Life in the hornline

For my 28th birthday, I bought myself a camera to replace the one that I lost this summer. So, there are finally pictures of Flickr again!

I decided to throw myself a party this year, which meant sending out an Evite to friends and showing up at a bar. For people who don’t like to organize, I highly recommend parties like this. I was happy to see so many people make it out on a Tuesday night, especially with all of the holiday craziness going on. Birthday parties are always interesting because they bring together an eclectic crowd. I spent a lot of time running around from table to table chatting with a glass of wine in my hand. Later in the evening, the group was small enough that we could gather around a single table. It was then that I finally remember to bring out the cake!

28 has so far been a wonderful year. I have a good feeling about this one. 27 was good, but in a high-drama sort of way. I am hoping to be done with that for a while. Now am looking forward to Christmas and an amazing 2008!

It is finally snowing in Tahoe! That makes me happy.

In other news, I have drunk more champagne and port in the last 24 hours than I have drunk in the past 24 years.

A passion of mine for the past couple of years has been learning as much as I can about the food industry, and seeking out local, organic, interesting foods. I’ll read any book about industrial agriculture, local foods, whole foods, organic foods, and nutrition. This isn’t news. But lately, I have realized that, although I have been focusing on the problems with industrial food production, I am starting to broaden my view and thinking more about the bigger picture.

All of the problems we are facing, from sweat shops to global warming to….it is just to overwhelming to think about. That’s the thing: it is too overwhelming, but by focusing on the food industry in particular, I have been able to learn a lot about it without being too overwhelmed, make tangible changes in my life as a result (like drinking raw organic local milk), and I can now apply what I have learned to the larger problems of industrialization and globalization.

I just finished watching the documentary The Corporation (rented from video store) and recently I have read books like Not Buying It (from the library), which have made me think more about capitalism and consumerism. Plus there has been a major increase in the general awareness of environmental issues. So as a result, I have found myself wanting to do even more.

Being in San Francisco more I am sure has also had an effect. I am (finally) reading The Tipping Point, and so I am a bit more aware of how influenced I am by my surroundings (see the chapters on context). My lifestyle has changed a lot since I started working up here, both good and bad.

But it really comes down to this: I want to learn as much as I can about the world I live in so I can make good decisions about my life. It is like the the whole thing about giving people nutritional information so that they can make informed decisions about the food that they eat (although you have to question that information as well!).

Here are some things that I have done in the past year or so as a result of just being more thoughtful about my actions. All of these things are relatively small things that I have changed over time:

• Walking and taking public transportation almost exclusively. It really is a mindset change, and now that I have made the switch, I never want to drive. I’d rather take the train or walk, even if it takes longer. As a result, I get a lot more reading done.
• Buying fewer clothes. I have bought very few clothes this year aside from a few t-shirts, and although partly it is because I have gained some weight and clothes shopping isn’t as much fun, it is mostly because I don’t need as many clothes as I have, and reducing the the amount of clothing I buy reduces the demand for environmentally damaging cotton production and sweat shop labor.
• Reading most of my books from the library. It helps that the library is across the street from my office, and I have gotten back into my habit of reading stacks of books from the library. I have bought books only when I’ve been at the airport. Also, I am getting more into passing books around with my friends.
• Eating more local foods. When choosing between two organic milks at the store, I’ll look to see which one came from a local dairy, which is something I didn’t do a year ago. I also won’t by fruits or vegetables that are from Chile or New Zealand.
• Drinking a lot of tap water. I know that people have concerns about tap water, but municipal water is regulated more than bottled water. Plus, with every bottle of water I buy and drink, I am paying for the production of that bottle and fuel to get that water to me (and that’s one more container to try to recycle after a single use). I don’t even bother with filters. When I am tempted to reach for the Perrier at work, I usually stop myself and instead get a glass out of the cupboard and drink the tap water.
• Looking at the “Made In” labels more. I don’t think it has made a huge difference in my buying habits yet, but just like I didn’t think about which country my food came from until recently, I haven’t been thinking about where other stuff I buy is made. When buying my nephew’s birthday present recently, I for the first time, looked at the toy packaging, and noticed how they were all made in China. I think I am going to be a lot more aware of where my things I buy are made, and like with with the milk, at least choose the local option if I can.

The Silicon Valley Man:

• Lists C++ as a language on his online dating profile.
• Loves the climbing gym.
• Has a car that he is working on so he can get back into racing it.
• Takes lots of pictures of his motorcycle.
• Assumes it is okay to ask his girl pal or ex to bring her *hot* friends to a party.
• Dismisses all mainstream sports such as football, baseball, and basketball, and instead is a fan of a sport that he himself participates in, such as cycling, car racing, or soccer.
• Claims to love traveling, and sometimes even flies somewhere for work.
• Dates mostly Asian girls, or wishes he did.
• Owns an expensive DSLR camera with zoom lenses big enough to compensate for other things.
• Drinks only single malt, single barrel, or 100% de agave.
• Drinks PBR, but ironically.
• Takes the shuttle to work, and thinks it is cool.
• Never considers using the phone to set up a date, unless texting.
• Lives in San Francisco because South Bay is so lame, or talks about moving to San Francisco, or just gets married and stays in the South Bay.

(Compiled after years of extensive research. No, that one isn’t just because of *you*.)

I just had my first Amtrak experience over Thanksgiving. I was not looking forward to being stuck in traffic for hours on end driving to Sacramento for Thanksgiving, so I had the brilliant idea of taking the train. I’ve become quite the train fan this past year, so I thought I’d give it a try. Plus, I am toying with the idea of going carless, so this would be a good experiment to see if long-distance trips are doable sans auto.

The train ticket is only $28 each way, and the trip time is three hours from San Jose to Sacramento. This seems to be in the same ball park for time and money. But, the only thing I didn’t take into consideration was the time it takes to get to and from the train station on either side. Since San Jose’s light rail does not directly connect to the train station, I had to give myself over a half hour to get there. I got there way too early this time, and it turns out that 10-15 minutes early would be plenty of time.

I was hoping to sleep on the train, but it makes frequent stops, and with those stops are frequent announcements and people shuffling by. I might have dozed off eventually, but we were stopped in Emeryville for an hour and a half due to a freight train derailment ahead of us. With the delay three times longer than the original 25-minute estimate and my severe lack of sleep, I was craaaan-ky.

But the ride back to San Jose was much less eventful. Thanks to my two adorable nephews waking me up early for two days, I was so sleepy that I slept most of the way back. This was so much better than past drives home where I’ve had to stop in a parking lot for a nap because I was so tired. So was the train better than driving: hell yeah. Definitely the way to go if you are faced with a solo drive to the central valley.

I bit about the train: The seats are much more comfortable than Caltrain. They recline and have footrests.  It was fairly full, but most people each had the two seats to themselves. There is food available on the train, but I don’t recommend it. It makes an annoyingly large number of stops, and I don’t understand why there isn’t an express at least between SF and Sac.

So many excuses to celebrate these days. Tomorrow is my one-year anniversary at Coverity, and I’ll finally know what it is like to have stock options. Then we have Thanksgiving and my nephew’s birthday. And then, what really matters: my birthday! I want to have a party in San Francisco, but I am still figuring it out the details. So keep either the 11th itself, or the Saturday before (the 8th) open on your calendars. As an early birthday present to myself, I am finally going to replace my lost camera (don’t know what I want though–they don’t make one as small as my old one anymore).

Then of course is the Christmas craziness, and I haven’t figured out what I am going to do, although I think it won’t be much. I want to save up my vacation for a Colorado ski trip in January, and thanks to my crazy summer, I have almost no vacation time. Besides, traveling around the holidays is no fun. Speaking of which, I am going to take the train to Sacramento for Thanksgiving for the first time. I think it will be just as fast and cheaper than driving, so I am looking forward to it (and seeing the family of course!).

I am hoping for a good ski season this year, and I plan on doing a lot of skiing, unlike last year. I have new skis that I have been staring at all summer, so I can’t wait to use them again. So I guess I have made that transition from disbelief that it is the holiday season to looking forward to everything that is coming up!

I’ve been doing lots of walking this weekend, partly because MUNI pisses me off to no end, and partly because I’ve had a lot of contemplation to do. Yesterday, I walked to get coffee and a donut. Then I walked to the beach, and then up and down the beach. Then I walked from the N-Judah stop at Duboce down into Castro, and then over to Mission, and back to the N. Then thanks to more MUNI misfortune, I walked from the the N-Judah stop at Duboce & Noe to Divis. & Haight and back (gave up on the N-line, walked over the 6, gave up on the 6, so walked back).

I added it up thanks to a Google maps app, and it was over 10.5 miles! Today I wasn’t quite as ambitious because when I walked to get lunch (I slept till noon, maybe because I walked over ten miles the day before), my legs ached walking up the small hill on Funston).  But surprisingly, adding it up again, I walked over four miles without really trying (well, I did miss the 44 bus and ended up walking home from Geary and 6th Ave).

That got me thinking about the whole 10,000 steps thing, and playing around with the apps, I figure I am getting a minimum of 5,000 steps in at least a day when I am commuting from SJ. But when I am in the city without a car, I think I am walking pretty close to the 10,000. However, I am not willing to wear a pedometer to get a more accurate assessment of my walking.

Nothing creeps out boys more than a girl coming back from a doctor’s appointment and declaring that she have some TLA-named something. And I know this because I over-share. I am a very open person, happy to talk about myself no matter how embarrassing. Maybe I got into the habit of telling everyone around me (and since I am work most of my waking hours, these tend to be coworkers) after working for five years with other women about my age.

So anyway, I have been getting many stress-related things-wrong-with-me over the past year or so. And today I was at an ENT doctor because I have TMD.  And I had to tell everyone at work. Who are all men. Which would explain the “I don’t know and I don’t want to know” looks that I am just starting to recognize.

Does it really sound that bad? I just went to a ear, nose, and throat doctor because my jaw hurts. My jaw hurts because a am so stressed out that I clench it even when I sleep.  Better than my hormones getting out of whack or my immune system getting so suppressed that my spine is inflamed by dormant chicken pox viruses. Those things happened early this year. TMI?

But back to bitching about my current ailments. My TMJ (temporomandibular joint)  is injured thanks to my clenched-jaw sleeping, and not getting better because of my big yawns and constant munching on bagels and french bread. To fix it: no opening my mouth when I yawn, and no hard foods like bagels and french bread. At least until it gets better. And I get a sexy $700 mouth guard to wear at night.

The visit to the doctor started out pretty typical, waiting in a waiting room for ages, and then waiting in an exam room for more ages. But the exam room was the most non-medical feeling, old skool exam room I have ever been in. I sat in a chair like they have at the eye doctor’s, but this one was brown vinyl. All of the equipment looked 30+ year old. The metal jars and instruments were labeled with typewriter-typed sticker labels. Everything had a thin layer of dust on it. Since I had nothing better to do, I assessed everything in the room and determined that I was the youngest thing here, aside from the magazines.

Shortly after hearing through the wall of the adjoining exam room “Can you hear me better now? CAN YOU HEAR ME BETTER NOW?”, the fatherly looking ENT doctor came in and we joked about the yelling and how there was nothing wrong with my hearing at least. He  spent quite a bit of time just talking to me, and talking about TMJ in general. He liked to talk a lot. He did some quick physical tests to confirm his suspicions, and recommended non-dramatic ways to make me feel better.  No crazy MRIs, no physical therapy, and definitely no surgery ever. I could tell that he prided himself on his old-skool ways. Why spend thousands of dollars to confirm what you can tell by talking to someone and poking around a bit when the treatment is going to be the same?

I was told that I am the classic TMD patient, which in his words are “young, intelligent, educated, compassionate young women who have a lot going on in their lives.”  I was also told that this happens to lots and lots of people, that this is really common thing and not to feel bad about having it, and that there was nothing that I did to cause it. It is mostly a problem with younger women and he almost never sees an “85-year old grandma with TMD, so just give it 60 years.” Then I was told that I had to be on a strict soft-food diet, not open my jaw very far, even to yawn, and make an appointment to see the dentist (for the mouth guard). I am to “be a good girl and call in three or for weeks to talk” about how I’m doing and then to come in for a visit in two months. Okay, Dad.

So to start, I must admit that I have a really bad song stuck in my head thanks to this title. When I was a sophomore in high school, I played piano for the jazz choir, and one of the songs we did was “Night in the City.” In case you haven’t heard of it, it is a super cheezy 70’s sounding song that goes like “Night. Night! In the city! In the city! Looks pretty! Looks pretty to me! Night in the city!” And that reminds me of last night when Laura and I were singing the song from the strip-club scene in “Lost in Translation” (yeah, that one) walking back from Love Parade. But enough of songs stuck in my head…

This has been a picture perfect weekend in San Francisco, although I haven’t done too much to take advantage of the sunny weather. But just walking around is wonderful when the sun is shining.  This weekend has been fun, but not too crazy, and so I think that I am beginning to find that balance between partying all night and sitting at home stressing out about things.  It’s been good food, good friends, and no hangovers, which makes me feel rather mature. Although I must admit, that when I get home, I do feel that something, or someone rather, is missing, and life isn’t quite where I want it to be.

But enough of that. Here are some of the places I’ve been this weekend:

• Love Parade:  I finally made it this year, and didn’t stay for too long, but it was quite the site to see. It was like everyone went into their closets and found their favorite Burning Man/Halloween/underwear/clubbing outfit and headed to the Civic Center. It was very mellow and the cops looked bored, which is always what you want at big events.
• Alembic: The attitude of the staff aside, this bar was lots of fun. It is no fun when it gets crowded, but we got there early enough to get a table. We worked our way though many of their interesting cocktails and wines, and most of the food menu. In general, the food is a bit salty, but super yummy. The only disappointment was dessert. But I’ll definitely be back.
• Modern Tea: I haven’t been here in ages, but we ended up here when we wanted something near the Civic Center that wasn’t your typical rich restaurant food. For some reason, the food tastes more homemade, and there are lots of vegetarian options. The carrot cake was a bit boring, but maybe that’s a sign that I just need to give up on desserts when I go to dinner.
• Kaleo Cafe: The internet continues to not work at the SF apartment, so I at the only place in all of Inner Sunset that has free wireless. It stopped working yesterday when I was here, and the girl did not know how to fix it, but I am not going to complain since it is the *only* place in Inner Sunset with free wireless. I had no idea it was here since it is not in the main 9th&Irving area, but Aaron finally found it searching on his Blackberry when he was here. If only they made better coffee…

I am staying up here instead of going back to San Jose tonight, so I might go check out the Folsom Street Fair, or maybe kiss some ass again at pub trivia at Pig & Whistle. Or, if Heather is lucky, I’ll tackle cleaning the refrigerator. I know y’all want to know these details.

Until I started working in San Francisco, I volunteered at HomeSafe, now a part of Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence. After four years, I finally had to quit last November. I just did a quick Google search of my name (gotta do that every onece in a while), and I discover that I am in an article in the Spring 2007 newsletter, months after I left. You can tell by the write-up that whoever wrote the article knew nothing about me except that I had been there for ages. Here’s my 15 minutes of fame:

Lauren Hoernlein has been donating her time to caring for
HomeSafe youth and children since 2003. She has taught
children important life skills that they can incorporate
into their everyday lives. In teaching children how to
express their anger in a positive manner, she helps them
use their words and describe how they are feeling. Lauren
also graciously donates her time and energy to special
events and activities like the Holiday Boutique and Next
Door’s annual Spa Party.

While that is one of the main goal’s of the children’s program, that isn’t exactly what I was known for with the kids there. And I don’t even know what the Holiday Boutique is. Here’s what I focused on teaching the kids there:

• Fresh fruit and vegetables make great snacks, and fruit snacks don’t count.
• Always say you’re sorry.
• Wash your hands after going to the bathroom and before snack time.
• Playing the piano is fun, and banging on the keys is not acceptable.
• If you aren’t willing to share, then no one gets to play with the toys.

And, more than anything, I did my best to be there every week and to follow through on whatever I said I was going to do. I miss the kids. I miss drawing and dancing and playing games for a few hours  every week. Maybe I should find a new volunteer job with kids again…if my life ever settles down again.