get to the table

Summer, Finally

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 17:46:35 -0700

It’s been so hot out the last few days. Today peaked at 90 degrees and will likely be the hottest day of the year. It’s also Seafair weekend, so the Seafair planners must be happy. On Friday I biked out to Matthews Beach in Sandpoint to watch the Blue Angels. It was pleasant, but the beach was full of kids and moms, so I felt very much out of place. Back to my non-pedo life, Saturday was perfect for canoeing. It was too hot (no complaints) to really do anything, so it was nice being out on the water where it doesn’t feel so hot.

People are so happy when the sun is out. And nowhere is nicer than Seattle for the two weeks a year of sunshine. I think we’ve now had a total of 7 sunny days this year, so hopefully the next 7 come soon. I’m off to India in three weeks!

Recap

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 20:36:52 -0700

I’m alive. I know you all have been wondering this because I haven’t posted anything in a long time. I’ve been fairly busy and blogging has not been a very high priority. But do not fret. Here’s the recap you’ve been craving:

I like bagels and cream cheese. I eat one for breakfast almost every morning
I’m really enjoying work at DNA and have spent the majority of this week at a gaming conference (catered by Wild Ginger!)
I’m flying to India in exactly a month and have been making plans for Dubai and Reykjavik as well
I’ve been biking/running a lot since the weather has been kind as of late
My two IMA soccer teams are undefeated so far

So it turns out that I’m more like my dad than I thought....

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 08:14:51 -0700

So it turns out that I’m more like my dad than I thought. From riding motorcycles to going into marketing to my futile resistance against the coke refrigerator at work, I’ve realized that we have lots in common. And I don’t mind it.

It’s hard to make these “happy ____ day” blog posts not sound like eulogies, so I’m going to stop here.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

Not the best picture, but I think you get the point.

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 09:04:09 -0700

Not the best picture, but I think you get the point.

May

Wed, 30 May 2012 23:58:53 -0700

May has been a busy month: started my internship and started assuming the president responsibility at Ad Club. And now I’m finishing up the school year, and looking for a motorcycle. So that’s why I haven’t posted in a while. My apologies.

So here are some highlights:

Saw The Whispertown at the Crocodile
Saw Best Coast at the Neptune
Found my dream motorcycle, the Triumph Bonneville (look it up)
The Melon Games!
Working at DNA

I’m sure I’m forgetting some things. Sorry.

Ah, this is so awesome! W+K does some sweet soccer ads for Nike....

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:35:24 -0700

Ah, this is so awesome! W+K does some sweet soccer ads for Nike. They even managed to make me like Cristiano Ronaldo a little bit more with the self-depracation at the end.

For Mother’s Day, my mom and dad bolted out of town and...

Sun, 13 May 2012 14:25:45 -0700

For Mother’s Day, my mom and dad bolted out of town and went south to see the Grand Canyon and visit my sisters in California. And when I called her this morning, she was too busy at the Grand Canyon to pick up…so this will have to suffice for now:

Happy Mother’s Day!

(Oh, and the pic is of me and my mom in Dubrovnik, Croatia last summer. Jealous?)

The World Is Flat

Thu, 10 May 2012 23:48:00 -0700

A while back I bought “The World Is Flat” by Thomas Friedman and a few days after I found out it was required reading for my India trip this summer. How convenient, right? I started reading it last week, but didn’t get too into it. The last few days I’ve read a bit more and it really is an eye opening book.

1) China is craaaaaazy. People need to recognize how quickly China is catching up in the tech world. The author describes his trip to Dalian, a city in northeastern China that has 22 universities and colleges and over two hundred thousand students. 22 universities in one city. That’s nuts! Alright, so major cities in the US (like Boston) have a ton of universities/colleges as well, but in Dalian, they speak Mandarin, Japanese, and presumably English (at least better than 99% of the people here can speak Mandarin). And these graduates are happy taking “data monkey” jobs. Companies in the US can send them spreadsheets full of unrefined data and in the morning (thanks to the time-zone difference) they’ll get presentation decks filled with graphs, main points, etc. for their morning meetings.

2) Bubbles, such as the dot-com bubble, are not all bad. Bill Gates (and probably many others) argued that the dot-com bubble and the massive over-investment played a huge role in speeding up innovation. When there’s over-investment, any and all ideas get funding, so even though most companies ended up bankrupt, some amazing advancements were made.

3) Setting standards are super important. Once standards are set, people can start to focus on making advancements. Imagine you’re speaking to someone who is bi-lingual in french and english, but that person insists on speaking french. How far is your conversation going to progress? But once you set english as the standard language for the conversation, you can now move on and make progress in your conversation and talk about politics, philosophy, or whatever. The same thing goes for programming, or for example, the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD competition. Once Blu-Ray won out, everyone could start to move forward with Blu-Ray as the base technology to make 3-D movies and whatnot.

And, I’m only 90 pages in…

The last weeks I’ve been listening to a lot of Fleet Foxes...

Mon, 07 May 2012 15:29:00 -0700

The last weeks I’ve been listening to a lot of Fleet Foxes and Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes) on my record player. But in the last few days I’ve listened to nothing but Joe Pug’s new album “The Great Despiser” and Beach House’s new album “Bloom”. Phenomenal music. You can listen to Bloom on NPR right here.

As I hyped up in an earlier post, lat night I went to the...

Sun, 06 May 2012 12:07:00 -0700

As I hyped up in an earlier post, lat night I went to the Crocodile (which is finally all ages) to see Ben open for Joe Pug, who, as it turns out, I would have gone to see anyways. It was a phenomenal night of music as Ben was great, Bailiff (the other opening band) impressed, and Joe Pug was wonderful. Two things were kind of interesting though: 1) the awkward under-21 barrier from the main part and 2) lots of lesbians. Who knew that a folk/country singer would draw that crowd? But back to the show, since I was caged off in the awkward under-21 side of the Crocodile, I ended up just standing at the side of the stage with all the camera people and managers. It made it feel like VIP. Haha.

First day of work

Tue, 01 May 2012 19:19:09 -0700

Well my first day at DNA was exciting. There was a lot going on inside and outside the building. First, everyone was trying to coordinate and wrap up projects by the end of the week. Lots to do. But, more excitingly, just outside our building was the May Day/Immigration/Trayvon Martin/Anarchist protest. Pretty much all day there were sirens going off and helicopters flying around. In the end, there were a few broken windows and a little bit of violence (pepper spray?). Don’t worry everyone, I was on the 26th floor and completely safe. Back to the work though, I got plugged into everything and found out what all the madness was about. Looking forward to Thursday!

“You know who hasn’t won anything in a long time? The Mariners, Pirates, Expos, and...

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:56:02 -0700

“You know who hasn’t won anything in a long time? The Mariners, Pirates, Expos, and Royals.” —Andrew Pittman

Yeah, the Mariners are so bad, my roommate compares their futility to a team that hasn’t existed for almost a decade.

Next week is going to be a good one. It’s May! I’m starting my internship at DNA I will...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:12:47 -0700

Next week is going to be a good one.

It’s May!
I’m starting my internship at DNA
I will officially be President of Ad Club UW
It’s my friend Sean’s birthday
Ben is playing at THE CROCODILE, opening for Joe Pug. And it’s all ages.
Cinco de Mayo!
Fancy “Spotlight Dinner” for club presidents/officers. It’s free.

Seattle Restaurant Week

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:51:26 -0700

The past two Sunday-Thursdays have been the Seattle Restaurant Week. Hundreds of restaurants. Three courses. $28. Yum.

Tamara and I went to Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar, Seattle. Spicy Ahi Tuna rolls (risky, did you read that Yahoo! article?), trout, and vanilla bean creme brulee. Sorry, no pictures. Seastar is a classy establishment.

Hometown Tourist. Spent the day with my parents, doing some...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 22:23:07 -0700

Hometown Tourist.

Spent the day with my parents, doing some touristy things in Seattle. We went to the Columbia Tower Observation Deck, which is really cool because you can see over every other building in Seattle. It’s such a great view. Then, we got lunch at Mimosa Cafe (Vietnamese and Southern BBQ combo). How odd. Well, it was good. We walked around for a bit and tower-spotted. Then we went to the Pacific Science Center Imax Theater to see The Hunger Games (my second time).

This is why Barca and Real Madrid are better than any English...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:20:00 -0700

This is why Barca and Real Madrid are better than any English team:

“English football has historically placed a higher value on attributes like industry, endless running, getting stuck in, and screaming while pointing.”

-from http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7767712/imperfect-10s

Oh, did I tell you all that I’m going to India this...

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 20:21:36 -0700

Oh, did I tell you all that I’m going to India this summer?

Weekend

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 20:17:49 -0700

After a relaxing, tv and book filled week, the weekend got a bit more eventful. Dad took me to the Sounders game Friday night, where they beat Houston 2-0. We zipped back home and I met up with Tamara to see the Hunger Games. On Saturday, I moved back into my place in Seattle, went for a walk because it was nice out (for once!) and then saw An Horse and Nada Surf at the Neptune. It was nice being at home, but it’s good to be back in Seattle.

I got my motorcycle license this week! Got 100% on both the...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:48:39 -0700

I got my motorcycle license this week! Got 100% on both the written and driving test. NBD. Watch out Seattle drivers! Just kidding, I don’t even have a motorcycle yet. But I will be very safe. And according to my grandma, I’m forbidden from driving on the freeway…

Video

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:00:59 -0800