If this isn’t a perfect city summer vibe, I don’t know what is. God damn do I love skating in the park.
Hide Yourself to Be Yourself
Zoom has a feature called “Hide Self View” where you still show your camera to the people you are in a meeting with, but not see a live view of yourself. As I think about this, “Hide Self View” is ironically about showing MORE of your true self to others. With your own camera visible…
Filipino Turon (recipe)
I made Filipino turon for the first time! This is one of my favorite Filipino desserts, which is always a hit at parties. It’s a super simple recipe, but very labor intensive. I used plantain instead of Saba banana for the filling , along with jackfruit. I also dialed back the sweetness, which brings out…
Second Month of Skating: Getting My Jam On!
There are lots of kinds of roller skating: park skating (ramps), trail skating, derby, figure. But I have had one primary motivation for learning how to quad skate: dancing. Or “jam skating” as it’s called in many places. Early this morning, I celebrated two months of quad skating by jamming to one of my favorite…
From Giving out Bologna Sandwiches in Santa Monica to Building a World Government
In college at UCLA in 1990s, I knew I wanted to change the world. But I didn’t know what that meant. I sought the answer through volunteering, a lot. I spent my weekends distributing food to homeless people in West Los Angeles. I got really good at making hundreds of bologna sandwiches at a time….
Intermittent Fasting Update: August 2020
I’ve been practicing intermittent fasting since January, and I have zero regrets. It’s been quite the lifestyle change, but very little suffering from my experience. I’m at my target weight and feel as energetic as ever. I started, like most people, with an 16:8 schedule (16 hours of fasting, 8 hour eating period.) This was…
Growing Up as a Coconut
I spent most of my childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area. That sounds like a great cultural landscape to grow up within, with its diverse mix of races and peoples from all over the world. My reality was quite different. Specifically I grew up in Pleasanton, California, a large town about an hour away…
One Month of Roller Skating: So Happy!
So I’ve been roller skating for about a month now. I can’t think of anything I’ve “worked” so hard at at the start. Pretty much every day I’ve put in at least 1-2 hours of practice. And when I’m not skating, I’m probably watching skate videos. I didn’t do anywhere near that much practice when…
Julianna’s eggplant boat with sauteed nuts and mushrooms (recipe)
Here’s a yummy vegetarian recipe from my colleague Julianna , who was riffing on this one. I made some modifications and added some steps to my version. Ingredients: Olive oil 2 medium eggplants, halved and scored 1 cup walnuts / pecans, chopped 1 cup mushrooms, sliced or chopped 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp cumin…
Nan’s Pancakes (via Maria V)
This recipe comes from Nan, a friend of my friend Maria in Holland. I’m still trying to dial it in, but love how fluffy these come out. Might need to steam them for a bit after frying on both sides. Instructions Sift together into a bowl: 2 cups all purpose flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder,…