Well…

Really, I wasn’t kidding in the last post about the likelihood of 2012 posting being limited, huh?

Most anyone who follows this blog is surely following me on facebook or twitter, right? And doesn’t that mean this media form known as personal blogging is surely as deprecated as HTML 4.0? And I’m not going to get started on the state of indie political blogging these days (another time, perhaps in person over wine, but let’s just say that way too many bloggers seem to think it’s great to turn over THEIR space and name to being unpaid dupes for political candidates and/or parties).

Well, whatever.

The urge strikes to put out a little update on things, so here’s a quick rundown of 2012 stuff we’ve been doing:

• Still getting in lots of people time. Home-ownership and the patio from which this blog post is being composed tonight have made me much more social (not media, but the real thing). It doesn’t hurt that we’re blessed with some great neighbors who have become good friends. There is now a tiki torch in our driveway to signify when we’re carrying on and neighbors should come join us on the patio. This is fun, I think. Your mileage may vary.
• Additional home/patio enhancements…. We put XBMC on an old laptop, only to figure out the poor machine really couldn’t carry the load. So we upgraded to this little guy, and added some speakers on the patio. It’s not my friend John’s badass system, but it serves our more modest needs (movie/music server) quite well. Being able to control the sounds on the patio with my rooted Atrix (running CyanogenMod) is sweet.
• Mr. Tom Hanna moving to town, and even staying with us for a little while, has also been a most welcome development. As one gets older, the value of old friends becomes greater. Even if I don’t always stay in touch like I should.
• We’ve flown around 37,000 miles so far this year, fairly cheaply. Some have been mileage runs. Trips to Madrid and Brussels were fun trips also flown for mileage. Facebook/twitter/flickr followers have seen a bit about these trips (which probably would have gotten posts here once upon a time). Mileage trips to Alaska and Manchester on tap for later in the year. A Delta trip to Montana looms. A biz class reward trip to Guess Where is on tap. And I need to book us another 2000 miles or so on United/Star for gold purposes…. Fun stuff! Even though the customer service experience gets worse all the time, I never tire of the air travel experience (especially airports — love them).
• Less biking and hiking than I’d like so far this year. Boo. But Alaska and Montana should help with the hiking, perhaps. And so too should…
• Dropping around 20 pounds from a recent (unfortunate) high about a year ago. What can I say, the diet slipped a bit in the year after my mom’s passing, and I know better (I can’t handle bad carbs and starches — it’s sure, fast weight gain). Back now on a pretty strict ketogenic diet, and recommending that folks read this guy and this guy. They are pretty sharp. Thank goodness wine (preferably French, or old world at least) is carb friendly, although I need to limit it to weekends for weight purposes.
• And now that I’m back down to my fighting weight (and still losing), it’s time to start thinking about… getting back to lightweight backpacking. I miss hammock weekends in the Ouachitas. Both the physical challenge and the beauty/solitude of the place. Maybe a trip this fall, definitely activity next spring.
• Slippage on blogHOUSTON. We’ve done the thing a long time now, and I’m thinking a little break is in order for a software update, a mental refresh, etc. Then we’ll get back after it. With the right energy. Maybe some new contributors (anybody interested? Party/Candidate-bloggers need not apply. Resistance may be futile, but hey).
• My first passover Seder! And no, not the Hittner political event (I won’t ever see an invite to something like that! LOL), but a genuine thing put on by lovely people. Really cool.

That’s the quick rundown of 2012, so far. Orthodox Easter is this weekend, and we’re hosting (after the smashing success that was Xmas). Weather should allow for plenty of patio/outdoor time, and a mix of white and red wine to go with the traditional Greek Easter foods and family. The wine should help both go down a little better!

The Float Trip is not far off, either. If you’re reading this and haven’t committed to joining our annual gathering of friends and family, well, it might just be time to give that some thought, hmm?