On Tuesday, I completed a 40+ mile bike ride from my place in SF Mission to the Sunnyvale Palm Campus. Why? Let’s finish that story later.

5:45 am Alarm goes off. I am confused because it is dark. Then I realize that it is the day.

6:00 am I finally roll out of bed and grab my things together. I wash up and put on my bike pants and clima-cool top.

6:20 am I respond to a frantic txt/phone call. Can Davor park in front of your place? Yes. I respond about 8 minutes later.

6:31 am I ride the one block to Ritual Roasters expecting that I am the last one to arrive. I see Sashimi and he says that Teddy is inside getting coffee. Well…ok…I head back to my place to wait for Davor. We decide that we should start at my place.

6:33 am I spot Davor awkwardly parking his BMW to the side. My phone is ringing—knowing it is him, I pull right in front of his car waving at him. Perpendicular! I say and gesture to completely block my driveway.

6:40 am I see a few others and wave at them to stop at my place. I hop around, half-wondering what I got myself in to. Someone mentions that it will be hot as he looks at the cloudless horizon. I decide to drop off my jacket and eat part of my banana nut bread. Francis buys breakfast at the gas station a block away.

6:58 am Sashimi and others come by… I complain that we are probably waking up my roommates – knowing how voices echo through the windows in my building. And then we’re off…

I still would stick to my principles. Yet what would I regret? What would I do? Have I done as much as I could right now?

Would I care about consequences? Or would it all about trying to figure out what is my own happiness?

I pedal and pedal. I move forward. And suddenly I am moving, rolling forward suddenly at a speed unknown while walking. At some point, I am floating, taking in the overhead sun, the broken pavement, and the urban jungle.

I am fearless.

Tomorrow, I decided after weeks…and impulsively that I will take on this challenge. More than 45 miles from San Francisco to Sunnyvale (my weekly visit to the webOS headquarters) on a bike.

And as someone commented today, “I have learned that I should never underestimate you.”

Beer, brisket and football will all come together for Elixir’s BBQ kick off on Sunday, August 21.

Watch the NFL pre-season game between the Dallas Cowboys and the San Diego Chargers, all while enjoying a $10 all-you-can-eat buffet…

My dad saw this and was instantly entranced. $10. All you can eat! Football.

But I balked.

Hipsters. Alcohol. The loud bar scene. The casualness of it all. Uncomfortable chairs. Badly lit rooms.

I couldn’t imagine my parents in their early sixties enjoying a scene reserved for hipsters half their age. In an effort to compromise, I provided three alternatives—quiet expensive restaurants perfect for impressing and delicate cuisine that catered to their tastes. I thought about the very American culture here in the city and the casualness that took years of adjusting.

But it was a stern no over their phone in accented English I think it’s a better option and it’s the price we want.

In retort, I said, “I can’t be liable if you don’t have a good time. My liability is released upon acceptance.”

PhotoboothSF just opened up today next door—with an emphasis on portraits and Polaroids.

I walked there alone today to the opening party, squeezing through the throngs of chatter…to study the still faces on the wall. I make assumptions about who they are—their facial expression in that moment, trying to guess at their thoughts captured in their eyes.

But I watched a portrait being taken of a guest. She was in her late twenties—quintessential hipster with thick eyeliner, squinting in the harsh light. The spotlight highlighted her deep eyebags—perhaps nights barhopping with PBR and Tecate. She grimaced through the clicks, glancing at her friends maybe for approval. Then the portrait was done, she retrieved her bag and receded back into the background.

I love change. I embrace it. I jumped from interaction design to user research on a calculated whim.

And yet, there’s this other part of me.

Career-wise, it’s so clear which way to go. It’s black and white.

But everything else? What if I leave something so sacred? What if I missed my chance? What if I am ignoring what should have been important to me, but I was so caught up in my emotions?

My biggest regrets have always been that I never did anything. And that’s my motivation right now.

Several weeks ago, I wanted to record my grandfather’s life story. So with my mom in tow, I recorded his life in Cantonese—his voice strong despite being in a body nearly a century old.

But the most interesting part?

Why did you marry your second wife? I asked without any judgement—everyone was old, sickly or already had passed away.

Without hesitation, he waved his wrinkled hands in the air, Because World War II happened. He laughed, I thought everyone was dead! I didn’t hear from anyone for three years.

Relationships, love…those things are complicated, I said telling my long lost cousins yesterday under the din of a popular San Francisco bar.

Because if we didn’t have any…and if we could turn them on & off, then we would be robots not humans.

So what gets you up in the morning?

I tried to formulate an answer that matched what they wanted to hear. But my honesty won, it was impossible to come up with anything else.

And so it was like this: I want to understand.

And the words that were not written were: Because once I understand them, I can understand myself better.

In conversations with groups, there are often the following:

The entertainer
She or he…is the one who has the most interesting stories. A storyteller or even a clown, naturally. The entertainer unleashes a lot of energy, making the group more fun and more engaging. Sometimes the entertainer is the most dominant, taking the spotlight. But in most conversations, it’s the entertainer that keeps a conversation in a group going.

The conversationalist
This is the person who can quickly detect when the conversation is going sour and get it back on track. If someone is not heard, everyone gets a fair chance. It’s generous and selfless.

Observer
Sitting back passively is more natural for the observer. But the precious moment is thinking about a general thoughtful question that gets the group thinking differently. Now what if the sky was actually green rather than blue? It may come off dreamlike, but there’s no purpose beyond just encouraging more insightful conversation.