Sorry about the problems on this page. My server people are trying to fix it. It’s some problem with the new PHP install not liking require(), and it’s manifesting itself as missing parts (the entire right sidebar). :( I hope it fixes itself over the next week while I’m out with great white sharks!

Update – Have found a work-around for the journal problem. It’s not elegant, but at least the page renders. I hope they fix the install.

While I’m blabbing about computers, I am now deleting spam without looking at it (it gets deleted at the server level so my webmail doesn’t get cluttered!). I get far too much spam to be able to skim through it periodically without becoming mildly angry. And while this makes e-mail a bit more unreliable as a means of getting a message to me, the extra sanity points bestowed upon me by this minor change more than makes up for it. :)

What a wonderful “last day” at the house! I spent the morning running errands, and spent the afternoon with Gabe Trop, Mandy, Elliot, and Tammy, one of Gabe’s friends. Gabe’s disappeared in Europe for years, after spending time in Berlin on a Fulbright (the last time I saw him was in Berlin). He has finally returned to the States, fluent in both German and French, and passable in a couple other languages. In any case, it was fantastic to see him. It’s just like old times… sort of. :)

What is it about female singer-songwriters that makes them so alluring? Odessa Chen came over tonight to give a house concert for about thirty guests. She sang with a wonderful voice, sending over us ethereal, sweet melodies with warm guitar accompaniment. I like her style. And, she was really nice. She has a CD for sale, if you are interested.

I’ve had a few “getting old” moments over the last few years. Two years ago, I pulled a muscle while stretching before practicing martial arts, and today, my right knee started hurting — probably as a result of running up and down my stairs a hundred times, trying to move out of my place.

Bill Rivard and Dave Patchen assure me that it’s all part of what will take me from my age to theirs. ;)

Finally, photos from today –> [see some photos] (special thanks to Adam Tow for taking photos)

Spent a day in Los Angeles, hosted by Aaron and Natalie Logan,which was very nice. And just because I was in L.A., instead of walking, we drove two blocks from their place to have lunch at a local cafe. :) After that, Aaron and I went to the Getty Center to check out the photography exhibits, which were neat because William Eggleston, one of the photographers on exhibit, shot photos that look very much like the work that Wendy does. I want to write more, but I can’t. My brain isn’t working. It hurts.

In LA, had dinner at Din Tai Fung, with Rosa, whom I hadn’t seen in years. She looks like she is doing well.

Took a break from packing today to accompany Wendy to Pier One Imports to return something, and in the parking lot, I kicked a pigeon. The thing didn’t even try to dodge my shoe — and believe me, it was quite a half-assed kick: just a small deviation from the normal path my shoe would have taken.

Afterwards, had ramen (at a restaurant, dummy!) with Vienna and Jim. Vienna’s new CD is finished, and it is quite good. Start counting the days until its release! (in 5-6 months or so) :) [see some photos]

Two nights ago, I went to sleep at 5am and woke up at 9:30am. Last night, I went to sleep at 3:30am and woke up at 7:30am. I just can’t sleep. Too much to think about, perhaps. My house is in shambles.

I´ve just had the most fantastic time diving with whale sharks and large schools of hammerheads at Darwin Island, in the Galapagos. Our two groups of six divers had a total of 45 whale shark sightings during our 9 dives at Darwin and 2 at Wolf. For those of you who are unfamiliar with whale sharks, they are the largest fish in the ocean, and can be upwards of 60 feet long. They are simply massive, and are wonderful to be in the water with. I will have photos up when I return to the States. After coming to the Galapagos with the hope of seeing a single whale shark in the water, seeing them on almost every dive was a real treat. :)

My family and I spent the last week in “El Oriente,” the Amazon jungle in the east of Ecuador. We stayed at Kapawi, a collection of about twenty huts on the Pastaza river, in the middle of a bunch of Achuar communities. As usual, I’ve been taking a ton of photos, which I’ll post at some point in the future. In line with typical echeng adventures, I have roughly 80 to 100 sandfly bites on my arms and hands. I hate those little critters.

We’re in Quito for the day before heading off to the Galapagos tomorrow. I’ll be back on the 26th and will probably not have internet access until then.

My anti-malarial medication (Lariam) is giving me some pretty crazy dreams! When I took it in Africa two years ago, it wasn’t this “bad.”

I have more news, too — I’m going to be… sort of homeless for the next year. Some friends will be living in my place while I float around. I’m not sure where I will be yet, as I have taken the “rent first, plan later” approach, but I will be out of my place starting from mid-September. My rough plan is to carry out my existing schedule until December (which will keep me in the Bay Area or at my parents’ place in San Diego roughly 50% of the time), and then go somewhere for an extended leave. I will probably end up in Saipan (where Sarah Pont has gone, temporarily) for at least a month. I’m not sure yet.

Exciting? Yes. Scary? Maybe. :)

Oh. My. God.

I have a 12-year-old Volvo, and some bastard stole my left-turn light last night! The yellow frosted piece and the bulb are both missing, disconnected neatly with no signs of damage. I hate people.

I finally got in the water today with my new backplate/harness/wing rig (hence, the trip to Dardy’s pool), and I can say with convinction that I will never dive a BCD again. A backplate and harness is so comfortable underwater, and swimming with it is really easy!

Recently, HydroOptix sent me a Mega panoramic mask to evaluate, which I also tried out the in the pool. I can say that it certainly works as advertised. At first I didn’t think much about the product, but then I realized that it was only because my field of view underwater matched what I normally see on the surface! When I put on my regular mask again, I felt someone had slapped shutters on me. Unfortunately, the HydroOptix mask doesn’t really fit my face, so I’m not sure that I’ll be able to bring it with me on this trip.

Thanks to Dardy for pool access, and to Cindy for keeping me company.

Before all of that, I met with Nash at eBay, who wanted to introduce me to Clara, the “Photo & Cameras” category manager. We had a nice chat and had fancy coffee drinks at Starbucks (when in Rome…), and even though it had been billed as a “meeting,” I was grateful that it felt more like hanging out with a couple of friends.

Also in the photos today: Cindy Yu, and Schrep and Erin’s beautiful burmese kitties. :) [see some photos]