I'm disgusted and ashamed to live here.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you probably don't live in California. For your benefit, here is a quick explanation: Proposition eight will outlaw same-sex marriages, which are currently recognized by California state law. By voting "NO", I am voicing my opinion that same-sex marriages should have all of the same rights and privileges as a heterosexual marriage in the eyes of the law.

Proposition eight is a step backward for civil rights. If you live in California, I beg you to please vote "NO" on proposition eight!

Oh yeah, and I'll be voting for Obama too.

For me, I always imagined offering a custom-designed one-of-a-kind ring to my love. A unique artifact which no other woman would have on her finger.

Sophia was quite fond of Tacori's elegant and sophisticated designs. However, by buying one of the existing Tacori designs we would be certain that the ring would not be of a unique design.

So... What do we do? Have Tacori make us a custom-made, uniquely designed engagement ring?

Yep.

More details to follow.

Of course, there are plenty of other pictures from my steamboat trip. Read on to take a peek.

All of these problems seemed to crop up when my router died an untimely death a week or two ago. Probably related.

This time they had some of the couches we wanted on the self-serve floor and we loaded it onto two of the flat-bed carts. We glided over to one of the checkout lines and proceeded to wait for our turn at the casher.

Eventually it was our turn, and after all the items were scanned I was ready to pay. I reached for my wallet and...no wallet.

My heart sank. Not only another wasted trip for us, but another wasted trip for Sophia's dad! I fumbled around in disbelief for a few distressed moments.

"What's wrong?", I heard a voice ask. It came from the guy behind us in line.

"I forgot my wallet", I replied while fumbling around. I figured he was annoyed that I was taking so long.

"How much do you need?", he asked.

Puzzled, I answered him, "Around $700."

"I'll cover it and you can send me a check," he replied.

I was dumbstruck. There must be some catch, I thought. Or maybe I didn't hear him right. It seemed like something out of a movie, not something that happens to real people. But here I was without a wallet, and here was someone willing to help. And that's exactly what he did—he walked around the couch to the register, pulled out his American Express card and paid for it.

He handed me his drivers license so I could get his address off of it. I also wrote down my address, phone number, and email. I thanked him profusely, and we went our separate ways. His name was Stephen.

As you might imagine, this has been quite a profound experience for me. $700 is no small amount of money, and he had no way of knowing if I was even good for it. Yet he helped me anyway, and for that I am extraordinarily grateful.

The check is in the mail.

UPDATE: By the way, Stephen apparently runs the Boulder Creek Brewery in, um... Boulder Creek. If you are in the area, you should probably drop by and check it out—because it is a known fact that cool people make delicious beer. You heard it here first.

I've got a lot of things that I want to blog about, but I've just not found the energy/time to start writing them.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive. And oh yeah, I'm moving. To Campbell. Like, now.

. . . Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music.

Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. That’s right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player.

I knew I liked this guy.

It seems that Macrovision's CEO, Fred Amoroso, has formally responded to Steve's "Thoughts on Music". Luckily, John Gruber of Daring Fireball has translated the letter from PR-speak to plain English. Worth a read.

We ate at Juban, and the food was fantastic. I had never been to a Yakiniku House before. Sophia made up some weird excuse to use the rear entrance instead of the front entrance, which gullible me just accepted blindly without question. Upon turning around the corner, I was stupefied to find Mike, Komei, Ross, Jarred, and Nathan were there waiting for me! A few minutes later, Will and Daniela showed up.

Thanks guys! I couldn't ask for more wonderful friends!

FACT: Although the U.S. population has been growing steadily, the rate of motor vehicle deaths per 100,000 population has remained constant since 1998.

O RLY?

Beware of the impaired pedestrian.

Yeah, those pesky impaired pedestrians.

Look for pedestrians to appear suddenly around buses. Watch for children - they can be unpredictable and move erratically.

You should also watch for snipers. And campers too.

Marijuana - often referred to as grass, pot, or weed - is the dried and unprocessed leaves, stems, and seeds of the cannabis sativa and cannabis indica plants. Marijuana can be eaten or smoked. Most frequently, the dried plant leaves are shredded and rolled in cigarette papers to form a joint. Joints can be smoked like a cigarette. Hashish, which is another, more potent marijuana product, is processed from the resin in the flowers of the marijuana plant. Like marijuana, hashish can be eaten or smoked, though it is most frequently smoked in a pipe or bong.

What, no recipe for pot brownies? Common, stop holdin' out on us...

First introduced as a street drug in the late 1960s, PCP soon gained a reputation for provoking dangerous and violent reactions. Although one-time users may be turned off by a bad trip, continual users respond to the drug's ability to induce feelings of strength, power, invulnerability, and a numbing effect on the mind that can result in the disappearance of unpleasant memories.

Hey, that doesn't sound too bad.

Some individuals mix cocaine and heroin. This mixture is called a "speed ball." By combining several stimulants, the effects of all drugs are prolonged.

Always good to know. I think. Wait... what?

And last, but certainly not least:

Give motorcyclists who aren't wearing protective clothing or helmets plenty of extra room. Their poor judgment as to their need for protective gear may also be an indication of poor driving skills.

After we had gotten finished eating, we naturally wanted to get a picture of everyone together. This causes an obvious problem for whoever is taking the picture. The solution? Use a small tripod and a timer! And who better to take the picture than the person sitting in the middle of everyone. So, what is the shortest route between any two points? A straight line... under the table. As you can see, this plan was fool-proof.

Move from point A to point B. Seems easy enough. That was my first mistake... Underestimation.

I'll elaborate more on this whole subject later, as I am currently at work.

I'll update this post later with some of the mind-boggling details which will make it clear why this has become such a stressful event.