Atoning for the Seven Deadly Sins

Yom Kippur is the Jewish holiday of atonement, where practicing Jews worldwide engage in a 24 hour fast, abstaining of all food and drink, in order to repent for the last year of sins and start this new year, 5774, with a fresh start. 

And hoo boy, do I have a lot for which to atone. 

1. Wrath; def - Anger. 

Around the beginning of July, I had the opportunity to go home and visit with friends and family. I had a lot of mixed feelings about it. Although I love my friends and family, I new that this particular visit would be rough. 

But it wasn't all bad!

 I got to see him! Link, my dog, is the best dog in the world. The dogs that come hang out at work are inferior, the tiny rat-dogs so frequently seen in my building hallways and the streets of San Francisco aren't even dogs, and cats just aren't. They aren't. That's just how it is. Link is my dog, and he is the best dog.

 And I got to see a lot of the parts of Cleveland that I miss. Cleveland's a wonderful city, and I miss things like knowing my way around and knowing people that know about cool things that are happening. And I saw some people that I genuinely enjoy, I care about, and I like being around. They're the folks that I still talk to a bunch, even though I'm away. The only part that was a bummer was seeing friends that I adore, and not knowing when I'd see them next.

 

 Necessary 4th of July fireworks picture. Nice work, city of Solon.

Heading out to Put-In-Bay Island, Ohio.

The annual trip to Put-In-Bay Island is a much-loved tradition that's been going on for about 5 years, I've been going since 2010, and this was my fourth summer trip. It had always been one of the pinnacles of my adult summer life: a bunch of young, single folks drinking and hanging out on an island whose principal import is alcohol and whose principal export is STDs. Every year I had gone not to get wasted and get herpes, but to hang out with friends and take a break. This year was different. Everyone seemed to be dating someone, so their significant others were a natural addition. Don't get me wrong - I am a tremendous fan of everyone that came along, and the group of people as a whole are fun, smart, cool people. But the addition to the group size and inclination for some to be kind of "paired up" meant that we couldn't really hang out as a group, it ended up raining a bunch, and I ended up spending a lot of time alone, looking for stuff to do, and I didn't have a great time. Come Saturday night I was just annoyed and wanted to go to bed. Reflecting on it, I should have tried to have a better attitude, and I knew that it wouldn't be the same... so I shouldn't have expected it to. I'll always have fond memories of summer trips up to Put-In-Bay a.k.a 'Cougar Island', but I'll try to be graceful and quietly accept that this is something I've outgrown. 

2. Greed; def - selfish desire for material things. 

The major incidence of greed during my trip home was the recognition that I won't be able to stay in my childhood home anymore. The house in which I grew up is being sold, and no matter how much I tell myself that this is the best thing for our family, it's hard not to get upset about it. And I spent nights looking around the bedroom I've lived in since I was 6 wondering how I could ever call somewhere else "home". But I know that the sale of the home and move is causing some significant stress for my parents, and I know that wanting them not to sell it is just me being greedy and selfish, and that being mature and sensible is probably the best way to help them cope. So one of my good friends out here told me something that's helped me out a bunch, it apparently helped him deal with his childhood home getting demolished for a parking lot: "What happened later to the place where you grew up neither negates nor destroys the memories you have of that place." Solid advice.

Soon after I returned back to California, one of my favorite people paid me a visit. Stefano is a photojournalist whose roommate I used to date around the time I graduated from college. The only downside of the visit was me ending up seriously seriously sick for the majority  of his stay. The boogers flowed like the cool waters of the Nile, my forehead burned like the deserts of the Sahara, and my main food groups included soup and tea. 

 I showed him around Google

 

3. Lust; def - those donuts. Dear god, those donuts. Look at those Oreo crumbles and cream fillings and frostings and deliciousness. Oh baby. You don't know what you're doing to me. 

And we spent one awesome day with his friend Rajon around San Francisco biking over the Golden Gate bridge!

The view of the city was amazing. 

And being on the bridge was just so cool. 

It was also freezing, but whatever. That's San Francisco.

Since then it's been fun, and I've been very active. 

I babysat a coworker's cats while he visited in-laws. 

I got drunk and experimented with red lipstick at my friend Sandie's.

I took awkward gratuitous selfies post-workout.

I went to the coolest tiki bar in North Beach and had some seriously fantastic summer-appropriate cocktails.  (Bonus points if you catch the Nickelodeon 90's reference)

I was impressed with the parking skills of others. 

I saw a double rainbow at a Labor day party. 

And that Labor day party was FUN!

4. Gluttony; def - eating or drinking too much

One of my favorite adventures over the past few months was an absolutely gorgeous day I spent with my good friend Nima exploring in San Francisco. We walked from Union Square up through Chinatown and North Beach and then down Embarcadero  through SOMA (oh yeah, I'm learning the names of the different neighborhoods!).

This picture is like... the definition of gluttony... eating too much. My favorite restaurant here is this mini-chain called "Plant Cafe Organic" featuring tons of fresh juices, smoothies, fresh food, and tons of delicious options. The featured spread includes fresh oysters, faux-huevos rancheros, a lovely kale salad, a beet burger, fresh juice, a GFV chocolate peanut butter cupcake, and a slice of GFV hazelnut cake. Eating with Nima is fun. You order like... half the menu and then share everything, something I used to do going out with family. This place had a bunch of fantastic vegan options. We stuffed ourselves and kept walking. 

The other major example of gluttony was the recent Google microkitchen fair, where different vendors come, give out tons of free samples, and employees get to pick which snacks we want in our break rooms/snack rooms. I managed to fill two bags with swag and healthy snacks and I think my kitchen will be well-outfitted for months to come. I also met Brad of Brad's Raw Kale Chips. Considering how much I adore those kale chips, I was geekishly excited. My inner fat kid was well tended to. 

5. Pride; def - inflated sense of personal accomplishment or status. 

Last weekend was the Trail Hog half marathon, and oh my goodness it was the single most miserable experience ever. I did alright, and managed to raise some cash for Alzheimer's. There's something kind of counter-intuitive about the thought process that led me to enter this race. "Hmm... so you know what would be really fun? Running a half marathon. But we've done that. Let's make it better and run it up a mountain!" Even a flat half marathon sucks pretty aggressively. But I went for it. The week before the race, the weatherman said it'd get pretty hot that day - around 85 degrees. 

It ended up being a little warmer than 85 degrees. 

I knew that this race would involve significant elevation gain - something that I hadn't dealt with too much while running the flat streets of Cleveland. But I had expected and prepared for a steady uphill slope for 13.1 miles... not a 1/2 mile steep uphill climb followed by a 1/2 mile of flat terrain. It's the hills that get you. 

The race ended with an uphill climb, and around mile 9 I found myself in 90 degree heat, drinking so much water that I ended up feeling bloated and ill, half-way up a hill just thinking to myself, "This is how I'm going to die. You had some fun, but that's it. You're done now." So I tried thinking inspiration-ally and told my negative thinking, "OH, FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!!" out loud. And I had a millisecond of feeling like I'd squashed my inner demons before recognizing a very offended-looking woman behind me that clearly didn't deserve my rude remarks. I died a little inside, and stammered out an apology assuring her that I meant, "No, fuck the hill! It's the hill that... I'm so sorry, I didn't notice, not you!" And she nodded and said breathlessly, "Fuck this hill".

But I finished strong! And by 'strong' clearly I mean 'dying of heat exhaustion, hunger, hyponatremia, and muscle cramps'.

(after I took my shoes off... so gross!)

6. Sloth; def - laziness

And that bath felt better than any bath has ever felt. I'd have showered, but standing was painful. I proceeded to eat everything in my fridge and spend nearly 2 days sleeping and eating and not doing anything.  I watched so much TV and so many movies, and was super-lazy with workouts Monday/Tuesday. I don't think I bothered showering on Sunday.

But I can't take too much time off! Next Friday, Google is celebrating their 15th birthday with a 15K (which, of course, I had to sign up for), and November is my last half-marathon... Up Mt. Tamalpais. You know. Just 13.1 miles and 3,200 feet in elevation gain. No biggie.

So all of this excitement culminated in this past Friday, where my friend Laura took a 1/2 day off work and stopped by city hall to get married. It was beautiful. 

7. Envy; def - resentment from wanting what someone else has, or wishing the other didn't have it.

And I was jealous of how blissfully happy they both seemed. It's pretty cool that someone in this state that isn't family thought I was important enough to be present for their wedding. Very very cool feeling. I'd love to have that kind of happiness one day. Either way, I'm wishing them and their new family all the best.

That's all I got for now. Going to wait 22 minutes and then cook up some dinner. Wishing everyone a meaningful fast and a happy break fast.