Well, here’s one.

I [...]]]> I’ve been meaning to press the ‘publish’ button here for the past ten weeks, and, honestly, I have about a dozen drafts of posts on a lot of subjects that I never got around to finish. The holidays, karaoke, funky cultural festivals in the pouring rain, ignoring February 14 for the eleventh straight year…

Well, here’s one.

I know it’s already March, but if anyone asks me how my 2011 is so far, I say it was fine except for the holiday season. It didn’t come to a merciful end, for me, until mid-January. There’s nothing like badly-timed and badly-worded “jokes” from family members (none featured here) to set the mood during what’s supposed to be the happiest time of the year.

[my happiest time of the year is Halloween, by the way, but you knew that]

I’m just glad it’s all over, and I now understand why annoying relatives are a default feature of so many crappy Christmas movies. I also discovered a new, delicious solution to the problem: champagne.

[When it's free, anyway. And if you're on a boat, even better!]

So, if you have a glass of champagne handy (you can go get one right now, if you’d like. I can wait. There, perfect.), let’s have a toast. To adulthood, to not letting the bastards get you down even if they’re related to you, and, most importantly, to both you & I.

Cheers.

I’m not gonna call it a “break,” since I’d been actively twittering these past three months, but I’ve just kind of been waist-deep in it all, with work and interviews and travel and dragonboat. I’ll take it one subject at a time, with the [...]]]> It’s been a while so let me just get right back to it.

I’m not gonna call it a “break,” since I’d been actively twittering these past three months, but I’ve just kind of been waist-deep in it all, with work and interviews and travel and dragonboat. I’ll take it one subject at a time, with the overall idea that none of this I saw coming, at least a few weeks ago.

I often exult in the passive victory of San Francisco Giants games, and my patience has, for the first time, rewarded me and my hometown with a championship run. I caught a few games at bars, and the clincher at Civic Center, and enjoyed every damned minute of it, except for when I was getting involuntarily splashed with beer.

Of course, you have to catch it on the radio and be somewhere raucous that doesn’t charge $9 a beer. Trips to Underdogs and Pedro’s with weekly resets at The Bitter End were the epitome of being a sports fan, and I’m already beginning to wonder what happens after this. You hope your team is successful, and then what? For now it’s still sinking in, and might not completely until either next season. Or until a heated confrontation with, say, a Dodgers or Phillies fan. But that’s another subject altogether.

Work and interviews took me to Southern California last week, with a stop in Burbank, “LA Live,” Westwood & Malibu. The most interesting part, though, had to be the occupational-safety-hazard-nightmare of a machine shop at UCLA, but it quickly passed.

Maybe it was the oddly frigid weather down there, along with the possibility of a move, but now I’m not so apprehensive about southern California and the chance of a job there. I’ve got homies and relatives right nearby and I can get back into dragonboat if I feel like it.

And speaking of dragonboat, the 2010 season came to a very abrupt, though very successful conclusion. All three boats got medals, everyone went home happy, pretty much. It’s strange to have such a regular part of your routine, especially such a calorie-burning one, get put on hold for 3 or 4 months. I’ll have more to say about it after the upcoming year-end banquet, I’m sure.

I’ll bang out the rest of the details sometime this week, a few more events I missed and pictures people are still somehow excited to receive, despite the time elapsed.

Which brings me to my niece. She turned 2 not [...]]]> Little kids make the world go ’round. It’s not adults, what with our complicated and wanton desires, but the wee ones who gently coax tribute from their parents and families and everyone else who thinks that no cuteness shall go unrewarded.

Which brings me to my niece. She turned 2 not all that long ago, and the occasion called for a party replete with Disney theme and costumes and about 50 mylar balloons that needed to be carried 4 long blocks by your author because there was no room in anyone’s car and because it seemed like a pretty gnarly adventure at least until they got tangled up in some equally gnarly tree branches. But I digress.

She’s smart and can speak clearly beyond the usual grunting and screaming. She eats like there’s no tomorrow, and upon trying to pick her up the first word to come to most people’s minds is “heavy.”

More importantly, though, this little girl finally made me realize that I don’t hate kids, after all.

In college I volunteered for two years at a Vietnamese community center on Geary, doing my best to tutor and teach despite the pushback and brattiness and budding ghetto-ness of the kids that spent their Friday afternoons there. But it didn’t work, and of all things it made me never want to go near kids ever again, though that’s putting it lightly.

All that changed when my niece was born. She was handed to me about a week out of the womb and was roughly the size of a Papalote triple-threat burrito*. And within a split second, I hadn’t even brought her close yet, she pooped.

Feeling that vibration and realizing what happened (and also being unfamiliar with remedial measures) initially horrified me, but at that moment I realized that these kinds of things happen, naturally. Babies poop and cry, because they’re not quite aware of the intricacies of how to run to the bathroom or wipe up or grab a bite to eat just yet.

Extrapolating it a bit, maybe the punkass kids talking back to me at the community center so many years before didn’t know any better, either. They weren’t aware that I was using my free time to help them and that I would’ve appreciated if they shut their yaps for just a few minutes so we can get through their homework, upon whose conclusion the screaming may begin again in earnest.

So that’s why kids do what they do, and, hopefully, cut the crap as they mature. Now I love kids, and have the patience to deal with them. While I won’t be running a daycare anytime soon, having kids in my presence is no longer something I dread.

And it all started with the poop. Maybe it wasn’t the most sanitary epiphany the world has ever seen, but I’ll take it.

but these are all good people. i met them in school, through friends of friends,  at sporting events, and they all have their stories, equally legitimate, which makes them all worth acknowledging, and which keeps [...]]]> i have a habit of making too many friends. so much so that it makes me occasionally seem like a fraud. really.

but these are all good people. i met them in school, through friends of friends,  at sporting events, and they all have their stories, equally legitimate, which makes them all worth acknowledging, and which keeps me on my feet.

for one, there’s rob- who i hadn’t seen from 1995-2004, yet we picked up right where we left off when he traveled back west following college. it’s always a kind of special duty to entertain the “accidental president” (don’t ask) because he had such a big role in introducing me to half the groups i’d hung out with up until the present day.

so, winning enough for 3am prime rib breakfasts, visiting the world famous Tu Lan, fried chicken during the Mayweather fight and confronting a very militant staff at zeitgeist were all a part of this particular tour of duty before he returned to med school.

family’s always given, but with all the attention still being lavished on the behemoth of a niece i have, an in-law’s 92nd birthday and even my own family’s mother’s day celebration never fail to have a common theme. i’m sure the process will repeat itself with the next kid, and so on.

and of course there are the dragonboaters. while my own personal struggles as a paddler and team member are well-chronicled on ripplesf.com, off the water this group has continued to be a bedrock of entertaining and mostly wholesome stories. there was keg party or ropes course or two (where rope burn was imminent).

and a dinner party. and a karaoke. and a trip to the academy of sciences. god, i see these people too much…

somewhere in the mix, still, are my regular visits to the Bitter End bar for trivia, which had Thin Tim hosting or Erin celebrating her birthday on 4/20, with the requisite singalongs and whiskey & beer, but, again, nothing all that out-of-the-ordinary for the average san francisco male.

[even if i do like to think i round out the bell curve]

jury duty is one of those events. i got called in during april fools’ day, which had to [...]]]> sometimes you think you’re getting it all right. and then something happens to really put you in your place, or make you see it, and you have to take it from there. a new role. get used to it.

jury duty is one of those events. i got called in during april fools’ day, which had to have been some cruel joke, and had to endure two days of loaded questions over some drunk driver’s Uncle-Sam-given right to a fair trial. i have better things to do. but of course they don’t see it that way. i’m an american citizen, you know, doing my duty.

fortunately, when it came time to speak to the litigators I gave a very intelligent and honest answer. no, i won’t be fair. no, you won’t guilt me into saying that i will be. i don’t see the value in debating the pros and cons of a breathalyzer test.

i’m still an american citizen, and it’s my right not to participate in the process. so, off i went.

easter, and for that matter any holiday significant to children, is another experience that really lets you know your role. for the baby it went great, and it was actually a fun experience seeing it all unfold for this little girl, from the elaborate mass to the organized easter egg “hunt” to the meal and egg-painting.

but you realize that such holidays aren’t for you anymore. they’re for the wee ones. instead of enjoying the hunt for the golden egg, it’s now your job to to set it up, and to document the endeavor, which indeed it turned out to be at certain points, like when said toddler ran into the middle of the fray without exactly knowing what to do once there.

[fortunately my cousin came to break up the baby-focused monotony. and i decided to pick up a few crayons and decorate an egg on my own. i was so proud.]

the time trial on lake merced provided another sense of measure. in my three months of trying to perfect my form on the dragonboat (after two years of apparently just flailing about) and hold on to a tenuous spot on the competitive crew, i thought i was beginning to get it right.

let’s just say it wasn’t good enough this day, not even close, and my frustration built up to a magnificent, roaring crescendo of an expletive before we reached the dock.

i didn’t let the experience get to me, adjusting as i always do and enjoying the barbecue afterward, though i know that more discipline will be necessary to get past this. i may just turn down my volume until i get that validation.

fortunately, i did find a way to get past all the cloaked cynicism and self-loathing. I headed to Eve for Sharon’s birthday, 83 Proof for Geo’s birthday, and Chug Pub for Davin’s. i always tend to stretch myself thin when it comes to celebrating birthdays, but only because, really, you should be fortunate to have friends, and they’re all worth acknowledging.

i used to be a “party guy,” but i don’t really think that ‘nightlife’ is all it’s cracked up to be anymore. my self-consciousness about being on a dance floor has only barely moved towards anything resembling comfort since the first experience at a 7th-grade dance. at this point i think i’m good.

i’d rather be at home catching up on my shows (currently Human Target and The Pacific). it’s like i’m back in high school, staying in and watching TGIF instead of being out on a Friday night.

[or watching movies and making sushi, perhaps, like on Saturday.]

Sunday also remained very Japan-focused, with a quick trip to the  Cherry Blossom Festival and an officers’ meeting featuring mochi muffins. i’m sparing you the picture of the 350lb sailor moon, but i think we’re all aware that some people are built for cosplay. some people are not.

and otherwise, it’s back to reading in my own private corner of the 24hr filipino starbucks, ha. feel free to stop by and be contemplative. cheers.

it’s a lot of work, with [...]]]> a lot of what i do is, technically, damage control, from making sure clients don’t freak out to keeping random birthday celebrants well-fed/drank to ensuring my family remembers exactly what happened on any given day that we’re together [even though all we really do is pay attention to the bigass baby].

it’s a lot of work, with the result looking like fun. the rest of the time i’ll spend in random coffee shops trying to further myself with works of western literature, occasionally lending a pen to a hobo so she can complete her crossword. but i digress.

so anyway, before it’s April first and no one takes anything seriously, here we go.

a lot happens in nine days, especially in my life. and even apart from dragonboat.

my tuesdays are usually pretty interesting, but with some University of California students up here on spring break, last week even more so.

whenever my brother brian is in town, we go to snobby coffee shops. maybe to try their bacon doughnuts. maybe their coffee. maybe just to see if the yelp reviews and food network mentions are really a load of crap. but we go.

last week we tried Philz Coffee, the original location in Potrero. let’s just say that it takes the dirty hipster coffee experience to an entirely new level, plaid-draped clientele and grimy craigslisted furniture and all.

i had the day off due to the recent and very untimely death [so to speak] of a client, so jess took me to see the king tut exhibit at the de young museum.

the title of the exhibit, “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” is misleading because the bastard himself isn’t actually there. it should be called something more like “King Tut’s Stuff.” still, there were a lot of interesting things in there, and you can plainly see where writers get their stereotypes about ancient Egypt. or Ahn’Qiraj. whatever.

the observation tower was also kind of cool. we finished off the day looking at considerably more modern things in japantown.

when thursday rolled around, it was time again to continue the bay area’s celebration of my brother, this time with his old coworkers, all architecture-heads.

i still think i do a good job pretending to be an architect, so i was able to keep up,  though i definitely started to fade when pete showed us the kickass view from his civic center pad.

the next morning we decided to try out Dynamo Coffee, apparently the original purveyor of the bacon doughnut, but we ate more of the spiced whatever and sticky rolls, which were $3 apiece all around and, honestly, a bit ridiculous.

the night that followed was a happy hour for the dragonboat team, and the unlimited sake definitely shoved some inhibitions aside. it didn’t get too messy, though. we had practice the next day, after all.

and following the next morning’s practice [which involved the usual struggle to try out for the A-Boat, chronicled here, though a boat flip did make things interesting for the newbies], we finally got to celebrate brian’s 29th birthday with the family.

even though every family event revolves around the baby now, none of us seemed to mind, though a few minutes to peacefully drink my coffee would’ve been greatly appreciated.

on this particular monday and tuesday i got to catch up with some people i haven’t seen in a while, making a last-minute trip to berkeley for coffee [where, thankfully, cafe milano wasn't blasting bhangra at maximum volume again] and to Samovar in the castro for tea, which turned into dinner, which thankfully didn’t turn into anything else because the conversation began to repeat itself, though the food was actually pretty good. Darjeeling ain’t no joke, either.

and so it goes. i run around. i take time to acknowledge people beyond their facebook walls. i give my creative and athletic efforts to a dragonboat team that gives me so much more in return.

everybody’s happy.

the first big event since the last time was, at long last, the wrap-up of the 2009 dragonboat season. it took a damn long while, i’ll admit, but the planning and the unnecessary need to make our [...]]]> 35 days! yeah. it’s been a long, cold month. meanwhile, i’ve been playing a game of circumstances. let me explain.

the first big event since the last time was, at long last, the wrap-up of the 2009 dragonboat season. it took a damn long while, i’ll admit, but the planning and the unnecessary need to make our banquet nice like Space Dragons did make it better than last year’s slumber party. awards abounded. the food was passable.

but something was missing. maybe i felt like i was gonna get a bigger award. maybe it was how my date to the damned thing didn’t work out. maybe it was the frustration of escaping a crowded club, taking the absolutely wrong roads, ending up in alameda, then accidentally coming back across the bridge.

whatever it was, i needed some calming down, which was achieved only by a malt and patty melt at orphan andy’s at 5am.

so i had a while to stew it over. what usually helps is to be around some new people, to seek a different crowd. fortunately, AiLin’s birthday at Dave & Buster’s was that friday. the food was good, they had beer, and i couldn’t really complain otherwise, other than a few somewhat awkward moments brought upon me.

the next night was jamie’s birthday at element, and it was good to see some old coworkers that are still young enough to celebrate these things. the theme was pork/bacon/pigs, which included a roasted lechon and bacon-sprinkled donuts. it was bacon overload, to be honest, so i actually showed some restraint.

afterward i met keip and dan at kezar pub, where we discussed the viability of going to college in wisconsin and told of the funny chinese names we knew over some pizza. “forever wong” and “harry wang” were a hit.

thanksgiving came later in the week, and it couldn’t come soon enough. if 2008 was a down year, this was supposed to be better. and it was, in a lot of ways, but there’s still plenty of work to be done, and a lot of things i wish i could’ve handled better.

those things, however, didn’t involve food. i made an appetizer of tuna pintxos, which were a hit, and brought a studebaker cheesecake from andronico’s. it didn’t take long to catch up with the rest of the family, so, predictably, we got to spend 90% of the remaining time taking pictures of Claire. apparently it’s all we do until the next grandkid pops out.

afterward, we went to see the independent films being shown directly on the walls of Coit tower it was interesting, but it was also quite cold.

unlike the rest of america, i didn’t overeat the day before, and i didn’t spend anything on black friday. one of the better lessons i’ve learned in 2009 was to disregard the american tradition of overconsumption. so, there i was, content in my frugality and un-gluttonousness, watching a whole bunch of football.

being content is rare, in general, so i reveled in every second i could before the next social event.

…which came the next day. alma had her 30th birthday party in san jose, and it was an 80s affair. fortunately, i had a throwaway blazer in my trunk, so i put it on and rolled up the sleeves to look like don johnson from Miami Vice. it came full circle wen i walked in the door and Phil was dressed as detective tubbs.

again, alma and miguel never fail to throw great parties. lots of interesting people and a ton of pictures.

that night i made it back into the city just in time for the tail-end of kristine’s birthday party [or what was left of it] at bruno’s. the celebrant and her girls were falling asleep and only drinking water, her useless boyfriend sat there and took up space, and i started to get really bored. so, i did what i do best, and i started yapping.

i got sufficient entertainment out of it, and headed home. sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands.

early the next tuesday i heard some horrible news about a high school friend of mine. So-Youn passed away in Morocco recently and her local memorial service would be that night. while i didn’t talk to her all that much, her sister was a good friend of mine and i can’t imagine losing a sibling.

so, off to the service i went, and fortunately i did run into a few people i knew. it wasn’t the greatest feeling in the world to find out that someone died so young, but her contributions to the peace corps and to her family & friends preceded her. i did lose it at some point, as anyone reflecting back on such a great life would, but i think we can look at the positive effect she had and try to move forward as So-Youn would like us to.

i did end up making it to trivia tuesday afterward, and the beer and loads of pringles took at least some of the edge off of the night. well deserved.

that wednesday the dragonboat team decided that they loved each other too much to not see each other again until next season, and had a potluck. 30 people ended up coming. suffice to say, i was glad to see them.

not having the time to make anything, i picked up some appetizers from Marnee Thai [overpriced, but it was on the way] and we watched the final-final version of the team’s year-end video. it’s nice to know that about 65% of the photos came from my camera.

we also started planning stanley’s 21st birthday. to start, raymond is in charge of strippers, i’m bringing alcohol, kristine is choosing the venue, and mike is bringing the midgets. it’s gonna be awesome.

with a renewed need for a new crowd, the next night i helped dave and his oregon duck friends secure a table at R-Bar for the Oregon vs. Oregon State matchup, with the winner going to the Rose Bowl. this being my first Oregon game at an Oregon bar, i came to one conclusion: Oregon fans are nuts.

at some point it was impossible to move due to the crowds. scott armstrong showed up to start his birthday celebration, but the majority of the night was spent drinking bud light out of readily available tall cans and emulating the sound and the fury of Autzen stadium as best we could.

we closed out the night at the bars on Polk, and i pulled away before they headed to Kozy Kar, enjoying the company, the manhattans, and the thai fried rice. these were awesome people.

i caught my fourth movie of 2009 that friday when we watched “Up in the Air” at the sf center. it’s good to see movies where a character has such a parallel to your own life, especially when it’s done well, and even more so when it contains the eventual transformation. go see it. dooo eeet.

that weekend was victor’s birthday, so i met him and the girls at Swig. even though their initial request, upon my arrival, was “where else can we go so the guys can meet more drunk bitches?” we ended up sticking around until they kicked everyone out, including Mr. Carreon.

i’d recommend against going to Lori’s Diner under all circumstances, however, since it’s overpriced even compared to Mel’s. we might as well have gone to lucky chances!

i didn’t have huge expectations for that night, given that the last time i partied on nob hill was the “we will party proper, there will be many bitches” incident from 2007 which followed a daft punk concert. but it was a good time.

the workweek seemed to fly by, with a visit to trivia tuesday and an interview in campbell on friday.sudden hunger at 8pm landed me at sam wo, and we ended up in the marina for dessert. let’s just say we couldn’t quite agree on what the ideal of “the one” versus “the best one at the time” really was. you know what i’m talking about. yeah you do.

things were looking up for the weekend, which started with jacinda’s birthday party in menlo park. though an important piece was missing again, the old crew was back and the newbies kept it interesting.

and yesterday i dropped by the tail-end of the dragonboat team’s fundraiser at sports basement [bought some running gloves] and then headed to tanforan for christopher’s birthday. one thing remains clear: i don’t hang out with my filipinos often enough.

fortunately, most of my november and december didn’t require consolation or validation after said events, but sometimes you need it in one form or another. i used to turn to video games, now i turn to ‘my peeps.’

what do you do?

so, shall we?

most people know that [...]]]> alright, let’ get to the details, it’s been a busy month. and as much as i say that i intend to update this thing more often, i keep getting dragged back into the void. i’m not even going to worry about specific chronological order this time, but you’ll get the idea.

so, shall we?

most people know that i do freelance work, which doesn’t exactly keep me chained to a desk from 9-5. i’ve always been into print and web advertising, and eventually wanted to get into making commercials. i started to take a community college class in broadcast engineering, and fortunately the program has the best equipment in the bay area.

as expected, the class is pretty motley, all ages and backgrounds, but they’ve come together and we seem to be learning a lot. lighting, camera operation, audio, the whole damn deal. twice a week isn’t too much to sacrifice for some kind of self-enrichment.

[either way i hope this class will make me more useful on a set than the last time, where i just kind of stood there like a bumbling idiot.]

a few weeks ago brenda finally had a goodbye / heave-ho party for her trip to thailand. though she won’t be gone quite for good [to be honest i already thought she left and came back], i don’t see her and the crew often enough anymore. let’s just say that there’s no party quite like an inner-sunset party.

with some kind of urgency, we immediately followed the sunset and blackthorn gatherings with a trip to north beach. when things started to drag,  i ran into some teammates for tiffany’s visit back to the city, though her pending friend request likely means she was too inebriated to remember me. the basement of bubble lounge was also, really, really sweaty.

either way, my network kind of assures me that if things start to suck, i’m just one “hey charles what are you doing here?” from turning things completely around. the receipt of drunken texts also helps to lighten the mood.

we also resumed the elementary school reunions. it was interesting to see everyone after 13 years ago, but this time all the petty differences were forgotten and we were just a bunch of adults having a great conversation. though i’ll admit, these conversations usually went “so what happened to so-and-so?” followed by either “doing well” or “had a kid” [or in one case "is incarcerated"].

it was a great time, and good to see how they were all doing. well, except maybe one. i mean, the purpose of a reunion is to reunite, right? you can silently stick to a corner at home!

i did catch one last giants game before their season ended, the series opener with the chicago cubs, caught, of course, with my chicago homies. we made a few friends in the stands and had a lot of pretty good beer, even if the game didn’t exactly turn out as planned for the locals.

if you’re not on a date, i’d suggest sitting in the bleacher seats, as adventures (and beer) abound.

the biggest deal in the past month, though, was the treasure island dragonboat race. a whole weekend of nothing but saltwater racing in san francisco bay. it started with a party at b-bar at yerba buena, which wouldn’t have been a bad venue if the weather was, you know, hot. but it wasn’t. we made do.

i ran into a lot of old friends, made some new ones, and had a great time. the pictures were incredible as well. and my boat eventually got a gold medal. no complaints. even my niece got a present!

[and the food was pretty good, even though i was unnecessarily tagged on 54 'replay all' emails during its planning process. ugh.]

it was all topped off with an interesting afterparty at o’neil’s, a bar, involving underaged children and lots of beer and food and yelling. maybe it wasn’t the most elegant way to end the weekend, but it worked for some.

i also got to see some friends’ band perform at a couple of venues. i first caught late nite drive at el rincon in the mission, and shortly after at grant & green. maybe i’m not exactly into indie rock, if not classic-y rock, but i’m there.the company made it worth it, the pictures made it worth remembering.

unfortunately i missed flyhead’s last show at blake’s, but i’ll get to that in a minute.

the latest epic story is from this past weekend- i was supposed to see an air show, go to a get-together, see flyhead at blake’s, go to the mission for nancy’s birthday shindig, and wake up all hung over on sunday.

let’s just say that none of it went exactly as planned, and at some point i lost my ID. walking 30 blocks back to my car up above the broadway tunnel was fun. so was explaining to the doormen at blake’s that i was really 26 and couldn’t find my ID. along with receiving some misdirected text messages.

things ended well, however, with a great late dinner and a trip to bob’s shagtastic house of donuts. i actually ended up finding my ID at the goddamn donut shop.

[herb-crusted ahi tuna and/or pastry tends to make everything better, regardless.]

so i guess it’s really all about how you compare what you went in with, and what you came out with. on your own scale. you don’t need to drop a grand a night to have an epic weekend.

[the niners don't need to win, either, though that would certainly help]