Wow. She really had to go.

Yes, I understand that it’s one of the basic functions of life. Proper waste elimination is key to good health for all animals. And sometimes you really gotta “use the facilities”. But that doesn’t make what I just saw any less remarkable.

I was sitting at a window seat in my local Peet’s café, working on various school projects. There’s a bus stop right in front of the café, so I’ve seen several buses stop to pick up customers. But this one seemed to come really really close to the curb. And then I noticed a woman in a uniform exiting the bus. It turns out it was the driver – in SF, it’s not that big a deal for drivers to get out of their buses, because the buses run on electricity supplied by overhead power lines, and sometimes the buses get disconnected, so the driver has to get out and fix it. But, this was different, ‘cause in the East Bay, the buses run on gas (or the occasional “alternative fuel” test vehicle).

So, imagine my surprise when the driver sauntered into the Peet’s. At first, I thought she had come in for coffee, which actually would have been even more amazing. But, she made a beeline for the back of the store, emerged a few minutes later, got back in the bus and took off.

Like I said, I know it’s a fact of life and all, and I know when you gotta go, you gotta go. But that doesn’t make it any less surprising.

Holy crap...

Less than eight days to go.... どきどきですね！

Found at Kyoto's Nishiki market

What do you think this is a picture of? Take a guess.












Give up? I could tell you now, but I know you probably read this before actually thinking about it. So I'm gonna make you work for the answer.

Click here.

Granted, this isn't what it's called in Japanese, but it's basically the same thing. Fun stuff, huh?

If you have a poor sandwich with very good friends, it's always good

How true.

http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2007/11/herv_this.php

He had the opposite, too. So he should know. Plus, he's like, a genius. A food genius.

Power of Music

Is this the greatest album ever? Or just the most spiritual? I've listened to it too many times to count, and some of the songs still give me chills (in a good way).

Sort of

Yes, I'm back. Sort of. My computer was right there when my glass Pyrex dish exploded, and it was such a surprising, frightening and amusing incident, that I had to share with someone. So, you, whoever you are, if there's anyone out there still checking my blog after months of absence, you are that lucky someone.

Does this mean a return to regular posting? We shall see, we shall see.

The lesson for the day

Today's lesson is "Don't apply direct heat to glass Pyrex ware." BAM! Looks like I won't be walking barefoot in my kitchen for a while.

(By the way, while I might not be an expert in the kitchen, of course I KNOW not to apply direct heat to glass Pyrex ware. And now I know to be more careful when putting on the back burner to actually put on the BACK burner, not the front one. The whole problem would've been solved if I had gas instead of electric, but, oh well)

Car stories

I meant to post this earlier, but I forgot (as usual), and it's 2 am now, so I'll keep it (amusingly) short.

I got a car. Awesome. It kicks ass. I got a Galaxy Mica Grey Mazda3 hatchback. If you're curious what it looks like, go to mazdausa.com. Not the fastest car in the world, but for the money, it does great. Plus, there's a "manumatic" transmission, which means its usually an automatic, but when I want to I can shift gears myself (for better acceleration or just for fun). I love the look; both the exterior and the interior are really sporty. And you wouldn't believe the amount of room in the back (thanks to the hatchback).

Anyway, my car rocks, my daily commute sucks. 45 minutes on a good day, but around an hour most of the time (one way, of course). One of my classmates is working at the same place this summer, so we started commuting, which helps a little bit.

But yesterday I spent 3 1/2 hours driving. An hour and a half in the morning (traffic sucked), an hour and a half to San Francisco in the evening and then half an hour back to Berkeley (now that I think about it, going out to lunch added another 15 or 20 minutes to that total).

Today, I ran out of gas. For the first time EVER. And only 8 blocks away from a gas station. I know, I know, I guess I'm lucky that I didn't run out of gas on the freeway, but I'm not THAT stupid. I knew I needed gas, I just thought I could make it to the station. I didn't realize I needed gas THAT badly. I was SO DAMN CLOSE!! 8 blocks. Half a mile. In retrospect, I should have gotten gas BEFORE picking up my friend. Although, really, it was stopping for coffee that did me in.

On the way back from work, traffic was pretty slow on the highway. I was pretty close to stopped, and glanced out the window at the car next to me, only to see it accelerate and slam into the truck in front. We stopped and got out to make sure everyone was okay (they were). The woman driving was wearing heels... and said her brakes stopped working... um, yeah. Whatever.

Her car didn't look too bad off, all things considered. But she popped under the truck, which completely ruined her hood and windshield. I left my info with both drivers in case the insurance companies needed anything.

Nothing like a little road-related excitement to keep the commute interesting....

update (?)

So much has happened in the past several weeks, that its almost shameful that I haven't updated my blog lately. And I will.

But what's gotten me writing this entry is not the major changes in my life, but another hillarious excerpt from my favorite newspaper (well, magazine, really, but they call it a newspaper), the Economist.

If you've never read the Economist, the letters to the magazine from readers, all of which start with "sir", can be informative, interesting and sometimes downright amusing. Case in point:

"Sir -- Marriage is 'a wealth-generating institution'? I can only assume you have not had the opportunity of meeting my wife."

I couldn't help but laugh out loud....

okinawa here we come

I'm in Tokyo right now, visiting Panda chan. We're getting ready to head out to the islands of Okinawa for a week of rest and relaxation (followed by a little more relaxation). We're going to spend most of our time on two islands: Hateruma, which is the southernmost island in Japan, and as such, only has a few thousand people, and Iriomote, which is sometimes known as "the Galapagos of Asia". I'm looking forward to both. I just hope it doesn't rain too much.... (its the rainy season down there right now)

Given the relative isolation of both islands, I don't really expect to have internet access, so further updates will have to wait until we get back. But trust me when I say, it's gonna be an awesome trip.

1 down, 1 to go

It's hard to believe, but I just finished my first year of business school. Time really flew by -- it seems like yesterday that I was meeting new people, and having to tell the story of what I did before b-school 457 times every day (now it's a manageable once or twice a week when I meet someone new at a party or dinner).

Overall, it was a really good year. I had some ups and downs, with a few "what the hell am I doing here?" crises, that have since been resolved. I've met a lot of amazing people, learned quite a bit, about business and about myself, and had way more fun than I was expecting from the experience. It's still a bit weird, though, being back in school. As I left our end-of-the-year party on Friday (which was a little disappointing, save for the rockin' Haas band, JoJo and the Babymakers), the common phrase was "Have a nice summer!", which is something I haven't said in over 10 years.

While I've definitely enjoyed being in the bubble that is known as grad school, where life is cushy and reasonably free of real responsibilities, I have to admit that I am sort of looking forward to getting back to the "real world". Of course, the promise of a paycheck is enticing, but there's something more to it then that. It's a little hard to pin down, but I think it has to do with the idea of progress. I know that I have the rest of my life to get on with the rest of my life, and so I'm definitely enjoying these halcyonic days while I can, but business school does feel at times like I've put things on hold. I'm sure once my summer is over, I'll be glad to be back in school, safely cocooned away. But for now, I'm looking forward to the regularity of an internship, to the dream of 9-5 which was so elusive in Tokyo, to being "done" when the work day is over and not having to worry about homework, and yes, to the paycheck that for once sees my checking account go UP, instead of DOWN DOWN DOWN.

Of course, to do all of that, I need to FIND an internship, which is easier said than done. Actually, I'm sure I could have already had an internship, if I wasn't looking into such niche areas, solar energy and private spaceflight. There have been so many job postings from school about internet-related companies, it's ridiculous. But such is life. I'll just have to keep plugging away, hoping that I break through and find some company somewhere that actually has an internship, or is willing to create one for me. Worst case scenario, I always have a plan C (which will remain unreported for now....)

Piece of crap

I rented a car today. It was a Dodge Nitro, a small-ish SUV (although the front end is HUGE).

Total piece of shit...

A little Sunday afternoon excitement

I'm sitting in a cafe around the corner from my apartment, trying to study. I like this place because the woman that runs it is really friendly, and they have a 2nd floor patio -- on a day like today, it's perfect, because it's shaded enough that I can still see my computer screen, but it's outside, so I get to enjoy the amazing weather.

I've been sitting here for about an hour, trying with limited success (as always) to get some work done, when just a few minutes ago I heard a really loud "SCREEEEEEEEECH!!!!!" and saw an old Nissan 300ZX turn the corner and come fishtailing down the street. "This cannot end well" I thought to myself, and sure enough, a second later there was a loud "CRASH!!!". I quickly peered around the corner (along with everyone else in the cafe) and saw that the Z had smacked into another car, which was thankfully parked and free of people, but which is now LYING ON ITS SIDE!!! My guess is that because the Z has a low front nose, it probably snuck under the other car and popped it over.

Thankfully no one looks hurt. And double-thankfully, they hit a parked car instead of a pedestrian or oncoming traffic. Mental note to self: don't ever park on this block...

Politics, Eastern European style

You gotta love how people in other countries handle their political issues. It usually involves masses of people marching on some square or another. And unlike the demonstrations that recently happened here on May Day, they're usually angry people.

Case in point: this quote from the Economist magazine (one of my favorite reads, by the way)

"After the Estonian authorities sealed off the monument last weekend, hundreds of people, mostly from the 300,00-strong ethnic Russian population, rioted in Tallinn. They attacked the main theatre of the Academy of Arts, chanting 'Fuck Estonia,' and "Russia, Russia.'"

Dunno why, but just the image of a bunch of Russians chanting "Fuck Estonia!" is kind of amusing....

Comedy Gold

If only I got NBC, I could watch Conan more often....