A self portrait

I woke up at 5am today thanks to my inexplicable and pervasive allergies. I've been sneezing non stop since I got back from Belize. I think the humidity reset my allergy meter - flushed me out with it's sweet, moist embrace. And now my body must readjust to the various molds and pollens of my native land. Boo to that.

I've spent the time by getting in touch with my inner nerd by putting together a new external hard drive. I chose to go the economical way and DIY a regular old drive with an enclosure. It's not all that hard, and it saved me at least $50 - which will cover my haircut today.

I had a talk with Parrish not too long ago about wether or not I have any claim to h4x0r ski11z. What we determined is that there are many different tiers of hack and I fall in the "lower-middle class" area. I know where certain things can be downloaded. I will not hesitate to try and fix something myself - but my methods of fixing often end at turning everything on/off and unplugging/replugging cables. I have installed RAM. I like using keyboard shortcuts. I have looked at and changed a BIOS. I even changed out a broken power supply on my old PC tower - a particularly proud moment in my nerd-dom.

I cannot, however, do anything in DOS to save my life. If there is not a "set-up" assistant, I most likely will not be able to set it up. I do not solder things. I do not understand why or how the Internet truly works and continues to exist.

If I were to assign a number of stars to myself, rating my nerd-ability, I would say three of six. But a low three. Maybe two and half. I wish I had the gumption to photoshop a Yu-Gi-Oh card with Me on it, denoting my nerd rank.

IN OTHER NEWS!

I have agreed to be a part of the cast of characters at English, Baby. It's an ESL site for students wanting to learn conversational English. My job is to talk about predetermined topics and be recorded. No "work" is required on my part. Just talk naturally. It's very part-time, but I think it'll be fun. I'm really hoping to attain minor celebrity status in Asia - not that Asia is the only country where people seek to learn ESL, but its got the numbers on its side.

The Belize DVD Rough Draft has been completed. I'm very proud of the work, but it will need some reworking. Two things are certain: I've made tremendous progress since my last DVD and I've accomplished much more work in much less time. Both very good signs. But there's still a way to go before I would consider anything I'm doing "professional." Still, if anyone wants to see the fruits of my labor, let me know and I'll try to get you a copy.

-Thanks for reading.