Woot! I turn 35 today, and it looks like Ms. Morgan has somehow set aside a “birthday weekend” for me. (I cannot tell you how excited I am). My birthday always seems to fall right beside some large event that everyone else is involved with, and as such, it kinda falls by the wayside. Sometimes I tell myself that I just have to plan my own party, but there is that small kid inside that doesn’t want to, he wants to be surprised. It looks like I’m getting my wish, the teasing and tempting has begun, bags in the fridgerator with notes that I’m not allowed to peek, instructions that I’m not supposed to exit my room after a certain point tonight, mad giggles of foreshadowing, blocks of time that I’m to set aside. (god it’s wonderful) (I’ll let you know how it goes).
BURNING MAN 2008
Against all odds, it turns out I’m heading to Burning Man this year. I originally had planned to skip this year, too many things seemed outawack for it to work out, then all of a sudden it seemed like the universe said “Brian, you are going!” I got offers for rides in RV’s, all my best friends are camping next to where I would have camped, discounted tickets were offered, our group got one of the best locations at BM, etc. So last time I had (8) months to plan, this time I have (5) days, holy crap! BM2008, here I come.
YEAR TO COME
This year I’m going to be more active. I’m updating my online profiles, getting more involved in the communities that interest me, looking to travel a lot more, start some new activities, and follow where my heart takes me. I’ve been a bit bored lately and it is about time I did something about it.
…or so I’d like to delude myself. I’ve been strangely absent from my blog, busy out and about with my life, but I’d like to come back and start updating again.
I’m moving! Yes, I’ve just signed a renters lease and should be moving by the end of the month. I’m really looking forward to this, I get my own kitchen, bathroom, I get to unbox all of my stuff (most of it PRE-Austraila) and feel like I have my own place again (ok, not really my “own” place, I will have a roommate) WOOT. I’m so happy. It’s a nice two bedroom on the second floor, and we get a garage (which is really saying we get free storage space). And by “we” I mean Morgan and myself. She’s going to be my (un?)lucky roommate (along with Charley and Cooper, the cat and dog combo that are her “kids”). If you want to see some pics, you can find them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/binarynomad/NewHouse NOTE: these pics are with the previous tenent still there (sadly, the big tree out front is now gone :’-( sniff sniff )
My business is doing very well, I’m book almost every day now, I’ve got prospective clients lined up, and I am having to decline people due to my schedule. It’s great! I’m also looking at revamping (or finally building) my business website, and actually getting business cards (which I’ve been sorely lacking).
Taxes are over and I’m thinking of using my Federal Stimulus package on an iPhone (you cannot seen the enormous grin on the other side of the computer, but believe me …. it’s there)
Social life is busy, I’ve got friends with weekly events happening almost every night of the week, and this coming summer seems to be filling up quite quickly.
Travel has been quiet lately, I wanted to goto Austin, TX for SXSW, but my budget and client load talked me out of it (especially with the looming costs of moving fast approaching). I’m looking forward to going to Defcon in Las Vegas at the beginning of August, and perhaps LISA in San Diego in September. I also am working on plans for Christmas in Austin with my brothers and then Australia in January 2009 for http://linux.conf.au/. I had a tempting possibility for Thailand in Dec, but I haven’t seen my family in a while and it is about time.
I’ve got too much I want to learn. Always more and more on the tech side (security, networking, communications, business solutions, etc) and almost no time to study. I’ve been missing my photography bug (and yet I still have over 280 directories of photos I still need to process…guh). I’m hoping to ramp up my cooking skills now that I’ll have a kitchen. I’ve also got two possible options to learn dancing (which is still a phobia).
My “anal-retentive/organizational side got an unprecedented booster shot the other day, THIS came in the mail. All I need now is a laminator and I’ll rule the world (oh wait, I can find one at CostCo Business Center…muhahahahahah). It’s sad, I now get just as excited when I walk into a Staples or Office Depo as I did walking into Toy’s R Us when I was a kid (what’s wrong with me … don’t answer that).
While driving today, I turned on NPR and happened upon an interview with Philip Zimbardo who wrote “The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. It was an amazing interview and a enlightening look into mans nature. I loved how he ended the interview on using heroism to combat the evil tendencies of our culture. I highly recommend you listen to the interview on NPR, you can goto the web page here, and then click the “Listen Now” button.
This last Saturday was fun, I’ve been fighting something (again) so I was taking it somewhat easy, but I got to see some new things.
It started off with Si introducing me to The Wave Organ which is this amazing art project situated in the bay, just below the Exploratorium. It consists of about 25 pipes that run into the bay to create a hydro-powerd natural organ:
Afterwards we made our way through the city over to Amber’s house, for tea, and socializing where I got to see this video of this amazing young (untrained) singer Nick Pitera. From there we dropped by the Futon shop so Si could check out her new (possible) bed options, and then finally ending back at her house where we watched Wings of Desire, a beautiful german movie which is in essence a love story about the city of Berlin (trailer)
Back when I first saw Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead I fell in love with the “Questions” game. Since then I’ve tried to recount all the rules but I always felt like I was missing something, and I never got around to renting the movie again. Recently I discovered the rules in a blog post and then found them on Wikipedia. I’m now keeping my own copy :).
Rules for “Game of Questions”
The game starts with first player asking a question.
The second player has to respond with a relevant question.
Scoring is done when a player fouls. Fouls can be called for:
statement: player fails to reply with an actual question
hesitation: player takes too long to reply or grunts or makes a false start
repetition: player asks a questions identical to or synonymous with one already asked this game (not match)
rhetoric: player asks a rhetorical question
non-sequitur: player responds with an unrelated question
When a foul is called on a player, his opponent is awarded one point. First player to get three points wins a game. Matches are played to best out of three games.
(I’ll let you know how it goes).
