Leaves & Rain = California Fall/Winter

I've been seeing a lot of leaves (& a few flowers) on my recent walks...

It's been in the forties at night, and the mid-sixties during the day, with a few days of rain each week lately (giving the mountains a nice dusting of snow). We even got hail! Seems like Southern California can't quite decide which season it wants to be in right now...

Happy New Year

Hannukah & Christmas & New Year's Eve Mash-Up

This year, Hannukah overlapped with both Christmas & New Year's, so I attended hybrid dinner parties on those evenings. There was a lot of delicious food (including homemade matzo ball soup, latkes, & applesauce). 

And, of course, the candle lighting:

There was also this somewhat alarming light-up spinning dreidel:

All in all, the two parties have made nice, social bookends for the holiday week--and a fun change to routine.

Happy New Year's Eve...

December in Review

And somehow, here we are at the end of December, already...

This month, I visited a friend at the USC Game Innovation Lab, & got to wander around while wearing a Hololens. Very cool!

While there, I got to use a snazzy mug that came with a custom-fit cozy (jealous...):

A coworker gave me this fun Christmas card that holds cookies, which I thought was very creative:

I experimented with making a mug brownie (verdict: not bad, as long as you include mini chocolate chips):

It was chilly, so I've also started crocheting a blanket while I re-watch some of my favorite Sci Fi & cooking videos. It keeps my lap warm, & helps me feel like I'm being creative again (& as a bonus: it's using up most of my random leftover skeins of yarn from other projects...)

Hope you enjoy the last week of December...

Thanksgiving 2016 (Embroidery)

I've spent the last two Thanksgivings with a couple friends & their relatives. My friend's mom has this nice tradition of inviting guests to sign the Thanksgiving/Fall tablecloth. Then she embroiders the names onto the tablecloth. What a cool tradition...

I also thought this transcribed note was funny (the food WAS good!):

Walking (Small Steps)

I feel like it has been very hard to concentrate on (& define) my personal goals lately. And I struggle to be consistent with things I need or want to do in my personal life.

But there is one thing that I have been doing consistently since February: I have been walking a little bit every day.

Sometimes I only walk about 1/2 a mile at work. Some days I walk around my neighborhood and use my phone to take photos for my Instagram account or hack an Ingress portal or catch a Pokemon. Other days I just walk and listen to music and pretend I am in a music video. On rare occasions, I will leave my phone at home and just enjoy the breezes and the flowers along my route. Occasionally a friend or two will join me.

I have found that tracking an approximate distance walked each day, & writing that down on a steadily growing paper log, gives me a small but valuable sense of accomplishment. Maybe I didn't get to "X" and "Y," and maybe I only walked 1 mile, and yes, it would probably be better if I could get myself to walk a little farther...but I did get outside, I got some fresh air and a little sunshine, and if I was lucky I met a cat. And I added another day to my current walking streak.

I think it has really helped me to have a small goal. It doesn't matter how far I walk, as long as I get outside, even if only for a few blocks. If I want to add a couple more blocks for an extra half mile (or an extra Pokestop): Great!  If my feet hurt and I just turn around at the half mile mark: Still Good! I only went outside because I had cabin fever? Still counts!

It seemed like such a big deal to hit 100 days of walking in a row. And then suddenly I realized that I was about to reach 200 days, and I hadn't even noticed I had gotten that far...

Today will be 220!

Star Trek Turns 50!

I can't believe that Star Trek (The Original Series) aired 50 years ago today!

Star Trek was a huge part of my childhood. I started watching TNG (the Next Generation) in middle school--it was the one show I was allowed to go off & watch during dinner--& branched out to all of the other series from there. I would buy old TOS novels at neighborhood rummage sales, & they were always better (and cheaper) than the Star Trek novels I could find in bookstores. Most of my exposure to the original series & that crew was actually through those books. I would imagine conversations where I tried to explain Human idiosyncrasies & culture to Spock. And I was very sad that I could not apply to Starfleet for college...

I dug out a couple photos from the "Star Trek: The Exhibition" that toured around California in 2008, complete with set pieces & a simulated shuttle ride. Here I am in the command seat on the bridge of the Enterprise:

I think it's so cool that Star Trek continues to reinvent itself in movies, & TV shows, & fan projects. I am excited to see how the upcoming series will compare.

Live Long & Prosper!