Jason's Daily Notes

What a great weekend. Here are 9000 words:

Celebrated Matt's bday last night with Jenn - cupcakes from Susiecakes, food truck yummies (Viet from Phamish for me; Calbi tacos for Jenn), watching NBC's Thursday night lineup!

Jogged this morning - first jog in a while - 1 lap around the VA Hospital

Work: I'm taking precautions; everyone around me in the office is getting sick
One of my bosses has asked me to help him get his computer to play a ripped DVD.
A little busy but not too bad; zipping/burning CD of files to send
I had to count the number of recalled units - RP, JL, and I each got different answers!

Lunch: 2 spring rolls (left over from last night)

Going to NorCal early tomorrow morning (yay, except for the waking up early)!
The insurance issue with my mom and uncle's recent accident has been resolved.
I probably should audition for Jeopardy or something. Maybe I can win money...

I GOT MY TAX REFUND! =D
I was a bit surprised when I saw my bank account balance suddenly so much higher on my ATM receipt.

Songs: Blink-182 - What's My Age Again?; Justincase - Don't Cry for Us; The Cure - Friday I'm in Love; Rivers Cuomo - Buddy Holly; Rockmaster Scott and the Fantastic Three - The Roof Is on Fire; The White Tie Affair - Allow Me to Introduce Myself: Mr. Right

It's Matthew's birthday.
Cooked bratwurst last night (sausagefest!), drove him to class this morning. I ate nutella and toast for breakfast.

Uncle Ben is worried about the insurance coverage for his recent accident...
JL is out sick today.
Thought/quote (?): I have a lot on my plate, but it all tastes good!
Lunch: burrito (tacos Ocotlan) = food coma.
My legs are sore from all the sitting everyday.
It's still chilly and cloudy today! Wtf?!

Ty and Dean and Kelbs made it to Spain (Barcelona).
Petri and Leena made it to London.
Christian should be WWOOFing now in NorCal (Cloverdale?)
Stine's still in Australia.
Kristen's in Buenos Aires, from Ecuador.
Lane is hopefully making her way through Paris to Amsterdam.
Scott's is a national scholar to study in Croatia for a year!
[and me? Well I'm going to NorCal this weekend again!]

Tonight - plan: Umami Burger or Father's Office (both in Santa Monica) - or cupcakes?
- Matthew just ordered Thai take-out for himself. D'oh!

I just hit our monthly max on minutes on our phone plan! Yes! Finally I get to use some of the THOUSANDS of rollover minutes we have.

My bank account, however, is getting lower :/

Songs: Owl City - Fireflies

Didn't get much sleep last night. I did watch Glee (Madonna episode)
- went for a drive. Escaping in a car feels good.
My life is CLUTTER right now. The apartment is messy, there are tons of dishes to wash, my work desk is piled up with papers, and my mind is just all over the place as a result. I'm almost paralyzed by all the junk.
Just sat on an apple. OUCH@$(*%^%!
News: European airports are now reopening! (Hope Laney gets outta there); Congress is now working on financial system-wide reform.
- got to cleaning my desk, but there's such a backlog of old papers!
Old post-it notes are the last remaining vestige of once captivating thoughts.
Spent a good amount of time editing/cropping photos from CR.
It's Administrative Professionals Appreciation Day! My office surprised everyone by buying CUPCAKES from Crumbs! Yum-O!
Lunch: An apple, some goldfish crackers, and two half-cupcakes.
Jason DeRulo - apparently his name sounds similar to mine so I should be a fan?
It's chilly and cloudy - feels like winter :/

Dreamt that I was with Berkeley friends and we were trying to go to a parade in SF (or Paris - the cities seemed similar - Market St vs Champs Elysses?) but we didn't end up going.

- bought Calbi last night on my way home from work (7:15) - watched HIMYM then started to watch The Doors.

--


WORST COMMUTE EVER! Ohio Ave, Sawtelle, Santa Monica Blvd. were all backed up! Sepulveda, Westwood Blvd, Wilshire were closed! I had to cut through Westholme and residential neighborhoods. It took 1 hour to drop off Matthew at UCLA and to get to work.
- ... it was all because of President Obama, he was trying to get to the airport!

I'm now thinking of studying city planning - Apply for Masters? MIT, Rutgers, Cornell... LSE!!!!
Looks like I'll be taking over AV's job at the office. I'm the new "cert czar"
I should take the GRE.
It's showery and chilly outside.
They're filming something in the mall [update: it's an untitled comedy with Steve Carrell and Ryan Gosling]
Lunch: Subway footlong spicy Italian with Swiss cheese and ranch. $5.00
- feeling tired this afternoon

Songs: ?; U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday

Slept 10 hours - dreamt that I was driving on the 405 and picked up some hitchhikers and we all just ended up hanging out.

Work: Pulling exhibits for upcoming depo, somewhat busy

Lunch: drove back to the apartment because I forgot my lunch there! My leftover Zachary's! I watched Full House while eating lunch. It was awesome.

gchatting

More pulling/printing exhibits
Looking into working for/with a travel magazine (AFAR)
"Rebelution"
Songs: Usher - OMG; Radiohead - Creep

Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy...

Sunday was a gorgeous day. Matthew took the futon, and I took the couch. David showed up around 8:30am because he had to be at Lake Merritt around 9:30. We hastily got up and got ready, and I drove us to Lake Merritt.

The lake was a lot nicer and cleaner than I remember. I was really impressed! Leslie, Matthew and I left David there with his Oases peeps.

There was a Japanese garden that we then explored. Leslie's camera dropped on the ground and looked permanently damaged :(

We drove around trying to find Trader Joe's. It took a while, but eventually I did find it. Turns out they do actually carry buffalo burgers! Went back to Leslie's, I posted an ad on Craigslist, we got our stuff, then we drove to Jen's apartment in uptown Oakland. Said our goodbyes, and Matthew and I were off to lunch. We ate at Zachary's. I got a call for a rideshare but he wanted to leave soon. I told him the earliest I could leave would be 1:30, right after lunch. Matthew and I scarfed down our pizza, which was delicious with every bite. We then went to Berkeley, walked around briefly on campus.


I bought a couple pieces of Cal gear from Bancroft clothing. Then we were off to pick up James (I had to call his house to get his cell phone number). Then we got our other rider, Payam. We couldn't find the Arco gas station he was trying to direct us to, so just filled up at the Valero on Telegraph and 40th. Hit the road around 2:15.


Drove pretty quickly, stopping once for bathroom and booze at Lost Hills. And again in Van Nuys for gas. James handled the music on my ipod - a lot of classic hip hop was played. We arrived in Westwood around 7:45. I dropped off James then Matt at our apt, then took Payam to Torrance for his ride. I munched down the bag of sweet potato fries.

The greatest bathroom experience I had ever had...

I slept on Leslie's futon, and Matthew took the floor even though there was another couch readily available. The carpet just seemed so comfortable, so I don't blame him. We each got ready and headed out to San Francisco together on the BART. The BART system map has changed! And the trains ran more quietly than I remember. Maybe things just seem better when you've been away from them for a while...

In any case, Matthew and I got off at Embarcadero as Leslie proceeded straight to Chinatown. In the plaza was the free zip-lining sponsored by the province of British Columbia. The line was hella long, so it was a no-brainer to skip it.

Instead, we explored the farmers market at the Ferry Building, which had a lot of stalls! And it was packed full of people! The food all looked really fresh and delicious but it was pricey and I was saving myself for the Japanese yummies in Japantown. I bought 2 apples to snack on, giving one to Matt.

Then we were off: We took the F line streetcar to Pier 39. Cassy called and gave us her ETA of being in about 3 hours. After she hung up, Matt and I realized that it was just like we were in the Amazing Race and had to beat Cassy and Dan. We then quickly walked the length of Pier 39, took in the bay views, saw the sea lions, then walked to Fisherman's Wharf. Hungry but not wanting to spoil our appetites, we shared a bread bowl of clam chowder. I then led us to Ghirardelli Square. Matt wanted to check out Coit Tower, but the bus to take us there was leaving just as we were walking towards it! Damn! So we instead walked uphill a couple blocks to Lombard Street and walked down the curviest street in the world. It was only 6 more blocks to Coit Tower, so we just walked the rest of the way. We were exhausted and sweaty (it was a warm day in the city!), but we made it. And we bought tickets ($5) to ascend to the top of the tower:

It was alright. The windows are glass panes, so the pictures you get from there aren't crystal clear. I still have to prefer the Campanile :). We took the bus downhill, talking for a while with the extremely extroverted bus driver (he asked everyone who got on the bus where they were from - we rode with two girls from Panama, two guys from Switzerland, and a couple also from LA). He talked to us about the Dodgers, who're playing the Giants this weekend, and the film Inglorious Basterds and the different ways of saying "3" with your fingers. We transfered at Columbus Avenue - where Matthew and I just missed another bus (the 8X), but we RAN two blocks to the next bus stop - and we made it! The bus was luckily stuck in traffic. Everyone just boarded the bus from the back. Took that bus to Union Square. Transfered right away (!) to our final bus to Japantown. Traffic got bad right before our stop. But we made it, and we ran through the stalls of the Cherry Blossom Festival to find Leslie. We stood in front of her and asked her to check us in. We were SO the first team to arrive :)

The festival was cool. There was music (both from the radio station and from the live music/cover band stage), freebies being given away, and of course lots of food stands. I ate a lot: Spam musubi, yakisoba (fried noodles), green tea ice cream, and imagawa yaki (fluffy pancake batter with a sweet bean paste filling). We explored, got some samples of random food from the safeway booths, and then entered into the store/art gallery New People, where I had the most breathtaking experience of the day.

It was the first time that I used an electronically controlled toilet!

I first saw the toilet and, even though I didn't have to, ahem, sit down, I knew that I simply had to. I mean, when else am I going to get the chance to use such a thing?! So I sat down, and the seat was heated! I then looked through the buttons carefully before choosing "rear wash soft". A few clicks later there was a jet of water cleaning my... rear! And it felt amazing! It feels much better than wiping, let me tell you. And yes, there is still the option of wiping it yourself. But the toilet also has an air dryer built-in, so why would you even bother?!

From that experience the rest of the day was downhill. Well, not really but still kinda sorta. Leslie and Katie finished up with their tabling, so we helped them put their stuff away and the six of us walked around then met up with Rachel and Elton. Then, we split up. Matthew and I sat down to watch some naginatajutsu, which is a martial art evocative of kendo that uses the weapon naginata. We rejoined the group and soon were heading back to the East Bay. I somehow lost my bus transfer! So I called to see if Elton could drive me too, and yes! Drove us to Macarthur BART, then I went with Cassy and Dan to pick up their car in Orinda and we drove back to Oakland. We arrived just a minute after Leslie and Matthew.

The rest of the evening - Chinese food on Piedmont, beers at the Trappist, and karaoke at Jaguar! FUN FUN FUN!