Saturday Learnings from Glorious Travel Pilgrimage to New Haven

1. Jon Stewart Rallies significantly reduce the availability of taxis to Union Station.
2. The MARC train from Union Station to BWI does not run on weekends.
3. Amtrak does, but seems to run every two hours around mid-day.
4. US Airways is very friendly about missed flights.
5. Terminal  F at the Philadelphia airport is chilly in late October.
6. Being on the Standby list is most similar to the Woody Allen's  Death: A Comedy in One Act.
7. Tweed New Haven airport is $17 (including tip) from downtown New Haven.
8. One gets highly attentive service at a restaurant in its second day of existence (Himalayan, a  B+ tibetan/indian joint).  My server had the peculiar tendancy to explain/introduce dishes ("this is a mango lassi, it's very thick"), as if i'd never before encountered Indian food.
9. The Millenium movies (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...) are gloomy even when on the big screen.
10. Downtown post-midnight New Haven on Halloween is not unlike Death: A Comedy in One Act

Southland Weekend

Friday night SFO-LAX flight on United. Packed at 9pm. Arrive to a misty Los Angeles. LAX is an internal mess, but pretty from the outside.

Stayed in Sherman Oaks/Bel Air, up on a mountain. Saturday was the 25th anniversary of Back to the Future, which looks terrific on the big screen and is remarkably relevant despite its age.  Met a bunch of people who in "the industry." One cool aspect of LA is that people have extensive knowledge of films, and like to talk about the  movies they've seen.

Out to dinner in West Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard, which is as depicted in Entourage. Fancy cars, paparazzi, model-esque blondes in glittery minis.  The Glitterari in LA seem friendlier than their east coast counterparts in NY and DC: easy to strike up a conversation randomly.

Lazy Sunday. Went to the Arclight 2 to See Red. The Arclight is the nicest American movie theater to which i've been: supremely comfortable seats, pre-selected seating (as in europe), coffee spot, bar, gift shop, and hollywood costumes on display. Red was nothing to write home about, except for a strong performance of paranoia by John Malkovich.

Virgin America Red-eye back to DC.  Experientially pleasant, though not especially so. highlights included:

-printing my boarding pass at a hotel-lounge-like check-in counter. Small square document.

-ordering food (excellent cheese + fruit plate, honest tea) via the seat console, having it delivered with the ice.

-mood lighting.

-amusing safety video.

The seat was reasonably comfortable, but not especially so. Leather is not impressive in and of itself.  While the plane was new (airbus 320), I would have preferred to be on a 767.

Overall, B+.  I might go so far as to say that I like JetBlue's model better (free snacks, more destinations, less pretense).

Sling-shotting between Playoff Cities

Flew to JFK Sunday night for dinner in brooklyn at the Vinegar Hill House. Best meal i've eaten in months. 

Monday in Midtown Manhattan. Attended the 2010 Slingshot Fund (Day) through the AVF, a social venture fund i'm involved with that was chosen as one of the most innovative Jewish projects in North America. Good day of training and meeting other included organizations. 

Tuesday in Soho and Upper West Side, catching up with old friend. Gorgeous weather. 

Wednesday in Queens for my late grandmother's tombstone unveiling. Small ceremony, brief and moving. Everyone should be so loved by their family. 

Sylvia Safron: Bridging Two Worlds, Accepting of All, Beloved by All

Flew back to DC Wednesday night. Picked up supplies at the office in Arlington, back to District for five hours or sleep. 

Headed West on Thursday. Caught the 8:20 IAD-SFO on United. Packed as usual, arrived in SF in late morning to a grey, cool day. Work, Work, Work. Crazy energy in SOMA for Giants Game, hordes in Orange on the streets, an intense energy of anticipation. Crashed at the hotel around 10pm PST. 

Breakfast with H. Rainy Friday. Apparently this is typical fall SF weather. 

Back to the Saddle

Woke early, T to the wonderfully tiny Logan airport. Used the digital boarding pass on my blackberry. Short flight, tasty shortbread Delta biscuits, cold and rainy DC. Was summer a dream?  It always leaves. 

 Here's a plug for a bar furniture site.  They have good stuff, it is part of CSN stores...

Hopefully it won't get cold too quickly.

The Other Bay Area

The rain follows me to Boston. I arrive to an empty pre-midnight Logan airport and make my way to Cambridge, where i'm staying with A, an old friend who's here for law school.  We order chinese food and watch The Rock, arguably one of Sean Connery's finest post-bond roles...  

 ...waken to the breezy sunlight of new england in fall, which is pleasant but unsettling.  We take the metro/subway to Park Place and walk around Boston Commons. It's a sunny social saturday in Boston and families, couples, and tourists are out in force. 

We pass Copley place and have coffee on Newbury street. Then we go see The Social Network, which is an  effective portrait of technical, dark, and depressing.

The Terminal: Delayed in Dulles

Friday night flight out of Dulles to Logan on United Express, scheduled for 6:57pm. The plane takes off somewhere around 9:30, giving me two hours to wander around Dulles.

Discoveries:
1) Delta has no sky club and instead uses Air France's lounge, a dazzlingly modern red-and-white-cafeteria of the future.

2) A slice of fresh mozzarella pizza costs $4.57 in Gate A. Two hours of internet costs roughly a dollar more than this.

3) There are a remarkable number of international flights out of Dulles that leave on a Friday night after 7pm.

4) United will only reimburse you for delays after four hours of waiting.

After boarding the plane, the flight attendant asks for a volunteer from the first four rows to sit further back and balance the weight load.  After thirty seconds of silence, a man volunteers. We applaud.

The Party with the Dragon Tattoo

Well Sometimes I Go Out, By Myself, And I Look Across The Water...


It rained, and I spent Simchat Torah (the joyful jewish festival) at the House of Sweden for the launch of an eco-infrastructure exhibit.  Waiters in hard hats and plaid served scandi hors d'oevres to diplomatic blondes. A bizarre cast of characters, including:


-A Sudanese Sugar Company Marketer, on holiday.


-A Seemingly prominent movement environmentalist, who mentioned that he was recently "into german hotels."


-diplomat-turned-web-designer with childhood stories of Monopoly with the Prince of Monaco


-Maryland House of Delegates candidate Meyer Marks, taking time off from the race to interact with "real people."

Swedish Dessert on a Conveyor Belt, Sushi-Style

Terrific space, excellent drinks, decent food, odd group. There are worse ways to spend a wet evening in Washington

Weekend Scenes, Bay Area 2010

Sonoma Koi

The Audacity of Hope, September 2010

Japan town? 

Mind the drop

City on the Bay

Norcal Palms

Passing Ship

Blues Skies and Downtown SF

A Banksy original?

Life on the Left Coast

1. IAD-SFO. On a 777, courtesy of United Airlines. ENORMOUS airplane. Letters to Juliet was unwatchable, The Girl who played with Fire sustained. Sat next to a Moscovite Travel Agent leading a group of Russians to see national parks... "in a country without [much] history, it's best to see nature."

2. Met up with K in the international terminal at SFO (impressive).  A classmate from high school who i've not seen for years, K moved to the Bay area for tech. Runs his own company now. We take the BART into the city and have dinner.  

Nice SF view. 

3. I wake up in Emeryville, where i'm staying due to the Oracle convention. View of the bay bridge. 

4. BART into the city. Day of work. 

5. Coffee in South park. 

6. Thoughts on SF: everything is hip or weird. Or both. The fashion reminds me a bit of Wesleyan: cool, eccentric, not entirely put together... un-vicious, like NY. Comfortable. Lots of cotton.

Heading West

Saw "The American" last night, with George Clooney. Pleasant, attractive, and serious. 

Flew to Denver by way of O'Hare on United. The latter flight was on a 767, making it much more pleasant.  
Arrive before 11am to dry sunny heat and blue skies. J (old friend from high school who I ran into in SF) picked me up and we drove off to Boulder, where we hit the farmer's market. Crunchy college students + retired baby boomers. Great food. Sinatra impersonator, charming.






Walk on the creek, with an impromptu fly-fishing lesson from a twelve year old kid.  Down the creek, a man asks me to retrieve his second crutch from the river, as his friend has placed it there. We later encouter a man who has engineered a standing rock, as below. We compliment his work and he is appreciative, telling us that the work is therapeutic.

In the evening, we attend a poker game that consist mainly of professors from one of the departments at the university. I play poorly. 
We drive back to J's home in the mountains, under the sky filled with stars