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

One Short Day in the Bay

West Coast Jetlag is amazing: woke up at 8am. Cup of hotel coffee fueled a sun-soaked run along embarcadero, with views of Alcatraz. Feelings of Freedom, Talking heads in the background. The Pacific ocean smells different.

Bagels in the mission.

Work work work...

Met up with J1 and J2, old friends from high school. J1 lives in denver and randomly called me 20 minutes before my coffee time with J2.

BART to Berkeley. Little train, cloth seats, pleasant..

People in SF dress relatively well. More casually than in NY, laid back.

Dinner at Chez Pannisse with H, an old friend from the past. Great tomatoes and local wine. 

Tea next door with R, entrepreneur who has started a green consulting firm. 

Walk with B through Berkeley. Quiet and leafy streets.

BART back to SF.  

Three City Day

5:05am EST. I wake up in DC.

7:30am CST. We land in Chicago. Meetings and stuff. I eat two lunches, both of which are pretty good. 

6:50pm PST. I land in San Francisco and drive off into the sunset. 

9:15pm PST. Dinner at IHOP near Fisherman's Wharf. I am initially ignored for what seems like 20 minutes, but then the server is highly attentive. I eat a spicy chicken sandwich with provolone, which is delicious. Also, an Avocado salad (1/4 of an Avocado on lettuce for 2.49) and a crepe with blueberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. I consume an enormous amount of ice water and feel cold. The server asks me how I liked my food, and seems to really care. I experience a flashback to a movie that involves ordering ice cream in a diner in California.  

I notice that almost everyone around me is dressed informally, compared to DC. This strikes me as odd/good/slightly sloppy. 

10:00pm PST. A man in the hotel elevator asks me where I am from. A short conversation occurs whereupon I claim exhaustion. I don't think he was wearing shoes. 

Road Trip

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With E.

1. Ferry to Hyannis Port.  4:30pm.
2. Taxi to Barnstable Airport. 5pm.
3. Rent Blue Prius from Budget.
4. Drive to Brookline. Pick-up clothing from Cambodia, courtesy of Toro 7:30pm.
5. Dinner on Tremont Street at Pop's. WTH is Lobster dust? 8pm.
6. Drop off pots and pans in Cambridge.  11:30pm.
7. Drive to the Berkshires, during a thunderstorm.  Mass. Pike is desserted. We stop at a Mcdonalds for Coffee. I complain about the weather and am informed that it hasn't rained all summer.
8. Arrive in the Berkshires. 3:30am
9. Arrive at JFK: 5:30pm

National Airport,

It  is amazing how busy Reagan-National airport is at 5:45 am. I pass an entire boyscout troop, and then they pass me. Outside it is a cool rainy blue. Good morning, America.

August and everything before

Since July 4th, I've 

-Been to New York for a dinner party

-Met a substitute teacher from my elementary school while checking into a flight at Laguardia airport.

-Visited Montreal for twenty four hours, my first time outside of the country in 2010. The French influence is overwhelming and a welcome relief from DC.

-Experienced my first Casino

-Spoken a fair bit of french

-Acela-ed (Amtrak business = wonderful) and Jazzed (Air canada economy = less inspiring).

-Ridden the new intergate shuttle at Dulles (impressive).

-considered getting new dining room furniture

-while working, fasted for lion's share of the 9th of Av, the Jewish holiday that commemorates national loss.  I broke my fast at 4pm with fare from Ray's Hellburger.

-Sweated in the DC heat. 

Like Them that Dream: A Blog Worth Reading...

My brother Raphael has just launched a fascinating community blog which aims to "post clear, well-written intellectual content on a regular basis."  It's a very high bar for the digital space, but they seem to be doing a great job.