Glamour shots

Fuzzy wuzzies

About the picture: I processed this photo of cherry blossoms using Lightroom. Instead of pushing the clarity slider to the right, thereby increasing clarity, I pushed it to the left to make the flowers emit a soft glow. I call it the Glamour Shots effect. Glamour shots is a portrait studio that is supposed to make you look like a supermodel. They used to really oversoften portraits so that all the blemishes disappear under the haziness.

About other events: Cherry blossoms are in bloom not just in Golden Gate Park, but especially in Washington DC. Check out these photos on Sfgate. It looks like a snowy wonderland and would make a great photography excursion one of these days. I've never been to the capital of the US, but I have been to the capital of Germany. Funny how tourists often see more of a country than its own residents.

Quaking in my boots

Do not enter

There was supposedly an earthquake this morning, but I didn't feel a thing. That's because I was too engrossed in my work to notice such a thing. Those people who felt it just weren't concentrating hard enough. (Just kidding)

I finished the book Vanity Fair this weekend and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. My favorite part of the plot revolved around the characters Amelia Sedley and William Dobbin because the underdog - Dobbin in this case wins the girl ultimately through his true nature and gentlemanly behavior. I disliked the George Osborne character because he thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. He even wanted to cheat on his wife Amelia with one of her friends - Becky Sharp.

The next book I'm moving onto is a non-fiction tale about smart people in Britain who broke the enigma code during World War II.

A Walk in the Park

About the video: Join me for a little jaunt in Golden Gate Park and listen to the birds sing.

About other events: Today I finally pushed myself to list a product on Etsy.com, which is an online marketplace for handmade goods. You can check it out by going to http://[insert my full name without spaces].etsy.com. I have one box of notecards for sale on there. Just even listing that one product was a huge feat because it required a lot of research and different steps. Even pricing the box of notecards was a lot of work because you need to calculate unit costs, allocate overhead costs, research vendors and then calculate a price that would be reasonable. This little exercise made business administration come alive for me.

Are you afraid of the dark?

Chinese tamale

About the picture: This is a photo of a Chinese tamale, also known as "joong" in the Cantonese language. Essentially, it is a meal wrapped in bamboo leaves. It contains sticky rice, peanuts, pork, salted egg and mung beans, whatever they are. They're a nice diversion from the usual rice we have for dinner. For an article and recipe, click here.

About other events: Tonight from 8:30 - 9:30 PM, we've been encouraged at my company to shut the lights in support of Earth Hour. I just read an article from spiegel.de, that most of Germany did not participate in this symbolic gesture. The city of Hamburg was an exception. It's somewhat interesting, but I guess Germany is far enough along environmentally that participating in Earth Hour would not be very significant. In the same article, it stated some feel that Earth Hour was only put on so that people could feel less guilty about their energy usage. Of course Earth Hour is not going to save the environment, but it is strong symbolism.

I did my part by shutting out the light in the room I was in and going into another that was already lighted. But then shortly thereafter I turned my laptop on to finish this blog.

Jaded and Callused

Solitude

Today I saw the picture of innocence and happiness in a smiling young boy around 8 years old, arms linked with dad, traipsing happily down the street with nary a care in the world.

Contrast that with a stern faced business man dressed in a suit looking very serious as he walks down the same street moments later.

What makes adults jaded and callused? Disappointment? Responsibility? The cold, hard and mad world out there that spares none?

Cinderella Project

Chinatown

It's not very often that I read an article and immediately have strong feelings about it, but lo and behold, this morning in the WSJ, such an article did appear. Click here to read.

In short, the objective of the Cinderella Project is to collect donated prom dresses and shoes so that underprivileged girls have a chance of attending the prom dressed appropriately. This is a very nice idea and probably thought up by someone whose heart was in the right place. However, I think this is too fluffy. It's a "nice to have", rather than a "must have". I would much prefer to donate to a program that encourages these girls to do better in school.

I am a firm believer in earning your own rewards, so if you want to have a nice dress for prom, then you should have to work for it. Maybe these girls could have saved money, or earned some pocket change by doing chores. Or, maybe the gowns should be rewarded to the girls who do the best academically, etc. In any case, they should have to earn the prom dresses somehow, not just be handed them on a silver platter.

These programs build up a sense of entitlement as in - society owes me a prom dress because I can't afford to pay for it. No one owes anybody anything. People donate dresses out of the goodness of their hearts.

Also, it should be noted that prom is NOT mandatory. If the girls don't have enough money for a dress, just don't go. Is it really that tragic? The answer is an emphatic no! They will survive. I didn't go to my high school prom and saved a ton of money that would have been used to purchase a dress, shoes, a bag, a corsage, etc. When they're older and have their own jobs, they can buy whatever dress they want. They need to be taught that instant gratification is not necessary a good thing.

Fire engine red

Fire!

My cousin is a fire fighter. Once, he mentioned that he often gets asked by German tourists if they could take a picture of the fire engine. Apparently they are very knowledgeable about the technical capabilities and power of the fire engines and like to ask a lot of questions. I'm glad the fire engines are such tourist magnets. I've forgotten how fire engines in Germany look like. Are they not as flashy as the American ones? The fire engine above was shot in harsh afternoon light as you can see above.

After work I went to a mixer for financial peeps with small eyes. My goal was to network and more importantly find out how to get more involved. I asked around if there were any officers of the organization that I could speak to and was promptly introduced to a number of them. The professional organization does have numerous committees and they are always looking for help. I might follow up with an officer my email.

Mission accomplished. :-)

Primavera

Daffodils

About the picture: These daffodils were placed near my office complex just recently to herald the arrival of spring. They are also meant to put a smile on the faces of office drones as they trudge to and from work.

About current events: As I was walking on the streets of San Francisco today, my eyes scanned everyone in my line of sight. There were so many different types of people, dressed differently. My observation was that clothes reveal so much about the wearer. Just by observing someone's sartorial choices, I already form some preconceived notions about them in my head. For example, what do you think when you see a rail thin guy with curly unruly hair, aviator sunglasses on and skinny jeans? I personally label him a hipster or someone who follows trends, maybe someone in the artsy field.

Photographing the Light

Hilltop Houses

About the photo: This was taken during the golden hour when the sun started to descend.

About current events: I'm glad the stock market started to revive because my portfolio looks healthier today than it has in a long time. Only thing I regret is not having purchased some stock on the cheap. I may still have the chance whenever the market drops again.

I Heart Lightroom

Vignetted Bloom

In today's workshop we learned more of the fun development tools that are offered in Lightroom. For example, here you see the vignetting feature being applied to this rose picture. This is just one of the many cool effects you can apply in LR. I'm glad I invested in this workshop.

Lessons in Lightroom

Rayko

I finally signed up for a Lightroom (LR) workshop at Rayko Photo Center in downtown San Francisco. The location is perfect because the bus that I take stops directly across from this place. There were 9 students in the class. Most of the students were on the older side, which isn't an issue if they didn't slow down the class with basic computer questions. There was this one woman I found somewhat annoying because her questions were very blunt and not phrased very nicely. For example, she would point blank say to the instructor "I have no idea what I'm looking at." She would not even raise her hand.

Aside from that I found myself learning a lot. I'm glad I took the course because it's always nice to have someone show you the ropes instead of having to stumble through all of them blindly. Plus, the instructor gave us practical tips along the way.

All in all, Lightroom is an amazing little software program for photographers because it can process many photos in a short amount of time. It works like magic for making non-destructive edits to photos.

Topics we covered included:
1. Catalogs
2. Collections
3. The difference between catalogs and collections
4. 5 modules in LR
5. File naming best practice
6. Importing photos
7. How to rename photos (My personal favorite because I need to do this)
8. Rating photos via flags, stars, and color labels
9. Sorting
10. Key words

Only thing that is difficult to deal with is the fact that I'm spending almost my entire weekend sitting in front of a computer screen, which is already what I do the rest of the week at work. I'll be back at it tomorrow, wide-eyed, bushy tailed and ready to learn. Bring it on!

Saga of the Bonuses

Portals

About the photo: This was taken in softer afternoon sunlight as I was in the Jackson Square neighborhood in San Francisco. This area is one of the oldest in San Francisco and therefore has retained its brick buildings. Although I don't know how they made them earthquake safe if they are built from bricks. Anyhow, this neighborhood contains antique stores and other businesses catering to people with an excess of money to spend. However, as I was walking around looking for something picturesque to photograph, I was stopped in my tracks by the above scene. I had to peer into the window because the interior looked so nice with its warm yellow colored walls and high ceilinged room. It could make a nice art gallery, but looked empty at the present time. I even held my breath to take this picture because there was a slight urine smell in the alleyway. I can't stand the smell of dried urine. The smell lingers for so long and because my nose is sensitive, it just knocks me out so that I have to grimace involuntarily.

About current events:

The bonus saga continues. Now the government is trying to claw back the bonuses by taxing the bonuses 90%! Since the government makes the rules, it can do anything it well pleases. The 90% rule applies to households making more than $250K, people who received bonuses after 12/31/2008 from a company that received more than $5 billion in federal aid. All's fair in love and war.

Aside: I tried a chai from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf today and it wasn't bad, I have to admit. The reason I have to grudging admit that I like it is that the company is LA-based, and I don't consider myself a huge LA fan. Generally I feed my chai fix at Peet's, a Berkeley brand. While it's not exactly San Francisco, at least it's NorCal. I would even go as far to say that the chai I had today was almost as good as the one I had at Einstein Cafe in Berlin and that's saying a lot.

Bonus outrage

Pier 14, Part Deux

About the picture: This photo allows you to see the pier that juts out into the bay. It's a nice walkway with brushed stainless steel chairs bolted onto the pier.

About current events:
By the time, I'm sure most of you have heard about the wrath of the American people with respect to the retention bonuses paid by AIG to some executives. I will put my two cents into this as well. Yes, it is extremely distasteful to dole out bonuses when AIG asked for federal bailout money and on top of that those guys were partially responsible for the mess. In the meantime, thousands of Americans across the country are out of jobs and struggling to make ends meet. However, I don't think the death threats AIG is publicizing are appropriate reactions either. Piano wire around people's necks? That's pushing the envelope of decency.

About the guy who got $6.4 million in bonuses ... his bonus alone would be enough to feed multiple families! What does one person do with so much money? Buy all the luxury goods in the world, the most expensive properties, go on luxury vacations at exclusive resorts, buy art? The list goes on and on I guess. What I'd like to know is what makes this guy so smart that he deserves this disgustingly huge sum of money.

Helmet hair

Port of San Francisco

About the picture: I took this picture of the SF skyline from the vantage point of Pier 14, which extends out into the San Francisco Bay. Sometimes it's hard to find photos for my daily blog because I feel that there's nothing fresh anymore after a year of doing my 365-photos a year project. However, it's a challenge that I'd like to try to meet.

About current events:

I've been closely following the story of actress Natasha Richardson's skiing accident and then death from a fall on the beginners' slopes in Canada. For the entire story click here. Apparently she was taking a private lesson and then fell. She wasn't immediately hurt, got up and even joked. Only hours later did she feel severe headaches and had to be hospitalized. It's really scary considering that I wasn't wearing a helmet when I was learning snowboarding this past Saturday. I will definitely consider renting a helmet even for the bunny slopes. Better safe than sorry!

St. Patrick's Day

Ce n'est pas une shamrock.

Since today was St. Paddy's Day, most people wore some form of green on them to work to avoid being pinched. Not sure what else you're supposed to do on this day to celebrate it, but I noticed that many Irish pubs and bars were overflowing with patrons when I was on my way home.

March is also the start of "March Madness", which describes a series of college basketball games. What people do is put money in a pool and then bet on which teams will win the games. We've even got a pool going on in the office. I may have to join in just to experience this thing they call "March Madness". It's totally a part of American culture, in a similar vein to the Super Bowl.

United States Postal Service

Pyramid

The United Postal Service should remove the word service from its name because there isn't much service to speak of. We should try privatizing this function and see if we can make this more efficient. Today at 4:30 PM in the afternoon, I had to wait in line for 30 minutes just to get a package weighed. There were only two postal workers and the line was growing exponentially. They should have assigned one more person on duty to reduce the customers' time spent waiting. I think the postal service may be like this all over the world because I can recall the many times that I've had to wait in line forever before I was helped at the local branch of the Deutsche Post in Frankfurt.

Entrepreneurship

Greeting card

Entrepreneur - Etymology: French, from Old French, from entreprendre to undertake; Definition: One who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.

One of my friends has a birthday coming up, so what better greeting card to send than a handmade one featuring my photos? See sample above. Since I enjoy photography so much, it would be a dream of mine to do it for a living. Also, because I'm realistic, I'm not giving up my day job. On the other hand, it can't hurt to explore the commercial side of images. I have a small virtual storefront set up. Now I just need to create some more inventory for sale.

In addition, I must try my hand at stock photos. You don't earn much per picture, but there is a certain satisfaction in making a sale. I just need to stop talking and start doing something about it. Take some action and pull myself out of a creative rut!

Riding the slopes

Squaw Valley

I went, I saw and I did not conquer, but I did survive on the bunny slopes of Squaw Valley.

The itinerary started with a 4:30 AM bus ride departing from a 16th street pick up location. The bus was huge, had a toilet and fit maybe 50 people. In the morning, the natives were pretty well behaved and quiet. The trip to Squaw took around 4 hours because we did not have to stop in the East Bay to pick up peeps. At around 7:30 AM, we were woken up to snowboarding videos of daring snowboard stunts. For breakfast we had a choice of Sara Lee bagel or Otis Spunkmeyer muffin, yogurt and juice. We got up there in record time because we arrived at around 8 AM.

Since we needed to rent snowboards, we strolled over to the rental building. This is were it got somewhat confusing because you really need to know the layout of the resort. We wasted a bunch of time at the rental place because of fumbling with the lockers. Those lockers eat tons of quarters! (See lessons learned below)

After orienting ourselves a bit, we headed for the cable car to ride up to High Camp for our group lesson. As expected, I was always one of the last people. One of the hardest things for me to do with a snow board is to just slide with it, scooting with one foot out of the bindings. The board is just so heavy, and my free foot doesn't have enough power to keep everything under control. Definitely need to practice that move more! Then I also dislike having to step up a slope. Very tiring!

My favorite move is heel slipping. Don't like toe slipping because it's quite dangerous. You've got your back to the base of the mountain so you don't really know who's behind you. I fell the most doing this toe slipping move. My lower back will pay for it tomorrow.

Actually, my feet were killing me during the group lesson because I was wearing boots that were a tad too small for me. After lunch, my feet were starting to feel numb at which point I gave in and had to go back to the rental to exchange it for larger boots. How good that felt afterward when I had the correct size boots on!

In the afternoon, we spent some time practicing what we learned on the bunny slopes at Papoose. This was valuable time spent because I learned how to move with the board a bit better without the pressure of an instructor or other students nearby. My last little move down the slopes was successful in my book because I slid down the mountain on my board, did a little turn and stayed on my feet throughout! That was truly my achievement of the day.

When we returned to the bus at around 4 PM, apres ski was waiting. It consisted of cookies, lukewarm cocoa, fruit and yogurt. Then we all piled back on the bus. My only complaint with the bus is that they should have put signs on the windows indicating which city it was returning to. It was confusing because there were 4 tour buses that looked identical.

The Bay Area Ski Bus coordinator showed us "Iron Man" on the video screens. It was an ok movie, but much too aggressive and gadgety for my tastes. I would have preferred to see Dodge Ball. They were going to show the Dark Knight too, but the coordinator guy slipped up. He must have fallen asleep. No tip for him! The driver was very professional and efficient, so he earned the most tips. We got back to the city around 8 PM, way ahead of schedule.

Overall, it was a good little diversion on the weekend. Now I really need to go to sleep because I'm tired from the day long affair. If you're considering a ski trip to Tahoe, I would definitely recommend going with the Bay Area Ski Bus because of its convenience.

Lessons learned:
1. Bring enough quarters for the lockers
2. At the rental place at Squaw, there's no need to buy something (e.g. a non-tasty and expensive cookie like I did) to make change because there is a change machine in the arcade
3. Every time you open the locker, you need to insert money, so get what you need before you lock the door
4. Bring noise cancelling headphones if you want to sleep on the bus when coming back
5. Perhaps rent equipment before hand to get on the slopes faster
6. Purchase snow boarding socks
7. The Papoose area of Squaw Valley is the true bunny slope area
8. Purchase neck gaiter to protect face from snowy wind
9. Buy a CamelBak perhaps for water on the slopes
10. Get a size 7 snowboarding boot! Size 6 will kill my feet

Early to bed, Early to rise

Synergy

Tomorrow is the big day... I'm headed to Lake Tahoe for one day of snowboarding. Actually, I'll be taking a group lesson and probably spending more time falling down than on my feet, but still I'm looking forward to it. The first time I tried snowboarding, I felt plenty sore and beat up the next day. Now I can finally feel like a part of the crowd because everyone talks about "heading up to Tahoe for the weekend." I need to try to keep up with the Joneses as they say, or rather try not to slip too far behind them. That way I'll have something to report on on Monday, when the inevitable question comes up - "What did you do over the weekend?"

This is actually the reason I'm blogging in the morning rather than in the evening. The Bay Area Ski Bus that I'm taking to Tahoe leaves at 4 AM Saturday morning. That means I will need to sleep fairly early tonight. The sacred cow of sleeping in on the weekend has been slaughtered by the trip.

Violence

Men Who Munch on Lunch

It was quite a coincidence that a random shooting occurred both in America (Alabama) and Germany almost simultaneously. Hopefully no one you know was personally affected by either of these random acts of violence. I watched the ZDF evening news report online yesterday and all the bigwigs in Germany appear to be asking themselves - what can we do to prevent the next one? I was somewhat surprised to hear that after the US, Germany has the most incidents of such violence. Why is that? Why is everyone copying everyone else in this violence. The scary thing is that both of these killers felt that inflicting violence on others was the only way to solve whatever problems they had. These acts are cries for attention, but you know, there are better ways to get attention.

California Dreaming

Lunching

California really has it set when it comes to the weather. This picture above was shot in my lunch hour. You can see people sitting outside enjoying the outdoors. Classic California - Land of the Sun Worshipers. I heard from a coworker in New York City that it was 40 Celsius there.

High Tide

A rising tide raises all the boats as the saying goes.

Since Citibank posted a profit, the entire stock market ended up higher. I hope these gains are sustainable because my portfolio could really use the good news and increased value.

I tweeted for the first time! Not that I understand how to harness the power yet, but I'm taking baby steps.

Quotable

Playpals

“I am an idealist. I don't know where I'm going but I'm on my way.” - Carl Sandburg

I quite like this this quote. An idealist is someone who has ideals, who strives for ideals and believes in them. Sometimes ideals may seem unreachable, but it pays to aim high.

If you're curious, this picture was taken in the redwood tree park that is hidden away at the foot of the Transamerica pyramid. Here you can enjoy a nice lunch in peace and quiet next to a fountain of gurgling water. Tres bon!

Another aside, I overindulged this afternoon on dark chocolate and hazelnut Ritter Sport. It was quite decadent and hard to put down once I started. One more row left for snacking tomorrow.

Abstract

This is not a pair of glasses. This is an abstract.

"Spring forward, fall back". This is the rule to help people remember how to adjust their clocks each spring and fall. We sprung forward an hour early this morning, which explains why it's 7:22 PM and still light out.

Given Daylight Savings time, this may encourage people to flash mob more often. A flash mob is a bunch of people who gather at one place and participate in a quirky activity and then disband. One of the "traditional" flash mobs that take place in SF almost every year on Valentine's Day is a spontaneous pillow fight. I've never seen a flash mob event, but have seen the aftermath of the pillow fight. Feathers are everywhere. It's one huge mess that's hard to clean up. Well, it appears that the city of San Francisco wants to crack down on flash mobs. Read the article here. I think people should be able to gather for flash mobs as long as their event does not entail clean up activities for the city. We're already struggling to finance stuff in this city. We shouldn't waste taxpayer dollars to clean up some peoples' idea of fun. When flash mobs first came out, it was probably cute, unique and fun because it's so absurd, but now the pillow fight is getting old. Think of something more creative guys and stop following the crowd like sheep!
I agree with one of the commenters who said that these people should harness their energy and do something good for the community.

The Carpenters

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

This picture pretty much sums up my entire day. Now I understand why Ikea is so cheap. They turn you into a carpenter for the day. I tried to finish assembling the "Ramberg" wardrobe today, but was just too tired. The door on the right hand side still needs to be mounted. Also, I think my dad found an error in their product because two holes seemed to be missing from where they should have been. That meant extra work drilling two holes. Ugh! After a whole day of work, the doors don't even close properly as you can see above. Maybe next time I'll pay a bit more for furniture that requires less assembly time.

Verweile doch, du bist so schoen!

Hello Kitty!

You know you're Chinese if your cellphone is decorated with a dangly thing. FYI, this is not mine.
(Last in the series, I promise)
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Fridays are great. Just like Faust's quote "Verweile doch, du bist so schoen", I'd like to say to Fridays, "Linger a bit longer! You're so nice."

On Reading

Doily

You know you're Chinese when you have doilies draped on your furniture.

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A friend of mine recommended that I read the overnight sensation "Twilight" from Stephenie Meyer. Perhaps I may borrow it from the library if I can elbow all the teenage girl library card holders out of the way. Ha ha! This book is popular among the female set because it features a strikingly handsome vampire as one of the protagonists from what I gather.

In terms of leisurely reading, I am working on William Makepeace Thackeray's "Vanity Fair", not the magazine of the same name. It's okay so far, but nothing that really knocked my socks off. The story is about two girls - Amanda Sedley and Becky Sharp and the rise and fall of their fortunes.

In the morning, I read the Wall Street Journal to get a dose of business news. In the evening I indulge in sfgate's Daily Dish, which keeps me informed about the latest celebrity gossip. (Speaking of which, can you believe Rihanna went back to that woman beater Chris Brown?) In addition to all of this, I also subscribe to a number of electronic newsletters that are more of a professional nature.

On top of that, I need to read German articles online so that I can identify interesting ones about America to translate. I've found one on the Neue Zuericher Zeitung about the dying American newspaper industry, which I need to translate into English now.

Photography Meetup

The Meetup

You get a respite from my "You know you're Chinese when you..." series because I did make it to the Photography meetup today after work. Here's a random picture of the venue and some of the folks who showed up. I estimate that 15-20 people attended. Some of them brought portfolios of their work to share. I enjoy seeing what others do photographically so that I can get inspired myself. For example, I would like to put a physical portfolio together eventually. For the most part people were open to sharing their techniques. I saw some pretty good photos, especially from the organizer. Many of the prints in her portfolio were huge!

My personal take away (yes, one of those nasty business catch phrases) from tonight was how to make an HDR (high definition range) image. Apparently Photomatix is software that enables those images. I've never tried it, but am curious to learn the technique. Successful Meetup? I'd say so if I am exposed to new things.

Use your noodle

You know you're Chinese if you have a rice cooker in your house and use it daily.

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Today's the official release of U2's new album "No Line on the Horizon". Amazon is selling it for $9.99. Not sure if I'm going to get it.

Upside down happiness

Happiness

You know you're Chinese if you have an upside down red paper sign with the Chinese character for happiness on it.

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On a separate note, sfgate had an interesting article on loneliness. Basically, the article conjectures that people are lonelier now than ever before. Duh... I was thinking. What old news! I've blogged about this topic many times before. Things like Facebook are no substitute for actually meeting up with your friends, however you define that term. Many people are so caught up in their careers that they have no life outside of work. That's sad and one of the reasons I try to develop a network outside of work.

However, developing a network of trusted confidantes is tougher than making money on the stock market these days. One reader of the sfgate article commented that social groups like Meetup.com, etc bring people together, but then everyone goes their separate ways. There is no way to build friendships that way. So true! When I was naive many moons ago, I used to think you could make some acquaintances this way, but now I know it's futile. I am now very jaded, but I still see some value in Meetups. I've been to 3 photography meetup events and I learned something new almost each time, although I haven't kept in contact with anyone I met. I'm planning to attend a meeting this week if all goes well.

Some people hang out with their coworkers, but I don't think that's a good idea. Personally I prefer to keep it separate. As they say in German, "Dienst ist Dienst und Schnaps ist Schnaps" meaning you shouldn't mix business with pleasure.

Speaking of German, I don't know if this is true and correct me if I'm making a false generalization, but I get the impression that friendships last longer in Germany than in the US. This may be because Americans are superficially very friendly with everyone, but very hard to truly know and befriend. Germans on the other hand tend to be very hard to get to know, but once you do, they're generally pretty loyal buddies. What are your thoughts? Is this just an outdated stereotype?

Telltale Signs

I'm a little teapot

You know you're Chinese if you have a small little teapot like the one above.
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It's been raining again today and I'm getting cabin fever. I haven't been to Golden Gate Park for 3 weeks now due to the rain! However, staying in forced me to do some more spring cleaning. Today I shredded some old files. Who needs stacks of monthly T-Mobile invoices from 2 years ago anyway? Then I organized some books on the bookshelf and recycled a textbook on tax research. It felt quite cleansing to be rid of the junk.