J.Yang has slummed it in the valley with the Wakefield twins; slumber partied with Huey, Dewey and Louie; joined Krakow in stalking Angela; and climbed every mountain with the Von Trapps.

Originally from San Diego, he's lived and traveled the world (okay, not all of it) in pursuit of that most elusive of targets -- inspiration.

He's authored and published a book, written for online and offline publications, and maintained a variety of popular blogs on subjects ranging from movies and technology to personal stories and amateur musings. He's currently busy working on his second book, a fiction novel for teens.

You can reach him at digitaljon@SPAMgmail.com. He is BFF with his iPhone so he should answer promptly.

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Team Zissou  
Sunday, June 22, 2008 : 4:13 PM : 0 comments

This just moved to the top of my list for reasons to visit Japan -- barely edging out sushi and ramen. The Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa has a tank large enough to house four whale sharks. I'll let that sink in a little before you check out some videos. It's freaking ridiculous. And I thought seeing sunfish at the Monterey Aquarium was pretty cool.

Of course, it might be easier to just go to the aquarium in Atlanta and pay $300 for the privilege of swimming with these things. Oh but morality. According to this article, two whale sharks died at the Georgia Aquarium last year for mysterious reasons (The largest aquarium in the world is in Georgia? Who knew?). Their "best hypothesis" is that they reacted poorly to chemical treatment administered to combat parasites. It's either that or whale sharks don't do well in captivity since they're used to swimming long distances in the wild. Pick one.

For some people the idea of zoos, aquariums, and containment of wild animals is disgusting and I can see where they're coming from. However, there's something to be said about the value of having these amazing creatures on hand to study, preserve, and showcase. Tossing random people into a tank to make a few bucks seems kind of crass though. Then again, so does inviting little children to go hug killer whales for a few oohs and ahhs.

I should really take the time to think about where I stand on the ethics involved here. But I love the zoo and Sea World! I will say that there are few things more serene (yet exciting) than watching the Shamu Cam. Seriously, just leave it open on your desktop and get ready to be transported to a happy place.

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If You Don't Know, Now You Know  
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 : 4:26 AM : 0 comments

You know when you're driving along on the freeway and you're a little tired and you think you can get away with a nano-nap because nobody's around and you're going straight for awhile anyway? Ten seconds later, you feel the thump thump of those little lane dividers that signal "Stop swerving and wake up (to avoid killing yourself)!" What are those little things called?

If you knew that the answer was [highlight and/or click for the answer] Botts' dots, I applaud you with my mouth agape.

I attended a trivia night in North Park tonight and came away a loser -- tied for tenth actually. But I learned so much in the process. After all, I already knew I was a loser, right? The main thing I learned was that there are people out there with a freaky ability to know lots of random facts. What was advertised as a pop culture night was sort of that but oh so much more. The four lead off categories were: TV Sketch Comedies, Movie Quotes (as spoken by Stephen Hawking aka computerized voice), Disgusting Foods, and Misconceptions.

Now I know I may not be particularly great at trivia but I don't suck either right? Guess again. Let's talk about how many vaginas a kangaroo has. A kangaroo has three vaginas. THREE. Oh that crazy intelligent designer. Sneaky bastard. Here's a question that should be more up my alley. What's the name of Master Chief's AI robot buddy? No clue. My video game guild badge is going to be revoked. Her name's Cortana. Duh.

Yeah, I thought we had a chance to maybe sneak in a few genius answers but in reality we got pummelled. There was one guy, an army of one, who managed to place third all by himself. The other teams were surprising too. A whole bunch of people I'd never suspect of harboring intense trivia knowledge seemed to know things I've never even heard of. Never judge a book by its cover, just don't do it.

Even pure reason failed us. For example, what do you think is the most widely eaten fish in the world? Maybe tuna, maybe salmon, perhaps cod, or tilapia. Or whatever they mash together to get those delicious Filet-O-Fishes. How about herring?!

There may not be many serious life applications for knowing trivia but goddam it's impressive. I didn't feel stupid -- okay, a little -- so much as just wonder at the awesomeness of my fellow human beings. Now I must plot to form an All-Star team of trivia and hope to get out of the double digits.
Here's what I can bring to the table (with specialties in parentheses):
Sports (Basketball, Football)
Movies (Titles, Actors)
Comics (Marvel, X-Men)
Television (1990s, Reality TV)
Geeky Stuff (Nothing too esoteric unless it's Magic related)
Foods beginning with the letter "Q"
So yeah, basically, I'm nigh useless at trivia contests. What I'm looking for is someone who specializes in entertainment and celebrities, someone with great musical repertoire, a history and geography buff, and a guys' guy who knows about cars, fishing, and things that are manly. Whatcha got? Feel free to list your five specialty areas in the comments because yes, I am recruiting.

To add insult to injury, the final round was three minutes to list the top forty best selling books of all time. Each correct answer was worth one point. We got five. And that's with the Bible as an obvious answer and Harry Potter as an even more obvious answer. Five out of forty. And I call myself a reader. I disgust myself.

But damn it was fun.

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Beautiful Island  
Monday, April 14, 2008 : 11:21 PM : 0 comments

Here's a semi-interesting story about the "Last Days of Taipei." Recently, Taiwan's been getting a lot of attention because of last month's presidential elections. Many Taiwanese citizens flew in from the U.S. to vote. The ultimate result was the reinsertion of the Kuomintang (KMT) into power a few weeks ago. For those not in the know, Taiwan and China are not the same thing. Alert, the people may look similar but are not the same! When the Communists took over China, the KMT fled across the sea to Taiwan and essentially displaced the Taiwanese people and government.

So a big political schism is between those who feel Taiwan should be independent of China and those who feel China and Taiwan are one. The abbreviation usually appended after Taiwan, R.O.C., stands for "Republic of China." People feel pretty damn strongly about which side of the China-Taiwan debate they stand on. Some Taiwanese parents don't even want their children to marry Chinese. Nothing endears you the parents of a beautiful Taiwanese girl like being Taiwanese yourself.

Anyway, the article sheds less insight than the bold title declares and has the worst navigation of any article I've ever seen, but hey, it's worth a read since it contains interesting tidbits such as:
"'The Old Capital' is crowded with horticulture. I asked Chu why. When the Japanese came, she said, they planted flame trees, cherry trees, azaleas and eucalyptus all around Taipei. Later, the Chinese nationalists chopped many of these down and planted banyan trees and king palms.

When locals chafed at the way a small gang of mainlanders ran Taipei, officials began planting native camphor trees. In less than a generation, camphor-lined streets have become the picture of modern Taipei. The stout, twisting laurels grow quickly, like so much else here."
Unrelated but related. The protests during the running of the Olympic torch are ridiculous. I love how pro-Tibet supporters are agitating everyone and hope to make their point by extinguishing the Olympic flame. The whole idea of the Olympics is a peaceful arena for athletics, free from politics and violence. Of course, that conception has been shattered nearly every year the Olympics have been held in recent memory (it's hard to ignore the reach of billions of viewers I guess) so this is just more dirt on the coffin of the Olympian ideal so this really shouldn't be that surprising.

I do feel sorry for the poor saps who waited around to see the torch in SF but then were disappointed by the duping and alternate routes. Don't even get me started on the idea of a boycott. It must be horrifying to be an Olympic athlete, never knowing when events out of your control will completely torpedo your dreams and aspirations. Oh wait, that's just life. Can't wait till August to watch all these people wilt under the Beijing sun, dirt, and smog.

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City Lights  
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 : 3:25 AM : 0 comments

I've been looking for the heart of San Francisco for a long time. I feel like every time we come up here, I'm trying to figure out what defines SF. I'll go to other cities craving certain foods, particular experiences, and looking forward to getting something unique to that area. With San Francisco, I can never seem to find it. I've done Fisherman's Wharf, the Mission, North Beach, Union Square, J-Town, Inner Richmond, Financial District, the Marina (where my sister lives), Haight-Ashbury, and spent a whole day wandering all over the city on foot.

Reputed for great shopping, good food, and a potpourri of people and experiences, I'm usually underwhelmed by all of the above and more impressed with SF's bookstores. The landmark that's made the most impact on me? The Six Sisters of Full House fame. Seriously. I haven't found much in the city to be overly excited about or that different from something I couldn't readily find elsewhere. Yet many people I respect and admire pledge allegiance to the Bay. I must be missing something.

Maybe the answer to the whole "Who is San Francisco" question is that it can be anything you want it to be? It can be an excellent night life city or it can be the domain of outdoorsy types -- or you can mix and match pleasures. On the plus side, there's certainly a lot of culture and interesting activities going on, but I'm rarely here long enough to consistently partake in much of anything. Perhaps therein lies the problem. San Francisco seems like it might only reveal its secrets to me if I stick around for awhile.

If that's true, then it's perhaps the most commitment-centric city I've encountered so far. Commitment. Sigh.

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Pamchenko  
Thursday, February 21, 2008 : 4:32 AM : 0 comments

I've been having this recurring dream where I'm involved in "Ice Skating with the Stars." I believe this really was a show and I can't fathom why my subconscious is choosing to star in this of all things. I'm not even a very good ice skater. I tend to plant my left foot and just use my right to push off, kind of like you would a skateboard. That's not the proper way to skate at all.

Anyway, the greatest thing about these dreams is that they're episodic; complete with recaps and commercial breaks I think. Anyway, last week (or a few nights ago) I emerged as one of the quarter-finalists and America has chosen me as their darling. Somehow, I've become the crowd favorite and this Thursday, I'll be skating my little heart out for a chance at the finals. This particular show is like March Madness, head-to-head, so from four contestants we'll be dropping down to two.

George is really excited about my success and everything has turned upside down because of my sudden fame. For a few moments when I'm waking up, I'm totally convinced this is actually happening and yesterday I almost called someone to make sure they tape the next show. Is it weirder when dreams make complete (logical) sense or when they're totally off the wall and obviously fake?

Anyway, wish me luck, I'm going to bed soon and with your support, I'll be one step closer to being America's super ice skater.

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Hut One...  
Thursday, January 31, 2008 : 4:07 AM : 0 comments

I'm headed to my first Super Bowl. And what an epic one it's shaping up to be. My fellow Wolverine, Tom Brady, will be quarterbacking The New America's Team, the Patriots, toward a historic undefeated season. Back in college, Tom and I would often sit around dreaming of where we would be in five years. Now, here we are, a little off schedule but still on time, headed for a happy reunion after achieving worldly fame and fortune. Admittedly, most of the fame and fortune is on his side but I have had my small successes.

Then again, much like my ability to seemingly always end up on the wrong side of excitement, I'll be attending Super Bowl XLII in a service capacity. It's my version of always the bridesmaid, never the bride. We'll be working the Super Bowl Experience from Thursday till Saturday, and then flying out on Sunday.

So, I'll be watching the game from home, just like you schlups. But oh the fun I'll have in the meantime. You're jealous aren't you? I can totally tell.

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Home Is Burning  
Monday, October 22, 2007 : 10:44 PM : 0 comments

When we were in the fourth grade, our neighbor's house burned down. A thief was using the house as a base of operations while he looted the community. As the cops closed in, he set the house on fire as a diversionary tactic. For some reason, I had a crazy dream that night and made my dad come sleep with me in my room. A few hours later, he woke up with a start and thought it was our living room on fire. Later, he joked that he went immediately to rescue my mom because hey, you can always make more kids, but wives are once in a lifetime.

Yesterday, I glibbly suggested that the fires in Southern California were less scary than a flight of Raiders fans. Twenty four hours later, it's Fire 451 - Raiders' fans 0. Most of the people we know in San Diego are from Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, and Poway. Evacuation! Our old house is in that area but I think it's okay -- I notated our homes in little blue circles on the map.
It amazes me how much the Internet has changed the way we track disasters. I was right across the river during 9-11 so never really experienced something like this from the outside. Watching San Diego burn from up here in LA, it's frustrating the lack of information we have available. Then again, awesome people like Chris (whoever he is) whipped up stuff like this Google Maps / SD Fires mashup incredibly fast so he deserves some sort of medal.
The little church where we attended kindergarten burned down. That church is located a few dozen yards from Hong's house (Hotel Pan), which quite possibly might be the only house in his cul-de-sac that still stands. I hope the hang out of all hang outs is safe and standing proud.

The fire's headed toward Rancho Santa Fe and Del Mar. Guess where our other house is? Rancho Santa Fe and Del Mar. I'm hoping the friendly fire decides to skip our community. Strangely, I can't think of many things I'd go down there to save. Pictures, mementos, important papers, all that stuff of course. But aside from the obvious, what else is there?

Luckily my mom's in Taiwan. Hi Mom.

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The Final Frontier  
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 : 3:34 AM : 0 comments

I've documented my hate for MySpace on multiple occassions. I rail against it, it's totally pointless, it's super ugly, it's more inane than any other social networking tool. So, of course, it's the market leader and worth millions of dollars. Of course.

My old MySpace was created in order to test out the site's blogging function for the book. I added a few friends, played around a little, and then left it alone. Of course, I got in trouble for not adding a certain someone during my brief test run but that's a whole 'nother story. With some prodding and goading (and people actually making it for me), I now have a personal MySpace.

I feel so awesome now. Very awesome. Like very connected awesome. It's almost a spiritual high. Euphoric I'd say.

I'm trying to figure out what sorts of things I can do now but I can't think of a single thing. I guess when I fall out of touch with people, I can publicly message them and briefly and generically ask how they're doing but really, isn't that what email is for? And I guess having a MySpace would enable long lost friends to find me but I highly doubt anybody's missing much in their lives without me around. If they were, wouldn't they have found me already?

You would think that I'd be super big on social networking since I have this constant fear of losing friends. I like making sure I have one or two ways to find somebody in a worst case scenario. I've managed to fall out of contact with only a few friends here and there and each time it's been semi-traumatic for me. Social networking should be my friend tracker but it's been totally ineffective.

Anyway, despite its many shortcomings, I'm giving social networking a chance. I even tossed things onto my Facebook in order to give it some life. I read an article about the recent success of Facebook and how it's really good at (1) connecting people and (2) keeping them apart -- by not accepting an invite, you can bar people from your circle. I can really appreciate this mix of openness and exclusivity so I've decided to embrace the dichotomy.

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Man vs Ink  
Monday, September 10, 2007 : 1:03 AM : 0 comments

Admittedly, this is a long shot but Lilly put my good name out there when one of her contacts was exploring casting options for the host of a television show that explores international tattoo cultures. They're looking for writers who write about or engage in travel, international culture, and adventure.

I wonder if having several smallish tattoos would disqualify me from consideration. I mean, I doubt I would have the tattoo credibility to be allowed into these secret cultures with anything resembling credibility. For a moment though, it sounded like an excellent oppurtunity for me to get my breakout role.

I mean, I'm engaging, inquisitive, earnest and male; which were some of their qualifications. Sure they probably want an older gentleman with a sense of adventure -- like Anthony Bourdain -- but casting a 22-year old (looking) Asian would probably bring in millions of viewers. Nothing would bring more street cred to the show than a slightly OCD, sprig looking, tiny tattoo sporting Chinese boy. Nothing.

The show will be looking to follow the host on "a journey to some potentially dangerous places." I was trying to imagine what would qualify as dangerous to them but decided that anything more exotic than the local Target or Souplantation would be pretty risky to me. I imagine I'd have to rough it a bit too; which probably doesn't mean sleeping on the ground of your friend's apartment.

All in all, I'd say I'm ready to risk my life to explore some tattoo cultures. So, History Channel, hurry up and call me so we can get started on this thing. Bring on the pain; we've got a world to explore and I've got skin real estate to spare.

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Fort Knotts  
Sunday, August 26, 2007 : 7:22 PM : 0 comments

Someone's been trying to steal my identity and it's not funny. Actually, the person in question doesn't even want my entire identity, just a few hundred dollars from my bank account. It's almost depressing to think that the most valuable part of my good name is its attachment to money. I can guarantee that a few years ago, nobody would have wanted to hack into my bank account for any reason.

Suddenly, as I finally come into (some) money, I'm being attacked. By a Spanish speaker located in New Jersey no less. And they're not even that good at hacking since I found out where they live, their name, and just about everything else about them with my Internet-sleuthing skills. If only they had a MySpace or Facebook to exploit. By the way, is Facebook making a huge push into the market or what?

Coming on the heels of having funds drawn out of my bank account by another Jonathan a few months ago, I've decided that my security measures are really not working. Then again, I'm not sure who to blame because if I have to explain to Paypal's resolution center person how their system works and why there's a weird Catch-22 in it, I'm guessing it doesn't take a genius to crack Paypal's security measures either. Did I mention this is the second time in a month Paypal has failed me?

Anyway, my old password security system -- created maybe six years ago -- utilitized a cunning algorithm of a certain cartoon-ish theme and numbers. It seemed capable of thwarting fools and also forget-proof. You know when IT articles tell you to change your passwords every few weeks? I've decided it's probably a good idea. I've used the same generic password for most log-ins since 2001. It makes it easy to access things but I guess it's probably not that good of an idea.

I just never thought I would see the day when supervillains would target me as a source of potential income. It's nice though, because it obviously means I'm coming up in the world. Unless this guy is the reverse Robin Hood, stealing from the poor to give to the rich. Then I guess I'd be a little embarassed for him since that's not very original. Nor the stuff of legend.

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In Brief  
Sunday, May 20, 2007 : 11:12 PM : 0 comments

Just real quickly (I have so much to say about the weekend in Ann Arbor): The book and writer's conference went amazing. We started off at a beautiful bed and breakfast, tucked in a location on campus we could scarcely believe, and everything got better from there. I got to re-acquaint myself with the campus, marvel over all the changes, eat all the foods I was looking forward to, participated and watched some great panels and speakers, and met a ton of really interesting people. I'll go into detail about it all when I get the chance but truly it was an inspiring weekend. Here's some quick moblog pictures from the weekend.

We moved along to New York right after Michigan and we're so busy exploring, meeting, and just having tons of fun that I haven't even touched a computer in days. Yeah, days. I might be in withdrawal, might.

One thing that Lilly noticed was weird on campus -- aside from it being semi-empty due to school being out of session -- was that everyone now has (white) earbuds attached to their heads. It's forces you to notice everyone walking around in their own little worlds. It's hard to explain how such a subtle thing makes the people/students on campus seem so distant from each other. Where's the community spirit?

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Champions of the West  
Wednesday, May 9, 2007 : 12:38 AM : 0 comments

I'm going to Michigan next week (May 17 - 20) to participate in the Ann Arbor Book Festival.

I'll be sitting on one panel (as Lilly's sidekick) and moderating another. Should be fun. Visit the alma mater, eat some Pizza House, Rendezvous at the bar around two, go buy some Steve & Barry's to dust off that school spirit. Um, Go Blue?





Reading in Mixed Media - Saturday, May 19th
Moderator: Jonathan Yang, Rough Guide to Blogging
Matt Bell, writer/blogger
Doreen Lichtman, Survival From Malice
Claudia Mair Burney, Murder, Mayhem and a Fine Man
Meghan O'Rourke, www.salon.com, Slate.com

The world of writing and reading is changing quickly. Join this panel as they discuss how they have addressed this changing world as writers. From blogging, to making books or excerpts of books available online or as ebook downloads, this group is facing the challenges of a changing literary world head on.


The Writer-Agent Relationship - Friday, May 18th
Lilly Ghahremani, Full Circle Literary Agency with author Jon Yang, The Rough Guide to Blogging; Amy Williams, McCormick-Williams Literary Agency and Travis Holland, The Archivist's Story.

The author-agent relationship is crucial to publishing success. An agent will work for you in getting the best publication deal, and will support you through the publishing process. But how do you find the right agent? And how do you get that agent to notice your work in all the piles of manuscripts they receive each day?

Two pairs of authors and agents will discuss how they came to know each other, how they work together to be effective, and what expectations they should have of each other.

Come on out, Michigan is only a hop and a skip away!

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And the Beat Goes On?  
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 : 6:05 PM : 0 comments

David Halberstam passed away recently, in a car accident. If you don't know exactly who he is; you're probably among the majority. Halberstam was a journalist and a great writer.

To be honest, I only got into him because of his basketball themed books (Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made) but that expanded out to his other works and over time, I came to think of him as someone whose career I'd love to emulate; however poorly. I can't really speak on Halberstam's place in the literary world as a whole, but he had a high position in my little world.

Halberstam spoke at my University of Michigan graduation services (2000). I can't recall exactly it is that he said, but I'm sure whatever it was, it was more than "The answer is...pizza!" I probably should have listened closer, but it wasn't really my graduation, and the crowd was rowdy, so attention was lost.

Writers get into the business to immortalize people/objects/the world; but also to immortalize themselves. Do they know what's waiting beyond that breech? Immortality! Take it David; it's already yours.

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The Drive-Thru Circle of Hell  
Friday, March 30, 2007 : 5:03 PM : 0 comments

Christmas is upon us in the form of Filet-O-Fish Fridays. Did you know that Filet-O-Fish Fridays coincided with Lent? I had no idea. I used to drive around thinking that only certain McDonald's locations had this deal. Stupid me. Pattern recognition isn't one of my strong suits. Anyway, here's the backstory on how the Filet-O-Fish got its start as a regular menu item at McDonald's. Important stuff.

The beauty of Filet-O-Fish Fridays is not just the $1 price but also the chance of having an excellently prepared Filet-O-Fish. Because McDonald's knows that all the cheapies out there will be flocking to their stores on Fridays during Lent, they keep cranking out the fish sandwiches; resulting in a perfectly warm and fresh filet each time you order. It's heaven.

Tragically, when I went to my local Fremont McDonald's, they had no idea what I was talking about. "Filet-O-Fish Fridays? Never heard of it." So it's confirmed, Fremont is going to hell. The McDonald's god has forsaken Fremont. And I was forced to pay full price for a Filet-O-Fish on Filet-O-Fish Friday. Ridiculous.

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Pleat Me (or) Flat Frontal  
Friday, March 16, 2007 : 12:09 AM : 0 comments

I normally just wear my suit pants for interviews and it's been awhile since I've had a job where I had to dress up -- summer 1999 I believe. What that means is that all of my dress pants aren't exactly in style anymore. It's actually pretty questionable if my dress pants were ever in style (I'd say half of them I stole from my dad and had re-tailored), but let's ignore that. I have a whole rack of balloony dress pants hanging in my closet at home from ten years ago. It's very New Jack Swing; in style and color selection. Anyway, if forced to wear nice pants now, I don't know what I'd do.

Two weeks ago when I went to LA to work in an office environment, a few of my co-workers/friends made fun of my pants. See, my pants had pleats. Sure, it was my suit pants, but pleats are bad, even I know that. I may look sartorially challenged but I'm really not. I have a very keen eye for fashion, just not an overly robust wallet. You can be rich and have no style, but it's (generally) hard to be stylish without some money.

So after a week of pleated shame, I vowed that I would purchase new dress pants worthy of admiration and befitting my role as office professional. Today I took my cheap ass to Mervyn's and dropped $75 on three pairs of pants -- it may not sound like much but that amount represents a serious clothing commitment for me. Here's what I found out during my personal fashion show: I look better in pleats.

It's disgusting, I know. I mean, here I am ready to erase pleats from my wardrobe and it turns out that I'm just a pleats guy. I can't even figure out why. According to some online research I did, "Pleats are generally more conservative/formal and flat fronts are more trendy/casual." I'm the epitome of (wannabe) trendy/casual and here I am encased in pleats. It's terribly unfair.

Usually, flat fronts look best on guys who are tall and slender. I'm tall and slender. The catch is: "The flat front pant emphasizes a good build and a well proportioned body." Oh, right. I'm missing the good build and the well proportioned body. Maybe that's why I need pleats.

For those of you wondering why pleats are even around in the first place, it's an engineering thing; they allow for greater comfort and range of movement. Good for kung-fu I suppose, not good for coolness. For those of you wondering what a pleat versus flat front is, well, you can look at this picture but really, why bother? You're already lost the war my friend, time to throw in the towel and join me in pleat-land.

If you're trying to make me feel better by saying that "real men wear pleats" or something like that, check out this picture. Even a suave hunk like this looks super dorky in pleated pants (the cuffs and short length don't help either). Us normal men have no chance.
Five Things to Look For
1. Pleats vs Flat Fronts
2. Cuffs or No Cuffs
3. Length of the pant leg; no highwaters please
4. Don't make the waist too tight, but don't sag either
5. Make sure your butt doesn't look funny

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Do You Yelp?  
Wednesday, March 7, 2007 : 5:19 PM : 0 comments

Do you remember the first time you used Google? Me neither. I used to be a Netscape devotee but somewhere along the way, I just started using Google constantly. Soon, everyone was using Google. A bit after soon, Google became an empire.

The same sort of thing happens with Amazon, Craigslist, Friendster, YouTube, Digg, whatever. I'm sure M.Gladwell would say something here about the tipping point but really, I'm sure there's a very well orchestrated way websites like this enter our lives. Somehow, they solve the chicken and the egg problem of "we'll be great when everyone uses us, but how do we get big?" and are now market dominators.

Well now, the new up and comer website is Yelp. I think I'm even slow on the Yelp bandwagon. Until we moved to Fremont, I didn't really need to search online for restaurant reviews. Not being familiar with a new area, we were constantly Googling different types of food. A strange little site would always pop up: Yelp. I paid little attention to it. User generated food reviews? Yawn.

But then Ameer started selling me on Yelp. And he committed to Yelping. See, he's been collecting business cards and creating his own handy food database for awhile now. But he needed some way to take it online. Yelp was the perfect thing.

I decided that my views on local food were important information for people to know. So I started yelping (my page here). Sure, I've only yelped two places but that's because I haven't come up with my gimmick yet. If you're going to review something as a consumer, you need to stand out. Jon G has his "drawbacks?" at the end as his signature. I'm still trying to figure out what my thing will be -- not to mention waiting for a good way to install a personal rating system. I want my one, three, or five stars to mean something.

In the meantime, if you're already a Yelper, let's be friends! If you're not Yelping, get on it!

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Life is Short  
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 : 1:01 PM : 0 comments

Here's a little life tip that I don't think enough people take enough advantage of. For the places where you eat often, always call and order ahead. I eat out a lot so I've got every restaurant's number programmed into my phone.

Sometimes I'll be staring at a long line but I'll call in my order from the back of the line -- and then I feel like a proper genius when they take my order immediately and have it ready by the time I get up to the front.

Other life tips I couldn't do without:
  • Set various clocks around you to different times. The clock in my car is set twenty-four minutes ahead, my alarm seven minutes ahead, my cell phone two minutes, etc. It's amazing how often you'll forget that your clocks are off and you'll rush someplace thinking you're late but then arrive early. Works like a charm.

  • Double up on your toiletries and pre-pack them in your travel bag. Nothing's more annoying than forgetting your toothpaste, eye solution, or deodorant. Buy two of everything and pack it in the bag for when you're ready to go. Same thing with a cell phone charger. Never be caught with one bar again.

  • Keep a log of significant facts about acquaintances and likeable near-friends. That way you can refresh your memory before you see them again. Significant facts include: name, siblings, where theyr'e from, what they do, what you talked about. Then stun them with your impressive memory of your last five-minute conversation. People will like you, promise.

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    I Am Book, Hear Me Roar  
    Friday, February 16, 2007 : 9:47 AM : 0 comments

    I listened to my first audio book the other day. I stumbled upon Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code on MP3; hidden among more than 80 gigs of music I recently acquired from a friend. I know a few people who are big fans of audiobooks so I thought I'd give it a shot. I plugged earphones in at midnight and started listening.

    Six and a half hours later, to my astonishment, my (very old) iPod was still running and I was almost through the book. Of course, I listened only intermittently as I drifted in and out of sleep but what I heard was compelling. Right at 7:45 am, during the climatic last scenes, my battery gave out. I almost got out of bed to plug my iPod charger in, just to get to the end -- but I barely get out of bed for work, so I didn't budge.

    I think I like audiobooks, but only if I've read the book already. I get too impatient with the slow pace of the narrator and feel the need to constantly skip around. A book like Da Vinci Code can be breezed through in a few short hours on the couch; listening to the unabridged version could take a whole day. Suggested for a long road trip perhaps, but too infuriating when you want to get through a book quickly.

    I do find it kind of funny to think of the narrator having to impersonate various voices. For some reason I imagined that the job of the narrator would be just that, narrating. Possibly in an omniscient semi-monotone voice. Sort of like going to a dull poetry reading. In this particular book, the narrator, Paul Michael, had to mimic American, English, French, Scottish, and female accents and voices. I found it amusing.

    I'd love to see the requirement sheet for an audiobook hire. What if they suck at an English accent, can they still get the job if they're excellent at the other ones? The job of reading a book seems to be much harder than I would have originally thought.

    Actually, the entire process of books on tape seems to be too difficult to warrant my effort -- ironic since audiobooks are supposed to make reading easy. Hearing the words and scenes does give the book another dimension, but not one worth my time. I guess I've lived in the word of page-to-eyes too long and can't quite comprehend when things are told to me. I'm not an audio learner or processor. For proof, ask any of my friends or my mom. I tune things out with the best of'em.

    Audiobooks on MP3s is the way to go though. Having to carry and switch CDs around would be the pits. How technologically backward.

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    Leave Nobody Behind  
    Monday, February 12, 2007 : 12:53 PM : 0 comments

    I think there should be an add-on year of school. You go from kindergarten through high school, maybe go off to college, and then at the age of twenty five, you are required to attend one year of follow up education. During this year of follow up education, you are going to take all the classes you took before, but this time, faster and more in-depth.

    It's ridiculous how much people don't know about the world around them. I often sit around and follow wikipedia to the ends of the Earth and depending on the day, I explore history, art, psychology, whatever catches my fancy. I consider myself halfway educated but if pressed for answers, I couldn't really tell you who was involved in World War I or even when it occured (1914-1918).

    The only Ottoman I can reference is the chair accessory -- which is sort of funny seeing as how the empire was trampled on during World War I. Most of my geographic knowledge comes from playing lots of Risk -- or Axis and Allies -- if it's not on a Risk board, I don't know where it is.

    This same sort of unknowledge applies to me (and many of my peers, I'd assume) for just about everything. What is socialism? Who was Paul Gauguin? Where is Oklahoma? What's an isoceles triangle? Who wrote "All Quiet on the Western Front?" Explain the principles of existentism. Who were our first five presidents? Spell something longer than "c-a-t." Watch something other than reality tv.

    We need some educated adults. Forget adult education, people don't have the time or the money to stop in the middle of their twenties to get some general education -- but we need it. If I were president, I'd institute one year of learning for all twenty-five year olds. Math, history, foreign language, science, English, art, film, recess, physical education; let's bring it on (again)!

    One of my friends was taking the substitute teacher's test and a whole bunch of us were looking over his materials. We would have failed miserably. I'd hope that as adults we'd appreciate this extra year of knowledge and become more open to actually learning and absorbing everything; because as kids, you just want to get out of school and get through the day.

    As an adult, you don't want to be dumb, do you?

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    Oh, The Places You'll Go  
    Tuesday, February 6, 2007 : 4:47 PM : 0 comments

    I've been trying to organize and start up a book swap for months. I decided to harness the power of craigslist to gather my fellow book readers. I put up an ad for the South Bay area and got enough responses to know that this was a good idea. However, I needed to kick things up a notch and so joined meetup.com for the express purpose of organizing a book swap focused on my area (Fremont, CA).

    Worked like a charm. Organizing the meetup was easy, getting people interested was easy, and we were on our way. But wait. The first meeting, scheduled for December, fell through due to holiday scheduling. Then the backup date, in January, didn't work out because I went to Los Angeles.

    I had one meetup member quit the "group." It hurt like losing a teammate in Survivor. Despite never having met these people (or even knowing what they looked like), I had become quite attached to the usernames that populated my group. When I lost that member I thought my leadership skills were being questioned and that I would soon be sent into the Gauntlet. Okay, not that dramatic, but close.

    I finally got an honest to goodness meetup planned and committed to and last Saturday, it happened. And it was magical, just like the anti-prom! But more on that later.

    First, why a book swap and not a book club? Book clubs are a long and messy affair. It takes a long time to find the optimum group of people. In San Diego, I had a great book club, but it took two years or more to distill to the proper taste. A book swap is designed for easy in, easy out. People show up, swap stories, swap suggestions, swap books. Done. Finito.

    It's more personable than a library and you get to talk to nice, interesting people. Plus, who doesn't like to see what people would select with a "first round draft pick?" Does he go for "DaVinci Code" or the lesser known but highly recommended "High Fidelity?" See what I mean? It's fun, literary style.

    The February book swap was a smashing success and despite not enough participants to actually conduct an organized swap, it was two hours worth of good conversation and exciting people. I loved it. So, more next month and we'll see if we can't get this book swap not only off the ground but perhaps transformed into a book club!

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