Yes, I am busy. Yes, we are getting some sleep. Yes, Sebastien likes his little brother. Yes, we are surviving. We’re probably doing a bit better than surviving, actually.

I haven’t found much free time in front of the computer lately to write (though I have been scribbling a bit over here). I’ve been reading more lately. I just finished up Technique and the Opening Chapters of Genesis by Jacques Ellul, which we will be discussing this month in our church’s, ahem, philosophy club. I’ll likely write on it more next week. I also received two books for Christmas, The Praise of Folly by Erasmus and The Cross-Shattered Christ by Stanley Hauerwas. We received a Barnes and Noble giftcard as well, so I expect to pick up a copy of Gargantua and Pantagruel by Rabelais as well.

I have re-embraced my vocation as programmer/hacker lately, in part because my new job is actually challenging. I’ve also offered my services to the New Pantagruel as a web lackey, and I’ve been trying to develop a system to allow articles and essays to be published as PDFs. It’s been quite a challenge, since there are few open source options for HTML to PDF conversion, though I may have found a winner with the combination of html2ps and ghostscript. The new issue is due out shortly.

My first wheelbuilding effort is also complete. I rode the new wheel to work yesterday, and much to my surprise, none of the spokes snapped. The wheel is even relatively true and round. Though it took me two weeks or so to complete, the process wasn’t terribly difficult, and I doubt I’ll ever purchase a built wheel again. I can now cross “wheelbuilding” off my list of things to learn. Now to only get Jen to allow me to take about the transmission on the new car….

Posted on 28 December 2005