frank lloyd wright

I'm reading a book of historical fiction based on Frank Lloyd Wright's life. It's called "Loving Frank".

It's making me very curious about visiting his houses, and seeing how the interior blends with the exterior. Also seeing how sometimes the ceiling is low to create coziness, but other times it feels lofty.

Also, this book makes his love affair sound so all-consuming. It's hard to imagine that he and his mistress would both leave their children for a year to live together in an Italian villa by themselves. It seems such a foreign concept for them to put their own passion above seeing their kids over an entire year.

But it's also rather inspiring, to hear a story of people who believe so strongly in their work and their love that they would endanger perfectly comfortable lives for it.

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UPDATE: My friend Brian saw this post, and said he enjoyed visiting Taliesin West in Arizona. I had no idea there was a Frank Lloyd Wright house so close by -- I only knew about museums on the East Coast like Fallingwater or the Guggenheim. Now I am gripped with excitement over the prospect of going to visit! They have night tours and desert walks and behind-the-scenes tours!!

pastries and moving

I had some friends over for tea yesterday. Afterwards my apartment felt cozier, so I suppose it was an unanticipated housewarming.


I bought these pastries from Golden Gate Bakery, which is just five minutes' walk from my apartment.

LG had only eaten egg tarts once previously (he claims from Safeway). He was pleasantly surprised how a properly-cooked egg tart can be far tastier.

I've ended up walking to Chinatown a couple times during the past week. I like hearing the kitschy music from little shops. It reminds me of being in some parts of Beijing, and also of the Chinatown section of Santiago in Chile.

Now that the apartment is warmed, I am realizing that moving turned out to be more psychologically taxing than expected. I'm going to minimize the number of times I move, during the rest of my life.

cute

This baby is so cute (from this Minted holiday card):


Sitting at work this afternoon:

Me: "Babies in costumes are so adorable, especially when they look unhappy about being in the costume. When I have a kid one day, I'm totally going to put them in all sorts of costumes."

GP: "What if your kid is happy in the costume?"

Me: "That's okay. Happy is good too. Also, I'll leave them in the costume all day. Eventually they'll get unhappy about something."

korean music video

Omst & Lori showed me this. The dancing is really nice! Also I like the way it sets up the story. Though the ending is a tiny bit odd.

chrome extension

This chrome extension is really funny: Add the terrifying visage of Jimmy Wales to every web page you visit.





One of the user comments on this extension:

Chrome extensions might as well close shop. This is the alpha and omega of extensions. No other is needed.

game mechanics!

The game-mechanics line was the best.

beauty

For a few weeks, I've been bemoaning my uprooting from Mountain View. Today I woke up still in a funk, but over the next 15 minutes, it dawned on me that there is beauty all around me! San Francisco is a gorgeous city.

View from my living room ten minutes ago:


Omst is visiting from Toronto and staying with me. Today I'm going to a pilates class a few blocks away, and then we're having breakfast at a cafe.

Me: "San Francisco is so beautiful!"

Omst: "It's actually raining right now."

Me: "Why do you have to be like that?"

couch!

I just bought this couch from overstock!

I hope it will look good in my San Francisco apartment.

By the way, this photo is a stock photo from the Overstock catalog. It is not an actual photo of the couch. I am waiting for the couch to arrive in 1 to 6 weeks!

Tunez

Me: [walking upstairs] "Oh, nice song. What is it?"

Azer: "Farez, a new Persian rap."

Me: "I like it."

Azer: "I'm organizing all of my music!"

Me: "Spoken like a guy with a broken foot."

Azer: "Yep."

mental distress over moving

Tomorrow I'm moving a few items of furniture from my Mountain View townhouse to my new San Francisco apartment.

I'm totally distressed over it!

All day I've been stressed to no end. I'm hiring professional movers who will do all the furniture disassembly and packing into a truck, and yet I am still in great stress.

Faram said it's obviously due to moving out of a place where I've lived for six years. As soon as he said that, I protested, "I'm not totally moving out!" Just the words are causing me stress.

I set down roots in this house! Now I'm pulling them out. It's really unnerving.

But the view in the new apartment is good. Here's another angle that shows more of the Bay view and less of the Financial District cityview.


If you know me, you should come by to visit the apartment! Maybe that will help it feel more like home.

BlogZero

During a discussion on what to name the new server.  We decided to give it a logical sequential name.

B2: "That saves us the trouble of coming up with names."

Me: "Are you going to name your children KidZero, KidOne, etc?"

B2: "Yeah!  Then when they ask why their name is KidTwo, it'll be clear."

Me: "What if one of them runs away? It'll be really obvious when you introduce them.  'Here are my kids: KidZero, KidOne, and KidThree."

B2: "Should've had a failover for KidTwo!"

Me: "Or just redistribute the love amongst the remaining kids."