i added the quotations back to my webpage. those of you who don’t know what i’m talking about can see how my site used to look in the wayback machine. the quote at the top of the page changes every time you visit the site. reload and have fun or just come back often.
i recently came upon a few good articles by david brin over at salon. the first is entitled “star wars” despots vs. “star trek” populists. in this article he really sticks it to lucas and the whole star wars franchise, story line, and ideological base. i really have to hand it to brin, his writing style is engaging and well thought out. i as well hate the new star wars trilogy, yet strangely i go watch it in hopes that it will be better then the last drivel lucas put out. a review by me can’t do this article justice so i just suggest you go read it.
the second and most recent article by brin is entitled j.r.r. tolkien — enemy of progress. it goes into great depth about the lord of the rings trilogy. it talks about how this story and really any story should be looked at from all angles. it’s common among movie goers and readers to never really think about what they are reading. yes reading is very escapist but it’s also meant to push, pull, and test your values and ideals. it’s often the authors intent to represent some political issue or belief in the form of a narrative. next time your at a movie or reading a book, try stepping away from the storyline and ask yourself what the author really intended.
both articles are definitely worth the read.
this week is going fairly well. besides a few snafus at work in the final hours, we are ready to release a new version of our software. that usually means last minute fires and debugging issues. fortunately we planned this last release pretty well and ended the “development” phase a few weeks ago so we’ve been fighting the fires earlier. so now that we’ve reached the release, we’re pretty much settling in for the rollout. we have one final usability test to go before being done and moving on to new development. everyone knows geeks long for that new development phase. we can only take so much debugging and support work.
amy and i are ramping up for another painting project. we’re moving on to the family room now. we’re thinking a tan faux finish, but this time it will be a lot less laborious then the bedroom was, that’s for sure.
haven’t played earth and beyond at all this week. tells you how “engrossing” that game is these days. don’t get me wrong, i’m not quitting it … yet. i still enjoy the questing and fighting with mike but honestly that game was released 6 months too early. it lacks content in every shape and form. let’s hope eve online doesn’t screw that one up. if they do i’m sure to switch for good and never look back.
in case you haven’t seen it, i released the amy & sean wedding site, formally known as willson.us. i have temporarily commandeered it for the wedding. look for updates over there on all things wedding.
i’ve been eating well this week and i worked out every day except for tuesday when i went to dinner downtown with tony. my ankle has been killing me all week actually which really sucks. for those of you who don’t know i had ankle surgery about 9 years ago and i have 9 pins and a plate in my left ankle. needless to say it doesn’t help my ankle that i am overweight. anyhow, the night i was downtown with tony we walked everywhere which was probably like 2 miles from work to the restaurant and the back to the train. if you know downtown chicago you know what i mean. since then it’s been aching like a mofo.
i still don’t feel like i am kicking ass in my workouts. i’m losing weight slowly, but not rocking the casbow like i want too. i started listening to the body for life book on cd again. can’t hurt reviewing what you think you know. plus the stories are pretty inspiring. i’m looking forward to the release of bill phillips new books — body for life cookbook and energy for life; both of which are due out in early 2003.
right now i’m reading fats that heal, fats that kill: the complete guide to fats, oils, cholesterol and human health by udo erasmus. i just started reading it on the train today. i figured if i got into a few of my health books it couldn’t hurt motivating me either. right now i have a queue of about 20 books i own and haven’t yet read yet. shhhhhh, don’t tell amy.
damn it’s cold here. i’m gonna have to finally pull out the gloves and put the insert into my winter coat before i go outside again. i froze my yoohoo’s off this morning.
you gotta love refinancing mortgages. i won’t name names but i’m refinancing right now and i can honestly say it is the most ungodly painful process i have ever endured. hell, closing on the purchase of the house was easier. the pain’s not because of the questions or paperwork, it’s due to the length of time it’s taking to close, 2.5 months in processing so far. yea you read that right, almost 1/4 of a year. i understand that it’s “the busiest time in 40 years” (which is what their recorded status message keeps telling me every week on my answering machine) but come on this is ridiculous. what ever happened to customer service and those things called “computers” that make things faster? i know they want my money so that can’t be the issue. anyhow, i hope to close before the end of the year. it’s worth the wait though since we’ll be saving a nice chunk of cash in the long haul.
had a good workout last night. 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer and 8 minutes on the stationary bike. i’m looking forward to doing my upper body workout tonight. i’m skipping “must see tv” since my fitness is a bit more important than seeing a few tv program. all the more reason to buy a replay tv some time soon.
i’ve been eating good all week, no complaints in that department. i might be able to get some additional veggies in but then again who couldn’t?
amy and i are looking at buying some ipod’s.
i helped a friend set up her new ibook this past weekend. i really do love mac os x. it was fun to set up and easy to use, what more could you want? hope to snatch me a mac some time next year.
working on a wedding website, stay tuned for more information. i expect something to appear this weekend.
hi all, long time no write. i’ve been keeping pretty busy lately. amy and i finally finished painting the bedroom. it only took 4 weekend … eheheh … a bit longer than i thought it would but it looks really amazing. i am very happy with how it turned out. we’re planning on moving into the family room next. we’re thinking of a beige faux finish of some kind in there. not sure which finish, but one of those.
amy and i were in michigan for a baby shower for our friend mike and lori. we had a really good time at the shower and hanging out with ellis and christina. we should be home again for x-mas. i can’t believe we’re already at that time of year.
i’ve been pretty darn busy at work lately. between development, support, and filling my bosses shoes i’ve been not only working a lot but learning a lot. can’t beat being thrown in the trenches for a learning experience.
it never fails, head hunters can find you anywhere you change jobs to. it might have something to do with my website though. back to getting at least one call per week with job offers or people looking for references or people with a certain skillset.
i’m selling my dell poweredge server so if you know anyone on the market for a 1u server that is 1 year old and has a 1GHz pIII cpu, 512 mb sdram, 9.2gb hard drive, 10000 rpm scsi, cd-rom, floppy, video, and dual ethernet please let me know. ii’m looking for something a little more home friendly with less fans. actually all i’m really in need of is a network storage device like the linksys etherfast instant gigadrive. it’s an 80gb drive with an expansion slot for another 120GB drive, built in print server, and dhcp. not to shabby … no one else seems to have another device like this with a decent price point though. i was also looking at the new maxtor personal storage 5000xt 250gb firewire/usb external drive. it has some cool backup software that integrates with it. anyhow, it’s all up in the air until i sell the box though.
we’re planning on finishing our wedding registry this coming weekend. tonight we have a meeting with the priest, hope i don’t get hit with lightning when i walk into the church.
apple released some new drool ware today. a new ibook and powerbook. basically it’s a processor and parts upgrade. the powerbook also received a sexy upgrade of a slot loading super drive (dvd and cd burner). some day i’ll own one. maybe when i sell my server and get a small upgrade to my pc (video card and the network drive) then i can start saving for an apple. we’ll see, we have way to many higher priority things going on right now. but i do have to say that these machines are scccchhhwwwweeeeeetttttt.
working out is kind of iffy this week … it was better last week. with work my hours are screwed but my eating has been great. failing in one spot doing good in the other. amy and i had a heart to heart on this a week or so ago. we are both getting on track and kicking ass. it’s so nice to have someone there that loves you and supports you when you need them. even if it is to give you a nice kick in the ass. love ya sweetie !!!
looking for some small web projects if anyone has any, give me a shout.
still playing earth and beyond when i’m relaxing. amy recently started playing the sims online beta.
that’s all for now, see ya.
in remembrance of those who lost their lives on september 11, 2001. yahoo has a nice tribute site that attempts to help people understand the effects that date had on our lives then and in the future.
Earth and Beyond by Westwood Studios is now in the open beta testing period and you can download the client from Gigex. It’s a Sci-Fi Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) game where you play the role of a human decedent exploring the galaxy, fighting monsters, and chatting with friends. I highly recommend that you check it out, the graphics are phenomenal and the game play is addictive.
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