I guess I should write more than that
I am in the last few months of my PhD, I think. I think I might finish by September. I'm working 11 hour days, mostly, though I spend a lot of that in front of the computer trying to get a fluid dynamics program to work. Odd that I come home and spend more time in front of the computer.
I've made a water-oil tank for the thesis, the purpose of which is to watch little buoyant balls rise through the water and make contact with the oil. I had expected it to not work at all, but it actually been kind of neat. The main expensive toy I get is a high speed camera, which takes pichers at 500 frames a second in 640x480. Cost about 8 grand. It's fun. Horribly tempting to abuse.
The girlfriend (Nee) and I went to Spain recently. It was irritating on a lot of fronts, but I'm glad I went. Another stamp in the passport is never something to complain about. (Don't ever transit in Philadelphia or expect to switch planes in less than two hours in Madrid, though.)
Here are some pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/twobirds2
It was for an academic conference, actually, and my work was pretty well-received, I think. I feel like I've come pretty far on the topic, and it was kind of uplifting. I am starting to think I really do know what I'm doing. A little.
I have a million projects I want to work on, but never do. The fact that I have done NOTHING with the novel I wrote or the milk-crate full of critiques I have received about it is inexcusable in itself. Depending on when I finish, it and a couple RPG ideas (of the pen-and-paper variety) I have would be the first things I would work on before starting REAL work somewhere.
I am doing a lot of play-by-post RPGs at the moment. It is nice, since I post when I have a little time. It is a really great group, too. I play less computer games, possibly because I just don't have the attention span for it. I go back to my really old games and I'm amazed I had the patience to play them. I have clocked a ridiculous amount of hours in Oblivion, though.
I cook a lot. Mostly outdoors with charcoal and whatnot, which is a lot of fun, and really simple recipes. This weather sucks, though. Seriously. All the new growth has withered up. I have gotten the grill twice since spring started. The last time I got to? JANUARY. Ugh. If the trends of my childhood continue, this is going to be a miserable summer. But I'm not moving, and I'm not going to Thailand, so if I'm lucky it will be a relaxed, if sweltering, summer.
I hope everyone is good. I feel really bad for not visiting you, especially, Joseph. I hope you are doing well. I would really like to make it to WorD (the local writing group) soon.