February 24 – March 15: Church stage, parking ticket, Gas station, Danielle & David, GDC 2012, Bay Area: Visiting

From Church stage

February 24: I spent the night at church! We hosted homeless families as part of Family Promise. Some volunteers make dinner, some do activities and some stay overnight with the families. I slept in a room used for Sunday school. It has a stage! I liked that I could wake up in the middle of the night and perform a monologue.

February 27: I went to court to fight a parking ticket. This was my first time doing that, so I didn't know what to expect. The ticket was for parking overnight in a public park. My argument was that there weren't any relevant signs, so how would I know?

The weekend before my court date, I went to the park to take photos to show there were no relevant signs. But there is one! On the left pole, the middle sign says, "Park Hours: Sunrise to Sunset." I swear that sign hadn't been there! But how could I be sure? And would the judge believe me?

From For parking ticket

The answer: Google Maps! I checked the park using street view. There are two key points in the left image: 1) The left pole has only one sign, not three. 2) The bottom-left of the image says, "Image Date: September 2011," about a month before my ticket. Whew!

I'm still waiting to hear from the arbiter. (There wasn't a judge.) Regardless, I'm grateful to Google Maps!

From Gas station

March 1: A gas station near me closed down. What I found curious was how quickly and thoroughly someone covered up the signs/words. From working with my uncle Al, I've learned that franchises are really assertive about protecting their image: If your business goes bad, the company will send a crew ASAP to remove or hide any identifying signs. It's like kicking a horse when she's down, or abandoning a friend when she needs you the most.

For the record, the gas station was Shell.

From Danielle & David

March 2: I had dinner with some relatives: Uncle David, cousin Danielle, and Auntie Suzy.

March 3: I drove to San Francisco for GDC 2012! That's the Game Developers Conference. It's about video games, but it's also very serious. There are hundreds of lectures, etc.

I often go as a volunteer, also known as a "CA": Conference Associate. There are 400 of us each year. Even though we may see each other only once a year, when we do, it's like no time has passed! That's both amazing and scary.

The photo above is of "Floater training." It shows about 75 of the 400 volunteers.

From GDC 2012

At the GDC, the volunteers always give their best, which can be exhausting. So in the volunteer lounge, it's not uncommon to see us taking a power nap.

I suppose a lot happened at the GDC. Especially the small, wonderful privilege of making a new friend, or learning more about an old one.

After the GDC, I stayed in the Bay Area to visit family and friends.

My old boss, Tim Behrens, and I still have a good relationship. He let me stay at his house. In the morning, we went to Half Moon Bay to play with his dog, Charlie. However, it was both raining and very windy. On the bright side, the beach was totally empty, and Charlie didn't seem to mind.

I caught up with my friend Jonathan Lassila at an Ethiopian restaurant in Oakland. (When I took this photo, Jonathan was washing his hands.) Ethiopian is probably my favorite cuisine; I like the simplicity of it, especially eating a meal together with one's hands.

This is Charlie, Tim's dog. Charlie is part golden retriever, part poodle. Charlie's full of energy, despite this photo =).

In Berkeley, I finally visited "The Cheeseboard." It's a co-op that makes both pizza and bakery goods. The Cheeseboard is very popular. The pizza place is cute: They make only one type of pizza each day, but it's gourmet. It's "$2.50 per slice," but they always give you a big slice and a tiny slice. Very clever!

From Bay Area: Visiting

The bakery side has many different types of cheese. Many. They also make breads, scones, muffins, etc.

I visited The Cheeseboard to catch up with my friend Blisseth. We hadn't seen each other since undergrad, more than ten years ago. I'm glad we could reconnect, in person.

I caught up with several other friends, but I didn't take any photos. I think I need an app where I can leave my camera in position, and it will quietly take nice photos when appropriate. (E.g., when both people are smiling at the camera.)

I'm guessing I won't get to that app for awhile ...