well i’ve got some pretty interesting things to post about … where to start. i put up a new simple theme because i’m tired of re-engineering my personal theme every week. for some reason or the other i always end up unhappy with it, and it’s been a pretty big timesink for me, so i’m sticking with this plain jane nice theme that does the job. i might make some small tweaks but i hopefully won’t be changing themes again in a while (which probably means at least a week).

now for some updates..

hallmark’s holiday
i think this year paige won the “sweetness” contest in regards to valentine’s day. not only did she pick the place we were going, and make reservations, but she bought this sweet electronics play set from radioshack that is a throwback from my childhood where i first started getting interested in engineering and computer science. it’s nothing fancy, but it’s really fun to play with and certainly educational for those of us not fully versed in the dynamics of electrical engineering. she also made us a pan full of chocolate covered strawberries. i have the best wife in the world, really. what’s even sweeter is that march 2nd (coming up in only a few weeks…) is our 4 year anniversary, and may 9th is our 3 year wedding anniversary. what can i say, i’m glad i snagged her up before she realized what she was getting into!

skantastic music
friday night opie and i headed out to fort worth for the ska brawl 2006 tour which featured satori, and westbound train which are both very great reggae/ska bands… i highly recommend both of them. the concert was a great success.. apparently ska is either dead or dying so the amount of people who showed up to the show were suprisingly low (though this may have also been attributed to the near-freezing temperature outside as well, gotta love texas weather); this actually lead to a really great personal experience in the show.. during satori’s set there weren’t anymore than 40-50 people in front of the stage. we actually got a chance to talk with steve borth a few times about the next rxbandits album and the coke vs. bills album both coming out sometime this year. unfortunately nothing new to report other than they are apparently finished recording, so i guess it’s all in post-production at this point..

because sleeping on the floor sucks
paige and i have nearly finished paying off a new master bedroom set from rooms-to-go. we’re really looking forward to getting it because it’s an upgrade from queen to king (a married couple at the store actually told us they would be divorced if they had a queen.. ), as well as actually having night stands and a dresser. we’ll also get to move our current queen set upstairs so that we have a real, actual, guest bedroom. that’s always a plus for those people who would actually want to visit over here.

hey wanna throw up? get me naked.
minus the bear is coming to town march 14th and i couldn’t be more excited. if you haven’t heard of this very interesting band i highly recommend checking them out.. their music is very unique and hard to classify. needless to say, this is the kind of music that marshall digs.

i should start a used electronics store
i’ve been selling crap like crazy on ebay lately. trying to clear out my closet a little bit to make it a little more organized, and selling all the electronics i haven’t used in years… pretty cool to get some cash for something you probably won’t ever use again

santa clara or bust
from march 20-23rd i’ll be in the lovely state of california in santa clara for eclipse con 2006. i’m pretty excited as i’ll get a chance to hang out with katie a little bit (if she ever returns a phone call / email…) and also see max and koen from the jboss ide team who i only get to see at most once or twice per year. maybe i’ll also get to visit san francisco if i’m lucky..

romance means epic
i played the new (to the u.s.) mmog rf online beta thanks to opie graciouslly giving me his beta key. it looks like i will probably be picking up the game tomorrow and me and opie will start playing together — i’m honestly not sure if the game has much promise once you’re past the “pve” aspect, but i guess we’ll see. i’ve been meaning to post some sort of nitpicking review about the weird spelling and grammar mistakes that are present all over the game, but who knows if i’ll ever get around to it.