i haven’t found any motivation to go to the gym. 0. i was talking to Miyamoto about it over IM the other day and he suggested i just do something fun. so i contacted Alex and asked him if I could join his flag football team. he said he won’t start till later but I could try out for his frisbee team. that will be next Sunday. in other news, i am very close to finishing my graduate school application. my GRE scores and GPA put me into the below average category – so I hope the admissions committee can see past those things and look at my work performance and recent UW course. i also have about a week left to prepare for my class… i took some rudimentary screen shots but i still have a lot of work to do. not tonight though. tonight i’m just relaxing. =)

Maybe I should watch this movie.

i received an unexpected call from Brian last night. at first i hestitated to pick it up, knowing that i have lots of work to do but i remembered what i agreed too – which was that he was busy and i would have to go out on his whim. first we went to McMenaminn’s where he ate and we both had a beer. most of that conversation was bitching about being older brothers and having younger brothers who aren’t living up to our idealistic dreams. his brother is in worse shape than Zack but i worry. then we met up with his buddy Ben and his finance from Cambodia. they have only known each other about a year and a half and will be married in June. another future doctor, John, also came and we all had a drink at bar at the top of Queen Anne. it was quite fascinating to watch these doctors-to-be discussing their training, their dreams, and their profession. much of it was like greek to me but there were many times when i felt as if they could have been car mechanics.

Eriko and her family liked my cookies. =) it isn’t as if i have some secret recipe or anything but it was the first time i had ever made cookies. Eriko said her brother and sister ate almost all of them within the first two days. Looks like I’ll have to try making something else. =)

I went to a board meeting of the Puget Sound Network User’s Group last night. I was surprised to find an older crowd and I understand why they are having trouble recruiting new members. They have the same small business, group comradery, all-in-it-together mentality but their focus has changed. I’m more interested in the technology than I am the business and I noticed that they seem to be more focused on the business. It was an interesting experience. I will give my Linux seminar the last Wed of January (the 28th) and I should have about 6 students in the class. I have a lot of preparation to do between now and then. That, combined with my UW application, is going to eliminate almost all my free time. Tonight I let Alex talk me into coming over and bringing his co-worker Ian; we’re going to watch The Big Lebowski. And last night Aaron came over and I helped him with his homework. But really! I have to concentrate on my two chores… ;P

I get a lot of pressure from my friends (certain ones in particular) to hurry things up with Eriko. Set a wedding date, get her over here, etc. Those friends tend to be older or wish they had started a family earlier. I’ve struggled to defend my viewpoint: which is that I’m patient and letting her take the lead so that we both know its what she wants. I’ve used philosophical and pratical arguments which still end up painting me as this loony in-love guy. I had a moment of truth when I was talking to Bill yesterday and the rationale behind my madness became obvious – I’m not ready. I don’t push her, I don’t force a date, I don’t get uncomfortable at the distance – because as long as we are moving forward, even at a snail’s pace, I am comfortable. The rock behind that is probably that my dad didn’t get married until he was close to 30.