Deep Thought

Today I turn 42. That particular number is well-known in the geek community, being given as the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything in Douglas Adams' Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Of course, the two pan-dimensional hyper-intelligent individuals who were present to receive Deep Thought's end result were none too pleased. Loonquawl's response after a moment of stunned silence sums it up nicely: "We're going to get lynched, aren't we?"

Another bit of geek humour that I can no longer use today is this bit of dialogue:
Q. "So, how old are you?"
A. "Twenty-nine." (short pause) "In hexadecimal."

Obviously, if you don't understand hexadecimal notation, you don't get the joke. But alas, the joke is no longer as funny, since an age of "2A" is pretty lame. I wouldn't even know how to pronounce it. Two-Aay? Twenty-Aay??

To embrace the geekness of my new age, I decided to use a parental present of a Best Buy gift card to purchase a somewhat geeky piece of hardware -- a web camera. The Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX, to be specific. Now, when I chat with my friend in Louisiana (who also has a webcam), we can see and talk to each other just like in The Jetsons. Three cheers for technology. Seems like just yesterday, I was typing FORTRAN programs onto punched cards and thinking the 8-color Apple II computer was pretty keen :)

In closing, I can't resist another bit of geek humour. Enjoy.

"There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those who understand binary notation, and those who don't."

May you all embrace your inner geekness.

First and Goal

"We're putting the band back together." -- Elwood Blues

Over the past few months, neighbors have experienced mysterious musical emanations coming from my basement every Thursday evening. Yes, myself and four other musically inclined friends of mine have been hard at work, forming yet another band that we hope will soon be playing in a city near you. Whereas my previous band only played classic rock covers, this new band will incorporate songs both old and new. So far, we've been likin' what we're hearin'. We hope our future audience will also. We've almost reached our goal of 40 songs, at which point we should be ready to start testing the club waters. Until then, here are three snippets to give you a taste of things to come:

1. "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw
2. "Vertigo" by U2
3. "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder

Work and Play

It's been a busy few weeks as I continued to get acclimated to my new job. Things are going well, and I'm gradually getting the hang of my new duties. However, with this increase in work, I've had to compensate by bumping up the play factor. During my non-work hours, I've amused myself with other activities such as:

1. Volunteered as a chaperone during my church's annual youth trip to King's Dominion. The longest line was for the Volcano, but it was worth it. And yes, I am still undefeated in Whac-a-Mole.
2. Enjoyed some fine music at Merriweather Post Pavillion courtesy of Rob Thomas and Natasha Bedingfield. Highlight of the concert was getting props from Natasha regarding our homemade boom box from her "These Words" video. Perhaps if we hadn't been sitting all the way back in row KK, she might have invited The Daughter up onto the stage.


3. Attended the lovely, yet windy, outdoor wedding of friend and fellow blogger Christinahh.
4. A friend from Louisiana returned to Maryland for her sister's high school graduation, and asked if I would take some additional modeling pics of her; so we spent Sunday shooting a few rolls at a nearby park and lake dock.

The school year is winding down, and The Daughter is counting down the days until June 15. At that point, she will have much more time to play than I will. I am envious.