Hackbright Day 15: Pro Set. That's way super fun.

Friday was uneventful and eventful. We reviewed all 17,000 new languages we learned this week. It was also install day, where everyone was told what to install to run everything we do in lab on their laptops. I figured out that I somehow totally fucked up my install of Chrubuntu and damaged the Chrome OS in the process. It's not a huge deal because my plan is to actually just reinstall Chrome OS and un-partition the teeny-tiny hard drive. Apparently there's something called Crouton that will let you run Ubuntu on top of the Chrome OS. I've come to the conclusion that getting that Chromebook was a mistake. Not a huge one, but typing on it makes my right hand hurt and it's hard to look at. 

We also got to see working examples of javascript webapps. One of the TAs has made some games, the best of which is called Pro Set. Similar to set in that i t's a concentration/matching game, it's also a lot more difficult, hence the "Pro" part.

Since I was basically set with install day (and also because I'm pretty sure that my install is the easiest what with apt-get install life), I was pretty much by myself in lab. I talked with one of the TAs for a really long time about Hackbright and life in general. It was good. I don't have a Hackbright alum mentor, so this was a nice way to absorb information and good vibes from someone who graduated the program and found success.

Friday night was also board game night. Colby came down to Hackbright, and we all played a game of friendly taboo, a concentration game called Ricochet Robots, and then some crazy taboo/charade game. It was really fun to interact with people in a non-work setting. It's something I feel like I don't do enough. 

On Saturday we FINALLY found a place to live after Nov 1. Thank jebus crust. We'll be in Alameda until the end of February. Hopefully by then, everyone will be employed and then we can focus on where we'll be living more permanently. 

On Sunday morning, I went to a Ladies Tech Brunch at some superfancy high rise apartment in the Financial District. It was nice, but there were a lot of people, and it was definitely good for networking that I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to pursue. I did meet a couple people that I'd like to keep in touch with, though, and I think it encouraged me to go to a PyLadies SF meetup when I can. After that, another HBer and I went to La Boheme Cafe in the Mission to meet up with a bunch of HBers + a HB instructor who were mostly just co-working. I love how accessible and friendly everyone, especially the instructors, are. Hackbright is shaping up into a good decision.

And my 10 second review of La Boheme Cafe:

I'm way too lazy to edit this. Pretend it's cropped.

• great space to work
• good, strong coffee
• pretty good food, and they use zataar spice on their pitas so you know they must know something
• will definitely return

San Francisco Eats

Having been in San Francisco for less than a week, I am clearly an expert in the food scene. We tried to cook at the place that we're staying, but it's hard because all of my cooking stuff is packed away in the car or in Michigan. We even decided to leave our spices in the car, so when I decided I was going to make tacos tonight, I realized that it wasn't going to happen. We've been eating out a bunch, probably more than we should, but here's a list of some of the places that we've eaten at that I've enjoyed.

We went to La Oaxaqueña in the Mission District tonight for dinner. Colby got a "spicy pork" taco (he's super awesome at details), I got a sundried tomato + goat cheese pupusa and we split a tlayuda. I had never heard of a tlayuda until we went there. It's essentially a Mexican pizza-like dish, with a crispy tortilla as a base, covered in refried beans, cheese, salsa, lettuce, and (in our case) chipotle chicken. Colby said that the taco was the best thing he's had since we've been to SF. The tlayuda was similarly delicious and I am completely angry that I didn't know those existed until now. We almost didn't go there because they sometimes cook with grasshoppers and I was terrified of cross contamination, but I'm glad that we went. Only later did we find out that it's a "hipster hotspot" and "super sketchy". 

This also satisfied my avocado craving

Truly Mediterranean is in the Mission District. It serves schwarma and falafel on lavash. Colby got the lamb and I got the chicken kabob and it was wonderful. While we were waiting, one of the cooks gave us a sample of falafel. Those were incredibly delicious and definitely worth a trip back.

This is the only picture I have of that

Pakwan is also in the Mission and it serves Pakistani and Indian food. it was a little strange in that you have to buy the rice separately, but we ended up just splitting a huge piece of naan instead. I got the saag with chicken and Colby got chicken tikka masala because that's the only thing he ever gets. They were both really good and Colby would have probably enjoyed his meal more with rice.

Nothing look as delicious as blurry spinach, AMIRITE?!

Sugar Cafe and Coffee Bar is in Union Square, right next to Hackbright. My hackathon team (I swear I'm going to post about it soon!) met there to discuss ideas. I had a super delicious latte and a tuna salad that was also very good (and super low carb, might I add). I am 90000% sure that I'll be making a return trip because I rely on coffee the way python uses white space. Or something.

latte + chromebook = instagram picture

prettiest tuna salad ever

Hopefully I'll get out the DSLR and take real pictures of actual food I'm eating again. Or better yet, I'll get back to writing about the food I'm making at home when I finally have a home in which to make food again.