The Kama Sutra for internet geeks May 13, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Links , 3 commentsIt’s funny, but it hits a little close to home…
THE HAWK A woman that the man has never met before positions herself in the seat next to his in a movie theater. His eyes caress her knees and thighs continuously for several hours. In an advanced form of this technique, she crosses her legs and her ankle brushes against his calf.
from Kama Sutra Positions For Internet Writers
Your thoughts?Random babysitting tip: how to keep a kid quiet May 11, 2007
Posted by Niels in : How to , 3 commentsA friend of a friend has a gig babysitting for a professor’s kid after school. She takes him to the park, gives him something sugary and lets him run around until he wears himself out. Then it’s back home for the inevitable sugar crash and a quiet evening. Brilliant! Now all I need is someone to trust me with their children.
Your thoughts?My first post-Beauty and the Geek photoshoot May 10, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Beauty and the Geek, Personal , 4 commentsI did a photoshoot yesterday for an upcoming magazine interview. We shot a few rolls by the electrical engineering building on the UC Berkeley campus, where I was mobbed by freshmen girls, and a few rolls in a local bar, where I was not. I felt a little self-conscious working it for the camera in the middle of the day in a very public place. I wonder how many photoshoots you have to do before that goes away.
I have to say that the photoshoot is a somewhat more positive experience when the photographer is trying to make you look cool, rather than as geeky as possible.
Your thoughts?Rome adventure May 9, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Personal , 1 comment so far
I spent my last night in Rome dining on caviar and private label champagne with some Italians and some Russians I’d only known for a few hours. Interesting things happen when you trust people. Sometimes you lose a few hundred bucks to a con artist, sometimes you end up with a bunch of strangers in a luxurious apartment, filled wall to wall and floor to ceiling with artwork and with a incredible top floor view of the Santa Maria Maggiore church.
My last day in Rome went well from the beginning. I woke up early, headed out to visit the catacombs of St. Sebastian (no mean feat, considering that it involved a metro ride and a bus ride on a limited service religious holiday and I’ve only been studying Italian for a week). The catacombs were fascinating, and I spent the hour afterwards wandering along the Appian way – a gorgeous, tree-lined cobblestone path that millennia ago was the main thoroughfare in and out of Rome. Following that, I wandered around the Castel San Angelo, which had a special May 1 entrance fee of only 1 euro.
That evening, I found myself outside the Santa Maria Maggiore church, waiting for a restaurant to open up. Turned out the guy next to me was also waiting around to meet a friend visiting from Russia. We chatted, him in broken English, me in broken Italian, until he invited me out to dinner with them that night. A few minutes later, a different friend of his showed up and we all went back for drinks. Going back to the apartment of someone I’d only known for 30 minutes - that could only end well, right?
The apartment was amazing. Every square inch of wall was covered with artwork, as well as most of the tables and shelves. I learned more about art in the half hour tour of his house than I did during the rest of my trip.
Eventually the Russian friend showed up with his new wife and the five of us - an Italian with no English, an American with little Italian, an Italian with little English, a Russian with great English, and a Russian with little English - settled down for dinner. The planned restaurant had closed, so my new friend went through his fridge to see what he had on hand.
And so we ended up beginning with caviar and champagne from a private vineyard, followed by pizza and homemade pasta matriciana. The pasta was amazing - I ended up so full I could barely get down any of the main course of fresh baby squid.
Your thoughts?My Kentucky Derby experience May 7, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Personal , 1 comment so far
Derby Pie alone would have made this day worth it, but the fantastic day in the infield, the millionaire’s party, and the post-Derby VIP party were all quite memorable as well. Peyton Manning says I look like his sister’s boyfriend.
When you attend the derby, you can pay a ridiculous sum of money to sit safely in the grandstands, or you can pay the slightly less ridiculous sum of $40 to wallow in the frat party mudpit in the center of the track. I was in the infield, of course. Turn three, to be exact - frat party central (”turn three is the place to be!”). I had a mint julep, drank booze from ziplock bags (hide them in maxipads, no one looks there), saw several boobs, and even a horse or two. The experience was everything I had hoped for, and I even made $5 at the betting window.
Craig and swung by a party thrown by a very wealthy friend of his afterwards and then headed to the main strip of bars in Louisville, where covers ran up to $40 for Derby weekend. Craig talked us into the Makers Mark bar for free, following which I befriended a group of girls who got us into Saddle Ridge for free. We bounced between the two bars and the street until about 3 am (bars open until 6 am Derby weekend), when we found ourselves too exhausted to go on. But on our way out Craig recognized a girl he met last year who said she could get us past the $40 cover and dress code for Felt. And within an hour she upgraded us to the VIP party in the back where Peyton Manning told me I looked like his sister’s boyfriend.
Your thoughts?