righteous beats

saturday night i went to a house party four blocks from my apartment. i heard the best beats i have heard in at least two years. it readjusted my gauge on house music? who did me this favour???!!!

henry r (who also sold me my tables years ago.... tankey henry), lil' kris, trevor, and tony. they threw righteous sets. some others played but i didn't get a chance to hear them. i was stoked to have an opportunity to throw some records with these folks!

the cooky part is the people throwing the party (J. & L.) know a large portion of another friend circle of mine. they remember my ex from christmas eve, his best friend, their girlfriend, coworkers, etc, etc, etc. they were somewhere christmas eve an hour before i was there.

i guess we were going to meet eventually.

my friend circles seem to love to eat themselves.

Tonight! Friday, [3/25] DJ Zenith @ Swig Bar

Tonight, come get your Memorial Day Weekend started with some tasty libations, good beats, and a bad azz sound system. There's no cover. That's right! FREE. FREE.

What: DJ Zenith @ Swig Bar with DJs Toma & N!k

Where: Swig Bar

When: [3/25] 5:30 - 9
7:45ish - 9 (set time)

pre-release stuff

I'm going to master this last CD. I've already started. I'll have the artwork done. Stay tune. I've added a fade at the end (no more brief cut-off endings) and will make the bass more round... among other things. stay tuned.

[3/25] DJ Zenith @ Swig Bar

What: DJ Zenith @ Swig Bar with DJs Toma & N!k

Where: Swig Bar

When: [3/25] 5:30 - 9
7:45ish - 9 (set time)

DJ Zenith @ Swig Bar, Friday 25 May

I'll be joining Toma Ramirez & friends at the Swig Bar this Friday for a happy hour set. Swig Bar is 561 Geary @ Jones. Stay tuned for further dets.

Heading the right direction

People tell me there's no right path or wrong path. OK. We can discuss that another time. I *know* that I'm heading in the right direction, though. One of the symptoms is that my friend groups have all converged upon themselves one more time (this is addressed in another post).

when you're heading the right direction... it's OK when things don't work out... because they weren't meant to. it doesn't phase me.

i'm eating extremely well, exercising like crazy, doing computer work, and am quite happy. Speaking of happy, I'm heading down to Montara for a run in this beautiful 70-80 degree weather. This run boasts beautiful views of the Pacific coast line and serious hill action.

friends, friends, and bad-azz friends

Yesterday my friend circles converged upon themselves one more time.

See if you can follow this. So. Yesterday was the 2007 How Weird Festival. My oldest friend group in San Francisco started with me meeting K.C. at 111 Minna almost 4.5 years ago at Qool (111 Minna's Wednesday night thing). I haven't been to that in about 4 years... FYI.

K.C. has recommended me for many gigs. He's pretty harsh sometimes but always real. He's from New York and I respect real. I can handle it.

So follow this. I met my curly-headed foo foo (a good friend of mine) through this guy I dated last July. One of my good friends, knigget, was hitting on him kinda mercilessly (he's pretty hot people). July guy works in a gay bar so it was not out of line to for my best friend to hope he was gay at least. July guy ended up telling knigget that he was hoping to go out with me instead. Awww. I met curly-headed foo-foo one time when I was hanging out with Mr. July. Curly-headed foo foo and I have been buddies ever 'since.

So a lady-friend I met through curly-headed foo foo is now dating a guy affiliated with my oldest friend group and K.C. She showed up at K.C.'s fat-arse pad yesterday and hung out with us all day. Yay. Additionally, someone I worked with two years ago was also at the party. I spent a good deal of time at her camp at BM 2005.

Yesterday was *so* much fun. I feasted on strawberries, home-made whipped cream, and decent croissant [pretty good for stuff you get here in the states]. The weather couldn't have been better and the mix of people was quite good.

Saturday two weeks ago I had a similar friend-convergence experience. My buddy, R.R. had told me I should meet his buddies cuz they are also DJs and quite good. I show up to the party he invited me to and guess what??? Not only do I know these DJs... I've played with one of them. I had an awesome time.

I feel pretty privileged to be a part of this circle of people. They make this planet a pretty fun place to be.

Delirious

I went with a friend of mine Saturday night to the Kabuki Sundance San Francisco International Film Festival screening of Delirious from director Tom DiCillo. Steve Buscemi was the lead character.

NOTE: I typed Kabuki Sundance because I noticed Kabuki Sundance logos all over the movie posters. I am curious to Kabuki's affiliation with Sundance and thought someone might enlighten me on this one.

It was pretty good. Michael Pitt is this amazingly sweet, good-looking kid who trips and falls into an acting position through association with Steve Buscemi's paparazzi character (Les Galantine). But Les isn't a paparazzi! He's a "licensed, certified professional" [dammit].

Michael is a homeless guy who ends up staying with Steve. He has this knack for fixing stuff. It's notably funny that he fixes showers, bicycles, you name it... everywhere he goes. It's funny because of the reactions he gets from various New Yorkers... (you can imagine). And the music was so purposefully cheezily awful throughout... as fits inline with the theme of the movie... you can't help but laugh heartily.

Alison Lohman's character, Kharma, is to blame for the cheezy music. Elvis Costello has a teensy role. Go Elvis!!

I liked it. You should see it.

NOTE: This showing was sold out at the Kabuki but I went an 1.5 hours beforehand with a good book. The rush line opens up 1 hour before screening. We had tickets easily an hour before the show. Lesson? You can still get into sold-out performances with planning.

picasso exhibit at SF MOMA

yesterday i ventured out on free musuem today to SF MOMA. They have a Picasso exhibit through May 28. The main exhibit displays Picasso's influence on North American art. I love art passionately. However, I didn't get to study it at university at all. So I'm woefully ignorant of what is probably common knowledge to many others.

This exhibition was amazing. What did I learn? Max Weber was the one who purchased a Picasso painting, Still Life (i believe), and brought it to North America. Max had Picasso's first exhibition at his gallery in NYC in 1911.

I learned that I *love* the earlier Jackson Pollock work that was so heavily influenced by Picasso. I believe it was 1946 that Jackson started to get his drip style on. You can see this in his painting Galaxy which is heavily Picasso-influenced.

Picasso influenced Max Weber (we covered that), Arshile Gorky (Armenian born American), ? Graham, Willem De Kooning, Stuart Davis, David Smith, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jasper Jones to name a few. Jasper was the only out of these artists who was established in style and returned to study Picasso in later life.

There was a mini-exhibit on the second floor called, The Hidden Picasso. It featured examinations of a few paintings that had been painted over by another painting. Artists have reused canvases for many reasons over the years.

What did I learn? Well, I learned that Picasso likes his can-can dancers. Werd. If you don't believe me, you are welcome to go see for your bad self. Hee hee.

back to running

i haven't run over a mile in about 1.5 years. in fact, i haven't run longer than five minutes since then. this is ironic considering i spent 17 years running decent distances prior to that. *at least*

i have wondered if walking 15-20 miles/week really did that much for my muscles. i figured my cardiovascular endurance most definitely must be weaker. well, i have my answer now. as a frame of reference... i used to run that much as low-level maintenance running.

yesterday AM i woke up feeling lazy and as if i should just go run four miles. well, i did. just like that. i wasn't breaking land speed records or anything like that. in fact, i saw turtles flying by. *but*. it seemed as if the run was over quickly and i felt strong.

i think i'm going back to my trail racing... probably just 10 km races.

one of the joys of living in northern cali is the amazing trails we have. i love running from rodeo beach up the bobcat trail to the top of the headlands. you turn around to a gorgeous view of the golden gate bridge and north san francisco.

giddy up. i'm getting into shape now.

Today [4/30] DJ Zenith on Throwdown Sound

Today I will be returning to Throwdown Sound for a special set.

What: DJ Zenith on Throwdown Sound

Where: Duh! throwdownsound.com

When: 2-4 PM Pacific Time
             4-6 PM Central Time
             5-7 PM Eastern Time
             11-1 AM Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam

7 books to read and many more...

at a minimum. as i wait for the right job to materialize, i have four (yes four) technical books i'm either reading or finishing. i am focused (as i keep blogging).

i am glad the pressure is temporarily off so i can finish this one book i want to finish. it's only a mere 400 pages of technical sheet.

then there's three books i am in the middle of now: DaVinci Code Decoded by Martin Lunn, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling (i'm not ashamed of this at all... i wanna be a wizard), and Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (The American Empire Project).

Books I'm meaning to get back to or start in some cases: The Bible, The Qu'uran, Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson, Head Crash (a spoof on Snow Crash which is good even if you haven't read Snow Crash), a Jack Kerouac Biography: On the Road, Fast Food Nation, a reread of the Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and many more....

cycle o' life

workout-eat-study-study-music-read-sleep-rinse-repeat

I am so singularly focused right now

My head hasn't been this clear since at least 1999. You think I'm exaggerating? I'm not.

I went from being pretty upset last week and not wanting to interview to looking forward to the opportunity. I wake up every day feeling happy and cool as a cucumber.

My day(s) consist of the following:

• 1 - 1.5 hours exercise


• 1 - 2 hours of hanging with friends over a coffee or ginger ale. All my friends know I'm a walker freak so sometimes they call me to go for a walk. I call that a two-for-1... Hanging with peeps and getting additional exercise.


• 2 - 3 hours of business


• 5 hours with two specific technologies I'm looking at

And the crazy thing is... I'm really enjoying it! I studied last night until 11:30 and got up at 5:30 to get the ball rolling again.

I had my interest in software architecture renewed this/last week by some awesome friends. One of the top five minds in the business started it... We met three years ago. We had dinner last week.

And it's my friends (as in plural) unrelenting support and belief in me that has made all the difference.

Yes! Of *course* I'm still a DJ. Software is my bread & butter though. I'll be back behind the decks in public soon. Of *course* I play at home all the time. But first thing is first people.

So in conclusion, Ms./Mr. Interviewer... bring it on! I can take it & then some.

Easter post: two out of two

We lived all over. Michigan. The Phillipines. Korea. Southeastern Virginia. Washington, DC. Just to name a few. We always invited the orphans. There was a minimum usually of 10 guests and usually closer to 20.

My parents still have get-togethers. Their chili-con queso at super bowl is well-known. The mushroom swirls at Christmas are epic. And if you decide to eat my dad's chili.. you are on your own brother.

When I used to bring dates to the house... I warned them. Don't do the putt-putt golf contest with the bottle of hennessey. I don't *care* that you're twice daddy's size. He looks so harmless and friendly. He's got the boisterous laugh and the disarming smile. He's irish you fool.

Just as an aside: No, I'm not. He's a step dad. But. Still.

Not one date ever listened. And so. They have a guest bedroom and so it goes.

What's my point again? I never understood why some people say I only want *family* at my holidays. I had an ex who's spoiled little sister took this attitude. Sure I was invited but it was the attitude that was troublesome.

But I've noticed lately that people are frightened over the war and bonding together. I think that is absolutely awesome. Not the part about the war. Of course not.

I think it's awesome that people are realizing what's important. These days I'm giving all my friends a kiss on the cheek hello & good-bye. A well-timed kiss on the cheek goes a long way.

So. Pucker up people.

1 Easter post out of two.

so happy Easter folkses. i am reminded of growing up in the espicopalian (anglican) church. as i was growing up as the daughter of a military officer, i was instilled with these ideas of strict patriotism and loyalty. and there's the golden rule and one of the ten commandments: do unto others as you would have done unto you (sorry if i didn't get it quite right... you get the idea).

and as a loyal and patriotic six year-old... i wanted to carry the amercian flag in church. the american flag went up the aisle on the left and the american flag was always to the right.

well, as you can imagine... my family was the most rambunctious group of three in the church. my brother was always harassing me... he was one year older and always off the height charts and i had to get really creative to get him to stop. then we were running up and down the outside of the pews exploring the wonderful wall-to-ceiling stained glass windows that decorated our church. who could get there fastest? why, the one that ran over the other first. and you had to be cleva.

then we have my six year-older sister discussing how we were both: "sooooooooo immature".

so. when i went and asked the acolyte director to be an acolyte at age six.... he didn't know how to respond. my parents had done their best to discourage me. i didn't know anything about reading between the lines. if my parents had told me straight up not to do it... i *might* not have.

but. the acolyte director thought it would be very unchurchly to say no. he quickly found out (as he has told me since then), that the best thing to do with rowdy youngsters was to put them up front in the acolyte pews and teach them they had to behave. teach them the bible. all of the sudden, the minimum age for acolytes at our church became six.

by the time we returned from our overseas duty, our church had become the center for the acolyte order of Francis & Claire. They rushed me to the ceremony by the bishop. For whaterver reason, you have to become a canterbury by the time you are 18. It's a distinction for life. I kept putting it off. I asked, "why"? The director said because.

I don't regret this decision. It's just that that period in my life was so confusing to me. I was getting pulled in five hundred directions. I was in engineering school in my second year. Anywhosit.

What does a canterbury acolyte do? He/she has fulfilled all the posts. She/he has served the priest directly in communion. Yup, she's carried the flags and the torches. Her job is to preside over the service and fill in at a moment's notice.

I remember one time that I looked over at one of the youngsters. He had started to cry. Under my breath I tried to discern why. His mommy had disappeared from the pew in the middle of service. I had to rush him off to the bathroom so he could see she was OK.

While we were out there, we asked him if he had to go. We took him into the restroom. We made sure he washed his hands. Then it twas back into the service. All very quietly of course. I gave him a big hug for good measure.

What's my point you ask? It's that family is family. Not blood. Family. I live 3000 miles away from my family in the proper since so I've had to create family here. Home is where the heart is. Happy Easter.

Liskov Substitution Principle

I'm reading about it. If you're a software architect, then you need to know and love: http://objectmentor.com .

terry gross and fresh air and george clooney

today i am listening to an interview with george clooney. i couldn't agree more about his idea of the word *liberal*. why is that a bad word??? two words: "karl rove". but seriously. why?

geek out

so. i had a great interview last night. over dinner. i have no expectation to get this job. this man is one of the best and only true architects i have ever met.

he was able to explain inversion of control, how you can use RMI without beans, and many other things. it was fun for me. he would be a tremendous architectural mentor for me. that's what it's about.

the whole interview i could see the gears of his brain turning about how to make the language better... or write another language, or this other language that takes care of threads... why should your engineers worry about threads anyway???

if you don't know what i'm talking about... that's fine.

i feel blessed to have had the privilege. my gutt tells me that i'm heading in the right direction. and that's enough.

Saturday night

i had one of the best saturday nights in a long time. i went on a walk and ran into a friend of mine. we sipped wine and watched movies. i've gotten over the whole bar scene for sure.