Alright, Napalm readers, welcome to 2008: Year of the Napalm.

Just kidding.

So an awful lot has happened since I blogged last, and most of it bears mention, but I'm looking for some kind of common thread to unite it all so that y'all don't have to read nine screens worth of text about me playing my father-in-law at raquetball over the break.

To pique your interest, though, I can tell you about my current status: I'm currently sitting in the "living room" of my beloved hostel here in San Francisco. As I blog, I'm enjoying my $1 dinner of a Nature Valley Oats 'n Honey bar and a Fruit by the Foot - a meager dinner that I somewhat regret settling for in lieu of finishing my half a turkey sandwich that I bought for lunch. On my walk home from work, I gave it to a homeless man, who, when I handed it to him and explained to him that it was a delicious sandwich, asked me, "well....what kind?"

Okay, zoom out a little. I just got a new job with a translation agency in San Francisco. It's a promising company, and a very promising job, so I'm happy about it. I'm happy that I've found a niche in the world for people of my skillset that will allow me to provide for my family. Apparently that's a pretty rare thing in my field, the being financially successful thing, a fact emphasized by the fact that most translators I have met are not the primary breadwinners of their family. But that is neither here nor there.

So I've been up here this week, and part of last week, and perhaps most if not all of next week, learning the ins and outs of the company so that I can work from our Marina abode whilst I finish my education.

And that's all there is to say about it, I think. I mean, truth be told, I could go on and on about it, but perhaps not in blog form. Maybe ask me about it next time you see me or something.

Anyway, it was a good holiday. Lots of Romney time, which was good. My two nephews were awarded (or punished?) with a pair of marshmallow guns to shoot each other with. They're lots of fun. I, myself, was ecstatic about the increase in my book collection, and the collector's edition of Star Trek II, the Wrath of Khan. Sooo nerdy....

My dad and I spent a whole evening passing a scrabble board back and forth as we watched a couple of hours of Planet Earth. Which, if you haven't seen, I highly recommend dimming your lights one weekend, turning off your phone, and watching. We live on a crazy mother of a planet.

The day after Christmas we drove down and had a week with the Larsens. They're a great bunch, and it's clear to see why Sheri is so rabid about moving back there. Yes, I did play racquetball with Gordon, and no, I didn't win.

We also attempted to uphold the Larsen Family Tradition of hot-tubbing in the New Year, with a jump in the freezing cold pool right on the stroke of 12. Well, I had to drive out early, and Gordon had to go to work at 5:30, so all 11 of us decided to celebrate New Years at 12:00, EST. We barely made that, actually, on account of the pool water that overflowed into the hot tub so often that we were freezing our cabooses off. We all thrashed about, trying to find the warm spot, which of course translated into more cold water coming into the tub. Ah, it was a great time. Good memory for the kids, ya know?

Anywho, Jan. 1st I caravan-ed back to Cali with our friends the Toons (no jokes, please), and now, here I am.

Since my return, it's been a pretty introspective time, as I've been away from my wife and child, and I've had plenty of time to sit on my duff and ponder about my weird little universe.

And, sorry to disappoint, but I haven't really come up with anything really profound or insightful to say, other than that I think that it's good for people to interact with humans on a regular basis. On a social level, I mean. After a whole day in the car, followed by five days of pretty much work and sleep and talking to the dog, I've caught myself doing some awfully peculiar things.

1) I've counted up to 100,000,000,000 using binary (not as hard as it sounds, actually)

2) I figured out the following: If you estimate that Sheri and I and Siena will each live for one hundred years (a figure that's more for mathematical convenience than for anything else), and if you equate that century to a period of 365 days, I have lived up until nearly midnight on April 19; Sheri is passing the afternoon sometime on March 29th, and Siena is just approaching midnight on Jan. 1st. I did the math several days ago, so I may not be remembering too accurately how it all worked out.

3) I've mapped out my radio so that you can listen to NPR all the way from Salt Lake to Vegas to San Francisco

4) And lastly, I've had no problem in telling everyone about all of this.

Even more amazing is the songs that have gone through my head. Isn't it weird what songs your brain pulls out of nowhere to entertain you while you walk or type or do anything? I mean, the theme song to I Dream of Jeanie, Phantom of the Opera, old cello pieces that I don't even remember the names of; the most constant, though, is the music that comes out of this little glowing plastic star that Siena likes to watch. It cycles through about a dozen classical pieces, all simplified down to this electronic-style stuff. It plays the most hypnotizing version of "Minuet #3" by Bach. It gets stuck in my head at least once a day.

Alright, so that's enough for now. I miss my family.

End transmission.