Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
home for the holidays
Happy Holidays all -- I'm home in Oregon until the 30th. Rainy up here!
I brought my laptop but I unfortunately forgot my power cord...not good. I'm gonna have to scramble to find one as I actually need to do a little work on this work computer during my time up here, which stinks but it is what it is. I knew I was forgetting something when I packed in 1.5 minutes total.
I brought my laptop but I unfortunately forgot my power cord...not good. I'm gonna have to scramble to find one as I actually need to do a little work on this work computer during my time up here, which stinks but it is what it is. I knew I was forgetting something when I packed in 1.5 minutes total.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
morning drive
Surf no good this morning. Very no good...not even worth getting in the water no good. And I usually get in the water when I've woken up at 6 am and driven 50 minutes for it. Anyways wind was blowing pretty hard on shore, and was a jumbly mess. I wasn't expecting it to be good at all but needed to do a little first-hand research into it, marking this down for future reference...I've learned a lot about what buoys and period and readings mean, but until you see what those readings translate into in terms of actual surf at the actual spot, they don't mean a whole lot. I'm gaining that second part of the equation now.
-spot: Linda Mar and all HMB/San Mateo breaks
-swell 6 ft holding
-period 13 sec increasing
-wind 14 Kt from S(180) Gust: 16 Kt
-plus probably most notable for this morning's suckage: high tide 6:24 AM 6.30 ft (that is a pretty high high, right around when I wanted to go out. It might actually be surfable now on the lower tide, but probably not.)
Thanks to Stokemaster for the readings. This morning Santa Cruz woulda been the right direction, shoulda gone that way instead of north. SC is a great place.
On that note, had a good morning session at the Hook yesterday. How's this for lazy (or is it efficient?)...instead of walking the maybe half mile to the Hook from home, I packed up my car with two boards and drove to the parking lot. I suited up in the lot, surfed, showered in the public shower, loaded the car and came straight to work. While this may strike you as very lazy, it was actually much more efficient...plus it allowed me to take 2 boards and pick the one I wanted once I saw the conditions and how many people were out. And it saves me the (slightly less than) 7 minute or so walk back and forth, plus the additional delay time swinging by home inevitably adds on. What I really need though is a bike w/ a rack, that'd definitely be ideal, high on the list. Internet would be good to have over there too -- could go online to just check in and make sure I wasn't missing any work stuff before making the drive. Will get to that in '08.
-spot: Linda Mar and all HMB/San Mateo breaks
-swell 6 ft holding
-period 13 sec increasing
-wind 14 Kt from S(180) Gust: 16 Kt
-plus probably most notable for this morning's suckage: high tide 6:24 AM 6.30 ft (that is a pretty high high, right around when I wanted to go out. It might actually be surfable now on the lower tide, but probably not.)
Thanks to Stokemaster for the readings. This morning Santa Cruz woulda been the right direction, shoulda gone that way instead of north. SC is a great place.
On that note, had a good morning session at the Hook yesterday. How's this for lazy (or is it efficient?)...instead of walking the maybe half mile to the Hook from home, I packed up my car with two boards and drove to the parking lot. I suited up in the lot, surfed, showered in the public shower, loaded the car and came straight to work. While this may strike you as very lazy, it was actually much more efficient...plus it allowed me to take 2 boards and pick the one I wanted once I saw the conditions and how many people were out. And it saves me the (slightly less than) 7 minute or so walk back and forth, plus the additional delay time swinging by home inevitably adds on. What I really need though is a bike w/ a rack, that'd definitely be ideal, high on the list. Internet would be good to have over there too -- could go online to just check in and make sure I wasn't missing any work stuff before making the drive. Will get to that in '08.
Rip City
For those who aren't enlightened, the Blazers have won 9 straight. Yes, those Blazers, the Portland Trailblazers...NBA...red and black...far too many people still associate today's revamped Blazers with the Jail Blazers or old...this is a completely different team. The youngest in the NBA in fact I think, and seems like they've got some quality character guys who can actually play a bit too. If they keep this up, and with Oden next year, it's becoming real fun being a Blazers fan again.
I thought this little clip from last night's win against the Raptors was worthy of a Horace post. Kind of reminds me of myself. :) Enjoy.
I thought this little clip from last night's win against the Raptors was worthy of a Horace post. Kind of reminds me of myself. :) Enjoy.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Free Rice
Going back to prior word-of-the-day posts -- this is definitely worth a look. FreeRice.com -- online site where you do multiple choice meaning of words, for each one you get correct they'll donate 20 grains of rice through the UN towards world hunger. It's fast, easy, and fun, and there are a lot of good words there. Multiple choice is kind of entertaining, good for the brain. Plus it's doing something good for the world! What's not to like.
I donated 1,000 grains of rice (with vocab level of 32, best level 36) before losing interest, deciding to post it here, and doing a little more actual work.
I donated 1,000 grains of rice (with vocab level of 32, best level 36) before losing interest, deciding to post it here, and doing a little more actual work.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Wave Machine
Last night after a quick visit downtown, we drove by West Cliff to see what was happening over there. Steamer Lane was going off, wave factory. Pretty awesome sight, fun to stand and watch. Tourist style, took a few pictures and had a guy take one of Selin and me also:
Update: As is always the case, if you ever want to see (lots) more of my photos than the select few I usually post here, I put them all up online on my Picasa web album (here or check the linky linky list on the right margin). Now ya know...but don't say you weren't warned...I take a LOT of photos!
Update: As is always the case, if you ever want to see (lots) more of my photos than the select few I usually post here, I put them all up online on my Picasa web album (here or check the linky linky list on the right margin). Now ya know...but don't say you weren't warned...I take a LOT of photos!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
water photog
Took the new digicam out in the water today, it worked great! Waterproof little 7.1 megapixel camera, fun stuff. Tried to get some action shots of my coworker Eddy the Dubliner but the dang bloke didn't catch any waves...camera shy I guess. Haha -- but got a lot of shots of him paddling. Here's a couple:
Definitely got to give Eddy credit for having a good spirit about things. Nice guy, super stoked on the morning dawn patrol prework surf sessions. For him in Ireland, it's a several hour weekend trip to the coast where they catch some even colder Irish waves...washed down w/ a nice Guinness after though...not too bad. (although it would help if I actually liked Guinness).
Monday, December 10, 2007
surfboard shuffle
Should've brought a board or 2 with me back from Santa Cruz this weekend. But I didn't. Now I have no board here in Mt View and would probably go to Linda Mar tomorrow. Gotta get this board situation straightened out here, I've been in a bit of a quandary since hawaii when I brought a bunch over to Mt View and then took them all back to SC.
weekend surf recap 5
While fresh in my mind and before I get back to my work to-do list, here's the weekend write-up.
Saturday Dec 8: We had our company holiday party on Friday night, so we stayed in Mt View Friday. Holiday party was fun, great company. On Saturday we woke up and drove to SF and did a little shopping. Went to this one store Selin likes called Jeremy's and then to H&M and used a 25% off coupon Selin had gotten her hands on. I got a new shirt and a new polo shirt. Then we cruised on down 280 to 17 to Santa Cruz for the afternoon. I really like the bay area, it is such an amazing, sunny place, with so much to do. Surf is pretty small this weekend, so I used the 6'2 fish out at the Hook from about 3:30 til past dark. It gets dark early now! Surf was pretty fun out there though I must say. A bit crowded especially at the start, but I was able to hold my own and catch my fair share of waves. The real good surfers weren't out, more a mix of middle-range guys like me and one or two good guys, and then beginners. Hook is really a fun wave, it's fast enough to give you some punch but if you catch a good one it holds its shape really well and gives you a nice little wall to try and work with...I'm working on doing something w/ that wall instead of just cruising along it. Got a few quick turns and one nice off the lip that I remember. So I stayed out until the sun was completely down and it was just me and one other guy. The surf really started coming in then too...in the last 15 minutes I must've caught 8 waves or so, good ones too as the last remnants of sunshine were going away over the horizon. It was a COLD walk back home though -- sure seemed a lot longer on the way back, dripping, wet, shivering in my wetsuit then it did on the way there. Got in the shower and my hands and feet were bright red and numb, and really hurt a lot in the contrasting hot shower water. 15 minutes later they had recovered, no frostbite, no amputated appendages.
Sunday Dec 9: Surf had gotten smaller. I went for a long walk in the morning and checked most of the east side spots. Was nice and sunny and cold outside. High tide. Found some nooks and crannies I'll have to add to the spotcheck list. Wound up driving north in the afternoon, in the ongoing quest to surf more spots I decided to hit 3 mile. Parked and did the long walk in. Carried my wetsuit in the wetsuit bin and changed on the rocks, left the bin behind on the rocks in an easily visible place. It was too sunny to change out on the road by the car. Pretty spot there at 3 mile. The surf actually breaks at a point far from the beach, and you access it by walking even further and then scrambling down some rocks. Absolutely beautiful beach and coast area. As for surf was bigger than expected and real bumpy. I took the 6'2 fish again, should've taken something else...as it was just pretty bumpy for me on that little thing. I wasn't really feeling it so only caught 2 waves and came in. Sat in the sun for a bit and then made the hike back out and home.
Weekends are always over way too fast.
Saturday Dec 8: We had our company holiday party on Friday night, so we stayed in Mt View Friday. Holiday party was fun, great company. On Saturday we woke up and drove to SF and did a little shopping. Went to this one store Selin likes called Jeremy's and then to H&M and used a 25% off coupon Selin had gotten her hands on. I got a new shirt and a new polo shirt. Then we cruised on down 280 to 17 to Santa Cruz for the afternoon. I really like the bay area, it is such an amazing, sunny place, with so much to do. Surf is pretty small this weekend, so I used the 6'2 fish out at the Hook from about 3:30 til past dark. It gets dark early now! Surf was pretty fun out there though I must say. A bit crowded especially at the start, but I was able to hold my own and catch my fair share of waves. The real good surfers weren't out, more a mix of middle-range guys like me and one or two good guys, and then beginners. Hook is really a fun wave, it's fast enough to give you some punch but if you catch a good one it holds its shape really well and gives you a nice little wall to try and work with...I'm working on doing something w/ that wall instead of just cruising along it. Got a few quick turns and one nice off the lip that I remember. So I stayed out until the sun was completely down and it was just me and one other guy. The surf really started coming in then too...in the last 15 minutes I must've caught 8 waves or so, good ones too as the last remnants of sunshine were going away over the horizon. It was a COLD walk back home though -- sure seemed a lot longer on the way back, dripping, wet, shivering in my wetsuit then it did on the way there. Got in the shower and my hands and feet were bright red and numb, and really hurt a lot in the contrasting hot shower water. 15 minutes later they had recovered, no frostbite, no amputated appendages.
Sunday Dec 9: Surf had gotten smaller. I went for a long walk in the morning and checked most of the east side spots. Was nice and sunny and cold outside. High tide. Found some nooks and crannies I'll have to add to the spotcheck list. Wound up driving north in the afternoon, in the ongoing quest to surf more spots I decided to hit 3 mile. Parked and did the long walk in. Carried my wetsuit in the wetsuit bin and changed on the rocks, left the bin behind on the rocks in an easily visible place. It was too sunny to change out on the road by the car. Pretty spot there at 3 mile. The surf actually breaks at a point far from the beach, and you access it by walking even further and then scrambling down some rocks. Absolutely beautiful beach and coast area. As for surf was bigger than expected and real bumpy. I took the 6'2 fish again, should've taken something else...as it was just pretty bumpy for me on that little thing. I wasn't really feeling it so only caught 2 waves and came in. Sat in the sun for a bit and then made the hike back out and home.
Weekends are always over way too fast.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Analyzing Horace
So I track this silly blog with Google Analytics, which is free btw and does some pretty amazing stuff. Aside from boredom, Google Analytics is probably one of the main driving forces to keep updating...as I'm able to see what people are looking at, how many visits, how long they stay on pages, where they're coming from, all sorts of stuff that is just sort of interesting. Now keep in mind that Horace is no big deal out there on the internets, we're talking about 10 visits a day, but it's still fun to look at these sort of things.
Late last week Manabu at Stokemaster.com made Horace the featured blog on his site, and I'm up there prominently in the upper right hand corner. Stokemaster is a much bigger deal than Horace so he has way way more visitors, of which 13 have checked out the featured blog and had a quick look at my site. Not too shabby, thanks Stokemaster! (although 72% of them bounce, meaning they don't look at any page other than the landing page. But that's a bit misleading as there's a lot of content on a typical blogs landing page).
Other interesting tidbits:
Late last week Manabu at Stokemaster.com made Horace the featured blog on his site, and I'm up there prominently in the upper right hand corner. Stokemaster is a much bigger deal than Horace so he has way way more visitors, of which 13 have checked out the featured blog and had a quick look at my site. Not too shabby, thanks Stokemaster! (although 72% of them bounce, meaning they don't look at any page other than the landing page. But that's a bit misleading as there's a lot of content on a typical blogs landing page).
Other interesting tidbits:
- somehow, I'm the #3 Google result on 'Santa Cruz wave cam.' pretty impressive.
- I've had 17 visits from the keywords "call it friendo" (11), "friendo" (4), and "call it friend-o" (2)...all of which are from my one post about the movie 'No Country for Old Men.' That's more than 50% of my total search engine traffic to date, popular post!
- Sunday Dec 2 was my all time high on daily visitors. Fifteen! (I probably visited my page a lot that day.)
- 70% of my visitors use Firefox, 23% IE, 7% Safari
- I've had visitors from the US, Canada, unknown, Germany, and the UK
- I need to get back to work
Lunchtime
So work has been keeping me extra busy these past few weeks. Holidays -- radio advertising -- crunch time. All that means lots of work for me. And not many Horace posts.
But of course surfing still has to get fit in there...so I've kept time free for that. Yesterday Paul and I (coworker) tackled Santa Cruz on one of the biggest days of the year. Heck of an experience, wow. I'll write more but now is time for lunch. This morning things were back to normal size so Eddy (another coworker, from Dublin) and I went out at Linda Mar. Fun, he's an amiable chap.
Lunch now with Ridhima, our ambassador from India! (just thought I'd throw that in there -- surfing with Ireland lunch with India, so international)
But of course surfing still has to get fit in there...so I've kept time free for that. Yesterday Paul and I (coworker) tackled Santa Cruz on one of the biggest days of the year. Heck of an experience, wow. I'll write more but now is time for lunch. This morning things were back to normal size so Eddy (another coworker, from Dublin) and I went out at Linda Mar. Fun, he's an amiable chap.
Lunch now with Ridhima, our ambassador from India! (just thought I'd throw that in there -- surfing with Ireland lunch with India, so international)
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
sleepytime
On the fly shift in research material this morning, from stormy ocean conditions to comfy pillow softness. 6 am alarm went off, was dark, cold, and raining, so stayed in bed. From what I gather on the internets it was the right call, norcal ocean seems a bit of a mess right now. Tomorrow it is.
Monday, December 3, 2007
weekend surf
weekend surf update time.
Saturday - uninspiring longboard session at 38th. Pretty small and not that consistent. Neither lefts nor rights that great, but I mostly took lefts. Should've gone leashless.
Sunday - wind was a blowin but made the most of it and hit up Rockaway from about 3 to 5. Definitely the best bet around that area. Linda Mar packed like sardines and small, Montara empty and blown out, Rockaway about 10-15 guys on the northern end getting some good ones. Surfed my 8'10 vernor. Contemplated between it and the 6'9 leaf but longboard was the right call. Got some great waves! As said before I can go left about 3x better than right. So I got some good walled up lefts, flyin' on those! Definitely a pleasant surprise out there to get such a good session in, wasn't expecting to get much on the drive over. New wetsuit is a toaster oven, not even the faintest bit of shivering out there and the water is icy cold now, and the wind was blowing frosty too. xcel 5/4/3 w/ built in hood. hot.
tomorrow supposed to be huge victory at sea out there. I'm in Mt View tonight so I'll head to Linda Mar tomorrow morning and see if there's any possibility of any sort of waves in that type of condition -- nothing like a little first hand research.
Saturday - uninspiring longboard session at 38th. Pretty small and not that consistent. Neither lefts nor rights that great, but I mostly took lefts. Should've gone leashless.
Sunday - wind was a blowin but made the most of it and hit up Rockaway from about 3 to 5. Definitely the best bet around that area. Linda Mar packed like sardines and small, Montara empty and blown out, Rockaway about 10-15 guys on the northern end getting some good ones. Surfed my 8'10 vernor. Contemplated between it and the 6'9 leaf but longboard was the right call. Got some great waves! As said before I can go left about 3x better than right. So I got some good walled up lefts, flyin' on those! Definitely a pleasant surprise out there to get such a good session in, wasn't expecting to get much on the drive over. New wetsuit is a toaster oven, not even the faintest bit of shivering out there and the water is icy cold now, and the wind was blowing frosty too. xcel 5/4/3 w/ built in hood. hot.
tomorrow supposed to be huge victory at sea out there. I'm in Mt View tonight so I'll head to Linda Mar tomorrow morning and see if there's any possibility of any sort of waves in that type of condition -- nothing like a little first hand research.
Friday, November 30, 2007
cable companies
You know what is annoying is when cable companies decide to just cut perfectly good wiring. Now they have to come back and charge me extra AND worst of all string up yet another eyesore wire from the telephone pole across the skyline running into my studio. This is if I want to get internet and cable TV.
Why whyWhy why Why? It was good the way it was. Now i gotta have another ugly wire ruining my pretty blue sky. At this rate, it's just a matter of time before my skyline looks like this:
Jaipur, India after Comcast was thru with 'em
Why whyWhy why Why? It was good the way it was. Now i gotta have another ugly wire ruining my pretty blue sky. At this rate, it's just a matter of time before my skyline looks like this:
Jaipur, India after Comcast was thru with 'emLinda Marginal
morning surf at Linda Mar this AM. Was planning to meet a guy and possibly buy a surfboard from him, but I was running late in the morning and then didn't find him, and I forgot to bring his phone # to call him back. But oh well. I was on the fence about the board anyways. Anacapa Glider 6'6 20'' x 2 3/4''. I definitely want a board with some volume but that might almost be too much. Probably not though, maybe I'll try to meet him again on Saturday. $250 for it, been used 3 times. Pretty good deal. Although I was more excited about it before I researched Anacapa a bit and fuond out they're foreign pop-outs, not nearly as cool as supporting your local USA shaper. Bit of a debate amongst the surf populace about those foreign made boards and how folks feel about them. I'm probably more on the side of it's OK, there will continue to be a market for US made local shapers even w/ these foreign ones coming in at a lower price...
Anyways surf kind of sucked. Pretty mixed up out there. Still tried to make the most of it, took a few closeout beatings, caught 2 waves that were decent that I managed to actually get a bit of a ride on, and got some exercise, so a good morning. Nice, cold, but sunny. New wetsuit is TOASTY, oh yeah I got a 5/4/3 XCel with a built in hood on Tuesday night off Craigslist from a guy in Santa Cruz. It had only been used a couple times. $80. Now that is a deal.
But then I got a speeding ticket on my drive back, so, I actually came out about even (or probably in the red once my insurance company is done with me). Bleh!!! I was going 73 mph in a 65 and I got a ticket. How crazy is that???? There was NO traffic either. Ridiculous, worst luck ever.
Tonight poker tournament at Zac's. Will have 11 guys or so! I'll try to continue my winning streak, I'm 2 for 2. Took down Joel's Turkey Tourney over Thanksgiving and came up the biggest last time we played at Zac's as well. I was happy w/ TUrkey tourney game, felt I played well and made some good reads. Will try to keep that going.
Anyways surf kind of sucked. Pretty mixed up out there. Still tried to make the most of it, took a few closeout beatings, caught 2 waves that were decent that I managed to actually get a bit of a ride on, and got some exercise, so a good morning. Nice, cold, but sunny. New wetsuit is TOASTY, oh yeah I got a 5/4/3 XCel with a built in hood on Tuesday night off Craigslist from a guy in Santa Cruz. It had only been used a couple times. $80. Now that is a deal.
But then I got a speeding ticket on my drive back, so, I actually came out about even (or probably in the red once my insurance company is done with me). Bleh!!! I was going 73 mph in a 65 and I got a ticket. How crazy is that???? There was NO traffic either. Ridiculous, worst luck ever.
Tonight poker tournament at Zac's. Will have 11 guys or so! I'll try to continue my winning streak, I'm 2 for 2. Took down Joel's Turkey Tourney over Thanksgiving and came up the biggest last time we played at Zac's as well. I was happy w/ TUrkey tourney game, felt I played well and made some good reads. Will try to keep that going.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
gettin' busy
Been extra busy at work this week! Very little time for Horace posts.
I did surf yesterday morning at Linda Mar. With a fellow Googler, Paul. He was a really nice guy and I enjoyed meeting him, surfs very good as well (grew up in San Diego, went to UCSC), so I'll probably surf w/ him again. Good stuff.
I did surf yesterday morning at Linda Mar. With a fellow Googler, Paul. He was a really nice guy and I enjoyed meeting him, surfs very good as well (grew up in San Diego, went to UCSC), so I'll probably surf w/ him again. Good stuff.
Friday, November 23, 2007
turkey
It's a beautiful cold but sunny day here at home w/ the family in Orygun. Yesterday we had Bun & Papa over and had some turkey, our big entire family gathering will be tomorrow, but this was a good warmup. As is tradition we made turkey cookies. Good to be home, missed the festivities last year in India.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
dawn patrol
Fun Linda Mar session this morning. Decided to dust off the old Randy French surftech, more commonly referred to as "the leaf" due to it's leaflike deck color, and see what I can do. I can't say I was extremely wasn't thrilled with my results, but it often takes a session to get used to a board I haven't used in a while. That board is kind of an odd shape though, it has this huge center fin on it and it seems a bit narrow throughout. I will check the exact dimensions soon as now I'm curious, if it's the board or just me. Will update soon.
Anyways was out there from 7:15 to about 9, in to the office by 9:45 -- if only traffic could always be that light. If you weren't already aware, there was a big oil spill in SF a few weeks ago...beaches have been closed and there's been a lot of news about it, it is a pretty big deal after all. But fortunately the beaches are now open again and the water seems safe. I'm doing OK still at least, haven't passed out at my desk. And there were probably 40 or so other guys out there as well. As for the surf, it was pretty good Linda Mar conditions, kind of a lot of closeouts but good quick waves if you can make 'em. I make some and miss some. It's good to have some wipeouts though, Santa Cruz waves tend to be just so nice I don't wipeout often...taking it too easy. Challenging the faster steeper closing-outier waves is good for me.
So there is a guy who takes pictures at Linda Mar a lot and posts them on his site: http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/store.aspx?p=32347. He was there this morning and took a lot of photos, but unfortunately none of me. I must've been going too fast. Because he did manage to catch this guy who was falling and flailing all over the place near where I was for a while...next time I'll make sure to surf right in front of the photographer so I can get famous also. :)
Headin' home for Thanksgiving tomorrow morning, looking forward to it!
Anyways was out there from 7:15 to about 9, in to the office by 9:45 -- if only traffic could always be that light. If you weren't already aware, there was a big oil spill in SF a few weeks ago...beaches have been closed and there's been a lot of news about it, it is a pretty big deal after all. But fortunately the beaches are now open again and the water seems safe. I'm doing OK still at least, haven't passed out at my desk. And there were probably 40 or so other guys out there as well. As for the surf, it was pretty good Linda Mar conditions, kind of a lot of closeouts but good quick waves if you can make 'em. I make some and miss some. It's good to have some wipeouts though, Santa Cruz waves tend to be just so nice I don't wipeout often...taking it too easy. Challenging the faster steeper closing-outier waves is good for me.
So there is a guy who takes pictures at Linda Mar a lot and posts them on his site: http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/store.aspx?p=32347. He was there this morning and took a lot of photos, but unfortunately none of me. I must've been going too fast. Because he did manage to catch this guy who was falling and flailing all over the place near where I was for a while...next time I'll make sure to surf right in front of the photographer so I can get famous also. :)
Headin' home for Thanksgiving tomorrow morning, looking forward to it!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
"call it, friendo"
Good movie (No Country for Old Men). Talking to Zac about it now.
Zac and my IM conversation:
me: call it, friendo
Zac: haha
Zac and my IM conversation:
me: call it, friendo
that guy is the ultimate bad ass, but he's also lame because he kills everybody
haha selin and I watched that movie in Santa Cruz Saturday. sold out theater. 50ish or so woman in the seat next to me would let out a scream about every 15 minutes
Sent at 5:56 PM on Tuesday
Zac: haha
no movie for old women
Clever, Zac.
Clever, Zac.
Wavecam
Wavewatch.com has pretty much the best surf check webcams I've come across. They're free, they don't have ads on them, and you can move them around and zoom in and stuff. I've managed to deduce exactly where the Pleasure Point webcam is, so it gives me a pretty good indication of what is going on outside my front door when I'm sadly stuck in the office in Mountain View.
Unfortunately, thousands of other people seem to share my same sentiments. Wavewatch ranks the webcams daily by number of visitors, and good ol' Pleasure Point is consistently the #1 visited webcam. Very consistently in fact, almost always. And keep in mind they've got a lot of webcams aimed at some pretty primo spots: Steamer Lane. Malibu. Huntington Beach. Oceanside. Head over to Hawaii: Pipeline. Sunset. Even some east coast spots. So that just goes to show you how popular Pleasure Point is of a surf spot amongst the webcam checking masses. It's probably the #1 destination for valley surfers heading over the hill. Which is OK -- I was one of them for a long time and in most respects I still am -- but it certainly does make for some crowded lineups.
Unfortunately, thousands of other people seem to share my same sentiments. Wavewatch ranks the webcams daily by number of visitors, and good ol' Pleasure Point is consistently the #1 visited webcam. Very consistently in fact, almost always. And keep in mind they've got a lot of webcams aimed at some pretty primo spots: Steamer Lane. Malibu. Huntington Beach. Oceanside. Head over to Hawaii: Pipeline. Sunset. Even some east coast spots. So that just goes to show you how popular Pleasure Point is of a surf spot amongst the webcam checking masses. It's probably the #1 destination for valley surfers heading over the hill. Which is OK -- I was one of them for a long time and in most respects I still am -- but it certainly does make for some crowded lineups.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Weekend surf
Great Santa Cruz surf weekend.
Saturday: firing, big out there. I went out at PP and managed to pick off some good long ones out there around 2nd peak area. It was definitely crowded though, and not just any old ordinary crowd...there were some rippahs on it. Dang these guys are good, throwing buckets of spray all over the place. It's cool to see that up close and personal, but man I really wish I could have some of those waves to throw my teaspoons of spray on. But just watching those guys is educational. I saw some really good cranking bottom turns, it's fun to watch and see these guys setting up for those as you're paddling over the shoulder of the wave, knowing you're about to get splashed as they come out of that bottom turn and tear the top off the lip of the wave behind you. So, most of the really good waves are already taken, but, there are often waves that some of the more courteous sharing rippahs will pull out of as it gets to 2nd peak area, which if you're paying attention, you can pick off. Or, sometimes a guy will crank that cutback a bit too hard and bury a rail or something, giving another pick-off opportunity for those watching closely. So that's what I did, picked up the scraps and also sat a bit further in, where I could still get some good ones that were breaking wider than 1st peak. I surfed the Kingfish, which is a good board out there. If it wasn't so crowded I'd surf my fish or something smaller out there next time...but man it really is crowded. Just catching a wave is hard enough, but it's not over there, once you're on it get ready for some bobbing and weaving to avoid any collisions. Most guys can get out of your way but I wouldn't want to be coming at 'em out of control. All that being said though I did catch a lot of waves, and I'm getting better. Trying to carry over some of my up close observations to my own surfing. Note that it would be WAY easier if just some of these classic spots were LEFTS, so I could surf them frontside which despite probably having about half the experience on I can probably surf a left twice as good as a backside right. Why can't there be good lefts in Santa Cruz? Life just isn't fair sometimes.
So I had my fun out at Pleasure Point. Stokemaster reports indicate Steamers was even bigger, middle peak pumping out some bombs. I'm sure good fun could also have been had out there around Indicators too, but then that would require driving 10 minutes across town.
Sunday: Swell dropped but still plenty of energy out there. To lose some of the crowds and hopefully get some punchier (uncrowded) waves, I packed up Selin's car (we were driving it this weekend) with my 6'2 fish and headed north. Went all the way to Wadell. But it was so foggy up there I couldn't even barely see the waves from standing on the beach, and while I was looking for uncrowded this looked practically empty, so I turned back around and headed back to civilization. Stopped in at Pearson Arrow shop and got a free Surfing magazine (last month's -- they'll often give them away, awesome). From there I headed over to Natural Bridges. Not much happening there so I drove a bit further down West Cliff and saw a couple guys out at one of those numerous little coves so I decided why not, surf was looking fun head high or so and it wasn't crowded, and I could surf a new spot. So I parked, suited up, and scrambled down the rocks. Next time I'll probably take a different route, what I did worked but it wasn't the easiest way down (watching from the water I saw other guys taking the easier route, next time I'll follow them). Session was great! These are the little spots I would never surf a few years ago -- my surfing has progressed a long ways from then. Im pretty confident about handling myself in most conditions -- ask me this again in a few months when winter really gets here -- but I feel comfortable about not getting myself in too much trouble out there in the ocean. I'm cognizant of what is going on and what is too much for me. But I still just really dont like mixing it up with those crowds of shortboarders, jockeying for position and making real tight take offs. It all comes to more confidence, I'll get it, but I think most anybody would agree with me, aggro crowds are no fun. Anyways back to the surf...I got some good, fast, fun waves at a new spot, on my little board, which I surf better every time I'm on it -- Kauai was good practice. AGAIN, rights, but what are ya gonna do. Highlight: I got barreled...sort of. Well, I definitely got barreled. I just didn't make it out. That still counts right? It was awesome. I pulled in to this real quick wave, pigdogging it, and it was like what is going on and there was all this water around me, yet I was still sliding sideways down the face of the wave towards light, mind you i'm practically crouching on my board as this is far from a stand up barrel or anything even close to that, but the sensation was there...water dumping all around me but I'm still moving out of it...until it picked me up and rolled me over completely. Awesome moment though, I was pretty pumped! Nobody saw it to confirm how sweet it really was, but, I'll always have the memory. And now it is forever immortalized here on Horace. Which is what Horace is all about! Memories.
Other things. Guys were nice to me out there. When it was most crowded there were maybe 12 guys or so out. As I do mostly given my semi-grom status (I'm old, but not old in surfing years. Not compared to these guys who were born in the water) I sat mostly furthest inside and picked off the scraps. Still get good waves, but not the crown jewels. But the crowd thinned out, and by the end of my session it was just me and I think 3 other guys or so, and they were really nice. I moved further out and they were yelling me into waves if they weren't going to catch them or if they were too deep, making chit chat with me, thanking me when I didn't drop in on a wave that was debateable if the guy was going to make a section or not (he did)...that kind of stuff. I felt so accepted! It was nice, progressing in both my surfing and my social surfer status on the surfer totem pole.
So I surfed for maybe about 2 hours. Went home and Selin and I headed to the flea market, which, sadly, will be coming to an end after Thanksgiving. A hospital or something bought the property (which is also a drive-in movie theater at night) and is going to make it a maternity ward or something I think. Not like we went to the flea market that often, but it's sort of sad, but a maternity ward is good to have too I suppose. We were hunting for TV rabbit ears so I can pick up the broadcast TV channels at home, now that my cable was disconnected. We found what we were looking for plus a new frisbee. In fact we actually found more of what we were looking for -- first found a broken pair of traditional rabbit ears, cost $1. Frisbee, cost 2$. Then we found another TV antenna which we also bought, $2. THEN we found the mother lode of antennas, but as I'd already bought 2, I couldn't buy another. And he really wasn't interested in trading my 2 for one of his, he got annoyed and said he had enough already. It was closing time after all. But oh well the little $1 rabbit ears worked pretty good once we got home, I get about 4 channels now! Caught the end of the 49ers game at home, they sure do stink. And choosing to kick that field goal at the end of the game? What the hey? Down 7 what good does a field goal do you? Not like there's anything to lose, Nolan should get some balls and go for it. He should also never punt again while he's at it, I mean it can't get much worse for you can it? At least do something entertaining!!
After 49ers debacle I took Kingfish back out for an afternoon/evening session, 2nd peak. Caught some more fun ones, crowd was down a lot from Saturday. Not so many rippahs, I can catch a lot more waves . Good stuff, paddled in as sun was going down.
Great Santa Cruz surf weekend.
Saturday: firing, big out there. I went out at PP and managed to pick off some good long ones out there around 2nd peak area. It was definitely crowded though, and not just any old ordinary crowd...there were some rippahs on it. Dang these guys are good, throwing buckets of spray all over the place. It's cool to see that up close and personal, but man I really wish I could have some of those waves to throw my teaspoons of spray on. But just watching those guys is educational. I saw some really good cranking bottom turns, it's fun to watch and see these guys setting up for those as you're paddling over the shoulder of the wave, knowing you're about to get splashed as they come out of that bottom turn and tear the top off the lip of the wave behind you. So, most of the really good waves are already taken, but, there are often waves that some of the more courteous sharing rippahs will pull out of as it gets to 2nd peak area, which if you're paying attention, you can pick off. Or, sometimes a guy will crank that cutback a bit too hard and bury a rail or something, giving another pick-off opportunity for those watching closely. So that's what I did, picked up the scraps and also sat a bit further in, where I could still get some good ones that were breaking wider than 1st peak. I surfed the Kingfish, which is a good board out there. If it wasn't so crowded I'd surf my fish or something smaller out there next time...but man it really is crowded. Just catching a wave is hard enough, but it's not over there, once you're on it get ready for some bobbing and weaving to avoid any collisions. Most guys can get out of your way but I wouldn't want to be coming at 'em out of control. All that being said though I did catch a lot of waves, and I'm getting better. Trying to carry over some of my up close observations to my own surfing. Note that it would be WAY easier if just some of these classic spots were LEFTS, so I could surf them frontside which despite probably having about half the experience on I can probably surf a left twice as good as a backside right. Why can't there be good lefts in Santa Cruz? Life just isn't fair sometimes.
So I had my fun out at Pleasure Point. Stokemaster reports indicate Steamers was even bigger, middle peak pumping out some bombs. I'm sure good fun could also have been had out there around Indicators too, but then that would require driving 10 minutes across town.
Sunday: Swell dropped but still plenty of energy out there. To lose some of the crowds and hopefully get some punchier (uncrowded) waves, I packed up Selin's car (we were driving it this weekend) with my 6'2 fish and headed north. Went all the way to Wadell. But it was so foggy up there I couldn't even barely see the waves from standing on the beach, and while I was looking for uncrowded this looked practically empty, so I turned back around and headed back to civilization. Stopped in at Pearson Arrow shop and got a free Surfing magazine (last month's -- they'll often give them away, awesome). From there I headed over to Natural Bridges. Not much happening there so I drove a bit further down West Cliff and saw a couple guys out at one of those numerous little coves so I decided why not, surf was looking fun head high or so and it wasn't crowded, and I could surf a new spot. So I parked, suited up, and scrambled down the rocks. Next time I'll probably take a different route, what I did worked but it wasn't the easiest way down (watching from the water I saw other guys taking the easier route, next time I'll follow them). Session was great! These are the little spots I would never surf a few years ago -- my surfing has progressed a long ways from then. Im pretty confident about handling myself in most conditions -- ask me this again in a few months when winter really gets here -- but I feel comfortable about not getting myself in too much trouble out there in the ocean. I'm cognizant of what is going on and what is too much for me. But I still just really dont like mixing it up with those crowds of shortboarders, jockeying for position and making real tight take offs. It all comes to more confidence, I'll get it, but I think most anybody would agree with me, aggro crowds are no fun. Anyways back to the surf...I got some good, fast, fun waves at a new spot, on my little board, which I surf better every time I'm on it -- Kauai was good practice. AGAIN, rights, but what are ya gonna do. Highlight: I got barreled...sort of. Well, I definitely got barreled. I just didn't make it out. That still counts right? It was awesome. I pulled in to this real quick wave, pigdogging it, and it was like what is going on and there was all this water around me, yet I was still sliding sideways down the face of the wave towards light, mind you i'm practically crouching on my board as this is far from a stand up barrel or anything even close to that, but the sensation was there...water dumping all around me but I'm still moving out of it...until it picked me up and rolled me over completely. Awesome moment though, I was pretty pumped! Nobody saw it to confirm how sweet it really was, but, I'll always have the memory. And now it is forever immortalized here on Horace. Which is what Horace is all about! Memories.
Other things. Guys were nice to me out there. When it was most crowded there were maybe 12 guys or so out. As I do mostly given my semi-grom status (I'm old, but not old in surfing years. Not compared to these guys who were born in the water) I sat mostly furthest inside and picked off the scraps. Still get good waves, but not the crown jewels. But the crowd thinned out, and by the end of my session it was just me and I think 3 other guys or so, and they were really nice. I moved further out and they were yelling me into waves if they weren't going to catch them or if they were too deep, making chit chat with me, thanking me when I didn't drop in on a wave that was debateable if the guy was going to make a section or not (he did)...that kind of stuff. I felt so accepted! It was nice, progressing in both my surfing and my social surfer status on the surfer totem pole.
So I surfed for maybe about 2 hours. Went home and Selin and I headed to the flea market, which, sadly, will be coming to an end after Thanksgiving. A hospital or something bought the property (which is also a drive-in movie theater at night) and is going to make it a maternity ward or something I think. Not like we went to the flea market that often, but it's sort of sad, but a maternity ward is good to have too I suppose. We were hunting for TV rabbit ears so I can pick up the broadcast TV channels at home, now that my cable was disconnected. We found what we were looking for plus a new frisbee. In fact we actually found more of what we were looking for -- first found a broken pair of traditional rabbit ears, cost $1. Frisbee, cost 2$. Then we found another TV antenna which we also bought, $2. THEN we found the mother lode of antennas, but as I'd already bought 2, I couldn't buy another. And he really wasn't interested in trading my 2 for one of his, he got annoyed and said he had enough already. It was closing time after all. But oh well the little $1 rabbit ears worked pretty good once we got home, I get about 4 channels now! Caught the end of the 49ers game at home, they sure do stink. And choosing to kick that field goal at the end of the game? What the hey? Down 7 what good does a field goal do you? Not like there's anything to lose, Nolan should get some balls and go for it. He should also never punt again while he's at it, I mean it can't get much worse for you can it? At least do something entertaining!!
After 49ers debacle I took Kingfish back out for an afternoon/evening session, 2nd peak. Caught some more fun ones, crowd was down a lot from Saturday. Not so many rippahs, I can catch a lot more waves . Good stuff, paddled in as sun was going down.
Great Santa Cruz surf weekend.
rollin'
Check it out, new Yaris! I washed my new car the other day and decided I better get some photos of the little gumshoe while it's clean and shiny and new looking. So after work I parked it in the parking lot underneath a streetlight and took some sweet looking rice-rocket too fast too furious style shots. It's a pretty awesome looking shiny car, and is fun to drive, I'm enjoying it.
2007 Toyota Yaris:
bought new about a month ago. It came with the tricked-out wheels, and I had them custom install the roof rack. By design Yaris is a pretty bare-bones vehicle (what do you expect for a start price of about 12k) but mine's got some options...air bags, ABS, Ipod jack, power windows, power locks. It's also a manual transmission -- which has been a big part of the fun. I've never owned one before and before this, I'll admit my manual driving skills were pretty poor. I've driven stick a few times in the past, but never consistently to get good at it. Selin, remember the drive to Manteca to pick up the foosball table in Dan OC's borrowed stick shift pickup? Don't tell Dan, that was a bit of an adventure! Anyways I'm a lot better now. I won't be driving the Yaris to SF I don't think any time soon...SF hills? I'll ease into those...but...I've got some basic skills now. I'm becoming a real man!
So there you have it, my first brand new car. Paid for and all mine. It's a great little car, and mine is a pretty slick looking version. Oh and I didn't even mention yet -- 40 MPG! Take that gas station!!!
Word(s)of the day 3
Here's a history lesson. Was talking to my mom who was talking about my grandpa, and the vocabulary he uses, from the 50's. My gramma and grampa (henceforth referred to by their common names, bun (gramma) and papa) this past weekend with the help of the family moved from their 2 level condo in Lake Oswego to my other grandparents old single level house in Beaverton. It's better for Bun so she can get up and down the stairs, she was struggling with that at their old place. So now she can move around much easier. I hope they like it there. This is the house brother Joel has been working on fixing and remodeling and putting a ton of work into, so I'm glad it's going to good use. It's strange to think of visiting Bun and Papa and not having them in their old Red Fox Hills condo, that's where they've been for so long.
Anyways to the point -- vocabulary/history lesson.
Mom was talking to Papa and he uses the old 50's words to describe things. Here is (loosely interpreted) quote:
"I don't get up off this davenport, I like it so much. Can you get me the hassock?"
Now for you and me that above sentence may have you scratching your head. But to Papa, it's just what things are.
dav·en·port: 1.a large sofa, often one convertible into a bed.
has·sock: 1.a thick, firm cushion used as a footstool or for kneeling. (What you or I would call an Ottoman)
And just for good measure, here is one more:
drain·board: a working surface beside or on a kitchen sink, formed and inclined to drain into the sink. (Now this one is obvious, but in Papa-speak, it is basically any counter, not just the drainboard by the sink)
Hope you enjoyed, I'm off to watch the Andy Griffith Show!
Anyways to the point -- vocabulary/history lesson.
Mom was talking to Papa and he uses the old 50's words to describe things. Here is (loosely interpreted) quote:
"I don't get up off this davenport, I like it so much. Can you get me the hassock?"
Now for you and me that above sentence may have you scratching your head. But to Papa, it's just what things are.
dav·en·port: 1.a large sofa, often one convertible into a bed.
has·sock: 1.a thick, firm cushion used as a footstool or for kneeling. (What you or I would call an Ottoman)
And just for good measure, here is one more:
drain·board: a working surface beside or on a kitchen sink, formed and inclined to drain into the sink. (Now this one is obvious, but in Papa-speak, it is basically any counter, not just the drainboard by the sink)
Hope you enjoyed, I'm off to watch the Andy Griffith Show!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Surfing Sells
Random internet browsing brought me to this random internet clip: a 1965 Hamm's Beer commercial, featuring surfing. I think the 60's were a surf explosion time of popularity kind of like now, with surfing being used to sell everything from cars to credit cards and yes Hamm's Beer! Too bad the Hamm's Bear doesn't surf in this clip, that woulda been better.
Is Hamm's still around these days?
Is Hamm's still around these days?
Friday, November 16, 2007
Word of the day 2
So in follow up to my earlier word of the day post, I looked online at some of those gadgets you can add to the Google homepage that automatically give you a word of the day. And while they're all well and good and all, problem is I knew all those words. So I'm not going to bother with that nonsense. My word of the day will probably be more like a word of the week. Or word of the month. I'll keep it real -- will try to have my ear to the ground and when I come across a new word will try to remember it and look it up and put it on here. Kind of like I did with Pariah. I should have known that word, I know it now that I type it, what was I thinking a few days ago? stupid.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Surf photography
I need to get more good surfing photos. Of ME. This new waterproof active camera Selin got me should help -- but I need some assistance on the photographer side. Selin is a very strong and dedicated land based photog, but to really make the (relative) tiny waves I surf look good, I need somebody there with me. In the water, close up and personal. Consider this an open invitation -- if you want to be my dedicated water photog, let me know. Just think about it, your photos can be viewed here on this very blog by (maybe!) a grand total of 3 people! :)
Also, I need to figure out how to get this new camera of mine to take faster photos. There's gotta be a setting to change. Right now the lag between one photo and another is literally about 2 seconds. Unless I go back to Pavones, that's simply not going to cut it. Most of the time, the sad reality is I'm lucky if my ride lasts 2 seconds total. So I've got to get that figured out as well, or I wind up with a lot of splash photos/closed out wave photos/wipeout photos/bellyride photos/basically not photos I want photos.
So, the above being said: I'm really looking to get some more good photos soon with this new camera. For now, here is the best photo of me surfing taken (that I know of) to date, courtesy of reknowned land based photog Selin from our Kauai trip. (I did not find the cable needed to upload photos off my camera, but instead I went and bought a $15 digital media card reader.) Check me out...
SWEET.
Also, I need to figure out how to get this new camera of mine to take faster photos. There's gotta be a setting to change. Right now the lag between one photo and another is literally about 2 seconds. Unless I go back to Pavones, that's simply not going to cut it. Most of the time, the sad reality is I'm lucky if my ride lasts 2 seconds total. So I've got to get that figured out as well, or I wind up with a lot of splash photos/closed out wave photos/wipeout photos/bellyride photos/basically not photos I want photos.
So, the above being said: I'm really looking to get some more good photos soon with this new camera. For now, here is the best photo of me surfing taken (that I know of) to date, courtesy of reknowned land based photog Selin from our Kauai trip. (I did not find the cable needed to upload photos off my camera, but instead I went and bought a $15 digital media card reader.) Check me out...
SWEET.
obamania
Obama was at Google yesterday. As just another of the things Google does, all the presidential candidates are coming in for open talks. Googlers can attend as well as a lot of press invites too. It's a bit of a madhouse, in my observation. I actually wasn't able to attend Obama's talk...I was stuck in a advertiser client forum in the room just next door to the main cafe where he was talking...just my luck. But I did sneak out of the forum for about 10 minutes to try and catch a glimpse of him....not happening. That place was packed. I could get close enough to hear but nowhere I could actually view the man himself.
Anyways all the sessions are filmed and posted on to YouTube. I haven't watched this yet myself but here it is if you want to check it out.
Update: I just watched the first part...the introducton. Which is done by David Drummond, a VP here. Funny to watch these things w/ the perspective I have. I used to play pickup basketball with David Drummond on this old portable single hoop in the parking lot outside of the old Google building. Now David Drummond is introducing Barrack Obama. He's always been a bigshot here though...so it's not like that's changed. Just interesting to think about sometimes, where these guys were and where they are now. I've witnessed and been a part of a pretty amazing company growth experience. Where/what do I have to show for it all? Sometimes I get introspective and wonder these things. But those moments don't last for long. Is the corporate world something I'll ever be fully made for? Sometimes I'm sad I'm still here doing the same stuff I've been doing for the last 5 years, there's not many of me left. This is one of those times. But what am I talking about here...enjoy Obama!
(wow he's on a single name only basis. Like Madonna. Hillary Clinton can't pull that off.)
update: it is equally as funny to think back that Google's only bball hoop was once one of those plastic based, water-filled rollable deals set up in the uneven, sloping parking lot out back. And people were happy OK with it. No chance of that happening now.
Anyways all the sessions are filmed and posted on to YouTube. I haven't watched this yet myself but here it is if you want to check it out.
Update: I just watched the first part...the introducton. Which is done by David Drummond, a VP here. Funny to watch these things w/ the perspective I have. I used to play pickup basketball with David Drummond on this old portable single hoop in the parking lot outside of the old Google building. Now David Drummond is introducing Barrack Obama. He's always been a bigshot here though...so it's not like that's changed. Just interesting to think about sometimes, where these guys were and where they are now. I've witnessed and been a part of a pretty amazing company growth experience. Where/what do I have to show for it all? Sometimes I get introspective and wonder these things. But those moments don't last for long. Is the corporate world something I'll ever be fully made for? Sometimes I'm sad I'm still here doing the same stuff I've been doing for the last 5 years, there's not many of me left. This is one of those times. But what am I talking about here...enjoy Obama!
(wow he's on a single name only basis. Like Madonna. Hillary Clinton can't pull that off.)
update: it is equally as funny to think back that Google's only bball hoop was once one of those plastic based, water-filled rollable deals set up in the uneven, sloping parking lot out back. And people were happy OK with it. No chance of that happening now.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Wednesday
Work: In all day training today, learning all about effective sales. Our training guy is actually pretty good, he's entertaining. Quite a personality, and the content is good. But its interesting to compare all this sales emphasis to what we used to do.
Play: I'm rarin' to go and share some Kauai pictures with you, but I can't find the cable needed to transfer photos from my camera to my computer. It's really annoying me...tonight I'll be buying a card reader device to get around this problem. And then I'll have some pictures up.
Play: I'm rarin' to go and share some Kauai pictures with you, but I can't find the cable needed to transfer photos from my camera to my computer. It's really annoying me...tonight I'll be buying a card reader device to get around this problem. And then I'll have some pictures up.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Word of the Day
Yesterday Selin and I watched the movie American Gangster, Great movie! Really enjoyed every last 160 minutes of it -- yeah it's long but it is a great story, great entertainment, very well acted. Even the rapper-actors are solid! Denzel has really got the role of badass down... nailed it as Alonzo in Training Day, might have nailed it even more as Frank Lucas this time around. And Russell Crowe was pretty good too but it is all Denzel's show, he's really good. Better than George Clooney, who is also good, but Denzel blows him out of the water, no doubt.
Anyways I digress...real point of this post: I think I'll occasionally post a word-of-the-day. To help improve my vocabulary. So, in the movie, one of the characters who (spoiler alert!) winds up becoming a heroin junkie, says that if he and his cop partner (Crowe) turn in the million dollars of drug money they find in a car trunk, they'll be treated as pariahs. This word of course I've heard before and read and seen many many times -- I actually have read quite a lot and consider myself better than the average Joe when it comes to verbiage -- but then later in the night on the drive home we were talking about the movie and I used the word pariah and I used it wrong. Right meaning (outcast) but wrong definition. Selin was quick to correct me and we confirmed the correct definition of the word on her blackberry. But, it prompted me to continue to keep my mind sharp and learning (and remembering!) words. So, there you have it: word of the day.
pariah: pa - ri - ah
My words may or may not get progressively harder as time goes on.
Thanks.
Oh and here is a really long but from the first page which is all I've read so far seems pretty good article about the real Frank Lucas, the character Denzel plays in the movie.
Anyways I digress...real point of this post: I think I'll occasionally post a word-of-the-day. To help improve my vocabulary. So, in the movie, one of the characters who (spoiler alert!) winds up becoming a heroin junkie, says that if he and his cop partner (Crowe) turn in the million dollars of drug money they find in a car trunk, they'll be treated as pariahs. This word of course I've heard before and read and seen many many times -- I actually have read quite a lot and consider myself better than the average Joe when it comes to verbiage -- but then later in the night on the drive home we were talking about the movie and I used the word pariah and I used it wrong. Right meaning (outcast) but wrong definition. Selin was quick to correct me and we confirmed the correct definition of the word on her blackberry. But, it prompted me to continue to keep my mind sharp and learning (and remembering!) words. So, there you have it: word of the day.
pariah: pa - ri - ah
| 1. | an outcast. |
| 2. | any person or animal that is generally despised or avoided. |
| 3. | (initial capital letter ) a member of a low caste in southern India and Burma. |
My words may or may not get progressively harder as time goes on.
Thanks.
Oh and here is a really long but from the first page which is all I've read so far seems pretty good article about the real Frank Lucas, the character Denzel plays in the movie.
Tuesday
Back at work. Catching up on email. Phone calls. Customer questions. Butt to chair, eyes to monitor, getting re-acquainted with this lovely cube I spend so much of my time in...
Reminiscing of Hawaii, that's the life!
Lunchtime.
Reminiscing of Hawaii, that's the life!
Lunchtime.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Monday
We just got back from Kauai this morning, and as any good vacationer should do, we have today off as well to wind down back at home before heading back to the office with a fresh new tan. It's been a while with no posts as I didn't have internet in Kauai, but rest assured that it was a fantastic vacation, Kauai might be my new most favorite island, and I have a bunch of good pictures, sights, stories, surf sessions, and other updates to share soon.
But, for the immediate forseeable future, instead of a heavenly warm cozy nap after the overnight redeye Hawaii flight which is what i REALLY should be doing.......I will be doing ONLINE TRAFFIC SCHOOL. Hoooray. Stupid speeding tickets.
And Brrrrr! it sure is cold here. We left for a week and it became winter in Northern California. Where are my mittens??
But, for the immediate forseeable future, instead of a heavenly warm cozy nap after the overnight redeye Hawaii flight which is what i REALLY should be doing.......I will be doing ONLINE TRAFFIC SCHOOL. Hoooray. Stupid speeding tickets.
And Brrrrr! it sure is cold here. We left for a week and it became winter in Northern California. Where are my mittens??
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
happy Halloween!
Happy halloween! Google has a good halloween party every year, good fun. The team I work with now decided to do a team theme costume, so we all dressed up as bugs...me: audio bug #738431. It was fun to have the whole team in bug outfits...but I was all ready to leverage my Woody Harrelson lookalikeness and be Billy Hoyle from White Men Can't Jump...oh well next year.
2 days til Kauai!!!!!
2 days til Kauai!!!!!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Ipod wins again
Nearly 10 months ago, I suffered my first defeat at the hands of the Apple Ipod/Itunes juggernaut. Last night, I settled in for round 2...and was defeated yet again. Last time I was trying to upload all my mp3 files into Itunes and it became an organizational nightmare, which took me a long long time to fix. Last night it was a different issue that prompted me to a new discovery, ITunes default file format is AAC format, something I had never heard of before last night (but apparently it's newer and better...), and also something the MP3 disc compatible stereo in my new car had never heard of either and doesn't recognize or play. So...in order to burn an MP3 CD compatible on my car stereo, I have to convert the ITunes files to MP3 format, which 1) takes a long time, and 2) creates duplicates of all the songs I try to convert!!! (one in AAC format, one in MP3 format). OYE! What a mess. I've learned now that when I upload I think I'll set it to upload music discs in MP3 format instead of AAC and I won't have to deal with this mess...but for the 15 GB of music already uploaded it's going to get a little messy. Boooooo.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Steamer Lane
This I thought was a pretty good write-up of the different peaks at Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz's most famous wave. I get out there occasionally but not too often as it's ultra competitive, but it can be really fun at the same time, especially when a good swell is in and the wave machine is cranking em out at full tilt, enough for everybody to get some and be happy. I surfed out there last weekend and as the write up mentions, I caught a wave all the way from middle peak to well past Indicators on my 8'10 Vernor. Kept waiting for that wave to end, but it just kept going and going, and I was going in anyways so I milked that one for every last drop. Wave of the day!
http://www.hotlineonline.com/steamerlane/index.shtml
(A lot of people really like Hotline wetsuits, a local SC company. I will look into one next time I'm getting a new wetsuit)
http://www.hotlineonline.com/steamerlane/index.shtml
(A lot of people really like Hotline wetsuits, a local SC company. I will look into one next time I'm getting a new wetsuit)
weekend recap part deux
SUNDAY OCT 28: On Sunday Selin and I started w/ some shopping at our favorite upscale boutiques (Ross & Mervyns) and then headed north again. We stopped and walked in to 3 Mile, which was the first time I've explored that particular beach. It's a beautiful little spot! Especially on a fall day w/ the sun out and wind down like it was on Sunday. There were a total of 3 people on the beach, you've got a nice brief walk to get there, it's protected behind this rock cliff, this weekend really was a fantastic weekend to be outside. As expected there was no surf at all at 3 Mile, but I just wanted to see it. We kept on cruising to Wadell Creek, where there were some small waves coming through. I decided to surf and hike down a spot I've never been to before, parking up the hill south from the main Wadell parking lot, and hiking down. I've checked this spot from the bluff before but never surfed it. So we packed our beach blanket, magazines, my board and wetsuit and walked on down. What a discovery! The beach wraps around the little inlet of Wadell and goes on for miles of nice sandy beach. It was practically an Oregon coastish beach but with abundant sunshine. So we set up camp and I surfed the fish again on the tiny waves that were coming through, waist high. But as stated before there was no wind, glassy conditions, really fun, plus the water was as clear as I've ever seen around here, Nice day. Shared a peak with 2 other guys (and one dolphin taking a nap just a little ways outside). The younger guy was also on a fish, surfing it really well (with no leash -- I contemplated going leashless but decided against it, I can have more carefree fun w/ the leash) and the other older dude on a longboard who wasn't that great. Good stuff. Was out for an hour or so and then wind picked up and glass turned to chop and I was done. Glad I got it when I did, saw some others head out right after me, not so fortunate.
Other than beach exploration and surfing, we watched two movies: Michael Clayton (good) and Gone Baby Gone (good). (I'm not much of a movie critic). We also read books and cooked hot dogs and watched reality TV and hung out downtown. Selin also got a Halloween costume for $16 a really cute Snow White dress. :)
Hope you had a good weekend as well. Back to work!
Other than beach exploration and surfing, we watched two movies: Michael Clayton (good) and Gone Baby Gone (good). (I'm not much of a movie critic). We also read books and cooked hot dogs and watched reality TV and hung out downtown. Selin also got a Halloween costume for $16 a really cute Snow White dress. :)
Hope you had a good weekend as well. Back to work!
Weekend recap
Hello Reader(s)! I hope you had a lovely weekend. I did. The weather was beautiful in Santa Cruz, sun shining, no wind, temperature just the right blend between fall/winter briskness and summertime warmth...it was a great weekend to be at the beach. Surf was pretty tiny, so nothing going out front at Pleasure Point, but it provided a fantastic excuse for Selin and I to explore the beautiful northern coastline.
SATURDAY OCT 27: I dropped Selin off downtown to hang w/ her friend Theresa, and I went solo all the way to Montara -- maiden voyage for the new Yaris on HW 1!!! That is quite a stretch of HW to drive from SC to Montara. So many little beaches and coves and fields and pumpkin patches and rolling hills and pretty scenery, and all of it such a short jump away from such densely populated SF, San Jose, peninsula, SC...refreshing. I checked a few spots on the way and contemplated Waddel Creek, which was breaking OK, but decided to just keep on driving as I was enjoying it. I pulled into a lot of beaches, there was NO wind so it was really pretty good conditions, but all were at best waist high or so. I was hoping for a little bigger so kept on cruising. Montara, to my knowledge, is usually one of the bigger places around, so that's where I went...it was bigger but not by much. I forbade myself from further driving and went out near the middle of the beach. There were about 10 or so guys there, and another 10 or so further north. I was surfing the 6'2 fish...really a lot of fun to surf as I'm getting more used to it. I did a lot better than last time. Waves were fun, sun was out, crowd was light and a lot of em weren't very good, so that's always a plus for my wave count (and my ego). One of em asked how I liked my fish. It's fun to get questions like that, fun to surf a board that is 'en vogue' and trendy amongst the general bandwagon surf populace, so hot right now, people are interested in it. And it really is a lot of fun in conditions like this weekends. Will it replace a good old fashioned longboard for me out at pleasure point? Probably not any time soon, but it's an intriguing option to have. And it's another surfing skill I'm trying to add, getting quicker on it and surfing it more in the style it is intended to be used. Anyways it was a fun 2 hour or so session out there, got a lot of waves, some I surfed good and others not so good. As the tide really came up and wind picked up later in the afternoon, I called it a session and hit the road. Plugged in the IPod and was on my way. Soundtrack (as best I can remember now that it's Monday): Matisyahu (Youth) on the way up, Outkast (Aquemini) on the way down. Aquemini is a really good Outkast CD.
LUNCHTIME!
SATURDAY OCT 27: I dropped Selin off downtown to hang w/ her friend Theresa, and I went solo all the way to Montara -- maiden voyage for the new Yaris on HW 1!!! That is quite a stretch of HW to drive from SC to Montara. So many little beaches and coves and fields and pumpkin patches and rolling hills and pretty scenery, and all of it such a short jump away from such densely populated SF, San Jose, peninsula, SC...refreshing. I checked a few spots on the way and contemplated Waddel Creek, which was breaking OK, but decided to just keep on driving as I was enjoying it. I pulled into a lot of beaches, there was NO wind so it was really pretty good conditions, but all were at best waist high or so. I was hoping for a little bigger so kept on cruising. Montara, to my knowledge, is usually one of the bigger places around, so that's where I went...it was bigger but not by much. I forbade myself from further driving and went out near the middle of the beach. There were about 10 or so guys there, and another 10 or so further north. I was surfing the 6'2 fish...really a lot of fun to surf as I'm getting more used to it. I did a lot better than last time. Waves were fun, sun was out, crowd was light and a lot of em weren't very good, so that's always a plus for my wave count (and my ego). One of em asked how I liked my fish. It's fun to get questions like that, fun to surf a board that is 'en vogue' and trendy amongst the general bandwagon surf populace, so hot right now, people are interested in it. And it really is a lot of fun in conditions like this weekends. Will it replace a good old fashioned longboard for me out at pleasure point? Probably not any time soon, but it's an intriguing option to have. And it's another surfing skill I'm trying to add, getting quicker on it and surfing it more in the style it is intended to be used. Anyways it was a fun 2 hour or so session out there, got a lot of waves, some I surfed good and others not so good. As the tide really came up and wind picked up later in the afternoon, I called it a session and hit the road. Plugged in the IPod and was on my way. Soundtrack (as best I can remember now that it's Monday): Matisyahu (Youth) on the way up, Outkast (Aquemini) on the way down. Aquemini is a really good Outkast CD.
LUNCHTIME!
Friday, October 26, 2007
wiiiiipeout
In many ways, watching surfing wipeouts is more interesting and entertaining than watching people surf really well. I've seen lots of people surf really well -- the talent level of surfers in Santa Cruz is ridiculous. So I see guys doing crazy insane stuff both live and on videos and clips all the time, what I don't see much of is people wiping out. Here's a montage of surf wipeouts through the years that was posted previously on the Stokemaster site. It's kind of long, but it's well done and pretty fun to watch.
Oh and, no, I don't intend to make my blog nothing more than a linkdump of YouTube clips. There's just a lot of ones saved up that I think are worth sharing on here. Plus, I can post a YouTube clip really really fast while I'm at work. Laziness wins!
Oh and, no, I don't intend to make my blog nothing more than a linkdump of YouTube clips. There's just a lot of ones saved up that I think are worth sharing on here. Plus, I can post a YouTube clip really really fast while I'm at work. Laziness wins!
Plinko
In one of the weekly team meetings I attend here at work, they do a "fun Youtube clip of the week" segment...a minute or two long YouTube clip that they project at the beginning of the meeting just to lighten the mood. Here is last week's edition:
Friday
I am very glad it is Friday, this week has been hectic. Got a lot to get through today but at least it's almost over. Whew!
Note to self: I need to make sure I always have a wetsuit and surfboard kept at Selin's in Mt View. I took them all to Santa Cruz last weekend and didn't bring any back -- mistake -- I think a surf or two midweek keeps my sanity in check.
Happy Friday!
Note to self: I need to make sure I always have a wetsuit and surfboard kept at Selin's in Mt View. I took them all to Santa Cruz last weekend and didn't bring any back -- mistake -- I think a surf or two midweek keeps my sanity in check.
Happy Friday!
Kalihiwai
Selin and I head to Kauai in a week (Wow that came fast!). We'll be staying on the north shore...HERE. I'm pretty excited. The house is on Kalihiwai Beach, across the street from a good surf spot, has a full kitchen, BBQ, outdoor shower, lanai...what else could you need? Oh and Ben Stiller is our neighbor. If I see him, I'll ask him why 'The Heartbreak Kid' sucked so much...poor performance Ben.
Hawaii here we come...4 year anniversary!!!
Hawaii here we come...4 year anniversary!!!
Pitted...so pitted
On a long day at work, this guy is always good for a laugh. At least I don't talk like this. Yet.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Meet Horace the Pig
Horace the Pig lives in Santa Cruz, California. He likes to hang out in the sunshine, entertain weekend guests, eat leftovers, protect the board shed, and most of all: hold open the screen door. He really is a very polite, considerate pig.
Hello
Hello, welcome to the new blog. We'll see how this one goes...
I had a good time blogging during my 6 month worktrip to India: you can read about it at www.paneerbelly.blogspot.com. Things might be a little bit less exciting this time around...no weekly exotic India travel destination to post about...but I'll put up whatever I feel like whenever I feel like it. Enjoy.
I had a good time blogging during my 6 month worktrip to India: you can read about it at www.paneerbelly.blogspot.com. Things might be a little bit less exciting this time around...no weekly exotic India travel destination to post about...but I'll put up whatever I feel like whenever I feel like it. Enjoy.
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