life, coding, technology, outdoors, photography
"Alcoholic Eruption" - January 5th, 2011
Kerry surprised me for my birthday and took me out to the Tonga Room for dinner and drinks. It was my first time there. It was a fun little place!
One of the drinks we ordered, pictured above, was called the Lava Bowl. It was dangerous.
"Better Luck Next Time" - January 4th, 2011
It's few and far between that I ever play this, but with $355 million up for grabs? Why not?
The results? Things went about as well as expected!
Ringing in the New Year with some simple light painting in our apartment. Here's to hoping 2011 is awesome!
Is it that time of the year already? 2010 has absolutely flown by! One of my favorite ways to reflect on the past year is to look back on it through the photos I've taken. See previously, my photographic year in reviews for 2009, 2008, and 2007.
One thing I find particularly striking is that I've used my iPhone and Canon S90 more and more, and my DSLR significantly less. It kind of bums me out. Something I'd like to refocus on in 2011 is getting back into using my DSLR!
Anyway, let the review begin!
We started the year off by seeing a friend's brother make a guest appearance during a Beats Antique show at the Independent in San Francisco. (If you haven't heard them, do check it out. Some great tunes and a good show featuring some interesting interpretive dance!)
We also got to dog-sit for our friends Scott and Marcie. Can you say cutest dog ever?
Of course, our cats would have something to say about that. Jealous, much?
More music, please! State Radio (one of my favorites) at the Fillmore.
Also, San Francisco can have some seriously great weather, even in January! Hello, colors!
The cats were always demanding attention. This was fun to wake up to.
Overall, a pretty mellow month! I did finally get a chance to go out and use my DSLR. A new sculpture was put up at Patricia's Green in Hayes Valley.
It's only February, and I already feel live I've been taking an overwhelming amount of cat photos.
Shot some things for my friends hosting BarBot 2010. (You can also see a video I shot of this thing in action.)
I got a new bike! Hello, beautiful!
Traveled to Austin for SXSW and gdgt live in Austin. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take many pictures. But I did snap a photo of this bacon bloody mary. Umm, yes!
Returned to the Left Coast to spot this crazy art car in the neighborhood.
Doggie Diner Heads at the Laughing Squid going away party.
Bonfires on Ocean Beach!
Waited in line early in the morning for the iPad launch. An AP photographer snapped this photo as I picked up an iPad for the first time ever.
Might as well put the iPad to use -- banana bread baking!
Explored the SF Underground Farmers' Market. Pretty damn crazy!
Random trip to Southern California, where I stopped by Galco's Soda Pop Shop. Crazy amounts of soda! Check out my post on Laughing Squid.
Stopped by my parents' place and got to see Axl. It would be the last time I'd ever see him.
My old-roommate Julie celebrated her engagement with her new fiance, Ryan. A mighty fine looking couple!
And because of this, Kerry and I got to play dress up!
Also, Bacon Camp! Went to support my friends on the Starvin Marvins BBQ team!
And here are the tasty, tasty MOINK balls they made.
Another gdgt event! This time, we visited Chicago -- where I decided to use my phone to take crappy pictures with crappy toy camera apps.
gdgt live in Chicago was fun though!
June rolls around -- it's WWDC time in San Francisco, and that means a new iPhone is coming out!
So, of course I was there for the Stevenote on behalf of gdgt. Hey, Steve!
Later that month, I hung out with the Starvin Marvins team again as they went to a BBQ competition.
Huh, it seems like I haven't taken cat photos in awhile. Time to fix that.
New iPhone 4 finally arrived. I hear it has a pretty good camera. Time to test it out.
Also, the World Cup was going on! So, obviously we had friends over and it was time to cheer on the Red, White, and Blue. (Of course, Sanjin shows up in a Croatia jersey, but I guess it's the thought that counts.)
Speaking of Sanjin, he got married!
Needed to get away from the oppressive fog in the city, so we ventured up to Point Reyes, for a day of oyster shucking.
We also got ourselves a new office! No more working out of our apartments. Pretty nice. A photo from the early days.
Camping trip season! I discovered a creepily familiar Paul Bunyan.
Sitting around a campfire...
Canoeing!
More canoeing!
And back to the city and dealing with our transit system.
I love the F line.
And another Apple event soon approaches...
Another Apple keynote. iPods, Apple TV's, oh my!
We went out to Sacramento to surprise and cheer on our friends in Starvin Marvins at another BBQ competition.
They won second place for their chicken!
gdgt live in Boston! This time, I'm flying out early, so I can check some things out.
MIT
Near MIT - Kendell Square
Who met the Tron Guy? This guy!
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival arrives in town. I can't think of a better way to spend a foggy day in the park.
It's October. Do you know what that means? Hear that sound? "It's the sound of freedom." This time, I rented a gigantic, 400mm lens for the Blue Angels' show.
There were also some pretty crazy clouds in San Francisco.
Also, a street food bonanza was happening at Off the Grid.
Working across the street from Blue Bottle Coffee was proving to be dangerous.
Kerry took me on a surprise visit to the Napa Valley Wine Train.
This thing called a World Series happened in San Francisco. Since I'm a Dodgers' fan, I have no idea what that is.
San Francisco kept looking mighty fine, as always.
Party in the streets, as the Giants would go on to win the World Series.
An election happened...
City Hall was bathed in orange for the Giants win.
A World Series parade...
Aubrey Huff wears his "rally thong."
It was homecoming (for gdgt). gdgt live in San Francisco preparation resulted in tons of boxes in our office.
I don't care what people think, I still love dogs.
Quick stop in Southern California for a wedding in Laguna Beach.
Returned to San Francisco to find this nearby. Someone had a rough night.
I also began my transition from a hipster into a yuppy.
What can we say about December? It's rained a lot.
My dentist apparently has a crush on me.
Prepping for some awesome things in the 2011. It results in late nights at the office.
(And the month isn't even over, yet!)
The Justin Bieber of bullfighting?
I can say for a fact, this is something I never considered doing as a kid.
Though he stands just four feet ten—short, even for a kid who is about to turn 13—Michelito has become internationally renowned for his exploits in the ring. By his own estimate, he has already put the sword to 300 bulls. Ask him if he remembers his first kill and he says, "It was October 27, 2005, in my mother's home state of Tabasco. I was 6 years old." Four years later he tried to set a Guinness World Record for novice bullfighters (novilleros) by slaying six bulls in a single appearance—and succeeded, but Guinness refused to recognize it. ("We do not accept records based on the killing or harming of animals," its website explained.) This past June, Michelito became the youngest matador ever to perform in the world's largest bullfighting arena; he was such a hit that he was invited back in August.
[Via Daily Dish]
Weird. Answered, but AT&T dropped the call.
Alright, so someone keeps emailing me, thinking they have someone else named Dave Schumaker. This actually happens a lot. After receiving a number of recent forwarded joke emails, I decided to respond. Check out conversation.
It reminds me of this earlier thread I wrote, about receiving strange email.
Update: I just realized that it's the same Donna in that post!
From: Donna M. Date: September 17, 2010 3:10:41 PM PDT To: Dave Schumaker Subject: FW: Poor mushroom
Forwarded message:
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:26:44 -0400 From: [some random person I don't know] To: [some other random person I don't know] CC: [a bunch of random people I don't know] Subject: Fwd: Poor mushroom
This is the second or third random forward I've gotten from her. I considered adding a filter to my account, but I thought that maybe, I should inform this person they have the wrong email address.
Subject: Re: Poor mushroom From: Dave Schumaker Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:12:34 -0700 To: Donna M.
I think you have the wrong Dave Schumaker's email address.
Best,
-Dave
There, I think that does the trick! Wait -- I just got a reply from her,
From: Donna M. Subject: RE: Poor mushroom Date: September 17, 2010 3:42:22 PM PDT To: Dave Schumaker
I don't think so :P
Mom
What?!
You are not my Mom! I have NO IDEA who you are!
Update! I just received a follow up email. It looks like things have been cleared up, folks! It looks like I only have one mother again.
From: Donna M. Subject: RE: Poor mushroom Date: September 17, 2010 4:54:53 PM PDT To: Dave Schumaker
So, so sorry I just talked to my son and I did have the wrong e-mail. Again, I'm sorry
I noticed that someone reached my site via the following Google query: "Dave Schumaker ugly"
I object to that description! I believe the correct phrase is "horrible faces."
It's a face that not even a mother could love.
I remember when we first picked Axl up, back in August of 2001.
We went down to a nearby pet store, specifically looking for a new dog. The local humane society had setup a small pen with dozens of adorable puppies. All of them were yipping, running around, playing with each other. How could one choose between so many animals? My sister, mom, and I debated. There was a cute dalmatian sitting in the corner.
My mom shot down that idea, "No! Besides, dalmatians often have health problems."
My sister focused on this adorable pile of black fur sitting in the middle of the pen. It looked happy as can be, ignoring the other rambunctious pups tussling around it. Sitting on his hind legs, ears flopped over, head slightly cocked, tongue hanging out, and mouth stuck agape as if he was smiling.
My sister said, "I want that one!" And so, it was.
- - -
All puppies are adorable. But Axl was especially so (at least in our eyes). Nearly perfectly behaved, not too overactive, easy to train. Compared to previous dogs we've had, he was incredible!
He'd love to be nearby, that way he could always have an eye on what you were doing. Whether it was on the couch, or on my homework.
- - -
Little did we know, that cute, compact pile of fur (which we initially thought was a chow / black lab mix) would grow into a large beast of a dog. A beast, but a gentle giant. It turns out, he was a newfoundland.
We found this out while taking Axl for a walk in the park a few years ago. A lady walking her dogs passed by and said, "Oh wow! I love your newfoundland! He's so beautiful!"
Confused, we said, "I think you're mistaken, he's a black lab!"
But the lady was insistent, "No! He's definitely a newfoundland."
So, we looked it up when we got home. After seeing photos, we were flabbergasted.
Here is your average, typical photo of Axl:
And here is your average, typical photo of a newfoundland (according to Wikipedia):
- - -
Well, that was certainly exciting news. And it earned Axl a new nickname. We called him the Goofy Newfy. And the descriptions of typical newfoundlands certainly made sense.
It is known to be one of the kindest and gentlest dogs. It is for this reason that this breed is known as "the gentle giant".
All of this was true. Axl was the absolute sweetest, most well behaved, and loyal dog we've ever had. He was at his happiest when someone was there to pet him. That's really all he ever wanted.
- - -
Of course, with the newfound knowledge of Axl's ancestry, was the stunning realization that newfoundlands often have serious health problems -- their lifespan typically ranges anywhere from 8 years to 13 years, which is quite a bit shorter than your average dog.
But surely, our Axl would be an exception He was always so limber and active.
And he loved playing in the creek, or sitting in front of a fan to cool off.
Though sometimes, you got the impression that all he ever did was sit in front of a fan...
- - -
Sadly, over the past year or so, he's become a bit slower, more lethargic, and even larger. It seems his "old" age was catching up to him. You'd often find him just sitting around. As long as he was next to someone who could pet him, he was happy as can be.
- - -
One of my favorite things about visiting my parents' house was how excited Axl would be to see me. It didn't matter how long I had been gone -- 3 months, 9 months, nearly a year? He would always remember who I was. When I got out of the car, he would be right next to the window, looking at me with his cheesy grin, his tail straight up in the air and wagging.
You could easily imagine him saying something like, "Oh yeah! You haven't given me a good petting in awhile, buddy! Oh, good to see you again too."
The other thing Axl would always do, every single day in fact, is greet you in the morning. And it was only in the morning.
He would attempt to speak. It sounded like something between a growl and a howl -- a very deep throated "WOOOO WOO WOOOOOOO WOO WOOO." But it wasn't threatening at all. It was an affectionate sound. And you could speak right back to him too. Sometimes he would even reply, "WOOOOOOO WOO."
- - -
When I went home last Christmas, we talked about Axl's health and mentioned this could be the last time I'd ever see him. It was heartbreaking. He was still sharp, but he struggled to get up and move around.
I visited my parents again back in April, and saw that his condition had deteriorated a bit more. It was obvious that something had to happen in the next few months. So, I spent a few hours playing around with him -- which basically involved him sitting in one spot and me petting him!
Anyway, I had to leave for the airport the next morning. I said goodbye, gave him a big hug, and sadly had tears in my eyes. And I took one final photo as I walked out the door. It was the last time that I would see Axl.
He was just over 9 years old.
So long, you Goofy Newfy. You'll be missed!
(Yes, at this point I'm just plundering my Google Reader shared items feed... but I've been sick!)
If only my habitual tardiness could produce something equally as great.
One day in 1939, Berkeley doctoral candidate George Dantzig arrived late for a statistics class taught by Jerzy Neyman. He copied down the two problems on the blackboard and turned them in a few days later, apologizing for the delay — he’d found them unusually difficult. Distracted, Neyman told him to leave his homework on the desk.
On a Sunday morning six weeks later, Neyman banged on Dantzig’s door. The problems that Dantzig had assumed were homework were actually unproved statistical theorems that Neyman had been discussing with the class — and Dantzig had proved both of them. Both were eventually published, with Dantzig as coauthor.
“When I began to worry about a thesis topic,” he recalled later, “Neyman just shrugged and told me to wrap the two problems in a binder and he would accept them as my thesis.”
[Via]