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I went to a Giants game!

  • Jul. 10th, 2009 at 1:47 PM
happy!

Yep. Me who doesn't follow sports, who glares at TV screens in restaurants broadcasting games.

And you know something? I had fun. And I want to go to more.

One of my favorite coworkers asked if I would take his two tickets for that evening's game against the San Diego Padres (a pathetic lot, those Padres). Funnily enough, I've never (or at least rarely) been asked to go to a particular baseball game, and really had only ever watched Little League. The seats were on the view deck of San Francisco's Giants Stadium (oh, sorry, "AT&T Park"), which is, as far as stadiums go, beautiful. How many baseball stadiums have a few of the beautiful bay, bridges, and barges?

I could see the entire game play beautifully from where I was.

It was a zippy game, running through all nine innings in just two and a half hours.

I was so fortunate to have [info]funcrunch with me, who saw my Facebook plea for a baseball date and sped-walked over two miles across hilly SF to meet me at the Caltrain station. I'd only met her in passing previously, but we got along like gangbusters, constantly and energetically bantering and sharing and observing. And she knew baseball. Not useless things like player stats I wouldn't really care about yet, but the rules and oddities and quirks of the game, and how stadium games work. She tirelessly explained things.

And we both enjoyed salivating over the quirkily cute 25-year-old star pitcher, Tim Lincecum.

The park serves some terrific nachos, and sells some overpriced thermals to us underprepared South Bayers (but I was able to finagle a discount), and the ride on Caltrain was actually pretty fun and relaxing. I'd forgotten that I can enjoy a train ride if I have a well-charged iPhone.

Diet coke and mentos!

  • May. 30th, 2009 at 9:32 PM
happy!

Not content to be all the way behind the massive gathered crowd for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I snuck into the splash zone of the Diet Coke and Mentos show at the Maker Faire and took pictures with my iPhone while standing just under one of the speakers. The stage came up to my neck.

It was incredible. Seeing it up close like that is spectacular. And I did get sprayed (just on one arm) with minty-fresh soda!


The original video, for nostalgia:


Winged cats in China

  • May. 28th, 2009 at 9:57 AM
pascal


MSN article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30967440/

Could be a genetic mutation or something, but the cat pictured above is apparently quite healthy and normal otherwise.

IS THAT NOT ADORABLE??
happy!
I have started gardening, after a lifetime of believing that it wasn't for me. It is happy-making in the extreme!

So far, I've learned that the highest-maintenance plant of all is one's lawn.

I've also learned that when you have tendonitis, container gardening is the dig-free way to go.

In addition, I'm learning that I love vines, showy flowers, ferns, and red Japanese maples the most so far.

Gardening engages my whole body and opens my mind in unexpected ways.

My house is feeling more and more complete with an abundance of flora around it.
happy!
Then check out some insane knowledge engine to be launched soon tonight, and not from Google:

http://www.wolframalpha.com/screencast/introducingwolframalpha.html

How to ripen avocados

  • May. 10th, 2009 at 5:55 PM
happy!
Man, I get so impatient when I buy avocados, only to discover even days later that they're too hard to eat still. So here's a helpful article on how to quickly ripen avocados, beyond just "paper bag" wisdom.

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/cookingtipstools/qt/ripenavocados.htm

Our new Samsung TV

  • May. 4th, 2009 at 5:30 PM
happy!

With kitty for scale.

I'm convinced that before long, this TV will start emitting voices, then Thus Spake Zarathustra will kick in, and finally one cat will beat the hell out of the other one with a sun-bleached tapir bone.

Freaky.

  • Feb. 27th, 2009 at 12:37 PM
happy!
I didn't think I'd be able to hear it. And yet...

Train Horns

Created by Train Horns



(I'm almost 33)

Real-life Space Invaders

  • Feb. 26th, 2009 at 10:13 PM
happy!

Happy Up Here from Röyksopp on Vimeo.

A wonderful little Röyksopp video for your pleasure.

My prediction

  • Feb. 24th, 2009 at 9:10 PM
happy!
I bet the Dow and the S&P are gonna pole-vault tomorrow.

Current Dow at close: 7,350.94
S&P: 773.14

That's odd...

  • Feb. 24th, 2009 at 2:49 PM
looking back
I can't find information on a Yuri's Night in Mountain View, or anywhere in the Bay Area. And it's just over a month away. What gives, yo? Last year's at NASA Ames was glorious.

Feb. 23rd, 2009

  • 7:15 PM
happy!
Randomly running into [info]klrmn at the Thai restaurant I went to for lunch was pleasant.
happy!

I made these outrageously amazing cookies from a very easy recipe I spotted on allrecipes.com.

For some reason when I take pictures from my iPhone under the halogen lamps above my stove, I get these weird ghost patterns on my picture.

But anyway, try that recipe! These are soooo decadent and buttery. I bet you can even make them gluten-free with almond flour.

Facebook?

  • Feb. 18th, 2009 at 12:25 PM
love
Apart from finding your old high school friends, why do you folks like Facebook so much? It actually sounds spammy and annoying, although I've never actually used it.

If you use Facebook, has it replaced a lot of what Livejournal used to do for you, or do they serve very different purposes?

I'd like to stay connected to people without another timesink. If FB is low-maintenace, I might consider giving it a try, as I do have old friends I'd like to find.

Your tax dollars at work

  • Feb. 17th, 2009 at 4:08 PM
dangerous curves, guitar
The Wall Street Journal has helpfully posted a sortable table of spending, aid, and tax provisions that breaks down everything going into the stimulus signed today.

Of course, I'm still dubious about its potential effects not covered by this table, but I'm glad I have something this detailed to go over.

The one stock I bought a week ago has already lost 20% of its value, half of that today alone. No reason to panic. Perhaps I should buy a bit more.

Feb. 11th, 2009

  • 11:49 PM
dangerous curves, guitar
I got almost everything done at work that I needed to. Even stayed a little late.

After a healthy dinner alone, I finally set up my first 401(k), after exhaustively researching the limited selection of mutual and index funds it offered. I'm nicely diversified. Mostly domestic stocks, some foreign, some bonds, and a small amount of short-term investments.

Yesterday I bought my very first shares of individual stock-- not from a bank, but from a diamond mining and retail company. Just as an experiment in owning luxury stock (bought quite cheaply) and watching how it fares in a recession and afterwards. And yes, I scanned its annual report first.

1 TB External hard drive for $88

  • Feb. 11th, 2009 at 10:30 AM
happy!
Damn! Even tech retail's prices are insane.

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/18147

You must use the code 3XQW3BK2SCTG4Q. Shipping is $5 (free if you buy two drives).

Your Religion is False - great talk at BIL

  • Feb. 10th, 2009 at 7:23 AM
happy!


I'm glad I filmed one of my favorite talks at BIL this past weekend, written and presented by [info]candid. You can see Part 2 here.