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A big chunk of the amplifize crew came over last night to the house. It was our first big dinner party, and we had a real blast. I cooked kofte, rice, and shepherd’s salad. Doruk got lots of wine. The night was spectacular.

The babies helped me cook. Luka is really into cooking, which I think is quite cool. Amelia is quite into being the center of attention 🙂 So it goes. They helped me mix up food in the food processor. Pushing buttons is a delight for them. Which I find genuinely fascinating. Then they shaped the kofte as well. It was going really well until Luka started eating the raw meat. So it goes.

Then babies slept, and the adults had fun. Heather and Brock. Mary, Mat, and Reese. Doruk and Hanna.

It’s funny how a digital family can come together in real life, and mix the two worlds together so well. Some stories start from amplifize articles. Others are about our real lives – problems at work, with the cats. The familiarity is fantastic. So is the genuineness of the moment.

amplifize was not (and won’t be) a commercial success, but I’m really happy with what it’s brought in my life. Fantastic friends. Great conversations. And a smile to lighten up the day.

This was a good week.

On Friday I had lunch with Dave Sloan. I’ve inherited a lot of friends in San Francisco from Micky since she’s about 10,000 times more social. There are some where I think… Hmmm. Random. We would never have met otherwise. With Dave it’s more like, yup, I get you. We’re homies. I can’t tell you why. But he’s great to hang out with. We had lunch at Tin which is a favorite of Isaac W. as well. I ate my weight in pho, and it was awesome.

And then this week wasn’t so great 🙂 the kids were sick, and I was constantly covered in throw up. Not a good look.

Micky and I ran away Wednesday night and had a killer date night (another win).

And… I’ve restarted the piano project. I have keys, and now I need to rewire the piano to work with the new setup. Let’s call that a draw 🙂

All in all a pretty good one. Here’s to the next one.

We just got back from Manas’ house. He bought it one year ago, and he was throwing a warming party of sorts.

Since Doruk is in town, Doruk, Hanna, the babies and I piled into a car, and made our way down to San Mateo. On arriving, the babies immediately ran into the backyard, and met Simba – Manas’ 2-month old puppy. That poor dog had no idea what he had in store.

After chasing around in the backyard for a while, we made our way inside to see the house. The babies (and Gustavo’s kids as well) kept Simba busy as the rest of us toured the house.

It’s a really great place. Nice kitchen. Plenty of rooms. And the vibe is very Manas and Vibhuti. I think that that’s exactly what you want in a house, and they nailed it.

Then came the food…

First, some background. I’m not very nationalist, but I do give my brown brothers from another subcontinent a tough time. That said, and all claims that the food they cooked was Turkish aside, the food was AMAZING.

Amelia had a bunch of this potato cake like thing. They both had the chapali in droves. I made them a bit of vegetable soup, and they were good to go!

At this point poor Simba was passed out on the kitchen floor.

The company was fantastic. The conversations were good. It was a genuinely wonderful evening.

At the wonderful home of Mr. Manas.

Even though their flight got canceled, and they were delayed for 4 hours, Doruk and Hanna have made it to town. The babies are sleeping, and missed seeing them, but I fully expect Amelia to catch up quickly in no time at all.

Over Thanksgiving, and then in January when he flew out for the weekend, I could already see the bonding between Doruk and Amelia. I think on this trip the bonding will be at a whole new level, and then of course Luka will get in on the action as well.

The game plan is mainly to stay low, have fun in the city by the Bay, and just hang out. It’s gonna be awesome