February 2005 Archives

My feet.


Walking to lunch.
San Francisco, CA 94104
GPS: 37.781013, -122.39954
Street Map / Image Map

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Posted via MMM@Garage Cinema Research

	Click to see video.
Click to see video.

Hung out at Kevin and Esther's with Steffi and Pia. I used to work with Esther and Steffi a long time ago. Last time I saw their baby Kai, he was barely walking and now he is moving non-stop and even dances!

Still buggy.,tried 10 times or so, but I think this will work.


Test
San Francisco, CA 94131
GPS: 37.754845, -122.44653
Street Map / Image Map

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Posted via MMM@Garage Cinema Research

Laptops! Another test

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Posted via MMM@Garage Cinema Research



Hi

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Posted via MMM@Garage Cinema Research

Eme and Eric have a cool practice that is comfortably becoming a tradition: once a month they choose a restaurant and invite friends, and friends of friends. I've been meeting some pretty neat people this way, and getting to know some as I meet them over and over again. I love such gatherings that bring together a group that may otherwise never come together.

Anyhow, tonight I met Daniel, who is a fellow burner. We exchanged contact information, and before I knew it, he had pulled up Kokochi and got a picture of me to assign to my information. Now, that's technology doing what it should be - facilitating in a meaningful way how we meet and communicate with others.

I can't wait to see this become more automated...like I press my fingerprint on his device and my profile comes up. Or something like that. I know that is scary, and one should worry about privacy, but I do believe that technology can also provide layers of control so I'd scan only what I want when I want.

Anyhow, I'm rambling. I just enjoyed that moment. I was conscious that it was way more nifty than scribbling down numbers on a paper and stuffing it into a pocket.

This is just for Linnea. It was nice catching up, eh? See, I can post just for you!!

To celebrate innovation. Honestly, I thought there would be more gadgets, but there was cool art. At 111 Minna with Sean.

I just realized I didn't let you know about Dav's travel blog. He explains why he started a seperate one from his regular one here. Brazil sure looks nice!

He's cooking his yummy chicken mole with Sara. I am lucky enough to get to join for the eating part. And, my golly, I found our macho Emerick decked out in my apron! He looks smashing, no?

Transcription by Secret Admirer:
Kimi & I are spending girl day together - talking, eating & now a make-over. I've never done this before so in my "before" picture I'm a bit suspicious of it all, but in my "after" picture I'm happy and relieved I don't have layers of gunk on me. Fun!

[Kimi]: This is Kimi -on my first day away from the kids in a long long time! Having fun spending quality girl time with Mie who is always fun & refreshing to be with!

Yes, I'd kiss Dav if I could, but Kiss is the name of the Japanese restaurant I went to tonight with Rachel and CC and Suzanne. I've heard a lot about this place and it lived up to expectations. Very elegantly done, refined Japanese dishes. I ordered all I wanted and was pleasantly full, not heavily-sedated-full that I usually get if I eat a bunch. Felt like I was in Japan, in fact.

Dav, I know you'll love this place, so we shall go when you get back. I bet you'll do your yummy food wiggle for me!

I also spent this morning with a UC Berkeley student setting up my phone to hook with my GPS device and a nifty program they're creating. I need to learn and adjust to it, but I shall post a nice surprise soon. Dav and Heiko can guess what this is about...stay tuned!

Today, I spent 5 hours at a hat workshop taught by the one and only Jasmin Zorlu. She made Dav's famous white fluffy hat.

The hats we made were different. We used a special felt material and steamed them into a mold and folds. I'm not quite done yet (want to adorn it with small decorations), but I'm quite pleased. 5 hours well spent.

And to spice things up, we had a littel fire emergency. While we were using the steaming device and dryers, we noticed a scary burning electrical wire sorta smell. After the SOMARTS manager checked things out, he called the fire department just to be safe. It eneded up having to do with wiring from downstairs, but my my...those firemen were cute!! We all talked about them for at least 1/2 hour after they left :)

Went to visit KC and Hideto and their new baby Noi with Jessica and Toni. Remember the baby shower? Well here is Noi! We all marveled at how cute and perfect she is. KC kept saying labor wasn't that hard, insisting it wasn't that painful. In fact, she had NO drugs! We're not convinced and know she must have a high tolerance for pain. Hideto kept a video running the whole evening as us girls chitchatted about, well, girl stuff. I understand...this is all such a special moment.

Omedeto to the parents and welcome to Noi!!

Meaning, my laptop is broken. Here is Jason working on it, and then Barak giving a try. Thanks, guys.

[update] sniff sniff. My laptop is gone to rest. A virus perhaps. We don't know. I shall begin the process of getting my new laptop set up the way I'm used to.

Went to the Asian Art Museum with Elida last night to see an exhibition of Sui Jianguo, a Chinese artist.

We met on the 2nd floor where we found rows of Chinese and Japanese 'snuff boxes' that were used to carry around powdered tobacco back in the day. It was thought that powdered tobacco would help clean sinuses when sick and was even good for health. We also fell in love with a showcase full of tiny netsuke figurines that were used to decorate small antique containers. So intricate and detailed. And rather playful representations of animals or humans doing quirky things.

I couldn't get any pics of Sui's exhibition. It was just one room but worth it. Imagine Mao sleeping sideways with a rather blissful look on his face...in the middle of thousands of tiny colorful plastic dinosaurs running towards him. You just need to see it. I did have Elida snap a pic of me and the giant red dinosaur parked outside of the museum that is one of Sui's pieces.

My footsteps make noise

a woman turns as she walks

to check who I am.

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Driving in San Fran

without Dav is confusing

I must learn my home.

	Click to see video.

Caroline's day (2nd row, right), but Newt wore 'the hat' too. At Amira in Mission. Now off to Il Pirata.

Meaning me...Uh, not to brag, but it's the second night in a row that a friend cooked for me. Dang, I'm scoring!!

Dav and I, and most people I know actually, don't like the idea of designating a special day, such as Valentine's Day. Sounds corny, but seriously, we don't need the media and the chocolate industry to tell us a day is special. Nevertheless, it was nice to have a special note from Dav, and come back to a warm home. Ezra cooked dinner for me, and Toni and Ari shared their really yummy champagne. Emerick and Sarah came home and we had a small Monday night party. Thanks everyone! I love the company.

Desmond and Wesselyne kindly invited me to lunch at a special burger joint they had found. We innocently went there and ordered our food to go. But as we waited for our food, we watched the sprinkling rain turn into big droplets of a downpour. So we ate at the place. But it's still raining! See Desmond's creative hat? We still had fun walking back : )

I wish I were in NY to see this.

So I went to a club Saturday night with friends. The crowd at the club, Mighty, was not the sort that I usually hang out in. Too much of a pick-up scene, and definitely not chill.

I had a good time dancing for the most part. However, my evening soured when a guy came up and asked me, "So why are you dressed like that and what kind of a statement are you trying to make?" You all know I love dressing up and that's a huge part of the fun in going out. I don't think I was extravagant, but I guess my dress made me stand out. Even so, I was minding my own business, dancing in a corner, when this person came up to me and questioned how I looked.

Maybe he was just trying to start a conversation, but I was not pleased. I spent 20 minutes conversing with him, explaining that I was dressed for myself, just for me. I was not there trying to make a statement and actually thought it was none of his business about why I dressed like I did. I was disappointed that I experienced that.

Don't know why I'm writing this. I suppose I was reminded that there will always be narrow-minded judgmental people. I guess if I had to define the statement I was making, it would be that anyone should be free to dress how they want. It's self-expression to be enjoyed, not controlled or critiqued. Can you imagine how fun it'd be if dress codes didn't exist and everyone wore whatever colorful and creative clothing everyday?

Giving props while I sit in traffic. He's been hanging out in our car for quite some time now.

	Click to see video.
Click to see video.

At Fort Funston. What a dog paradise! And flying human birds at which the dogs howled. Hanging with Ginevra and Maile's dogs...good romping around and lots of tail wagging!

JY laments his recent investment. I remembered I still had old French francs and wondered how much I had and whether I could still exchange them for Euros. Doesn't matter...I only have a few coins so I'll keep my francs as historical artifacts to show my great grandchildren when their generation uses only credit scanned into their fingerprints and they never learn the concept of coins.

But getting those few francs took a long time since I've dumped all my travel money into one sack out of laziness. So this morning, I divided it up into their respective currencies.

Now I know I can make a phone call or two upon arriving in Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Spain, and Tajikistan. I have one curious coin from Portugal and I've never been there (I think it was given to me by a Portuguese friend). I also found quite a lot of Taito, "For Amusement Expert." I have no recollection of these. I'd like to find where those can be used!

My favorite is Tajik's somoni. Cute paper size that I much prefer to the gigantic ridiculous Czech koruna.

I miss you because

I need not change the toothbrush

on our Braun machine.

I mean, check out those wings!!

Some quotes:

A life without cause is without effect.

Never give me an invisible key.

Would you hand me my boots?

	Click to see video.
Click to see video.

Oakland is cool. And this theater event is full of spinning wheels, gorillas, sexy shows, guns, and stuff I can't even figure out. I highly recommend that you endure the videos cuz...well...And this is even before the Barbarella movie started! I had no idea about this movie and my gosh, Jane Fonda...I may post more later cuz I gotta watch this since it's started now. But at least now I know where Duran Duran comes from...And I would prefer that Dav not have wings but I'd protect him too. Dav is just perfect as is.

Not that I just noticed only today, but with the gorgeous weather that puts an extra bounce in my walk, I wanted to share what I see when I wait for my bus to go to work. It's not bad, eh?

And then, when I get to work, I get to see this blossoming plum tree which of course reminds me of cherry blossoms!

[I'm soooo curious what Dav is seeing now. Haven't received any pics yet, and wish I could have a little personal video camera linked to his eyeballs so I could vicariously view Rio.]

[UPDATE: Just heard from Dav. No pics yet, but here's quote. "I thought I was

prepared for the beauty of the Rio landscape, but it really is just

stunning."]

I will miss him so much. But when we are back together, it will be fantastically special. I am very proud that he is doing this. It's hard though...Reminds me when we had to be apart when I lived in Tokyo and he lived here.

Um, so I haven't really talked about the fact that Dav will be leaving for Brazil very soon. So soon, that he's leaving tomorrow. I'm not really able to talk about it actually. I prefer to think he's going on a biz trip (which is sorta the case, but a bit more involved). I'm dealing with this seperation anxiety by full-blown denial...and I'm conscious of it...but it's pretty much all I can do.

I am very grateful for my friends who have promised to keep me so busy I won't even have time to notice how long we will be apart.

And good 'ol Waka. She just puts it the best: if I could, like her, I'd be packing myself right into Dav's suitcase too. She's all ready to go. See how she even scooted to the side to leave space for clothes? I know both Waka and Kats will miss him dearly (since they'll have to wait until I get home to be fed instead of Mr. Friendly Dav). We will all miss Dav.

p.s. I swear, Dav's Brazil travel book was just there like that. This pic was not staged in any way!

A long time ago, Dav and I were extras in a movie that his cousin was an assistant director for (EMR). Dav's niece has a big part in it! So we're here to see it.

[post movie: Dav and I appeared as dark shadows for like 1 second...my gosh, a full day of shooting for that!]

	Click to see video.

With 10 other friends. My favorite way to pass time. And yuuuumy! Cooks from multi-cultures.

What touched me beyond any expectation was that Elida, who is vegetarian, said she wanted to try my croquettes that I explained had shrimp and salmon inside. She hadn't had such meat in over 10 years, she said. Once again, thank you Elida!