2009

Happy New Year!

Christmas was spent with Diana's family, and that was a lot of fun. New Years was spent with almost all of my friends in the world, which was really special. I'm a lucky guy to have such wonderful family and friends.

Read: Steve Martin's "Born Standing Up", which chronicles the evolution of his standup career. I think you either love or hate Steve Martin's standup act. Either way, it's really interesting to learn where it all came from.

Currently reading: "Conned Again, Watson!" A book about interesting math and statistics problems told as Sherlock Holmes stories. A version of the Monty Hall problem was just discussed, as well as lots of other fun little foibles. Lots of good geeky stuff.

Recently listened to: Michael Palin's "Around the World in 80 Days", recounting his travels following in the footsteps of Phileas Fogg. I really enjoyed it. Michael Palin reads his own book, and I love his soothing voice. Lots of laugh-out-loud funny parts, but mostly just interesting travel stories. Books on CD are a really fun way to spend commute time.

Watched: "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Dark Knight". The former has been recommended by everyone I know, and I agree, I really enjoyed it. Diana too. It's pretty intense, and not something I think I'd want to watch again, but definitely worth seeing. "The Dark Knight" was my second viewing (Diana's first), and we both really enjoyed it. I'm sad that Heath Ledger died.

Currently watching: Diana and I have completely copied Mike and Gwen in their annual "Lord of the Rings" viewing. I'm not sure if we'll do it annually (I hope so!), but we're halfway through "The Two Towers". I've never watched all the extended editions, so I'm not ever sure which is new stuff and what isn't. I remember TTT as having a lot of stupid humor in it, but we're both really loving them. It totally makes me want to dive into Tolkien, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to give The Silmarillion another go yet. It's already defeated me 3 or 4 times. (I came pretty close to finishing it last time, though!)

Work has been slow, and I've been able to take some time off, which has been great, but it's back to the grindstone soon.