October 28, 2007 at 6:03 pm · Filed under General
- Get rid of the domestic ‘do not fly’ list. You can fly without an ID, so what’s the point of this list?
- Get rid of (or at least severely shorten) the ‘terrorist watch list’ which contains ~750,000 names. Do we actually believe there are this many terrorists? And what kind of sense does it make to add 200,000 names each year? This one reminds me of the number of unread in Kevin’s RSS reader :) How will he ever get through them all?
- Get rid of the threat level. No one knows what the colors mean anyway, and it plays directly to the point of terrorism, which is to make people afraid of something. Consider re-routing this funding to emergency response.
- Realize that our current telecommunications monitoring practices are illegal. Sit G.W. in front of a TV and show him something about FISA and Operation Shamrock. Then, revert to legal monitoring practices.
October 22, 2007 at 11:20 pm · Filed under General
Congratulations to E and S on their accomplishments this past weekend! I got to sweat a bit, but managed to produce the ring at the appropriate time and say something i wasn’t totally embarrassed with after the ceremony. In addition to them having picked a gorgeous building for their wedding (Berkeley City Club), they picked a great location (Berkeley, CA) for all the guests to walk around, eat, drink, and enjoy the scenery. Very nice that so many people from home could attend - I hadn’t realized how many people I would see that I hadn’t talked to since elementary school and junior high. I also didn’t count on the ‘groomsbros’ being so awesome. Good call, Sean.
On Sunday, El and I walked around San Francisco. We hit the ferry building, piers, Fisherman’s Wharf, Telegraph Hill, Columbus Ave, and Chinatown. It was easily the most beautiful weather I’ve experienced in a month. Seeing a crystal clear sky really does improve one’s mood, and El and I were almost giddy. Needless to say I got sunburned. Telegraph Hill provided a stunning view of the city and the bay. I want to go back and spend some time eating at some of the restaurants on Columbus Ave, and I think K would have been impressed with the myriad of tea-shop options (shop- and tea-selection wise).
The evening culminated with dinner at E’s (as in S&E) parents’ house, which is situated up on a hill near Berkeley, with a breathtaking view of the entire bay area. We watched the sun set and the lights come on over dinner, and then took the BART (talk about contrast between 80’s futuristic exterior and carpeted, poorly-conceived interior) back to Oakland, for a late departure. Hopefully we can go back again soon - like in a week or two, when we want to see the sun again.
October 17, 2007 at 9:15 pm · Filed under General
god bless flickr for storing my pictures, but god damn them for now allowing HTML in comments. or at least not in the way i want them to. I tried to properly spell ‘ohdogg’ and ‘becky,2‘ but to no avail. superscript not allowed. regardless, there’s a new set of pictures on flickr.
I should mention that this is exactly what Seattle looks like. As C commented, it looks deceptively sunny and beautiful. so who else wants to come visit?
In other news, Norman seems to be playing piano a bit less. Or at least I’m hearing less piano. Which probably means I’m growing deaf. That’s not a surprise. Also, our bathroom has ventilation problems. The paint in there is starting to bubble away from the wall rather alarmingly, reminiscent of my stint in Love House, a dump of an apartment in Northfield. Luckily, the landlord has been informed, and we’re attacking the problem by stepping up our post-shower ventilation regimen. both doors to the bathroom now get opened. Surprisingly, despite the high level of humidity, the apartment is rather cool. cold, one might say. as i sit here at victrola, warm, happy, and caffeinated, it’s hard not to think we should turn on the heat. or at least turn on some more computers.
