The famous fish ukulele!

Josh got to play the famous fish ukulele tonight...!!! It was so pretty and the sound was incredible.

Then off to dinner with Roland. What a great Wednesday night. :)

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Montezuma death flu... and deer!

Last Monday morning at about 5am, I was hit with the worst stomach pain I think I've ever experienced... It turned out to be some bizarre stomach flu that lasted all day Monday and into Tuesday. Completely wiped me out.

By Wednesday, the pain had subsided, but I was still in a bad way -- although, starting to get some energy back. On Thursday, I headed back to work. Sometimes you just gotta fight it.

Unfortunately, this week was kind of shot because of the death flu... Fighting or no fighting, if your body say no, you gotta listen. The only thing I really did this week was head up to Maureen and Dave's for a BBQ on Saturday night! They have such a great place in Mill Valley and this time when we were there, there were three deer running around in their backyard. :)

Ah, nature and good friends...but my stomach bug wasn't done with me... We headed out early from the BBQ, and no dragonboat practice for me today.

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Bakesale Betty's

After dragonboat practice. Yum!

For those of you who don't know, Bakesale Betty's is a tiny unmarked bakery in Oakland that serves baked goods and chicken sandwiches. You get in line, get your goods, and then head out to the sidewalk to stools and ironing boards to get your grub on.

Today, we discovered that if you come at the time when they run out of sandwiches and are about to close up, they give away all of their extra desserts. ! Although, maybe we just caught them on the right day...

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Birthdays everywhere!

So many great people were born in August. I don't actually know this guy that well, but he seems like he would be great.

This party doubled as a UFC night!

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Oakland art murmur

On our way into the madness. I had no idea how crowded it would be! I took some pics of it, but they're all blurry...like this one!

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Happy Birthday, Michael!

One of my most favorite people -- with a beautiful cake and a giant grin!

Happy Birthday, Mikey!

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Oakland Grill

Food after dragonboat practice! :)

Mental note. Don't plan things on Sundays after dragonboat. (I mean, after food after dragonboat.) After being in a boat on the bay, using the muscles in my upper body that I don't actually have for about two hours - i'm pretty useless for the rest of the day. Also, I seem to think i can still feel the motion of the water for about 8 hours after we've returned to shore....which is weird, right?

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Maureen's birthday!

What a stressful week! It started with me getting in a car accident... And ended with me at Maureen's birthday party with a new car. :) woohoo!

In between, I researched the car market like crazy while trying to juggle a completely full week of museums, music, and friends, not to mention a busy week at work, and negotiations to sell my wrecked car.
But, a new car, and a night in Marin to celebrate a good friend, washed away all of the challenges of the week pretty quickly.

Happy birthday, Maureen!!

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The Uptown

Ha! My flash blinded Matt. :)

The Uptown is in Uptown and is a wonderfully re-invented little venue full of art and rockers dropped in downtown Oakland exactly where it should be. A Mezzanine and a back patio finish the space off beautifully.

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Ukulele class

Mike is an amazing teacher. So talented, but so humble...like he truly just loves to play and wants people to play with. I find myself completely inspired in his classes and coming away feeling like i've learned so much.

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...add a certain value to it all.

Today, Josh and I were talking about improv. There's a game you can play called (or, I guess this is what i'm calling it) "and then what happened?!" where you have to ask your partner "and then what happened?!" over and over and they just keep makin stuff up. "...and then I won a million dollars! And then my cat sat on HER cat!" When Josh played it with his class, there was no structure, so the stories went all over the place. When I played it with my class, we had to keep it positive until we were told to make it negative, so our stories would have these peaks and valleys, and it was interesting to see the impact of going from positive to negative and vise versa. It seemed to add a certain value to it all...

Last night Gabriella and I went to see That Obscure Subject of Desire, a brilliant new work by the lovely Ms. Randee Paufve. Randee has a way of reaching such a deep place in you that you can't help but surrender to the raw beauty of her work. Exquisite.

Friday night, I had a delightful dinner with my friend Stephanie. Lots of laughter, good food, and good fun. Saturday during the day, Josh and I went on a nice bike ride around Oakland. Today, dragonboat practice, making new friends, lunch, a shower, and a well deserved nap. Then off to a party...!

("and then what happened?!")

...and then we were sunburned, tired, and a little dazed. We got in the car and started driving toward a house in West Oakland. Argh, missed the turn. I think if we go this way we can get there. Narrow streets, 4-way stops, and then we could see our destination about a block and a half away. Stop at the sign, then start to creep into the intersection. This is a 4-way stop, ri - oh s---! *CRASH* front bumper panel and parts go flying about 30 feet to the sidewalk! Not a 4-way stop. Everyone's okay. Seemingly drunk or high (or maybe just weird) man in an undamaged truck tries to convince us that the police don't need to be involved. We are shaking and feel at fault, so we agree. Pile the bumper and other parts into the trunk, turn on the hazards, drive home...

*sigh*

...and then what happened...


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Work BBQ

Yum!!

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A day by the bay

Quinn's after dragonboat practice!!

.......

Our afternoon today was full of apartment searching visits.

It's so hard to imagine leaving Piedmont Ave, but Josh and I love the idea of having a newer more "grown up" place that we can move into together. We'd ditch all of our furniture and start over...

Our favorite option right now is in Jack London Square, so we'd trade our lush neighborhood for the Bay.

We also like a place that bridges the lake and downtown. It's smaller, but the views are amazing.

Thinking about this is keeping me up at night...

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Downtown is calling to us.

I think Josh and I are about to move.

What started to be curiosity, is turning into a quest for the perfect living space. I love trees and walking neighborhoods, but I also love new in the middle of urban. Right now, we're thinking Jack London Square might be the place.

On our way to Ragtime in Alameda tonight.

Last night we watched The Thin Man. Best old movie EVER.

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