Every Movie Has a Happy Ending

Olivia and Vivienne (my 5-year-old twin girls) were watching a holiday cartoon ("Night Before Christmas" or something) and there was this Scrooge-like character that was being mean to another character that only wanted to get food for his family, or something along those lines. Olivia was upset by this and she said that she "didn't like the movie." It was making her sad.

Vivienne leaned over and said, "Don't worry, Olivia, every movie has a happy ending."

About 15 minutes later, they both came down to inform us that they had enough with the "mean guy" on the cartoon and that they would rather just go to bed.

End Of The Season

Although soccer season ended a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to post a shot of O and V with their medals. Their team, Rainbow Kitty Ponies, had a record of, um...well, no one really tracked statistics at this level, so who cares!?! They had fun.

Proud Soccer Stars

Martha Stewart at Adobe MAX

I was stoked this week to see a pretty cool demo of my company's technology contributing to the future of magazine publishing. I can imagine myself swiping and pinching my way through my favorite magazines, while reducing the amount of paper dumped into my recycling bin each week. Having Martha Stewart run the demo was also pretty cool.

Pillow Collection

Forced to play indoors today, the girls decided it would be cool to make their own pillow collection. This involved pillaging the printer paper tray (now empty), a bag of cotton, and borrowing my Swingline stapler. The end result was a fine, custom collection of kid-size pillows, and a couple for their new stuffed animals Dive (a dolphin) and Vine (a monkey).

Here Comes the Rain

Woke up to a steady downpour and windows splattered with rain water. The high temps are only expected to crack 52F, so we won't be doing much outside today. I meant to mow the lawn this weekend, but that isn't going to happen either.

Dim Days And Soccer

Ah the dim days of autumn are here. The problem with living in the Northwest is that you get so spoiled in the summer months with long, bright days, and then POW!; fall arrives and the light turns soft.

Today, the girls played their final official game, on another rain-free morning. Next week is the "jamboree." That means two quick, 10-minute games and then some trophy ceremony or something. Hopefully the rain will abate for the jamboree, too.

And speaking of soccer, we asked the girls if they wanted to play again next spring, and they seemed less than enthusiastic about it. They do want to start ballet classes again, so maybe we'll do that for a while.

Bending It Like...

Well, not exactly Beckham, but the ladies have been playing their first official league soccer this autumn, and it has been fun! Their team is called Rainbow Kitty Pony.

The are in their fourth week now, and they have a perfect 0 and 4 record. Whoo Hoo! Today's game was actually pretty exciting, and they only lost by a single goal at the last second when their former daycare buddy--a member of the opposing team (Pink Ponies)--literally bent it like Beckham and scored a nearly impossible goal. This girl is actually pretty amazing for a 5-year-old.

We have had the fortune of playing on the awesome new turf at Battle Point Park here on the island, though the next two weeks will be on the grass fields. Given the weather lately, it might turn out to be a bit muddy, but it is soccer.

This is a shot from the first week of soccer, before the girls got their shorts and cool Adidas soccer socks--there are Adidas shin guards hiding under those warm-ups.

New Blog

I've been obsessed with my car lately, so I started a blog about it.

http://britishlandslug.blogspot.com/

Done!

Done with school two days early! It hasn't quite sunk in yet that I no longer have to lug around text books, write countless papers, spend hours researching and doing homework, and interact with a new group of strangers every six weeks, but it's true--I am done!

Well...at least until I decide whether to get my Masters or not. But for now, I bask in the glow of completion!

iAmHooked!

For my graduation present, I treated myself to one of those new-fangled iPhone thingys, and ever since I powered it on iAmHooked! This thing is so cool that I might not need a computer anymore (OK, I probably will). I have been conservative about which apps I install, but for starters I installed a pretty cool camera app that makes the iPhone a simulator for the cheap, plastic cameras of the past, and an app that makes it no longer necessary to call a cab company--there's an app for that, and it works by booking a cab right on the phone. The cab comes to you based on your location. Awesome!

I can't wait to try the Taxi app when I am traveling to SF in a couple of weeks for work, and I don't know if I will ever use the plain iPhone camera software now that I have this cool camera app.

I cannot believe that I suffered for so long with a useless LG phone that required multiple layers of hideous UI just to get to the Internet.

New Beginnings and Leprechauns

I broke out my leprechaun-colored shirt this morning in honor of St. Patty's day. It also has a shamrock and "Chicago" emblazoned on the front, though I have never actually been to the windy city. And in the theme of leprechauns, today I found the gold at the end of a rainbow in the form of an offer of a new job with my current employer--it appears that I will be embarking on a new adventure with a team of people I have never worked with. Having worked with the same core group of people for the last decade, I feel a little sad, but as George Harrison said--and I've often quoted--"All things must pass." It is time for a new beginning and a brand new set of challenges, and best of all a new job that will not be going away in June!

Three Weeks!

After six years of pursuing my BSCS, I am only three weeks from completion. It has been a long road, with working full time (often more than that), being an attentive husband, and halfway through becoming a father to twin girls, but the end is near. I am pleased that I stuck it out and that Rachelle and the kids put up with me during my academic trek, and I am ready to be DONE--at least until I take a break and consider a Masters in CS or something related. My industry continues to become fiercely competitive, and a Masters can't hurt.

One thing I learned from this late-blooming experience was: don't put off going to college until full, career-having, parental adulthood! It makes everything that much more difficult. Of course, I don't regret spending my twenties pursuing a music career--I had a great time writing songs, playing live, and working in the studio. I also don't regret the choices I made to keep that "side job" at Hewlett Packard, that eventually led me to a fruitful career in software development. Nevertheless, my advice to my girls will be, "go to college, and then figure out what you want to do!"

Separate Rooms

It has been about 3 weeks now, and the new arrangement for the twins is working out OK. They came to us (actually Olivia did on her own) and requested that they have their own bedrooms, after spending their entire lives so far together. So we reluctantly gave up our coveted "extra room" for guests, though in truth this room received few guests over the course of a typical year, and so it mostly sat there looking like a page from a Pottery Barn catalog. The big bed is still there, and Vivienne has an extra bunk now, so our occasional guests can still use the room--if they don't mind sleeping in a room full of children's books, toys and stuffed animals.

Moving in the Positive Direction

I finally feel like--for now anyway--things are moving in the positive direction on the j-o-b front. Had a couple of really great phone interviews today with a couple of teams internally, and a phone interview earlier in the week with an external opportunity that went well enough that they want me to come in and meet the team next week for more--you guessed it--interviews. I'm hoping that one of the internal opportunities works out, since there are some really interesting problems I can contribute to solving, and I would finally get some professional experience with Java! The meter is pointing to positive for that particular role, but one never can tell how these things will turn out until someone calls with an offer. The other role would be an interesting challenge as well, but the team has some concerns about me being in Seattle and they being in SJ, so I feel reluctant to enter into any situation where people have any sort of reservations about hiring me. And, I still have the current gig to handle until at least June, or until another offer rolls in. So, there are still lots of options on the table and I am hopeful that it will all work out very soon.

Constant Motion

With all this job searching, talking to recruiters, and finishing up my degree (5 weeks to go!) while working full-time, raising twin dynamos (why can't I have that much energy?), and being a good husband, I feel like my mind and body are in constant motion.

To be honest, I enjoy the lack of boredom, but I really could use a little down time and a frosty margarita in a warm climate.

Transitions

Transition seems to be the buzz word for this year, or at least for this moment.

It feels like the weather here is transitioning from winter to spring--early for a change. It is cloudy at the moment, but relatively warm. Yesterday was sunny and warm enough that I was able to get out and mow the grass for the first time this year. I suppose we have El Niño to thank for this, but whatever it is, I am happy that this has been one of the more mellow winters I have experienced in the Northwest--much different than last year's foot of snow!

I am still on transition at the JOB, working hard to wrap up my commitments, and wondering what the future holds. It appears to me that there is a lot out there in terms of available jobs in my industry here in the Seattle area, but finding the right fit has been somewhat elusive. Even internally, where the jobs engine has been SLOWLY starting to crank out a few new opportunities, it seems that "fit" for me is being determined by location more than I have been accustomed to in my 13 years with the same employer. On more than a couple of occasions, I have been passed on simply because I work in the Seattle office, and the job is based out of one of the bay area offices. I continue to scratch my head at this logic, since my team and many in my division are spread across the globe. Perhaps it is just a sign that it is time for me to focus my energies elsewhere.

And it looks like I am not the only Seattle-based employee to get the "thank you for your time" separation invitation from a bay area company. My neighbor, an MIT grad, and industry notable was recently given similar treatment as a result of the Oracle takeover of Sun. I suppose it makes me feel OK that even the best of the best are not immune to the whims of corporate number crunchers, but it also saddens me since I know how hard he has worked and how much he cared about what he was doing, only to see it tossed aside.

Well, enough of the random babble. I need to transition from thinking about the changes of the present and the uncertainties of the future to studying and producing work for my classes.

The Physics of Hair Nation

I am studying physics tonight--one of the 4 classes remaining in my degree program--and listening to Hair Nation on Sirius Internet radio, through my iPod touch, plugged into my sound card, pumping through the surround sound speakers connected to the computer.

Besides trying to form a mental model of the physics of the effects of a hair band's head banging movements on their, er, hair, I am literally surrounded by the physics of sound.

Who said hair rock (or its other notable monikers) wasn't scientific?