Merry Post Christmas

Hey all,

I hope you all had a merry christmas! I managed to after some initial difficulties. I managed to make it home without too many difficulties after my last blog post, and after another trip to the hospital for abdominal pain on the 24th I started feeling better. I even managed enough of a recovery to join my mom & brother for a trip up to a family friend's house for Christmas Eve dinner!

Overall, the trip home was pretty awesome. I got to spend time with all of my family, have a few great meals (prime rib with Dad on Christmas, hand-made perogi with Mom on Boxing Day), exchange gifts, and even bought myself a fancy new coat from Macys! I'm actually really really excited about the coat, to the point where I've posted a picture of myself in it at the end of this post. I've been meaning to buy one like it for a long time, and I got it for 50% off! This was partially aided by signing up for a Macy's credit card in the store, which I am hoping to pay off and cancel as soon as possible. We shall see if I get bitten in the ass for trying to get another 15% off my coat...

Who out there watches "The Big Bang Theory"? If you are unfamiliar with the show, the basic premise is 4 nerds + 1 hot non-nerd girl who moves in next door + various misadventures. I think it is *hilarious*, if occasionally painfully familiar to watch. My brother gave me season 1 on DVD for christmas (^_^), and I am currently trying to catch up on season 2. The one thing that has struck me about the show as of late is how *very* well, if somewhat eclectically, dressed all of the "nerd" characters are. Apparently even super-nerdy characters that have their lack of social graces played up as a central piece of the show nonetheless maintain immaculate grooming. It is like the classic 'teen transformation' movie where the ugly and unpopular kid suddenly becomes gorgeous and popular with the right haircut and wardrobe adjustments. Hollywood seems to tell us that your social zenith lies no further away than the hairdresser and mall. I think that 'ugly' people on TV are just beautiful people that people treat as ugly. Opinions? Discussion? Do I even have people reading this?

Lets see, almost done with this post. I just wanted to mention that I finished reading "Hyperion" by Dan Simmons. I've actually read it before, years ago, but I'm trying to read "Fall of Hyperion", which I checked out from the library, and it was too confusing without re-reading "Hyperion" again first. I'm glad I did. The first time I read the book I was *really* confused, probably because I read it quickly, skimming parts, instead of really paying attention and figuring out what was going on. One of the most interesting parts of the book is that it is told in the style of Canterbury Tales. A group of pilgrims are on a journey to a strange beast known as "The Shrike" (or, to members of the Shrike church, "The Lord of Pain". Its not exactly a cuddly sort of book...). Through their journey the each relate their stories and how Hyperion (the world the Shrike inhabits) has intertwined itself with their lives. Even beyond this interesting literary device, the book manages to combine mystery, suspense, and even a bit of existential philosophy. Dan Simmons deifies the English poet John Keats, making him a central piece of the book (did I mention it is 700 years in the future?) and spends a lot of time exploring the possibly consequences of a sentient AI and the sort of technological singularity that you hear people talking about w.r.t the Internet now and again. All in all, I recommend the book. Make sure you have the sequel available to you though. Hyperion is a cliff hanger.

Thats all for now!

Cheers,
Jason