A weekend of relaxing

The past three days have been great. There has been lots of time spent at my computer, but for good and some-what productive efforts.

I extended my Birthday all the way up to last Thursday. Right after work I set out for REI to get some new shoes! I had mentioned this earlier, but I have had some interest in getting some 'Finger Shoes,' and with some Birthday money in my pocket and some research in to this weird shoe style, I knew what I wanted. I had a delightful time at REI with a very nice lady who was helping me try them on. I eventually settled on some of these:

Photo from REI.com

Just a brief description of the first days of wearing these: These shoes are designed to have no support. The best way to describe the feeling is like gloves for your feet. Walking around feels very similar to being barefoot. You can feel everything you are standing on, like cracks, or branches. You can feel the difference between carpet and asphalt (but asphalt does not hurt at all, like it normally does). They are super comfortable, but they offer little protection from pointy or hard objects (similar to wearing converse and stepping on a acorn). I have been told by a number of people to be careful wearing them, as your legs are not used to using all of the muscles required, and to ease in to them. I can tell you right now, that on Saturday I wore them while going hardware/craft shopping with Gwyn, doing a fair amount of walking, and the front ball on both of my feet are a little sore (where your 'index' toe meets your foot). Another interesting thing: driving. I was not expecting this to be different, but it is significantly more difficult. But I already knew that driving barefoot is difficult, so I guess this is no surprise.

On the topic of driving, I was coming home last night, rocking out to 'Behind Closed Doors' by Rise Against while waiting for a red, when I heard from my left an very enthusiastic "GO GONZAGA!" I turned off my radio, and looked to my left to see a guy hanging out the passenger window of the car next to me. He said: "You are a long way from home, brother!" Turns out he was from Orange County, and the he hated the humidity as much as I do, and that he missed the ocean. I find it amusing that this is not the first time I have been approached about my GU stuff (my bag, my patch, my car), and it is not the first time I have had a more-than-200-word conversation between two cars.

I know I am jumping around, but back to Thursday. After dawning my new shoes, I walked over to a coffee shop to finish my book that I got for my birthday: "Logicomix." Chelsea and Caleb, you are going to love this. This book that I got from Mr. Rohrer, is a graphic novel outlining the life of Bertrand Russel and his search of truth and logic. There are appearances from some of the Mid 20th century greats like Von Neumann, Godel, Moore, Boole, Wittgenstein and many more. It was both highly entertaining and enlightening. Ill bring it with me to California.

After finishing up, I met up with Gwyn and Andrew at the Rock Room for Pierogie night. I do love Pierogie night. The Rock Room is far from a fancy establishment. The place almost lacks adequate bathrooms, it is always filled with smoke and loud music (and Hipsters). But you cannot beat 15 cent Pierogies. It is a Polish feast! (I should not say that, I am sure Polish cuisine is far more elaborate and interesting than the simple pierogies that are less and traditionally prepared) For $7.50 we got 3 dozen pierogies and two Iron City Beers (yeah, every night they have different Beer specials, Wednesdays they are $1 Yuengling, and Thursdays are $1 Iron City). I know I have talked about this before, but I really do love Pierogie Night.

Friday I helped Jeff enter the world of video editing. In the past he had asked for me to make some montages to intro a talk or as a side note to a discussion. He wanted to learn how to do it himself. This did require both of us to figure out iMovie as I had never used it before, and Jeff has a Mac. I know that it is free, and that I should not complain, but really? All you Mac users who use the "Macs are for video, photo and sound editing" argument have apparently never used a decent piece of software. Jumping from Vegas to iMovie was difficult to say the least. Anyway, it was a fun afternoon hanging out at the Leaf and Bean. I felt very Bohemian. I was sitting in a coffee/tabacco shop in the middle of a normal work day, really just sitting around talking. The fans were on, the garage doors were open, the lights in the shop are always dim... it was a great atmosphere. Besides the occasional walk I had to take to get some fresh air.

As I mentioned before, I spent most of my weekend working on some computer projects:
1) Shadyside YadGrad shirt design. It is almost done! And it is looking great. Another Alcohol inspired logo. I hope that by the end of the week I can post a semi-finished product.
2) Designing a Media Center PC. I love building new systems. I love picking out parts! However Moore's law is less than accurate.
3) Jeff recently gave me two computers (one laptop, one desktop). The laptop has a broken screen, and I don't know why he got rid of the desktop... But I whipped it and installed Win7 on it. I think it is going to get re-purposed as a Media Center for the new apartment.
4) I am have started to think about my next project. I think I am going to start developing an online based Bohnanza game. I am thinking that it will be a Java based server/client application, with the use of Skype to aid in the trading dialogue. If any of you want to be testers (i.e. play Bohnanza with me!) down the line, let me know!
5) Oh... and some fishing in Ironforge. Old Crafty! I will get you eventually!