As my readers (both of them) may have noticed, I’ve not been very good about keeping up with my daily “dear diary”-type posts. I started this little project back in February as a way to make myself write something every day. I’ve pretty consistently failed to do that of late, and as I consider the reasons for that I can only conclude that I just don’t find it interesting.

While I do work for a Free Software company, my work is largely covered by NDA. Largely enough that I don’t feel comfortable even sharing little nonspecific bits of my work on a day-to-day basis because I don’t know if the aggregate could be considered a violation. This eliminates the most interesting part of most days, leaving me with a huge content gap between breakfast and dinner five days a week. I do often attend fun events and do fun things in the evenings, but not enough to really make most days interesting to write about. I’m sure they’re no more interesting to read about.

Additionally, I’ve found that since most of my daily scribblings were one or two sentences per topic anyway, they’re better suited for my StatusNet site, where posting has less intellectual overhead (it’s the same amount of typing/clicking work, but it feels like less of a hassle to post over there).

So, this marks the end of my promise to myself to post something here every day. This site will live on, however, and I may even post something attention-worthy from time to time.

  • Up early; to work.
  • Drove out to Robinson after work for the RiffTrax Live! event. Met up with Greg, Jim, and Jer for dinner at Thai Foon. Perfectly mediocre Thai food, but what can you expect from a suburban shopping center?
  • Then it was on to the show! Unfortunately Jer and Jim hadn’t bought tickets and the show was sold out so Greg and I bade them farewell and went into the theater. The show was hilarious. Jack the Giant Killer is a terrible, terrible movie which fits the bill perfectly for an event like this. The short they showed before the movie, “What is Nothing”, was a depressing little number about two young boys contemplating the essence of nothingness. The most memorable phrase of the evening (which is even more hilarious out of context): “SEIZE THE BONE!”

  • Up early; work time.
  • After work Emily and I biked to Mad Mex in Shadyside/East Liberty for dinner. The Thai curry burrito was calling my name, and it was everything I thought it could be. Emily had a Happy Hippie Quesadilla and she claims it lives up to the name.
  • Biked home full of Mexican/Thai food. Mostly uphill.
  • Took care of some administrative stuff before bed.

  • Up early; saw in-laws off.
  • After work drove out to Bocktown Beer and Grill for the 100th Pittsburgh Beer Meetup. I did a taste test between two potential new Sam Adams beers (an oaked ale and a maple porter — I chose the ale). Greg won 100 craft beer bottles in a raffle (and elected to share most of them, making him the new most popular member of the group). The raffle raised $1,150 for Brewing Up a Cure, which is awesome. Can’t wait for the next meetup.
  • After making sure my three beers (plus two tasters) had run their course I made the long (~30 minutes) journey home and to bed.

  • Up late.
  • Went with Emily and her parents to Construction Junction to drop off some recycling and have a look around. Emily’s father bought some glass plates, I believe to use as windows in a deer hunting shack.
  • Toured a couple of open hoses in Squirrel Hill. One was a $400k McMansion in the Rosemont housing plan, the other was a ranch on Fernwald with brand new floors but wallpaper from the 1970s. Quite a contrast.
  • Late lunch at the Pittsburgh Burger Company in the Waterfront where I got to try the yak. It was pretty tasty, but it was no ostrich.
  • Hopped across the street to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes at Loew’s. This film is much better than the previews suggest. Of course you know how it ends but the buildup is very believable and the little callbacks to the older movies will have you giggling. Also Andy Serkis’ motion-captured performance as Caesar is phenomenal.
  • Home to unwind with some episodes of Bones on Netflix (the only thing we could all agree on) then to bed.

  • Up late.
  • Lunch with Emily and her parents at Pho Van in the Strip. Great pho to be had there. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their food, including Emily’s parents who’d never had Vietnamese food before.
  • Walked down to the Heinz History Center to do some learning. Despite living in or around Pittsburgh my whole life I’d never been there before. There are some great exhibits, including an old streetcar, a whole floor dedicated to George Washington in the French and Indian War (he passed through here once or twice), and another floor exhibiting the habits of the different orders of nuns that have established themselves in the area as well as listing their various accomplishments.
  • Having walked off the pho we met up with my parents at Penn Brewery for some good beer and carb-laden German food. I had the Polish Hill Plate, consisting of kielbasa, pierogi, onions, and sauerkraut. Much to my amazement, my father tried a Penn Gold and liked it. There’s hope for him yet.
  • On the way home we drove past the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, which has in front of it a T-Rex dressed as Batman.
Batman Dinosaur in Pittsburgh - Dino Bat
Batman Dinosaur in Pittsburgh - Dino Bat by anirudhkoul on Flickr

  • Up early. Walk and a bagel before work.
  • After work cleaned up a bit and welcomed Emily’s parents for their visit this weekend. They arrived just as we sat down to a nice quinoa and chickpea dish that Emily made. I swear with her cooking I might even be willing to try vegetarianism. Maybe.
  • We got caught up and Emily’s parents gave us a belated first anniversary present: a pair of very fancy crystal whiskey glasses. They match the set we had already and now we can have as many as four people drinking whiskey out of fancy glasses. I need to meet some more people who drink whiskey.
  • After a long week everyone was exhausted so it was time for bed.

  • Up early; to work.
  • Watched the original version of Brazil from Netflix. Way better than the “Love Conquers All” version, even if the ending is more of a downer. The edited version loses all the “artsy” stuff (as Emily calls it): the dream sequences where Lowry is an epic hero who fights monsters and rescues the damsel, which makes a huge contrast to the “real” world where he’s a cog in the machine, timid and ordinary, and which provides him the inspiration to become something more.

  • Up early; to work.
  • After work Emily and I biked to North Oakland for dinner. Emily had a Groupon for Tandoor Indian Grill on Centre Avenue, but we arrived to find the door padlocked (turns out they’ve closed up). Drat.
  • Luckily right around the corner was another Indian place we’ve been meaning to try. Tamarind Flavor of India is the first floor of an old house which has been converted into a restaurant. The place was clean and well-decorated and the staff was very friendly. We split some garlic naan and chicken tikka masala, both of which were excellent. The tikka masala was spicy but not too hot, and it went well with my mango lassi. We finished off the meal with some gulab jamun which is one of my favorite desserts.
  • The bike ride home was slightly more challenging both in that it was mostly uphill and that we were full of Indian food. Really needed a shower when we got home. Totally worth it though.

  • Up early; cold pizza for breakfast. How I love it.
  • Finished the last of our wedding cake for lunch. Only took one year, two weeks, and two days to polish it off (one year of that was spent in the freezer).
  • Found out much to my amusement that I can drive our cats into a frothy rage using nothing but a simple yo-yo. I got one as a groomsman gift from Ted (thanks, Ted!) and as I was playing with it this evening I could see the exact moment at which Hines and Hunter decided that my new yo-yo was from that point on their mortal enemy. I can see having some fun with this.