] |
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Wow. I can finally stop pretending to be Canadian when I travel. |
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| Choices and Ramifications |
[Aug. 5th, 2008|03:02 pm] |
It's funny how the choices you make in life can affect what appear to be totally unrelated events in your future. I was driving to work today and "Get Along" by Hayashibara Megumi came on my iPod rotation. That got me thinking about studying Japanese again (a subject that has crossed my mine recently) and how much better my Japanese would've been if I had taken more ambitious classes in college. My Japanese teacher in high school was very good-- award-winning good. The rule I was told when going to community college is that a year of high school Japanese is equivalent to a quarter in college. I took two years of high school Japanese, so that meant I should sign up for Japanese 103. I played it safe (in case I needed to review) and took 102.
As it turned out, a year of high school Japanese with my teacher was worth almost a year of college. So I was in review classes in college looking for the right level-set for some time. I was wondering how much better my Japanese would've been if I had started at the 200-level all the way back at BCC those many years ago. However, if I had done that, I wouldn't have met Lorien. Cord wouldn't have either. Neither of us would be working at our current jobs.
I dunno, it's just interesting how little choices can have such a big effect. I'll try not to step on anything if I ever go back in time. |
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| Interesting biker tidbit. |
[Jun. 11th, 2008|11:33 am] |
Here's a little somethin' somethin' for my biker-girl friends, who also happen to be Galactica fans last time I checked:
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| (no subject) |
[May. 15th, 2008|12:07 pm] |
It's been a good few months since I've posted anything in lj-land. So I figured I'd give a general life update. I'll keep it short and sweet.
Last year I managed to travel to three continents. Two courtesy of RealNetworks (actually three if you count the layover in Schiphol). Last year alone I went to India, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Colombia. Four out of the five in one trip. That puts my total count to five continents, with two to go. Sadly I was looking at Antarctic trips and the barrier to entry (starting at $20,000) is rather high.
This year will consist of (sadly) mainly domestic travel. But to make up for the lack of fun on the travel front, I quit my job at RealNetworks and got a job at Sony Online Entertainment working on The Agency.
If that isn't enough to entertain you (and you guys know I do all this stuff for you), I bought a house. It's in Wallingford and is damn sweet. I move in next week.
That's enough for now. Back in another six months! |
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| Goooo Sick Day! |
[Oct. 10th, 2007|08:08 pm] |
Energy level bottomed out today, so took a half day. Doesn't mean I can't meme like a motherfucker.
*Pilfered from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lzzybeth*
How much have you changed in 7 years?
1.) How old were you?: 20.
2.) Where did you go to school?: University of Washington.
3) Where did you work?: Microsoft
4.) Where did you live? Kirkland, WA
5.) Where did you hang out? In or between Sieg Hall, Kendo Practice and Building 41.
6.) Did you wear glasses? Yep
7.) Who was your best friend? Russ, Tony, Ryan, Martha, Neil
8.) How many tattoos did you have?: None
9.) How many piercings did you have?: None
10.) What car did you drive? The "blue" car. A deep red, 1992 Subaru Loyale Wagon
11.) Had you been to a real party? Prolly not.
12.) Had You had your heart broken?: Not really.
13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced: Single.
-------------4 years ago----------
1.) How old were you?: 23.
2.) Where did you go to school? Graduated.
3.) Where did you work? RealNetworks
4.) Where did you live? Redmond, WA
5.) Where did you hang out?: Home, Celtic Bayou, the gym, kendo practice.
6.) Did you wear glasses?: Yep
7.) Who were your best friend(s): Russ, Jason, Neil, Dave, Ken
8.) How many tattoos did you have? None
9.) How many piercings did you have? None
10) What car did you drive? 1999 Honda Prelude
11) Had your heart broken?: No
12.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced?: Single
--------------------Today--------------------
1.) How old are you?: 27
2.) Where do you work? RealNetworks
3.) Where do you live? Seattle, WA
4.) Do you wear glasses?: Contacts are much more convenient.
5.) Who are your close friends? Russ, Tony, Ken, Dave
6.) Do you talk to your old friends?: Some of them, some of the time.
7.) How many piercings do you have?: None
8.) How many tattoos? None
9.) What kind of car do you have?: 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX
10.) Has your heart been broken? It's gone through some.
11.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced?: Taken |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 10th, 2007|01:22 am] |
R.I.P. Kamei Kazuo, Kendo Hanshi 8th Dan |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 31st, 2007|12:01 am] |
I'm in the scenic town of Liberty Lake, WA. It's on I-90 right at the Washington-Idaho border. It's that strip of nothing between Spokane and Idaho. From what I can see the two major landmarks of this place are the Albertsons and Safeway that stare each other down from across the street. I'm here with some coworkers evaluating a vendor and heading back home tomorrow.
The last 60 miles or so of the trip on 90, we saw the moon rise. I had never seen the moon so low or so red before in my life. It was literally at the horizon to our left. On our right was a fairly decent lightning storm in the distance. It went on for the rest of our trip from Moses Lake to Spokane. Red moon on the left, lightning on the right. It was one of the most spectacular displays of nature that I've seen in a long while.
Even we nerds were distracted from our conversation about Legos and Commodore 64 coding to marvel. |
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| MRI Results |
[Aug. 20th, 2007|10:45 pm] |
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So I saw a doc today about the MRI. The good news is that the elbow is predominantly normal. They did find a slight edema deep in the joint. A bone bruise or something. He said they take up to 12 weeks to heal. There's a possible chance there might be something else, so I guess I get to talk to a surgeon Wednesday morning to see if there's anything he can do to help. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 19th, 2007|02:20 am] |
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My elbow's sore and full of goo. It's been bothering me for the past few months and now that I'm back from Europe I had an opportunity to get an MRI. To prep for the MRI they shot my elbow full of contrast goo and put me in a tube in the most awkward position possible for 20 minutes. It'll be worth it to finally know what's actually wrong with the damn thing. |
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| Rainy Day |
[Aug. 7th, 2007|11:00 pm] |
It was a rainy day in Gimmelwald today. I woke up this morning and was greeted with a wall of white outside the window instead of the usual absolutely stunning alpine view. A lot of people still went out hiking and we were no exception. Today we had to reserve train tickets in Lauterbrunnen for the night train back to Roma tomorrow, so we hiked down to Stechelberg to catch the bus towards the Lauterbrunnen Bahnhof (station).
The hike was downhill, steep sometimes, wet the WHOLE time. It started to pour. Kathy had an umbrella and I tried to rely on the fancy-schmancy waterproof/breathability thing that my fancy windstopper jacket is supposed to have. It can only do so much when the zipper is missing. Oddly enough the zipper disappeared during the time when Kathy was borrowing the jacket in Colmar. Nevertheless by the time we reached Stechelberg we were soaked through and in no mood for hiking.
When we reached Lauterbrunnen we were given a stern lecture about booking night trains in advance during high season, but were able to book tickets to Roma Termini from Zurich. Not ideal but doable. From there we caught the bus back to Stechelberg, and rather than deal with being soaked through again we paid the 6CHF a piece for the gondola ride back up.
The rest of the day was spent doing chores, playing Scrabble, cooking in the awesome Mountain Hostel Kitchen (no, really that kitchen is AWESOME) and just hangin' out with people. A nice, chill rainy day. There was a jam session going on just a few minutes ago outside that I've been listening to on and off.
Tomorrow night begins the long journey home. Lookin' forward to some good chillin' and grillin'. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 28th, 2007|06:11 pm] |
Lessons learned:
The boat ride from Sorrento to Amalfi is pretty nice. The bus ride from Amalfi to Sorrenti is VERY NOT NICE. It is slow, crowded, and HOT.
La Fenice in Sorrento is an awesome restaurant. Kathy and I have eaten there twice already. We intend to go back tomorrow. I haven't had a meal in Italy that good since Il Trombone. Last night I ordered a black linguine with zucchini flowers and shrimp that was awesome. Pasta that is blacked with squid ink is super tasty and I bought some dry black spaghetti for home. A few lucky friends can look forward to gettin' some of that goin' on when I get home.
The Costeira Amalfitana is nice. It reminds me of what the Pacific Coast Highway in Cali would be like if it were in Italy. Steep cliffs, narrow windy roads, nice ocean. I like the Cinque Terre better, since it's (by law) not as developed. But it's still nice. Amalfi and the surrounding towns are very clearly resort towns, and there are benefits and drawbacks to that.
Tomorrow Pompeii, then France! |
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| Hilltown Hantei |
[Jul. 26th, 2007|07:40 pm] |
In the course of three days, Kathy and I visited no less than 7 hill towns in the regions of Umbria and Toscania/Tuscany. Orvieto, Bagnoregio, Civita (di Bagnoregio), Pienza, Montepulciano, Assisi, and Spello. Here's what I've learned:
1. They all have the following things in common: sweeping, panoramic views and construction cranes. You expect the amazing views, you expect cranes a bit less. They get in the way of the postcard-perfect photos somewhat.
2. Pucci knows what she's talking about. Pucci is the owner of Romantica Pucci, the B&B in Bagnoregio where we spent two nights. Every place she personally recommended has turned out to be spot-on awesome. On Tuesday, she recommended an amazing day trip to the lakeside town of Bolsena, with a nice (but pebbly) beach and a nice, relaxing atmosphere. On Wednesday, thanks to her, we discovered Spello.
3. Them stone walkways are pretty and old. They can also be very slippery.
Enough learning, time for HANTEI:
Winner: Spello. It's the town least spoilt by tourists. On every street we walked we saw locals sitting, hanging out, and enjoying the summer night. We overheard families eating dinner on terraces. There was scarcely any English to be spoken except at the hotels at the very top of the town.
Runners up: Orvieto, Bagnoregio and Civita. These towns retain a lot of local character. Civita, however, is dying. It's populated by about 14 people, many of them quite old. It's a tiny place, which is on a beautifully isolated hill which is accessible only via a narrow footbridge which is probably hundreds of feet off the ground. Bagnoregio is also a very unpretentious little town with two main (one-way) streets and Romantica Pucci, which is an awesome B&B as mentioned before. Orvieto is a bit more touristy, but not stiflingly so.
I would skip Pienza unless you like seeing the same store selling the same meat and cheese 6 times in a row.
I would skip Assisi unless seeing those frescoes detailing the life of St. Francis is really REALLY important. The crowds made it unworthwhile for both Kathy and me.
Kathy and I noticed that our happiness is directly proportional to distance from crowded, touristy areas. We left Spello this morning for Sorrento. I'm that much less happy as a result. Still having a great time, but I'm really hoping that the Amalfi coast is beautiful enough to justify the tourist hassle I'm certain we'll have to deal with. |
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