Most likely the last post in 2005. Retrospective? Maybe. Watched D.E.B.S. and Mr. 3000 with Russell last night, getting gyros from Express Carry Out around the corner. Finally finished up Wicked. Working at the Apple Store this weekend. Going to Piece for New Year's Eve. College football at my place on Monday when Notre Dame takes on Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. And that pretty much wraps it up.

Week's almost done. And then another 4 day work week after this one. Very nice. Got 3 shadow boxes from Marshall Fields last night, 90% off, so I just had to get them. Not sure what to use them for, or where to put them, since they're kind of deep. Can't really just put them on any wall, cause they'd stick out too far. Tracy and I had dinner at Cosi. We actually got served, by a waitress, which I didn't know happened at Cosi. Got the Italiano (which I'd link to if the Cosi site wasn't just a big flash file). Had a craving for Mrs. Fields cookies, but never got around to satisfying that. Really need a charcoal grey sweater since I never replaced the one I left on the bus so long ago. Forgot to mention yesterday the other thing that bugs me about the holidays: the ending of all things Christmas immediately after the day. No music, the decorations start coming down, all of it. Basically I just miss the Christmas music. Oh well, just have to wait until next Halloween or shortly thereafter. And since the New Year is upon us, I really need to figure out how to get OS X Server up and running with email so I can start using Mail.app instead of mutt. Figure it'll be 2006, so it's about time.

Not too much going on. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, but this is the first time in 5-6 years that I've been around Chicago for the holidays. It's weird. Not a whole lot of cars tooling around. Traffic is pretty much non-existent on the way in to work. Another odd thing about this holiday season: bad weather. As in bad holiday weather. Rain and mist and fog between Christmas and New Year's? Not right. No white christmas. No snow. Just not very cheery at all. Anyway, had a craving for baked beans last night, so satisfied that for dinner. Actually did some exercising as well last night. Gotta start somewhere. And I've started filling out the Memex again, specifially those items that are linked to that haven't been created yet. And of course, it gets me thinking about trying to engineer a new version myself, just so that I can add object typing. Would make it easier to pull relevant information out. For example, if I could create a Person object that would have address information, it would be arbitrary to create a script to pull that info out for me. Anyway, add that to the list of projects that I'll never get accomplished.

Friday night headed out with Tracy and her siblings for a holiday dinner at the Canoe Club. Good stuff. Watched a little bit of Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place on DVD (another Christmas present). Work wasn't too bad on Saturday, definitely still a little busy. Went to the Walls for Christmas Eve dinner, an old co-family tradition, and got to see Jason and Chris, both of whom I haven't seen in a pretty long time. Good to see them. Just good all around. We then made it to midnight mass at St. Mary. Got to sleep in on Christmas Day before heading out to Auntie Letty's for food and family. Then back into the city for more food and some couch time with Tracy, watching The 40 Year Old Virgin and a couple episodes of Lost (now only 2 episodes behind). Didn't get to sleep in yesterday, ended up doing some work for work since I was on call. Watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Aviator, and started Spartan before heading out early to get dinner by Tracy. Watched some more Two Guys and a Girl before heading back in for an early night. So still got lots of stuff to do, not too much time to do it, and back at work.

Got some sleep on last night. Serious sleep on. Asleep before 10. It was awesome. Wish I could accomplish that every night. Finished off some leftovers for dinner. Got another salad from Cosi for lunch. Trying out eating healthier foods. Figure it's about time. Trying out various fruit parfaits. I like the one from Corner Bakery, but not so much the one from Cosi. Not sure what other places I've left to try for breakfast. Hard to believe Christmas is in a couple of days. Headed out for dinner with Tracy and her brother tonight. After working tomorrow headed out to the Walls for Christmas Eve and then spending the night out in Woodstock. I think going to Auntie Luz's for Christmas Day, and then probably back into the city. Tried to do laundry last night, but the laundry room was surprisingly busy. Times like this I really wish I had a washer/dryer in unit.

Watched Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire yesterday. I thought it was pretty good, but some of the criticism that I've heard, that Dumbledor's character is out of place I find true. I do miss a bunch of the subplots, which means I'll try and read the series again soon. Otherwise, found out my schedule for the weekend, which is just working the day on Christmas Eve, which is good, because I then don't have anything to do the day after Christmas. Much needed and desired day off from any type of work. And hey, Christmas is right around the corner.

Tuesday. Huh. Should have done laundry last night, need to. But laundry room was full between 7-8 and I really didn't want to stay up too much later than 10. But it ended up that I stayed up really late anyway. I was definitely really really tired. Way too tired. And I was worried I might be coming down with something. Maybe a cold, maybe the flu. I did finish up watching Going the Distance, a Canadian Road Trip. It's still freezing. Oh, and my favorite pair of jeans died on me. Finally ripped. Got to replace those.

Not a bad weekend. Tried to catch up on sleep. Did okay except for Saturday night. Finally got around to doing a full backup of my music on Friday night. Also scanned all my DVD covers using an iSight and Delicious Library. Awesome. That was after picking up Tracy's Christmas present (Bluetooth headset). Don't worry, we exchanged gifts on Saturday, since my gift (A nice framed French ad print from Art.com) got delivered Friday night. So that just needs to get hung up, not sure where yet though. Had brunch on Saturday at HB which was pretty good. Saturday night headed out to that holiday party, which was pretty fun, except that it was freezing out, and I had to open the next day. So not much sleep, and probably a bit of a hangover, I made it to work. Then got to see Ryan's improv class perform on Sunday after work, and we all got dinner at Durkin's around the corner. I think I need to do some laundry, and I need to start the exercising again.

Trying something new. Good Night, and Good Luck was pretty good last night. And while I might knock it and the Landmark as artsy-fartsy intellectual, it's good stuff. And maybe my long self imposed hiatus from the indie film arena will end. Probably. Ended up at a busier Thursday at Duke of Perth than Russell and I have seen in a while. Looked up some info on Christmas presents, having to decide between walking up to a brick and mortar store or ordering online. It's starting to get to the point that shipping and handling might make up the difference in savings. Not to mention the ease of return policies. Anyway, working as usually at the Apple Store this weekend, got a holiday party thrown by some of Tracy's friends at the Brownstone Tavern & Grill Saturday night, and going to see Ryan perform at Comedy Sportz on Sunday.

Installed an internal Bluetooth card in Nitrogen last night. iMac G5s were made for Bluetooth. It looks so great with no wires. And now I'm thinking of keeping Nitrogen in the bedroom since I'm no longer bound by wires at the foot of the bed because of the keyboard. Like this morning, I reach over to the nighstand, flip on the Bluetooth mouse, wake up the computer, and SportsCenter is on. It's great. Granted, I'm not sure exactly where to put the antenna, so it's just routed next to the airport antenna, which is probably a bad thing. I forgot to mention that I watched the 720p HD trailers for Poseidon and The Da Vinci Code on the iMac. Sweet. Anyway, caught up a little on my TV watching and had some leftovers for dinner. Finally came up with a design scheme for the web site I'm building for my dad. Links when I'm done with it. So after finally coming up with a design, it's just the nitty gritty detail work that's left. Oh, and probably going to Piece for their New Year's Eve party.

Nice quiet night at home last night. Finally got around to making that Beef & Guinness Stew, but that took too long for dinner so made fried rice instead. The whole new iTunes setup worked like a charm. Which is good. Watched some Arrested Development. Watched a little bit of Day After Tomorrow. Pretty quiet. Had some trouble again pouring a Black and Tan. Not sure what the deal is with that. Supposed to snow again today, but now they're thinking otherwise. Nothing else planned for the evening. Probably headed out tomorrow night with Russell to see Good Night, and Good Luck.

Finally got a haircut last night. Tracy apparently had had enough, and we stopped at Supercuts before dinner at Harrigan's Brewery Company. So that's good. Dinner was also good, we shared a beer flight. I guess I just like stouts now. Also decided that Tracy should just have her own account on Aluminum so that she can have her own iTunes playlists for syncing with her iPod nano. So, moved all the music files over to the shared user folder, put proper permissions for a group we're both in, and some perl magic to change file locations in the XML file and some time to rebuild the library, and presto, two separate iTunes libraries with the same set of music files. Oh, probably should turn off letting iTunes organize the music folder, cause then files could be lost between the two. Anyway, it should work until she gets her own machine.

Starting this week I'm gonna try and start waking up earlier and going to bed earlier. After that happens, I'll actually try going to the gym in the mornings too. Don't want to try too much right away, wouldn't want to get sick, since it is the season. Dinner Party on Friday night went well, even if it was without dessert. Mimosa cravings led to Black Velvets which are really tasty. Good time just around the dinner table. Saturday had lunch with my parents, big thanks to them for all they've done. Then work up at Old Orchard, and Tracy came with to do some Christmas shopping of her own. Which means I got to meet her for my food break. Had a Black and Tan when I got home, just a craving. Not sure why I consider Guinness a winter beer. Just makes me think of fireplaces. Sunday, more work, and started watching Veronica Mars Season 1 on DVD. Doesn't seem to pull me in as much as Alias or Lost did on DVD. But I'm still pushing through previously viewed episodes. A piece of home theater equipment broke down on me though, the component video switcher doesn't seem to be working anymore, which means I had to rework the connections. I think I might finally take out the VCR which seems a little pointless to have now.

Snow. Lots of it. Fun. So took the Metra back up to E-Town, but ended up on an express, so had to backtrack from Davis down to Main via the Purple Line and then picked my car up. No problems with Puck. Then I decided to drop by the Apple Store to see what my weekend schedule was. Not up yet. So I drove home via 41. Nice and slow going. But fun. I like driving in weather like this. Slow, a little slippery, but fun. Wish I found a big empty parking lot to do some donuts in. Anyway, things I noticed driving home, a handful of just parked cars on the road. No hazards. Noone inside. Just sitting there. In the left lane of a two lane road. Requiring traffic to go around. At least 3 on the way home. Weird. And the other thing I noticed? A Mercedes-Benz, stuck on Inner Lake Shore, not in a snow bank, just spinning tires in the snow that was on the road. That everyone else was driving through no problem. That was funny. And one last thing I noticed? SUV pulls out in front of me and just spins the tires. Doesn't seem to take the foot off the pedal. Just seemed like the driver had no idea what to do if they lose traction, just to keep putting on the gas. Anyway, watched Alias last night too. Just a funny funny episode. Little disappointing with Jack though. Cleaned a bunch this morning, since Tracy and I are having the Cases and the Russells over for dinner tonight.

Took the bus home from work the last couple of days. Why? Besides staying late at work so that traffic wasn't that bad, it was really cold. The El drops me off 4 or so blocks from home. The bus? In front of my building. It was all about minimizing time spent outside. And this time I had a good reason. It's cold out. Anyway, watched My Name is Earl and The Office last night. Not bad. Good, but no laugh out loud moments. Watched a bit of TV on the iMac in the bedroom. Fan's kind of loud though. Might be more interested in picking up an iPod since I can easily record then transcode a show to iPod format with Eye TV. And Christmas is coming up... Having the Cases over for dinner tomorrow. Brought Puck in for a checkup, took the Metra down and probably end up taking it up. Easy schmeasy.

Caught up a little on the recorded TV Shows. Grey's Anatomy was alright. I definitely feel like George is getting the short shrift. Then Las Vegas which was bad because someone at NBC Chicago forgot to flip the switch to broadcast in HD so I got stuff with SD widescreen. But Arrested Development was great, too bad Charlize Theron finished her run, and I'm a little disappointed Dave Thomas didn't get more to do. And the crown of the evening was watching Kitchen Confidential. Seriously. Right up there with How I Met Your Mother for best new show for me. Funny funny stuff. I love the cast. The quick and quippy one liners. It's just funny. And it'll be gone soon. I really hope some other network, COUGH Food Network COUGH, picks it up. Really. I just browsed the official message board and a bunch of food service people have posted that it's a show they watch, for them, by them. Besides that I moved some furniture around again, moved Nitrogen into the bedroom. Not sure if it's gonna stay. Realized I have 3 Apple portable power adapters. No idea why.

Really need to sleep more. But there's always something that can be done, some tweaking, some modifying, some editing. There are always things on list that remain undone. And I'm still fighting the battle between sleeping and doing something. I should have chosen sleep last night. Instead, I spent an extra 30 minutes or so trying to figure out which channels the Eye TV 500 picks up from cable, since it doesn't pick up that info from the stream. Should have just slept. But got to hang out with Russell and Bryan. Been a while. Went to Fox & Obel for a snack and then watched Aeon Flux. Not a bad movie. Great premise, but the scientist in me had some issues with the resolution. And of course, the fight scenes were filmed all close up and jarring, so couldn't quite see what was going on. I guess I should give up on the hope of seeing US action movies where I can see all the action.

Worked nights at the Apple Store due to being on call for my other job. Means I got to close, which isn't too bad. I kind of like it. Otherwise, got to spend a little time with Tracy Friday night, but called it an early night. Saturday watched some TV before heading in to work, and the same thing on Sunday. Fairly uneventful. I did get Nitrogen hooked up to the Eye TV 500 and after doing a scan on cable channels, I've got a ton that come in, which is impressive. So I tried out using the iMac G5 as a TV, and it's great. I think I'm going to move it into the bedroom, so I can actually watch TV in bed, movies too, so now I'm looking into 5.1 speaker systems with built in Dolby Digital decoders. I think the Logitech Z-5500 Digital is the winner there. Also means a slight change in furniture arrangement. It's cold out. And that's all for me. I did forget to mention at least one laugh out loud TV ad I saw recently. It's the one where some guys talk him into a pickup game which he then absolutely controls and destroys the ordinary guys, and after the game, shuffles over to the bench and takes off the jersey revealing a weight vest. Laught out loud funny.

Sort of working two jobs this weekend. I'm on call for Market Track, and working nights at Apple Store Old Orchard. Sweet. Hopefully nothing will go wrong at the former, and I can catch up on sleep and finish up organizing the data center. Was out in the 'burbs last night with Tracy. She's got curls. I'll post a picture once I get a decent one of her. She looks good. Different. But good. We went to Champps for dinner and wandered around Target for a bit. Then we updated her iPod nano. Coolest thing which probably has been around in iPod technology for a while, but smart playlists work with live updating on the nano. That's really cool. Should make it easy for her to weed out the songs she doesn't like. Cause 4 GB isn't that big. Market Track Holiday party this evening. Gonna try and head out to Bandera for dinner afterwards. And sleeping. That'll be good.

Wow. Last month. December. 31 short days until 2006. That's a little crazy to think about. I guess I'm starting some New Year's resolutions early, which I like to do, it beats out any rush. But I started cleaning out the data center. I've got a whole big box of dead tech, stuff I don't use, but can't bring myself to throw out, thinking that someday I might be able to cannabalize it for parts or something. I also had a bunch of old boxes of tech things I never threw away, like the original iPod box. Used to be silver. And the same size as an iSight box. Actually, I wonder if they are the same size? Also managed to free up some drawer space in crafts closet. I'm contemplating trying my hand at a podcast, well, more along the lines of just speaking my musings, because I tend to think some of them sound pretty good if read out loud. But that would be just for me, so maybe not.