i’m checking out quickly in fremont while waiting to have dinner with jimmy tonight. it turns out that they do have free internet access, but you have to ask them for the password. sort of annoying that they do that, but i’m browsing the web, so i can’t complain. i don’t think that i really enjoy the pearl tea here, though.

i think that i’m going to make snickerdoodles tonight. i had forgotten that a co-worker of mine is going to be leaving after tomorrow so i think that i’ll make some cookies to send her off. that means that tonight’s plans will RADICALLY change. i’ll have to make a stop at safeway to grab some key ingredients.

i woke up pretty early this morning and got into work around 7. i’ve been getting into work later and later lately so coming in early again felt good. i got a good chunk of work done because there were fewer distractions. i think that i may have to go back to that schedule full time.

i’m trying to figure out which cookies i should make next. i keep wanting to make a different kind of cookie, but i always end up making snickerdoodles because they are so tasty.

i really ought to make some kind of effort to expand my cookie horizons, though. this weekend is going to be an experiment in fondue and i need to get more variety.

speaking of fondue, if anyone knows any good oil broths for fondue, please send them my way.

happy birthday, mia. may you have a wonderful birthday celebration!

i don’t usually swoon over men, but i make exception with jack johnson and his latest album in between dreams.

there is no combination of words
that i could put on the back of a postcard
no song that i could sing
but i could try for your heart

its not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving
i’ll tell you one thing it’s always better when we’re together

swoon me, jack.
mean it.
really.
word.

i was doing some research about what it means to be part of the nisei, or japanese second generation. i had a disagreement with a team member about whether i was first or second generation japanese. i believed that i was second, but he claimed because i was the first to be born here in the states that i am actually first generation.

well, it turns out that the japanese call me second generation. so nisei it is. that doesn’t really make me feel any different, but hey, it’s all in the name. it’s sad to say that my japanese skills have really deteriorated over time. i think that i can just barely have a meaningful conversation with my mom about how hungry i am. kind of sad.

wow, it’s been a long weekend for me. i took my birthday holiday off on my birthday and the company has a holiday on the 25th so the four day weekend gave me plenty of time to relax. i’d like to say that i lived up every moment of the weekend and filled it with exciting adventures, but that isn’t quite the case.

i spent thursday running errands. friday was spent in the city taking pictures. saturday was spent sleeping for the most part with much tv watching inbetween naps. i also rediscovered the joys of my webcam and chatting with people via the webcam. i had a very entertaining webchat. it’s an interesting medium, you have to exaggerate your actions to convey certain feelings. i fear that i’m pretty stoic so i’m not as entertaining of a webchatter as my friend. eventually i found myself too tired of sleep and so i ran a few errands and then went out to dinner with a friend.

dinner was good, it’s always nice to catch up with my friend, though our meetings are far and few between. i really do need to remedy that and i’m trying to make a bigger effort to keep in touch with friends. as more of us drift off and do our own separate things, when we do get the chance to meet up, it’s good fun. it was dinner and coffee afterwards. we had a little bit of trouble trying to find a pearl tea place (they all seemed to be closed!) but finally settled on a coffee house where we waxed philosophy and traded witty banter while sipping on tea and coffee. it was a fun evening.

i think i spent a good chunk of sunday programming. i know, one would think that when you have a vacation from work, you wouldn’t be doing work-like things, but recently i have had a bit of an obsession with trying to figure out how i want to deal with my website. every time i feel like the geek in me is starting to slip away, i manage to throw myself back in it. but, if anyone cares, i’ve finally figured out how i want to deal with the presentation layer of my site. =P

i then went and played volleyball with val on sunday. that was fun, though there weren’t too many people who came to play at the open gym, it was fun to play some volleyball. both my sunday and monday night leagues are off this week, so i needed to get some volleyball in. i think that i really need to work on my serves and start getting a more fierce serve in. not sure how to do that, but it’s something on my to do list.

later that evening i hung out at joycup, this pearl tea place in santa clara. it was pretty good, i might become a regular there.