Off By One

I think it’s time that I resurrect this feature of the site. I’m not spending enough time writing nice things about nice people, and that’s a shame. So, without further ado…

Matt is… (continue reading…)

It’s sore, it’s stiff, but I have two arms, and therefore I can…

• Finish the assignment that was due last friday
• Finish the assignment that is due this friday.
• Do some real work on my project so as not to let down my team.
• Catch up on my paid work.

That doesn’t sound like too much fun. On the other hand, I can pull up my pants easier, now

Somewhere in there, however, I really need to find some way to thank Char for the fantastic way she’s helped me out throughout the first week of my slingery, when I really couldn’t do much for myself. Waking up at 7:30 is not something she enjoys, and she did it for me.

Happy anniversary, Char.

It’s been five years, now, arguably the best five of my life.  We’ve had our ups and downs, to be sure, but the ups so far outnumber and outscale the downs that it’s difficult to pinpoint anything in particular in the latter  set.

I wish you could be here, but even more, I wish I could be there.

Anyway, to whom it may concern, this woman is my woman, with whom I am deeply and passionately in love.  Five years is only a start.

Uhm… I don’t know how to put this without sounding like a total sap, but…

Char is probably the bestest, most wonderful person in the whole world, bar none.

Just…

Yeah.

Moving right along…

This is where it gets a bit more complicated. Most of the people I’m going to be writing about in this vein now are people who read the blog with varying degrees of frequency. I’m not really sure how I feel about talking about them in such a public forum, and more to the point, I’m not sure how comfortable they are with it.

That being said, nobody I really hate is gonna end up in this section of the site

Anyway, here’s one for Aaron

(continue reading…)

This is the first of (hopefully) many postings in a new vein here. I’m not going to promise anything special, but the people I’ll write about under this heading are my friends. This will be why I care, who they are to me, and all that jazz. Since it’s not of interest to everyone, I’ll keep the bulk of the text off of the front page, but here’s the first one: Beau. (continue reading…)

So sorry about having dropped from the face of the earth for a week, folks. I know my readership isn’t huge, but i suspect at least one or two people missed me

So, here’s the scoop: The downtime resulted from Char and I moving, and shaw not moving as fast as we did, due to some wiring issues. I spent tuesday to today with no net access, which meant no mailserver, no webserver, etc. Very crappy. And, as i’m sure you can all imagine, also very jitter-inducing.

So, an update. Leaving aside private events that have kept me off-radar a bit of late, here’s what’s new:

We’re moved! Yay! The new house is coming together nicely, and i’d like to make a very public nod to Char, who has worked tirelessly to make the new place look like the home it’s going to be for the foreseeable future. The house looks nicer every time she puts something in place. Another nod that is not only necessary but huge is to Simon; without his help, there is no way the place would have been done on time. Bro, i owe you more than i can repay for your help, thank you again and again - i don’t know what we would have done without the time, effort, and general awesomeness you displayed getting this together for us.

Also new and notable, i’ve now skydived. I wasn’t really aware of the distinction, but … i sure as hell am now. There’s something very different about stepping out of a plane 3.5 km above the earth, even with two very professional and very kind instructors on my two sides, taking a breath at my own pace, looking out at the horizon, and with total awareness of what i’m doing and how, letting go and starting a free fall for 40 seconds, reaching terminal velocity as i fall. After 3000 feet falling, i had time to just look. And feel. And fly. The little hop we did in the training/first jump just doesn’t count, after that. Why even bother? A memorable t-shirt quote dad forwarded to me: “The meek shall inherit the earth. We own the sky.” This is how i feel. I will do this again, no doubt in my mind at all.

Last but not least, in 3 days, i go back to school. Year 2. Damn, i so look forward to this…