Where have I been?

I’m back. You know it’s bad when several of your co-workers stop you in the hall and ask why you haven’t been updating your blog. On the one hand, I guess it’s good that they read. (Hi guys.) But on the other hand, where are their blogs? Do they think this is easy?

(Actually, it is easy. Nevermind.)

Just been a bit busy is all, trying to dig out from being away from home for a week, getting the house ready for Christmas, and prepping for a busy several weeks at work. So I’m probably a day away from being completely caught up and back to a normal posting schedule here… in the meantime, here are a few gems I caught while being blog-less:

• Like David Weinberger, I bought my first Dixie Chicks album simply to reward Natalie Maines for speaking up. Like David, to my utter shock, I found I liked the music. Their new album is excellent, well worth a pick-up.

• Denise had a baby! Congrats Denise. In no particular order, a few suggestions: when they’re sick, clear Pedialyte is waaaaay better than anything with colors. (Think about it.) Start driving places with the little guy in the car. Should you ever get the urge to drive or fly outrageous distances, the comfort of hanging in the carseat will repay you in spades. Just for the hell of it, start out with small trips. Like Palm Springs, for example. You’ve earned it, right? And never, ever let the house get quiet. Otherwise you’ll feel the need to soundproof the entire place while they sleep. Better they get used to the din now. (My youngest fell asleep in the middle of a circus. Literally, a three-ring circus. Slept for over an hour. Go figure!)

• This is old, but still worth a read: Child’s Play. Any fans of classic video games (Pong, Donkey Kong, Tetris, etc.) will scream with laughter over the transcripts of reactions from today’s 10-13 year-olds who try to play these gems of electronic gaming. My favorite quote: “My line is so beating the heck out of your stupid line. Fear my pink line. You have no chance. I am the undisputed lord of virtual tennis.”

Be back soon. One last thing — I just converted the blog from the default Berkeley DB to mySQL — you shouldn’t notice any difference (except hopefully snappier performance), but if anything looks broken just let me know.