Nothing Much

Been a Long Time

2006-12-29T16:08:00.000-08:00

Time to re-organize and clean up a lot of crap. New year and all. Hmm...

Cloud's Rest

2005-09-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

So...

Some engineering friends from work had the bright idea to hike Cloud's Rest to catch the sunrise. At night. Last night. Damn engineers!

Cloud's Rest is 9926 feet high (3025 m), the highest point around Yosemite Valley. The world-famous Half Dome is only 4737 feet high (1440 m). The published distance of the hike was 10.5 miles. We completely disagree with this published figure. Using our GPS tracker 10.5 appears to be "as the bird flies" distance, not the distance one needs to hike! 6 hours for the last 3.8 miles to the top just didn't add up!!

It was about 30 degrees fahrenheit (0 C) until the sun rose. And we hiked all the way to the top of Cloud's Rest in the freezing cold. With the only sleep under our belt from Thursday night. And we could have used warmer clothes. It was quite unpleasant. Huddling together for warmth is exciting only when it's not for survival. We are charging our "friend" who planned the trip with pre-meditated attempted murder. That, or it was just a PJ. A very PJ. One in the same?

We began our hike at 9:30pm. We arrived at the top of Cloud's Rest at 6:30 am. We didn't make it back down to Curry Village until 12:30 pm. 15 hours of continuous hiking.

Damn.

I need a beer. And another warm body. That'd be quite nice right now.

Rehnquist Dies

2005-09-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

*GASP*

-Shit-

Man oh man....

Yawn

2005-08-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

16 hours of solid sleep. 7pm-12pm.

Man, did I need that! Sleep is definitely the one "S" word that I'm sorely lacking these days. Well, snowboarding as well. But that will soon (in three months) be rectified.

Pre-Season!!

2005-08-23T00:30:00.000-07:00

NFL FOOTBALL!!! So close I can almost taste it... Pre-season isn't bad. Just an appetizer though of the season to come.

Some sad news in the NFL, even in Pre-season.
Thomas Herrion

49ERS' Lineman who collapsed in the locker room and died after Saturday's game.
My prayers for his family.

I don't have a NFL Team that I'm a die-hard fan of. But I do have a soft spot for the 49ers. Grew up with them, you know? But they're in such a sorry state it's just difficult to watch. I wouldn't call myself a fair-weather fan, but maaaan, when the only time you can win is in overtime... against the Arizona Cardinals... well, there are other more entertaining games to watch.

I just love good football. Doesn't matter which team, usually. With NFL Season Ticket from Direct TV, it's not difficult to find at least one good game in the morning and one in the afternoon to pass the Fall and Winter Sundays. And they had almost half the games in HDTV last year. I hope they've added more channels in HD this season (I'm already paying for the programming!). HDTV Football was so clear you can see each blade of grass, each bead of sweat and the breath of the players. It's awesome!! I highly recommend it. (It's even better on larger TVs. Mine's only 50"... but maybe in a year or two when TV prices plummet even more I'll upgrade to a 60".)

But I am driven by an interest to see certain people do well. I'll check out a game just to watch how players are developing... or not, in the case of the 49ers.

From a different angle... I am actually interested to in a... shall we call it, "post-college NFL-continued rivalry" between two (now not rookies, but quite unseasoned) QBs: Kyle Boller and Carson Palmer. They were both QBs at Cal and USC, respectively, while I was in college. USC had an undefeated season, and the only game Cal lost that year was to USC. How well these two players survive in the NFL has been amusing speculation for myself and my college friends. For those who are unfamiliar with the newbies to the NFL (not the least because they haven't been performing as brilliantly and breathtakingly as Rothenberger on the Steelers), here's some visual background on the two:

Kyle Boller	Carson Palmer

Baltimore Ravens QB	Cincinnati Bengals QB

Cal's QB	USC's QB

A Sorority House?

2005-08-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

Work hard, play hard. Hell, it's summertime! Why not?

I've been out every other night, on average, these past few weeks. This morning after partying downtown, my friends and I crashed at a co-worker's sorority house for... well, the morning... All I remember are beer bongs, paddles and cozy couches. Hmm... the redness will fade by Monday right?

I thought my real partying days were over when I graduated? I guess... not... It is getting tougher to recover from these excursions, but hey, I'm only young once!

Then we had to get up to attend an all-afternoon BBQ in the park.

And more partying tonight in the City? Maybe my friends are much younger at heart than I.

But then again, why not? It summertime!

My liver must hate me.

So much to do...

2005-07-27T00:37:00.000-07:00

I don't get out much anymore. Work sucks. A friend invited me to their law firm's Napa wine-tasting tour this weekend, but I declined. I can't this weekend. Sigh..., I do need to get out more.

There are quite a few local events that I've never particiapted in and are on my list. This, from the travel-addict who will wander the world but not explore his own backyard...

There is, of course, the Buring Man.

The Man, after

The Man, before, with Fire Dancers

In other... "local" events, this weekend is the Gilroy Garlic Festival. I've never been. Gotta love garlic!! Garlic ice cream!!! (*GAG*) Some things are just not meant to be... but there must be other good foods they can cook with the stuff.

This weekend is also the Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix in San Jose. Not sure if that would be fun to watch in person. It may be better televised. Perhaps a compromise... a downtown bar?

One past event that I couldn't attend this year was the Bay to Breakers. I've yet participate in this fine Bay Area institution. It's like Halloween in the Castro... mixed with college frats and media attention. Who can resist that?

Enough about all that. I need sleep to make it to the weekend. I'll decide what to do then. Could always sleep in...

So busy...

2005-07-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

So busy at work.

Back-to-back meetings all day... I'm going to lose my voice again. Driving others to do work isn't that easy, it seems. Sending work emails until 2am is not work-life balance. My dreams last night were a mash of 10 dreams coming together, with an underlining uneasiness and questioning of the technical aspects of our email application versus applicaiton databases that need to be in scope of our work...

I haven't dreamed of code for a while now, so I guess it was due. But at least in this case I'm the "expert advisor" and not the owner of the deliverables. It's quite nice not having the burden on me. I should go into consulting...

Party tonight!

Just Chill

2005-07-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

Are all major news stories sad?

2005-07-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

Authorities have identified today the remains found at a Montana campsite as the 9-year-old Dylan. I cannot begin to describe how... incredibly and overwhelmingly sad... I felt when I heard that on the news this morning. It was like... my heart imploded; it felt missing.

Both Dylan and his 8-year-old sister, Shasta, were kidnapped, molested and raped repeatedly (per Shasta's account of the ordeal) by a registered sex offender, who is not worth naming.

That is NOT what life is about and NOT how this world should be!

How fucking sick is that? What a fucking bastard?! Why was a sex offender like him out on bail? He even "spent months on the Internet documenting his internal struggle with right and wrong" on a fucking blog. AAARRRGGGHHHHH!! What the fuck?!?!

...

The family (their mother, mother's boyfriend and 13-year-old brother Slade), they were "bound and bludgeoned to death" and discovered by authorities on May 16th. What the fuck? For the authorities to use a description like that, you know it must have been bad. Shasta, at least, was found on July 2nd (seven weeks later) a few miles from her monther's home in Denny's with the sex offender.

I am ashamed that in America, our society and institutions produce so many fuck-heads like this unnamable sex offender. I am ashamed that in this world, we couldn't do more to protect Dylan or Slade.

I pray that Dylan can rest in peace, and thankful Shasta is alive and (relatively) well.

Viagra Leads to Blindness...

2005-07-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

Apparently, some users of Viagra and two other impotence drugs have developed a form of blindness.

HA! – So there may be some truth behind the old prudish admonishments after all... who woulda thunk?

Regardless, the Viagra must win hands-down. I mean, who can live with blue balls for the rest of their life?? Well... maybe there are a few. But I'm relatively certain we have more blind people than eunuchs out in the world. And that's voting with your... *ahem* head...

Technology & Human Consciousness

2005-07-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia, the web-based free-content encyclopedia that anyone can edit, already has an extensive entry for the "7 July 2005 London bombings." (It's still the same day!)

Witnesses of the London Bombings post intant photos to the Web, using camera phones. Online chronicles of the attacks contained more content than traditional media.

Events used to take a bit longer to make it into the news channels and pass into "history." With mass communication tools, has our sense of time changed that much? My mind is just boggled by the impact of technology upon collective consciousness.

I know it's a tragic event. I feel bad having my intellectual curiosity aroused by a by-stander observation of such a tragedy.

"Heterosexuals Destroyed Marriage!" Sort of...

2005-07-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

From an editorial in the NY Times:

"Traditional marriage, with its 5,000-year history, has already been upended. Gays and lesbians, however, didn't spearhead that revolution: heterosexuals did.

Heterosexuals were the upstarts who turned marriage into a voluntary love relationship rather than a mandatory economic and political institution. Heterosexuals were the ones who made procreation voluntary, so that some couples could choose childlessness, and who adopted assisted reproduction so that even couples who could not conceive could become parents. And heterosexuals subverted the long-standing rule that every marriage had to have a husband who played one role in the family and a wife who played a completely different one. Gays and lesbians simply looked at the revolution heterosexuals had wrought and noticed that with its new norms, marriage could work for them, too."

Huh.

Well now... that seems to be a product of... well, a lot of thinking and research, I presume. Must be a truth in there somewhere... Heady reading. Gets the wheels spinning...

London Hit by Terrorist Attacks

2005-07-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

Double-decker bus remnants, during rush hour.

*Moment of silence* I find myself shocked by too much these days.

I know, this world has never been perfect... but really. What the HELL is this world coming to?

Just as life was progressing as usual. London won the 2012 Olympic bid as host city. The G-8 Summit had just begun... I'm speechless.

My prayers for all the people affected.

I'd Skip Class Too...

2005-07-05T15:44:00.000-07:00

Just read about this teacher in NY who was skipping class (taking sick-days off from teaching) to professionally wrestle. How cool is that?? That would have been the class to be in. Not sure if you would want to piss the teacher off, but hey... Can you remember your Social Science teacher from high school? His website is still up... ThisIsStriker.com

I wouldn't mind having a teacher who had a LIFE outside of school. As long as he was a decent teacher, what's the big deal? A few of my friends liked professional wrestling. I recall mocking them about their "favorite sport." I never cared for it myself, but I suppose I would watch at least my teacher's matches... Doesn't hold a light to NFL Football, but... it could be quite entertaining , I suppose.

4th of July in San Francisco, 2005
My guess is Pier 39 / Fisherman's Warf

On another note... had a blast this weekend. Kayaking and beach by day; bonfire, bar-hopping and clubbing by night. Too intense. Two sunrises in the span of four days is too much for me anymore.

I must be getting old. I didn't even go out for the fireworks yesterday. (We can see some from our backyard, but I was walking the dog instead.) All I did yesterday was nap (twice) , hit the gym (for less than an hour), and walk the dog! I was in bed by midnight! Even then, I still can't function at all today. All I want to do... is go home, strip and pass out...zzz zzz zzz

4th of July...

2005-07-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

3 day weekend!!! Getting antsy here at work; not much to do. Man, am I stoked... Great weather here this weekend (low 80's). Gotta get outdoors. Maybe Napa or Sonoma? Carmel?

4th of July is the favorite holiday of a friend here at work. I, myself, have not been in the country for 4th of July since... 2000? (2001, backpacking through... Germany probably. 2002, in Japan studying abroad. 2003, relaxing in Greece? Turkey? 2004, ...Czech Republic?) Even then, I remember what I was doing for the 4th in 2000. I was programming. In computer lab. Underground. Hell, I was even in that computer lab programming *on my birthday*, let alone on the 4th of July... Then again, that hardly matters. I probably care more about 4th of July than I do for my birthday. No more programming for me though, I must gladly say.

My favorite holiday is Chinese New Year. Red envelopes!! It's a shame, I know, that I hardly see my extended family or know they exist, but I can't get enough of them come Feburary.

Chinese New Year in Cali is alright. You eat a lot and see a lotta family and all; not many family friends in the States. But no holidays, unless you went to school in San Francisco. If I remember correctly, their schools actually had a day off for Chinese New Year. How cool is that? Well, one day off is better than no day off, a far cry from the weeklong holdiay in Asia.

But anyways. Chinese New Year. Money and days off aside, the real reason I love Chinese New Year is the FOOD!!! We eat a lot here for New Years, but it's nothing compared to what it is in HK or Taiwan. I recall when I was in Taiwan for Chinese New Year in 2002, we would be invited to a million homes of friends and family to eat. We'd invite people over. We'd cook ridiculous amounts of good home-cooked Chinese food. Stuff you just can't make everyday. And in HK, my uncle knows every little restaurant chef in town. All I do in HK is eat! I remember this Shark Fin Soup (I know, I know... cruel, inhumane, non-sustainable, but yummy!) that was more shark fin than there was soup! I was stuffed just eating shark fin, and it actually wasn't bad. Sounds like it'd be a bit... too much, but... my mouth, tummy and whatever-glands-in-my-brain were happy.

I'm getting hungry. Lunchtime! Gettin' some Chinese grub.

Well, since I'm in town this 4th of July, might as well have fun. To the City tonight! Got some friends back in town. No telling if I'll make it back before sunrise, but we sure as hell will try not to.

Chinese Parents

2005-07-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

My parents, thank goodness, are not social. They don't mind one bit. They quite enjoy relaxing at home and doing their own thing. I am SO... thankful...that they don't really have friends, so I don't have to deal with the *ARUGH!* "Want-to-kill-all-gossiping-and foolishly-condescendingly-proud Chinese-parents network" environment. I have friends who would like to roll over and die in that situation. What is it with (other) Chinese parents? Is it encoded in their DNA? 1) Black Hair, check. 2) Brown eyes, check. 3) Must live vicariously though my children, check. 4) A person's worth is determined by their success in society and my children must be at the top, check. 5) Must eat rice, check (my Cantonese side, of course).

Not that I'm stupid, dumb, lame, ugly or unsuccessful by any stretch of the imagination, but even then I would not want to have to deal with that. For some friends, throw ontop of that a stay-at-home mom and it's just... well, not a pretty sight. Familiar quote come to mind? Anna Karenina ring a bell? No, not a pretty sight at all.

Counting in Chinese

2005-07-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

My primary language is English, naturlich. I suppose it's obvious, huh? I guess Chinese would say "tens-of-thousands" instead of "millions" in this context? Or "hundreds-of-millions?" I really don't know... I can't count in Chinese. Funny how that works. The big numbers get all funky and my brain just stalls. And I even learned abacus for... 2, 3 years (?) when I was young, from a Chinese teacher too, naturlich. Those who learned Math in Chinese tell me they have to calculate the number in Chinese, then translate that into the English equivalent. Better than I.

At least I can order Chinese food, buy Chinese groceries and know how too make Chinese dishes. Far more important than counting in Chinese, I must say.

Sandra Day O'Connor, from Left Field... Again!

2005-07-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

So... Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her resignation today from the Supreme Court of the United States.

What a suprise that was this morning! I know, I know, she's what.. 75? Served on the Court for 24 years? But still! Rehnquist is the ailing one, and he was the most... "Conservative?" My impression is that Justice Scalia is most "Conservative," but maybe that's just my take on their personalities.

Isn't that just great. I wonder how many Justices Bush will have the opportunity to nominate to the Court during his time?

Online Dating

2005-07-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

In other news... on a study of online dating, "superficial attributes like looks, income and hair color are significant determinants of who succeeds in the dating game." Okay, nothing new...

Of money: "Having a lot of money is good for attracting e-mail messages, at least for men." Duh? Makes sense; I am not aware of a dowry custom here in America...

Yet "men who are "hoping to start a long-term relationship" receive substantially more email than those who are "just looking/curious."" That's refreshing. So the world won't end tomorrow in debauchery, lechery and wantonness.

Keys... Heart... Etc...

2005-06-29T23:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I gave it a shot and it is what it is:

	The Keys to Your Heart
	You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free.
	In love, you feel the most alive when things are straight-forward, and you're told that you're loved.
	You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy.
	You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic.
	Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.
	Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.
	You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.
	In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted
	Sappy, I know...: Keys to Your Heart

I don't think there's a false statement above.... Much good that does me...

Too Often 5-4...

2005-06-29T23:30:00.000-07:00

So the 2004-2005 session of the Supreme Court is over. No resignations. More controversial decisions. Nothing terribly earth-shattering, in my opinion. Food for thought, nevertheless.

I think the two rulings on the two 10 Commandments cases were appropriate. Interesting that it was Justice Bryer who was the swing vote in both cases. (5-4 rulings in both cases) I am not aware of a clearly defined Constitutional requirement of seperation of Church and State, yet I believe the history and institutions of America indicate this was the intent. I am quite comfortable living with the result.

The ruling allowing condemnation of private property to make room for private development is... disturbing. Transfer economics for the public good through private development sounds... sketchy. The loss of private property rights, even with monetary compensation, is overshadowed by the increased power of the local government invoking such "Eminent Domain" to booster local city coffers. I believe it results in a transfer of power to the State without a balancing compensation in rights afforded to property owners. No amount of monetary compensation that can be provided should be able to balance the loss in rights. After all, if there already was a price that could be paid palatable to both parties, the private property would already have transferred owners in the free market.

In terms of effectiveness, have there been many successful cases of city revival via Eminent Domain (for the public good)? Irrespective of the history of success, their ruling gives the green light to allow more private development experimentation in the future with yet-undefined boundaries. Quite Big-Brother like... (A 5-4 ruling, if I recall)

I'm still uncertain of the medical marijuana case. State rights versus federal jurisdiction of drug/substance regulation. I believe the Constitution probably falls on the side of the States, but interpretation and precedence have allowed for the Federal case to be made. (6-3 if I remember correctly... Rehnquist rallying around State Rights) This requires more thought and research...

Wanderlust...

2005-06-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

One thing is certain, I love to travel. I've spent some good time exploring various places these past few years. Some of the countries I found most memorable: Morocco, Czech Republic, Turkey, Greek (Isles), Cambodia and Belize (Rainforest).

Istanbul and Paris are two of my favorite cities, ranking up there with San Francisco. Istanbul is breathtaking, intriguing and completely relaxing. I highly recommend it as a city not to be missed. Along with these three, New York City has some redeeming qualities as well...

On my list to explore still are Israel, Peru, Brazil, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, India, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, UAE and Iran, if possible. Incidentally, I've never made it south of the equator yet. Closest I got to the southern hemisphere was Johor Baru... not a terribly interesting place, but alas, it had an airport.

I am considering India as my next destination...3-4 weeks... maybe backpack around and then relax in Calcutta with some friends. I wonder how much planning I need to do for that...

New blog

2005-06-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

Never been one to stay online long, for blogging or maintaining a website at least...