Wednesday, July 29, 2009

starcraft!

About to start playing Starcraft, 2v3 with the "House of Wang" against three entrepeneur friends. While we're waiting for Starcraft to finish installing, Ash came over to chat with Tom and me.

Ash: "What's your strategy?"

Tom: "To win!"

Ash: [walking back to his starcraft laptop]

Tom: "Barring that, the strategy is to lose. Gracefully."

Me: [lol]

Tom: "You clear on the strategies?"

virtual humor

A while back, I conversed with an interesting person who works on a virtual world. Later, talking to my friend:

Me: "I asked him how he feels about the furry sex in his product. He said he's happy with it. Though he added that he hasn't had furry sex, in virtual life or real life."

Y: "He made sure to clarify that?" [smiling]

Me: "He also defined furry sex for me. Obviously by asking the question, I know what it is!"

Y: "Maybe he defined it in such a way so that he could say he hasn't had furry sex."

Sunday, July 26, 2009

the purple eyebrows are a nice touch

I just saw this photo flash by on the front page of RottenTomatoes.com, and thought confusedly for a second that it was me.



If only it were a Tyler Durden-esque scenario where my sleeping alter-ego goes out about town in costume.

a conversation from long ago

An IM convo from long ago. I stumbled across it just now and was amused:

A: I wish I could get over this crush already.

R: Just make out with him and move on.

A: How can I do that? Should I freakin' call him up and say, "I'm coming over to kiss you." ???

R: lol

A: I'll say, 'Wait for me. Oh, but I have to get gas first. Also where you live?'

R: That would be awesome. Please have that conversation.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

sex and the city

Earlier this month, I went to a bridal shower weekend that involved renting a house in Sonoma. I watched "Sex and the City" with seven other women, while working from my laptop.


Den, where we watched movies and SatC.

"Sex and the City" while working turns out to be really enjoyable. I've gotten through seasons 2 and 3 since getting back.

The characters are very believable. There is one part I don't understand though.

=== spoiler! ===
I don't understand why Big is emotionally unavailable to Carrie (won't give her a key or introduce her to his mother or say that he loves her back), but then he gets engaged to Natasha within five months. Maybe he also did those things to Natasha, but she didn't mind?

Also, Carrie is very selfish to cheat on Aidan, then pursue him to get back together until he relents, only to leave him again later. I haven't gotten to the part where she leaves him again, but I watched the movie so I know the eventual ending.
=== end spoiler ===


One of the women made this salad during the bridal weekend. It was amazing! I photographed all the ingredients so that I can attempt to reproduce it.


Wine tasting in Sonoma. $10 for four tastings of wine.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

no one reads the terms and conditions

Last night, talking about the Harry Potter books at Omst's house.

Phillip: "What do you think makes the Harry Potter books so popular?"

"Lindsey": "They help me paint a mental picture. I can imagine their robes, quidditch, the hallways..."

Me: "The author is very good at authoritative details."

Phillip: "Do you think if a group of us got together and focused for a weekend, we could reverse engineer what makes a children's book captivating, and then write one that's just as good?"

Me: "No."

Omst: "I think by reading Harry Potter, you implicitly agree to terms that you will not try to reverse engineer the book."

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

costume wig

Last night I had so much fun going out in a wig. I'm looking at more online wigs to purchase. Which one do people like?

A.

B.

C.

D.

vive la france

Happy Bastille Day!



French bistro. That's me in the purple wig.



Dancing in the street, in downtown San Francisco. You can see a big French flag just under the leftmost light. People were waving the flag all night.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

stats ~ love

Discussing the long-term potential of a romantic partner:

Betsy: "I think it's 0.5% chance it would work out long-term."

Randolf: "If it's below 1%, then just consider whether it would be enjoyable in the short term."

Betsy: "Well, maybe it's more like 2%."

Randolf: "Ah, that makes all the difference. Now you can expect to be married by 80, instead of past 200."

Friday, July 10, 2009

fried chicken contest (cooking, not eating)

I went to a fried chicken contest yesterday, held at a cookbook store in Noe Valley.

Eaters pay $5 to sample six types of fried chicken. They vote for the best, and that chef collects the pot of money. There were 50+ eaters, so the pool is at least $250.

The contest started at 6:00pm, and the chicken ran out at 6:10pm. More people poured into the bookstore, but the chicken was already gone.



Here is entry #6.

The bookstore is so smart! They didn't have to actually cook chicken. They only had to advertise the contest and set up tables and beverages, but they got all the publicity. They probably paid less than $50, in exchange for luring a hundred people to the bookstore.

More storefront owners should hold smart contests like this!

Thursday, July 09, 2009

"The Birds" was set in Bodega Bay

Last weekend, I went to Bodega Bay with friends. On July 4, four of us went on a hike. As we set off down the road:

Susan: "We're setting off on our epic adventure."

LG (my former intern): "Epic anything sounds pretty exciting."

Me: "What about Epic FAIL?"

LG: "Oh, epic fail not so much."

...

Susan: "What happens if it's an epic fail and we get stranded with no way to get back?"

Me: "We'll have to eat the intern."

LG: "What?"



Photo at the beach. LG was very good-natured about our plans to eat him in case of contingency.

Saturday, July 04, 2009

graphjam

I just discovered GraphJam, while waiting for fireworks. Some of these graphs are pretty funny.









happy independence day

The July 4th eating contest occurred this morning.



My brother claims to be the biggest fan of Joey Chestnut, the American eating contest chmapion.

Tom: "Experts said the 60 hot dog barrier couldn't be broken by humans! It was like the four-minute mile. Joey Chestnut proved them wrong. He's really a symbol of human achievement."


The Japanese champion, shown here after eating almost six pounds of pizza to win a Pizza Hut eating contest.

Friday, July 03, 2009

i thought that was the opposite of liberty

I'm on a weekend trip with friends. Last night, talking in the hot tub:

Dan: [after a long discussion about love] "Okay, now shouldn't we discuss computers or startups, to counter-balance all the talk about girls?"

Omst: "Computers aren't the opposite of girls."

Dan: "What's the opposite of girls?"

Omst: "Death."