J5’s Blog

Davis Square is opening up a new Boston Sports Club and I finally decided to join. The tipping point came last week during the snow storm when I slipped and fell down a couple of stairs at the Porter T stop. Usually I would walk away pretty embarrassed but non worse for ware. This time I thought I actually might have injured myself. In the end I slept it off and felt fine the next day, if a little bruised, but I realized sitting in a chair programming every day wasn’t getting me any healthier. We already have a fitness room at our office but I figured having trainers around and a place to go when I am home and on weekends will get me a bit more motivated. We will see how long this lasts but as things go these days I had to sign a contract so they’ve got me for a year. Being the type of person who skips the ‘fillers’ at a buffet just so I feel I got my money’s worth, I think I will be utilizing the gym quite a bit.

I won’t be at the Gnome Summit on Saturday because of prior engagements (literally, I am going to a wedding).  We were however fortunate to get money from Google to host a Beer Summit on Sunday night starting at 7:00pm at Flat Top Johnny’s.  There are a couple of pool tables reserved and free beer available so hackers can exchange ideas, build friendships and hustle each other in an enjoyable setting.

Now for a small update on the Cookbook.  I haven’t had much progress since a large number of unexpected distractions have popped up.  The good news is Lulu.com updated their site and one of the options is a wizzard for cookbooks.  Of the three designs for page layout submitted by,  Vinicius Depizzol, Silvia Miranda, and Diego Escalante Urrelo, I liked them all and they all fit very well with each other so you all are going to be the first to get a book, payed for by me, once it is published.

As for my name on this list, I would like to thank the Acadamy, my Mom – hi Mom – Roderick’s Mom, and…what I don’t get to make a speech for being on the “B” list and I still have to wait in line at Spagos?  That’s it, I’m firing my agent.

Was that you I saw getting ready for a hike in the White Mountains Saturday morning?  We would have stopped to say hello but we were going 50 miles per hour following someone.  Then again we were going 50 mph and I could have just imagined it.

• Met Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand on Friday while helping out Walter Bender give an update presentation on the OLPC project. It was a great honor for me, being of Thai decent.
• Drove down to New York for one of my best friend’s graduation party. He just graduated from Art school and has a job with a company down in Atlanta, GA which does a lot of animation work for shows on the Cartoon Network.
• Saw my first grade teacher, Mrs. Donahue at the party and told her she was the best teacher I knew. It is true. Where other teacher got fed up with me she could focus me and make me feel like I could achieve great things. I went to summer school with Mrs. Donahue because the principal thought my handwriting was atrocious. It still is, but look at me now. We discussed the first grade teacher who replaced her. A mean old Nun who you could hear yelling at kids and slapping rulers from down the hall. I knew a person who had her as a teacher. That person’s life didn’t turn out so well. Not making any concrete correlations but I see what I see.
• Went to a one o’clock am showing of Knocked Up. It had some funny parts but the whole premise was just sad. Too heavy a subject to make a comedy out of. Most of the interactions between characters just seemed like they wouldn’t play out that way in the real world. Not that a movie has to be plausible to be good but this one just delved into some serious subject matter where it would seem to be important to keep some sort of connect with reality. In the end I just wasn’t able to relate to any of the characters.
• Drove back to MA at 4:00 am. It was pretty cool to see the sun rise over the horizon just as I crossed from CT to MA. It did blind me for a bit which was not cool, but I got home safe.