ernie's eruditions

First snow . . .

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:25:56 GMT

So, today's the first day I've seen snow any real snow in town. They're talking a couple feet of freshies at Northstar tomorrow. Makes me wish I had been laid off as my twit-ku indicated:

snow falling in town
pow' day for sure tomorrow
too bad I'm employed

It's a heavy, wet snow in town, and I'm probably going to have to brush off my car even after I leave Bibo's in an hour or two . . .

Definitely in a bit of a funk this morning, and wasn't motivated to go snowboarding. Instead, vegged around the apartment, and then got some Korean food for lunch. Headed to the gym, and when I walked out, there was a thin layer of snow over everything. Roads aren't too slick, and I didn't see any of the idiocy I tend to equate with Reno drivers and snow - people were driving a little slower, but I'm trying to be more patient with people who drive slower in the winter.

The snow also makes me wish I knew someone who was going to get a live tree. Perfect weather to go out hiking in the woods and chop down a tree . . .

Snow on the sidewalks is making me regret wearing the Birks today.

Alarm clock

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:36:30 GMT

I use my iPhone as my alarm clock. It works well, and is very flexible. Unfortunately, the fact that it is as flexible as it is makes it a bit of a challenge as well. I've got 4 different alarms, one that I tend to use for travel, one for snowboarding, and two for work, as the screenshot shows. This ease of use though is also why it fails for me. I used to have an alarm for 8:10 AM as well, and in general, I'd wake up, turn off the alarm, and make sure the later alarm was on. (The snooze feature is accessed by tapping the screen, while you turn the alarm off by sliding across the screen with your finger.)

Obviously, it's not great that I keep using my extended snooze, and I thought I'd correct this bad behavior of mine by deleting the 8:10 AM alarm I had. Did that help? Nope. It's pretty easy to just turn off the alarm at 7:50, select the timer on the bottom right, make sure it's at 15 minutes or so, start the timer, and roll back over for a few glorious minutes under the comforter.

So what's the real workaround? I'd love to try one of the alarm clocks that wakes you based on your sleep cycle, but they're pretty expensive to buy on a whim. There's some iPhone apps, but I'm dubious as to how they're going to detect the stage of sleep that I'm in. I also do not believe that one of those alarm clocks that gets brighter and brighter would work either - I mean, I'd just stick my head under the covers . . .

So, I think I'm going to have to be rudely awakened. The key though is that it can't be too easy for me to snooze / reset the alarm. So, being the geek that I am, I think the solution for me would be a clock (or an iPhone app) that would not shut off the alarm until you completed some feat. It might have a screen and four buttons, where you have to answer multiple choice questions correctly. For kids in school, this could be great for helping them learn their basic arithmetic, or review SAT analogies. This would get your mind going, and by the time you finally figured out how to shut it off, you'd be awake and no more snoozing.

Clocky fails since it still encourages at least one snooze cycle - you'd easily be able to hit snooze once before it rolls away . . .

30 days . . . finally!

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:27:02 GMT

Whew. I've made it. Blogging every day for the past month.

So, will this change my behavior? Will I write more in the future? Doubtful. Previous challenges like this that I've done for myself (not drinking, abstinence, working out, etc) haven't resulted in long term behavioral changes. I make it through the challenge, and tend to go back to my previous ways.

That being said, I'm glad I did it. It forced me to be introspective, to write lists, and even to journal / write by hand.

Of course, I'll still keep writing, whether it's sporadically in my blog, Yelp reviews, or elsewhere.

The whole month has been interesting . . . I've had to make a conscious effort to take time to write, whether I left the bar early (or even writing at the bar), ducking out from time with friends, or even scheduling time to write. For those who are writers, I'm impressed.

I've run the whole spectrum, with some topics basically writing themselves, and other days where I would type for 30 minutes, and delete everything I'd typed, thinking it was all crap, and starting over, trying to find something that would inspire me.

Anyway, I'm done. Yea!

Exhausted

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:25:20 GMT

Helena was amazing, as always. Good food, great friends, and fun times. On the other hand, my body is going to hate me next week, and my liver will need some time to recuperate.

It was pointed out to me this morning that Sarah and I were the only ones who went out (and stayed out) each of the last four nights. It seems that wisdom does not come with age . . .

Fortunately, I did make it up Mount Helena twice while I was in town. I miss the convenience of being able to rage the night before, and then go and hike up the hill the next day. It'll be interesting to see what Mount Helena looks like once they thin out the trees. Since moving to Reno, I definitely don't hike anywhere near as much as when I could walk out my door, and do a nice 3 or 4 mile hike after work. The first time we went up, we took the Prospector Shafts trail to the Hogback, and the 1906 down, which ends up being 3.4 miles or so. When we went yesterday, we took the Powerline trail, which is much steeper. I wish I knew the actual distance / slope, but I would guess maybe 3/4 of a mile with a 700 foot climb or so. Of course, the humbling part of both hikes was that I was sucking wind. I used to be pretty confident hiking Mount Helena, and in fact remember catching up with people that I wanted to walk with that had head starts on me because I got tied up at work. Instead, I was the one that was dragging, and people had to wait for me. Quite the change from the past, when I feel I used to be the guy who would be pushing hard, near the front of any group.

My calves were also screaming at me both days, most likely due to when I thought it'd be a good idea to stick a bike sprocket into my right calf. I've been taking it easy on the calf, but these hikes have pointed out that I definitely need to start doing some functional or strength training to build the right calf back up. The left calf was also weak, and I'm going to guess atrophy from avoiding activities that use my calves.

A little disappointed that I didn't make it to No Sweat Cafe while I was in town, but I sort of ran out of time. Was thinking I'd go this morning, but for some reason we had to close down Miller's, and then late night conversation till 3 in the morning sort of sunk those plans.

I'm slightly concerned that the group was talking about a summer reunion, as opposed to just Thanksgiving . . . I'm tired enough from the holiday weekend, I'm not sure I can do this twice a year . . .

Almost there . . .

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:53:58 GMT

Random occurrences / thoughts from Helena:

Mount Helena kicked my butt. My calves were not too happy with me when we went up yesterday. The right side makes sense from the bike injury, and now I think the left side is getting weaker as I haven't been using it much. I'm going to need to start doing calf-raises or something.
A friend of a friend recognized my Lincoln Lounge / Keep Reno Abe hoodie - apparently he noticed it when we were wandering around downtown, and he saw it earlier, but said something to me about it when we were talking at Miller's. San Francisco political consultant or something, who makes it to Reno every now and then and likes Louis' Basque (which is across the street from the Lincoln Lounge)
I finally used the $8 credit I had at Taco Del Sol - I had this from 3 years ago due to a mixup on a group order we had placed. No big deal, but Shalon gave me this credit, and the index card had been in the box all this time. It's actually still there with 5 cents left on it after I had a Blackfoot IPA and a fish burrito . . . yea for rad small businesses
Made a stop at the Blackfoot tasting room, and had a pint of their Imperial IPA:

This is the traditional method of Real Ale dispensing in Britain. Unfiltered, unpasteurized beer is lightly re-fermented in a cask (in our case a firkin) to produce natural carbonation. The ale is then served at cellar temperature (approx 55F). The beer is pumped with a "beer engine" which pulls the beer from the cask and creates a dense natural head on the beer. This traditional method of service (without CO2) allows the very subtle flavors and aromas of the beer to come through. Imperial IPA at 9.7% abv
Delicious, and a steal at $5 a pint.
The only items left from my list at this point are No Sweat and Silver Star.

So, a little more than 24 hours to go in Helena . . .

Food . . . glorious food . . .

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:13:24 GMT

The framily Thanksgiving (digital camera photos probably won't be up till after the weekend) was awesome as usual, with a lucky 13 this year. Lots of eating, drinking, and good stories.

As I have some friends who really believe in going around the table and doing the "I'm thankful for . . . " and others who are really opposed to the tradition, we did a slightly modified form, where we had slips of paper, and wrote down our thankfuls, and they were placed in a hat. We later passed the hat around, picking them at random and reading them. I wish I had collected and kept all of them so I could record them for posterity's sake. Mine included "framily" and "beer" - others were much more eloquent and wrote complete sentences, that included things like having "enough food"(we'll ignore the fact that we'll be eating these leftovers all weekend), "watching Elf", and "my partner" - while I'd like to take credit for the wording on that one (I had pointed out I did not want to read one and say that "I'm thankful for my boyfriend"), it actually happens to be the way this boy and girl talk to each other.

In terms of the ridiculous food, we had a 22 pound Hutterite turkey, a large ham, and ridiculous amounts of sides (though only one dozen deviled eggs this year - as opposed to the five dozen last year). Unfortunately, when Greg and I made our store run earlier, we forgot to buy the cranberry jelly. Someone actually made a fantastic cranberry relish, but both Greg and I were sort of craving the can-shaped jelly. It would also be perfect to have for leftover turkey sandwiches . . .

Plan this morning was to have breakfast around 10, and hike up Mount Helena. Doesn't seem like it's going to happen anytime soon . . . breakfast probably won't happen for at least another hour, so maybe we'll start hiking by 1?

It's a small town . . .

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:18:53 GMT

Being in Helena is fun . . . and yesterday definitely reminded me of why I have such fond memories of my time here.

While the plane is landing, the flight attendant is reading the standard spiel, talking about how how you can look at the boards to find your connecting flight. I start laughing at this remark, as does the guy next to me - Helena's airport is tiny. We're talking 4 terminals, you have to walk out to your plane on the tarmac, and it's the airport that I once showed up for my flight, was walking up to the desk to check in, and the guy behind the counter is like "Morning Mr. Chang", hands me my ticket, and sends me to security (which is all of 50 feet from the counter). Doesn't ask for my ID, just sees the Asian guy, and connects the dots.

I walk out, looking for Lisa who said she'd pick me up, and she's standing there, looking bored as hell with sunglasses on, and holding a sign that says "Chang". Silly, but fun. We walk out to her car (short term parking at the airport is free, and it's right next to the building), and it's covered in shoe polish sayings like "Welcome Ernie Chang!" and other such sentiments. Again, absurd but still fun.

I check in with my old supervisor and have lunch with her at the Staggering Ox (which is sort of famous for having patented bread and Maxim rating one of their sandwiches second best in the world). I'm surprised to note that they have a People Love Us On Yelp sticker. I tend to be a dissenting opinion, having only given two stars when I reviewed the place last year.

I then walk downtown from there, loving how warm it is, and lamenting the fact about how small town / walkable the place is.

I go to the Fire Tower, my favorite coffee place, thinking I'm going to do a little bit of writing before the ridiculousness starts. Sarah stops by and we chat for 45 minutes or so, and then I end up running into one of my friend's exes, and we chat for 30 minutes, catching up.

I write a quick post, and then start walking over to Sarah's. Walking down the street, I hear someone yell my name, and I look around confused. It happens to be Matt (who is now a city commissioner) hanging out of a second story window and yelling at me, and we end up walking together for a bit and chatting.

We have a birthday dinner for Steph at Benny's (fantastic meal - $20 for a 4 course "locavore" special -I had pan fried oysters, a Caesar, beef stroganoff, and chocolate cake with a raspberry glaze) and then head to Miller's, which is packed, and the bar is slammer. Painful waits, but I end up ordering a round of 7 Washington Apples (the birthday girl's request) and a Tanqueray and tonic, which is all of $32 dollars. Ridiculous.

Run into Greg and Trever there, Erik the bartender, and another one of my friend's exes, shot some pool, and just felt like it was old times. Also reminded of how small a town Helena is (as well as how much my friend got around). Sarah and I then make a quick driveby of the 'Toe, and then I head "home" to Lisa's.

Definitely looking forward to seeing Mel, Kelly, and Nick today, as well as having the holiday meal . . .

Overwhelmed

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:13:47 GMT

Wow, this weekend is going to kick my butt. Already feeling a bit tired from all the social interactions . . . checked in with my old supervisor, chatted with Sarah, and a surprise conversation with Emily, and less than 4 hours in Helena.

Factor in alcohol, a 5k, turkey, etc . . . ack!

5 more entries to go . . .

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:12:01 GMT

As predicted, these last few entries have definitely been easier to write than those in the middle of the month. I'm writing this one more as a novelty than anything else, as I'm using the in-flight wifi (eBay as I'm halfway between Reno and Salt Lake City and at 39000 feet, moving at a ground speed of 514 mph, with an outside air temperature of -83 degrees Fahrenheit (brrr!). eBay is currently providing the service for free. Speeds aren't too bad, but nothing to write home about (877 kbps down, 313 kbps up).

Anyway, I'm a little surprised I'm not asleep, as that tends to be my M.O. when I travel - stay up way too late the night before, and then sleep on the flight. Last night I went to bed a little before 2 AM, and was out the door at 5:30 AM. (I was up late last night, but took it easy, so no getting sick on the plane . . . ) I'm sure I'll be crashing soon, probably during my layover in SLC, and / or on the short flight to Helena.

One more thing I rememembered wanting to do that I didn't put on my list yesterday is hanging out at the Fire Tower coffee house. I used to hang out here a lot, and just geek out on the laptop while sipping on some hot tea. Good introvert time.

The one concern I do have about the next 5 entries though, is finding the time to post. I'm squeezing today's in on the plane, since I'm guessing I'll be at Miller's this evening, and may not have time to post. Turkey Day will be busy (and Justin better have found a car to get him to Helena). Not sure about the other three days . . . I brought the work BlackBerry with me, which I can tether to the laptop, so lack of internet won't be an option for not posting.

Anyway, descending into Salt Lake, so signing off . . . here's to finishing out NaBloPoo strong!

Helena Countdown

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:32:12 GMT

I leave for Helena in less than 12 hours . . .definitely looking forward to seeing all the folks I haven't seen for a year or more, but beyond the friends, there are definitely Helena things I want to do, as well as places to go. In no particular order, some things I'm hoping to accomplish during this trip:

Not get sick on the plane - I think the last time I went to Helena I ended up getting sick on the plane, mainly due to drinking way too much the night before. Here's to keeping it in check tonight.
Visit with Vicki - Vicki's my old supervisor from when I worked for the Prevention Resource Center, where I used to maintain the website among other responsibilities (if you look really closely, you can still see me in the banner across the top of the website). I've been bad about checking in with her when I'm in Montana, and I feel guilty about this as she's awesome. She wrote me an incredible recommendation when I was applying for the National Teaching Academy. She also paid for me to go to Great Conversations while I was in Helena.
Not watching Beef - Last year, we somehow ended up watching this movie called Beef, "a documentary on the evolution of MC battles from verbal one-upmanship to street warfare." I made it through about 30 minutes of it before leaving and going to the bar instead . . .
Watching Elf - While not a huge fan of Will Ferrell, this movie has become a Turkey Day tradition
Cocktails at Silver Star - one of the nice restaurants in Helena, that does really good cocktails (not to mention a fantastic scotch selection)
Hiking Mount Helena - This one is a given. I used to hike this thing several times a week after work and on the weekends. Definitely looking forward to getting back up "that em-eff hill" . . .
Visiting the Gold Bar - total dive bar, but lots of fond memories of playing pool here, as well as not getting my eyes gouged out (thanks Joe!)
Miller's Crossing - My favorite bar in Helena, which also happens to have my favorite beer. Mmm . . . Blackfoot IPA . . .

Anyway, definitely looking forward to the trip . . . must pack . . .

Ack, two glaring ommissions:

Taco Del Sol - Shalon is awesome, the burritos are light and tasty, and I believe I still have a free burrito card here from like 3 years ago
No Sweat Cafe - the local hippie breakfast spot, with locally sourced / organic food. Delicious, even if you might be in there for a while . . . and the no cell phone rule keeps me from checking my phone every 10 minutes . . .

Edited: 12:42 AM 11/25/2009

I love messing with Justin . . .

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:15:08 GMT

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Holiday Musings . . .

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:44:10 GMT

As we're well into the holiday season (which I believe starts with Halloween and ends with my birthday), I've been pondering New Years resolutions. Here are my current thoughts, in no particular order:

Grow facial hair - I've never tried to grow a mustache, beard, goatee, or any other such silliness, mainly since I'm not sure I can. I'm also afraid that I will not have the coordination or aesthetic sense to trim said growth and keep it in a presentable manner. I like being clean shaven (not that I really know otherwise), and have been looking forward to the laser razor if it means I have to shave less often.
Not drive for a month - I've been debating the whole bicycle commuting thing, but am too much of a wuss to start now (too cold, and dark way too early on some moderate volume streets). Anyway, I'm up for a good challenge, so a month without driving a car should be good. This reminds me a bit of Katherine's attempt at 40 days and 40 nights without ever leaving san francisco's mission district. I've done the 40 days and 40 nights thing, both with abstaining from sexual activity (a la the movie), and a second time where I tried to abstain from both sexual activity and alcohol (which I failed on the first, but succeeded on the second). I'm thinking spring when it starts getting warm again . . . could be an excuse to buy a new bike too, especially as the STIs on mine are a bit flaky . . .
Upload more pictures to my Flickr - I got a pro account, with the plan that I was going to use it as an online archive for my pictures. I need to transfer the images I used to have on my home server to flickr . . .
Stop using the excuse "I'm too old for this" - This is generally my excuse for not taking another shot, going home before 4 AM, sucking wind, etc. I want to switch to a positive phrase, as opposed to an excuse . . . I'll have to brainstorm a bit on this one.
Go to Japan - @tony and @katherine (my brother and his gf) are relocating to Japan for 6 months. I must take this opportunity to travel and visit them as well as explore Japan.
Complete my secret project - I've been a complete slacker on this one, waiting to get some legal advice before I push forward, when in reality I could be doing lots of prep and planning

I'm sure I'll think of others . . . not sure which of these I'll actually try and implement . . .

Objectified

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:25:25 GMT

I just got done watching Objectified, a movie described as "a feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them." An abridged version is apparently going to be on PBS this Tuesday (24 Nov), and I'd highly recommend trying to watch it (or Tivo it or whatever the kids do these days). It's by the same director who did Helvetica. For some reason I really liked Objectified, but Helvetica (which focuses on typography) didn't do much for me. On the other hand, having seen both, I was able to appreciate the tongue in cheek reference to the prior work when a bunch of designers are looking at a digital layup, and one of them asks "Is that Helvetica?" On a complete aside, there was a great piece in the NY Times about font geeks posted last week.

Objectified features a lot of the expected players: Jonathan Ive, numerous staffers of IDEO, members of Smart Design, etc. I think one reason I like this more than Helvetica was that as an engineer, it's easier to relate to much of the design decisions. Ive spends a fair amount of time talking about the original iMac being designed around the CRT, and the Air being an exercise in minimalism as well as how to engineer everything down to it's simplest, seeming to channel Antoinè De Saint-Exupéry, and his famous quotation:

A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

The bit on Smart Design focuses on their work on the Oxo Swivel Peeler (I have a bit of bias here as I tend to really like the Oxo Good Grips products).

The part I like about the IDEO team is that it shows a brainstorming session, and how they start with the challenge of reducing the waste from toothbrushes (interesting infographic in the background about an adult going through 186 toothbrushes, some large number of toothpaste tubes, etc), and end up with completely off the wall ideas (mani, pedi, toothi or Girl Scouts selling special paste and floss). The brainstorming scenes are excellent examples of good brainstorming, showing fluency, no judgement, affirmation for new ideas, piggybacking, etc. (I actually just wrote an email to a Destination Imagination listserv raving about how this could be used as a teaching tool.)

Total geek film, but I'd highly recommend it to any design geeks out there.

One day in the life . . .

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:10:59 GMT

All right, so I'm not Ivan Denisovitch, but I can't think of anything good to write about today . . . mainly a rambling post . . .

Last night was meant to be low-key, as I wanted to go snowboarding this morning. I almost stayed in, but around 10:30 or so, decided to go and have a PBR or two at Lincoln. I go in, sit at the bar, and ask for a Pabst in my mug. The bartender makes a face at me like I'm crazy, and then offers me the Spezial Rachbier off the tap. I'd previously had this beer in a bottle, and it had been dubbed the "bacon beer". Off the tap, this was a very different beer, which did not have the overwhelming smoke flavor that the bottle version did. Somewhere along the line, I was also fed a shot of Maker's Mark and a car bomb . . . definitely not the light night I had been planning on. I forced myself to drink a fair amount of water before leaving the bar, but didn't get to bed till 2 in the morning. . .

While I was at Lincoln, my friend Justin calls, saying that he's going to be driving down to Reno from Pendleton, OR, starting then (it was about 11:30 PM), and I mind having 4 people crash at my place. Note that this is a little under 600 miles, but whatever. Anyway, I'm game, so part of the reason I was up late was I did do a minimal amount of tidying up when I got home from the bar. Of course, right as I'm laying down, I get a text saying they had to turn around, as the pass was way too icy.

I still get up this morning at around 7, have some breakfast, and am at Northstar before the lifts have started turning. Roads were decent this morning, with no chain restrictions. They were fine if you were driving along, but stopping in some places was a bit sketchy, as the Element that spun out two cars behind me on Highway 267 discovered. This was really just the drives fault for not paying attention and realizing all the cars in front of him were stopping (as a car further up was making a left turn).

I made a half-dozen runs or so, and left as it was starting to get crowded with only a few trails open. Was definitely nice to be riding again, and the new boots were solid. Was definitely reminded though that I wasn't on a new board due to the fender-bender I was in a few weeks ago . . .

On the way out, I got stuck behind a car that was doing 35 or so for all 6 miles of 267 before getting to I-80. Painful. At this point, the sun was out, and you could clearly see the pavement. Yes there was some slush, but most of the surface was clear. I had to keep telling myself to be calm and patient, as I've had my fair share of accidents on winter roads (drove a Volvo into someones front yard after playing pinball with a guard rail as well as having spun out and ending up stuck in the median, not to mention seeing that Element do a 180 earlier in the day). I was a little thrown off though as it appeared the person was with Sentury (there was a large SUV in front of them with Sentury decals, as well as her car having a Sentury bumper sticker). A bit surprising to see someone associated with a winter sports company that isn't comfortable driving on winter roads . . .

I heard about this guy . . .

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:30:37 GMT

My high school friend Justin had this goal for a while about wanting to be "that guy" - the one that people would talk about, that sort of blurred the line between myth and reality. You know, the guy that you hear about - I once knew this guy who <insert outrageous feat here>. While I don't think I've become "that guy", I did have an experience somewhat similar to what might happen to "that guy" a a few months ago . . .

I was at Lincoln Lounge, enjoying a beer by myself, and started talking to someone working on their mug club card. The guy's talking about being close to finishing, and he's saying he's going to do a second card. I cock my head to the side, a bit curious, and ask the guy why he wants to do a second card. His response was something along the lines of "I hear there's only one person who's done two cards, so I'm going to be next . . . "

Back then, I was the only person who had finished two cards (though Chad finished his second card, and we enjoyed double-fisting mugs when he did), so I do what any normal person would do - I bite my tongue and nod, saying that sounds like a good goal. Chris B. was bartending, and he caught the tail end of this conversation as well, and just plays along. Probably the closest I've been to being "that guy . . . "

Of course, there are plenty of small world coincidences like this. Continuing with stories related to the Lincoln Lounge, there's the couple from SF who ended up at the bar because of my Yelp review.

In Helena, I sort of became the Asian guy at the bar to people who might not know me directly. Helena was tiny, about 30,000 people, and the few Asians in town tended to be tied to a restaurant or two (a Chinese buffet, a Thai place. and a few Chinese carry out places). In fact, I stuck out enough at the bars that when I first moved to Helena, I remember a night at the Gold Bar, where this drunk, grizzled old man came up to me, started talking to me, and then says "Welcome to our country." 100% genuine, no sarcasm what-so-ever. I had no idea how to respond, and was just thinking to myself, "wow, my English is really good for a guy who's fresh off the boat . . . "

Anyway, sometime during my second year in in Helena, there ended up being a Chinese artist at the Archie Bray. So, another guy, close to my age, who would occasionally go to the bars. His circle overlapped with mine a little in that he was dating a VISTA member. Now, he didn't really look much like me - he was a probably a good 4 to 6 inches taller than me, had his hair buzzed, and wore facial hair. I don't remember if my hair was long or short back then, but I got called his name (which I can't remember for the life of me now) a few times at the bar, and I later learned he had had people come up to him and call him Ernie. Crazy, though I guess to be somewhat expected for being a token.

What prompted this whole line of thought though was that I've been asked for a jukebox selection for the Lincoln Lounge. While I'm definitely flattered to have been asked, it may be a sign that I spend way too much time at the bar . . .

CD wise, it's hard. The National's Boxer would have my first choice, and then the Decemberist's Picaresque, but both are already in there. Postal Service is in there already as well. Suicide Machines, Goldfinger, or Op Ivy could be fun, but don't fit the vibe of the bar . . .

CDs that I'm still considering include Green Day's Kerplunk, Reel Big Fish's Turn the Radio Off, some Guided by Voices (though I have no idea which album), REM's Document, Interpol's Antics . . . argh . . . too many choices.

Wow, what a rambling post . . .

3 More Days (or You Can't Go Back . . . )

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:36:20 GMT

There are 3 more work days till I leave for Helena. On one hand, I'm very excited to go, though I'm slightly disappointed that certain folks will not be there (or may not be there, I guess there are a few who's votes are still out?) As my friend Lisa said "sad face."

Still, I'll be in Montana before I even realize it . . . busy at work, so the work days should go quickly. Northstar opens this weekend, and it sounds like there's a fair amount of snow coming in Friday night, so I'll be making some turns.

Lisa's talking about doing a 5k on Thanksgiving morning. I'm debating whether this is a good idea, mainly since my calf is still really week. I've been trying to walk more places (as opposed to biking) to work the calf, and it's still sore most of the time. It'll be interesting to see how it holds up while snowboarding. The lump I have where the sprocket went deepest is slightly disconcerting. Surprised me a little bit that the calf pain is a good 6" above the site of the puncture wounds, but I guess this is just showing my lack of anatomy / physiology knowledge.

Whether I run or not though, I'm definitely looking forward to a few walks up Mt. Helena - definitely will do the 1906 Trail, not sure about any of the others . . .

Temperatures look like they'll be brisk, with highs not even getting past 40 for most of the time I'll be there. Definitely need to remember to take socks.

Reactions

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:13:28 GMT

Not feeling the mood to really write today, so just some reactions to news stories of interest.

First off, I think most people have seen the video of University of New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert and her aggressive play. NY Times had an article today, about those plays "in context." There are some obvious fouls in there, but I tend to cut her a lot of slack. I've never actually played competitively, and I struggle with all the off-the-ball jostling that happens when I do play with players who have. The nudges, the tugs on the shorts, the jabs into the ribs, etc, but I believe it's all a part of the game.

Even in the adult rec league I played in in Helena (co-ed, players from 18 into their 50s, etc), there were aggressive actions that were definitely questionable for the level of play. I even remember pushing this woman out of the way who was considerably slower than me, causing her to fall to the ground and tear up her thigh a bit. In my defense, she was trying to shield the ball as a defender, whereas I had made a 25 yard sprint on a breakaway. I really think it should have been an obstruction call, as she was not going to play the ball, and I had overtaken her.

The point is though, in the heat of competition, sometimes things happen. I do think Lambert's gotten the short end of the stick, especially in the highlight video. I'm sure most players would definitely have some questionable actions in 90 minutes of play . . .

The other article that caught my eye today was about a Korean wedding tradition:

These are fixtures of a South Korean wedding, as much so as the wedding officiant. Before entering the wedding hall, guests line up in front of the cashier’s table to hand over an envelope stuffed with cash. The cashier opens the envelope and registers the guest’s name, and the amount given, in a velvet-covered ledger — often while the guest is still standing there.

I hadn't heard of this one, and the article talks about how this tradition is not being followed by some. The main reason mentioned here is the appearance of impropriety, especially for politicians or high level executives - where large gifts can seem like bribes.

The other part of the article talks about how weddings tend to be status symbols:

In South Korea, where “face” is famously cherished, the measure of a family’s social standing is seen in the number of guests at weddings, as well as the amount of money given and the sumptuousness of the banquet. At funerals, the number of wreaths presented by friends, business associates and local politicians is a comparable social metric.
“Here, a wedding is less a celebration than an occasion for a family to show off,” said Lee Yoon-ji, who runs a wedding management agency and photo studio in Seoul’s upscale Kangnam district. “For instance, if the bride’s family finds its guests are much fewer than the groom’s, it’s humiliating.”

This part is definitely true, even in America. I've had cousins whose weddings probably cost well more than $300 a guest, and had 300+ guests (though I've also had cousins who've had very modest weddings as well). The luxury weddings seem crazy to me.

While I'm single now, and marriage doesn't seem likely for me in the near future, I think any wedding I do would be relatively frugal. Maybe even a destination wedding, with only a few guests. I'm not one to get caught up in pomp and circumstance, and believe a wedding should be a celebration - which is one reason I love the JK wedding entrance, and other entrances and first dances in the same vein. Whether the people can dance or not, they're having fun. I'm not sure why some people believe weddings have to be solemn affairs . . .

Observations

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:54:14 GMT

So, some random thoughts / lessons learned or reinforced / etc while I spent an hour or so trying to see some meteors (I only caught the beginning of the shower, and saw a dozen or so):

No matter how good your coat, hat, and gloves are, lying on the ground when it's 35 degrees out gets cold
Cold weather + glasses + breath you can see in the air = foggy vision
I <3 SmartWool socks
I should really invest in a hip flask
Street lamps are really bright. I need to go further outside the city if I want to get a good view
I should either take a blanket, someone to cuddle with, or both if I'm going to be sitting in the cold for an hour or more
I miss conversations with Sarah while hiking up Mt. Helena (though part of this was accentuated by the fact that I had a good conversation with her a few weeks ago about growing older, being single, etc)
I'm starting to get exciting about going to visit Helena
Night hikes during a new moon on trails you haven't been on in months is a challenge, especially without a flashlight or headlamp. I think I definitely ended up cutting some switch backs and things that I would not have usually done, but not being able to see the trail meant I was just wandering in the dark. Probably time for me to bite the bullet and invest in a new headlamp to replace the one that I can't seem to find anymore . . .

While laying on the ground, staring up into the sky, pondering about constellations, how far away the stars were, how small I was compared to the universe at large, etc, I also wondered how the experience would be different while high. I've never really done any drugs besides alcohol and a few drags here and there off of a joint (not enough to get a buzz). No recreational pain killer use - the stiffest pain killer I've had was some codeine after I had my wisdom teeth extracted, and I only took that for two days. Anyway, I did wonder how the experience would have differed with some mind-altering substances. The brisk cold, and the crazy science behind twinkling stars, meteors, and the infiniteness of space all seem like they could contribute nicely to an "expanded" point of view . . .

Poker

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:05:07 GMT

I've started playing in this bi-weekly "Payday Poker" game with a group at the bar. It's a pretty quick pace game, with a $10 buy in for some chips, and blinds doubling every 15 minutes. Games usually don't last longer than 90 minutes or so. Winner takes all, or sometimes the players will split somehow when it's down to two.

I've never really been a huge poker player, but these games are starting to pique my interest. I've asked a co-worker if I can borrow a book (he's got to get it back from someone else first) to try and learn the game better. While I understand the basic probabilities involved, and can typically calculate rough odds on the fly, I definitely don't know the odds of basic hands pre-flop. At this point, I'm not even interested in the psychological aspects or betting strategy or anything like that. I just want to know what the black-and-white odds are before I get into any of that.

I think learning some of the more intricate parts of the game may help be with my patience with the game as well. Right now, I can tend to play for an hour or so, before I get bored, and start playing more hands than I should (or think I should).

Blackjack is definitely a simpler game, where you don't even have to think about it. You memorize the strategy, and then it's all autopilot. I'll admit I'm bad about some of the strategy, especially for single deck, as when I first started playing, I learned never to split fours and sixes. Looking over the table now, I never realized you should stand with nines against a 7. I should probably look at those again, and re-learn them.

Who owns a lesson plan?

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:23:05 GMT

Nice piece in the NY Times about teachers who are selling lesson plans. Looks at it from a number of angles, as to who owns the material, who should profit, what should those profits be used for, etc.

I tend to believe that lesson plans builds value. Lesson plans take time and energy to develop, and if you can find people willing to pay for it, then more power to you. The one part that is a little questionable is if the school has rights to the material (and / or associated revenue). In the private sector, there's been plenty of intellectual property cases, where any idea developed on company time is company property.

If I were a teacher, I would do similar to the last teacher mentioned - I'd share it freely with friends, co-workers, etc, but I'd also sell it online (ideally under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license). In other words, free to share, allowing others to build off of it, but not allowing others to profit from it. In reality, with a loose license like that, anyone that did pay for the content would basically be giving me a donation, since the material would be free to share. In fact, I would probably post the material on less commercial sites, and try and use a tip-jar model. So, a bit more liberal than most of the teachers who cited in the article and are selling their material online.

One of the big reasons I like the idea of selling lesson plans as opposed to sites that allow teachers to just share lesson plans, is that it encourages teachers to polish their material. Free lesson plans, much like free software, can vary wildly in quality. The open-source software model is a great parallel for this though, in that good software rises to the top, and people can still make money even as they give away their software.

The value of good lesson plans is that they can be used to teach, as well as to share ideas and improve. When I was teaching, I was fortunate that the math department head shared all his lesson plans, as did his predecessor. By the time I had the material, it was very well polished, and was perfect for me as a long term substitute, who wasn't quite sure about pacing, pedagogy, etc. The binder I got had daily lesson plans, with all the worksheets, etc for each day. Now, I didn't teach straight from these lesson plans, as obviously you have to adopt the material for your teaching style, your students, etc, but they provided an excellent base.

Creating lesson plans are one of the reasons there are such low retention rates for new teachers. Good lesson plans are hard, and when you're starting out, just developing classroom poise and presence are difficult enough. Have lesson plans provided to me allowed me to focus much more on teaching, and really work on my delivery and teaching style.

Reading

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:45:04 GMT

I finally finished Pollan's In Defense of Food. The damn thing took me a good 2 or 3 months to read. For some reason, I just have the hardest time reading non-fiction. I started reading Random Family, and I think that's going to go much quicker. While I might finish a fiction book in a few days, non-fiction just kicks my butt.

This seems strange to me, since I like to discuss ideas, and there are lots of non-fiction books that are appealing to me. I've got a copy of Bowling Alone that I hope to read after I finish Random Family, but flipping through Bowling Alone intimidates me. So many charts, footnotes, etc. Definitely meant to be more of a scholarly work than a popular book. I struggled with the Tipping Point and Freakonomics as well, and those are meant to be easily accessible.

I'm not sure why I struggle so much with the non-fiction. I also tend to hate not finishing books, so I'll keep on reading, even if it's only a handful of pages at a time, till I finish the damn thing.

Writer's Block

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:48:53 GMT

I wrote before about how difficult it is to write every day. Some days are easier than others, in that I want to write, that I have thoughts I want to put to the page / screen. Today is not one of those days. I did some stuff after work (stopped at the Holland 300 reception and gambled a bit), and then forced myself to come home since I knew I still had to write. I've tried and forced myself to write, or at least brainstorm ideas to write, but instead I've been putzing around, avoiding the writing. I watched the rest of the UC-WVU football game, stalled on Facebook, went through my Google Reader feeds, did email, etc.

I'm a little surprised with how hard it has been to write everyday, and I imagine it's only going to get harder. While I keep jotting little notes and things down, I'm not sure I want to write about any of them. So, I have a plethora of topics, but none that I really feel like developing. This is not a good sign where there are still 17 days of writing left. On the bright side though, Turkey Day (a.k.a Elf Day, a.k.a Egg Fest) should provide a fair amount of fonder for the last week or so, whether it be reminiscing about old times, thoughts about friendships, distance, and time, or just the ridiculousness of 5 dozen deviled eggs.

Of course, I still need to get there, and that's still a good dozen days out. The low hanging fruit has been picked, and now we get to the part where this is work. It's always been a commitment - I've made the effort to write before going out, while I'm out, or dedicated time specifically to writing. Now, as the ideas / topics become sparser, I have to work harder. I also have vague ideas of things I do want to write - whether they be reflective pieces, essays, opinions, etc, but for some reason they're not fleshing out quite the way I imagine them in my mind.

I think I'm going to have to dedicate some time this weekend to writing, and forcing myself to flesh out some of these ideas. I may not get a backlog of complete entries, but I'll have stronger foundations to write from, not just a few clips and phrases.

What makes a good bar?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:11:57 GMT

I was trying to brainstorm for a good topic to write about (bubbl.us is pretty impressive for webbing / brainstorming though), and while my original intent was to find something a bit more introspective, similar to my posts earlier this month, tonight's writing is more opinion than introspection, though it is a topic that is very familiar to me: what makes a good bar?

In college, my favorite bar was Christy's. Post-college, there was a slight gap, where I didn't really have a favorite bar. When I lived in Montana, Miller's Crossing was the go to spot. Here in Reno, the Lincoln Lounge is my go to bar. As a quick recap:

Christy's - this was one of the more popular college bars for UC students. Big selling points for Christy's were the large biergarten and bocce courts out back. Decent beer selection. In the cooler months, there was a downstairs bar, which was cozy, but did contain a pool table and darts. Of course, this happened to be the bar of choice for most of my social circle. Oh, and I lived about a quarter-mile walk from the bar.
Miller's Crossing - live music, Blackfoot beers, 3 pool tables, and again, this was the go to bar for our motley crew. They also sponsored My Drinking Team Has a Soccer Problem, and their staff was uber-friendly. I still look forward to seeing Eric whenever I'm in Helena. The fact that the walk from the backdoor of my apartment building to the bar was around 200 feet probably didn't hurt either.
Lincoln Lounge - This bar is about 0.8 miles from where I live. Just to point out that this isn't the nearest bar to me, there is a rather high density of bars near where I live. I stopped in here with Greg when it was first getting started, and it had a good, low-key vibe to it. It's got the best bartender in Reno, a great beer selection, and the damn mug club hooked me for sure. Their patio is awesome as well. Having gotten to know the owners probably doesn't hurt either.

I know for some, one of the big draws for Miller's would have been the live music (which I hear has been on hiatus due to staffing reasons). I heart that Miller's was the bar where I got introduced to Ten Mile Tide, Mojo and the Groove (who unfortunately, have not released anything since their debut title, the Empty Growler Blues), the Clumsy Lovers, and others. I also really enjoyed anytime I did dance there (as rare as that may have been). All that being said, the live music wasn't one of the main draws for me.

So, key factors for me?

Distance - Obviously, all three of the above were really close to places I've lived. Being able to walk or bike to the bar is a huge plus.
Low-key vibe - All three of the above are bars where you can go and have a conversation, without having to worry about yelling over the music. They're also all places I don't feel the need to dress-to-impress, but don't think I'd be judged if I were dressed up for some reason or another. Also, all of the above were places I could go by myself on a quiet night, mull over my thoughts, and not have to talk to anyone.
Beer selection - I <3 good beer, and variety is the spice of life.
People - I like to become a regular at a bar. This way, on the occasions when I am feeling social and can't find anyone to go drink with, I can still go to the bar, and probably find someone to babble with. It usually helps if the crowd is somewhat like minded. Christy's was mainly students, Miller's was full of independent, liberal, outdoorsy types, and Lincoln is pretty eclectic.
Pool table - as stated previously, Miller's is where I'd go at the end of my day, shoot a few racks This factor has definitely been a bit dependent on my social circle. In college, I played a bit of pool, but was never any good at it. While in Montana, I definitely got comfortable with my game (to the point that I feel comfortable challenging anyone for a table). Here in Reno, I don't know anyone who actually shoots, though I still like going down to Imperial to shoot a rack every now and then. Lincoln doesn't have a pool table, but it does have shuffleboard and darts, though I rarely play either.

Hmmm, I think that's it.

My Name

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:32:23 GMT

With the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street having been yesterday, I figured I should write about my name. I generally introduce myself as Ernie, and have for as long as I can remember, even though Ernie isn't my name. My legal first name is my Korean name, Young.

I've been called Ernie since pre-school, when my parents thought I needed an American name. My mother had seen Sesame Street while she was working on her English, and she really liked the character of Ernie. I'm not sure why she liked the character, but that name has stuck with me since then. So yes, I was named after a puppet.

I rarely use my legal name, except for paperwork and things like that, and I generally don't introduce my self as Ernie, a.k.a Young. People usually get Ernie, and then they're surprised if they ever see my license or what not. When I was getting carded somewhat frequently, I did make an effort to tell my friends my name, so I wouldn't have a bouncer thinking I was using someone else's ID, as people would call me a different name than on the license.

The few people I meet as Young tend to be doctors, dentists, insurance agents, etc. The people who get my name from some paperwork, and I figure I'll have limited interaction with. In most of these cases, I tend to be in a hurry, and don't feel the need to say "Oh, call me Ernie" to them, their staff, etc. Now, if I'm smart, when I call and make an appointment, I ask if they have a nickname field or whatever, and make sure they get Ernie in there.

The other group that might know me as Young are grocery store checkers who ask for my ID when I'm getting some beer or wine. Most of them don't even look at the name, but every now and then there's the one who says "well, I guess you'll always be Young!" . . . because that pun never gets old . . . *sighs*

Rejection (or Selectivity)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:49:36 GMT

So, I got this as a pseudo-rejection from a girl I met online and have been chatting with:

We seem to have a decent enough raport online... I'll be very honest, and hopefully you won't take this the wrong way :( I have never actually hung out with someone who is asian... and I know it shouldn't matter, but I have all of these preconcieved notions in my head that are hard to get away from. I'm not racist or anything.... I just don't know.

At which point, I went on to explain no worries, and that I've been rejected for things much more arbritrary:

my hair is too long
my hair is too short
I'm too short
I'm too sarcastic

The list goes on and on. I think the Asian one is pretty reasonable, considering cultural norms toward attractiveness. I know I've expressed previously that I tend not to be attracted to Asians. I'm not 100% sure why this is, but I'd guess that I didn't grow up around many other Asians, and the societal norms pushed at me do not tend to push Asian features. As the Dove campaign highlights, beauty tends to be pretty subjective, highly influenced by the media, and considering I saw myself mainly as white growing up, it makes sense I'd be attracted to more traditional, Western ideas of beauty.

In fact, people should be selective. As some recent dates reminded me, dating should be fun, not a chore. Why bother with someone you're not really attracted to, when there are plenty of others that you're interested in to begin with? Granted, this doesn't address the idea of growing to love someone, but I feel those relationships will evolve from friendships.

I've had people express to me that they'll date a lot, because they're afraid the right one will get away without them ever knowing. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. This is as dumb as Pascal's Wager, to which Richard Dawkin's responds:

Suppose we grant that there is indeed some small chance that God exists. Nevertheless, it could be said that you will lead a better, fuller life if you bet on his not existing, than if you bet on his existing and therefore squander your precious time on worshipping him, sacrificing to him, fighting and dying for him, etc

In other words, why waste your time on crappy options, instead of focusing on the positive?

This is a new stance for me, as there is definitely a part of me that's seen dating as work. Finding a diamond in the rough. Searching for a needle in a haystack. None of these are things that elicit positive mental images. Instead of this approach, I'm trying to see dating as fun, and I should only date those who I feel some attraction (physical, emotional, metaphysical, whatever) with to start.

Life's too short, and bad dates eat up way too many hours.