My Blog

Cool!

Genevieve — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:53:42 GMT

Mythbusters did a "cpu vs gpu" demo at NVISION this week. I want a paint gun like this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKK933KK6Gg (Look at the related videos to see the whole demonstration) I really want their job too.

Social networking

Genevieve — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:19:06 GMT

So once upon a time there was friendster. I remember almost nothing about friendster except that once I decided to leave it, it became more like the ex boyfriend that wouldn't leave me alone. It kept e-mailing me begging me to come back and see some improvements. I think there was orkut in this time frame too but I only remember the name. Then came live journal which I still adore as a great way to keep in touch with friends from college. Many of us have moved all over california, a few to penn, seattle, and another to florida, so lj is an easy way for me to keep up with them. I might have signed up for myspace around this time too only because some of the stormriders convinced me that it was really cool... or maybe I ignored them and waited awhile before I signed up. And while myspace is great for random amusing messages from guys i've never met and never will, I've never found much use in myspace. Then was grad school and facebook opened up to a few schools, Stanford being one of them. It was incredibly useful. You could see what schedules people had, rate professors, and find other students in your class. While I was reluctant to sign up for yet another social networking site, I came to really like this one until I graduated. My interest in facebook faded when I entered the real world and same with my social networking except for lj. Fast forward a couple years, and I start partying in LA again and I find tribe. I really really really like the layout of tribe. This is one social networking site that not only seems useful but has a large number of great features and does them all well. Ok, well, until it keeps breaking. Damn you tribe! You had/have potential. And while it picked up greatly in the burner/party/belly dancing scenes, I haven't seen many other people talk about it which surprises me. So there is in an interest in facebook again to make up for tribe. I sign back in to find facebook completely transformed. There are a large number of dumb applications that you can add that really just waste time and clutter everything. It went from a pretty useful social networking site to a pretty useless one. And there have been others lately, tribe refugees, plaxo to organize them all, linkedIn to connect all of the people that you used to work with so that if you ever look for another job, you have a huge list of contacts, going.com for the party scene etc, etc, etc. But the thing that amazes me is the interest in facebook. When I started going back to grad school (again), I find the Stanford cs profs pushing facebook as a place to discuss class lectures. Web 2.0 seminars are using facebook as the example of social networking becoming the norm. According to a friend from Berkeley, Randy Katz gives Dave Patterson (of Hennessy and Patterson) endless amounts of shit for not being on facebook. (Ok, sorry, big geek points if you know those names or you can wikipedia them). Coworkers that I wouldn't expect to be into social networking are there. My spinning coach posts the music from each workout on her facebook page. I'm not sure what exactly they did right, but it completely amazes me that everywhere I go in silicon valley these days, I see more and more references to facebook which I think has gone from a pretty useful site to an incredibly annoying one. I guess this is just a really really long post to mention the fact that I really seem to have no clue what aspects will draw people to a networking site. It's fun to watch society as it ebbs and flows through them though.

tmi

Genevieve — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:57:30 GMT

One of the amusing things about working with a bunch of male engineers is that any time I wear a skirt or dress or really anything other than jeans and a t-shirt, I get guys asking me all day what the special occasion is. Usually it is nothing and I'm just amused that they still ask me. However, I re-injured my right shoulder this weekend hiking half dome. It's nothing serious and it is already starting to feel a lot better but yesterday the doctor put me in a sling and I realized just how difficult it is to zip up my jeans with only my left hand while trying not to move my right arm. Why do all jeans open to the right?! Today I learned my lesson and put on a skirt and again I am bombarded with questions. While it is probably not really work appropriate to tell them that it is hard to zipper up jeans without help right now, I'm finding it really difficult to resist the urge to say it.

Fire! Fire! Fire!

Genevieve — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:01:05 GMT

One of the perks of living up here is having the crucible so close. I went to the Fire Arts Festival last night and saw so much fire. Of course the Fire Vortex was there as the flaming scuptures that were around the oil derricks from last year's burn and the steampunk tree house and a bunch of other bm art. But there were fire dancers and firewhips and fire everywhere and huge tesla coils. Also a flamenco group and a rock band that were ok. And trapeeze artists. I think I just want to run away and be a carney :-p. Also I fell in love (again) with the UNMATA belly dance group. I've seen them before but I'd forgotten how much I really liked them. Here's part of their show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omkcl7Vv3zs&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWt-47JlM5A&feature=related It makes me want to pick up belly dancing again (though I doubt I'll ever be at their level). I definately had the wide eyed kid in the candy store look last night.

I want to dance with Matt

Genevieve — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:24:59 GMT

This makes me smile: Where the hell is Matt 2008. http://www.vimeo.com/1211060?pg=embed&sec=1211060 And I just climbed that pyramid in Teotihuacan, Mexico 3 weeks ago.

:-D

Genevieve — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:05:58 GMT

I think that xkcd has been drinking from the same water bottle as me lately. You can partially blame the discovery channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BToZCbf331c Life is good. Happy Friday! I can't wait until I get to see some of you at Caladan this weekend.

LIB

Genevieve — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:25:51 GMT

I was going to make it to LIB this year but about a month ago I was given the opportunity to try to summit a mountain that beat me the last time I tried. I switched plans but I'm sad that I'll miss LIB. It sounds like it'll be so much fun and I enjoyed it last year. So, if you are reading this and going, have fun! And if you see Jules, give her a huge hug for me? I miss my partner in crime! <BJP>She's now playing at noon on the Woogie Stage on Sunday instead of 10 and you know she will be awesome. Don't miss it! </BJP>

sweet

Genevieve — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:34:24 GMT

The photo is from Bay to Breakers on Sunday. My friend Corey was accosted by the David Hasselhoff fan club trying to get his signature because clearly he had to be David. They gave him lots of tequila and jumped on him to give him a hug. Too funny. Anyway, I came out of hiding for a bit to post this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhcZRFcjbhw I'm late to the game since it happened a year ago?. But I thought it was one of the sweetest things I've seen in awhile and wanted to share. Ok, back to work.

I'm so over Alcatraz

Genevieve — Mon, 05 May 2008 06:37:33 GMT

Once again at 6:30 in the morning, I found myself sitting on the concrete steps at Aquatic Park in my warm wetsuit yet still needing to bundle up in a warm sweater. This time I watched as an older man (maybe 60 or 70) ran back and forth along the beach in just a speedo ... while wet. I was shivering just looking at him. The guy sitting next to me, John, commented: "I'm always curious what inner demons someone like that is fighting. Is this his way of repenting for a sin?" I turn and look at him and just nod in my half awake state, though really wondering if he sees the irony in that statement since he is about to jump into that same cold water that the older man just got out of. Or maybe this is just some insight into him? We get debriefed for this morning's swim and then head onto the boats. Today we are going to jump into the water at the south end of Golden Gate Bridge and swim back to Aquatic Park for a total of 2.8 miles. This swim did not have an auspicious beginning. I think it was a combination of events. Friday, I mentioned to my coworker that I signed up for this swim on short notice. His response was "That is a really difficult swim." I playfully tried to back him into a corner, "What? You don't think that I can do it?" But he didn't bite and just responded that it is a really hard swim. Going on the swim also meant ditching out on some parties last night so I got some shit for that. The original directions for the swim stated that we'd be hugging the coast the entire time, but as we were briefed, it became clear that this wasn't true. The final directions involved "And when you get to the 'Way too far out' buoy, make a hard right and swim to the shore" Way too far out buoy? That suggests that we'd be out far into the bay, and sure enough, that seemed to be true. There were a few other things: the seals that were waiting to play with us (and apparently swimming with us though I didn't see it), the entirely too bubbly girl, the coach mothering me when she found out that I hadn't had breakfast yet. None of those are particularly bad, but I guess they made me feel like I shouldn't be there if I wasn't as into it as everyone else. All in all, my head just wasn't in the right state when we jumped in. But, like normal, once I got into a steady stroke and my body fell into rhythm, my brain became calm and I got to that state that I've grown to love. The swim was timed for a flood current and it turns out that the current today was going to be one of the strongest in the year (a total of 4.4 knots at max I think). We jumped in the water and we were sailing. It felt so cool. We got to the "way too far out buoy" which is still at least half a mile away from the opening to Aquatic Park and made a hard right toward the shore. It was completely counter intuitive. Aquatic Park was straight in front of the direction I was heading so it seemed strange to turn away, but sure enough, as I swam toward the shore I just watched as everything zoomed past me. I cut in enough to get close to the pier with about 200m to spare so I stopped swimming and just decided to tread water. It was crazy! I wasn't even swimming and I just watched as the pier blew past me. I don't think I'm really doing a good job of explaining it, but it was so incredibly cool to feel the current and watch how it pushed us. I'm sure that some suppressed sane part of me should have been worried about how little control of my speed I had, but in reality we had positioned ourselves perfectly and I had no problem making my way through the tiny opening into Aquatic Park as the current pushed me by it. Swimming into shore was a little funny because my final trajectory had almost nothing to do with what direction I was facing, but I didn't have too much difficulty with that. I think this swim completely trumps any Alcatraz swim since those are always perpendicular to the current. Swimming with the current for once felt like a roller coaster ride. Maybe it is just another reminder that nature is so much stronger than I am and while I love to fight it, sometimes it's amazing what happens when I just go with it. Or maybe I've had too much sun and alcohol today. After I showered, I went to the How Weird Street Fair and the after party. 7 city blocks, 9 stages, so much good music. I heart San Francisco. G'night world.

spring time

Genevieve — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:32:37 GMT

I'm restless. I want to be outdoors. I want an adventure. I want a change. I just don't know what specifically I want. The current page on the Choose Your Own Adventure Book of my life hasn't been filled in yet. If I had a few choices I could just close my eyes and point to one and head off... but I feel like I'm staring blankly at an empty page with no clue what to write and that just makes me feel more restless. (pic courtesy of the Choose Your Own Adventure story stenciled on the streets of the Mission in SF)

hahaha

Genevieve — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:53:56 GMT

Swim alcatraz with us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAM6QnWkYxw

Alcatraz Take 3 - Really F*cking Cold

Genevieve — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:39:56 GMT

When my alarm went off at 5 this morning, all I wanted to do was pull my blanket over my head. I've completed this swim twice already, there's no reason to do it again right? But I dragged myself out of bed and drove up to the city in time to see sunrise over Alcatraz. It was 45 degrees out when we jumped into the water which made the 54 degree water seem so nice and warm. I asked to be placed with the slow group because I just wanted to take my time. For the most part this was fun because it meant that I got to stop and tread water in the middle of the bay and take in the view as I waited for the other swimmers to catch up. The bay bridge was to my left, golden gate bridge was to my right, Alcatraz was behind me and San Francisco was in front and I was just surrounded by water. It was beautiful. This was my easiest swim mentally. There was no freaking out, no worries, no thoughts that I couldn't complete it. I've completely conquered it mentally. It was amazing to feel that way about something that was once so hard. I was just relaxed and happy the entire time. Physically, however, it was probably my hardest attempt. I'm just not in the same shape that I was last year. Also, the downside of going with the slow group is that I ended up much colder than I have any other time. By the time we were at the opening to Aquatic Park, my feet were starting to hurt from the cold and when I was leaving to go home, I got the concerned "Are you ok?" from my coach which meant that my discomfort/disorientation was pretty visible. It also took hours to completely warm up. I spent most of the day curled up on the couch with three sweaters and two blankets. To top it off, I guess I didn't put enough body glide on because I have wetsuit burns along the back and left side of my neck. It looks like I had a really interesting night. I might have to come up with a fun explanation of what happened since I know that my coworkers are going to bug me about it. It doesn't help that I can't put my hair down to cover them up because it makes the burns sting like crazy. Another strange thing about the swim is that out of the nine of us, 2 were from England. They read about it in The Guardian and decided to try it while in the US on holiday. It struck me as strange/really cool (says the girl who flew to Florence, Italy to run a marathon). And to add to the weirdness, the New York Times sent a photographer to take pictures of us and get all of our names. I guess they are running a story on open water swimming so maybe you'll see a picture of me or my swim buddies in the NYT.

Test Monkeys?

Genevieve — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:36:19 GMT

Anyone want to help me test this week's homework assignment? My program is a six degrees of movies assignment. So if you give me the name of two actors/actresses that you don't think are at all related, I can find a connection for you. And you'll help me because I can't come up with any combination of actors/actresses that are more than 3 degrees apart. Hah. On Mike Insane's suggestion I tried two people that I've met through very different people Daniel Wu (II) and William Joseph Barker Daniel Wu (II) was in "Around the World in 80 Days" with Jackie Chan Jackie Chan was in "Rush Hour" with John Hawkes John Hawkes was in "Night of the Scarecrow" with William Joseph Barker Damn

Help with ideas?

Genevieve — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:26:09 GMT

The charity committee that I'm a part of met for the first time after a 3 month break to outline our events for the rest of the year. We would love to have an event that gets all members of the gaming community behind it. Just looking at how successful Child's Play(http://www.childsplaycharity.org/) has been over the years makes me really think that this is possible. But I'm at a loss for ideas at the moment so I'm reaching out to my friends. What is a cause that you think is a really worthwhile that people who are passionate about gaming might rally behind? One of the reasons that I think Child's Play is so successful is because they are asking gamers to buy gaming systems/toys/books/etc to needy children. It fits well with an area that they are passionate about. Any ideas?

I love Wednesdays

Genevieve — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:35:28 GMT

I used to be deathly afraid of failure and very rarely took risks. At some point in the last few years this changed and I've learned to love placing myself in sink or swim situations. There are the times I succeed and then there are the times that I limp away with a fractured ego or pelvis. Every time, however, I walk away with a better understanding of myself. Clearly not everything is good and there are weeks like this week where I seem to be doing nothing but sinking. Do they make those inflatable arm floats for adults? Around 6pm today I was pretty sure that I could use a pair. Maybe two. But it's Wednesday and I left work at 6 to escape to a tiny room with a chalkboard, five 19-20 year old girls, and one incredibly eccentric 21 year old computer science major who is our TA. He walks into class, flings his fedora across the room, places his bare feet on the table, twirls his sinister evil-doer mustache, and exclaims that we are going to have a great 50 minutes. Yes, very eccentric. This is so much more entertaining because the five other girls in the class try really hard not to laugh everytime he does something. Their giggling is contagious. 60 minutes later, I'm walking outside in what must be one of the most beautiful campuses in the country with the biggest smile on my face, (usually singing some bad 80s song that managed to get stuck in my head). But before that, I have a one on one session with my TA to go over last week's homework assignment. It is covered in smiley faces and my grade is 2 check pluses. Sometimes I'm pretty sure I'm in kindergarten again and I always wonder why exactly I spent 20 hours last week working on an assignment only to receive smiley faces and check pluses. I'm used to grades. I'm used to detailed reports about my accomplishments and failures and what I need to work on. I'm not used to smiley faces and check pluses. But it all amuses me and reminds me not to take life seriously. These last couple days sucked. They will get better. In the mean time, I'll take the time to enjoy the drowning feeling a little too. And when I returned home there were mimosas, bacon, and homemade blueberry pancakes awaiting me. Life is good.

content

Genevieve — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 11:59:47 GMT

Life just keeps getting better lately. 2008 looks like it's going to be a very fun year :-)

I am slowly going crazy

Genevieve — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:14:57 GMT

1 2 3 4 5 6 switch crazy going slowly am i 6 5 4 3 2 1 switch I've been at work 16 hours and counting. I really should leave and go crawl into bed... but well, just a little bit more? No one seems to update any webpages at midnight so it's getting harder to entertain myself while I wait for my code to compile. Also it turns out that security frowns on me riding my chair through the hallways at midnight. I blame the endless supply of free gummy bears :-p

our "unusual" christmas party

Genevieve — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:22:20 GMT

http://www.nbc11.com/news/14872875/detail.html The reason that I didn't go down this weekend for SR X-mas or hipgen. I was really excited that we did this this year rather than just raise a bunch of money for a charity. I heart my company. (Yes, I am drinking the kool-aid)

my love of life is going to be the death of me

Genevieve — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:00:56 GMT

Or maybe it's my love of cramming as much as I possibly can into a short life is what will make it shorter? Friday was a pre-party and then Deadmau5 and some Opulent Temple djs at Mighty. All the good things I heard this week about seeing Deadmau5 were true. Saturday was 4.5 hours of sleep and then charity work rebuilding a school in a low income area. The school looked so nice by the time we were done. Then on to a company party. Then on to the Evil Break's xmas party. Every EB party I go to impresses me more and more. I think I'm falling in love ;-) It was two nights in a row of constant dancing followed by collapsing into my bed at 4 in the morning with the biggest grin on my face. My body is rebelling. I feel like shit and half of the times that I stand up right now I collapse back onto my bed. I wouldn't change it for anything though. I had such a great weekend.

What have you accomplished today?

Genevieve — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:02:25 GMT

While many of you were dreaming, I stepped through the San Francisco fog to board a boat. While many of you were in your warm beds, I jumped out of the cold air into the "warm" bay just off of Alcatraz. (The water was 63 which was warmer than the air outside) While many of you were stirring and rising from your beds, I was walking out of the water onto the beach at St Francis Yacht Club. Alcatraz was more of a mind fuck for me than anything else. I've never been a competition swimmer. I've never even been a consistant swimmer except for one week each year at our apartment in Miami Beach when my dad and I used to swim 100 lengths each day in the small pool. And while I'm incredibly comfortable with my swimming ability and water in general, I'm still not very comfortable swimming in open water. When we swim every Monday night, I spend the first 5-10 minutes freaking out in my mind before I can control it and relax a little. Last night was no exception. I thought I was crazy, I thought that I shouldn't be trying to swim Alcatraz this soon, I thought that I was going to get scared and need to be pulled out of the water. I was subconciously fucking with myself this morning too. On the drive up, as I was half asleep, I kept envisioning sharks coming out of the water and chomping on someone in my group. I don't know why. I blame the fact that its Discovery Channel's shark week. Then in the boat, I was very anxious. There were 6 of us doing the swim this morning (4 girls, 2 guys). Everyone else was talking about what races and what swims they have done recently. I was quiet. This was my first real swim. (One of these years I might learn how to pace myself a little better rather than just jumping right away into something hard). Then we were at Alcatraz. I jumped in. I wasn't scared. I was actually excited. We started swimming in a pack. I can't even begin to remember all the crazy things that went through my mind in that time. I kept thinking about how I'd get pulled into the boat later but I just wanted to make it a little bit more before I gave up. I thought about Dori (from Finding Nemo) singing "Just Keep Swimming." I thought about how I really must have a death wish sometimes for the shit I put my body through. Perhaps not the most constructive thoughts :-p Though the actual swim wasn't so bad. Like I said, it was more a mind fuck. And when I got out, I felt really good. I didn't get pulled out of the water though either two girls did or one girl got out twice. We made it back in about 45 minutes. The linear distance from Alcatraz to St Francis is 2.1 miles, the path we swam was closer to 2.5, however with the current helping us out, we probably physically swam closer to 1.5 and were pushed the rest. So that's my crazy story for the day. Happy tuesday :-) ok, this is prob the last crosspost between lj land and here. Back to lj land for me

Squeeee!

Genevieve — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:14:21 GMT

I just talked to my coach, barring any unforseen circumstances, I will be swimming Alcatraz for the first time really early in the morning on Tuesday July 31st. I can't wait! Please don't be too foggy *crosses fingers*