Some Seriously Needed Friends & Family Time

Clearly I haven't been keeping up with this blog for the past couple weeks. In my defense, these last couple of weeks have been rather busy with friends and family. I had so much fun with everyone here and couldn't believe how fast it went. Also, I knew I needed to see everyone for my own sanity but I really don't think everyone stayed long enough cause I'm right back on that razors edge of teetering over to craziness. So if you don't mind, everyone, come back very very very soon.

I'm not going to be writing much about anything other than just describing the barrage of photos I'm going to be cramming into this post. So please enjoy and I hope to have videos up soon cause I definitely used my Flip Cam more than taking photos.

First things first. These two lovely ladies, Kellie and Alisa (left and right), took us out to a fantastic sake bar called Ace Wasabi, in the marina district. Not only did I drink my very first Sake

Bomb I was

 also sitting next to Tory Belleci, one of the newer guys from MythBusters on Discovery Channel. Pretty sweet... I guess if you're a nerd like me. I unfortunately didn't have the balls to ask for an autograph or even say hi. Not really my style I suppose. As for Sake, I was totally expecting something with more of a burn like a mix between wiskey and vodka and after about seven shots I decided to break out the iPhone and look up the average alcohol content of Sake. Yeah, right around the same as a bottle of wine. 

The next evening my mom, brother, and sister showed up. I couldn't have been more excited to see them. Not only was it great to get some well needed hugs from the family, they brought a real bed, a couch, my carpets, and all my camping gear that I had in storage up in Eugene. 

I tried to take my family to all the touristy places and show them what everyone should see while in San Francisco. We made it to the Golden Gate Bridge and chilled down at Pier 39 for a while. I personally don't have very many pics of my family because I forgot my camera and all of them had cameras. I suppose I should have been a little bit more proactive in asking for the photos via email or something before I wrote this. Damn. 

Either way, we had a blast. My mom tolerated her boys swearing like sailors, my big city driving, and everyone poking fun at everyone. It was like I never left. 

Then Monday rolled around and even more guests showed up. Ian (Kendra's younger brother), Cody (friend, old co-worker), and Jane a.k.a. Janice (friend and Ian's lovely girlfriend) rolled in and it was time to RAGE!

We strolled around the city, back to Pier 39, some of the really expensive designer stores, all over and around the San Francisco Zoo, back to the city for more strolling all with Ian hobbling around on a broken big toe. Let's just say, I wasn't kidding about the RAGE part. Our first night all together was fueled with alcohol, longboarding, and Ian deciding to go into a full out sprint and kicking a curb. Not to mention he just crashed on his longboard and acquired some amazing road rash, including on his ear. Silly Schmian.

[left: Ian and Kendra with matching scarfs.]

[right: Kendra and Jesse looking sexy in the city... duh]

[left: Cody & Ian riding a big furry tractor]

[right: Jesse double fisting the best thing to come out of mexico... Churros]

[left: Giraffes at the SF Zoo. My new favorite animal]

[right: Two pasty white kids smooching]

I had so much fun with everyone here and I can't wait for everyone to come back. I hope it's sooner rather than later but I think we'll have to make a trip up there to grab a breath of fresh Oregon air. 

[EDIT: I nearly forgot, and with a polite reminder, before anyone even showed up my friends Kolby and Allison showed up at my work disguised behind newspapers and visited for a brief moment. Unfortunately it was super busy and I could only get out and take this photo with Kolby with a quick round of hugs. Love ya guys.]

Dirty Martinis = Hair Tonic

What a week. My apologies for not having an update for everyone right away. With having guests this weekend, working, an interview on Monday, and our shower not working, I was a little busy.

This weekend, one of Kendra’s long time friends came into town on his way to Hawaii from the Washington D.C. Keelan and his friend Andrew were so much fun to hang out with. I unfortunately had to work all day Saturday and missed their trip into the city where they saw some crazy dancers down by the cable car stop near the bay. Don't worry, she was mindful enough to bring the Flip Cam and got some really great shots of the dancers going to town.

As soon as I was off of work I raced home and met them at Zachary’s Chicago Style Pizza. I think I have mentioned this restaurant before but it’s really worth a second noting. We ordered a couple of their thin crust pizzas and we were all very pleased. The only problem with this joint is that you seriously have to have some patience. On average, it takes nearly an hour to get seated let alone the extra time you need to order and have your pizza cooked. Needless to say, we had plenty of good conversation and with that many people crammed into a small building drinking beer, there is always something going on around you.

Later I called my friend Roger over and we proceeded to enjoy some adult beverages and more fantastic conversation. Kendra had mentioned before that she hadn't ever had a dirty martini before and really wanted one. Keelan being the jack of all trades he is, whipped her up one and she found out shortly after her first few sips that just because it comes in a martini glass doesn’t mean it can’t grow hair on your chest.

After sending Keelan and Andrew off early Sunday morning we had the whole day to ourselves and decided to do some research of our own about local climbing areas. When I first moved down here, Kendra and I made the mistake of asking the manager of the local Marmot store if there were any good climbing spots near by. He proceeded to ask where we were from and after I told him Oregon, he then replied, “Oh, Oregon... We’ll nothing around here that you would like.”

I wasn’t really sure how to take that but I’m assuming that he meant in a way to show praise for all the amazing climbing spots in Oregon and there isn’t much in comparison here in the bay area. At least, that's what I'm going to pretend that he meant. With that rather discouraging comment we decided to finally do our own research and we found that there are at least 7 spots to do outdoor climbing all with in 15 mile radius of our apartment and some only one mile away. By far, the coolest one we found was Indian Rock up in the north eastern part of Berkeley. It’s up in the suburban hills and at the top of nearly every climbing route there is an outstanding view of the whole bay area.

When we got back to the apartment we were reminded that we had a small “get together” planned with all of our new neighbors. I was actually a little nervous that it was going to be really boring and we would have nothing in common. When we walked in to apartment #3 I realized, given how small these units are, that you can have a party of about 5 or 6 and it’s going to be a hoppin party. We actually had fun and realized that the only thing we had in common with our neighbors was that we lived in the same building. You might think that would be a boring and arduous set of conversations but with all the history that this building has and how outside each of our windows something crazy is always happening, there was plenty to talk about.

When Monday rolled around, I started to get a little uneasy and nervous for my interview. Then I realized how absolutely outstanding I am at selling myself to anyone or anything. The place I interviewed for is called On24 and they are a webcasting and virtual event solutions company. Basically if you think of all the money it would take for a company that’s putting out a new product to throw a huge convention with thousands of attendees to put on demonstrations of it’s products and or services, On24 provides an alternative where you can have all your potential buyers visit a webcast, webinar, or a virtual show of your product. (examples of virtual shows pictured above and below) Pretty cool idea, especially in a time of economic crisis, companies are looking for so many ways to save money and having virtual trade shows is one way that can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on how big your turn out would be.

The position that I interviewed for is basically a back end/behind the scenes job. Making sure that the webcast or virtual show is going as planned. It would only be a part time job but it pays really well and will be worth it if I get the position.

At the end of my interview, my interviewer said, flat out, that he liked me and how “forthcoming” I was. It was a real confidence boost to hear that, so naturally I had a fantastic rest of the day. Things are looking good, I hope to hear back from him very soon.

As for the loan money for school... well let’s just say that’s up in the air and we’re still working on it. If I haven’t said it before I would like to say it now, a big thank you to Ann and Tammy for helping me on all this confusing and crazy loan business. You ladies rock for sure.

I’ll keep everyone posted a little more regularly on what’s going on... hopefully. For now, I’m going to go see the musical Wicked with my friend Roger. I’ve heard it’s amazing and Roger has seen it twelve hundred times already and still wants to go more. That’s gotta say something in itself.

Images courtesy of On24

Butter On Toast

I want to start off and say that I had an amazing weekend. The weather had been outstanding so we made plans to go into the city on Saturday to the Haight Ashbury district. Haight Ashbury is basically a street, close to the Golden Gate Park, that’s full of trendy little hipster stores, tattoo and piercing shops, countless amounts of amazing cafes, restaurants, bars, and on just about every block are “medicinal marijuana” shops. It’s basically like 23rd Street or Hawthorne up in Portland, but bigger, with cooler shops, pseudo legalized weed, and more black people. 

However, we had a few unexpected detours. While down on Market Street, we decided to stop at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to scoop up a couple of our favorite beverages. On our walk there, we noticed helicopters in the air and motorcycle cops everywhere blocking traffic. After grabbing our beverages we walked down to see what all the hubbub was about and found out that it was a protest march for “Free Palestine”. Not a very happy group of people... and by group, I mean about 5,000 strong, holding banners and picket signs. Pretty crazy actually.

After waiting for this business to pass we jumped across the street and hung out at the Muni station. After waiting for our bus for almost 30 minutes, we decided to call the number that was posted at the stop to find out what was up with the delay. Turns out that all of the bus routes that were in the path of the “Free Palestine” protest march were shut down. So, we began our walk to a station that was still up and running. After a while I turned on the Flip Cam and blamed Kendra for everything. Then we decided to walk all the way to the Haight Ashbury. Which really isn’t all that bad except that it’s uphill... and it was hot.

We had so much fun down there and can’t wait to go back when we have more time. On the way out, I couldn’t resist and had to let my “inner thug” out. There were way too many amazing stoops calling my name to have a quick sit down and enjoy an alcoholic beverage in a paper bag. “When in rome” right?

After that was all over we figured that we should make use of the Muni station across the street. After waiting for 4 full busses to pass we got on and so did this interesting fellow in the video below. I can’t tell you how entertaining this man was. I actually have close to 15 minutes of footage and think I am going to make this a recurring segment on the blog. He had so many amazingly profound things to say that I truly was tearing up with laughter. I kinda felt bad for the young guy and girl that he was talking to but they handled him very well.

Enjoy, and remember, he likes butter on his toast.

Pimp Slaps and Pills

Oh my goodness. If you have ever had a problem getting enough sleep or keep waking up in the middle of the night, I highly recommend Tylenol PM. I slept for 11 hours straight and didn’t wake up once. I had the coolest and most in depth dreams I have had in years which makes me wonder what’s really in those glorious blue and white pills.

I’ve been working weird hours lately and which really isn't a problem seeing as how it’s really my only gig for now. On that note, there really hasn’t been anything terribly amazing happening other than we got our first piece of mail at the new place and I got my first Californian paycheck. Small as the check was and the single piece of mail was addressed to the anonymous tenants at our address, it kinda really solidified the fact that I actually live in California.

Dear God. How could I forget. Yesterday, I was just perusing the internets, when I couldn’t help but notice the sound of a lap dog being raped by an elephant outside my window. I looked down at the street and saw a large black woman producing the ungodly resonance. I realized that this would be a perfect moment to whip out my Flip Cam and take a few minutes of surveillance to share with you guys the amazingly entertaining displays of dysfunction that we witness out our very own windows.

It seemed to my eyes, that the gentleman on the right, (aka: dirty old bum) was harassing the large black woman, (aka: dirty fat bum). Then walks up this middle aged black man who wasn’t so dirty, (aka: possible pimp of the large black woman and assailant), this is where I started filming and well, the rest is in the video. Not very good quality cause it was shot at a distance with the zoom all the way up. My apologies for that, but I’m sure that you get the idea of the awesomeness that we are blessed with on a day to day basis here in the Bay Area.

San Fran Is My Home Again

Well, we made it. Made it back down to the great state of California and honestly, I can say that I am very excited to be back home. My outlook on this dirty ass state has changed a little for the better I think, but not because I had a terrible time back in Oregon. In fact, I had a ton of fun and was so happy to see my family and friends that it made it hard to really leave. These four weeks that I have been away from Oregon, hasn’t really felt like I have “moved” to San Francisco. As we rolled into Eugene, it felt very strange, like I was back home from a long vacation.

Anyway, on the way down I was forewarning all of my friends that we were almost there and contrary to what Ian thinks and says, no one had told me that the company christmas party for the Eugene Dutch Bros. (where I used to work) was going on that night until one of my old co-workers, Laura, asked if I was going. My feelings weren’t hurt in the slightest, because when you work with such awesome people they become more than just co-workers, they become friends and even family. So I had no problem dropping in and saying “What’s up” to all my friends and family.

What was pretty damn cool and probably fueled a little bit by the alcohol everyone was drinking before we got there, was when we walked up to the table everyone was sitting at, the reaction they gave would make anyone feel like a rockstar. Everyone wanted a hug and tell us how much they missed us. There was even a few tears of joy shed. You know who you are and I love you too. :)

We didn’t stay out real late that night because I finally got the okay from the higher ups at Dutch Bros. to pick up a few shifts and had a blast working the very next morning. Even with having to work early, Kendra and I, who have dubbed ourselves Bloody Mary Connoisseurs, had to make our way over to the Horse Head while in Eugene. We make it a point to grab a bloody mary from any restaurant or bar we go to if they serve them just so we can try and find the best bloody mary in the world. It just so happens that the best ones that we have been able to find are at the Horse Head. Please, do yourself a favor and try one from there. Deeee-lish.

I was lucky enough to be home in time to be a part of my best friend’s children’s baptisms. Zach and Abby asked Gabe and I to come and be a part of the ceremony and I was pretty jazzed about it. Zach said it’s basically like being a godfather to their kids, which is pretty much huge. I use the word baptism loosely because, according to this denomination of church, it was more of a dedication and a promise that Zach, Abby, Gabe, and I will help raise their children properly. Regardless of what you want to label it, I was super stoked to be there and am extremely honored.

The next couple of days was spent back and fourth between the families and trying to soak up as much of them as possible during the day and then hanging out with the friends at night. Which meant me playing video games with my old house mates or going out and grabbing a drink with friends. I know Kendra and I didn’t get to hang out with everyone that we wanted to and wish we could of had more time with the people that we did hang out with, but that would be too unrealistic and are happy we saw who we did.

One night, a large group of us went to the theater and saw Role Models. It’s got Paul Rudd (Brian Fantana: Anchorman), Sean William Scott (Chester Greenburg: Dude, Where’s My Car) and that nerdy kid named Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Fogell: Superbad). Perhaps something is wrong with me but I was dying the whole time I watched this movie and I guess it didn’t do to well. I thought it was an absolute riot. There were things said in that movie that made me think of my brother. What I’m trying to say is go see it, rent it, or what ever, just make sure you have an open mind. Funny stuff.

One last thing, my parents love me way too much and got me a Flip Cam. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a small hand held digital camcorder. But it’s beyond simple. There is no memory cards, tapes, or even software to run it. Everything you need comes built into the camera. On top of that it has surprisingly good quality. I wanted to make a stupid short film from the seat of my pants and came up with this. 

(Keep in mind, I did this in 20 minutes so there isn’t a huge amount of production value.)