The Big Eat SF: 100 Things to Try Before You Die

I saw this list posted on a friend's FaceBook page (thanks CarOline!!) and am definitely inspired to start eating out more often in SF. It's a list of 100 dishes and drinks to try at various restaurants around SF:

The Big Eat SF: 100 Things to Try Before You Die

I'm also totally inspired to write my own East Bay version... but that will come later.

Of this list, I'm surprised I've actually had a fair number of these. I'm mostly surprised because I don't eat out in SF 1/10th as often as I do in the East Bay. There are sooooo many wonderful restaurants in Oakland, Berkeley, etc, I only eat in The City when I'm there for work, partying with friends, or going to a show or something.

I'm definitely going to have to write my own list. I'll probably put it on Yelp.

For the curious, of this list so far I've tried:

#7. Shaking beef at the Slanted Door is absolutely worth the hype. Totally and completely delicious with super tender steak.

#10. Baja-style fish tacos at Nick’s Crispy TacosI absolutely love taco's Nick's Way (crispy taco wrapped in a soft tortilla with melted cheese in between and a HUGE scoop of guacamole on top. Completely and totally delicious.The fact that it's the same location as Ruby Skye is hilarious. I think it's perfect decor for a taco joint. I haven't tried the baja fish yet. I'll have to go back.

#22. Vietnamese roasted pork sandwich at Saigon Sandwich enjoyed on a wild adventure of a night before boarding the Applause bus to watch drive-out theater "The Big Lebowsky" with a guy named Chicken John and a bunch of strangers. Then we all went bowling.

#29. Spaetzle at Suppenküche is delicious. I also recommend the venison steak and the hunter's platter.

#40. Cheeseburger at Taylor’s Automatic Refresher should be enjoyed on their front patio on a hot sunny day, preferably with garlic fries.

#53. Garlic soup at Piperade I used to work just across Green St. from this Basque restaurant and and always appreciated the custom iron work on the front porch. I went for dinner with Myshelle once. We had our puppy with us and sat on the patio. The servers brought her a bowl of water and all pet her. Our waiter growled at her. It was really funny. It would have been funnier if he weren't serious. Never tried the Garlic soup.

#57. Goat stew at Kokkari Estiatorio I'm glad Kokkari made the list, this place is AWESOME. I haven't tried the goat stew but now I've got a good excuse to return.

#84. A margarita at Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant they've got great tequila, just don't bother with the food.

#87. Fresh spring rolls at Out the Door I love me some fresh spring rolls. These are an excellent specimen.

#98. Basil gimlet at Rye is one of the best drinks I've ever had. Inspiring. Their Black & Blue is also very good.

Courage Campaign: Fidelity

Ken Starr -- and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund -- filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality of Prop 8 and attempting to forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this case on March 5, 2009, with a decision expected within the next 90 days.

The Courage Campaign has created a video called "Fidelity," with the permission of musician Regina Spektor, that puts a face to those 18,000 couples and all loving, committed couples seeking full equality under the law.


"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

The more people who see this video, the more people will understand the pain caused by Prop 8 and Ken Starr's shameful legal proceeding.

After you watch the video, please join me and over 70,000 people who have signed a letter to the state Supreme Court, asking them to invalidate Prop 8 and reject Starr's case.

http://www.couragecampaign.org/Divorce

Thanks.

/Aaron

First Full Day in Tulum, MX

Tulum is BEAUTIFUL. The trip took a little longer than expected, but
after a fun filled 24 hours outside of DFW, we finally made it (looong
embarassing story involving my passport). The adversity makes the
reward that much sweeter. Our cabana at Ocho Tulum is a stone throw
away from the crashing surf.

Today we went touring with Mani from Edventure Tours. He took us on a
zip line over the Cenotes. Afterwards, we snorkled one of the most
famous Cenotes, Dos Ojos. It was BEAUTIFUL. Amazing stalagmites over
crystal clear blue water. I'm looking forward to returning on Tuesday
to dive the same caves.

We continued on to the town of Akumal to swim with the sea turtles and
sting rays. After lunch, our last stop was snorkeling at Yal-Ku
lagoon. The brakish water is protected from the ocean so it was almost
perfectly still. Lots more fish to see.

Right now we're exhausted and hanging out back at the lodge sipping
Coronas and writing in our journals. Myshelle's convinced we'll have
enough energy to go Salsa dancing at the Friday night party at the
hotel down the street. We'll see.

I wish I had a computer so I could upload pictures. I'll have to take
some iPhone pics tomorrow, after our reef scuba dive.

Wish you were here.

/A

Sent from my iPhone

Anybody Need An IT Guy?

Sorry for the dramatic headline. No, I'm not leaving ArcSource, just looking for more clients. I'm still very happy with my current employment situation. Working with small businesses is exciting and fun, I love being able to really help people, while getting to play with technology at the same time. Case in point, Kyle and I have recently revamped a pretty spiffy looking IT blog. Check it out if you're feeling curious. You'll find more of my favorite iPhone apps, a comparison of the new IE7 vs FireFox vs Google's new Chrome browser, all kinds of good info. So yeah, ArcSource has been great for me. My work week is VERY flexible which I also have really been enjoying. I'm also serious as cash about new client referrals. Email me if you know any small businesses in need of an awesome IT team.

I'm also sorry I haven't written in a while. I guess I haven't had much new to say. Halloween was fun, Myshelle and I stayed home and gave out candy to kids. Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays and I enjoy being a part of the experience for other kids in our neighborhood. Plus, it's fun to torture the dogs with silly costumes. This year, Batdog and Superpuppy kept a watchful eye over the dangerous El Cerrito suburbs. They wiggled around a bit when we first dressed them up, but after a couple minutes they're resigned to it and trot around the house looking all cute.

Not much else new going on. Myshelle and I are going to Tulum (90 minutes south of Cancun) in December. We're both really excited about that. I'm looking forward to hanging out on the beach, exploring the famous Mayan ruins, and also stoked about scuba diving the Cenotes (rivers that run through old caves).

Top 7 Must Have iPhone Apps

Pandora
Download for free from the iTunes Store
Forget about searching for streaming radio stations, that's so 20th century. Pandora lets you CREATE your own radio stations. Just tell it the name of a song or artist you're in the mood for and it starts playing. As it plays, you can thumbs-up or thumbs-down songs to teach the software what you like. You can even create multiple stations. Works from your computer as well, so you can listen to and edit stations from your computer and then listen to and edit them on your iPhone. This is THE killer iPhone App. If you only download one thing for your phone, make it this.



PangeaVR
Download for free from the iTunes Store
This is the application I use to show off just how nifty the iPhone is. Download and view thousands of gorgeous panoramic photographs. Navigate with your finger, zoom in and out with pinch, rotate your phone to switch from panorama to portrait in real time. Very beautiful. I was showing my architect friend some shots of Barcelona and she said Park Güell was even more beautiful than she remembered.



Shazam
Download for free from the iTunes Store
Ever hear a song and wonder what it is? Wonder no more. Just hold your phone up to the speaker for 15 seconds and you'll have your answer. You get the artist, song title, album, even a link to purchase the song from the iTunes music store. In my experiments, this even worked in a crowded restaurant with the music barely audible. I don't know how it works, but it's darned impressive. The application even keeps a list of songs you've found so you can download a whole day's playlist when you get home.



1Password
Download for free (for a limited time) from the iTunes Store
Entering passwords on the iPhone is a pain, and even worse, it can't offer to remember passwords for you. This nifty little application can store and manage all your passwords so you don't have to. It can even sync with your Mac! I quickly set up the Mac application and extracted all the passwords out of FireFox and Safari. I was then able to sync them to my iPhone. Now my iPhone knows all of the hundreds of passwords my computer knows! It's only free for a limited time, so if you're interested, download it now and check it out.



Remote
Download for free from the iTunes Store
This one's from Apple and should have been included with the phone. You can use this to remotely control iTunes playback on any Mac on the network. If you have music playing from your computer, you can use your iPhone to browse through your whole song collection and fully control iTunes, including pause, volume, fast forward, track navigation, artist navigation, even assigning star ratingss to songs!



Yelp
Download for free from the iTunes Store
For those not aware, Yelp is an amazing website that allows users to write reviews of local businesses. This application uses your iPhone's location-aware functionality to show you Yelp.com reviews of local restaurants, bars, banks, gas stations, and other small businesses. With your iPhone and Yelp, you never have to go to a bad restaurant again!



Now Playing
Download for free from the iTunes Store
Also using your location, Box Office shows you show times of your local movie theaters. You can search by theater, or by movie. It shows synopses, reviews and ratings from RottenTomatoes.com, and links to YouTube trailers. When you're on the go, you can quickly and easily find a movie and even email details to your friends!