cereal robots ario's ubercoolisch blog

18Feb/101

Viva absurdism!

I can't believe I'm taking something the guy in the Pink Floyd boxer shorts said seriously, but here goes...

"I'm only interested in the art that children make, that retarded people make and that criminals make. You see you have a subconscious function and a conscious function and between these two mental functions is a filter.

In a child the filter is undeveloped and the stream of consciousness is unrestricted between the subconscious and the conscious. In a mental person the filter is either retarded or damaged. In a criminal that filter is not fully functional, so there's an unrestricted flow of information from the subconscious to the conscious. The most exciting thing in my life is to make art based on these ideas." (source)

He's described something I've had a hard time articulating about the sillier things I enjoy.   Here are some examples...

Tim & Eric:

John Maus:

Negativland:

Miguel Soares, Negativland's Time Zones from migso on Vimeo.

Wesley Willis:

These are all artists that have been able to tap into illogical, childish, dream-logic worlds... but there's a fine balance here. Like banging all the keys on a piano or drawing wild lines on paper with crayons, it's easy to make something abstract... anyone can do that.  The skill is in marrying the abstract with the real.  How can the artist take the crazy ideas we all get while standing in line or that come to us in dreams and manifest them into art. David Lynch would probably describe this as "catching the big fish"... the ability to get at the ideas buried way down deep in the subconscious.  Whether it be through meditation, drugs, schizophrenia, or just silencing internal filters from time to time... there are lots of ways to tap into this wacky world and it doesn't happen nearly as often as it should.

I also find it interesting how the more abstract forms of art quickly becoming polarizing... creating a "you either love it or hate it" dichotomy.   Anything that creates legions of fans and haters alike must've touched a nerve somewhere.  In a world with so many clones and soporific artists (yes, I used the s-word), kudos I say to anyone who is able to take the wacked out contents of their brain and put them on display for others to ponder.

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4Feb/104

The demise of real sharing

"No one ever ever knows anyone. You're not ever gonna know me."

-Sean Batemon, from this.

It hit me today that I don't *really* know what's going on with my friends as much as I did when I was a little kid... all the way up until the dawn of Facebook.  Allow me to extrapolate...

As a child of the 80s and 90s, I had a relatively small social circle that I primarily interacted with in person.  I always had a good sense of how my friends were feeling, what they looked like, and what they were up to.

This continued all through college and even while the internet was getting more popular, the number of online friends I had was small and I continued to mainly interact with my friends in real life.

When I graduated college in 2000, the internet had become pretty mainstream and I was introduced to the world of LiveJournal which created a new form of friendship.  Because LJ was used for both silly and serious things, you could actually get a sense for what a person was like.

People would share some things publicly, some privately and there was a social norm that made it ok to follow the journal of a stranger.  Since most people used aliases and there was no set standard for using a real profile picture, there was a freedom that allowed for deeper self expression.  There was room for bumping into strangers and turning virtual friends into real friends.  It feels like those days are long gone and I really miss that.

A few reasons why...

  • Friendster was the beginning of the end.  Once a social site was no longer about self expression, but purely focused on illustrating the social graph, the emphasis was no longer on ideas, thoughts, and feelings... it became all about who and how many people you were connected to
  • Then came MySpace which allowed a bit more for expression than Friendster with custom profile pages and bulletin board posts.  Some people shared things there, but they were never the kind of personal posts you'd find on LJ
  • After that came Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr which is where we are today.  These sites may have taken us the furthest away from creating quality content than any other preceding social network.  They are optimized for short bursts of communication... and lend themselves more towards showcasing the thoughts and creations of others, rather than our own.

While it's been great to have tools that expose people to interesting things, I fear that their convenience has taken away much of the incentive for self-expression.  Why take the time and expend the mental energy to create something new when you can just share the work of others?

Facebook and Twitter reinforce this mode of communication largely through their UI.  Just compare the text box size for saying something in Facebook vs LiveJournal..

Telling your friends your innermost thoughts requires a lot more room than a system optimized for link sharing or how long the line is at the DMV.

I should also mention that I don't think all communication needs to be of the "real" variety... sharing trivialities is also important... it just feels off when it's too much of one or the other.  There's a quote on this I like but can't remember the source of... something like "If all your communication is deep, then that's not a relationship, that's therapy."

Facebook does provide some outlet for longer form content via their blog-style Notes feature, but it's tucked away in the interface and mostly serves as a way to syndicate content from a blog hosted elsewhere.

So now we find ourselves in a world where as we get older, our friends move to other cities, making us even more reliant on the web to stay in touch.  At the same time, tools that support deeper sharing with those you care about most are severely lacking.  Well, the tools are out there, but no one's really paying attention to them.  (And when it comes to LJ specifically, I'm not sure how much longer I entrust my content to their parent company, SUP).

Some reasons why deeper sharing seems to be going away:

  • Facebook and Twitter style posts are easier to create and over time, have become the norm of what we expect from one another
  • Monetarily, there's no incentive for Facebook or Twitter to encourage privately shared content.  If they can't mine your content and show relevant ads next to it, then why bother encouraging that use case?
  • As we get older, our desire to share with others goes down.  We're probably paired up and find that confiding in a partner enough of an outlet... or we just give less of a damn in general.

And even if Facebook were to provide a better experience around privately shared posts to groups, would you trust them to really keep your stuff private?  They've changed around their privacy controls so much over their short history, it's a case of the boy who cried wolf, even if they did want to support this.

As for LiveJournal, I feel their days are numbered (at least in my social circle).  Fewer and fewer posts show up there, particularly of the friends-only variety that I enjoyed reading between 2001 to 2008.

A few last thoughts:

  • Consumption isn't cool
  • If you're a friend and we haven't spoken in awhile, I'd really like to know what you're up to and how you're doing... preferably over a meal in Zurich! but email works too :)
  • Social sites should look beyond the all mighty dollar and try to facilitate deeper connections between people instead of allowing us to bombard each other with distractions

Over n' out!

27Jan/101

Disagreements and yin over yang

Not too long ago,  I took a barefoot running clinic with one of its main gurus, Barefoot Ted.  I've been meaning to post my thoughts about barefoot running, but that's not what this post is about.

It's about something Ted mentioned during the clinic that took all of a few seconds to say and it's been one of the most profound lessons I've learned in a long time.

Towards the end of our clinic, Ted was describing how he handles it when he encounters funny looks or disparaging comments about his decision to run sans footwear (or in funny looking shoes).  Instead of going through a full diatribe with stats, facts, and figures on why barefoot is better... he uses more of a "whatever floats your boat" attitude.  Paraphrasing... "I use a little yin instead of more yang... making a joke about it can actually diffuse things way better than arguing."

As soon as he said that, it resonated with me and now I  keep it mind whenever a disagreement arises.  Obviously in certain situations and depending on who you're talking with, convincing the other person that you are right is incredibly important.  There are lots of books written about persuasion and of course debate competitions that turn skillful arguing into a game.

But not all situations require you to win the other person over.  By trying to convince others that you are right, you may actually do irreparable damage to your relationship and get them to dig in even deeper.

The wise Dale Carnegie has a time-tested way of diffusing even the thorniest disagreement with one simple sentence...

"I may be wrong. I frequently am. Let's examine the facts."

Most arguments aren't over facts... so what should one do when it's a matter of opinion?  I think these are the ideal times to throw in some of that yin Ted referred to.  If someone makes a definitive statement like "I hate chocolate... I really don't see why so many people like it"... responding with, "That's insane, how can you not like chocolate!?!" may just make you sound like a judgemental asshole.

Making fun of the situation by responding with something like, "Well, that means there's just more chocolate for me!" works well because you just demonstrated that:

  • You're not interested in converting them
  • You acknowledge they've probably thought through why they feel that way for some time (so you're not insulting their intelligence)
  • It may show that you value the relationship more than showing how smart or right you are
  • It'll probably save you time since you can move on and talk about something else
  • On the reverse psychology angle... maybe it'll get them to consider your position even more since you displayed confidence by not feeling the need to persuade

I can see the fruits of this now because up until Ted said that, I was more likely to be the person who would try to "out logic" others which rarely ever worked.  I pick and choose my battles more effectively now and would like to think I've salvaged some relationships too.

Arguing can be really fun sometimes, but that's completely dependent on who it's with and what your relationship is like.  I know couples where their main form of interacting is by arguing and that works for them.  We all have super-opinionated co-workers who love o broadcast their provocative opinions all the time.  It can be fun having a back n' forth with them, but I think in a lot of cases, it's better to stop and think for a sec about the yin approach and maybe you can completely flip the direction of where things were headed.  Perhaps this is all super obvious and I'm just the last one to know... but I am curious to hear how other people think about handling disagreements... get to commenting below!

11Jan/101

2009 recap / 2010 goals

2009

  • After thinking about web annotation for many years (starting back in grad school), my big project at work was released
  • Learned how to ride a motorcycle
  • Began running regularly again.  Completed the SF half marathon which was my first race in 2 years (due to injury)
  • Incorporated swimming into my exercise routine and learned how to do a proper front crawl
  • Wrote a few blog posts about UX, Dave Chappelle, finding new music, & running
  • Reviewed 2 books that left a big impression on me: The Creative Habit & Amusing Ourselves to Death
  • Made another mix
  • Digitized all of my cds
  • Visited Houston, Seattle, Zürich, London, and Berlin
  • Finished watching all episodes of The Wire and Tim & Eric Awesome Show (loved both)
  • Pared down all of my possessions, moved to Zürich, and switched over to the Gmail team
  • Movies I  enjoyed: Vicky Cristina Barcelona, 2 Days in Paris, Children of Men, Gran Torino, Touching the Void, Gadjo Dilo, Latcho Drom, Zombieland, Let the Right One In, Manufactured Landscapes

2010

  • Find an apartment, move in, get new furniture, get settled
  • Improve my design skills by beefing up on Photoshop, Flash, CSS/JavaScript (maybe even learn After Effects?)
  • Do kick ass work for Gmail
  • Continue running, yoga, cycling, and swimming (hopefully a lot of lake swimming!)
  • Run another half marathon, but this time, in my VFFs
  • Visit London again (and again)
  • Check out one of the big euro music festivals
  • Visit Berlin during the summer
  • Go on some hikes in Switzerland once the weather gets nice
  • Use up some of my vacation time in Spain
  • Reunite with Stephan in Bamberg and Nathan in Paris (perhaps in conjunction with seeing Daft Punk?!)
  • Go skiing a few more times
  • Cook more
  • Take German lessons
  • Read more
  • Make another mix or two
  • Get my huge backlog of photos posted online
  • Dust off my SLR and start shooting again
  • Bonus: visit Iran if things cool down there, ideally via Turkey
  • Bonus: help start up Ignite Zürich with Russell
  • Be open to whatever comes next!
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25Dec/092

Ario’s favorite albums of 2009

It's that time of year again... although, I feel less pumped about my list this year than in years past. I spent more of my listening time in 2009 on older stuff I'd slept on for awhile (e.g. Silver Apples, Can, Faust) vs new stuff. Perhaps it's a by-product of getting older, but it seems rarer n' rarer to hear new music that actually stands up to the test of time and warrants repeat listens.

My consumption of new music hasn't gone down at all, but I feel like I'm discovering fewer 5 star albums (where the whole damn thing is good from end-to-end) than I used to.

Twist my arm though, and here you have my top 10 for the year (album covers link to video clips):

01. Kings of Convenience - Delcaration of Dependence

I've been a long time fan of these guys, but re-fell-in-love with them just as I heard they had a new album coming out. I know their music bores many to tears (*cough* Dave *cough*), but I'm a huge unrepentant fan. What can I say, they speak singularly to my inner sad bastard. Hoping to catch them live next year (and hoping even more that Erlend does another DJ Kicks record).

02. Röyksopp - Junior

If my #1 choice was all about melancholic introspection, this was my get-up-n-go album of the year which probably accompanied me on half of my outdoor runs. Röyksopp isn't the same band we heard on that first record (which I still long for), but I continue to be a fan and wish I hadn't missed out on their tour earlier this year.

03. The Sight Below - Glider

Technically, this is a 2008 release, but it came out in November and didn't go into my regular rotation until this year. It's the perfect record for "getting into the zone" and focusing. Broadly categorized as ambient, but most of the songs here have a subliminal driving beat in the background that give the song a pulse. I can't count the number of times I put this on at work when I needed to crank on some designs. I hope Raf won't take my utilitarian usage of his record as a negative :) It's seriously a gorgeous album and I can't wait to hear what he comes up with next.

04. Zomby - One Foot Ahead of the Other

I heard a lot of dubstep this year, but not much of it held my attention for very long... especially since the genre is driven by singles, not albums (here's my favorite dubstep single of the year while we're on the subject). Having said that, this record (listed as an EP... an EP with 9 songs???) really did it for me. The sounds are super pure, clean, and would be at home in any modern remake of an 8-bit NES game. Now if only someone could get the guy to show up for his own gigs.

05. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Playing the Piano

I also re-fell-in-love-with Sakamoto this year, revisiting as much of his backcatalog as I could get my hands on. I was all set to see him perform his piano works in Birmingham, but that gig was canceled :( Regardless, his music left a big mark on my 2009 and I suspect it will continue to do so for the rest of my life.

06. Patrick Cleandenim – Orange Moonbeam Floorshow

This was a random discovery made at Other Music in NYC. Really catchy tunes in the vein of Pet Shop Boys and other great dramatic synthpop of the 80s. I'm curious to see where he goes from here.

07. Fever Ray - Fever Ray

It really took me awhile to get into this record, but then I finally succumbed to the awesomeness that is Karin's solo project. I still long for new Knife, but this album, plus her Royksopp contributions will help tide me over until the next one comes out. (also file this under "shows I wish I could've caught this year").

08. Eluvium - Life through Bombardment

Another album that probably shouldn't be in this list (it's a 2009 comp of older material), but I'll bend the rules since it's what really got me into his music. I fell asleep to this more than anything else over the last 12 months (a high compliment). It's painfully pretty.

09. Omar Souleyman - Dabke 2020: Folk And Pop Sounds Of Syria

This was definitely the "funnest" find of 2009, just look at that album cover for crissakes! I have to thank Other Music again on this one... seriously, I had no idea people threw down like that in Syria. I can only hope living in Europe means I have a greater chance of seeing him live next year... preferably at some huge wedding.

10. Portico Quartet - Isla

The importance of brick n' mortar record stores is proved yet again with this latecomer to the list... picked up at Rough Trade in London. Fantastic instrumental compositions for fans of Tortoise and Cinematic Orchestra. Would love to see them perform sometime.

And that's all she wrote. For 2010, I'm looking forward to hearing the new Massive Attack, Burial, and Radiohead records. It sounds like Trent is already itching to come back out of hiding too and I'm praying it'll be more like Ghosts than anything else he did with NIN. Maybe Aphex or Boards of Canada will surprise us with something too?

I've checked out most of the other top ten lists floating around the web and it looks like Animal Collective came out as top dog. I can appreciate the band for their playfulness, but I never felt compelled to go back to this album. Maybe I will once all the fanfare dies down.

What were some things you dug this year that may have been overlooked by everyone else? I'm particularly interested in under-represented genres in my list like hip-hop or metal (does anyone even make good metal any more? I suppose that depends on who you ask and how you define "metal"... I know Isis and Circle are still doing good stuff). Whatever happened to bands like Faith No More, Ministry, Helmet? I suppose Tool are still around, but we need some young blood to step up and kick some sonic teeth in!

'Till next time...
-------------------------------

See my list for 2008 here.

28Nov/092

Importance


Some pics from Houston
. Back in SF tomorrow!

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26Nov/090

a few last thoughts on Zurich & London

I'm back in the states and relatively jet lag free. My plan of blogging-as-I-go fell through pretty quickly after that last post... memories of the trip are already starting to fade, but luckily, pictures are good reminders.

Rich's backyard

Pics from London | Last batch of Zurich photos.

A few considerations unique to moving to Zurich:

  • I have to buy my own light fixtures and wardrobe cabinent... apartments don't come with closets and light fixtures are something you take with you, just like the rest of your furniture.
  • It's not accurate to say you will "rent an apartment"...  you "apply for an apartment," like applying for a job.  You have to put together a packet with your salary, letter from your employer, and I hear many take the origin of your name into consideration as well... sadly.
  • If you're moving anything big, you have to hire a conveyor truck which hoists the item up and into your main outside facing window since stairs are too narrow to accomodate things like mattresses.
  • I saw 5 apartments while I was there and they were all nice, but none were in the neighborhood I like most.  The ones I saw were either in the suburbs or super ex-pat-y areas.  No thanks, I've learned my lesson here from prior cities.  I need to live close to where things are happening and the population is more heterogenous.

Thoughts on flying:

  • When I'm flying a lot, I feel compelled to say something about how incredible the experience is, but never do.  It's like swearing to yourself that you'll journal about the dream you just had, only to get distracted by something else.
  • It never gets old to me that it's possible to jump around the globe with such minimal personal effort.  In the span of human existence, our ability to globe trot is just a blink of an eye.  I wonder how much longer we will have this privilege once gas becomes more scarce.
  • No matter how much I fly, when there's heavy turbulence (even though I know it won't last) I still feel a strong fight or flight response.  My stomach fills with acid, my throat tightens up, I can't concentrate on anything else.  It blows my mind that man could build something so huge and strong that can hold together and remain flexible in heavy cross winds.  One thing that reduces my anxiety is looking at the flight crew.  They fly day in and day out and they're still here and smiling.
  • I really enjoy reading on flights.  It's one of the few distraction free environments in my life anymore.  While it's certainly convenient to be able to get online in a plane, I will miss the forced offline mode that flying has afforded us for so many years.
  • Protip: bring your own water bottle on the plane... (you can fill it up outside most bathrooms near the boarding gates).  They don't give out water nearly as often as you need to drink it, so this helps keep hydrated between when the carts come by.  Be careful though, a sip could turn into a refreshing mini-shower (thanks cabin pressure), so make sure to not screw the cap on your bottle too tight!

Randomness from Zurich:

  • I'll never forgive US MTV for its piss poor programming.  German MTV isn't perfect either, but at least they still play videos.  I thought this video by Stefanie Heinzmann was a good example of a pop star who actually has some singing talent (and she's Swiss).  Food fight videos never get old.
  • I'm looking forward to learning how to snowboard, but may pass on cross country snowboarding.
  • I read this this article on traveling on my last day in ZRH.  Who cares about being "dirty and ugly" when traveling?  You shouldn't be traveling so much if these things are of concern (or you need to plan better).  The general tone of privilege in here irks me.
  • I made a techno friend in town!  I was concerned about not having anyone to see shows with, but I was lucky enough to run into a guy who helps with CityFox (the Kontrol equivalent in ZRH).
  • Several ZRH-based friends mentioned the spoiling effect of living there.  It's easy to get used to the convenience of the mass transit and the general cleanliness of the city, so when you leave, these two factors jump out as inferior.  I hope this doesn't happen to me.
  • If you go to a grocery store in ZRH, bring your own bag, don't put your basket on the check out conveyor belt, tag the price on your own produce, and don't be surprised when you see the eggs aren't refrigerated.
  • People dress very similarly... men all have some sort of black coat and scarf on, women wear high heels or the pants-tucked-into-boots look.  Even the kids are dressed fashionably.  This makes me want to walk around in a yellow jump suit just to fuck with people.

On London:

  • I immediately got a familiar, comfortable feeling when I got into London.  It was 10 years since I'd been last, but it didn't feel like it had been that long... I guess 10 years isn't really that long in the grand scheme of things.
  • A week of being around mostly anglo-people that aren't speaking English makes being in London feel strange.  "You mean I'm in Europe AND the people are speaking English??  Weird!"
  • The Google London office is incredibly central, located right next to the Victoria Station.  In general, I was struck by how easy it is to go from one place to the next in Europe.  I never had to use a taxi once and rarely got lost.
  • Brick Lane and the area around Spitalfields feels like it was custom made for my tastes.  An amazing record store, bike shops, tons of interesting restaurants, and the best dude clothing stores I've seen in one place.  (Let's not even get into how many cuties in glasses I saw walking around).

I have 3 weeks until I move completely over to Zurich.  The biggest task ahead is combing through all my stuff, picking what to take and what to leave behind.  If anyone is interested in buying a plasma TV or a motorcycle, let me know.

The vision of sitting in my new place, with only the possessions I use and get value from, makes me very happy.

It's Thanksgiving today, so I'd be remiss if I didn't thank all my amazing friends and family for all the support and love they've shown me over the past year.  I hope you're all enjoying your Turkey (or Tofurkey) Day and don't forget to...


(thx Buster)

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15Nov/095

Zurich: 1st impressions

Zurich day 1 & 2

  • My mom's cleaning philosophy for cooking is to clean as you go.  I'm going to try and adhere to that with blogging while I'm abroad.  Let's see if it sticks.
  • Pics from day 1 & 2
  • The weather is identical to Seattle's for this time of year... chilly, miles (er, kilometers) of gray skies, brisk winds, rain that varies from light drizzle to actual light downpour.
  • Everything I've heard about the punctuality of the transit has been dead on.
  • Same goes for adherence to rules. Cars stop for you at intersections, I haven't seen anyone jaywalking yet, adults tell kids on the tram to not put their feet on the seat in front of them.
  • People here dress really well, time to retire my t-shirt collection for awhile.
  • Bicycles and motorcycles are all over the place.  I can't wait till I have both here as well.
  • Distances within Zurich are all really short compared to what I'm used to in the states.  All the SF walking I've gotten used to makes walking here feel really easy (short and flat).
  • In the museum today, I saw the most captive audience I've ever seen for a museum film.  I asked my friend if there are any frat boys in Zurich and she said she didn't think so.  It feels weird to have that removed from the social environment.  We'll see if this is true once I start going to see shows or sporting events.
  • So far, the most interesting aspect of being here is the multilingual-ness of the city... it's not uncommon to hear German, French, Italian, English, and who knows what during a short walk down the street.
  • It sucks seeing McDonald's and Starbucks in a place with so much character.
  • All the food I've had so far has been great... particularly liking all the Turkish kabob/falafel joints around my hotel.
  • A downer I heard about the food: Asian cuisine is almost non-existent :(
  • One of my favorite techno producers, Paul Kalkbrenner, is spinning here on Friday!  There's also a monthly techno party here that looks a lot like Kontrol in SF.
  • All n' all, I'm really impressed with the city, but at the same time, I get a sense that like Seattle, having a healthy social circle is key to warding off the winter crazies.
  • Tomorrow is my first day working from the ZRH office, more to come!
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15Nov/091

SFO –> ZRH

It's officially official, I'm moving to Zurich by end of the year!

I'm moving!

I've mentioned the possibility that I might move to my closest friends, but I didn't get final word until a few days ago, so I thought I'd say something publicly about it now...

Some background:

-- Living in Europe has been a dream of mine for years. I've visited the UK and Italy, but that's about it (airports in other countries don't count). There's so much else there I want to experience and from what I hear, Zurich is an excellent hub for traveling around the region.
-- My new project that's getting me over there is the reason I wanted to work at Google in the first place... tackling the issue of information overload head-on. I'm just as excited about this new project as I am about the move.
-- This is something that's been in the works for months... Google is supportive of facilitating these kinds of transfers, but a lot of things have to come together to make them happen. I have many colleagues and friends to thank for helping me out with this opportunity and to them, I am eternally grateful.
-- I'll be there for at least a year and I'm not sure what I'll do after that. I'm pretty thrilled about this aspect of the adventure.
-- I should be relocated sometime towards the end of December. I'll probably do some kind of combo going away/bday party with my bay area peeps before I leave so stay tuned for info on that.

Other notables:

-- I'll continue to work on my previous project, Sidewiki, at least for the foreseeable future as it's something I'm still very close to and want to see succeed.
-- I'm going to miss my friends a lot, but I'm hoping you'll all come visit me! Zurich is easily accessed by train or cheap flights from within the EU, so if you find yourself visiting Europe in 2010, put ZRH on your list!
-- I'm incredibly excited to be near Berlin and Paris... two places I've never visited, but have heard so many good things about. My good buddy Jeff is in Berlin and Nathan is in Paris, so it will be fantastic to see them more often.
-- I'll be making the switch after many years of working on client software to working mainly on web and mobile based projects. I'm going to use this opportunity to get back into coding and doing more interactive prototypes.
-- Google's Zurich office is supposed to be super sweet and I'm looking forward to having a smaller company feel for awhile.
-- Skiing and snowboarding are two things I have very little experience with... I'm crossing my fingers that they'll have some bunny hills out there to practice on.
-- I plan to take German lessons and want to make sure I branch out from just socializing with my coworkers. I've heard it can be tough as an outsider to make friends in Zurich, but I'm hoping I can find some fellow music lovers as a way to bridge the gap.
-- I purged a fair amount of my stuff when I moved to SF, but not near as much as I would've liked. I'm going to use this next move as a way to finally slim it all down to just the bare essentials. I've got the international Kindle now so I won't need to take as many books with me and I'm digitizing all of my cds onto a mirrored drive. The only bulky thing that remains is my vinyl collection... I won't have enough time to digitize my records before I leave, so I'll probably just keep them in storage unless someone in the bay area wants to babysit them while I'm gone. I'm hoping to go the projector route finally too as a way to have a more mobile entertainment center.

I take my first trip to Zurich this Friday with a few days in the UK at the end, during which I'm hoping to catch Ryuichi Sakamoto perform his piano pieces in Burmingham (!!!!!!!!).

This new move is probably a good chance to retire my public LJ as well which I haven't been updating that often thanks to Twitter and Facebook. I'll continue to use it for friends-only posts (still baffled that no one else has come up with a better replacement for this), but I think it's time I wrote more often on something I can fully control like WordPress. I'll put a note here once that's live. Update: You're looking at it!

Chocolate, fondue, timely public transportation, army knives, fancy time pieces, and neutrality await. Uf Widerluege!

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