Insignifica

Halloween lessons learned

This was the 6th party in the Halloween Mikestravaganza series, and for the most part things went very well. I was very tired for the last half of the party, but that was due to a long week of travel just prior, and not having enough people available to help with set up. That said, he's what went right:

- No dry ice: For the last few years, I've had dry ice at the parties for a spooky effect. I've tried it in full bathtubs, crockpots, the fog chiller, and in the punch. It never works as well as it should. I skipped it this year, saving myself time to get it, the trouble of dealing with it, and the cost.

- Way less drinking: Last year's party (in which the police were summoned) saw me three sheets to the wind - so much so that I couldn't effectively deal with a couple problems as they came up. This year I decided not to drink much (I had a couple drinks as they were offered over the course of the night). Result was more fun for me.

- Clubhouse is hard work: My girlfriend knows this, but I have just enough time off between parties that I seem to forget: Having a party at the clubhouse is a LOT of work. I'm always running back to the house for supplies (towels and cooking utensils typically), and it can really be a pain. With friends to help set up and tear down, however, it's easier. I've got to remember to enlist more help earlier next time.

- Smoking area: While we haven't had any noise complaints at clubhouse parties, people tend to smoke right outside the main hall, which is 20 feet from houses. We're not supposed to use the attached pool area, but it's removed enough where I think I'll break that rule next time. There are also chairs, which is nice.

The event was very successful - thanks to everyone who helped out. Looks like the next event is New Years. Time to get planning...

Halloween pictures and wrapup

Wow. What a week.

While there are much more taxing things a person can do than sit in sessions on search engine technology and new blog trends, it does tend to wear on you after the third day. Alas, I learned a lot. One of the nicest parts of the trip, though, was being close enough to Santa Cruz to see friends in the evenings - I traveled back and forth 3 times, logging 250 miles, and was able to see Colleen, Nhan, and Tori. I then abducted Colleen on Thursday for the weekend - it's hard to ask for a better travel companion. We spent the 6 hours catching up, planning the party, and just generally reconnecting.

And then, the party - Colleen and I shopped Friday and finalized some more plans, and scoped out the space when we got the key that afternoon. After carting a few boxes over while we strove to stay up late Friday (so as not to be tired at the party) we began setting up in earnest first thing Saturday morning. An interesting aspect of setting up a Halloween party is that you're never sure what everything's going to look like unless you can turn all the lights out and totally darken the place - all the effects and props, in the daylight, just look rather strange. But as it got dark, and Tom, Lisa, Mike and Marek helped finish, everything came together.

Turnout was fantastic - about 40-45 people, and some amazing costumes. All the pictures from my camera are available at Flickr. If you have pictures from the party at Flickr, add the tag "MikestravaganzaHalloween2005" and they'll show up at that link. I'm always amazed and happy when friends of mine who have never met each other end up hanging out, and that was pretty standard at this party. The same people as above also helped with clean up before we left the clubhouse at 2:30am (new time - 3:30am old time), making my job the next day much easier.

Thanks again to Tom, Lisa and especially Colleen who helped with the set up and tear down - I couldn't have done it without them. Also to everyone who made it to the party...it doesn't matter how many corpses or Ouija boards I have set up, if there aren't guests looking for a good time, the party fizzles and dies (just ask me about the 2001 party some time). I believe a grand time was had by all.

Return to OC

I have returned to the OC with Colleen, and we're here to make your Halloween spooktacular!

I don't think we've ever had a party this big (RSVPs are close to 60 people), and have had people come from so far off. Thanks to everyone who's gonna make this event a great time. Now, off to shop...

Day two and three report

I'm between sessions on day three here - yesterday's sessions were a bit off topic (blogs at the university, blogs in public libraries, etc), but informative nonetheless. Today's all search technologies, so that's right up my alley. There are also only 4 sessions today instead of 5, which is nice.

Had a great dinner with Nhan yesterday, hitting two spots in the Santa Cruz area that I'd never been to before. Tonight I'm dining with Tori, and spending some time in town. I'll probably hit the UCSC bookstore on Thursday before I pick up Colleen for our trip back. Oh, and yesterday's trip from Santa Cruz was significantly improved over Sundays, with a lack of fog and a clean windshield.

I'm on a weird eating schedule here. I've been going out to breakfasts, which have been sufficiently large to sustain me through lunch (though I have a few snacks here in the room). I've been eating deliciously fattening but small dinners. The folks in finance are going to wonder why I don't eat lunch.

I've been meaning to take more pictures, but I've been slacking. I don't have my card reader or USB adaptor, so I can't transfer them anyway. But the beds here have weird pillows, I'll make a point of getting those pictures.

The trip, and first day...

It's late, and I'm tired, but thought I'd post about the trip so far...

The drive up was entirely uneventful, and for a drive, I consider nothing wrong with that. I got to experience the California phenomenon of coastal fog, and since highway 101 heads inland after Buellton, and I'm traveling at 70mph, the weather goes from cool and overcast to completely sunny in a matter of minutes. And because the Monterey Bay is its own complex weather system, the drive between Monterey and Santa Cruz alternated similarly several times.

After arriving I checked in, signed up for the conference itself, and freshened up after the drive, to head up to Santa Cruz. Bummed around on campus for a bit, then headed downtown to meet Colleen for dinner. Red Lantern's a great catch-all Asian restaurant if you're in town.

We went back to her place where she introduced me to a card game called Fluxx - pretty standard "rules change as cards as played" type game, but a lot of fun, regardless. We walked down her street to the beach, marveled at the big beachfront houses, and said our goodbyes until Thursday.

Mom, if you're reading, stop now. Moms hate reading about scary drives. But the 40 mile drive back, at 11PM, was perhaps the most frightening I've ever had - especially for one with no specific scary events. First of all, it's dark on highway 1 between SC and Monterey - you have lots no nothing on one side, and lots of water on the other. Next, it was damp at best, and blindingly foggy at worst. I was going way below the speed limit the entire time, and happy when I could trail another car for a while. Never been happier to be back on well-lit surface streets.

Day one of the conference went well - all but one of the sessions were interesting, and there were a good variety of search tips and new technologies. Gary Price and Mary Ellen Bates are awesome speakers and have awesome sites.

Tomorrow's sessions are just about all blogging, which is slightly off-topic for work, but right on topic for me. That said, many focus on blogs that aggregate news for specific topics, and that's always good to know. Lots of notes...

I'm also doing dinner with Tori and dessert with Nhan after my sessions tomorrow - I stayed in tonight, ordered from the Monterey location of Pizza My Heart, and talked with the girlfriend and friends online. I've had trouble meeting people to actually go do things with here at the conference, not that I have time to do much. But for as social a person I am, I'm surprised I don't meet and get to know more people here.

I'm heading home Thursday with Colleen, where we'll have two days to finish up all the Halloween goodness. I feel underprepared, but I think we're in good shape. More posts (and links in this one) when I've got some time tomorrow.

In Monterey!

I've arrived in Monterey. The weather's beautiful, the people are friendly, and my hotel has a balcony. Looking forward to learning lots and seeing all sorts of people.

Unfortunately, I got a new cell phone yesterday and lost a bunch of numbers. Nhan, email me your number (or call mine), so we can meet up. Probably won't be today, but I'm here all week =)

Upcoming week plan

Schedule and itinerary for the coming week:

Sunday: Leaving for Monterey/Santa Cruz around 8am. Arriving Monterey around 2pm, check in, head up to Santa Cruz. Lunch with whoever's around (Amy, Adam, Garrett, Teresa or Nhan), and dinner with Colleen.

Monday - Wednesday: Conference until 5pm every day in Monterey, evenings free. If you'd like to get together in Monterey, Santa Cruz, or further, Let me know.

Thursday: Checking out, picking up Colleen, heading home. Arrive Thursday night around 8pm.

Friday: Halloween prep

Saturday: Halloween prep, then Party!

I'll be checking my email most of the time, so that's a good way to get a hold of me. I'm not sure how much I'll be posting, but it'll be at least a few times, hopefully with pictures. Good times!

Executives can be morons

What the fuck is wrong with these people? Some highlights of the story from http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/10/21/topless.tab.ap/index.html

CEO disputes $241K tab at topless club

American Express says in papers filed in state court that Savvis Inc. chief executive officer Robert A. McCormick was in the club Scores in October 2003 with at least three other men.

After McCormick got the $241,000 corporate credit card bill, Savvis called American Express and complained that some of the charges were fraudulent, the lawsuit says. The communications company said its chief disputed all but about $20,000, according to the lawsuit.

...

After a lawsuit last year, Hanover said that "high rollers" visiting Scores' "super elite Presidents' Club" spend thousands of dollars on single bottles of champagne and tip strippers as much as $10,000 for lap dances and for spending time with them.

I've been to a few strip clubs in my day. I view it like any other entertainment outting - go in knowing how much you're gonna pay. I'm not too bad, never dropping more than $80 in one night. But unless they're paying for sex (or even if they are), how do the patrons, dancers or club justify a $10,000 lap dance? The highest of high class call-girls don't even cost that much for sex. I'm sure atmosphere has something to do with it, but there are much, much more efficient ways of spending $10,000 if you're looking for female attention, with or without sex. These guys are idiots.

Linux advice needed!

Linux advice needed!

I have a couple older (333 and 700 mhz) computers sitting around, so I'm again toying with the notion of installing linux on one of them.

What's a good install for a relative linux newbie?

I'm extremely windows, computer, and internet literate. I've savvy in the basics of networking, architecture, hardware, and software. I've used basic Unix commands on a collocated server for almost 10 years. I'm very comfortable with a command line as long as I know the commands available to me. I can identify my hardware in or out of my computer, and have no problem taking a box apart and putting it back together.

I want something that's easy to use and relatively straight forward to install. For all my computer experience, past installation attempts left me frustrated when I was presented with a prompt and no instruction, or the software assumed I knew how to install a program from the command line. I'm good at figuring things out, but Linux installs, in the past, have greatly turned me off.

Advice?

Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! Tomorrow, I can say "Tomorrow's Friday!"

I'm off to Monterey on Sunday for the Internet Librarian Conference. The schedule is busy, but if you're in the area (Monterey and Santa Cruz, perhaps the greater Bay Area if I like you) and want to get together for a meal, let me know. I'll be up there from the evening on Sunday until the afternoon on Thursday. I'm free through Wednesday in the evenings after about 5. I hope not to have much, if any, time doing nothing.

October meeting of the Orange County Atheists

The next meeting of the Orange County Atheists is Tuesday, October 18 (tonight!) at 7:15pm at the Red Robin in Tustin (Click here for a map). We have a core group of about a dozen folks who show up every month, discussing everything from religion to politics to "coming out" as an atheist.

If you consider yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a freethinker, a humanist, or are just curious, check out this month's event. We always welcome new members, will give you a name tag, and want to hear what you have to say! More info is available at the Orange County Atheists website.

Monday, il2005, atheists

Happy Monday, readers. This is my last full week of work before my week-long excursion to Monterey for Internet Librarian 2005. I'll be attending seminars and conferences on a variety of technology related subjects, most pretty specific to the work I do. It was awesome last year, and I hope it is again. Looking forward to spending evenings with friends still in the area, too.

One unfortunate realization I've made is that I won't have time to complete my Halloween costume - the detailed work I want to do is just TOO much. However, there's a cheap replacement part I can use that came with the prepackaged portions of costume, so that with some accessories will work well. The only person I'm disappointing is myself. And I'm not really that disappointed.

Every try to type with a band-aid on the tip of one of your typing fingers? It's a pain in the ass. We don't realize how important tactile response is until we lose it.

My monthly meeting of Atheists snuck up on me, but we're holding it tomorrow, October 18, at 7:15 PM at the Red Robin in Tustin, at 3015 El Camino Real. A map is available here.

We had a fun weekend - partied with Tom and Lisa at their place Saturday, and relaxed yesterday. What's new with you?

Programming note

Programming note: Superman II, Godfather II, Major League II and Wayne's World II are all on television at the moment.

I just thought that was funny.

Gary's letter

Following Joz's lead (though sent before I posted about it), Gary's sent in a piece for the Snail Mail Extravaganza!

(click for larger popup image)

I think I'll just send him my wisdom teeth when I get them out next year.

Crazy Dubai!

Every once in a while, I'll hear about a construction project so absurd that I think it must be fake, then I hear a few more details and realize "it's not fake, it's in Dubai".

For those of you not keeping track, the LA Times put it well in a story today. Some highlights:

The Palm Islands - A set of artificial islands built to resemble palm trees and crescents. They're huge, and can easily be seen from space. Homes on stilts around one of the Palms will spell out a poem, in Arabic, written by the crown prince. Official site | Wikipedia article

The World Islands - Inspired by the Palm Islands, The World is an archipelago of artificial islands shaped like the continents of the Earth. When it's done, it'll consist of about 300 islands, each purchasable. Official site | Wikipedia article

Recreated Reefs - From the LA Times article: In the waters just off the man-made coast [of the Atlantis project], the world's most treasured scuba diving sites will be re-created: the Maldives, the Barrier Reef, the Caymans, the Red Sea.

Other projects include an Atlantis recreation, The world's two largest shopping malls, the world's tallest building, and the world's largest indoor ski slope (keep in mind this is in the UAE, coastal Arabian Peninsula). The LA Times article also mentions plans for recreations of world landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids and the Taj Mahal.

Crazy.

Note from Nhan

Gentle readers!

The following is from my good friend Nhan, who has a request for all of you. Check it out, and think about giving. It's a great cause!

Hello everyone,

As captain of the SB Walkers team, I would like to invite you to come join me in San Luis Obispo for the 10K Aids Walk on November 5th. If you're interested you can register at the site listed below.

http://www.asn.org/register.htm

If you're not interested in joining, please consider donating whatever you can to me or the team at at the same website. You can also give me a personal check made out to "Aids Support Network".

I hope to see you there.

miles and miles

First off, happy 27th birthday to Gary. Rock on!

Today, I feel accomplished - trimmed up my beard this morning, woke up early so I could make it to the pharmacy and my PO Box, and got some financial things taken care of, all before 10am and work. Sometimes it's the little things that get you going.

Quite the busy 4-day weekend - went up to LA (Downtown) on Friday for the AAJA trivia bowl, back up to LA (Westside) for Gary's party on Saturday, down to Pechanga in Temecula and out to Corona for lunch on Sunday, and down to the San Diego Zoo on Monday. Grand total miles: 525. Wow.

I liked the zoo a lot this trip, mostly because the animals all seemed to be doing something. They were out playing, or eating, or pooping. Even the sleeping lionesses were entertaining, sleeping with all four paws up like a housecat. The only drawback was geographical - the zoo is in the hills, so everything seems like you're climbing or watching your step going down. I must plus their restaurants, though - they make a point about the vegetarian beans and rice and multiple vegetarian options being available. Also funny was the huge number of Steelers fans at the zoo that day, passing the time before the game that evening against San Diego.

I'm so glad Roxanne reads and comments on my site. It's nice to finally have someone from work reading. Who else is out there? I know a lot of you never comment, but I recently found out Adam from college reads too. Who's lurking?

Tuesday!

Again, congrats to the Angels for taking out the Yankees in Game 5 of the ALDS last night - a great game, though a little too exciting for my tastes (though A-rod's GIDP was fantastic). Chicago will be tough, but they've got a curse to contend with. Let's hope it strikes before the World Series, eh?

The zoo was a great time, just about all the animals were out and about, enjoying the sunny day. Lots of bears and monkeys always make my day.

ScamCo rules! More coming soon.

How's Tuesday treating you?

Go Angels!

No more post season for the Yankees - the Angels are going to Chicago!

zoo!

No work for me! I'm going to the zoo!

Why Joz Rules

A few days ago I posted to say that Joz rules. While this is true regardless, the reason I said so then was because she was the first person to participate in the Snail Mail Extravaganza. And coolest of all was that it wasn't just a letter or scraps of paper, it was a motley collection of goods from the furthest reaches of Joz's desk. There's a picture of the whole stash here. It includes:

- A personal note on Playboy Mansion stationary.
- A chocolate band-aid.
- A Mirage Hotel-Casino notepad
- Some sort of Hello Kitty style pin.
- Cartoon Network stickers featuring Powerpuff Girls and Ed, Edd and Eddy.
- A JozJozJoz business card.
- A small package of moisturizing cream
- Three wire ties, in three fashion colors.
- A CD from the soundtrack of Wes Craven's "Cursed"

How friggin cool is that? It was like Christmas at my PO Box. The Snail Mail Extravaganza is not over yet, and you still have time to outdo Joz, however unlikely that is. Get to it!

windy, Halloween, angels, atheists

Another day, another post. It's warm and windy again, which as a native Southern Californian, reminds me of fall. It's also brilliantly clear outside - beautiful.

The Angels fell last night to the Yankees, but have four more games to make it up. I think they've got the fight in them, they just need to get a few better breaks. I'm thinking it'll go to 5 games, either way.

Some exciting announcements regard Orange County Atheists in the next couple weeks. Lots of good things happening there.

Also exciting is that Mike (from Texas), Noel (from Arizona), and Colleen (from Northern California) will all be making the halloween party this year, in addition to some other friends I haven't seen in a couple years, all the usual suspects, my brother (more likely than not) and possibly some people from work (when I get around to asking them). Good times!

site updates, Halloween

For people who haven't noticed (and it's not the kind of thing you'd notice unless you're me), I'm doing my best to post every day to the three sites I write for most often - this one, OC Metroblog, and Orange County Atheists. I love when the sites I visit have new posts, so I want to give the same to my readers. Feel free to check both of those out if you don't now - both have loads of good reads.

Today is October 4 - just 25 days until my Halloween party. Still lots to do considering I'll be out of town the week before, but I like the planning as much as the party. Found a good source for half my costume, and while I'm still going to build the second half, having one part that I can just buy really makes it easier. If I know you, and you'd like to come, email me and let me know.

Paste Meme

This should be interesting, and I like starting memes...

In the comments for this entry, leave a comment containing the contents of your clipboard (i.e., hit CTRL-v). Feel free to redact anything personal (names, phone numbers, etc.), but leave the rest intact. Then do the same on your blog/journal, and see what you get.

Joz rules!

Joz is the coolest!

Pictures and more coming soon!

Neil, San Diego, milage

Another Monday, another weekend wrapup.

Went and saw Neil Gaiman (pic) again on Saturday (Neil Gaiman signings - 3, all other authors - 0), and had a great time. Unfortunately I missed Nick, my schedule didn't match up with Chris and Nhan's, so I missed having a meal with them, though I took my own tour of greater San Diego (Up and down Clairemont Mesa blvd, down the 163 to downtown, then up the 5 home), which is always fun. It's the kind of place I could live if I had to/wanted to leave Orange County.

Sunday was spent mostly at home, doing laundry and losing at poker, as well as a bit of Halloween shopping. This week (and upcoming weekend) should be fun - Friday I'm participating in the Asian American Journalist Association's annual Trivia Bowl, Saturday I'm going to Gary's housewarming party, Sunday I'll work on some Halloween stuff, and Monday I'm returning to San Diego to go to the zoo.

On that note, October is a milage-intensive month:

Oct 1 - San Diego, 200 miles round trip including mini tour.
Oct 7 - Los Angeles, 80 miles round trip.
Oct 8 - Gary's place, 90 miles round trip.
Oct 10 - San Diego Zoo, 180 miles round trip
Oct 15 - Tom and Lisa's party, 80 miles round trip.
Oct 23 - Convention in Monterey, 850 miles round trip, plus 200+ seeing friends in the evenings.

Yay for a car with decent gas milage, and the hybrid I'm taking up north.