Posts tagged as:

Karen and Corky

Damn, it’s cold in San Francisco

by Joe Doyle on August 13, 2008

The adult Doyles are on the left side - I’m piggybacking on the wife’s business trip to UX Week. It’s the first vacation sans kids and we’re very excited to be here, though we can’t help but think about the fun Katie and Patrick will have when we travel here as a family.

There is so much to do and see. SF has a real entrepreneurial vibe, just like Austin. You get the same weirdness, too.

Without taking up too much vacation time, here are some additional observations about San Francisco, CA:

- This place is filled with Europeans. Damn dollar.
- Speaking of, most Euro males love old Nike Hightops.
- High in the mid 60’s. Friday in Texas is going to be a shock.
- It’s hilly here. Yeah, that’s right, hilly.
- I could eat fresh seafood with every meal if I wanted.
- People are nice and the police, even nicer (seriously).
- Lots of Asians here, too. Damn dollar. Wait…
- The Golden Gate Park is the coolest municipal place I’ve been. Figures that it was built by Olmsted. That man was a genius designer.
- The Haight isn’t what it was, but I like to think about the free thought it provokes.
- Tonight we’re seeing my cousin Billy Doyle and meeting his girl. I’m really excited - I felt thisclose to Billy as a kid.
- Yeah, that’s right, Billy the Kid.
- Turns out, I like to be a tourist. But cool metro places make me miss Chicago.
- Hotel Nikko is the shit. Union Square is not, but I like the place we’re in.
- I forgot how much I love the Land Rover Defender (primer to Twitter info below)
- It’s super expensive to live here. I mean, extremely expensive.
- Hanging out in neighborhood places always beats a downtown locale. Seems to be that way across the board.

I’ve “Tweeted” a bunch more about out visit. “Tweet, what’s that?” you may say. “Sounds silly”.

A Tweet is a microblog post. Here, on my blog, I could write a novel and then post it. But on Twitter (where one “tweets”), you get 140 characters and you can upload images. That’s how I’ve been documenting the trip.

Go to my Twitter page to see what we’ve been up to. If you click on TwitPic links, you’ll see images from my posts.

If you’re still confused about Twitter, watch this fantastic video:

If you join Twitter, contact me so we can follow one another.

A quick note - I want to leave with a huge heartfelt thank you to Karen and Corky. if it wasn’t for your generosity, we wouldn’t be here. Thanks for watching the twins.

{ 5 comments }

Three for Thors Day

by Joe Doyle on July 31, 2008

Remember when you learning about where the names of days originated? Thursday is after the God of Thunder, Thor. Not to be confused with this God of Thunder, Thor.

What the hell was Wednesday?

Last weekend Corky and Karen drove to Austin to see visit the family and celebrate 44 years of married bliss.

Wow.
44 years.

I’m in still in awe. How did you put up with him for so long, Karen?

Grandma Karen presented Katie and Patrick two beautiful outfits (each) that she custom crafted. She could open a business selling these outfits, they’re that good.

pjs_new_dudes.jpg
PJ looks resplendent in his red-pinstriped baseball overalls (thank God they’re not blue like a certain team I despise). I love to hold him in the seersucker.

stacey_katie.jpg
Katie is cool as a cucumber in her side-vented shirt with matching bloomers. The patterns are fun.

desert1.jpg
Dessert as seen through my iPhone. The service at Eddie Vs was impeccable, and they brought this amazing molten chocolate cake for the Karen and Corky. So. Damn. Good.

{ 7 comments }

Upcoming trips

by Joe Doyle on July 10, 2008

Holy crap, we’re leaving Texas.

Not for good, mind you – Austin still feels like vacation to this northerner. But we are hitting the road for a couple of fun trips.

SAN FRANCISCO – August 10-13
sf.jpg

Stacey’s company is sending her to UXWeek – a top-end conference for User Experience leads. She’ll learn a lot, I’ll ride my bike to coffee shops and eat seafood.

Actually, we do get a couple days to play and hope to take in a ballgame that Sunday at a park we’ve never been to, and see my cousin and a couple of friends. Karen and Corky are watching the kids – an amazingly-nice thing for them to do.

TOUR DE MIDWEST – September 23-October 4
postcard.jpg

This is a big trip – kiddos included this time. We were going to drive, but realize how sucky that would be with two, 16-month-old toddlers in a car for a total of four days. This schedule is still being worked on, BTW.

09.22 - 09.25 Galena, IL for the Goeres Family Reunion
09.26 Stopover in South Bend, IN to see the Bell family
09.27 Stopover in St. Joe, MI to see the Finnigans
09.28 - 09.30 Ashley Family time in Allegan, MI and Kalamazoo, MI (look at this sweet house my sister is buying – but don’t make fun of the bushes)
10.01 - 10.04 Doyle Family time and friends in Chicago, IL

For the last few days we rented a condo close to Comiskey Park. I’m not a man to upset the baseball Gods, so let’s just say I hope the White Sox are still playing at that time of year. The condo is big, has a great party deck on the third floor and overlooks the city (best view from the Southside, natch).

Hope to see y’all soon enough!

{ 4 comments }