California...my spirit's home

The trip home to SF was filled with time outside with family...here is me doing a little yoga on Treasure Island after running around the perimeter with spectacular views of the city while my dad read and my mom walked.

We also went for an 7 mi roundtrip hike with a mid-point at the ocean where we played jump-rope with giant pieces of seaweed.
Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to pick up a 2lb dead jellyfish...I used to wonder that too...
Here is dad by the waterfall that drops onto the beach where we played seaweed jump-rope and "get the frisbee out of the ocean after Catherine makes a horrible pass"
View toward golden gate park from Ocean beach.
We visited the new Science Museum in GG park. It has a LIVING ROOF!!! (SF is so awesome)
Here is the scuba diver taking about the fish he is in a tank with in the science museum.
Catherine and grand-dad enjoying each other's company.
Cat at home
Great grandfather Revered Herbert Tweedie's grave in Oakland
Beautiful lilly-pad pond
My family like sky and rocks
and waterfalls and empty beaches
...and being generally awesome

Cat goes to resort

View from the Atlantis hotelroom
Cat and favorite DC buddies on the beach.

In the "personal underwater submarine" that feels like a ridiculously slow underwater scooter. Several of the other fellow submariners got pretty sick and were puking off the side of the boat or dry heaving while floating in the ocean....I however got quite hungy and made friends with an Iranian guy who had a big chocolate chip cookie.
Julia and Frankki looking darn cute.
Cat rushing through the hotel hall to get to dinner
More DC buddies...

Shot of hotel and what I like to call the "wasp temple" - home of several fantastic water slides
Two of the Atlantis resort towers...what a machine
Kirk quote~ "Its amazing how so many trees and fish can result in something so unnatural"...however, I am a huge fan of giant Manta Rays! They are smart and can move their little horns if you feed them fish.
Cat has returned to California after completing study in NY...stay tuned for family awesomeness

Things look up (despite the distinct sound of falling in NY)

if the US financial market crashes in the middle of a forest
and no one understands what happened
did anything really fall?


Meanwhile...in the real world, there was music, profanity, community and laughter. I went to a "living room concert" with a crowd of friends in a lovely house in the south end. Both Adam and Steph sang songs of heartbreak, betrayal, and crazy but hot women - a good time was had by all.
Rayna (b-day girl) and Cara looking glamerous in the foreground, while Nate, Adele and everyone else pay attention to the performers.
A special sing-along with the ladies of the night ends in smootches.
News flash: Catherine's suitcase has continued to shifts its portfolio toward traveling gym equipment, putting less emphasis on "work clothes"
Princess Julie visited Catamaran and there were birds and pitchers of sangria.

...and then I went for a bikeride with Rohit and came upon a big Indian festival with a life-size poster of Barak2 days left of working in the concrete jungle, then back to Philly, and then fly away on a chartered flight to the Bahamas with several hundred coworkers (the next post should be good!). Then back to Philly for a week of doing random work before I head out to San Francisco and SantaBarbara until late October.....wooooooooshhhhh! (imagine a big cape and fading out into a glittery mist)

Cats like old and new friends

Cat and Rayna leaving for morning in Harvard square.

Shopping "underground" to feed Rayna's most recent obsession...ain't she cute!
We saw a player piano in Harvard square (a piano that plays songs by itself when you pump a foot pedal). I hear that a Tea for Two remix is rising in the top-20 dance hits in Europe.
...the sign on the player piano read: "Its a great workout"...haha
Fabulous...
Cat celebrates newest life achievement: GONADS medal winner 2008
....much later...
...and later...
RayRay and Bry!!!
And turkey-taco finale on the roof deck at sunset!

3 days in Minnesota

Last weekend I visited the land of 1000 lakes to see Monica. Monica volunteers at the Humane society and so we got backstage passes to playing with puppies. Here is me with Ellie - a St. Bernard mix.We lucked out and also got to see the beginning of bunny agility class...yes, those are real bunny-jumps in the background....this is a subculture I did not know about.

Little bear at the zoo
Big bear
Monicle and catrabat
Here are Mike and Monica playing "Amy ball" - in which they hit a tennis ball back and forth with tennis rackets in a field and then hit the ball really hard when they want Amy to run after it.
And then, in a surprising turn of events... Its a giant carrot!!!
...that flies...

Turquoise, inflatable gerbal ball for human

Stoic bunny near our NY office on Park Ave. There is also a hello Kitty in this classic New York business world. I returned to Philly thursday night by train and then drove to a big farm 45min away late Friday night to camp with 20,000 people at the Philly Folk Festival. Many of the camps are set up into themed communities, often decked out with portable showers and temporary kitchens. I really liked the mermaid decoration on the tent below.

The general schedule of the folk festival is to laze around most of the day eating, napping (possibly on the hammock hill if you can find an open one), and visiting one of the 5 stages playing music until midnight. All these low-energy activities are just preparation for the period between midnight and 6am when the camp gets into full swing. Half the campers carry around instruments and wander around joining song cirlces or started spontaneous groups in between the camps.
I think the hammock hill was my favorite part...next to the children's stage which also held continuous performances and juggling lessons.
In the craft section of the festival, this green glass bottle christmas tree caught my eye...I like it a lot and would have liked to see it at night with lights.
Saturday night I got home around 1am and got up at 8am to take the train down to Atlantic city with my friend Ram. We took our bikes and spent the beautiful day biking to Ocean City beach, hanging out on the boardwalk, saving a lost little girl, playing in the water and then making the return trip. It was a big success win only a small sunburn.
View of part of ocean beach...it was a beautiful day! It is a trip I wouldn't mind repeating...any takers?
Once again, I am back at the airport...stay tuned for pictures from this coming weekend in Minneapolis with my dear Monica.

Cat apt1.0 launched!

After 5 months in Philadelphia, I unpacked my last box and took my last trip (not really) to IKEA. To celebrate this monumental occasion of acquiring a critical mass of crap, I hosted my first mini-dinner party. The dinner party was attended by local homeless hippies because I've spent more time putting together my apartment than making new friends (not really).

We were so excited about the crap that we continued celebrating at a Silk City, an unassuming hipster diner and dance club. We had root beer floats and then danced to good music until it was time to meet a nomadic friend at Chris's Jazz Club at Sansom and 14th.apt1.0 Official Interview

Suit: What makes apt1.0 so extraordinary?
Cat: "Well, it wouldn't have been possible without my team of houseplants. They have been dedicated to watering themselves on a weekly basis and staying green since day one...looking good is very important to the apartment."
Suit: Were you trying to recapture middle school memories with the locker-style storage furniture?
Cat: "I was actually going for more of an clean, industrial feel - think steel mill worker after a shower. This wall is also where I am going to project images - once I acquire a projector - I plan to project a static image of a steel mill."Suit: You were very clever in choosing a piece of furniture that works as a desk and a dinner table for 2-4 people, did you also have metal-workers in mind here?
Cat: "No. I am actually part magpie, so I just gravitate toward shiny things..."
Suit: Damn, that is an awesome couch
Cat: "Yes, yes it is."