theLaconic

it's news alright

I had to post this:

The front cover of the San Francisco Chronicle on Saturday.

I must admit I was getting bored with the perpetual sunshine, it's not like it is that warm, in fact I can usually see my breath in the morning. It has been getting up to t-shirt weather in the afternoon, a pleasant 60 degrees or so which is nice especially when my friends back in New York say is below freezing there.

Anyway enough of this weather talk. I moved into the new digs on Wednesday, the only trouble being that I have hardly anytime to enjoy my new space because I am having to work the weekend and I have the dreadful cold that is doing the rounds.

There are still boxes to be unpacked, I have yet to find any coat hangers so I can hang my clothes in my wardrobe and I don't know where
the rest of my shoes are. But apart from that this place is feeling more like home everyday and night I spend here.

I'll upload some photos when I get my new table and chairs on Wednesday.

So what's a Happening?

Sorry I've been working. Not much going on that I can talk about or is remotely interesting this weekend. I am excited about getting my new furniture delivered and moving into my new place tomorrow (Wednesday).

So to make it up to you dear reader here's a picture that amused me this morning: One big fat pussy cat - I love his thousand island yard stare.

Tiffany Noreuil, an animal care technician at the Oregon Humane Society, holds temporarily-named feline Goliath, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, in Portland, Ore. Goliath, a 20-pound stray whose girth got him stuck in a pet door while trying to plunder some dog food, is back with his owner. His name isn't really Goliath, but it's close. It's Hercules, says owner Geoff Ernest, who was reunited with his tubby tabby Thursday at the society. Gresham, Ore., resident Jadwiga Drozdek found the feline stuck in the dog door of her home a few days ago, helped free him and gave him a plate of food on her patio. via Yahoo/AP

Now move along please, nothing further to see here.

I have the keys...

...to my new apartment or flat as they call them in San Francisco.

And here are some more photos.

That Girl

I should of done this ages ago but I wanted to make a big deal out of it. I'm not sure if this is the big deal that I wanted or if anyone really reads this blog anymore but I promised Kayla that I would introduce her - maybe one day I'll get her to write some entries - now there is an idea...

Anyway before I deviate off topic too much, this is Kayla. We met while we were working on the same advertising account while we worked at Ogilvy, New York. While we worked on the same account we wanted to keep our personal lives, well personal and we kept a low profile for the first few months.

I have referred to Kayla several times here, calling her "That Girl" and she has posted a few comments here and there.

Back to the story; We met at work, worked on the same piece of business, flirted a little, flirted some more, I skirted around asking her out on a date, I moved off of the account and finally got round to inviting her to dinner. She must of liked what I cooked because we have been together ever since. Ask Kayla to tell you her side of the story some day - it's much better than my laconic tale.

That was last February and my heart still skips a beat when I know I am going to see her. She is here in San Francisco this week looking for an opportunity to move here, yes she approves of my new gaf and yes my heart has been skipping all week long.

I've found a new gaf

I have the entire ground floor.

For the past 6 weeks I have been staying in temporary housing provided by work, that was obviously only temporary measure to help me get settled here and I needed to find a more permanent solution.

And part of the joys of moving to San Francisco was the prospect of living in a far larger apartment than Manhattan, but on the flip side it's horrible looking for a new home - well it is for me because I have an ideal place in my mind and I can't afford it let alone find it.

So last week I spent a least 3 hours a day combing the listings on CraigsList and visiting sites like www.housingmaps.com, calling up
and emailing people only to find out it was a real estate agent re-listing a previous rented property in the classic bait and switch move which goes a little like this:

"I'm sorry that unit has already rented, if you tell me your requirements I might have something that might interest you..."

Interest me? the fake listing you just posted interested me which is why I contacted you in the first place, I learnt pretty quickly not to go and view any of the hell holes they suggested as replacements.

So after viewing 5 or 6 places I stubbled upon a listing for 231 Dorland Street, I called up and spoke to a nice gentleman called David and we talked for a good 15 minutes until he agreed to show me the property - a good sign as he is the owner and only has this one place so no bait and switch here.

When I stepped through the door of this huge 2 bedroom 2 bath victorian flat I knew it was great fit and easily the best place I had seen so I took it. I get the keys on Thursday and will take some better photos of the inside - I have some but the current tenants were still packing so it doesn't show the place off that well.

The sun drenched kitchen

Dolores Park is just 1 block away

I want one

So one of the advantages of living in SF is the geek factor. It's the center of the world for the tech industry and yesterday was a great geek day, in fact this week has been a great geek week with both CES and MacWorld bringing us some new objects of lust.

And the one I am most excited about is Apple's new AppleTV.

I have been trying to figure out how I could get my music, movies & TV shows that I have bought on iTunes onto my TV, I thought about buying a Mac Mini or a Windows Media Center but when was announced in September I put those plans on hold and waited... So I ordered one yesterday and I got one.

And of course I want the iPhone. But not the phone contract because I get a cell phone through work, lets see if they figure out a way to un-bundle the contract and offer the touch-screen iPod with wifi functions so I can connect it to San Francisco's free wifi network... when/if that launches soon.

Nike+ helps me run

So I am still exercising, wow I love this Nike+ thingy.

SF photos

I thought you might like to see some pictures I took over the last few weeks:


That's me being a tourist near Pier 39 - Fisherman's wharf.

Alcatraz - I can see the lighthouse from my bedroom window

pretty - I go running past this.

And try to cycle over this

Can I just take a moment.

I know I am in trouble with you. I know it may seem like I have forgotten you, turned my back on this blog but let me explain;

I moved. I moved to over three hours away. Let me clarify that, that's not three hours travel from New York but three time zones to San Francisco (that's approximately nine hours door to door because I timed it when I moved six weeks ago).

I moved jobs from Ogilvy to McCann Erickson to become a Creative Director on the Microsoft avertising account.

I know, I should of posted this when it happened but I just got busy and well you know what I am like it's nothing personal, it's just the way I am. So please forgive me and carry on reading this blog I promise to try and make an effort to post at least once a week.