March 2004 Archives

This is my brand new bowling ball. It came into the world last night, unblemished and freshly drilled. It weighs a healthy thirteen pounds and is very well-behaved. Its blended shades of blue, green and purple give it a handsome quality.

The only thing missing from the ball is my name, unless 33B1508 is my new designation and I just wasn't aware of it. The next time I visit the pro shop, I'll have them personalize it with my first initial and the first two letters of my last name. I'll also have them insert an apostrophe and tack on an exclamation point. The engraved result is the profound sound I usually make when bowling. D'oh!

Thankfully, I avoided any self-created disaster. I didn't sleep much, but also didn't have to rush this morning. I thought I should explain why those three tasks needed to be done last night.

I now run four times a week. I do short runs Tuesday through Thursday. Three to six miles is short. I save the long run for Saturday or Sunday. To maintain some semblance of a routine, it was crucial to run yesterday.

I needed to pack because I'll be heading up to Sacramento straight from work. We'll be staying overnight to get an early start on tomorrow's adventure. I hope to share a few action photos on Monday. It's something else I've never tried before, so I'm excited.

I cleaned the house because my parents threatened plan to stop by while I'm gone. My mom claims she only wants to check on the place. I told her not to worry about it, but that was a mistake. Mothers take "don't worry" as a clear sign to worry.

The house is nearly spotless, but the next time we talk, she'll likely say, "You didn't dust very well, so I gave everything a once over." or "Did you know you have spiderwebs in the corner behind the washing machine?" I'll feel quite grown-up after that.

On a lighter note, we had dessert at the Palo Alto Creamery Fountain & Grill in the Stanford Shopping Center last night. Oreo cookie mint sundaes are delicious.

And on an unrelated note, if you replaced the name "Jon Peter Lewis" with "Matt Rogers", my spoiler would be more accurate. Of course, the point of spoilers (at least the ones I cook up) is amusement, not accuracy.

There used to be a show on CBS called Early Edition. Gary Hobson, the main character played by Kyle Chandler, would get a newspaper that had "tomorrow's headlines today". When I got up this morning, I received my own early edition. The headline read, "David Out Too Late, Fails to Finish Before Weekend". I have three things that need to be done:

1. Run five miles
2. Clean the house
3. Pack an overnight bag

These tasks can easily be completed in a single evening. Of course, there's a wrinkle. I promised to have dessert with friends in Palo Alto and I don't want to be a flake.

Right now, my motivation is high, but when the time comes, I know it will disappear. Instead of running, I'll claim to be too stuffed from dinner. Instead of cleaning and packing, I'll stay out too late and claim to be exhausted. It has happened before. Excuses will dilute willpower.

In the show, Gary used the paper to avert potential disasters. I don't want to wake up tomorrow morning with the headline coming true. It's a matter of being a responsible adult. Lately, I've been losing faith in my ability to be one. If I were smart, this is would be tonight's game plan:

1. Go running right after posting this entry.
2. Have a light dinner.
3. Join friends for dessert, but stay only an hour, two maximum.
4. Get home and clean.
5. Don't sleep until completely packed.

I know how to avoid this disaster. It's only a matter of following through.

I have two hours before the American Idol results show airs here on the west coast, so I thought I would write up a spoiler revealing who will be sent home tonight.

For those who missed last night's two-hour episode, here is a biased recap. The eleven finalists sang country songs. As always, La Toya London rocked. My favorites? John Stevens with Roger Miller's "King of the Road" and Fantasia Barrino with Willie Nelson's "Always On My Mind". The rest were "aight", but forgettable. Simon's latest phrase, "Let me finish, let me finish..."

Cut to tonight's show. It'll be 29 minutes of stall and 1 minute of results. Yet, I'll still watch it. Seacrest, as he affectionately refers to himself these days, will be smooth with Randy, suave with Paula and snide with Simon. The finalists will sing a medley of country tunes and attempt to line dance (again). There'll be a break.

Seacrest will "accidentally" bump into Peter Gallagher, who sits patiently in the audience, waiting to promote The O.C.. Kimberley Locke will then perform her latest single. Another break.

One by one, Ryan will tell each contestant if they are "safe" or not. He'll say something like, "Jon Peter Lewis. J-P-L. Randy said you were tall, Paula said you were short and Simon said, 'So what?' America voted and... you'll find out what they said after the break."

After the break, Camile Velasco (I like her, but I'm only 5 votes) and the stunned Diana DeGarmo join the tearful Jon Peter in the bottom three. After a quick break, Seacrest tells Diana that she is safe. Holding hands, the two remaining contestants will await the outcome.

"With more than thirty million text messages and phone calls, America spoke and... Jon Peter, I'm sorry, America has decided to crush your dreams. On the bright side, it took thirty million votes to crush them! Now, if you could pull yourself together and sing the song that failed to impress last night's audience. That would be nice. Thanks, everybody. Seacrest out!"

A different meme for a different day of the week. It's called Ten on Tuesday. This week's topic is "Ten Sports You Love to Watch". Let's get to it...

1. baseball
2. figure skating
3. hockey
4. college football
5. college basketball
6. soccer
7. beach volleyball
8. Winter Olympics (speed skating, skiing, luge and curling)
9. Summer Olympics (track and field, swimming)
10. The X Games (snowboarding, skateboarding, rollerblading)

If money weren't a factor, I would watch as many baseball games as possible at the ballpark. Unfortunately, money is always a factor and ticket (and parking) prices won't be coming down any time soon. The season starts again in just three weeks.

Of the ten sports or events listed, I've only seen the first six in person. I would love to attend the Olympics. If I had to choose one, it would be the Winter Games. The next one will be held two years from now in Torino, Italy. In two days, the Olympic flame will be lit for Athens 2004. It's something to look forward to this coming August.

Song on my mind... "Cannonball" by Damien Rice

Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to cry
So come on courage
Teach me to be shy
Cause it's not hard to fall
And I don't want to scare her
It's not hard to fall
And I don't wanna lose
It's not hard to grow
When you know that you just don't know

Day after day, you hear the same song playing on the radio, never grabbing your attention or moving you. Then late one night as you drive home alone, along a quiet road, lost in thought, the song begins to play and you are suddenly struck by it. Maybe it's the quality of the voice, the sentiment expressed or simply your state of mind. You can't pin it down exactly, but something causes the song to stay in your head, long after reaching your destination.

It's the beginning of another week, which is a good thing to note after falling off the face of the planet, bloggily speaking. How I enjoy a morning where it's slightly foggy and only 61 degrees. Sunny and 81 isn't for me, especially in March.

This was a great weekend. I say this even though my brackets had Stanford beating Kentucky in the NCAA Basketball Championships. Now that they've both lost, it's time to root for my sentimental favorites, UConn and Wake Forest.

On Friday, I saw Flavors, a funny Indian-American movie that opened the San Jose leg of the SFIAAFF. This is the fourth year the festival has showcased films in SJ. Everybody in attendance received a free sports bag. It's sturdy and just the right size for my gym gear. The opening night celebrations included dessert, Indian food and drinks at the d.p. Fong Galleries.

I went to a barbecue on Saturday. The weather up in Grant County Park was warm and beautiful. We first went on a three-mile hike to whet the appetite and then spent the day eating and hanging out at the Grant House.

I met a number of people up there. I have so many new names, faces and associated facts to remember. The experience of meeting new people is always exciting and a bit overwhelming at the same time. This weekend, it was almost enough to cause my inner introvert to sound the retreat into solitude, but I think that would be a step in the wrong direction.

On Sunday, I watched college basketball to fulfill the minimum requirements of being a "typical guy". I also did a little volunteer work, re-watched a tape of Clay Aiken singing "Solitaire" and saw Just One Look, a charming and bittersweet movie from Hong Kong.

According to my golf-themed calendar, today is St. Patrick's Day. This month's photo shows the green of Hole #16 at the Stone Canyon Club in Oro Valley, Arizona.

In the spirit of the day, I decided to do more than just wear green. After I finish this non-green coffee, I'll be enjoying a cup of hot green tea. My computer desktop has green wallpaper and I'm currently listening to a green album, which happened to be in my tan backpack. We had corned beef and cabbage on Sunday, so zucchini will have to suffice as today's greens. Tonight, instead of drinking green beer, I may opt for an irish cream mocha to celebrate. The kiwi syrup is a brighter shade of green, but a kiwi mocha doesn't sound as enticing.

Last week, I witnessed two incidents where people did very normal things in the strangest places.

There was the man who tied his shoes. Tying shoes is normal. Tying them in the middle of the street is strange. He was crossing as I approached the stop sign. I was about fifteen feet away when he suddenly paused, bent over and started tying his shoes. Not wanting him to feel hurried, I braked and waited, admiring how methodical he was with the laces. After ensuring everything felt right, he continued across the street, never once glancing in my direction.

There was the woman who ate a banana. I eat them all of the time. Eating bananas is normal enough. Eating them in front of an automated teller machine is peculiar. As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw her retrieving her money and ATM card. I thought, "Ah, cool. No wait." I parked in a stall and was about to get out of the car when she pulled a banana from her purse, peeled it and began eating on the spot. Not wanting to rush her and cause indigestion, I sat and waited until she finished. She stuffed the peel into the little ATM garbage slot and walked off. She never glanced in my direction either.

At the time, I found their actions confusing, but now, I find them most amusing.

A small group of us decided to take four weeks of bowling lessons. When we've completed the course, we'll each receive a free bowling ball and bag. The instructor didn't go much beyond the basics. Pins, good! Gutter, bad. The lessons included two practice games, which I treated as free passes to fail for the sake of improvement.

Inconsistency defined the first game. My release point kept changing and I may have bounced the ball once or twice. When the game was finished, I tried not to look at the monitor, but succumbed to curiosity. 90. The instructor gave me nine words of advice, "Move to the right, slow down and swing through."

The second game started inauspiciously. In the first frame, I knocked down five pins with the first ball. I tried to relax by loosening my neck, taking a deep breath and shaking my arms. Stress has a way of sneaking up and tightening the muscles.

As I stood with my left foot aligned with the center dot, time seemed to slow and the lane looked shorter. With the instructor's advice in mind, I went through the motions. The ball left my hand low to the ground, rolled slowly through the intended marker and caused enough commotion to knock down the remaining pins.

I would regain some consistency and close out the next eight frames with either strikes or spares. Only the tenth frame remained open with a defiant seven pin left standing in the corner. I peeked at the monitor. 182. Better, but still room for improvement.

Coffee snobs gush over indie cafes and deride commercial chains as adamantly as music and movie snobs denounce anything mainstream and rave over indie records and films. Since I'm an aspiring coffee snob and can't seem to complete a single movie review, I'll ramble on about coffee for a bit.

On Friday night, with only a minute until the movie started, I ordered coffee at the Camera Cafe. Walking over to the dispensers, I noticed angry people holding empty cups and staring impatiently at the slow drip coffee machine. Surprisingly, it didn't drip any faster.

A huge puddle of hot coffee covered the floor behind the counter. Somebody had knocked over an open carafe. Unable to stomach the sight of spilt coffee and unwilling to miss the film, I acted out of desperation and filled my cup with Decaf Columbia Supremo. Shameful, I know.

Fortunately, there was plenty of coffee and a clean floor on Sunday, when I returned. I was able to have my favorite theater blend known as the FogBuster. Not only does it taste great, but the name is cool, too.

Just as some people choose their favorite sports teams based solely on the mascot or jersey colors (not that any of you would do that), I'll often try a coffee blend simply because of the name. At the Second Street Coffee Exchange, they serve the Big Sur blend. There's nothing special about it, but the name appeals to me. A true coffee snob wouldn't be swayed so easily. It's something I need to work on.

On the edge of town, hidden away in a strip mall anchored by very corporate chains like Target and McDonald's, is Y'a Bon Espresso. The interior is colorfully decorated and some of the walls have signs that read "N'awlins" and "Be Nice or Leave". The cafe offers blends from Torrefazione Italia. If you're curious, it's pronounced "Toray-fot-see-ohnay", according to the company. All of the tables and chairs have price tags on them and are for sale. I used to pass by it all of the time. It wasn't until this January that I finally stopped in and had an espresso. Now it's one of my favorite places.

This entry earned me a point or two towards coffee snobhood, don't you think? It certainly didn't help me finish any movie reviews.

As we all know, Friday Five is a meme that asks hard-hitting questions to give readers a glimpse of the real person behind the online journal. This week's set is especially revealing.

1. What was the last song you heard?
The chorus goes...

I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic

I heard it for the first time this morning and liked it, but couldn't recognize the artist. After a quick search, I discovered the song was "Toxic" by Britney Spears. I worry about me sometimes.

2. What were the last two movies you saw?
A Good Lawyer's Wife and The Passion of the Christ. If you want a different answer, ask me tomorrow.

3. What were the last three things you purchased?
To set a good example for young people everywhere, I have taken the liberty of editing: A movie ticket, sushi, [edit], [edit], [edit], [edit] and coffee

4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?
Clean, run, read and sleep. That should keep me busy for two days.

5. Who are the last five people you talked to?
K, E, P, P and P. Different Ps, in that exact order.

With two film festivals running concurrently in the area, there are more than enough movies to choose from. Cinequest runs in San Jose through this Sunday. The SFIAAFF finishes up next Sunday. I've seen nine films over the last week, which is nothing compared to Ealasaid's total. She wrote a number of festival film reviews over at CineBlog 2004. The folks of manja.org are maintaining a blog for the SFIAAFF.

Before completely forgetting everything, here is the list of movies I've seen so far...

1. Down By Love (Cinequest)
2. When Ruoma Was Seventeen (Cinequest)
3. Miss Match (SFIAAFF)
4. S.W.A.T.
5. Cold Mountain
6. The Ride (SFIAAFF)
7. Madrid (Cinequest)
8. A Good Lawyer's Wife (SFIAAFF)
9. The Passion of the Christ

There are a few that deserve more than just a mention and I'll write about them in more detail soon.

The other night, I finally learned how to bowl "properly". Sounds like a good thing, right? It wasn't.

The problem was the right way didn't feel right. I tried to remember where the ball was supposed to be in relation to my body as I sorted out which foot to move next. I started to overthink every step and threw my timing off. I didn't recall my old way being so difficult. Then again, I had never taken the time to analyze the flow of movement. I just did it.

So I broke the old one down. The two ways weren't very different, yet the disparity in results was tremendous and that frustrated me. When I bowled with my old technique, I put up decent scores. When I used the proper technique, I bowled one of my worst games ever.

My incensed pride wanted to continue putting up decent scores. It didn't want to suffer the humiliation of having to relearn everything and look bad doing it. "You already know how to do this! Why change?" it fumed. Pride didn't have the patience to realize the benefits of practice. It didn't care that the new way might lead to higher scores in the end. How tempting it was to give in and revert to what worked.

I should know by now that it's nearly impossible to get better and look good at the same time. The sooner I accept the fact, the better off I'll be. And the concept applies to more than just bowling.

This site inspired me to write my own list of things I always do or always try to do for one reason or another (or for no good reason at all)...

I always sit one seat in from the aisle when watching movies alone. It just feels safer.

I always turn on the stereo as soon as I get home. Otherwise, the house is much too quiet.

I always write my Zs with a horizontal line through them.

I always change the station whenever a Dave Matthews, Lenny Kravitz or Vanessa Carlton song comes on. They are likely nice and talented artists, but something about them irks me.

I always eat Skittles in the same color order: yellow, green, purple, orange and red.

I always have the alarm television set to NBC11, so when it comes on, I can watch Christine Nubla deliver the traffic report.

At home, I always pour the sugar and milk into the cup before I pour the coffee.

I always roll up my sleeves when wearing long-sleeved shirts.

I always climb stairs two steps at a time

I always end up writing about one thing (like this list), when I should be writing about something else entirely (like Cinequest).

It's one-thirty on a Saturday afternoon. I'm sitting on a tall stool at a small, circular table near the entrance of a Tully's at the intersection of Castro and 18th in San Francisco. Sounds from outside welcome themselves in through the propped open door. Every few minutes I hear the squeal of brakes as a bus stops in front of the coffee shop.

People sit by the front window, drinking espresso and reading the newspaper. Only a thin piece of glass separates them from the constant flow of pedestrian traffic. I've never been comfortable sitting so close to the sidewalk.

Behind me, two women are having a lively discussion about something. I can't tell the topic of conversation because I've succeeded in tuning out the words and hearing only their animated voices. I bet most guys have that ability.

Why am I sitting here writing in this notebook? Because I have a few minutes before a movie begins at the Castro Theatre. It's part of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF). I'll be seeing Miss Match, a series of short films focused on the feeling of not fitting in. Sounds light and uplifting, doesn't it?

To be honest, it wasn't my first choice, but by the time I got to the city, the movie I wanted to see (The Ride) was sold out. I'll be coming back tomorrow night to hit the rush line. The festival will be in San Jose on the 19th and I'm looking forward to those screenings.

Twenty minutes until show time. Let's see. You can tell when people are crossing 18th Street. A voice at the corner suddenly yells out, "A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush!"

The woman behind me just swore and I involuntarily glanced at her. My dumb curiosity always gets the better of me. She paused a beat before continuing on with her rant. It's funny how a curse word catches my attention. Up to that point, all I had heard was a rapid string of "blah blah blah".

I love the sound of beans poured into an espresso machine. I'm guessing that was a three-pound bag. I have no idea. I should start walking back to the theater. Did I mention the weather is gorgeous today? Okay, I'll put my pen down now.

Song on my mind... "The Reason" by Hoobastank

i'm not a perfect person
there are many things i wish i didn't do
but i continue learning
i never meant to do those things to you
and so i have to say before i go
that i just want you to know

i've found a reason for me
to change who i used to be
a reason to start over new
and the reason is you

It took me longer to write about this than I expected or wanted. On Sunday, I went to Vienna Teng's concert at Cowell Theater in Fort Mason. If you're familiar with the corner of the blogiverse known as the Rice Bowl Journals, then you've probably read multiple accounts by now. The benefit of posting late is the ability to link to most of them in one entry.

From Clayton, I made it to San Francisco in good time. I rarely enter the city from the east bay, so it was fun to cross the Bay Bridge, two dollars worth of fun. When I arrived, there was plenty of free parking, which was a pleasant surprise. The 437-seat theater was filled to capacity, but thanks to V, we had great seats. I sat in the seventh chair of the seventh row.

Before the show began, I worried about falling asleep after the long day of hiking, but once the music started, I was engrossed. Noe Venable was the special guest act. Her voice was melodic and most of her songs were haunting. I wish she had mentioned some of the song titles. There were a couple of sound equipment difficulties, but she handled them gracefully.

This was different from any Vienna performance I had seen. This time she had a band, which was a blend of modern (drums, electric bass) and classical (violin, cellos) instruments. The addition of talented musicians gave her live sound a new dimension that I enjoyed. Yet, I'm still most taken when it's simply Vienna and a piano, which is why "Mission Street" was one of my favorite songs of the evening.

Since it was a CD release show, her set primarily featured tracks from Warm Strangers, but she also revisited pieces like "The Tower" and "Unwritten Letter #1" from her first album. She finished the show with the uplifting "Harbor" and then performed "Green Island Serenade" and "Gravity" for an encore.

After the show, I braved the crowd to get an autograph before hitting the road for the long drive home. I had spent the day enjoying the great outdoors and the night listening to wonderful music. Few things can beat that.

This year, I've been driving to work more than I should. There are only four evening trains home and I'm usually working after the last one leaves.

I miss this time to write and daydream. It's amazing how much more relaxed I feel as I type away at this old Palm V. I haven't used it much since NaNoWriMo. I miss the feel of the keys under my fingertips.

I'm sitting on the sunny side of the train. There isn't a cloud in the sky and the hills are so green. We just passed under Highway 85. I can see the long line of cars at the metering light. That's where I'll be again Friday morning.

To be good to myself, I got up five minutes earlier to make the train. It will force me out of the office at a decent hour tonight. Initially, I was driving in because I had to work late, but now I work late because driving in lets me. The cycle needed to be broken.

As I watch people board the train, I find myself smiling. Most of them are the same people I saw when I started riding in 2002. They still sit in the same seats, have the same hairstyles and wear the same clothes. It's comforting and scary at the same time.

My station is coming up next. When we arrive, I'll get off, make a quick stop for coffee (or maybe a cappuccino) and then briskly walk to the office. The conductor just said, "It's a beautiful day. Have a nice one." He expressed exactly what I was thinking. I may be a little too happy for a Wednesday. It feels good to be back on the train.

I got up early on Sunday, out of necessity, not choice. Choice wanted to sleep in until noon, but necessity would have none of that nonsense. So, after packing a sandwich, granola bars, bananas, Gatorade, two liters of water and a thermos of coffee, I was on my way to Mt. Diablo State Park. From San Jose, it takes a little over an hour to reach the northern park entrance, which is in the town of Clayton.

Our goal was to hike to the summit of Mt. Diablo. The planned route was the Mitchell Canyon Loop, a fourteen-mile loop with approximately 3,400 feet in elevation gain. The hike began on wide fire roads that followed a creek, but eventually became single-track trails as we made our ascent.

We reached the summit around one in the afternoon. The visitor center at the top was closed due to budget shortages, but the observation deck was open. Much to my disappointment, there was also a parking lot up there (for the "lazy people", as someone in our group commented). We enjoyed the view of the valley as we ate lunch. Soon afterwards, we set out again along the North Peak Trail, which we had a little trouble finding at first.

A slight tangent: The group I hike with has a tendency of getting lost. We don't go off the trail, but usually find the trail we're on and the one we think we're on to be two very different trails. Ambiguous signposts don't help. To keep on track, two of us bought maps. B kept his copy safely in his CamelBak, which meant it was up to me to point us in the wrong direction.

Amazingly, we stayed on the trails we wanted, but still managed to tack on an extra mile for a scenic detour along the Falls Trail. There were quite a few waterfalls and another cold creek crossing in our bare feet. The last part of the hike was the muddiest. The trails were saturated from the rain and the squishy sound boots make when they sink into the mud was nearly unavoidable.

We made it back to the starting point while it was still light outside and I had just enough time to change clothes (and finish my coffee) before heading to the concert in San Francisco.

It had been a few months since the little town I live in had live music. By chance, I saw a flyer in the cafe advertising a free show on Saturday night. I decided to go out of curiosity and because it was so close to home.

Ben Arthur and Jennifer Marks were the billed headliners. To keep things fair and avoid bruised egos, they took turns performing. Without the aid of microphones, they sang over the hiss of the espresso machine. Arthur's set started out slow, but ended strongly with a catchy tune called "Mary Ann". Marks had the more pleasant voice and I liked "Live", one of her upbeat songs.

More impressive than either one of them was a young woman named Rae, who drove all the way from Sacramento to play just three songs, two original pieces and then a beautiful cover of Radiohead's "Creep".

The show made for a decent Saturday night, but was only a warm up, a way to whet my musical appetite for an eagerly awaited concert on Sunday.

Friday was supposed to end on a happier entry, but I never got around to writing it because shiny objects distracted me.

It seems certain entries are more suitable for certain days. Fridays and Mondays are good for lighter topics, while Tuesdays and Wednesdays are nice for more serious ones. Photo entries fit well on Thursdays where they can break up the monotonous string of words and add a little color. Finally, Saturdays and Sundays are excellent for when you want to say something, but don't really want anyone to read it.

Entry production dropped off in February due to poor time management. Fortunately, I purchased a book on managing my time better. As soon as I get a chance to read it, you should see a noticeable increase in journal productivity.