Currently Reading The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini see related

Wow, it's been awhile - BUT. For good reason, finally! I've now officially been out of class for about a week, but unofficially, I've been "out of it" mentally since the last post. What's been going on? With pictures, this time, of course!


*The Fray @ Slim's - I love KFOG. Another free private concert netted me a show two feet away from this very energetic band that doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel, but sure does a good job playing with it. They've got a Coldplay/Keane/Switchfoot/Ben Folds kind of thing going for them, with very persuasive melodies. Emerging artist? Probably. Don't be surprised to see them on your local radio station soon (for better or worse). They did a first for me at a concert as well, offering up chips/salsa and a fruit basket to those up front. Tell me if you've ever been offered an orange at a concert by the band performing :-) Too bad I didn't take a picture of it...


*Vienna Teng @ Montgomery Theater - Seen her a few times, but this was quite a tightly orchestrated yet remarkable show in that she had a full band for once (drums/upright bass/violin/piano) and performed many new songs, showing a heavy leanancy/tilt towards jazz. Very nice.

Its been such a marvelous few days without the hassle of work, teaching, studying, sitting in class (well, i'm still working actually) - what do you do with yourself when you've been transformed like this! it's dumbfounding not getting 5,000 emails a day and 20,000 phone calls. yet, with all this freed up time, you (well, could just be me) still don't take the time to make lunch for work, when you were able to do it with minimal time when life was hectic. Well, something to chew on, I guess.

Our CRA cohort had one last get-together before we all left back to our homes and families for the next few weeks - Here's some pictures.



















Obviously tired, yet happy.



A beautiful house with amazing food and drink



Had a fair share of those last week ;-)



Lots of hugging these last few days.



Can you tell they're happy?

Other randomness

My quick webpage created at the Tech Museum (it's just a photo of me looking funny)

One word reviews: Narnia - enchanting; Syriana - Convoluted; King Kong - entertaining

Next up: This year's ten albums of the year, plus honorable mentions.

Go to San Jose State? I'm looking for my replacement, someone who can communicate extremely well with faculty/staff/administration folk. Drop a line if you're interested. Or your resume. (to those reading my Xanga mirror of this blog)