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and I thought tris were hard

// November 12th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // finding fun

Last year I ran San Diego’s second Krispie Kreme challenge.  It was a fun experience in many ways even if I barely managed to finish the doughnuts.  After last year’s race I wasn’t planning on doing it again.  But as I told others about the event, many people said they wanted to do it with me.  So I figured with friends I’m in for round two.

But when it came time to put their money where their mouths were, folks suddenly got much less brave.  Haha!  I guess I am tougher than some – especially in the stomach.  But my buddy Ryan did come out to give it a go.  And on Thursday I learned a running buddy, Becca, also signed up.

yep, ryan runs barefoot

Ryan’s girlfriend Monica came out to cheer us on (in the rain) as did Christine.  It’s thanks to them I have some photos.  Thanks so much, ladies! Here is Christine’s account of the day.

feeling brave beforehand

There were participant introductions but they were pretty brief because of the cold.  Like last year, ultra-marathoners and ironmen were well-represented.

the guy in the black ran western states – a 100-mile race!

And we were off – through the wet ground, mud, and flowing water.  I made the first loop in 6:30 which was a little suspicious. I later heard that the route was incorrect, only 0.92 miles.

just before eating, Ryan and I feel great here!

2 miles and 13-some minutes later I grabbed my dozen.  This is where it gets nasty.

after 3 it starts to get gross

Let me explain.  When I describe this race (2 miles, 12 doughnuts, 2 miles) people think it is difficult to run after eating a dozen doughnuts.  No way!  The eating is harder by far!  After 3 doughnuts or so it gets hard to swallow.  Your body starts to rebel.  And you think it’s hard to swallow then.  It gets worse.  And then worse yet.  I was consciously forcing myself to swallow on those last three.

…really gross

Both Ryan and Becca quit in the doughnut stage.  It’s hard to blame them.  I barely made it.

ryan came over to tell me he was bowing out

this is about how i felt on the last three

Last year I ate a dozen in about 16:30. I think I took 25 minutes this year.

how come everyone else has finished?

finally!

A couple of times during mile three I felt like things might come back up (just like last year) but it eventually settled and running felt pretty good. This time, the course had been corrected and I ran a full 2 miles. I finished at 58 mins compared with 48 last year. Yikes! The difference was all in the eating time. Results for 2011 aren’t up yet but they will be here.

still managing to smile at the end

And my second doughnut race is a wrap.  With my diminishing performance I think it is time for me to retire from the Krispie Kreme Challenge.  I still enjoy the event (minus today’s rain) but I don’t think I can put myself through that again.  Maybe I’ll be a volunteer next year so that I can participate without the grossness.  We will see.

the sci fi top 100

// November 9th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // finding fun

So I’m married to Listgirl, I think everyone here knows that.  So when I found the Top 100 Science Fiction/Fantasy Book list from NPR you know I’ve got to talk about that.  It’s my marital duty!

Here are the books on the list that I’ve read.  Almost the whole top 20 and then a few more.

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony

I don’t want to comment on every one, that would be boring.  But I have a few notes.

• Of those on the list, my favorite recent reads are #5 and #18 and obviously #2.
• I read #90 as a child and recently scanned it only to find it didn’t hold up well IMO. I want to re-read Foundation (#8) to see if I still like it as an adult. I have high hopes.
• Did anyone see the syndicated TV series based on #62? I kinda enjoyed it.
• I started but couldn’t get through #87, same for #62

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (nobody told me about this but I must finish off the top 10, right?)
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman (how have I not read this one!?)
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks

i tri again

// September 18th, 2011 // 4 Comments » // finding fun

Earlier this year I decided I would do an Olympic distance triathlon again in 2011.  (That’s a 1500m swim, 40k bike, and 10k run.)  My first triathlon was last year.  I looked around at some other races but I enjoyed the one I did so much I decided to go for round two.  I guess I should hang on to that $20 off the 2012 race coupon that they were handing out just in case.

For those of you here just for the facts, I finished in 3:03:15 which was good enough for 376/668 overall. Last year I finished in 3:05:53 or 509/770 overall.

On Friday, I had my pre-game meal of Smashburger.  Yeah, I’m not going for world records here so I pick meals I will enjoy.  After that I got my stuff together and tried to go to sleep early.

getting things lined up the night before

before

Going to bed early helped me to get up at 7:30…er, 7:30 eastern time that is.  It paid off as unlike last year I wasn’t setting up in transition at the very last moment.  I got a good spot in transition and noticed I was a couple of slots down from my swimming masters-class-mate, Brad.  I never saw Brad again even though according to the results we finished 2 seconds apart. Then I got marked up.  It’s still weird to me they put your age on your leg.  But of course it’s fun when I am passing the 27-year-olds.

I was the 7th heat.  With 3 minutes between heats that means my start time was 6:48.  But at 6:30 I made my way towards the start so I could see the start of it all.  On the way there I heard my name and saw my old Toastmasters buddy, Jim.  He has run marathons before but this was his first Olympic distance race.  Soon after that I also found my co-worker Peter.  Peter is very fast.

but for me we could have been the three filipino amigos. sorry guys for my extreme whiteness

The photos here were taken by the lovely and super-supportive Christine who also got up at 4:30 with me even though she was not racing.  You can read her account of the day with videos too.

my photographer

swim

1500m (about 0.9 miles) 33:18, Placed 400/668

did I forget something?

I was much stronger in the swim compared with last year.  I was a little surprised to be only 3 minutes faster.  But then I realized that is a 10% improvement.  So that’s cool.

Last year in the water I was kicked in the head.  This year I avoided that but did catch an elbow in the nose – luckily not hard enough to break it.  I really wanted to pee during the swim.  Many of you will know that peeing in a wetsuit, while gross, feels fantastic.  But it was not to be, I couldn’t do it while exerting myself.  The song “Can’t Let Go” by Earth, Wind & Fire was running through my brain.  It’s a good song so that was a consolation.

happy it went well and my nose is intact

By the end of the swimming rectangle it was chaos in the water.  By that time I was catching up to the slower swimmers from the previous heat or two.  And faster swimmers from subsequent heats were passing me.  I’ve never been groped so much in my life, even more this year than last.  But I got out feeling good and headed to…

transition #1 (swim to bike)

7:18, Place 647/668

I was a minute faster in T1 than last year but still really slow.  For comparison Peter did T1 in about 2:30 and Jim in 2:43.  How are they (and everyone else) so much faster?  Most people buy tri-suits so there is less clothes changing. And less public nudity BTW.  I did improve by a minute by bringing my cookies along instead of eating them in the transition area.

my new cookie pouch

bike

40km (about 25 mi) in 1:27:08 or 17.0mph. Placed 418/668

let’s test out this leg of mine

On the bike I was about the same as last year.  This made me happy since I haven’t been cycling much for the last 3 months.  I felt good the whole time and the views at the end of Point Loma are spectacular.

On the way up the hill I saw someone pull over to puke.  I didn’t laugh because last year I ate too much for breakfast and nearly did the same.  This year I avoided that pitfall; I spread out my cookie eating!  At the top of the same hill I saw an ambulance tending to someone who had crashed.  No idea what happened but he had a bandage around his head.  He was sitting up and alert so I assume it was nothing serious.

i found Christine!

transition #2 (bike to run)

2:34, middle of the pack

The only noteworthy thing here is I forgot to change shorts so I had to run in my bike shorts.

run

10km (supposed to be 6.2 miles but it was 6.35) in 52:57 or 8:32/mile. Placed 254/668

The funny thing about the run is last year I was really tired by then.  I even walked a bit.  That didn’t happen this year but yet I was still slower by a minute or so.  When I get off the bike I feel like I have springs in my legs.  But I have to watch it because I feel like running 7:20 miles and I can’t actually keep that up.  So this year I did a better job of keeping the pace steady but I guess it cost me a little time overall.

at the end I was still able to sprint and smile

I was thinking about what a half Ironman would be like during the run.  I could have run farther but probably not twice as far on this day.  And obviously the bike leg would be longer too.  So it will take some training without so many interruptions to get to that level.

after

we are ready to eat!

Afterwards I was hungry of course.  We headed over to Pt Loma Seafoods and I chowed down on their wonderful halibut sandwich.  And fries.  You know I’m hungry when I eat more than that huge sandwich!

hey fish, I just swam in your ocean!

Nothing was too sore. After some rest I was up and making some delicious cobbler.

And now I will take a week off before starting to train for my next couple of events…Tough Mudder and the California 1/2 Ironman!

the naming

// September 14th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // finding fun

Remember when I ran the Red Dress Run? That event is put on by the Hash House Harriers which is a drinking and running group.

When I heard about red dress I knew I wanted to do it. But a drinking/running group? I’m not much of a drinker, especially beer. Gross! But I’m tough (as long as we’re not talking actual, physical strength) and I thought I’d visit a local club and see what’s what.

The red dress run was my 5th run with the group. If you go 6 times, they induct you into the club and give you a goofy (usually sophomoric) nickname.  But I was so close! I knew I needed to visit again and see how bad the hazing is when you join. Hint, I had to drink beer. :-s

hares are away

Here’s how the club works. Everyone arrives at the meeting spot and the run leaders, called “hares,” take off to finish marking the trail that we have to find and follow.  My buddies Ryan and Monica were hareing this run which is why I made this night my 6th run.

gathering and chatting

Along the way, a couple of the veterans started asking me for interesting, or better yet embarrassing stories.  Uh oh.  I honestly don’t have many embarrassing stories.  I’m a “keep it under control” kind of guy which doesn’t lend itself to that kind of thing.  But they warned me if I didn’t give them something to work with they’d give me a horrifying and rude name.  So the rest of the run I was nervously thinking…

we’re away too

Four miles later, we arrived at the bar. After everyone settles in, the questions started again about my embarrassing stories.  Here’s what I came up with:

• I’ve never dated a white girl – they loved this
• My favorite 80s song (off the top of my head) is Our House and favorite 80s movie is Strange Brew.  Not sure why this was so interesting to them.
• My first car was a 79 grey Chevy Van – so gloomy!
• I claimed I have the same birthday as Snoop Dog.  In fact, a friend of mine has the same birthday as Flavor Flav so I stole that one.  Exaggeration is the name of the game at this point.

running through nature

The hashers decided they had enough to work with and sent me away while they came up with name candidates.  I hoped it was a name I could tell my friends and coworkers.  You just never know.  For instance, one guy had two transmissions go out on his car withing a couple of months.  His hash name was “blows trannys.”  Gulp.

…up hills

Finally we got together for ceremony time.  Many creative awards were conceived of and handed out on the spot. The winners “got” to drink beer.  When they were done with those they called me up and had the crowd vote on my name from the candidates.  I hadn’t heard them yet and was extremely nervous.  And the winner was Lady Boy Layaway.  It doesn’t really mean anything, it just rolls off the tongue and is vaguely insulting.  And at that point I had to drink some beer from a plastic cup without using my hands.

…and into a watering hole

And I’m in!  And I’m pretty pleased with my name. As a non-drinker, I won’t likely ever be a regular hasher.  But I do like the spirit of the group in a lot of ways.  They aren’t afraid to be goofy, people from all walks of life are accepted, and they are all into fitness.  So I’ll keep in touch and will absolutely plan to head out to Red Dress 2012.

back to theology

// September 5th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // finding fun

Does anyone remember my theology series?  Just me?  OK.

Last year I wrote a couple of blog posts on religious issues and promised a series.  Or over-promised as it turns out.  It takes me a while to research, write and edit one of those posts and it is often hard to commit that kind of time.  Today I was catching up on some RSS feeds and in taking notes this post about wrote itself.  It is a bit hodgepodge as a result.

First, how have I not yet read John Polkinghorne?  He was an award-winning physicist who left the field in his 40s to go to seminary.  He’s written dozens of books on science, religion, and the intersection thereof.  A couple of his books are now on my wish list.  The link is to a profile of him.

It’s often reported that Americans are much more religious than say Europeans.  But is it true?  According to studies mentioned in this article, America (and Canada) are not so much more religious but rather like to portray themselves as such.  If you compare how many people say they went to service last week and actual attendance, the report is twice as high.  Apparently, we like to claim we are more religious than we are.

But maybe that will change.  More Americans are willing to say they are not religious than ever before. It’s always hard to say why these things happen but this idea posited in the article was intriguing.  More than 20 years ago, it was not such a source of cognitive dissonance to consider oneself Catholic or protestant and yet be pro-choice or agree with evolutionary theory.  But with the rise of the vocal and politicized religious right, it’s harder to do that anymore.  You might see the position the Evangelicals are taking publicly and say, “that’s not me” and start identifying yourself differently.

One and possibly two seminary professors have lost their jobs overy evolutionary theory.  A sad story for those of us who live in both sides.  That NPR coverage includes quotes from Reasons to Believe which I am familiar with and the BioLogos Forum which I am not.  I like Reasons when they stick to astrophysics.  But even I can tell their anti-evolution platform is weak and I don’t even care about the topic.  Nonetheless, they were the best org I had found in the area of harmony between science and religion so I’ve stuck with them.  But I’m going to check BioLogos out.  Maybe I’ll like them better.

I’ll finish with a fun one, the top 10 mistakes atheists make.  Keep searching out there.

back in the saddle

// September 4th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // finding fun

On May 21st, I cycled 66 miles, my longest ride to date.  A couple of weeks after that, I rode 50.  Two weeks later, I rode a mere 22.  But on that ride I pushed the pace up a 7% hill and felt some soreness in my left quad.  I thought nothing of it.

Until the following weekend when I rode a hilly 40 mile route.  At first the same muscle felt stiff and eventually it was full-on pain.  I had to go one-legged for a while and I also stopped for a while.  It seemed like it hurt less if I only “pushed” rather than “pushed and pulled” but it hurt no matter what.  So I took the following weekend off and then rode a short 20 miles the next weekend.  But the stiffness and pain were still lurking even on that short ride.

By now it was 7/10 and I decided I had an overuse injury and I needed some time off.  So I rested.  A sprained ankle and a calf strain increased my rest time until 8/21 when I finally went out again.

That ride was interesting.  For 45 minutes I thought I was fine but the last 20 the same muscle started to get sore.  I didn’t feel stiff this time, just tired.  I wondered if I was just out of shape but that didn’t really make sense given the history above.  So a few days later I headed to the bike shop where I was fitted to see if they had any ideas.  Maybe I have a bio-mechanical problem.

My fitter noticed right away that my seat was tilted upwards and felt that could cause an issue. I had put the seat on myself which bolsters the theory.  But I did so back in April when 50-mile rides were a regular occurrence which harms it.  He said the back bolt was loose so perhaps it had shifted over time.  Then his buddy came by.  Upon hearing part of the story he asked if my issue was with the “teardrop” muscle.  I asked what that was and it turns out he guessed exactly where I am having pain!  (If you look down at your knee and flex your quad, it’s the muscle just to the inside of your kneecap.)

happy times

After my fitting I didn’t have time to ride so I didn’t get to test the seat-angle theory until today.  For the first 30 minutes, I was worried that there was no improvement.  I felt the beginnings of stiffness coming on. But as I continued the stiffness mostly went away. There was still a little bit but I felt much, much better than last time out.  Very exciting.  I may be cured!

I’m somewhat convinced that it was never tiredness I was experiencing but 100% a bio-mechanical problem. Sometimes today I pedaled hard and it didn’t hurt or feel stiff. Other times I pedaled lightly and I felt a bit of discomfort. And other times they coincided.  My best guess is there is something still wrong mechanically though it has mostly been alleviated.

Maybe when I am sitting upright there is something awkward in my movement.  It’s all kind of a guessing game at this point.  So the next few rides I’ll spend more or less time up and down and see what happens.  I’ll build up conservatively and no more pushing up the hills!  Here’s hoping it really is better because I’ve got something coming in March that I’ll talk about later.

dreamforce 2011

// September 3rd, 2011 // No Comments » // finding fun

It’s the end of August, which means…time for Dreamforce? It’s been in November the last three years but this time it’s moved up.  I had learned that you can upload your own badge photo. Questionable call, Salesforce since I came up with this…

But then when I arrived, my photo from last year was on the badge instead. Oh well.

the weather was clear and not san-francisco-like

That first night I met my buddy Pete at a vendor party with the band Cake. Cool, I like them. Unfortunately, they didn’t like us. It was pretty clear they didn’t want to be there. But it was a highlight of the trip regardless.

I have finally learned my lesson at this thing and skipped all the keynotes in favor of reading the press release later. They are always super crowded and super long. And by skipping I get to sleep in! Well I would have except the room alarm had been left set for 8am. Oh well.

the security wouldn’t  let us go down the stairs (and sometimes up), escalators only

Eventually it was time for sessions where I learned a bit about node.js and a couple of cross-platform mobile toolkits. Geeky fun, those sessions were both great. I also cruised the floor and chatted with a few people and companies I know.

didn’t know them but this was my favorite booth theme

Then it was off to the fifth street restaurant for a dinner with our sales rep. The dinner was fun but surprisingly I didn’t think my halibut was so great. And I love halibut. I left hungry so I picked up some almonds on the way home.

setting up for Metallica. I skipped it

Before bed I unplugged the alarm clock after failing to figure out how to turn it off or change the time. And it went off anyway, battery backup. Good thing it wasn’t set for 6am! Only one good session today on the java/database.com toolkit. I did love that one though. Towards the end this other audience member asked a question and he sounded just like me. I never did see that guy but it was creepy to hear him.

In the evening I met my coworkers Julie and Erik for dinner. We picked a random chinatown place and it was decent. All the restaurants looked the same so we picked one with the craziest name – something like Mr. Well Hung.  I was pretty surprised that Ms-meat-and-potatoes Julie went for such exotic fare.

some people didn’t let 20+ minute lines stop them from a starbucks fix

On Friday I had three more sessions (including my favorite, meet the developers) and then headed to the airport. SFO was pretty dead, so I sailed through the lines and had 2 hours to wait until my flight. I finished my second book of the trip Why We Make Mistakes, which I loved. Then I got started on Dragon Haven. I was B-44 in the Southwest line which was a little late but I was able to put my bag up and I found an aisle seat next to a skinny guy. Unfortunately he turned out to be a hippie type and had BO!

why this sign was here is anyone’s guess

After landing I bumped into an old coworker Steffen on the shuttle who was coming back from VM world. Fun!  We reminisced during the few minutes we had. Finally I got my favorite halibut sandwich at Pt Loma Seafoods for dinner. It redeemed halibut!

It is great to get back home!  And it is that I am home in time for college football!

immersion music method

// September 3rd, 2011 // No Comments » // finding fun

I recently finished a book called The Frustrated Songwriter’s Handbook.  (Here’s wikipedia’s summary).  My neighbor gave me this book back in February for my birthday.  Yes it is September; my unread book stack is long.

This book discusses the mental blocks that plagues songwriters.  Things like…  Is this song cheesy?  Is it pretentious?  Will anyone enjoy listening to it if I do this?  I have no idea where to go from here.  That kind of thing.  And those blocks lead to a lack of productivity or outright procrastination.

In order to get past those creative blocks, the authors suggest playing a songwriting game where high volume is the goal over quality.  Specifically, one should try to write 20 brand new songs in a 12 hour period.  With that kind of deadline it becomes easier to press on and worry about quality later.  Some of the songs may end up being junk but others will be worth developing later.  Which is better than getting stuck while accomplishing nothing.

The authors do this as a part of a group.  Each person goes off to do his writing and then everyone gets together to share results.  The group should be non-judgmental, a safe place to share ideas even if they end up being discarded.

Some groups exist already, here’s a list.  There are none in San Diego so if I want to play this game with others I will have to start one.  I’m not sure I know musicians who would be interested but I might send out an email to a couple to see.  Of course I could try it solo too.

Full IMM Rules

1. Session must last at least 12 hours
2. The goal is to write 20 completely new songs that day
3. No pre-written material is allowed though pre-conceived concepts are allowed (such as arrangement ideas, titles, concepts)
4. No emailing, facebooking, etc. Music only during the day-long session
5. Strive to always keep going, don’t worry about quality for now
6. For the same reason, do only a single take during recording
7. At the end of the day, everyone gets together to share what was accomplished

bark for life

// August 31st, 2011 // 2 Comments » // finding fun

I was a volunteer for the inaugural San Diego Bark for Life on Saturday.  Bark for Life is an American Cancer Society fundraiser similar to their Relay for Life events.  But Bark, as you might guess, is dog-friendly.  In both events, fundraising teams take turns walking around a track to symbolize the continuing fight against cancer.  Various fundraising activities occur before and during the event.

setting up the agility course with Roby

A few short weeks ago, my friend Dejah told me that she had been named the event chair for Bark.  Since I’ve known her I have admired Dejah’s ongoing commitment to community service.  It’s an activity many of us know is rewarding but can neglect to make it a priority. So I did things differently this time and asked what kind of committee members she was looking for.

giving Dejah a little recognition

Many of the roles looked intimidating to me.  Seeking corporate donations, various sales-y things, etc…but one role looked perfect.  It was “team coordinator” and it involved preparing the team captains for their duties and informing them what the committee was up to.  I’m always sending emails to friends with stuff I find interesting and to schedule fun stuff so I figured that was right up my alley.

loved the flyball dogs

And I was right, mostly.  It was difficult trying to tell people what to do what it’s something I’ve never done.  It was also different in that these people didn’t know me.  So no matter how friendly I tried to be, I couldn’t always get as much response as I hoped for.  To ameliorate the first concern, I decided to start my own team. The good news is I was the most well-informed team leader. I has connections.

Roby also started a team; for that and much more he earned a cookie

One thing teams are supposed to do is come up with a “fight back” message. I picked a fitness theme and found some facts on the benefits of fitness in fighting cancer. Then I got some help from Christine and Noodle to help design something nice. Then we printed out cards so we could hand them out to participants and onlookers.  BTW, Christine has a few more photos on her blog.

2 of my 8 facts, check the nice design!

Another thing I did is organize a chocolate tasting fundraiser/contest. I rounded up a dozen chocolates and had participants try to match the brand name to what they were tasting. A pretty fun idea if I do say so myself.

so many chocolates!

The day finally arrived during a San Diego heat wave. Luckily we were close enough to the coast that we weren’t completely fried. I did get a little bit of sunburn.  The whole day came together really smoothly. And as I knew it would, it felt really good to be a part of something like this.

announcing the dollars raised, a few hundred more flowed in after this

the asian food club finale

// August 7th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // finding fun

Several months ago, my friend Shannon mentioned she had never been to my favorite Chinese restaurant in San Diego – Dumpling Inn.  As Shannon is 1/2 Chinese I thought this was scandalous and immediately started making plans to go there with her and her husband.  Next thing I know a few other friends had caught wind of this and wanted to tag along.  It’s understandable, I’d try and tag along to Dumpling Inn too.

(story continues between photos)

the early birds at our latest outing

We all loved the food and had a great time.  So we decided to get together again as a group.  A date was picked, a couple more friends joined in and we met for some Vietnamese at Pho Cow Cali.  More good times ensued and we decided to make it a regular thing.  We dubbed it the Asian Food Club.  Everyone liked it so much that they got on me if I was slow scheduling the next meeting.

Christine’s dish, as good a focus as I got on it anyway

and my noodles

I had more good Asian destinations to share so everyone was happy.  We went to Punjabi Tandoor, Yakyudori (Christine’s recap here) and then started talking about branching out to an Ethiopian place.  That never materialized but luckily a pretty good Thai place opened up nearby so we went there on Wednesday.  And right next door was Yogurt World.  Yum!

yogurt time

But eventually I faced a quandary.  I have no more great Asian places to take everyone.  Sure, there’s Sushi Ota.  I’ve never been but have no doubt it’s fantastic.  We could blindly try new places.  But instead I decided to retire the Asian Food Club.  Sometimes it’s best to quit while on top.

Randy realizes he didn’t get enough yogurt after seeing mine

But don’t worry.  We have re-branded and relaunched.  My friend Maria has helped fire up the San Diego food club; we are already debating our first destination.  Now that we’ve opened up the parameters and gotten some more voices involved, I foresee more culinary adventures ahead.