Oh, and in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening and good night.

I am calling this blog a wrap, its been roughly six months and I don’t think I have enough interesting stuff to say anymore.  Besides Africa, I probably overstayed my welcome.  With more staid activities increasingly taking over my life this ‘what hijinks have Mark been up to lately’ thread is going to become even more barren.

I did about a year of public sharing in 2006, which was interesting because I moved across the country and was doing a bunch of remote work, when telecommuting was more novel.  It also was from a time when personal updates from a mobile phone was not just novel, it was downright rocket science.  (Sentence removed so as not to offend readers)

But its time to quit here and now.  I feel it.

This blog is more sophisticated than my last one, and has some usage statistics.  I can tell that about 10 – 15 people come here.  I have no idea who you are or how you found me.  But if you want updates and you know me, shoot me an email, I will make a forum for it if we don’t already regularly catch up the correct way, which I hope we do.

Meanwhile, I did promise some more Africa pictures,  over the course of several presentations (Denver friends, ex-co-workers, etc) these have been the crowd-favorites, which cheats you out of some promised photos.  Regrets.

I have the other highlights and would be happy to share them if you ask.  I have them printed out (old school) and available digitally.

Seriously, this happened every day, it was barely worth the picture (the giraffes, not my b-team, laundry-day get-up)

Seriously, this happened every day, it was barely worth the picture (the giraffes, not my b-team, laundry-day get-up)

This on the other hand, was rarer, a good shot if I do say so myself

This on the other hand, was rarer, a good shot if I do say so myself

Everybody likes this picture.<br> Even though it could have been taken in Nebraska

Everybody likes this picture. Even though it could have been taken in Nebraska

This is the set up for the most popular picture, hands down.

This is the set up for the most popular picture, hands down.

A Great White Shark in the middle of the Ocean. Terrifying. Fun. A good way to go out.

A Great White Shark in the middle of the Ocean. Terrifying. Fun. A good way to go out.

Africa – By the pictures

I am back from Africa (AMAZING) and life seems pretty mundane in these parts, comparatively.  I have reintroduced myself into popular culture with a Green Day concert and that new movie District 9–filmed where?  South Africa, of course.

Sometimes getting a good photo is dangerous, keep this picture in mind when you see my Lion pictures

I have a this teaser photo as the title pic to a series I will share with you, “My top 10 Africa Photos”.

Here is the teaser text:

I have 4,724 photos from my five week visit to Southern Africa (South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia that my passport shows, and Lesotho/Zimbabwe it doesn’t). I reduced it to 770 photos, and then tried to pick my favorite 10 and came up with these 31. I hope you enjoy them.

The photos show me swimming with Penguins, observing Dassie, swimming with Sharks, surfing the Indian Ocean, hiking the Drakensberg, riding an elephant, seeing Lions, Hippos, Buffalo, Elephants, Rhinos, Giraffes and Leopards, and hiking/running/rafting/relaxing in Zambia by the biggest Waterfall in the world.

And here, as Jon Stewart would say is your moment of Zen …

Lucky Baboon is in Zambia, just over the bridge ... Zimbabwe

I will start the fun next week … stay well friends.

Early May East Coast Adventure(s)

I went on a three city tour of the East Coast back when the Celtics were still in the thick of the NBA playoffs (on the flight out they kicked me off the plane while I was watching double overtime against the Bulls–Frontier has DirecTV, they are awesome–and had to finish the game in the LaGuardia basement with a bunch of airport employees).

It’s hard to remember everything I did in New York City, there is so much to do!  I know I ran 20 miles in Central Park, completing several laps, and discovering the shady north side (and I don’t mean trees), a small zoo, and all the icons you have seen in the movies.

I went to the MOMA …

And the Guggenheim …

By the way, have you seen the International (movie), check it out, you won’t visit the Guggenheim the same way ever again!  Unfortunately a lot of the Gugg was under construction when I visited.

I went to a live taping of the Jon Stewart Show (saw Denis Leary, Worcester’s own!) … hysterical.

Tried to see the show Stomp, but it was sold out and saw a different kind of off-Broadway performance art show called Fuerza Bruta.  It was unique because there was no seating/stage, the audience was literally in the show.

I caught a Red Sox game at the brand new Yankee stadium.  The cheapest ticket on Ticketmaster was about 1500 dollars (yes fifteen-hundred).  I tried the Craig’s List thing and found some 100 dollar seats, but that fell through when it rained and the game was delayed, and said to be cancelled by some stadium workers.  I went back to Manhattan (the stadium is in the Bronx), and when the game started a couple hours later I went back out and got–wait for it–a five dollar ticket!  I had some issues with security and a bag but eventually worked it out.  The stadium was empty, and the good guys won, with the game coming down to the last pitch.  The game ended well after midnight.  On the subway home, there were about 15 Sox fans and maybe two Yankees fans, it was surprising.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention seeing a cat on the Subway, you don’t see that every day!

I also went to Boston and saw some disturbing art at the MFA ….

And in Providence I saw The Rhode Island Phiharmonic perform Stravinsky’s The Last Rite of Spring, a performance which when originally done, led to rioting in France!  It is something else, especially when you get to hear it in such a historic place with oveer 100 symhony members.  Afterwards they played a recording outside and had an interpretive dance with fire thing going on, it was wild.

Encore!

Eventually it was time to come home, and I got a peek  at Citi Field, the new stadium where the Mets play …

One last thing, I can’t say enough about Bolt, a bus service by  greyhound, they make travelling around the East Coast better than air travel.  There is an obvious price benefit, but also they have free WiFi, run on-time, cater to young professionals (you have to show a text message to get on board), and there is no TSA garbage to deal with, so bring that big hot cocoa on board with you!

Missed by a deuce – Ottawa Marathon

Finish Line at the Ottawa Marathon

I recorded a personal best at the Ottawa Marathon, completing one of my goals  for this year.  Unfortunately I was two minutes shy of my 3:40 finish hope.  The course was hilly, hot, and windy which did not help.

Also, as the title might imply I was having some–lets put this politely–digestive issues.

The clock there says 3:44, but that is clock time instead of actual time, which was 3:42.

Canada was beautiful, Ottawa is the nation’s capital so I went to  Parliament, ran by the supreme court, etc.  Went to the Museum of Natural History, the National Gallery,  ate a lot of great food, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

In America we have bear claws.  In Canada the disgusting pastry treat is called a Beaver Tail, and I forked over seven bucks for an avalanche, which is a beaver tail covered in that Boston Kreme stuff (not sure what the Canucks call it) and crumbled toffee.  Delicious!

Next year I will be 35 and my Boston qualifying time  goes form 3:10 to 3:15.  I have shaved 15 minutes off my marathon time, can I shave another 30?

It would be cool … run strong friends …

I fought the law …

Spoke with a litigator who is licensed to practice Law in Virginia this week.

Meanwhile I have been cramming for finals.

My MBA class on business law has been quite timely.  My unit on Intellectual Property and Internet Law is fascinating.

Do you know what factors determine a trade secret? I do now.

How about:

Steps to protect trade secrets

More about trade secrets

The most details about trade secrets

You should also be familiar with noncompetition covenants.  I have brushed up on Colorado case law going back to 1909.  Its really interesting.

Noncompetition covenants

I think I would have really liked being a lawyer, its quite similar to being a detail oriented software developer.  Everything is rule based, and its kind of boring but nerdy-fun.  (They also charge a fortune!) I read Refactoring: Improving the design of existing code, the classic by Martin Fowler this week.  Finally.  (Personal geek trivia: I met his son at a ruby conference a couple years back).  Its beautiful in the way our law system is, in a process refinement kind of way.  Maybe Michael Wurzer (Lawyer and Tech guy) knows what I am talking about.

It is dumping snow in Colorado, going to be a good weekend. There is supposed to be a foot in Denver today.

I have booked trips to NYC (going to see the Red Sox at the new Yankee Stadium!) and Canada (running a marathon in Ottawa!).

Yesterday marked one month since my position elimination, it also marked the delivery of the last of my back pay.  Glad not to have to deal with the Colorado Department of Labor any more.

I  have had a number of job offers, I am surprised at the strength of the market in Denver for software architects.  I am continuing work on a number of personal software project fronts and thinking about Costa Rica in June and Africa in July.  Mostly, I have been focusing on school, turns out I mistakenly took two very difficult classes this semester.

Imperial Challenge is this weekend, I won’t be participating officially, you could say my sponsorship has been pulled.  Ha!

Happy Friday everyone, enjoy time with those you enjoy time with.