Tahoe Bachelor/ette Party

So Noelle and I went with a bunch of friends up to Lake Tahoe to celebrate our impending wedding. Took some pictures while I was up there. It was really a great time.

Our Long National Nightmare Is Over

That's what Gerald Ford said after he succeeded Nixon, for those of you who've forgotten where that expression came from. That's how I feel now, as Barrack Hussein Obama is being sworn in by John Roberts. I feel... kind of emotional, actually, which is weird for me. I think it's the promise of an end to our country starting wars with others that have done nothing to us, of human pyramids of shackled and hooded prisoners, of "unlawful combatants" held indefinitely in prisons beyond the reach of our justice system, of extraordinary rendition, of Attorney's General who are unsure of Habeus Corpus is an actual right of US citizens, of an Executive Branch that thinks it's superior to the other branches of government, of leadership that cannot give away the resources of this country fast enough to business cronies or tear down environmental protection for the same cronies, of all the horrendous bullshit that has shocked me so much over the last eight years that these horrors barely register any more.

It's done. Thank God, if you're up there, for this respite. If I were a praying sort of guy, I would pray that this administration will be able to do better than Gerald Ford did. I know that he has some huge problems ahead of him and that probably not all of them will get solved in the next four years. But in my heart, I hope things go well.

Ugh

Man, I hate colds. Most of the night I slept about half an hour at a stretch as one sinus filled up or the other. I can feel my uvula in my throat, which is never a good sign. I think it's because I slept with my mouth open for a while and my throat is a bit dried out. For some bizarre reason, I am not very tired, though.

The Wrestler

I went to see Darren Aronofsky's latest movie The Wrestler with a number of people on Friday. It was a sold out show, so we ended up in the front row, with our heads craned up like Young Alex in A Clockwork Orange. I learned a few things from this movie: While pro wrestling is fake, in a way, it is also very real, in that during their performances, they really do get glass embedded in their backs, they really are bleeding, etc. Mickey Rourke has a huuuge torso. He's a little flabby, sure, but he's built like a tree. Mickey Rourke is also a very decent actor. Marissa Tomei has had <cough> body modifications. Finally, I am frightened by the sight of Mickey Rourke's ass, 15 feet wide, right in front of my face.

It was a good movie, if somewhat sad (big surprise from Aronofsky there). However, it was not as sad as the trailers would suggest.

Oh No! He Was Not A Number!

Yikes, Patrick McGoohan died too! I guess he was getting on in years. I will always remember being up really late at night in college and catching this really weird show about The Island and trying to figure out WTF was going on. Later I thought he made an excellent Edward Longshanks in Braveheart. A coworker remarked, "He died as he was born, a free man." Be seeing you, Patrick.

Khaaaan!

RIP Ricardo Montalban. Hopefully you will not stab at me from Hell's heart or curse me with your last breath. I have fond memories of Star Trek II (the best Trek movie), The Naked Gun, and Rich, Corinthian Leather. Vaya con dios.

Honey, I (Almost) Broke the Mini

All I wanted was some more memory for the Mac Mini in the office because since I started running Lightroom on it, its 512MB of memory did not seem to be um, adequate. Spin Cursor of Death all the time, especially if I had the temerity to do several things simultaneously. So I got 2GB of RAM at the low, low price of $23, shipping included(!). Then I found out what I had gotten myself into. To open a Mac Mini (at least the kind I have) requires a putty knife Not a paint scraper or paint can opener, but a frickin' putty knife. It turns out that an old exacto knife will work if you're careful, but you'll probably file away some of the case. Once open, you have remove four small screws, three of which are recessed, making them difficult to get to, especially if you use a non-magnetic screwdriver. You must also disconnect a jumper cable in the front so you can open the top daughterboard away from the motherboard. It turns out that you can put this jumper back in facing both ways, but there is a clearly a preferred orientation: if you don't put it in the right way, the fan will blow full blast, because the jumper connects the temperature sensor to the motherboard and if it's not connected, the Mini doesn't know how hot things are. Guess what I put in the wrong way? Twice. You must also carefully unclip the WiFi antenna which is clipped to the top. It is possible to pull the other end completely off the motherboard. Guess what else I did. Finally, there is a ribbon cable that I thought connected the hard drive and optical drive to the motherboard. This is actually the sound cable. I managed to not only disconnect it, but also to get the plastic doodad that connects it to the contacts on the daughterboard to come loose. It appears that it's mostly friction that holds the cable and the doodad together. After several disassemblies and reassemblies, the mini appears to be back on its feet and also more responsive. So, I think this counts as a win. Right?

Revolutionary Road

Meh. So disappointing. Sam Mendes directs Leonardo diCaprio and Kate Winslet. I loved American Beauty and Leo and Kate were great in Titanic. This movie was one long portrait of dysfunction. And unlike American Beauty, it was not funny dysfunction. The one bright spot was Michael Shannon as the crazy guy who seemed the least unhappy person in the film. This guy's vocal and facial mannerisms could make him Heath Ledger's replacement as the Joker.

New Photo Project

I've started a new photography project for 2009. I am attempting to take at least one photo a day for the entire year. I can take more than one, but I have to do at least one for each day of the year. So far I am 4/4. My PaD set starts here:

Maynard

Noelle, Carl, and I went up to the Whole Foods in Cupertino where Maynard was autographing bottles of wine from his vineyard. Security was a bit tight (no cameras, no cellphones, sure, but no hoodies or coats??), as the notoriously reclusive Tool frontman does not like people knowing what he looks like, I guess. So, the closest I got to a picture of him is this:

Happy New Year!

I want to wish whoever is reading this a happy 2009! Noelle and I had a few people over for New Years Eve for food, drinks, and hours of Apples to Apples. Christmas was good also. My mom came out and visited for a few days and we met up with Noelle's family in Stockton, which I thought went pretty well. My holiday shutdown is nearly over, which makes me a bit sad, but what can you do?

Terabyte Drive

I went to Fry's last night and got a 1 TB (that's terabyte) drive for $109. $109! That's a million floppy disks. Can personal jet packs and home nuclear reactors be far behind?

Thousandth Post

This post is a milestone of sorts for the blog: 1000th Post. Four and a half years ago, a thousand posts ago I was a single, disgruntled contract worker. Now I am engaged to be married, considerably more gruntled, and working full time. I've seen two major layoffs at my company. Loved ones have passed away. I am a tivo owner now. I got a convertible, a time share, two guitars, a new computer, an xbox 360, two HD TVs, and a bunch of other stuff I can't even remember right now. I have visited three new countries, several new national parks, and our nation's capital for the first time. We've lived through an Attorney General who wasn't sure if the right to habeas corpus exists under the Constitution but now we have Change We Can Believe In (or maybe just The Audacity of Hope). I have seen couples form and break apart. We have wireless video game controllers and iPhones, but still no jet packs. We live in uncertain times, but there is an ebb and flow to life that is pleasing. I look forward to seeing what the next 1000 posts bring.