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Journal (The Ember Update)Sunday, April 14Coyote Hills, Oakland and Effigy Burning
En route to the party last night Rash and I went to Coyote Hills Escape, which E had suggested some months back. Since we were both feeling lazy we didn't walk around much, but instead gathered up the sleeping bag and a few other items, climbed a nearby hill and spread out beneath a shrubby tree. The breeze was delicious and the view quite pretty: While there I made my effigy for Mike Sugarbaker's party (we'd been asked to bring one). My effigy represented Death and was made of a tri-forked branch tightly wrapped in cotton cord, stuffed with dried grasses and dead flowering weeds. But I'm getting ahead of myself... So, after lolling about on the hillside a while, we packed back up and headed over to Oakland. I'd not previously seen much of Oakland, just from the 880 or 580 so up 'til now I'd thought it looked boring. Boy was I wrong! I was so busy looking at the styles of architecture (you name it, they've probably got it) that I mostly forgot to take photos. Rash headed to Sabina, an Indian restaurant located in an old tile showroom (the food was good but rather indelicately seasoned). The tile is gorgeous, as you'll see (the last is a shot of the Tribune tower):
THEN we went to the party. Felt kinda funny walking in and only knowing Mike a little and not knowing anyone else (until we discovered Kerin). Rash and I did a lot of people watching. It was largely a younger-than-me crowd with a keg, but it definitely *wasn't* a keg party (and not, we surmised, because this was mom's house and mom was around). People stood around having interesting conversations and in the living room gaming was happening. The music was groovy. After about an hour we'd ended up hanging in the large basement quietly making occasional interested observational comments to one another. Then Mike and three friends took up the instruments crowding one end of the room and played three songs for the gathered crowd. The reception for this pick-up band was deservedly encouraging. We then ushered into the back yard for the effigy burn. Standing in a circle, Mike announced we'd take turns describing the purpose of our effigies and tossing them onto the fire, starting to the right. That made me first since Rash didn't have one. I said my effigy represented death (I hesitated to talk about my dad) and added a few other comments, and someone nearby commented that I got the award for most artistic effigy. I thought to myself, "How can that be? We haven't seen anyone else's." Later I realized that I probably did have the most artistic effigy, save maybe one other, a homemade collage representing "suburbia." I guess the commenter had attended an event like this prior. People burned effigies representing a commissioned but unpaid for, unperformed musical score; taxes; a year that sucked; George W. Bush's warmongering (etc.); a bad flea infestation; a much cared for but now obsolete piece of software; food; junk mail; a bad job; fear, uncertainty and doubt; etc. The whole event was cathartic, especially to the people doing the burning. There were cheers, seriousness and laughter over the whole event. I hesitate to confess that I initially thought the idea rather juvenile. I've learned that it was actually constructive and rather wonderful:
Fast Times / At the Mechanique
Last weekend Rash and I went up to the Red Vic in The Haight to see Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a movie from 1982 that's especially fun 20 years later. Seems everybody's seen it, 'cept me I guess (I *thought* I had). I loved the Spicoli character, although I'm sure 10 years ago I would have felt stern dismay towards him (during my fun-lacking conservative phase; thank god that's behind me). Rash snapped a couple candid pictures of me window shopping near the theatre. Seems my hair is growing out, though I'm sure Andy would complain, "Not fast enough!"
Anyway, after the movie Rash surprised me by driving over to the Cliff House, where Musee Mechanique resides (unfortunately the Camera Obscura attendant was "out" when I wanted to go in). After taking a few pics of the coastline around the old Sutro Baths (what a fabulous structure that must have been, woe that it's now gone), we walked down to the Mechanique and had fun poking around the old coin-operated machines. It was disconcerting that it was so crowded, but with all of the recent publicity... On the one hand it was really thrilling to be around all the old stuff, most of it in working order. Some of it was very primitive, like a wonderful scene of a fair surrounded by a railroad, with a bandstand, stage show, Ferris wheel, carousel, shooting gallery, attendees, etc., all made with toothpicks and bits of paint and cloth, and in motion from hidden mechanics beneath. Too bad the roller coaster wasn't running too. On the other hand, I'm so jaded by modern technology that a little part of me found some of the primitivism laughable. However the gems the Musee holds are definitely worth preserving. Riding a SegwayJust read "Impressions after riding a Segway HT" (thanks Rudy). This caught my eye:
We're so overly dependent on cars to get everywhere. If use of the Segway encourages people to also walk more, I say more power to it! Saturday, April 13Mining the S.F. ChronicleI attended my third Badger Lodge gaming group at the Zuckershack in Berkeley last night. However once I'd arrived I didn't feel like actually playing games and quickly got distracted by today's San Francisco Chronicle. I think it's getting close to a time when I might have to start subscribing to a newspaper. I never used to read the things, but in the last 4 months I find myself drawn to them whenever one is lying around. A few things I found of note... (a) Say "Duh" : In Re-Wired, an article about the makeover of Wired Magazine, the author mentions the new visual designer, Darrin Perry.
Well gee whiz, isn't that a novel idea. I picked up a couple of issues of Wired in its first year, found the design a huge barrier to readability, and never read another issue again. (b) Should we save the Mammoth Orange? (c) I've been wanting to go to a Friday movie at Oakland's Paramount Theatre (with its restored Art Deco decor). This article clenches it! (d) An article titled, "Afghans Value Bay Area Blankets" mentions Tamim Ansary, whose "An Afghan-American speaks" I point to in my September 20, 2001 entry. Funny to come across and recognize his name 7 months later. (e) Mick LaSalle's review of the new thriller Changing Lanes had me intrigued when I read that it's "a modern film noir done with flair and commitment." But later the author contradicts himself by saying, "In the end, Changing Lanes doesn't fully commit itself to its noir sensibility." Well is it committed or isn't it? Given that the ending seems to be softened for mass appeal, I think I'll pass. (unless something changes my mind) Google InterviewI'm pleased to report that I'm pretty sure the Google interview went well. I had three interviews with four people over the course of nearly three hours. Each interview segment ran over the allotted time, which I generally take to be a good sign. As far as I can tell there were no obvious duds in my answers (give me time to ponder, though, and I'll fret my way into second-guessing myself). These were unlike any interviews I've previously encountered. The three segments largely consisted of me being given various problems or scenarios and having to work out solutions--including preliminary prototypes--on a white board, while asking (hopefully appropriate) probing questions and describing my problem-solving process along the way. One of the interviews even involved a minor amount of role-playing, me as the UI designer and the interviewer as the "typical client." I don't recall being asked a single stereotypical interview question, though there must have been one or two somewhere. Some of you might be thinking, "I HATE problem-solving interviews," but I found the exercises very stimulating. Good thing I participated in a year an a half of informal improv classes a few years back, or I might have been fatally unnerved. Progressing to the second round (which I've been told is much like the first) may still fall through, but I feel encouraged. Time will tell... Wednesday, April 10NoamWent to see Manufacturing Consent last Sunday in the Haight. This eye-opening film about Noam Chomsky is regrettably hard to find (I called 10 video stores, 2 bookstores, and tried Amazon, all with no luck). Still, there's always his [pending] site. MisubaJust looked at this web site by an acquaintence, Mike Sugarbaker (really dig the photo). I thought this piece interesting. Going to a party at his place on Saturday. LamentYou know, I really feel gyped by the timing of my father's death. Why couldn't death have waited until after I'd been able to share at least a few of my travels with my dad? Why couldn't death have waited 'til I'd started exploring politics and art more? Why couldn't it have waited 'til after I was in California for a while? I desperately wish I could discuss these things with him, but he's not here any more. Too late, too late... Monday, April 8Pacific Coast Highway, South of Half Moon BayI've posted a small selection of photos from a driving trip up the coast. Most were taken between Pescadero and Half Moon Bay. Here are a few:
There's even a panoramic view of the misty mountains before Monterey Bay, which I pieced together from four snapshots. Check out the rest of the photos. Planning for the futureI was surfing the CraigsList job forum and came across this nugget of advice. Something for even employed people to think about... The question was posed: "Is anyone RADICALLY rethinking their future?" One respondent said:
General updateLast Friday I heard from three friends who'd all accepted new jobs. Congratulations to Speaker, Javier and Lynne! My interview with Google is on Friday. Right now I'm boning up on my JavaScript and learning about JSP for the various pending possibilities. Rash also made a contact for me at Yahoo, a woman in a class he's taking. I called her late today. We had a truncated conversation, as the person she was waiting for to leave showed up about two minutes after we started talking. I've sent my resume, etc., and she said she'd send me a job announcement that was just released today. [Note to self: Call contacts in the morning from now on!] Thursday, April 4Talk about synchronicityLast Friday I fired up Eudora in the morning and noticed I had an email from my good friend Speaker. The subject line was "Google is Hiring," and naturally the rest of the email was about that very topic. (Speaker and I trade occasional job announcements, since we're both looking.) Google is my favorite search engine, hands down. The very next email was from a complete stranger. It just so happened that the subject line was "Google." Since the email didn't have any of obvious signs of being spam, I opened it. It said:
Naturally I did. That lead to an hour+ phone interview, which led to my resume being submitted to the hiring team for review, which in turn has led to an in-person interview (day and time TBD, probably next week). I'm stoked. Good networking advice(or when it rains, it pours)In addition to this little bit of positive news, a couple days ago I decided it was time to follow up on a little networking I did the day before leaving for the ChevronTexaco gig. I'd been helping some customers in the gallery look at artwork they'd seen a couple months before, pulling numerous pieces out of the stacks in storage. The couple really seemed to appreciate all of the effort I was going to, and after about 20 minutes I decided to try a networking tactic my friend Jakob had shared with me. This was the first time I'd attempted to use Jakob's suggestions. The key when you meet people, Jakob said, is to *not* tell them you're looking for a job. That's a turn-off. He suggested that after getting a little aquainted I say, "I'm relatively new to the area, and I was wondering if you could give me some advice on the local technology industry. Which companies are starting to turn around? Which seem to have weathered the economic down-turn without too much damange?" Asking people for advice or suggestions is much better than telling them you're job hunting. Most people love to give advice. With this tactic you run a much better chance of gathering really useful information. In the past I'd just told people up front that I was looking for work, and indeed I'd seen people kind of shut down. There seemed to be two reasons for this:
Using the "advice" approach, the couple at the gallery were immediately responsive. The wife mused briefly about things she'd heard/observed, and then asked why I was asking. I told her that I was really a web designer in disguise as an art consultant, and that I was trying to learn more about local companies, so I might better decide which to approach in looking for work in my field. It turned out that she was a Marketing Program Manager and had worked with numerous marketing and technology vendors in the area. In other words, she had great contacts. After more conversation, she gave me her business card. On it she wrote the name (Mike) and phone number of an aquaintance at a vendor she'd repeatedly worked with, and suggested I call him. So a couple of days ago I did. And wouldn't you know, after hearing about my skills and a bit about my experience, he said, "Well this just happens to be fortuitous timing. We've got a project brewing which could use someone with both user interface and usability sensibilities. The need could happen as early as next week. We don't have anyone who is versed in usability." He indicated that the work would be on a contract basis, and we discussed a favorable hourly rate. I sent Mike my resume and links to my portfolios. This morning he called and said they were interested in having me come up with a way to estimate how much time I would need to devote to the pending project. I suggested he send me screen captures, and from that and a little more discussion I should be able to give him a good ballpark. And not to end this story too early, I have to say the Fannie Mae possibility is still in the works. Also, the recruiter through whom I did the ChevronTexaco job called yesterday, and among other things said he's working towards another possible job for me. Whew!
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