More bad news. A friend of mine died a couple of hours ago. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer a couple of months ago, and passed away yesterday evening. I find myself stuck at work trying to keep the ship steady, with various meetings and seminars lined up but thoughts are drifting… I do not have much to say, perhaps too much in total, so I shall keep it short. Right now, I realize how short anything of value is – tomorrow, most certainly, I will have forgotten the vibe of this brief moment. And how could one deal with this kind of thinking for any length of time? The result would be fine grained but miserable… I smile at the thought of returning back to the coarse, everyday mechanics. I guess bad news is part of the game, and there is very little that can be done about it. Attached to this post find ‘A pretty good day’ by Loudon Wainwright III. I guess one has to learn to value ones short and insignificant life as the grand …read more

My grandmother, Kathleen Frances Maude Moore (or Nanny as we called her), died last week. She suffered a stroke after a nice day out with her writing club and coffee people. Her death was quick and apparently without much pain – she most certainly would have approved. While I did not have much contact to her over the last years (as she lived in Victoria, BC), I talked to her once or twice a year. She would regularly remark that I should make my way out to BC to visit her before she ‘turns her toes upwards’. Alas, I did not make that appointment. The memorial service to celebrate her life just passed, and my family wanted to set the tone to celebration; she would have not approved of over-excessive mourning. Loads of people attended ranging from alternatives in their mid twenties to well groomed in suite and tie. On that occasion, my sister remarked that Nann…read more

A quick tunecast: I was set up with some friends yesterday evening, with whom I am working on a small web application. Our plan was to talk about user interface issues. Unfortunately, this plan was rudely interrupted by the cocktail happy-hour of the establishment at which we met. We took advantage of the happy hour and ordered a round of drinks. That, in itself, is not noteworthy. Unfortunately, I made contact with the Zombie, of which I had only heard stories. Well, they are true; this drink is indeed dangerous. And while we had a nice evening (we in no way drank excessively), the aftermath is making it slightly difficult to focus, like my head is in a cloudy sky. Anyways… because music can sometimes hit spots that words don’t reach, I thought I would pick up the challenge to find a tune that adequately describes the effects of a zombie (that is, my mood right now). I walked down ma…read more