Brian L. Colbert

Archive for the ‘personal’ Category

I haven’t ridden SF Muni that much over the past few weeks.  The weather has been really nice and I’ve been able to build some walking time into my schedule.  This doesn’t mean that the usual craziness is going down somewhere on MUNI.   Look at this insane video.  I hope they catch these “people.”  Thanks to SFGate for the link.

I recently had an introductory visit at Heaven Qi & Earth with Elizabeth McDowell.  I met Elizabeth when she decided participate in SavantMD.com during the early Fall 2009.  To date, I have generally been agnostic about alternative medicine.  It has plenty to offer but it’s not an avenue that I frequent pursue with my own health. Although, I once visited a Chinese herbologist in Flushing New York.  I think I went to Flushing more for the free ride and the food than to see the herbologist.

After working with Elizabeth for a few months, I was deeply impressed with her ability able  blend Western and Eastern Medicines and to clearly communicate the concepts between Eastern Medicines which prior to meeting Elizabeth ranged fuzzy to downright baffling.

So, I decided to put aside my (mild) skepticism) and see Elizabeth for an assessment visit.

It was great!! As always her office was comfortable and welcoming.  Personally, the highlight of my visit was this “pulse” test that she did.  It was interesting and oddly accurate.  The main takeaway I got was to watch what I put into my body, there is simply no substitute for a healthy diet.

It was time well spent.  you can find her office here.

Last night I had the pleasure of leading a social media session with some members of the  Engage Her team.  Engage Her is a national organization dedicated to educating and activating multicultural women and their communities about the most important issues they care about.  I’m very excited that Engage Her will be partnering with SavantMD in the very near future.

Engage is getting ready to kick off a very exciting video campaign and I was lucky enough to share some thoughts about social media, communities and conversations.  Mable Yee, (the driving force behind Engage Her) was in attendance  along with team members Briana , Meenakshi and Tameeka.  We were fortunate that Sylvia Paull, and Engage Her board member Susan Mostajo were also able to join us.

We discussed strategies, tactics, and tools to help Engage Her execute successfully on their upcoming video campaign.   They’e already got the pieces in place for a great campaign so I can’t wait for the rollout.

Side note to Mable, I rocked this post using Posterous, Twitter, Facebook and just for kicks  …  I tossed in a bit.ly link to SavantMD’s health tip here.

On Thursday Nihal and I went to dinner at Commis and it was simply fantastic.

It was the best meal that I’ve had in the Bay Area and one of best anywhere.

My expectations were high and Commis somehow managed to exceed them.  Commis is in Oaktown, so it was a bit of a journey.  A quick jaunt from Nob Hill to grab BART in downtown SF, a 15 minute BART trip under the Bay, a 10 minute ride on the Oakland bus system (of which 5 minutes were spent stuck in traffic) and then a quick two minute walk after exiting the bus.

There is no name on the outside of Commis, just a white awning and some frosted windows facing Blockbuster (are they still in business) across the street.

Let’s get right too it, t the three course prix fixe, amuse bouche and palate cleanser were  simply divine.

Special kudos  to Scott our server and Sarah, the sommelier.  Both of them the made us feel as if we  had stepped into a restaurant in which we are long time regulars.   They sensed our needs before we knew them ourselves  and patiently, even humorously answered all of our questions.  Thanks Scott and Sarah

We lead off with a fresh Jasmine-Hibiscus soda, a shot of frothy goodness that had been plucked straight from the banks of the Nile and delivered immediately to our table.

The amuse bouche was a 1 1/2 hour  poached egged nestled in an onion soup topped steel cut oats, dates and arugula.

The first two courses were  local halibut tartare with pickled radishes and some kind crazy “ginger snow.”   I won’t even try to describe “ginger snow,” but that’s what it tasted like.  Nihal opted for a leek soup with chanterelle mushrooms and some kind of off-the-wall-ham.  Both were off the proverbial hook.

The two second course dishes duck and lamb.  The duck had been done for 12 hours, was accompanied by (can’t read my notes) and was perfection.

The lamb matched duck.  Nothing more to say.  I was too busy enjoying the experience to take diligent notes.

Dessert was a chocolate ganache cake with vanilla bean  ice cream.  I finished this feast with panna cotta topped with a beet-blood  orange sorbet.

Did I mention the wine pairings?  I’m not a drinker, but a well-done wine pairing does really accentuate and complement a meal.  All of the wine pairings were excellent, but the final wine, a Tintero paired with the panna cotta was like dancing a tango somewhere between Jupiter and Saturn.

In no way does this post do justice to the meal.

I have already made a reservation to return to Commis next month.

I celebrated the New (Lunar) Year with lunch at Spruce.  , I had some sort of shredded pork fazzoletti and Nihal had Spruce’s version of a Waldorf salad.  Both were excellent.  The meal was topped off with house Beignets with Araguani Chocolate Sauce and creme anglaise, which were scrumptous, truly outstanding.  The service was just a tad off, it seemed like the staff was a wee bit distracted, but it did not distract from the meal.  A great way to celebrate President’s Day.

Have you checked out SavantMD.com lately, there’s fresh wellness tips Monday through Friday.  Follow SavantMD on twitter, so you never miss a health and wellness tip.  SavantMD’s Wellness tips on now on Asianweek.com.

Last night was CALICO’s monthly board meeting. I’m now co-chair of our fundraising committe.  If you’re looking get involved with an organization that making a difference in the lives of children that need help, drop me line.  There’s a number of ways to get involved with CALICO and I’m happy to discuss them.

Don’t forget — CALICO’s annual gals is April 24th.  Want do sponsor or attend?

The best thing about having buddies that are entrepreneurs is that you can swap stories and get honest feedback to difficulties.    I think that Twain said something like “History doesn’t repeat, it rhymes.”  Or he’s get the credit for it.  But I think that’s true.  Every situation is  unique, but the challenges are similar: how to scale up, how to find to good people that are going to bring value.  And the insight that comes from truthful conversation can sometimes lead to useful and actionable answers.

CALICO, was in full force at The Boardmatch 2010 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco last night.

The Boardmatch is a job-fair style event featuring Bay Area nonprofits whose leadership was on hand to talk to interested candidates about serving on their organization’s board of directors.  It was great!!  CALICO’s contingent was led by the BDC (Board Development Committee), which is led by me, your tireless and intrepid reporter.  The entire BDC battalion was there, Gloria, Holly and Patricia.  Joining in the cause was Vicky, CALICO’s Executive Director and Mark (a fellow board member).  It was great opportunity to talk about CALICO’s mission in a relaxed setting.  We met some really exciting candidates and are  looking forward to following up with them in the near future.

If you are interested in getting involved with CALICO, as a possible board member, sponsoring our Spring Gala or just volunteering,  get in touch with CALICO or drop me a line; these kids need everybody’s help.

• Bill Belechick is a liberal-arts major from Wesleyan, and I’ve always had a certain appreciation for his coaching skills, but the Patriots got killed today.   And I went to Oberlin, not Wesleyan.
• Played around with some AV equipment to see if I can embark on a video blogging project.    The Oscars await.
• The most precious commodity an entrepreneur has is time.  If people haven’t started a business,they tend not get the idea.

Came back to the apartment to find the third notice in the last two months from the San Francisco Housing Department taped to the wall next to the door.  Not entirely clear what’s going to happen but I read the words “public nuisance” and “unsafe.”  Not sure about the possible outcome, but it seems there is more than a slight possibility that I’ll be homeless in the very near future.

Watched the Wrestler the other night.  I’ve always had a soft spot for Mickey Rourke, every since the days of Barfly and Johnny Handsome (with Ellen Barkin).   The wrestler was ok, Rourke’s performance was certainly watchable, but the plot was sooo predictable.  If you ever watched “professional” wrestling as a kid, or still do, you’ll enjoy the backstage antics.