The Inauguration Haiku

I started to write a long and boring blog about the inauguration. Instead, I'll summarize in haiku form and then give you a couple of interesting things I noticed.

So happy for change
The time for thinkers is now
Face problems with smarts

Ok, that took me way too long to figure out (and I stole the middle line), but at least you don't have to read the rest of my boring blog.

Among the poignant things I saw:

• The video of Bush and Obama hugging it out on Bush's way to the helicopter. Say what you will about America, but the proof that we live in a great country can be seen in how the once most powerful man in the world so easily passes his job to the next man. To me this is a sign of a highly evolved civilization. We've got a long ways to go to be perfect, but the ingredients are there. Yes we can!
• There were some great interviews on The News Hour (watch here) with people who were at the inauguration. My favorite was the 105 year old woman, Elma Mae Johnson, who traveled from Cleveland to be there. It starts 1:45 into the video. This woman was sharp - no sign of aging in her mind what so ever. If they didn't tell you she was 105 and you just read the text of the interview you would have thought she was 30. Quite inspirational. Never stop using your mind.
• Lastly, I hate Balls - inaguration balls. Inaguration balls rank up there with stupid half time shows are among the dumbest things I've ever seen. It might be ok, to be at one of these things, but watching it on TV is so painful. Oh well, that's pretty far down on the priority list of things to fix. Time to start at the top!

San Diego 1 - Pittsburgh 0

I'm a 49ers fan, but since my teams are lousy I've been watching the Chargers games this year. Last Sunday I was watching the Chargers-Steelers game. Right now, I'm watching the Steelers-Ravens game (with the winner going to the Super Bowl). You might feel bad for the Chargers fans because the Steelers knocked them out of the playoffs, but don't.

Currently in the Steelers game, there are snow flakes falling. It's not heavy snow, but that does mean it's less than 32 degrees in Pittsburgh. Let's compare this with San Diego.

Today I went to the beach. At 11am it was about 75 degrees, sunny and decent waves (though I didn't surf). After enjoying the beach for a couple of hours Erin and I walked over to The Cheese Shop and grabbed a couple of sandwiches and snacks. We then headed back to the beach and ate while sitting on the wall on the board walk.

After I got home I was exhausted by my time at the beach so I opened the window in our apartment and then napped for a while.

After waking up I went for a run. It was still about 70 degrees out and when I got to the top of La Jolla Scenic drive I was welcomed by one of the best sunsets I've ever seen. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera but it was a great combination of colors in the sky, the blue ocean and the sun ducking behind Mt. Soledad. Here is the view using Google Street View.


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So, no matter what happens in the game, I say San Diego is the big winner this winter, and next winter, and every winter. Remember that Steelers fans when you are freezing your asses off.

Throwing Darts - Jan 11 2009

I haven't been blogging much lately. In order to lower the barriers to writing, I'm allowing myself to put out shorter posts. This means the quality will probably suffer. Good thing I never set the bar high anyway.

First thing I'd like to point out. THE WARRIORS ACTUALLY WON. It was a close came and Jamal Crawford came up big in the end. You can see him to the left, cooling off his six-shooters after the big shot. Another great thing about the game, former Warriors Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy stunk. Dunleavy bricked a huge shot at the end of the game for the Pacers. Now if I could forget the rest of the season that would be great. The bad news, looks like our Rocky look alike (Marco Belinelli) got hurt. Hope to see him on the court soon, he's been one of the few bright spots on the team. Thank you ShoulIWatch?com for saving me so many hours this season.

In music news, check out the band Why? (question mark included). I heard about their album Alopecia recently and I have been loving it. Among my favorite songs are These Few Presidents, Good Friday, The Hollows, and really the whole damn album. You should be able to play it below, or check them out at www.myspace.com/whyanticon.

Hmm, what else to mention? Oh yes, www.keepvid.com is an awesome way to download videos from YouTube and other video websites. Be sure to choose the .mp4 download option, that way you don't need a Flash player. Also, it will then easily transfer to your iPhone, or in my case, iPod Touch (thanks Erin!).

Oh, and my deep sympathy to Chargers fans. Since the 49ers aren't sniffing the playoffs I've been following the bolts during their exciting playoff run. However, it ended to today in snowy and cold Pittsburgh. Remember Chargers fans, you are the real winners since you watched the game in shorts and sandals.

That's all for today (tonight). Have a great week.

Interesting Blogs

My boss, Bill, has always been a big technology guy. He's been in the industry as an engineer, marketer, entrepreneur and venture capitalist for pretty much his whole life. So, it's pretty interesting to watch him grasp on to the power of the blog in the past month or so.

The first blog he started was The Business of Classical Music. I think it's pretty obvious what it's about. It got a pretty big reaction and now he's got a second blog, The Twilight of Venture Capital. You may not be directly interested in either subject, but I think they are worth checking out from a refreshing ideas point of view.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to figure out how to make it look like I'm not sucking up to my boss.