Hey! I just wanted to drop everyone a quick line. I’m flying back from my vacation in Ocean City, MD. I joined my mother and my sister, Debbie’s, family in visiting my aunt, cousin’s family, and grandmother. We had a fabulous time! Check out my flickr account in the next couple days to see all the pictures! I’ll also post some of the videos I took with my new Canon 780IS to youtube! The videos from it are very crisp at 720p, and all it’s only a pocket, point and shoot!

Speaking of pictures. Check out the picture below. I’m writing this as I’m flying over southern Utah! Virgin America has wi-fi on their flight for 12 bucks. Well, I’m getting my money’s worth! The cabin is pretty cool, and each seat has a little video touch screen attached to it. I can watch CNN, a movie, play games, check out our position on Google Maps, and order a beer! If VA flys to where I want to go, I’ll probably go with Virgin!

Let’s see how this one works….

Stream videos at Ustream

Well, I’m almost settled down here in Berkeley. Today is the first day on the job and we’re taking a break: We’re hosting a NISEnet conference for Nanotechnology education(the same kind of conference I attended in St. Paul, MN). I’m also getting settled down in my apartment. I’m still unpacking, an I’m glad my roomates are really cool and understanding.

I think I’ll leave everyone with a picture of the view from work!

Well, it looks like I’ll need to give up on being the worst blogger in St. Louis because I just got a job out in Berkeley, CA!!  I’ll be a project manager for the Lawrence Hall of Science.  I’ll help design educational websites/modules that they’re producing for various grants.  I’m speechless.  I don’t know where I’m going to live though, and so I’m hitting Craigslist like a fiend right now!  I realize competition is stiff out there, but hopefully, I’ll become the worst blogger in the Bay Area!!

You know, I forgot to post pictures of my awesome Halloween costume on Kooz.net.  I thought I made a great Rick Astley for Halloween!  Who?  You know:

You’ve been rickrolled!  It’s an Internet meme that started on photo and video sharing websites.  You post a link, and describe a really cool video.  For example, “Hey!  Check out this video of a lion eating a water buffalo!” You post the link, your marks click on it, and up pops the worst video of all time:  Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley.  Granted, I think the song is great and I’m envious of the dulcet tones Rick produces. But, damn!  His video is wretched!  Technically, I didn’t Rickroll you because you knew what you were getting into.

Anywho…I decided to dress as the red headed English crooner, and here is the result:

Rick versus Kooz

Not bad, eh?  Since this was taken at work, I had to wear a name badge.  It said, “Rick:  Gallery Leader of Never Gonna Give You Up.”  I also placed two diminutive speakers connected to my iPhone in my coat pocket.   I would then roll up behind people and do my best Rick Astley dance:  if that doesn’t scare you, you have nerves of steel!

First, I would like everyone to watch this video.  I want to make sure everyone’s vote counts:

I’m also taking Tuesday off to help Obama in St. Louis.  I’m probably going to call the North Side office tomorrow and ask what they need.

I’m also taking Wednesday off.  I’m either going to be celebrating pretty hard or drowning my sorrows (I have a feeling it’s going to the the former!).

I also want to give a shout out to MIke Erz!  He needs to join Facebook!  I also want my friends, Scott and Greg, to join to.

Hello from San Jose! I’m here at Bill’s Cafe off of Willow Street. It’s a beautiful morning, and apparently, this is a very popular spot to get breakfast. Even at 9:20 on a Thursday morning, there is a brisk business. The crowd is really cool. Mostly, Latino waiters with a mix of white and Latino customers. The Latinas next to me are hilarious: they go from a Californian accent to Spanish very quickly. When they talk peronal stuff, they speak in a quiet Spanish, otherwise, it’s that funny Californian English.

Today, I hope to go to the Tech and maybe the San Jose Children’s Museum.

Here I am last weekend at an 80′s Party.  I spent the day watching 80′s movies, and I was torn between Robert Downey Jr from Weird Science or Marty McFly/Michael J Fox from Back to the Future.  So, I went shopping that day, and what’s really sad:  I only needed to buy shoes as I already had the other clothes lined up.  Actually, that’s not true:  I lacked the suspenders for the Marty McFly outfit.  But, what really put the nail in the coffin of the McFly outfit was the fact that a pair of Chucks (you know, those canvas high tops) were $40 and a pair of decent loafers were $10.  Weird Science wins!  Actually, I thought it turned out rather well.  Here are the results:

I think this comparison between my outfit and Robert's character is pretty tight. I obviously forgot to roll up my sleeves...

I think I pulled it off! I want to give a shout out to Sarah for inviting me. A big “Happy Birthday” to Maggie, and a “Thank You” to Lori for hosting the party!

Well, this last month wasn’t the best.  My Uncle Laird passed away.  It’s sad because he was my godfather and an all around cool guy:  a former marine, a security guard turn manager at Northrup Grumman, and an avid football/baseball fan.  I saw him this last April when he and my Aunt Pat visited us (they’re from Maryland).  A coworker had given me two tickets to the Cardinals game against Houston, and I decided to take him.  We shot the breeze, talked about the Orioles, and updated curious fans nearby about who the Rams had picked during the NFL draft:  my iPhone’s battery really worked hard that day!  The game was one to remember, too.  Schumaker hit the game winning run in the bottom of the 9th!  I was reminded of this game today as I watched the Fox Midwest Sports channel while I worked out:  Schumaker’s hit was the 4th or 5th best play of the season.  After the ballgame, we met up with the rest of the family who had went to the zoo, and ate at Cunnetto’s House of Pasta.  Every time they come out, we would go there.  Uncle Laird and I got the Bistecca Soto (which is awesome btw), and it was nice to have the whole family there enjoying a good meal.

A little over a month later,  Uncle Ron (my grandmother’s nephew) died at 51, and then a week later, I learned that Uncle Laird had a heart attack and a triple bypass, but it seemed he might pull out.  My cousin Brian, Ron’s son and the same age as I am, not only lost his father, but lost Uncle Laird three weeks later:  he even noted that Uncle Laird was coughing a lot and didn’t seem alright.  Brian’s a great guy, and I’ve been thinking about him a lot because these events really wore down his spirit.  It’s sad that it took my Uncle’s passing to reconnect with that part of the family, and it’s a sad coincidence because I had planned on seeing them this summer anyway.  I think I will anyway!  So, to finish this rambling blog post, I just want to say farewell to Uncle Laird, and I’ll always remember you.