Usurped Winter Solstice Celebration

We survived another one. In what has become something of a tradition, we participated in a delightful OPC (Other Peoples' Christmas), replete with food, drink, and a white-elephant gift game. It hit the spot perfectly, and we otherwise barely noticed the passage of another holiday (I gave Jeannie-the-Leo a Honeywell Animal poster that I got from my cousin back in 1967 or so, and she gave me yummy edibles).

I'm stunned today by the news of the tsunami that ravaged coastal areas all across the Bay of Bengal. I have never been there, but heard many tales of this nautical paradise from my ex-girlfriend Julie... and having lived through the Quake of '89 in Santa Cruz I am at least somewhat familiar with the feeling that comes from a power of staggering scale that suddenly manifests itself on an otherwise idyllic day. My heart goes out to those whose lives have been devastated.

Jeannie has taken a week off work, and our goal between now and the Resumption of Routine is to get my new office done out in the lab... suspended ceiling, insulation, paint, flooring, heat, and desk relocation. I suddenly have one book project likely and a second percolating in the back of my mind, a whole new technomadic toolset to design along with accompanying productization, and a rekindling of my motivation to get the Microships launched this coming year and go play. I'm genuinely turned on by the new system discussed in recent bloggage, and besides, the self-indulgent torpor that characterized 2002-3 no longer has much justification for lingering in my psyche... so it's time.

Speaking of all that, one of the hot projects this week is to do the first posting in over three years (!) to the nomadness mailing list, my core readership since 1990. This lovingly maintained list of thousands includes sponsors, volunteers, media, old friends, brilliant geeks, and doubtless a few people who thought they were signing up for news about PIC processors and development systems from Microchip Technology. Nomadness was my primary publishing venue for about a decade, but when a marriage and project fell apart more or less simultaneously three years ago this week... well, I kinda stopped posting, as I didn't know what to say beyond the ephemeral daily news updates. As time passed, it became harder and harder to construct the long-awaited "catch-up" piece, so I just sort of forgot about it... until now. The details are no longer relevant; my life suffered a glitch and then moved on, better than ever. It happens to all of us at one time or another.

So, in that happy vein, I propose a toast! Let me just break out a bottle of my yummy new homebrew blackberry wine: "Here's to Jeannie... who is making it all fun again!"

Random Notes

Here is a provocative view of the near-term technoid future.

Goodies from Steve on eBay:

2 Intel 28F128J3 (128 megabit Flash memory chips)
5 old QSL cards from Egypt, S. Africa, Ghana, & Israel

Goodies from Jeannie on eBay:

Black faux-fur jacket

Items sold since last update

Photos of Victorian architecture - $8.50 to Bartlett, TN
Battenburg cutwork lace duvet cover & shams - $11.70 to Miami, FL
Outdoor Research Seattle Sombrero - $27.00 to St. Louis, MO
J. Crew taupe linen casual suit - $9.00 to Harker Heights, TX
Franklin Covey & At-a-Glance Planner pages - $5.00 to Las Vegas, NV
Korg X5DR MIDI Synthesizer - $225.00 to Stanwood, WA