currently listening to duke ellington's satin doll on vinyl.

i'd like to hear more about this man.
i'm glad i was not on this bus.

i am now a man with a mission.

saturday i sat in a park and read for a couple hours. memories of last year. it was about 60, sunny, and folks were out walking their dogs. today, it's snowing.

mmmm, dinner at the 'rents house. afterwards we talked to my sister on my mobile speaker phone which worked surprisingly well. cheers to nokia.

microsoft employee gets canned after posting a picture.

you missed a great weekend. well, not all of you perhaps. this week's whirlwind sojourn to philly was great fun. friday i helped dave out getting dinner ready for that night after brunch with mum, that night i went out to dinner with emily and megan, and saturday was all prep and party to celebrate dave and shelly's engagement. they had friends in from boston, pittsburgh, baltimore, and more. the only real negative was that i forgot my camera, so no pictures to show.

short photo journal of a south korean visiting the north. worth a quick browse

drink dark beer. (courtesy my brother-in-law jeff)

i'm going back to edinburgh. graduation is the first week of december, and altho i already told the university that i won't be at the ceremony, several other folks will be back that week. it's something to look forward to, i can't wait.

crystal's goin shoe shopping.

a long and busy weekend. sunday i went to a 2.5 hour baptist service for work. then spent 6 hours at a club that my nonprofit was a sponsor for. all that the night at the symphony. today i was able to leave by 2:30 and met a friend for tea.

i heard a lot of bad news the past few days. but if nothing else, it is a reminder of how good i've got it.

going to the symphony tonight. one of the perks of my job is that i can get free tickets to cultural things like this through Pitt ARTS.

help out a friend of a friend, take a short survey.

ryan has me listed in his address book as 'white chocolate'. this has been a running joke of a nickname due to the fact there are multiple jason williamses in the nba.

art vs work. i'm starting to write again. my life seems to be settling to where the waters of thought can run a little clearer. the world is releaving its poetics to me. it just feels as if this time has been wasted, but hopefully it's much need preparation.

the other night i went to the studio/foundry with my roommate to help her with her sculpture. i learned a lot about the process of making a sculpture which was cool. eventually i should have a picture to show of what i helped with. but i'll leave that to be a surprise.

head hunters and recruiters keep calling and emailing. i'm not sure how hard to pursue. options always seem good, even if you don't take them, even if they force you to make decisions. and on top of all of that, i got an offer to move to NYC to live the lifestyle i did last year (in some respects, altho i'd have to find a way to support myself financially). tempting, tempting.

bottom line is i want passionate people around me. and as my friend moving to new york said, "people who read books and think outside the mass consumer/television culture. People who question the system and are worried more about real issues instead constantly talking about which new chain restaurant opened where. " people that do what they want, not what they're told they want.

zoze crazy jairmens von agane!

good news. i forgot to mention this early, but the work i submitted for my masters in creative writing has passed the external examination according to my advisor. that means i'm getting my diploma in dec. speaking of that dec graduation, i think i might head back to bonnie scotland to visit a few folks. i need to get myself organized a bit and get a flight.