Fake tales of San Francisco

Heima

2007-12-14T17:18:00.000-08:00

Madeline got me the Bob Dylan DVD for my birthday - I had bought it off iTunes already so we took it back and I ordered Heima from amazon. It arrived a couple of days ago, but I've just watched the first few tracks from the performances disk, and skipped ahead for Hoppipolla. Looking forward to tucking into it fully on my flight to London! Lots of media related blogs just recently - I must be feeling creative or something.

Shine on you crazy diamond

2007-12-13T21:44:00.000-08:00

In the lab, drinking beer, listening to Pink Floyd at an almost distractingly loud volume on my headphones, writing about why I think my project deserves attention. It's going to be a long week.

Led Zep IV

2007-12-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

Just read a review of last nights Led Zep reunion gig.

Hairs standing up on the back of your neck? No? You must not be viewing the full color version!
Bought IV after I realized my music collection was seriously lacking in classic rock. I don't like DRM, but I do love the convenience of iTunes.

A night at the movies

2007-12-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

Saw Beowulf: an IMAX 3D experience last Friday. My only previous IMAX experiences were in Sydney (rugby tour – too exhausted to stay awake in a warm dark room), and watching the movie 300 more recently, but that wasn’t in 3D.

Had big expectations, and spent a long time convincing Madeline that she was going to be blown away. Not sure blown away was accurate, but it was relatively painless. Cons: The plot was horrible, the king’s wife was plain Jane, the computer generated ocean effects on the beach were not realistic, Beowulf's accent is just weird. Pros: Angelina Jolie was inspirational, the 3D was not over used, and when it was, it was used to great effect (lots of ducking and Madeline squeezing my hand too tight when dragons plunged towards us), the CGI was very good with a couple of glitches, the dragon fight was brilliant, the group of guys sat behind us kept making amusing comments, the audience cheered when Beowulf kicked some ass.

If we hadn’t experienced the “IMAX 3D experience”, I’d be pissed – horrible movie saved by some technology. It was technology Madeline could appreciate which wins it extra points. Worth $15 each? We’ve paid more for less.

Poetry has no place for a heart that’s a whore

2007-11-29T11:16:00.000-08:00

Madeline and I went to see the Swell Season a couple of weeks ago - last minute tickets added to the excitement, especially when it emerged that they were being supported by Martha Wainwright. I knew of her, but couldn't hum a single line from one of her songs - I'd asked Jamie if I should buy one of her albums once, he said yes but I didn't follow through.

Martha Wainwright
Originally uploaded by Stig Nygaard

It was in a ballroom just on Van Ness - standing for all unless you wanted to sit 50 meters away on a balcony (for old people we decided, although we were tempted). We positioned ourselves 2 meters from the stage drinking Heineken in plastic cups, feeling San Franciscan. Martha took the stage, dressed in black and white, with her acoustic guitar and kicked off what would be an amazing 30 minutes of solo brilliance. People at the back were chatting noisily which pissed her off, but it added to the feeling that we were experiencing something woefully under appreciated.

Every song was belted out with a passion that can only be appreciated first hand - powerful lyrics sticking immediately, chord progressions becoming ingrained on my subconscious hummerings for the remainder of the week.

I got home and searched for some of the lines which I liked. The title for this post is the opening line of one of her less-subtly-named songs which took me to a College Website where a poet had used the line as the title for her readings:

"In the last two years I have, among other things, left my husband of 22 years for a woman, been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and OCD, and begun, finally, to deal with the sexual abuse I survived as a child. My poetry is a reflection of all these things: eroticism and erotic love, abuse and mental illness. Poetry like this, resides, I think, in the silences and the margins where the best truths—and poems—are found." - Bron Bateman

I think you have some issues when this poet is relating to you. Issues are brilliant when they're channeled creatively.

I liked this also:

Oh I wish I wish I wish I was born a man
So I could learn how to stand up for myself
Like those guys with guitars
I've been watching in bars
Who've been stamping their feet to a different beat
To a different beat
To a different beat

I'd like to stamp my feet to a different beat, maybe.

I'm watching the epic 3 hour Martin Scorsese documentary on Bob Dylan at the moment (birthday gift from Madeline from iTunes), and am feeling enlivened by music. If you're on Pandora, take a listen. If you're not, get on Pandora and take a listen.

I'd better mention that the Swell Season were also amazing - their CD is a permanent fixture in the car CD player.

Snowpatrol $ Martha Wainwright - Set Fire to the Third Bar.

Talented family - Rufus and Martha - Hallelujah.

Silly, silly amazon

2007-09-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

I like amazon. They've never let me down, and recently I've been really impressed with their stats. Things like "83% of the people who viewed this item bought a cat scratching post" are adding so much value to shopping online. It's good to see a wonderful, seamless application of some nice data mining.

The customer feedback and reviews are my main resource when trying to buy something as complicated as headphones, (I settled on these and am delighted with them), when there are literally hundreds of results, and until recently, I took note of the recommended items.

This morning I got an email from Amazon, not something that happens very often, but never the less, excitement set in - I like to think what the algorithm really thinks I would like.

The title was:

Amazon.com recommends "Discipline in the Secondary Classroom: A Positive Approach to Behavior Management (Jossey-Bass Teacher)"

How thoroughly disappointing. It's a tragic artifact of buying Madeline a million books for her teaching credential program. I've just found that I can "Improve my Recommendations" but it's not the same. You don't tell a best friend what things to consider from your personality before they buy you a birthday present. I want the algorithm to be my best friend.

I know it's late when my parents are on skype already

2007-09-08T02:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Madeline and I went out with some friends for a very nice French meal, (no Le Frog, but nice none the less) and a club near our house. I had rabbit pate (borderline tasteless, but I guess it's meant to be subtle) followed by the veal, and Madeline struck gold with a big old steak, done to perfection.

The club was fun, the company was excellent and we are now at home in a state where I'm able to type and, fingers crossed, we won't feel like death tomorrow.

It's been a good week, although reasonably stressful. My classes are surprisingly challenging, but it's good; I'm learning a lot and it's a good thing keeping me busy. Going to do some stuff for Yahoo over the weekend, but no other big plans. Maybe brunch on Sunday with pals, but other than that, just preparing for Mel's visit. Exciting times!

Travel plans and middle age

2007-09-06T16:47:00.001-07:00

Last night, Madeline and I went to the gym. She spent an hour doing weights and cardio. I spent an hour doing yoga, thinking about my breathing and getting frustrated how hard I find it to get my heels to the floor in "downward dog" - I blame it on years of rugby.
Today I noticed that I'm wearing only earth tones, and am sipping on peppermint tea. I fear I'm a cardigan away from a demography I haven't arrived at yet.

Met up with Madeline for coffee this afternoon (she had no work so was enjoying distracting me). We strolled to Starbucks and spent a little time chatting about our travel plans for next summer. I think this will be a point of discussion for quite some time but currently I'm pushing for Iceland, Sweden and Russia. Madeline sent me this in response:

"Russia is not a tourist friendly country, as reading this document will show. Limit your touring to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Although Russia is a country of glorious landscapes and unique culture, it does not provide a travel environment that makes tourism either easy or enjoyable."

I'm not sure she's convinced. This sounds more like a challenge than a warning to me.

In contrast...

2007-08-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

...to my usual once-a-month epics, I'm here only to encourage the use of fountain pens. After reading an article about them I decided this semester wouldn't be complete without the revival of a classic. Little did I know that it would be a) so hard to find a fountain pen for less than $10, in a market place dominated by gel pens and such, and b) so rewarding, to the extent that the visual buffet that are my cursive notes have motivated me into blogging action.

It makes writing fun again; and I'm a person who enjoys a bit of handwriting, in contrast to the hideous impersonality of the humble keyboard, (mum I bet you're reminiscing about arguments with Mr. Williams about my joined up letter 'f', how times change : ).

While I'm here, big Dan Ireland had requested an update on Yahoo! projects which I can now dutifully provide:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teamranker
http://fantasysports.yahoo.com/ochome

And more to follow soon. In other news I think my metabolism has left me - I now plan a day around napping and resting:

A year in the life...

2007-08-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

Full Color Version
On the 4^th of August 2006, I left Manchester airport on a chilly Friday morning, bound for Los Angeles via Philadelphia to embark on the most adventurous and eagerly anticipated years of my life. A year on, it seems appropriate for a review of the year in an attempt to capture some of the wonderful things I might not have recorded elsewhere. I’d better begin with the motivation behind this crazy relocation idea:

Madeline – After a couple of months living together I realized that I’d never actually asked Madeline if she wanted to live with me, less still asked her to leave her family in beautiful Encinitas.

One of my fondest Durham memories (certainly my favorite (only) Durham University Library memory) was receiving my acceptance email from SFSU, and spending a solid hour trying to get Vodaphone to allow me to make international calls. Finally, hot, sweaty and angry with every telecom company in the country, the call connected and everything else faded into insignificance as the very though of our future began to sink in. She seemed excited so I thought it best not to ask too many questions…

Madeline has been my sugar momma for almost 12 months, and has spent 2 years moving around the world (Durham and San Francisco) so that we could be together. Last Thursday was her last day in her current job and role as sugar momma. She joins me at SFSU at the end of August to finally earn the teaching credential she’s known she’s wanted most of her life. I’ll get a chance to pay for some stuff as I continue living the dream in Silicon Valley, working for Yahoo! Sports.

Looking back, I’ve tried quite a few things for the first time since being in the land of opportunity. Here comes a much more reader friendly bulleted list!

Sports

Watched an American football game – San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles, at Monster Park with Pearly et al.

Watched numerous college basketball games including Cal vs. Furman with Paddy and Katie and Cal vs. Stanford with Emilie and Kelly as part of the Sixth Man Club
Played rugby for a non-English based team, namely, Berkeley RFC
Watched a surprising amount of baseball, as long ago as preseason and as recently as last Thursday, mostly the Giants but one game at MaCaffe Stadium for the A’s courtesy of my sister, with my parents.
Joined my first cricket team, and played games 3 through 7 of my career with mixed success
Joined a flag football team with Madeline and Emilie – the least organized fun you can have on a Saturday afternoon
Played soccer (football) on a massive outdoor soccarena surface
Surfed and bodyboarded a little, but only in the relative warmth of San Diego – claim I caught my first real wave on the body board
Held and fired a gun for the first time – would fancy my chances against any opponent so long as they weren’t armed, were predominantly orange, and at a range of approx. 20 feet…stationary
Played softball in a real game – stuck out both innings
More recently got to first base – panicked and got out
Played/kicked some ass in paintball – honestly amazing fun
Drove a gokart, and entered a hairpin bend so fast that all four tires gave up trying to grip the road
Played bocce ball – like crown green bowls, but Italian and without the dangerous white trouser, green grass combo

Miscellaneous

Witnessed a wedding proposal!
Watched an open air movie
Was asked to attend tryouts to the cities LGBTA Cheerleading squad
Had an academically perfect year
Took a biology class
Owned a laptop
Didn’t go into an exam hoping for a pass, and longing for 60%

Visitors – A wonderful feature of the English education system is how people are positively encouraged to get deeper into debt by traveling for 3-9-12 months, possibly saving the world, or maybe just accumulating gap year beads. Madeline and I are lucky enough to have myriad of wonderful friends who took just that leap following 3/4 hellish years in Durham.

Sometimes exhausting, sometimes unexpected (Jones), but always welcome, cared for, and sadly missed when the visit ends, these people have kept us both happy and busy over the past 12 months:

Pearly – arrived with 5 school friends and set an extremely high bar to which other visitors would be measured. We were still living south of the city, and were just finding our feet in the city, but if that wasn’t the case, we’d never have come home to find them asleep in the wrong apartment. A return visit is a must, particularly now I understand baseball. A 3 day Padres series at AT&T Park sounds perfect.

David – Having completed camp America on the East coast, David was burnt out on traveling, but still found the energy for some intensive tour bus action.

Paddy and tickle – finally settled in the city, and nearing the end of my first semester, P and T big manned those idiots who do Christmas shopping in New York by going all the way and doing it at the Eagle in SF. They joined me on the inaugural Sonoma wine tour, which was quieter than expected for 2 days before xmas!

AJ and Helen – Had spent forever in South America and arrived mid way through their “tick the box” trip, in much need of civilization – flushing toilets and water which didn’t kill you. Some wonderful times were had: a limo trip to Sonoma, a manly jaunt in Muir woods and some hard core beer/vodka pong.

Dave and Amy – just after AJ and Helen left, deep into spring semester mid term exams, I received a very cheery voicemail from Fiji announcing the impending arrival of D and A. Thankfully they got screwed over by flights and were stuck in LA (the Hilton!) for an extra night which gave Madeline and I a chance to clean the apartment and study! A wonderful trip including a morning at the shooting range (Amy was terrifyingly good) and an evening of wine fueled scooter riding through Golden Gate Park!

My parents – Dave and Amy left and the following Monday my mum and dad arrived. IT was wonderful showing them where we lived, worked and played, although the weather wasn’t quite up to par. A night in Sonoma, attempting to have fun in Santa Cruz and Muir Beach were notable highlights. Also drove around Yahoo! for the first time and went for a wonderful Italian meal in North Beach.

Bean, Frances and Pete – Bean and Pete had been taking on the world, including a month in a camper van in New Zealand, and Frances flew in specially to meet up with them for a few weeks on the West coast. They stayed with us for a few days leading up to the start of my placement with Yahoo! then went to Yosemite, and then came back for a big Durham reunion with Dan, Simon and Katie. After some wine tasting, beer garden sitting and Cat club action, they headed south for some surfing in San Diego and gambling in Vegas!

Dan – Gets his own section because of his early arrival, a full 6 hours before Simon and Katie. In that time we went to Twin Peaks to view the city at night! Dan was possibly the most enthusiastic pro-American visitor, amazed with everything from clothing at the Eagle, to the auto pumps at the gas stations.

Simon and Katie – We suspected this would just be Katie, guessing that Simon would have been killed, lost or sold in South America. Their arrival was much anticipated and their visit in cooperation with Dan was truly special. Katie said her favorite things from the 2 weeks were dancing at Top of the Mark and the beach – both were done without Dan...

Phew!

The wonderful feeling of anticipation which proceeds ever visit is soon to be replaced by a big hole in our lives as everyone returns to working for the man. The notable exceptions to this rule are my sisters, Melanie (September) and Mandy (with Dave sometime in the New Year).

And that’s it! It goes without saying that return visits and first time visits are aggressively encouraged. Here’s to another year in the best city in the world – it’s exciting to wonder how many more firsts there will be this year!

Good luck to everyone heading to London to start new lives this Fall, and more power to those continuing in the big smoke!

Music

Plain white T’s – Hey There Delilah
Pants Pants Pants - http://www.myspace.com/pantspantspants
Editors – Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors (Still)
Arctic Monkeys – Everything because I’m going to see them in September
Guillemots (are having a reprise in my life) – Trains to Brazil
Arcade Fire – still amazing
Ben Folds – discovered through Pandora and loving his stuff
Bob Dylan – An obsession which grows daily

Movies

No Direction Home – Documentary/Film about the life of Bob Dylan
No Control – Biographical film about the life and death of Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division before they became New Order
Bowling for Columbine – We saw Fahrenheit 9/11 recently and liked it

Paintballing and Barry Bonds

2007-07-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last night was paintballing with the Rivals.com guys - honestly the most fun you can legally have with 30 people in a warehouse.

Tonight it's the Giants against the Braves at AT&T park where BB's going to be back in the lineup hoping for another couple of those home run things. We're also going to checkout the Yahoo! Brickhouse research facility in the city, and then I might get some sleep. It's been a week of 5:40am starts and late nights which isn't so good cumulatively.

I have my ergonomics evaluation in an hour where I'm expecting to be told that I should learn to type. In other news I took advantage of the onsite hair dressers and am now almost bald, after my rave reviews on breakfast, I've not had a plum all week, and it's a bit over cast - I'm wearing a jumper!

Face? Bovverd?

2007-07-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

French President Nicolas Sarkozy joins Tony, with a little Catherine Tate:

Weekend and Softball

2007-07-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

Friday
Was meant to meet with Andy for a research meeting but postponed until Saturday afternoon. Home quite early - Madeline and Emilie just back from a run. First beer for a week (no alcohol for 4 days!) moving onto wine then out to North beach for pool and tequila.

Saturday
Woke up early feeling amazing considering Friday, and set about cleaning the apartment from top to bottom, taking particular pleasure scrubbing the bottom of the shower - a job which can only really be tackled when showering which adds an additional danger factor of steamy bleach inhalation.
PM, I met with Andy - good meeting, then to Kezar to meet up with Emilie and Madeline to watch the 90 minute special on Beckham sitting down, and then being average - nachos and buffalo wings.
I had wanted to watch a movie about Bob Dylan, but that was vetoed.

Sunday
Up nice and early again and off to Cole Valley for Madeline's half-marathon-reward pedicure. I sat in Cafe Reverie drinking nice green tea feeling pretentious, coding on my laptop. Off to the mall near campus for some much needed clothing for MJ, and a quick glance at a concert before thinking better of it.

Monday
First ever game of softball for work - I was predictably poor, although fancy my chances after a little more time in the batting cage. Game was cut short under the Mercy rule, but was a lot of fun. I'm hoping paint balling will be a greater success tomorrow. On a related subject, I was looking for a clip of PJ being shot in the face and blinded in Byker Grove, and stumbled across the terrible new opening credits.

Photos
Finally a shot from the half marathon:

And Gay Pride:

All this talk of flooding in England, and the prospect of Christmas in a cabin in the woods is really making me miss England's charm. I look forward to having to wear waterproof clothing and thick socks:

It's only been 2 months...

2007-07-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

Facebookers, you know you want the full color version!

For no particular reason, the wireless on the shuttle is working beautifully this morning, and after checking the news from Canoustie, last nights MLB action and Flickr, I'm at a loose end. I think it's time for a whistle stop tour of the past 2 months:

Week with Greg and Kathleen. Madeline and I drove down for the three day weekend - I stayed until the following Friday helping Greg with a house he's working on in Carlsbad, and generally enjoying the sun.

Surfing - Finally caught a wave I could enjoy on the bodyboard
Craw fish pasta and Sushi - not together
Badminton with Hilary's new man, Peter
Denny’s shed - Eye opening
Building house - I installed window sills and a plywood floor with moderate success
99c burgers
"Once" movie - highly recommended to one and all
Stumbling across a snake in their garden:

Dan, Pete and Frances visit. Dan and Pete had been traveling for a long time before arriving, a month in New Zealand just for starters, and Frances flew into SFO to meet up with them/visit us. They split their SF experience into a few days before I began working for Yahoo, and the following weekend which doubled as a bizarre Durham reunion with Simon, Katie and Dan also in the mix. Events included:

Wine tasting - Sonoma: Benzinger, Imagery and Arrow Head (the big 3 as they have become known)
Soccer - Dan and Pete played for Emilie's team
Cat club - It wasn't a "themed night" so much fun with playmates and 40 year olds
Zeitgeist - Beers, Burgers and Margaritas aplenty with Andy, Trish and Emilie
Yellowstone - Their in between trip (one for the to-do list)
Reunion - Big night out with 6 visiting Durham Alum
Orchid - A beautiful gift that is still alive!
Marina - On a windy evening for some football (Madeline run)

Dan, Simon and Katie visit SF. The long awaited visit from key members of Team House was not a disappointment! Dan arrived around 5pm on Wednesday of my first week in work, with Katie and Simon not far behind.

Gay pride - Dan insisted he didn't plan the trip to coincide with the parade
Top of the mark - Fancy dancing and wine atop a hotel in the city
Wine tasting - Second time in a week for me (I was recognized at Imagery)
Dan buying way too many clothes - and golf equipment
SF Moma - A little culture thrown into the mix (I got in free as a Yahoo!)
“I hate it, I never want to hear that song again” - Katie being brutally honest
Yahoo! Half moon bay, SFSU, breakfast in cole valley - a killer day with a killer soundtrack
Best meal ever - Tuna and steak...with mushrooms...and the best dessert ever...
Osha - Our first time at the Osha on 2nd street. Massively impressive Thai

Yahoo! I'm 6 weeks into my 10 week internship and all is well. Highlights include (in no particular order)

Ending my first day early to go and watch softball with some beers
Having breakfast everyday for a single dollar (2x toast - 1 cream cheese, 1 jam + 1x Plum + 1x Nectarine/Peach)
Having free drinks. All day. Everyday.
Meeting the founders and new CEO David Filo and Jerry Yang
Helping save the world, one pet store wall at a time
Going for sushi with the team and significant others
Learning a huge amount (PHP, SQL, Unix, Emacs...) and looking back on work I've done and feeling satisfied
The unexpected sense of pride I felt when I showed Madeline, Katie and Simon around campus
The wonderful feeling of saying that I work for Yahoo! Sports!
Learning a vast amount about ridiculous American sports
Working in a team where there is an opportunity to develop an idea into a feature which can really affect millions of people

Half marathon. Last weekend Madeline cracked out a 13.1 mile run from Napa to Sonoma in what was cleverly branded the Napa to Sonoma half marathon. She finished in just over 2 hours, and was 25th out of 80 in her age group. Nice weekend - we won our first game of cricket also.

What the Future Holds. So what's coming up in the next 2 months? I'm paint balling next Tuesday for the first time ever as we meet the guys from Rivals. Madeline finishes work soon so will go home for a couple of weeks. We have camp White to look forward to, Melanie will be coming in September, and we'll both be back in school towards the end of September - hopefully with a little Yahoo on the side :)

Half way there, Yahoo! and "what I'm listening to atm"

2007-05-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

Facebookers, click here for the full color version.

If all had gone to plan - I'd have been graduating in a weeks time. As it is, American universities love taking their time over such things (5 year Ph. D.s anyone?). I'm deep into end of semester deadlines, having given 3 presentations in as many days, and with 3 big project reports due before the end of next week. I still find time to go to the beach as much as possible though:

Yahoo!
Following that, a three day weekend will provide me with just enough time to prepare myself for my summer internship with Yahoo! Sports. I'm waiting for my work permit, but fingers crossed it should be an inspirational summer. I'm most excited about the free yoga classes on campus, or maybe the complimentary massages/dental care. Their campus is in silicon valley (living the dream) but they provide a free shuttle service (with Wi-Fi) from the city.
For anyone who may have a fleeting interest in what I'm doing, I'm going to be developing a system which allows users to rate basketball teams in the NBA - I'll put a link to it when it's live!
In other good news, Madeline has been accepted onto her teaching credential program for next year - we'll both be studying together at SF State, and will graduate at the same time - June 2008!

What I'm listening to At the Moment
Due to me becoming a computer hermit over the past few weeks, I've been listening to a lot of new music, so much that I feel inclined to share the bits I've been humming along to.

Air - I took Madeline to see them. They rock

Editors - Smokers outside the hospital doors

The White Stripes - Icky Thump

- Biffy Clyro - Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies

The Arcade Fire - No Cars go. Their new album is simply beautiful (you'd like it mum), and we're going to see them live in June!

The Walkmen - A new recommendation from my boss
Silver Sun Pickups - As above

Good Luck
A quick high five to all those taking exams in Durham this month. Special mention to big Dan Ireland who will be receiving his results sipping mojitos in San Francisco, and the rest of the 4th year crew - Tickle, have a vegetable soup from the machine in the library for me.

Good luck is also extended to those currently traveling. Against all odds, it would appear that Simon is coping extremely well, and more power to Katie for backing him from the get go. We're looking forward to your impending arrival with TH-I. Finally a very quick pat on the back to Charles for getting into Cambridge Polytechnic, to study for a GNVQ in crop management.

In other news
This weekend it's our first Bay to Breakers. The project I've been working on this semester has been approved for my thesis, and the prototype we took to the biologists at UCSF got rave reviews. Andy has finally picked up his shotgun, so there's a possibility of clay pigeon shooting in the not so distant future.

Visitors.com!

2007-04-23T22:45:00.000-07:00

It would take forever to report the wonderful time Madeline and I have had over the past month with 3 very special pairs of visitors. A couple of photos and quick brainstorm must suffice. Black and white appears to be a theme - unintentional as it may be. (Facebookers, click here for the full color version).

AJ and Helen: Saturday 24th March - Sunday 1st April
Beer pong, a limo trip to Sonoma, sushi, Muir woods, the beach, Giants vs. Seattle, jacuzzi action, brunch in the Haight, Sausalito...

Helen and AJ from the cloud covered Marin headlands, overlooking the GG Bridge!

Playing some hardcore disk on Ocean Beach

Dave and Amy: Tuesday 3rd April - Sunday 8th April
Scooters in Golden Gate Park, Amy beating Dave in the shooting range, the best day ever with Andy and Trish, Cline and Gloria Ferrer in Sonoma, a night in the 500 club...

Dave and Amy enjoying the view from Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves

Amy, Madeline and Trish at Cline

Mum and Dad: Monday 9th April - Thursday 19th April
Santa Cruz, a night in Sonoma with Himalayan cuisine, Muir woods and beach, my campus, Alcatraz, Little Italy, Oakland A's vs. Chicago White Sox...

Mum and Dad atop Twin Peaks

The Boat to Alcatraz

More photos from:

Three things which made me happy this week

2007-03-10T10:50:00.000-08:00

1. On Tuesday, during our Topology of DNA class, we spent an hour and a half in a Biology wet lab doing experiments with actual DNA! This was the output image from our experiment!
2. It has been shorts weather all week - spring time has landed, and California is beautiful! Those visiting in the next few months are in for a real treat.

3. I noticed a guy on campus had some Nike Air Monarch trainers. For some reason that conjured up an image of the Monarch butterfly, which could not be a worst simile for the guy wearing said shoes...

I'm in another stats course today...in shorts...drinking iced tea. Super.

It's been a long time

2007-03-06T09:42:00.000-08:00

It's just over a month since my last post, so I'll attempt to provide a concise, entertaining and complete overview of the excitement of February. Again, anyone viewing this in Facebook, click here for the full color version, and check out some of our other photos here.

February 10th - Shooting!
It was with some apprehension that I joined a couple of my friends for the American equivalent of a morning at the driving range. We drove south to where I'd taken the kittens to be put down back in September, and I hoped I'd be able to hold it together, as memories flooded back. Thankfully the shooting range was not affiliated with the SPCA, (not as good American version of the RSPCA, i.e. no Rolf Harris), although I think there is probably a market for this method of humane termination.

We had a lesson, teaching us such vital things as "don't point a loaded gun at anyone", "don't press the trigger unless you're ready to shoot" etc. The instructor had a bullet proof vest on, and a large weapon holstered on his back (concealed but I spotted it), which was a little disconcerting. More worrying though was our time spent waiting for a lane. The people/regulars who stumbled in and out were terrifying. They all had big cases containing overly polished and devastatingly well equipped firearms which they brandished with a glint of deranged exuberance. A couple turned up with his and hers cases, initials emblazoned on the lids, and could barely contain their excitement at the prospect of shooting a piece of paper 7 meters away.

Our time came to finally shoot, and in all honesty, I was a little uncomfortable holding a gun. I got over that quickly and began to master the beginners gun, which had similar power to a Super Soaker 500. We upgraded, I got a little bit excited and would like to think that the next set of new comers were equally perturbed by the look in my eye. I left with my target peppered with surprising accuracy, and presented it to Madeline like the carcass of a stag from a successful hunting weekend. She was less impressed than I thought. Good experience, feel a little bit more American, but I prefer the driving range.

February 17th - Presidents weekend - Skiing in Tahoe!

Another first for weekend #2 in Feb - Skiing, (well actually snow boarding). Emilie and I picked Greg, Kathleen and Madeline up on Friday and made good time up to our little cabin. I found it, and still find it, strange that a few thousand feet up, (8) its cold enough to support snow, and a lot of it! A night of poker and an early night prepared us for a big day on the slopes.
Saturday morning - we hired our stuff, I played the ignorant, English card in the rental shop and emerged looking more than a little uncomfortable.
Emilie snowboards a lot, so she gave me a run down on the basics, and before long we were on a chair lift rising high into the mountains for my first descent! After falling off the chairlift, hitting my head and knocking my tail bone, I strapped in and proceeded to fall down the slope with some style.
Things picked up quickly and I began to master turning...I mean carving. I was spurred on after Emilie said I was the most natural beginner she'd ever seen, (maybe she hasn't seen many beginners), and accidentally was led down a black diamond slope by Greg and Kathleen. My ability to bounce rather than crash and my tireless determination soon paid off as we began exploring the intermediate slopes.

Lunch was well deserved, as I tried to dry off and muster some hidden reserves for the afternoon. We made our way over to the back of the mountain to a huge fluffy wide run, where I got chance to practice my carving some more.
Back to the cabin for cards, food, wine and another early night. Whole body hurting.

Day 2 on the slopes, and a slightly later start as we waited for a fresh snow fall, and enjoyed some bacon and eggs. After picking up some goggles ($75!) for K and G, we started where we finished the day before. I was much more confident, enjoying the fresh layer of powder, and wasn't falling very much. It was a little windy/blizzard until early afternoon when the sun came out and I really began to enjoy it.
G, M and I explored the front side of the mountain, before G and I hit the back side for the last run of the day - v. steep, poor visibility, but amazing fun. Legs couldn't take much more so back to the cabin to conclude our 3 day poker series.

February 24th - R
Who would have thought that I'd ever volunteer my Saturday to learning about statistical software? Very good course. Sunday, recovering from not the best night ever.
March 3rd - Petaluma
Thought I had the follow up course this weekend, but the instructor fell ill. Took the opportunity to drive north to play for Berkeley against Petaluma. Not a very good game, but no concussion this weekend, just a bruised nose.

On the drive back, we stopped at the Marin headlands because it was a clear day. This is where I wanted to take Katie and Paddy on the way back from Sonoma, just before the GG bridge:

We spent Sunday on campus after I'd been to yoga and Madeline had been to brunch. Nice weekend.

A weekend of Sport

2007-02-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

I'd like to think I could summarize the events of January at some point, but in fear of getting further behind, I'm going to review this weekend. You should really read this Here if you're on Facebook.

Friday 2nd Feb 2007
The only thing I don't like about this semester is my 3 hour 4-7pm lecture on Friday nights. Mercifully it's a really good one (Bioinformatics) and the lecturer could stand to be a good source of information/contacts/references.
Madeline went to the gym while I was in class, then I came home and cooked some rice and marinated chicken (nicer than it sounds). We drove to Safeway to get some shampoo but didn't have the energy to do a full shop. Lazy night watching TV, (Madeline asleep on the couch) in anticipation of the big day ahead!
Saturday 3rd Feb 2007 - Out of retirement
On Thursday night I gave into temptation/boredom/my body's plea for activity, and attended my second Berkeley RFC training session. I went with a mind as open as I could and was blown away by how much they had improved. The back line had a sensible defensive strategy, players knew the basics of running and passing, and there was a good spirit throughout.
Saturday morning, I woke a little earlier than I wanted to, and made the short journey to Treasure Island in record time thanks to some clear Saturday morning traffic.

The team arrived; we set up the pitch and did a little training in beautiful sunshine. As the team was announced, I found myself playing on the wing for the first team - a nice surprise. The game went well. We were playing against the San Francisco Fog, the biggest gay team in the bay area, and many of the Berkeley boys were worried at having their masculinity compromised through a loss. An early Fog try fueled the unease in the BRFC camp, but we showed real determination, dominating possession and territory for much of the game. I received a wide pass and beat my man to score the equalizing try, and shortly after we took the lead.
The rest of the game is a little blurry as I made a break, attempted a little grubber kick and was tackled in the head, knocked unconscious, came round, assured my teammates I was fine, played out the remainder of the game and then started asking if we'd played, if we'd won etc.
Madeline was contacted, came to pick me up with Emilie and kept checking my eyes all day for signs of death.
I got an email with some photos on today. I was a little disappointed that I had left before they were taken. Imagine my surprise when I find that I was more than there, I was being hugged by Benny Whisky! The brain is a fragile thing, as Madeline and her family keep reminding me
Madeline took Saturday afternoon as an opportunity to express concern about rugby, watch Nip Tuck and abuse my condition as an excuse to spend an hour or so in Emilie's Jacuzzi sipping herbal tea. I felt much better after some Greek food, (Mission) and we indulged in a little of San Francisco's high life by going to watch Kelly play water polo at the very fancy/expensive Olympic Club! We arrive too late for the whole game but got some free beer. Water polo looks exhausting.

Madeline dropped my off in the Marina to wait for the rugby boys to come out for an evening of japes and hi-jinks, before she met up with friends and did a similar thing in a different part of the city. Text book evening, back around 3am - lots of good sleep!
Sunday 4th Feb 2007 - Superbowl Sunday
Woke up feeling like I'd been beaten repeatedly by a large bat (cricket, not fruit). Lazy morning building up the the weekly grocery shop. Safeway was busy with people stocking up on chips, dips and beer. We joined them, baked some cookies and made our way to my first Superbowl party at a friend of a friend's appartment in a very nice area of the city.
Good to socialize a little, good mix of people and excellent food! The game was excellent, Prince rocked during the half time show, and I claimed the $40 grand prize for having the correct final score.
Home for a snack and some TV before fatigue kicked in. Lovely weekend! Weather is still amazing, but I'm incredibly sore. I have a busy week ahead of me as school work builds and my research begins properly. Next weekend we have an early/late haloween party to attend, and I will doubtlessly have to do some work, hurrah. I hope everyone is doing well, I'm aspiring to reignite the Facebook love this week sometime.

Yoga and Bagels

2007-01-23T09:48:00.000-08:00

I was going to write about our week at home, but you'll have to wait for that chapter in our life, like Harry Potter fans waiting for the 7th over hyped book (sorry Simon). I'm busy at work and feeling all warm and loose thanks to a morning at the gym :) If you can't see the pics (and they're good this time!) go to http://bendalziel.blogspot.com

Mike, (a friend from Durham) is staying with us this week, and this morning we got up around 6am and jogged to the gym (pre sunrise!). I smuggled him in, almost blowing it by revealing my English accent and raising suspision but we infultrated their single line of defence, and made our way to the "studio" at the rear of the building. We ambled in, were told to remove our shoes and were briefly grilled about any past injuries or health conditions. We each got a mat and waited for the fun to begin!
The lady instructor told us that we'd be working on a very specific and small (and insignificant) muscle in our groin/pubic region. It had a name, but I forgot it. Her identification of where exactly the muscle was located was frankly a little too graphic for 6:30am, but after the initial shock and supressed laughter, we settled in and began yogering!
She explained everything very clearly, although obviously my body didn't follow the instructions very well. There was a suprising amount of holding the contorted positions we struggled to manouver our bodies into, for longer than I felt was really necessary. Yoga might be a bit femenine, but the instructor has some serious muscle strength, endurance and flexability! A particularly memorable moment will be Mike and I attempting the position above for about 5 minutes before making eye contact and realising how ridiculous we were. Something to work on...
Yoga is on Tuesday and Thursday mornings; let's see how long this lasts. We got back and had a nice breakfast of bagels (Tickle, have you introduced them to Durham?), orange juice, milk and tea. It's going to take a few more weeks to get this good though:
This afternoon I'm going to get some graduate advising about a Maths class I want to take, and about my failure in the Graduate Essay Test (GET) which "no native speakers have really had any problems with". I was ill for the exam. If I have to take a make-up class with other retards and foreigners, rather than taking the exam again when I'm in good health, I may go insane.

A New Year

2007-01-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a big 10 days. I'll start with the bad stuff and work upwards.

On Sunday morning I got a call from my dad. I thought he was phoning to remind me to call Mandy - it was her 30th (Woo!) - but instead he gave me the news that my Grandma had passed away. She had been in good health and was wonderfully alert as ever, so it came as a shock to us all. I'm not sure it's really settled in for me yet - it's so hard to take in what has happened when you're so far away - but on Friday, Madeline and I are flying home to be with my family and to attend the funeral.
Recently (September) she celebrated her 80th birthday. Although I wasn't there, my dad took some nice photos. I liked this one.

When I got to America five months ago, I knew that I had a fresh start, a chance to redirect and focus my life and change things without the ties of preconceptions and a stale routine. I'm here to study first and foremost, which in all honesty, was a shortcoming in my previous lives. I'll never forget arrogantly downloading my second year results in the garden of team house with Simon, Katie et. al. all standing by, only to watch my face drop as I hurried inside to put on shoes to go and argue that "there must be some kind of mistake". There wasn't of course, at least not on the behalf of the markers. The day was made significantly harder by a raging hangover because of an attempt by AJ and I to spring clean Team House's spirit cupboard in a night celebrating the blissful ignorance of our (my) impending downfall. I struggled through my final year, beginnning to put the foundation stones of independent learning in place (something which should maybe have happened a little sooner) and surprised everyone in the know by sneaking a 2:1. This wasn't in the same league as Bean's 2:1, but I was relieved none the less! I also remember speaking to Dave Jones outside the library at the end of second year and trying to convince him (myself) that all I needed for a first was 81%. Easy right? After a night drinking it had got the the stage where he was willing to put money on me, so sure were we that "if anyone can do it, it would be you Scouse". Maybe nobody can do it? Times have changed; this semester I managed to pull off a resounding 4.0, which in English is straight A's. More importantly for me though, I'm enjoying what I'm doing and my new approach to it all is working and I'm getting results.
I'm looking forward to next semester like I used to look forward to going back to primary school at the end of the summer. (Pic below is the first glimpse of our apartment interior design - picture selected by Madeline, quantity selected by me).

With the success of my educational 360, I thought that I might attack a different aspect of my life, and embellish it with New Year's resolutions - something I normally care little for. My general, all encompassing New Year's resolution is to make better use of my time. This will hopefully impact when I get up, what I do in down time, how I study, and how much time I spend with Madeline. It didn't get off to an amazing start - I slept in late from the 2st-5th, but it's picking up pace and we're even going to the gym more. A sub goal is to achieve something each weekend. This weekend we strolled through the Castro, brunched, and went to 2 new places in San Francisco - Twin Peaks (See pic below and flickr for more) and Buena Vista Park.

I'm also hoping to take more photos and continue blogging. For those of you who don't know, my photos are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bendalziel/

and my blog is here:

http://bendalziel.blogspot.com/

If you're reading this on facebook, you're only seeing half the joy!

The only other newsworthy happening I can think of is that last Wednesday, Emilie took Madeline and I to watch Stanford vs. Cal. It was amazing, we had courtside seats and were riding every shot from down town and every alleyoop dunk. Despite being better and more impressive, Stanford were still no Furman.

So we fly out on Friday morning and are in England until the following Sunday. I'm looking forward to putting some pictures up of my family, and spending some time in a normal country where it rains more than it is overwhelmingly hot. This one is for Grandma.

From Christmas 2006 to January 2007

2007-01-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

I've had this in draft for a while so I thought I might as well post it - not sure I'll remember the finer details now anyway.
Monday 25th December - Christmas Day with the Johnsons
Ocean swim, presents, Edith and Don's (Greg's parents), Ellen (Greg's sister), Todd, Adam - Kathy (Greg's other sister), Mike, Tom, Sarah.
Presnts for me included:
Subscription to Science Magazine (I'm so excited!), some clothes, flip flops to replace these, a bag of tools, Stem Cell Now, some pajamas, And Another Thing: The World According to Clarkson, a kettle (which doesn't turn off), Adobe Photoshop, tickets to watch Stanford vs. Cal BBall last Wednesday with MJ, Emilie, Kelly etc., Through the Lens: National Geographic Greatest Photographs, an ergonomic mouse mat, some floss and some other things I can't think of right now.
Tuesday 26th December - Shopping (Returns/exchanges) and
Meal with Edith and Don, Denny and Anne visit
Wednesday 27th December - Cinema, Attempted Bowling and an English pub
Thursday 28th December - Really not sure...
Friday 29th December - Sushi, drinking and dancing in downtown San Diego with Lilly and Rudey
Saturday 30th December - Oil Change and Fondue!
Sunday 31st December - 8 hour drive from San Diego to San Francisco & New Years Eve Party at Michelle's house.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

20 days in sunny December

2006-12-24T21:14:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened in the 20 days since my last post so this may be a big one.
Thursday 7th December - Stem Cell research
I had a meeting with a new faculty member, Dr. Hui Yang, following her talk at the graduate seminar the week before. She's recruiting students for three projects she's working on involving data mining; analyzing protein folding, nutrigenomics and stem cells. After talking about each area, we agreed that I would join the stem cell research on an informal basis starting next semester. It sounds really interesting and it's collaborative with biologists at UCSF which will make it much more interesting, and a more valuable experience. Over the winter break I need to read up on stem cells and data mining and start thinking about what I can do.
Friday 8th December - Sushi and Beer Pong
Concerned that we were becoming too boring and old, Madeline and I met up with Michelle and Chris for Sushi near Russian Hill. Great food and sake was followed by a quick taxi ride (in the rain!) to Bar none, where we played some drinking games - beer pong, darts etc.
Saturday 9th - Sunday 10th December - Planning
Hangover from hell. Planning for Paddy and Tickle's arrival in Starbucks and Emilie's hot tub in the rain. I worked on my biology essay.
Tuesday 12th December - Take home #1
In the evening my programming team and I (so cool!) presented our coursework for OOP which went well, then we went for dinner with the lecturer.
Following dinner I had a lecture and received the first of two take home finals, for which I had a week to answer a range of questions. Finals each semester are a new concept, but thankfully American universities aren't quite as perverse as English ones, and value understanding over memory power. With Paddy and Tickle arriving in less than 24 hours, I panicked - staying up until 3am reassuring myself that it wasn't such a bad exam and that I'd have time to get it done.
Wednesday 13th December - The big arrival
When Pearly et al. came to visit in September; we were still finding our feet, living in a sketchy apartment, out of the city, with new jobs and responsibilities mounting. As a result didn't have much time to plan, prepare or entertain, but it was a great few days and wonderful to have a good friend come and stay, with Madeline, Manuel and I!
This time we were better prepared; living in a beautiful new apartment in the city, settled in our day to day lives and more than ready to hang out with another couple! We'd been excited for Paddy and Tickle arriving since they threw the idea into the world a few weeks earlier, and that excitement peaked as I met them in SFO airport, a little later than planned c/o British Airways. The short drive home gave us chance for a little bit of a catch up, as I explained that the weather wasn't normally so grim. Madeline got home from work; we went to the store, cooked and chatted over a nice bottle of white.
Thursday 14th December - Essay due and take home #2
I took the day off work to finish my essay and work on my first take home. I got my second take home later in the evening and came home to stir fry c/o Paddy and Katy. We thought about getting a film, but P and I just watched Zoolander as K and M slept.
Friday 15th December - Mexican and Mission
I worked all day, but took the night off from study to join Madeline in showing P&K their first bit of SF night life. Taxied to the mission district to meet Emilie, Kelly and friends for Mexican food. Went to Casanova bar while we waited for a table, taking down our first pint of "disgusting" American beer - Anchor Steam. Meal was excellent - a range of things for them to try, although Paddy was less than impressed by the margaritas. Got it all for a mysteriously cheap $30, then on to more bars for pool, more terrible American beer and good times.
Saturday 16th December - Biking over the GG to Sausalito + James Bond
More on this when I have photos.
Tuesday 19th December - Cal vs. Furman (Basketball)
Likewise.
Wednesday 20th December - Shopping, Lake Merced, Ocean Beach and vomiting
I had to go to campus to hand in my bio final, dropping P&K at the mall. Following an unsuccessful shop, we strolled around the lake in the sun before playing on the beach - even having a little paddle!
Madeline left for home, so it was down to P,K and I to have a big night out. We bought some steak, which I BBQed, some veg and chips and threw together the best meal ever. Drinking games with cards followed and then I got a call from Rocco saying that some of the comp sci gang were in town - we joined them, had some tequila, sambuca, Guinness etc. Paddy and I threw up; Katie went drink for drink and was fine. Surprisingly great night.
Thursday 21st December - Hangovers + shopping in the rain
We got up at 1pm feeling terrible. I needed to do some shopping, as did P&K so we made our way to the new mall on Market Street for some retail therapy. Big success all round followed by trip to the store - sausage pasta + film,
Friday 22nd December - Wine tasting in Sonoma
Earlier in the week, Paddy made the huge call to go wine tasting up north. We looked into Napa but after speaking to my friend Andy, decided that a day trip to Sonoma would work just as well. A leisurely morning and drive north found us in the visitors centre by midday. Very friendly man made some suggestions what we could do with the day, and we followed his advice, heading into the town centre for wine and cheese tasting, shopping and lunch. After lunch we drove north towards the top of the valley to a winery we had heard did tours of the vineyard and good tasting. The place was amazing; 90 acres of biodiverse vineyards set on the side of mount Sonoma - an extinct volcano. The tour was cheap, informative and almost exclusively for us, (it's the off season - just one other couple). It ended with some tasting, (amazing!) and a few purchases in the shop. The drive home was wonderful; we'd had a perfect day to end the holiday, were warmed by some amazing wine and food, and had some spectacular views of the city by night as we drove back across the GG. Store for food, salmon for dinner as I prepped the car, film, (V for Vendetta - V. good) and bed.
Saturday 23rd December - Drive to Encinitas and Pizza Night
I picked Emilie up at 5am after packing the car and saying farewell to P&K. Sad to see them go, but hopefully they won't be away for long! Long drive south on the 5; 500 miles, 8.5 hours. I drove as far as I could but the heat of southern California paired with 3 hours sleep and a stupidly early morning saw me tag out for Emilie to bring in the last 45 minutes. Eventless drive with the exception of me throwing an entire green tea around the car, stepping in dog poo, having a nightmare with the petrol pump and generally being a liability.
I slept through the afternoon, being woken by Madeline announcing that everyone was in the car waiting for me. I smelled terrible and felt worse so was grudgingly allowed to shower.
Pizza night is a Johnson family tradition before Christmas where they go to Edith and Don's for pizza. It's a simple concept which works. Good night, amazing pizza, home to bed.
Sunday 24th December - Day with the White's in LA
Woken with enough time to shower this morning! Drove up with Michelle and Kevin for a midday arrival. Football in the garden with the boys, trampolining, skating, a little present opening and a great meal saw us through to 7pm. We've just got back, wrapped our last presents, I'm writing this, and the Johnson's are watching 24.
Monday 25th December - Happy Christmas...
...to you all, from Madeline and I! Mandy and Dave, you sound to be having a wonderful time; I hope you're finding Christmas in the sun as weird as I am! You can look forward to recieveing a christmas/30th birthday present (!) when you return...maybe...
Mum, Dad and Mel, I hope you have a lovely day and like the presents. I would love to be home right now, but I guess we've done Christmas for this year. We're both looking forward to all your visits very soon :)

We hope you all have a great day; our thoughts will be with you. x

Homeless people and why to avoid peanut butter

2006-12-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

My fascination with homeless people/drug addicts, et al. continues. Madeline was worried that my primary motivation for getting a new camera was to take photos of said people, capturing a snap shot of their record less lives in exchange for a dollar or half toasted bagel with peanut butter, (more on the death spread later). Her worries were of course unfounded, but I did capture this a week or so ago from the safety of our car, (locked and in gear).

There is just so much I want to know, understand and ask. One question which has been recurring is how do they survive during a cold night with one shoe and possibly a blanket? We had our first really cold night last week, and I spent a not inconsiderable time wondering what tog rating our duvet was, and whether we should invest in a winter season cover. It seems a little pathetic in comparison.
On a more positive note, here is a picture of a dog on the beach.

My interesting fact of the week is that peanut butter is one of the most carcinogenic products you can buy. Apparently there is a mold that grows on it which is the carcinogen and the FDA, (US Food and Drug Admin') nearly banned it because it's so bad!

World Aids Day

2006-12-01T15:38:00.000-08:00

The sign reads: "Each Blue Flag Represents 40,000 people living with HIV in the world, 2.3 million are under the age of 15. There are an estimated 39.5-47 million people living in the world. This year over 3 million people died in 2006 from HIV."
Big shout out to Amy and Dave who are fighting the aids war on the front line!

While I was taking this photos I was propositioned. I gladly accepted, and left campus with a smile on my face:

del.icio.us

2006-11-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday one of the guys I work with was showing me how to configure Entourage in OS X, and he needed some instructions from a webpage he knew existed.
He pulled up a browser window, typed in http://del.icio.us/hisname/ and was presented with a list of his bookmarks from which he selected the site he needed and we were done.

How strange to do that rather than go straight to Google?!

I'd heard of del.icio.us but never really thought about using it. Like most things online, I generally hold back until I'm shown something that impresses me, and yesterday was the turn of del.icio.us.

I signed up today, and have begun bookmarking my life:
http://del.icio.us/bendalziel/

I instantly installed the Firefox plug-in which makes everything so easy. It's such a clever idea; a way to explore the web without searching, a way to always have access to your bookmarks, another way to remotely hold data you need, another step towards the future of the net. It's a way to remember useful google search results I guess, and that's a good thing. I think I'm going to enjoy using it.

I always get the feeling though, that these applications should be interlinked. In a perfect world, I just want a single online identity, just one avitar, just one set of information. I'm fed up signing up to new communities and inputting the same data all the time. I want my Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, Bebo, del.icio.us, gmail, calendar, hotmail, webmail etc. to have a single me. I'm fed up signing in. Would it be possible to establish an online framework into which these communities, applications and tools could plug-in? I know it's not good for the industry, but I love google because from one sign-in I get a personalised homepage, email, calendar, documents... The list is growing. I have such a rich online experience, I want it to be centered on me. RSS is helping, and I love my personalised homepage, but its too much work!

I want my blog to allow me to upload presentations and papers on the day I give them or hand them in; better still, I want them to link to the document so that I can edit it online. Thinking about it, I probably can...

I'm reluctant to buy a new USB memory pen because pretty soon I'm hoping I won't ever have to move anything around on it. Everything should be stored remotely and be accessible anywhere. This is probably going to happen faster in San Francisco as Google makes the city wireless. Thinking forward to Vista, there is so much I'd change about the file system of XP, I hope they've nailed it. There's no need to have a "My Pictures" folder - we have Flickr. "My Videos" - YouTube. "My Documents" - Google Documents and Spreadsheets. Bookmarks - del-icio-us. The other stuff will soon go onto remote web space. There has to be an easy way to make money out of this big transition. I'll let you know when I have the million $ idea.

It'd be really nice to have Picassa online. Somewhere to put your pics straight from the camera, store the original, but then save off edited versions, again remotely. I've got loads of photos I want to put online but they're at home and I don't have the tools to edit them here. That sentence shouldn't be happening.

Post-thanksgiving fun

2006-11-28T14:24:00.000-08:00

Friday
When we got back to Encinitas on Friday, we took a little time out; I played basketball, we checked emails etc. but Madeline couldn't wait very long before we made our way over to Don and Edith's house. She's incredibly close to her grandparents; so long periods away from them are not a good thing.

We hung out at their house for a little while, chatting and drinking combo, before the time came to bring them back home for a family meal. Greg barbequed some tri-tip, which was accompanied by broccoli, jacket potatoes and salad. Madeline made some cookies and Greg took Don and Edith home. We tried to watch the new pixar film, "Cars" but we all slept through it. Lovely to have a good nights sleep, although the bed looked tiny compared to our Cal King!

Saturday
Lazy morning followed by compulsory trip to Gap outlet. Madeline, Emilie and Kathleen stocked up on fitness clothing and I got some new jeans. Big success. We had planned to go for a hike/meal in the afternoon but time was against us so we settled for just the hike. Beautiful lagoon-side hike, still sunny and ample photo opportunities.

We got so carried away with the camera we nearly missed the sun set. Only caught it from a distance, but still...

Emilie and Kathleen had raced off ahead of us with margaritas in their sights but as the saying goes, more haste less speed. They didn't manage to make their way over the road, never found the beach, couldn't get up to the bar, stepped in the stinking, festering lagoon water and were literally shit on. We don't know what the offending bird was because Kathleen was technically blind, (only sunglasses-too dark) and thankfully Emilie wasn't looking up.
While all this was going on, Greg, Madeline and I were strolling along the beautiful beach taking photos and wondering where they had got to. We picked them up from the other side of the lagoon some time later. Margaritas made everything seem a lot better, and we made our way home.

Madeline had arranged to meet up with Lilly, Amy, and George etc. so the rest of us went in search of pool. Emilie forgot her ID so we fell back on Denny and Anne, (family friends) who have a HUGE house with an amazing pool table! Denny cracked open the drinks, we played cards and were encouraged to go whale watching!

Another day over, we went back home, I met Amy, we had cookies, and went to bed.

Sunday
We were invited to breakfast by Edith and Don, and met them at Coco's around 10am. Good food all round, the American's really know how to eat! The afternoon was reserved for the San Diego Chargers game, playing host to the Oakland Raiders. Chips and guacamole made for another enjoyable afternoon in front of the TV.

And then it was pretty much time to go to the airport. Trouble free flight home, although we missed Madeline's TV program! I did some work and then went to bed. Exhausted!

Thanksgiving

2006-11-24T19:27:00.000-08:00

We're just about to sit down for dinner with Madeline's family and Grandparents so I'll just quickly outline the events over the past 3 days. Madeline, Emilie and I flew down on Wednesday evening from Oakland Airport into San Diego. Madeline doubted we'd ever make our flight at times, but we cruised it, making time for a beer and burrito before we flew. We tried to help Madeline with her Berkeley essay, but still more to do before the Dec 1st deadline. Nice flight, drinks and peanuts a bonus.

Met by Greg and Kathleen at San Diego airport, where we tucked straight into a packed lunch before striding onto Big Bear; three hours, 11:30pm arrival. The drive up to big bear is very long, very steep and very tiring. Met by the gathered family, good to see everyone again. Time to catch up before settling down for the night.
Thursday = Thanksgiving. Found out from Wikipedia on Tuesday that it's basically the European Harvest festival but Americanized, (like the spelling mom? :-).

Got up nice and early, (woken by Chris and Jamal) then the boys went fishing, leaving the women of the family to prep the feast. Fishing was amazing, obviously we didn’t catch anything but it was so picturesque, warm and sunny.

Gone Fishin'
On the drive back from fishing, as we were deciding how much we could lie about the quantity/size of our fictional catch, we caught the women strolling around the lake, so we parked up and joined them.

Big Bear Lake
Back to the cabin for bumper pool, Super Nintendo (so cool! I remember playing SNES with Neil Sullivan when I was 10), Pride and Prejudice and relaxing. Thanksgiving food was brought out to the table; we gave thanks, and got stuck in.

After some pumpkin pie, we all headed down to a local school for the annual football game. The whole family got involved, including Madeline's 80 year old grandma who featured in one of the key plays leading to our victory! On the drive back, we spotted the sky turning orange, pulled into the side of the road and had an impromptu photo competition.

Sunset over the lake
As the evening set in, the competitiveness continued with a game of Pictionary; quite possibly the most frantic/disorganized/chaotic game I’ve ever witnessed.
This morning was a little more relaxed as a jigsaw took shape. I played with Chris and Jamal, we had some turkey soup and cleaned the cabin.

Chris

Greg Sweeping the Roof
The ride home was cramped but lifted by a visit to El Pollo Loco, (Mexican food). I played a little basketball, then Madeline and I went to see Edith and Don before bringing them back for dinner, and here we are! Mum, I’ll look into the Student loan, I hope everyone is well. Paddy/Tickle, we’re so excited!

Birthday weekend

2006-11-22T09:34:00.000-08:00

Friday, we went to a bar to play pool, a local tried to get in a fight with me, I was beaten at pool, we came home and went to bed.
Saturday, we went to Treasure Island to take some photos:

Madeline had her hair cut, badly, and we went to Palo Alto. Grabbed some food as a warm up for the Stanford vs. Northwestern game, turned up to the game to discover it was on Friday night. Disappointment all round, miserable drive home via Ikea to lighten the mood. Met up with Emilie and Kelly in North beach, drinking, pool, fun. Attempt to go to Lesbian night at the Cat club, but too late and expensive.

Sunday, we didn't do very much. I played with photos, Madeline read, we shopped and then I cooked a stir fry. We've had better weekends...

Yesterday, (Tuesday) I went for a Korean BBQ with the guys for work which was lovely. It turned out to be a nice day so I spent a couple of hours at the beach unwinding, taking some photos and generally enjoying not doing anything productive. Madeline had a friend in town so went for drinks, and I worked on my programming assignment which is going well.

We fly out of Oakland tonight for a few days in Encinitas/Big Bear for thanksgiving. Back on Sunday to resume life in the fast lane!

New Wok!

2006-11-19T23:48:00.000-08:00

I'll do a weekend blog on Monday sometime, but for now I'll report on the overwhelming success of my new wok (from Ikea on Saturday)/cookbook (from Melanie for my Birthday combo.
We went for the first recipe from the 'poultry' chapter which was Chicken and Black Bean something or other. We shopped for ingredients this morning and were pretty successful with the exception of the elusive and disconcertingly vaguely named "Chinese 5 Spice".
This is what went in it, (click the picture to see it bigger, with notes).

And it looked a little like this:

Tasted amazing, although the beans needed a little longer, and the ginger wasn't as finely sliced as it probably should have been, resulting in a Russian Roulette type situation with similar looking slices of onion. So big success all round; thank you Mel!

22

2006-11-15T14:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my birthday. First off a big thank you for all the cards, facebook/myspace messages and emails; a real delight to receive, especially when it was such a hectic day.

I was in work at 8am until I met with my professor at 12:20. Following guidance from him, I spent the afternoon in the Library preparing a demo for a presentation I would give later in the evening. I had class from 4-7, gave my presentation, got positive feedback, and went for a very quick beer with my programming team at Chevy’s. Back to class from 7-9:30pm where we had a number of talks on different algorithms, of particular interest was the talk on genetic algorithms.

Then I drove home, and stumbled into the house completely drained and very hungry! I hadn't seen Madeline all day and was yet to open any presents, but it was worth the wait. Madeline had prepared a lovely meal, and had my present laid out on the table...a scrabble board spelling out the words "Stanford B'Ball Tickets"!!! There was a little confusion as I misread it as Stanford Ball tickets, which would have been a little disappointing, but after clarification, euphoria set in!

So this Saturday, we're going down to Palo Alto to watch Stanford host Northwestern. It's an evening 'tip-off' so we're hoping to sneak a little Thai food in either pre or post. Best thing ever! I don't like to go on about it, in fairness it's a little embarrassing, but check out the Stanford Men's Basketball website, and think about any premier sports teams in Durham. How much cooler would Grey rugby be with press conferences?!

So for my birthday, I decided it was time to replace my dead camera, to make these entries more visually appealing. Although it should be here by Thursday, I’m not holding out much hope because of Amazon.com payment issues. Should it ever arrive, I will be the proud owner of a Panasonic DMC-FZ7!

It's nice to have had an afternoon with little else to do but pen a blog. I had lunch on a bench in the quad, sat in the warming sun, listening to the Ricky Gervais podcast and watching humming birds dart around. Yesterday I fell asleep on a different bench but in a similar situation. That takes my "locations I've fallen asleep in, on campus" up to 3: the J Paul Leonard Library, the Ceasar Charves Student Center and a bench in the quad. I wonder where the 4th may be...

I'm going to do some revision for a biology exam I have tomorrow, then go to a class from 5-7 and then home. Hope eveyone is well. Ben x

Midterms, Caffine and "Rugby"

2006-11-15T11:30:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, so I'll quickly recap on some of the goings on in our “exciting” lives!

Two weekends ago, (3rd-5th Nov) I was deep into midterm stress, and Madeline was preparing for the GRE. The GRE is the exam I took earlier in the year, in London as part of my application process, and with Madeline applying to Berkeley and SFSU, she has to take it as well. We spent almost the whole weekend on a Starbucks 'bar' crawl, studying, drinking coffee/chai tea and soaking up the Star-B's lifestyle. It turned out to be an awesome weekend, both productive and relaxing. We love sitting at a table in the window, and watching the busy city rush by, particularly in the early evening. It’s one of the real highlights of city living, which never fails to fill me with delight. It’s like we’re in Central Perk, but in San Francisco...and without the big park...or Gunther...

The following Tuesday I had to give a presentation on Computational Complexity, Madeline did the GRE on Wednesday and I had my big Biology midterm on Thursday. Solid week.

We started last weekend with a fairly hardcore drinking session on Friday night. Madeline and I headed out to play pool, try some different bars and just unwind after what had been a busy week for us both. We made friends with an English bar manager at our local, found a band playing in a bar/launderette, and kicked some ass in doubles pool with a random couple.
Saturday morning was one of the lowest points in my life. I think it must have been a bad pint, because I felt as close to death as I ever have. Sleep saved me from some of the pain, but when we finally woke up, I found I was an hour late for the trial match I was meant to be playing in for Berkeley on Treasure Island. A quick bagel and milk breakfast saw me arrive 'ready' to play in the third half. Apparently I scored Berkeley's 100th ever try, but other than that I left despondent with Rugby, deciding to hang up my boots for a little while - they played me on the wing which was the final straw. It's a completely different game to what I enjoy, and what I'm used to. It's slow, physical and unintelligent rugby. Pretty much all the backs moves aim directly towards the break down which we've just come from, to speed up the awkward period in between rucking, (badly) or malling, before ultimately rucking. The American guys who are new(ish) to the game are all like Army Alex in the freshers trial match. Loud, aggressive and mildly inappropriate. Their American Football background is reflected in their inability to remain calm when contact training is mentioned in training, and the whole squad is taking it more seriously than an NFL team in the build up to a Super Bowl. This is pre-season, (it starts in January/February sometime) and on Monday they met for a video analysis of the pitiful display of rugby we'd tragically been a part of on Saturday. As a coach, I'd be trying to forget it ever happened, not freeze framing every slow phase and terrible running line/support/lack of it.
A final note on rugby before I bring this rant to a close and feel a little better, is that there seems to be a bit of a discipline problem. Not a Charles getting sent off in the Flood-lit cup kind of problem, more a, "I really can't cope with all this physicality without getting a little bit hurt and lashing out" problem. The controlled discipline of rugby and how to cause pain without being sent off are foreign concepts here.
There are some great guys, some very talented individuals, and some great intentions, but I'm not enjoying it enough to make it a worthwhile commitment. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not GCRFC, and that will forever lead to disappointment with rugby in the future.

This week is the final week before a well-earned thanksgiving break. We're both exhausted and eager to relax with Madeline's family for a few days. We fly down on Wednesday, take a day in the family cabin up in Big Bear, and fly back up over the weekend sometime. Lovely!

"The balls which weren't wide looked dangerous"!

2006-10-30T09:23:00.000-08:00

Quote of the weekend from Rahman, the captain of Marin CC.

Friday night was Kelly's Halloween party; Madeline and I went as a white trash bride and groom. Big success, minus the Southern Comfort which turned out to be a bad idea. Saturday morning, I was rudely awoken by Andy, who was on his way to pick me up for the cricket match I was 100% sure was on Sunday.

We drove to Marin, just north of the GG bridge, stopping briefly to pick up breakfast, (1/4 watermelon and a snickers). The cricket was awesome. Loads of the guys were English, great fun and refreshingly funny and easy going. I haven't played a proper game in my life; I don't think drunkenly standing in the outfield denying Charles boundary shots in Cambridge really counts.

So I made up numbers for Marin who were playing against a hybrid Pig & Whistle/Dylan's team, (both bars in the city). Fielding was a joy; the weather was amazing, the field was surrounded by lagoons and lush green mountains, and only rarely would the ball interfere with my day dreaming. A dropped catch at point blank range followed by a pickup and lucky run out prompted a change of attitude as I began to get more into the game.

Rahman, perhaps a little naively, slotted me in with the second to last over of the first innings. I'd told him I'd bowled in high school, but little did he know that my bowling extended only as far as the dizzy heights of indoor cricket with a tennis ball, aged 13/14.

Following an over characterized by inconsistency, with a hint of potential, Rahman thanked me and made a quick mental note not to believe me again. Our next stint at the wicket saw me opening, in my first real bout of batting since my 12 not out at the end of the 2006 Grey A/B fixture. I continued my frankly undeserved form by knocking the ball around some what convincingly until I chose to let one through, purposefully retiring myself for the good of the game. I lost count of how many runs/boundaries I slotted, but as the day wore on, I established the total in my own mind as approaching 50...maybe.

For our final bout in the field, we found ourselves short of a wicket keeper. Riding high on the success of my batting, and eager to prolong the box wearing further, I stepped up to the mark. The first ball passed the batsman, passed me and then the boundary. Rahman cursed his trusting demeanor! Things picked up following a few tips, and sneaked in 2 catches to restore some of my pride.

Saturday night, Madeline went out with friends, and I attempted to tackle my take home mid-term. Sunday was pretty slow. I worked, Madeline went to get her nails done, (a present from her friend Michelle) and we watched TV. Another weekend gone.

The big news of this week involves a certain Dr. Paddy Shaw-Brown, and Miss Katy Tickle! Rumor has it that they may be visiting Madeline and around mid-December which gives me Goosebumps it’s so exciting!

Things going well

2006-10-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write a very positive blog about life in SF, but I've been too busy! I've had exams, a mid term assignment, a new gym membership, Halloween preparations and countless other little things to juggle over the past week, but it's been the best yet. The weather here is wonderful at the moment; warm sunny days and mild-to-crisp autumnal nights. I sort of miss rain, but I’m comforted by my customized Google desktop that the world isn’t going to run out of water just yet:

I decided earlier in the week that I really needed to focus on my studies and brush off the mid-semester slump. The healthy body, healthy mind idea resulted in me joining Gold’s gym with Madeline. We’ve been a couple of times, most notably at 6am on Wednesday morning! It’s a fascinating place, full primarily of huge gay men, and very different to Edge Hill. I’m not sure I’m completely sold on it, but it’s only a short walk from our apartment, so we can’t really complain.

Homeless people are interesting me at the moment. As it’s getting a bit colder, I’m beginning to worry for the regulars at the onramp for the 101, and the guy who sleeps in the doorway down the street. I can’t help but spend far too long wondering what they go through, what they did to end up on the street and just exactly how crazy they all are. Nothing really prepares you for city life like this. It just makes me realize how sheltered Durham was, and how lucky I was to grow up in the suburbs :)

On the way to the car the other morning, I passed a guy strung out on drugs looking very worried, the guy who sleeps in the doorway, several remnants of smashed car windows and a still-warm pile of human defecation. It sounds terrible, but we live in a nice area, and I feel safe and happy in our street. Weird.

School is going really well at the moment. I'm so busy, I have to enjoy it or I'd be deported. This weekend is typically busy; Kelly's Halloween party tonight, getting a credit card on Sat and playing CRICKET(?!) on Sunday. The cricket is against Marin, just North of the Golden Gate, for a team my English/programming friend Andy plays for. Should be fun.

In other news, Madeline is thinking of applying to SF State to study for her teaching credential next year. It'd be so cool to car-pool to school together, and it'd be nice to have similar schedules. OK, well I'm excited to hear reports of mum's new car, and I'm glad to see Dad has been putting pics up. What's the link to your Lancashire Trail map?

Two wheels are better than Four!

2006-10-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday began just like most others Thursdays. I worked from 8-12, doing my little bit for the world of technical support, had lunch and revised for my weekly Biology exam. Madeline came home early for a dentist appointment she didn't have, we went for a run, and I went to class.

After class, I was invited to go to the club house of the San Francisco Motorcycle club down on 18th and Folsom. An English guy I do two of my courses with, Andy, is kind of into his bikes, as is his wife, and there were rumors of $2 beers.

We only stayed for a couple of beers, (it was a school night!) but at the end, Andy decided it was too dangerous a walk home for me, so he gave me a ride back on his hog!

It was only like 7 blocks, but wow! Don’t worry mum, we can’t afford so much as a bicycle :)

It’s lovely and sunny here at the moment, 27 degrees until next Tuesday according to the BBC. I think Madeline and I are going to run on the beach this evening, then out to a house party at Kelly’s house. Saturday is Madeline and Ria’s joint birthday party, which should be lovely with the weather like this.

So this morning was a little hurried as my commute was elongated by traffic on the 101. Fridays are always pretty quiet at work, but today, Scott has his almost 3 year old daughter in work with him. She was a little bit scared of me at first but we just played on my skateboard so I think we’re friends. She got in trouble because I gave her some of my breakfast muffin; I don’t think it was very fair, she said please and everything!

On the photo front, my camera is dead, and so pictures of the rocker will have to wait! Mandy, diving sounds awesome! You know when you found out that you’re “not heavy enough to compensate for the weight of my SCUBA tank in the water”? Did you just sink and end up lying on your back at the bottom of the quarry? We should Skype up to the max soon. We literally haven’t spoken since Christmas.

Sorry I haven’t been in touch with many of the Durham posse. I will improve, I promise. I hope you’re all doing well, Simon, how did the 3month review go? I was thinking of you on Wednesday. I hope you’re looking after Katie and Darius well. What’s Katie doing in the big smoke? Is she working? Jamie/Owen, I’ve got contacts here now, so be sure to pencil SF in on your world tour. I’ve been spreading the gospel of Milltown’s Grace all over the place. AJ/Helen, Madeline and I seriously can’t wait for you to get here. We’ve got so many things we want to do with you guys. Paddy, I hope PWC is going really well for you, I’m sure you’re making waves.
Tickle, Dan I hate you both for having fun in Durham still. It’s painful to see pictures from nights out and hear stories of B’ball/netball/rugby related success. I hope you’re making the most of the MCR and really enjoying 4th year. Ok, finally I have some work to do today and Ella, (Scotts daughter) has left, so I will bid you all farewell.

Love to all, Ben x

Greg comes to visit and Madeline's 23rd

2006-10-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

Greg, (Madeline's dad) flew in on Wednesday afternoon and met up with Madeline in El Cerrito to check out her school. After a brief detour to pick up her birthday present, (DVD player) they headed back to the city and we finally got chance to show someone round our new place! He was really impressed, complementing us on our excellent eye for style and quality :)

We went to play pool at the local gay/biker/Irish bar, where Madeline and I had drinks bought for us by a random gay couple a few nights previously. Emilie arrived shortly after us, and a pool contest ensued. After Greg and I had established ourselves as the losers, we wandered up to a new Thai restaurant called Basil, (conflicts over its pronunciation are frequent). Post-dinner we went back to our apartment for ice-cream, and a good night’s sleep.

Madeline went to work at first light leaving Greg and I to pick up breakfast near inner-sunset. I left him at 9:30ish where he was due to be picked up by Denny, Fred and Jed, and went to work. He's up north until Wednesday, putting in the foundations for Denny's new 'Barn' on his property.

This month always makes me smile because there is a full 2 year age gap between Madeline and I. Saturday started with a home cooked muffin breakfast, and was quickly followed by an escape to a project meeting. I left Madeline at the mall but we met up around midday to continue shopping. Big success in Gap as usual, then home to order blown up photos for the frames we got earlier in the month. At 6pm we wandered down to 2nd and Folsom for our first sample of Indian food in the city, (Mehfil Indian). Really, really good but very different from English Indian cuisine.

Another short walk through the city, which looked beautiful by night, led us to the Actors Theatre, where I had tickets held for the second night of Death of a Salesman. Madeline had tried to get me to read it after she studied it in England, but I had failed. I knew it was going to be a little glum, but I didn't account for such a powerful performance which quite frankly brought the night to a close! Sunday was work day for me. I had to write some algorithms in Small Talk which was surprisingly rewarding. We picked up some cushions for the couch, and finally watched the end of the Virgin Suicides, (a little disappointing, given my love of the book and soundtrack). We really must watch something a little more cheerful! This week should be busy as always, and this weekend, Kelly is having a house party (Fri), and Madeline is doing her big joint birthday day/night out with Ria (Sat). Sunday looks like another busy catch-up-on-work day.

USA vs Uruguay

2006-10-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, (6th-8th Oct), Madeline and I went down to Stanford with the guys from Berkeley to watch the final American world cup qualifier between USA and Uruguay. We drove down with big Timm S-M, and picked up subs on the way after a thorough search of the local area for a burrito shop.
Stanford is amazing; their football stadium is massive! It is the equivalent of the 'stand' at Durham City, except it belongs to them. It used to be an 80,000 capacity but it's just been reduced to a more manageable 50,000 to make it nicer.

The Stanford Stadium

So unfortunately, the world cup qualifier didn't require quite as much space, so it fell back on Stanford’s purpose built rugby facility, the Steuber Rugby Stadium. Again I'd like to draw a swift comparison with Durham, apparently one of the elite Universities in the UK, where the men's 1st XV train on what can only be described as a field of shit.

Although the stand was far more modest than that of the football, basketball or baseball stadiums, (Stanford Athletic Facilities), it was perfect for what turned out to be a great day of rugby. The game was slow, hampered by a whistle-hungry ref, but the few times the USA got the ball wide, they looked good.

My camera tragically decided enough was enough and stopped working, but spirits were raised by some good old fashioned beers with the left over Uruguayan sandwiches.

A longer-than-normal drive home gave us little opportunity for a rest before Emilie came round and we headed out for a night on the town with the rugby boys. A good time was had by all.

The big move!

2006-10-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

Ben is off to another late night class on campus, so I thought it was due time I filled all our faithful correspondents in on what has been happening in our lives.

First and foremost I am proud to announce that we are officially moved into our new apartment! Hurray! The change is like night and day. Our new place has wonderfully high ceilings and naturally lighting galore coming from our very own gorgeous bay
window. Too bad the window doesn’t actually face the bay, it faces shady one way street and another apartment, but it is still beautiful.

Moving was an ordeal. Seeing as we had no furniture or earthly belongings, we had to go around from garage sale to garage sale picking up random things. The first sale we stopped at was a winner. We bought two “retro” chairs. One of them is a funky gold yellow color and actually cool, the other green one is an absolutely hideous green rocker, but Ben adores it and when the lady offered us both chairs for $20, there was no holding back. Getting them both into the car was a whole new adventure but after about 20 minutes of struggle, we managed.

We then hit the goldmine when we stopped at a place that advertised a very sturdy industrial looking desk. The guy was moving out the day and started offering us everything that was left in his house, which included a lovely glass coffee table on wheels and a KING size bed! The bed is incredible. I can lay on one end and Ben on the other and with an outstretched arm he doesn’t even come close to touching me, its brilliant. We offered the guy $100 bucks for everything and left feeling very smug.

Then came the dilemma of how to get everything to the new house. We were initially planning on taking a few trips in my friend’s small truck, but with the oversized bed we were out of luck. So we rented a big uhaul van! We stopped to pick up a few more random items before moving in the next day.

The guy who lived in the rooms before us didn’t clean anything and the landlord didn’t have time to hire someone to come in and do it, so I was thoroughly disappointed. But after a quick run over with a vacuum and rags we moved all our stuff in and really made it feel like home. We are both still in awe that we actually live here, I hope you will all come and visit us so we can show it off! 

We are just a few blocks away from the BART station, so its easy for me to get to work and there seems to be a lot of other attractions within walking distance such as the Civic Center, the Ballet, the Opera and other small theaters, and some smelly homeless people scattered here and there. We are excited for the weekend so we have a better chance to explore the surroundings.

Well once again I have authored a novel, so I best be off to bed. We hope you are all doing well and we send all our love to you. xxx

First Day of Work/Pearly/Moving House

2006-09-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of my new life as an IT helpdesk person. It's IT support for the Creative Arts Department a.k.a. Creative Arts Technical Support a.k.a. CATS. They look after a whole load of high spec Dell PCs, G4 and G5 Apples along with networks, printers, media equipment etc.

I'm glad I took this job because I think I'm going to learn a lot about the real life side of computers, i.e. how to fix them when they inevitably break.

The guys I’m working with are pretty laid back, and the pay is really good considering it’s on campus. I’ve fallen on my feet again it would appear!

In other news, Pearly and friends are leaving tomorrow after a really nice few days. They’ve been wonderful guests and I hope they’ve enjoyed San Francisco. Last night we went for a really good Mexican with them, and tonight Madeline hosted a pizza and movies night in my absence. I’ve been too busy to do much with them since the 49ers game, but hopefully they’ve had a good time exploring the city. They’ve got a couple of days in LA before they fly back on Friday.

Madeline and I move into our new apartment on Saturday so we have the added excitement of furniture shopping and bed buying towards the end of the week. I’ve been on campus from 8am-10pm pretty much so I think I’d better get some beauty sleep.

Mum, we’ve got an idea for your stay in San Diego, but I’ll talk to you about it towards the end of the week. I’ll also get you my new address soon.

49ers

2006-09-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

Friday, Tapas meal with David and a few beers. Saturday, project meeting, rugby in Dixon then House party in the city. Late Saturday night, Pearly and friends arrived. Sun morning, lazy breakfast - donuts.

Sun afternoon, 49ers game at monster park!

The 49ers lost, but it was awsome!

Earning some $$$

2006-09-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was brilliant! David arrived Wednesday night, so Thursday morning we got up early for a stroll on the beach:

Madeline took the car to work, dropping David off in the city, and me at school. I spent the morning learning about cellular respiration in the Library, and at about 2pm I got some Mediterranean food from the student center.

It's beautiful at the moment - apparently September/August is the best weather here - so I had lunch on the lawn, laying in the sun, listening to Madeline's iPod. Hours passed and I got a phone call about the job I applied for. It was the news we'd been hoping for, 20 hours a week, great experience and finally a financial buffer zone! I lay back, completely happy with the world and basked a little longer.

Just before class at 7pm, I got a coffee and climbed to the top of the student center, (pics later). Watched the sunset then learnt all about genetics. Madeline picked me up and I made an omelet. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Today I've had a lazy morning but am thinking of hitting the library for a little bit. Tonight we're going for a Mexican meal in the Mission district and then for a few celebratory beers.

I've heard nothing from Pearly; I hope he's still coming because I'm going to be lonely at the 49ers game otherwise...

An emotional day

2006-09-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

So I finally got hold of the SPCA. They were concerned that the kittens had been alone for so long, and were so young. They asked me to take them in, but made very clear that it was quite likely that they would be euthanized. I had class all evening so I had to cancel a job interview, collect the little guys into a cardboard box and drive them down to San Mateo. The whole drive was accompanied by little cries of distress from the passengers, and futile attempts to control the temperature in the car by me.

The gray one was the best!

The people at the SPCA were very nice, but they don’t have the resources to take in un-weaned kittens. I think it’s the same back home. We agreed that it was better they were put to sleep humanely rather than starving or freezing to death.

I did have the option to wean them myself at home, for which they would have provided the equipment, but we can’t have pets in the apartment due to the contract and Madeline’s allergies.

So I left them in capable hands, and endured the lonely drive home. I made it back to school only 30 minutes after my interview so went in and did surprisingly well. I think the kitten story was a good ice breaker.

Classes all evening, from 4-10pm went smoothly. Today I’m going to learn about the internal details of cells, and do a little programming.

This evening Madeline’s friend David is flying in to spend a few days with us, and this Friday (?), Pearly will arrive in SF for the Californian leg of his American tour with friends.

To add to the emotion of the past few days, I think my beloved flip flops are coming to an end...

In memoriam

A Nest of Joy!

2006-09-18T22:36:00.000-07:00

Mum will be so jealous! This evening, Madeline and I were ready to leave the house to go and sign for our new apartment, when something caught my eye. Madeline freaked out and ran away, but on closer inspection, what Madeline feared were mice, were actually 5 furry little kittens! They were nestled down in a bush, squeaking and fighting with each other.

I wasn't really sure what to do so I tried to find an RSPCA equivalent online to give me advice. It was pretty late, and there was no sign of mummy cat, so I popped the little guys in a cardboard box with some newspaper, (pet rescue prepared me well!).

Without the RSPCA, we knocked on a few doors to ask if anyone near by had a cat. We found an old lady who wanted to come by tomorrow to look at them and a much saner woman who told us there were a lot of stray cats around and they get this kind of thing annually. She said the mum cat would probably be back for them. So after Emilie had arrived and been suitably impressed with their cuteness, we put them back in the bush hopefully, to await mum.

I think it was the right thing to do, but if they are still there tomorrow, I'm going to contact the SPCA. Fingers crossed!

Because I know mum will be interested, there were 4 sandy/ginger colored ones, and one grey/white. I think one was a runt; it wasn't very lively. They didn’t look new born, maybe a few days/a week. It’s really strange that they would just appear like that. The lady down the road said the mum cat may have carried them there. I’m not so sure...

In other news, we had a nice weekend enjoying the sunshine on the beach, and mild evenings in Emilie's hot tub. Tonight we signed for our new apartment, and all is well. Where is Mandy?! :-D

Rugby and a new home

2006-09-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

Another busy weekend! On Friday we finally confirmad that we would be taking the apartment we'd been looking at which is a big weight off Madeline's mind. I met up with some guys from Berkeley RFC and drove down to SLO in a 1988 VW camper van! Beers in town then bed; Econolodge.

Early start to tournament HQ, very nice setting, beautiful weather. Big range of ability from complete beginners to old pros. We were in the 3rd division and quite content. Game 1 was lost by 2 points, and we really should have won. I got 2 tries. Game 2 was less close but I got another 2 tries. Game 3 saw the upset of the tournament as we suddenly clicked and I sneaked in 3 tries to secure a unexpected victory. This had the unfortunate side effect of meaning that we progressed from the group stage and had to play in a quater final.

The organiser of the berkely trip down to SLO got in a bit of a tussle and was asked to leave the pitch with a cut above his eye which would later require 16 stiches! Down to 6 men we gladly ended our campaign and hit the beers/tri tip BBQ!

Hotel for showers/food/nap then into town for bar crawl. Much fun was had by all, hangovers all round this morning!

Spent the morning exporing Pismo Beach, (foggy) had some clam chowder and headed back. Project meetin for OOP this evening in a bar, then picked Madeline up. Much needed bed now, then a busy week of school work ahead!

Sacramento!

2006-09-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Madeline and I ventured North East to visit some of Madeline's family in the state capital.

The Capital Building in Sacramento

We went out with Hilary and Nick on Sat after a 3+ hour labor-day-weekend/closed-Bay-Bridge traffic enduced journey over the Golden Gate. On Sunday we went to Russ's house for breakfast, (pastries) before heading to the launch of his boat with his family.

Anita water-skied, Marcus wakeboarded, Morgan and Russ showed us how knee boarding should be done, and then Hilary, Madeline and I gave it a shot. It was sooo cool, there's a compilation of the video highlights from the day on my YouTube account.

More later.

New Apartment?

2006-09-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

There is a chance this could be our new home in San Francisco! We're trying not to get over excited, but it's pretty cool!

The Deck - Ready for BBQing!

We'd have the upstairs

The bedroom or office; there is another room attached

Gabriella comes to town

2006-08-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday 26th August
Went to Emilie's apartment to see Gabriella who had arrived earlier in the morning. Set off on a tour of various sights in SF including China town and Haight Ashbury where we stopped for lunch. After lunch we parked near little Italy and walked through China town to Fisherman’s Warf, trying on wigs at the midway point.

Kelly picked us up to save our legs and we made our way back to prepare for the BBQ later that evening. Chicken, steak, salad, veg etc. went well. Tofu didn't. Then back to Emilie's to watch a film, the Wedding Date, before bed.

Sunday 27th August
Emilie plays for a mixed touch football team which she joined through her soccer team. We went to watch her play on a field near Fort Point which is part of a huge disused military base at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge. I think the area is now part of the GG National Park, and as such is undeveloped which is nice.
Regrettably, Emilie's team were a man down and were facing very strong opposition. A brief moment of inspiration saw Emilie bulldozer through the defensive line for a 30 yard QB touch down which gave the assembled cheer squad something to shout about!

It wasn't a very nice morning :(

After the game, we made the short drive to Fort Point to show off the Golden Gate in all it's foggy glory. It's always cool when the towers are shrouded in a mysterious fog, and from a distance it doesn't look quite so high up. Mum was disappointed to hear that I couldn't face the whole walk across as they'd put that on the to-do list when they visit in the spring.

Emilie, Gabriella, Madeline and the Golden Gate Bridge

The Exploratorium was next; I had complained that interactive museums weren't as good as ones which were dusty and in class cases but I take it all back. I walked around in awe, with my mouth open and with a child like glint in my eyes. It turns out America is good at two things; Theme Parks and Interactive Museums. I could have spent hours playing with sand and water in the name of science, but regrettably, the girls had a tea date at 2pm. So after a stroll in the grounds we headed off.

Gabriella and Emilie in the grounds of the Exploratorium

The Exploratorium is housed within the walls of San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in the style of a Roman ruin, mutilated and overgrown, in the mood of a Piranesi engraving.

Gabriella, Madeline and I

So the girls headed of for tea and I went home to watch the end of the golf, a college football program and Extreme Engineering!

How Quaint!

We met up after tea in Dolores Park, it was sunny, there was a rap concert of some kind on and there were many dogs mounting each other.

Emilie and Gabriella in Delores Park

Emilie left to go for a run in preparation for her triathlon next month, so Gabriella, Madeline and I went home to get our bathing suits and playing cards to go for a soak in Emilie's hot tub. After a lengthy name critique session, we met up with Kelly and went to a Mediterranean restaurant; very cheap and nice!

Monday 28th August
We had an early start to get Madeline to the BART station for 7:00am, and then headed straight to Oakland airport to bid farewell to Gabriella. Priority boarding, trece and candy added to the excitement of the morning, and she got away safely. Traffic was good heading home so I set about cleaning the house...

Had my first lecture as a graduate student in Computer Performance Evaluation! Small class, but really interesting and very good lecturer. It's nice to do something completely new to me, and it reaffirmed that I am a geek and do love computers. Pasta for dinner.

Long Weekend

2006-08-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday 17th
Madeline's brother had suggested that we might likt to visit Point Reyes when the city became a little much for us so last Thursday we set off in search of this National Seashore. First stop was another recommendation, this time from by IBM boss Matt who prompted the coit tower visit, and this time triggered some serious vertigo as we attempted to cross the Golden Gate Bridge on foot!

Having so much fun!

Needless to say, we only made it 3rd of the way across, but we got the general idea! Next stop was Point Reyas which I assumed was pretty soon after the GG Bridge. I was wrong. After over an hour on the incredibly hilly and winding Highway 1, we resorted to phoning for back up. Re-motivated by various calls to knowledgeable members of the Johnson family we caught our first glimpses of the area. By this stage, we were both a bit pissed off so we headed straight for the lighthouse in the hopes of a good photo opportunity.

Wow

Our hopes were dashed after a reluctant hike to the bottom where the cheery mustachio man informed us that this was the foggiest spot in northern America. We left quickly and went to a nearby beach to try and salvage some enjoyment from the day. Madeline fell asleep, I collected some rocks and we fell out over $3 soda.

The drive home was much better, Madeline driving, me sleeping; until I woke suddenly, sensing a cherry sales woman at the side of the road. Sure enough, a few hundred meters down the road, there was a little stand selling the finest cherries you ever did see! I stumbled out of the car in a post-sleep coma, handed over money and returned triumphantly with a not inconsiderable bag of Washington cherries!

Stupidly I didn't proof read the truth before announcing to Madeline that I'd paid $8 for the honor (she doesn't even like cherries) and all hell broke loose! Steam had just stopped coming from her ears by the time we got home and we went to pick up her cousin Hilary who was in the city on business, for dinner. Pasta was awsome, (madeline) and that pretty much brought Thursday to a close.

Friday 18th

UC Berkley, Marley + Harper. Carlos. Bad traffic, expensive parking. Greek ampetheatre.

Saturday 19th

Madeline run
Shopping
BBQ
Mall
Emilie's night out, Ambers, Dancing, random guy.

Here

Sunday 20th
Madeline went for tea with Emilie + friends
I slept
Watched Troy

Monday 21st

Finished watching Troy, 1st day of international student stuff
Madeline not in work.

Tuesday 22nd

Madeline starts work, ben makes friend, Abishake

Friday 25th

Madeline out with girls
Bought text books

Madeline Speaks!

2006-08-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

Hello all you faithful blogging buddies, it's Madeline here. Ben is outside cooking up some hamburgers and hotdogs on the bbq (very American of him, isnt it?) . Dont worry he has not lost his British charms or humour. So, he has left me with the task of summarizing our life over the past two days....

Ben and his new pride and joy on our deck

Yesterday we decided to do a bit more exploring of the area we live in. I heard that there was a main street within walking distance that had a lot of shops and restaurants and public transportation, so we decided to check it out. We live in the part of the city that is enveloped in fog. San Francisco itself isnt known for its sunshine, but I think we get the worst of the weather. However as Ben optimistically pointed out, this type of weather is moody and it adds character to a place :)

Anyways back to our adventure. We parked and started strolling down Ocean Street. The first thing we came across was a library! I was very excited and immediately secured a membership card. Ben trailed along behind me and looked bored. Unfortunately for him the library was probably the best building on the street. The rest was very ghetto. There was a lot of trash (rubbish:) in the street and every other shop was a Chinese take away. No cute shops, no nice restuarants. However, there was a Mc Donalds, so Ben was happy. After a short lived and disappointing stroll we decided to leave.

Our next destination was a sporting goods store where we bought an American football. We drove down to Golden Gate Park to throw around the ball. Ben and I had been there before with my sister and saw a bunch of people out playing volleyball and soccer in the park and having picnics. However, due to the vastness of the park, we ended up in a completely different area, "Hobo Central". We were surronded by groups of homeless people drinking boxed wine out of the bag, walking around in sleeping bags, and trying to sell us mushrooms. Ben and I were terrified and we departed after passing the ball around twice.

Next it was off to a viewing of the Golden Gate Bridge, which looked spectacular in the misty fog. We drove back home along the coast and stopped off at a beach where we strolled along the rocks and snapped some photos. Came home and barbequed up some veg kebabs on the grill and watched a film. All in all a very interesting day.

Next on the todo list is walking across the monster!

Today has also been very busy. We woke up early because I had a second interview for a job with the Boys & Girls Club in the city. The interview lasted a greuling two hours, but went suprisingly well. Ben was very knowledgeable about interviewing from a course he took at Durham, so he gave me lots of tips that I put to use. I was even able to crack out a few well executed jokes, so fun was had by all. I should know if I have the position by Friday, fingers crossed!

So while I was selling myself to the company, Ben was off exploring the city. Ever since we crossed the Oakland Bridge he has been on a desperate search for flowers to put in his hair, unfortunately there is not an abundance of wild flowers in the city, guess we were born in the wrong decade for such frivilties. Ben went to the top of Coit Tower and took some cool photos and managed to find the big Apple store in the city center (I swear there must be some sort of magnetic pull to him and computers/gadgets/electronics he just cant get enough!).

A view from the top of Coit Tower

After the interview we met up for a very cosmopolitan cup of Starbucks coffee, then cruised the streets some more absolutely mesmorized by the sheer size, beauty, and individuality of the city skyscrapers. Ben took me back to the Apple store to show off his findings and we bought a microphone for skype. Soooo if anyone has skype (especially you John and Chris) we are now all set up to chat! Hurray!

"A very cosmopolitan cup of Star B's"

Due to a toenail that needed trimming being scrounched a little too tightly in my pointy heels, we had to cut the afternoon short and head back on the BART (SF train) back home. Ben spent the afternoon killing ants and attacking the kitchen with a sponge and mop with the BIGGEST grin on his face. (Whoever raised him is an absolute genuis!!) I took care of some paperwork and then we got a little cabin fever and decided to find the nearest beach.

Five minutes down the road we happened upon a beautiful trail that lead us right through the cliffs down to the beach. Ben and I were both taken aback by the tranquil beauty of the sandy shores. We were not expecting such pictoresque beaches this far north. We then went on one of the biggest photo shoots of our lives. We kept trying to one up each other with shots and I think a few came out quite well. (Odds are pretty good in our favor, since we took 160!!). We played a little football and I impressed Ben with my spiral, then we headed back to our place.

One of the better shots from the 160 - More on Flickr

Now that Ive probably bored you to death with this novel, I am going to go enjoy the meal my fabulous boyfriend has prepared for me. I don't think life gets much better than this. Hope all is well at home for all of you! I know Ben is missing his family and friends and sends his love. Keep sending us updates on what is going on with all of you!

xxxxx

San Francisco

2006-08-14T23:35:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this on a brand new computer in very new surroundings! On Saturday Madeline and I set off from Encinitas to begin our new lives here in San Francisco. 460 miles later, we arrived and began unpacking. I set about dust busting while Madeline divided up the wardrobe space. Late night pizza from Extreme Pizza which was showing the Chargers game we could have gone to see if we'd stayed an extra day!

Sunday, we found a shopping mall complete with Safeway, (groceries, $$$!) Home Depot, (propane cylinder) and Bank of America. In the afternoon, we went for a surprise brunch for Emilie's 27th birthday. The restaurant had all you can drink mimosas for $6 which set the tone for what turned into a bit of an all day session in the Castro and pier 23.

Today I attempted to dust Madeline’s prehistoric computer, salvaged from her sister’s apartment the day before. Frustrated by Win 2000 and the associated lack of good spec, I managed to convince Madeline that a new computer was a worthy investment. Circuit City had a couple good basic spec computers and on the brink of starvation, we gave in and bought this little beauty. Less than $400 for a pretty well equipped machine.

All this happened post-school-visit. We walked from our apartment in the rough direction of SF State and managed to find it! Madeline had warned me that it wasn’t a very nice campus so we were both pleasantly surprised to find it very well maintained, green and bathed in morning sunlight. We went to the CS department, careers center, gymnasium, student support centre, OIP etc. and I registered for classes. Big success and exciting to see my new home at last! One interesting thing though is that all my lectures are in the evening. This is so that people can study for a masters part time while they remain in work but it’s not to bad as I only have 3 classes I think. It’ll all be a lot clearer when I’ve spoken to my advisor.

In closing, Madeline and I took another leap into commitment by getting a joint bank account. Finally I’ll be able to get hold of some money! Now I’ve managed to get the computer rolling, I’ll be able to start throwing pictures up to decorate these rather bland blogs. Watch this space…

Mid week activity

2006-08-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Tuesday - Bowling
Game 1

Madeline
Greg
Ben
Kathleen

Game 2

Ben (152)
Madeline
Kathleen
Greg

Bowling was followed by a take away Mexican, I had a meat burrito.

Wednesday
Kathleen, Alex and I went to the gym AM. I then went in search of a toothbrush and flowers for Edith as an apology for stealing Madeline from her again, (the flowers, not the toothbrush). Post-shopping I attempted to find Don and Edith's house but failed miserably. It took so long that Greg called me to ask why I wasn't back to go surfing! Eventually I found my way home and we hit the surf near Carlsbad. We went at low tide in the hopes of getting good beginners waves, and our patience paid off. All was going well until Greg stood on a stingray and got stung.

He was bleeding quite a bit and the pain was mounting so we headed home. I drove the truck, and it was nice to have the control of a manual gearbox agian.

Back home the wound was soaked in hot water to break down the venom and we showered/changed ready for meatloaf night at Madeline's grandparents house.

Thursday
This morning Madeline was off work so we went shopping for Emilie's 27th birthday present. We've just had dinner after visiting Edith and DOn with cookies, and Alex and I are about to head to the beach to meet up with Russel et. al. for a little body boarding. More later...

Surfing #3

2006-08-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

I first attempted surfing in September 2004 and then again in April 2005. I've stood up a couple of times on broken waves, but am constantly frustrated by how terrible I am in the water and how long it is going to take to be able to surf like the natives who cruise around like it is no more taxing than a stroll in the park.

Today saw my third distinct outing, and with a considerable amount of background research behind me courtesy of YouTube and the Extreme Sports TV channel, I had big expectations. After approximately 30 minutes of being beaten up and never once looking cool or in control, I needed to re-think my approach. Alex came out in Greg’s place and showed me how it was done by catching a few little ones. He shared a little advice with me, and recommended that I started off with less ambitious waves.

After a few attempts, I got to my feet and surfed into the shallow water, and after a couple more successful launches, I began refining my technique. It’s still only broken waves, but its progress. More tomorrow I think. After the beach, we went to Sub Palace and then to a house which Greg was working on last time I was over. It’s really nice, only a couple of streets over from Stonesteps beach in Leucadia, and it’s a possible place for my parent to stay when they come over in the spring.

Madeline is in work at the moment until 6pm, and this evening I think we’re going bowling with the family. Yesterday I got put onto Madeline’s phone plan so that we can share minutes now I have a cell phone. She was kind enough to give me her phone upgrade due to my love of gadgets, and she got a nice little one to sub in for her beach-ruined one.

She has another job interview on Monday with a publishing company near my school, so I think we’re going to head up to SF on Saturday now. I got an email off Pearly, and it sounds as though he’s going to be over in September. He’s getting 49ers tickets at the moment. Last night we went for margaritas and Mexican food with Madeline’s friends, (George, Matt, Bree, Smiley and Smiley’s girlfriend) and ended up back at Georges place smoking a hookah. He runs his own business making and exporting hookahs which is pretty cool:

http://www.hookahcompany.com/

Driving is coming along nicely and mum will be pleased to know that I have both new jeans and socks!

Camp White

2006-08-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

David and I

This weekend was Camp White. Madeline's family on her mom's side are the Whites, and each year they meet up for a weekend camping on the beach. It's a pretty nice idea, a chance to catch up, do family stuff and have fun in a beautiful setting with great food, ample drink and muchos sun.

This year was my debut although I was well briefed on what to expect and who to impress. Friday was pretty relaxed as we set up camp and kicked back for our first night under canvas. I met Roger, Kathleen's uncle, his daughter, and his grandson David. As the evening moved on, more people arrived, and we tucked into some homemade hamburgers. We went to the beach to cool of a little and I tried to reignite the body boarding flame. The surf got pretty big so Madeline and I spent a little while making sure David wasn’t being killed.

Madeline and cousin Hillary

Saturday started early as my jet lag continued. Greg, Miles, Jake and I drove out to Old Man to try and catch some early morning surf. There was a contest on so we didn’t get near the beach and instead made our way up the coast a little to Trestles where we watched some people tearing it up.

Lunch was followed by another, full family trip to the beach, more body boarding, a little body surfing and some sunbathing. Red faced and weighed down by wet clothes due to a rogue wave, we made our way back to camp for the evening meal. BBQ ribs and beers were awesome.

This morning, I woke early after a restless night in the tent. I convinced Madeline to join me for a walk along the beach which was lovely in the cool air. A relaxing extended breakfast and some goodbyes interspersed with a little football brought a close to event, and now we’re unpacking, showering and getting ready for a grandparents visit. Maybe even some more driving!

Renee, Madeline and I sporting Camp White t-shirts from yester-year

"I want to live in America..."

2006-08-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

I made it. I doubted myself on occassions, but here I am, Encinitas! We're off 2 Camp White this weekend, so photos will follow. Best thing ever...

Last Sunday in the Motherland

2006-07-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Brilliant weekend, here's a pic. Having a BBQ now, more later, maybe

Big day

2006-07-29T03:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was...interesting. Work was really good, the web site overhaul I've been working on got the thumbs up from the big boss man, and I'm really happy with it which never happens with web dev stuff I do. Here is a long awaited photo from the office:

I've not mentioned the gym before, but when I got back from Durham I joined, intent on getting 'beach ready'. I got two programs, upper body/abs and lower body/CV/abs. I've gone religiously over the past 5 weeks, and have seen a big improvement in my overall fitness and strength. Recently though it's become obvious that beach readiness takes a little more than 6 weeks and now fatigue and the heat are making my performance fluctuate. It is so frustrating to take a backwards step with the number of reps, or weight I’m working with, so yesterday I packed it in after 45mins and went to sulk in McDonalds with a cheeseburger. I’ll go again on Tuesday hopefully feeling more positive about what I know is a hugely beneficial activity.

I finally got to speak to someone at SFSU about my graduate course, cleared up a lot of misunderstandings and felt thoroughly reassured about the whole event. I phoned Madeline, who was deep into an intense 4 interview day in SF, and shared with her my findings like a proud hunter showing off the days kill. It was then that Madeline put a dampener on my mood by pointing out that there were only two semesters.

An hour of panic ensued as I attempted to confirm how long I would be studying for. It turns out; “on average the course takes 2 years”. My heart sunk. Everything we’d planned had been flipped upside down. I then had to wait for Madeline to finish another interview before breaking the news to her.

She was awesome, as were my parents. There isn’t much we can do, and although it’s a shock, it’s not the end of the world.

I’ve got to go catch my train to Sheffield now, so expect a report of that soon, and perhaps more on my now 2-year-graduate-program! :)

Rishworth Memories: Roy Wong

2006-07-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

When I was at boarding school, I was fortunate enough to become very good friends with an international student from Hong Kong called Roy Wong. Life in a boarding community is completely different to regular school, and the bonds you form with the people you live with are unique. Roy and I studied mathematics and further mathematics together, so we spent a considerable amount of time together in and out of school.

Roy and I haven't seen each other in three years; yet speaking to him this evening on MSN, it was just like old times. It brought back so many happy memories of an amazing two years. The photo above is probably the one I cherish most from my time at Rishworth. It was taken in my room in lower sixth just before an evening basketball game. Tom Lawrenson, Ben Lloyd (now of Sale Sharks), Roy and I played regularly, and it provided much needed relief from the serious world of rugby!
The following year, Roy became captain and I became vice captain. Roy has just graduated from Manchester University with an amazing 2:2. His persistence with education in a very foreign country is both humbling and inspiring. Many nights I would go to ask his help with a maths problem and he'd be working incredibly hard on his English which progressed insanely fast, having already completed his maths work.

I love this picture because it sums up every graduation ceremony; the graduate attempting to appear nonchalant and uninterested while proud mum straightens the hood :)

Roy is applying for jobs in both England and Hong Kong at the moment, and I very much hope that he'll be able to visit me next year in San Francisco. I look forward to reminiscing about the glory years :)

Final trousers down and Dedication

2006-07-26T03:06:00.000-07:00

This Saturday I’m making my way to Sheffield to celebrate two of my friends’ birthdays, Bean and Henners. It’ll be great to see a lot of people from Durham again, and being my last weekend in the country, it’ll be nice to spend it with friends.

On the birthday theme, Facebook informs me that tomorrow will be the birth anniversary of my good friend Dave Jones. Dave is a proud technophobe, although recently he’s succumbed to the power of facebook, and even announced proudly that he had a Blog.

Joining Facebook was a U-turn of astronomical proportions coinciding with the realisation that post-university life was terrifying, and that any medium through which a link to the glory days could be maintained was good thing. His blog stemmed from the ICT requirements of his teaching course, yet he has no idea what to do with it and has no intention of finding out.

In an attempt to try and re-excite his dormant technological yearnings, today’s post is dedicated to Dave. Happy birthday, see you on Sat!

Boxing Day

2006-07-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

Better weather than Christmas day prompted an energetic stroll around Nene Park and Orton Mere to work off some of the BBQ excess :) . Here is a rare shot of the Dalziel family (and Dave).

So it's been another hectic weekend, but very worth while. It's a bit weird to think I'm not going to see Mandy for approx 12 months, but hopefully with her embracing Flickr and even tucking into a little blogging, we'll keep in touch a bit better. I'll be interested to see what they think of Aus. Coincidently, I got hold of my school rugby tour photos this weekend from all the way back in 2002:

I'm quite looking forward to the drive to work tomorrow. I'm trying to broaden mums musical intake and so far we've had the Beatles White Album, Snow Patrol, Norah Jones, Sufjan Stevens, the Divine Comedy and even a little Milltown’s Grace! Tomorrow its Coldplay's debut album Parachutes so that should be a treat for all involved.

Madeline is at the theatre at the moment with her grandma and mom, who celebrated her birthday earlier in the week. I'm going in waves of hating the world for making us live apart for so long and absolute jubilation for the impending reunion in 10 days. I also can't help but think how lucky we are.

Dave starts his new job on Monday, so good luck to him!

Merry Christmas

2006-07-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Today my family and I are celebrating Christmas because Mandy and I will be away in December. It's the first time I have been to Mandy's house and the first time I have met her boyfriend Dave:

My parents bought Mandy a Flickr Pro account for Christmas so that she can put her photos up when she's away over the coming months and beyond. They're off to Morocco soon and then have an amazing month lined up in Australia.
Other presents given and recieved included an external hard disk housing and USB connection (!), lots of lovely framed photos of the family, CD's etc.

Mandy got me a new PSP game called LocoRoco which is close to being the best game I've ever played. It's so original, well designed, beautiful, and unlike any other game I'd usually play. It's amazing how a little yellow blob singing along in Japanese to weird music makes me smile so much. I think life as a little yellow blob would be nice.

Embassy Visit

2006-07-20T01:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the American Embassy in London to interview for my visa. I got the 5:45am train from Liverpool Lime Street, which arrived promptly in Euston Station at 8:20am. I had Google maps print outs telling me exactly where I needed to go, yet I managed to head in completely the wrong directions, overestimating my natural ability to predict which way was north/south.

After a little de-tour to McDonalds and the BBC building, I eventually found the embassy where I was subjected to various security checks before I could even enter the building. The whole process was really efficient and well managed, which came as a bit of a surprise. I had every piece of documentation you could imagine which paid off as I sailed through both stages of the day before 11:30am.

With a few hours to kill, I strolled back to Euston via Regents Park, which was AMAZING! I'd visited Hyde Park with Madeline earlier in the year, but this was a different class. Photos on Flickr as usual

All in all, a successful day, and pretty soon I should have a visa, and the butterflies will begin to build. 2 WEEKS TODAY!

Words of the day

2006-07-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

Tokenistic: This was used to suggest an image was merely symbolic or perhaps even better, token. 9/10 for creativity
Matrixes: Having been taught by very sad, picky and lonely mathematicians for 3 years, I can't help but cringe at this. I didn't have the heart to correct the offender who's ignorance spread around the meeting like wild fire as people took on the novel word. I just put this in MS Word, and it didn't highlight it as wrongly spelt. I hope this is not a legitimate American word...

Don't misconstrue these posts as being arrogant or snobby, but they bring a little entertainment to my day. It's reassuring to know that I'm not alone in my spelling, language, grammer mistakes.

A little harder to forgive was a reaction prompted by a request for a preamble to accompany a document I was adding to the intranet. I was cut short, being told to speak English, and to remember that I was no longer at University. Preamble? Really?

Auto Highlighting Navigation

2006-07-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

I found this page "Automatically highlight current page in menu via JavaScript" within the Media Division Developers' Blog.

It's pretty clever and has saved me a lot of development time already, but I found a bug in it that can prompt error messages.

The script relies on the tokenising of the URL in the browser window, comparing the final tokens with linked pages within the navigation area of a page. This works really nicely unless the URL is incomplete, for example http://www.mysite.com/folder/. This has no file reference such as "index.htm" to work with and rather than handling this, it stumbles over the JavaScript version of a null pointer error looking for an item in an array with index -1.

The fix I'm using is a conditional statement, which makes sure that everything has been setup as expected, allowing it to bow out gracefully, (i.e. not highlight anything) rather than throwing up errors. Here's the effected function:


function extractPageName(hrefString)
{
 var arr = hrefString.split('.');
 if(arr.length >= 2) {
  arr = arr[arr.length-2].split('/');
  return arr[arr.length-1].toLowerCase();
 } else {
  return "x";
 }
}

Office Snippets

2006-07-14T04:41:00.000-07:00

I'm working in a rather nice open plan office over the summer doing web development. It's on the top floor of quite a tall building in Liverpool and it has wonderful views of Liverpool bay and beyond.

I'm enjoying work a great deal and it's great to experience professional web development first hand after so many years as a hobbyist. The highlight so far though, has be snippets of conversations I pick up on whilst beavering away in Dreamweaver. Here are my two favourites from the past 3 weeks:

I heard a little bit of a lengthy story, which can be summarised as follows: "A girl was watching a thunder storm from her bedroom window when she was struck and died". This was followed by the clarifying statement that "I'm not sure whether she was struck by thunder OR lightning, but it must have been pretty powerful to kill her...”!

"I’d advocate a giraffe if I had that much land"

Ricky Gervais isn't so smart. He didn't need to script the Office, he could have just filmed 6 days here for an entire series worth of material.

After the Gold Rush?

2006-07-11T06:39:00.000-07:00

I've been raving about blogs for ages but haven't got round to starting my own. I'm completely wrapped up in Flickr, YouTube, Facebook and MySpace so it was only a matter of time I guess.

I See this serving two purposes:

To tie together photos from Flickr with explainations, stories and references
To share occassional wonderings and thoughts

It's as simple as that!