Facebook

There are many reasons to sign into Facebook. Facebook can be a quick, efficient tool for necessary research and information gathering. There's a lot of useful, relevant information right on one screen that, ya, for your good friends you have somewhere else, but on Facebook it's all right there. And more...

So you sign on for, let's say, your friend's phone number and to see if their status says "sitting at home, bored, alone call if you want to do something..anything!!" or an equally desperate plea for company thus implying that they'll happily accept your invitation to go to the bar with the 80s dance jams that you've dying to try on the completely opposite side of town, since they clearly don't have anything better to do. Great. Call 'em up, or, since they're so bored and just updated their status, you know they're online. Quick Facebook chat and you've set up your rendez-vous! Bam.

Contrarily, their status could say, for example, something along the lines of "waaaaHOOO, LAS VEgaS WITH ThE GIRLS!!! WHAT HApPENS IN VegAS STAYS In VEGASsssS" in which case no, they're not free to get a drink with you. Additionally, the (mostly) caps and extended "ooo"s and "SssS" implies they've already had a few drinks yet are still sober enough to access Facebook on their mobile phons, mental note, you'll have make sure to encourage them to review their mobile uploads when they get back to the real world as they really do want whatever happened in Vegas to stay in Vegas.

But, you, as their good friend should probably keep an eye on all their Facebook activity over the weekend, just to make sure it doesn't get too incriminating or...Oh! There are already some pictures up! OMG, why did my friend invite HER over ME for the girls weekend...Look what she's wearing! Where did she go to school...omg, she WOULD have gone there. I wonder if she knows...And BOOM. Just like that. Facebook stalking. Before you know it you're spending hours diving deep into groups (who would join a group in celebration of condiments...oh, I'm in that group too, forgot about that...omg, we're in the same group!), friends, friends of friends, past, present, and future more-than-friends....

My gauge of when you've hit rock bottom: you've been digging for awhile, one more level and you'll probably hit Kevin Bacon. You're looking at party pix, baseball game pix, concert pix and then, there it is: the slightly faded, bent corner, off-center scan of your friend's, friend's, friend's, friend's, friend in the first grade sporting a florescent geometric shaped sweater tucked into matching leggings and a big, velvet scrunchy holding up an off-center poly tail all tied together with a front-toothless smile. You feel really awkward. Awkward for them. Awkward for you. Awkward that your stalking has brought you here. You quickly return to your profile, like you didn't see any of it, and vow not to be so nosy next time...

Thanks to Marshall for providing* this awkward (or, as he would say, awkward turtle) but adorable picture.
*Okay, Marshall did not provide, nor has he yet approved the use of this photo, but we asked! If not approved I'm considering calling it awkward baby 1...

Fisherman's Wharf

Julia Lowd's visit earlier this week was a good excuse to be a tourist in my new city...

Fisherman's Wharf, normally an elbows-out, tourist combat zone, showed off surprisingly well on this sunny mid-February weekday.

We gawked over the copious amounts of dungeness crab (February is crabfest month), oohed and awed over the cable car turnaround where they literally push the car to turn it around and admired flowers in mid-winter bloom.

We were very impressed with the
sourdough artists at the Boudin Bakery

But we couldn't help the feeling that something was missing...

The floating docks of Pier 39 are usually overflowing with the sight (and smell) of barking sealions. However, sometime earlier this winter they all* vaished!



*Editors Note: There were a few stragglers there for our viewing pleasure. However, their position (basking directly in the late afternoon sun) was not ideal for photographing and including them would have ruined the story of their mysterious disappearance, thus they have not been pictured here for artistic and dramatic affect.

Fear Not, brave reader! All was not lost. We made a new friend (pictured below) and had a great day...and some delicious sushi** for dinner!!

** For Jessica Popkin, and all other worried Harvardians out there, the sushi was not, nor could it ever be, as good as Takemura lunch sushi with you! Miss you!!!

Tahoe Adventures

Last week Brett's friends came in from around the country (and one from Bahrain) for some adventures, and phenomenal skiing, in Tahoe.


I skied a 41 degree slope - and it was awesome!!! I'm wicked (or, as they say here, hella) good at tearing up the pow-pow







Alpine Meadows throws a bomb Jamaican free-style Olympic send-off party and makes great "Jamakin' me crazy" cocktails






The Olympic flame at Squaw that's been lit since the winter Olympics was held there in the '60s

Southern Day Trip

Today we took a trip down 101 to Santa Cruz. The famous boardwalk was all boarded-up for the winter, but it was still fun to see the roller coasters from the pier and watch the off-season volleyball players. On the way back up the windy 1 we drove through Capitola, Aptos, Pecadero, and Half Moon Bay. Check out the updated pictures HERE. A few highlights below.

Fun day! Tahoe tomorrow...