Collective Isolation

There's an article in the local news today about an internet cafe owner who is going to ban laptops from his establishment this weekend to encourage interaction amongst his patrons.  He said the sense of community - in his internet cafe - has dwindled since so many of his patrons have begun bringing their laptops....into his internet cafe.
That's a little like McDonalds banning cars from their drive through windows.  I passed by a cafe this week that was full of laptop patrons - none of which seemed terribly concerned that their neighbors were not engaging them in conversation, and they all seemed perfectly happy. In fact, there were two guys there who actually had headphones on. Not earbuds, full on 1970's style hi-fi headphones that hermetically seal the ear on all sides. Neither seemed bothered in the least that folks were leaving them alone. How odd, I thought, these two guys left their respective apartments and intentionally walked into an establishment to spend time to enjoy the "social atmosphere" of a cafe...so long as no one talks to them. There's apparently some internal desire to be around people, so folks go out to cafes, but once there, they seem to go to great lengths to discourage interaction. Or do they? Maybe everyone is there to cruise each other and make eye contact so that can lead to something else. That's the rule of thumb at the Starbucks in The Castro. It's one giant bear cruise...it's even referred to locally as Starbears. Perhaps the home grown neighborhood coffee shops are no different. Maybe the laptop is a way to go sit in a coffee shop alone and cruise. For bears in The Castro maybe it's sex or companionship or a place to meet old friends...for the soccer moms in Noe Valley, perhaps it's a place to trade parenting & marriage tips with their peeps. Either way, the laptop offers a way to show up with a friend that you can quickly ignore if a hot guy walks by. It's a way to get a table for one without looking like a big nerd. You can get your social fix without the awkwardness. We can be a part of society...but still maintain a comfortable distance. Whatever the reason, the internet cafe is a popular phenomenon. I would be curious to see the day's receipts for the internet cafe on this particular weekend where they "ban" the internet.

What's happened in Vegas ...should really stay in Vegas.

Just back from a week in Las Vegas.

You know, Vegas just isn't my town. I was there for work - not of my own volition.

I don't really enjoy gambling, smoking, or smoking & gambling, or all you can eat buffets, or smoking & gambling while eating all I can eat at the all I can eat buffet, but for the people who love that scenario, they were having a blast.

The weather was great and for some odd reason the seafood was actually pretty good. I typically try to avoid seafood in the desert (WTF?) but hey, they flew it in, I ate it, the whole deal worked out. I guess if I went with a few buds and had a few guys nights out to see some male strippers, it may have been a tad more entertaining, but it's a town with a one track mind - fleece every nickel from every person who sets foot in the state and then move on to the next one.  Very aggressive street vendors trying to grab your cash. Heck, they even force you to walk past a bank of slot machines in the airport just to get to baggage claim, for pete's sake.

I  did get a chance to walk the strip on foot though. Lots of large structures and everything has an architectural theme, some more misguided than others, but the overall effect is tacky beyond cliche. And they readily admit that's all by design. There's Paris, New York - even a New Orleans Casino, but I believe visiting cajuns would probably declare it all to be a little "2 Feaux" if you know what I mean  and in this case I think I would agree.

If you've never been...you should totally go.

Sugar...not a cure for despair.

OK.

Here's what I did NOT eat yesterday. It wasn't easy to pass this up. Five flavors were left, and the testimony from the co-workers who devoured the other two boxes of these sugar bombs were all saying how "worth it" the calories were.

While I may have some will power challenges, I don't  get up at 5 AM 3 days a week to go to bootcamp for nothing.

I lost 2 pounds, gained it back, gained another two, and have now lost the four, so I'm still netting a 2 pound loss, but I'm sticking with it. The steps toward getting in shape are much more difficult than the steps I took to get OUT of shape.

Still, it's a gloomy winter. We're on about day 85 of solid rain for the month of January and we still have a few more days left.

Couples are splitting up, parents are passing and dinner guests are behaving badly in my small albeit entertaining world of blog. I'm also none-too pleased with this wave of influence currently underway with the religious extremists in this country. On top of that, a for sale sign has been nailed firmly and officially onto our election process, so the monetary acquisition of legislative agendas continues. The effects of which are clearly demonstrated by the current state of affairs in California. It would make a great plot for an epic Hollywood blockbuster if it weren't so true. Cut funding to the educational system to keep the society marginally educated and then fabricate and launch massive fear based PR campaigns to control their minds. It's actually not unlike the things that happen in all the countries the religious extremists love to loathe, but the irony of their similarity seems to escape them.

Anyway, there are huge amounts of negative news stories out there that one can wallow in if the mood so strikes, and I think the rainy season this year has definitely made its mark on my psyche for the start of 2010, but I still try to maintain a positive attitude & outlook.

The youth of today seem to be more open minded on social issues, and some of them even travel outside of their sheltered circles to see that societies in civilized countries can and do co-exist with common sense, and good always triumphs over evil in all the best movies, so there's that.

I suppose the moral of the story is this. Despite all that has happened and everything going on and all the rain that has showered down upon us this month, I STILL had the will power to walk past those cupcakes, so there's still hope yet.

It's like rain...

I received a belated holiday gift this week.  It was the second attempt, which is why it was delayed. A delivery service (who shall go unnamed) casually left the first one out on the street in front of the building and then drove away in their brown truck. Imagine their surprise to hear the package never made it inside the front door on its own.

The 2nd one is here. A Virginia Gift Basket - both literally and figuratively. Quite clever I'd say. It's filled with snacks hailing from The Old Dominion, my home state. Very thoughtful gift from a great friend back in Richmond.

In other news, I've lost 2 more pounds (4 total) for the first bootcamp week.

So on the one hand, I've lost even more weight toward my goal and on the other I received a basked of holiday treats...

Cue insufferable screeching tune from Alanis Morrisette...

First Week

First full week of the year....

Bootcamp day-one was pretty rough. I had to stop for a minute because I was getting overheated and a little nauseous.  Truth be told, I nearly passed out. I had no idea how out-of-shape I had gotten. The second and third days were somewhat easier.

Have only lost 2 lbs but I think this is a routine that I can make habit-forming so that's where I'll see the big results. I was thinking about it the other day when sweat was pouring from every pore in my body...if I ever get slimmed down I'll peel off my shirt and post some pics on the blog like some other guys I know. Oh, you know the ones... insufferable camera whores.... taking photos of their tight abs and over developed chests and posting them on their blog every chance they get....like people really want to see that stuff.

In other news, I've started a new job (same company) - I like it a lot. I needed a change. You know, sometimes, we all need a change. In fact, I didn't realize how badly I needed that particular change until I got a couple weeks into the job and realized how much happier, calmer and relaxed I am. I still have a massive workload ahead of me for 2010, but I'm really looking forward to the milestones ahead.

In still other news, I continue to like my new neighborhood very much. It has more of a village feel than the old place downtown. It's more neighborhoody. The old place wasn't a bad location, but I like this better for this stage in my life. I can walk to everything without having to shlep the car all over town looking for parking. I still venture out here and there, but it's nice to have convenience at my doorstep.

The mood of the residents in this part of town is different as well.  There was even a neighborhood fundraiser car wash recently which takes me back to simpler times.  To a time when the residents of a small village pitch in to help thy neighbor with a charity event.

Small town attitudes are sometimes lost in big cities. It's nice to see that we haven't lost the small town traditions here in our little village. I truly believe this is exactly what Norman Rockwell had in mind.

NYE 2009

Picture it. Berkeley, California. New Year's Eve 2009

Notice the throngs of revelers in the streets. Notice the crowd control swat cops in their hot uniforms to keep said revelers under control.

The description doesn't match the scene at all, does it? This can't be Berkeley, there's not a Prius in sight.

Well folks, it is. Seems the town folk went elsewhere for the big event. Perhaps word got out that Alice Waters was making an appearance somewhere to roast an egg over an open flame for Leslie Stahl again and that was the end of New Year's celebration in town.

No, this was the scene walking back to the car from a dinner with relatives for my better half. Much ado about a seafood restaurant (an institution they called it) although there was very little seafood served at the dinner. I'm honestly still scratching my head over that one. I'll need to go back and actually sample the seafood at this so-called institution to see for myself.

It was quite a year. Key events in no particular order...

One full year for my blog. 67 posts give or take. It wasn't easy for me to keep it going, and it was on life support the entire month of October, but it's holding together into another year so we'll see how it goes.

Joined Facebook.

Hosted East Coast relatives in Los Angeles for a week.

Hosted East Coast relatives in San Francisco for a week.

Went to Virginia for 10 days to see my folks.

Went to Israel for 10 days to see his.

Moved from South of Market to The Castro.

Left Facebook.

My company was bought out by a foreign conglomerate in a hostile takeover, but so far, it seems to be working out really well.

I accepted a new position in December that ends 10 years in the same department. I'm finally moving on...as it were.

Had a few minor medical procedures, although they didn't seem very minor to me when they were happening.

I've had the same car for a solid year. (that almost never happens).

Consolidated about 7 email addresses to 3. That was a huge undertaking.

Got a new intercom system for the building.

Got new windows for our unit (see previous post - you'll be glad you did)

Bought a new set of light weight dishes to replace the 10 pound dinner plates.

Signed up for a 6 am bootcamp to start January 4th that runs 3 days per week.

That last one is a doozy, huh? We've done this before from Feb 08 to Feb 09.  That was an outdoors program - this time it's indoors. Got in great shape but the start of the 09 rainy season killed it for me.

What happened from Feb 09 to Jan 10 - you may ask? We both got heavier - a lot heavier - but that's about to change provided I don't take the alarm clock out back and shoot it.

That's about it for 2009.

Welcome 2010.

I hope you're good to us all.

New Doors & Windows

Had workmen in to install new doors & windows this December. I was home for much of the installation and am very surprised at how fascinated I became with home construction. I never realized how interesting this process can be. For the life of me I just can't figure out why I was so fascinated with this particular project...