Plan 5: Climbing at PG Presidio

I climbed it because it was there.

There, in the Presidio at the end  of Crissy Field, is the location of the new Planet Granite.  I've been a PG member for a couple years, and wanted to see what all the hubbub was about this new club.  (Read, "I wanted to see the reason our rates went up last year.")  The gym is amazing!  A little background first, there are two kinds of climbing: top-roping, where you strap into a harness and are attached to a rope that'll catch you if you fall (see photo); and bouldering, where you never get more than ten feet or so off the ground (which is covered with cushy mats).  The top-roping routes were crafty -- Jeremy (in the orange shirt, belaying me) found two tough routes for us: one which required a traverse from the main wall onto a stalactite... while 40' in the air; and another which required a one-foot balancing act as you streeeetched out to reach the little chip/hold with your fingertips.  Very "technical," as they say.  The gym offered spectacular views of the bay, and we stayed until sunset when got to see the city bathed in a golden glow backed by pink clouds as the sun made its way west.

Planning the Plan

This plan sold itself.  I talked to a couple friends three weeks or so in advance and found dates they could make it, and I claimed that day.  I sent out an email about a week and a half before the date, and then a reminder a few days before.  A couple people responded to the email saying they were interested, but the ones that came were the ones I talked to personally.  As Curtis said, "word of mouth is the best advertising." Jeremy and I each brought a couple new(ish) climbers, and Steve brought three of his friends, and a couple folks showed up solo to climb (11 in all).  We were all so thrilled with the facility and the climbing that I might have to organize another outing there.

Plan 4: Spec concert with Jonathan Coulton

I heard about this Jonathan Coulton character last year: this is a man who writes funny funny songs.  Go to the website and check him out!  If you're a nerd, listen to Code Monkey.  If you like American history, listen to the The Presidents.  See what what I mean?  Hilarious!  I wanted to buy six tickets or so (on spec) and then gather a bunch of folks and make a dinner+concert evening out of it.  When I got the tickets back in December for the date I wanted, there were only three left.  Bah! I snagged them though!  No way did I want to miss the concert just because I couldn't get all the tickets I wanted.

Planning the Plan

I checked with a couple friends who I thought would like the show, and it turned out that they all had tickets already -- for the same date that I picked!  With a week or so to go, I ended up with a handful of friends saying "yeah, that sounds like fun... I'll let you know."  I was resigned to the fact that I was going to end up selling one or both of my extra tickets at the door, but things all came together at the last minute after all.  Sean, Crissy, and I had a yummy Indian dinner before the concert.  Rob, Sunshine, and Eric met us at the theater.  And we all met people in line that we knew.  Coulton does draw out the nerdy folks that I like :-).  On several levels (like not getting all the tickets I wanted, and not getting commitments to go from friends until the last minute) this plan didn't go as well as I wanted.  But on several other levels (I didn't stress about any of it, I ended up having a nice dinner with great friends, my tickets ended up going to yet more friends, and yet even more friends joined us at the concert) this plan was a smash!

An unplanned plan of lamb shanks

Lamb shanks with white beans, kale with proscuitto, and chocolate bread pudding.  Mmmm.

A few friends came over and we cooked up a group dinner. Is there anything better than a few friends with lamb?  (No fava bean comments.)

A couple of us spent most of our time in the kitchen, while the rest were socializing in the living room.  I tried something obvious that I hadn't tried before: background music.  Duh.  With every conversation, there are always those uncomfortable pregant pauses, and it turns out that having music on in the background helps smooth over those rough spots.

While dinner was cooking, we played set, and afterwards we played the word game quiddler -- and we all got beaten by a Brazilian guy for whom English is his second language.

Plan 3: Tron Movie Night

I read that there was a sequel in the works to 1982's Tron.  A couple friends suggested that we should have a movie night, so I started putting one together.  After I had begun planning it, I rewatched an episode of The Young Ones (also from 1982);  I loved it in the 80's, but it was awful last week... I just can't believe how bad it was!  I was trepedatious about how Tron would go over, but it turned out ok; we all more-or-less enjoyed it.  After the movie we all just hung around and talked for a few hours... that was surprising and cool.

Planning the Plan

I orgainzed this one from afar.  I sent out an evite on Christmas while I was away on vacation, planning the showing for the evening of 1/1.  I invited about 50 people, expecting that only a handful would be free and interested in seeing the movie.  Until the day or two before the showing, I had something like 6 "no" responses, and no "yes" responses (most people didn't even open the evite!).  So I was all set for a flop.  As an aside, at the outset of 24 Plans, I had imagined that at some point during the year I would try, but fail, to organize an event.  My intent for that eventuality was to go ahead and do my plan solo and just chalk it up as a learning experience -- so I was all ready for "failure."  But with a little personal interaction with a couple friends at work, and support from a few other good friends, we ended up with a group of 9.  It seems like my plans only start getting off the ground when I actually talk to people.

Bad Future Good Future

I can imagine difficulties in the future: Planning Things takes energy, and when it seems like the plan isn't going to go well (for example, if no one responds to the evite), then it's a little stressful and disappointing.  There will probably be a point this year where I don't feel like making any more plans.  I'm hoping I can just tough it out and have fun anyway.

I can also imagine wonderful things in the future: I can see where Planning Things might lead, and it sounds like a good place.  It think that after a while, I could get a reputation for gathering people together and doing fun stuff.  And that, in turn, will make people more interested in participating, and feedback like that is likely to make me want to plan more things.

Me?  I'm pushing for the good future :-)