December Blues

Well, been a while, so here goes.

First, an update on where I have been and what I have been doing. Last weekend my fiancee ditched me to meet up with her friend in Austin, so I celebrated by...catching a cold. So last week was pretty rough. I didn't feel like much the whole week. Lucky to have such a great fiancee to take good care of me. I have been taking guitar lessons finally. Jena got me a guitar a couple of years ago, and after some self-teaching, I figured out I can't teach myself very well, so I have been going to a great teacher for a few lessons now, and it's amazing how far I have come. Someday I will be able to rock like a true guitar god...or at least be able to play a few songs...preferably Led Zeppelin or Tom Petty or something good that's not too challenging and doesn't require 12-strings. We went to New York City this weekend and braved the cold wet weather. It's a crazy place - I never know how people live there, but there must be something to it since both of my college roommates and some other good friends are either moving there or have been there for a while. Too much action for me...

We took the bus there, which was good...cheap, had wireless internet, and gave me time to read! I finished The Ethical Assassin, by David Liss. I had read his first three books, which were historical fictions based on a family of exiled Jewish merchants in England from 1500-1700. I love history, and have been getting more into historical fiction. Liss' fourth effort, however, jumped to the other end of the spectrum, diving into a mystery about an encyclopedia salesman in the trailer parks of Northern Florida. It was really a good quick read like the others. The pace and rhythm of the storytelling is always pretty uncanny in his books.

Not much else to add. Still working through Manhunt and the Alexander Hamilton bio, and also through three chapters of Herding Cats, a book about programmers being promoted to lead other programmers, which is where I find myself these days, often cluelessly. I have already noticed ample quantities of advice that I can use in my day to day work.

More on Christmas shortly, along with some good pictures we have taken lately during our travels!