I’ve been thinking for a while that I want to take classes in something that would be really different. Now, I have certain life goals I’d like to meet, like learning how to play the piano. But I’d also like to know something very different from anything any of my friends have studied.

I started researching some different things on the Internet tonight; things that are aligned with my current goals of 1) getting out of the house at least once a week and 2) getting some exercise. I’ve decided I’m going to go check out a local kung fu place tomorrow night!

Am I crazy?

Well, I’ll find out tomorrow, I suppose! I don’t know if kung fu or martial arts would be the right thing for me, but it surely can’t hurt to go once and check it out. If it seems cool, I can enroll for a month ($80.) Kung fu requires a somewhat larger commitment than most programs, but it also teaches self-discipline, self-defense, and higher goals of being one with everything else in the world. Who knows whether this will go any farther than tomorrow night. If it doesn’t, I’ll continue to search for something that’s right for me. If it does, I’ve found a new hobby! 😀

It must be said. Del Taco is 15 minutes away by car (Hamilton Ave. and San Tomas Expwy, if you’re in the area), but I consistently go there way more than El Pollo Loco or any of those other places. They are open 24 hours every day except Sunday, when they close at midnight, and it’s only $2.14 for two chicken soft tacos that rock my world.

I love you, Del Taco!

LOL. Well, it’s not as dire as the title makes it sound, but sometimes I forget there are cool people here in the Bay Area.

A friend of a friend (his name is Anatole; welcome to my blog, Anatole!) works at Adobe here in SJ, and he emailed me a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to buy Photoshop CS for $40 (employee price.) Um, YES!? Anyway, all this crap in my life happened, and I totally forgot about it. Last night, I was digging through my email inbox, and I found a note from him asking when I wanted to come pick it up. I emailed him back, saying, “Crap, do you still have it?” Fortunately, he did, and he invited me to a pizza party tonight to come pick it up.

I showed up at Chuck E. Cheese (apparently the organizer wanted to relive his childhood!), which is actually like 2 blocks from my house, tonight. I felt a bit like I was crashing the party, but it was soon apparent that random people were showing up from all over the place. Anatole was there with his fiancee, and there were about 15 other people there as well. Most of the circle of friends belongs to a hiking club, and most of them are not originally from California (I know absolutely no one who is actually from the Bay Area here anyway, so I get that.) I had a lot of fun, and I ate a ton of pizza and played a bunch of games. I also saw a guy I used to work with at Cobalt, who was there unrelated to this gathering — unbelievably, he survived the layoffs and is still working at Sun!

Anyway, I emailed Tim, the organizer of this whole shebang, and asked him to put me on his email list for future outings. When I got home, I found an “evite” for an after-Thanksgiving dinner and girls’ night out in my inbox from some people from IBI. Does this mean I actually have (gasp) a social life?! I am shocked! Shocked! But I’m having fun. 😀

Ready? Okay. This website wins the “reminds me most of my dad” award. (For those of you who don’t know, my father watches movies on fast-forward, and it drives my mother nuts.)

They basically summarize movies in a few lines. My favorites are The Matrix and You’ve Got Mail. Totally classic.

I haven’t had a good hamburger in a while, and I’m looking for something more meaty than In-N-Out (which is more for when I’m craving cheese, I must admit.) I am off to a local diner place to see if their burgers will be any good.

I’m eating dinner early since tonight is IBI. I’ve already had two phone calls and an email from people asking if I will be there. (Oh, the pressure! 😉 ) IBI starts at 6:30. The last one I went to I ended up staying until 10:15PM, so I’m eating dinner early this time.

Saw a post on WHT today about big burgers, and someone mentioned a Big Mac. I promised myself never to eat McD’s again after watching Super Size Me, but the Big Mac is soooo good. I am 100% convinced that there are addictive substances in it. Listen to this story:

I was at a McDonald’s a few years back and won a coupon for a free Big Mac. Now get this: I had never had a Big Mac in my life. I figured I’d go back and use the free coupon, because hey, I didn’t have much money and it was free. I ate it and it was okay. But later that week, I had cravings for the damn thing. I’m not talking about “hey, this is good; maybe I’ll have another.” I’m talking about full-on, PMS-style, cravings. I ate 3 more Big Macs that week. I so rarely have strong cravings for food like that, so I seriously do think they put something addictive in them. The cravings seem to subside after about 48-72 hours, which seriously makes me wonder. I wonder if McD’s will ever be sued for it and people will act like this is a big shocker — to put addictive substances in food. Hey, the tobacco industry has been doing it for years. Why not McD’s, and why not with their flagship product? (Please note that other McD’s food does not appear to have addictive substances. I’d place my bets on the special sauce.)