Passwords

I was trying to login to post some comments on a blog or two, and realized what a crazy amount of passwords and user names I am expected to remember these days. Let's see, we have:

Facebook
2 Emails
Myspace- I can remember the password in order to cancel this, since I haven't used it in years
Blog
Bank
Quicken online
Amazon
Ebay
Kaiser
AT&T
Itunes
paypal

Not to mention the ones I use at work:
Issue Management - 2 different ones
Online bills - 2 different accounts
FedEx
Test registrations for different software we are working on- at least 5-6 username/passwords

What really gets me is when you request a password reminder and then are required to change that password to something completely different. Sometimes I have to wonder if my 'secret password' is all that necessary. In fact, I kind of wish every now and then we could do a spring cleaning to weed out all unnecessary online accounts and start with a clean slate. Or at least wipe out my memory of all passwords so I wouldn't spend 15 minutes going repeatedly trying to get the right password/username combo.

26 by 26

OK, so I've done something like this a few years back and of course thought I would try again. The deal is that I come up with 26 things I'd like to do before I turn 26 (mid Feb). I got all motivated and made a list of long term goals, daily challenges, and even just some simple tasks I've been putting off. I like lists, so I thought it was great that I would have one long list of things to do and then I'd just cross them off one after another.
The problem with this plan was that while I didn't have to commit as much time to this as say, a new years resolution, I still have a problem with putting things off. It has been about 2 weeks now and I have realized that I don't need to complete every single thing on my list. It would be nice if I did some of them, but I'd much rather do them at my own pace. Also, after a few weeks of trying to do these, I've been able to see what habits were easily incorporated into my life and what will most often fail. Now that I have a realistic look at things, I present to you my updated list!

1. Clean Car- This is mostly clean, all I need to do is vacuum!
2. Sign up for Cultural Geography Course- Apparently the class I was going to take was canceled. I'll have to see if there are any other options
3. Sign up for a Century or Tri- I think I will do Tour de Cure with my dad... any one interested in the Golden Gate Triathlon?
4. Research and get a new bike
5. Back up computer - I need to save my files!!
6. Organize budget and finances - save up money for school... and fun trips!
7. Clean out closet - I've already gone through clothes to donate.
8. Sew my quilt - It is kind of a hideous quilt I started a while back... not sure I want to finish it.
9. Fix pants- I made some pants for someone last year and they were too small...
10. Swim- I'd like to go swimming once a week
11. Blog- I'd like to try and blog once a week
12. Write personal statement- for grad school
13. Finish the book Guns Germs and Steel
14. Go to the gym more - I would have said 3x/4x week, but I know my schedule can change often.
15. Floss daily
16. Lose X lbs- TBD

There are many other things I'd like to do, but I figure I should aim for what I can achieve rather than setting my expectations so high that I will almost certainly fail.

hmm.. 16 by 26... that has a nice ring to it!

Wow, I smell some good Chinese food wafting down the street. Maybe my March challenge should be to cook an international meal each week!

Italian Food Weather?

What a contrast is from the last time I posted. With weather in the high 60's and even up to the 70's I feel like someone has plucked us from mid-January and dropped us in May! As I write this, I am sitting on the front porch of our apartment in shorts, watching the golden red leaves of the tree ignite with light as the sun goes down. Today my boss and I ditched out of the office early... It was an afternoon not to be spent in a stuff building.
Around 3 today, Erica came by the office and we went down to the Berkeley Marina to walk by the bay and talk about her wedding plans. On our way back to the office she got a call from a new voice student who had arrived to the lesson early. So she wouldn't have to go out of her way, I hopped out of the car and walked about 1/2 mile back to the office. There was something wonderful about strolling past gardens and houses on a warm summer ... I mean winter day. I saw a side of that neighborhood that I really hadn't expected. On the quiet street I saw cared for gardens, unique houses, and a few parents walking their preschoolers home. Maybe I should try picking random corners to hop out at and see what I can find.
For the past few days I could tell the weather was playing tricks with my mind. I can get rid of this urge I have to cook homemade Italian food, serve it to all of my friends in the warm evening air, and end the evening of good cheer with a sip of homemade Limoncello under a glow of lanterns. Call me crazy, but every afternoon I want to do that. The problem with this weather trickery is that the Sun hasn't changed its habits, and still sets around 5pm. What can I say... I'm ready for SUMMER!!!!
Of course, this weather does cause a predicament for some of us. In addition to our state desperately needing some good rain and snow to get us out of the drought, next week a bunch of us are going up to Tahoe to ski. I think it might turn into a biking and kayaking trip if things don't get back to normal.

Rainy Day Blues, not quite

This morning awake to rustling outside my window that sounded something like cars driving on wet pavement and drops hitting the gravel driveway... the sound of rain. I turned to look outside, and was surprised by how light it was. In fact, it was that crisp and winter angled morning sunlight against blue sky. And the sound I heard was dried leaves being blown around by the wind whipping around. I new it would be a cold, wintry day, perfect for an adventure.

I got up this morning with the goal of exploring a new area of San Francisco. I often go to SF because of the unique neighborhoods and mix of urban areas and parks within a small 7 mile square. I started to think about why I am drawn to the city and think I've come up with an explanation ( it may also explain my love of maps and geography). Here it is in a nutshell (I'll try my best to explain).

I value so many aspects of memories... I think they remind me of who I am and who I want to strive to be. The smells (diesel fuel= London; cold rain on plants= Salem), the sights/places, who I'm with, weather (see "rafting weather" from previous blogs), and the emotions I feel from all of these outside stimuli, all influence my perspective on the world and how I see myself fitting in that world. All of those experiences and memories have contributed to making me who I am. By looking at a map (let's say of SF) I don't just see lines and points, but I see places I've been and am reminded of those memories, smells, feelings, and people. To me a map doesn't just show me how to get from point A to point B, rather it is a network of plotted memories and experiences. Rather than thinking of my life chronologically, it makes more sense to think of it spatially. Now when I look at a map of SF and I see the intersection of Columbus and Union St. , I don't just see lines, I am brought back to watching Il Postino on a giant screen in Washington Square Park on a summer evening with friends, or going across the street to Mara's, our favorite Italian bakery, or going on a walking tour of North Beach with my mom, and even getting my picture in the paper when my boss and I were sitting at a sidewalk cafe on a random trip to pick up his car from the mechanic. All of that from just one point on a map!

I think this way of thinking helps account for my passion for maps and geography, and it certainly helps that I have a good sense of direction. I was trying to think of places in SF to go where I haven't been, but often my attempts fail because my default trips are to places I have been. I created this map on Google Maps to help me with this problem. I decided to plot points where I have been (lines represent walks or places I have driven when walking wasn't so convenient) in order to see areas that I haven't really explored. On the map linked to below, the shaded areas are places lacking points, thus, places I haven't really been to. Right now the points don't have descriptions, but I will try to fill them in with restaurant names, or fun stories about my visits. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=112124917024774758311.00045ddce7beb4fe8f46d&ll=37.7737,-122.392502&spn=0.254549,0.615234&z=11

Anyway, long story short, this blog was going to be about how it started pouring and I couldn't decided if I wanted to go to SF to walk in the rain. Instead, I sit here now, bundled up on the couch, writing about how I can see my life through a map.

Fun in SF

On Friday night my office had a Tree Trimming party, and as office go-to girl, I ran errands, cleaned and best of all, tried to make treats for 35 people look yummy! Below are pics of the fruit plate, desserts, and cheese plate with other appetizers. It's fun to have a boss with good taste in food.. it gives you a lot to work with!

Yesterday after cleaning up the office, Erica and I decided to head to the city on a whim and see where the day would take us. We started over in the Marina district, eating at a cool spot called The Grove, then headed out to the Presidio for some quiet trails and great views.

The winter sun was at a great angle giving lovely shadow in the Presidio cemetery. We then walked through Crissy field to Fort Point, the only Civil War Fort that was West of the Mississippi (we learned fun facts like this.. in addition to getting great shots of the Golden Gate Bridge)!

We have some great views of the bridge at many different angles. A couple of hours later we walked back through Crissy Field and the Palace of Fine Arts.

Later that evening, a bunch of us headed back to the city to go ice skating in Union Square. It turned out the skating session was sold out, so we booked it down the hill to Yerba Buena Gardens to check out the full size indoor rink. Turns out a session was about to start and we were about 15th in line. It wasn't skating outside under the twinkling Christmas lights, but we had much more room to skate around. Someone then had a hankering for chocolate so we hopped the cable car, hung on tight and wove our across town to Ghiradelli Square for some ice cream!

Sadly, I didn't get any shots of the delicious ice cream, but here we have Doug and Amanda on the front of the cable car, and Warren and Ben hanging on behind! After our rich treats at Ghiradelli we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf, jumped on the Embarcadero Streetcar, took BART back to the East Bay, and headed to the Kona Club, the local tiki bar by my house.

It ended up being an amazing day full of adventures discovering new places and spending great time with great friends. Every time I visit San Francisco there is something new and beautiful!

The Joy's of Bike Commuting

I like the idea of bike commuting. I can just imagine a perfect world where everyone pedals along smooth and winding paths that weave next to flowing crystal-water streams. Think ‘Sound of Music’ and ‘Life is Beautiful’(before the tragedies of war parts). After greeting other riders with a ‘Howdy’ or ‘Mornin’, we’d all arrive at the office, school, or shop and step inside with an energized and renewed outlook on life, our neighbors, and ourselves.
Instead my bike commute is more like the Bowser’s Castle in Super Mario Bros. You know, a gauntlet of fiery lava pits, spiky hunks of rock trying to smash you, turtles throwing nun-chuks… Actually, it isn’t that bad, but between dodging the massive potholes in Oakland , buses that constantly stop in front of you, pass, and stop again, and drivers who apparently think bikes shouldn’t be on roads. Then depending on the route I take, I can either end up on the bike path where joggers run unaware as they blast their ipods, or go through the mostly empty park where the more unsavory characters hang.

On today’s ride I went near 4th St., a popular high-end area of shops and restaurants, as well as a common place for day laborers to wait in the morning to find work. I had one of those moments like when you show up at a costume party, only to find out by the surprised faces of everyone else that it wasn’t actually a costume party. Then the guy controlling traffic at the road construction said to me, “You be careful on that bike”. What was that supposed to mean?? That streets are too dangerous for bikes? That the giant pothole they had made was something to watch out for? That I personally might not have the skills to navigate around the pothole? I rode past, turned the corner and just had to laugh. Now I was home free! A few more blocks to the office on quiet, traffic free streets. I rolled inside, fee energized, happy, and with a renewed outlook on life! I beat level 1 at Bowser's Castle and freed the princess. I must admit, a ride through town is never boring. The adrenaline gets going, especially on rides home when traffic requires some tricky maneuvering and being on high alert. I still don't think it is quite as fun as riding for fun, but it is still an adventure. Now only if I didn't arrive at work so sweaty.

Mission Murals

Today my roommate Erica and I went over to SF and decided to take a free walking tour of the Mission District murals. A non-profit called SF Cityguides runs walking tours throughout the city and with the wonderful weather and free time, what better way to spend an afternoon!

I hadn't been to this part of the Mission in a long, long time. In fact, my only memories there are from middle school when my spanish class went for Dia De Los Muertos. I remember walking past bakery windows with pan ducles, altars, and decorated sugar skulls. Our class had some assignment to do with the murals and after we had finished our walk around, we went to a Cuban restaurant where I had platanos con frijoles. Amazing what stays in our memories! This trip we didn't stop for pan ducles or platanos... Erica and I are doing South Beach (getting our butts in gear for her wedding) and are currently in Phase 1 which means the Mission's authentic and tasty food was no doubt off limits.

Below are some photos of the murals and a bit of info on each. The colors were just so brilliant, even the photos don't do them justice! I recommend clicking on the pictures to see all of the detail.

The ocean scene was done on the wall of the local community pool. Each of the swimmers worked at the pool at one point in time!

The mural two up was dedicated to the Dali Lama.

Above- Many of the murals represent contrast. Loss on the left panel, life on the right.

The mural above is dedicated to Aids victims.

Brilliant golds and reds show a wife and child in El Salvador during the civil war. Faces of those who died are seen in the green mountains in the back.

Amazing what a simple garage door can show. Can you see the "army" skeleton with a gun?

This is suppose to represent struggles of war in Nicaragua. On the left there is a girl in fear of a soldier pointing a gun at her( out of frame), while the right side shows a new and hopeful Nicaragua

This one was done by an artist who was unhappy about the gentrification of SF neighborhoods. Notice the condo "transformer" in the middle.

An older women in Nepal(left) breaking a chain to free the group of women on the right.

Each piece has so much symbolism, but most of all community is a central theme throughout. I think my favorite one was the one with the eyes!