Blogumentary
Tomorrow evening at the University of Minnesota there's a showing of Blogumentary, Chuck Olsen's new documentary about blogging. It's at 5:30, so I'm not sure if I'll make it or not, but I'm going to try. Dan Gillmore, author of We The Media, will be there to take part in the panel discussion that will take place afterwards.
Fifty Gmail invites and a new Powerbook.
I just got 50 (yes, FIFTY!) Gmail invites. As always, if anyone wants one or knows someone that does, let me know.
In other news, I bought a new 15" Powerbook two nights ago. I love it. I decided on the 1.67ghz model with a Super Drive. I've been busy installing software and getting data moved over to it. I can already tell that having a laptop with me all the time is going to change the way I work.
Later today I might go get a wireless mouse and keyboard, but after that I think I'll be set for awhile. I'm still trying to decide if I should get Microsoft Office or give OpenOffice a try. I picked up a copy of iWork, but there's something about Word and Excel that I'm already missing on this machine.
Oh, the scrolling trackpad on the new Powerbooks is sweet! It works flawlessly.
Surprise Tucson Trip
I didn't have plans of doing anything special this weekend, but that changed on Friday night when I was called about a family medical emergency. Northwest Airlines was really helpful and gave me a special rate so that I could catch the first flight out of Minneapolis without going into debt.
So, now I'm in Tucson and am not sure when I'll be back home. I'm hoping that things go well here so I can return on Wednesday. Fortunately, my boss was really cool when I called him and told him what was going on. I am worried about missing so much time from work, but I suppose that there's not much that I can do. Family has to come first right now.
The weather here is nice, although the temperature is only around 50 degrees. I brought my camera, but am not sure that I'll have the time or desire to take any photos. We'll see.
Oh, I've disabled comments until I get back home. The last thing I need to think about right now is whether or not my site is getting filled up with online gambling or Viagra spam.
Time for an update
Well, here it is...the post that I've been avoiding for the past week. After being gone so long and going through so much stress, I just don't feel that inspired to write anything, but I feel like I need to give a brief update. So, here goes.
I wish I could go into more detail about what happened last week, but because it's not my medical information to share, I can't. What I can say is that it was one of my top five worst nightmares come true. As bad as it could have turned out, everything went extremely well and is getting back to normal. I was really scared for several days and feel so thankful that the people at Tucson Medical Center were so good. Plus, they had a sweet cafeteria.
A day or two into my trip I came down with a bad cold and I've been sick until just a couple of days ago. It feels good to be at home, but I've felt a bit off ever since I got back. I think this is partly because I've been sick, but also because things that seemed important before last week seem trivial to me now. I guess a major dose of reality like this has a way of making you stop and realize what's most meaningful in life.
I hope to start feeling "normal" again soon, but for now I'm just trying not to force myself back into my routine too quickly.
Oh, before I forget, thanks to everyone who sent well wishes or asked how I was doing. It meant a lot to know that there were people outside of the situation who were concerned and looking out for me.
No answer
I received a call a few nights ago with some more bad news. The situation in Tucson, which I thought was over, has gotten worse. All that I'm comfortable saying is that my brother is sick and is moving home until he gets better.
I'm going to be making the 1,800 mile trip in a moving truck with all of his stuff. I've been looking forward to a road trip, but not for this reason. That said, I think the long drive will be a good chance for me to gain perspective and clear my head a little bit so I can be strong and positive for him.
The next few months are going to be pretty stressful and I'm not really sure what will become of this site. What I do know is that I don't want to continue posting about personal matters. I censor myself too much and don't feel like I can share as much as I'd like to. So, there may be an occasional update when something big happens, but I'd really like to do more tech, web, and photography related posts. I'll probably start paying more attention to my photoblog and may slowly combine my two sites into one site that better fits all of the different things I'm interested in.
