jmoiron.net

I've been trying some self-improvement recently. This is my favorite time of year in the north-eastern United States, weather wise; I feel very comfortable in cooler weather and I like wearing light jackets so it's a win/win scenario. Usually around this time of year, I try to pre-empt new years resolutions. This has always felt like the real "new years" to me, since it is the the start of the pedagogic year.

This year, it coincides with a lot of free time and a lot of time I have to myself, with the banking system exploding and taking Cissy's time as collateral damage. In the past few weeks I've gone shopping for numerous items that I continually put off purchasing (new shirts, shoes, curtains, household cleaning supplies I was missing, etc). I've been making a greater effort in my own technical pursuits, getting a new server and coming up with some new webserver architecture ideas. I've been reading a book on jQuery that we had lying around the office on the bus & train to and from work. I've been studying Japanese a lot more the past week, as I have 2 classes coming up.

Spurred on by my finally finding some software to batch-convert my extensive Canon RAW collection, I've even been more open to random creative pursuits and social activities. A few months ago, buried under the urge to catch up on so many of my pursuits, I felt as though all of my weekends were already booked with catch-up and any time I spent otherwise would have been wasted.

This weekend, I spent Sunday relaxing at a bar-b-que in Queens. I had fun (and tremendous amounts of grilled meat & Chinese takeout) and chatted to some people I've never met and others I should probably hang out with more in the future. I've also been inspired to take my camera with me a bit more often; one of my interesting new friends admires beauty wherever they go, and while I probably wouldn't chase the same subject matter I think doing a photoblog would be a good creative outlet and good practice for handling my camera.