Weekend and Softball

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...

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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"

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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!

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:

• AJ and Helen's Visit
• Dave and Amy's Visit
• Mum and Dad's Visit
• San Francisco
• Me...
  

Three things which made me happy this week

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.