I went on a media purge and binge today. Traded in a few used books I was done reading and three CDs I no longer want.

Picked up a few new things to replace the discarded ones. For books, I acquired Neil Gaiman‘s “American Gods” which I’ve heard good things about.

I’ve been on a bit of a Japanese culture kick the last couple of days. Yesterday, I bought two Utada Hikaru singles on Amazon MP3. Walter posted a few interesting J-Pop/J-Rock music videos yesterday as well. Today, I bought three manga volumes of Cowboy Bebop, two Japanese beverages (Calpico, Pocari Sweat), Pocky, and Hello Panda (“biscuits with chocolate cream”).

The local Hollywood Video was having a $3.99 DVD sale so I picked up The Namesake, The Departed, and Jet Li’s Fearless. I got Elizabethtown and Buffy The Vampire Slayer (the movie) at Half Price Books.

I’m trying to hide from the darkness lurking in the corners, but I can’t avoid it. Instead of turning on the lights, I turn on the HDTV, stereo, and PS3 to watch something besides my life. Or I play games on the Wii.

Categories: Life
Tags: distractions, shopping

As things come, so things go.

Work has been well. I’m adjusting to my new role and enjoying the change of environment immensely. Instead of worrying about the drudgery and inanity of the day-to-day, instead I make progress on projects that go somewhere and have an influence over the direction of my work.

I’m learning how to plan and prepare. In some of these projects, I’ve put in lots of time and consideration as this is not just for fun, but it’s my living and because many people will be affected based on the quality of the work I do.

In the beginning, I blogged. This blog has existed in one incarnation or another for the past six years. Initially, I hosted it on my Dell Dimension w/ Pentium 3 700mhz processor and ~128MB of RAM. When I went to sleep, I turned off my blog. When I woke up, I turned it on.

Now, the sites I work on day to day are alive 24/7. If they go down, my phone starts buzzing to let me know.

So I watch, learn, code, test, research, produce, and go.

What’ve you been doing?

Categories: Life, Work
Tags: blogging, webhosting

When talking to my mother yesterday, I said, “I’m going home to Nebraska for Thanksgiving.” My family lives in Colorado, but apparently the years I spent in Lincoln still have me thinking of it as home.

In any case, I’ll be in Lincoln/Omaha from November 25 to November 30. I look forward to seeing my college friends and doing some conversational catch-up on life. Since I was last in Nebraska, I’ve changed jobs twice, gained fifteen pounds, and developed a fondness for Norwegian symphonic metal. Glorious.

If you’re going to be in Nebraska, give me a hollar! I’ll try to setup a get together of some kind for whoever is going to be around and wants to hang out on a day other than Thanksgiving.

Categories: Friends, Life
Tags: college, Lincoln, Nebraska, travel

I’m in Colorado right now.

I’ve lived in Seattle long enough that when I leave, I realize what aspects of the culture I miss. One of the biggest aspects is the local restaurants and variety of food available in Seattle. For instance, I have a favorite Thai place in Kirkland, Japanese/Sushi place in Bellevue, and in Pioneer Square an Italian place, Irish pub, a Greek place, and Jimmy John’s. In Longmont and Boulder, I know where all the chain restaurant are and it’s just not the same.

One of the things I don’t have in Seattle is relatives and longtime friends. Don’t get me wrong — I’ve met a lot of awesome people and made some good friends in Seattle, but it’s not the same as hanging out w/ my best friend from 5th grade, seeing his wife, and meeting his first child.

The reason I came out here this trip is for a friend’s wedding. The bachelor part was on Wednesday night; only the groom got drunk so I’d say it was a success… other than groom feeling ill afterwards. Do not ever buy anyone a shot with pickle juice in it. And no, I didn’t buy it.

The wedding for Benjamin and Suzanne was yesterday afternoon. I had a fabulous time. Short ceremony, long reception. I got to dance with some beautiful ladies, talk to a lot of good friends from my post-college days in Boulder, and generally have a good time.

Among the most impressive things Benjamin and Suzanne built into the wedding was their first dance. It started out w/ a slow song that I was surprised they picked, but after 30 seconds the song skipped, the DJ looked like “oops,” but then Ben & Suzanne broke into some excellent choreography for Jump Jive ‘n’ Wail. Well played.

I got out there and danced. If you didn’t know me in college, you’d probably have no clue I know anything about dance. One benefit of living in Nebraska and being around my friends was picking up Country Swing and going to enough weddings that I learned how slow dance and also not care what people thought of how bad I danced the rest of the songs.

Props to Cora, Tracy, Jenny, Amy H., and all the other girls who danced w/ me during that time. I wouldn’t be the same without those dancing experiences in college. And thanks to the guys who taught me the few moves I do know.

Categories: Life
Tags: Benjamin, dance, Suzanne, wedding

I learned how to cook something new last night.

Fresh Broccoli

• boil water
• add broccoli
• cook it for a while
• eat it

I like my recipes uncomplicated and imprecise.

Categories: Life
Tags: cooking, water