Blog Master G

I upgraded my blog to Movable Type 3.2 yesterday. The upgrade process was mostly smooth, although I did hit one roadblock about my mt_log table already existing. As mentioned in the support forum, a repair of my database got things rolling for me again. The first thing one notices about this update is the streamlined user interface. I really like it except for the fact that the text I’m typing into the editing interface right now is too small. Not all of us have great vision. This new version apparently contains lots of great new features, including these 32 favorite features, though I haven’t really explored much of it yet. In general, I’ve found that since I spend so much time at the computer every day for work, I really try to limit my non-work computer time to give my eyes a much-needed break from the strain of our high-tech world.

Crony Jobs – Choice government careers for the taking. No experience necessary.

When I lived in San Francisco, I often dreamt of skiing down the city’s many hills. Apparently I wasn’t the only one.

It snowed in San Francisco last week, if only for a day. The Fillmore Street hill in Pacific Heights, among the steepest in the city, was covered with snow and turned into a ski jump on a hot afternoon day for the likes of Johnny Mosley and other lesser known skiers to put on a show with breathtaking views of the Bay in the background.

Sure, it might be a waste of money and resources, but it makes for some pretty amazing photos — and a unique experience. Now there are only a handful of people in the world who can say they’ve skied the streets of San Francisco. The closest I’ve come to that is rollerblading down some pretty steep hills.

(Thanks, Dad, for the link.)

Friday night we hit the Parting Glass to watch the Red Sox get smoked out of the play-offs, followed by a bit of a pub crawl into the night. Last night we joined Alex and Cati and a few new friends for a delicious authentic Spanish meal and a sampling of the white wine contenders for the wedding reception next summer. Today is mostly a lazy day around the house, though I did some finances/budgeting stuff and removed the air conditioner from our bedroom window.

While opening a bottle of 2004 Sterling Sauvignon Blanc Vintner’s Collection a few nights ago — one of the best Sauvignon Blancs I’ve ever had; Sterling has long been one of my favorite vineyards — I couldn’t help but notice that Sterling and Vassar seem to employ the same design team for bottles and class rings. I just had to capture the moment (along with that delicious salad in the background).

My favorite story about my VC ring is from during the dot-com days in San Francisco when venture capital funding was all the rage and everyone had a business plan.com. I was at a bar one night and holding a drink with my right hand. The guy next to me noticed my ring and excitedly asked, “Are you a venture capitalist?!” My answer shattered the glimmer of hope in his eyes, but maybe I should’ve said yes. For all I know, it could’ve been this guy.

Happy birthday to Neil, James, and Gabe M.!

It’s not often that a movie at the top of the box office two weeks running and getting great reviews can live up to its hype. But Flightplan does just that. The plane-based thriller had me tense throughout and really felt like being on a plane. The story was told so well that not only was it like being there, but the emotional rollercoaster of Jodie Foster’s character was tangible and very real. Just when you start to share her anxiety of losing her daughter and empathize with her, you gradually feel your social instincts kicking in and you side with the crew and passengers, who suspect her of being crazy when her daughter vanishes and no one remembers having seen her. I won’t spoil anything here, but Flightplan is one thriller worth taking for a ride.

It was around this time last year when we were in the final stretch of production for 100 Faces of Marin, turned on our heater for the first time of the season, and really started to see the leaves come down. Our front yard looks a bit like this again now, but it’s not quite as cold yet; we haven’t had to turn on the heater just yet or remove the AC from our bedroom window. The frogometer outside my office window — the lesser known companion to the treemometer — shows just under 60 degrees this morning.

Bill Murray (fellow Capital region resident, I suspect, and not the actor, although Jen and I did walk right past the actor in Oakland airport last month on our way home from our last SF Trip) recently commented here about the upcoming mayoral election here in Saratoga Springs, which will pit political newcomer Valerie Keehn against Republican incumbent Michael Lenz. Keehn won the Democratic primary last month in the city’s first such election, is backed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, and has a son named Gabriel. So really, she must be cool if she has such good taste in names. All that and she plans to “engage and unite citizens in our government; promote planned, deliberate and balanced growth; and will work to preserve and enhance our quality of life.” Sounds good to me. I’m sure I’ll comment more on the election and Keehn’s campaign when I’ve had a chance to meet her and/or attend some of her upcoming events (yes, Saratoga is really that small that one can plan to meet a mayoral candidate before casting a ballot).

The sun shone warmly and the skies were blue all weekend long — through yesterday. Today looks a bit more gray. The weekend was perfect to get the car washed, hit a local farm to watch kids run through pumpkin patches and take hay rides, and to buy some apples for delicious apple cake. It was a perfect day for a walk with the dogs in the state park. Though a bit chilly Saturday night, the bonfire at Seth and Niki’s lake house kept us warm into the night.

Last night we had Ken and Rachel over for some We Love Katamari, the sequel to the addictive PS2 game that involves rolling things up. Sounds strange, I know, but it’s fun, though, admittedly, I haven’t become quite as hooked on it as Jen and others have. The psychological appeal the game has is unique: One of consumption and the need to accumulate stuff, I suggested. No, said Jen and Rachel, one of order. Do we feel a need for things to be in order? I know I can only take so much mess on my desk or in my house before it begins to stress me out. Chi.

My heart goes out to all the families of those killed in the boat accident on Lake George Sunday. What a terrible and sad event. Lake George isn’t far from here, but those killed were far from their homes in Michigan. On a crystal-clear day, something like this should have been prevented, but apparently the boat was without a required crew member and prone to not being very balanced.

Bush has nominated Harriet E. Miers as his pick for Supreme Court justice. Funny that 41 of the 109 people to serve on the Supreme Court had no prior judging experience. Maybe I should run for president in 2008. I’ve never held political office, aside from chairing a local alumnae/i club. Does that qualify me?

The treemometer shows a chilly 44 degrees this morning. It was around this time last year, though a bit earlier in September, when the fall temperature took its first dip down below 50 degrees. If this year is anything like last, it should be just another month or so until we start to see some snow.

Go Red Sox!

Just how big is my blog? If I export the text of this blog, including all comments but minus all photos, and paste it all into Word at Courier New 10, it’s 1,664 pages. One page equals 11 inches. That’s 18,304 inches of blog. 1,525 feet of blog. Nearly a third of a mile of blog. And that’s just the text.

Here are some updated blog stats using the same measures that I did a couple years ago:

Published Entries: 1,276 (including this one)
Total Entries: 1,367
Comments: 1,783
Exported Pages in a Word Doc: 1,664 (Courier New size 10 font)
Words: 429,866
Characters (no spaces): 2,679,405
Characters (with spaces): 3,069,293
Paragraphs: 46,533
Lines: 94,590
Word Doc File Size: 8,988 kb

Site Meter current stats:

VISITS

Total 410,479
Average Per Day 492
Average Visit Length 0:38
Last Hour 12
Today 84
This Week 3,444

PAGE VIEWS

Total 672,862
Average Per Day 715
Average Per Visit 1.5
Last Hour 23
Today 121
This Week 5,002

So now you know. Word.

Laziness begets laziness. The less I do — the less challenged my body and my mind are, phsyically and mentally — the more tired I become. After a long day at work yesterday, I didn’t feel like doing much besides achieving professional couch potato status. I think four-plus hours qualifies, right? After a couple old episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, revisiting last year’s Crossfire with Jon Stewart (which my dad hadn’t yet seen but is still on my DVR), a November episode of Frontline: Is Wal-Mart Good for America? (part of which was filmed by my Uncle Michael), and the first episode from season 1 of The OC, I had achieved my goal. All that was left to do was go to my bed… and watch some Late Show… and sleep for eight-plus hours.

Don’t get me wrong, I like being lazy as much as the next guy — sometimes it’s in order even for those of us who like to be constantly on the go — it’s just that it makes me more tired than when I’m out on the town, walking, riding my bike, skiing, traveling, BBQing with friends, and the like. Jen (rightfully so) gives me a hard time about our packed social calendar, but I just can’t help it. My new theory is that it’s what energizes me and keeps me going.

In other news, signs of fall are everywhere: It’s 50 degrees this morning, the leaves are falling more and more, a fall chill is in the air, and some trees have begun their mystical transformation from green to brilliant colors of orange, red, and yellow.

Two years ago today: Emergency Room.

America: Land of the free, home of the brave, and playground to the filthy rich. In America, big is never big enough, espeically if you have deep pockets and a need to flaunt your individualism. I read in this month’s Vanity Fair about Rising Sun, Larry Ellison’s new $250 million 454-foot yacht, the largest in the world.

It’s no Woodside or Bel Air, but for 200 years, Saratoga Springs has been a destination whose name alone “evokes privilege and leisure.” I’m lucky to live in a town of leisure and appreciate a beautiful home, but, owning an 80-year-old Craftsman-style home myself, tend to lean more toward the historical home, be it a 150-year-old Victorian, a restored Greek Revival, or anything else that’s survived the years on the merit of its character and architectural integrity.

Sadly, the new housing norm in America, like everything else, seems to be bigger, bigger, bigger. (I realize there’s always going to be a need for housing and there are only so many historical homes in existence, but their uniqueness is part of what gives old homes their charm. It’s too bad all the money poured into new construction couldn’t be directed toward historic preservation.)

Contributing to its image of eliteness, Saratoga Springs is home to some flaunting single-family houses that give new meaning to the word “mansion.” Tucked among the beautiful Victorians on North Broadway is a fairly new $4.9 million, 19,341-square-foot mansion. As if to one-up what is currently the biggest house in town, another big-wig is building a 61,403 square-foot mansion on a 29-acre site (when the plans were first released, Justin was interviewed about it in a “man on the street” segment on a local TV station). The house is bigger than the White House and more than three times the size of the North Broadway home.

Does anyone really need a house that big? Why not buy a big beautiful old home in town, build a hospital or school, and set up a fund to help educate children in impoverished nations? To each his own, I supppose.

Times Union: Sometimes, a man’s castle is his home / A person who values privacy is attracting a lot of attention with a mansion fit for a king:

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Through the ages, males have attracted attention. This is biological. Birds plume. Men rev Harleys.

…

(The) eye-popping cottage (has) two art galleries and 2,486 square feet of living-room space. Dozens of craftsmen arrive daily in pickups at the 29-acre site, toting security systems, copper roofing and heating equipment past a chain-link fence.

They have been told not to talk about it. And trespassers will be prosecuted, a sign warns.

…

The rich like to distinguish themselves from others, Witold Rybczynski, author and expert on architecture and housing, said in a recent interview. And big homes are the ultimate luxury.

Americans are particularly driven to accumulate a bigger house, a faster car, the latest styles, says Peter Whybrow, a psychiatry professor at UCLA and author of “American Mania: When More Is Not Enough.” Whybrow says our society is off balance due to materialism and celebrating the individual at the expense of community.

Such values are sometimes echoed in Saratoga Springs, which has always retained a hint of the Gilded Age. Today, the city suffers from a dearth of affordable housing. Condominiums sell for $400,000.

“It’s Aspen East, it’s the Hamptons, that’s what it’s become,” said Rory O’Connor, broker-owner of Saratoga Real Property. “It’s gentrified to a point that has surprised even the locals.”

…

It’s beyond McMansion. Past Whopper. More monster house, with a construction contract of $4 million and a potential property tax bill of $100,000 a year. The land alone: $140,000, what many entire houses in the region sell for.

I recently had to replace my cell phone. I got the same model since I still like it so much. There’s probably some unwritten rule about kayaking with a cell phone in your pocket. For some reason, cell phones and water don’t mix. I can’t imagine why. That night, I emptied everything out of my pockets except my cell phone. It made sense at the time. But then I promptly proceeded to slide into the water while climbing into Seth’s kayak at one point. The phone continued to work, but it wouldn’t charge anymore.

Fast-forward to last night. I’m going through my old cell to update the new one with all my phonebook numbers. (Hasn’t anyone invented an easy way to do that? I’m sure Bluetooth will make that easier from now on. I’m jealous of that Bluetooth headset that everyone, including James, seems to have these days.) I know the people and businesses named in 98% of my phone numbers. But I come across a couple names in the 518 I don’t recognize. They’re women’s names, but for the life of me, I can’t remember who these people are. The names are the same as people I’ve known in the past (Sacramento and San Francisco), but never in the 518. How does that happen? Am I really becoming senile already?

Just to be on the safe side, I transferred these unrecognizable names and numbers into my new phone — ’cause you never know. Maybe I’ll need to call them some day.