I'm at my parent's place. I got a sore throat, likely from someone at the airport/airplane. In a few hours, we're going to take the kids and drive up to Madison to see my brother for the weekend. That should be fun, although I wish I didn't feel like crud.

Hopefully this will be mostly past in the next day or so. Madison's got a climbing gym that I'd like to check out, if at all possible. There isn't one close to south bend that I've been able to find, and I'm not sure how many times I'll be able to take the hour or so trip to one of the ones in a town in the general vicinity.

While I'm not going to be left on my own for a week, I would like to connect to any and all friends I've got within the nearest three or so states, if possible. Perhaps between Christmas and New Years or the week after New Years. If'n you're in the vicinity and want to hook up for a day (even if it's just going out for dinner) that'd be cool. Drop me a line. damienroc at sandwich dot net or damienroc at gmail dot com

The iPod is awesome. I'm so glad I got one. Replacing my CD player and a huge wallet of CDs with this little thing is such an improvement. Also, the noise-cancelling, canal earphones I got worked really well on the plane. They only cost $30 and while I'm sure I could get a pair that's slightly better and more comfortable for more, I'm quite happy with them.

Also, for any of you in the Washington area, give Loony a call to wish him well, if you could. If you haven't heard, he got beat up pretty bad on the job in the past couple weeks. He's going to be fine and the guy who did it has been taken in by the appropriate authorities, but it seems he might have a bit of trouble getting the whole legal situation straightened out.

Another soundtrack meme. I quite like that it's got different things to sync the music to.

( Jeff 2: The Sequel )

In other news, I've been working on an entry that's gotten rather large and complex. I'm pretty happy with it so far.

Also, today was like fucking Christmas. I was just about to fall asleep when the buzzer sounded. Package. One of my roommates was expecting something, so I assumed this was it. Nope. It was my iPod. YAY!

I unpacked it, hooked it up to the computer, and crashed pretty hard.

I got woken up by the buzzer AGAIN. This was the expected package. However, my DnD books were also in. Double YAY!

I figured the 5 or so hours of sleep I got was enough so I've been playing around with the iPod for a couple hours, now.

Made chili again today. Two, in fact. One had salmon. The other was my first attempt at a vegetarian (vegan, technically) chili, with tofu. I think they turned out all right, but I woke up a bit late and only cooked them for about two hours, so they feel a bit... off. They taste fine, but there's a back-of-the-throat tang that isn't quite baked in enough for my tastes. This is something I enjoy about making chili, though, because it's experimental and adventurous to try and figure out how to get the right flavor. I think I want to learn how to make gumbo, next... especially if I can do it like On the Bayou.

My holiday plans are coming together. Initially, I had planned to to visit my family in Indiana for about a week. Get there a few days before Christmas, leave sometime between then and New Years. Unfortunately, I delayed on getting my ticket, and when I finally had a chance to get one, prices had skyrocketed. Which may be for the best. I called my dad, and it seems that it'd be helpful if I can be there past the New Years to help watch the kids, houses, and dogs. So my travel plans are (right now) from Dec 14 - unknown, but the latter date is probably around Jan 8. Which is rather long. Not as long as last year, but this could be made to seem longer if (as is possible), my entire family in that area is gone for the first week of January. Kinda odd to go visit and then see them all leave.

I've taken some steps to (hopefully) make it a bit of a more hassle-free holidays, though. First and foremost... I've bought an iPod. With the help of a friend, I've got a discount on an 80 GB one, which should handle all the music I'll want to get for quite some time. It should arrive later this week (woo!) which has gotten me going through iTunes to clean up my music files. I'm also researching earphones to find a good pair to buy. I'm not enamoured with earbuds (causing hearing loss and whatnot), and my current pair, while nice, cause a bit of pain with they way they curve around my ears. I've been looking at canalphone types that stick deep in the ears and, in theory, don't require high volume to give a better sound than earbuds.

I've also been building up my Amazon Wish List. This is largely because of the rather wide disconnect I have with my family on the things that interest me. It's a bit difficult to say that I'd like Volumes 10-20 of the Case Closed Manga or whatnot. In large part, I'm mostly willing to say "clothes and household items", but this also allows me to identify some things I"d like to get. Although the list is currently an odd amalgamation of things I've not yet read/seen and things I have, but would like to fill out the collection. I'll probably revise it over the next few weeks.

For the curious, it's here.

Beyond that, I think there's three things that I'd like to get in the not too distant future. One is related to a thought that's been pinging in my head for a while. I've never been entirely happy with my "decision" to not keep playing a musical instrument. I took lessons for a number, but never kept at them. I kinda wish I'd at least kept playing the piano. While I know I can pick it up again (and probably will), another has been getting to me, too, so I'd like to get a cheap bass to pluck at and try to learn.

The second thing I'd like to get is a laptop. I think I travel around enough (at least two-three times a year), to make it worthwhile to have my own computer to use away from home. I'm eyeing a Macbook of some sort, but I doubt I'll be able to afford it until next year. Which is a shame, since I -am- going on a trip in two weeks.

Third, and perhaps a bit more desireable since I've left my car up north, is I'd like a scooter. Probably a moped class one (50cc or less). The anime fan in me likes the idea of a Vespa, but they're pricey as hell. I've been looking on craigslist for a used one, but the difference in price between a new one that meets my desires and what I've seen there isn't that wide.