fragmented bits

The real irony of the situation is that while my blogging has sharply decreased, I still keep popping up in Google search results by the virtue of the sheer amount I have written, and the fact that so many people have linked to me and I to other sites.

It's difficult to write anymore, I can't write so much about work, which occupies most of my time. But enough apologies, most good bloggers get the self-flagellative/self-pitying/self-glorifying blogs out of the way in their first few weeks.

Work is going....well. I can't say I'm enjoying it, but its money and experience, and both are good. We've entered early christmas at the office, starting off with a large platter of various baklavas sent from one of our consultant firms. More food and candy has been arriving. Apparently the closer we get to the holidays the unhealthier it gets around the office. It's cold in the mornings now, so I typically wear a few layers to work. Some might laugh at a sweater and a jacket in 50 degree weather, but I've got thin Arizona blood.

I've got my plans for the holidays- a week in Abu Dhabi with dad and tay, and ten days in Tokyo with Saori and her family. It's going to be some serious globe-trotting, and honestly, I'm lucky to have the time off from work.

Speaking of air travel, I hope I don't run into any trouble this Christmas with the TSA. I once did a google search for "Terrorism," so they might detain me for questioning. The terror watch list is now at 880,000. So much for the "ten most wanted."

Anyway, last night I picked mom up at the airport with Saori and we drove her to her place in Chandler. We got back home around 1 AM, so all day today I felt really groggy. Didn't help I've been up late watching movies the last few nights. I wasn't particularly hungry, so I started walking south along central, past the art museums and past McDowell, until I got to a fast food Japanese restaurant where I grabbed a spicy tuna roll. Not the best sushi I've ever had, but what do you want from a place that really moves its teriyaki chicken rice bowls? There were three high school seniors I overheard talking, probably on their lunch break. They were punk/goth kids, and spent the entire time making fun of a teacher. One of them repeated used the word "pronunciate" as in "she pronunciates the words all wrong". The really sad thing was that you could hear the teens parroting each other's views, no conviction or anything to what they were saying.

I saw Chase the other night, the night I arrived back from Oklahoma. He was leaving the next morning, so we met up at my place and I broke out one of the good wines. I realized I was getting older when Saori voiced my thought "It's good that he's coming because it gives us an excuse to really clean up." He liked the apartment, said that the linoleum tile's swirling grays make it look like stained concrete. He's found good work at a venture bank in Boulder, although his eye is always towards the bigger, faster markets of New York, Zurich, and London.

Good news! Saori's architecture firm just won a competition for a college campus, which means a lot more work over a long time period, and some really cool building projects.

slideshow!

Thanksgiving etc.