BJ Tells All

The winds of change are blowin'. Because it wasn't enough to get married in less than six months time, I'm also changing jobs for the first time in nine years. On December 7th, I'm transferring within Pixar from the Mac team to the Render Pipeline Group.

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Almost ten years ago in December of 1999, my friend Chris Walker encouraged me to apply for a system administrator position at Pixar. I was hired on as a sysadmin on the Unix team on March 14th, 2000. About eight months after, in November of 2000, I joined the Mac/PC team to help transition the studio from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X.

Nine years later I'm still on the Mac team, still trying to work out the kinks in OS X and help the macs run smoothly here. It's been an exciting ride. In that time I've contributed to the design and development of Pixar's Mac deployment system, I've spoken (jointly) of said system at an O'Reilly OS X conference and helped technically edit an O'Reilly book about Mac OS X. I feel so lucky.

I'm very appreciative for all of the support I've received from the Mac team over the years. They've worked around my odd hours so I could practice dance with the Nekyia and given me space when I was struggling with personal issues. It's felt like a family, both in their understanding and encouragement and when we've driven each other crazy at times. I've grown up a lot since I started here in 2000 and I know I can attribute that partly to working with these people.

Probably most importantly, through the Mac team I met my fiancé, so I will forever be grateful to them for that.

So this feels bittersweet to me. I'm excited for the new challenge of working on the render team, but sad to be leaving my friends on the mac team. Thank you for nine great years. I'll miss you.

If money were no object, I'd want a wedding much like Jenny & Matt's Intimate Forest Wedding.

I think their cake is one of my favorite parts:

I love the ferns & mushroom motif! You can see pictures of the whole wedding here.

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However, I'm not a fan of the bride's dress. Personally, I've been eyeing the dresses of Wai Ching, a Seattle designer:

Though I anticipate being a happy bride, unlike the sullen one pictured!

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Still struggling to find the right site for us. Not too formal, yet we'd still like it to feel "special". We'd love to find someplace "rustic", but rustic has become popular in the last few years and you pay a premium for those places now.

I visited two affordable places today, one smelled like pee and the other is a maybe, though it has carpet and I'd prefer wood floors for dancing.

We'll figure it out, it'll just take some work & brainstorming. :)

I launched into my crazy bridezilla post without announcing we're engaged. Well, we're engaged! And here's our story...

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Dan and I were nearing the end of a fabulous, three and a half week trip to the Balkans & beyond (Sarajevo, Croatia, Slovenia, Venice & Munich). It was Wednesday, September 23rd, our second day in Venice and we'd taken a midday nap as a respite from the heat & the crowds. Our plan was to wake up from the siesta and head to the Dorsoduro sestiere (district) to visit the modern art at the Peggy Guggenheim museum, followed by a nice dinner at a restaurant Anthony Bourdain recommended on his show "No Reservations": Locanda Montin.

Unfortunately we woke later than intended, and after dressing up to go out, we were too late to see the Guggenheim. Instead we decided to stroll around Dorsoduro as the guidebook recommended. The district was delightful, nearly empty of tourists and populated instead with real people, including families, enjoying themselves. The sun was setting and we wandered around with no real destination.

In our walk we found ourselves crossing a bridge over a pretty canal in an isolated area. Dan knelt to take a picture down the canal. While he did that I crossed to the other side of the bridge and looked out. When I came back I gave him my hand and started to kneel down beside to ask him what's up. At that moment he looked me in the eyes and asked "Will you marry me?" I think my mind exploded because I can scarcely remember what happened but he says I deliberately said "Yes." As can be expected we kissed and grinned like idiots and took a picture to commemorate this spot & this moment.
(To the right is the picture he took with his iPhone. Also you can see a Google map of the spot.)

From there we managed to find our way over to a much larger canal & had a celebratory glass of prosecco to celebrate our good fortune. After finding our intended restaurant, and finding it closed on Wednesdays, we then ventured off to find another Anthony Bourdain recommended restaurant, Trattoria Borghi, that we knew was in the same district. With much luck, we managed to find it and have a magical dinner.

I am incredibly happy to be engaged and happy to share our story. Now if a wedding would just plan itself. :)

I have a lot of little comments to make about this, so you might see many short (& sweet?) posts here in the future.

1. I am thrilled and shocked to be engaged. Now all the years of reading Martha Stewart Weddings magazine finally makes sense! ;)

2. Thinking about what sort of wedding we want, what fits & represents us, is one of the hardest things I've tried to do. Of course, part of the problem is me getting in my own way. After so many years of disparaging marriage (and weddings, by association), I have a lot of crow to eat.

3. Weddings are expensive. My Martha Stewart-fueled fantasies never included a list of charges.

4. The wedding/reception venues I like are either a. pricey or b. far away or sometimes c. pricey _and_ far away. Fail.

5. I do not approve of how many venues' slideshows feature pics of the flowers, food and/or cakes. Those things are entirely variable! They are representative of florists, caterers and bakers, not a place! Show me ceremony setups, reception parties, etc., things that are indicative of your venue. Please.

Not sleeping well for the past week or so and I don't really get it. It's not even like I'm having horrible insomnia. It's just a restless sleep filled with lots of little wakes and anxious dreams. I'm not even able to nap. I've tried once or twice and for whatever reason, it doesn't happen.

Similarly my RSI is acting up and my arm is in a lot of pain.

I'm guessing I'm excited/scared about our upcoming vacation and I sincerely hope that once we get there I'll settle down and have lots of fun.

Thinking of taking some or all of my "Yoga Deck" cards for stretching/meditation inspiration while there. Might help me make the most of our experience.

If I don't sleep on our vacation, I may be a mess by the end. :)

We decided to celebrate Independence Day by going camping for the first time this year. Dan suggested we visit Gumboot or Mumbo Lake, in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Because those campgrounds don't take reservations we had a better chance of getting a site. Since they were so far away we chose to leave early Thursday evening and stay the night at a motel in the city of Mt. Shasta. Friday, July 3rd we wanted to get up bright and early and find a campsite.

Everything worked as planned, though the typical holiday traffic on the way out of town was a drag. As we approached the city of Mt. Shasta we happened upon a thunderstorm, so we enjoyed watching the lightning illuminate the threatening clouds. After an uneventful night at the cheap motel, we dropped by the National Forest office in the city of Mt. Shasta for a fire permit and advice about which lake to go to. The lady informed us that the Gumboot Lake campground had a pit toilet, whereas Mumbo Lake did not. I voted for a toilet, so we chose Gumboot, though the ranger lady expected the campground might already be full.

We crossed our fingers and set out to see for ourselves and drove a beautiful 30 or so miles to the campground. When we arrived, we found a couple of empty spots (yay!) and picked the one we liked the best. Unfortunately, the campsite we picked had two bags of trash lying there and was littered with cigarette butts, bottle caps and other disgusting debris. Obviously the people who had stayed here before hadn't heard of "Leave No Trace"-type camping.

While Dan set up our tent and made house, I pulled on my work gloves and started MOOPing, as if I were at Burning Man. Though it was a pain in the ass to pick up all the junk, I was also happy to be able to leave the campsite better than we had found it. We also hauled the garbage bags over to near the pit toilet and left them there.

Once we had made the campsite presentable, we took it easy the rest of the day, our only exertion being short treks to pick up firewood for our fire that night, one around the lake and another on a trail past Upper Gumboot Lake and to an intersection with the Pacific Crest Trail. That night we cooked our dinner and went to bed early as we weren't feeling energetic.

We woke up the next day and though we had vague aspirations to hike back up to and along the Pacific Crest Trail, we ended up relaxing and reading instead. We meandered over to the other side of the lake to the creek and used Dan's pump to filter the creek water and fill our water bottles. Later we got inspired enough to go swimming in Gumboot Lake. While I was practicing my sidestroke, I looked up and saw a bald eagle flying overhead. I called to Dan and he saw it too. How appropriate on the Fourth of July!

When we returned to our campsite to veg out some more, we were treated to a visit from a very friendly deer (or multiple deer). This deer(s?) seemed to have no fear of us, approaching to within 10 feet and were very interested in eating something in the bushes nearby. We were inordinately entertained.

There were a number of other people at the campground and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves, riding motorcycles, swimming in the lake and yelling. Sometimes it was annoying, but it could have been worse. Later in the afternoon, someone (or someones) started shooting guns on the other side of the lake. have no idea what they were shooting at, but the sound of the shots and their echos disturbed us quite a bit. It lasted about a half an hour and I was happy when they stopped. That night, despite the many signs prohibiting fireworks in the forest, some campers set off fireworks, roman candles and other fireworks over the lake. A bit of a bummer, but much less disturbing than the gunshots.

We went to bed and awoke the next day ready to move on. Dan had found a small town recommended as one of "Outside's Best Small Towns" and thought it might be fun to visit: Etna, CA. By looking at the road atlas, we found a fun looking drive we could take to get there. We took I-5 to Hwy 99 and then turned onto Stewart Springs Road. It was isolated and well-forested. Eventually it became Parks Creek Road and we pulled off at the Parks Creek trailhead. We were on a windy ridgeline and to the North was a breathtaking view of the Klamath Mountains, specifically Cory Peak, South China Mountain and China Mountain.

Eventually I got cold and we piled back into the car to make our way to Etna, eventually ending up on windy Hwy 3. In Etna we found a recommended restaurant, Bob's Ranch House, and settled in for a hearty lunch of chicken fried steak. Lots of locals appeared to be enjoying a post-church meal and I enjoyed watching them greet each other and catch up. We couldn't leave without ordering a slice of homemade rhubarb pie for dessert. Delicious!

In the car we referenced the road atlas and noted the small but intriguing road that headed West towards the coast. We thought we could take that and then use 101 to return home from there, avoiding boring I-5. Dan's car's GPS estimated 10 hours, but we thought it might be wrong and we were feeling adventurous so we headed off down Sawyers Bar Road. This road follows the North Fork of California's Salmon River and has to be one of the most isolated and beautiful parts of California that I've ever been through. The road was curvy and narrow, but luckily we saw few cars. One side of the road was a mountain face and the other side dropped in a sheer line one hundred feet to the river. Once we had to pass a big truck and as we pulled over to let them by we were sure we were going to drop off the edge!

It took us at least an hour and thirty minutes to travel 40 miles from Etna to Forks of Salmon, where the two forks of the Salmon join. From there it took at least another hour and a half to get to Hoopa, site of an Native American reservation. This was beautiful country, but by the time we got to Hoopa, we were exhausted. As we'd approached the coast, we were nearing a forest fire and the sky was filled with smoke. Where the sun shone through the haze, it painted the world in a strange red hue.

By the time we'd reached the next town, Willow Creek, we were beat. We were still quite a ways away from the coast and Hwy 101 and we knew it would be a long drive after that too. Dan's car's GPS advised us to turn back East and return to I-5 and we gave in and followed its recommendation. We followed Hwy 299 East and it was pretty but not as spectacular as our earlier drive. The road widened and we saw many more people. We passed through the town of Weaverville which I decided would be our future vacation home based on its charming character and outdoor opportunities. Eventually we arrived in Redding, where we would turn South on I-5 to go home. Our detour through the mountains by the rivers, though gorgeous, had taken us nine hours to go from Gumboot Lake to Redding. If we had headed straight to Redding it would have taken us less than two hours. I don't regret the path we chose, but I wish that it had been at the beginning of the trip and not at the end, when we still had to get home and ready for work the next day. (In fact, I had server work scheduled that night at 11pm. We ended up arriving at 10:30pm, so I was able to complete the work on schedule.)

Here are my pictures of the trip and when Dan puts up his, I'll link to it too. For a laugh, read the entry on "Camping" from the blog "Stuff White People Like".

Here's a map of our route, in case you'd like to follow in our footsteps. :)

View Larger Map

(Thanks for making it Dan!)

We'd chosen June 13th for our fourth Secret Adventure and my second to plan (we alternate). Due to some difficulties, I had to change plans at the last minute, but I think we both really enjoyed our day. (If you're all about the visuals, skip to Dan's photos now.)

My inspiration for this adventure was the fact that Dan had never seen a movie at a drive-in theater. It's a quintessentially American activity and drive-in theaters have dropped like flies in the last few decades, so I thought it'd be better to do it sooner than later. There was even a movie I knew we both wanted to see that I thought might work well in that venue: The Hangover. The closest drive-in theaters are East of us, in the California Delta, which also reminded me of a recent article I'd read in by the SF Chronicle's outdoor writer, Tom Stienstra, about a fun drive through the Delta. With those activities as a framework, I added some other odds and ends and had a plan for us!

On Saturday we woke up and set out on our grand adventure, first stopping to have breakfast at a spot Dan's been wanting to try: Jimmy Bean's. Breakfast was very good and a great start to our day. Next we headed North and East towards the Delta. We drove past and through a charming town "stuck in time" named Isleton. We think it might be fun to come back sometime and enjoy some Delta crawdads there too. Then we continued on to Locke, an unusual town that's seen better days. Locke was settled in the 1910's by Chinese who'd come to the Delta to build the levees and pack fruit. One hundred years later, almost all of the Chinese are gone, but the buildings, which seem like a mix of old-fashioned and Chinese fashion, are still there. The place still exists mostly for historical reasons (the only rural Chinese town in America) and tourist traffic. I think it's well worth seeing if you're in the region, a somewhat surreal experience.

After Locke, I had wanted us to take a nature walk in the Consumnes River Preserve, but the road to get there was closed, so we skipped it and forged on.

From here I wanted to do the recommended Delta drive in reverse, so next we headed towards the ferry, "The J-Mack", which takes folks across Steamboat Slough to Ryer Island (for free). This is a cable ferry which runs back and forth across the slough. Once we drove on to the ferry, we got out and enjoyed the ride and started a conversation with the ferry guy. He told us the ferry was built in 1969 and has been running great ever since, in fact the Mitsubishi engines that provide the power have never broken down or had to be cracked for maintenance! We were enjoying our conversation so much when we got to the other side, he said, "Let's go back" and we went right back to the original side of the slough to pick up some bicyclists who had appeared and wanted a ride. We let them on and took our third trip back across Steamboat Slough, at which point we finally got off. Ahh, chance meetings.

Then we drove SW along Ryer Island Road to get to the twin propeller ferry at Cache Slough named "The Real McCoy". This ferry was nice but not as much fun as the cable ferry as there were other cars and not an opportunity to make friends with the ferry guys. We continued SW towards the "city" of the Delta, Rio Vista. There we ate lunch at an entertaining place named Foster's Bighorn. The original proprietor was a big game hunter and the walls are lined with his conquests. Antelopes, gnus, bears, even a giraffe, an elephant and a walrus are mounted on the walls! It's almost too much to take in and could make you semi-depressed. I found the black and white pictures hung in rows below the taxidermied animals to be more disturbing, as they featured the freshly shot animal usually being held up by its horns by the proud and smiling hunter.

From Rio Vista we headed towards Sacramento, though I'm not sure whether Dan yet knew it yet, he figured it out when we started seeing the big buildings! I gave him the option of whether to see "Old Sacramento" which I had read mixed reviews of and he chose to do it. Old Sacramento was a mixed bag, with a part Disneyland / part Old West feeling. We did enjoy walking over to see the Tower Bridge which was painted gold (seemed an unusual choice).

Next we visited a couple galleries that were open for Sacramento's Second Saturday art gallery walk. The first gallery (fine-art photography) was kind of a bust, but the second gallery featuring skateboard art was super fun. There we saw a kitty being walked on a leash, radically painted skateboards and watched folks skate on a half pipe there. (I wished I'd asked Dan to bring his skateboard so he could too! :)

It was time for dinner, and I'd found a restaurant with good potential (via Sunset Magazine back issues) nearby named Tuli Bistro. We were seated at a counter overlooking one of the chefs cooking in a wood burning oven which was great fun! Our dinner was fantastic: Dan ordered a pan-roasted Duroc pork chop with crispy Yukon Gold potatoes, broccoli rabe and cherry-Pinot Noir glaze and I had fire-roasted day-boat scallops with sautéed spinach, garlic mashed potatoes and Balsamic-port reduction, with a couple of changes-- I heard the chef call out my order: "Scallops, no potatoes, extra spin!" :)

After dinner it was time for our next and last part of our adventure day: the drive-in movie theater. As we approached the theater Dan guessed our destination and seemed excited. We waited in the huge line of cars to buy tickets to the Hangover and then meandered over to find a spot. It's hard to believe that drive-in theaters are going out of business considering how many folks were there that night! On the way back from the snack bar we saw a vintage limo w/ a bunch of 20-something kids grilling beside it. It looked like a lot of fun and they told us they'd bought the limo for a mere $300. :)

The Hangover was almost better than I'd expected and although the picture wasn't sharp and the sound wasn't perfect I really enjoyed the drive-in experience and I think Dan did too. I hope we do it again sometime! All in all, a very good day.



I would highly recommend going to look at all of the fab photos Dan took.

Here's a Google map of where we went.

In reverse order:

Today was an awesome solo bicycle hidden pathway adventure from Albany to the Berkeley Hills & back! Since I didn't bring my camera, my encounter with momma and baby deer is limited to an out of focus iPhone pic (to the left). They were hanging out in an unknown tributary of Blackberry Creek. You can see my travels on this Google map I made. I rode five miles or so & hiked four pathways, including Yosemite Steps, Upton Lane, Easter Way and Berryman Path. You can click on any of those links to go to the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association for pictures and descriptions. One of my favorite things was finding Grotto Rock Park. It felt quite serendipitious and I was happy that I had the rock all to myself. I was reminded of the Oakland Geology blog and his mentions of the boulders, crags and outcrops that can be found in the Berkeley & Oakland hills. I also checked out the Codornices Park & Berkeley Rose Garden, either one of which would be worth another trek up the hill!

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Recently I was overjoyed to make a near ideal purchase (at least for me). I managed to buy affordable, durable (I believe), wrought iron patio furniture made in America (albeit in Alabama, not too close to California). Yay! And now we get to eat outdoors and throw awesome parties! If you want your own, look for Plantation Patterns, seems to be sold in lots of places.

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In April & May we had a wondrous and overwhelming month of parent visits and the Up wrap party. Didn't get many photos of two of the visits, but we did get some of Fred & Ellen's. See all four photos here if you'd like!

This weekend I was lucky enough to volunteer a few hours of my time at Girl Scouts' Girls Go Tech Career Exploration. I discovered the event an email to one of Pixar's recreational mail aliases, calling for technical women to volunteer. Though I didn't want to commit myself to making an "Activity Table" (where I would communicate with the girls in a hands-on manner about how and what I do), I did volunteer to provide general support.

After a foggy drive up into the redwoods of the Oakland Hills, I arrived at the Chabot Space & Science Center at 8am on Sunday to help set up. Most of my fellow setup volunteers were Girl Scout parents-- though everyone was super nice I felt like an outlier as a single woman with no kids. Around 9am the presenters started to arrive to set up their activity tables. There were so many technical & scientific women who came to share what they do! I enjoyed checking out what the different women brought to share! Each activity table represented one profession and was "manned" by one or more women (and some men in support roles). I saw tradeswomen who were showing the girls how to hammer & drill, forensic scientists from the ATF dusting for fingerprints, lady surveyors getting the lay of the land and even a system administrator from ILM! The system administrator used an idea that I'd been thinking about of showing the insides of computers and having the girls take parts in and out, while explaining what the components do.

Surprisingly, I bumped into the director of my department and his little girl. Later on we lunched together and chatted. To my surprise he mentioned that only 5% of college graduates are getting science degrees now. If that's true (I haven't had a chance to research it) I found that stat disheartening. When he emphasized the importance of a science degree to his eight-year old she replied "Don't worry! I'm either going to be a scientist or a policeman!" I suggested that if she went into forensic science she could combine the two. ;)

During our chat I asked him if many of the activity tables (for the different professions) were emphasizing fun. It had occurred to me that if you're trying to provide more options to girls, it might be smart to emphasize the fun parts of science. Unfortunately, he said that few of the presenters they'd seen were stressing fun. :( He did mention a couple who talked about enjoying their jobs: the tradeswomen and the surveyors. (By the way, did you know you didn't need a college degree to be a surveyor? One women was raised into the profession by her father! :)

All in all, I was thrilled to be there with so many technical & scientific women and would happily volunteer at this event again. I got the email address for the system administrator from ILM, maybe next year we can even collaborate on an activity table together!

Wow! Check out this reply to my Craigslist ad for my printer... I don't know exactly what the deal is here, but I'm highly skeptical of it:

Thanks for your reply.. am highly interested in your item.. I want it for my son for this upcoming Christmas... But i just want you to do me a favour by getting me the total cost of the item including with international shipping cost via USPS (EMS) First Class mail to him in Nigeria.. cus am presently out of the country right now to attend to my clients... so am waiting for your reply...Don't forget to send your paypal address to make the payment cus the item is needed urgently.. Thanks alot

Edward.....

First sighting of the Nigerian printer scam? Weird!

New neighbors have replaced George and though they don't thunder down the stairs like a herd of elephants, they seem to be young and hip and up at all hours of the day and night! I hate to be a crotchety oldster, but jeez, isn't 10:30 a little late to be going out? ;) I think I preferred hermitic George and his herd of elephants-- he didn't seem to go out more than twice a week.

Awhile back, I went on a surprise adventure with Dan! He planned the whole thing and only told me how to dress and how long we'd be gone. It was great fun! He picked me up at 8am and journeyed to Alameda where we saw an antique car show and enjoyed fancy coffee from the new Clover coffee machines at Starbucks. From there we headed South to the Peninsula and visited a pumpkin patch! We pulled into a farm and explored their pumpkin patch and their hay maze! It was super fun and everytime we hid a dead-end we did some canoodling to celebrate. If I can I will share pictures later.

Then it was time for lunch, which we enjoyed at the historic Duarte's in Pescadero, CA. Good food and great atmosphere: mix of very old (turn of the century?) and somewhat old (mid-century). I don't think the cocktail napkins have been redesigned since the 60's! Nearby was Butano State Park where did a little hike up a hill and through some forest. We took a mystery drive through La Honda and Woodside (which I'd never seen!, lots of McCain/Palin signs) and then ended up at the best pastrami shop on the West coast, "The Refuge"! We each had a Belgian beer and a pastrami sandwich. Muy Bueno! We had planned on attending various readings at the San Francisco LitCrawl afterward, but that sort of bombed. The crowds were too heavy and the vibe wasn't right for us to enjoy it, so we went home instead.

All in all, a super fun surprise adventure day! We've done another surprise adventure day since then but it'll have to be a different entry.

I am over the moon about my performance with the Nekyia. While by no means did I perform perfectly, my biggest fears of inadequacy and paralyzing anxiety failed to appear.

I attribute this to a few things-- practicing fanatically the week and a half before the performance, Dan's support, a lot of self-examination (you wouldn't have wanted to be in my head last week) and lastly, Dan's rhetorical question: "Isn't this supposed to be fun?"

Yes! It is supposed to be fun. I dance because I love it, I love moving my body to the music, I love stretching myself (literally and figuratively), I love the way it hurts after practicing hard.

I also love it when other people enjoy my dancing. Maybe it was because of the friendly crowd or perhaps because of the brotherly love of San Francisco, but two different folks came up to me after the performance, gave me a hug and said "Thank you." What a good feeling that generates! In addition, several friends attended whom I did not expect. As I wrote in an email thank you to them afterwards, I felt lucky and loved.

Dan took lots of fantastic pictures (as usual) but does not have them all up yet. Click on either photo to see what he has up so far.

(^^ It's not me! It's Rachel!)

I have been quite remiss in not writing about my upcoming performance.

This Thursday I am thrilled to be dancing with the Nekyia as part of "Scorpio Showgrrrl Sublime". I will be performing in a couple of numbers, one at the beginning and one at the end. I'm nervous as hell but channeling my days as a Kiltie (on the dance team) when I exuded confidence.

No matter what it'll be a great show and if you're in the area and looking for something to do Thursday night, come watch! Here are all the gritty details:

Fierce, Fabulous, Fearless Showgrrrls Performing Dance, Circus, and Fire Body-Rocking Global Dance Grooves for your Booty-Shaking Pleasure: A Taste of the Sublime
The Nekyia's Scorpio Showgrrrl Sublime
Fat City
314 11th Street, San Francisco, CA
Thursday, November 20 at 8:30pm (dancing starts sometime between 9 & 10)

A cosmopolitan cabaret featuring the city's finest showgrrrls in a divine spectacle of grace, artistry, and unrepentant sensuality.

Come celebrate the Scorpion with an evening of performance and body-rocking dance beats from The Nekyia's own DJ Drumspyder spinning a global mix of Middle Eastern, Afro-Latin, and Tribal beats with live percussion.

Witness the soft, pliable limbs of contortionist belly dancer Kristina - trapeze tigress Leah Christiana - assassin of the heart, sword dancing Rebecca - the haunting seduction of Gemini Rachel - and the raw daredevil athleticism of untamed Shannon. Be the first to see a wealth of new belly dance jazz burlesque fusion from this constantly innovating bevy of beauties.

Special guests include Sky Siren Kerri on tissue, pole contortion from Babette, the belly dance stylings of Summer "Hitachi Hips" Sahar, and the fiery and breathtaking Simon Chaban.

Join us for this special night celebrating Kristina's birthday and Leah's last performance with The Nekyia before leaving for a year as a Ringling Brother's Circus trapeze star!

Ticket Price: $10

Current status: Feeling blessed to sit on my porch, read the Sunday paper, drink a barleywine handmade by a friend and given to me for Xmas last year while listening to the best band of the day on the stage just outside my door. The band is named Dynamic, and they're notable for having a full lineup (keys, bass, drums, horns and two singers) and being fronted by an extremely pregnant woman stylishly attired in a sarong arrayed over jeans.

It's been entirely too long since a substantive blog (gawd i hate that word) entry and I will make the lame excuse that I've been spending too much time "microblogging" to do any "macroblogging". If you want, check out my Twitters I've doing in the meantime. Also, this thing known as "real life" has certainly taken my time too, happily.

To catch up:
* July 31st - August 3rd we went on a backpacking trip to Young Lakes.
* Saturday, August 9th, I thoroughly enjoyed volunteering to remove weeds for Save the Bay and hope to contribute more in the future.
* We spent Labor Day at Howard Creek Ranch north of Mendocino celebrating Dan's birthday. Very fun and relaxing "beercation" peppered with sheep and other fun things.
* I took the Beginning/Intermediate Pole Dancing class and loved it. Angling to take the Intermediate/Advanced but stymied by the cost and time involved.
* The weekend of September 12th-14th the other grooms-folks and I threw a debaucherous bachelor party for Gabe that I think all appreciated. :)
* Last weekend I auditioned for Hot Pink Feathers, though with full-disclosure that I can't practice as often as they're looking for, so joining seems unlikely. Nonetheless I had a good time.
* This weekend we went on a awesome bicycle ride to Cesar Chavez park in Berkeley where Dan coached me on how to throw a frisbee. Later we attended Jason & Frederique's engagement party. (Congrats you two! :)
* Sprinkled amongst August and September has been time spent with family, including a weekend in Morro Bay, yummy dinners and a sailing trip in San Francisco Bay where we went under the Golden Gate Bridge!

October promises to be exciting and busy with Gabe & Adi's wedding. Cheers!

At the end of July I survived my first ever backpacking trip to Young Lakes in Yosemite National Park. We followed the same trek as these folks. Though there were a few rough spots, I enjoyed the trip immensely and hope to go on similar adventures in the future.

After preparations which included buying (and breaking in) hiking boots, renting a backpack from REI and (from my perspective) much stress about whether I was "ready", we left on Thursday, July 31st not knowing whether our trip would be feasible or if the fires near Yosemite would obscure the views and impair our health. We had a half-formed backup plan but mostly crossed our fingers.

On the way we did encounter many fire trucks and smoke. Thankfully the air was pretty clear after we entered Yosemite proper. We paid our entrance fee and noted the sad "Speeding Kills Bears" signs with a red bear on them (sited anywhere a bear has been hit by a car). We drove into the park a ways to reach Tuolumne Meadows, our stopover point for the night. Thus enters glitch one: we did not realize that we would have to pack in all of our camp gear to the Backpackers' Campground; we had prepared to "car camp" that first night. Thus we spent much time and even more energy carrying things like the cooler, our packs and firewood on the quarter mile trek between where we could park and where we were camping. Whoops!

After we finally got everything situated we made our dinner and enjoyed sitting around the last campfire of the trip (our future campsites would disallow wood fires due to elevation). Unfortunately, we slept little that night due to cold temperatures (I would guess in the 40s). This caused some worry as the next day we would be hiking to an elevation 1000 feet higher: would there be no sleep at all this trip? Nonetheless, we decided to forge ahead and make the best of it.

"Forge ahead" is actually a lie. After making and eating breakfast, we then started the long haul to lug all our junk back to the car and then the very difficult process of fitting everything we needed for the next two days into our backpacks and putting the smelly stuff into the bear canister. It did not go smoothly. There was cursing. It turns out my sleeping bag is _not_made for backpacking. After much struggle, we got it all worked out, the bags on our backs and started on our way.

My biggest concern about this trip, and one I had consulted with the ladies of Pixar about for advice, was how to go to the bathroom in the wild. One wouldn't think that this was difficult, us being essentially animals, but I worried about it. Happily the ladies of Pixar directed me towards the P-Mate, which "enables women to pee while standing upright". Hoorah! This little device made the whole trip way more pleasant.

The pack on my back felt different and weird, but I'm in fairly good shape, thankfully, so the hike didn't seem too difficult. We were traveling about 6.75 miles and ascending from just above 8500' to just below 10000'. Something perverse about me enjoys going uphill more than downhill so I would often find myself digging in, leaning forward and letting the momentum of the 25 pound pack spur me forward and up.

Yosemite, as always, was gorgeous, especially since I'd never been in the high country before. I saw a variety of countryside, boulders and granite being a constant, but with variety provided by fir trees or charming meadows filled with wildflowers. We saw many birds (but didn't identify any but quail), lots of adorable chipmunks and squirrels and I think I got to see a marmot scamper away from me too!

Though the hike up didn't wear us out completely, we were super happy to arrive at Young Lakes. Dan did an awesome job of picking a good spot and we set up camp. Our destination rewarded us with a gorgeous sunset view from lower Young Lake. We reheated our freeze dried dinner and took ourselves to bed. Thankfully, the temperature seemed to be warmer than the previous night and we got more sleep than before.

The next morning we decided to take it easy since we're old :) and somewhat worn out from our hike the day before. We circumnavigated the lake, having to forge many marshy areas and outright streams where snowmelt from the peaks (who still had snow on some of them!) was still trickling down into the lake. Later we spent time chilling by the lakeside and even took a dip in the glacier-melt waters. (Brrrr!) I felt so happy to be there and would do it again in an instant.

Later, we made ourselves some dinner, watched some people flyfishing at sunset and went to bed early to try to make up for the fairly poor sleep the nights prior. This night's sleep was the best of all, but still imperfect. Strangely, one of the problems is that Young Lakes is in the Bay Area's flight path. Though I'm sure the planes were at 20k or 30k feet, since we were at 10k feet, the planes seemed loud and disturbing. If I could change one thing about that setting, that would be it.

The next morning we set my alarm for before the crack of dawn and went out to watch the sun rise over lower Young Lake. It was chilly but completely worth it to watch the the skies lighten and the sun finally peek out to greet us. When the sunlight washed over me I felt so fortunate to be there.

We skedaddled back to camp and packed up all our belongings. This was a loop trip so the hike out would be unfamiliar to us, though also about seven miles. The guidebook praised this leg of the hike as more beautiful than the way in (!!) but also harder. They didn't lie. This pass out of the Young Lakes valley was higher than the one in, so right off the bat it felt like we were headed straight up. After we surmounted the pass we were greeted by panoramic views of the Cathedral Peaks range and more beautiful alpine meadows filled with blooming wildflowers. I felt really lucky.

Several hours later, I was not feeling lucky as we'd been headed downhill (my least favorite cline) through the middle of the day, on a trail that seemed to have little shade, for what seemed like forever. I got hot, sore and super cranky. Sweat poured from both of our bodies. At the one mile to go mark I told Dan I was done and wanted the magic flying carpet to deliver me to the car. He offered me some less tough alternatives (closer to civilization there are more trails) but being stubborn I demanded to slog through the last bit with him. So we did, past the deer who couldn't care less about us and into the surprisingly inviting ripe smell of the stables at Tuolumne Meadows to where we'd left Dan's car one and a half days before. His Subaru had never looked so good to me.

After we collapsed into his car we made our way to the Tuolumne Meadows grill for cheeseburgers, fries and lifesaving Coca-Cola. It's amazing what a little rest, food and liquid will do for you. After being revived we jauntily drove back to the bay area (with a little stop at Cold Stone Creamery for a peanut butter milkshake.) In the end, I was super happy to have made the trip and would love to do more backpacking in the future. If you've enjoyed the pics, you can see all 27 here. When Dan posts his, I'll add them them too.

Last night I had one dream that I was the wife of Senator McCain and busy shopping at fancy stores in a mall or malls in Washington D.C. with a bunch of other Washington women. Weird.

Also I had another dream where I seemed to be roaming around the West and the North with a kinda crazy cowboy. We strided through alpine meadows and watched condors soaring. I think there was a toddler with us and we were traveling by school bus.

Now you have a view into my head at night.

yes, i want to be able to keep myself mentally healthy, sustain my awesome relationship, stay in touch with friends and family, dance beautifully, love my cat, do well at my job, make most of my meals, bicycle to work, maintain a reasonably clean house and find time to relax and recharge.

and no, i can't have it all. :)

hopefully soon i'll have a chance to put up photos and a description of our epic backpacking trip to young's lake(s).

we also had a fun family trip to san luis obispo! click on the pic below to see the whole set. (thanks dan!)

My head doesn't feel quite right currently and I'm trying to figure out what it wants so I can feel better. What I want to do is vomit up the current contents of my head here, but no one wants to read that (besides maybe me). Instead here is some stuff you may find interesting...

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I just heard my dad broke his collarbone while bicycle riding. I'm pretty bummed to hear that and wish him an easy and full recovery. It was likely sustained while training for the RSVP: Ride from Seattle to Vancouver (B.C.) and Party bicycle ride, which I'm guessing he won't be participating in now. :(

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I live in a house creatively carved into five separate apartments; each apartment has one person living in it: four women and one man. The man, George, lives above me, or at least he used to. He's moving away now. I would always know when George was leaving because he would exit his door and then bang down the steps like a herd of elephants. I didn't mind because he never did it late at night or early in the morning. I hope that George is happy in his new home, wherever that is.

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Today I had a grand time at my pole dancing class. I enjoy the physicality of climbing onto the pole and hurling yourself around; quite a few of the women sported large bruises on their inner thighs today from yesterday's class. If only it wasn't ~$300 to buy a pole to practice on!

I recently resigned from the bellydancing group I had been practicing with, a decision that was scary and right, I think. I'm doing other types of dance now and enjoying it more so far, though I have missed visiting with the bellydancing group.

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The cold, cloudy weather dampens my mood, happily I believe sun and warmth are returning in the next few days.

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This month has been relatively quiet and I've very much appreciated that. February & March were Southeast Asia, April & May were dance performance intensive and June was family month. July is quiet but August is full of adventures many of which are out of town (East, South & North) and hopefully all of which will be fun.

Awhile ago I thought I had a really smart and compelling trail of thought: "Music and movies are pirated but books are not! (as far as I know) This must mean that book consumers are genuinely willing to pay money for their media unlike the cheap music & movie consumers."

When I shared that "brilliant" conclusion with Dan, he informed me of the obvious: music & movies are pirated because they're available in digital form. If books were in bits (i.e. available in digital form) they'd likely be pirated too. He commented that the music companies really shot themselves in the foot when they published music on CDs. Amazingly (or not), I'd never made the connection between media, digital formats and piracy. Obviously, once something can easily be read into a computer (or "ripped" as it's often called), it's game over. Bits are bits and can be copied over the net for practically no cost.

After he made the connection for me I almost wanted to cry out-- "Wait, Amazon! What are you doing?? Don't publish books in digital form! Don't you know what will happen?!" But alas, it seems too late, especially after reading the editorial in this month's newsletter from Borderlands Books. (Click on the link and search for "From the Office" to read the pertinent section.)

Essentially Alan, Borderlands owner, lays out a compelling argument for electronic books (aka eBooks) growing to 10% (or more) of book sales by 2015 and a commensurate (or greater) increase in bookstore closures. It's depressing but likely realistic and I would recommend his essay to any book lovers. (Really! Go read it! Then go buy a book from Borderlands!)

I'm not sure what I think yet about this future of books. I have such attachment to holding books, feeling them, smelling them, admiring the publisher's font choices and the all-too-often tacky cover art. I can't imagine my life without them.

And these changes made me think of piracy. Will it be as big of a problem for literature as it is for music & movies? Will Amazon, et al., struggle to come up with encryption to thwart the crackers? Will J.K. Rowling's net worth stabilize? It seems likely that it would be awhile yet before piracy became an issue. eBooks are just getting started and for piracy to take off I think they'd have to become more commonplace. (I'm waiting for Apple to come out with their own eBook reader: the iTunes-style "iBooks"! Oh wait, those were laptop computers. Maybe they'll have to call it the "iRead"!)

No matter what, it seems that we're in for interesting times. Maybe I should be more worried about the general decline in reading rather than the advent of eBooks, anyways. See "Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America" and "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" from this month's Atlantic for more depressing news. :)