Thanks for San Francisco!

I was in San Francisco on vacation the first week in June. I had a great, wonderful time, and I owe that to my friends and my mom. They are all wonderful people, and I want to reach out to each of them. So in alphabetical order:

Barbara http://djangrrl.com

I met her not long before pycon 2009 via the Pinax community. She is a very talented developer, Barbara has the 'luxury' of working in the music industry. She's got mad php, mysql, python, and of course, django skills.

For the trip she found us (me, Noah, Zain) tickets to Spamalot, got us (me, Noah, Zain) into the DNALounge for a Zombie Beach party, gave me a walking tour of San Francisco, introduced me to really @#$%ing great vegan food, and took me to Alcatraz. Her knowledge of how to get around San Francisco is unmatched. The last day as we parted ways she tried to get me to go to more places on my own, but I was wiped out from her boundless energy.

Thank you Barbara!

Dave B http://davidbrenneman.com/

Dave is like me, living in both the plone and django communities. He has done some really fascinating work in both areas. He is bright and smart.

I met Dave Friday night for dinner at a really good sushi place whose name I wish I could remember. We challenged the sushi chef to pick what we would eat since he would have to impress us. The result was a number of subtle but delicious selections. Afterwards we went to his place across the Golden Gate park panhandle and I got to meet his lovely wife. They are expecting their first this year!

Thank you Dave!

Dave S. and Cecille P.

A couple of my DC area friends, they both encouraged me to go on a vacation. They've been great to me this past couple of months. I'll always remember their kindness!

Thanks Dave and Cecille!

Daryl http://yacitus.blogspot.com

I met Daryl at pycon 2008. He's a Canadian but don't hold that against him. He works for vmware in Palo Alto. His python and django skills are crazy good.

Daryl was busy the whole time but put a lot of work into finding things for me to see and do around the bay, since most of the time I was solo. He did hang with me for a bit on Wednesday (June 3, 2009) night and we had dinner at Pluto's. That place is like Chipotle on steroids. Next time I hope to visit his house and let his kids hit me with sticks or something else fun.

Thanks Daryl!

Katie http://elephantangelchild.blogspot.com/

My co-worker and our group's technical lead. Multi-talented, besides herding us cats... err... developers... she can code in php, python, draw, and write.

Katie kept the home fires burning at work. Or rather, she kept the fires from raging out of control and consuming the universe.

Thanks Katie!

My Mom

She used to work for a very scary government agency with three letters and retired at the level of 'bigtime boss lady'. Now she does lots of volunteer work, gardening, and many exercise classes.

Mom made sure I got to San Francisco in ways only a parent can. She also encouraged me to take pictures with me in them, and has happily listened to many of my stories about the trip.

Thanks Mom!

Zain
Last but definately not least is Zain. I met Zain at pycon 2009 in the midst of the infamous Django/Pinax fued. Zain is one of the those annoyingly bright young guys with a wonderful personality. Amongst other things he is doing Google Summer of Code for django core, working to augment the Admin UI.

Zed literally hosted me at his house in San Jose. He fed me, clothed me, washed my clothes, and took a day off from work to go cycling with me around Angel Island. He drives through the hills like a maniac too.

I can't thank Zain enough!

What I managed to get done in San Francisco

1. Visit my friend Daryl Spitzer in Palo Alto for lunch at VMWare.

Wednesday, June 3rd I ate dinner at Pluto's in Palo Alto with Daryl Spitzer and Zain Memon. It was good catching up!

2. Rent a bike at fisherman's wharf and go mountain biking on the trails of Angel island in the bay.

Thursday, June 4th me and Zain cycled Perimeter Road on Angel Island on rented bikes (get the rentals on the island since they don't ask for a hefty down payment). The views were incredible.

3. Rent a bike at fisherman's wharf and go road biking through the hills of the Marin Headlands.

Well, actually I did not do this, but instead on Tuesday, June 2nd I bike the Golden gate bridge, through Sausalito, up to Old Mill park, through Tiburon, and up into Belvedere (which has a monster hill that pushed me to my limits).

4. Spend some time at Fisherman's wharf since I'll be there for the bikes anyway.

Best seafood place there by far is Nick's, a hole in the wall where the cook is on the sidewalk. Ignore the pricey tourist traps and go to Nick's!

5. Go to the Exploratorium

Fail!

6. Go to the SFMOMA

Fail!

7. Rent a cheap hotel room somewhere and then wake up at dawn to watch the sun rise over Golden Gate or something.

Fail!

8. See Alcatraz.

Went with Barbara Shaurette on Sunday, June 7th. I was tired from walking around San Francisco for many awesome hours the day before, but it was worth it.

9. See giant trees in Muir Forest.

Fail! But I did see some pretty decent sized trees in Old Mill Park.

Images can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pydanny/tags/sanfrancisco/

Lots more detail to come!

Memories of New Year's by the decade

40 years ago I was crawling on a floor somewhere in Highland Park, New Jersey. I don't recall that time. We were probably getting ready to move to Laurel, Maryland at that time.

30 years ago I was sad that the digital watch I got from Channukah '78 no longer had the same magic. It listed the time and the last two digits of the current year. Until we went into 1979 at 12:34pm, 56 seconds into the minute each day I looked down and saw this: 12:34:56 78. This was now gone from a daily activity.

20 years ago I was at the house of my friend Tony's girlfriend trying to fix her parent's bed. Do the math yourself as to what happened... As for my thoughts, I was dwelling on whether or not I would get to hook up again with the girl I met during the autumn.

10 years ago me and my wife celebrated the last New Year's of the second millenium, and started one more year at Aurora Highlands.

Recap of 2008

• I went to Chicago for the first time. The architecture was beautiful. The local food was quite good, nearly as good as the Neapolitan fare I had in 2007.

• Cycled through New York City and reconnected with old family relations.
  

• Kept up with the martial arts. Competed twice.
  

• Almost up to 5 years without a broken bone!!!
  

• Worked another year with Python and Plone. Started to work professionally with Django.

• Stayed with NASA. Managed to see my team evolve into a group that doesn't make me want to pull out my non-existent hair.

• Launched our big project at work (http://nasascience.nasa.gov)
  

• Got my son into physical fitness again.
  

• Shaved my head.

• Got our finances more in order.

• Helped shepherd my students forward for the most part. I'm so proud of them.
  

• Didn't lose anyone close to me.

Update:

• Worked with Alex Clark to launch Take Back the Tap.

• Helped support Food and Water Watch.

• Lasted another year (4 years) at NASA.

• Had a painful kidney ailment in the spring that was a combination of bruising and dehydration.
  

Farewell to Michael Hammer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hammer
http://www.hammerandco.com/about-obituary.asp

I had the pleasure of first meeting his daughter, Jessica Hammer, back in 2004. She credits a lot of herself to her father. Since she is one of the most intelligent, funny, compassionate, Jewish, wonderful people I know, I can simply say that I really wished to have met this man.

There is much I owe to Jessica and her circle of friends and family. I've only met a few of you, and thanks to my own nature, I'm often distant. I miss you guys and pray that there might be something I could do.

Prayers to Jessica and family

My last gaming convention was DragonCon 2004. The con was fun, but the important thing was meeting a pair of New Yorkers, Jessica and Chris.

Jess is unbelievable. Depending on your inclinations you wish you were her or dated her. Smart like a whip, compassionate, attractive, and very into her Jewish roots. She can quote Hebrew poetry, discuss the nuances of fine literature, teach classes at the collegiate level, play video games, play tabletop games, look good in a bodice, and has a wicked sense of humor to boot. For us geeks, she worked for Clay Shirky! If there is anything not to like about Jess is that I know she watches at least Japanese horror movies.

Chris is her boyfriend of a decade or so, and keeps up with her in what seems every regard (except the horror movies). In a more savage world he would be challenged to sword fights for the right to court Jess.

These are good people. Trust me.

Jess has shared at least once that her father is important, and holds him in respect. She described him recently by comparing herself this:

For those of you who have met my father, or heard my stories about him, you have some idea of what an amazing guy he is. For those of you who don't know him, our family jokes that I am his clone - so if you know me, you do know him, a little bit. He is my hero, my role model, my compass and my guide. I am hoping and praying for his recovery so that I have a chance to share the next thirty years with him.

If he is even a little like this, then her father must be quite the gentleman. He should move down here because we need more smart people to run the country.

Anyway, on Friday, August 22, 2008, Jess' father had a serious accident. He is in the ICU up in Boston. I've extended my prayers and hopes to them that he recovers quickly.