Day 110: Reflections

Author’s note: You may have noticed that it took me a while to get this post out. The real, actual from-the-heart reason for the delay is that I don’t want it to be over. By posting this, I’m breaking the news to myself. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one.

Second note: All of these thumbnails link to the post they come from. Just for fun.

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Although Secret Plan 158 is complete today, I’ve decided to keep writing this blog. For the past 3.5 months, I’ve been sharing a wacky and unstructured set of events with you, I’ve enjoyed it even more than I expected to.

When I started this vacation, I had made a list of things I wanted to do, it seemed like a lot. Let’s see what happened:

Here’s the original list, with notes:

What would you do with a 3 month vacation from work? ‘Cause it might be time to do it.

• Wake up early, go play outside.
  Check. I learned to keep sunscreen with me on Day 2. It served me well all summer long, as mother nature basically handed this city a whole summer of beautiful days.
  
• Spend a lot of time with my muse.
  Check. I would’ve been a fool not to ace this one.
  
• Hang out with friends I never get to see.
  Check.
  
• Spend some time helping pilot-basejumping-brother build an airplane.
  Check. Hopefully I fixed more than I broke while I was there, so I’ll get invited back.
  
• Go visit ultra-acrobat-surfer brother in Las Vegas.
  Check, and also managed to [dysu zpdyau piy pg ytpinar smf lrrq aoqdyovl pgg zu vpaast], while finding a [apvsyopm mrst yjr zpmptsoa] to take some close-up pictures of her I still might get in trouble for.
  
• Hang with lifelong best friend and horror-screenwriter.
  I got to see Hans, but am seriously needing to go play more.
  
• Take classes at The Crucible & TechShop.
  Check. Learned to make things out of Carbon Fiber, played with Crucible-influenced creations in the desert, and signed my muse up for classes.
  
• Work on Secret Plan 157 (this one has to do with cryptography).
  Check. In fact, 157 is almost ready to become a cryptography book. I’m far enough along that I could actually finish it soon.
  
• Talk to a lawyer about Secret Plans 161 and 119.
  Check. 119 is a process for working with structured probabilities in a quantum computer, but that computer’s development has been delayed, so it’s not so useful. 161,on the other hand, will end up being filed as a patent application this year. Woot!
  
• Learn a new acrobat skill at Circus Center (possibly German wheel).
  Check. Thanks Kris!
  
• Go visit Mom & Dad & Grandma.
  Check. And in addition, Dad has printed out every single blog entry for Gradma, who keeps them in a (huge) notebook.
  
• Hang with some serious acrobat friends and see if they’ve got use for an apprentice or a worker drone.
  Yes on the hanging part, though I never had the chance to help with the shows.
  
• If random stunt jobs or acting opportunities appear, take them. It’s been known to happen.
  Check. Did one stunt job audition, one crazy acting audition. (I was actually offered a role later on by the same director, but the timing isn’t going to work. Next time.)
  
• Attend some of the great luncheon seminars at BQIC, and find out if they want some volunteer programming labor (it’s the best way I can think of to get current on what they’re up to).
  Check. It turns out they go on summer break as well, so I’m hoping to be able to attend a few more in the fall.
  
• Go to some LongNow lectures and events.
  Check. Crazy fun that day.
  
• Keep a camera handy and make a blog.
  Let me think… um, yeah. I pretty much did that one.

…wow yikes, I ended up doing a lot more than half. And as it turns out, the list wasn’t long enough to cover what was actually going to happen.

There was really no way I could have known about these next ones in advance, though:

• Find artifacts from ships buried under the city
  
• Get a private hardhat tour of the Palace of Fine Arts renovation work
  
• Find a radiotelescope on an island I’d never been to before
  
• Read Steinbeck while actually sitting in Ed Ricketts’ lab
  
• Build a robot and take it to the desert
  
• Turn physics, philosophy and blind luck into front-row concert seats and an excellent kiss
  
• Become one with a sea urchin
  
• Spend time in the Make-A-Wish offices as a worker drone paid in cookies
  
• Work on a 100-year-old giant telescope
  
• Find a chess teacher (I still haven’t had my first lesson, and I really look forward to it)
  

Just for fun, here are a few panorama-style pictures I took along the way. It’s a lot of data, but worth it. (The one taken on the ship is wobbly, which should surprise no one.)

It’s time to mention a few things I’ve kept from you so far.

• The Stunt Rabbit is actually a tiny jade rabbit, smaller than a fingernail. My muse had it made for me in Hong Kong, and it’s been with me the whole time, keeping me safe.
• I also carried a pedometer. One of the numbers in the Steganographic data is the number of miles I walked each day, usually while chasing some artifact or muse.
• The other Steg number is still kind of secret, but let’s just say I’m in better shape now than I was 3.5 months ago. Hooray for that.

If you’re going to have a perfect summer, I recommend doing it in San Francisco.

Random assertion: I’m in love with a muse and a city, and one human life is far too short a time to spend with either of them.

Steganographic data: 1804/5.6

Days remaining on Secret Plan 158: zero

So long for now, I’ll be back in a few days with new stories.