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November 30, 2000
Things I've noticed in San
Things I've noticed in San Francisco since I started living here this past summer:
- Since the cost of real estate is so high, there doesn't seem to be very many "newer" things, the things that are such a blight on the rest of the country. Mini-malls. Mega-chain stores. Fast food.
- I haven't eaten a Taco Bell burrito since I moved here. The only Burger Kings I have visited in the past few months have been when I've gone out of town and couldn't find anything else.
- I haven't set foot in a PriceClub since I left LA. In Southern California, they're everywhere, and everyone I knew down there had a case of toilet paper to prove their allegance to the almighty warehouse megastore. But here, there aren't many. Plus, no one has any room to store bulk goods.
- I haven't been inside a Borders, Barnes & Noble, or any other bookstore chain since I've been here. I went to a Stacey's once, but that's a local thing.
- The po-boy sandwich's modern day, dot-com worker equivalent in San Francisco is the super chicken/beef/veggie burrito. Numerous places in soma sell a one-pound monstrosity that's loaded with carbos and calories, and usually low on flavor. It's a $5 meal with a drink that keeps you going. Sometimes I don't think of the mega-burritos as food so much as fuel.
- Living in San Francisco reminds me of visiting Yosemite in the summertime. You have one beautiful wonder of the world after another, but you have to share it with a few million other people. There are incredible landmarks, amazing architecture, and natural wonders in every nook and cranny in the city, but chances are, there's already a crowd of people enjoying it (and they've taken every parking space near it). But beauty wins out over frustration on most days. And as we get closer to winter, it feels like there are slightly less people, but maybe they're just indoors.
- It's freezing up here. Being so close to the water makes for thick, wet, cold air and a breeze that slides easily through all my clothing. Every 45 degree (F) night feels like the 20 degree nights I used to spend in the mountains backpacking. I must admit I was born in Southern California, and have spent my life there until now, so I am a complete weather weenie, but it's still cold. It's time for wool, flannel, and fleece to make the better part of my wardrobe.
- You can actually live in California and not need a car. It's really possible. I have one, but most days it's a burden. I walk, bike, muni, or take a bus everywhere and it's great. Once a week I move the car from one side of the street to the other, and on weekends I might go shopping for food, or make the trek to Fry's, but refilling the gas tank happens once a month, if that often.
- If I could have any car in the world here, I'd get one of these. I've seen a few around, probably imported from Germany, but the smallest one is basically 2 seats on top of four wheels. If everyone had one in San Francisco, you could probably park anywhere you wanted. But then again, who needs a car here after all.
- San Francisco is the only place in California that has a sense of history. Most buildings are turn of the century (the last one) and many large businesses have been here since the late 1800's. Even with all the earthquakes, things stick around up here.
- There are so many things to see, and neighborhoods to visit that it's going to be years before I feel like I've seen most of it. I want to check out other parts of the city. I want to visit the coast to the north and the south of here. I want to see the redwoods far north, and santa cruz down south. I could spend every weekend exploring, and I'll never run out of things to see.
- If I didn't build websites, or know anyone in the web business, I would know almost no one in the bay area. Less my building manager and a few of Kay's coworkers, each and every other person I know up here is someone I met because of the web. People might say computers make for less social interaction, or distance you from the "real" world, but the fact is I moved to a new city hundreds of miles away and am surrounded by dozens of friends, solely because of computers and the web. Amazing but true.
Posted by 12:35 PM | TrackBack
Tonight I made a banner.
Tonight I made a banner.
Posted by 11:18 AM | TrackBack
November 29, 2000
Jack Chick's religious comics are
Jack Chick's religious comics are so bad, they're hilarious. Check out his take of evolution. Buwahahahahaha. I'll have to remember to check the chick comics site when I need a good laugh.
Posted by 06:26 AM | TrackBack
November 28, 2000
Life imitates art (image
Life imitates art (image from this gallery).
Posted by 09:07 AM | TrackBack
November 26, 2000
Every time I see one
Every time I see one of the Palm Beach Ballots, I think of office building doors I can't tell whether to push or pull, I think of my keychain having three identical keys that I have to go through each time I open my apartment door, office door, or brother-in-law's house, and I think of gas pumps that take a while to figure out how to engage and "start" them. They're everyday instances of poor design.
We all experience them every day of our lives, but what baffles me is seeing things like this and getting joke emails calling Palm Beach voters "retards that were too stupid to vote."
Are these people forgetting what bad design does to our lives everyday? Do these people never hit the wrong button on their microwave ovens? Can they figure out how the shower works at every house, hotel, and apartment they've ever been in? When they rent a car, do they just jump in and drive, finding the lights, turn signals, radio, and wipers easily?
Do the people discounting Palm Beach voters as stupid lack compassion? Do they have a problem understanding voter's frustration with the interface? Or is their judgement clouded by their politics?
Politics aside, a bad interface is a bad interface. If the tables were turned, and Bush lost key votes in the state, I wouldn't support a Gore FL state win.
Posted by 01:09 AM | TrackBack
November 24, 2000
I was all set to
I was all set to support buy nothing day, spending the day working on some personal projects instead of shopping. Then I heard about a new usability book that might be good, and I one-clicked it. Then I realized I bought something today. Fuck.
(the above book link is a givequick link, that makes it all ok, right?)
Posted by 04:01 AM | TrackBack
November 23, 2000
The holidays are about spending
The holidays are about spending time with family and friends, taking a break from work, and playing with old school technology.
Posted by 12:54 PM | TrackBack
November 21, 2000
I'm extremely pleased with the
I'm extremely pleased with the new Blogger upgrade. The site, application, and publishing are all screaming fast. We had to push it out the door early because of recent scaling problems and that's causing some weird hiccups for some people, but it seems like 90-95% of our users were unaffected. With the new backend in place, improvements and scaling will no longer be an issue. New features will be fast and fierce, and if we ever start having performance problems, we can just add new linux boxes.
Everything is going to be rosy from here on out, and if you thought there were a lot of blogs before, wait until the real explosion happens.
Posted by 03:42 AM | TrackBack
November 19, 2000
On the way to the
On the way to the hardware store today, I passed by death.
Posted by 06:02 AM | TrackBack
November 17, 2000
I looked in a mirror
I looked in a mirror today and was horrified. Feathering. Wave-shaped part down the side. Slight gel-induced shine.
I have 80's hair.
I always know it's time for a haircut when my head starts resembling a cast member of Family Ties. Actually, the 80's are a good indicator of when it's time to change anything. If you're doing anything or wearing anything that makes you think of the 80's, it's time for a change.
Posted by 09:50 AM | TrackBack
Blogger has been really acting
Blogger has been really acting up lately. I think it's the new friends he's been running around with.
Posted by 07:08 AM | TrackBack
November 16, 2000
I thought yesterday was Thursday.
I thought yesterday was Thursday. It was your typical mid-week gaffe.
But lately I've been spending a lot of time at work, or thinking about work (on my off days), and the day of the week doesn't really matter anymore. I should have figured out I was wrong if I turned on a TV, but now that I have TiVo, the time of day and day of the week are meaningless (I'm always a few days out of sync with what is on TV). My last ditch indicator, the clock on my computers, shows the time of day and not the date or day, unless you mouseover it and wait, which I never do.
So I thought it was Thursday all day yesterday, and today I leaped out of bed feeling great, because it was Friday. And just now, looking at an email header, I realized I was off.
Crap.
Posted by 10:37 AM | TrackBack
Welcome voyeurs! (note result #13,
Welcome voyeurs! (note result #13, then check the search terms)
Posted by 10:21 AM | TrackBack
November 15, 2000
Christ, have I been babbling
Christ, have I been babbling here for over a year?
Posted by 12:56 PM | TrackBack
With Garden.com now gone, and
With Garden.com now gone, and the recent rash of dot com failures, there must be thousands of homeless aeron chairs. These chairs desperately need homes. If there were ever a cause I could get behind, this would be it. I'd like to be the Sally Struthers for these poor homeless aeron chairs, and welcome them into my home. Won't you please help? Won't you please give? Pets.com, MotherNature.com, Furniture.com, and Garden.com, please contact me and let me help.
Posted by 01:12 AM | TrackBack
November 14, 2000
What he said.
Posted by 10:56 AM | TrackBack
Texas Set to Break Own
Texas Set to Break Own Execution Record. Ugh.
Posted by 03:00 AM | TrackBack
November 11, 2000
Note to self: don't forget
Note to self: don't forget about J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. playing the free acoustic set at Amoeba on Sunday afternoon. Don't forget, it's just a five minute walk from home!
Posted by 01:15 AM | TrackBack
November 10, 2000
After looking at this for
After looking at this for the millionth time this week, I just have to say one thing.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can we get this over with soon? I've had a knot in my stomach since Tuesday that shows no sign of going away. Everyone seems to be stressed about this too. It'll be nice when it's over, regardless of how it turns out.
Posted by 03:16 AM | TrackBack
November 09, 2000
1 in 3,000,000,000,000,000. Nice.
1 in 3,000,000,000,000,000. Nice.
Posted by 10:28 AM | TrackBack
November 08, 2000
As the election craziness continues,
As the election craziness continues, I suppose it's only a matter of time before we see something like this.
Posted by 04:32 AM | TrackBack
November 07, 2000
"The only wasted vote is
"The only wasted vote is the one you don't cast."
-- Adam
Posted by 11:33 AM | TrackBack
If Bush wins, I better
If Bush wins, I better keep this link handy.
Posted by 11:12 AM | TrackBack
For as far back as
For as far back as I can remember, my parents would say "they're just going to pick us for jury duty" or "we can't get off work for that" or "I just don't like either candidate" when they would answer my question of "Why on earth did you not vote today?" I remember how I looked forward to turning 18, how I keep up with local issues, and how important I've always considered the right to vote.
Today, my dad says he voted for the first time in 20 years, thanks in part to websites that allow online voter registration. Awesome.
Posted by 06:55 AM | TrackBack
November 05, 2000
Kozmo is currently selling almost
Kozmo is currently selling almost all their video games (playstation, N64, Dreamcast) at half-price. I just picked up 3 previously overpriced games I always wanted.
After waking up with a sore throat, slight fever, and aches all over, I'm now realizing it's a good day to be sick.
Posted by 12:56 PM | TrackBack
Steve gave me a good
Steve gave me a good idea: start regional instances of MetaFilter, to discuss area-centric news and issues. I want to start sanfrancisco.metafilter.com bayarea.metafilter.com soon, and if that goes well, ask others if they'd like to moderate versions in their area.
Posted by 10:45 AM | TrackBack
November 03, 2000
Fish Oil And Vitamin
Fish Oil And Vitamin E Help In Rheumatoid Arthritis according to this article, what do you think?
(I just noticed this post today (three days later). The preceding was a newsblogger test post that I must have directed at this site. I was showing someone how they could integrate news feeds with comments to create a metafilter-like site.)
Posted by 01:23 AM | TrackBack
November 02, 2000
In case anyone was wondering,
In case anyone was wondering, I took MetaFilter offline today while I worked on the Cool Site in a Day competition at Web2000 (there's a processor leak in SQL server I haven't nailed down quite yet). It was an exhausting day, and we obviously ran out of time, but I think we did a pretty good job taking this, and turning it into this. Among the things you can't see are the database backend, allowing the owners to add new things to the site, and some Blogger functionality to let some officers in the organization write pieces. We didn't have a lot of material to go on, and could have organized our time better, but I'm proud of the work we did as a team.
The other team, including my friend Brig and javascript god Porter, blew my socks off by taking this site and transforming it into this. Where our site feels almost done, theirs is completely ready to go, is beautiful, and quite functional.
Overall it was an amazing experience, getting to meet faces behind the email addresses, working like a chicken with its head cutoff, and doing good work by helping out a charity. If you ever get a chance to do the cool site comp, by all means give it a go.
Posted by 09:32 AM | TrackBack
November 01, 2000
Hey, did you find my
Hey, did you find my cell phone just now in a yellow cab in San Francisco? If so, please leave a message at 415.538.8404 to return it. Thanks very much.