Priceless

2 Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lenses or
5 Pearl Necklaces or
25 iPod Shuffles or
5 Roundtrips to Amsterdam or
1 Trip to the Kilimanjaro or
2 Months of Rent or
8 Wisdom teeth removals......

A tax refund from Arnold -- Priceless

I'm Feeling Lucky..

Bay to Breakers 2004

Bay to Breakers is the oldest consecutively run footrace in the world. The 12K race was established in 1912 as a way to boost the spirit of San Francisco after the devastation of the 1906 earthquake. Last year I attended the race as a spectator with the SF Bay Area Photogroup and had a great time. But the runners seemed to have so much fun that it made me think about participating myself.

It's one year later and I feel a sudden urge to force myself into exercising more. So I bought myself some new running shoes, got myself an iPod shuffle and... I signed up for Bay to Breakers as a member of the Google team. After long deliberations the team was called "I'm Feeling Lucky" . I never considered running a fun activity but with increasing stress levels in my job and ongoing efforts to mend a broken heart, I actually enjoy my daily run in the hills of Palo Alto late at night. The crispy air, speed metal on my iPod and my body grasping for oxygen are making it a transcendental experience.

Is it because of the original intention of the race to boost people's spirit? Is it because of our team name? All of a sudden this Saturday I have both a breakfast date and a lunch date. I'm feeling lucky!!

Ex Etiquette..

Last Sunday, I had lunch with my ex girl-friend from Pacifica. Never gave it much thought but is there something like an ex etiquette?

When a break-up is not mutually agreed, I think it's a good idea to put as much distance as possible between you and your ex. The feelings you have for a person might never totally go away and believing you can be friends with somebody when you really can't, may stir up a bunch of feelings you thought were laid to rest.

But what if the separation was more friendly. How do you greet one another? A tender kiss on the cheek? A hug? A kiss on the lips? Sure, doing what your heart tells you to do should be the way to go. But what if your body is giving different signals than your mind?

Sometimes I still feel like a puppy.

Film Fest 2005

Film Fest San Francisco 2005

I love my job at Google. I work with a lot of really smart and young people and it's energizing me in many ways. It feels great to work for a winning company. It feels even better to work for a company that is able to execute on a vision that is changing the way how people live their life. When people find out that I'm working for Google, they get a twinkle in their eyes. Some of them maybe because they think that I'm rich now so I'll pay their next round of beers. But most of them because they love Google's products.

So why do I have a second job and am I working late hours at the SF film festival?

She is beautiful. She wants to know if I started a line yet for the next movie which doesn't start until 90 minutes from now. I smile at her. I tell her that she's the first person in line and shouldn’t be worried about not getting a seat. She looks me in the eyes and smiles back. Her smile is talking to me and tells me that she trusts me.
One hour later, the one person line has evolved in a line with more than 250 people. We're running out of space in the lobby on the second floor. According to the schedule, we should have started seating people in the theater by now but it appears that there are some issues and we can’t let people in yet. I can see the stress on the faces of the volunteers who are trying to condense the line as much as possible. 90 minutes have passed. The lobby is full and buzzing. People are standing on the stairs now and we're running out of space there as well. Some patrons are starting to lose their patience and want to know what's going on.

She is still the first person in line. She looks at me but there is some doubt on her face now. I smile at her but don't look her in the eyes as I'm starting to get worried as well. Dan calls me on the radio. The final call that we're ready to go? Not exactly. The theater is ready and 400+ people are more than ready to take their seat. One small item is missing though: the 35mm film never made it to the theater and nobody knows where it is. Dan's voice comes through calm and clear. "Prepare for disaster".

Twenty minutes later, the lobby on the second floor is empty. It's quiet. My heartbeat is back to normal. Somehow we pulled of a miracle. The film never showed up but we managed to come up with a solution. The perfect storm. If we can deal with this, we can deal with anything. Proud, exhausted but satisfied. My beer never tasted better.

This is why I’m working at the film festival.

If only I'd asked her for her phone number...

Singapore

Cutie from Singapore: Spidergal..

Did you know the water shed of Lake Tahoe is 519 square miles. And that Singapore has a total area of 253 square miles with a total population of 3.87 million?

Rebound

Snow in April..

Your girl-friend has just put you aside so what's a guy to do? Nothing better to fight stress and depression than a long weekend of snowboarding!! And who knew it would be snowing in April.

What I didn't tell my friends is that my track record of trips to Tahoe is pretty poor, especially when it involves girl-friends. Two years ago, I booked a suite in the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort and I was looking forward to a great romantic getaway with my Paficia Girl; the plan: rejuvenate ourselves at Tahoe's largest and most comprehensive spa and spending the night in a room featuring sweeping views of the lake and mountains, enjoying a decorating ambiance in warm, earth-toned themes and natural elements... It would have been so nice if it wasn't for my Pacifica Girl's unfortunate ski incident resulting in a light concussion. 'Sleep' was the doctor's advice, and with sleep this romantic weekend faded away.

No better luck last year. New girl-friend, different injury. First lift of the day, First turn of the day, First person to visit the First aid station. Diagnosed with potential damage to the knee ligaments, my girl with the pearl necklace was in a lot of pain. My pain was mainly mentally: am I casting a bad spell on any girl-friend that joins me for a skiing or snowboarding trip? I now suspect that some of them just agreed to join me because they knew how much I enjoyed snowboarding and not necessarily because they thought speeding in the snow was fun or their athletic abilities.

No girl-friends on this trip. No accidents. Just a great time..