A note about the labels

You may have noticed that I started adding topic labels to my posts. The idea here is that you will be able to click on one like "Minnesota" and all of the posts about Minnesota will be magically laid out in front of you. I'm hoping this organization will eventually make my archives more useful and accessible. But keep in mind the labels are not yet complete. I've been working my way back in time, reading my existing posts and summarizing them with keywords, but the going is slow. It will probably be another week or two before the process is complete. Just wanted to give you that heads up in case you picked up on any gaps in my history.

P.S. It's raining outside.

The meaning of "Midnight Toast"

The title of my blog comes from my senior year at St. Thomas when I was living with three other guys in an on-campus apartment. Most nights we would group together in the kitchen and share the interesting parts of our days. I don't think any of us had early classes that year, so we were up late studying (or at least exploring the internet) every night and midnight was the perfect time for a snack and a chat. Maybe they ate leftover pizza or applesauce or whatever, but toast with (lots of) peanutbutter on it was usually my choice. I came to refer to the break as my midnight toast. I'm not sure if the other guys used that name or if they would even know what I'm referring to today, but our discussions were one of the highlights of my school year. They were all the proof I needed that the best conversations occur late at night... and so do the best blog entries.

Second weekend

That is easily one of my favorite photos of all time. It was taken by my dad during the second weekend of deer hunting in 2003. I don't know what is going on in the foreground between the scared-looking Gopher fan and the man with the stick, but I love how it has nothing to do with my bizarre duet with a Special-Export-drinking buddy in the background. One thing is for certain: a scene like this could only materialize at a hunting shack in northern Minnesota. Craziness tends to ensue when when you fill a tiny cabin in the middle of the cold woods with a bunch of coarse guys and an endless supply of beer. For a surprisingly accurate look at what the experience is like, check out this little tune by Da Yoopers.

The notorious "Second Weekend" is an annual event in November, but I haven't attended since the year that photo was taken. It seems some distance has come between me and the shack. But I'd like to return one day, as I find it oddly inspiring. Heck, Bread Man was born there! He was based my uncle. I woke up early one morning to find him asking "who wants some bread?" He must have been talking to me because I think everybody else had finally gone to sleep.

Tea time (the fire situation)

Click on the map to enlarge it. That way you can see the scale and the legend. The little red target is where we live (and where I spent an intense 10-hour work day typing away at this computer for a bunch of coworkers who had no idea about the wildfire up the street from me). So we're about half a mile from an evacuation warning. I think we're safe, as it seems unlikely the fire will come any further into the town, but it has made for an exciting last 24 hours, and I'm definitely keeping my eye on the news.

Last night I could see the orange glow from right outside our front door. R saw flames in the hills on her drive home from work. We lost power for a little while. Actually, that's how I found out about the fire. I was getting all excited about having an excuse to eat an ice-cream sandwich, and then a neighbor starts running around the courtyard shouting "We all need to leave! I've seen this before -- these fires move fast!" She left, so I haven't heard any more from her. The other neighbors have assured me we're not in danger (at least not yet). But that didn't stop me from getting a few things together (e.g. insurance paperwork, computer backup DVDs) just in case I had to head out of the door in a hurry any time soon. I never did have that ice-cream sandwich.

There is still ash, smoke, and the sound of helicopters in the air. Those aren't features associated with hurricanes, but I'm reminded of the storms we experienced in Alabama nevertheless. I have a fun map of Hurricane Ivan pointed right at our house saved on those computer backup DVDs. 24 years in Minnesota and the worst I experienced was a snowstorm. Upon leaving, R and I been exposed to a surprising number of natural disasters. Let's hope the "Big One" can hold off a few more years.

The name "Tea Fire" is being used as a label because the fire apparently started at some tea house or possibly a tea garden in Montecito. I haven't gotten the official word on that yet. The name doesn't sound that frightening, but tell that to the 200 families who lost their homes. When I was a kid my biggest fear was our house burning down. I can't imagine how devastating that would be. Let's mark wildfires as a point against California.

I should go. I feel like I still have a ton of things I want/need to do online, and I would eventually like to get away from this desk tonight too. R has been working late hours, but being that it's Friday and everybody in the area seems to be distracted by the fire, I expect her home soon. The other night, however, she didn't make it back until after midnight, so you never know. It's been a tiring week like that. I set my alarm for 2:00 this morning, so I could check out the news and make sure the fire wasn't heading our way. I don't think we are set up on the reverse 911 call. There's another thing I should look up online...

Bay area

Don’t get me wrong: San Francisco is an exciting place to visit with plenty of attractions for the weekend tourist, but being in a crowded, bustling city again after five months of “easy living” in laid-back, sunny Santa Barbara gave me a sense of relief that R’s latest corporate relocation did not bring us there or somewhere similar. Driving through Silicon Valley on the way up last Thursday evening did make me think the place could do wonders for my career (we even spotted the Oracle mothership along our way), but, at least for the time being, I’m happy hiding away down here and being done with my work day by 3 or 4 o’clock most days. In case I haven’t mentioned it enough yet, I am really happy with my life right now. I still don’t have as much free time I want, but I’m beginning to think having enough is an unattainable fantasy. I’ll take what I’m getting now, despite the fact that weeks still go by without the chance to open up Adobe Premiere and dig into my latest editing project.

Before I get any further off track with additional long-winded reflection, let’s get into my purpose for this entry: to cover our mini-vacation in the bay area. If you’d like an accompanying visual, see our photos here.

We spent three nights in a very cozy (i.e. small) room at a hotel downtown. Our location at 4th & Market Street was perfect for hopping on a cable car, a bus, or the BART, all means of transportation we made use of. My buddy from college, L, and his new wife were also in town and staying two blocks down the street until Saturday morning. We hung out with them all day Friday at Fisherman’s Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, and various other scenic hotspots around the city that you would probably recognize from the opening to Full House if nothing else. We had some lunch next to the water and a dinner out at an unpretentious place with motorbikes hanging from the ceiling. I enjoyed seeing these folks again, and it was helpful to have them show us around, being that they had already been visiting for a while and knew the city better than us. I’m so glad we were able to meet up and continue staying in touch with some friends from back home.

On Saturday, R and I were on our own. Since the tourist scene was starting to wear on us, we got off of the beaten path a little bit (but not too far). First we checked out the famed Haight and Ashbury district followed by a walk through the park to a Japanese tea garden where we sipped green and jasmine tea in an exotic setting amplified by a surrounding mist. Then it started raining. After a stop at the hotel to pick up some warmer clothes, we took the train out to UC Berkley and enjoyed a walk down the one-of-a-kind, funky Telegraph Avenue. Somewhere in there we also had a chocolate sundae at Ghirardelli Square and visited Chinatown, where I bought my only souvenir, a San Francisco T-shirt for $1.88. (Now that I think about it, Chinatown happened the night before, but it just doesn’t fit into that paragraph). The night was capped with a late, indulgent meal at an ultra swanky place called Ame. This is where I realized I didn’t pack appropriately because I felt severely under dressed in khakis and button-down shirt. Luckily R classed it up enough for the two of us and we enjoyed some of the finest Rice-a-Roni in the world :-).

We hit the road early Sunday morning, taking the slower but more scenic coastal route down and stopping for lunch in Monterey and a few other spots to take in the view. It would have been nice to have more time to explore this area. We will have to return sometime and maybe do some camping in Big Sur. Speaking of Big Sur, I want to leave you with some Mason Jennings lyrics from his GREAT song by that name. This is the kind of stuff we had playing as we drove along the rugged coast:

Forty miles south of Monterey and the San Lucia hills
The sunshine shone me to sleep, and I dreamt I was alive
I sang myself a song, it went, know what you know
Stay when you stay, and go when you go
And I call it intuition, flowers bloom and hummingbirds fly
Yes, I call it intuition, it gets me by

The owls are not what they seem

Friday night I watched Twin Peaks. Saturday night I lived it. It was a good Halloween weekend. There are a few more photos at the bottom of our Santa Barbara gallery. Check 'em out.

R had to work until late on Friday night, so I stayed home to man the door. We had purchased six bags of candy in anticipation of hordes of kids ringing our bell. Our grand total of trick-or-treaters: zero. (I've been eating candy steadily since then, hoping to put a dent in the supply, but there's no noticeable reduction yet.) I didn’t let the night go to waste. I worked on editing my music video, which is really exciting me right now, and I watched the episode of Twin Peaks where they bury Laura Palmer. That certainly helped me get in the spirit of the holiday and inspired to dress up like special agent Dale Cooper. R had the better costume though. I'm so proud of my little Log Lady.

On Saturday night, after our impromptu photo shoot, we attended a Halloween party at the Scooby gang's house. It turned out we didn't know anybody other than Shaggy, and nobody recognized who we were dressed as, making the costumes feel like a bit of a miscalculation (18 years ago we would have been a big hit). These are some of the downsides to being new in town, but you have to start somewhere. Each time we see these people we’ll likely be more and more comfortable around them. I'm proud of us for putting ourselves out there and working on new friendships. It would be a lot easier to stay in every night.

Sunday probably worked out better overall. First we volunteered at a function raising money for the food bank. R helped people pick out ceramic bowls and I emptied trash cans. I'd further explain the scenario, but it's not that interesting. Afterwards we attended a birthday BBQ for one of R’s coworkers. We have hung out with this group two or three times now, so we’re starting to get to the point where we can relax and open up around them some more. They seem like fun, cool people… and I’m not just saying that because they might be reading this blog.

How has the Twitter stream been working out for you? Did you see that we went to a David Sedaris reading two Saturdays ago? Or how about that I noticed my first earthquake? I’m still looking for the best way of fitting these communication tools together without repeating myself too much. I probably had a bunch more to say about recent happenings, but the fun of Twitter lies in the art of brevity. Let's see how it goes.

Okay, I better get out and vote. The web has been abuzz about the election today that it makes me feel like I’m the last person in the country to hit the polls. Today feels like a historic day. I want to be a part of this.