Let's see...some Semester highlights?

Trips to SF. On rainy days with Leo and Lauren for their project along the Embarcadero. With Erik last Sunday to escape studying for finals for an afternoon at the Ferry Building. With Steph, Candice, Dan, and Erik to hang out at the beach and then getting followed by the scary naked guy. To meet my family for a night on the town to see the Lion King. With BUSSA to visit MOMA and to have some burritos in the Mission after. One of the best things about Cal is being close to such a world-class city.

City Planning Studio! What can I say, we rocked! We were told twice that we were better than the city planning grad studios, once by the Chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning. The people in studio were great, we had a lot of fun. Especially the folks in my two teams. Late nights in Wurster listening to BEPs over and over again (Let's Get Retarded), and ugh...my first all-nighter in Wurster. Even that was kinda cool. Not really, but ya, it paid off.

Haha...my first Thursday night at Cal as a 21 year old. Thanks for being so *helpful* Miss Profiet on our walk back to the house you lil punk. I forgive you for pushing me into the shrubs, weeds, whatever you want to call them.

BUSSA. What a cool group of people. and some fun activities. I started this semester with the intention of helping start a club for students studying City Planning. I never thought that it might happen so soon and be successful. I'm really looking forward to serving as Coordinator for the club next year and seeing it further establish itself.

CP118 with Leo and Lauren. Well not the class so much, all though the class was certainty interesting. But the lunches after. Endlessly planning trips to Europe, making fun of each other, complaining to each other, or just talking. Next winter, our Europe plans better become a reality. My range of dining options has also expanded vastly this semester. Thaaaanks guys.

Parties! At the girl's apartment. At Steph's place. For Flavia's birthday. For Hanah's Birthday. Good times. We need to have a good one at our place still though.

Friday lunches with the crew. When I could make it. The discussions never failed to be entertaining.

And lastly, just normal nights at the house. Watching TV, joking around, hanging out. This is a nice place to come home to.

Summer, hopefully, will be nice. But I'm looking forward to Fall already.

Well...

I'm done! My Junior Year at Cal, is over. And I must say, I kicked ass academically this year, both semesters. On the other fronts, I had a really fun time in the house, with Leo and Lauren, and with BUSSA, over this past semester.

But of course, for me all endings are bittersweet. Friends are graduating this year, starting their adult lives. And seeing them leave just reminds me that I'm leaving this time next year...and it scares the crap out of me. I am not ready to leave Cal. Maybe I will be next May, but I doubt it. Between now and then I've got a lot to figure out. And I can't imagine saying goodbye to all my friends here, leaving this house, leaving this whole life behind.

Over the past few days I've found lots of ways to distract myself from not studying. Since Erik's been gone one of my procrastination activities have been to read the many inspirational posters/cards he has up on his wall. One, from some guy named Buddha says:

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

I should work on that.

Meanwhile, I want to have a lot of fun this summer. Head start, I'm off to Boston on Saturday morning! Good way to start my vacation while you poor saps on the quarter system are still taking midterms (sorry...sorry...sorry).

Gentes da Diáspora

Ei-los que partem
novos e velhos
buscando a sorte
noutra paragens
noutra aragens
entre os povos
ei-los que partem
velhos e novos
Ei-los que partem
de olhos molhados
coração triste
e a saca às costas
esperança em riste
sonhos dourados
ei-los que partem
de olhos molhados

Virão um dia
ricos ou não
contando histórias
de lá longe
onde o suor
se fez pão
virão um dia
ou não

-Manuel Freire

I've signed up to take Portuguese next semester, with the hope that come January, I'll be using some of it in Portugal.

Click on the poster. View the trailer, and prepare to laugh.

This just in...apparently the city of Palo Alto Human Resources made an error when they said I wasn't chosen as a finalist for the paid planning internship position! I got a message from the planning department to let me know I'm still in the running as a finalist!

What a great day.

It's over! My City Planning studio is over! It's actually kinda sad. I love studio and I hope this isn't my last. Studios have been one of the biggest highlights of my college experience. The final review today went really well for everyone. (and I must say, my group in particular really pulled it together and were dished only compliments by our panel of reviewers...a Berkeley City Planner, the architect of the biggest Development firm in Berkeley, and a well known and respected Urban Designer)

In the end our teary eyed Professor showered us with praise and wished us well, and we did likewise to her. People were patting each other on the back, many of us have become friends over the course of the semester. Overall, it ended on a really really good vibe for the 15 of us. I can safely say I learned a lot too. We put a lot of hard work and it really paid off. Woohoo!

But now that it's over...time to study for finals (boo!). Of course, before that there's a party tonight (yay!). And at least I can safely assume that in at least once class, I have a big fat A coming my way (yay for studio!).

So....I was in Studio from 5pm on Sunday to 8am on Monday. Yep, my first all-nighter in Wurster. I dodged that bullet in 11b, who would've thought it'd hit me in a City Planning studio? I made my way home by 8:30...finished up some photo shop, went back to studio at 12:30.

And I slept at 10. Slept through my alarm and woke up at 12:45...missed a review session. Oops. Kinda outta it and grumpy today. But something really cool cheered me up in ED100....I got a shout out from Professor Roy. It was really flattering. The class was having an open question/answer review session and the topic of nostalgia versus history came up.

While answering a question on the topic, Prof. Roy started talking about theme parks and said "In fact, Nick wrote a great paper on Disney theme park's use of history, about a year ago...right Nick?"

I looked at her and smiled goofly and nodded....thinking..does she want me to say something. But I stayed quiet...I was still getting over the fact that I was served a compliment in front of a lot of my friends and classmates by a prof. that is one of the most well respected in the CED.

It felt good...especially since in that class things often go over my head and I don't feel confident enough to ask questions and participate. It really made my day.

Happy Cinco de Mayo.

I want Pan Dulce.

So...no Europe this summer for me. But Leo and Lauren and I are planning on going in January (brrrr). Found this off a European weather/travel web page:

For Sightseeing/Culture in reasonably comfortable weather conditions:

Spain: with the exception of Madrid[cold] and the North[wet], Spain is generally warm and pleasant in January. The best bet for a dry cultural experience is in the south, visiting the magical Moorish cities of Seville, Cordoba and Granada, where the days are warm and the nights coolish. Barcelona too is a lively, interesting city, though it can be a little chilly/wet in January. Swimming in the Mediterranean in winter is no fun, nor is the sad, overbuilt coast that is now dedicated to sod-the-culture, we want sun, sea and sangria tour groups.

Portugal: A bit wet, but often warm with blue skies in January. Try the pleasant old-fashioned atmosphere of Lisbon, or further south to the Algarve for outdoor pursuits.

Italy: The southern part of Italy has generally mild winters with blue skies, so Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Sicily are excellent cultural targets, while Amalfi takes good care of those who need a scenic uplift. Venice is chilly, damp and foggy, but has an interesting, spooky quality, enhanced by the lack of tourists [and relatively welcoming locals].

Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Barcelona, Lisbon, Algarve, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Sicily, Amalfi...and a spooky/interesting Venice? Sounds like some good choices to me!

So this weekend was pretty cool.

Thursday was very productive. I met with the prof who is my advisor for the first time, and we had a very nice conversation. I actually got some good advice too! Go fig. She looked over my resume as well, and gave it a thumbs up. So I felt confident taking it down to the CED "Show and Tell" that evening, where CED alumni set up tables about the company's the work for. Carey & Co, an Architectural Preservation and Planning firm was there. I would love to have an internship with them. I had a great conversation with the Vice-President (a CED arch alum) and submitted my resume. Sent an e-mail that night. Still waiting to see if anything comes of this.

My uncle got married and I missed it though. But it was at 2:00 on Friday in San Jose City Hall, kinda hard to get to seeing that I scheduled to meet with my studio prof at 5:30. Argh. Then Mikey gives me a hard time about it even though I already feel bad I didn't make it. Butt nugget punk. Hehe.

I've been spending most of the weekend either writing my ED100 paper or thinking about writing my ED100 paper or worrying that I'm procrastinating because I'm not writing my ED100 paper, or working on studio. I will be quite relieved after tomorrow when my LAST paper of the year will be turned in and I can focus my complete attention on designing a new streetscape and parking/retail complex for University Avenue (that's my part of the studio project).

But nevertheless, the weekend was lots of fun. Steph's 21st bday party was great. I managed to drink enough to have a good time....but also remember every thing that happened. (Okay that sounds bad. It's just that the two times I've been drunk since my 21st, I over did it. No regrets, never been sick, I just need to get a better idea of my limits.) Anyways, remembering everything is both a good and bad thing I suppose. I make some pretty dumb comments when I'm drunk. The truth is, I know they're dumb as I am saying them, I'll say strange things to garner a laugh (him....I am my father's son). And Lauren enjoys recounting each phrase to me the next day, while I hit myself in the head.

So after a night of drunkenness, poor Kat has "the worst hang over ever." Check out her blog for a transcript of our humorous morning-after exchange. That afternoon, Lauren, Eric, Erik, Candice, Kay and I headed down to the Presbyterian Church to see Kat's final Wind Ensemble performance. It was very nice, and I couldn't help but think it was 'very Berkeley' of the group to be out drunk partying the night before and then quietly watching a symphonic performance some ten hours later.

And on that note...Chris is still waiting to hear back about his Berkeley appeal. I think I'm just as, if not more, wound up about it then he is. He's submitted his SIR to Davis already, so if he's not a Golden Bear, he'll be an Aggie. No shame in that, Davis is a great school and he's looking forward to going there if that's the way the ball bounces. But I've been reading the "college confidential" discussion boards, which are inhabited by overly-paranoid high school seniors to see if any of them have heard back from their Berkeley appeals. Apparently some have, with a few successes. It gives me hope. I wouldn't be surprised if we find out by tonight.

All right, time to head down to campus.

After yet another city planning lecture discussing the evils of Disney, I'd like to reiterate something.

The Lion King, was awesome. Especially the new songs by Lebo M, the South African songwriter who is responsible for those famous opening lyrics..."Nants ingonyama bagithi baba." (yep those are the actual words, thanks google). The broadway version adds a whole new level of depth and emotion to the stories and characters of the movie, especially through the new songs. Maybe because it's the first time I've ever seen a major play, but hearing the songs performed live was amazing. It was hard to believe that the people on the stage were making that music. The whole thing really moved me, and I think that has a lot to do with the themes conveyed by the story and the song lyrics; Life and death, the cyclical nature of time, coming of age, finding your place, seeking guidance from the past....they all really resonate with my own views right now.

Wait, there's no mountain too great
Hear the words and have faith
Have faith

He lives in you
He lives in me
He watches over
Everything we see
Into the water
Into the truth
In your reflection
He lives in you

I really like these lyrics and the meaning they try to convey; that those who have gone before us are watching over us, that by remembering them, they live on within us. That's some deep stuff to take from a Disney movie, and now, a play. But it's all too easy to be flippant about anything that comes from Disney. Regardless of the corporations aims, I have much respect for the group of people that brought this one piece of art together. So my profs can go on and on about Disney as a symbol of rampant capitalism, I don't care. The Lion King rocks.

These past few days have been excellent. On Wednesday night, for my mom's birthday I hopped on BART and met up with the family to go see the Lion King Broadway musical. It was everything I had hoped it would be, a must see if you enjoyed the movie at all. I just can't get over the music. It was awesome, and the whole family really had a great time.

I stayed the night in Downtown SF with my family, then we woke up early Thursday morning to come home to Mountain View (yes, I skipped all my classes....you only live once). Thursday was spent running errands with my mom in preparation for my auntie Lydia/godmother/nina's joint extended family birthday party with my mom. Various members of my extended familia had a nice dinner at Chevy's and celebrated with cake and ice-cream at my house after.

Of course, lately, whenever my extended family gets together there's bound to be some drama, and I was up till around 2am having a heated discussion with certain members of the family. Eh. Family isn't perfect, it's not a well run machine. There's no natural order of communication with a large family such as my own. Sometimes it's better to have a third party relay information, especially when a direct discussion would feel awkward or uncomfortable. Sometimes you have to put the concerns of others before your own. But that's no excuse to portray yourself as a martyr. You can't sacrafice your own identity for family. But at the same time, too heavy a focus on the self, the individual, what's best for you and only you, THAT is what can break a family, and a person, apart.

Anyhow....that most likely flew way over most of your heards. So, moving on,

I just got back from dinner at Kapp's with my dad. Downtown is hopping tonight! The weather is so nice that everyone is out and about. I ran into two people I know while walking along Castro Street, which was encouraging since I have a paper about how Downtown Mountain View is an anchor in community life. Hehe. The annual Downtown Parade is tomorrow, Chris is in it for MVYAG. It's always a fun event. Unfortunately I'll miss it this year, but for a good reason. Kim's bday should be really fun tomorrow, I hope she enjoys the surprise Matt has planned for her.

Alllllll right. Back to writing that paper.

Up in Berkeley for the whole weekend. It's been a while.

Ummm....I feel like I got a lot of nothing done even though I know I did quite a bit.

Thursday night I went to the SF MOMA with BUSSA. I'd never been to MOMA before, it was really cool. They had an interesting exhibit about a town up north that got destroyed to make way for a reservoir in the 1950s. Reminded me of Santa Rita, NM. We went to the Mission for some very spicy burritos after. It was a really fun trip.

Friday I was very productive, albeit non-academically. I decided it was finally time to restart the fish tank. Completely emptied it (which is a no-no, but it was beyond hope), gave it a good scrubbing, and plopped my three hardy lil Zebra Danios back into their home. I want to get some new fish to add some excitement to the tank. I also moved it into the dining room, where it's more visible. This means two things, one, I get to enjoy it more, and two, I'll have to clean it more. Taking the tank out of the living room allowed me to rearrange the furniture. The new-and-improved living room has been a huge success with the housemates so far. The entire house (sans Eric E.) went to Barney's with Jess for dinner. At night, I went to Phylis' 21st bday party at Flavia & Rory's place. Got Lauren P. and Erik to walk up there with me. They felt the party was too "architectury" for them....so we left after about 45 minutes. But I'm glad I went.

Saturday....I got some reading done for CP118. Took a walk up to the Rose Garden to admire the view of the bay and the City. Got Lauren and Leo to come pick me up for dinner. We ordered pizza and hung out at Lauren's house till around 1:30am. I ate too much pizza, which I think might be what is throwing me off today.

And today....well..today, I've been playing with some photo editing software for my studio project. But after a day of editing one picture, I'm not pleased with the results. So I feel like the day's been wasted. That and, these April showers have confined me into the house. I spent most of the evening pulling together some research for one of the two papers I have due soon. Sitting in front of this laptop for most of the day is depressing. It just reminds me how much more work I have to do.

How NICE it would be to have a car so I could go take some new pictures of my studio project area, buy some new fish, and get a bite to eat and go to the grocery store. Being up here in the hills without a car on a rainy day results in mild cabin fever.

Anyways..this weeks gonna be busy. Got lots of work to do and quite a bit of fun activities lined up as well. So, I better get to bed.

Hello from Wurster Hall. My studio to be specific.

I am very excited. I just found out that the City Planning Department has created a new class, CP140: Urban Design: City-Building and Place Making, taught by the graduate Urban Design prof. This is great. Suddenly my major seems A LOT more well-rounded. Next fall. I'm there. (even though its on fridays...booo!)

But I still think I should get a background in Landscape Design. The more I think about it and talk to people about it, the more it makes sense. My dad reminded me that he thought I should have done Landscape Architecture all along. I've always like Landscape Design. I can imagine myself really enjoying a job in that field. Being a run-of-the-mill city planner just doesn't seem to fit anymore. Maybe that's what the planners in Mountain View meant when they said Berkeley would set me up for "something better than this." All this uncertainty and fretting over majors is a part of the process. I ran into my LArch prof in the hall WHILE I was reading the new course bulletin for CP140 posted on the wall. She'd be more than happy to talk to me about trying to get that minor down. I'm scheduled to see her next tuesday. I think I'll try for this Landscape Design minor, even if it means sticking around another semester. After all, I like Fall Semester better than Spring, and wouldn't mind being here for another season of Cal Football. Hehe. But I guess I'd walk in Spring with the rest of the gang. So it'd all work out just swell. I think.

But ya....an Urban Studies Major with a minor in Landscape Design. How cool does that sound? I like it. For now. But it sounds a lot more like the type of career I want to have now. And just the idea of that makes me happy.

So much is suddenly up in the air right now and it's got me a little overwhelmed.

Lauren and Leo want to go on an architecture/city planning sight-seeing adventure to Europe around the beginning of June. Flight tickets are relatively cheap for that time period if we buy them right now...

Problem is, I have to wait to hear back from the city of Palo Alto regarding my internship. I kinda need the money to pay for the trip. But if I get the paid internship, I doubt I'd be able to schedule a trip to Europe. But then what would the point of making money this summer be if I can't use it on traveling abroad? That was the whole point. Catch-22.

And I don't have a passport. It takes 6 weeks to get one. May 30th is about 6-weeks away, that's cutting it a little close to buy plane tickets and hope my passport is here by then. I could pay for the two week express service, but that sorta defeats the purpose of buying our cheap plane tickets right now!

And in other news, I'm trying to figure out what I want to minor in before my telebears appointment comes up. I've suddenly come to the realization that I have a pretty keen interest in Landscape Design and that maybe after all this City Planning mumbo-jumbo, I might end up in a career in that profession instead. What I know for sure is, I want to be involved in a design profession.

The thought of being a City Planner just depresses me more and more. I blame Berkeley for this. It's given me a taste of what it's like to be on the other side of the counter, the designer not the reviewer. I do not want to be a beaurocrat in a planning office who's main job is to write zoning codes. I've done really well in all my past design studios and I want to have a chance to push it some more and see if I really have what it takes to be either an Urban Designer of Landscape Designer, or better yet, both via a dual degree. And the Landscape Design minor will not only give me a good background to go to grad school for Landscape Architecture, but also for Urban Design.

I never really wanted to be an Architect, I have a touch time visualizing buildings in my head. But I can spend hours visualizing landscapes. I was designing zoos and parks and my backyard's garden when I was 10. Suddenly me, Mister "I've known what I want to since 8th grade" is not so sure what he wants to do anymore.

The other minor which would be MUCH easier to finish is "History of the Built Environment." It is more in-line with my historic preservation ideals. But increasingly, I find myself losing interest in that overall field and finding that my passion for it is mainly rested in my passion for Mountain View's history. It doesn't seem wise to go to grad school and pursue a career in such a limited field.

So I was up late last night trying to figure out a schedule for either minor. Running into schedule conflict after schedule conflict and wishing that I had figured this all out years ago. I probably would have if I wasn't so busy trying to switch from Architecture to Urban Studies. Argh.

Nap98: you should come over for my family's confetti egg fight
Avengelyne01: ooh that sounds exciting
Nap98: haha
Avengelyne01: is this for easter?
Nap98: yeah
Nap98: its the only way to celebrate easter
Nap98: as far as i know
Avengelyne01: hehe
Nap98: otherwise its a boring holiday
Nap98: blahblah jesus died on the cross blablah
Nap98: give me some confetti egg smashing action!
Avengelyne01: lol
Avengelyne01: and candy
Avengelyne01: lots of candy
Nap98: right
Nap98: candy
Nap98: cant forget the candy

14 years of Catholic School sure gets your priorities straight.

Things are going rather smoothly right now. Calm before the storm perhaps.

All my classes are in a lull. No more midterms, papers due in a couple weeks (in my mind...that's far...far.....far away) and in city planning studio we have a fresh start with a brand new project and reorganized project teams.

An internship position landed in my lap via a conversation with an old friend from grade school who looked for any planning positions on the SCU website and found one with Palo Alto (paid!). How lucky.

I had my interview for the position today. It went really well. But I have a gut feeling that they'll stick me with a voluntary position and give the paid one to some more qualified graduate student. Damn grad students, always ruining my life. Not really...But anyhoo...

Only big snag right now is Chris not getting into Cal. Yes, yes, I know....some of you are just itching to blow this joint...it's hard to remember that there are thousands of eager lil high school seniors pounding on Sather Gate trying to get in. Now I have to help him through the whole rejection appeal process. With a 1 in 10 chance of getting in on appeal, and nothing to loose really, we figure it's worth a shot. At least we'll make someone feel really bad for rejecting him. He got into his two second choices, Davis and SCU, so the world will not end with a rejection from Cal. But Chris deserves to be here.

Update from the last entry...I did stop my lobbying and battling for preservation on Wednesday, as I promised myself. Unfortunately, the rest of break was spent battling allergies. I did manage to spend a couple days with my high school friends. We saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (good movie) and a fairly large group of us (Matt, Kim, Martin, Jen, Jamie and Rachel too!) spent a day hanging out in Santa Cruz. We had a great time.

I'm going to Boston in May for sure now! Really excited about that. Finally I get to go to an east coast city and explore. Woohoo!

Right then. All caught up.

Soooo....Spring Break.

Yeah. I better go somewhere next year so I don't feel like I've completely wasted my chance at having a some-what stereotypical college Spring Break experience.

Couldn't afford to this year, and no one really to go with anywhere. Everyone I know from Cal is off doin there own thing, and most of my high school friends are here in the Valley. So this break will hopefully have a good amount of R&R with the high school crew. We had a nice day together last Friday. We plan on having a get together this Friday. I hope to do something with some of them in-between as well.

I've also had some quality time with my family. We took a drive to San Juan Bautista on Saturday to enjoy the warm weather, but the fog beat us and by the time we got down there it was way too cold for the sandals and shorts we were wearing. After the very nice hour long drive through the country, we got out of the car for a couple minutes, froze our butts off, and ran back into the car to drive back to sunny San Jose. Went to the giant orange and enjoyed some Mark's Hot Dogs for dinner. I watched the Lion King DVD with my mom today, and then my whole family watched Lion King 1 and 1/2 together. Great movies.

But so far, it feels like the majority of my time has been spent putting one last punch of effort into this whole historic preservation mess here in Mountain View. I met with the head city planner leading the development of the ordinance on Friday. On Saturday morning I had a long conversation with Councilmember Perry (no relation). On Sunday I had an impromptu three hour conversation on the sidewalk of Downtown Castro Street with my dad, a random member of MVPA we ran into, and the owner of the city's oldest commercial building (b. in 1874) who's in our "rival" group, mvNpa. It was a very interesting and fun conversation and I think it fostered some understanding on both sides. (I'm sensing the formulation for a great intro to my second CP118 paper on how Main Streets foster community.) Plus, I had a two-hour MVPA meeting on Sunday. And Wednesday Chris and I are meeting with the Vice-Mayor. I've also been constantly working on trying to update and add to MVPA's web page.

Obviously, I came into break with a lot of energy to do as much as I can to get this preservation ordinance back on the right track before I retreat to Berkeley again. But my engine has run out of steam and I've grown tired of all this again. There's always more I could do. There are still three council members I could meet with if I really wanted to. There's a non-preservation related council meeting tomorrow I could give public comment at. There's neighbors I could talk to....letters I could write... and on and on it goes.

But now, I just want to go to the beach or something. Except for doing some research and taking some pictures of Shoreline Park tomorrow for a paper, and that meeting with the Vice-Mayor on Wednesday, I think I'm done working. From Wednesday afternoon onward, I plan on officially ending the productive part of my Spring Break and devoting my time to getting out of this town and having a little bit of fun.

Peeping Bambo's Watching You.



There's a deer living in our backyard. We should charge it rent.

For grade school Nick, this would be a dream come true. I was so fascinated with the idea that such a large animal still roamed freely amongst the hills of Santa Clara Valley. Remember, I was a little environmentalist back then and longed for the open space and countryside that my grandparents constantly reminded me used to surround Mountain View. My dad and I would go on hikes and I would be really happy if we came across a herd of deer. But usually we came across stranger animals, like a tarantula. (yes Kat, there really are tarantulas in California).

But now I look at this deer, outside my window, munching away or just sitting on the grass....and I wanna be like....awww...how cool. How pastoral. But it keeps scratching itself. And all I can think is that it probably has ticks, and that I better not go wandering in the backyard because I'll get lyme disease...

See what growing up does to you?

Also...the deer's been named Peeping Bambo by Erik. Apparently Erik likes to keep the bathroom window open when he takes a shower, and the deer likes to stare at him through the window. All I say is, close the damn window, you two are both strange animals.

I should be studying for a midterm....

But all I can think about is how the last four years of working towards the preservation of Mountain View's historic landmarks might end up going to waste. Judging from what I heard about the meeting tonight, most of the City Council just doesn't seem to get it. The opportunity to finally ensure that some of my hometown's landmarks survive into the future is slipping away because they seem to be afraid of a few angry property owners. (One of whom happens to be an old Stanfurd frat brother of the current Mayor and the son of a former Mayor)

I feel like my letters to the Council are ignored, the speakers from my organization aren't heard. Our arguments are clear and rational, but the anger and hinted legal threats from a few unhappy property owners seems to have swayed the council towards adopting a completely voluntary historic preservation ordinance, or no ordinance at all. City after city in the Bay Area and throughout the country has adopted a preservation ordinance with little trouble. But Mountain View can't seem to get it right, even though we've tried so hard to ensure that it does.

And I'm stuck here at Cal, studying for a midterm about Community, while the very community I care the most about seems to be headed on a crash course towards a decision I am sure we will come to regret in the future. Ironic.

I want to be able to at least claim a minor victory so that MVPA still has some wind behind its sails to carry on as a community organization. With or without a preservation ordinance, I feel my group could have a lot to offer to Mountain View. But with a really bad ordinance, it will be a lot harder to accomplish our goals. It could become a very depressing organization to be involved in, if we constantly see landmarks being torn-down, with nothing we can do to save them.

In a month and a day, the final decision will have been made. A battle I have been fighting since high school will have ended. At least round-one will have. Round-two might not come until I'm old and gray, if ever. I doubt the city will want to spend the time and resources studying this issue again in the near future, unless some major landmarks are lost in rapid succession.

But this isn't over yet. And I'll keep on trying to turn the tide, to ensure that some good comes out of all this. Because like my dad told me when I started to get involved with preservation in Mountain View; it's better to have tried and failed than to have never tried and come to regret not giving it your all later.

Nap98: hows the studying going
Th EIn KSt o nE: its not
Th EIn KSt o nE: but whatever
Th EIn KSt o nE: its just city planning
Th EIn KSt o nE: how hard can it be?
Nap98: right right
Nap98: im freaked out
Nap98: not so much because its hard
Nap98: but because i cant get myself to focus or care
Nap98: its so un-nick-like
Nap98: my head's in mountain view
Nap98: the city council had a meeting tonight and things are a mess
Th EIn KSt o nE: that sounds very nick like

He's right.

Bah.

Life has pulled some pretty tough punches on my family over the years. When my Uncle Mike got hit by a train two years ago, it seemed like events from the past were repeating themselves, and once again fate had been cruel to the Perry family.

My Uncle Mike is a really special person. He's mentally disabled, but slightly. Before his accident, you would never be able to tell from the way he looked, and only after a while when talking to him. This often caused problems, because people would expect more from Uncle Mike than he was capable of.

Growing up, he took me, Chris and our cousin Tiffany everywhere. We spent countless days of the summer walking, riding the bus, or taking light rail to places all over San Jose and the valley. We'd go bowling and mini-golfing, take train rides all the way to San Francisco and back, the toy store, the mall, San Jose Live, Great America, the park, the movies. Anywhere we wanted to go, as long as it was accessible without a car, he would take us. He had just enough wordily knowledge to make it safe for us to be off on our own with him, and just enough child-likeness in him to make whatever we did together as much fun for him as it was for us. He became "Uncle" Mike to all my cousins, on both sides of the family, and even some of my friends.

But then, one after the other, we realized Uncle Mike was different from our parents. We started to grow up, and he stayed just the same. I didn't know he had a disability until I was around 10...when I realized that I was becoming "smarter" than him. In some ways, we kinda discarded Uncle Mike like we would an old toy. But I realized this was the wrong thing to do pretty early, and continued to treat Uncle Mike with the respect he deserved.

Nevertheless, we made friends our age, and became old enough to go off on our own without him. When we did spend time with him, it became strange because of the role-reversal. Suddenly we were the adults in a lot of situations. He started to withdraw from us, you could sense he felt awkward. I never wanted him to feel like he was in any way inferior to us, but I think as he watched us grow up, he started to feel that way on his own. Especially with Chris, because they had always been best friends with the most in common. As Chris grew older, Uncle Mike lost his last real pal to hang out with. That must have been really hard on him.

But my family made an effort to include him in our lives as much as we could. We'd take him out with my grandma for the day, or go on little trips with him. In summer of 2001, we had him fly by himself for the first time to meet us in Disneyland and spend a week with us there. It's always been fun to have him around.

And then, there was the accident. And our lives went into a tailspin. The thought of life without Uncle Mike is something I never imagined having to deal with so soon. Since he never really changed, it was easy to just think he'd be there forever. It became really clear how much he meant to each of us. How great it was to have someone in our lives that loved us so much and wanted nothing more than to just spend time with us.

The thought of loosing him was shattering. And it seemed like that's what would happen. Or, at best, he might wake from his coma, but be severely disabled, both physically and mentally. The doctors said things didn't look good at all for him, that it was a miracle he even survived getting hit by the train.

Those were very difficult times, and we contemplated taking him off life support. When we had what was to be our final meeting with the doctor, the family was prepared to request this, perhaps some of us more than others. We even met with a priest who was the hospital's Catholic chaplain, and he came to meeting with us and was going to give Uncle Mike the Last Rites. But when the doctor said that Mike was showing a few signs of minor recovery, that his organs were beginning to repair themselves, my brother, myself, and my cousin Tiffany began making eye contact with each other and spoke up. We wanted to give Uncle Mike a chance to fight. The family listened, and the doctors agreed.

My Uncle Mike's initial survival was amazing unto itself. His recovery has been nothing short of a miracle.

Going into his hospital room at Stanford those first few weeks was so hard. With a tracheatomy, dialysis machine, bruises all over, wires and tubes, his head swollen and shaved, stiches everywhere, he was hard to look at without tearing up. We told ourselves to have hope, but not expect too much. We though that at best, he might wake up from his coma.

When he started to show signs of hearing us when we talked to him, we didn't believe it at first, thought it might just be muscle spasms. My grandma stayed with him day and night, and we thought she might be seeing things when he would move his foot in responce to our voices. But then after a few weeks, when we would hold his hand, he would squeeze it in response to questions. We were all amazed.

Then he opened his eyes. We couldn't believe it. But we still didn't know how much he remembered, if those eyes knew who we were or who he was, if his mental disability had been made more severe.

But after a month he started whispering. It became clear that he was still "there" and that one of our greatest fears wasn't true. He did not jump in front of the train on his own. In typical Uncle Mike fashion, he tripped while running to catch the train and fell partially on the tracks so that the train hit his side and threw him across the platform as it came into the station. We were so relieved to hear that.

Over time he regained control of his limbs. He gained the strength to sit up. He was transferred out of Stanford to another hospital, and then to a nursing home where he received physical therapy. We'd visit him often there, and he proudly show us his progress. He could throw a ball. Then he could ride a stationary bike. Before long he could stand on his own, and finally he could walk again.

He's been home for over a year now. And yes, the accident still affects his life every day. He can no longer work at his old job as a busboy at SCU, and is a lot more dependent than he used to be. He has "some good days, and some bad days" as he puts it. But he's recovered more than anyone, even the doctors, ever thought he could.

My family took him out on Saturday and spent the day with him. We went to a Saint Francis Basketball game, dinner at Kapp's, watched the Cal game on tv, and just talked. Every time I see him now, I can't help but look at him and be in awe. He fought so hard to come back to us, to recover, to live. He's so appreciative of the little things, so grateful for just spending the time to talk to him. Even more than he was before the accident.

When my dad and I dropped him off late Saturday night, I told him that I had a lot of fun hanging out with him that day. We said goodbye and I walked towards the car. Just before I shut the door he yelled out from the porch "I love you Nick!"

And it really hit me then, more than it ever has before, how very lucky I am to have him in my life. He is a living reminder to have hope and strength even when times look really bad. He gives me faith that while yes, life can often be very trying and unfair, it can also be extremely rewarding and beautiful.

Today I went to church with my family, all four of us. Quite the rare event in itself, but even more rare because we went to Saint Simons.

Saint Simons....we stopped going there often after I graduated Saint Simons School in 1997, and stopped going all-together after Chris graduated in 2000. When we go to church now, we go to Saint Joseph's in Downtown Mountain View. We fit in better there, and our family has roots there streching back the the 1940s.

Saint Simons is strange for a Catholic church in the Bay Area. Because it's in Los Altos, it's pretty much all White with a sprinkling of minorities, mostly Asians. The lack of diversity made me uncomfortable today in mass. Strange to feel uncomfortable in a place I once knew so well. For 10 years, Saint Simons was a major part of my life.

I have SO many memories there. My first communion, May processions, singing a solo in front of the entire school (god, I had guts), ten years of Christmas plays, dozens of friday masses, stations of the cross, Sunday masses with my family, Confirmation, and my 8th grade graduation.

I'd like to be able to go back there and envision these memories, but I can't cause the church as I knew it is gone. Father Andre had it modernized and completely reconfigured into a "stage-in-the-round" type of layout after I graduated. Even though the stained-glass windows, statues, and paintings were saved...they've all been shuffled and moved around so much that the place is unrecognizable. And that's why it's so strange to go back. The building is still there but its like one of those surreal dreams where you know where you are but nothing is in its proper place.

Chris and I walked around the school after mass. The school itself has hardly changed at all since we went there. The breezeway, the upper hall and lower hall, the Science lab, Schram field, Mrs Shirey's office, the Computer lab, the library. It's all still there. We looked into our old classrooms and searched for ones that still had teachers we knew in them. We saw our class pictures hanging in the hall, and a new plaque for our recently departed eighth grade teacher, Judy Capaldo.

It's hard to believe that seven years have passed since my time at Saint Simons. I remember being a student there, and not being able to imagine being any place else. And here I am, supposedly all-grown-up and over half way through with college. That place, in more ways than I can say, formed who I am today. I owe a lot to it, and the teachers that taught me and always encouraged me to stand up for myself and do what I thought was right. And even though I had a lot of really tough times at that school, my parents, I think, made the right decision to send me there.

It's been many years since the four of us have been in Church in that building together. It brought back a lot of memories of times that are long gone, but sometimes feel like they were just a day ago.

It's kinda scary that I'm starting to rely on AIM's headlines to get my daily dose of news. Can't be any worse than the network news. But it is a bit strange.

"While we wait for the courts to act, it's time for the City of San Francisco to start respecting state law. It is time for the city to stop traveling down this dangerous path of ignoring the rule of law."

That's what our governator had to say about all the gay marriages across the bay. Huh. Easy way to skirt the real issue. Break it down to rule breaking. (Kinda like the whole illegal immigration issue.) It's pretty clear what his opinions are. But....those don't matter....this isn't about civil rights, it's about following the law. Sounds like something some governor of a Southern State in the 1950s would say when people began to challenge Jim Crow laws.

Of almost equally important news, at least according to the logic of AIM's headlines, Cal's own William Hung, our beloved American Idol reject, is becoming a huge celebrity, with a record deal in the works. Crazy. Good for him. But I wonder if we at Cal will feel the pain of this after America grows weary of his rendition of She Bangs. They sure are playing up the Cal link....the photo in the article has the giant Cal script logo in the back, and Will's wearing a blue and gold UCBerkeley t-shirt. Oh well...at least ...because of that photo, dozens of people in America probably just realized that Cal=UC Berkeley.

Will the questions back home change from "Oh! So you go to Berkeley, have you been in any protests lately?" to..."Oh! So you go to Berkeley, have you seen William Hung lately." Hmmm....well come to think of it, that wouldn't be so bad.

Ahhh......I remember this feeling. Too much to do, too little motivation to do it. Papers, midterms, readings, reading responses, STUDIO.

But now...coupled with my apathy, is a growing sense of urgency to make the most of my time here, because so little of it is actually left. The two don't go so well together. Sometimes, it feels like I'm slowly sliding towards the edge of a cliff, with graduation at the end....and a 100 foot plunge into a sea of who knows what at the bottom.

What am I going to do with myself after next year? Will I go to graduate school? If so, where and how wiil I pay for it? If not, where will I live? Who will I live with? What type of job do I want to have..or rather..what type of job can I get in this economy?

Yes...it's over a year away, but now, apparently, is the time to begin planning for what to do next. And I feel like a lot of people have a much better idea of what they want after college. Heck, my cousin, just 6 months older than me, is getting married, probably on the same day I'm graduating.

Up till this point, life is pretty much pre-scripted for everyone. One step leads to the next logical step. Some are lucky enough to have that continue their whole lives. But for others, after college, it's just a giant question mark. And Berkeley....and my major in particular, just makes that question mark even bigger because it opens up more oppurtunities, more decisions.

I am a planner. I need a plan.

So...for the second meeting of B.U.S.S.A on Sunday, we all went around the room and talked about ourselves while one of the members, Rhiddi, typed the group's constitution.

And for the first time in a while that I can remember...I was flat out asked my ethnic background. No tap-dancing around the subject...no hesitance. Usually, this topic doesn't come up unless I sort of invite it to. And if it does, I kinda have to say it without being asked...filling in the blanks of a question I know someone is kinda thinking about but uncomfortable asking.

I'm not one who gets upset when people want to know what I am ethnically, because I'd much rather have them know than assume I'm something I'm not. But a lot of people do get upset. They think it shouldn't matter. That our backgrounds don't matter. Whatever. For me, they do. I care a lot about my history, obviously, and my ethnic heritage is a part of my identity. It's something I want people to know about.

So I said, I'm Mexican and Portuguese. And the response, so far the best response I've ever gotten on this topic, was from the guy that got the group going, Mike, who said, "So...You Like Linguica AND Chorizo?"

Exactly.

And then Ben, the guy sitting next to me from Singapore...was like..."but Perry's not a Portuguese or Mexican name..it's British."

Wow...these people know there stuff.

I had to explain the whole Anglicization of my name Periera to Perry (Thank you Ellis Island).

Anyways...it was great to get to know a group of people from such diverse backgrounds. Hearing there stories, why they got involved in City Planning, where they are from, their heritage...and telling my own. Just in this small group we have people from India, Singapore, Korea, the East Coast and LA. And its surprising the number of connections we found amongst each other as we shared our stories.

For example, when I asked Rhiddi what part of San Jose she lived in..she mentioned the giant Chuckee Cheeze's...which was built on land my great grandpa owned way back in the day as a family farm. Ends up after I said that, they assumed I was a "landed elite" of the Santa Clara Valley. Which would make my family millionares. Haha...if only. Had to explain that too. Hard to summarize how a family which once owned land throughout the valley for generations lost it all in a decade.

I'm hoping some really good things come from this club. There's something great about starting something new, having the chance to leave a legacy. I've done it twice before with the MV Youth Advisory Group, and MVPA. I'm really thankful that the oppurtunity to do it at Cal has landed in my lap. Exciting times.

Well...I think the Claritin finally wore off. My allergies were acting up this morning, and I needed to take it. I don't know whether it was the Claritin or the allergies themselves that just drained me today. Ech. All I wanted to do was lie down and rest all day. I almost fell asleep at 9:00. Haven't done that for a while. But hunger got me out of bed and here I am now.

I was gonna write a detailed description of this past weekend....but I'm tired again. I'll keep it short and sweet.

Thursday- Stumbled into a meeting of Urban Studies Majors that want to form an undergrad student org after my last class. Woohoo! (see Jan. 24 entry)
Friday - Went to SF w/ Leo and Lauren to visit the Embacadero and Ferry Building. Had a fun time at Kat's 21st bday party at night.
Saturday- Slept in. Played a couple games of poker with cheerios and pretzels with the housemates.
Sunday- Read in the Rose Garden, enjoyed the great weather. Had another meeting for the Urban Studies group, wrote the constitution...decided on the name Berkeley Urban Studies Student Association (BUSSA). Watched the grammies. Which were dumb except for the performances.

Overall, a great weekend. Look's like it's gonna be a very busy week.

Right then. Goodnight.

To go abroad, or not to go abroad?

It'd just be a month. August. I know I could do it. But I don't want to do it alone. Especially since its through Davis and not through Cal, so I won't have even a remote chance of knowing people. But the program sounds really interesting, based in southern Germany near the Black Forest and the French border, in the picturesque city of Freiburg. I'd be studying various forms of Community Development by visiting different cities in Germany, France, and Switzerland.

But for a guy who has only been outside this country once (and that was to Encenada in Mexico...which pretty much doesn't count)....who isn't, very...well, adventurous... when it comes to food (but Freiburg does have two McDonald's...I checked),...and who doesn't speak a lick of German (the class is in English..but still)....it's a daunting and frightening proposition to just fly over their alone. I've barely traveled in these United States....farthest I've been is Florida for a trip to Disneyworld, which again..doesn't really count because it's just an over-blown Disneyland.

I just don't know how to travel yet, so to do it a lone the first time is scary. And it's not just me, it's pretty much my whole family. The last folks on my mom's side to set foot in Europe were the one's from way-back-when that came here from Spain and had babies with the Aztecs and made us Mexicans. With one exception, my cousin Mikey went to England last spring. But they speak English there....kinda....so at least he had that going for him. On my dad's side my grandparents went to the Azores and Portugal in the 1950s, but they had roots and family there still. So basically, I'm not exactly used to traveling, and I come from a long line of non-globetrotters.

I just don't know. I'm trying to get Leo to come with me, but for some reason that architorture major wants to take an architorture summer abroad program. ABSURD! Well...not really. But from my skewed perspective... it just makes sense; he was born in Germany, speaks German, could get credit for this towards his major... he was destined to be my translator and tour guide for this. Haha.

I'll probably apply at the very least. But, I'll ask again...anyone wanna come with me? Please? I'll give you a dollar.

So, of all the classes I've taken at Cal, here is how they rate. This is for my own amusement, you probably don't care...unless you're thinking about what to take in future semesters.

1.) Architecture 171C - San Francisco Architecture
-See Previous Post

2.) Environmental Design 11A - Intro to Drawing Studio
-The top 3 are all very close together, studio is tough to rate because of the extremes within it, a lot of fun, but also a lot of hard work and frustrating days...but ultimately worth it in the end. Got to know some great folks in my section too. I put 11A before 11B, because I was better at 11A and can actually do something with my drawings whereas my models from 11B just collect dust.

3.) Environmental Design 11B - Intro to Design Studio
-See Above. But this class introduced me to Flavia, Phyllis and Rory, three people who my Cal experience would be so much less fun without. Plus a bunch of other folks who were fun to have class with. Oh..and Luke, my instructor's dog. Strange dog.

4.) City Planning 111 - Intro to Housing
-Eye opening course, my first with Professor Roy. Got a great paper out of it too.

5.) Chicano Studies 70AC - Latino Politics
-Another eye opening course, I learned quite a bit about my own family's history in relation to larger events and got to see a movie my great-grandma's were in...which moves this course up the list.

6.) Political Science 171 - California Politics
-Bruce Cain is an excellent professor and this class really gave me a better insight into how this wonderful state of ours works. If you're at all interested in California politics, take this class.

7.) Environmental Design 1 - Intro to Environmental Design
-Fond memories of my section in this course put it high up on the list. In this class I solidified my friendships with Leo and Lauren, met a couple other CED friends like Jacqueline and Melissa, and got to know a bunch of other people that I continue to enjoy taking classes with in the CED.

8.) City Planning 115 - Urbanization in Developing Countries
-Ananya Roy's classes are really interesting and she has very powerful lectures, but this class didn't quite do the same thing for me that CP111 did. Nevertheless, its pretty high up because Prof. Roy challenges my perceptions of what city planning is, and although this often frustrates and confuses me, its rewarding. Plus, I got to write a paper about Disney theme parks. The 5th grader Nick inside of me is absolutely thrilled that I was able to write about Disneyland in college.

9.) Ethnic Studies 150AC - People of Mixed Racial Decent
-Overall, I think that this class could have been better. But the very fact that there is a class like this, and that it introduced me to one of my all time favorite novels now, La Maravilla, and had the author come in as a guest lecture, puts it in the top 10.

10.) City Planning 110 - Intro to City Planning
-I enjoyed my GSI in this class, we got along really well and the projects assigned were interesting. And, the fact that I kicked ass grade-wise helps too. My first A+ at Cal. And I remember the lecture mentioning Mountain View a few times, which made me like the class even more.

11.) Geography 159AC - The Southern Border
-I wish I was able to invest more time into this class than I did. Prof Manz and Shaiken were great, especially Prof. Manz. The subject material was very relevant and well presented. My first and only class with Erik, and that was cool too.

12.) Geography 50AC - California Geography
-It was about California. It was about Geography. I got to write about my family's history for a term paper. What's not to like?

13.) ESPM 10 - Environmental Issues
-The prof in the class was really really cool. The class was a last minute filler but was really enlightening. Lauren R. was in the class with me too, and that was fun (when she was awake)

14.) Geography 70AC - The American Urban Experience
-I like this class, not so much because of the lectures (they weren't that great) but because of the project we had to do. I got to learn a lot about Uptown Oakland and had a good time doing it.

15.) Astronomy 10 - General Astronomy
-Lot's of fun to be in a class with Kat, Ryan, and BJ as a GSI....but I couldn't really get fired up about the subject material. Filipenko is a great prof, and I enjoyed his lectures. But Astronomy just isn't my thing. Pretty amazing stuff though.

16.) Geography 10 - World Regions
-Interesting, but not very much of what was said stuck with me.

17.) City Planning 39A - Frosh/Soph Seminar w/ Prof Emeritus Meier
-An experience that I wasn't quite ready for as a freshman... and maybe still not ready for? Not sure. Professor Meier had a totally foreign notion of what City Planning was, and a lot of the stuff we talked about was either waay out there, or just over my head. But he is an admirable individual and the class was certainty not as bad as its position on this list might suggest.

18.) Statistics 2 - Intro to Statistics
-Stats was interesting, I didn't hate this class. Didn't love it either, but the Prof made it tolerable and I got to bug Lauren P. during lecture.

19.) Math16A - Analytic Geometry and Calculus
-This class has the distinction of being the only class at Cal I really did not enjoy at all. I hate Math. I really do.

Wow, 19 classes. Plus 4 this semester. Getting close to the end. That was kinda fun. Makes me realize that I've really enjoyed almost all my classes here. Lucky me.

Looking back at the last semester, I've realized that San Francisco Architecture was the best class I have taken here at Cal. With only about 18 kids in the class, we really got to know each other and Professor Tobriner well. The tours to San Francisco were great, I've gained a whole new perspective on the City. For our papers, he let us write about things that really interested us. And at the end of the semester, he invited us to his house for a get together where we told stories and talked about our papers.

The people in the class were great too. Not only were some of my friends from studio in it, but the diversity of people that go to Berkeley was represented really well. We had exchange students from Scandinavia, New Zealand, Russia, Hong Kong, and Argentina...not to mention various parts of the United States. It was cool to actually work with graduate students too, and hear about the research they were doing.

I hope everyone that reads this blog and goes to Cal, gets the chance to participate in at least one class like this. They're out there, you just have to find them. That's pretty much the whole deal with Cal. The oppurtunities for a great educational expirience are out there, you just need to go out and find them yourself. You aren't spoon fed them like you might be in some schools. And personally, I like it that way.

Not a cloud in the sky here in Mountain View. Looks like its gonna be a nice weekend.

Chris had a huge victory last night at the Saint Francis versus Serra basketball game. SFHS lost (51-61), but you couldn't tell from the good vibes that were filling the building during and after the game. Last year, Serra brought a huge cheering section and typical of Saint Francis in recent years, the Lancers had virtually no students at the game. Chris happened to be there doing a radio station broadcast, and was humiliated by the experience. He would not let that happen this year.

The promise of free-dress on Monday if 150 kids came into the Rage Cage cheering section worked better than anyone could have imagined. It was a football game crowd at a basketball game. The Rage Cage was packed, loud and rowdy. The second floor was packed with students too. The whole gym looked more like a mandatory school rally than like a sporting event. But more importantly, they cheered. They ensured that the Lancers had a home-court advantage, when, in past years the others teams cheering sections drowned out the SFHS student section, if there was on at all. The team was able to close a 25 point deficit in the 4th quarter and come within a few points of tying it in the last couple of minutes. The place went absolutely wild. The second floor students even stood up! (...WITHOUT me yelling at them like at the Bellarmine Basketball game) What otherwise could have been a blow out, ended up being a really exciting and fun game for everyone.

When the Serra crowd tried to pull a Bellarmine and started using some...disrespectful...cheers, their deans jumped on their case, kicked one guy out, and had the whole student section exit the gym before the end of the game, leaving the Lancers to celebrate their moral victory. So after the final buzzer rang, and the band began playing the alma mater, the Rage Cage and the team got together and sang it. They then filled the court, hanging out, talking, laughing. There wasn't a disappointed face in the gym. Chris, who had lost his voice by the 4th quarter, was just smiling.

All year, Chris has wanted to show his school that it can be fun to have spirit, go to games, and cheer. It makes high school a more memorable and fun experience. Last night, it seems that his dream was realized. What a nice early 18th bday present for my little brother.

When life gets a little tough and stressfull, its really nice to have a couple of friends who will drop what they're doing, head back to campus after spending the whole day there, come to my studio, bring cheeseysticks, candy, and beer, and just hang out.

So, I'm rethinking my decision regarding the Daily Cal. I'll go tomorrow and take that writing test, turn in my resume, and see what its like for a while. It can't hurt to give it a try.

Candice's party was a lot of fun last night. It even got broken up by the cops, but being part of the "inner-circle" of friends, everyone I knew was able to stay to just hang out and talk with people. I did not get drunk, but I had enough to drink to be relaxed and talkative. And I woke up feeling really good this morning. So, great party ladies of the apartment. Hope the clean up isn't too bad.

And the weather today is really nice. One of those crystal clear days that comes after gloomy weather. Cool and crisp, my favorite type of Bay Area day.

To illustrate, here is the view from our front yard this morning:

So, school's started and so-far-so good. Some of my classes seem like the same-old-stuff I've already learned in other classes, but that'll help out later as long as I can stay awake and pay attention.

They're ALL in Wurster...which is something that would have horrified me as a freshman, but now its kinda nice. Wurster has really grown on me. I only wish I lived closer now, especially with studio. I'm really looking forward to being in studio again, especially since its a City Planning studio taught by a planner that worked for Mountain View for five years!

I decided over winter break that I wanted to get more involved with on-campus activities, so I went to the Daily Cal staff recruitment meeting yesterday. I'd like to write for them, but I've realized that I might not have the time. My schedule runs late into the day, which is bad since that's when they edit and put the paper together. And a the whole environment of people who spend a lot of time together seems to dominate that office. It's the same environment that pushed me out of yearbook at Saint Francis because I couldn't devote myself so fully to one activiety. Not to diss the whole "spend way too much time together" environment, its just that I'll get (and have gotten) enough of that with studio.

So..I guess scratch that idea...and on to idea # 2, staring an undergraduate Urban Studies/City Planning student group at Cal! Hehe...we'll see how that goes. I just do not want to leave Cal feeling that I didn't try to get involved here. And time is running short.

Good luck with the new semester everyone. I know a few of you are having a tough time right now. Just remember to take it easy, have fun. Chill out. It's way cliche...but you're in one of, if not the, greatest public universities in the world.... Schwarzenegger be damned. I know sometimes it may feel otherwise....but you are lucky to be here. Try not to forget that.

Heading down to SoCal this afternoon with Matt and Kim to visit Jen at UCSD.

SoCal twice in one winter break? I dunno if I can handle that much SoCal. I'm sure I'll be sitting in a few hours of traffic once we hit LA. But San Diego is nice, so I'm looking forward to going there.

Didn't mention it here yet, but the day after Christmas my family spontaneously decided to follow my cousin's family down to Disneyland. An excellent trip, it was really fun to take my cousin's kids (ages 4 and 7) to the park for their first visit there.

But Disneyland was insanely crowded. I've been there on some of the busiest days of summer, and I do not remember it ever being this bad. But then again, when I went during summer the park had a lot more rides that were "people eaters," they kept the walkways a little more..walkable. In addition, both Big Thunder and Space Mountain were closed...thanks to budget cuts which have reduced daily maintenance, forcing their closure over long periods of time and resulting in at least one deadly accident last year. I don't know if you've noticed, but the quality and quantity of new attractions there has dropped drastically over recent years. The current company leadership's insane penny pinching is chipping away at the famous quality of Disney product.

If you know me well, you know I've long been fascinated by Disney themeparks and that at one time my dream-job was to be an "Imagineer," one of the guys that designs them. I know some of you find that despicable (ahem..Lauren and Leo) but I know more of you have spent quite a few happy days at Disneyland or at a Disney movie...and know where I'm coming from.

So in light of this, I encourage you to poke around the following site:

www.savedisney.com

It's by Roy E. Disney, Walt's nephew. He was the head of animation until a few months ago, when he resigned in protest of CEO Michael Eisner's destruction of Disney quality, and he's now working to have Eisner be fired or resign. They'll send you a FREE bumper sticker if you add yourself to their mailing list. And who can pass up a free bumper sticker? Not I.

All right...I need to get some stuff done before I leave town. For those of you who are my Cal buddies, have a nice last weekend of freedom, and cya soon.

Elephant Seals...

aren't they just the most handsome critters you've ever seen?

My day trips with Leo and Lauren, the three of us have realized, have established a pattern. They involve going out to the wilderness on the outskirts of the Bay Area, looking at some strange animal (last time it was Elk at Pt. Reyes), and then topping the day off with a trip to burger king, where we all order chicken tenders.

Yesterday we made the 1.5 hour drive to Ano Nuevo Point to see the Elephant Seals during mating season. (no...we did not see any actual mating...we did see some chasing and fighting) Took a guided 2.5 hour hike around the reserve. Quite a fun experience. I had not been there since I was 10. Those elephant seals can move pretty fast. And they are HUGE! I thought my childhood memory had exaggerated their size, but those things are ginormous 5000 pound beasts. But most of the time they're just flopped down in a dune like the one I took a photo of.

The drive to and from Ano Nuevo was a constant battle to see if my geographic skills were better than the Global Navigation System on Leo's SUV. I win! The GPS had him going around in circles at the Stanfurd Shopping Center on the way to his OWN HOUSE....I was utterly horrified that Leo did not just follow his own sense of direction while in his own city and instead had to rely on a computer. Pity the geographically challenged, for they shall get lost on the Earth.

Lauren and I also got to see Leo's house in Palo Alto for the first time. Whereas our drawings and projects from past studios are stuffed behind a bed, crammed in a shelf, decaying in the yard, or hidden in a closet...Leo's work is proudly displayed by his parents throughout the entire house. Of course, the modern art-galleryesque feel to the Eichler lends itself to such displays. His house was uber-cool, as was his family. Lauren and I are jealous Leo. You hear that? Jealous. Haha...wait...you live in Palo Alto...I take that back.

Well, tonight was the Saint Francis versus Bellarmine basketball game, at Saint Francis.

Once again, Chris has taken on the daunting task of dismantling the apathy that has taken over much of the student body when it comes to pride and spirit.

For Football, he and his yell leaders (modeled after Cal's) were pretty successfully in bringing people into the stands and getting them to cheer again. It helped that this year's team was really good and went all the way to the CCS Final.

Not so with the basketball team. The school has seen more promising teams..and basketball has never been as big of a deal as football. So it was no surprise that Bellarmine beat Saint Francis, on the court and in the stands. Chris succeeded in getting students to the game. The gym was packed to capacity (my dad couldn't get back in at one point). It's an old-fashioned gym, two stories. I sat on the second floor next to the student section with my parents, and Matt and Kim. For me, Matt, and Kim, the last time we had been up there together was probably or sophomore year at a rally. It was kinda cool.

But about 1/4 of the gym (one side of the second floor) was taken up by the very loud, very rude, and very obnoxious Bellarmine cheering section. Being an all guy school, its a lot easier to pump up the volume and get loud. They've been doing this for a long time. (although they were surprisingly quiet at the last football game where SFHS whooped them....hmm maybe this was their way of venting frustration over that loss) With six yell leaders, six megaphones, and at least 200 students all standing up, they filled the gym with noise from the start.

Chris on the other hand, was one of four yell leaders, with one megaphone (none during the first half), and a student section that refused to stand for the entire first half. Bellarmine was showing us up, cheering "We Can't Hear You" and "Why Are you Sitting." Taunting the players and the crowd, and using the oh so creative "Buck the Lancers" cheer. All this, after they held a conference for all schools in the league about sportsmanship in cheering, saying not to do these types of cheers. (keep in mind these are Catholic schools...most of the stuff would totally fly at Cal..hehe) The administration at SFHS held Chris to this code of conduct, but with Bellarmine it was a case of "Do as I say, not as I do."

The best word to describe Chris' face during the first half is complete disgust and exasperation. On one hand you have Bellarmine, with its dean right there allowing the students to break the cheering rules it made. On the other hand you have our stands, sitting pretty and just watching Bellarmine's student section give their team home court advantage.

If there's one thing Chris and I both HATE, it's apathy. If you're gonna take the time to come to a game, you might as well root for your team. The student section was filled with 'popular' SFHS kids, too self-conscience to stand up, and yelling at those that did to sit down. Every time Chris tried to get them to stand or make noise, they sat and stayed quiet. He was ready to give up by half-time.

I wouldn't have it. I figured, what have I got to lose? I am no longer confined by the social cliques that dominate the school, I don't give a rats ass what these kids think of me. And I did something I lost the confidence to do after my frosh year as a Lancer; I stood out.

When Chris and the Activities Director tried to get the students to stand up after half time ended, and when a few of them did but the rest kept sitting, laughing nervously....I stood up and started yelling at them to do the same. I yelled and yelled and yelled. I jumped up and down and yelled. I yelled at kids that, if I were still at that school, I'm sure I would have been way too intimidated to even speak to. I even offered the girl in front of me a dollar to stand up. (She did, but I kept the dollar) I made a fool of myself. And I didn't care! It felt really, really good.

And guess what? After looking at me like I was crazy....they stood up. They started listening to Chris and cheering louder. Even when it became clear we weren't going to win in the last 2 or 3 minutes, they stated chanting "We've got girls" and "Football" (we beat them this year). And when someone on the Bell side yelled "You Lost CCS," I yelled back "And You didn't Come Close!" loud enough so they could hear it across the gym.

So yes, Saint Francis lost, and yes the Belle Boys were louder than us, but I helped give Chris at least a minor victory. He got some of his school to let their guard down for once, forget about lookin cool and disinvolved like a Calvin Klein model...and at least gave Bellarmine something to hear as they cheered "This is OUR House" in our own gym.

Some of those cocky Bellarmine guys stirred up some hostile emotions after the game by jumping on some cars, drawing penises on others, and taunting students. And suddenly it seems a lot of Saint Francis students are planning on showing up at the next game, this time at the Bell's gym at the end of the month in hopes of giving them a piece of their own medicine. But unlike the Bells tonight, Chris wants to keep it classy. If one things clear, the decades old rivalry between those two schools has been renewed once again tonight

Looking back, I can't help but feel a little bad for not getting more involved at Saint Francis. But my mind and focus was elsewhere, doing the things outside of school that eventually got me into Cal. Tonight in a way, I got another chance to have an impact at that school by helping out my brother in his quest. It takes guts to do what he's doing, and I have much pride and respect for him. Hopefully tonight was one step in the right direction.

New Years Eve. Some years it's a blast. But this year, all I can think is "eh." Hopefully dinner will be nice with my family.

I remember when I was a kid, New Years was as simple as spending a night with my cousins while our parents went out. We'd bang some pots and pans around the neighborhood at midnight, watch fireworks on TV, and be excited over staying up so late. Some years it was at my great-grandma's house in Santa Clara, other years it was at a hotel.

For a couple years it was a big dinner at a Benihana style restaurant and a movie with various members of my extended family. During high school years it was a big family party at my Aunt Rosemary's and Cousin Lisa's that we could invite our friends too. Those years were some of the best New Years I remember.

For 2000 and 2002 it was parties at my house with some of my family and my high school friends and big count-down celebrations in Downtown Mountain View. For 2003, it was a family trip to Monterey, a laid back evening enjoying all the "First Night" festivities they had going on.

This year, all my high school friends are doing their own thing. Various members of my extended family are too. It's been a rough year for many of their families. It doesn't seem quite as easy to get together as it used to, at least for this year.

Even my brother might split and go hang out with his friends. So what it comes down to is I might be counting down to midnight with my folks and maybe and aunt or uncle or two. I can't complain too much, at least I'm not completely alone.

But anyways....here's to 2004!

Community Development in Europe

Summer Abroad program through UC Davis. Anyone else interested?

All things considered, Christmas went well.

Feliz Navidad.

All right. Random history update.

My family has lived in Santa Clara County since 1917. At least the Portuguese half of it. I always say we've been here since the 1930s. But that's just my mom's side. My great-great grandparents left the island of Madeira off the coast of Africa for Hawaii in 1909. They lived in Kahuku, Oahu for eight years, then took a ship named the Wilhemina to San Franciso which arrived on March 17, 1917. They settled in Santa Clara and lived in a house that stayed in the family until I was a kid. Spent quite a few lazy summer days at that house. Lot's of good childhood memories. If I ever win the lottery, I'm buying that house back.

That's all for now.

The Result of Studying for my Southern Border class too much....Southern Border dreams:

For some reason, the Big Game was in Mexico. At least I think it was Mexico, but my subconscious was getting all the Latin American countries I've been studying mixed up in my head.

Anyways, the Big Game was in Mexico out near the coast but also near the desert. It was indoors for some reason too. Anyways, we were all really scared about going because Mexico was having a revolution and angry mobs of Mexicans were coming and hunting down any Americans that were in the country. So we all had to be REALLY quiet inside the stadium....no cheering at all. But being Berkeley, people didn't follow the rules and starting cheering against Stanfurd. And then all the sudden huge mobs of Mexicans and their military storm into the gym throwing tear gas. Everyone runs for their lives, I make out of a revolving door.

Then I embark on a journey through the desert, trying to make my way home to the US border. I'm tired and thirsty, I pass skeletons of others that have tried to make the same journey. Things seem impossible but I make it! I'm at the border. It's a lush forest, and wouldn't you know...the White House is right there. I don't know why. It just was. I safely make it across the border and everything is fine.

So....let's dissect the meaning of various things in this dream:

Big Game: Don't quite know, but that bonfire rally poster is still on my door. Maybe I'm thinking about Chris and his Spirit-building drive at Saint Francis.

Indoor Stadium: The bowl game Cal is playing will be in BankOne Ball Park, indoors, which I found strange so it must have come up again in my dream.

Angry Mobs of Mexicans: All right, this has nothing to do with any issues I have over my ethnic identity. Rather, I've been studying bloody revolutions in Mexico, Guatemala, Haiti, and Cuba for my Southern Border Class. In Cuba, one of the countries I was reviewing after going to bed, and Guatemala, people were trying to end US domination. Hence the mob attacking us at the Big Game in Mexico.

Revolving Door: One of the terms I've been studying is the US's "revolving door" border with Mexico. People make it across, get captured by the INS, get sent back, and do it all over again.

Journey through the Desert: The militarization of the border pushed Mexican immigrants into remote deserts near Arizona.

Bones in the Desert: As a result of being pushed to the desert, many die during the journey.

White House at the Border: No clue. Really. Could be a lot of things.

So there you have it! My dream was a review session for my final today! Thank you subconscious, thank you.

Back in Berkeley.

Time to study. I'll start tomorrow. (I've been saying that since Sunday) Oh well. Let's not think about that, ya? Let's think about all the fun stuff I did this over-extended weekend. Ya!

On Friday, I hung out with Matt and Kim! I can't believe I haven't seen Kim all semester. We went to Peggy Sues and walked around Christmas in the Park....happy that it was a crisp night and it wasn't raining on us like the weather channel said it would. Then we came back to my house and played a game of "let's see how many faces we can identify w/o looking at their names from our senior class yearbook!" We all did pretty bad....but I think I did the best. Hehe.

Saturday....I saw Saint Francis loose it's CCS Championship game to some school from Salinas. 17 to 13, the other team scored in the last 2 minutes. It was pouring rain, but the stands were full on both sides at San Jose City College. Chris and his Yell Leaders did a good job getting the crowd into the game considering the weather. But the band....the band left at half-time. No, they didn't just put away their instruments to avoid any water damage, they got up and left the game on a bus for no good reason. Typical Saint Francis apathy rears its ugly head. The Cal Band would NEVER do something like that. I wonder how the band would feel if the football team left their Winter Concert half way through.

Sunday...I started putting Christmas Lights on my grandparents' house. I also saw Elf with my parents and grandma. A Christmas Classic! Go see it. Also...I think on Sunday I went on a drive with Chris. We checked out the new McCafe at Mountain View's McDonald's (McDonald's is trying to be all hip and Starbucksy...and it looks like they've succeeded in MV) and took a drive to Shoreline.

Monday. Walked to the Little Store around the corner with grandpa for some Tamales and Pan Dulce. That was really nice, especially since he treated me. Can't wait until I have some of our family's homemade tamales in a couple weeks. At night I was on my way to Berkeley with my parents, Hayward to be exact, when I called Erik and realized the review session I was driving back to Berkeley for was on Tuesday. After some debate, we turned around and headed back home, but had a great dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Downtown San Jose. I also finished putting the lights up that night.

Today I had lunch with my dad at the new sandwich place in Downtown MV. I then went to City Hall to drop off a letter and report on preservation in SF I did for one of my classes to the City Council in Planning Dept. I got to review a plan for a historic building and catch up with some of my old co-workers. It was really nice to see them. Then I went across the street to Kaiser Hospital where my Auntie RoseMary, Marisa, Lisa, Angelica, and David were for a check up. Since it was pouring and I didn't have a car, my Auntie Rosemary offered to drive me home. I got to talk with her, and she read my Mixed-Race paper which I had interviewed all of them for last week.

Now I'm back in Berkeley. Watched some weird-ass movie with Ryan, Erik, and Lauren instead of studying. Put up some of my mom's old Christmas decorations here and just wrote possibly the most boring blog entry you've ever read on this page. Sorry. I'll do a witty and short post next time. Promise. Maybe.

Woah! Portuguese-Azorian pride in the main stream media? Awesome.

I have a new found respect for Nelly Furtado and her new single, with people in Azorean costumes dancing in the video. Haha. Sweet.

Paint my face in your magazines
Make it look whiter than it seems
Paint me over with your dreams
Shove away my ethnicity
Burn every notion that I may have a flame inside to fight
And say just what is on my mind
Without offending your might

Cuz this life is too short to live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless what are you gonna do
So say what you want

You tell em Nelly.

She had a crush on Him since She was a little girl. He didn't know who She was. In their small mining town, Santa Rita, New Mexico, her family was considered poor, his more well-off. In reality, both families were poor compared to people living on the Anglo side of the segregated town.

He went to California with his family, to work in the fields after His father was kicked out of the mines by Anglo management for trying to organize a Mexican mineworkers union. She stayed in the town with Her family, went to high school, and blossomed into a beautiful young woman.

He enlisted to fight in World War II, was almost engaged to another woman before leaving, but was sent a 'Dear John' letter while he was in the Pacific.

Meanwhile, She waited for Him, tried to catch a glimpse of Him whenever He came back to New Mexico. She became determined to eventually catch His eye.

His mom's prayers to the Virgen de Guadalupe were answered, when He came back safe from the War. His family made a pilgrimage to Mexico City, as His mother had promised the Virgen before He shipped out. But on the way they stopped in Santa Rita.

She found out He was in town. She was fresh out of high school, one of the prettiest girls in town now, chosen as its Queen. She put on Her makeup and Her best dress, and decided to walk by where He and His brother were hanging out, under the pretense of visiting a family friend.

And finally, She caught His eye as He saw Her walk by. His brother said "WHO is that?!" Saying She would be his. He said "No Way, She's going to be mine."

And with that, He began to court Her. He made the pilgrimage to Mexico City with his family. He went back to California. She stayed in New Mexico. They started writing to each other.

In 1948, He went back to New Mexico, proposed to Her, and married Her in a whirlwind trip. He brought Her back to California, to Mountain View, where they started a family.

55 years later, my grandparents are still together. Their relationship is far from perfect and things have been rough at times. But their love for each other has not grown old.

I heard a lot of things today, good and bad. But that's one story I don't want to forget.

Oh....it looked bad for a while. Yes it did. That first half had me "looking like I was gonna throw up" according to Kat. Awful flashbacks to freshman year when the Cal football team was under Coach Holmoe, and it sucked. A lot.

But after halftime, the Bears came back from a 0-10 and showed the packed Cal section and the embarrassingly unpacked Stanfurd home-crowd who really deserved to have the Axe this year. Final score, 28-16.

2 Years in a Row! A win at Stanfurd Stadium! Bowl Eligibility! This hasn't happened for our school since the early 1990s. Last year was NOT a fluke. Who knows, maybe this is the start of a new era of greatness for Cal football. As long as we can keep Coach Tedford here.

And speaking of coaches, dinner was a lot of fun. Eric, Erik, Wycee, Kat and I met up with my high school friend Sarah (born a Stanfurd fan) and her friend Ross at Kapp's Pizza Bar and Grill in downtown MV, and were soon joined by Kay, Candice, and Dan who drove all the way down from Berkeley just to spend dinner with us, in honor of my 21st...thanks guys.

Since high school, Kapp's has been my favorite restaurant in downtown, for a lot of reasons. But ever since I started going to Cal, and realized that it was owned by Joe Kapp, a former Cal Quarterback who took the team to the Rose Bowl, and who came back and coached the Bears, with a claim to fame as the coach that orchestrated the greatest moment in college football history, The Play in 1982....the restaurant took on a whole new meaning. (Oh, he also was the QB for the Minnesota Vikings in the 1970s)

I met Coach Kapp with Eric when we were freshman. A waitress saw we were wearing Cal stuff and took us down to meet him. He told us to go steal the axe from Stanfurd after having lost the Big Game. (This year, there was no need to steal anything.) Tonight, the place was filled with celebrating Cal fans. Before it got busy, Coach Kapp came to our table, and I invited him to sit down and talk for a while. He talked about what he thinks of Howard Cosell, Sarah's Stanfurd sweater, and of course, the game. What a better way to celebrate our team's victory, then to sit with one of Cal's greatest living legends? Awesome! The table next to us sang a really good version of the Cal Drinking Song with him, never heard that song before. Good times!

It's hard to believe next year will be my last Big Game as a student. At least, that's how its supposed to work out. It'll be at Memorial Stadium, home. 3 in a row? Can we do it? I think so.

But now the focus is on a bowl. And if the timings right, I hope to be there.

The Bonfire Rally was awesome, the best one I've been to.

I'm so psyched about tomorrow! Go Bears!

Well, I'm back. For a little while. I need to start writing papers, or my Thanksgiving Break is going to be hellish.

I don't remember being this busy since I had studio. Every weekday I'm trying to do work or thinking about doing work. If you haven't heard me complain about it yet, I have three term papers to worry about, and until today I had a midterm too. Midterm is done, the papers are left.

The research is done for two of them. The research hasn't started for one. I need to start writing but I'm kinda burnt out. Things have been crazy, especially with my Historic Preservation group back home. We had a big city meeting yesterday that I couldn't go to, but was working like crazy to prepare for between Sunday and Wednesday. An opposition group has formed that has complicated things a bit. Things worked out from our POV, but it's just one step in a process that will last all year. (yay...) But it's okay, Mountain View is worth it.

And of course, I turned 21 two weekends ago. I spent that weekend, Veterans Day weekend, with my parents in Reno (cool), with a side trip to Virginia City (way cool). Sorry, didn't win any money, and sorry, didn't get very drunk.

But....I did get VERY drunk last Saturday. Yes, I, Nick, got sloshed. My parents and older cousins had been planning my birthday for weeks. I thought it was just a normal family party for my grandma and I in honor of our birthdays. So, I had no problem fulfilling the requests to take shots with my cousins, or uncles. I thought I'd be in bed by midnight.

But then the surprise limo pulled up at 9. And it was time to REALLY go out. And boy, what a night out. Basically almost all the 20-somethings (family and friends) at the party made sure I had a great time. Thanks guys. And thanks to my brother for video-taping me when I got back. Oh, and thanks to my parents for showing that video to my grandparents. Ah well...it's all good!

Oh, Friday before my birthday, my high school, Saint Francis, beat those damn Bell Boys, our big rival in football.

And I'm hoping that Berkeley will pull off a similar defeat against the Furds on Saturday. I should be writing my papers, but all I can think about is the Big Game. I'm really looking forward to it. If anything, it'll be a nice stress reliever for me, especially if we win, and win big. It realy is a big game this year, the first time Cal would win 2 in a row since the early 90s, and we would become bowl eligible, which could equal a group road trip if the timing is good. Lauren and Leo expected my hair to be dyed blue this week. I'm not that bad guys. Almost, but not that bad.

But the Campanile sure is purty when its lit blue with Cal logos on it. A nice new touch.

So, Fiat Lux, Stanfurd Sux, Go Bears!

Maybe it's just that time of the year, but this house creeps me out. This neighborhood creeps me out. It's so cold in here. Maybe if the heater was on I'd be less wound up.

But for the second time, I've heard screams coming from the area behind our backyard. Loud screams...full of anguish. Not playful, short, high-pitched screams...blood curdeling. Tonight they sounded like a man. The windows are all closed so they were faint, but I heard them once and thought it was the TV in the other room. Heard them again and I knew it wasn't.

First time I heard them I looked towards the window and saw a huge spider on the floor. That's another thing. The spiders. Why so many spiders? I hate spiders. Killed that mofo. Maybe the scream was an omen for me to kill the ugly spider.

Anyways, it wasn't the first time we heard screams from that area back behind the house. The first time they sounded like a woman, and we all heard them. Tonight is was just me. But that time they were loud, and went on for a while, and we almost called the police. But didn't. ::shudder::

To make matters worse, behind our backyard is a city-owned pumping station/open space area. Behind that is this abandoned two story pink house. Looks like no one has lived in there for years. It's falling apart, the windows are broken. Anyone could break in there pretty easily I guess. I wonder why it's empty? It's right on Euclid Avenue...one of the busiest streets in the neighborhood, across from the park. Prime real estate. Why is it just sitting there like that. Ack.

Leo suggested the screams might be from in there....that maybe it's a crack house. For some reason that's a lot more comforting then my thoughts of restless spirits that could be roaming just outside our backyard.

It's nights like these that I miss the comfort of La Loma.

Now that I've got that stupid Astro midterm out of the way, I can happily look back at this past weekend and say it was lots of fun.

Friday, Halloween, started with a field trip to San Francisco for my SF Architecture class. The weather had suddenly shifted from record-breaking heat earlier in the week, to a blustery, cold, and rainy weather (woohoo!). It set just the right mood for a walking tour of the city's waterfront. We walked from the Ferry Building, down the Embacadero, and all the way up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower. Quite the walk, but well worth it. After that I took BART to Caltrain and headed to Mountain View to finish up the preparation for the haunted house.

What would Halloween be without the Perry family Haunted House? I couldn't let a seven year tradition disappear, if even just for one year. While my dad, mom, brother, and his friends were at the SFHS Homecoming game.....myself (tour guide), Mikey (the king of buttnuggets), Sabrina (creepy girl in the wall), Kat (coffin/foot grabber), BJ (coffin/foot grabber), Erik (leaf-blower/guy that makes little girls cry), and Joella (candy giver outer) successfully scared about 150-200 people! It was great. To everyone who reads this and was there to help out; I thank you, dozens of kids thank you, Mountain View thanks you.

It's hard to describe Old Mountain View on Halloween night. I feel like it's what Halloween should be like. The neighborhood embraces the holiday. It's not just for kids, but for families and adults as well. People congregate at the haunted houses like my family's that pop up throughout town. Neighbors actually talk to each other, catch up...act neighborly. Kids roam the streets, treating the neighborhood like its a gigantic playground. It feels like a Norman-Rockwell painting come to life, except quite a bit more multi-cultural.

I decided to go back to Berkeley on Halloween night. Couldn't miss another of my house's own parties. Joella decided she wanted to see Berkeley and came up too. The party was a lot of fun.
The highlight came towards the end, when the remaining guests spent a few hours in the dark telling true ghost stories. And for the first time in a while, I wasn't the only one telling them, which made it more fun (and frightening) for me. We also looked at the 'evil' Ouiji board I took down from my grandparents' attic, too creeped out to risk playing it.

Next weekend, I turn 21. My family is taking me up to Reno to celebrate. The following weekend, my grandma and I will share a birthday party with the extended family. Then the next weekend it's the Big Game at Stanford. The following weekend will be Thanksgiving.

Which pretty much means from now until the end of the month I'll be in Mountain View every weekend doing something fun. Which sounds great...only until I remember that within the same span of time I need to finish THREE term papers. Gag. Wish me luck.