Lifeaholics Anonymous

Everyone in Newport peninsula is the same. Very fun. Party animals.  Going out the last few nights and meeting people its like having the same experience over and over again.  I could see how this place gets a stigma attached to it. If you are unfamiliar with the type of people here then it would definitely seem foreign.  My advice: roll with it. Yes its different but people generally are more down to earth and cool than you would expect. It just happens that they probably are also ridiculously loaded.

As was the case last night. I had dinner at the best sushi place on  earth and started talking to this dude next to me. We were talking about financial markets and the outlook in a couple specific sectors. Turns out the guy was putting literally millions of dollars into the stocks.  But whether its a million or a thousand dollars, the fluctuation impacts both investments by the same percentage.

I dont care what they build over there. You cant replicate the ocean. Advantage Orange County.

This morning I was up at 1/4 to 7 and went for a run through Sunset Park.  You can watch the sun rise over the bay and all the light reflects back at you.  It was a blissful 70 degrees and cloudless.   The sand was cool and so was the pacific.  No city life for this guy.  I’m hanging out with the giant green-headed ducks in the pool when the dew melts.

Saturday morning I went to a home owners association meeting to hear about plans of our Hospital neighbor’s efforts to mitigate sound disruption.  Apparently there have been a number of complaints about the noise emanating from the buildings. I live adjacent to the hospital and rarely if ever am disrupted. However the Hospital is planning on taking a number of steps including encasing all the machinery in sound resistant material and construction a monster sound wall.

At first I was quite opposed to the sound wall because who wants to look at a wall. But then who wants to look at a hospital. What I learned was that since my condo is elevated around 20-25′, the base of my view will be above the wall.  Additionally this wall absorbs 100% of the sound that hits it, as opposed to the typical wall which just reflects the sound.   The hospital is also going to plant a considerable amount of foliage around the wall to make it aesthetically pleasing.  Overall the project is going to do wonders for my property values.

Our neighboring building’s impact from the project is drastically different. They are depressed by about 5′ from the base of the wall. As the wall staggers to a height of 23′ feet, their entire view will be just wall.  The hospital will have to remove a considerable amount of vegetation adjacent to their building.  The wall is also as close as 10′ feet from their building in some points and will block all of the morning sun.  For them this wall is about the worst thing that could happen to their property values.

So therein lies the dilemma.  The homeowners really have little to no impact on the construction of the wall because it has been approved by the city and is on the hospital property.  I feel really bad for the people who live facing the hospital in the other building. But for my building its a real treasure.

The yin and the yang.

Also at the meeting I got the chance to strike up some conversation with the senior planner for the city of Newport Beach. What a great job that guy has! He was really nice and I am going to find out how to get involved with the planning board. The city has an incredibly massive budget and very few problems. Its not Dubai or anything but last I checked you couldn’t surf there.

Yes, yesterday was a down day but today we are back on top thanks to some exercise and the wonders of the pacific ocean.

Tonight there is a total lunar eclipse.  I haven’t seen one in recent memory and its the last one for almost two years. So at 7pm PST be sure to get outside and check out the heavens.

This weekend I went up to Venice which is probably my most and least favorite place in the world. Its bursting with culture and art which I love.  And crime, filth and otherwise immoral behavior which I loathe.  I would not go back there during the weekend, too much humanity. Yes I am definitely not a city person.

I gained some 15 lbs over the holidays which I’m trying to shed. Eating healthy, avoiding meat and packaged food, and exercising on a daily basis is the plan.

It was a lovely weekend of outdoor adventure here in southern California.  Sunny and mild for the most part I was able to play some tennis and run on the boardwalk.  Now I’m suffering from a case of the mondays, but its tuesday so it shouldnt last long. More tomorrow

Valentines Day is nice. Its so cliche but you’ve got to enjoy it.  I’m not doing much today but will be celebrating on Monday. Hope you all have a good one with someone you care for, and if you dont have someone then I hope youll find them

This may come as a shock to anyone who knows me and probably will. Its a bit of a shock to myself too.  But I’m not going anywhere for a while. Not moving, not changing jobs, not traveling extensively.  I’m just going to enjoy life here.  Things are going well and I’m going to work on this insatiable desire I have for new things.  I am trying to learn patience and not be so afraid of settling down.  I am an extremely anxious person but I think its starting to get better.

My reasoning, things are going well. Work is good and secure. I have great friends in town, my best friends live next door.  I love my new condo and want to fix it up nice.  I am really getting to like living in Newport.

If I were to change things I would miss what I have. So for now, this is life.

Traveling is great for putting thing in perspective. Whenever we step away from our routine we have the chance to evaluate from another perspective. This recent sojourn of mine has helped me clarify and re-motivate. I feel invigorated and refreshed.  2008 is a great year!

The islands of hawaii are absolutely incredible.  I have seen them on TV a thousand times but that does not convey how awesome they really are.  I spent the last 4 days in Waikiki.  I would describe it as the cleanest, most bougie downtown USA city that I have been in.  Its very clean and everything is designed to encompass the hawaiian and capitalist spirit.

Some reasons why Hawaii so pwnz:

its BEAUTIFUL.  The volcanoes combined with the heavy rainfall created some dynamite landscapes.  Every turn reveals some eye-treats and no two spots are identical.

NATURE is everywhere. So many types of trees, birds, flowers, fish, whales, rocks, water, sand….it is nature at its finest

SURFING!  The waves on the north shore blew my f#@&* mind.  There were at least 8 different breaks that I saw there that easily bested the greatest waves I’ve seen in southern california. Plus the water is nice and warm and so clear you can see your feet clearly at any depth.  You can even see fish swimming around if you are in the right spot.

QUALITY - You get what you pay for. Often in other tropical vacation spots you get ripped off as everyone is trying to make a quick buck. But the tourism industry in HA is more established so you can feel more secure when spending your money

Its SAFE. There are police everywhere and streetlights on every corner.  There are huge military installations throughout the islands as well so if something should happen you are pretty certain theres an off-duty soldier within shouting distance.

My favorite thing:

The Aloha SPIRIT. Hang loose. Its so mellow there it makes San Diego look like NYC.  The people are very friendly and its so casually. But its not the sloppy ‘island time’ where trying to do anything becomes a pain in the ass. The service excellent everywhere I went.

All told it was the best vacation I’ve been on since I went to tokyo in ‘98.  I cannot wait to go back this fall.

Its pretty nice coming back to newport too

I’m heading to Waikiki tomorrow bright and early for my first ever trip to Hawaii. I’m overwhelmed with anticipation as I feel like Hawaii really may be my idea of paradise. Relaxed enough to unwind, yet still a thriving AMERICAN urban environment.  What I really look forward to seeing is the incredible diversity of the people. I hear that there are so many mixed cultures there that they are not familiar with the racial issues of the mainland. Ill be interested to see how that pans out.  I got an awesome deal from American Express which included flight, hotel, car and some shwag for <$600.  I have a feeling this may be the first of many trips over there.

Surfing in warm waters for the first time. OOOOOOOOOOH YEAAAAAA