vanderwal.net

This weekend it is off to NYC for a very short visit. I am setting up a computer, Internet connection, and DVD player for a relative. In late Friday, install (expecting to have to run out for cables and other items "not included") on Saturday day, get taken out to dinner for the duties provided, brunch and packup Sunday and return home. This may be the first trip to NYC that I have not had a huge desire to see something. The Cloisters would be nice or the Planaterium, but I just don't see it fitting in. Maybe I need regular visits to NYC, just to see friends and take in things I never have done. I now know a good smattering of folks in NYC, but I will see most of you in a couple weeks in Austin.

My Timbuk2 bag, built to order and in appropriate colors. This could be the most comfortable bag I have ever had. I had the bag loaded up today and it really was comfortable for the commute. The bag has a lot of room and is well padded. It was a great gift, even though I picked the build of the bag. The next time you need a bag give these folks a look, they are hand-made in San Francisco.

Arg. If you have Internet work and need somebody great, I know of a great developer looking for work. Send Nick your leads and best wishes.

Now the fun begins. I can now sit on the sofa next to my wife, not only work on my laptop but have access to the Internet using Apple's Airport. Yes no wires attached and I have full througput of our DSL line.

This is enabling me to watch the Winter Olympics opening ceremony and alternate tasks. I have been more impressed with the ads during the opening ceremonies, much more so than the Super Bowl. My favorite so far is the multi-sport Nike ad. Hands down my favorite add I have seen in months, not saying much as I really do not watch too much television, as I prefer to watch the interesting bits off the Internet. You ask what made the Nike ad so impressive? Not only was it the transitions, the relationships between athletes and youth and amatures trying the same performance, and the visual beauty, with intermixing a steady camera and a moving shot. The cinematography was beautiful. Full marks.

Thanks for the birthday wishes and gifts. Feeling like you missed out? There is still time.

New Digital Web issue out with the feature article by yours truly, entitled SXSW and Between. This is the first weekly issue that Digital Web has done.

Ever had those days when you are dead tired at 8pm and know the next day is going to be hellish? One prescription is getting and putting everything in writing.

Things are messed up when the daytime high temperature in Washington, DC is 15 degrees higher than Palm Springs. On January 29th, mind you. We have been sleeping with the windows open in January and it is still a little too warm at night. Then only to find out it snowed in Northern California and many, many, many people caught it on film and/or wrote about it. This is disturbing for me as I love the seasons and really like Winter, only after Fall. I left San Francisco in 1993 tired of eternal Spring. Now what on earth is this.

Hoya Saxa

Yesterday was the first snow of the season. It was a wonderful day out running errands and meeting friends of Joy's in Old Town last evening. The white snow on the limbs of dark baren trees gave the world an Ansel Adams view. Snow in the DC area brings most everything to a halt and everything gets wonderfully quiet. When I lived in Arlington I would walk down to the Iwo Jima Memorial and watch the snow fall listening to the flag wave and stare out at the monument light down the Mall across the Potomac. It was so quiet you could hear the snow land upon the blanket of snow that had landed before.

A benevolent Secret Santa, I believe from the Boxes and Arrows project (using the Secret Santa - Mystery Menorah application I built), dropped of two wonderful gifts today. One was The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World, by Lawrence Lessig, which has been on my highly desired list since hearing him speak at Web2001 in San Francisco. I have been really liking and agreeing with many of Lessig's articles of late, so the book should be quite juicy. The other was Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995, by Bill Watterson, which not only contains many C & H Sunday newspaper strips, but includes Watterson's background on the drawings. Many of the snippets I read this evening make for very good understanding of layout and visual presentation and tie directly to Web design. This seems to be similar (or a lite version of) to Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, which Peter likes.

New Year's resolutions? I don't do resolutions at New Years. Resolutions I reserve as a term for images. I collected too many bad habits years ago and waiting for one special day to dump them was sorely unproductive and left me feeling like I was not succeeding. Now I try to make positive corrections as I find need for them. Oh yes and being married, as my wife Joy finds need for corrections for me (some of these I may revive as New Year's resolutions next year, shhh, don't tell Joy. This is your and my little secret).

Happy New Year!!!

Things have been quiet here you say? Yes, the holiday season has been a busy one. My parents swung through beginning on Christmas Day for a quick visit, it has been wonderful to see them so much this holiday season. I have been battling a cold and possibly allergies, which have really worn me down. I have also taken some time out for life to read (Lance Armstrong biography, which is wonderful, and pick through Patrcia Wells, "The Paris Cookbook" a fantastic journey through recipies and restaurant insights of Paris) and watch movies on DVD.

I am still very worn down and in need of some serious sleep, exercise, and relaxation. Hopefully that will come in the next week or two.

The Beeb and local public radio stations have been running The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, live from King's College Chapel, Cambridge, England. To me it is a wonderful preparation for Christmas Day, while doing my final wrapping of presents. It plays again on Christmas Day.

I wish everybody safe and peaceful travels and a wonderful holiday season.