What an eventful two weeks!

My presentation on new media and the new generation in Washington was a lot of fun. I’m really starting to settle into this stick-figure drawing thing. Next week, I have three presentations scheduled, including one new one I’m going to sketch this weekend. Hooray!

I also gained more experience in software development. (Level up!) I switched over to a build system with two branches (trunk and release-1), and I wrote a few tools to help test and deploy the two branches. So far, so good. =) Now I’m managing multiple source trees with Emacs… This should be interesting.

And I helped connect the dots, too! I introduced several people to each other, and I’ve been helping groups within IBM make the most of our totally awesome Web 2.0 tools. =)

Last week, W- and J- found a gray cat wandering outside the house. We took her in, put up posters, and had her scanned for a microchip. Today, the cat’s family picked her up. I miss her already, but hey, we did the right thing. It was fun spoiling the cat, and I enjoyed seeing W-‘s warm-and-fuzzy side. =) We may get another cat – you never know…

One of my coworkers hosted a dinner party for a bunch of us recent hires, and it was a lot of fun. I love how we can talk about personal finance and travel and career and figuring things out, all within a common context (but with enough differences to make things interesting!).

I’ve also started a new hobby: sewing. I sewed myself a pair of flannel pajamas using a cute cat cloth, and I’ve been working on some skirts too. I took advantage of the Fabricland members sale to buy 7 yards of wool suiting material so that I can make a gray blazer, jumper, and trousers set. Flipping through all the sewing pattern catalogues in the store, I found some styles that might fit me. Inspired by that, I tried something different yesterday: I wore one of my white long-sleeved blouses under a gray dress. It felt interesting. =) Maybe I’ll get the hang of this style thing yet. We’ve just watched Nancy Drew, and I’m quite tempted to add a bit of a retro touch! <laugh>

I got interested in sewing not only as a way to deal with the frustrating experience of trying to shop for something simpler than what I find in the stores, but also as a way of improving my ability to see. Just as photography is teaching me to appreciate light, color, and shape, sewing is teaching me to appreciate fabric, feel, cut, make, and fall. And there’s also quite a bit of satisfaction in being able to make something, even if my seams are still a little wobbly.

What got displaced? I haven’t done much Emacs tweaking, and even less Emacs writing. Oops. But that’s okay, I’m happy with the decisions I made. I went to the gym only once this week (but it was a good workout!); we plan to go again tomorrow morning. And I’ve been a bit remiss about e-mail, but I’m setting aside some time this weekend to get back in touch with people.

Next week, I plan to:

• Work on more Drupal-related tasks for my project
• Have fun doing those three presentations, learn something new
• Finish the two skirts, practice seams
• Go to the gym at least twice during the week