Christmas in Seattle

Well, I had my first White Christmas! Mary and Mom flew in, too. Here is Mary making a snow angel in front of Grandma's garage.

This was also my first year sending out Christmas cards/newsletters. I liked writing in the cards and the way they came out, but I was distraught by the process of narrowing down whom to send them to. If you did not receive a Christmas card, I apologize. I am happy to send a PDF (electronic) version of the card to each person who asks me via e-mail. It has the benefit of being scalable, and it will not fade in sunlight!

Everyone said this was the most snow they had seen in Seattle, and some people have lived here 30+ years! Outside of my Auntie Nancy's house, crazy icicles formed. The ones shown were at least 2 feet long.

When I was a kid, I was very into receiving presents. Well, only particular presents, i.e., things on my wish-list to Santa. Usually this included money, Transformers, G.I. Joe, GoBots, and/or He-Man. I remember one year when I must have had ~20 presents, and I wanted them ASAP. I probably asked if I could open them all on Christmas at midnight. While that did not work, I somehow got my parents to agree to let me open one present every hour, starting at midnight. While I was unsupervised (because they were sleeping, duh), I stuck to this "honorable" agreement. So I was spoiled ... and no doubt ungrateful ... but at least I had honor ....

From Christmastime

This year, Christmas was very low-key. In Sacramento, we would visit my dad's grave in the morning; this time we just did our own thing. The annual Christmas dinner here is hosted by Uncle Paul and Auntie Nancy. Unfortunately, a couple of relatives could not make it in the snow. After dinner, we opened up presents. The most presents probably were for Baby Jubilee. Mary also had us perform a reading of part of the play "The Man who would be King," by Dorothy Sayers.

On Saturday, Mary and I made Christmas cookies with a spritzer cookie gun. When we were kids, we used to do that every year.

From Icicles, snow angel, snow melt

Now the snow has mostly melted, but it was a bit messy. I think my car got stuck in the snow/ice/mud about six times over three days. But each time we were able to get it out after not too long. And I learned a lot.

More snow! More snow! More snow!

So last time I thought it had snowed an inch or more. This time it was more like six inches!

Compare this picture to one from last time. See how the street is now invisible?

The snow was nice and crunchy. It had a very thin icy layer on top, which made it fun to walk on. It reminded me of several foods: the crunchy top layer of a custard mochi if it is cooked long enough, creme brulee, some meringue, and marshmallows cooked on a campfire. Tasty.

I was so excited by all the snow that I kept listening for the person in our building who shovels the snow. When I heard him, I ran outside and asked if I could do it! He let me shovel the entire walkway, which was totally fun (and a good workout) for me. Someone should make a Wii game like that: "Wii House Chores."

Sunday, a couple from church had their wedding! My Uncle Paul and company went. Thankfully, everyone was okay.

From More snow!

There has been so much snow that, only a few hours ago, a big branch from one of our pine trees broke under the weight. For scale, you can see a 4-door car on the right side of the picture! Thankfully, no one had parked directly under the tree.

I know the snow must eventually melt, and I am not looking forward to that. It seems like everything will get muddy, dirty, and wet.

But wouldn't that be a good Hemingway title? "The Snow Also Melts." It would be a total chick-flick.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

The first pic may look like rain, but it is snow!

It snowed on Sunday! I think it was at least an inch!

This was the first time in my life that I remember seeing snow fall, except in Lake Tahoe. And Tahoe was different, because there was already lots of snow on the ground.





In the morning, the snow looked really nice. I really like the way the snow looks on bushes and trees, and even on my car. It was an adventure for me to figure out how to clean off my car so I could visit Grandma. And then to drive slowly and watch out for ice on the roads. And I find it fascinating how the snow stays on the cars and bushes for days, even if it is sunny outside.

From First snow of winter!

The snow on my car makes it look like I got a new roof, Mini-Cooper style!

It is supposed to snow even more today and get even colder. I am very grateful to live in a warm apartment.

Apple's Photo Booth

If you have a Mac or know someone who has one, have you ever tried "Photo Booth"? I think it is one of the hidden gems of OS X.

For those not familiar with Photo Booth, it is a simple way to take pictures using a Mac's built-in camera. Photo Booth has been around for at least a couple of years, and it comes pre-installed in all new Macs. You click on the camera icon, then it counts down 3-2-1-*CLICK*, and you've got your photo! Just like a real photo booth.

However, I suspect there are some who have used Photo Booth and not realized its full potential: the effects! Photo Booth uses the computer to manipulate an image in real-time, so you can easily set up and take some really interesting pictures.

Why do I think some people may have used Photo Booth but not used the effects? It is because of a user interface problem, in my opinion. If you were a new Photo Booth user, you might try this: open Photo Booth, click on the camera icon, and take a picture. Then click on the picture you just took. Now I've told you that you can make cool effects with Photo Booth, so you might look for the Effects button to set up your next photo. But the Effects button is not there! You have to click on the camera icon to enter live mode, and then the "Effects" button will show up. You might not think this is an issue, but I was totally frustrated with this a couple of years ago, and earlier this month, my cousin had the same problem. They have improved things in the latest version by letting you select Effects from the menus, but they also could have simply had the Effects button always visible; clicking on the button would then switch the camera to live mode.

From Photo Booth

One of the new effects in Photo Booth is to put a custom scene behind you. Here, I am riding a roller coaster! One more reason I never have to leave home!

A Fong Thanksgiving

So I had my first Thanksgiving with my Seattle relatives. I was warned beforehand that they like to eat a lot for Thanksgiving. "That's strange," I thought. "We seem to eat well already for regular family events."

From David, Wai, Sophie, Mae

Anyway, they were right. I don't think we had any more food than the average American Thanksgiving, but we ate together the entire week! Several events culminated this week: Mom visited, Uncle David flew up from Los Angeles, Uncle Wai closed his sub sandwich shop for Thanksgiving weekend, and Jubilee, my first-cousin-once-removed, had her first birthday! This resulted in really nice meals the entire week: Sunday night (church Thanksgiving), Sunday night again (Wai's birthday), Tuesday night (David's birthday), Wednesday lunch (Wai's subs) and dinner (fancy burgers and wine with David and Mae), Thursday lunch (Wai's dim sum) and dinner (Thanksgiving), Friday lunch (Wai's dim sum) and dinner (turkey jook/porridge), and Sunday dinner (Jubilee's birthday).

From Thanksgiving!

Of course, I feel undeservedly lucky. (Is that like grace?) However, I am really happy that I again got to know some of my relatives better. Many aren't even my blood relatives, but they still have been very kind to me.

From Wii Fit

My Wii Fit helped quantify this week's feasting: I gained 4.6 pounds since Tuesday! On the other hand, before this week I was worried that I was losing too much weight. Silly me.

Notice that my Mii says, "I ate too much . . ."

Thanksgiving

Quick weekly summary: Monday, I saw Shira Jacobson, an old friend from Minnesota and Caltech, and her brother Natan. Wednesday, talked to Uncle Gordon for almost an hour. Thursday, had dinner with my cousin Brian at a restaurant/bar called Joey's. Friday, Uncle Paul took me to Round Table, and he and Auntie Nancy later told me some stories. Saturday morning, I took Grandma to a hospice in Chinatown, where she volunteers every week to help patients learn more about Jesus.

This Thursday will be my first Thanksgiving in Seattle. Mom is flying up.

From Empty fridge: win!

When I was growing up, Dad had an unconventional take on Thanksgiving: we shouldn't have a feast, but rather a fast. His thinking was that we appreciate things more when we don't have them, which is true, isn't it?

Ours was not a true fast: we had oatmeal/broth for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and I think maybe more PB&J for dinner. I guess the bar for Thanksgiving was set so high that PB&J seemed like deprivation.

Of course, as a kid, I wanted a big feast, like all my friends seemed to have. Imagine being at school Wednesday and having all the kids and teachers talk about the fancy food they would be eating on Thursday (turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, "fixings," green bean casserole, cranberries . . . ), and also all the relatives they would visit. (None of our relatives were close by.) Imagine eating PB&J on Thursday night *knowing* that all the other kids were breaking wishbones and getting all their wishes granted! No wishes?!! That was the most important part!

But for at least some of our Thanksgivings, the feast was merely delayed. Thursday was a fasting day, but Wednesday and Friday were fair game. I remember waiting until midnight Friday to dig into some ice cream. And we might have turkey on Friday.

In the end, I really appreciate Dad's efforts. It did make me think, and now I have fond memories of it.

Maybe those Thanksgivings laid the seed for my current eating habits. The picture above is of the fridge that Jason and I share. My half has a bottle of lemon juice, some reconstituted frozen orange juice (with calcium), and an unseen apple. Jason's half has baking soda, some peppers, and one remaining Slim Fast shake.

Both Jason and I can afford to stock more food in the fridge, but we don't. And neither of us goes out to eat very often. (This week was a nice exception for me.) Jason may have his own reasons (like he's actually in Ohio right now). For my part, I guess I am trying to simplify things. I am also reminded of how manufacturers (like computer companies like Dell and Apple) strive to the keep a small inventory. Since I still have plenty of non-perishable food (white rice, oatmeal, cereal, ramen, sardines, peanut butter, multi-vitamins), I want to use that up more before buying more food. And once I finish my apple, I will probably buy some bananas, and I should probably get some broccoli. But I don't think our fridge will ever be full, which actually makes me very happy. :-)

11th-hour sunset

I was wondering what picture I would post this week. I meant to take one of Auntie Muriel and Uncle Ron before they went back to Fresno, but I forgot.

From Gorditos

On Thursday, I had dinner with a couple of friends from grad school: Ryan (and his wife Stephanie) and Possu. We ate at an inexpensive Mexican restaurant called Gorditos. The burritos at Gorditos are so big that people compare them to babies. They even have pictures there.

The baby vs. burrito picture was funny, but I wanted something less staged. On Saturday, I took Grandma to church for a class. Outside her porch was this bok-choy plant; I like how you can tell that it has been harvested several times.

From Sunset, Seattle CBC

The partially eaten bok-choy plant was nice, but there was something better in store. The church (Seattle Chinese Baptist Church) is on a hill, and I love the view. Even though there was lots of rain early in the week, Saturday was sunny! We arrived at church to witness a sunset and a potpourri of clouds. Yes!

Will the last person leaving Seattle . . .

So Uncle Ron, Auntie Nancy and I were hanging out in her house. We were talking about the current economic crisis and how it is different from previous ones. Ron and Nancy mentioned that, once in the 1970s, Boeing laid off so many people that stores were closing all over Seattle and it felt like everyone was moving away. Someone put this billboard up in 1971, near the Seattle airport:

"Will the last person leaving SEATTLE - Turn out the lights."

It is kind of sad, but also kind of funny. And people still remember it 37 years later! (I found the picture at the Seattle Times.)

At least I haven't seen a billboard like this yet.

Auntie Muriel and Uncle Ron visit. (Also: Vote on Tuesday!)

On Wednesday, my mom flew up to visit, along with my Auntie Muriel and Uncle Ron. Muriel and Ron live in Fresno. They came to help celebrate a trio of birthdays: my Uncle Gordon's, my mom's, and my mom's mom (i.e., Grandma Fong)! My mom and Grandma actually share the same birthday, at least as far as we can tell. (Grandma was born in China before 1920, but I don't know if we have an official birth certificate for her.)

From Vegas (Video poker, Ron & Muriel)

We had a birthday party at my Uncle Paul's home, but I didn't take any pictures. The picture shown is from 2001, when Auntie Muriel, Uncle Ron, and I went to Las Vegas. They still look the same. :-)

For Daylight Savings Time (DST), I only had to change 4 clocks: Jason's microwave, range, and stereo, and my car. My cell and laptop were automatic. For some reason, I remember DST being more of a burden when I was a kid!

Election Day, including the Presidential Election, is this Tuesday, November 4. Here in Washington State, I think people are even more aware of the importance of voting and that "every vote counts." That is because the 2004 election for Governor of Washington was REALLY, *REALLY* close. The main two candidates had 48.873% and 48.869% of the vote: the difference was only 129 votes across the entire state! What if this year's election is that close?

Whatever happens in the Presidential election this year, it seems like one group will feel like a winner and one will feel like a loser. That seems very tragic to me, since everyone tries so hard, and a small difference in percent is amplified, well, infinitely. (If we compare two movies, and 54% like one better and 46% like another better, what does that really tell us?) However, the end result will be precisely what the system was designed to produce: winner take all.

At this point, my old pastor would probably remind me that God is bigger than politics.

Emerald City Search!

From Emerald City Search

This was a fairly eventful week: I finished "The Seven-Day Miracle Detox" (I'll blog about that another time), "Wii Music" came out, Auntie Nancy and I helped feed some homeless people, and I even did some computer programming. But the highlight was something called the "Emerald City Search."

The Emerald City Search is a treasure hunt amongst the parks and other public places of Seattle. A medallion is hidden somewhere in the city, and each day a clue is given in the newspaper. Because a good clue can be interpreted in many ways, people end up looking all over Seattle. Some people spend almost every waking hour of an entire week searching!

Fortunately for me, I don't hear about the Emerald City Search until Wednesday. I go to sleep ~8:30 am, and my cell rings at ~11 am. It is my Uncle Gordon. He tells me about the search and that he thinks he knows where the medallion is hidden: Discovery Park! However, Uncle Gordon can't check it out until after work. So that gives me time to check out the clues (8 of 10 have been posted by then).

I spend a few hours reading the clues, reading what other obsessed searchers are thinking, researching frogs (this year's theme), and learning about the many different parks and sights in Seattle. (It was a very good way to get me excited about exploring the city! Did you know that 5% of Seattle's land is reserved for parks and other green areas?)

In the evening, Uncle Gordon and I drive to Discovery Park, armed with flashlights and walkie-talkies. It becomes dark very quickly, but we make it to a scenic ridge where I take the attached photo. Discovery Park is huge, and we explore the park for awhile, but we don't see anything that clicks. We also disagree on where in the park the clues are pointing.

We take a break for dinner at Wendy's, then we explore some other nooks and crannies near Discovery Park. It is good exercise for me, and it is totally fun trying to figure out the clues with Uncle Gordon. I also see some parts of the city that I'm sure I wouldn't see otherwise.

We go back home a little discouraged, but we are also excited to wait until midnight for the 9th clue, which is bound to be helpful. Will we go out at midnight, or wait until dawn? Or might someone have already found the medallion that night?

It turns out that someone does find the medallion shortly before midnight. (There was a minor but moot scandal about how that happened.) And Uncle Gordon and I are totally wrong on the medallion's location: it was miles away in some other park!

Overall, I had a great time: learning about the city, exploring, exercise, free food, humility, and bonding with Uncle Gordon. And, I had an honest chance at finding the medallion, but it cost me only a day rather than a whole week. (Poor Uncle Gordon! But I know it was fun for him. :-)

I know Minneapolis has a similar annual search, and I imagine other cities do as well. For those in SF, there's always the Chinese New Year Treasure Hunt!

Voting, roots

I just finished filling out my absentee ballot for the upcoming elections . . . as a Washington resident! Even though I don't know how long I will be in Seattle, I didn't want to be here with the mindset of a wanderer. The basis is a sermon I heard, during grad school, based on Jeremiah 29:4-7:

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

At that time I recall doing the opposite of the above verses: I was mostly ignoring the people I would encounter every day, the vast majority of whom were students like I was. I was just there to do research, get my degree, and yes have idle fun, but really it was a stepping stone. Not a cornerstone. I definitely was not trying to put down roots, either physically or relationally. The reality was that school was a temporary place for me and most of the others. Every year, most students seemed to leave and new students replaced them.

Long story short, I found my attitude and perspective changing. And I was much happier. Not only was I getting to know a lot more people--some better than others, some still friends and some I've lost touch with--but I was less of an overanalyzing, selfish person. I hated how my mind would think, "It would be better for you to get to know this person instead of that person, because of such-and-such." Or how I would go places for a week and put up these walls because I didn't think it would be worth really getting to know people there.

This attitude check transformed my actions at Caltech, in Minnesota, in SF, and now in Seattle. And I am very grateful, even though I have continued to move around frequently. So, even though I might leave Seattle in any given month, I have updated all my personal info to here, including my car and voter registration. And I want to get to know my neighbors better.

FYI, if you want to know whom I voted for, anyone should feel free to e-mail me.

Mary and Mom visit!

From Mary and Mom visiting!

My sister, Mary, came all the way from England to visit for an extended weekend! (I think she had frequent flyer miles that needed to be used.) Mom flew in from Seattle, so it was the first time in several years that the relatives here got to see all three of us at once.

In a couple of months, Mary will get her Ph.D. from Cambridge University. (The emphasis is on the Old Testament, I think.) I haven't yet heard what Mary will do afterward or where she will go. Stay tuned!

Car hopping

So I am renting a room in my cousin Jason's condo. It seems like a good setup so far, and we both are learning more about each other. Jason is in the Army Reserve, and he left today for a month of training and vacation.

The condo complex has 17 units but only 6 assigned parking spaces. However, there is ample street parking. What is really funny is that Jason's condo has 2 assigned spaces! Jason has only one car, but I think he doesn't want to deal with the hassle/liability of renting out his other space. Anyway, every day Jason parks so as to occupy both of his spaces:

From Jason's car

Can you imagine parking that way at work or in SF? :-) One might get a ticket and many dirty looks. Of course, the work and SF spaces don't belong to us. And Jason would want me to point out that he can back out of the parking garage more quickly this way.

Jason did offer to rent me his second parking space (I guess 'cause we're cousins :-), but I declined because I need to watch my budget.

Also, on the freeway this week, Jason and I witnessed a strange accident:

From Accident on freeway

Yes, the red Corvette has somehow slipped underneath the Mercedes! A bunch of cars had stopped suddenly, but the red Corvette was a little late. We saw its hood fly off; it is on the ground on the right side. I can only imagine how scary the accident was for both the guys in the Corvette, and for the woman in the Mercedes! Thankfully, it looked like no one was seriously hurt.

Dinner with Possu Huang

An old friend from the Mayo lab is doing a postdoc in Seattle. His name is Possu. Last Thursday, Possu and I met up for dinner at Macaroni Grill. (My cousin Bruce and his wife Tammi gave me a gift certificate. Thank you, guys!)

From Possu Huang

Possu is quite the Renaissance man. Not only does Possu have a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics (same as I), but he can program, draw, take good photos, and he still keeps up with his violin. Possu is also my go-to guy for info on everything Apple (because friends who are actually at Apple are under NDA: Non-Disclosure Agreement).

Possu and I disagree on some big things, like political preference and our approach to finding God/Truth, but we still get along well. That's probably because Possu is a very easy-going guy (as long as you don't mess with his Audi).

From Mayo lab (9/01-9/02)

In the pictures, you can see Possu drawing a violin and his Audi--using *crayons* at the Macaroni Grill table! (They supplied the crayons and paper.) The bottom picture was taken by Possu in 2002; I still use it often as my profile picture. "Victory!" (Or, "Peace!")

Possu, I hope your research goes well! Keep up the hard work!

Taking Grandma to the Puyallup Fair

Puyallup is a city just south of Seattle. There is a big fair in Puyallup every year. I took Grandma on Monday. Since the fair is so big, we needed Grandma's wheelchair. One of Grandma's friends, Ms. Green, came with us and pushed Grandma around, so I got to roam around by myself. Ms. Green, thank you! (By the way, I wear that super-bright, neon-green shirt when I think people may need to find me in a crowded place. I got it at the Game Developers Conference.)

The Puyallup Fair has some big-name entertainment. They had concerts for Casting Crowns, Kid Rock, Fergie, and Carrie Underwood. They even had Michael W. Smith and Stephen Curtis Chapman on the same night! (Actually, that's tonight!) However, I decided to pass on the concerts this year.

There was also a huge vendor show with lots of interesting items: clever tools, mops, chamois, irons, sewing machines, cookware, teeth whitenings . . .

From Puyallup Fair

There was also a lot of farm stuff, like: A pumpkin weighing over 1000 pounds. Kids shearing sheep and spinning wool into yarn. A llama. (In the picture, notice that he is posing just like the diagram in the background.)

Another fun part of the fair is the food. I skipped it this time, but I know Grandma really liked the sweet corn and a BBQ sandwich.

And then there's all the carnival games and rides! Well, plenty to do next year!

You can see all the pictures I took by clicking on one of the pictures here.

A visit from some of the Mayo lab!

In grad school, I was in Steve Mayo's lab, which specializes in computational protein design. (The Mayo lab has nothing to do with the renowned Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, nor with condiments.) Some of the lab came up to Seattle for a meeting with collaborators. After the meeting, we met up just to say "hi." I got to see the base of the Space Needle, and we took the monorail into downtown. Then we ate at Pike Place Market.

In the picture, from left to right, it's Kyle, Roberto, Heidi, Barry, and Alex.

From Visit from Mayo lab

The weather recently has been wonderful: sunny, warm, clear skies, clean air. I'm grateful that it has lasted so long. In the picture, can you see the patch of yellow in the middle? Fall is almost here!

By the way, if anyone wants a higher-resolution version of a photo or video, I probably have it.

Israel

In May, I went to Israel with my family: Mom and sis, and my grandma. We all wanted to go, but the main reason to go was for Grandma, who is almost eighty-nine but had never been to Israel. (Grandma is a very strong follower of Jesus Christ.) On the way to and from Israel, we stayed a couple of days in England, where my sister, Mary, is. That was my first time outside of North America, except for a trip to Japan a few years ago.

Grandma lives in Seattle, only a long walk from where I live now. I will, say, however, that Grandma sure is a talker! Then again, she must have at least three times as many stories as I have.

From Grandma's pilgrimage, day 7: driving to Jerusalem and Bethlehem!

Clicking on the picture will take you to one of many online albums of our trip to Israel, entitled "Grandma's Pilgrimage."

But wait, there's more! On this blog, in the left-hand column, under "OTHER LINKS," there's a link to my videos online. That includes videos from England and Israel. Note that all of those videos can be viewed in "high quality": when watching one of the videos, look under the bottom-right corner, beneath the number of "Views," for the link "watch in high quality."

The Penny Arcade Expo!

From Get Motivated! seminar

Last Monday, my Auntie Nancy and I attended a business seminar including Colin Powell and Rudy Giuliani! That was really neat, but what I was really excited about was last weekend's Penny Arcade Expo (PAX). PAX is like a big video game and board game party . . . for 3 days!

From PAX 2008

At PAX, I met some old friends from Caltech and the Game Developers Conference, played some fun games, new and old, and I met the occasional celebrity, like Wil Wheaton from Star Trek! The only downside was that I got a cold afterward. But, I am almost better.

By the way, clicking on the pictures should take you to my online photos. Or, in the left-hand column, use the link "Geoff's pictures online."

Olympics; packing light

The 2008 Beijing Olympics are now over. I really enjoyed watching the closing ceremonies on TV. I think these Olympics were the most enjoyable to me since I was a kid, and perhaps even more so. Of course, it helps that I could watch events in the afternoons and stay up late each night. But, I also think these Olympics meant more to the host country, China, than to previous host countries, including the U.S. I am very, very grateful to be an American, but I am glad China got to host these Olympics. And they did a great job.

But now that the Olympics are over, I think I'm a little sad. Fortunately, this upcoming weekend is the Penny Arcade Expo!

And of course, I shouldn't forget my three main reasons for leaving my job and moving to Seattle: searching for God/truth, writing a particular computer program, and getting to know relatives here.

I hope this picture will help illustrate my attempt at simpler-living: it's pretty much everything I brought to Seattle. Amazingly, it all fit in the trunk area of my Scion xB! Starting from the big translucent box in the lower-left, going clockwise: all my files/papers, Wii Fit, shoes, oatmeal/vitamins, office supplies, suitcase containing some books and clothes, and a bag of clothes. Not pictured are the Wii and my MacBook, which didn't take much space either.

Of course, I'm very lucky that my cousin had an extra bed, pillows, blankets, desk, and chair. However, in church today the pastor said that if we want to experience God more often in our lives, perhaps we must *expect* to experience him more often. (He was preaching from Psalm 63.) That teaching spoke to me, in terms of acting in faith: doing what is right, giving beyond sacrifice, following the call, and ultimately trusting in someone good beyond this world. Right now, it's just one day at a time.

My first full week in Seattle

Well, I made it through the first week! My goal was to work a solid 40+ hours on programming, as opposed to 40+ hours of movies, video games, napping, etc. I did okay. My cousin Jason and I have been watching a lot of the Olympics, which I've really enjoyed. And on Friday I took a 4-hour nap, so that wasn't so good. It has been really hot here, and it is more humid than I'm used to. (Friday was a high of 90°F, compared to an average high of 74°F, I think.)

I did a little programming--80 lines--but I'm expecting to go slow at first, because I have so much to learn. I'll talk about my programming more after I've finished more.

Overall, I have been trying to keep a simple life here. I haven't driven my car since I arrived. At the same time, I've gotten to see most of my relatives up here. I was especially happy to see Baby Jubilee ("Little Jujube"). I added her blog to my links (sidebar, under "Other Blogs").

I should have some Seattle photos eventually. If anyone has any requests, please let me know. Here is a photo of my old landlord in SF, Terence. He's playing Wii Fit for the first time. :-) I lived with Terence and his family for two years; it sure went by fast!

Geoff's blog, take two

I've decided to re-start my blog, because I know I've left a lot of friends and family behind. I plan to write every Saturday. (I know it's Sunday already . . . .)

I am now in Seattle, Washington. On August 1, I quit my job at Genentech in South San Francisco as a postdoc studying the disease lupus. I had a great boss, co-workers who were also kind friends, and the research was state-of-the-art. Church was going well, too. However, I really have felt a . . . calling? to write some computer programs. On Monday, I plan to start working on some Adobe Flash stuff full-time. But I'm working on my own; i.e., unpaid.

Today was my first day walking around my new neighborhood. There are certainly a lot of shops nearby, and I finished all my errands. Then in the late afternoon it started raining! It's stopped already, but I thought I'd have a few weeks of sun at least. :-) Well, I'm very thankful to have a roof and an apartment which doesn't seem to leak.

From Genentech (3/24/08 - 5/7/08)

Here is one of my favorite pictures from SF. Of my many lunches at Genentech, this was the only time I was ever at (or even saw) a table this crowded: 7 of us, at a table for 3! I miss you guys! (Including many people who aren't in the picture.)