District Nine

Today I bought advanced tickets to District 9 for my friends.

It's been a long time since I last went out to the movies, so long that I'm actually racking my brain right now trying to think of the last flick I saw. Star Trek perhaps? Back in May? Hmm...

I suppose so. Well suffice to say that I was well overdue for another movie, and so was pretty glad when I got a call asking me to come out to District 9 with a big group of friends. I think it was actually during the previews for Star Trek when I first heard about District 9, and I remember being fairly intrigued by the premise. Aliens on earth? Over-the-top intergalactic weaponry? Outcast vigilantes on the run? Yes sir, I'd be there with bells on.

The only problem though is that opening night midnight screenings have a tendency to sell out in a matter of minutes, especially when there is this much buzz brewing. But living downtown just a few minutes walk away from the theater, I could easily grab the tickets and save everyone a lot of time. So, that's what I did.

I was actually surprised at how quick I was able to pickup the tickets. I'd half expected there to be a line of people wrapping around the block, doing the exact same thing. But it turned out that I was able to skate down to the theater, pick up nine movie tickets (I said it was a big group!) and then be back in my apartment in less than 10 minutes. Little things like this that seem to just work out always make me very happy. I really don't like wasting time with anything.

And so later we all met up at my house for a few pre-movie drinks and a couple innings of Giants baseball. When it was time to head out to the theatre, we made the our way over in grand entourage style, skipping right past the snaking line of disgrunteled and ticketless bystanders.

All in all it was a great night, and I totally enjoyed the movie. Yes there were some plot holes and yes the cinematography should have come with a prescription of dramamine, but it was fun. And that is why I go see movies.

Office Baller

Today I lent a co-worker my basketball.

Yes, I do keep a basketball at my desk at all times. Although the glory days of my high school junior varsity basketball team are now almost a decade behind me, in the last year or so I have had a semi-successful resurgance as a somewhat reliable point guard in the Google Basketball League. Oh yes, there is a Google Basketball League...

Myself and a few others from Blogger have been on a team now for the last two seasons, and what we lacked in actual talent we more than made up for in (totally unnecessary) intensity. Our first season back in the spring/summer of 2008, we earned our losing record under the team name of Cinco de Guyos, named after our ill-fated attempt at maintaining a 'just-for-fun' team blog. To be completely up-front, we didn't even win one game that season. But to be completely fair, we were also for some reason thrown in to the 'advanced' league which was sort of like McDonald's burger flipper competing on Iron Chef. Though to our credit, we did have the best old school outfits in the league, complete with short-shorts, headbands, and vintage jerseys.

I guess my excuses run out though when it comes to the 2009 season that just finished, as we were in the 'intermediate' league which was a step closer to where we needed to be. We let Cinco de Guyos moniker rest in peace along with our pride from the previous season, and this time went with fairly meaningless Pirates. Suffice to say that we did better this season, but still maintained our losing record. So I s'pose at least one thing about our playing was consistent ;-)

Anyway, some of in the league are trying to keep whatever basketball chops we have in decent shape, so we play every now and then in the off-season. And today a friend from another team asked whether he could borrow my ball to play some 3-on-3, and I was hapy to oblige.

If only karma could come back to me in the form of a better jumpshot...

Karma Deposit

Today I tipped my change at Woodstock's Pizza.

Ever since starting this blog back in June, I've become very keenly aware of tip jars, like some sort of new sixth sense that has developed over time. Admittedly a bit strange, but that's just the reality of how I've subconsciously conditioned myself in the pursuit of good deeds out in the wild. Not the worst side effect in the world, I s'pose...

But I will say that I have developed a connoisseur's level of expertise in tip jar nuance. I've started to notice how different presentations tend to collect more or less money, or how some tongue-in-cheek messages pick at your guilty conscience, or other details such as whether the jar itself is clear and the money inside is visible. All these subtle variations will probably play differently to different people, but one thing I do know is that I've always been a sucker for tip jars with a touch of creative quirk. So when I noticed the Karma Deposit sign on the tip jar at Woodstock's this afternoon, I couldn't help but give it some love.

So after placing my order for two slices of cheese pizza and a soda, I stuffed my change in to the box and snapped a picture. Unfortunately, it came out a bit blurry (as they sometimes do on the fly)...

String Theories

Today I taught a friend how to string their guitar.

Many of the friends that I went to college with here in Santa Cruz have long since moved outta this town to start the next chapter. The truth of the matter is that Santa Cruz has a pretty dismal job market, so if you are looking for a decent job out of school you are pretty much faced with two options: move up to the Bay Area where the jobs are, or commute over the hill to Silicon Valley (I chose option B). But what that does mean is that those of us who've chosen to stick it out here in Santa Cruz are a pretty close bunch.

One of my best friends still around now was actually the very first person I met in California, almost seven years ago during a college visit to UCSC. Recently he decided to pick up the guitar, and while never playing an instrument at any point in his life, figured he'd see how far he gets with it. He has been playing now for a few months, and can crank through an impressive little arsenal of 4-chord-ditties from Bob Marley, the Beatles, and a handful of other artists. But a few days ago, in the inevitable right of passage which all stringed-instrument players will be confronted with, he broke a string.

So this evening when hanging out at his house, I offered to help him re-string his E string after noticing it had popped off. He had already bought an extra pack of strings, so I just walked him through the steps one at a time. Remove the old string. Knot the end of the string and run it through the bridge. Feed the other end of the string through the tuning knobs. Hold the string taught by pulling outwards and then turn the knob until it becomes taught on its own. Slowly tighten the tuning knob and bring the string into tune with a tuner. At least that's how I do it.

Now his guitar is back in action with a brand new string, and he'll be prepared for the inevitable moment when he breaks the next one.

Aloha Festival

Today I bought a hand-made lei at a fundraising festival.

A few months ago I randomly witnessed a fisherman reel in a shark at the end of the pier, and ever since I've been biking down to check out the fishing scene on a somewhat regular basis. Yes, the shark was really just a baby, but it was still quite the visceral rush seeing a freakin' shark being reeled in with a fishing pole and then flail around on the pier.

And so once again, I headed over to the wharf on my bike after running a few other errands downtown. But when I got to the end of the pier, it turned out that there were much more festive things going on besides the off-chance of seeing a fisherman reel in something interesting. Today happened to be the annual Aloha Festival, an event that was new to me and honestly took me quite a while to understand. A stage was set up with musicians playing traditional Hawaiian music, artisans were selling hand-made crafts and other trinkets, and traditional food from all around the Pacific Islands.

After checking out the music for a good half-hour, I took a stroll through the different artisan stands on my way out. Eventually though my eye was caught by a little tent that had a bunch of hand-made leis on display. The stand had a bunch of literature scattered about which, after a few minutes of putting it all together, explained that the artistans making these leis to raise money for a non-profit children's rowing club back in Hawaii. It sounded like a good enough cause for me, so I went ahead and picked up a lei to help them out.

Despite not speaking much English, I could tell the artisans were very much appreciative of my small purchase. I wished them luck, and then headed back down the pier with the lei around my neck.

Sixty Miles

Today I sponsored a friend's 60-mile walk for breast cancer.

About two years ago I lived in the west side of Santa Cruz, in a house that happened to be across the street from another Google employee who was working in the same building as I was. We used to carpool together almost everyday, and would get up early and leave Santa Cruz between 6:00-6:30am to head up to Mountain View. At that time in the morning, there was no traffic at all, and we could zip to work in 35 minutes on a good day. We'd get to work early, leave early, and be home with plenty hours of daylight to play with.

It was a nice little routine, but lasted only about six months as my friend eventually transferred to the San Francisco office and moved out of Santa Cruz. Ever since then, I've been living the bus life. My friend is happy in her new digs though, and although we haven't stayed in touch as much as I'd like, she will come down to the Mountain View campus for work stuff every now and then and we can catch up.

Anyway, I got an email from her yesterday about a charity event she was participating in, and it sounded like such a good cause that I went ahead and sponsored her on her website. Over the course of a long weekend, she will be walking 60 miles all throughout San Francisco in support of Susan G Komen for the Cure. Funky costumes, live music, cruising around the city, and all for a good cause—that's something I can get behind.

She better double-up on the socks though, or she will find herself in a world of blisters after the first day ;-)

Sweeping Complex

Today I swept the sidewalk in front of my apartment complex.

In many ways my apartment feels more like a house than it does an actual apartment; it is on the ground floor right along a neighborhood street, has brick siding, is somewhat disconnected and doesn't share any walls with anyone else, has a front patio area & side yard, and has a nice paved entrance way that connects with the sidewalk. I've got neighbors above me so I do have to put up with the occasional footstep-induced ceiling creaks, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with the place.

And similarly to homeowners, sometimes I'll get a bit domestic and clean up the front area so it looks a bit more presentable to anyone walking by. Now there isn't a whole lot of space to worry about, so a few minutes of quality time with the broom can make a big difference. The main thing that tends to build-up outside are these little thin 'cones' that fall off the many pine trees that surround the complex (see picture).



I wish I knew what these little guys were called (other than 'annoying'), but alas I couldn't come up with much after poking around online. So if any of you guys happen to be tree experts, I'd very much love to know!

But after fifteen minutes of sweeping, the sidewalk was rid of all this debris, as well as the path to my doorstep. The difference was pretty noticeable, and it felt nice to have the front cleaned up. The next domestic thing that needs to be done is cutting back some of the ivy that is slowly overtaking all of the pathways in the front.


Although I'd have to get my hands on a weed-wacker for that one, which realistically means that this probably will never happen. Oh well, one thing at a time right?