10k over the bridge

Just finished the Presidio 10K. Weather couldn't be better.

Back on the Water

I've been working a bit too much lately, so am making an effort to get away from the laptop and go outside... and it doesn't hurt that the weather has been so gorgeous in San Francisco. :)

I decided to get back into an old sport - crew. I used to row in high school, but have not been in a boat for 10 years. Here's a pic of a few of us at the Greenlake Regatta back in '97 (I think...). Heidi Hurn (at the top of the pyramid) went on to row for University of Washington, following in the footsteps of her brother - Hans (bottom, second from left). I am middle row, on the right. I went to UW too.... but wasn't quite tough enough for UW's championship crew team.


After some looking around, I found that Pacific Rowing Club is building up a small masters program and rows near me, on Lake Merced.

My first day was Friday. It was awesome. Practice started at 6:00am, before the sun rose. The people were great and very patient as I fumbled with oars, the boat, just about everything.

What is pathetic is that I could barely lift the boat! I guess running doesn't do much for my arms :\ I am pretty weak right now but hopefully that will change soon.

Anyways, very excited to see how this goes!

Trying out Drafty.com

While in SXSW I ran into friend and one of the original Blogger guys, Jason Shellen. When we first met up at the conference, he was in the middle of launching a new service, drafty.com - a super simple way to post and share to multiple blogging platforms. Sending this post from Drafty now. Pretty cool so far Shellen!

Going to be in Austin? Come to the Blogger Party @ SXSW

iTunes 8 - Trying Hard to Earn a Buck

iTunes 8 is really reacting to the economic climate. Today I tried to purchase a song that I forgot I had already purchased via iTunes a while back. After clicking "buy", iTunes offered me two choices:

1. Upgrade to iTunes Plus (later discovered was $119 to enable)
2. Buy the song again

There is no "close" button. I could not close the dialog... at ALL. I couldn't even "Quit" iTunes via the menu, I had to FORCE QUIT to get out of this state.

What the heck?

Loving Cup - A Rice Pudding Shop

Across NY and LA the hot thing is Pinkberry (or similar frozen yogurt shops). For San Franciscans though, an ice cold frozen yogurt doesn't exactly hit the spot on a cool foggy day. Luckily we now have our own place to stop for a quick, sweet snack: Loving Cup Rice Pudding Shop on Polk Street.

The bright little cafe was started by a friend of mine - Liz Hawrylo - along with her mother and sister from the East Coast. She set up shop several months ago and have been buzzing with business ever since.

Loving Cup serves a variety of all natural rice puddings. Chai is my favorite flavor. Cardamom, cinamon, nutmeg ... I am drooling just thinking about it! Rice pudding is also a unique dish to pick up and bring to a potluck. No one expects a rice pudding dessert but they always love it.

Also on the menu are pastries, sweet snacks, espresso and yep - frozen yogurt. (Even in SF, we can't escape the pinkberry madness)

Check out the shop at 2356 Polk between Union and Green, and say hi to Liz!

Mecca Closed!?

I've heard rumors of this happening for a while, but was hoping I'd get into Mecca before it shuttered it's doors. It's been famous for it's Thursday Ladies Nights :)

Well, I just got an email from OpenTable that my reservation for Mecca on Tuesday cannot be honored because Mecca is closing it's doors! Here it is: 

"Hi OpenTable Diner, I apologize for the late notice and for any inconvenience this may cause, but OpenTable just heard via the media that Mecca may have unexpectedly closed its doors for business.  We have not been able to reach anyone at the restaurant to verify the closure (voicemail still makes it sound like they are open) nor has anyone contact us to inform us of the closure.  A link to the article on SF.eater.com is below.  Therefore, your upcoming reservation will not be able to be accommodated at this restaurant.  However, we hope that you will book at one of the other restaurants in the area that has availability (we have canceled your reservation so you may book another one)."

A disappointment, but maybe a wonderful new restaurant will take it's place. One thing I love about San Francisco is it's evolving restaurant scene.