Coffee and Code

Happy 2010 everyone! I couldn't resist getting a blog post in on the first of the year. I actually slept straight through the turn of the New Year last night. Why? Sick as a dog... but enough about that.

This year, I'm simply resolving to lead a healthier lifestyle. Now that I'm in my 30's, I can't really eat the same way that I used to, and for Christmas, I got a bleeding ulcer to reinforce that fact (Don't worry, I'm feeling fine now, really). I'm just going to have to practice a little more moderation and get a little more physical activity. I'm very lucky to have my girlfriend Lisa as a great role model for healthy living. She takes good care of herself, and it shows (insert catcall here).

What are your resolutions and hopes for 2010?

Wishing for peace in the world,
- Jeff

Left: AudioSource Db5 mobile speakers. Right: Flying Alarm Clock.

I received some excellent birthday loot this year. I hear that I have more on the way, too. Thanks everybody!

Pictured here:

• AudioSource Db5 Personal Stereo Speakers
  The speakers feature a "3D sound" feature and fold in half for portability. They run on batteries or USB, are small enough to fit in your coat pocket, laptop bag or purse, and sound awesome! I have my network walkman plugged into them in the picture.
• The Amazing Flying Alarm Clock
  When the (LOUD) alarm sounds, the helicopter apparatus flies off the top, taking the alarm's shut-off key with it. To disable the deafeningly loud klaxon, you have to get up, find the key, and return it to its base. By the time you've done that, you're awake enough to make a pot of coffee. Check out the Flying Alarm Clock in action at thinkgeek.com.

It's a fine St. Patty's day in Santa Fe! The skies are a little overcast, which tends to bring out the green in the environment, IMHO. The weather is warm enough that I don't have to wear a jacket, which is unusual for this time of year. After I post this entry, I'm going to go out back and make another lame attempt at dancing a jig, mostly for the amusement of my girlfriend. Let's hope I don't hurt myself.

Ya know, my brother and sister are hardcore Guiness people. I imagine right now that both of them are either drinking Guiness or out buying it to drink it later. More power to 'em. I'll personally be enjoying some Irish coffee for now, and some dark beer later. (I don't have to go ANYWHERE!) Andy and Claudia, me glass is up to ye. Cheers!

It's the day before my 30th birthday, and I'm feeling introspective.

I'm not feeling an overwhelming despair at the loss of my youth, or some pressing need to begin emulating adult behavior. Simply put, after another decade on earth, I want to give you a brief chronology of my life thus far. Lucky you! Here goes:

1977: Born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to piano players. Began freezing my ass off and being a dumb little kid.

1983: Started kindergarten at age 6. I wrote my first love note to a girl. The recipient of the note had to ask the teacher to read it to her - It didn't dawn on me that other kindergartners couldn't read yet. Ditched class for the first time. Loved: the Space Shuttle. Hated: Beets.

1985: First chance to use a computer, an Apple IIe. My 2nd grade teacher had a beehive with a Cruella DeVille-esque gray streak and drove a red Camaro. I don't feel incorrect to say that she was an uber-bitch who probably had to swim in alcohol to forget how miserable her life was. Am I digressing? Loved: attack helicopters. Hated: tonsils.

1990: The seventh grade begins a year-long attempt to fit in with my preppier classmates. This was a failed experiment that left me looking a little like Screech from Saved by the Bell, and probably embarassed my family. Loved: DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Hated: acne.

1991-1996: General downward spiral into juvenile delinquency and self-destructive behavior, interspersed with inexplicable bouts of ROTC and Mormonism. Toward the end, discovered the joys of dial-up BBS, telnet, Novell Netware, phreaking, sneaking, and especially programming. Loved: urban exploration. Hated: getting busted.

1998: After a couple of years working as a pizza delivery man and a milkman (I never got laid doing either!), I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I ended up at the local community college, studying an odd admixture of exercise science and Microsoft Office. The community college was great because I could basically live there - I was in the gym at 6:00 AM, ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in the cafeteria, and they paid me $6.00 an hour to surf the net and hand out print jobs at night! Loved: metal. Hated: granola whores.

2000: This year absolutely sucked on so many different levels. I'd like to forget this entire year.

2001: First programming job! Yay! {... ignore these horrible things happening around you... repeat: the sky is NOT falling...}

2003: Met a really nice girl named Lisa, who I began dating under very curious circumstances! Without saying too much, my belief in the beautiful weirdness of life was reaffirmed. Loved: Scotch. Hated: politicians.

2006: This was a good year, if a little stressful. I hated the holidays, loved the rest of it. Paid off debts,chilled out with Lisa, and ate way too many lime popsicles.

2007: Still alive, still not loving beets. Goal: an actual vacation to somewhere I've never been, to do actual vacation things like relax and sight-seeing.

That's it, folks! I've still got birthday weekend to burn, and I'm getting hungry...

It's Saturday morning here in Santa Fe, and I feel unusually energetic. My girlfriend had a class this morning, so I'm killing time by playing some loud music and drinking plenty of black coffee. (By the time she gets out, I will be so caffeinated that I will be able to taste the air around my face.) This afternoon, we've got loose plans to do something that involves not being at the house. That's about as far as our little planning session went this morning. I'm thinking about lunch at our favorite sushi bar, and possibly a trip to Best Buy to gaze longingly at gadgets that I'd like to buy for myself, but won't, due to guilt over not buying any Christmas presents yet.

I just finished a week at my new job, and although I might be speaking too soon, I think I made a really good move. The new position is much more focused: I will write web applications in ASP.Net (C#, of course) and SQL Server and that is pretty much it. Big change from the last job where I pretty much did anything that had anything to do with the internet. I kinda miss the extra responsibility, but I needed an environment where I could focus on programming. It doesn't hurt that the other programmers at my new job are a lot more experienced than I am - having Yoda-like mentors nearby is always a good thing. It also doesn' t hurt that the new job pays a lot more! Hell yes.

It is now the 9th of December, and I've yet to do one single bit of Christmas shopping. I am so BAD at Christmas. I tend to hide out in my house and pretend that there IS no holiday season. I wish I could just hibernate from October 30th through January 1st (yes, I hate Halloween, Thanksgiving AND Christmas AND New Year's Eve). Wake me up when Christmas is over, man! Seriously.

My apologies to all my friends and family who will probably receive their Christmas presents in February... but hey, by now, veryone should be used to it! Bah Humbug!

I took this last week off work. It was frickin' awesome. I feel kinda lazy, though: I spent the entire week off playing playstation and eating out. Not to mention sleeping in and getting drunk in the middle of the day. Whee! It's fun to grill drunk in your pajamas!

I had a bachelor's thanksgiving this year! Might sound depressing, but I had a pretty good time. Watched Donnie Darko (for what must the 50th time or so), drank beer, and, sneering in the face of hallowed holiday tradition, I opted for steak and beer instead of turkey. I grilled the steak and served it smothered in sauteed mushrooms and onions.

Hope everyone had a good holiday! I wish I could extend mine for a couple more days!

Another vacation day that I spent working instead of slacking off! (Slaps self) Being that it's a holiday and all, I'm getting ready to sign off the computer for the evening.

I've been developing a template for a Joomla! website lately. (Joomla! is an open-source Content Management System written with PHP and MySQL. I think I am in love with it.)

I decided to go table-less (i.e. semantic code, CSS layout and positioning) on the Joomla! template, and as a result, I am struggling with all manner of IE-specific CSS bugs. Again.

I'm going to have to write a punk rock song about working too much, I think.

Either that, or organize a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft for making mine and other web developers' lives hell trying to write W3C standards-compliant websites that work in IE.

Shit. I need a beer.

Later folks, and remember: Patriotism != Nationalism. The greatest patriots of this country were first dissidents.

Well, if anything, it has been an interesting holiday season.

I have been dog-sitting for a friend in Galisteo, NM, for the past week. Said friend as two gigantic white dogs that slobber often. His place is a former cantina that, if memory serves, is one of the oldest structures in NM... at least 300 years old, anyway. It is nice to be away from the city for a while, but I miss my girlfriend and have been drinking way too much whiskey.

If I am thankful for anything this season, it is The Internet. I was able to completely avoid all retail stores, including the dreaded cesspool of frantic consumerism that is the Villa Linda Mall at Christmastime. (Imagine 1,500 anthropomorphic Poodles on methamphetamines converging simultaneously on 200 fire hydrants. Got it? Keep it.)

I must give a shout-out to Claudia and Don for the excellent Happy Winter Whatever cookbook. It was definitely the coolest thing I got for Christmas. Claudia also sent me my very own glow-in-the-dark St. Isidore statue, the patron saint of the internet... and a copy of Everything You Know is Wrong, a publication of Disinformation.com. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. Thanks also to Mom and Dad for a book about becoming mature. I'm not too sure if I should read it, you guys... I would sure hate to grow up! But rest assured, I will be a good boy down here. Promise!

As usual, I am extremely late at getting presents sent out to my people. My apologies, and you guys will get some loot soon.