Girl Weekend

Posted by banane on July 23rd, 2008 — in local color, nostalgia

This Thursday night begins… Girl Weekend! I was invited by one of my sisters to attend the conference of girls in our family up in Seattle. It’s going to be fun. Unfortunately one or two can’t make it, but we’ll do the best with our small numbers. I have a few surprises in store. The [...]

Visiting Minnesota-Style

Posted by banane on July 21st, 2008 — in local color, nostalgia

My aunt and uncle from Minnesota just visited, and it reminded me of childhood visits from my other Midwestern extended family and their unique visitor behaviors.
Sit around drinking coffee for hours at the kitchen table. This begins right when you wake up. I forgot about the endless pot and kept reminding myself it was my [...]

Riding the Train

Posted by banane on July 18th, 2008 — in local color, nostalgia, south bay

My first rides with CalTrain were from San Jose/Diridon to Palo Alto, about 20 minutes. I was on a year break from college due to financial issues, and attending San Jose State and Stanford night classes. I had a scam- I’d board at San Jose, and slowly travel up the train, walking, until I reached [...]

The SwingSet - for Jud Grubbs

Posted by banane on July 9th, 2008 — in nostalgia

Arrived in Monterey 7 days after driving out of Baltimore, and had a few days of rest and relaxation, including a funeral. Family friend died of cancer during the road trip, so I headed to the service with my parents, both of which had key roles. I was just the support staff, but since he’d [...]

Painting Rooms

Posted by banane on June 3rd, 2008 — in crafts, nostalgia

Finally got to a chore I’ve been meaning to do for 3 years. Painting my bathroom- that’s the color up there. And fixing the scars of two failed toilet paper dispensers. I also have been staring at the same painting flaws in that room- former paint is brick- little strays outside the lines onto the [...]

Swimming

Posted by banane on May 29th, 2008 — in fitness, nostalgia

I devoted 15 minutes to lap pool swimming yesterday. I had biked, done a circuit, and had another biking in front of me (though only 1.7 miles). It was tough swimming because it’s so *boring*. It’s really hard to go back to indoor pools when you’ve been in open water. It’s just more convenient, with [...]

Notes on Sewing Again

Posted by banane on May 27th, 2008 — in crafts, nostalgia

Working on a cross-over dress with lining. w00t! Crafts, as a newly unemployed, fill the void somewhat. Or at least postpones the inevitable job-searching! BTW I’m free for lunches.
When I was 16, I wanted to be a seamstress. I thought my life would be perfect if i got a small Victorian in downtown San Jose [...]

Spring Cleaning

Posted by banane on April 21st, 2008 — in north beach, nostalgia, technology

For me, it meant the low tech solution of plain old soap, water, a rag and a lot of elbow grease to wipe down the white (!) railing on my balcony that had collected tons of SF city grime. Then the high tech solution of amping my wi-fi to 5gHz and stop leaching off of [...]

gridswap & mornings

Posted by banane on April 12th, 2008 — in fitness, local color, nostalgia, technology

I’ve been working for a long time on: gridswap. I took this script: drag & drop from the god of all things DHTML and UI: Walter Zorn!
My goal was to get people to be able to pick up and drop books from month to month in a yearly calendar. The complexity is that the example [...]

The Wasperly Arts

Posted by banane on February 15th, 2008 — in fitness, nostalgia, south bay

(as in, the Sisterly Arts)
I decided not to drive down to Monarch Butterfly Heaven this weekend- Pacific Grove, CA, Butterfly Town!- because going there and not being able to enjoy the wasperly arts, tennis & golf, high tea, walks along the sea, would be some form of odd torture. Instead I sit in this wintry [...]