no one waving for me, just the shoreline receding

because annie asked me twice and tom asked me once!

favorite things in 2008:

10. the decemberists
9. treasure island music festival
8. white christmas
7. working downtown(ish)
6. coffee
5. sf city parks
4. no heart break 08
3. okkervil river
2. my bed
1. chicken

top 5 most played songs of 2008 (according to last.fm):

1.maine island lovers - okkervil river
2.starry stairs- okkervil river
3.jerusalem- mirah
4.for emma- bon iver
5.piazza new york catcher- belle & sebastian

two thousand eight:

kicking this from my head because i'm at work and don't have a lot of the visuals to remind me. also, not all of these are necessarily from 2008.

highlights:
racing cyclocross
recording our cd and touring europe
(mostly) getting over laura
breaking a long-standing (i.e. over half of my waking life) addiction
my 3 different jobs in 3 different cities
vegas
two weddings: irene's and my college roommate's
living and cooking in my own apartment
riding to work with the SF 2 Google crew

lowlights:
getting screwed by jabbawockeez when we went to see them live
touring europe
epic triathlon fail
spraining my hand in cyclocross
not monitoring my spending
1+ hour caltrain commute
samsung blackjack, worst purchase ever
opting for the coward's way out 99% of the time

movies: milk, slumdog millionaire, harold and kumar 2, chasing amy
disappointment: the dark knight

books: you shall know our velocity, the road, the favourite game, the omnivore's dilemma, are you ready to succeed?, rich dad poor dad
disappointment: what is the what

television: the office, arrested development, the wire, human giant

music: ghosts & vodka, the dodos, jay dee, silver mt. zion, gybe, arthur russell, lucky dragons, bon iver, themselves / dose one / subtle, manitoba, why?

live shows: bon iver, lucky dragons (saw a bunch more that i just can't remember)
disappointment: why? at gamh

2009 goals:
1. train and road race (this didn't happen last year... it will this year)
2. write and record new cd, tour japan / australia in summer
3. try a new sport / activity / take a class and learn something new
4. start volunteering 1-2x a month
5. make a list of things i want to see and do in san francisco and do them
6. read a book every two weeks
7. be in a relationship (maybe)
8. learn how to be brave

my favorite things of 2008

(i'm doing this for you, tom, who did it for joel)

• my bike
• meeting my peets friends
  
• watching the jabbawockeez and america's best dance crew
  
• snorkeling in maui
• my nike dunks and brown boots
• bowling birthday party and my skanky ho cake
• irene and conrad's wedding
• forgetting sarah marshall, nick and norah's infinite playlist, 30 rock & gray's anatomy
• getting on a snowboard
• december

2008: The Year of Fatigue and Missing Time

2008 was exhausting. 2008 flew by really fast! Seriously, can you believe 2008 is over??? Joel strong-armed me into posting some year end lists. Soooo without further ado... in no particular order...

Music That Got Me Through 2008:
1. Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debby, Moonbeams, and Sunday at the Village Vanguard
2. Ahmad Jamal - Live at the Pershing Lounge, 1958
3. Philip Glass - Solo Piano
4. The Walkmen - You and Me
5. gas - Nah Und Fern
6. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
7. Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night
8. Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas
9. Yo Yo Ma - Bach: The Cello Suites
10. Frederic Chopin - Preludes
11. Daniel Johnston - Welcome to My World
12. She & Him - Volume One
13. Madlib - Mind Fusion Vol. 4
14. NO AGE - Nouns
15. Blonde Redhead - 23

Best Things I Watched in 2008:
1. War Photographer
2. No Country for Old Men
3. They Live
4. The Dark Knight
5. 30 Rock
6. The Wire
7. Human Giant
8. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Things that Happened in 2008 that I Feel Good About:
1. Became a PhD Candidate
2. Finished editing a book
3. Traveled to China
4. GFBF
5. Defended my dissertation proposal
6. Taught my own real college course
7. First black president
8. Got a RICH grant to put on a cool poster show in Providence and Boston
9. Finished my Teaching Certificate at Brown
10. Taught two secondary school classes (Quincy High & Paul Cuffee Middle School)
11. Conrad and Irene, husband and wife

Goals for 2009:
1. Lose weight and develop healthy habits
2. Don't work so hard. Learn to relax!
3. Take control of my finances
4. Simplify and unclutter my life

Bill Evans Trio, Waltz for Debby:

2008: Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye

Favorite Records of 2008
10. High Places - High Places
9. Beach House - Devotion
8. TV On the Radio - Dear Science,
7. DJ/Rupture - Uproot
6. Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood
5. No Age - Nouns
4. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
3. Women - Women
2. Times New Viking - Rip it Off
1. The Walkmen - You & Me

Favorite Songs of 2008 (old and new)
Street Hassle - Lou Reed
Farewell Transmission - Songs: Ohia
Ambulance Blues - Neil Young
For Emma - Bon Iver
Act Nice and Gentle - The Black Keys
The Helicopter Spies - Swell Maps
Weather Report - The Tenors
Celebrate the Body Electric - Ponytail
You Left the Water Running - Ken Boothe
Illumination - Broadcast
Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon
Auntie's Lock/Infinitum - Flying Lotus
With My Hands Out - Mount Eerie
Parting Song for the Torn Sky - Crystal Antlers

Best Live Shows of 2008
1. Lucky Dragons - The Hemlock Tavern
2. SXSW - No Age and Fucked Up on some bridge at 3am; Mess with Texas free show with Pissed Jeans, No Age, White Denim, Islands, and The Breeders; Mika Miko and Monotonix at some dive bar
3. Boris with Michio Kurihara - Great American Music Hall
4. Built to Spill - The Fillmore
5. San Francisco Electronic Music Festival - Richard Teitelbaum, Sharkiface
6. Treasure Island Music Festival - Fleet Foxes, Dr Dog, Spiritualized, Two Gallants, Port O'Brien, Tokyo Police Club, The Dodos, Okkervil River
7. Bon Iver and Phosphorescent - The Independent
8. The Dirty Projectors - The Independent
9. Outside Lands Music Festival - Radiohead, Beck, The Black Keys, Black Mountain
10. Vampire Weekend - Amoeba Records in SF

Favorite Movies:
The Dark Knight
Son of Rambow
Iron Man
Rambo

Dammit I didnt see enough movies this year.
My to see list is long, hopefully I can cram it all in before 2009:
Let the Right One In
Happy Go Lucky
Synechdoche
Milk
The Wrestler
The Reader
Rachel Getting Married
The Class
Wendy and Lucy
Timecrimes

Disappointments:
Slumdog Millionare
Vicky Christina Barcelona (though Penelope Cruz was H.O.T!)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Burn After Reading
Quantum of Solace

SUP

remo-lantern!

heppy halloweeeen!

and we're back!

Prepubescent tom

amazing

i love you!

What's up

i must have bad taste

i can't find my body wash at Target, Walgreens, Safeway or Rite Aid. Another product to add to the list of products discontinued, or no longer sold in-stores:

1. freeman's blueberry-lavender face wash
2. southern fried chicken salad at cheesecake factory
3. edy/dreyer's espresso chip ice cream
4. dove sensitive skin face wash
5. ben and jerry's coffee coffee buzz buzz buzz
6. cupcakes from La Boulange
7. soft soap milk and honey body wash

fortunately, dinobites are back at Safeway!

R.I.P. Thomas IV

i picked him up, and his skin just peeled right off...it was time to say good-bye.
quite honestly, i'm a little sad.

more self-indulgent cop-out

giving back all of our tears so we can cry them again...

http://sarasara.muxtape.com/

http://bearfight.muxtape.com/

We should all make one of these:

http://muxtape.com/

http://derrick.muxtape.com

"What Happened to all the Nice Guys?"

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/lax/483318927.html

Date: 2007-11-19, 3:52AM PST


I see this question posted with some regularity in the personals section, so I thought I'd take a minute to explain things to the ladies out there that haven't figured it out.

What happened to all the nice guys?

The answer is simple: you did.

See, if you think back, really hard, you might vaguely remember a Platonic guy pal who always seemed to want to spend time with you. He'd tag along with you when you went shopping, stop by your place for a movie when you were lonely but didn't feel like going out, or even sit there and hold you while you sobbed and told him about how horribly the (other) guy that you were fucking treated you.

At the time, you probably joked with your girlfriends about how he was a little puppy dog, always following you around, trying to do things to get you to pay attention to him. They probably teased you because they thought he had a crush on you. Given that his behavior was, admittedly, a little pathetic, you vehemently denied having any romantic feelings for him, and buttressed your position by claiming that you were "just friends." Besides, he totally wasn't your type. I mean, he was a little too short, or too bald, or too fat, or too poor, or didn't know how to dress himself, or basically be or do any of the things that your tall, good-looking, fit, rich, stylish boyfriend at the time pulled off with such ease.

Eventually, your Platonic buddy drifted away, as your relationship with the boyfriend got more serious and spending time with this other guy was, admittedly, a little weird, if you werent dating him. More time passed, and the boyfriend eventually cheated on you, or became boring, or you realized that the things that attracted you to him weren't the kinds of things that make for a good, long-term relationship. So, now, you're single again, and after having tried the bar scene for several months having only encountered players and douche bags, you wonder, "What happened to all the nice guys?"

Well, once again, you did.

You ignored the nice guy. You used him for emotional intimacy without reciprocating, in kind, with physical intimacy. You laughed at his consideration and resented his devotion. You valued the aloof boyfriend more than the attentive "just-a-" friend. Eventually, he took the hint and moved on with his life. He probably came to realize, one day, that women aren't really attracted to guys who hold doors open; or make dinners just because; or buy you a Christmas gift that you mentioned, in passing, that you really wanted five months ago; or listen when you're upset; or hold you when you cry. He came to realize that, if he wanted a woman like you, he'd have to act more like the boyfriend that you had. He probably cleaned up his look, started making some money, and generally acted like more of an asshole than he ever wanted to be.

Fact is, now, he's probably getting laid, and in a way, your ultimate rejection of him is to thank for that. And I'm sorry that it took the complete absence of "nice guys" in your life for you to realize that you missed them and wanted them. Most women will only have a handful of nice guys stumble into their lives, if that.

So, if you're looking for a nice guy, here's what you do:

1.) Build a time machine.
2.) Go back a few years and pull your head out of your ass.
3.) Take a look at what's right in front of you and grab ahold of it.

I suppose the other possibility is that you STILL don't really want a nice guy, but you feel the social pressure to at least appear to have matured beyond your infantile taste in men. In which case, you might be in luck, because the nice guy you claim to want has, in reality, shed his nice guy mantle and is out there looking to unleash his cynicism and resentment onto someone just like you.

If you were five years younger.

So, please: either stop misrepresenting what you want, or own up to the fact that you've fucked yourself over. You're getting older, after all. It's time to excise the bullshit and deal with reality. You didn't want a nice guy then, and he certainly doesn't fucking want you, now.

Sincerely,

A Recovering Nice Guy

for sara, forever ago

best saturday night in the city.

fritos:


vitamin water:


it was like a one man party...

You'll taste it in time

thank you, giant robot

how many nipple do you have??

ALL I SEE (or, my flickr with gross commentary)

these last few weeks have been pretty awesome. maybe all my memories eventually become revisionist, but here are some of the highlights:

weekend 1, san francisco / oakland:

we started things off right at kim's backyard, a crazy korean-owned dive bar next to the stork club in the oakland cuts. crazy expensive bottled beers - i think it was $5.00 for sierra nevadas! needless to say, after about one i was done.



more (and final) vocals being recorded for our full-length, with davy our old singer making a rare gust appearance



serious burrito time at dolores park on a rare sunny saturday in february



justin's moving to new york party outside of the latin club - ironically i got a picture of some new friends, but none of he and i. this 17 year old girl that was present (not pictured) ended up giving me her phone number through justin and then adding me on myspace, but believe me officer i wasn't having it!



the next day found us in serious food coma after brunch at my old apartment in russian hill, i think we literally stayed in this position for an hour and a half, with me lying on the hardwood floor.




weekend 2: las vegas / dallas, tx

not many pictures here. here is the widely known about but rarely seen photograph of derrick in his unnatural habitat, douching it up with old college roommates club-style outside of Pure in Caesar's Palace. they somehow let us in.



which is cool, since wilmer valderrama was chilling in the vip section



this was taken the next night at some equally douchey club, and is quite literally the last thing i remember before blacking out utterly and completely for the rest of the night after one too many white russians and redbull vodkas at the blackjack table. attractive, i know.



i took a 10:00pm flight from Vegas to Dallas Fort Worth on Sunday, arriving at my hotel delirious at 3:30am and needing to be at work in less than five hours. but, that didn't stop me from seeing my favorite dads in the world monday night at this place the cavern near downtown dallas for some $2.00 bottles of lonestar, the texan's beer of choice. i also forgot that they still let you smoke cigarettes inside here, holy freaking god.




weekend 3: san diego (yes, something good actually happened here this weekend!)

i spent most of the day saturday enjoying the ocean breeze while watching brandon and ashley play at their tennis tournament. brandon lost in doubles in the semi-finals of the boys' 14s, and ashley lost in the finals of the girls' 10s. here she is seen kicking this other girls' ass in the semis, while my parents and i are thoroughly enjoying the show and couldn't give a shit whether she won or lost, since it's near-comical watching 10 year-olds chase down tennis balls. too bad her opponent's crazy satan of a mother didn't feel the same, and yelled at her daughter until she cried after the match was over.



shaun and jenn drove down from floss angeles and the oc, respectively, for heidi's birthday. we began at this Chinese restaurant called Mandarin House that served amazing tiki drinks. shaun and i ordered "the volcano," which professed itself to be only for daring couples, but we'd like to consider ourselves adventurous despite what others might think.



jenn got this awesome fortune - it was either the horrifyingly racist one written in pidgin english, or this other equally awkward one that i can't recall.



we ended up at the pink elephant where heidi's boyfriend's soul band, "the viewmasters," was opening for the night. afterwards, we went to this awesome late night japanese ramen place, and i don't think i've ever stayed out that late in san diego ever. maybe this city has some promise after all.



this morning we met up for brunch at cafe 222.





i spent the rest of the day riding my bike, playing tennis, and then playing call of duty 4 with brandon, which we'd just picked up earlier that day from sears. it was another perfect weekend.

sorry for space-hogging on this one. i'll be back in the bay the last weekend of march. i miss you guys.

my new best friend?

wish me luck

growing up

they grew

Time passes slowly here in the daylight

Sun Spots

Irene + Miranda

Twin sisters 4 life

Lovely.

Dinner at Sarah and Camilo's

The theme = "a fine romance"

Eric

Yvette and Kevin



My prize for being smarter than a 5th grader.

Then surprise visit to James' house.

Gabriel got a job!!! Go Gabby go!

Such a cool studio. I want to live here.

Powr Mastrs + Power of Salad

Chippendale Ninjas


Good night.