Dream, inspire and create

Ring in the New Year

2009-12-31T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here's looking at you kid!

This will be the last post from frankfurtsanfrancisco. It's been a fun experiment that I will miss, but it's all for the better. I am moving on and focusing my energies on my other website and other projects.

Never say never. Who knows? I just might start up a new blog under a new name if it strikes my fancy.

Only 4 more hours to the new year. I hope that it will bring all of my faithful readers good health, happiness and success.

About the picture: In honor of my last post, I decided to haul out the "big boy" camera and snap a photo of me. Taking self portraits helps me to be more self aware. For example, I realized how asymmetrical my eyes are. Also, my default look, that of a poker face can be quite intimidating. My resolution for 2010 should be to smile more, when it's appropriate of course. :-)

Bis demnaechst! Adieu! Ciao! Adios! Until Next Time...

frankfurtsanfrancisco

German consulate

2009-12-30T08:47:00.001-08:00

I'm paying a visit to the German consulate in San Francisco this morning so that someone can certify my citizenship. This needs to be done before I can get the money back, which I paid into the German retirement system. I'm hoping to get back a nice chunk of change.
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Quality of Life

2009-12-28T08:11:00.001-08:00

I wish the SF government would do more to improve quality of life problems in the city such as graffiti. These things do impact larger problems. I need to report this graffiti to the department of public works.
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Return to Normalcy

2009-12-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

Walk This Way

It was pouring yesterday afternoon, but it seems to have stopped this morning thank goodness, just in time for my pending power walking session.

The return to normalcy in the title refers to my diet. After a couple days of eating festive foods, my stomach is glad to return to a bit of normalcy.

I woke up at 5:45 AM yesterday so that I could get to the mall early enough for the deals that didn't really show up. Bummer. One place offered sweaters for only $20, but there were only XXL and L sizes available. The lesson I learned is not to go to Stonestown Galleria for after Christmas shopping because their merchandise is expensive and I can't check off items on my gift list.

Miracle on Christmas

2009-12-26T21:46:00.000-08:00

The attempted Christmas Day attack on a plane enroute to Detroit was a scary reminder of the terrorists that are still out there plotting destruction and damage. These vermin are scum because they try to instill fear in everyone with their scare tactics. Also, now it will even be more of a nuisance to fly because of all the reactionary security measures the security agencies implement every time there is another bombing attempt. Remember the shoe bomber who caused us all to have to remove our shoes. Then the attempt to use explosives that were in liquid form, which resulted in the ban on bottled water. The security measures are getting insane and it not even clear how much safer these measures make us. Pretty soon we'll all be flying naked as many others also predict.

Feeding Frenzy

2009-12-25T10:47:00.000-08:00

The holidays are a feeding frenzy in many ways. It's a time to stuff yourself just like bears do before they start hibernating. Not that I've met any bears who told me that first hand.

Then the day after Christmas sales is a different type of feeding frenzy. Because of the sales and discounts, people turn into monsters as they grab at deals. I will likely join the crazed masses tomorrow, but I hope to maintain my sanity and humanity.

Christmas Eve 2009

2009-12-24T07:22:00.000-08:00

The pink glow of the sun hangs on the horizon and gently fades into the light blue of the sky. Today is Christmas Eve morning and I must go to work, albeit for only a half day. Most people either take today off or have a company holiday today, so the traffic is very light.

I like how a common German holiday greetings is to wish people a "besinnliches Weihnachtsfest". Besinnlich means contemplative and reflective. More people should be contemplative these days. I wish you a contemplative Christmas.

Tis the Season

2009-12-23T18:57:00.001-08:00

I had lunch today with a former colleague, who provided the inside scoop on what's going on at my old employer. Apparently there was a "RIF" (reduction in force) in November sometime and a couple folks I know got released. I think they should just call it like it is, layoffs, instead of using euphemisms. I'm glad I left when I did. I knew it wasn't sustainable. Plus, the pressure to sell is suffocating.

Assertiveness Training!

2009-12-22T21:30:00.000-08:00

Festive Cable Car

Having been at my previous company for so many years, I tend to maintain the "service provider" mindset. We were always supposed to please the client, meet or exceed their expectations and basically ask "How high?" when the client said "Jump!"

Now that I'm in industry and find myself in the client role, I need to learn to take a client mindset and be more assertive in protecting my department's needs. For example, I am working with the marketing department on updating a brochure. Considering we have a limited budget for printing the brochures, I suggested taking a risk based approach to distributing the brochures. Higher risk branches get more brochures delivered to them. Marketing said that it would be more expensive and in general tried to dissuade me from that idea. Of course Marketing just wants to save themselves some headaches. So instead of just agreeing with Marketing, I need to defend my department's interests and inform marketing that we want a estimate of how much more it would cost for the risk based approach and we will make the business decision of what route to take. I should not let Marketing or other departments dictate what makes sense for our department just because they are trying to avoid extra work. That's where I need to be more firm in standing my ground instead of always giving in.

This is a good lesson. I will take this example to heart.

Friendliness Overload

2009-12-21T20:24:00.000-08:00

I read an interesting article in the Economist on the preponderance of friendliness these days. By friendliness the author meant too much casualness in our day to day communications with one another. My favorite excerpt from the article is as follows:

"Replacing formal politeness is a kind of neutral friendliness, where human encounters take place devoid of the signifiers of emotional status differences that past generations found so essential. That may lubricate business meetings. But it makes life outside the workplace less interesting. If you use first names everywhere at work, how do you signify to a colleague that you want to be a real friend? If you sign all emails 'love and vibes', how do you show intimacy? Much of the world has an answer to that, at least in their own languages and cultures. English-speakers may have triumphed on one front, but they are struggling on another."

The author is so right.

Reunion

2009-12-20T21:35:00.000-08:00

I met up with some of my middle school classmates tonight at a divey looking bar. It was interesting meeting up with most of them and finding out how everyone turned out. One of them made a hurtful joke, which I didn't really appreciate. However, there is such a thing as karma.

Money Launderers Beware!

2009-12-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to announce that I passed my exam. Now I am a Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS)!

That's one weight off of my shoulders. No more studying at the crack of dawn every morning. This morning, a Saturday, I woke at 6 AM (which no one should be forced to do on a weekend) to make sure I got to the testing center on time. The Prometric testing center is conveniently located in the Financial District. I entered the room and joined the line of other test takers. The others were taking different types of tests. I heard a couple of folks taking the TOEFL and one person taking the GRE.

The rules are strict - no watches, no face tissues, empty pockets except your ID card and the key to the locker, where you store the rest of your personal items. They give you a couple pieces of scratch paper, 2 pencils and then lead you into the computerized testing rooms. Fortunately the testing center provided headphones to block out surrounding noise because there was one test taker who seemed to need a lot of assistance from the proctor.

I had not taken an exam like this in a while, so when the digital timer started counting down, I was a bit rusty. After a while, I got more comfortable with the questions, and I was in the test taking flow. The CAMS exam consists of 120 multiple choice questions that you must answer in 3.5 hours. The passing score is 75%. After I reached my 120th question and had double checked my work, I was ready to press the finish button. With bated breath I awaited my results. Luckily I passed and have good news to share with others. It would have been embarrassing to have to tell my boss that I did not pass.

Freebie

2009-12-18T17:52:00.001-08:00

I got a 3 free pairs of socks at Lucy just by trying on a pair of yoga pants. What a deal! Those socks had a $14 value. Didn't like the pants though.

Wish me luck. I'm studying for an exam tomorrow and would like to pass.

About the Picture: This is a photo of the Ritz-Carlton hotel up on Nob Hill.

Winding Roads

2009-12-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood today. Just look at the golden yellow leaves shining against the blue sky in my picture above. The rain has gone away for the moment and we are left with glorious weather.

Countdown...Only 14 more days left of frankfurtsanfrancisco. Then it's bye bye time.

Dark and Mysterious

2009-12-16T17:53:00.001-08:00

I inadvertently let a German phrase slip from my mouth today. One of my coworkers asked where someone else went and I said, "I think she went to lunch or so." It sounded weird in English once I heard myself saying it, but it works in Deutsch, or?

About the picture: What is this guy doing in the alley? At second glance I think he was on a BlackBerry judging by the position of his hands. Why so private?

Whirligig

2009-12-15T20:09:00.001-08:00

I brought my little Christmas pyramid into the office to add some holiday cheer to my workspace. A couple of my coworkers have even given it a twirl. It does look kind of interesting with those propellers on top and you can't help but want to make the figures move around and around. It can be a type of hypnotic stress reliever.

Discretion

2009-12-14T21:42:00.001-08:00

Another late night posting because I was working at home. I put in 3 hours this evening. I don't mind it that much at this point because I'm still relatively new and still need to prove my worth. Plus, I enjoy the creative aspects of my work. I say creative because I get a lot of free reign to design processes and reports. The ID theft program is still relatively young and flexible, so I get to impose my vision on many things.

Anyhow, I really need my time to work at home because during the work day, I'm always interrupted by this or that. I lose most of my productive time by transitioning from one project to another or answering emails. There was a great Harvard Business Review article recently on managing information overload. It covered the many different theories out there on how to productively managing overflowing email inboxes. Some people recommend having a clean inbox. Others advocate the one-touch rule meaning you should deal with an email the first time around rather than have it languish in your inbox. I try to apply both of these rules to a certain extent.

What are your secrets for dealing with information and email overload?

About the Picture: I took this with my built in BlackBerry camera, so that's why resolution is poor. However, I am really learning to love the discreet nature of photographing with camera phones. It's less obvious than pulling out a big old dSLR and can you can take more spontaneous pictures.

Rain Check

2009-12-13T22:37:00.000-08:00

I fulfilled my Christmas duties this weekend by creating my own greeting cards, writing cards, wrapping gifts for other people and setting up my Christmas tree. This is the first year that I've created a "theme" tree. The theme this year is red and bows, meaning that the tree contained only red colored ornaments and bows. Although I have to admit that I did sneak in an tin soldier ornament I got from the German Christmas market in Frankfurt. The photo above was taken with the lights in the room off, with a slow shutter speed. It's an interesting effect.

The only thing that I still have open on my Christmas to-do list is to think of and get a gift for my mother. Christmas is coming, so the pressure's on.

Heat seeking

2009-12-12T14:01:00.001-08:00

No more Espanol until mid January because today was the last class. The weather is somewhat nasty today. I had planned to go take photos at twilight but the weather probably won't be conducive for photos. Sorry!
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Lunch time indulgence

2009-12-11T12:51:00.001-08:00

I treated myself to a decadent hazelnut latte from Coffeebean today. Yum! I'm also trying something different today which is blogging midday. Only a couple more hours to go and then the weekend starts. I've got some serious studying to do tonight because I've got a Spanish final exam tomorrow. Ciao!

Wishy Washy

2009-12-10T21:44:00.000-08:00

Clean Money

I spent half the day in anti-money laundering training. However, most of it was not relevant for my daily responsibilities. Buona sera! I need to get some beauty sleep now. It's so difficult to wake up in the morning when it's cold outside and I got less than 8 hours!

Gladhanding

2009-12-09T20:54:00.000-08:00

Socializing after work at the Bubble Lounge - can you believe that? Yes, I forced myself to attend a mixer organized by Ascend, a professional association because I know it's good for me, similar to taking medicine.

I spoke to a couple folks, got two business cards and left after a hour. Socializing in small doses I can handle. It's when I need to be out there for extended periods of time that it starts to be draining on introverts like me.
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Verboten

2009-12-08T20:24:00.000-08:00

I took this verboten photo of the Christmas decorations in the lobby of my office building. After I snapped my photo, I became aware of one of the security guards making some noise. She told me that photos of the building were not allowed. When I asked why, all she could tell me was that this was policy. This policy doesn't make sense to me, especially since I work in the building and am not some weirdo, who walked off the street taking photos of the lobby to plan who knows what. Come on. It's a harmless photo of decorations that don't even look that good! Sheesh! At least she didn't ask me to delete it.

Anyhow, I was scanning the headlines on the Sueddeutsche Zeitung online and saw an article on GEZ fees, which are monthly fees levied on televisions, radios and computers that are capable of connecting to the Internet. These fees are used to support public programming on the channels ARD and ZDF. The article is about proposed fee increases for those households that don't own a TV, but do own a laptop or mobile telephone that has Internet capabilities. According to the GEZ website, since January 2009, the quarterly GEZ fee for a radio is 17,28 EUR. The equivalent cost for a TV is 53,94 EUR. I guess TV's cost more because it gives you more entertainment than a radio.

I don't think I paid the fee when I was over there, perhaps because it was included in my rent to my landlord. In any case, these fees can really add up if they are paid regularly. I'm glad we don't have to pay these fees in the States. We have public television called PBS - Public Broadcasting Station, but these stations are funded by donations from viewers and probably some government support. I like public television because they have shows like Masterpiece Classics, Masterpiece Mystery and Masterpiece Contemporary. They show a bunch of British programming that I wouldn't otherwise be able to get on other channels.

Mahlzeit!

2009-12-07T19:51:00.000-08:00

Frog Hollow Farm*

I dread thinking about what to eat for lunch everyday. I don't want to eat out everyday because that gets expensive and boring very quickly. That means I need to plan what I'm going to cook on Sundays in preparation for the upcoming week. This is easier said than done because I essentially have 2 recipes in my lunch repertoire - pasta with tomato sauce or pasta with cream of mushroom/white sauce. The other ingredients stay the same - mixed veggies and some type of meat be it chicken, turkey or ham. If I want to keep it simple, I make a sandwich. When I'm kind of lazy, I also will heat up frozen food from Trader Joe's like burritos or mushroom risotto.
I've got to start expanding my cooking skills or my lunches are going to be the same old same old day after day. Ugh!

*These guys make the best pastry in town in my humble opinion. Today I tried a pear fragipane; whatever a fragipane is, it tastes good. The tart had a pear in the middle and underneath it was some sort of almond paste. Almond makes everything better!

Food for Thought

2009-12-06T17:08:00.000-08:00

Mango Blush

Walking in Golden Gate Park today was a cold affair today. The sky was overcast and most people stayed indoors, so there was plenty of parking. Right now it's 48 degrees Fahrenheit and raining. The forecast is for more rain in the upcoming week.

Smarty Pants

2009-12-05T19:31:00.000-08:00

I picked up a copy of the September 2009 issue of the Harvard Business Review (HBR) from work and have been reading it these past couple of days. It has excellent content and case studies that are relevant to people working in the business world. For example, in the 9/2009 issue, there was a case study about surviving a boss from hell, a first person article about how Cisco manages innovation within the company and then an article about how to manage information overload. Think of the HBR as a type of textbook for business folks. It costs $79 for 12 issues. Should I make an investment?

Three New Things

2009-12-04T19:50:00.000-08:00

Blue Night

I learned three new things today.

1. I don't like broccoli rabe
2. I learned (kind of) how to tie a scarf in a new way
3. MS Visio can be used to create timelines

Today for lunch I invited my coworkers to try out "Il Cane Rosso" with me. It's a new restaurant in the Ferry Building. I ordered the broccoli rabe sandwich since the other sandwiches sounded too meaty to me. When I bit into it, I was put off by the bitter taste. After complaining to my office mates about it, one of them informed me that broccoli rabe is a type of broccoli that tastes bitter. Wow, I will never forget that lesson! I probably won't go back there either because the prices were pretty high for food that is not that distinguished. In any case, I paid for that lesson and now have a new experience under my belt.

While heading out of the building for lunch, I had to take an elevator down to the lobby of course. I stepped into the crowded elevator and minded my own business. Suddenly the woman next to me, a total stranger, turns to me and asks, "Do you want me to show you a new way to tie your scarf?". After I said yes, she proceeded to unknot my scarf and retied it a different way explaining as she went along. I just thought it was a very interesting experience. People don't usually do that in elevators to total strangers. Maybe she didn't consider me a total stranger since we worked in the same building and for the same employer. This experience prompted me to research scarf tying techniques and I came across this site here.

In the afternoon, I had to rush a presentation to my manager. One of the slides was supposed to come from an image in a Visio file. It was a timeline image. My mission was to update the timeline and paste the new timeline into Powerpoint. I thought the dates in Visio could just be changed pretty simply, however, I was wrong. Apparently the timeline was built using special Visio features, so I had to right click it to "Configure the intervals" before it worked. I never knew Visio had timeline capabilities. I only used it for its process flow diagraming powers.

Now I'm exhausted from such an experience rich day. Buenas noches!

Black and white

2009-12-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

I had a hankering for some caffeine this afternoon at work, but I resisted the temptation and instead walked briskly around the block. (1 for self-control, 0 for additional calories). As I was briskly walking, I happened to peer into the lobby of an office building and noticed 3 framed black and white photos of buildings. They were nice looking prints and were probably taken with traditional cameras. I aspire to do something like that and have my work displayed in office buildings.

Party Pooper

2009-12-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

Reflections

Where's the holiday spirit? Don't bother looking for it at my workplace. They canceled holiday potluck, which was planned for next Wednesday. That's fine with me. However, I just think that we should have a company sponsored lunch at the minimum. I overheard my coworker telling his team that they would have a team lunch at a nice restaurant.

Sunday - Day of Rest of Day of Shopping?

2009-12-01T17:39:00.001-08:00

But not on Sundays

Germany's version of the Supreme Court - Bundesverfassungsgericht in Karlsruhe decided today that Berlin should not allow shopping on Sundays during the advent season because it goes against the constitution. The church argues that Sundays should be a day of rest, God's day.

I am fascinated by this decision because I've had the experience of shops being closed on Sundays when I was in Germany. On one hand, it was pretty nice to enjoy a quiet day. The little pastry shop around the corner was open briefly on Sundays so that people could pick up fresh bread, but it closed around noon but overall, Sundays were relatively quiet in Frankfurt. However, because of this, Saturday evenings were all the more hectic since everyone tried to fit in last minute grocery shopping before the stores closed. I learned very quickly to avoid Saturday evening shopping at all costs. The court's decision in favor of the church is indicative of how traditional Germany is. Something like this would not survive in the US because American popular culture is focused on consumerism, commerce and making money.

Although I'm not a huge fan of shopping, I think people should have the option of choosing to shop or choosing to relax on Sundays. Let's assume for argument's sake that you forgot to buy some milk for a recipe you wanted to make on Sunday. Well, you'd have to scrap that plan because you can't buy milk on Sunday. Grocery stores are all shut.

Zen

2009-11-30T21:37:00.000-08:00

Caveat: Although the following post discusses Buddhist concepts, it should not be construed as a post to convert anyone to this religion.

While at the Asian Art Museum, I listened to an audio description of Zen. I agree with one of the main characteristics of this school of Buddhism, which is to be mindful in all of your activities, even when carrying out seemingly mundane activities like washing dishes or sweeping the floor. Per the Wiki, a life of Zen is a "life of humility; a life of labor; a life of service; a life of prayer and gratitude; and a life of meditation." I try to practice the mindfulness aspect in my day to day life because it helps me to appreciate the moment, instead of dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.

While in college I took a class on Asian civilization and philosophy. One of the main messages that has stayed with me today is the Buddhist statement that the root of all suffering is desire. I agree with this statement because it seems so true just by examining our personal lives and the going-ons in the broader world. By freeing yourself from desire, you are one step closer to reducing your suffering. I also wanted to share this site I found on the BBC that covers the main concepts of Buddhism. In my opinion, this philosophy sounds much more peaceful than some of the other mainstream religions which tend to focus on conversion and evangelism.

Magical powers

2009-11-29T12:48:00.001-08:00

Sky Walker

This thing, which looks look a demon, is actually a positive creature that helps humans remove barriers in their lives. What a great power to have! This sounds similar to a guardian angel, except this thing is fierce looking! The following is an excerpt from "The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco" guide.

"Simhavaktra Dakini - Sino-Tibetan; 18th century; lacquered wood.

Simhavaktra Dakini, the ferocious lion-faced guardian of Vajrayana Buddhism, is a female "sky-walker" who guides human beings along the right path. This powerful spirit can remove physical hindrances and spiritual obstacles such as pride and ego. When she is portrayed alone, she dances gracefully; her right leg is raised and bent, and her left leg would usually be planted on a prostrate human figure (now lost)."

Smile

2009-11-28T19:38:00.000-08:00

The theme of today's post is Asia. I went to the Asian Art museum today, where I took this picture of a smiling old man. Then recently I read an article about how in China there is a fake iPhone that they call a "HiPhone." This is hilarious! I understand this is tantamount to stealing someone's property when you create counterfeit versions of things, however, I find the names funny. One time I saw a knock-off of the Banana Republic brand and it had a funny name as well that I don't remember.

Then on the NY Times I found an article on the boom of mixed babies in South Korea and how the country is having a hard time coping with them. By mixed the article means one of the parents is Chinese, Vietnamese or another type of Asian. Interesting stuff.

Catching Up

2009-11-27T19:05:00.000-08:00

Catching up yesterday with extended family, I got to hear the latest news from everyone. Some people were buying houses, others changed jobs and still others went on exotic vacations. Today I'm eating leftovers like California rolls, turkey and ham and working from home.

About the photo: Juxtaposition of Old St. Mary's church and an office building

Being Thankful

2009-11-26T23:02:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Corner

There's much to be thankful for in our lives. Sometimes we tend to focus on the negative - stuff we don't have, instead of being grateful for what we have.

Thanksgiving Eve

2009-11-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

View from LuLu Petite

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! Tomorrow is the big day for the big bird and the big meal.

Family tradition is to go over to my grand-aunts' place to see the extended family on my mother's side. There are also certain foods that are must haves such as turkey, stuffed shells, mutli-layered Jello, butter cookies and carrot soup. I try not to overstuff myself, but it's difficult when you want to try a bit of each dish. Tomorrow I will surely struggle to explain what type of work I do. It's difficult to articulate because I work on such diverse topics that are all somehow related to fraud in the banking industry. The day after Thanksgiving, aka Black Friday will be a normal work day for me since I currently have no vacation hours and my company does not give that day as a holiday. I get to work from home.

I've got plenty of entertainment to keep me busy tomorrow because I somehow managed to borrow both Season One and Two of Mad Men from the San Francisco Public Library. These DVDs are in high demand, so I'm glad I didn't have to wait too long for them. I love the SF public library. I can reserve my books, DVDs online and they will be delivered to the branch closest to my home. My tax dollars at work!

All Dolled Up

2009-11-24T22:11:00.000-08:00

Red Twinkles

San Francisco's Financial District is getting into the holiday spirit. See this red Christmas tree out in front of Bank of America's old headquarters at 555 California Street. It looks even better in the evening when the red tree really stands out.

My office building has no decoration whatsoever. How boring!

Picture Perfect

2009-11-23T21:53:00.000-08:00

Fire Dancer

I'm of the opinion that you can't fully appreciate a picture unless it's printed, matted and framed or at least put into an album. I ordered an 8x10" print of the purple SF skyline picture I took Saturday and framed it. Starting tomorrow it will grace my office desk and remind me of the true reason I work - to earn money for my interests.

About the Picture: I like this picture because it looks like the performer somehow has fire emanating from her hands like some sort of super hero. Plus, the flash belonging to one of the other photographers outlines her, drawing further attention to the subject.

Playing with Fire

2009-11-22T15:44:00.000-08:00

Figure 8

"Dolores Park is like a circus. There is always a show going on" said a bystander on the street yesterday. I agree. San Francisco in general is a little like a circus. Yesterday we had some folks on the street who were playing with fire. This is a picture of one of them doing their thing at twilight.

Dolores Park

2009-11-21T14:18:00.000-08:00

Purple Wash

"Dolor" means pain in Spanish. I'm not sure why anyone would want to name their daughter Dolores. Anyhow, I'm went to Dolores Park in SF this afternoon to find some fodder for this blog. This park has phenomenal views of the San Francisco skyline as you can see from the picture above, perfect for tourists who want a great shot. Most of the tourists don't come to this corner of the city though.

It took me nearly 30 minutes to find a parking space near Dolores Park. I saw a couple spots between cars, but I am a poor parallel parker, so that's why it took 30 minutes. I eventually found a parking space at 16th Street and Guerrero. If I get a new car, it would have to be small to help make finding a parking space easier.

This can be considered my 3rd artist date because I've never been to Dolores Park before. I've heard a lot about it though. If you're wondering where all the alternative youngsters in San Francisco live, you've found your answer in the neighborhood around Dolores Park.

Slick

2009-11-20T19:13:00.000-08:00

Fruit

San Francisco's Mayor Newsom wanted to run for governor of California, but he dropped out because he couldn't raise enough money. I personally dislike the guy and don't think he's trustworthy. He's too slick for his own good. SFgate has a video of an interview with him.

Office Tales

2009-11-19T16:30:00.000-08:00

Drama

I was Ms. Productive today because I had no annoying meetings interrupting my flow. Plus, my office mate is the silent type so there's no time wasted on chitchat, which can be unfortunate because even I sometimes enjoy chatting about non work topics.

Yesterday I viewed the movie "Elf", which had some laugh out loud parts. It stars Will Ferrell as a human elf. He essentially plays a cheerful, silly man-boy to the foil of his father who is on Santa's naughty list. Hilarious in certain parts like the one in which he gets demoted to toy tester in Santa's workshop. He sits down and needs to test jack in the boxes. It's funny, trust me. I definitely recommend it for some escapist fare after a serious day of work.

Piracy

2009-11-18T22:17:00.000-08:00

Holidays

All my questions about modern day pirates were answered at today's World Affairs Council discussion about pirates. I learned some interesting facts as well.

I was wondering why countries couldn't just arrest the pirates and put them to trial. - It costs too much time & money.

Also, why don't these merchant boats just take another route to avoid East Africa? - It would take too long to transport the goods, making products more expensive as well.

Apparently the best way to combat pirates is to place armed guards on the boats. It's not a good idea to arm the sailors.

Finally, I was surprised to find out that the crew on a merchant ship usually only numbers around 20 for a huge ship! That's one reason why merchant ships are so vulnerable.

Bowing Rituals

2009-11-17T22:15:00.000-08:00

People Watchers

I don't claim to be an expert on how to bow, but I do find the brouhaha over President Obama's bow to the Japanese emperor fascinating. Read about it here. Personally, I appreciate that Obama is being sensitive to different cultural greetings. However, I don't think he needed to bow 90 degrees. A slight bending of the upper body should have been sufficient. I'm surprised his cultural consultants did not advise him properly. But then again, you can't please everyone. If he had not bowed enough people would be complaining that he disrespected the Japanese, and so on and so forth. You just can't win.

About the Picture: This is one of my favorite places to walk by because there's always interesting people sitting on the stairs people watching. I like the way the people are placed in this photo. The guy sitting by himself looks like he's looking at the girl diagonal from him, but actually he's staring at the gaggle of guys in the left side of the picture. They look like a bunch of brainacs to me. I'm on a roll with alliteration aren't I?

Kaputt

2009-11-16T20:40:00.001-08:00

My home wireless network is kaputt! My world revolves around having Internet access 24/7 sadly enough.
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Empty

2009-11-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

Walking fast for long distances is a great way to relax. I did my usual Conservatory to Bison paddock power walking session today through the park. Generally I don't like to run because it causes knee pain, but today my feet felt lighter than usual. I even jogged for some spurts, which is good for inducing deep breathing. Afterward I always feel better than when I started.

Flashbacks

2009-11-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

I inspired my mother to do some much needed cleaning of the closet this Saturday. She dug up this old school Samsonite suitcase that probably dates back to the 1960's or 70's. No one uses suitcases like this these days. It's a vintage piece that looks like it would fit into the set of Mad Men. I can picture Don Draper using this suitcase to move into a hotel since his wife Betty kicked him out of their home.

I'm currently listening to SWR3 webradio with someone speaking German live. I picked up the habit when I was spending time in Stuttgart.

Today I was pretty lazy and did not go out. The $2 MUNI fare feels like a rip off anyhow. I don't think the ride is worth $2 because often we're crammed in the bus like a can of sardines. The conditions on MUNI can be pretty poor.

What did I accomplish today and what's still on my to-do list? I studied Spanish, took a photo and now I'm blogging. What's still on my to-do list? I need to decide if I'm going to a photography excursion next Saturday to Dolores Park. I'm leaning towards going. Then, I probably should study for the Certified Anti-Money Laundering exam. I'd also like to prepare mentally for the Spain trip next April 2010.

Be Present

2009-11-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

Wind Chimes

I often need to remind myself to be in the present because my mind sometimes gets crowded with too many other thoughts that are useless. When I find myself in these situations, I just take a deep breath and tell myself to let go of that useless thought or worry. This technique helps me to relax. Just let go, release. It's ok. I'm glad I picked up some of these tricks from my sister's holistic health classes during university that covered topics like meditation. My philosophy in life is that you can't dwell on the past too long because the past is just that. It's gone, done, finito and you can't change a thing about it. Regret is a waste of time. Definitely learn from the past, but it's much more productive to face forward and think about actions that you can affect and change about your behavior.

About the Photo: I snapped this on Grant Ave in Chinatown. Some of the stores make interesting photos because they are so cluttered and sell weird stuff. You have to be discreet and quick when taking pictures though because the shop owners will sometimes shoo you away and say "No photos!! No photos!!" That's one of my problems - I'm a slow photographer because I need to frame things and reframe them, fix the exposure, change the ISO, etc.

San Francisco's Park Dwellers

2009-11-12T21:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, San Francisco has a homeless problem. I've mentioned it so often that I feel like a broken record. However, it's still good to know that others share my opinion. SF Gate journalist C.W. Nevius reports on homeless who refuse to go into shelters, but rather prefer to camp out in Golden Gate Park. It makes certain parts of the park unsafe and unsavory for visitors.

Mission Dolores

2009-11-11T13:26:00.001-08:00

Today is Veteran's Day in the US, so banks, some companies and government offices are closed. Having a free day, I decided to check off one of my photography to-do's by visiting Mission Dolores, San Francisco's oldest intact building. The mission is part of the chain of missions spanning California known as El Camino Real. The Wiki about the mission is quite informative. The picture above is of the adobe mission. Next to this is the basilica. It's somewhat confusing if you ask me.

One of reasons I wanted to visit the mission is that it's featured in Hitchcock's film "Vertigo". There's a scene where Kim Novak visits the cemetery at the mission and places flowers on the grave of a fictional "Carlota Valdes". Vertigo is a great film if you want to see San Francisco at its best. I wish I had Jimmy Stewart's apartment in the film 900 Lombard Street at Jones. He had a view of Coit Tower from his living room! Click here for a list of filming locations for Vertigo.

The Experiment

2009-11-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

I have a big announcement to make. Drum roll please ....
I've given it a lot of thought and have decided to stop this blog by the end of this year. My last blog entry will be 12/31/2009.

Sometimes you just need to make hard decisions and shake things up. I started this blog as an experiment when I returned from Germany. It seemed like a daunting task when I first started, but now it's become part of my daily routine. Now that I've carried on this experiment for nearly 2 years, it's time to move on to other ventures. I especially want to devote more of my time to the website that I pay to maintain. It feels neglected right now and needs more of my attention and care. I won't rule out starting a brand new blog, but it's still too early to say at this point. Hopefully you've enjoyed the ride and will continue to follow this blog regularly until the year end.

Lundi, Lunes, Montag, Monday

2009-11-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday to stock up on snacks. I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to snack foods. Some of my new treasures include almond windmill cookies, Blue Diamond brand almond milk and pita crackers. I must be going through an almond phase for some reason. One of my previous food phases was carrots. For a while, I had carrot sticks almost every day at work.

News update on the infamous Bay Bridge S-Curve - read here. A trucker plunged to his death early this morning because he was going above the speed limit and probably did not expect the curves. This is the first fatality related to the S-Curve. I don't think they have enough signage warning people of the approaching curve. The authorities really need to install a huge red flashing sign saying "S-Curve ahead" in bold letters.

Sunday Dalliance

2009-11-08T17:26:00.001-08:00

Three Faces of a Pear

I solved my potluck dilemma - I'll be making a pear, walnut gorgonzola salad for the Thanksgiving potluck on 11/20.

Yesterday as I was waiting for my haircut, I read a Q&A article in the New York Times featuring a 26-year old travel photographer called Robert Caplin. I had to read that twice to make sure I read his age correctly. 26 it was. That's young and already he's a travel photographer. Amazing. I'd like to learn how he got into this field. I bet it's his connections. I want to be a travel photographer too and be paid to travel and take pictures. That sounds like a dream job to me.

Hair

2009-11-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting at Tasha's hair design in San Francisco's Chinatown waiting for my turn. Since it's the weekend, it's busy. There is a guy ahead of me in line. There are no appointments at this place.

I really wish I had brought a magazine to pass the time. Luckily I have my trusty Blackberry with me so that I can multitask by blogging. One less thing to do when I get home.

I'm not getting a drastically different haircut. Over the years, I've come to realize that I can't do really short haircuts because I end up being mistaken for a guy. My name doesn't help clear up the ambiguity either. I'm just going to get a bob.

When I want to treat myself, I go to Oxenrose. Since it's a lot more expensive, I only occasionally go there.

About the picture - This is one of the hair stylists at work.
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Anniversary

2009-11-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

Mystery Man

I've been back in the United States for almost 2 years now. The end of November will be my anniversary date. It's gone by relatively quickly.

There were several reasons for my decision to return to the U.S. Firstly, my 2 year transfer was over. When I first signed my contract with the German firm, it was for two years. Secondly, I felt that my time was well spent and that I had accomplished a lot during those two years. A part of me felt that I should leave while I was still ahead and things were looking up. (This is similar to TV shows. Some should really stop while they're still good.) Another consideration for me in returning to the States was that my chances for promotion or at least earning more were higher in my native country than in a foreign country. After all, it was not always easy communicating with clients in a foreign language. I had to make a much greater effort. Why set myself for such an uphill battle and make things so hard for myself? Finally, I also considered getting more involved in artistic pursuits.

Now that two years have passed, where am I now? I look back to interesting project at my old firm that took me to many unusual corners of the U.S. Now, in my new position, I am finally in a place that I think will give me more time for other pursuits aside from work. I'm really trying to nourish this neglected side of my life. Although I haven't really broken into the art scene here either, I can dream, no?

Oh yes, I will also be able to apply for the return of the funds I contributed to the German retirement system now that I've been back 2 years. I hope it will be a large windfall.

Sunrise

2009-11-05T18:19:00.001-08:00

Beautiful sunrise this morning made the sky all pink, purple and dramatic. It inspired me to pull out my "big boys" as I call my heavy Dslr to capture the moment.

Deutschrunde

2009-11-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

Fachwerkhaeuser

Zur Abwechselung schreibe ich den heutigen Beitrag auf Deutsch. Ich habe seit fast 2 Jahren kein Deutsch mehr geschrieben! Unglaublich wie schnell die Zeit vergeht. Klar schreibe ich ab und zu kurze Mails, aber es ist nicht das Gleiche.

Warum schreibe heute auf Deutsch? Weil ich mich von meiner Deutschrunde heute Nachmittag inspiriert wurde. Jeden Mittwoch von 12:30 - 1:15 findet ihr mich im Goethe Institut, das sich prakitscherweise in der Naehe vom Financial Viertel befindet. Eine kleine Gruppe von Deutsprachigen hat sich in den letzten Wochen gebildet. Ich gehoere schon zu den "Stammgaesten" an. Die Gespraeche werden von einer Muttersprachlerin moderiert.

Das heutige Thema war Merkels Rede im US-Kongress. Irgendwie habe ich nichts davon mitbekommen, obwohl ich mich in meinem Freundes- und Bekanntenkreis als Deutschland Kenner vorgebe. (Nur ein Scherz!)

Das Thema der vorhigen Woche war Politik, insbesondere die neue FDP-CDU Koalition. Ehrlich gesagt, interessiere ich mich fuer die politischen Themen nicht sehr. Aber das ist angeblich das Lieblingsthema von einer einzigen Person in der Gruppe. Er ist Zahnarzt, also nennen wir ihn Herr Zahnarzt. Herr Zahnarzt spricht Deutsch ganz gut, aber er dominiert die Gespraeche fast zum Ausschluss der anderen. Zum Glueck wird er die naechsten 2 Wochen nicht da sein, denn er reist nach Deutschland fuer irgendwelche Zahnarztmessen. Vielleicht dann haben die anderen Teilnehmer endlich eine Chance das Thema zu wechseln.

Apropros Deutsch, ich freue mich ab 16. November die Deutsche Welle im Fernsehen hier in SF sehen zu koennen. Es wird wohl nur die deutschen Nachrichten gesendet werden, aber es waere trotzdem interessant.

Potluck dilemma

2009-11-03T17:52:00.001-08:00

Pots

I have to participate in two work related potluck events this holiday season - one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. I'm not sure if I should just ask my mom to help me prep something tasty like fried noodles or if I should attempt to make something myself. Since I have two potlucks, maybe I could do one of each.

It's always good to have some special dish in your culinary repertoire because of these potluck things.

The Corner Office

2009-11-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

Both of the coworkers, with whom I share an office were out today and will be out tomorrow as well. That means good news for me because I'll have a corner office all to myself!

I try to be productive at work, but things always seem to pop up unexpectedly and put a monkey wrench in my plans. Meetings and conference calls have a notorious reputation for this. Also, my boss' to-do items often land in my inbox because he's out of town kicking off a project. Guess who gets to do his work? Yep, it's me.

Back on Track

2009-11-01T12:41:00.000-08:00

Victoriana

I'd like to get back into photography. I haven't gone on a "shoot" in a while.

I have some ideas of what I want to photograph. They're mainly areas of SF I haven't visited yet like Twin Peaks and Mission Dolores.

Artist Date #2: B-I-N-G-O

2009-10-31T16:38:00.000-07:00

My second artist date consisted of visiting a scene from my childhood. Today I attended the fall festival that my elementary school organizes annually. It is a family affair with carnival type games along the sides of the auditorium and the bingo callers up on stage.

When I first stepped into the auditorium, all of my senses were bombarded. I got a whiff of cotton candy and popcorn at the door, bingo numbers were being called out over a microphone and kiddies were running around with their parents in tow or with their own buddies.

I played two games of bingo. The first time I bought two cards for the price of 50 cents. Then the second round was blackout, meaning the entire card had to be filled. I was really close to winning blackout, but 3 people beat me to it. As each number was called, I could feel the tension mounting both within me and in the auditorium. Unfortunately I did not win any money, but it was interesting to visit a place of my past. As a kid, things seem so much larger and grand. Now that I come back after 15 years, it doesn't look that big. Also, I saw some of the teachers I had while back in elementary school and they almost looked the same. It might be the good Asian genes that keep them looking young.

I'm glad that's now out of my system. Don't need to go back for another 15 years now.

Halloween hijinks

2009-10-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

German for a Day

Candy is evil. Recently there has been too much of it lying around within easy reach in the office because it's Halloween. I ended up having a fun pack of M&M's, a Reese's peanut butter cup and then a Butterfinger to top it off.

On the street, I didn't see too many custumed people. Here in the picture you see a guy pretending to be German with his fake Lederhosen. His Hosen aren't even leder if you look closely at the image! I think the cloth is khaki.

I think it would be fun to really dress up one time and take a picture.

Masquerade!

2009-10-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

Kontraste

Halloween is creeping up on me. It's the perfect time to wear masks and dress up in costumes. Oh wait, it's that what we all do everyday?

At my office there will be a little Halloween gathering over lunch hour. It's a brown bag lunch deal, but they will provide dessert. Costumes are allowed, but I'm going to pass. As a new person, I'm not about to go out on a limb and dress up. I first have to see how many people dress up. I haven't dressed up for Halloween since I was in elementary school.

Some people are very fun-loving and will wear a costume. My sister's boss is going to be a volcano for Halloween. At first she was going to be a love machine, but she couldn't find the right T-shirt for that. Interesting...Then one of my sister's coworkers is going to be hot sauce. Okay...

What should I be for Halloween if I were to dress up? I really don't know. I would have to think really hard to come up with a cool and creative idea.

About the Picture: I like how the hipster and the old lady contrasts on many levels.

Snap

2009-10-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

Snap - That was what one of the rods holding up the Bay Bridge did yesterday. It was so windy that one of the cables snapped and hit 3 cars as they were driving on the upper deck of the workhorse bridge. Read about it here. I haven't looked at the Bay Bridge recently, but it must be weird to see absolutely no cars driving on the bridge. Traffic was also flowing much smoother today because of all those people who couldn't drive to work over the Bay Bridge.

About the Picture: This is a snapshot of the view in the lobby of my office building. Love those Corinthian columns.

View from the Freeway

2009-10-27T17:57:00.001-07:00

This is what I see on the way to work. Sorry no inspiration today.

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Cloud 9

2009-10-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

About the Picture: I'm a speed walker, so I rarely stop to just look up at the sky. However, I stopped to admire this view yesterday. The clouds were the cirrus type. The sky was so vast and blue and the clouds so wispy. Speeding through life sometimes makes us miss the small moments of beauty.

About a Previous Post: I wrote a bit about Philipp Roesler on Saturday and it just amazes me how many hits my blog has gotten because of that post. It may be because people are so curious about an Asian person being a part of the German cabinet. It still boggles my mind.

Hippietown

2009-10-25T13:00:00.001-07:00

There was some sort of hippie gathering in GGP today. I found out it's called West Fest. You couldn't miss it because of all the tie-dyed clothing around and the psychedelic buses. See two examples above.

The crowd was interesting because there was a mix of clean cut youngsters, alternative looking youngsters, middle aged hippies and unsavory types with long stringy hair coming out of the park.
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Party Politics

2009-10-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Autumn's Harvest

About Other Things: I had to do a double take when I saw an article about Merkel's new cabinet members because I thought I saw an Asian-looking person in the club. I found out that he's called Philipp Roesler and was originally from South Vietnam. I'm surprised that he's made it so far and at such a young age (37 years old). That's pretty good for him and it raises the profile of Asians in Germany I guess.

While here in San Francisco, we've never even had a Chinese or Asian mayor despite the huge number of Asians in the city. That's somewhat disappointing. But you have to ask yourself as well, maybe they're just not interested in politics.

Speaking of politics, the San Francisco supervisors need to get in touch with their constituents because they are proposing new rules that don't address the city's main issues of homelessness and public transport. One rule that a supervisor suggested was that paper bags be banned. I don't think they necessarily should be banned but maybe you could make people pay for them if they want them just like in German supermarkets with plastic bags. In any case, the frustrating thing is that I wish the SF government would start fixing the big problems instead of focusing on the nice to haves. The government needs to get its priorities straight.

About the Photo: Pumpkin decorations at my friend's autumn gathering. She lives across the Bay in Oakland. This was the first time I drove over the Bay Bridge all by myself. I had my trusty GPS device with me, so I got there without a hitch despite the S-curve of they put in. Usually I hear horror stories of Oakland, but her neighborhood was fine. The cost of the toll coming back to San Francisco cost $4. Now I have the East Bay driving experience along with my South Bay driving experience. I'm a more well rounded person because of this.

Happy Friday

2009-10-23T17:53:00.001-07:00

Treated myself to a scrumptious lunch of warm salmon sandwich from LuLu Petite. The bread was soft as a pillow. It was called filone bread I think. This is indeed a happy Friday.
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Barbary Coast

2009-10-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

About the Picture: Barbary Coast was a wild place back in San Francisco's Gold Rush days. Read this informative Wiki about it. The photo is of one of the plaques in the ground showing the Barbary Coast walking trail. I never noticed the huge detail in these plaques until after I looked at the picture I took.

About Life Things: I'm happy to report that my presentation went well. Although I only spoke for about 10 minutes, I didn't choke during any part of it, thank you very much.

Visualization

2009-10-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

About the Photo: The great challenge I face on a daily basis is what picture to take, especially since I can't go on photo shoots when I spend 8 hours at work. There are only so many new things to photograph within walking distance of my office. Today I ventured out to Jackson Square district. The numerous brick buildings in this area reminded me a bit of Boston. In the alley where I shot this picture, I can envision a model with tousled hair standing against the brick wall looking pensive and lost in thought.

About Other Things: Like an athlete, I need to use my powers of visualization to imagine myself presenting flawlessly and gracefully tomorrow. I'm scheduled to present a couple slides to a group of 30 people tomorrow in a training session and my boss will be there. The pressure's on, but I practiced and have faith.

News Boy

2009-10-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

About the Picture: Looking at this picture above, it reminds me of how Mad Men starts. [Aside: Do you guys get Mad Men in Germany? If not, it's likely in the works and coming to a Fernseher near you soon.] I really like the stylized beginning and the music. It's uebercool. I shot this photo along the Embarcadero. The weather was so fine that many people were outside just enjoying the weather and reading. At moments like these I think about how lucky I am to live in SF.

Tourist Trap

2009-10-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

California

I decided to take a new walking path during my lunch hour. Instead of walking to the Ferry Building, I went up my favorite street - California. I love California Street, if you can love a street because it's so steep. On my way down the street, I saw a huge crowd of tourists, who might have been German, pile into a Chinese restaurant at the corner of California St. and Grant Ave. I don't know if it's good, but I'm guessing that it's just for tourists.

I've been in their shoes before. When I travel with tour groups, they usually lead us to eat at restaurants that are not so hot. Sometimes this makes me feel like a sheep being herded. Baaahhh!!!

Nooks & Crannies

2009-10-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

Tai Chi

Sundays = Park Day
It's great to be able to get outside and away from laptops, Internet and Facebook and get some exercise. The powers that be recommend at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, but I only do it on the weekends. I don't feel like paying for gym membership either, so it makes fitting in the 30 minutes a day difficult.

As I was heading over to JFK Blvd this morning, I played the good citizen :-) because I helped a couple from Colombia find their way to the Conservatory of Flowers. They were hopelessly lost, thinking that they were at one end of the park when really they were at another end. Luckily for them I know my way around (for the most part). Golden Gate Park is notoriously hard to navigate. You can easily get lost because there isn't much street signage and the maps are poor.

Sundays in Golden Gate Park have a lot to offer its visitors. You could participate in a tai chi lesson like the people in the picture. You could take a free swing dance lesson at noon from the folks at Lindy in the Park. Or if you're into flowers, check out the Conservatory of Flowers for a fee. Museums such as the California Academy of Sciences and the de Young Museum are also in the park. If that's not your cup of tea and you want to get physical, go up to Stow Lake to paddle around in little boats or rent bicycles to tool about the park. If none of the above appeals to you, then just stroll along JFK Blvd at your own pace. There's something for everyone.

Guessing Game

2009-10-17T15:20:00.000-07:00

What is This?

Today in Spanish class we learned how to describe our families, for example, the number of nephews and nieces you have, your grandparents, your parents, siblings, etc. Then we also learned the possessive pronouns such as my, your, their. So far I'm still enjoying learning Spanish. It give my weekends some purpose and structure. I'd like to take the Spanish 1B if it's offered on Saturdays next semester. I'm crossing my fingers!

In terms of random facts, I learned in class that Enrique Iglesias' mother is from the Philippines. I can win the next trivia game with this fact in my back pocket.

Keeping My Day Job

2009-10-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

I guess I'll still be showing up to work next Monday because I didn't win the California lottery. My boss got me and my coworker tickets but not even one of the numbers matched. Bummer!

By the way, if you're looking for a new drink, try Almond Milk. It's out of this world delicious.

It's a Sign!

2009-10-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

There was a one day 30% off sale at an art store in the Financial District, so I checked it out for bargains. I ended up getting these two notebooks because the colors were so cheery and the price was right. Turns out that these notebooks were made in Spain. What a coincidence! I think it's a positive sign for my trip to Espana next year. Europe, oh Europe ... why do you have such a strong hold on me like no other destination?

P.S. Obama is in town today, causing rush hour traffic to slow to a crawl.

Internal Compass

2009-10-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

Now that I have a fairly steady work schedule, I have time on my hands to create a life outside of work. It's exciting and scary at the same time because this is unchartered territory for me. I can no longer hide behind my work!

Native Speaker

2009-10-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

City Sidewalks

I find it interesting that there's been so much discussion in Germany about Guido Westerwelle, the future Foreign Secretary's English language skills. While his Youtube video (see below) did leave me scratching my head wondering what he meant to say, what I found more disturbing was his lack of tact when a BBC reporter asked him a question in English during a press conference. (Westerwelle Reprimanding a BBC Correspondent) As a political representative, I think he could have answered in a more elegant fashion. Aren't politicians supposed to be well spoken after all?

Dream Come True

2009-10-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

Antique Light

About the Photo: I've always wanted to shoot the dome inside the Neiman Marcus store. Now my dream's come true. Neiman Marcus is a traditional shopping center that sells designer brands. It has a beautiful dome with a picture of a ship on it. You can faintly make out the ship in the photo above. I walked in the store and pretended to be a customer and snapped the photo as I was leaving. The store gave me an idea of what San Francisco must have been like in its hey-day.

Neiman Marcus sells brands like Jil Sander, Prada, Gucci, Armani, Burberry etc. I looked at the price of a woman's buttoned down shirt at Loro Piana and the price tag read $495! I nearly fell off my rocker. Why would a shirt cost that much?

Enjoyment Now or Enjoyment Later?

2009-10-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

Fern

I've been trying to finish Oliver Stone's film "Wall Street" this weekend, but other things keep getting in the way. It's a cult classic if you work in the business world because everyone has heard of "Gordon Gekko" and his catchphrase - "Greed is good." Also, one quote that came from the move is "Lunch is for wimps". Ha ha! Funny funny!

In addition, I've been trying to cycle through my pile of magazines. Today I read a fascinating article in the mag "New York" about cheapskates. I could relate to the article because deep down inside, I am a tightwad. I admit it. When I decide to buy things, I have a long internal dialogue with myself, weighing the pros and cons of making a purchase. For example, how much pleasure will I get from making the purchase. I'll only buy it if the utility I derive from the product is greater than the cost. Same thing applies to purchases of coffee even. I really like the expensive mixed coffee drinks that no self-respecting coffee lover would drink. Because of the high price, coffee experiences must be limited to max a couple times a month. Some people would say, it's just a coffee, but I say, the little things add up!

This attitude towards money was developed early on because I had no spending money as a kid. Growing up, money was tight, which made me aware very early on that money does not grow on trees, so it must be conserved or spent judiciously, rather than flung around. Over time though, I've developed my own delicate balance between saving and indulging. I try to indulge once in a while because denying yourself little happinesses is not good either.

Picnic

2009-10-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

About the Photo: I like this photo because it has simple lines. Also, I enjoy the color play between the white bench slats and the emerald green grass. This photo has a springy feel to it.

About Other Things: I'm trying to multi-task by reading my voting materials and blogging. Voting is a privilege, but really it's a burden too because I have to read up on the various propositions and inform myself before voting. I feel it's my duty since SF tends to have some crazy propositions. If I don't make my voice heard, my tax dollars will be used for things I do not approve of.

Here's a run down of some of the more interesting propositions on the ballot:

Prop C - Candlestick Park Naming Rights - This prop would allow the City to receive revenue in exchange for naming rights of the football stadium at Candlestick Point.
I vote yes because SF needs as much revenue it can get! Some people don't like the fact that the stadium could be named after any company that pays the most, but I think it's fine. If you like the name Candlestick Park, you can call it that amongst your friends.

Prop D - Mid Market Special Sign District - would allow billboards to be placed in the mid-Market district (between 5th and 7th streets). Part of the signage revenue will be provided to arts groups to help vitalize the area. I'm for this. Something is better than nothing when it comes to rejuvenating this area of the city. I personally never walk beyond Market and 4th streets because it's so dirty and sketchy after 4th street.

Autumn in the Air

2009-10-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

Vivid

Happy Friday! It's Fleet Week here in SF, so the military might is being paraded around this weekend. The Blue Angels were zooming around the Financial District yesterday and today. It's really distracting because you hear this loud roar and want to see what type of daredevil formation the jets are in. I'm not really into this display of military muscle because I think it's a waste of money to put on an air show. Save the money and use it to get the homeless into rehabilitation or housing! Plus, Fleet Week is also a recruitment tool to inspire youngsters to join the military because they are inspired by the jets. Spare me.

By the way, I saw the film "L'auberge espagnole" on DVD the other day. It's a nice fluffy film about Europeans sharing an apartment. It's by the same director of "Paris" - Cedric Klapisch. Tonight I wanted to see "Wall Street" of "Greed is good" fame, but the DVD I borrowed from the library was scratched, so the film stuck. :-(

Slice of SF Life

2009-10-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

I interrupt my usual photo a day to provide you with one of the most popular videos on youtube.
Check this out -

Although San Francisco is a relatively diverse and tolerant place, this doesn't mean that everyone's "happy happy". There are still racial tensions underlying interactions between people of different ethnic groups. The video shows one of the classic antagonistic pairs, especially when it comes to riding the MUNI.

The Asian woman is probably seen as a folk hero now that the video is so wide spread. SFgate had an article on it and it was also featured on the Cantonese language evening news. The reason this video has had such an impact is that many Asians feel that they are bullied on the bus. The Asian woman who fought back is an exception. Because I don't know the whole story, I don't want to opine either way. However, I do have to say that the younger Asian woman who stepped in at the end probably should not have said that the fighting Asian woman in purple was being immature. I'd like to know how she would have reacted if she were punched in the face suddenly.

Unfortunately, weird stuff and fights on MUNI are nothing new. San Francisco has pretty corners for the tourists and well to do folks, but there's also a gritty side to the city, especially when you take the bus.

Office Space

2009-10-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is my office, about 1 month after I started the job. I've settled down a bit and developed a routine, but I still need to put up some nice pictures to make the space more cheery.

Speaking of cheery, I had a little pick-me-up today - it was by speaking German. I found out that my local Goethe Institute organizes lunch time discussions once a week on Wednesdays from 12:30 - 1:15 PM and it doesn't cost a dime! I hadn't spoken German regularly for nearly 2 years now, so it was sometimes slow for me to find the right words to express myself. I probably would go back next week if I have time in my schedule.

Always a Foreigner

2009-10-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Get Your Ducks in a Row

Asians = sneaky corporate spies

This is the message I got when I saw an ad from a software company that sells employee monitoring products. This is how the ad looked - an Asian man, a Caucasian man and a Caucasian woman with words written on their foreheads. On the Caucasian man's forehead were the words "I view X-rated sites behind my cube walls". On the woman's head you see the words "I shop online all day at work". And on the Asian's forehead .... (drumroll please) .... of course the Asian is a corporate spy selling secrets. As an Asian American, I do not appreciate the stereotype that we steal company information, implicitly to provide it to the motherland - China. Just because some people might have done this, does not mean we're all sneaky people!

The Awakening

2009-10-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Girlishness

It's time to come to your senses. You go to work to earn money, so that you can live a semi-comfortable life. Nothing more, nothing less. Don't expect to make any friends. If you do, then good for you!

I read an interesting article in the Economist recently. It stated that instead of using GDP as a measure of well-being, we should somehow find a way to measure happiness. What a good idea! America enjoys a high GDP per capita, but Americans work too much. There's so much more that goes into the equation for happiness in addition to goods and services. According to the article, the GDP of France is lower, but the French work less, so maybe they are happier. I'm all for working less and spending time on things I enjoy. Next Monday I have a 3 day weekend because of Columbus Day, which is a bank holiday. Yippee! What should I do with this free day?

Traipsing Around the Park

2009-10-04T15:59:00.000-07:00

Golden Gate Park was bustling today!
In the morning I saw the pink clad Avon Breast Cancer walkers along with their boisterous supporters. Later in the morning the park was swarming with people going to enjoy the bluegrass music festival. I can't believe this event is free. Somebody has to pay for the security and the clean up afterwards.

The weather was the real showstopper though. It was simply perfect with the sun shining and wind, which kept everything nice and crisp - just the way I like it.

Beyond Navel Gazing

2009-10-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

Full Moon Food

Stepping back for a moment and expanding my view from my own little cocooned life, things have been happening in the world.
- I found out that Rio de Janeiro beat Chicago to host the 2016 Olympics. I guess Obama's star power wasn't enough to persuade the honchos in the Olympic Committee to choose the windy city.
- Ricky Gervais has a new movie out called "The Invention of Lying". I may be biased, but I think it would be a funny movie, except the part about religion.
- San Francisco's various city departments will be running out of money soon. What's new? Somehow the city manages to hobble along year after year.

Project management

2009-10-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

I've been down in San Diego for 2 days of company training on the topic of project management. The instructor was really good because she knew her material and was able to make the subject come to life by adding stories from her personal experience. It was a useful course because it provides me with some tools to use on any future projects I'll be helping on. One example of what I learned was what a Gantt chart is. I've used it on my projects, but I just never knew it had an official name. I always just called it a timeline.
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Stranded

2009-10-01T17:53:00.001-07:00

I really should have rented a car when I came down here to San Diego for training because this stupid training center is in the middle of nowhere and I'm stuck here waiting for the cabbie! You learn something every time.

Update - Finally the cab came and then he drove me to the hotel that was only 10 minutes away! The hotel hallway stinks in case you were wondering and this is supposed to be a Courtyard Marriott.

About the picture - a shot of the training center lunch room.
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Secret Garden part deux

2009-09-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

From my office I have a view of a roof top garden in one of the other office buildings around the corner. It is quite pretty looking, so I finally decided to do some snooping around today. I'm here now basking in the sun and typing in this rooftop garden as we speak. It's truly an oasis in this concrete jungle. Here are some snapshots from the garden.
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Sunglasses at night

2009-09-29T22:18:00.001-07:00

I saw the film "Paris" this evening, which was essentially a love letter to the city. I'm no film critic, but I liked it. It's always nice to see pretty pictures of Europe. If you can't live there, the next best thing is to see movies about it. Plus, the French actors in this film were so easy on the eyes. They have a different attractiveness when compared to American actors. It's hard to explain. Okay, I'll try with an analogy. American actors are like refined sugar - tasty but unhealthy empty calories, whereas French actors are like honey - naturally sweet and hearty.

I'd definitely recommend that people check out the film. Here's a trailer.

Starry Starry Night

2009-09-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

Nightscape

Downtown San Francisco's streets are scary even by day, so you can imagine how it can be at night when it's dark. I wouldn't have felt comfortable going on a photo shoot on my own, but luckily a friend of mine joined me. There are a lot of disturbed people who haunt the streets day and night. On one hand I feel sorry for their plight. On the other, my acute sense of self-preservation kicks in and I avoid them like the plague because their instability could lead to anything. Call me paranoid.

Although Frankfurt am Main in Germany supposedly has one of the highest crime rates in the country, the streets at night felt less creepy when I was there. Oh, how I think back fondly to my little attic apartment in Frankfurt sometimes with a supermarket conveniently across the street from my place. My only gripes were that the there was no elevator and it sometimes got really warm there during the rare days when the temperatures rose. Ah ... memories!

Simply Sparkling!

2009-09-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

Noir

Why does everything somehow sound more culturally elevated in the French language?

About the Picture: This is the Bay Bridge by night. It's fairly unremarkable by day, but it's so festive when they light it up at night. Everything about the bridge twinkles - the moving cars and the lighted span itself.

About Life: I've noticed an interesting pattern. People who major in theater in college find themselves in their 30's switching to more stable careers like engineering and nursing. I wonder why? Is it because they suddenly realize that it's difficult to survive in this harsh world with only a theater degree? The husband of one of my acquaintances is trying to get a second bachelor's degree because he and his wife want to buy a house and his current salary as an AV person at a university is probably not enough to purchase real estate in the Bay Area. So he is going back to school to study engineering. He graduated from college as a theater major. Theater and engineering are like polar opposites. Good luck!

Then I met someone in Spanish class who is trying to get into the nursing program at city college because she graduated with a theater degree in her twenties and didn't really know what to do with it. Now at 30 years old, she wants to become a nurse.

A couple conclusions I've drawn from these true stories:
- There are lots of idealistic people out there who think studying what they like will help them make a living. It may be possible, but VERY difficult unfortunately!
- You apparently can't do much with only a theater degree unless you're absolutely brilliant and stunningly beautiful.
- Age 30 is a turning point. You begin to reassess your life - how you want to continue living it and any changes that you must make before it's too late.

Night lights

2009-09-26T23:29:00.000-07:00

Starbursts

I'm psyched! At tonight's photo shoot, I finally achieved 2 things photographically that I've been trying to do for ages - streaks of red brake lights and starbursts. My sister, ever the critic, said that the brakelights should be higher and the cars should be more visible. Maybe next time. There's always room for improvement. I'm just glad to know how to set my camera to get these effects.

Randomness

2009-09-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

Banking

After finishing Twilight, I'm wading into Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". It's such a hot item at the SF Public Library that I doubt I can renew it because other library patrons will have put a hold on it.

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to doing a night photo shoot. I hope I end up with some good photos.

Unless you're a dentist, you know you should be concerned when you walk into a supplies room in your office and find boxes and boxes of face masks! That's what I found yesterday evening.

About the Photo: The Bank of California building is grandiose with its Corinthian columns. Of course it's located on my absolute favorite street California Street.

I'm Lovin' It

2009-09-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

I'm learning to love this new stability in my schedule. I can actually predict where I will be on any given day with some level of accuracy. What a refreshing change!

The Gods are Smiling

2009-09-23T22:38:00.000-07:00

My day's been pretty long and I'm pooped. After work I went to a meeting of this professional organization I'm a member of. This meeting was followed by dinner at Henry's Hunan, which serves spicy Chinese cuisine. While I enjoyed the chance to network and socialize, it just sucks the energy out of me by the end of the day. I don't know how some people can be so energetic after work. Maybe they are smoking/imbibing/inhaling energy enhancing concoctions to give them an extra boost. Who knows? I certainly don't.

About the Picture: This is a photo of performers dressed up in traditional Chinese garb of some old time period way back when.

Mooncakes

2009-09-22T21:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Autumn! I noticed that today was the first day of autumn. Tis the season to do fall things like dressing up in thick sweaters and carving & gutting gourds just for the heck of it.

In addition, let's not forget that this is the time that Chinese people celebrate the Moon Festival. The above is a picture of a mooncake. I don't quite care for the salted egg yolk in the center, but the rest of the cake is tasty. This delicacy contains lard, so it's not for constant consumption. Indulging in moderation is fine though.