One of you called me a “jerk” today, and you know what? I fully deserved it. It was Thanksgiving Day weekend and what do I write about? Paris Hilton, Smorkin Labbits, My alcohol fueled adventures, and plastic infused human cadavers promoted as art. I have no retort, I apologize for imposing my borne agenda on you. Hmmm…actually, just wait one darn minute…this is MY blog, meaning I am in control, so how dare you question my motives!

At any rate; I guess I should take a moment and state what I am thankful for this year. Truth be told, I am thankful and forever indebted for many things and to many of you. First and foremost, it’s you…those of you who call me out, call me a jerk, tell me the things I’m doing wrong, and how I can constantly improve my abilities; I’m extremely thankful to you, as you are the ones that not only motivate, push, and drive my ambitions, but you are also the ones that I am indebted to, as you keep me grounded. Without my head screwed on straight, and my health intact, there’s no telling where I’d be at the moment. So, thank you…all of you…you guys, and gals, are really something special. something awesome. and something extraordinary. salut.

I am also thankful for the new friendships I have been able to forge this year, the past relationships that I have been able to grow stronger, the opportunities presented to me this year, my newfound knowledge, passions, experiences, and frankly and quite serious - not dying from pancreatitis. I am also thankful for shed weight, past relationships, past friendships, past companionships that I have been able to walk away from, or v.versa - people come and people go, it’s just how things work. My character has been shaped so much due to this, and my circle of friends constantly change. Keeping those close and dear, and constantly shedding the dead weight. Those of you who I’m close to I’m sure you know who you are, let’s forge ahead, and grow together. These are certainly exciting times.

Speaking of exciting, let’s forget what I’m thankful for, I’d rather write about what excites me. I’m excited for the immense opportunity on my plate right now, I’m excited about some of the new people I’ve met, I’m excited that I’ve met Crystal this year and where our lives are heading toward, I’m excited that I have such good friends, and surrounded by people that I know I can count on. I am excited about my new macbook, I am excited about seeing Melinda again this Christmas, I’m excited about Christmas, I’m excited about you reading my ramblings, your critiques, your comments, your suggestions, your ideas. I’m excited for you, I’m excited for me, I’m excited about our futures. I’m excited about life, and I’m excited thinking about what it has in store for me.

I’m also excited about Toasty Fridays, remember my evening of impetuous intoxication? Well…I got it done. Sia’s motto of “GID” or Get It Done was fully implied this weekend. Sunny and I sat down and literally built the site from 10pm to 4am this past Saturday evening. We selected a select group of friends then sent out invites. The reception has been explosive. Much more then we had anticipated. I got a call from Lucas this evening, who happens to be in the alcohol business, with a focused interest in beginning a chapter in Southern California. At the rate feedback is filtering through to me, I’m hoping this thing will spread like wildfire. It’s things like this that excite me, and literally sometimes keeps me awake at night. I’m excited, people are excited, my mind is excited.

With this being said, I’m also thankful of my family and especially my parents who has always encouraged me to pursue what makes me happy. Yes, they do drive me crazy at times, especially my mother, but I am thankful I have her. I realize they just want me to be happy, maybe I should tell her I love her more often. what do you think? Anyways…Thank You! All of you! For pushing me, keeping me in check, and making sure I remain ever balanced, understanding, and rationalized. Thank You. *blows kisses*

-Wallace

I must say I’ve had quite the preoccupied yet amusing Thanksgiving Day holiday. I’m here sitting here with a turkey meal from Boston Market as we did not have any turkey this holiday. We got the bait and switch, our switch was none other then honey glazed spiral cut ham with roasted pineapples. It was delicious and in every way as decadent or more so, but there’s just something about turkey. Funny as I wasn’t the only one who went sans turkey this turkeyday, but to balance things out again I picked up sliced turkey with gravy, sweet potato mash and stuffing to fulfill my void.

So what else did I do this productive holiday season? A few highlights include catching dinner with Larry and Clara at Layang Layang, ending up a Blowfish two consecutive nights in a row, a successful trailride with Dawn, Dave and Jon, Alexander’s cotton candy, and Body Worlds 2 by Gunther von Hagens.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole pretense of formerly alive human beings, dissected and presented in the form of educational art. I have always been one of the more reserved, rest in peace school of thought and if you’ve been around me enough you know I don’t do well at the sight of blood, gore, or dead things in general. I hate it, it’s gross. However, something festered inside me and this was one exhibit that I would force myself to go see even if it was a bit grotesque and sickening. Sunny and I ended up going Saturday afternoon and although we expected to spend a good 45 minutes to an hour in there at the most, we spent more then 2 hours total. So just what happened?

I can’t say for sure, but this exhibit is absolutely amazing. I grimaced a bit in the beginning and thought some of it was plastic. It wasn’t until the third or fourth exhibit that I realized that nearly everything I was looking at was alive at some point. I expected the human specimens to be enclosed behind glass, plexi, or at the very least roped off. Many are, but many are simply posed or hung on racks that you could physically touch and even smell if you wished to. This brings up a few common questions - 1) No, you are not allowed to touch anything. 2) The cadavers do not stink, or smell (not that I tried). 3) Yes, it was a bit creepy.

There were many displays but I found the contaminated lung display the most shocking. It showed a perfectly healthy lung - pale, cream/white colored with small carbon deposits, in contrast to a smoker’s lung which was obviously black, disgusting, and looked like death, but the most fascinating lung was the coal miner’s lung. This organ looked like it was already carbonized, not only was it black it also possessed a sheen and sparkle similar to graphite, the lung was also 1/4 smaller then the other two lungs. There was a collection and pledge box at the end of the exhibit, the pledge was to quit smoking and the collection box was for the pledge slips and/or your box of cigarettes. This thing was incredibly full, it’s one thing when they show you lung slices in middle school, it’s another seeing what it can actually do to you in a exhibit as powerful as this one.

Over all Body Worlds 2 showcased many astounding things about your and my body. The dissections were absurd, I’ve never seen anything like it - stain jobs down to the tiniest of blood vessels, entire internals colored and presented, the human nerve system, spinal column, and brain slices were all fascinating. Although I have to say looking at the brain slices made me thing of fois gras for some morbid reason, does this make mean I have cannibalistic tendencies?

Von Hagens’ method of preserving bodies, known as “Plastination” allows him to literally slice cadavers into slivers only millimeters thin. These look almost unreal, and it wasn’t until i noticed hair exerting from one of the slices, then i noticed every slice was bordered by leathery skin. The detail is extraordinary, and the experience out of this world. If the chance to experience Body Worlds 2 arises in your future, do make an effort to go see it. I really did not expect to enjoy it, in fact I wasn’t sure what I was expecting or thinking when I walked down the long hallway leading to this controversial exhibit, but I am glad I did it and I am glad so many of you pushed me so in keeping with tradition I am urging those of you who haven’t seen it yet, to do so.

Happy Holidays,
Wallace

jonathan, me, kozik - in kozik’s studio/work area

Yesterday evening I got a chance to visit Frank Kozik in his studio. Those of you who have known me have probably received a “smorkin labbit” at one point or another. A small vinyl rabbit with a cigarette and a sinister appeal, or at the very least have seen me with them. Frank Kozik is the guy who dreamed up this character one day, and upon hearing his studio was in San Francisco I set out to contact him. I did, and he told me to come on by. Jonathan after hearing so wanted to go as well, so… we did. We spent nearly an hour there and learned the following.

1. Kozik is a Ducatisti
2. His studio has no door bell or call box.
3. I couldn’t say he was exactly what I expected, but not too far off.
4. He was fascinated and collected Japanese vinyl
5. Smorkin was actually inspired by Hello Kitty in an obscure way.
6. He would love to see not only his empire grow, but the vinyl toy industry to go totally mainstream.
7. Smorkin is a lot older then you think he is.
8. The toys you see on the shelves today were concieved two years ago, this is how long on average it takes a vinyl to go from concept to production.
9. We got a peak at what’s coming out through 2010
10. There will be a new Smorkin plush coming out. I need to get one.

That concludes our visit to Kozik.

In other exciting news - I finally got a Mac, so those of you saying, ‘Wallace, I can’t believe YOU’RE not on a Mac!’ We’ll, now I am. Loving it so far, especially since Jonathan hooked up all the goods.

Salt House with Rich, Greg, and Brooks was also fun. Meeting Cara, Ellie, and all their friends at Harlot then 83 Proof was a hoot as well. Fun night.

Did I mention Frank said to drop by anytime? We’re invited back! >=)

-Wallace

LMAO!!! I had to throw this up. It’s none other then Paul with Paris. As many celebrities as we have run into I don’t think any have matched the appeal or presence of Paris. You see Kayne, you see Justin, you see Brad, and you see Jordan, however one can actually relate to them. Paris is just something on an entirely different level. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw this picture. Awesome. You think they’ll be a good match?

-Wallace

So Friday night was the night of impetuous intoxication with Saturday being the buffer, Today was certainly the day of impetuous itineraries. I thought I had planned it out sufficiently enough, turns out 3pm was where my perfect schedule took a turn for the random.

It all started out innocently enough, I got up and got on the saddle early this morning to pound out 40 miles, this was an astonishing achievement as my last distance ride was about 3 months ago. I didn’t do a rockstar distance or climb like a pro, but certainly did not lose as much endurance, strength, and handling as I thought I would. I also believe the Cytomax is working as it’s intended to, as I had plenty of energy until the 35 mile mark. Then my energy level plummeted, and my performance really suffered. Feels good though, glad to be back on the saddle. I can only improve from here!

I returned with a couple hours to spare, I got the orange car washed as I couldn’t stand it anymore then grabbed a bite. 2pm was when things began to turn funky. Tru met up with me to go bike shopping, I figured this would be a quick task then I could catch Sunny and a few others for dinner…it didn’t go that way. Tru got a flat the night prior and we actually met at Wheel Works down the street from my place, with that being taken care of we went bike shopping. One would figure with all the bikes out there she’d be able to find one she was content with, as would I, but as luck would have it we came back empty handed. Well, she actually bought a entire new snowboarding outfit, I have to say it’s pretty dope. However, no bike, but a little more knowledgeable then before. We figured out her size, and what she wanted in a bike, so I guess this is going somewhere…eventually. After running around all afternoon the both of us developed an appetite, with Sunny and co still tired from whatever they did last night we got dinner instead. We felt like a burger at first - St. John’s was closed, then Korean - Choi’s Kitchen was closed, so we finally settled on Bombay Garden for Indian. I enjoyed it, she didn’t look like she was having too much fun. In short I gotten to know Tru quite a bit better over this past weekend, strange how we never really hung out in a group setting before; She may be 5′3″ but she’s full of laughs, opinions, and spunk…in addition to the back aches, and workloads that she’s constantly wondering about. I had fun, I’m fairly certain that we all had fun on Friday.

After dropping her off I caught up with Zagi, and his friends Boyan and Co. I got to check out two Stage 3 S4’s (one APR and the other AWE), pretty nutty cars. Then I got Sniffy some cilantro and carrots, and now I’m about to go to sleep. So tired…*yawn*

Before I do pass out, I just wanted to note that Gloria has the best looking A3 I’ve seen to date. I’ve never been really impressed with these cars, and never liked the 5 door model but after seeing hers… OMG so hot.

I can’t wait to see what she has in store for this next. Good Job Glo, you make me want one too.

-Wallace

I’ve noticed that rather then modifying automobiles I have unintentionally, yet effectively found another source to deprive my wallet and hinder my time. I have replaced parts from APR, DP Engineering, HRE, Projektzwo, and Remus with Easton, Fizik, Mavic, Pearl Izumi, Shimano, and Voler. I picked up a Easton EC90 SL fork and EC90 Zero Set-Back seatpost on Friday for the new bike build. This is a slow but steady progression, hopefully sooner then later. For the moment I’m stoked about these parts, so sweeeeeeeeet!

Last night it looked like a slaughter of Ridge Geyserville 2005 bottles. With the clock striking 5pm we found ourselves still in our offices, powering through our workloads we were ready for a drink, but not before dinner. With a mashup of plans I originally tell Tru to meet us later, then I realized her office was literally across the street from Sunny’s. The three of us met up and carpooled to Yiassoo for beers and dinner, then Diesel for their alcohol fueled, discjocky driven spring shopping event. The Diesel party was nothing more then a amped up shopping excursion so we still wanted more alcohol, but in a soft spoken, no fuss and no frills environment - this ruled out nearly every bar at Santana Row, we decide that Vintage Wine Merchants was our ticket. Going through their selection was an abstruse process, so many good to great bottles from $8.99 to $500. How were we going to settle on that one bottle?

I should of seen it earlier but as I walked by the cabernets I saw a 2004 Monte Bello, a bit fancy for our night, but I realized that I wanted more Ridge. We made our way to the zinfandel section and selected a bottle of 2005 Geyserville. As we socialized around this decanted bottle; toasting glasses and munching on a cheese platter, Tran shows up and we order another bottle. This process repeated itself as Tru’s coworker Katie came, and again, and again, and again. My idea of returning home by 11pm with a slight buzz was noble, but poorly executed. I think I passed out in the bathroom for a short bit, then my last memory was seeing Sunny’s couch and thinking that it was so comfortable. We must of laid waste to half a case of those bottles, an d I’m sure I stopped tasting and enjoying at some point in the night, but as I type this I only have good memories. Great people, constant laughter, and unbelievable wine. A perfect trio in my opinion.

I woke up lost, and confused…not quite sure where I was. I shortly realized I was at Sunny’s then made my way home. We were supposed to go trail riding in Alum Rock this morning, but fortunately Jenny also happened to become ‘accidentally*’ drunk. Trail riding canceled, and it was time to do errands. Putting around in the morning I swore I was going to puke at any given minute, I realized it was past noon and I had not ate. Midway through my bowl of pho, I wanted to let go; yes, it was that bad. We were supposed to go bar hopping tonight in the city, but half way through that conversation I realized that entailed more drinking. Disgusted with the thought I opted to stay home and well…blog, chill with Sniffy, and I’m still contemplating on washing the orange car. I think I’ll go to sleep early, and get back on the saddle tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll have a better day tomorrow, looking forward to cycling again, then introducing Tru to the sport, and introducing friends to Islamic Chinese food at a newly opened restaurant.

-Wallace

*by ‘accidentally‘ I mean ‘we full on expected her to get wasted and not wake up in time,’ but I called just in case she was up and ready.

PS. Sunny mentioned he liked this chill Friday routine, and might begin some kind of wine circle at his joint. We’ll see where that goes, we’ll see how successful ‘merlot night’ is.

To many of us Hurricane Katrina is yesterday’s news; it’s been over two years since the national disaster, and most of us are also probably under the impression that New Orleans has rebuilt itself, hosting Mardi Gras, and serving up the best Cajun cuisine. That, unfortunately, is what the government apparently wants us to believe. Larry Huan, currently a medical school student at Tulane University out there in NoLa, is at ground zero and somewhere along his path he raised his camera and snapped away. You can see his photos here: LMH-Photography. His pictures portray need, despair, abandonment and frustration. Katrina has displaced thousands, and left many more homeless. The government was not only tardy in responding, but if you google ‘Hurricane Katrina’ all you find are Hurricane Katrina Funds Misused. Shame. This brings me to my next topic: Social Responsibility.

“Social Responsibility?” You mean to tell me that I actually have a duty to society?! Of course you do, we’ve been taught this since we were toddlers, remember ‘mi casa, su casa?’ or ‘help thy neighbor?’ no? how about ‘pick up litter, and start recycling?’ We all have a duty to sustain the environment for each other, help each other in times of need, and in the Hurricane Katrina Survivors situation, they need to be heard, publicized, and helped.

-Wallace

Crystal met me at my place yesterday afternoon then came up to bid Sniffy good-bye, we crossed the street to Pho Hoa for her last meal in California for 5 weeks then ended up at Cupertino Medical Clinic. I told her I’d think about getting a flu shot, but in the back of my mind I really did not expect to get one. I hate needles, the long shiny over dramatic sinister point, the initial prick, nor the whole process the administrator needs to go through to draw out an ample amount of whatever was going to be injected. It is designed to instill fear, and horror into the victim, at least this is what hollywood would like you to believe. Crystal conquered this feat by yapping away on her cellphone, the nurse asked me if I was going to faint. So not only did I get an unexpected flu shot, she talked me into paying for it. Awesome huh? Let’s hope I don’t get the flu this year.

We ended up back at Crystal’s place afterwards to do some last minute packing, cleaning, and maintenance. With that done, it was time to head up to SFO, we arrived with quite a bit of time to spare, a smidge over two hours to be exact. I decided to wait with her as we wouldn’t see each other for at least 5 weeks, so we grabbed our last batch of San Francisco garlic fries and a glass of wine at Firewood inside the international terminal and then proceeded to essentially tour the terminal. Time elapsed quickly and we bid farewell. I headed back up 101 to Kid Robot then met up with Jonathan and Alycia for dinner. Jonathan made an amazing Gazpacho served with diced onions, peppers, cucumbers, fresh baked crutons, and cheeses. We also consumed a bottle of Ridge. A really fantastic dinner, enchanting conversation, and always great company.

You may have read in between the lines and realized that I have a new addition to my existence. A rabbit named ‘Sniffy,’ or more appropriately Crystal’s pet rabbit that will now inhabit my residence for the following 4 months. I have decided to dedicate part of ADE to her, check out the sniffy projekt* here: TheSniffyProjekt.

-Wallace

_{*’projekt’ is not misspelled, just as europrojektz is not misspelled =)}

I couldn’t help but snap this picture of Sniffy and Crystal last night. Unbeknownst to me Crystal calls out, “Wallace! Come look at Sniffy! Come look at Sniffy!” For a moment I was afraid she was injured or ailing, as she jumped out of my arms and fell onto the bathroom counter a moment earlier. I turned the corner and Crystal had affixed her socks to Sniffy’s ears, making them evermore so the clumsier and goofier then they already were.

It’s moments like this that I will miss when Crystal leaves for London this coming Monday. After a long, drawn out and much deliberated decision process I’m glad Crystal chose to take her up on her company’s offer to work out of London for the better part of the next four months. I would have done the same. Obviously many questions arose; What about us? Was it the end? Were we separating? Were we going to take a break? The funny thing was none of these questions stemmed directly from us, these were questions many of you asked, and I’m sure Crystal’s friends as well.

I actually pushed her toward this, as her interests are also my interests. It’s a great opportunity and a huge push in her career goals. This being said, I’m proud of her and excited for her. There’s no doubt I’ll miss her, and think about her but 4 months does not equate to eternity and at the rate our lives are pacing it’ll be over before we know it. She’ll also be back for Christmas and New Year’s and I’ll be making a flight over as well so it’s not four months of total, and utter separation. I look forward to a lot of things, but this is a experience I’m looking forward to in particular. There are many things about the future that are uncertain, and I’ve learned that Crystal’s definitely the fighter, and with this being said I’m looking forward to this working out in our favor. Faster. Stronger. Better.

So this is our last weekend together before her departure, things happen so fast these days it’s hard to keep up with our own times. This gives me time to dedicate to other matters at hand, those of you here that I owe time to, those of you that will be arriving shortly for the holidays, getting a better grasp on single track riding, and I’m absolutely stoked about snowboarding (Heavenly opens on the 16th, and a few have already begun lift operation).

It’s not going to be easy, but should be lots of fun. Alright, enough on the keyboard, I gotta go pick up Snorglebutt.

-Wallace

Ridge Vineyards : Lytton Springs - Healdsburg, Ca 11/04/2007

Lots of things rushing through my cranium at the moment, but let’s focus on what happened over the weekend. We ended up in Sonoma for the Wine Road 2007 event; wineries hired chefs to pair their wines up with some wizard like culinary preparations. We tasted a total of 12 wineries by my count and sampled everything from J(ordan) 20 cuvee champagne to the 2004 Monte Bello at Ridge Vineyards.

The majority of the wines and all the culinary creations did not surprise me, although I the experience was really enjoyable. Some things that I noted was the attention to detail of J’s tasting room and facilities, as well as the selection of gifts, Rodney Strong’s grand entrance and the amount of fruit flies floating around on their catwalk, the modern integration at Headsburg Hotel and the Roshambo tasting that awaited us inside, and last but not least Ridge Lytton Springs. It’s safe to say that Ridge is fast becoming my favorite wine maker, and especially to Crystal and I as the Monte Bello campus was the scene of our first rendezvous.

Melissa who poured us at Ridge went into the secret stash and offered up three additional pours then the standard tasting menu; Jimsonare, Mazzoni Ranch and of course the 2004 Monte Bello. To summarize; perfect weather, great company, fine wine, delicious food, and my favorite person, I had a hoot and hope to repeat something similar sooner then later.

Many people ask what criteria do I purchase my wines on. To make things very simple; I buy what I enjoy and wines that I associate with good memories, as wine is meant to be shared amongst the best of company and designed to forge the most memorable of memories. I had a good time this weekend and since the Mazzoni was only available for purchase at the actual Ridge Lytton Springs campus this took no contemplation. When I open this bottle, the nose and the taste will bring back memories of this late summer day. Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library states that wine should be fun, and I can definitely say that this is true for me.

This weekend…96 points.

-Wallace