// JSpot //

I promised to deliver some photos and so forth of my cat, so here they are. Meet Sweetie.

There’s also a ridiculously cute video I shot after the break.

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It’s taken quite some time, but I’ve finally managed to type in all the journal entries from my trip to Europe. There were 23 hand-written pages of journal to type up, and it was the most boring, tedious thing ever! Next time I travel, I’ll bring my laptop and just forget this whole pen and paper crap. The extra six pounds of notebook are 100% worth the effort.

Anyway, I still have to proof read the entries and get the associated photos loaded in. This will take some time, but hopefully it will be more enjoyable than just typing in the entries. I’ll try to start rolling them out at least one a day. Maybe more?

We got serious for two seconds and the camera accidentally captured the moment

Every year my mother insists that we do a “family photo”. This year was no exception.

I was delighted to take the photo, since I got to make good use of my new Canon digital camera and the super neat face-detect self timer. Basically when I start the shutter timer, it waits until a new face appears in the photo before it snaps the picture. And it automatically does three takes so you get it right. Of course, a few of our takes were less than brilliant, but some of them were just plain comic genius. Or maybe not.

Here also is my pick of the shoot for the photo. You can view all of them online on Picasa - Family Christmas Photo 2008.

I’ve been a bit lazy the last few days. In fact, it’s already 1:30pm today, and the only thing I can claim for having accomplished is determining that cable TV is utterly useless and there isn’t anything on.

Yesterday I finished reading Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials - the trilogy of The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. I thoroughly enjoyed the series, especially the second and third installments, but I did have a few complaints. I’ll put up a proper review in a short while - after all, I’ve nothing else to do today!

Equally recent, Christmas has come and gone. I really enjoyed skipping town to avoid all the holiday madness around what is, after all, a culture of soccer moms and strip malls. Instead, I managed to get all but one or two gifts while abroad in Germany and Switzerland. That worked out quite well for me, and I think all the recipients of my gifts were thoroughly enthused as well. Where shall I go for holiday shopping next year, then?

Speaking of my travel, I’ve had a few people ask about pictures, stories, and the like. Okay, I’m getting to them. I’ve been competely uninspired to do anything for the last week or so since returning home, but I suppose it’s time to be productive again, so coming soon, the rest of my trip log and photos!

UPDATE: I’ve been working on typing up my journal entries, and I have quickly realize what a chore this is! I wrote significantly more than I had imagined, so bear with me. I’ll have to finish getting all the entires typed up, then load in some photos and tag the GPS data as well.

I’m about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through the typing and it’s not 2:00am, so I have to stop. But maybe tomorrow I’ll switch gears and do the photos first so I can get some of the earlier posts out.

We say goodbye to Jan and Europe

Wake up. Take shower. Get dressed. Eat food. Pack shit. Say goodbye. Load car. Drive some. Refuel car. Return car. Check in. Clear customs. Clear security. Visit duty-free. Find gate. Make brown. Board plane. Sit down. Enjoy flight.

…nine endless hours pass…

There are still another few hours before we get off the plane at JFK! Then another two hours will pass until boarding the connecting flight to Atlanta. Then however long that flight is. Brian had slept nearly the entire trans-atlantic leg. Lucky bastard…