Mood: Really Happy..
Music: 50s Tunes.
Game: Guitar Hero 2, WoW, BF2142, Bioshock, Etc....
Book: Just finished Spook Country, William Gibson. Any suggestions?
Watching: Trying to watch Children of Men...can't seem to find the time.
Weather: Still beautiful.
OK...so it's been a month. Quite a lot's happened since then.
I've been really busy, which I suppose is normal for the summer. Less normal for me, I guess...but August was truly all over the map. What's happened?
Well, I went to Florida for a long weekend for my Grandfather's 90th birthday. That's about as far from a holiday as one can get. Aside from the ridiculously long flight (and changing planes in Atlanta), they lost my luggage on the way down, and I spent the weekend with my brother, my mother, and my nephew Ethan. While it was great to see my mom, my brother, and especially Ethan, it was really tiring. I think I got maybe 4-5 hours over 4 days to myself. Family things are like that, and truthfully, even though I love everyone involved, I am just not a family event person. The birthday went off OK, and I got to spend the day with a bunch of people I vaguely remember, but who remember me when I was 3 feet tall. That's always fun. I tried to be charming, and I think I succeeded, but I could think of about 450 places I'd rather have been. Oh, and I got to spend about 30 minutes in the sun all weekend...of course, the 95 degree heat with way too much humidity was fun. Not.
Then, I was instrumental in landing a very large project at work...very large. It's going to mean a lot of hours, but it'll be great, and it'll lead to more work when we pull it off. Frankly, it's a great project from both the client and the business perspective...a win-win situation. The price was an issue, so we cut off sections which now make it hard to staff appropriately, but it'll all work out. By the way, our team is six people at work...we're looking to hire seven more. That should indicate how busy we are.
I met up with Jenny Lee, who is in town editing her first feature film...go Jenny Lee! We had dinner (sushi) then came back here to get her a cab...but it was Friday night, and it took us about 3 hours (no kidding) to get her a cab. We played a bunch of Guitar Hero II (she learned how...) and waited. Aside from the long wait for the cab, it was awesome, as always to see Jenny Lee.
After that, I went to San Francisco for my WoW guild's annual conference. I didn't really know what to expect, but Firethorn and Southern, two gaming buddies I've known for about six years or so, were going, so I looked at it as an opportunity to finally meet them in person. I'm really, really glad I did. Aside from hooking up with Paul and JP (who are as fun and insane in person as they are online,) I got to tour the EA campuses, speak with some devs of a game I'm betatesting and writing a Prima Guide for, got to meet with the folks from Prima Games (which was VERY useful and interesting,) got to tour the Perpetual Studios offices, and met up with some game devs and company owners. For a geek gamer like myself, it was a GREAT vacation. Oh, did I mention I got to meet, hang out with, and dine with about 120 guild members? I did. And it was remarkably useful and fun. Putting faces to names definitely adds a level of enjoyment to playing online. You now KNOW the people, rather than just hear them or read their typing. And it didn't hurt that a lot of them spent the weekend drinking and just generally having a great time, which was fun for everyone.
While I was in SF, I met up with my cousin Joma, who is doing well...I love seeing her. She makes me happy, and we always seem to have stuff to talk about. She's one of the few sane relatives I have. Was awesome to get lunch with her. Time was a little short, however...I really should look into visiting her more often...or having her come up.
Last Wednesday night, Chelsea and I went out with the crowd from work to go see Young Frankenstein. It's in it's tune-up run just before it left last Friday for Broadway. All in all, a really nice adaptation. Excellent technical values, fun staging, and all the "zany" humor you'd expect from Mel Brooks. I'd recommend it. And we had AWESOME seats.
Then, on Friday, we had dinner with Jenny Lee (Chelsea went this time...last time was a Faire weekend so she couldn't make it) and saw Stardust. Stardust is officially a chick flick. Neil Gaiman is an exceptional storyteller, and the acting and all that was satisfactory...but it played a little young, and a little too fairy-talish, and not dark enough for my liking. Dinner was pretty good, and it's always awesome to see Jenny Lee.
Then, since Faire season is over for Chelsea, we've started looking into property and houses. We're looking to buy something, and she's definitely motivated. I admit, I'm looking forward to more space, a slightly better decor, a bigger kitchen, and so on. Plus it'll be nice to have a house we can call our own. I've never owned a house, so this is a big step, obviously.
Last week, I also got a copy of Bioshock at work for the PC. (Did I mention I love the perqs for working with the Xbox team?) The game is FABULOUS. Nice difficulty, amazing storyline, love the variety. Much is made of the morality in the game...there isn't much. Either you kill the Little Sisters, or you don't. Honestly, I've finished the game without killing any Little Sisters, and it's a satisfying ending. I'm now playing it through, killing them all, just to see how it works out. Either way, it's a VERY well designed game...creepy and gorgeous, awesome sound design. Not a game to play just before bed...although, I have to admit, the first time I slotted it, I ended up staying up until 5am playing...on a work night. So, yeah...it's good.
This weekend, we went shopping at the farmer's market, which runs on Sunday right down the block. We got some fresh lamb rib chops, which I grilled after marinating them with a mixture of my own design. They were SO good.
[Marinade: Half-cup of chopped cilantro, half-cup chopped scallions, one finely chopped jalapeno pepper, a splash of soy sauce, and enough of a splash of O&Co's Chili Olive Oil to moisten the whole thing. Shake well in a covered container, then pour over lamb in a ziploc bag. Massage the mixture into the lamb through the bag, and let sit 15 mins at room temp before grilling.]
Later this month, Adam's gonna come visit. It'll be great to see him and hang out a bit. Can't wait.
I think that about catches us up, dear reader. I'll try to keep updating this more regularly...but you know me!
And keep the emails and comments coming...I love to read them...especially since it's the primary way I stay in touch with all of you!