Living a Second/Third/Fourth Life

Working at tech company, very little about online activity shocks or surprises me these days. There are virtual blow jobs for sale in SecondLife, you can program your Tivo to record shows remotely, and you can even update your Facebook via your cell phone. What does shock me though, is how many of us already do live a "second life" -- online personae of ourselves that somewhat resembles but not necessarily accurately represents who we are. Our blogs share our thoughts with millions, our Facebook/ Friendster/ MySpace/ insert-name-of-social-networking-site-here page tells people who we are, what we look like (on a good day anyway), where we live, where we went to school, what we like, and who we're dating. People meet, date, and break up online. You can buy almost anything (shoes, drugs, organs) without ever having to step foot in a store. We even organize our offline social lives using evites, Google Calendar, and other tools that make actual human contact almost obsolete.

I think what makes sites such as Facebook so addictive is that you can basically keep track of your "friends" (and I use the term loosely) and what their thinking/feeling/doing without ever having to reach out and talk to them. You can ask them questions and get responses, send them good wishes, share photos, and even "poke" them, all with the click of your mouse. I'm as guilty as the next person of relying heavily on this time-sink to keep up with my friends. But then again, if I don't bother to step out of my "second life" in order to make these "friends" a part of my offline life, maybe that in itself is a sign. Are we all living too much in our second (or third or fourth) life that we're losing touch with our "first" life?

From my album: Family

Every time I come home, I'm reminded of how grateful I am to have my parents in my life. They've given me everything they possibly could, including boundless and unconditional love through all of my up's and down's. Thanks, Daddy & Mommy. You're the best!

Just the 3 of us - Vancouver, June 2007

Tripping down memory lane

Spent the past weekend at home in Vancouver. Every time I come back it's a trip down memory lane, but today I had lunch with my Andrew, whom I haven't seen in almost 4 years! We ended up grabbing lunch at the local White Spot, where we both ordered pretty much the same thing we've ordered the last gazillion times we were there (him: BC chicken burger, me: toasted shrimp sandwich), and reminisced about the old times both good and bad.

It's amazing to realize that we've known each other for 11 years. When you're 16, knowing someone for a decade is pretty incredible, but when you're 26 (ahem, 25-again), you just feel more incredulous that time has passed so quickly. We chatted about old friends and new ones, gossiped about people we went to school with, and just caught up on life in general. Thanks for hanging out with me, Andrew -- it was so nice to see you again!

Yesterday we went to a family friend's wedding, and once again, literally tripped down memory lane. I ran into two old friends, Yan and Aaron (not the groom, but another Aaron), whom I've known since I was 13 but had not heard from in many years. Another place, another time. It literally took me a while to recover after seeing them and realizing that our lives had taken us in so many different and exciting directions since we last spoke.

No real deep thoughts here, but just the advice to seek out and meet up with old friends whenever you can. You may be surprised at where life has taken them, but still revel in how many joint memories you still share.

Adventures on the East Coast, the Lower East Side, and the East Bay

Another crazy couple of weeks as usual. Spent the weekend two weeks ago in NYC celebrating Regina's birthday. We had ridiculous 8-course pasta tasting dinner (5 pastas, 3 desserts) at Babbo, after which we partied and drank even more at the Hotel on Rivington on the LES (hot hot hot!). In the end, the red-eye flight and the waistline expansion was all worth it when the birthday girl herself told me she was "spectacularly happy". If you know Regina, you know she's not one for hyperboles...except when she's drunk. You get the idea. ;-)

Last week I spent 24 hours in DC for work. It took almost just as long to get there. All I can say is, thunder and lightning storms while you are eating in a glass-roofed restaurant are scary. That and Panera Bread asiago cheese bagels rocked. So does Ambien. And Starbucks. And confirmed upgrades on United. (Oh, and they are now serving Coke products! I knew they'd come around!)

This past weekend weekend was also spent "in the east"...the East Bay that is. I saw my first live grand slam when the Cardinals kicked the A's butts winning 15-6 (yah, ouch). To be fair, I totally called the grand slam, even though John insisted that Duncan "can't hit one of those". Words of a non-believer, I say. Sunday was brunch at Jimmy Bean's and then 3 hours of Taboo outside at Tilden Park. I guess the East Bay isn't so bad. Still not a fan of the BART though.

Coming up is a Vancouver weekend...wedding festivities galore (not mine, not to worry) and some quality time with the family. :-)

P.S. A belated farewell and shout-out to my buddy Psyche, who left Berkeley this past week to pursue greener pastures in the East in Boston. Good luck babe! I'll miss our gossip-filled brunches and musical outings!

In local news...

Wow, lots of weird and scary and just plain *what?* things happening in and around town recently. To highlight a few...

-There was a stabbing incident at Loft11 (not too far from my hood)

-There was a shooting incident near the Mission Bay Safeway, after which a car chase ensued and the suspect was finally arrested on Jessie street...*right around the corner from my apartment* (eek!)

-The SF Opera fired their lead soprano in Don Giovanni just days before opening night, and after the final dress rehearsal. To be fair, her replacement, Adler Fellow Elza van den Heever was spectacular! I think she stole the show from Don Gionvanni himself. ;-)

-They've caught the purse thieves that were preying on unsuspecting foodies around the city!

In more light-hearted news...

-Top Chef is back with season 3 next Wednesday! Ted from Queer Eye is being added to the judging panel!

-Barneys New York announced their SF opening date: September 19th, 2007. Fashionistas beware!