Nostalgia

After dinner M and I usually work on our laptops and watch TV in the background. Exciting, I know. Since the Hollywood writers went on strike, our night time activities have hit a new low. The other night, we worked while watching Duel, a game show where contestants answer trivia questions.

I forgot the exact question, but a part of one question required you to know the number of schools in the Ivy League. I immediately said 13, and so did M. But we were both wrong. Shame on M. He even went to an Ivy League.

So I looked up Ivy League, and there are only 8. Wikipedia had a list of school mottos which is pretty interesting. Outside of the famous Harvard "Veritas." I didn't recognize any other. I thought Dartmouth's "A voice crying in the wilderness" is kind of silly. Why? Why is the voice crying?

That led me to look up my alma mater on wikipedia. Ha! We have a motto too: "The wind of freedom blows." Who knew! I don't get it, though. What does the wind of freedom have to do with the school? It's not like the school is in the South. Or the North, for that matter.

The tradition section of the article made me all warm and fuzzy inside. I was surprised to find this listed as a tradition: "Birthdays: Boys get thrown in the shower at midnight." I turned around to M: "Doesn't everybody do that in college?" M: "Um, no. You guys are weird."

My favorite tradition would have to be the Graduate at Sunday Flicks. Seniors come in their caps and gowns and everybody cheers and groans through the movie. Coming out of the theater, we were greeted by the Stanford Marching Band, which is hands down the best university marching band in the entire world. They're lively, totally outrageous, creative, and the music is awesome. I get emotional hearing them play the fight song.

Oh memoroies...

Bikini Wax

I've always thought that a bikini wax is waxing off, um, extra hair so when you wear a bikini the extra hair doesn't become an embarrassment, but apparently it's a lot more than that!

Samson and Delilah

We saw SF Opera's production of Samson and Delilah this past week. The sets were awesomely elaborate. I thought the first act sort of hit a lull, but the second and third acts picked up. I especially enjoyed the chorus and the dancers. The singing was good but did not make a special impression on me.

Running Out of Gas

As frequently as W misses her flights, I run out of gas on my car. Today marks the third time I've ran out of gas, completely, on the road. The first time this happened, I was in high school. I didn't have a cellphone; no one "normal" did. Thank goodness my friend P was with me so he ran and got gas from a nearby gas station. When he got back the car still didn't start up. A trucker had to show us how to prime the engine to get it going again... The second time I ran out of gas I was on the freeway. I pulled to the side and AAA rescued me. I ran out of gas again today. I tried to get M to get gas for me, but it turns out it was just way cheaper to get AAA to do it. At the gas station, they were selling the portable gas storage unit for $16. M was like, um, no.

Here are some tips if you plan to run out of gas:

• Carry a cellphone so you can call AAA.
• Leave $5 in the car. That's what it costs when the AAA person gives you gas. I didn't have change once, and had to give the guy $10. :(
• Leave a book in the car, so you can read while waiting for AAA. I read Harry Potter today - not too shabby.

Julia's Kitchen

We had a very loosely planned Labor Day weekend. We wanted to meet my parents at Lassen Volcanic National Park Saturday night, but beyond that, we were just going to drive around, stop at interesting places, and in general, get out of the peninsula.

On Sunday night, we ended up in Napa. We were on the look out for good food, since good wine and food is what Napa is known for. We got a reservation at Julia's Kitchen at Copia for 9pm. We got there 30 minutes early. The bartender was new and didn't know much - he couldn't explain "semillion" to M., but he was amiable, and managed to get a sommelier to help us.

We got seated promptly at 9pm. The dining space is painted in a warm rust orange hue and the staff is dressed in black. The kitchen is completely open to the dining area, but I was amazed at how its operations is barely noticeable - the chefs are relatively quiet, the smoke is non-existent, and everything is kept clean and orderly.

I ordered the Sonoma Artisan Foie Gras, the Chef’s Specialties Oysters, and the Bouillabaisse. The foie gras was well seasoned and went very well with the house-made brioche. There were some caramelized fig garnishes on the foie gras plate. I thought maybe there were a half of a fig too much, but that was my only tiny complaint. I happily ate the caramelized fig after I finished the foie gras anyway, since they were yummy on their own.

There were four types of oysters on my oyster plate - each was garnished with something different. My favorite was the Margarita Granite Oyster. The chef made delicate ice sheets out of a subtle margarita. The sheets are placed on top of the raw oyster, so when the oyster slides into your mouth, the ice sheets do too and they melt and blend with the oyster. It was refreshing, and true to the oyster's character. My second favorite was the panko crusted oyster. That one wasn't exactly a raw oyster dish, but it was yummilicious because it was perfectly fried and its slightly-sweet sauce was perfectly crafted.



The main entree did me in. There were all sorts of seafood in the stew, but I'm convinced they were all cooked separately. Each type of seafood was cooked exactly right - each was completely tender and completely juicy. I don't think you can achieve that kind of precision if you cook everything in a single big pot... But what do I know about cooking. ;) I could have eaten the mouth-watering tomato stew all on its own, so having seafood in it was like finding pieces of treasure in a gold pot. It left me wanting more, even though I was full.



I ordered dessert anyway, because I'm a crazy glutton. I had the Summer "Fruit Cocktail". I wasn't too impressed with the mead gelée, because the fresh fruit cocktail was a little less sweet than I would liked, and I didn't like the gelatin texture too much, but the pineapple consommé and the peach sorbet were just right for a light summer dessert. M. couldn't stop stealing my honey beignets - they were like these really really really well-done donuts. The exterior is brown and sprinkled with sugar. The interior is doughy and completely warm and soft. M. asked if he could just order those, but the waitress kindly said no.



The service was attentive, friendly, and casual. They made a blunder in mixing up M. and my order at one point, but it's no big deal to us. I'd definitely come back!

Teeth-Controlled iPod

Osaka University develops teeth-controlled iPod interface

Shared Phone

I don't call M. at work often. Both of our jobs require high concentration so we usually keep to email or IM as a mean of communication during the workday. On my way home today, I called M. at work. The phone only had my partial attention because I was driving and listening to the radio. After four to five rings, a woman picked up the phone. "Hello?"

Confused, I blurted out, "Is M. there?"

I wasn't rude really, but under normal respectable circumstances I would have kindly asked, "May I speak to M. please?" Unfortunately having a stranger on the other end of the phone completely caught me off-guard. I mean, I know he has coworkers, and I know they share the office phone, but in the age of cellphones and dedicated Skype accounts, I'm so accustomed to calling a number and having exactly the person I called pick up the phone. It was almost as if I forgot how to ask for a person on the phone. Weird.

What is a Blog

Over the weekend I tried to explain the concept of a blog to my mom. I said, "it's like writing a diary, except you want the whole world to read it." Funny, since I highly suspect she read my diary when I was a kid. Well, this was never confirmed, but she would know random things I wrote in my diary, which made her highly suspicious.

I don't think she knows I have a blog.

Of course I also used to believe that there was an alternate Mom under the bedroom floor. We had tatami flooring, so the floor was elevated. We used to keep bottles of soda in the space between the tatami flooring and the actual room floor. Anyways, for a while I thought the nice Mom and the mean Mom take turns. When it's not her turn, she hides with the soda bottles.

Yes, I was a strange kid.

Downtown Los Altos

M. commented once that for a small downtown area, there are a surprising number of salons in Los Altos. So it was funny for me to stumble across this article talking about downtown Los Altos:

"Preserving retail space downtown has been a city priority for the council. Shops provide a pedestrian-friendly, browsing element that promotes foot traffic, especially in high-profile areas like Main and State streets. Salons do not, according to the city's General Plan. For those reasons, the city passed a moratorium to limit salons for one year in 2000 believing retail space was becoming threatened..."

Steinway

I'm now a proud owner of a Steinway grand piano. M and I went out and bought a Steinway model M on Friday. It's a beauty; the notes sing. The high register is melodic and round; the low register is full, powerful and strong. Not having lived with a piano for the past 11 years means I'm completely out of practice - yet this piano covers a hundred faults. Who cares about a weak pinky and the occasional slip-up when the notes produce such an enchanting and mesmerizing sound?

We bought the piano from Sherman Clay. They had a Steinway event this weekend and we happened to drop by Friday evening just before the event. I played on about 20 Steinways that evening. What a treat! It's really amazing how much sound difference there is even between Steinways - and it's hard to compare them unless the two pianos are side-by-side. The one we bought was definitely superior than the model L's and model O's in the room, even though the model L's and the model O's are larger pianos. Even M can tell the difference. Each Steinway is handmade so each possesses individual characteristics. Apparently to M, this one was "born a genius."

I still need to get it tuned, but I'm supposed to let it sit for 4-6 weeks to acclimate. I feel guilty for playing so poorly yet able to own this piano. It's like if the piano were a guy, he would not want to date me. Except I bought him...

Uh... I'll resist the temptation to take this analogy any farther.

Treo 755p

I upgraded from a Treo 650 to a Treo 755p today. The 755p is lighter, grips nicer, and it no longer has an ugly antenna sticking out of the top. The menu and the navigational buttons are in different places from the Treo 650, so it'll take me a while to get used to it.

The reception at my house improved by a couple of bars, which is quite amazing considering there are what, only 4 or 5 bars total? That's a whopping 50% improvement!

I was happy to find Google Maps pre-installed on the device, since that would have been the first piece of software I download. I downloaded the newest version of Google Maps anyway, though, since the pre-install is a couple of versions behind. Too bad Sprint's GPS isn't opened up to Google Maps like some of the Blackberries.

The next piece of software I want is calendar sync from Google Calendar to Palm's calendar. It's nice to be able to check my meetings directly on the phone, without waiting for an internet connection. Apparently CampanionLink makes a pretty good 2-way syncing software, but I can't decide if the extra convenience is worth $30. :(

I installed the following freeware games: Space Trader, Sol Free, and Blocks. These ought to keep my parents entertained on long family trips. It's funny - my parents are nearing retirement age but they fight over handheld games just like children do.

I think it's because I'm cheap and am only looking for freeware, but I can't find any good non-game applications. Some of the applications just seem a little silly, like there is one application that helps you reset the phone, and one application that helps you hear people louder.

I guess I can't complain too much about freeware. But it's annoying that sometimes they don't pay attention to the details, like having a "quit" menu item, or defaulting the game to the correct "Game" application category. I keep thinking that I'm going to write the next piece of palm software I need, but I never get around to it. Maybe one of these days something will annoy me enough to do something about it.

Miss Universe

Miss Universe is on TV tonight. One of the top 15 contestants is Miss Tanzania, and she has a beautiful, bald head. I think that's totally awesome.

Funny

from xkcd.com

Mesmerized

http://www.k2xl.com/games/boomshine/

One Laptop Per Child

I'm really excited about the One Laptop Per Child project. When I first heard about it a couple of years ago, it sounded like fantasy. But I was glad to find that they're now close to production! It's also cool to hear that the Taiwanese computer manufacturer, Quanta, is participating in the project.

Mongolia

Taiwan wants to be sovereign and so does Tibet. That got me thinking, how did Mongolia ever get away?

Turns out Russia backed them and they were also communists. Go figure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia.

Boshiamy

I don't know how to type in Chinese. Normally it's not a problem - I don't write to anyone in Chinese anyway. But every once in a while Chinese input comes in handy, like when people want to know Mark's Chinese name, or if I want to refer to my third-granduncle-twice-removed or whatever who doesn't have an English name.

So when I was having lunch with some engineers from Taiwan today, I asked them what Chinese input method they use. One person said he uses Boshiamy, and almost everyone concurred it's the fastest Chinese input method. As we talked more about it, it became clear to me this input method is totally designed for me! Chinese radicals are mapped into the 26 English letters, so the keyboard stays exactly the same as an English keyboard. The input method is based on the shape or the sound of the word. My favorite is the (very common) radical "車." It means "car" in Chinese, and therefore the letter "C" is assigned to it. The same goes for "木", which means "tree" - the letter "T" is assigned to it.

I looked up Boshiamy on wikipedia. It tickles me that the word 哈 is mapped to "O A O". Get it? It's an O on the left, an "A" on the top right, then an "O" on the bottom right. That's hilarious.

Someone at lunch also said that because the inventor of the system leveraged mnemonic so much, you'll be able to type 70% of the words in common usage once you finish reading the manual. Too bad it's proprietary. I'll have to get my hands on that software sometime.

Wedding Slideshow

Our photographer made us a slideshow. We'll be getting our full-size files soon. So excited!!

Michelin 3 Stars

I found the Michelin 3 Stars list online.

Ice Cream

My favorite ice cream. Häagen-Dazs white chocolate raspberry truffle.