Pornography for the Homeowner

Real Estate Times of San Francisco

I know that I am blessed to have had the means to purchase part of a building four years ago. But I still pick up this bi-monthly publication whenever I see a new one in the bins that are strewn across the city. I bring it home and it sits right on the bedstand table for a few days or lingers in the bathroom as toilet reading.

I love where I live, but I'm always looking for that "bargain" (an oxymoron here in the Bay Area) in Telegraph Hill or Russian Hill or some cute neighboorhood that I have this perception of being the apex of gentility and chicness. Why do I do that given that I am a person who rarely cares about image and such. But I have these crazy dreams that it would be the ultimate to live in a cute duplex on Telegraph Hill on one of the crazy dead-end streets or even better, on either the Greenwich or Filbert Street steps. A man can dream can't he? And he is most certainly allowed to be have delusions of grandeur!

What you say to your kids does stick

I have numerous memories of childhood in the Chen household in Seattle, WA, circa late 1970's through mid 1980's. The one constant was my Mom's consistent message of eating vegetables and fruits. It might have bordered on "pushing" my sister and I to eat fruits and vegetables, like perhaps a drug dealer pushing drugs onto little kids. "Come on my little friends.....you'll like it and it's good for you."

A couple of decades later, I find myself up at 6:45AM (Scott out coaching his marathoners) trekking down to the local farmer's market right on the other side of my neighboorhood. It's the Saturday morning Alemany Farmer's Market (much better, less pricy and not nearly as fufu as the farmers market downtown by the Ferry Building) right where I-280 and Hwy. 101 intersect.

Sunrise hits the already busy Alemany Farmer's Market

A stall that has no Asian Women pushing each other out of the way with their pink plastic bags, a rare occurance.

You literally have to watch out for recently killed chickens when their purchasers set their bags down and suddenly there is a decapitated chicken in a paper bag running around with it's head cut off.

I have my routine, coming in from the West and doing one loop around the stalls, making a final purchase of eggs just outside the entrance and then back to my car and home. But this morning, my mushroom people weren't there. I was too EARLY?!?!?! That never happens. So when I finished, I violated every principal of shopping that I adhere to (yes, Shahana, listen to this...) I went back to the stall and they were just starting to set up.

A mural on the wall of my stall that sells mushrooms.

I am loathe to admit but since I was in a hurry, unlike the picky old Asian women who sit there and pick over each mushroom one-by-one, I got my paper bag and reached OVER a woman and was taking handfuls of brown button mushrooms. When my hand hit her as I was coming back with a fistful, I got a dirty look from her. Man, I out Asian-womaned an Asian-woman shopper. WOW!

So, here's the loot for the morning all laid out at home.

All this for $39.50

Three things to take from this mornings shopping adventure:

1) Scott and I will be eating well, and healthy this upcoming week!
2) Life in California is sweet...
3) Mom's haranging in my adolescence paid off and here I am eating my fruits and vegetables!

A resolution kept (at the moment)

At some point during the summer, I got it up my rear end, that I would take public transportation more often, specifically to and from work. For years, I have been paying lip service to the idea, but for some reason this fall, I finally got my act together and found out exactly how to do it, experimented a bit with different times and routes and have settled on a general plan of action. Now, for those of you familiar with the Bay Area and the BART system know there desparately needs to be a 30th and Mission BART station built. Right now, the system goes right past a major intersection a mere 2 blocks from my home but doesn't stop. This intersection is smack dab in between a long stretch between the 24th and Mission station and the Glen Park Station. There have been plans talked about for years, but I don't think I'll ever see it.

This being the case, getting to the 24th and Mission station is pretty simple by bus and takes about 15-20 minutes from my front door to the station and costs $1.50. I then take BART from 24th and Mission to the Fruitvale station. The BART fare is $3.20. From Fruitvale, there is an AC Transit bus (the 53) that runs every half hour to a stop a mere two blocks from school. This ride takes 17 minutes like clockwork and costs $1.50. So a roundtrip on public transportation is $12.40 a day, which is still more expensive than driving and takes about twice as long when there is no traffic.

So, I've instituted some time and cost saving measures to make it more time and economically efficient. Instead of taking the bus in SF, I drive the 3 minutes to an area about 3 blocks from the BART station and find parking. I take the bus uphill in the morning, but afterschool, I have been able to hitch a ride with any number of colleagues to a BART station and hopped the train home. Total cost = $7.90 which is easily cheaper than driving (which includes Bay Bridge tolls).

So, I haven't tooted my own horn yet in public, but I am doing so now. In the first month of school, I have taken public transportation to and from school 50% of the time. I have learned to build it into my day and it seems easy now. The only thing I have to even think about in the morning is whether or not I have a first period class and am I prepared for it. If I am, I catch any train around 7:15AM, catch the 8AM 53 bus and in my office getting ready for class at 8:25AM for an 8:35AM first period class. I have first period three days a week on Monday, Thursday and Friday. If I need to get to school early, back everything up either a half hour or full hour.

"The Swamp"

In the world of college football, there are places that teams dread playing away games. There are great nicknames for many of them, such as "Death Valley" for those teams having to play a game at Clemson's Memorial Stadium, "The Big House" at Michigan or when "The Sea of Red" convenes to form the third largest city in the state of Nebraska when the Cornhuskers play in Lincoln. However, as Lee Corso states,


There is no better place than The Swamp! When the Gators run out of the tunnel, it is absolutely the moment of moments in college football.
Make sure to click on the link above as it is a virtual tour of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Come on, do it!!! You know you want to experience "THE SWAMP".

This past weekend, Scott and I travelled to his alma mater, to watch his (and now mine as well)Florida Gator's (and new coach Urban Meyer's) SEC opener against long time hated rival Tennessee. The Gators beat the Volunteers 16-7.

We arrived Friday evening and promptly met his friends at a bar called none other than the Gator Dockside. The next morning, his friends, at 7:30AM set up a tailgate tent whose key feature was a satellite television with feeds to all the different games played throughout the day. We made a run to Burrito Brothers (something I've been hearing about for months), I had friends Thom and David come up to visit from Orlando and we took a walk around campus to see the key locations of Scott's years on the Gainesville campus.

One highlight was watching the marching band go through their warmup's right across the street from our tailgate tent.

When Scott was a student at Florida, he was a member of the band as well as serving two years as all important drum major. Most of the friends I met were also in the band as well. When the band played Mahler's #3, it brought both of us to tears. I think I can attribute it to the fact that for both of us, our years in college were some of the best of our lives. It is rare in our adult lives to be apart of a group, working together towards a common goal and having fun at the same time. I don't think one experiences that in the corporate world, and as a teacher you sometimes can have that but never to the extent as one had on a team or with a group back in college.

At 730PM, we finally walked over to the stadium to watch the game. Here are some images...

Scott M. and one of his best friends Scott S.

The Florida Gators Marching Band during pregame festivities

We made it, baby!! We're at "The Swamp"

The Gators huddled on the "F" just before kickoff

We spent most of the game on our feet but I was particularly impressed by the amount of noise 90,176 people (the most ever to watch a game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium) could make. More than once the Tennessee quarterback (coach Philip Fulmer switched between two quarterbacks the entire game, that in and of itself was quite an event) was seen running up to his players trying to audible or the like. The place was a zoo. The best part of the game for me was watching the ball-breaking double reverse touchdown run that Florida executed in the first quarter at our end of the field, the north endzone. It happened right in front of our eyes.

Overall, I think that Urban Meyer revealed enough of his offense to beat Tennessee and nothing more. I'm guessing that there is much more up that sleeve of his and he'll pull it out when he needs to. The offense is still getting itself up to fighting condition. However, defense and special teams are already there. Hold on to your hats people, it's going to be a wild ride in the SEC this year. Florida plays at Alabama, at LSU, Georgia and Florida State this year and all are ranked in the top 25. Lastly, at this point, they are looking up in the standings at, of all unlikely teams, Vanderbilt. This year Vandy makes a trip to "the Swamp" and the game becomes a surprising game of importance. Go Gators.

The return of BB

Now I’m usually not one to make a big deal about something as everyday as a regular season baseball game. However, I must make a special case for the game that Scott and I attended last night at SBC Park, in which the San Francisco Giants defeated the division leading San Diego Padres 4-3. With the season coming to a close, the Giants must sweep the three game series to have any remote chance of earning a playoff spot for a chance at October glory. This Monday game in September had an additional storyline, for this was the night that saw the return of the Giants (or Gigantes on Latin night) of their homerun record chasing fearsome hitter, Barry Bonds. He did not disappoint, but in a way that was unexpected to me.

The top of the first inning was a nightmare for the Giants. Their starting pitcher allowed three runs and had runners on first and third when he was yanked having managed to get just one batter out. It was three up and three down for the Giants in the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter in the bottom of the second? Bonds. The crowd of 39,000 went nuts. There was a standing ovation as flashes went off all around the stadium. Bonds swung for the fences and hit a couple of towering foul balls. He hit one that appeared to be just over the centerfield wall, but it was deemed a ground rule double. The previously moribund Giants came alive. Bonds started an 11 hit parade, which included 3 for 3 nights for the two batters right after Bonds in the order. Bonds’ presence simply was the catalyst for better and more inspired play. Watch out for those Giants!!!

An interesting discussion

I received an email this morning from Pete with a link to the site Knowthyneighbor.org. Along with the link, he poses the question,

While obviously I support same-sex marriage (otherwise how could I ever live happily ever after with Ernie?) I find the below site interesting... just to play devil's advocate, if my vote in the voting booth is private, why does my opinion on a referendum have to be public?

Then came a reply from our mutual friend Sim, who stated,

I believe the idea is that if you are going to petition to change the constitution, petitioning is a public act which is very different from voting for a representative. They are not voting to change the constitution, they are petitioning their legislature to vote on changing it. Just like when you sign a petition to put a ballot initiative to a public vote. I think it's a pretty reasonable threshold for such important changes; there need to be enough people willing to publicly acknowledge their desire for a constitutional change or ballot initiative.

Pete's response,

Would you say the same if the change to the constitution was to remove homosexual acts from the books as a crime? In that case, the likely signatories would be gays -- a class probably wouldn't enjoy being forced to "out" themselves just to have a basic right to privacy. It's tricky.

As I always do, I have my initial gut reaction, but I'm learning to keep that in check and to wait for a couple of hours/days to try and put logic behind it. So after some thought I'm going to look at it from a different perspective. I took a look at the amendments to the US Constitution (didn't have time or desire to look at each states so I hope you get my drift). In all cases, except for those dealing with the office of the president, the amendments are increasing the rights of citizens. Prohibition, the only one that was taking away rights, was repealed as we all know. So, to look at it from the perspective of discrimination, there really hasn't been a precedent to write in the denial of some right granted to one group, but not to another. If this this called "marriage" were simply a religious issue, then the US Constitution should be removed from the discussion. However, our economic status, as in how our taxes our calculated or how we file a will, to life issues (medical decisions) are governed outside the sphere of basic religion or houses of worship and for that reason the right for gays to marry needs to be addressed. With that established, assuming that obtaining the names of those who sign any petition is available to anyone (true?) then why should the medium the internet be a question? Perhaps I am missing something?

I also agree with Sim's point that taking a public stand to your views is important. Hell the marriage ceremony itself is simply the two persons public declaration of committment! It is all to easy to mouth the words that we think people want us to say but in private be two-faced about it. So knowing that signing a petition means public declaration of your beliefs will hopefully make people really take a look at why they are signing something either to look good to others or simply to get that person out of your face as you leave the grocery store.

Lastly, I want to include an editorial piece about the inevitability of gay marriage written by CW Nevius of the San Francisco Chronicle. He's saying what I've been saying for years.

I love it when I master technology

What you will no longer find me doing is praying to the Xerox gods on a daily basis. Instead of photocopying pages of handouts and problem sets for my students, I know post them to my school website as pdf files so students can access them at home and print them out at their own leisure. In addition, I no longer have to try and find the original of some handout to copy an extra copy for a student who has misplaced his or her first copy. Check out my Honors Geometry site and look at the Proof #1 pdf file. I'm so psyched!!!

I will never be able to serve on the Supreme Court

or any other position, either elected or appointed, in which public perception and opinion is an important factor. Why you ask? I make the following true statement, "I, H. Ernest Chen, was a willing patron of Hooters. To add insult to injury, the only Hooters establishment within the city of San Francisco is at Fisherman's Wharf.

The reason is that the boosters of the University of Florida Gators have arranged to have the Gator games brought in and shown at the Hooters of San Francisco. After coming off three mediocre years under coach Ron Zook, the game this past Saturday was the debut of the Gators new coach (and greatly heralded) Urban Meyer. The Gators, after a rather stiff looking first quarter, took control of the game in the second quarter and rolled to a 32-14 victory of Wyoming. A detailed description and analysis can be found at Gatorcountry.com.

And guess who is going to Gainesville, FL in two short weeks to witness Urban Meyer's SEC home opener against Tennessee? I'll give you two guesses......

Fallout 2005

Every four years, I start the academic year with a new group of ninth grade advisees. For the next four years, the group and I meet a couple times a week to hear announcements and check-in with each other. At the end, I hope that I will all see them graduate in June 2009. Yikes, they are the class of 2009. Tradition has the 9th graders go on a two night trip to Mountain Camp, which is in the Sierra Nevada foothills about 75 miles east of Sacramento.

I particularly like the trip because I, as an advisor, am simply there for adult presence. There is no requirement of us advisors to rally kids to get to their activities or to try and get them to be enthusiastic. Instead, napping is encouraged, as is sitting down by the lake (pictured above) or doing whatever we want to do. I did just that.

Fellow Math Department colleagues and fellow 9th grade advisors Paul S. and Steve G.

So, here they are, presenting to you the Chen/Gregg Class of 2009 advising group.

In the group, I will advise my third Dantzker and second Palley. It's a treat to have a relationship with families that they feel comfortable enough to allow me the honor of being an advisor to all of their children. It's one of the great things about independent schools, the family relationships. Time to carry on with the school year. If you are interested, check out my school webpage. It might be more than you can handle!

Slow on the uptake....

The dot com boom occurred during the late 1990's. I moved to San Francisco, the Bay Area being the center of internet technology change, in 1998 and was only slightly clued in to the revolution that was happening around me at the time. So many companies came and went (hello Webvan) and most were making big splashes with their IPO's and stock prices. One of those companies that had a lot of press written about it was Ebay.

People made such a big deal about it. Everybody, it seemed to me, had an account and was selling stuff as well as buying stuff. As is typical with me, if the masses are doing something, I won't do it or approach the new phenomenon with my own variation. Essentially, I ignore it because I don't want to be caught up in all the hype and get lumped in with "those people." In time, my curiousity gets the best of me and I check out the "new thing" and find out how truly cool or revolutionary it is and declare that too the world that already knows about it. I then incorporate that thing, whatever it may be, into my life.

In this instance, I am speaking of the site Ebay. Only two months ago did I actually peruse the site and find out how amazing it is, especially from the persepective of an Economics teacher teaching about the concepts of reservation price and markets. But the economic concept I think it best represents is consumer surplus where I am willing to spend (bid) $20 on an item but the auction system allows me to purchase the item for only $15, therefore I get $5 of consumer surplus because I got a $20 value to me for only $15. I have been an Ebay fiend. Here's a list of what I have purchased (and yes, I have been furnishing my home).....

1 Single Panel Velvet Drape (Wine)
1 Double Panel Velvet Drape (Oat)
1 Double Panel Cotton Drapes (Lime Green)
1 Double Panel Cotton Drapes (Ivory)
3 Curtain Rods
2 Bar Stools
1 Queen Set of Eqyptian Cotton Sheets (White)
1 Albert the Dancing and Singing Gator (University of Florida Mascot)
1 Book (A Long Way to Fall, signed by author Nick Hornby)
60 Blank DVDs
1 Pair Born Closed Toe Sandals (yes Mom, with heel strap)
1 Canvas Tote Bag (Green and Brown Leather)
1 Soundtrack to Wicked the Musical on CD
1 Box Set of entire series Sports Night on DVD

I've slowed down a bit now, but I've been bitten by the bug! Now, if I would only figure out the IPOD.

File Under: Now I understand!!

"Where Everybody Knows Your Name"
(Theme Song from the show Cheers)

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows your name.
You wanna go where people know, people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows your name.
You want to go where people know, people are all the same;
You want to go where everybody knows your name.

By: Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo

The show Cheers was in its heyday during the 1980's and early 1990's. During that time, I was a teenager and plodding through college. I watched the show, laughed at the things I understood at the time. But I always wondered why there was so much hype about a bar. Why also did many people feel an affinity and identification with the premise of the show?

It wasn't until Scott introduced me to his local bar, the Yet Wah Restaurant in the Diamond Heights Shopping Center, that I understood what was meant by the line where "everybody knows your name." Every character on the show has an equivalent at "the Wah". Without question, the Sam Malone character takes the form of a petite in stature, but large in personality, bartender (and now co-owner) Aree K. My guess the guy named Jerry would be Norm. But more telling is the fact that it seems every person at the place has some story. On more than one occasion, I've been at "the Wah" and Scott has whispered "news at 11". Later on I hear some crazy, you can't make that stuff up, story about a person or a couple. The nicknames there are so descriptive like Chicago Bob or Delta Jimmy.

Lastly, I have to relay a final story about the world of "the Wah". Whenever Scott has some obnoxious comment or makes a statement of the obvious, he uses this nasal pitched voice. I never knew why. One day, I was at "the Wah" and I heard that same nasally voice, but it wasn't Scott. This cartoon character voice actually belonged to one of the regulars at the place and Scott had been imitating it out of habit for years.

Now that I understand why bars are such communities, I can watch Cheers in a different light and probably appreciate more things about it. Let's hope something will soon help me understand Seinfeld.

US News and World Report College Rankings? TAKE THIS!

As I write, I am less than 48 hours from returning to school. Granted, I am attending a half-day faculty meeting on Wednesday and then my first real teaching day is Tuesday Sept. 6th, the summer break is near over. Part of me is sad that this time has ended (and proud that I have truly and honestly rested, relaxed and taken time off instead of rushing around travelling a lot) but I'm also excited to get back to school. I love school, always have. I was one of those kids who was bummed when June came around because I didn't get to go to school.

Anyway, with the beginning of school comes the publication of the always controversial US News and World Report College Rankings. But I was puttering online as I love to do, and found that the Washington (DC) Monthly had performed it's own ranking of Universities and Colleges based on what the institutions were doing to giving back to our country.

Here's a quote directly from the article.

The first question we asked was, what does America need from its universities? From this starting point, we came up with three central criteria: Universities should be engines of social mobility, they should produce the academic minds and scientific research that advance knowledge and drive economic growth, and they should inculcate and encourage an ethic of service.

The methodolgy and metrics the Monthly used were pretty generic and rudimentary, but it's a start. I too wish that they could incorporate some measure of how many (or what percentage) of graduates were in service fields such as teaching.

So what bragging can I do? Cornell University, my alma mater ranked #3 out of all large national Universities. My sister's alma mater, Wellesley College finished #1 in the national liberal arts colleges rankings. Let the record show.......

Friends Growing Up -- Addendum

Here's a shout out to my good friend Ian M. Ian, a fellow Washingtonian (not DC), and I met in the summer of 1987 at a summer program (unfortunately now defunct) called the Washington State Governor's School. Continuing my amazement at how my friend's have "grown-up", Ian is one of those people I appreciate having as a part of my circle of friends because of the passion he carries for the things he loves. He feels and loves first, instead of my mode of taking care of business, and because of the way he is structured on the inside, Ian experiences life in a completely different way that I. More importantly, he is able to communicate the essence of the events of his life, large and small. Not only can he verbalize it, but take a gander at his eulogy to Peter Jennings and see for yourself.

How pissed would you be?

Jonny Moseley, remember him? 1998 Olympic Gold Medalist in moguls and a Bay Area native. I wasn't here during the winter of 1998 but Scott tells me the guy was given a huge welcome home in Union Square and has had his fifteen minutes of fame. I give him credit he did win a gold medal, but what I read in the newspaper enraged me. Follow along....

In essence, Jonny Moseley was sitting around with the owner of some sports promotion outfit and thought it would be great to set up a ski jump (literally with snow) down one of San Francisco's steep streets in Pacific Heights. This all to celebrate his 30th birthday, get on MTV and promote his clothing line and the name of the promotion company. With little fanfare or public knowledge this event will be occuring on Fillmore Street between Broadway and Vallejo Streets next Saturday August 27th, 2005. 200 tons of snow will cover the 20% grade street and residents will not be allowed to enter in or out of their homes. The residents were notified only a week or two ago. Here is a link to the actual San Francisco Chronicle article.

So, now, I am never one to give residents of Pacific Heights any benefit of the doubt. This is the ritziest, flashiest neighboorhood in San Francisco. When Bill Clinton (note George Bush would never step foot in this city that gave him less than 15% of its vote) came to visit, you bet he made a stop somewhere in Pacific Heights. In fact, many of us here in San Francisco, mockingly call it "Specific Whites". But, I totally have to agree with the outrage that is coming from the residents there. Where was the community input? Where was the dialogue? How come they were notified only two weeks before the actual event? Last month, when San Jose brought a Grand Prix event to the streets of their city, they compensated the displaced residents and put them all up in a hotel. Not exactly a great solution, but at least it addressed the fact that the cars racing by would be a nuisance. The Chronicle article lists many other concerns that residents have that could result from the event, first and foremost the issue and damage that might be caused by the melting of 200 tons of snow!!! The purported two million dollar insurance policy the promotion company has taken out won't even pay for the first damaged rose bush claim that will probably be made.

So, residents of Pacific Heights, I urge you to make the biggest stink you can. Make life living hell for whoever approved the backroom deal. And all this for stinking Jonny Moseley? Come on dude, you can't even freaking spell your first name right!@!@!

Cauliflower Ear

Or medically known as perichondral hematoma is when the skin that is attached to the cartilage are separated from each other. Through the skin runs the blood vessels, but when the skin is no longer attached to the cartilage, the blood vessels are broken and the blood pools in the cavity that has been formed. As seen above, a big bulbous blob forms on the ear and one appeared on my right ear in late June. It didn't hurt, but it was very apparent. I saw my doctor who referred me to another doctor in the Kaiser system who would take care of it. Back in mid-July, I went to the French campus of Kaiser San Francisco and Dr. Ward (the new doctor) was located on a floor that was named "Head & Neck Surgery." That was a bit scary in and of itself. He drained it and put stitches in it and told me to come back a week later to have the stitches taken out. Usually, just draining the hematoma (blood in a cavity under the skin) is all that is needed for the skin to reattach to the cartilage, with minimal deformation. I did as was told and after the second visit, the swelling came back again, this time with a bigger blob on my ear. So, yesterday I went back and it was time to take even more drastic measures. Dr. Ward drained the blood, then made and incision in the back of my ear (so as not to have the scar on the front) and then for a couple minutes pressed on all different parts of my ear to get all the blood and goo out. He put a wet cotton ball in the top of the ear to preserve the shape of the ear and then wrapped me up like this....

So, I'm sitting here writing to you looking like a cartoon character. The ear actually hurts most when I talk or have to open my mouth up wide to eat. I go back today to have it drained again and then have a new wrapping put on. I think tomorrow I get the bandage off for good.

So why did this occur? Well, usually these things happen to wrestlers, boxers or anyone who has had some kind of trauma to that part of the ear to cause the separation of skin and cartilage to occur. I have no idea what happened, but I don't remember being hit by anything. The only thing I can think of is that when I put on the strap of my bookbag it may smash my ear against my head and that my have caused it, but who knows. Hopefully, I won't have any significant deformation of the ear. But in the grand scheme of things, I could have worse problems.

When your friends grow up

We all have friends we know from college, high school and even grade school. We knew them when they were young and foolish. As I grow older, it's kind of weird to see them in their "adult" lives. Friends, with whom I played the game hearts and darts (played continuously for one long finals weekend) are now 1) a PHD in Electrical Engineering who went back to get a law degree and is starting a clerkship for a circuit court judge in Puerto Rico 2) a father and teacher who designed an alternative education program for teenagers in technology and 3) one who was in near the beginning of AOL and now working for Meetup. So it's weird, and yet totally cool, to think of them as contributing and influential people in the world. Here's another example, my friend Nora B. is often brought in as an expert on coalitions in foreign affairs and just got this article about the counterinsurgency in Iraq printed in last week's Baltimore Sun. I could go on about the amazing things other friends are doing, but it's time for me to start thinking about planning for the upcoming school year as summer break is nearly over.

Seeing it through to the end

Those of you who are regular readers of the Chen blog are probably wondering whatever happened to the french doors project that I started earlier in the summer. Well, as of today, it is essentially finished. You will find some pictures below that show what the doors look like from the front/sitting room. I was unable to take pictures as to what the doors would look like from bed as I was aiming the camera into the light.

I won't go into any of the details, but the I did learn one thing about myself as well as having a long ago lesson reinforced. Starting with the latter, this project did seem overwhelming to me at first, but as we all must, I broke down the undertaking into small managable discrete tasks and lo and behold here I am. What new thing did I discover about myself? I am simply unable to hammer a nail if it isn't at eye-level height. I have a cemetery here to bent nails.

A typo of monumental propotion

Residents of the San Francisco Bay Area will agree with me that every conversation eventually turns to real estate. Whether you are renting, an homeowner, thinking of purchasing your first home, in escrow for your second home, it's all about real estate. There is a column in the SF Chronicle that is titled "SURREAL ESTATE." It is the source of the most outrageous, crazy and more often than not, sad stories of people in the Bay Area and their experiences dealing with the stress of owning or trying to own a "piece of the rock."

So, every Sunday, I always take a a quick glance at the open homes section, to check out if there is any home up for sale in my neighboorhood and the asking price. I also take a look at neighboorhoods near me or one's that I dream of living in. Here's what I found in the open houses section this past Sunday.

GLEN PK, at its best! *Great bay views from all primary Rms *Spectacular renovation& expansn *Spacious 6 room home with flex.open flr.plan *3 BRs, 2 exquisite BAs *Custom hd.wd.foors *View slate deck overlooks beautiful flagstone patio & lush garden. Every part of this home has custom detail. Pest control rpt. with clear Sec I, dbl. paned windows, new appliances, custom lighting, woodburn FPLC, near BART.

Everything sounded normal except what I saw next. The asking price on this house was $393,000. Those of you in the Bay Area immediately had to take a second glance. A house that sounded like this would have sold for a price like this, say 10-15 years ago. In today's crazy real estate market, this price would attract a mob of potential buyers.

I noted the address of the home and we went to take a look. Was the house tilted? Sideways? Foundation missing? What was up?

We parked the car, walked in, the place beautifully decorated, renovated, etc. The real estate agent introduced herself to Scott and said right off, "If you're here due to the Chronicle advertisement, there is ONE error I should let you know about......the price. The asking price is actually $939,000."

Ahhh, we said and immediately turned towards the door to exit. The world was in order and real estate returned to its rightful state of insanity!

Blank Slate

This past Friday, we were offered the opportunity to purchase tickets to the opening night of the musical Wicked's run here in San Francisco. We obtained a pair of tickets and so we were primed for an evening at the theater.

It was truly MAGIC. The only thing I knew about the show was that it told the story of the two witches who appear at the beginning of the Wizard of Oz. Essentially, it served as a prequel to the classic by L. Frank Baum.

Because I came in with no expectations or knowledge of songs, I never sat there waiting for "the main song" to be sung. Instead, I was entertained in its purest sense. Each twist of the plot and new song stirred in me the emotions intended by the performers. I laughed and I also cried. The two main characters share an incredibly touching scene/song near the end of the show and it spoke to the importance of friendships in our lives, especially with those with whom we initially think we have nothing in common.

I can't say enough about the show. I highly recommend you see it if you can. We bought one of those souvenier booklets. Usually, I scoff at such a tossing of good hard earned money. But everytime I have picked up the book , I relive the memories of that evening. I now understand how theater can truly be a magical and transforming experience!

Can it really be 10 years ago already????

Here is a quick article about the 1995 American League Division Series between the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees. The article sponsor is Coca-Cola and it therefore explains the "chill" references. Where were you and what were you doing when Edgar Martinez hit that double down the left field line in the former Kingdome......

The Seattle Mariners were losers. They even lost their first franchise to a car salesman in Milwaukee after one year of play.

Whether or not that was an ominous sign of the things to come in the next few decades, the M's had no trouble living up (down?) to those expectations. This was, after all, a franchise that once went 14 years without a winning season, and had a club so devoid of star power that the team's announcer was actually voted by fans as the most popular Mariner of all time.

But after years of getting hit with the awful stick, the Mariners' fortunes slowly came together in a perfect storm of destiny and quirkiness in the memorable summer of 1995, when perhaps the most chill group of athletes since the '85 Chicago Bears came shuffling along. This was the year the Mariners were so bad, they knew they were good.

It didn't help that they lost their first legitimate superstar Ken Griffey Jr. to a broken wrist in May. Or at least at first it didn't appear to be a good thing. But instead of panic, the guys remained chill and found a way to eek out wins here and there, each night a different hero.

They found themselves 13 games out of first place in August. But instead of planning their subsequent offseason golf vacations and trade requests now that their franchise player was out of commission, they started chipping away at the Division-leading California Angels.

They didn't set out to dominate and intimidate, like the way Roger Clemens feasts on rookies or the way Bartolo Colon attacks an all-you-can-eat buffet. They did it their way, with a 'what, me worry?' attitude that evoked coolness, chillness, and most of all spectacularness. They were so chill they often waited until there were two outs before making their move, prompting Mariner's fans to say, "Two outs? So what!"

These underdogs were the epitome of cool under pressure. Ice in their veins and arteries. Their 26 come-from-behind wins from July on propelled them to a first-place tie with the Angels on the last day of the season, which forced a one-game playoff they easily handled.

This rag-tag group of overachievers, such as Jay "Bone" Buhner, Tino "We Had Him First" Martinez, "Little" Joey Cora, Edgar "I Defined the Role of a DH" Martinez and Ken "I Was Still Called The Kid" Griffey Jr., were off to face the mighty, mightly Yankees in the first round.

What was that part about being chill? How about losing the first two in the Bronx, just so you can win the next three at home to give the long suffering fans something to really cheer about. And that's exactly what they did. They played in what is perhaps considered the finest Division Series game in the history of Divison Series games. (OK, so this is the first year they had Divison Series games, but it still holds up).

Remember where you were when Kennedy was shot? Ask a Mariners fan where they were when Griffey rounded third on Edgar's 11th inning double to win the game and the series. Then watch them explain how watching one of the most chill teams of all time give them & chills.