OSM!

[azurite]

So, I'm chilling here at SFO (San Francisco International Airport, for those that don't speak airport code). I shelled out $7.99 for a T-Mobile Hotspot Day Pass, because even though I don't visit airports (or Starbucks, or even Borders) quite often enough to get a Hotspot account/shell out $40 a month, sitting here for 3 hours nursing a Coca-Cola and reading the August issue of Wired just doesn't cut it for me. I need to be connected, which is kind of sad. I sort of miss my childhood. :P

Anywhoozles, speaking of Wired's 08.09 issue, there's a line in their cover story about "the new rules for digital gentlemen and other highly evolved humans," in the section about not Google-Stalking your first date. It made me LOL: "Reading your date's Muppet Show fanfic might end a beautiful friendship before it even begins." No surprise then, that some people like to keep their online lives and RL separate. Me? I don't mind being thoroughly integrated. I'm as open as a Google Book, anyway. It's not like I've written furry smut-slash or anything like that, and if I had, I'd want whoever I date to accept it or move along to someone a bit more conventional. Heck if I'm going to fit into someone else's mould.

OSMness of my stay in San Francisco, which ended too soon:

* Got my MacBook Pro battery AND my adapter replaced FOR FREE (shocking considering my laptop is out of warranty) at the Apple Store on Chestnut Street, my new favorite Apple Store. The place is very big and open, with tons more selection than some of the other stores (even the super-busy flagship on Stockton), and the people, while busy, are friendly. It's also dog friendly; I met a cute beagle, a Goldendoodle named Gumbo (it was huge), and a shepherd-like dog with pretty eyes. The Marina/North Beach neighborhoods seem to be quite dog-friendly in general.

My iPod clicked and flashed the other night when I tried to recharge it using Mom's adapter, but it could have been an incompatibility issue (she's got a new Nano while I've got a 30 GB "regular" iPod, prior to it being renamed the "classic" line. She's also got a Monster adapter. While all the plugs fit the same, maybe there's a difference in the power?). After I put it in Disk Mode (which I did accidentally while trying to restart and/or turn it off), it was able to charge fully without the Monster adapter, and on a full charge, it acted normally and even mounted to OS X. When iTunes tried to sync it, I didn't lose any of the data of songs that are on there but not on the MBP, so yay to that, too. I figure it might be on its way out, but provided I have a backup of all my songs, it's okay. I'd recycle both of my old iPods to get a new iPod touch. :P

* Managed to restore a good chunk of my songs using Expod, a super-handy utility I found out about through some Google-fu. Basically it lets me take off those songs that are mysteriously on my iPod but not on my laptop. Like all good Mac apps, it works right out of the box (er, online ZIP), no fancy manuals or installation procedures required. Oh, and it's free.

What songs weren't on the 'Pod I restored using clever Spotlight-searching techniques and by simply re-importing the CDs. I think at this point I'm down to a little over 200 songs that are still considered "dead" in iTunes, and I should be able to find them all somehow, somewhere. Once I do, the next step is to make the move from my external HD to the internal one so Time Machine can back up the library and I can trash all the Backup files of the iTunes library.

* Managed to meet up with pretty much everyone. I saw Steph and the other girls at Steph's 24th birthday party shindig at Bruno's, this hole-in-the-wall bar with mediocre deejaying and damn good cocktails on Mission Street. Steph, Eva and I all stayed up till 5am one morning just chatting about everything. That felt good. I even got to see Katia (who is now engaged!? Why am I always the last to find out about this!? Oh, because I live 300+ miles away...) and Marcella (!!!), which was a fun treat. Plus Dave Cooper, who I had no idea was even living in S.F. I just realized we didn't talk much about Penn State, which was the whole reason I wanted to meet up with him in the first place, because he's an alum. But considering my plans for post-graduation future have changed YET AGAIN, I guess it's not a huge deal. I had fun just chatting and gnoshing, anyway. More on the changed plans later.

On the second-to-last day, I got to see almost all the guys and Christal of the RTA/AX crew, and I finally met Sean's much-talked-about girlfriend! Christal was generous enough to pay for my share of dim sum over at the Mayflower restaurant AND a delish burger over at Buster's in North Beach (I owe her some serious Spritz), while Vince scored me some yummy blackberry and limon gelato later on (I want to go back to that place and try some of the other local flavors, though I know right now that Honey & Milk is too sweet for me). I've also discovered I'm not such a fan of cannoli. Sorry, Godfather fans! I also played Zombie Fluxx with Jimbo, Christal, and PsyJoe and managed to kick butt--I kind of want the game for myself now, if I could possibly assemble some friends to play with. Hmm, wonder if Adam might be into zombie card games? Also saw the first part of Red Cliff, an epic historical action-drama from China. It's a bit hard to keep track of all the people, but I thought Tony Leung's character and Zhou Yu's sister (forgot her name...ack!) have lots of chemistry, even if historically, he's already married to an unseen woman and she ends up marrying some old guy for political reasons. Feh! Fanfic, fanfic!

Oh, and speaking of RTA, I did visit the newly-remodeled place, dubbed "The Player's Arcade," over at Pier 39. The phrase "The more things change, the more things stay the same" applies to most of the pier, but alas, not to my old favorite arcade. There are now only two Bemani games: DDR SuperNova and DrumMania V, and no Police 911 2 in sight. Very sad. :( At least there are still ticketed games, but the prize counter has shrunk and the selection kind of bites. Plus, $1.50 for three stages of DDR?! Yipes, I know it's a tourist hot spot, but was it really that expensive back in the day? I was so spoiled on Bemani nights....

* THE MOST OSM OF THEM ALL: Yesterday I met Mom at the Apple Store, since I thought I might need her 1337 negotiating skills. She played her role well, making the poor Genius think she was a hardcore PC user that had yet to be convinced about buying a Mac (this coming from the woman who was trying to decide between a MacBook or an iMac just a week and a half ago). Then, toward the end of the appointment, my dad made an unexpected visit--and was cordial! There were hugs instead of handshakes, no swear words, and polite inquiries after health and well-being. I was quite gobsmacked. But very, very happy. Dad thought I intentionally pulled a fast one on him, leaving out the fact that my appointment at the Apple Store was with Mom, but I must have forgotten...or he did! Either way, THRILLS that it worked out! It's so nice to see that my parents can be mature around each other. :D :D :D

I'm actually somewhat looking forward to going home, if just to sleep on my own bed (though the AeroBed Mom got was pretty damn comfortable, no matter what Eva said about it being too soft) and have steady Wi-Fi in all my usual haunts. Also, MAIL! And money. And work for a week, until I have to get my butt to DC. And in-between all that, family visits and the Orange County Fair. Should be fun.

Meanwhile, Michael Jackson's "Beat It" is stuck in my head, along with a plotbunny for a multichapter Sailor Moon fic I meant to write for sm_monthly and never got around to. I mean really, ANOTHER multichapter? I wish I could churn stuff out as fast as moodwriter, with her "Hate, Prejudice and Secret Intentions" (I think I got that title right) Dramione fic that I've been reading lately. Good stuff! I've also got to catch up on Stargirl's "Tsuki no Namida," an AR of the Silver Millennium, since the latest chapter is up for critiquing on one of the_circlet communities. I'm not a big fan of walking into a long-ish multi-chapter fic blind, so I'll start with the beginning and go from there. So far, it's got an interesting premise but some grammar issues that irk me. But hey, SAILOR MOON FIC. I ought to get writing!