Hi everyone!

Okay, I know. I haven't actually written a post in quite some time. That is my bad, for sure. BUT, I have added some new little thingies to the blog that will at least give you some idea of what I'm up to and thinking about. I've been using Utterli for awhile now to upload pics from my cell, and that is nice. I'm now also using Twitter, which I am trying to update a few times a day. Nothing big, just whatever happens to be bothering me/making me happy/keeping me occupied at the moment. And then finally I have a feed of my "recommended items" from the many websites I read every day. These tend to be things that amuse me, but they're also articles about things I find interesting, important, frightening, or just that I want to share.

And of course, my Flickr page is always a good place to go. I have an album there where I'm documenting the things I build for my thesis; if you're ever wondering just what nerdery I've gotten myself into now, that is the place to look.

So there you go. Hopefully I can still let you all know what I'm up to, share the things I want you to know about, etc. even when I'm busy/lazy/distracted by something shiny and don't get around to writing a full blog post.

Which is not to say that I don't love you. Because you know. I do. Muah!

happy birthday jamie!

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Lily and Gabe cheers. Gabe with glass, Lily with pitcher. Awesome.

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Gabe <3 Ramen

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I buy all my music from iTunes these days, except for bands I want and can't find there, in which case I go elsewhere. I have a LOT of DRM-locked music, not to mention 3.5 seasons of Battlestar Galactica and a couple other random things. Now, up until recently, I would have agreed wholeheartedly with the above comic.

But see, here's the thing. I have some iTunes-locked music that has been corrupted during multiple hard drive transfers, and I've been kind of sore about it, because I assumed that I couldn't replace it, which is pretty much common wisdom. After the xkcd comic, I figured what the hell, and emailed iTunes telling them what had happened. I got an email this morning saying "Oh, hey, that sucks. Here, we checked your account; everything you've purchased that we still sell, you can go ahead and redownload free of charge."

Blink blink. WHAT?! You can DO that now? Granted, that caveat about "what we still sell" is key, because there are some songs I can't replace. Then again, I downloaded them three years ago, and they were kind of obscure then. I guess what it comes down to is, I found out today that Apple isn't entirely evil. I may not agree with DRM, and it's generally a pain, but as it turns out Apple is willing to be accomodating if you ask nicely. Who knew?

Well, so my birthday was yesterday. I'm a quarter century old now! I would love to tell you all stories about my eventful birthday, but um...well, so we went to a local bar that on Tuesday nights hosts an event called "Porn Star Karaoke." Which is exactly what it sounds like. Porn stars, doing karaoke. Clearly, this is not the sort of thing one expounds upon in a blog that one's extended family, former classmates, and probably a ton of random people on the Internet read. I mean, think of the children.

Suffice to say, I had a great time. And thanks to everyone for the cards, phone calls, texts, presents, and general well wishes. Love you!!


















Pssst...once I get the camera back from Kristin, I'll post photos to Flickr. Just don't tell anybody, okay?