Six-Squared

If you're reading this entry, then hopefully you've managed to follow my journal from the now-defunct Spies.com site to its new home at leftfield.org. Ceej is still administering the domain (thanks, Ceej!), and things are otherwise much the same. My e-mail has changed, too. I'll be curious to see how long it takes for search engines to get everything retargeted.

And if you haven't followed me over, then get with the program! :-)

Boy am I ever tired of changing my contact info on Web sites, mailing lists, and the like. Shee.

Why yes, if it's January 16 then it must be my birthday again! For the first time since before I started this journal, I'm a square number - six-squared, to be exact. A nice, geeky observation. Doesn't feel much different from seven-times-five, though.

Friday night Debbi and I decided to go to Max's for dinner, up in Redwood City. Afterwards we ambled over to the Barnes & Noble nearby, where I ran into an old acquaintance, RJ, who had also been eating at Max's with two of his friends. RJ and I ran into each other regularly at SF conventions when we both lived in the Midwest, but don't often see each other anymore (since we're in different social circles and I don't often go to cons these days). We caught up for a few minutes, which was fun. He said he might invite me to a baseball outing this year, since he's a Cubs fan (Motto: "Now 96 years more pathetic than the Red Sox!").

I decided to throw myself a party this year, having taken last year off from overt celebrations. Although I invited somewhat fewer people than I have in the past, we still had a good turnout, including:

• Karen
• Lisa (Michel was working, as this was his on-call weekend)
• Andrew
• Subrata and Susan
• Mark and Yvette
• Ray and his SO Sara
• Matt and Renee
• Syd and Jade
• Bill and Cynthia
• Cliff

The cats were very good during the party. Newton came out and prowled a bit. Even Roulette came down to sit on the stairs and watch things. But Jefferson and Blackjack spent most of the night under the bed, poor things. Blackjack got a little attention from me, but wouldn't let anyone else near him.

Debbi helped a lot with preparations and helping people get drinks during the evening. But I think we both had plenty of time to socialize. I got to talk to some folks I didn't know well, show off my house to a few folks who hadn't seen it, and as always enjoyed having my various friends from disparate domains meet each other.

It was a great party. We finally got to bed around 1 am, which I think is a sign of success by any measure.

I really should do things like this more often.

My actual birthday is today, and after a day of running around and a night of socializing yesterday, I was happy to mostly sit around and relax today. The New England Patriots' birthday gift to me was a stunning rout of the Indianapolis Colts' record-setting offense, 20-3, to advance to the league championship game. Peyton Manning is a good guy and a great player by all accounts, but the New England buzzsaw he keeps running into has to be about the most frustrating thing any professional athlete can experience. Sheesh!

I got some nice gifts from my parents, and apparently have one on the way from my sister. Debbi has a surprise lined up for me later this month as her gift, which should be exciting and fun!

And then we went to Don Giovanni - one of my favorite Italian restaurants - for dinner, which was excellent as always.

So across the whole weekend it was a most excellent birthday all around.

Sometimes it doesn't matter that I have some stress in my life and I'm falling behind on personal projects. Weekends like this are just to be enjoyed. And I did.