Tag Archives: friends

Music to hump to > #56

Posted on February 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

Katie created a double disc music mix for Christmas (a very electro Christmas) and  this track quickly became one of my favorites. I may or may not play it on repeat for hours at a time.

Arty & Mat Zo – Mozart

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Posted in Hump day, Music

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The garden isle

Posted on December 14, 2011 | 1 Comment

When my friend Lukasz asked me before Thanksgiving if I was interested in a long weekend adventure on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, it barely took any consideration before saying yes.  As a result of his frequent traveling he had several complimentary nights to stay at the St. Regis in Princeville and as a result of my frequent traveling, I had a plethora of frequent flier miles that I’ve been wanting to use for exploration. It was a no-brainer.

I’d been to Maui and loved it, and have always wanted to go to Kaua’i, which I always heard was considered more remote and suited perfectly for outdoors lovers.

So, with very little planning we booked the trip and this weekend we jetted off to the Garden Isle for a Polynesian adventure filled with hiking, eating, and relaxing.

We ate ahi poke and kalua pork, visited a local farmers market, hiked through some amazing scenery including the amazing Nā Pali Coast (which I’ve been fascinated with since it was featured as the backdrop for Jurassic Park) , soaked in world-class hospitality at the St. Regis, drank lots of Kona coffee, and saw a handful of rainbow-stamped sights including the über impressive Hanakapi’ai Falls and Waimea Canyon.

one of the biggest spiders I've ever seen

hiking on the Kulua trail on the Nā Pali coast

star fruit from the farmers market in Hanalei

hardly able to contain my excitement at Waimea Canyon

Lukasz at Hanakapi'ai Falls, on an 8 mile hike on the Kulua trail

on the Okolehao Trail, overlooking Hanalei Bay

All my photos can be found on Flickr…

With awesome trips to Kaua’i and Maui under my belt, my appetite for Hawaiian adventure has been whetted. It’s an easy direct flight from San Francisco, the weather is beautiful, the scenery is lush, the outdoor adventures are plentiful, the food is delish, and the language is English! Derek and Hawaii go together like chips and dip.

So not long after returning home, I started plotting a return trip to the awesome archipelago… next stop? The Big Island! I want to see me some volcanoes.


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Posted in Fun, Travel

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One of my favorite sayings from 2011

Posted on November 15, 2011 | 1 Comment

Cry it out or sweat it out.

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Posted in Looking back

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On Marriage

Posted on September 17, 2011 | 1 Comment

Today, I’m reading a passage from The Prophet, by Khalil Gabran, at Meagan McCrystle’s wedding. Upon finding this passage while doing research for different wedding reading options, I felt an instant connection. As I explore love a second time around, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want. This passage speaks exactly to what I believe a strong relationship looks like.

I couldn’t be happier to be reading this at Meagan and Patrick’s wedding. :)

An excerpt from “The Prophet” by Khalil Gabran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

I love you Meagan and I am thrilled to be part of your special day. I wish you and Patrick an amazing life together (but not too together!)

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Posted in Commentary, Travel

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Rites of Passage

Posted on August 28, 2011 | 1 Comment

It was ten years ago this month that I first heard about Burning Man. I was in high school and I was driving to Lansing after work on a Saturday afternoon. It was part of my typical weekend routine: get off work at 3pm, hit the road to go on a date or to meet friends, listening to Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me on NPR. After the show ended I usually changed the station because I didn’t want to listen to Car Talk. But on this particular day there was no Car Talk and instead a segment came on the air about Burning Man, which was about to kick off. The piece portrayed Burning Man as this mysterious gathering in middle of the desert of Nevada, a place where tens of thousands of people gathered to express themselves, free their spirits, and form a temporary but almost utopian community.

Over the last six years I’ve met dozens of people that make the yearly pilgrimage to the Black Rock Desert during the week leading up to Labor Day. Everyone from coworkers and friends of friends, to ski cabin mates and strangers at the bar. The more people I met the more I learned and the more intrigued I became. Eventually the intrigue turned to an interest in going.

Why?

Lots of reasons.

The art, the creativity, the challenge of braving the elements. The music, the dancing, the opportunity to be someone else for a week… or maybe to be your true self.. And of course the sexuality.

Tomorrow I hit the road for my first Burning Man.

For the last month my life has been consumed with preparation. Getting ready for this adventure in the desert has required a lot of time, planning, organization, patience, determination and not to mention money. I don’t think I’ve worked so hard to get somewhere in my life. I’m not taking about in just the last month and I’m not talking about just the physical destination. It’s taken me years to get where I am today and where I’ll be tomorrow.

I feel blessed to be going and to be under the watchful eye of some very loving people. For that I am grateful.

I depart with an open mind, limited expectations and the intention of fully embracing the experience.

See you on the other side.

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Posted in Looking back, Travel

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An ode to Yelp

Posted on July 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

Little YelperI used to be quite the Yelper.

I was a relatively early adopter, an active member since October 2006. I grew a network of friends of fellow Yelpers. I was Elite for three years (2007, 2008 and 2009). I Yelped back when it was still possible to get Firsts.

Writing Yelp reviews was just about as satisfying as blogging back then. (I was on a blogging hiatus.)

Eventually the site became overwhelmed with members, it became hard to get into Elite parties and the quality of the reviews went down. Yelp was no longer just this fun social community that my friends and I played around in. (And then there were all those questionable business practicies that Yelp was doing with advertisers.)

I kind of lost faith and excitement and stopped using the site.

But since moving earlier this year and being out on my own, I’ve found myself returning to Yelp more frequently. I have to admit it’s kind of nice. Reading old reviews and compliments from friends takes me back to a fun time in life.

So anyway, I’m glad to see Yelp is still doing well. Despite some annoyances, it’s still the best way to narrow down restaurant choices and keep up on new hot spots.

special bonus: here is the last review I wrote. at what must have been an irritable time in life.

Damn sandwich artist

pij

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Posted in Commentary, Fun, Pointless, Ranting

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Hiking with the moon

Posted on June 17, 2011 | 1 Comment

I had been wanting to go on a hiking/backpacking trip organized by Nicolas Smith for several years. I never really had the motivation to go despite always having the desire to make more friends and to find new people for Dave and me to hike and backpack with. (Nicolas leads small group hiking trips throughout the Bay Area for gay men). When I saw on Facebook last week week that Nicolas was leading a full moon hike in Marin on Wednesday after work, I decided to jump on the opportunity. This seemed liked a great post-Lifecycle chance to get outside, continue meeting new people (gay men, specifically) and savor the Bay Area beauty that I try so hard to not take for granted.

So I told Brian G. that I made plans for us to join the hike (I knew I would be more comfortable with a wingman) and he agreed to join. We left after work, met the group of guys that had signed up and then carpooled over to Marin as the sun slowly began to set.

While the hike itself up to the top of Hill 88 was beautiful, with some fun exploration of old military bunkers along the way, those details aren’t the most important. What made the experience special was the people… the awesome 10 strangers that we met and got to know for 5 hours on a random Wednesday night.

Yes, watching the full moon rise over the city was spectacular but meeting Johan, Javier, Ben, Braden and others was what I was really there to do, to meet new, interesting people.

I won’t go as far to say I made any new friends just yet, but I’m trying to capitalize on the opportunity to get to know some of these guys more.

My photos on Flickr here, and some of my favorite photos from Nicolas’s collection below:

Heading up Hill 88

The Mighty Pacific (photo credit: Nicolas Smith)

Me and Brian (photo credit: Nicolas Smith)

Making trouble (photo credit: Nicolas Smith)

The full moon rising over the Bay (photo credit: Nicolas Smith)

Full moon over the Bay (photo credit: Nicolas Smith)

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Posted in Travel

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ALC Day 1: Photos

Posted on June 5, 2011 | 2 Comments

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Posted in Fun, Travel

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