The GGA Project -- Day #328 "Art Walk"

For years I have been wanting to experience the South First Fridays art walk in downtown San Jose.  As I mentioned in by post about the Sub Zero Festival, I neglected to explore this scene even when I was living around the corner and all it would have taken was for me to walk (quite literally) 50 paces from my front door.


Tonight, before heading to The Workout dance party at The Agenda, Nicole and I poked around in two of the museums that are part of the art walk, one of which I'd never even noticed (though, again, it was around the corner of my house).


Today's New Activity: Visiting Art Boutiki & MACLA


We wanted some time to get coffee and have a chat before I went dancing, so we didn't make it to all the stops on the walk, but these two were interesting enough for me.  Art Boutiki was displaying the art of a single artist, but the back studio space was open as well, where they were serving refreshments.  Quasimodal Quartet, a jazz band whose members I knew from college, happened to be playing there too.  What a pleasant surprise!

MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana) displayed works from Cuban artists, including some photographs of a young Fidel Castro.  Muy interesante!

It was almost odd for me to realize that San Jose indeed has its own art scene.  There were so many people milling around who looked like exactly what you'd expect when you ponder the idea of artsy people.  I felt a little bit old at times, and a little bit not skinny enough, but mostly comfortable.  And it made me want to make more time for it when I get the next opportunity.  It would be great to see what else the creative minds out there are producing.

And following all that up with techno dancing was just great.  I guess I must have really needed to expend some energy, because I was sweating by 3 minutes into the deal and scarcely took a break from dancing during the next 2 hours or so.  Finally (and always wonderful) was the chance to head back to Nicole's house, where Maya had fallen asleep next to a wide awake Nicole, listening to Tori Amos on her computer, Raul, Brielle and Zach wandered in and out of the living room, Sureya slept soundly in her parents' room, and I tucked into a sweetly made-up mattress bed on the floor (thanks Nicole!) to inhabit my honorary space in their family.

Tonight, I'm loving life.

The GGA Project -- Day #265 "Not Yer Mama's Exercise Regimen"

I've been wanting to dance.  Like really really wanting to dance.  Wanting to lose my mind in dance kind of dance.  Forget about everyone and everything for a spell dance.


It's been a while.


I posted an open question on Facebook looking for recommendations for a club in the south bay; I'd be going with Raul (Nicole's man and my friend of 13 years now), and it wouldn't make sense for us to go up to SF, logistically.  And old coworker from Barnes and Noble suggested a once a month electro-house DJ party hosted by a friend of his to coincide with downtown San Jose's SOFA district 1st Fridays art walk.  It sounded pretty promising.


Raul agreed, as did my friends Kenneth and Dave and new friend Jen.  Kenneth brought John, his longtime friend who is visiting from Fresno, and we made a group of it for


Today's New Activity: The Workout


I'm not sure why this monthly dance party is called The Workout.  I guess the idea is that it does turn out to be quite the cardio routine, if you're doing it right that is.


I was super excited about tonight until I visited the photos on The Workout's Facebook page and noticed that nobody in the crowd looked a day over 23.  I started to get all self-conscious, thinking I'd be too old, be dressed wong, look spastic on the dance floor, etc, etc.  But Raul's and Kenneth's insistence that they didn't care about the demographic gave me the little push I needed, and when we got there I saw that it didn't matter anyway.  Not only were there plenty of, ahem, slightly older folks there, the place was so dark that a lot went undetermined, and there was a wide range of attire.


Anyway, who CARES about all that stuff, right?  We were there to dance, so the details didn't really seem to matter once we got there.


I was a bit shy at first, given that when we got there there was exactly one man--one very high man--dancing all by himself.  Raul was game to be next out there, but I needed just a *bit* more of a crowd to be wooed.  Three people later, I said what the hell, let's go.


And two and a half hours later, sweaty and exhausted, we stepped back in to the cool night air and straight over to La Victoria, the only possible place to go.  What happened in between there was nothing more or less than a lot of moving to music.  Feeling not thinking, moving not thinking, letting go and not thinking, for once.


I highly recommend it.


Raul and I plan to make a habit of getting to this little shindig whenever we can.  Every time I dance like that I'm appalled to think of all the time I've wasted NOT dancing like that.  It is so very good for my soul and state of mind.  A good release and an energizer, all rolled into one.  If only the gym could be this much fun...

The GGA Project -- Day #253 "Trader Jaspinder's"

Long about 11am, Nicole and the girls, Monkey and I--after waking up in the same house at the outset of our sleepover weekend--got a move on and headed out on foot/in stroller for the San Jose State campus.  I mentioned The Fountain last week...the place where Nicole often takes the girls for leisurely days spend in the sun and the shade, where she can relax and do her art while the girls play on the grass and in the fountain.  That's where we were headed, but first: food.


I decided to just get our whole breakfast/lunch at Philz Coffee, where they have breakfast burritos (which they were out of), pastries, and a whole lot of whatnot.  First, I ordered a new coffee called Soooo Good.  By that I mean it was new to me.  Philz has a extensive selection of roasts, all of which are available to order in their one-cup-at-a-time brewing style.  Soooo Good lived up to its name.


After we ate we let the kids run around forever while Nika and I talked and Raul did whatever it is Raul does on his computer (right now something likely having to do with the already twice-funded startup he and some friends launched just a few months ago...go Raul!).


This was the scene when they finally began to wind down, watching videos on Nicole's phone.

In the early evening we went to our favorite place (Target) and then to Trader Joe's to pick up dinner.  Nicole's meal plans became


Today's New Activity: Trader Joe's Does Indian (Surprisingly Well)


I'm very, very leery of any kind of Indian food that comes out of a box.  Even Indian brands that sell the vacuum-sealed, off-the-shelf versions of Indian meals do it horribly.  How are you gonna sell paneer (a tofu-like textured cheese) off a grocery shelf?  I had my doubts about tonight's dinner.


But after Nicole had warmed a few trays each of Chicken Tikka Masala and Paneer Tikka Masala in the microwave, the whole house smelled like an authentic Indian restaurant.  You can trust me on this one.  After that she tossed some frozen garlic naan (also from Trader Joe's) into the oven for exactly two minutes and the meal was ready to go.

The Paneer meals came with a cilantro rice, and all of it was delicious.  I've tasted Paneer Tikka Masala ranging from the bland and too tomato-ey to the incredibly complex-in-spice, creamy delicious.  And this was definitely on the latter end of that spectrum.  I was shocked.  The garlic naan wasn't the best I've tasted, but it was by far the best among store-bought and way better than some I've eaten in restaurants.


I have to say that Trader Joe's has recently fallen a bit out of my favor.  I just haven't been as thrilled with their food of late as I was when Joe and I first met.  But tonight's meal gives me new cause to go there and see what other frozen stuff I can explore.

The GGA Project -- Day #168 "Sitting In"

After work today I swung by Nicole's house to pick up Raul.  I'd been wanting to pick his brain about some things I know nothing about but would like to, and he was generous enough with his time to agree to it.  We ended up going to his favorite haunt, one of the most successful independent-like (it's not a giant company, but there are 8 locations now--so they're growing) coffeehouse stories in San Jose.


Today's New Activity: The Philz Experience


I know I'd stopped in at Philz once before, but it was just to buy a cup of milk for The Monkey.  This was the first time I'd actually ordered coffee.  And I didn't think anything about coffee could make an impression on me at this point, but today's experience truly did.


I was a little confused at first by the ordering process.  You order directly from the barista, which wouldn't really be that confusing expect that a bunch of people are just kind of standing around the bar and it's difficult to discern if there's a line, who's already ordered, or where your place is in the scheme of things.  Luckily the barista was used to sorting through the mess and seemed to have a good idea of who'd arrived when.


I ordered black tea with cream and honey for Raul (first time I've ever been to a place where the barista adds these fixings during the preparation), and an Americano for myself.  He said that they don't make Americanos there but that he'd happily make a coffee for me.  I didn't quite get at first how he was going to make a coffee just for me--just one cup of coffee, but after asking me a lot of questions to get to the bottom of what exactly I wanted, he said he'd do just that.  This was great!  The only reason I ever order Americanos (which I usually do any time after about 11am) is that most places stop brewing coffee very often once the morning rush is over, and I can't stand old, bitter coffee.  But it's definitely a trade off.  Americanos aren't nearly as strong or flavorful as brewed coffee.  And plus you have to wait 45 minutes for them to have cooled down enough to be drinkable.


So it turns out all cups of coffee are brewed to order there, and I have to say the difference was evident.  Drinking that fresh and super flavorful cup made me wish there was a Philz near me.  And apparently the feeling is mutual.  I looked the place up on Yelp: the reviews, given the high volume of reviewers, average out to the best I've ever seen I think.  418 reviews at the time I'm writing this and 4 1/2 stars.  That's pretty amazing.  I read a lot about their flavored drinks, but I'm giving them a rave review of my own on black coffee alone.


I also really liked the atmosphere--the multiple couches reminded me of the coffee shops I remember as a teenager, before they all got homogenized.  Also, the Fanime Con convention was going on downtown, leaving the area teeming with kids dressed up as all manner of Anime, comic book and just general character.  At one point, Raul exclaimed "Jesus Christ!"  I turned around, thinking he was commenting on the pouring down rain that had just started.  What a surprise to see Jesus Christ!  Or a really good, costumed version of the illustrated Bible versions I've seen of him anyway.  The whole thing made for some great people watching.


And that is all.

The GGA Project -- Day #165 "Threesome"

So in keeping with my family's stretch-your-birthday-into-a-weeklong-event tradition, tonight I was treated to dinner by my dear friends Nicole and Raul.  Since I am WAY over driving these days, Nicole was kind enough to drive up and meet me in Palo Alto after I dropped off Monkey, and Raul walked to the restaurant from the Caltrain station on his way home from work in San Francisco.  It was a good plan.


Since of course I wanted to try a new restaurant, I'd spent part of the afternoon reading Yelp reviews.  A word on that: I would never base all or even some of my decisions on reviews...any kind of reviews.  But Yelp can be helpful in so many ways.  You can find all the restaurant within a walking mile, sort them by type of cuisine, find links to their menus, discover their hours of operation and price ranges, and, yes, know before heading there whether or not the universal consensus is that they suck.


The other day my coworker asked me if I was "one of those people who write Yelp reviews."  He said he asked this based on the fact that whenever we have conversations about places to go, I cover all the major categories, including ease of parking, without his having to ask.  I was reminded of that this afternoon as I asked my brother 80 follow-up questions over the phone after he told me they just opened a Gray's Papaya down the street from his place and he'd gone there this afternoon for his first taste of NY dog (er, hot dog).  I guess, in a way, I do take something of a Yelper approach to dine out decisions these days.  I would hate it if the pre-informing kept me from trying something new and great, but I do feel like certain information is helpful to have before setting out. And while sometimes people can be overly harsh or demanding in their reviewing, I do find it to be the case that if--in over 100 reviews--the average rating for a restaurant is 3 stars or fewer, there are likely better options out there.


Which brings me to


Today's New Activity: Squished Together Dining at Osteria


Osteria is an Italian restaurant just one block off University Avenue in Palo Alto.  I didn't even read the reviews, just found their menus on a take out website and decided, based on one Yelp photo, that it would work.  When we got there I found it to be much smaller and the seating much more intimate than I'd expected.  But I kind of like that feel...for some reason that is how I picture restaurants in Little Italy, in New York to be.  Why do we need all sorts of space, anyway?


Raul had arrived some time before Nicole and I, so luckily when the host--who seemed a bit stressed and overwhelmed by the number of people waiting for tables (as was I on a random Wednesday evening--saw that the third part of Raul's party had arrived, he sat us right away.


This is definitely one of those places where the servers/host think it's so great, or their own tastes so refined, they have the right to attitude.  We saw the host sternly deny an elderly woman a table since her husband was still parking the car, and our own server, who did nothing to project a hint of friendliness, made it clear that Raul's Scampi Mediterranean choice was the only of the three of which he approved.  No matter...I wasn't there to have dinner with the host or our server.


I chose the Linguine al Pesto, which was excellent.

It was such a great experience to be out with these two, totally out-of-context.  For 10 years now I've been used to being out with them in or near downtown San Jose, and it's been a really long time since I've been out with them at all, especially without children, at a real grown-up restaurant.


My seat was facing the window, and as I watched all the other grownups walk by, and later, as we walked and passed by all the other packed-full restaurants on University Avenue, I daydreamed about how nice it would be to have the means to dine at all the nice restaurants, whenever I wanted.  The people inside looked vibrant, full of energy, bustling at (by then) 9pm on a Wednesday.  Or maybe that was my own projection.  And if so, I'll take it...it means that is inside me somewhere.


As I've mentioned here before, Nicole and Raul have been two steady and dependable constants in my life through a good share of ups and downs.  This year marked the 20th year of my friendship with Nicole (she was at the surprise 13th birthday party a friend through for me in the 8th grade!), and it just gets better as the time passes.


After dinner we ended up at Starbucks where we fell into a familiar pattern (by the way, I love how the word "familiar" finds its roots in "family"), Raul working on his laptop while Nicole and I talk Mommihood and friendship and new ideas and old flashbacks.  This time she was re-telling (by my request) the story of the customer who loved her when she worked at Starbucks (her first job when we moved to San Jose).  It's a wonder and a triumph of enduring friendship that I heard something new in that story this time around.


I consider it an absolute blessing, the fact that I'm sure to spend at least the next 33 years trading stories, new and recycled, with these true friends  :)

The GGA Project -- Day #31 "Third & Fourth Wheels"

My best gal Nicole has been out of town for two weeks.  Too long!  Now that she's back, she finally had the chance, tonight, to celebrate Christmas with her family, which consists of long-time honey and best friend Raul, his teenage son and daughter, and Nicole and Raul's two young girls (one just a few months older than Chupi--his "girlfriend" we like to say).


Chupi and I were over in the afternoon visiting with Nicole, and she asked if we wanted to stick around for Raul's enchiladas for dinner (hellz yes!!).  Then she said, "well we're doing our Christmas after that.  You're welcome to stay for that too if you want."  I eagerly accepted this invitation, because for years now I have felt like an extension of Nicole and Raul's family.  When I was going through a rough time a few months back, I felt like to could have spent every afternoon and evening in their home, just mooching off the feeling of family.  Now, I do have my own family here of course, but sometimes it's just nice to be around a family that includes people of all different ages.


At Nicole's I get to talk to Sophomore Brielle.  She reminds me of my own high school self, and I've had the chance to get super girlie with her discussing the male stars of Glee (ok, so I go for the teach while she's into the boys her own age, but still it was a bonding experience).  I also get to talk to Senior Zach, or at least we can exchange a snide comment or two on his way through to his man-boy cave.  I'll take it.  I can get silly with 3rd grader Maya, who is full of big-sister-to-the-baby energy and always down to entertain the little ones while her Mom and I talk.  She is most definitely the closest thing to a niece I have :)  I can watch with the purest joy imaginable as Sureya and Chupi do their parallel play and even stop to give each other the occasional kiss.  Awww.  I can talk with Raul, about software things I don't understand, world events, and just grown up life in general.  And always and forever, I can laugh with Nicole about things only her and I (in that whole room of people) find funny, share everything shareable in words, and reminisce over the 20 (!) years of our friendship.


Yes, there's no family gathering I would rather encroach on for


Today's New Activity: Crashing the Family Christmas


Now admittedly, tonight's events were not really the equivalent of just barging in on some stranger family.  But still, I've never had the chance to see--up close--how another family does Christmas...the present opening part, that is.


At Nicole & Company's, it looks like this:

It's something like the Christmas present openings in my own family, only really nothing at all like that on account of a complete lack of ceremony.  I don't know why everything seems to be ceremonial in my family.  Everything is a big deal, especially when it comes to holidays.  There is a lot of build-up and the thing goes on and on, followed by a good bit of reveling in the aftermath.  I like how we do it in my family; I've always appreciated the on and on aspect of our familial celebrations.  But sometimes I also really love and appreciate the more laissez-faire approach of Nicole's family.


I have never worried about the appropriate- or inappropriate-ness of anything I do in this wonderful family's company.  Yes, this is true of most good friends...one is free to just be herself and let it all hang out.  But it's even TRUER where Nicole is concerned because she just has a very relaxed and accepting attitude about almost everything.  It's great to feel that at ease around people.


I mean really, in what other family Christmas present opening would the oldest child be allowed to stand in the doorway, shirtless and nomming on his own separate dinner some 45 minutes after the rest of the family ate:

Hahaha.  Oh Zach.


The present opening lasted maybe 20 minutes...rather fast to me because everyone was opening at the same time, rather than the one-by-one, replete with ooing and awing that happens following each gift, in my family.  There was a very quick paper and bow clean up, and then suddenly half the family disappeared into the netherworlds of the house.  Nicole and the girls stayed and played with the new toys, and Sureya very generously allowed the tired and grumpy monkey to play with things she hadn't even had the chance to touch yet.  What a sweetie.


All in all, Christmas came and went in a flash.  But hey!  It's a Tuesday, a work night, a school night.  There were things to be done and dinner dishes to be cleaned and children to be put to bed.  I just love that Christmas could even happen on a Tuesday night more than 2 weeks after the actual Christmas in Nicole's house.


Lest I sound like I'm judging in pointing out these differences in style, let me just say that I love every last thing about the way Nicole's family operates.  I love everything that is the same and different about our families.  And my life would be significantly altered, for the worse, if I didn't love and wasn't loved by them.  They have been this incredible source of stability through all my unstable college days, through my numerous relationship ups and downs, and through my transition into something resembling adulthood.

Merry Christmas A/G clan!!!