[Super Duper Fantastic] ISFP/INFP. 4w5. World Explorer. Super Hero. Rose-colored Glasses.

An update to the 101 in 1001 : 003 – Go on a crabbing/fishing trip.

This was on both my list and RV’s list of things to do. So rather than just grab some bait and a line and bring it down to the local pier, I decided to make it part of his birthday surprise.

After exploring Fort Bragg and Glass Beach the first day, most of the second day was spent on a boat out in the ocean. Armed with Ugly Stiks [haha!], we tried out fishing for the bottom feeders [mostly cods of all kinds] for the first time. It wasn’t so easy, and I [along with most people] was surprised by how well we did!

I had trouble figuring out when the line hit bottom, and so on many occasions, my line would get stuck. :/ Very frustrating, but finally we were able to get the hang of it. Unfortunately I never took photos of the larger fish we caught, but I did take one of the very FIRST fish that I caught. It was smaller than my hand. RV’s first fish was a little bit smaller than that.

It was encouraging enough for me to keep trying, and by the time we left Fort Bragg, we had thirteen fish [various cods ranging from 2 to 5 pounds] in our ice chests and some crab too! Totally worth the money, time, and experience. The crabbing portion of the trip was really taken care of by the crew of the boat. It was made a little interactive by them telling us to help measure the crabs or to help reel the lines in.

Anyway, a good time! My car smelled of fish for a little while since I had to transport the goodies back to SF. I wrote a fairly useful review of Telstar Charters – check it out on Yelp!

An update on the 101 in 1001: 030 – Do a Daily Self Photo project for a year.

Partial success since I’ve remembered for the most part. I missed a day here and there but have been conscious of the fact. So far, I’ve taken photos using Photobooth, and I’m keeping track of them on Flickr. Each photo has a blurb, explaining what’s going on. On days where I am not in front of the computer, I’ll have to take the photos with the phone… I’m a bit hesitant on doing that since it’s much harder to take a self photo with the phone.

Looks like I’ve been: pouting about my hair being too long, wearing newly purchased sunglasses, looking for coffee, reading Infinite Jest, and baking bread!

The weekend after RV’s birthday celebrations, I took him up to Fort Bragg to show him what all the fuss was about. We were originally supposed to attend a music festival from 9pm to 3am and then make the drive up, but there was a mishap with the free tickets, and we ended up not doing that and getting up to Fort Bragg at 1am, instead of at 5am. So rather than a nap, we ended up having to sleep in the car Friday night. Boy was it uncomfortable, and we were so glad to finally check in to the bed and breakfast when Saturday afternoon rolled around!

To kill time between the uncomfortable sleep and check-in, we explored Glass Beach. It was his first time, and while it was my third, we still managed to find some new stuff to look at. On the suggestion of a man in a kayak who had spearfished a ling cod, a black cod, and some other random fish, we wandered over to the southern side of the beach where the glass was at least a foot deep. Where Keane and I had wandered before was just a thin layer of glass!

Of course, took a lot of photos. Here’s a set of a furry friend we came across while at Glass Beach:

I started out pretty far away.

Then got closer.

And closer.

Until I was up in its face.

Will update on the rest of the trip with more photos!

After reading Laura’s adventures with S-Factor, I have decided to update my 101 in 1001 list. I am changing:

009 – S-Factor or equivalent class.

to

009 – Watch all the Star Wars movies.

They both start with the letter “S,” so that makes for a suitable replacement, yes? Okay, one is supposedly more like exercise, but I suppose I can leave the exercising to my other tasks, such as finishing my Bar Method classes or at least getting started on my daily sit-ups.

In terms of progress, I have finished Episode IV through VI! Avoidance of I through III has been suggested, but I might just put myself [and the friends who watch them with me] through the pain anyway to say that I’ve gone through them all.

Who knew baking bread would take hours and hours and hours?! Well, I’m sure OTHER people know. I just didn’t realize it until yesterday when I tried it for the first time. It wasn’t a baking class or anything. Just a random experience brought on after various Twitter conversations! I arrived bright and early [7am!] at Danny’s place and stayed until about 6pm. Some of the preparation was done the night before, so luckily, we were able to prepare doughs, shape ‘em, and bake ‘em!

So what did we tackle? A whole lot! There was: focaccia, honey whole wheat, cumin whole wheat, sourdough, casatiello, and bagels. I didn’t make everything, but I worked on some things here and there! At times, it was a sticky mess. And other times, I was sitting there calculating percentages and ratios and this and that. Lots of math.

The results, although not always the tastiest, were worth it! I took home a delicious casatiello that tasted like a croissant with salami and cheese inside. Mmm… Danny didn’t use commercial yeast, so many of the recipes had to be altered accordingly…

More photos: here! And yes, that was attempt numero uno. I’ve labeled it as such because I intend to try it again! The long hours and mathematics haven’t scared me off yet.

On a side note, I started working on #030 of the 101 in 1001 – Do a Daily Self Photo project for a year.

RV has started a blog. He’s always wanted to about this particular subject, but he never got to doing it until he realized just how easy it would be. In terms of the tools used, everything’s easy with WordPress. There are plugins for just about anything, and if not, you can make your own. I’m not so skilled, but the option is there.

http://www.thegermaphobe.net

It’s called “The Germaphobe Blog.” It’s pretty hilarious, but also informational! If you’re a germaphobe or even have experiences where you’re just grossed out by the thought of germs, well it’s quite the read. He only started it up in the last week or two. So far, there’s survival tips on public restrooms and handling money. There will be survival tips, product reviews, stories about personal experiences with being a germaphobe too! There are plans for having guest bloggers as well, so if you’re against the germs, feel free to get in contact to contribute.

If I haven’t already blasted you enough with tweets about it, please check it out. I am biased. I help edit the blog, but that’s just so everyone else out there doesn’t know how poorly his sentences are structured. I kid! :) He’s awesome. The blog is awesome.

Please leave comments. It will encourage him to write more. Thanks!

On July 11, 2009 [Saturday], a bunch of us are throwing a BBQ at Lake Merced to benefit the SF Food Bank. We’re calling it “PigEat Fest – Eugeapalooza IV: A New Hope.” We = a group of people who met through Yelp.com, you know, that site for writing reviews of restaurants. What can I say? We love to eat, or maybe I should say, “We live to eat.” In the past, it’s always been just a group of our friends getting together, enjoying food, and raising money for the food bank. We’re trying to make it bigger this year, so the invitation is open to all!

In addition to the normal goodies, Clark Summit Farm in Tomales, CA has provided one of their heritage breed, livin’-the-good-life, and seriously tasty pigs for the festivities!

Remember, for every $1 donated to the SF Food Bank, $9 of food is distributed! From our last three events, we’ve raised about $9K, which is $81K in food. That’s a lot, but we can do better.

Tickets will be $20 until July 6th, and $30 from then to the day of. For information on how to purchase tickets, visit the Facebook Event page, the Yelp Event page, or email pigeatfest @ gmail. Also all those interested in volunteering should contact us through that same email address!

Hope you can make it! If not, feel free to donate to the SF Food Bank anyway and spread the word! I’ll attach our logo as soon as RV gets to designing it.

For those retweeting on Twitter, please use #pigeatfest!

“Do or do not… There is no try.” – Yoda

It may come as a surprise to most, but I have only begun to watch the Star Wars movies. The first two came out in 1977 and 1980, both years in which I was not yet alive. When the third came out, I was but a toddler. My family never had cable television, so the likelihood of me watching the films as a young person were quite low. In fact, I only recall bits and pieces of the third film. Since I’d not seen the first three, I avoided the last three when they came out in theaters.

Thanks to Keane‘s encouragement by renting the movies and providing the venue to watch them, I’m finally getting to it!

Two down, four to go.

A second post of Glass Beach photos. After years of waves and erosion, it’s interesting how a dump of the past became such a great subject for photographers today. The first one is of the glass at Glass Beach. The group following that photo are of sea anemones! The last photo in this set is one of my favorites. It’s a little romantic.

Continuing on the previously explored topic on whether a particular “friendship” is or isn’t worth your time, I want now to address the matter of strangers – approaching them, meeting them, engaging them. In the case of a networking event, the answer is easy. Of course you are going to devote the time to mix, mingle, and make contacts. And if you’re an entrepreneur, of course you’ll want to practice your pitch over and over and over!

For the other cases where you’re going about your daily life, when do you stop and talk to strangers? Or if someone approaches you, how much time do you give them before you walk away?

One friend of mine dedicates 15 minutes to anyone she encounters, giving the same amount of respect to politicians, CEOs, and people on the street. It’s helped her as her photography career’s developed. Is 15 minutes enough? Perhaps. I was on a MUNI train the other day, and it was stuck about half a block from its stop. Someone sitting got on the phone about five minutes after we’d been sitting there and basically talked about how we were waiting FOREVER. Since when is five minutes forever? 15 minutes must be ridiculous for that guy.

Still I’d love to try doing that. I know that it will require conscious effort. I have a tendency to want to walk away from salespeople and other solicitors, and sometimes there just doesn’t seem to be enough time outside of the daily routine to stop and chat. I’m also on the shy side when it comes to approaching strangers. They may be like me and want to walk away! Making the effort seems more daunting than just avoiding it altogether. Maybe that’s why I don’t consider bars to be very good places to meet people…

At the same, you don’t know what you end up missing by not having those encounters. Hmmm…