According to Forbes, JeffO is in the right place to become a slightly stressed out billionaire whereas I may have to resign myself to a successful freelance business and mere millions. I think I can live with this. Or move. Billionaire does have a nice ring to it.
10 Best Places to Get Rich – Forbes, May 11, 2004
I’ve discovered at least one reason to live in Madison instead of San Diego: the weather. Most people would say it’s the other way around, but 72° and sunny every day gets a little boring when you consider in the 18 hours I’ve been home it’s been hot (80°), cold (53°), sunny, cloudy, foggy and is now thunder storming (again), which is a good thing. Or would be, if I was anywhere but work right now.
Hmm, where to start. I guess the beginning works. Last year JeffO introduced us to landlock surfing and I loved it. Then, in January, I applied for a professional development grant to attend the HOW Design Conference in sunny San Diego, which happens to be one of my favorite cities and -conveniently- a great place to learn how to surf. The grant came through, I flew out early to surf, and my friend Tammy came along with me.
So the first 4 days were spent at Blue Sea Lodge, where Mission Beach meets Pacific Beach. Great location, great people, fun pigeons, decent hotel. Our first night there we were lucky enough to meet some locals who pointed us to a local surf shop, Liquid Foundation, for lessons. The next morning we were set up with boards and our instructor Townsend who, when I mentioned something about the movie Step Into Liquid replied "Oh yeah, I was in that" and then proceeded to rattle off about 30 countries where he had been filmed surfing for various videos. I got up on my first wave, which turned out to be beginner’s luck as it was not a frequent occurrence thereafter. An hour later we were exhausted and called it quits for a while but did give it another go at the end of the day. After fighting the surf to get out we sat out past the breakers for a while enjoying the sunset with a guy who turned out to be from Wauwatosa. Small world. The next day we stopped by the shop again and within an hour we were getting a personal tour of the local beach spots in La Jolla from Townsend. That was when we decided to go swimming through the caves. Bad idea. The tide came in, Tammy got shredded on the rocks and there was blood everywhere. So that was pretty exciting. Luckily Tammy survived and was a pretty good sport about it once given sufficient time and alcohol. The remaining few days were pleasantly uneventful by comparison – mainly shopping and surfing – and the trip was topped off with a trip downtown to Croce’s restaurant Saturday night for filet mignon which was so good it almost rivaled Tuesday night’s T-bone. But not quite. Misc. photos: Panoramic view (scroll right) | Townsend and the seal
At that point, Tammy headed back to Madison and I moved into the 29th floor of the Hyatt, which is the tallest ocean-front hotel on the west coast. Life is hard. The views from my window were spectacular. There were 2,200 designers in attendance which made for some interesting social events, and the speakers were inspiring enough to make me consider returning to print design… briefly. (The last session I attended was geared toward web designers so I got back on track.) There was also plenty of shopping, wandering and a trip to Balboa park where the rose garden was in full bloom. Sadly there was no time for surfing though, so I may have to wait until Memorial Day weekend in San Fran (6 whole days!) to return to my new favorite hobby. Misc. photos: Hummingbird | Pretty purple trees in the ghetto
Yes, it took 2 weeks but I finally figured out my FTP woes. And then promptly left for San Diego where broadband access is surprisingly flaky (and expensive) at best. So I’ve uploaded a few old entries and hope to add more either today or when I return to Madison. For now, I will just say I’ve discovered the zen of surfing and life is good.
My first attempt at editing raw footage* for the UW has made its way to the web. I’m sure Spielberg is feeling threatened.
*Let it be duly noted that of the 15 minutes of video I received, at least 9 of it was the owl sitting in a field, not moving.
I participated in the Meriter Nurses Run last night and actually placed 32nd out of almost 300 women. Not bad for a non-runner. Be impressed and don’t look up my time. Nurses as a whole, apparently, are not so quick on their feet when their feet are in running shoes.
Had dinner with JeffO in Waukesha last night. Again. Who knew that his moving another 1000 miles away would result in us seeing him more? And who thought that was even possible? I see Jeff more often than my parents.
We also took another “Jeff, Dead” photo, and got the parents involved, asking them to pose a la American Gothic (sans pitchfork). I think it’s safe to say our little hobby has them concerned.
May has arrived. I know this because a few nights ago I was barefoot, having a beer on the terrace, this morning it was snowing like crazy and now it’s 60° and sunny. This combined with the -unique- HVAC system at the Tower of Pestilence has made for some interesting wardrobe choices lately. Luckily my snowboard jacket matches my light blue sandals, so at least I’m still color-coordinated.
April, as usual, was a blast. It started under a mound of confetti in Cancun and the last week brought Crazylegs and my birthday, both with Stace and a slew of other good friends and family. In the interim were some fun breakfasts (I’m all about hosting breakfast now) with more friends and family, JeffO’s move to San Francisco, Jenil’s trip to Thailand, an interesting search for a new coworker, (as in new hire, nothing that made CNN this time), a ton of freelance work and a new iBook that I’m sure I’ll find extremely useful once I figure out how to FTP. If you’re one of my geeky friends (that’s meant as a compliment) and you know why I can’t FTP over a wireless network, please call.
May shows great promise with the return of the farmers market, moonflower vines and hopefully the Cheerio, which is currently in the shop awaiting a new starter. I’m also looking forward to surfing lessons with Tammy and the How Design conference in sunny San Diego. And maybe a quick trip to San Fran to sip some wine in the valley, try boarding on salt water and check out Jeff’s not-so-humble abode.
