Feb 20 - Live from Dublin

• Day 2 in Dublin - Andy and I are here exploring all this great town has to offer. I think Andy is enjoying checking out his roots here. Everyone looks like us as we say.
  
• Nora my hostess with the mostess is doing a terrific job of helping out in every way. We're with here in Phibsborough, just north of Parnell Square on the canal. Yesterday we were in Wicklow to check out Glendalough (pronounced Glen-da-lock) for ruins and walks in the woods. Greetings to everyone from the motherland!
• We are also enjoying quoting back and forth various lines from Arrested Development trying to tackle a few items we just never got (why was it too quick even for the narrorator?!) We were both stumped by that. We'll see if I get him hooked on Lost, I may succeed just yet. Other than those two shows I'm not really a TV junkie at all.
  

Feb 10

• One of my WSJ favorite Walt Mossberg columnists is stirring up some discussion about legisltion on cookies as told by MediaPost Online's minute today. His angle is mostly for spyware companies, but a blanket legislation for this is not necessary. This implies that all cookies are placed on user browsers without consent or behind the back of a user, which is not true for all companies.
• Tonight is the big match up US v. Japan for men's soccer. 8pm kick off time 1 block from work! I can't wait to watch my first footie pro match.
  

Feb 9

• Interesting study about online puchasing for the college demographic published in imedia connection. Definitely slide quoteworthy.
• I have a volunteer streak running strong this week. Trolling SF craigslist.org (not a good habit to get into. I must have way too much time on my hands hence the call for volunteering outlets. I came across opportunities to have a valentine to visit with littlebrothers.org which really sounds great. I also will be volunteering with Hostelling International leading local tours and ...pub crawls. That just sounds plain awful. What better way to learn about the city and meet fellow travel enthousiasts? I have an interview tonight and it does not require a resume, thankfully. If I did have a 'travel resume, it wouldn't be half bad.
  

Feb 7

• Today is the big day for surfing enthousiasts far and wide - a local challenge has reached its prime in cult status - the Maverick surf competition outside of Half Moon Bay took place today. A few years ago someone discovered and kept this spot hidden from the world while he glided on his board across fifty foot waves. Today, 30,000 spectators showed up to watch. Video footage complements of KTVU TV station.
• I just evelvated my taqueria knowledge 100% - my first experience was at a local favorite aptly titled Mexico Au Parc - on South Park and 2nd St. A delicous green chicken molé was devoured down with 5 kinds of salsa, corn totillas, rice and beans, and thirst-quenching guacamole. The author is not as coy as she appears however; I didn't discover this myself as I consulted the handy-dandy ever-San Francisco friendly Burritoeater.com: a must to conquer the cities taqueria a la cartes.
• From my favorite magazine Wired, a new spin on Advertising
  

Feb 3

• There's a new local Internet blog-gossip site that launched yesterday: Valleywag - apparently the hot topics are about the local taxes of Larry Ellison and Google's queen of search. Interesting in themselves, so we'll see what else pops up soon.
• I checked out SF AMA - $225 annual membership! Maybe my company can fork that over.
• Is it a bar? Is it a gallery? Is it a hybrid of sorts? Last night, I found a great place to have a drink and enjoy local art - 111 Minna Gallery. From the outside, it looks like a swanky private gallery party. From the inside, you realize it's a great bar where there's always something to talk about. Besides, anywhere I can get "Big Daddy" beer, is thumbs up in my book.

NYC Marathon Reprise

• A bit out of chronological order. Some of you were wondering how the Marathon went this year. Here is the proof that it I indeed finish.
  

Crossing the NYC Marathon finish line 2005

Feb 2 - Groundhogs nil

• Very interesting articles in the WSJ today in Personal Technology. Walt Mossberg tells us aboutRollyo: Roll Your Own Search Engine- personalizing search amongst engines and shareable, as well as PubSub, which I'm not so keen about. Try it out for what you find interesting.
  
• For some reason I'm very akin to this "holiday" even though winter is meaningless in this part of the country - CNN.com - Punxsutawney Phil predicts ... - Feb 2, 2006 forecasts 6 more weeks of winter...bah humbug.
• I purchased a string of SF Giants tickets for 2006. I am proud to say I will be seeing the NY Mets and Oakland A's in action. For you out of town guests lurking to visit - let me know when you are coming, and hopefully it's a home game.
• While purchasing tickets for SF Giants, I became sidetracked and managed to also buy a ticket for a "friendly" USA Men's Soccer match as they gear up for the World Cup - ussoccer v. Japan. Even though I didn't score tickets for Germany, hopefully my friends Scott and Laura will richly indulge me in their escapades while cruising around the Nordic sea and dropping themselves off in Berlin for a game.