Travelogue

Back from Vacation in NM, TX

I have just returned from a brief and hurried visit to New Mexico and Texas. I say hurried because I needed to cram in a lot of visiting in just a few days. I left last Friday for Clovis, NM where my mother and step-father are setting up a Country club. It’s really coming along and I’m really proud of all their hard work. From there it was to Austin where I visited with my sister and my oldest/bestest friend in the world, Mike. Myself, Mike, & Grace Dad came and picked me up Sunday and took me to Houston where he and I spent the evening with his parents.

At some dumpy internet store, George street, Sydney, NSW, .au

At the risk of seeming a little too much like a character out of “The Beach”, I am at a Web-basement in the Civic Center area of Sydney. My trip went remarkably well. The row I was in (one of the 3 seat ones) had no other passengers so I got to curl up and sleep for the first 8 hours of the trip After that I intermittently napped, ate, and read magazines. I landed in Sydney and then went through the customs process unaccosted. I took a cab to the Sheraton on the Park. It’s very impressive and the overlook of the park is very nice.

First Pix of Sydney

These are pictures from November 29th, when I was wandering about town working off a bit of airplane fatigue. More pictures (and more interesting pictures at that) are coming soon. First pix of Sydney

Sunday in Sydney...

Yesterday I went to Sydney’s arguably most famous beach, Bondi. I will apologize presently for not having any pictures of it in the name of carrying minimal crap I decided to carry only my towel, clothes, and a few other items. Furthermore, I didn’t want to sweat my camera being purloined whilst I waded. I mean, really, are too many people going to come in and steal my copy of The Golden Compass? Anyhow, the sun was up and beaming happily, this being the first weekend it has done so since my arrival. I had opened my eyes that morning and hit the switch on the blackout curtains, to my surprise about halfway up I could see nothing but azure blue peeking between the buildings of the CBD - I knew my first beach opportunity had come.

A weekly dispatch...

Well here we are again on Saturday, the Christmas spirit is, quite aclimatically, rather warm, and the white Christmas shall surely be a white sandy beach. So, what has your humble narrator been up to? Well nothing of any great import I should say. This week was very busy at work as I tried to take care of as much business as possible so that everyone could have a stress-free holiday. I’m sitting now in the very comfortable and very well lit “Gallery” here in the Sheraton. The obligatory classical music on guitar plays in the background and only occasionally manages to disturb the natural ebb and flow of those conversing at the tables around me.

Merry Christmas from Down Under to All

Just wanted to wish everyone out there a happy holiday and hope that you’re spending it in a way that you find fun, relaxing, and rewarding. As for myself, I spent Christmas Eve Day surfing at Bondi (or at least valiantly getting thrashed about in the waves) - tiny little bits of improvement are all I see but that’s OK with me. I really enjoyed the day out there. And guess what, whilst there I ran into none other than SANTA. Santa said that because I had been such a good boy this year I deserved a sweet wetsuit. My new wetsuit

It’s New Years Eve

Hope everyone has a great and safe one.

New Photographs...and thinking about movies

Pictures of Circular Quay and the Opera House. Here is what I did this morning to enjoy the hot weather that ushered in the new year here. Burning Question: What happened to Michael Keaton? Micheal Keaton is a great actor. I was a young kid when my Aunt got all of us to see Mr. Mom (she has a certain gift for warm-hearted coercion). It’s on TV right now and it’s gotten me thinking… Keaton is one of the finest actors that we have ever been blessed to watch do comedy. First he does physical comedy incredibly well. The scene in Mr.

I can surf

I’ve been loath to say those three words for a while, but yesterday I went out and I hopped up on most every wave that came in, rode it into a good depth and then leapt off the board. Here’s thanking the guys and girls over at Let’s Go Surfing. Now I can’t claim that my showing was flashy or riddled with deft snaps (hey, it’s a longboard fergoodnesssakes) and that I was on a longboard … but if someone asked me “Hey can you do that” I could say “Yes, a bit.” ….and I’m happy with that. Bondi Evening During the afternoon, surf I met some nice folks named Marcello and Kris.

I could never fall from grace, I’m far too clever

Ah, my last full weekend in Sydney, ending with the Australia day celebration. Australia day observes the arrival of white people to the Australian continent. I was at The New Windsor yesterday when I asked what independence AD celebrated and the barfly to my right replied “Nothing, we’re still prisoners of the old bag [the Queen of England].” I had to chuckle at that one. Speaking of yesterday, I spent the early part of the morning at the Art Gallery of New south wales checking out their Caravaggio Exhibit. I’ve always been a fan of Caravaggio because he was one of the first artists to really explore the seedier sides of life.

¡Hola!

Hey everyone, I am here in an internet cafe in the heart of Barcelona. Needless to say an English & Dvorak keyboard is a bit hard to come by. My post will be a bit terse as a result. My sister and I had a great time in Amsterdam. We got to see my friend Nicholas, big Al, and Abdul. We went to the van Gogh museum, got rained on, and got to eat Indonesian food. Of particular note was the visit to the Keukenhof flower show (pics to be posted upon return). Me on the Dam E and I in Amsterdam

Last night in Catalunya

Tonight is the last night in Catalunya. Again E. and I type away at our stations We slept in after our trip to Figueres yesterday. Here are some photos of that: Exterior Greeting Comemoration Skylight This is actually furniture in a room We headed up to the Montjuïc (/big hill that overlooks everything) and took in the vista. Container ships Erica dances with some plague-surviving children. Jovail! Taking the teleferic up Montjuïc The Mediterranean We are going to head homeward shortly - we are full from all-you-can-eat Fresh Choice-like cuisine. I have been out of the country for the two landmark Christian holidays.

Slouched back to SJ...

I’m back in Mountain View, on my futon, behind the helm of the PowerBook of Doom. I may be without keys with ~ and umlauts over the characters, but I’m glad to feel the caress of Al-yoo-mini-um against my fingertips. I’m going to make myself stay awake until my usual bedtime of 2300 (dig that Euro stylee). Regrettably, I know what Cayce Pollard from Gibson’s Pattern Recognition is feeling: She knows, now, absolutely, hearing the white noise that is London, that Damien’s theory of jet lag is correct: that her mortal soul is leagues behind her, being reeled in on some ghostly umbilical down the vanished wake of the plane that brought her here, hundreds of thousands of feet above the Atlantic.

Off to Londinium tomorrow

Tomorrow I am headed out on the 3:50 flight to London via LAX. It’s been several years since I was last in the UK, in London exclusively. Regrettably I’ve never had the chance to explore the islands more extensively - but seeing London again will be nice. I’m going on business and I look forward to meeting up with my teammates there. We’re working to scope out a large project and try to put together timelines for a very large global project deployment. I will also see my former housemate Axel (that’s not his name, actually) who, with his New Zealandish fiancée, are denizens of that city that if one is tired of it, one is tired of life (Samuel Johnson).

British Museum

I spent yesterday wandering about London downtown. I hopped the tube from Heathrow and headed the many (many, many) stops down into the centre of Swinging London. With the iPod of doom fully charged I plowed through a pizza at Pizza Hut, read Eastern Standard Tribe, and was then left wondering what to do with my time. Being that this is my second time to London, I have hit all the requisite MUST DO tourist sights, so I was free to add to the rosters something that has often been praised to me but up to that point had been left unvisited: The British Museum.

Going back to Houston

I’m going back to Houston tomorrow. My friend Matt is getting married there. I’m not a fan of Houston in the summer (or in most seasons) but it will give me a chance to see mom, dad, sis, friends, El Imperial (and the frightened geriatrics at the Luby’s next door), Mike, and my old roommates.

Going to Maui in a few weeks

My friend Norbert is getting married in Maui on the 25th of this month. I decided I should be there to wish him well on his nuptials. So I’m going. Aloha, Maui.

Gone To Maui

…See you in October!

Maui wrap up

Here is the rough story of my visit to Maui Friday 24 September Woke up early (0400), shower, cab to Mountain View Caltrain, train to Millbrae, Bart to SFO. Check in was moderately painless. iPod and a bunch of magazines in the backpack and I was all good Flight was good, ATA food was good, they showed this movie with Jim “Jesus” Cavizel playing Bobby Jones. I don’t know much about golf - I didn’t care much Arrived in Maui. I was hot in jeans and a shirt Picked up a Chevrolet Classic. Has a nice bit of low end for an econobox Drove to Ka’annapali (henceforth K’pali).

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Headed back to Jesusland

Well it’s August first and I am sitting in San José’s Mineta airport. Most people are surprised when they come and see the airport of “The Silicon Valley” because it is still of that 1960s ranches and orchards vintage of Old San Jose (more on this idea coming). I mean, you can almost imagine well dressed stewardesses escorting Haley Mills down the silver push-up staircase (like in the original “Parent Trap”). No, most expect something along the lines of the EEro Saarinen-esque SFO - which they do not get. In any case I’m sittting here. I’ve decided that the goal is not simply to fly but the goal should be to fly no-stress.

Mixture of blog elements

Those of you who visit often will see that I have had in my “reading” box for a while Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. You will also see that I have added my friend’s pug’s picture recently. The two mix’d in a way today that was most ill for the former. Perhaps his owner will have the luck to scoop up chapter 1 and start reading this well-written tale? I don’t hold it against him though. You can’t curse a cur for being a cur.

Much like LL Cool J

I’m california bound. The great benefit is that due to my layover here in Austin I get to have a breakfast of Matt’s Famous El Rancho breakfast burritos. My sister’s graduation went really well, it was a short yay ceremony full of pomp and circumstance and followed by a luncheon at Z-Tejas.

Lite on the blog-activity lately...

It was a pretty crazy week last week and I’m just now getting back home. Last Wednesday I gave a presentation to some of the higher-ups and I was kinda nervous about it. I’m a pretty gregarious cat, when not letting the introverted daemon run loose, and I definitely have no problem speaking in public - it’s just that this project is a Good Thing and Should Be Done — in other words, precisely the sort of thing that tends to be in mortal jeopardy unless the need is properly communicated. The feedback was positive and that was great. I headed out after work and caught the exhibits at MacWorld (so many cool brushed metal and iPodd-y things!

Vacation wrap-up...

So, the See the Social Bobcats See the Dogg and Mrs. The Dogg and the proto-Dogg See matt Stay with my dad and lie around in the pool Work on my Snow Crash analysis Look at Cocoa (again) Look at Lisp Last year Dedman recommended The Time Traveler’s Wife which was awesome. This year he has recommended The Historian which looks great. Not think about work. I may need some help in this regard but Dad always kept the fridge healthily packed with bock, so that should help Go to my 10 year reunion See my grandmother and her dog, Ray.

Reading the Houston Press

Back when i was growing up The houston Press was a shrunk down little quarter-size newspaper that had the events of the day (at Fitzgerald’s or Zelda’s, generally), reviews (where I first got the prompting to buy the incredible Dummy by Portishead), and adds for “theraputic massage.” While visiting recently I picked up another issue to see how things had progressed in the intevening decade or so. On page 72 of the August 4th edition, D.X. Ferris reviews a 90’s boxed set and makes the following evaluation. Pantera, “Walk” Significance: Pantera kept metal alive when Metallica was writing bad ballads and following them with sequels

Back from Austin

Just wanted to say that I’m back in CA after a few days in Austin visiting family, friends, and eating a lot of good Mexican food.

During my trip to Austin last month....

I bought a pair of Lucchese Classic boots from Cavender’s. I’ve told some

Road Trip to Pebble Beach

While I bought my new car a few weeks ago, weather (rain) and other obligations (moving into new apartment) have prevented me from taking my first real geniuine road trip. On Saturday, we grabbed our coats and sweaters and hit 17 south towards Santa Cruz. It was a real thrill to drive through that speedy and windy pass with something that has the ability to climb the hill with a certain level of verve. We then picked up the Pacific Coast Highway (or, PCH if you live here) and headed on down to Monterey. I had been planning on just stopping in downtown Carmel but then we saw the exit for the 17 mile drive.

Countdown to Rome...

On Thursday morning I’ll be leaving the Pacific and heading back to the Old World - perhaps the oldest of the old, Rome. As usual the flights from the Western section of the New Empire eastward are really quite painful, but such is the cost of living where the sun melts into the sea (over and above cursable rents). The question may be asked as to why I am headed out so far. Well, as those of you who have actually looked at the right column of this blog may have noticed, I have an interest in Mac OSX programming. I’ve tried for the last two years to really try to get some time (or discipline, I prefer to blame it on the former) to master the idiom and be able to make Great Software that would make my life (at the very least) and the lives of others ever so slightly better.

Blogging offline, from Wis-kahn-sin

Well, as mentioned previously I’ve begun my sojourn to the Old World. This morning my awesome girlfriend took me to SFO at 0430. We got to the airport fairly quickly and check-in was uneventful. The only real bummer was that I realized that I had left my excellent Christmas present from Elle, a great coat, in the backseat of the car and that it was too late to do anything about getting it back. So, I’m a bit worried about the weather and my attire but I’ve heard rumors about a fashion industry being centered in Rome, so I’m sure I’ll find some way to go.

The Eternal City

Here’s a photoset from my two and a half days in Rome downtown. I only got to scratch the surface, but here’s what I saw.

Starting Cocoa class in rome

Hey i don’t have much time to type, but i have pulled in some great pictures of Roma that I will soon upload. Buncha other fun stuff. See you all again soon.

First opportunity to catch up

I got the chance to talk to my sweetie today and that was awesome. We started class and I must say I love being here. The people are so committed (damn well better after the gross amount of euros we’ve dropped) and have such interesting ideas on topics from politics to UI design to the semantic web. It’s really sort of symposium on the future of technology, neat tricks, and cool stuff.

In the Roman Countryside

Hello Strangers...

Well my friends in the blogosphere it’s been a while since I, like Jim Anchower, rapped at ya. It’s been pretty hectic. Here’s what’s new. When last I was posting you were seeing posts from beautiful Frascati, Italy. Obviously I took the big ol’ jet-airplane back to the US and arrived just fine. The flight was long and a bit more grueling than I recall. The real cursable thing about flying west from Europe is that if you catch a morning flight, you really feel quite compelled to stay awake the duration of the flight. Assuming you’ve gotten your body on the Continental clock, you’re feeling like “Oh, it’s 11 am, lunchtime, etc.

Visit to Willits and Ft. Bragg

We had a great weekend visiting my relations up in Northern California. Retired to the sleepy town of Willits, they hosted us in their beautiful tree-ensconced house amid trees, leaves, and hummingbirds. It seems so far from the East Brooklyn where they grew up and knew my great-grandmother and those relations.

First leg of migration down

Well, we are underway on our grand vacation / migration out to Austin, Tejas. The movers came on Friday and then we headed up to Willits, CA to visit some relatives of mine. Friday night we got in after dealing with a terrible traffic snarl in Santa Rosa and after a light dinner headed to sleepy land. Saturday we enjoyed Ft. Bragg and the Mendocino coast. We made a really great stop by the Botanical Gardens where we same many rhodedenddrons, grasses, and a variety of Japanese garden plants. Sunday morning we headed down to Pismo Beach area ( we’re staying in San Luis Obispo ).

Vegas, and on to the Grand Canyon

The 29th and 30th we were in Las Vegas. Things started out easily with a drive from SLO into the maze that is Los Angeles. On our route, we only ran a tangential line across the northernmost part of the city, basically driving from the northwest to the northeast. The time across LA was pretty hectic with the usual fun of driving with LA drivers (fast, certain, with short entrance ramps). Upon arriving in the suburban paradise of Rancho Cucamonga, we stopped at the RC “Epicenter”, filled up the tank and grabbed a sandwich from Ralphs. It tasted horrible. We quickly headed to the Marble Slab and that filled in the balance of our lunchtime calories.

Best Western SLO vs. Paris Las Vegas

Wifi at Best Western: $0.00 Hard Network line at Paris: $10.99 I think someone’s been drinking a bit too much of their awesomeness kool-aid.

What happened to the slot machines

Through the first leg of our travels I had acquired a large collection of quarters that I was excited to drop in the gaping maw of a one-armed bandit. They apparently “don’t do” that anymore. Instead you hand in bills and get a “ticket” which you insert in a machine. Man. That sucks. Half the fun of the slots was the visceral dropping metal in experience, to say nothing of that stained metal fingertip you got at the end.

And I, for one, welcome our new machine overlords

Magnet I made as a child celebrating my love of machine-kind

Back in San Jose this week

I’m back in San Jose this week, back in the Silicon Valley. It’s strange to be back because it was an October, 6 years ago, that began my career in high-tech, and my life in the Silicon Valley.

Back from Houston, appropriately Java-ized

Classes finished up in the early afternoon so Lauren and I headed back to Austin. It was a pretty exciting drive up Highway 71 including a stop at Tony’s Restaurant ( voted best restaurant in Austin county, so claimeth the billboard ). Noting that the weather forecast promises cold and wet I stopped by Best Buy and picked up a wireless guitar controller and the Guitar Hero II video game. I had played at the demo at Fry’s in Sunnyvale when I was in the valley last week and I had had such a good time I wanted to have the fun at home ( until such time as I can get my grubby mitts on a Wii ).

Gross Bathroom-related stuff, majorly not safe for lunch-time reading

In the following post I discuss potty topics. Consider yourself warned.

Headed to Atlanta

Oh, Atlanta I hear you calling I’m coming back to you one fine day No need to worry There ain’t no hurry cause I’m… On my way back to Geaow-uh-ga On my way back to Geaow-uh-ga –Alison Krauss and Union Station: “Oh, Georgia” I’m headed off to beautiful, old, stately Atlanta this coming Sunday, and, with the way that things have been busy of late, I’m not sure that I’m going to have time to write about it any other time but now. I’m headed off to da dirty to attend Big Nerd Ranch’s Ruby on Rails 1-week intensive training class.

In Atlanta, but not on-line, under protest

I arrived in Atlanta but a few minutes ago after a fairly uneventful, and surprisingly brief, flight from Houston. I left Austin early this morning, arrived in Houston and had a quick bite at the 59 Diner with my Dad before I headed to Intercontinental Airport. For some reason, last night’s activities caught up with me suddenly, mid-flight. I found myself doing the “forehead-against-the-seat-in-front-of-you-quasi-narcoleptic-nap” thing most of the flight. Atlanta’s airport is gorgeous, new, nice, and clean. I was very impressed. Navigating its large size is assisted by a tramway and moving sidewalks. It just goes to show that the US’ dumpiest airport is Mineta in San Jose.

Big Nerd Ranch: RoR Camp: Day 1

Last time I was at a BNR class, I meant to keep a blog history so that I could: Shill for my friends Have a travelogue Regrettably, my best intentions fell to lack of discipline and I did not keep my story together. As such, I’m going to try to work day-by-day with sharing my experience. At the end I’ll provide a summary as well as some specifics about “what to do / what not to do if you’re taking the Rails class”. Last night, after my bitching about ATL, we were picked up by our contacts Emily and Jaye who were holding a great big BNR poster-board to help myself about about 8 other people congregate.

Big Nerd Ranch: RoR Camp: Day 2

Per the typical BNR experience, last night, post-dinner, many students returned to the training facility to go over the things that were unclear, try things out, and talk with the the instructor, Charles Quinn, about projects that we dream of undertaking. I had questions around using the session continuity features in ActiveController, and just needed some examples and some time to let the concepts come together. Ultimately I figured it out and some of us last few left in the center headed down to the bar and had a beer before bed. I can’t say I slept particularly well. I had the strangest experience.

Big Nerd Ranch RoR Camp: Rain!

We were working this afternoon and there was a horrible rain storm. The kind folks at our facility sent vans to retrieve us from the meeting center and take us to the dining hall. Midway through lunch a transformer down the line blew and plunged the hall into darkness. Fortunately the meeting room is on a different generator and we were able to keep working. Now, as we finish day 2, a golden burning sun has re-emerged and we’re about to go out for some Mexican food.

Big Nerd Ranch: RoR Camp: Day 3

Goodmorning. I had a late morning this morning … because I had a late night last night. Last night, per BNR tradition ( and I can say this because of me experiences at the Cocoa camp ), post dinner ( and occasionally a drink or two ) many of the students returned to the classroom to review, invent, create, etc. under the tutelage of our teacher. I basically re-ran all the exercises from Day 2 again, inventing scenarios to make sure that I truly “got it”. In training, it’s very easy to simply nod and do the exercise but, as my math teacher says, when you are working the problem alone, you will get the loneliness.

Big Nerd Ranch: RoR Day 5, and back home

Well yesterday was a brief morning session where we covered profiling, how to get help, and took a look at some of the student generated work that had been created during the week. After that we were shuttled back to Atlanta where we all dispersed, catching our flights to the various parts of the map. My plane was delayed by an hour ( mechanical ) so I arrived in houston about 7:30. After getting to the park and ride I proceeded to drive back to Austin, getting home about midnight. While I was flying I had a chance to post a wrap up and advice page which will be next in the posting list.

Back in Waterloo

Good golly, I love the East Coast ( especially the Old English dominions ), but dear lord I’m so very glad to be back under the big, wide, blue sky of the Lone Star State in lovely Austin. I like what’s in NC: The Sweetest of the Teas, the friendly of the people, and the vinegary of the bar-b-q. But I miss the cheesy of the queso, the dry of the bar-b-q, and the girliest of my friends. So tonight, in but a few short moments, I’ll put my head back to rest.

Where else have I been

My sister is soon to have her wedding day in downtown Austin.

Pursuant to such goings-on, a shower was held by my mother in her town on the 11^th of this month and Lauren and I went up with my Dad to attend. On Friday my dad drove up and picked Lauren and I up and we proceeded to head to Eastern New Mexico in his big, green, Excursion. It was a drive up 183 towards Abilene and we really had a great chance to talk and socialize.

So-Cal Shout Out

Hey party people, I’ve been out here in Irvine, CA since Thursday morning. I’ll be headed from here, tomorrow, straight to Boston where I’ll be until the end of next week.

Boston-towne

I’ve arrived and checked into the beautiful Westin Boston Waterfront. I’m still on California time, so it’s almost 2am and the conference starts at 9. Ugh.

Tuesday night in Boston

Tuesday night was a lot of fun in Boston. After doing the full conference raft of activities we retired back to our respective rooms for some decompression and rest. Around 6 we headed into the borderlands to Chinatown and enjoyed a steak dinner at Smith and Wollensky. I enjoyed a bowl of their “world famous” split-pea soup and, quite possibly, the best steak I have ever had. It was a bone-in ribeye that just knocked my socks off. I was cutting it very thinly and making my own carpaccio style cuts. It was delicious. The restaurant was in an old armory building near Chinatown that was decorated in a very nice early-teens, Teddy Roosvelt, 48 stars kind of way.

Wednesday night out in Boston Towne

What a party city! Now I see why Bostonians are always going on about what a great place Boston is to go out in. Last night after the conference my boss and I and another colleague headed to Fanueil Hall area of Boston. It was kinda like an outdoor mall ( see Stanford Mall ) but set among old colonial buildings ( Ye Olde Brookstone: Thy Pillowtoir since 1668 ). After being given several opportunities to buy tourist schwag we went in hunt of a place to eat. After walking around in the area we settled on the Bell In Hand tavern on Union Street.

News: Getting upside down ( again )

I’m going to Australia again in October, this time with my beautiful Californienne. I’ve gotta start running and working out arms and lats. It’s going to be some serious bicep burn once I’m upside down again.

Quick Post as time is running short...

Hey all. Wednesday we leave for Sydney. In efforts to try to sync up school and work, I’m to take the 2nd math exam tomorrow ( yes scarcely a week since my last ), so I’ve been cramming that material into my gray matter as quickly as possible ( thus the light presence the last few days ). My Latin prof and I have arranged to take any exams upcoming post-return. We’re both very excited about heading ( in my case, back ) to Sydney. It should be a good break from balmy Austin. Sydney appears to be cool and breezy, nevertheless we hope to enjoy a bit of sun and sand whilst there.

Blogging on the West coast, about to cross the peaceful ocean

Lauren and I have arrived safe and sound in LAX and are ready to make the 13-hour hop across to Sydney. We’ve made notes on where to retrieve our keys, we have our melatonin ready, and we just enjoyed a Wolfgang Puck pizza / salad combination. With the other bleary eyed passengers, made harshly garish by the unfriendly fluorescent lighting, we are awayting the entry into the time and space warping tube that is carrying us to a new continent, and the antipodal season.

Manly, NSW, .au

We made it across the ocean fine, barring the spirit debilitating flight of 13 hours. Upon arrival we waited 1 hour for our bags ( a certain local or two unleashed some colorful vitriol at the coordinators ). Thereafter we took the underground to circular quay and the ferry thence to manly. The apartment was ready upon arrival and has been a nice home base for operations thus far. The surf was good yesterday and the day before and we made great use of it, taking some mini-Malibus out for the day. We’ve found a great Indian food restaurant up the way, but have enjoyed the kitchen in our place a great deal.

More fun at Manly

We’ve come to Australia during an interesting time, weather-wise. There have been massive hailstorms and super-cell thunderstorms in the province above ours ( Queensland ), but here in New South Wales, we’re enjoying cool spring days ( lower 70’s ) with brisk, windy evenings ( lower 60’s ). Imagine if San Francisco’s weather pattern came to San Clemente’s beach and you have the right idea. Manly village is a charming and walkable area. We make frequent trips down to the ferry building to the supermarket, or to the chemist’s. Visits down via the Corso to the basic shoppes seems to anchor our lives in a calm rhythm which seems to match the soft lilting waves.

Still in Sydney

Just a quick shout, I’m doing a lot of work during this off-site ( and enjoying the local lager ). Last night I bailed on post-work activities to do homework and to prepare a presentation that I gave today. It went well. Something that I’ve seen today is that 3rd party apps are now coming to the iPhone.

Jet Lag

6am and sleep not found. Posting missed connections to Craigslist. On the up side, this leaves for time to tag and sort my photos in iPhoto and to upload them to Flickr. Here’s a few highlights, but you can find the [full set][] here. A beautiful sunrise I’m standing on the balcony and all of a sudden a cockatoo flies up. Lauren says hello. Seafoam

Merry Christmas from Southern California

Greetings to all and a Merry Christmas wish from Orange County, CA. Lauren and I hastened from Austin on Christmas Eve day and flew into SNA airport. Shortly after arrival my general sniffles and feeling of cold turned much more acute and it was only a matter of hours before I was impressing my girlfriend’s family not with witty bon mots and thoughts around the economic solutions to southeast Asian terrorism, but rather with coughs, sneezes, hacking, and general looking like I was sick. Christmas day was an extravaganza of un-wrappings at the house. Thereafter we dined on breakfast quiche and let me say that it was nothing short of fantastic.

Leaving SoCal

Yesterday we moved over to a hotel, a certain favorite of ours near the SNA, Orange County, California") airport. After this we headed up to Long Beach and visited The Pike which is a sort of beach-side shopping area. It was rather cold and overcast, so there wasn’t much idle, sunny, beachside activity. We headed over to the Borders and met up with one of Lauren’s best friends from college. It was good to catch up and share some of our thoughts and experiences since we had last met. Thereafter, we were joined by two other Angeleno friends of Lauren’s and we continued visiting.

Back in ATX, Dei gratia, and New Year's

We returned home from SNA on the evening of the 29th after having spent the morning sleeping in and heading out to Laguna Beach. Laguna is a special place for Lauren and I, it’s the first beach she ever took me to in her home-area and returning to that spot always feels like a ritual: we re-enact our walk, see the same immutable motley of beach-side attractions and linger across the sands with the roar of the Pacific to our right. It was a slightly cloudy day and, thanks to the winds, it stayed a good bit cooler than we would generally like, but a cold day by the beach beats a bad day just about anywhere.

We are home from Beautiful British Columbia

“Beautiful British Columbia”, that’s what it says, right there, on every license plate in the city. To match a boast like that, you had better back it up, to wit: Texas: We make sure everyone’s textbooks teach nonsense, or Texas: More food involving puddles of cheese than Switzerland, or Texas: Still debating merits of annexation But BC delivers, it is simply like someone thought of the best parts of natural vistas, cut them out of magzines, pasted them together, and in some sort of Anthony Michael Hall bit of hilarity, made the dream reality. In this vista Lauren and I had a bit of a vacation and we feted the marriage of my former room-mate and the subsequent birth of his daughter.

Travelogue: Vancouver Day 1

June 26th was our travel day. We woke up at the ungodly hour of 0400 to make it to the parking lot, take the shuttle, and get to AUS in time for our 0655 departure. If anything made us feel better, it was the assurance that Vancouver was the best: That, and that the Thievery Corporation’s presence provided a mental wave of jet-set cool to the bag check routine. The flight was divided into two legs: Austin to Denver, and then on to YVR. The layover was just enough to stretch our legs and get a McPuck breakfast. Arrival at Vancouver was overcast and cool, about 62 at our 1100 arrival time.

Travelogue Day 2: Vancouver Parks and Harbourside

We slept in on day 2 thanks to our travel arrangement from the previous day having worn us out. The evening prior we had acquired some basics at the Safeway 2 blocks away, so that when we did rise, late in the morning, it was light fare as we headed to the northern tip of Vancouver’s West End, the area adjacent to Stanley Park. Much like San Francisco’s Presidio district, Stanley Park is a park at the end of a peninsula, with a highway running through it that leads to a bridge from one land-body to another. In Vancouver’s case, this bridge would be the 99 that feeds into the Twin Lions Bridge that heads across to North Vancouver.

Vancouver Travelogue: Day 3: We gets some culture

Sunday morning we had to return our vehicle to the rent-a-car on Georgia street. The day was hot again and we thought that a great place to hide from the sun would be in a museum! We dropped off the car and then headed up to the Vancouver gallery area. Outside the denizens sought shelter underneath the beautiful trees and took up friendly games of chess or ambled on the the terraces of the nearby cafes. We too decided to have a tasty break fast at Cafe Bellagio. We had their special of two eggs of choice, bacon, and toast.

Vancouver Travelogue: Day 4, Vancouver Island and departure

It was an early-morning wake-up for us as we took a taxi to Vancouver’s motor-coach depot adjacent to the GM Center ( go Canucks! ). We bought tickets on the [Pacific Coach Lines](http://www.pacificcoach.com/ “Pacific Coach Lines Bus service between Vancouver and Victoria, and YVR & Whistler”) and boarded their 10:30 bus. We drove out of Vancouver, southward to Tsawassen ferry terminal. We boarded one of the gigantic BC Ferries and made the ~90 minute crossing over to Vancouver island. It was then a short drive south into the provincial capital, Victoria. All of this had one nasty overhang, Lauren seemed to have contracted a cold that, even as I type this today, is giving her grief.

Trip to Yosemite

Last weeekend Lauren and a few other friends went up to Yosemite to do some late winter camping. In our three days there we saw rain, big fluffy snowflakes, and spent a bit of time hiding out in our tent-cabin. It was a great, albeit chilly and, at times, wet experience. But for vistas like this, it’s definitely worth going. Emil, a friend of Lauren’s friend Brian, had found a program that would allow you to rent a “tent cabin in Curry Village” ahead of the Spring thaw. The tents are basic wooden structures with canvas “walls” and a small heater inside.

How I Pack: 2016

Swanky One Week Travel Introduction This was the sheet I used for my Paris trip: October 11th-16th. This is good for one week of business travel or several nights of vacation. This was an early-winter vacation so this works for that time of year (or year-round in San Francisco). I’ve tried to generalize my particular flow so that this could work for a woman as well. I’ve tried to add a few extra generic things that might / not apply to you. Preliminaries The goal is to get you to fit all your belongings in a 1-case overhead-compliant suitcase. I use a [Briggs & Riley Baseline][BR] Expandable Upright Suitcase.

Zipcar: A Lesson in Confusing Customers

Can I Rent a Zipcar at JFK? TL;DR: No.(As of October 20, 2017) Full Exploration On a recent trip back, I was thinking it would be really handy if I could rent a Zipcar from JFK, do some errands in the outer boroughs, and then drop the car off at the airport and head back into the city via LIRR. So, I went to Zipcar’s site to see if there were cars near JFK. Well, that certainly seems promising. I went to check out the JFK listing: Well, that certainly seems promising… OK, now I have the impression that they DO have Zipcars at JFK but they DON’T have Zipcars at JFK as well.

Trip Upstate for Apple Picking

At the end of last week our friend Meghan got in touch and said that she could get use of, that rarest of rarest things, a car and that if we were of a mind to, we could all head upstate to do some apple picking and enjoy the late summer / early fall. Lauren, Byron and I met up with Meghan and our friend Kat (recently back from a sojourn abroad and a residency in La France) in the Bronx and then headed into Westchester county, across the Tappan Zee bridge and on into Suffern and then Orange counties. We headed to Masker Orchards in Warwick, NY which, it must be fairly acknowledged, is a bit of a tourist trap.

Trip to London

At the end of October, we headed to London to take in the late-fall experience there. It was a wonderful visit. Here are some of the highlights.

Trip to the Adirondacks

As is our custom, we took a mid-October travel break this year. Thanks to the pandemic this, as has been everything this year, was a little bit different. Due to New England’s strict quarantine regime (good for them), we decided to stay in the Empire state so that we could honor the best health practices.

On the other hand, we really wanted to see some pretty foliage. I found the leaf peeper map on and realized that the upper-right corner of the state near Lake Placid was most ideal, and so we made reservations in Lake Placid.

Complicating all this was that a week ago my viking of a wife underwent surgery and had spent a week resting and recuperating on bed. At the prospect of canceling, she wasn’t having any of it and she insisted we go on. We both had the suspicion fresh air, movement, and nature were an important part of her healing, and we were right.

Winter Vacation to the Finger Lakes

Introduction

We’d been inside the house on the ongoing, COVID-occasioned, try not to mingle too much light quarantine since October, so these same four walls, same routines, and same behaviors are really wearing us down. On top of that we had successfully navigated the straits of the darkest and coldest parts of the year, so we were really feeling the need to get back out.

Unfortunately, the New England states’ guidelines all indicate that New Yorkers were not wanted (not without non-light quarantine, at any rate). As such, we decided to try to get some natural exposure within New York state. As we pondered where to go, we concluded that we wanted to go back to the Finger Lakes, where we visited this Summer, again.

We thought it’d be nice to do our previous trip two seasons later so that we could see what that upstate life looks like outside of its most idyllic season — that is in depth of winter. Afterward, we decided we’d do a bit of a “staycation” and enjoy NYC for a few days.

Visiting Aruba

After 18 months enduring the Trump administration’s death throes and COVID’s rampage, we decided we deserved a vacation at long (vaccinated) last. So we went to Aruba!