This entry will be done in sawed-off shotgun style: wide range, but more of an attention-getter than a deliverer of anything substantial. This is what usually happens when a bunch of stuff happens to me but I can't get around to writing it down until Monday.


1) I found out on my brother's recent birthday that he shares it with none other than fellow guitaristDjango Reinhardt. How's this for a studly man: he's considered the greatest jazz guitarist of all time, yet he only had use of two fingers on his left hand on account of he was caught in a fire in his gypsy-digs when he was a teenager.


2) I had a day-long project management class on Saturday. I thought it would be dry and amazingly boring, but it turns out the teacher had an abundance of awesome stories, which he was all too happy to share. Here's the coolest: he was once contracted by a government agency to undertake the task of finding out exactly what the government had to do and develop in order to have a working matter transporter, "just like the one you see on that Star Trek show." The amazing part, he told us, was that after meticulously breaking down the task to uncover all the technologies necessary to make a matter transporter work, he discovered that 8 of the essential 12 or 13 already existed. This was in 1983. Cue "Twilight Zone" theme music.


3) Here's the "life-lessons learned" portion of the entry. Stop here if not interested. I did a Google search the other day for a cellist with whom I had played once or twice in the past. I can't remember why...I had a question to ask or something. Anyway, I found out that this particular cellist had become a member of a local orchestra. They'd made the jump and started down the path to becoming a professional musician. Now it must be said that I, in my arrogance, had always considered myself to be able to play musical circles around this cellist, at any time of day. Needless to say, I felt not only surprised that they had made the jump to professionalism that I never did, but I felt a surge of jealousy. She wasn't that good, why couldn't I have done it?
Then I remembered- I had some very good reasons for not pursuing a musical career, joining an orchestra, and ending up in a very different place than I did. In the first place, I'm saved by my own arrogance; I wouldn't want to be stuck in an orchestra, anyway. Secondly, I'm happy where I am. I'm in California, entered into a career that I love, happily married. To boot, I can still play cello all I want. And I have done (thanks, Naughtians.), with friends of mine, to some critical post-rock acclaim. Why would I be jealous of someone who's stuck on the back row of the "Middle America Frozen Wasteland Farmer's Union Community Players?" No offense intended, of course, as I'm sure she's ecstatic to be there.

Alright, now we can all get on with our lives. My ego has been soothed.

For those of you, like me, who come across something and then obsess about it for years, this is our future, and it wears a fur coat:

Oh, dear.

ps- someone remind me, again, please, how I'm different than this guy?

Okay, okay. Last post (made < one hour ago) lacked some crucial news and events:

Today I finally start back into school again. Funny, actually. I woke up this morning and was instantly swamped with things to do. Grad work is certainly different than other educational experiences. I remember those good old days at the U of U where the first day of class consisted of getting a copy of the syllabus then promptly walking out the door to go get breakfast at Big Ed's. The first week after that was getting to know everybody's name, going over the course materials, and, if you're lucky, going for a tour of the library.
Not so, any more.
In one class I've actually got homework before the class starts. That was a first for me.
Most of my business, though, comes from:
1) Procrastinating the Dickens out of things that I should've been doing over the break. Not a big shocker, there.
2) "Extra"- curricular events. I'm in the constant process of taking on side projects to beef up my professional profile. Nevertheless, I got quite a shock the other day when my boss handed me a stack of all the resumes from all the T&I students of my year and I came to the horrible realization that mine, in comparison to theirs, looked as empty and as weak as an armorless Christian in the middle of the Colisseum (sp?). I asked my boss for advice. He was very helpful. However, now, in addition to the myriad pro-bono projects I have in my in-box, I now have a list of seminars that I really should attend, ranging everywhere from Chico to San Jose, and I should spend as much of my time as possible reading everything I can get my hands on concerning computer-assisted translation materials, localization processes, and general project management, so that I can feasably skip one class (that I was supposed to take this semester before they cancelled it).
On the bright side, though, it can't be all that bad- I do still seem to have time to write massive, whiny blogs.

I'm a total nerd, and I'm willing to accept it, but I found the following information mind-blowingly cool:

The picture above is of an astronaut on the moon covered in moon dust. Now most of you may know that NASA has announced plans to build a permanent moon base by 2024, or something like that. Anyway, everyone is concerned over what to do about this moon dust that is both incredibly fine and extremely abrasive, due to the fact that it's nothing more than ground up asteroids. It can potentially get in your lungs and cause problems, it scratches up lenses, etc, etc. Here's the cool part: in efforts to find a solution, some genius put a sample of moon dust into a microwave and discovered that it melts and subsequently hardens into a glassy blob - faster, in fact, than it took to heat up a cupfull of water.
Solution: send up microwave emitters with the team so that they can pave roads and even make bricks to build buildings with. Isn't that cool?
Of course, one may argue that it's the beginning of the end for the lunar ecosystem, but really, what can you do?

End Transmission.

Get ready for the best celebrity double ever.



This is my dad's cousin. He happens to be vying for the republican nomination for president, 2008. Mitt Romney. You may know him as Governer of Massechussets, or the chairman of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic winter games. Quite a profile, eh?

Well it never struck me before, but this man, my relative, has an uncanny resemblance to the Man himself, star of three of my favorite films: Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness (not to mention Bubba Ho Tep),


Bruce Campbell. Creepy, eh?

I think I'm suffering from some sort of brain cloud. The last couple of days, I can't seem to make the connection between what I've said to people, how they answer me, and then realize that they actually answered the question that I was asking. Two examples:

1) In my job I was sending out emails looking for a sign-language interpreter in the Seattle area. I got a response from one girl who said, "There must be some kind of mistake. I'm deaf. Did you think I could hear?" Confused, I wrote back, "No, knew you were deaf. I'm looking for an ASL interpreter." It took me a god ten minutes to realize that, hey, if she's deaf...how could she possibly interpret...FOR THE DEAF?!!? Pretty Stupid.

2) My friend Ryan emailed me today, asking if he and his wife could drive up and visit sometime. He added, "I heard Greg is driving up to visit, too, during his spring break. Wouldn't you be in school then?" To which I replied, stupidly, "Actually he and I have different spring breaks."

Good grief.

So the other day, I'm dropping Sheri off at work when we see in front of us what must have been a 20-year old GMC Suburban, with the licence plate MEL GBSN.
Now, reason would suggest that this was just a person who really, really, really liked "the Gibster," and chose to put his name on their licence plate. Stranger things have happened.
But could one of these stranger things be that it really was Mel Gibson, with the most clever disguise ever? Imagine the ensuing conversation (not unlike the actual conversation that Sheri and I had):

"Say, look at that licence plate, there."

"Yup, must be a big Mel Gibson fan."

"Wouldn't that be funny if it really was Mel Gibson?"

"Well, we are in California."

"No, really."

"You really think that ol' Mel would drive around in a piece of crap like that with his own name on his plates?"

"Yeah, right."

"Ha, ha."

Meanwhile, Mel, with a grin, rolls up his window and drives away.

ps- Rachel, biggest congratulations despite the surprise. I couldn't be more thrilled.

End Transmission.

Back from vacation. What a trip. Highlights:
1) The entertaining drive from Vegas to St George at 2 in the bloody morning. Much obliged to and entertained by my mother in law.
2) My first official snowboarding experience which included 15 degree weather, a steady snowstorm and the inevitable bruised tailbone, balanced by one of the most satisfying soaks in a hot tub EVER.
3) Of course the holiday cheer of family and friends. I have the most adorable and fussy niece on the planet. Thanks to her, I've constantly had the theme music to her signlanguage video stuck in my head. But my signlanguage vocab has increased by at least 1000%.
4) After examining hours of video of both French Parkour masters and Cirque du Soleil, coming away with the knowledge that the human body can do absolutely anything.

Now, of course, we're home and reorganizing our lives, trying to trim some pounds off ourselves and off our sausage of a dog, and me trying desperately to arrange my work and school schedules, and convincing the superhero that I married that this is a difficult undertaking.

New Year's Questionnaire:
How panicked am I about finding an internship this summer that will both pay the rent and not take me away from home?
Should I even consider going on tour with the band?
What resolutions should I make?
How specific?
When exactly do new year's resolutions take effect?
Midnight on December 31st?
The morning after?
Upon opening the door when you get back from your holiday vacation?
How about the first complete week of the new year, so you have that one weekend to sort things out?
Um, okay, I don't start school until the 22nd- how 'bout then?

End transmission.