Blahgorrhea

I am a very lucky guy. My girlfriend is training to be a certified massage therapist, and last night she needed a body to practice on. Ever the supportive boyfriend, I graciously volunteered and found myself in a classroom, stripped to my underwear, with people practicing massage around me. The interesting part of this experience is that I had never considered what goes into a massage and training to be a masseuse. The teacher was talking about moves and combinations and finishes. It struck me as very similar to the teaching of a martial art (I know, because I took a few weeks of Tae Kwon Do sophomore year of college). The craft of massage is really about balance and energy and power, much like TKD, the main difference being that I would not be as relaxed after sparing with a black belt. [Continue reading…]

Things to do in my spare time (in no particular order):

1. Work on my blog. In particular the archive pages need to be created. That is the top priority. Also the who/why/how pages need content.
2. Make travel arrangements for Japan. I have a flight, but now I need some train tickets and an initial hotel reservation. Some more idea of what I might want to do would be good as well. Which brings me to TODO #3:
3. Read. I want to finish Blink, read through my Japan guidebook, reread Anthony Bourdain’s depiction of Japan in A Cook’s Tour, read Vagabonding, and find more books to read.
4. Clean up my apartment.

That seems like a good enough list for now.

It’s 6:15 and I am finally leaving the office. For the last time. After four years and three months of working for Edusoft, I am making my final departure. What with it being Halloween and all, our crazy UI designer made 75 cut-out masks of my face and people put them on in the middle of the day. It was totally disturbing, and yet touching at the same time. My boss said to me some of the nicest things I’ve heard come out of his mouth. And even cynical Derrick showed a hint of emotion when he said, “It’s like I’m losing a second little sister” (alluding to me as the second coming of Ginger, who he previously deemed the kid sis’ he never had). Oh, how endearing.

It’s that hand-in-the-cookie-jar, love-me-Mommy-because-I’m-a-rascal look. It’s A.U. twelve, fifteen, seventeen, and twenty-four, with an eye roll.

Paul Ekman describing Bill Clinton’s favorite expression, as noted during the 1992 Democratic primaries. Years before Clinton was on trial, Ekman was able to detect this personality flaw of his just by watching him on TV. That skill is amazing, but really, the best part of this quote is the “with an eye roll.” Hilarious.

In Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell

On the walk back home through the Tenderloin I was approached by a woman who was in dire need of some spare change. As I walked toward her, she made a quick change in direction to bring us face-to-face, at which point she delivered her marketing message: “White boy, do you have any spare change? I need to get some…”. With her misguided plea of “white boy,” I was totally thrown off. Maybe a quick lesson in addressing your audience would do her some good.

Is it a bad sign that I can write more verbosely and potentially more eloquently about things I dislike versus things I like? Maybe there is a job out there for a critic who always writes negative reviews.

I had thought a little bit about traveling after I finish up at Edusoft, but I hadn’t put much effort into it and hadn’t come up with any place to go. With only a little convincing over the weekend, my friends pushed me in the right direction. I browsed the bookstore looking at the travel guides to decide where to go. When impulse struck, I decided on Japan and I booked a flight yesterday.

Three weeks in Japan. No plans. Should be an adventure.

Yes, I have a new site design. No, it is not totally finished yet. Some of the links don’t work, and the navigation is not all complete, but for the most part, it is here. And I have already spent way too much time on this.

In the sincerest form of flattery, I have “been inspired” by this site. I hope Khoi Vinh does not mind.

It occurred to me last night that I am working with a master negotiator when I realized the subtlety of his tactics at hand. I have been offered an offer for a job, but I have not yet been given the offer. What this means is that over the few weeks I was given to decide whether or not I want the offer, I will have to decide and convince myself that either the job is the right one and I want it or that it is not and I do not want it. If I decide that I do not want the job, then we each just go about our merry ways. On the other hand, in deciding that the job is the right one, I will have invested myself emotionally in the job before even getting to the point of real negotiations. [Continue reading…]

Sean’s last day was yesterday, and so in classic Sean style, we went out to karaoke at San Francisco’s most fabulous karoake bar: The Mint (with arguably the worst website ever). We’ve had a lot of people leave the company as it has gone through its different stages of life, but this one hurt just a little more, as Sean was half of the dynamic duo that I relied on to keep me up to speed on pop culture and local events. Plus, he always has such wonderful rants to share with us. I’ll just have to make sure he updates those more often.