your favorite t-shirt company.

There’s nothing quite like waking up next to a warm body, a smile and butterfly kisses on a gloomy morning such as this, however that was not the case as I looked over and there was just a massive pile of pillows. Pity. All that meant was I got to watch 24 undisturbed. What? 24? Yes, I got my grubby little hands on season 2 and now I have become hopelessly inbued again. Played hooky with everyone this week; Haw is threatening to bring over seasons 3-5. *gulp*

Jeff calls and wants to do lunch; reluctantly I agree and we go to Los Gatos Cafe at 2pm. Ironically we both order breakfast items as does the rest of the cafe. If you have yet to dine here, you’re missing out. Let me know when you’re in town, because we’re going. For some mentally defective reason I was on a bewitched quest to clean my plate. I succeeded, and so did Jeff, although the next few hours were spent in agony. It didn’t feel as bad as the night we made the mistake of going to the Bellagio buffet drunk but you know the feeling; your breath is short, your stomach pains, you’d rather roll then walk, and you’re not sure if you can get out of your seat. Oh it hurt, but it was soooooo worth it. Yum.

It’s currently raining outside and I’m working from a local cafe. A large mug of drip is keeping me company and lately I’ve been contemplating between NYC or Vietnam in August. Random, I know. Ryan and I have been trying to set up a NYC trip for the better part of this year. It’s rare a large group of us is able to travel anywhere these days, and I’m long overdue for NYC. I haven’t seen David & Michelle, Shawn, Melinda, and the others out there in quite some time. It’s surprising how difficult it is to keep in touch with a timezone 3 hours apart. Titillating visions of pizza, rice pudding, bagels, and Yama captivate me; thoughts about watching a Yankee’s game in the old stadium and partying till 5am every night lure me. Tu pitched Vietnam to me last Saturday, sounds good right? Not quite, it’s a service project. We’ll be flying to Vietnam on our own dime, and working with the community to build a library. The town this is happening in is actually Tu’s hometown so this is dear to her, I’m personally just trying to build karma points, because God knows I need them.

I have a standing invite to visit NYC, and party more then what is recommended, safe or reasonable already. Although I believe I do my fair share of giving back my causes are different then Tu’s, she’s focused halfway across the globe. Human equality & rights, especially among women in southeast asian countries seem to be her cause. I come from the ‘help tyself before others‘ school of thought; in other words I rather concentrate on my local community before going global. My agenda tends to be more focused on local efforts; food banks, the homeless, low-income, shelters, and the environment such as trail maintenance, service projects, outdoor awareness, etc. I’d like to think my folks instilled my beliefs, but for once I’d like to put my motives aside and surrender my time and resources to help another cause. If it does happen, I’m sure I’ll have an amazing time and you can definitely count on my camera being by my side.

the golden ticket. take that wonka!

So do any of you want to go to the Gumball 3000 Party next Saturday? I’d love to, but I promised friends I’d be in Los Angeles already. Even if I had nothing to do, I wish time and money were disposable at this moment, for taking off to London for a party will surely be up there as one of the more spontaneous things I’ve done thus far. Oh well…I’m going to Los Angeles, this weather is depressing.

-Wallace

yum. plutos.

This past weekend is definitely one of the most entertaining and exhausting weekends I’ve experienced this year. I’ve become accustomed to stumbling home drunk at the break of dawn, however this weekend was a bit different. There was not a day that I did not sleep before 3am, and I was completely sober every night. Strange right? Yes, but true. I took full advantage of my empty Monday and slept in till 1:20 in the afternoon, and proceeded to have a much needed rejuvenating experience. Caught a late lunch with Zagi at Pluto’s, the weather was perfect and you can definitely feel summer coming. Dressed in flip flops, casual shorts, a soft tee shirt, and my Burton cap I soaked up the sun’s warmth over an arnold palmer and refreshing salad. We did not want to move, the sky was clear, temperature indulgently comfortable and we had the perfect patch of shade. Girls were in their summer treads exchanging smiles and waves, this would turn out to be an magnificent day.

five good men

Although this weekend packed more then a punch, at the top of the unexpected list was a fire. Yep, a fire broke out in the adjacent building and our impromptu fire brigade did an awesome job of putting out the good sized flame. I have a hell of a time getting my neighbors to say, “Hi” but when their roofs are at stake I was surprised how easy we communicated and worked together. The fire was contained before the fire department was able to arrive and I think we did a pretty swell job. My neighbors Nick and Christine are awesome, they saw me with the camera after the blaze and waved and jumped like little kids in front of a live news feed. Anyways…let’s not dwell on the past, even though my weekend exhausted me I had a really good time. I’ve only spent time with quality people this weekend, I want to make this a trend.

I’m looking forward to the national Volkswagen R32 get together the following weekend; 3 days and 2 nights at Streets of Willow. Still not sure if I’m going to bring my VF-Engineering Supercharged GTI or going to ride shotgun, but HPA is trucking Zagi’s freshly turbocharged R32 down from Vancouver. Should be quite a bit of fun, but what am I really excited about? The non-stop parties, vendor/corporate events, and people are great, however I’m stoked about road trip food! Yep, filet o’fish, golden fries, hot dogs, cheap beer, donuts, coffee and anything else I can get my hands on. It’s going to be a diaster. Other then that Sykes is coming up in roughly a month and there’s already talks about a week long Whistler/Blackcomb trip later this year. I’m excited, I need to figure this ‘patience’ thing out.

-Wallace

I don’t know why I like this stuff, so please don’t ask.

Yep. You’ve read right, for the third time this year I am sick. I’ve been in denial for the last maybe 4 or 5 days but I can’t shake this cough and I’m sneezing in threes. Not much going on these days besides the fact I’ve been absurdly occupied. Caught up with Jonathan & Alycia last Friday over drinks at Left Bank last Friday only to return to Santana Row to celebrate Sunny’s Birthday at Blowfish. Come to think of it…that’s probably when my illness took a turn for the worse. Ryan’s bonfire didn’t happen so it turned into a pizza, wine and Blockbuster night for a few of us, then Sunday rolled along with Larry Lu’s memorial service at Oak Hill. I grabbed dinner with Rob & Jeff and I think I wrapped up Sunday hanging out with Crystal; I found out I sucked more then I thought I did at Scrabble and named her belly, or lack there of, “Biffy.”

As soon as Monday arrived my schedule kicked back into full gear, juggling clients, schedules, and time tables. Up till now it’s been a blur, had lunch with Rob this afternoon to discuss the future of Aristokrat Couture then it was back to quick chats and paperwork. My life’s not decadent, it’s just busy and complicated. I’m running around and coughing on people, pets and flowers; I tell people it’s a blessing, they don’t believe me. My only other retort is, “Who doesn’t want a bit of Wally?” To my surprise this is not well received either. Maybe I should just stop coughing on people.

So what do I do when I’m sick? I usually bitch more, but today I decided to visit KidRobot.com and what do I find? Munnys! I’m not sure why I have an addiction to all things Munny, Dunny and Kozik but I do. Deal with it. Check out this video.

Hmmm…so what else? I’m looking forward to dinner & drinks with Larry and Rich tomorrow, checking Frank & Carol’s new digs on Saturday and Kirkwood on Sunday. This weekend’s going to be awesome, assuming I beat this cold by then.

Alright, enough rambling. I am obviously not coherent anymore. Nyquil and cough syrup is finally kicking in and my eyelids are heavy. With this I will bid you good night, and till next time!

-Wallace

PS. So I got what my hands on what I thought was the much anticipiated “Minutes to Midnight” album by Linkin Park only to learn that it’s bogus. Composed of a few different bands including Chester’s former. However it’s new to me and I actually like many of the tracks. Guess I’ll be waiting till May 15 like everyone else. Complete bummer? Nope, just a bummer.

we are the poorer.

I wasn’t sure what happened the night before but early one morning, shortly after I moved into my Cupertino residence, Larry and I were going through the Jack in the Box drive through in his green Toyota Corolla. All we wanted were some jumbo jacks and monster tacos, yet Larry addressed the guy taking our order as Jose. “Hi Jose!” “Two..no Four Jumbo Jacks Jose.” “How about some tacos too Jose?” “Don’t forget the ranch sauce Jose!” I swore our food was messed with, but that was Larry; unpredictable, loving life, an entertainer, and blunt.

We’d also chat all the time above, in and around TK Noodle #1 on Williams St. He was always trying to improve the business, making sure his employees were well taken care of, all his friends were fed, however the conversations about his father were the ones I’d remember the most vivid. He held his father high up on this list of heros, probably at the very top, he’d talk about growing up and how his father carried this camera with him all the time. Always capturing moments, memories, and experiences.

A couple quotes that stood out from the memoral today: “when one realizes that nothing lasts forever, when does one stop focusing on forever and start to focus on now.” and “if you’d ask Larry for a little he would give you a lot, if you asked for a lot he would give you even more.” This is who Larry was, a person who soaked up life, lived everyday as if it were his last, full of energy, compassion, and care. He made friends everywhere he went and had an impact on everyone he touched.

When Haw first broke the news to me last Saturday, I was shocked and speechless. For a short moment I contemplated on calling those two numbers on my phone. I chickened out, although I am generally an optimist and April Fool’s being around the corner, a part of me knew this was no joke. Those numbers glared at me all week, they haunt me, and I know I won’t be dialing them ever again.

Larry - It’s been an honor knowing you, and a privilege to be part of your life. We’ll see each other soon enough, as life is just a moment in time.

-Wallace

i just need to figure out how to federalize this.

If you recall that recent rambling about always wanting what we can’t have. TVR has always been one of my favorite niche performance car manufacturers. Maybe it was the Triumph that I owned in high school or just its British hertiage. I’ve been a fan since I first laid eyes on their Chimaera, and then a love/hate relationship began with the Cerbera. I lusted after the Tuscan for just a moment while the rest of the automotive world was on their knees, but it is the Sagaris that has ultimately captured my heart. It’s purpose built aesethics, the long intimidating bonnet, and the unorthodox exhaust configuration is just the beginning of my love affair.

TVR, now in the hands of Nikolai Smolenski seems to be going no where and is a dying brand in this modern era. 300 employees have lost their jobs since Smolenski bought the company and 260 more earlier this year during the buy back. This leaves TVR with only 200 employees. Smolenski was anticipated to sell TVR to Adam Burdette and Jean Michel Santacreu who both intended to import these gorgeous examples of motoring into the United States. It didn’t happen, what is happening is motor production will remain in the UK, while body panel production and final assembly will move to Turin, Italy. A huge protest, nicknamed ‘London Thunder,’ was organized to raise awarness and benefit factory workers. In the end Smolenski wins.

It looks like the end is near for this brand, but who knows what might happen next. My only goal at the moment is to figure out how to import a fully functional Sagaris and put California plates on it. I’ll even get “PBJTIME” if necessary

-Wallace

ps. Thanks to Frank for sharing this video. Jeremy Clarkson drives the TVR Sagaris

for it’s one, two, three strikes you’re out at the old ball game…

Wow, what a week thus far. As much as I wanted to attend I did not make it to Ricky’s Derty.com launch party at the Vault, or John’s birthday dinner at Miyake’s in Palo Alto Friday night. I had to be up early Saturday for Luis Aldaz’s Memorial. I was about to go to sleep when Hien called, against my better judgement we went to Blowfish and then met up with Sunny, Lauren, Sarah, Laura, Jonathan and his client at Straits in Santana Row. Pretty mellow night, but Saturday was the real kicker. I woke up early for once, running on 4 hours of sleep I would attend the memoriam meet for a fellow car enthusiast who I have never formally met, but crossed paths with on multiple occasions. Luis Aldaz apparently touched many lives, for many came out to say their good byes. A touching morning, only to be shattered by news that Larry Lu, a childhood friend, passed away that morning in a frightening similar fashion; black porsche, lost control, striking a tree. Shocking, surreal, and flabbergasted. I had dinner with Rob and his friends and I called Saturday a day. On Sunday Crystal wanted to hang out so we ended up going to Ridge to wine taste and play bocce ball, only I didn’t know you had to bring your own bocce ball set. Awesome planning on my part, she was a good sport.

oh no. public transit. =/

I’ve been a caltrain virgin up till today, I don’t believe I’ve ever been on the infamous bus. Those who know me, know that public transportation and I just do not mix. Me ending up in Walnut Creek instead of San Francisco via BART should be testiment to this enough. However, I didn’t feel like driving up to the Giants game today, so Jeff and I decided to caltrain it. I am proud to say, I did just fine. Well…until the return trip where I passed out and Jeff had to wake me at our stop.

This is actually outside of Starbucks

I needed a beer, or apparently 5 or 6 beers. I lost count. We met up with Ryan polished off 6 Blue Moons, then Tu found her way to us in front of Momo’s. We walked in and consumed what is probably the most disgusting, yet strangely satisfying meal of my week. A super dog, a fraction of nachos, parf of a churro, and a fraction of Gordon Biersch’s famous garlic fries, along with the normal intake of beer. I had a good time, we cheered, we laughed, and we taunted. Giants lost to the Padres, but fun way to end a otherwise dull Wednesday evening.

Go Giants!

-Wallace