juice & snacks

I’m a Team CoCo fan for life. Believe that. That’s us in the photo above, on our feet for most of the show.

Not too long after his tour tickets were up for sale, I immediately rounded up a few people to come cheer, chant, & laugh with me. Clay & Marvin were those winners. As expected, the show itself was hilarious. I won’t go into the details so I won’t spoil it for friends who have tickets for the San Jose show.

The San Francisco crowd was a bit lackluster for our tastes, so we were probably the loudest people on the second deck of the theatre. It was a perfect opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with Conan. In between a joke, when there was a hush in the crowd, I hollered:

me: Conan, we love your beard!

Conan: What’s that, sir?

me: (louder) We love your beard!

Conan: I’m glad you do. A lot of people don’t really like it…I look like the Brawny paper towel guy after a bone marrow transplant.

We had our fun. Again, without spoiling too much of the show, a stage personality was holding a handheld camera to showcase ‘groupies’ to be shown on the big screen behind Conan. I jumped out of my seat, screaming, & pointing to myself. Yep, I got us on big screen at the show. Too bad I didn’t get to do anything cool except scream like a little girl.

We tried to maximize our time after the show, hoping that Conan would make a surprise visit in the lobby (wishful thinking). We stuck around long enough to a point where we were forced to leave, so we finally started the slow journey down a few blocks to the garage. Toward the end of the block, however, was a small group of people waiting behind an imaginary line. “Conan’s coming out? We’re not in a rush to get home. Let’s stay for a bit.” These people were, in fact, waiting for Conan to leave his dressing room to the unmarked white vans waiting for him & his entourage.

Some of you may know that I collect signatures on my iPhone. I’d use this opportunity to do the same, especially since I wasn’t equipped with a pen anyway. After about 15 minutes of waiting on the sidewalk, he comes out:

I shove my iPhone in his face, hoping he will leave his mark on my screen with a drawing app I had open. After giving signatures the traditional way with the pen & paper, he looks at my phone.

Conan: So…what am I supposed to do with this?

me: You can use your finger to sign my phone.

He looks at the phone, confused. He’s still holding a silver ink Sharpie from a previous signature. He flips over my phone.

Conan: What if I just sign the back of this phone? That actually makes a bit more sense.

me: (reluctantly) Umm…okay. That will work, too.

Behold, the ultimate souvenir of the night. I may need to clearcoat or laminate this:

As he boards his white van, I used Clay’s phone to take a picture. When you hold down the shutter button, a big bright light illuminates the subject. Conan used that as a cue to turn to me & pose with a big open smile & a thumbs-up. I took two exposures, but this blurry mess was the better of the two, sadly:

As he was driving away, I thanked him for a good show & a lovely evening in a way only a true Conebone fan could—I looked him in the eyes & started chanting: Circle! Circle! Circle!, but then was quickly silenced by security because we were disturbing the Nob Hill residents who go to bed at 8:30pm.

I’m a Team CoCo fan for life.

Bay Area

Just when I thought I was going to wrap up my weekend, Randy texts me, saying that the guys were in town for dessert. Mae & Dave were in the group, & I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to congratulate the newlyweds (they just got married on Saturday—congrats!). The only place open at 11:00pm on a Sunday night was the ABC Bakery Cafe in Downtown San Mateo. It was a pretty quiet night in the shop. The food was good, but lacked a bit on the bakery side.

The private upstairs party was another story. Andrew asked the waitstaff what was going on, & he said that an actress from Hong Kong was named Fiona Sit was in the store, but we—as well as most of the staff—weren’t allowed to go upstairs to take a peek. Feeling giddy, we wait for a moment to see what she’s all about. About an hour after sitting & eating, a young lady walks down the stairs to the restrooms wearing some gold boots. Couldn’t miss her.

Good thing I had my Canon 5D on hand. Thanks to Andrew for asking if we can take a picture with her. She was a nice gal, even congratulating Mae & Dave for the big plunge.

Now we’re all part of the Fiona Sit fan club.

Bay Area, Photo of the day, photography

Call me cynical, but it seems like these days, it’s really hard to find a stranger that will do something nice for you if they’re not getting something out of it. Last week, however, my faith in humanity was restored at least a little bit.

A couple of Friday’s ago I took the train home from work. I was really tired, and the only thing on my mind was getting home to relax. I had my phone in my pocket but somewhere between the time I left my seat and the time I got to the front door of our apartment, my phone was gone. I called Verizon right away and they were able to suspend the service of the phone. (I guess that’s one advantage of not having a SIM card.) I also called Caltrain to report it because we had a friend who had left things on the train before and had gotten them back. I wasn’t overly concerned because it was a free phone, I just hoped it wouldn’t fall in the hands of someone who’d use my contacts for some unsavory business.

That night, my dad got a call from a lady who cleans the Caltrain. She said she found my phone and would keep it for us to pick it up. I have a friend who lives in the area so I asked him to pick it up next week during her working hours. He arranged to meet her mid-week. When they met, my friend tried to give her a reward but she politely refused. When my friend told me this, I was shocked. Again maybe I’m cynical but it was such a nice surprise.

Lifestyle

I had to come in to work last Thursday morning so I can take the super early shuttle to get to the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s were giving away a fleece Snuggie—what they called a Sluggie—to the first 10,000 fans. I had to get a good spot in line to guarantee getting the wearable blanket. Otherwise, my wizard hat wouldn’t make sense (photo above).

Thanks to all my friends & family who came out to rock the left field bleachers. Without them, I wouldn’t have got us on DiamondVision (finally!) & started the wave that went all the way around the Coliseum 7.5 times. Ahh, what a good game.

Another thanks to my cousin Daniel for wearing my camera & taking almost all of the photos of the evening. Nice shots!

baseball, Bay Area, Family, Photo of the day, photography, sports

It’s April and baseball season has finally arrived. What better way to kick it off than with catching a preseason game of the Bay Bridge series. The weather looked iffy but we managed to pull off an impromptu tailgate. Please forgive our friends for their poor choice of teams, we know we did.

Though the game itself wasn’t all that we hoped it would be, we enjoyed the festivities at the Fan Appreciation Tailgate. The lines were too long for us to get any signatures but we did enjoy the Q & A sessions which pumped us up for the season ahead. We know that no matter what the stats say, there is no doubt that the A’s will make this an exciting season!

baseball, Bay Area, photography, sports