August 17th, 2008

So, after a very loooong time wanting to do so, I've joined the SCA. We tried to do this years ago in Indiana, but frankly we didn't feel we meshed well with the group there. Rob wasn't thrilled with the idea at first, understandably, but being the wonderful husband that he is, he agreed to come along for the ride and has since found a persona that he can get into. It helps that this group made a much better first impression than the last. :P I've chosen a 15th Century English persona, Rob a 12th Century (what would now be) French persona. We're still in the early stages of development, but it's a lot of fun and it gets us out of the house.

At the moment I'm learning the fine art of costume making; a challenge in and of itself without patterns. It's giving me a crash course in measuring, fitting, and pattern-making though, which is going to be very helpful, I think. Rob and I went thrift-store hopping yesterday and I bought a ton of medium weight 'rough' looking fabric to practice with for about $10. So far I've only had one major botch, and it was because I didn't notice the fabric wasn't really square to start with. When I had cut everything out and held it up, none of the cut lines matched up. Oh well - there's $2 of trim to work with now.

August 4th, 2008

Just a quick update because it's been a month: UPenn is going well. I like the job, like the hours, like the pay, and I like the train commute. I get a good workout walking from the train station to the building I work in (20 mins each way), so I'm losing weight, and I have plenty of time to read. Overall it's a good place to be. It's not what I'd call a 'fun' place to work, but I'm surrounded by very smart people doing important research. It's a step closer to 'making a difference,' which I've come to realize is my real motivation.

Rob's birthday is coming up, so don't forget to wish him well! Happy Birthday, honey!

July 10th, 2008

Goodbye, Apple. Hello University of Pennsylvania! I've finally rid myself of Retail forever. Apple was a good company, don't get me wrong. Their products will always be my preferred choice for computing because their products just make sense (most of the time). But one more "Whachoo mean my iPod ain' covered?!" and I was going to shove a product down someone's throat, accidental damage and all.

Let me be perfectly clear for the mentally challenged out there: WARRANTIES ARE NOT INSURANCE POLICIES. If you crash your car into a tree, don't go crying to the dealership about the 'bumper to bumper' warranty. They will laugh at you just as much as we do behind your back when you crash your iPod into the ground, moron. In the immortal words of Ruben, "Your shit's broke. Buy a new one."

On the bright side, UPenn is fantastic. A little less technologically organized than I expected from an Ivy League school, but that just means there's lots of interesting projects to do.

As for the jerks who started a POOL to see how long it would be before I hate this job, and you know who you are, you're dead to me.

June 19th, 2008

The complete set of pictures from Much Ado is now up. This includes never-before-posted pictures of the rehearsal process, and some much better touching-up of other pictures. Enjoy!

June 13th, 2008

Rob's Grandmother passed away this week, and the funeral is this morning. As has become my custom, I composed something for her -- this time a song. I'll try to post an MP3 of the melody soon, but you can read the prose on the Memorial page.

June 12th, 2008

I'm tired of coding picture pages, so I'm using Picasa to create them for me. I have a *lot* of pictures. Check out the new links on the Images page. The links for Mexico and Museum will open new windows, but the pictures are worth it I think. MANY more to come soon.

May 20th, 2008

It's finally back up! The network in the house is a little different out of necessity, and none of the Linux distributions I downloaded supported the new wireless network card I bought, so I finally opted for a WAMP (windows- based) web server. It's not a great solution, but it's up and running.

There's a potential job change on the horizon. As accommodating as some of the people say they want to be at the store, I can't see it really happening. I'm just not happy being bombarded with negativity every day, working with certain people who literally walk away from their jobs whenever it suits them, working a LOUSY schedule that precludes me from having a life, and being treated like a criminal on a daily basis. (We are required to have our bags, coats, and lunch sacks searched every time we leave the store.) You have no idea how much of a struggle it is just to show up at that place on a daily basis.

Wish me luck.

April 19th, 2008

The Birthday Agenda

1. Get up really freakin' early

2. Do the MS Walk in Dover

3. Eat, recover, nap

4. Eat again (it's my birthday, dangit!)

5. Go see Rufus Wainwright in concert in New Jersey

6. Go home and nap again before work

Life is good.

April 14th, 2008

The Welcome Wagon came by this week. Their gift? A heinous head cold. Work yesterday consisted of blow nose, sanitize hands, talk to customer, and repeat. I'm thinking of calling in today just so I can medicate and sleep a lot.

The house is coming together slowly. We went to Ikea on Sunday (despite my pitiful condition) and picked up some bookshelves and a kitchen cart/butcher block. They're all together and filled already. When there are enough other boxes out of the way that you can see them, I'll post pictures. Which reminds me -- there are pics of the house and the move on pages 10 and 11 under Images.

April 3rd, 2008

Robert and Lisa helped us load the boxes last night and some friends from the store will be here tonight to help us load the last of the UFOs (ungodly f'in-heavy objects), like the piano. As expected, the truck I rented was much too big, but I'd rather have too much room than not enough.

The downside of renting a too-large truck is that I'm TERRIFIED of driving it. When I picked it up from Budget, they had parked another truck within two feet of it on the right side, and there were rental cars in front of me. I pulled forward as far as I thought I could, then backed up to correct the angle. When I backed up, I think I tapped the corner of the truck that was parked too close. All I could think was "Thank God we took the optional insurance."

Anyway, we're mostly packed and loaded, the carpets are cleaned, the wood floors are mostly cleaned, and everything is finally coming together. All I need now is some good driving karma... Wish me luck.

April 1st, 2008

Ruben had a party for me last night at his place, which was a lot of fun. Thanks Ruby! :) Great food, great company, and a lot of laughs. My last day at the store came and went uneventfully. It was a close repair shift, and I actually got quite a lot done. I find that I like the admin-y stuff a lot more that the actual genius-y stuff at times. Hmmm...

And now the real fun begins. Three days to the move. Are we ready? Of course not. We're a lot closer to ready than I think I've ever been at T minus 3 days, but we're still not ready. I can concentrate on packing now that I don't have to work (I know -- except when I'm sitting here writing HTML...), so everything should be fine. We pick up the truck tomorrow morning, and we have some friends coming Wednesday night to help us load the big stuff. Wish us luck!

From Left: Darrin, Justin, Ashley, Ryan, Lars, Brina (aka Brian), Ruben, Chris, Angie, Jared, Me!

March 26th, 2008

So the news is in: I have the job in Delaware. There is a bit of paperwork to do yet, but the position is mine. I spoke to the manager there today, and the guy who wanted to transfer out got his position, so I get mine. Yay me! :)

March 17th, 2008

I've posted pics of the new house (click on Images / Page 10). They're small and only show two rooms and the front, but it's better than nothing. Enjoy!

In addition, the Apple transfer may have come through after all. I'll likely know something Monday. I may still go looking for another, better-paying job once I'm there, but this takes off a little of the pressure of making ends meet once we're moved.

March 12th, 2008

I can't believe we're finally moving! We've got a place to live, Rob is most likely being approved to work from home, and my transfer within Apple fell through. Yes, that's a blessing though it doesn't sound like one: it opens me up to find a better-paying job (since Apple doesn't 'do' cost of living increases apparently...), and lets me get something in the city that doesn't require a ridiculous commute.

In addition, I added more pictures from our last trip to Wisconsin to see Bounding Main again. It was a tiny pub in Milwaukee, but it was loads of fun and there were a lot of great people there. You shoulds also check out their website, because Rob and I are the 'Star Maniacs' for March! :)

January 10, 2008

Please help me welcome the newest addition to our family, Darwin. On the coldest night of the year, last Saturday or so, with a temperature hovering around -5F, Rob and I left the house to go to dinner. I could hear him crying from four houses down. When I went to investigate, I found this poor kitty under a large evergreen, shivering. Unable to resist such pressure, we borrowed a carrier from our neighbor and took him in. Rob's assessment was that Darwin was a girl initially, and we named him 'Kira' provisionally. (Think Deep Space 9: strong-willed female with survival instincts -- it fit.) We found out today, however, that Darwin is in fact a boy, about 4-5 years old, already neutered, but not collared or microchipped. The vet said, rather matter-of-factly, that it didn't matter: they choose you. Thanks for selecting us, Darwin. (I love puns, dont' ya know...) We love you already too.

December 14th, 2007

I added a couple of pages of pictures (because I'm no longer constrained by some host's arbitrary limit) of our trip to northern Illinois to attend the Bounding Main's 'land cruise'. Enjoy!

December 1st, 2007

Welcome to my completely-redesigned web site. I know it's been forever since I updated it. Part of that was because of my lack of skill and the difficulty that creating the old site represented. The impetus for creating this new site was/is simple: I hate my job and want to expand my marketable skills into the realm of web design. A lot has happened in the past seven-ish years. Hopefully, you'll see some of the positive changes reflected in my creation.

Despite its newness, however, this is just a temporary site. Rob and I are working on a larger-scale revision that will challenge both our skill sets. We're both learning Photoshop, and we hope to use those new-found skills to bring to life one of our mutual interests: the steampunk genre. There are a lot of sites out there with steampunk information, and some steampunk art, but I have yet to see one that pulls off the interface/site design well. No, there's no timeline yet, as we're just doing this in our spare time... between job interviews... Wish us luck.

Namaste,

Ian