This morning Stephanie and I went to the Chocolate Garage in Palo Alto to do some chocolate tasting and buy the ones we liked. I got some really nice ones including: 2 different makers using the same bag of beans from Piura region in Peru, A dark chocolate with salt and nibs, a pastatio chile salty dark milk chocolate, and a malted milk chocolate. I used the Easter money I got from Mom and Dad for the chocolate, which I think is incredibly appropriate.
Today after lunch some of the guys got together to play a round of volleyball. It was really nice to have that in the middle of the day. Today hasn’t been bad, but it is much better now that I got to play.
This is a nice little place. When I say little, I mean little. It is much smaller than I expected when I saw it from the outside. I was expecting a full 2 story place with mostly chairs and tables inside. What is actually there is a set of wine racks and a gigantic bar with tables and chairs only along the wall. There also isn’t a second story to speak of. That said it was a nice atmosphere, and I’d like to go back to get some food. There was an artichoke, jalapeño dip, which sounds really good. I got their Sauvignon Blanc, which was light and very nice.
I got all the genetic information for where I came from. There were some really interesting parts to it. I am 0.7% native american, and come from the D1 maternal haplogroup. The D1 maternal haplogroup was the first set of people to make it to the tip of South American, and most likely the first to come over the bering land bridge. They have some holdings in the Mayan, but mostly are in South America.
My largest part is English/Irish, coming from both sides. There was also a good portion of German/French, but I’d say it is more french than German. There was also a tiny spot of sub-saharan african in one of my chromosomes. It was by far the most colorful chromosome I have as it had all the interesting segments.
This book got back some of the action that had been lacking in the previous ones, although it didn’t even come close to book 1 and 2. I’m so ready to keep going, but I must be patient and wait until the next one is published. The end of John Snow’s story in this book was really disappointing, although it was incredibly vague on what the results were. I’m almost certain that the vagueness was purposeful. There is the red priestess there, and we know what can happen through the powers of the red god. The end with the dragons being ridable was promising, and I’ve been sooo ready for them to start destroying armies. I look forward to starting the next book when it comes out. I actually might read it instead of getting the audible version. They are long enough that I probably won’t.
This was a ridiculous action film. There was a scene at the end that had the Terminator, Die Hard, Rocky/Rambo, and Walker Texas Ranger fighting together. There were so many action stars it was insane. The plot was stupid, but that was expected. I don’t think I’d ever want to see it again, but it was nice to relax to it once.
This is coming along nicely and there are a lot of things that are showing up which weren’t part of the books. I’m getting to feel like the books are a required reading to understand all that is going on. They are leaving out more and more, and skipping around in time more and more as well. All of that makes it hard for someone who doesn’t know all the background information to catch the subtle things. I am missing some of the subtleties and I’m head deep in the books right now. I’m also getting a lot of ‘well actually’ feelings, and I’m going to try to avoid that from now on.
Today has been a very typical Sunday. It started out with some sleeping in, which means I sleep two hours later than normal and wake up on my own. Then I listen to books while messing around on the computer. The specifics for today were playing Starcraft 2 and listening to The Song of Ice and Fire, book 5. After that we went to the Farmer’s Market on California Ave. Today all the places were out, and we got a lot of really tasty stuff. I got some more of the spicy yuba strips. We got lots more of the Pumpking Bolani, and some of the taffy covered almonds. Stephanie got some more of the really tasty fresh strawberries. I of course got the customary Samosa. The Bolani guy might be starting to recognize us as one of his regulars, which is always nice. For some reason my phone has been starting itself up and playing the books on tape really loud. I think the pause button being on the home screen is the culprit. I should really get the screen replaced. The horseback riding was really nice, and I’m getting decent at the two point while trotting. I think one more lesson like this one and I’ll be able to get up to the cantor. I’m making slow progress, but it is steady.
I had a great time playing portal 2. It is just as funny as the first one, if not funnier. The mechanics of the game were fantastic. The gels make it much more full, especially when you add in the gel that allows portals on the surface.
It's an Exciting World 