The Evolution of Dance

I want to learn his routine ;-)

Comings & Goings

I am perhaps too tired, and the work load of this semester is not quite over enough for me to write this post. But the moment will soon pass, and then I won't want to write it, so I'll give it a go.

It's quite boggling to think it's been a year since I was, literally, a few doors away from this very house I'm living in now, walking around Southside with Lauren, Ryan, Shanna, and Steph partying at my friend Liz and Paul's house and then hitting up every bar on Southside to celebrate our last day of classes at Cal (as undergrads, in my special case).

It was the night Lauren and I both remember for being scared we might get arrested. The cops were checking in on Liz and Paul's party so we walked around the corner and waited it out. One of them found us because Shanna had fallen onto the sidewalk and was just laying there. Nothing was wrong, she just wanted a rest. The cop came out of the car to ask us if we knew where we were going. He was just checking up on us, but me, Lauren, and Shanna all thought we were about to get arrested for being drunk in public (haha). Shanna quickly got up, we told him we were going to Northside and Lauren I think repeated our address 2 or 3 times *just* so he'd know for sure we knew where we were going.

We didn't go home. We went back to the party. Then we went to Henry's and partied with the other seniors until last call, drinking cheap Long Islands.

Special times.

And boom. It's already a year later. I was in studio till 1:00am tonight, and on my walk home I saw groups of students, much like us a year ago, wandering around being stupid on Southside. The sound of parties drifted out from numerous apartments and houses the entire walk home, and in the windows you could see groups of friends hanging out and talking.

People are constantly coming and going from this town. It's always in flux. Entire communities and networks of friends are constantly forming and breaking up every year. It's pretty amazing and more than a little bittersweet. It's like life, but condensed.

Todos Somos Una Voz

I feel bad that I did not, in any way support the events which occurred yesterday across the country. I even bought lunch and dinner after meaning to support the boycott. I'm a bad, bad, half-Latino.

I would have very much liked to have been here with some of my family, packing the Civic Center Plaza in Downtown Mountain View:

Credit: Steve Parkinson

I love this photo. I can, from now on, use it as a tool to describe how Mountain View is different than say, Palo Alto, or Sunnyvale, or Los Altos. Something like this just wouldn't happen in those other cities, and it's quite a remarkable assemblage of people for a city of only 70,000.

I often joke about how un-Latino I am, especially after failing miserably when it comes to dancing at club's Latin nights. Deep down, I feel a certain degree of disconnection on a lot of levels: I'm mixed, I don't speak Spanish, I'm a third-generation native, and my socio-economic background is different from the vast majority of the people out there protesting yesterday.

But at the same time, I do feel connected. Half of my family can trace its roots here to my great-grandparents crossing the Rio Grande during the Mexican Revolution. I know my family's history well, and I know that we're not very far removed from the people that will be impacted by new immigration legislation.

I'm truly amazed by what is happening and very hopeful about the long-term outcome of such a widespread and peaceful movement. I've spent the afternoon watching videos and photos from the various protests, especially San Jose's...where between 50,000 and 100,000 people marched down Alum Rock/Santa Clara Street into Downtown San Jose. There's a lot of joy there, a lot of hope. A bunch of e-mails went out to my family's list about the rallies happening in San Jose and Mountain View and who was attending which. I'm proud that some of my family members were able to represent us at both rallies.

Es hora de reconocer que

Todos somos una voz

Abraza el concepto

Venimos de las misma voz.

It is the hour of recognizing

That we are all one voice

Embrance the concept

We come from the same voice.

[migra - santana]

Long Day, Funny Article

I got up at 8:00. I was in class by 9:00am. I was either at work, working, or in class until 12:45am.

Gah!

Anyhow, for those of you who are/were a fan of the OC, this is a funny article:

Latest 'O.C.' drama revolves around UC

Excerpt:

"LAST WEEK'S episode of television's uber-trendy "The O.C." was greeted by derisive laughter as tens of thousands of California teenagers and UC Berkeley grads watched Marissa Cooper stroll the Cal campus as a newly admitted freshman-to-be.

OK, it wasn't actually Cal, but how, they asked themselves, could Cal admit the gorgeous young drama queen, even fictitiously? Like, did she even go to class?

"As a Berkeley rejectee myself," one irate viewer said in a posting on the TelevisionWithoutPity.com discussion boards, "it just sucks seeing that Marissa got into Berkeley and I didn't."

-Contra Costa Times

But I Still

I went to a club on Thursday. I drove to Monterey and Santa Cruz and Downtown San Jose on Friday. I watched Rent on Friday night. I saw Leo and Vivian for the first time in nearly a year and had dinner with Leo on Saturday, and on Saturday night I went to two parties. On Sunday, I got a lot of work done and ended the night as usual, watching Desperate Housewives and Gray's Anatomy with Morgan.

It was a good weekend. There was lots of fun, lots of traveling, lots of good times with friends both old and (relatively) new.

But on the drive home from Morgan's (I have my car here until Thursday) U2's song, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" came on the radio.

....

Thanks for rubbing it in, radio.

A Brief Ode to the Gang

Can I just say, I love these guys*

Wherever they are feels like home. This time it was Sacramento, in Matt and Kim's new apartment. It's awesome to have those two back from their year in Hawaii.

Jamie (green shirt) is leaving this week to spend more than a year in New Zealand. Her blog is full of jumbled but often brilliant thoughts about what that means, or doesn't mean, or something ;-)

All I can say is this, since that great summer after high school, we've each gone our separate ways. We've gone to Hawaii, to Indiana, to Ireland, and to certain parts of San Francisco some of us had never set foot in before ;-). We've made amazing new friends. We've changed more than I think any of us can fully realize. But each time we're apart, we come back to find that our friendships are even stronger than they were before.

So on that note, Bon Voyage Jamie, I hope you truly enjoy this leg of your great journey. And I look forward to your return.


---------------
*Jen (and Martin and Dustin if you ever read this) are included in this.

**Preemptive Disclaimer: Don't be jealous Lauren Profeit. I love you too.

As for the rest of you, please pardon the cheesy sentimentality of this post. Thanks.

Almost Honest

I had a great time last weekend in Sacramento celebrating Kim's birthday with the high school gang. The ride there was a lot of fun too. Jamie and I really had a nice talk/singing session (her radio/cd player is broken so we were forced to entertain ourselves.)

One song we're both really into at the moment is Almost Honest by Josh Kelley. It's really an awesome song. AND guess what! You can download the San Francisco version for free here.

Enjoy.

Lights On

It's spring. Thought I'd brighten things up around here. More later.

My new catch-all response

Nap98: someone threw a sirenge at barry bonds
destroy364: syringe, nick
Nap98: i'm an author bitch

MV, baby!

Today, between planning law and swimming, I took BART to San Francisco and delivered my final manuscript for Images of America: Mountain View to my editor at Arcadia Publishing's office. (Then she treated me and the author of Images of America: Tiburon to lunch. Yay free lunch!)

This means, folks, that the book itself, is donezo and out of my hands!

I still have to help Arcadia market the book effectively, but the hard part is over. The cover has already been sent to the printer and the title should soon pop up on Amazon and Arcadia's page once I finish the marketing survey they want me to fill out.

And it's a good book. I put a lot of work into it, and I think people will be happy with the results. I hope. They can buy it in conjunction with Images of America: Moffett Field, which apparently is just about to get published as well. I'm truly excited that so much more of Mountain View's history is going to be out there now on the shelves for people to discover with my book at the Moffett Field one. My book. Ohhhhh that sounds nice. My book.

I decided to not include the my middle initial in my name for the book's cover, but as Chris Atwood has made a point of saying lately:

"The A in Nicholas A. Perry now stands for Author."

Teehee.

:)

Oh....and as 7:08 pm in Berkeley, it's still light out (benefit of daylight savings) and it hasn't rained for the past three or four hours. So hurray for the bottom of my jeans finally getting a chance to dry out.

STOP RAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe I'm writing about the weather again...but I'm sick of it. I'm staring out my bedroom windows at yet another day of pouring rain. San Francisco broke its previous record for number of rainy days in March. It was set in 1904. 25 days or rain.

25 days!

And the weather people say that the pattern of constant storms is going to continue for at least two more weeks. I need it to end. I need it to be warm and sunny. And I'm not the only one, the Chronicle's top story today was about people getting fed up, outdoor-oriented jobs being ruined, and an endless list of social activities canceled because of this lousy weather.

I have no food here, and no car. I need to go out there into the deluge and find some food.

I usually love the rain and feel a twinge of sadness when spring arrives and the days of stormy weather is over. But this is too much.

Grumble grumble.

Where the Streets Have No Name

On my walk home, the rain was falling but the sun was out and starting to set. All the rain drops were reflecting the sunlight, making everything look golden. There was a rainbow over the hills and the whole scene was underscored by the U2 song that was playing on my ipod. The moment was really beautiful, but in a melancholy kind of way.

Just wanted to remember that.

Rain Rain

Okay now, I like the rain. California "winter" has never been something that I tend to complain about. The hills turn green, the air is crystal clear, the waterfalls in Uvas Canyon are full, and every now and then you get a series of stunning sunny days perfect for day trips.

But this is too much. The hail. The thunderstorms. The snow! Maybe it's the combination of the weather, my cold, and all the work on I have to do....but winter, I've had enough of you. This makes me sound like a weather-wimp from the stupid-half of the State, but I'm ready for flip-flop weather. I want to feel 70 degree temperatures again. I'm tired of wearing three layers or more every day. I want to sip lemonade and eat a hot dog (for some reason it doesn't feel right to have those foods when its freezing). I want to relax on Memorial Glade while listening to "All Day Music" by War or other Latino-rock songs that just fit so well with good weather.

But it looks like this weather is gonna stick around for a little while longer. As will my cold, and as will all my work despite the fact that my book is being sent away tomorrow to the publisher.

Ah yes. The book is almost done. At least the hard part. How does that feel you ask?

You expect me to say "Fantastic!" right?

No. It's kinda scary. It's like the way you feel the moment time runs out on a final and you need to turn yours in, for better or for worse. I've worked so long and hard on this, and I still feel that with more time, I could have done it even better. Apparently, this is normal. When it comes to Mountain View writing, I'm so used to things like web pages, where if you make a mistake or want to add something, you simply just upload the changes and bada-bing, problems solved. And with newspaper articles, well, those get thrown away after a week (unless your my family and have a horde of Mountain View Voices saved from all the times my brother and I were either in it or wrote something for it).

This book is frighteningly permanent. Hopefully, after today I'll feel confident with my final draft. Hopefully once I put that baby in the mail, a wave or relief will hit me. Because in the end, no one else could have created a book on Mountain View like the one I made. I hope people appreciate it.

In the meantime, I think I'll listen to some War and Santana, and dream of the sunny days that are just a month or so away.

The Final Stretch

Hey everyone. Sorry it's been so long since I've written anything of substance here. So what I have been up to? Well I knew this semester was going to be a bitch, and so far it has lived up to the prophecy. Balancing two studio projects, a planning law class, and my beloved book has made my life quite difficult.

But as much as I moan and whine to my friends (thanks for putting up with me guys) I'm doing just fine. All this will soon pass, the book is a little more than a week from being turned. And its not like my work has stopped me from having a good time and going out every now and then. But it'll be SO nice to go out without the nagging feeling of "hey I should really be working on the book right now instead." And once that happens....all I can say is I'm going to be ready to party like I just turned 21 (except, no strip clubs this time). I'll be very Irish on Saint Patty's day.

In other news...I went to the CED Career Fair today and successfully placed my resume in the hands of 5 firms, 4 of which I'm actually interested in. (That one other firm's reps just kind of sprung on me while I was walking around and ran away with one of my resumes). It was also good to see so many of my architecture pals from the Class of 2005 happily employed and representing their new companies at the fair. Gives me hope.

Rewriting my resume last night was also a pretty self-affirming experience. Made me feel better about the decisions that I have made. I'm proud of what I've accomplished, and looking back at my coursework this year and last, I've realized that my recent educational endeavors are more valuable than I thought they were. I am learning the skills and building the connections I need to make myself a good candidate for firms to hire. It felt so different going to this career fair and going to the last one. The firms I approached actually paid attention to me and talked to me for a while. Maybe the job market is better, but I think it has a lot to do with what I've accomplished and the confidence it gives me.

Plus...."I'm a Master of City Planning student focusing on Urban Design" gets a much better response than "I'm a fourth year Urban Studies major." Hehe.

doodeedoo

:)

Room to Breath

Yesterday was rough, but as of 3:00pm today and entered into a period of free time which I am very much enjoying. For once, nothing huge is due tomorrow and I don't have to get up till 8:00.
I was randomly selected in my planning law class to give a briefing report of one of the cases we were supposed to have read. Basically it works like this: You prepare a briefing, if you are selected you can chose to pass or you can read your briefing to the class. The prof questions you while reading the brief and then questions you more after you finish about your thoughts on the case. Then it's opened to class discussion. Giving briefs is about 20% of your grade and you do it 2-3 times during the semester.

Kinda scary. But I did it, and I think I did all right. It felt really good. Yay for a little bit of relief. I don't have to worry about giving another briefing for a little while now.

My goal for tonight is to finish Chapter 5 of my book. This is an ambitious goal. But if I don't achieve it, it's not the end of the world. I have some time.

Phew.

This Can't be Healthy

A brief moment to vent:

Sunday afternoon is spent compiling information on my site for studio.
Sunday evening/night is spent finishing the draft of Chapter 4 in my book.
By 8:45 this morning I'm in the Mission District of SF for a class walking tour.
By 12:30 I'm back home and reading cases for my planning law class
By 1:30 I'm in studio and I work there until 6:00pm.
From 7:00 to 8:00 I eat dinner.

I'm now faced with writing seven case briefs for planning law.

By 9:00am tomorrow I have to be at Strada to meet with my planning law study group.
From 9:30am to 11:00am I'm in planning law.
From 11:00 to 2:00pm I'm doing a site visit for my planning methods class
From 2 to 3 I have swimming PE (at least it's pseudo-free time)
3:00 I have to start research for studio again
Once that's done, I should work on the book until I get too sleepy.

And so it goes, and goes, and goes. And goes and goes and goes.

Of course, you've got throw procrastination gaps in there every once and while or else I would just curl up in the fetal position and fall asleep on my bedroom floor. This makes 9 to 5 sound like cake.

Eat Bird

Morgan likes birds as much as I like* Mountain View history:

Nap98: cooking a bird you saw today?
Nap98: ba-dum-ching
tarquin99: you're bad
tarquin99: :P
tarquin99: I saw a new bird today!!!
tarquin99: and a really rare one!!
Nap98: oh!
Nap98: what?
tarquin99: and!
Nap98: there's more?
Nap98: hehe
tarquin99: I can positively say that I was the last one EVER to see it!!
tarquin99: because I saw it get eaten!!
Nap98: LOL

...it's the little things in life....

*I still like Mountain View history, despite my complaints about el libro.

A Good Sign

Just a few minutes ago while walking home from Planning Law class (not _that_ bad) I saw something perhaps more weird and out of place on Parker Street than the wild turkey's of last November....Triangle Man. I haven't seen Triangle Man in quite some time, perhaps because I'm not in that part of campus anymore, perhaps because I do not go to the RSF enough, or perhaps Triangle Man has finally moved on and is only here to visit.

But I take his random appearance on Parker and Hillegass, in all his bizarre Trianglely-Manness as a good omen. I do not know why I'm taking this is a good omen, I can't think of any symbolism or deeper meaning to it. But I'm running with the feeling.

Because this week....oh boy...this week was hell week. I'm used to having a hell week once or twice every semester, usually towards the end or during midterms. But this early hell week caught me off guard. All my stresses swirled into one big yucky storm that was way way out of season---way too early. Made me feel like if it's this bad now, how am I going to survive the rest of it?

But I've decided that things aren't going to get worse, they're going to get better. By the simple fact that the book will be done, my load will lighten as the semester progresses, or at least I'll be under less pressure.

And now it is the weekend. And the weekend is mine. To do with it what I please. Much of that will be work-work-work. But at least that will be my choice and I can temporarily get off the speeding treadmill that was this past week.

I have a new answer for when people ask me how grad school is....if it's the same as undergrad.

It's harder. A damn lot harder. Not so much because of the courses, but because of what's expected of you and what you expect from yourself. But, as so many of you have been kind enough to patiently remind me....I will get things done and survive.

To myself:

Waking up at 8 or 7 isn't that bad. Get used to it. Go to bed earlier.

You like Urban Design, and even if it isn't the field you end up sticking with.....these will be good skills to have regardless.

Money is a problem, but loans are always an option for next year.

On a similar note, stop spending money on alchohol. Just go to lots of parties instead.

The book will get done. You're making good progress. Just step things up a bit this week.

Yeah, you're schedule is a mess. Yeah it won't be easy. You've been there before and suceeded with flying colors. Don't worry.

Other things will work out in good time. Patience.

Calm down. You'll be fine. And you have a gazillion people who are there for you.

Go to bed. You need more sleep.

.....Weird. That made me feel a lot better.