So, we are in fact back from Oregon – and the full photo gallery is online. Becky and I had a great time out in Oregon. The Open Source Convention was very interesting and educational. It was so cool to see so many people with Apple laptops. 🙂

This week we have been busy with Mom and Dad Wood, Kirsten and Mark, and Jenn all up visiting. We have a gallery for some of their visit here. Dad and Jenn are both at Gordon for some music education workshops, and the rest are just along for a vacation. 🙂

Today’s the last day of the conference. I have just one more session to attend, then Becky and I are taking the rest of the day off to do some touristy things.

It’s insane how many people at this conference, which is not Mac-specific, have Mac computers. I’d say that of the people who brought laptops, at LEAST 50% of them are Mac PowerBooks or iBooks. At least. Here’s a funny conversation I recently overheard while sitting in the Apple-sponsored “Rendezvous Room” – a place to hook up your laptop to the network and power, or use a Mac computer if you don’t have one:

Guy 1 is at a table using his PC laptop. Guy 2 walks in and sets up his Mac laptop.

Guy 2: “Ah, someone without a Mac!”
Guy 1: “Actually, I wish I had one…”

🙂

I have the latest Oregon pictures up in our Oregon Gallery, including the Japanese Garden, Mount Hood, and the Oregon Coast. Any other pictures we take between today and tomorrow will probably have to go up after we get settled back down in Beverly.

Just a quick note – hello from Portland, Oregon! Becky and I are out here for the week. I am at the O’Reilly Open Source Conference. We had a fun weekend the 4th through the 6th, exploring places around Oregon like Crater Lake, Ashland, and Multnomah Falls. Now I’m in the midst of various classes and sessions, while Becky is out exploring Portland and taking a vacation. 🙂

For some pictures of our trip so far, check the Oregon gallery.

For anyone who’s interested, you can listen to the entire “A Prairie Home Companion” show that Becky and I were at on Saturday:

APHC

The link also includes pictures, and scripts of all the various segments.

Enjoy!

I could not resist posting my own caption to this picture that CNN ran today. U.S. troops raided the town of Fallujah, Iraq to find illegal weapons, now that the weapon amnesty is over.

Talk, worm, talk! Tell us where the other guns are hiding! My buddies here can’t wait to get you to the smelting pot!

Becky is down in New Jersey this weekend visiting Jenn, so I’m batching it. Incidentally, this is the first time we have been apart since our wedding. Things would be much nicer if Becky were with me, but I have had a good amount of fun today in her absence.

This morning I attended the opening of the Chestnut Hill Apple Store. I was one of the first 1000 people in the store, so I got a free t-shirt. I also picked up a few not-quite-as-free items while I was there. 🙂 You can see the items, as well as pictures of the store, in the photo gallery.

After that, I figured I might as well zip into Boston… so I took a leisurely drive east on Route 9 straight into downtown Boston. I parked at the first garage I could find for under $20, and sort of ambled around for a while on foot and on T. I eventually ended up at Quincy Market to eat lunch and watch some interesting street performers.

In the afternoon I headed back to Beverly to play with the new toys a bit and take a nap. Then in the evening I went out to dinner and a movie with me, myself, and I. The three of us watched The Italian Job, which we quite enjoyed. It was a great caper film in the vein of other recent films such as Ronin, The Transporter, and Ocean’s Eleven.

That’s it for tonight. Tomorrow Becky will be back, and that will be a happy thing. 🙂

Becky and I have realized that in recent months, our weekends have been very, very busy. And we rarely spend a weekend *not* traveling somewhere. So I decided to take an inventory of where we’ve been on the weekends for the past three months. I’ll include links to photo galleries where appropriate, and I’ll bold the weekends where we didn’t really leave the Beverly area:

March 1-2: Beverly + Boston
March 8-9: Beverly + Boston
March 15-16: Beverly
March 22-23: Beverly
March 29-30: Freeport, Maine

April 5-6: Boston + Beverly
April 12-13: Townsend + Boston
April 19-20: Mount Vernon, Ohio
April 26-27: Beverly

May 3-4: Beverly + Shrewsbury
May 10-11: Harrodsburg, Kentucky
May 17-18: Troy, New York
May 24-25: Martha’s Vineyard
May 31 – June 1: Beverly + Shrewsbury

Phew! So chances are… if you’re looking for us in Beverly, don’t look for us on the weekends!

Was bored tonight, so I took pictures of my hands as seen at my computer, with the camera on my phone.

I’ve got a few things to mention today:

1. We had a lovely Memorial Day weekend on the Island. It was cold and windy and rainy, but we filled it up with road races, mini golf, Mario 3, and Scattergories. Check out the pics, okay?

b. Congratulations to those of you who discovered the secret new blog feature. For those of you who need a little more help… step 1:Drag your mouse over my head. step2: click.

3. Last night was the begining of another of my favorite shows : The Amazing Race! I think this is one of the most fun “Reality” shows to watch. Last night’s episode was pretty good. It was also kind of predictable. The unfit older couple was eliminated in the first round, but I’m holding out hope for the team of circus clowns!

The producers have made sure to fill out the cast will all the predictable couples, “we’re friends, but maybe this trip will make us more” and “shhhh! we’re gay!” and “dad and son out to bond” and “when will he ask me to marry him!?!” and possibly the most annoying, “we never get along at home so why should we get along here?”

Does anyone else out there watch this? Let me know what you think.