the best stars i've ever seen

10.29.21

Tonight I saw the most beautiful sky of stars my eyes have ever seen. We’re halfway between Rhodes and Crete, not a light or landmass around us. The sky is dark black with streaks of navy, punctuated by dots of brightness, gleaming crystals in the night air. 

I have my phone that takes beautiful photos of stars. Here's an example of the night sky that I can get in Overland Park, with suburban light pollution.

But this sky, that I saw tonight? It's fifty times more impressive than the Overland Park sky. But I can’t show you what it looks like. 

Because we’re on a big boat halfway between Rhodes and Crete, and the entire ship rocks with each wave. Even with a makeshift tripod, and my phone being perfectly stationary relative to the boat, we’re not even close to being stationary relative to the sky. 

Here’s the best that I was able to capture. The very reason it’s so beautiful is the very reason I can’t get a clear photo. This sky will have to live in my memory and nowhere else. 

Early Playoff Picture

We've seen 6 weeks of NFL action and it seems like we know a little bit. 

Let's start with the NFC where there's a clear cut top 5 and then a drop off. 

NFC

Cardinals, Bucs, Packers, Cowboys and Rams all have 5+ wins. No other NFC team has 4. 

Those 5 good teams cover all four divisions, with the Cardinals and Rams overlapping in the West. That leaves 4 teams [Saints, Vikings, Bears, Panthers] with 3 wins fighting for two wild card spots (plus there are 6 teams with 2 wins.) Giants and Lions are already a cross-off. 

At this point the safest bet is that the first 5 teams I mentioned are safe, one wild-card spot will come down to Bears or Vikings and the other will come down to Saints or Panthers. I'd say the Saints have the edge over Panthers and Bears-Vikings is too close to call right now.

AFC

Things are not as clear in the AFC. 

The Bills have so far been the best, the Ravens have a great record despite needing semi-miracles to win on a regular basis, and the Chargers looked great until Sunday. Those are still the three AFC teams that have looked the best. 

Then you have the Chiefs who have the best offense, worst defense and a turnover problem. The Raiders who just lost their coach so who knows, and the Bengals who have a winning record but are unproven. You've also got the Browns who face a rash of injuries and the Titans as the best team in the South. 

At this point, Bills, Ravens, Chargers, Chiefs and Titans seem like 5 safe playoff teams. Bengals and Browns seem like they're fighting for a wild-card spot and based on Sunday, the Raiders seem like they might be just fine without Gruden. 

This is just a snapshot of where we are right now. Very possible for a 2-win team to make a run and a 4-win team like Raiders or Bengals to fall apart. 

SF Recap 2021

This was my 3rd trip to visit Niraj in San Francisco. 

TUESDAY

I arrived Tuesday morning, and walked from 16st/Mission to his apartment. First stop was getting sandwiches at Lucinda's. I got the pastrami and it was delicious, even if they went heavy on the arugula. 

From there we headed to Golden Gate Park to play some disc golf. We played a skins game for 18 holes and it was a NAILBITER. I ended up winning 10-8. Mostly, it was good to finally have some good competition. 

(Actually, I opened up a 9-3 lead, but Niraj won three in a row to make things legitimately tense on the 16th hole. I won that, clinching it 10-6. Niraj finished strong making it 10-8.)

After all that walking, we earned some beer and wings at Kezar Pub.

We headed back to get cleaned up and get hungry enough for dinner. We watched an episode of Squid Game and then walked to Mangrove for thai food. Which was closed. So we audibled to Nara for sushi. 

Great sushi as well as spicy pork buns. 

After dinner, last stop of the night was Last Rites, a tiki bar. 

The drinks here were insane. Very well done.

Between the airports, walking to his place, the disc golf, and walking around for dinner/drinks, I accumulated over 27k steps, a new personal high.

WEDNESDAY

Started our day by fueling up on donuts on Bob's.

I got the seasonal apple cider donut which was good, but the star was the raised maple donut. From there we took the Ferry across the bay to Oakland/Alameda. 

We grabbed a beer at Almanac...

And then headed next door to the Rake for another beer. 

After that, we needed something to soak up all that beer. Pizza it is!

We went to the Square Pie Guys in Oakland and it was LEGIT.

We split a Big Von with garlic ricotta cream, italian sausage, pepperoni and mike's hot honey. A perfect pizza. One of the best of my life. 

After that we walked to the Trappist which had a great vibe, although I was too full to get another beer, so I got a Paloma while Niraj got a beer. 

Before we left Oakland, we got to see the bar that Niraj use to own (rip).

We headed to The Willows for pub trivia.

We met Niraj's friend Michael and our power trio finished 2nd out of 8 teams. That was a lot of fun.

After that we went back home to watch Free Guy. 

THURSDAY

We started our last day at The Interval, known for being a bar but they had some morning drinks and food.

I got a pretzel bun with bonus cheese inside (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Gruyere.)

This is the place where Niraj has a bottle in the ceiling.

Lunch was at Garaje. I got the Zapato, a grilled burrito. Very tasty.

From there we walked to our Escape Room, an art heist.

It was just the two of us in a room and we escaped with 11 minutes to spare. Good stuff.

Then we got some good beers at City Beer Store and Mikkeller.

Next up, was a sneak preview showing of the highly anticipated last Bond movie from Daniel Craig, No Time to Die. 

Then last stop was a newer tiki bar that Niraj hadn't been to yet, Zombie Village. 

Any time with Niraj is always a good time.