Today I visited the Land's End Trail in San Francisco. There are some great views of the Golden Gate bridge and the Marin Headlands up there.



The trail winds around the edge of the cliffs. At their feet are rocky beaches.



At the beach, I noticed this gentleman carefully gathering rocks and stacking them into piles. He told me that he likes to visualize them as antennae into space while meditating there.



Further along the beach, more people were stacking rocks. I particularly liked this one.



I decided to have a go myself. Here are the stacks that I built.



Collecting rocks and stacking them is fun in a childish way, but I also benefited from the exercise and excellent sea air, and overall found it a surprisingly good way to relax.

I'm getting ready to go on vacation to China, so I've been researching the visa requirements.

I don't have to have a medical check, since I'll only be there a couple of weeks. Those who want to stay longer have to demonstrate (pdf) that they don't have a bunch of diseases.

They want to know if you have AIDS, Leprosy, Plague, ..., or Yellow Fever!

If you find that regular screwdrivers make you maudlin, try using Orangina instead of orange juice. It's a bit more refreshing, more likely to keep your spirits up!

Try adding green pesto to the baked beans before heating them. It tastes pretty good.

This is Shiva:

Born in rural India to very poor parents, with a cleft lip and palate, he faced a dismal future ostracized from his community. Fortunately, doctors working with a charity called The Smile Train were able to operate on his mouth. Here's how he looks now:

What an improvement!

I just donated to this charity enough money to repair one child's mouth. My company was good enough to match my contribution, so soon two disadvantaged children will be able to look forward to enjoying food, conversation, and not being treated like accursed freaks.