Back in the Saddle
Yes, sports fans, I'm back and badder than ever. Look out.

Sorry for not writing for a really long time. My only alibi was that I was temporarily hosting a fairly large photo gallery and didn't have a whole lot of space to put other things (yes, including text for my blog). Oh well, I've had quite a bit of thoughts bottled up over these past few months so pardon me as I'll dispense my brain dump.

Just this last weekend, the chica came up and we celerated her birthday. In fact, we had two gatherings for her birthday. One was a lunch that we had at our favorite Chinese restaurant with her and my parents. The other was a really nice dinner in San Mateo with Alvin, Jen, Nelson, and Pei-Hua. We had a really good time. It was too bad she had to leave for LA the next morning. I really enjoy being with her.

On other news, more friends are being deployed to the 'sandbox'. Even at odd hours I see my friends online while being Over There. While they can't always disclose everything that's going on, its still really good to hear from them. Often, I'd pray they all come back safely. It's something I think about fairly often.

Early last week, I started a new job. Honestly, it feels good to be working again but it feels rather strange. As always, the grass seems greener elsewhere. At school, I felt like I was at liberty to create things with few restrictions. As of now, I feel like the restrictions went up several notches. On the flip side, however, it's nice to get paid. Have I really forgotten about earning money and some of the compromises we make? Oh well. I guess it has been quite some time.

About 3 weeks ago, I went with Alvin and Nelson to Joshua Tree National Park. Kinda cool in a weird sort of way. Some of the terrain very much reminds me of Arizona. I'd totally recommend this place but I tell you, don't stay there for more than 3 days. It's really not a very large park. I had a good time, though.

That's all for the recaps. Look for my other brain dumps in the near future.