Pics from my vacation in Bend, Oregon

I had 3 weeks off between jobs, so Lola and I took a little road trip up to Bend, Oregon to hang out with my aunt Liz and uncle Tom. Bend is situated smack in the middle of Oregon, in the high desert just east of the Cascade mountain range. That means that it's hot and dry in the summer, and snowy in the winter. Fleas can't survive there because it's too dry, so it's a great place if you have pets. Also, it's a great place if you're into outdoor activities, because Bend is surrounded by mountains, rocks, and other outdoor goodness. On my trip, Liz took me climbing and hiking, and I did a scenic bike tour too.

Full set of pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/juliej/BendJuly2008

New Job!

After 6 years, I decided to leave the comforts of the Goog, and join a tiny startup in SF. I am the first official employee, working with 2 founders. So far it has been a blast, and I am really enjoying the small, collaborative environment. We even got a real office when I started:






Buying supplies at Costco for our office move-in:

I'm not sure I heart New York

In June, I traveled to New York for 5 days to soak up some big city energy, and of course, sample some of its food. My friend Shawn now works at wd-50, so I was excited to use that as an excuse to visit the restaurant and try their cutting-edge style of food.

My friend Dave and I went there for dinner on a Thursday night, and had a great time. We ordered the tasting menu with wine pairings, so it was quite a long (and filling) event. Here is a pic of me, feeling somewhat overwhelmed near the end of the meal:


Dave mentally preparing for the meal:


My favorite dish - a riff on eggs benedict. The hollandaise sauce was made into a cube, breaded and then deep fried so that when you bit on it, the warm sauce burst out:




We also hit up the MoMA, traveled to Coney Island for a stroll along the shore, and ate an entire pie from Brooklyn's Difara Pizzaria. This was definitely one of the best pizza's I have ever eaten, on par with some from Italy, and definitely at the top of the heap for NY. Surprisingly, some of the recommended NY pizza places were not that great. But a few (Difara and Artichoke) really stood out.

Hanging out at Barramundi, the bar across the street from wd-50. I really enjoyed this bar, and it's open till 5am, so we were able to stay there until we had to go to the airport on our last night:



Followed by a still-somewhat-tipsy breakfast at the airport. Mmmmm, never has a McMuffin tasted so good:



All in all, I had a great time, but I was really glad to return to SF - a little smaller, a little less dirty, a lot less hot, and a little more quaint. I'm not dissing NY, I just don't think I would want to live there.