On Forbes Island - Day 52

Last night for New Years Eve, courtesy of my friend Rachel, I got to do something pretty cool, which is revisit an old memory that I would’ve thought would be gone forever. A few years after I moved to San Francisco, I read somewhere - on one of those “10 things you should do in San Francisco” lists, I think - about a floating restaurant off the coast of Fisherman’s Wharf called Forbes Island. It sounded too good to be true: a floating houseboat that had been built by an eccentric old dude to get himself on Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, complete with palm trees, a tiki bar, and a fainting room. But it turned out to be as awesome as advertised: after using it for a while he turned it into a fancy restaurant. You got there by taking a small boat launch out from the shore. It was totally uneccessary but Captain Forbes was, if nothing else, a master showman and he knew it made it seem special. I went there four or five times, but the best time was when I went with my family, and my Dad got to meet Captain Forbes on the boat, where he regaled my Dad with stories of meeting John Wayne. I’ve never seen my Dad so excited about another human being.

Anyway, recently he got older and there was a fire on the boat and, well, with one thing and another he closed the restaurant. That was about 2 or 3 years ago, and I assumed that, much like every other awesome thing in SF, I would never see it again. But fast forward to a few months back when I made friends with Rachel and I was talking to her about my experiences on Forbes Island…and she told me that her friend bought it! And she had actually been on it recently, helping fix it up! I was floored. Then she invited me to a New Years party there, and last night I went!

It’s really fun to have an unexpected surprise like that. And now, it looks like it may end up being part of my life again! They want to turn it into a combination event space/AirBnB style place. Unfortunately it’s way out there in Brentwood (because where else can you park a giant houseboat), and it’s still a bit of a mess, but they’re committed to fixing it up, and maybe someday I can go out and host a meditation retreat or something there.

Anyway, here’s to 2020: may it bring may more pleasant surprises.

On Cooking - Day 51

I used to go to McDonald’s almost every morning for breakfast. Now I cook at home. This morning, as sort of a goodbye to 2019 and a last sanity check, I went to McDonald’s for breakfast, just to see if I was missing something. I was not. Cooking at home has been cheaper, easier and made me feel more awake and aware of my life and surroundings. It forms a basis, a starting point for my morning, and I can organize my morning activities around it. I’d been told that this was the case by many people previously, but much like losing weight or quitting a bad habit, it’s something that apparently I needed to be ready for before I made the plunge. And yes, sometimes it’s annoying to have to do dishes and go to the grocery store all the time. But this morning when I went out to eat I noticed a few things: first, it takes a lot longer than I remembered. You have to get there, get into the restaurant, order, wait for your food, eat, and then get home. Second, it’s expensive, especially if you actually get what you want and not what’s on sale. But probably most importantly, I didn’t feel as good afterwards. It was a little bit irritating of a process, and of course the food itself isn’t as healthy and you always order way too much. So yeah, I’m over it.

It’s nice that, leading into the New Year, I feel like one of my resolutions is already being done!

On Specificity - Day 50

I’ve noticed something. People want to know what you’re all about. They want to understand you, like you would understand a novel or a movie. Recently, I started setting up a film studio, with a green screen. And I’ve been telling people about it, because it’s awesome and I’m proud of it. But one of the first questions everybody asks is, what are you going to film? And this is a sensible question. Were the roles reversed I’m sure I’d ask the same thing. It’s a logical, intelligent and thoughtful question. But I’m finding increasingly a sense of resistance to answering that question. It seems somehow less fun and less open and free. When I think about setting up the studio, the world feels full of possibilities. But when I start to try to get specific and answer those well-meaning questions, I find myself feeling trapped or anxious. It’s not that I don’t have any ideas about what I want to film. It’s that those ideas are kinda floppy, sorta hard to express, a bit open. And I kinda like it that way. As somebody who’s spent most of my life trying to be successful and meeting the expectations of others, it’s fun to just have a creative space to fool around in. Of course, at some point I will want to become specific about what I’m doing and what I’m trying to shoot, but at the moment it feels more like a kid with a bunch of toys. Maybe it’ll be Buzz Lightyear, maybe cops and robbers. Who knows.

So I’m listening to that voice, that says it’s not important to grow up right away all the time. That can come with time.

On Decaf - Day 49

As I was sitting this morning sipping my decaf coffee, I wondered to myself: what is decaf? I had heard vague rumors that decaf coffee still had a significant amount of caffeine in it. I had recollections of somebody telling me they washed the beans or something before grinding them - maybe that washed the caffeine off? I had switched to decaf a while back because I am quite sensitive to caffeine, and while I wanted a pick-me-up in the morning it was making me too headache-y and jittery. The taste is definitely different, more watery and a bit less earthy, but not unpleasant. So I was curious. And when I’m curious, I turn to wikipedia.

So, first things first: apparently, my recollections of vague rumors about the caffeine content of decaf coffee were totally wrong. It has very little caffeine. In the US it’s supposed to have 3% or less, although studies of coffee in the wild suggest more like 5-7%. Either way, my morning decaf coffee is not giving me any caffeine. Also, my vague notion that they washed the beans is wrong too. It’s a pretty nasty chemical process involving solvents, which used to be really bad stuff like benzene but is still sorta-bad stuff with names too long to pronounce. Scientists are working on a better method involving superheated carbon dioxide and other awesome things.

So: vague recollections are no match for data, learning is a good thing, and science is cool. And now I should probably mix in some regular coffee with my decaf if that’s what I really want. A good haul for a single morning!

On Thinking - Day 48

I was struggling with what to write about today, and then a topic just dumped itself in my lap when I went out to take a dip in the hot tub. Let me paint a picture for you: I have a hot tub at my apartment complex; it’s quite nice and right near my front door. I had noticed two women in there when I went in to put things away, and when I came back out to go in, there were two guys there as well. I didn’t get the sense that they were boyfriends, more like boyfriend-wanna-bes; clearly they knew the girls but they still felt uncomfortable around them. One of the women was sorta cute but the other was very attractive and these guys were on the make, for sure. The women were in the tub but the guys were too cool to get in. I jumped right in, of course, barely noticing this whole scene, and they paid zero attention to me. As I got in, though, the jets turned off. One of the two guys - sensing an opportunity - heroically went over to get the jets started again.

Now, as a quick aside, we have a silver button on the wall that starts the jets and then they turn off after about 15 minutes. It’s a simple system: you push the button, the jets turn on. If you push the button again, the jets turn off. That’s it. However, they do take a couple of seconds to ramp up, as anybody who’s interacted with a hot tub knows.

Now to the point of this story: as someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about people, and brains, and how brains work, and how humans think - and also as someone who has designed user interfaces - what happened next shouldn’t have surprised me, but it still did, and served as a reminder of who we really are deep down as a species. What ensued was about 5 minutes of the most hilarious, Monty-Python-esque absurdity, better than any SNL comedy sketch. First, of course, he pressed the button about 15 times, way too hard. That didn’t work. The girl said “just push it once”. He pushed it (once). The jets bubbled a little bit. He got impatient and pushed it again. Of course now they turned off. He waited. You could almost see the sweat beading on his brow as testosterone flooded his veins. His alpha male status was dripping away. He panicked. He pushed the button about 5 times. His friend came over and he shot him daggers with his eyes. Now, we were in full-on monkey-tribe mode. Nobody was thinking (except possibly me). I considered opening my mouth and saying something and thought better of it.

This seriously went on for about 3 or 4 minutes. Every thing was tried. At one point the other girl - not the one he was trying to impress - said “you have to hold it down for 20 seconds”. (Not true, by the way). He held it down for 20 seconds. I think this confused the system because they sorta half came on. He said “hey that worked”. The other guy said “nah, man, they don’t look right”. I honestly thought they might get in a fight. It was actually hard not to speak up and say something. Finally, sputtering, the jets decide - despite being abused - to fully kick in. Visibly relieved, the guy came back over to the tub. Problem solved.

Sometimes I - as all of us do - like to think that I am some kind of erudite thinking machine, capable of higher-order logic and the finest of mental gymnastics.

But honestly we should be surprised that any of us manage to turn on the hot tub.

On Zelda And Metroid - Day 46

Today’s post is going to be a little bit random and nerdy but I ran across something that is simply too good not to share. In watching one of my favorite events - Games Done Quick - I ran across a speedrun of a particularly interesting game - or rather, a weird and inspired frankensteinian hack of two games from my childhood mixed together. I’ll put a link down near the bottom, but they were playing the Super Nintendo version of Zelda: A Link To The Past - except then they walked into one of the caves and my mind was blown because suddenly there were playing Super Metroid. At first, I honestly didn’t get what was happening. The title said they were playing a “randomizer”. Randomizers are weird enough; they take the code of a well-known game, such as Zelda, and then they scramble up all the items and sometimes other things and dump it back onto a playable ROM, so basically you have the original game, except that everything is in a different place. Then they try and play those games as fast as possible. It’s actually really hard and fun to watch. But this was even more amazing - this was a “combo randomizer”. As hard as this is to believe, this is a herculean effort on the part of some hackers that takes two games - in this case the SNES versions of Zelda and Metroid - and creates an impossible combination hack which makes you play through both games, jumping back and forth between them by using certain entrances in either game as basically warps to the other game. It also strews the items from both games randomly between them - so you might pick up Zelda bombs in Metroid, or the Ice Beam in a Zelda dungeon.

It blew my mind, so I went and found the code and everything. Not only is this an amazing technical feat, but it’s actually really fun. I found out that somebody had done the same thing for the NES versions of the games - which is more my speed - and after a bit of tinkering - it wasn’t even that hard - I have it working on my NES! It’s mind blowing. It seriously is like a whole new world has opened up to me. The thought of combining two games like this never even honestly occurred to me. The best I could think of prior to this was the NES competition carts, where you play some Super Mario Bros and then a timer expires and it warps you to F-Zero and then Tetris. But this is like the two games completely intermeshed. It reminds me of the idea of Chessboxing, where you play speed chess intermixed with actual pugilism.

Honestly, it’s awesome.

https://z1m1.info/

On Boxing Day - Day 45

I was always vaguely aware of this idea of a Boxing Day, and I often used it ironically or humorously in different contexts, as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. But today I decided I would actually look up what the holiday meant. I’ll just point you to the wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day. (Side note: Is Wikipedia the best thing the human race ever invented? I say yes).

Anyway, the thing that stuck out for me was the idea of rewarding people that you don’t know all that well. Christmas is all about (theoretically) bonding with and rewarding those you do know well, like close friends and family. But I like the idea of, after that’s done, giving gifts and rewards to people you interact with regularly but don’t actually know all that well. I don’t go there much anymore, but there’s this lady at the McDonalds who is always there. Same with the Subway I go to. And the lady at the front desk at my apartment complex. Folks like that, that we see all the time, and who are of course usually in some way paid to help us, but still do their jobs well with a smile on their face. I’d like to know more about some of them, what their stories are. I like the idea of giving them small gifts. I feel like I’m a bit late to the party this year, but I think next year I’m going to try it out.

On Christmas - Day 44

Merry Christmas! It seems appropriate to devote at least one day to enjoying the holiday on the blog, and wishing everyone out there a happy holiday, whatever the holidays may mean for you. I’ve decided that the present I’m going to give myself is focus and commitment to the things that matter to me for 2020 - I’ve talked about some of those already, and there’s more to come. Sort of an early New Years Resolution; a kind of Christmas Resolution tradition, I suppose! There’s so many things I want to explore and get involved with, and I’m lucky to have the time, money and space - not to mention safety - to do those things. I know that isn’t true for everyone, and for anybody who is having a difficult holiday season, I’m happy to help if you need it. The holidays are supposed to be fun and breed togetherness, but it’s almost a meme that sometimes they do the opposite, so if your brain is playing tricks on you, try taking a deep breath and then reach out to somebody. It can even be me, even if we don’t know each other well.

Anyway, may everyone have a very Merry Christmas!

On Studios - Day 43

Recently, I picked up a part time lease in my brother’s music studio. It’s an amazing space, right in the heart of San Francisco near Balboa Park, and out away from everything. Most people in there are musicians, but he offered to let me use the space to do my video work and video editing. So far, I’ve set up some video recording equipment and a very basic green screen. It’s a lot of work setting up a video studio, and a lot of trial and error! Today I went over and realized I was missing some screws for my curtain rod to hang the green screen cloth (thanks, IKEA. It would cost you about 5 cents to just throw a couple of screws in the package). But I’m excited. When this is all over, I’ll have a much, much more professional look and the ability to record professional content for my channel. I’m looking forward to what I will produce in 2020. One more step along the path!

On Dracula - Day 42

Today’s post is devoted to this awesome drawing/sketch a friend of mine made for me for Christmas. She presented it to me yesterday at her birthday party. (Side note: I’m glad my birthday isn’t at Christmas!). She was humble about it, said she didn’t spend that much time on it - which perhaps is true - but somehow the spontaneity of it really feels like it aided in capturing something about me. I told her that it looked a little like a conflicted version of Dracula, and she said that she wanted it to look like I had a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. In my case, the conflict is not between good and evil; I’m pretty firmly on the side of good. It’s more of a conflict between happy, productive, liking-myself Adam and the…other guy. The brain fog, slightly depressed, down-on-myself Adam. So this image feels to me like it really captures that feeling. My goal, of course, is to be more the former and less the latter. And I do feel like, day by day, that is happening, though not always with the speed and consistency that I would prefer.

Here’s to 2020 being the year that Dracula finally hits the gym and loses that extra 10 pound. :)

On Dragons and Dungeons - Day 41

Last night I went to a friend’s house - more properly my brother’s friends’ house - and played Dungeons and Dragons. Now, I have an interesting history with D&D. You might think, based on my other interests, that I would be really into D&D - and you’d be both right and wrong. When I was a kid, Dungeons & Dragons was hot - but for some of the wrong reasons. Much like Marijuana, people were vaguely afraid of D&D. It didn’t seem WASP-approved or wholesome. My parents allowed me to buy the “basic set”, but they kept it high up on a shelf, where I couldn’t get at it, and they had a rule, which was I was only allowed to play if I played with them, which of course was very clever because it instantly made it super not cool. (And my parents - bless their hearts - don’t make very good Dungeon Masters). So despite the fact that I was into theater and into games, I didn’t play D&D until well into adulthood, and by that time, many of my friends that might have played D&D ended up playing basically the computer version: MMOs, most famously World of Warcraft. So I’ve probably only played D&D maybe 10 or 12 times in my life.

Still, I have a fascination with it, and particularly with a certain episode of D&D history; the famous 1983 “red box” release, which is the one I grew up with. It is, by any objective estimation, a fairly terrible set of rules for an actual game. Magic Users start out with 1 to 4 hit points and exactly one spell per gaming session which does basically diddly squat. Imagine sitting and role playing for an entire evening and you only get one moment to be even semi-heroic (and that moment might fizzle based on dice roles). Also if you get hit once you die; and in this world, when you’re dead, you’re pretty much just dead. Yeah, not a ton of fun.

Still, there was something magical (no pun intended) captured in those rules. Something fun. For one, they were simple - even an 8 year old kid could instantly understand. (This is one quibble I have with modern D&D; when we sat down last night we were each confronted with pre-made characters that each had approximately 50-100 different stats. My brother in particular was super confused, and rightly so.) And the focus was, therefore, on the story. It was made clear in the books that the DM - the Playwright, so to speak - should regard the rules as largely just a starting point. When the story was more fun a certain way, feel free to go that way. Don’t like the die rolls because they made a bad story? Ignore them, or change the rules. The story was paramount. And even though the stories were very basic: nearby is a cave, there are bad guys, they have treasure, go get ‘em tiger - it was fun. Basic, shooty-stabby-puzzle solvey fun.

Later, I happened across a different rule set called Hero Quest that I thought captured this zeitgeist even better; it was simpler and more focused. But I never forgot my love for that original red book.

On Teaching Meditation - Day 40

Yesterday, for the first time in many years, I led a small meditation class. I had strangers over and attempted to act like I knew what I was doing and instruct them in meditation. It was a big step for me back into a world that I used to be a part of, and I enjoyed it. Of course, mostly they just meditated and I took a back seat and meditated myself, as it should be. But still, it was fun. They were really nice folks and we had a good conversation about the holidays, what it means to be busy, what it’s like to retire (one of them was a retired high school teacher who is about to go back to teaching some classes because he’s basically bored). We ate Pepperidge Farms cookies and drank herbal tea. We watched a short video from Dan Harris. We talked briefly about politics. All in all, it was very pleasant. Sometimes, I am as guilty as anyone (in fact maybe more so) of impostor syndrome - the essentially narcissistic feeling that we are special, in that we are especially bad or abnormal, and people are going to figure it out any minute now and we will be singled out as the world’s worst at whatever it is we’re trying to do. But the truth of course is that all of us are just trying our best, and most of them time you’re way more normal than you think you are, and you’re going to do just fine. Occasionally you will be brilliant, once in a blue moon you’ll really mess up, but most of the time it’s just business as usual, and that’s OK.

So, yeah. More meditation teaching to come, maybe even getting back into yoga instruction - that’s the next step!

On Bike The US For MS - Day 39

Most of you know that I belong to a charity, Bike The US For MS. Any of you who know me well might even be sick of hearing about it, but I want to devote today’s post to this group, since it’s been such a huge part of my life. I write about activities I do with Bike The US For MS a lot of course, but I don’t think I’ve ever just stopped and written a post specifically about them. It’s an organization that was started by a man who had a personal connection to the disease about 15 years ago. I discovered them about 6 years ago, and to be honest, I had no connection with MS - I was just looking for a community to join that would help me with riding my bike across the country. I had done my own, self-directed ride and I enjoyed it but I wanted to have that experience with others. It was a rough time in my life, a very lonely and sad time, and I needed some friends, and BTUSFMS came through in spades. It’s probably an exaggeration to say they saved my life, but I definitely think they improved my quality of life a hundred fold, giving me some direction, some connection, something to be proud of. And that continues to this day.

I know for those of who reading this, it may be hard to imagine yourself riding your bicycle across the country. And it’s true that for some of you it’s not a goal that would ever make any sense. But I bet somewhere out there reading these words there’s someone who enjoys the outdoors, would love to meet new people and do something to be proud of. I can tell you there was a time when I never could have imagined myself riding a bicycle across country, and now I’ve done it between 2 and 4 times (depending on how you count). And I’m going to do it again!

It is a lot to ask - both time and money - but the rewards are amazing. You meet amazing people, you get to see a part of the country that you’ve never seen before, and in a way you’d never get to see. Riding into small town America is a unique experience and something I’ll cherish.

If you have any interest in this great organization, just hit me up and I’ll tell you everything you need to know!

On Golden Knight - Day 38

My final bike is my most recent, and the one that has the least romance or history behind him. I named him the Golden Knight, for the silliest of reasons; on the top he says “Ultra CF”, which made me think of UCF, the University of Central Florida, near where I grew up, and their mascot is the Golden Knights. It makes sense though because when I think of a Golden Knight I think of something about too fancy to be useful, and that’s kind of like this bike. It’s an extremely expensive, all Carbon Fiber bike, very very light and with a serious race geometry. I’ve only ridden it a dozen times; it’s kind of waiting for the weather to get better so I can take it out on some serious rides. It’s the kind of bike where you worry about the material of the water bottle cages. I bought it from Decathlon, which is a French department store that has just started to dip its toe into the United States and happened to open a store here in Oakland. I love the Blue and Pink paint job; it’s the official colors of B’Twin, which used to be the Decathlon house brand; it would be recognizable in France or England but is pretty rare out here, which makes it all the more special to me. It’s the one bike of mine that I would never leave locked up outside or get too dirty. The wheels alone are worth about $1200.

It’s more bike than I need, really, and for that I love it.

On Rocinante - Day 37

On to the second of my three bikes, and by far the most famous of them. This is Rocinante. He’s named after Don Quixote’s horse in the book of the same name. Don Quixote was famous for slightly toddy heroism in the face of madness, and that seems appropriate for a steed that has now taken me on 4 cross country bicycle trips. The only one he didn’t go on was the very first one, where I rode my old Canondale which sadly never had a name and got ingnominiously stolen off the roof of my car in downtown San Francisco. Imagine that - that old bike made it on a three month Jack Kerouac-style journey across country only to fall victim to bike thieves the first day I was back in town.

Anyway, Rocinante - Ross for short - is an awesome bike. I bought him off eBay from some guy in Florida who had it sitting in his garage. It was a terrifying moment because I hadn’t bought much off eBay and I had no idea what was going to show up. But I had wanted a titanium bike for a long time and they were - still are - absurdly expensive so this was the only way I was going to get one. It was $700, and it showed up extremely dirty and obviously a little worse for wear, but it worked right out of the box! I was thrilled. I’ve had a ton of fun with this bike - it’s easy to work on and indestructible and still fairly light. Covered with stickers, it catches the eye, but doesn’t look appealing to bike thieves. I’ve got him tricked out now with Di2 shifters that I bought off a fellow cross-country bicyclist, and he’s basically perfect for what I need him for.

Right now he’s hanging out on my bike trainer and he’s turned into my Zwift bike; he’s comfy and sturdy and he fits the style of trainer I have. Soon he’s going with me up to Ashland to be the bike I work on for my bike school in January!

Here’s to another decade of good times, loyal steed!

On Jean-Luc - Day 36

I own 3 bicycles, and I love them all for different reasons. For the next 3 days I think I’ll post about each of them in turn, starting with Jean-Luc. Jean-Luc (and yes I name my bicycles) is an old steel Peugeot, probably made in the 70s and imported from France. He’s named Jean-Luc after Jean-Luc Picard, mostly because he’s a) old, b) French, and c) I like Patrick Stewart. It’s a single-speed bike; not a fixie, because that would mean no flywheel; this bike doesn’t have to be pedaled constantly when it’s moving, you can “free spin” the pedals. I liked the idea of owning a single-speed bike because they’re easier to maintain, and so far that’s held true, with one big exception. It turns out that French bikes of that era were made with unusual seat posts, and when I bought it, it had this cool yellow saddle on it that turned out to be a theft magnet and got stolen, thus prompting a frantic search for a new post which I - no lie - ended up having to order from the Netherlands. So now I have a special cable lock just for the seat. But other than that, the bike has been exactly what I wanted - a great way to bump around town. I’ve ridden it as far as into work, 42 miles - but I regretted that decision. It’s not a great bike for that kind of thing. Actually, apart from the fact that it’s sturdy and reliable, it isn’t honestly all that great of a bike. But something about the yellow-and-blue color scheme and it’s general cranky Frenchiness just sort of appeals to me! Of all my bikes, this one gets ridden the most these days; I take it to Subway, to the Bart station, to Best Buy, etc., etc. It’s also the only one I will ride in the rain because I don’t care if it rusts and it has nice wide tires to grip the road.

On Endings - Day 35

Sniff! Endings are always hard, and saying goodbye can be tough. Today I had to let go of my trusty Subaru. She was a good car, but she was starting to have too many high mileage problems. Ironically, it’s the smog test that finally did her in; she wouldn’t pass, and getting her to pass was measured in the thousands of dollars. Her power steering was basically shot, she burned oil, she got bad gas mileage. Still, I liked that car. It was big and roomy, with leather seats and a pretty great sound system and a bike rack. It fit my lifestyle. I’d love to go back to a Subaru at some point; for the moment I’ll be taking over my brother’s old Chevy Cavalier; more about that little gem later!

I always get weirdly sentimental about these things. It’s just a physical object, it doesn’t care where it goes! But I do hope it gets to somebody who can use it and isn’t just dismantled. In the right hands, it’s totally fixable and could really benefit somebody for many thousands of miles to come!

Bye Subaru!

On Fixing A Bicycle - Day 34

In mid-January, I’m going to attend a full week class in bicycle maintenance, taught by the United Bicycle Institute - UBI - in Ashland, OR. I’m so excited! This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and finally made the time and space to do it. Sort of a gift to myself for the new year. The class is called Introduction To Bicycle Maintenance. As most of you know, I volunteer with Bike The US For MS, and they are always in need of people to do bike maintenance on the road. With this sort of training, I am hoping I can fill in for them as the guy to do that maintenance. Plus, I love fixing bicycles, and this is the sort of professional level training that could get me a job at a bike shop, should I ever decide to do that in my spare time. And really it’s just an investment in a hobby I truly enjoy. We’re going to learn how to adjust brakes, fix tires, assemble a bike, fix a bottom bracket, wrap handlebars, adjust gear ratios, etc., etc.

I can’t wait!

On Apple - Day 33

Today marks my one year anniversary of working at Apple. I really appreciate Apple for giving me an opportunity. At the time I took the job, things were looking a little weird and dark. I was getting out of an awkward situation professionally, and I was in the middle of some things in my life where I really just wanted a job I could count on to continue to build my skills and resume; a place that would reflect back my trust and be a peaceful place to hang my hat. Apple has been more than generous with me and I appreciate all the cool people that I get to work with, of course most importantly my friend Breckin. I’ve had two really cool bosses, learned a lot about Artificial Reality and a few other things besides, and hey, discount on laptops and phones is never a bad thing!

Again, I’m just very grateful for the way my life has gone and the part that Apple has played in it!

On Thali - Day 32

I love Indian food. Tonight, I went to one of my favorite gems down in the South Bay near where I work, a restaurant called Ularavaru. It’s not a particularly bougie spot; I found it one day when I was search for buffets - you know I love a buffet - and it came up because on M-W for dinner they do an all-you-can-eat thali setup. You get vegetarian or, uh, non-vegetarian, and they bring you a colorful plate full of all sorts of mystery things, all of which are delicious, and none of which do I know the name of. Plus free chai, and water, and papadam, and dosas, and just basically everything. I have no idea of course if it’s really authentic but I can tell you that nobody in there is speaking any English and the place is packed and I don’t think they’re making any effort to make me feel more comfortable, either with the surroundings or with the food. There’s no WiFi and the cell service sucks, so all you have to do is sit there and actually eat your food. And it’s amazing. Everything is spicy; I don’t think they even realize that the food is spicy to white people. I’m not sure they would even know what to say if you asked them how spicy it is because I’m not sure they even know. They will bring you seconds of anything but you have to wait for them to bring those four-containered metal jugs that they carry around and then - if you’re me - you just have to point at things because you have no idea what they’re called. And they must have about 3 different DVDs full of Bollywood music videos because I’ve only been there a half dozen times and I’m already seeing the same ones repeat. And it’s only like $12! I come out of there sweating like a pig but I think I’ve got all my vitamins and minerals for a week and probably killed off several infections growing in my body.

I’m eternally grateful that being who I am, and living where I do, I get to have experiences like this. Gimme a week and I’ll be back.