So, I was greeted by a very exciting thing this morning: news that Starbucks is giving away free coffee today! Yes, by bringing in a reusable mug to your local Starbucks coffee shop, you can obtain a full dose of caffeinated goodness. Interestingly enough, I had just taken my son by our closest shop and rewarded him for a job well done with a steamy cup of hot chocolate this week, so I thought it fitting to post the picture along with this little reminder. So, get out there and get your coffee, and feel free to wonder just how much free coffee Starbucks might go through in the Seattle area alone.

Before your have to ask, no, it wasn’t for me. My eldest daughter turned eight this week, so to celebrate, my wife and I threw her the party she’d been dreaming of for months: an all out princess tea party. There’s a local Tea House about three miles from our house, and with their great pricing, we reserved their party room and had my daughter invite about ten of her friends to join her. I got a few good pictures at the party, and I did a quick portrait of each of the girls as they left which we printed and gave to their parents as a thank you for letting them attend.

Here are a few of the shots I was able to get. Let’s start out with some amazing chocolate, raspberry filled cupcakes we had a friend make for the occasion:
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If there is anything we can learn from our children, it is that perspective makes a world of difference. Isn’t it amazing how different a given situation can appear between observing it from the outside and actually experiencing it? This concept has taken on a new level of application in our household with the adoption of our youngest child’s “Happy Face”.

This representation of jubilation is quite accurately portrayed in the picture above, but it typically comes only after a prompting of, “Where is your Happy Face?” Interestingly enough, the perspective of which I speak is well suited to this very expression of joy. You see, as a two year old, she has not yet come to grips with the fact that simply announcing her happiness or pasting a smile on her face does not convince mom and dad that she is indeed happy.
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While the post may be a little delayed in coming, the sentiment is still the same. What reminds us of those things for which we have to be thankful more than spending time with friends and family? Over the holiday weekend, my family was blessed to have been inundated with friends and family – and more turkey than one should eat in a year. On Thursday, after a rather hectic morning I won’t get into at this time, we had the privilege of spending the afternoon and evening at our pastor’s house with several other families from the church. We ate, talked, laughed, ate, played some games and ate some more. All in all, it was your typical Thanksgiving day, but this was only the start to our weekend.
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One of the most amazing things in the history of technology must be the ability of working remotely. Take a moment and consider what the ramifications of this step in employment progress. To anyone who has worked a regular office job for any length of time, the enticement of being able to work from home is quite alluring. However, having some moderate experience with this phenomenon myself, I realize that beneath the shiny facade, all is not ponies and rainbows.

For those that are not aware, let me first quickly share my experience with you. Having worked on various freelance and contract projects for about three years, I began my professional career as a lead web developer in the educational realm where I never even considered working remotely as an option. Simply adjusting to the life of the desk dweller was enough to keep me busy for the three years I was there.
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Interestingly enough, we have been contacted recently for a possible West Coast Guam Reunion sometime now that we are out here, and I have to say I’m rather excited about the possibilities. For one thing, it will require me brushing the dust off of the guamreunion.com domain and actually coming up with a theme and content that will be useful and usable. Part of that step, though, will be coming up with a basic WordPress theme that will be functional and easily maintained, and that is where I’m hoping my reader base will come in.

I have the know-how to create a WP theme, but in the realm of graphic design, a guru I am not. I’m hoping that some of you may have some experience and ideas on how best to capture a good design for this type of site and may be willing to pass your ideas along to me (preferably in the form of a PSD). So, Brade, Danny, Kammer (et all), I hope you are reading this!
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So, this week, I decided to get an updated portrait of each of our kids, and I was pretty pleased with how they came out. I’ve been reading on a few more techniques to clean up images and make portraits more appealing, so here’s what I’ve come up with this go around. One of the reasons I like these so much is that each really seems to show the personality of the child:

Sarah is the sweet, tenderhearted one of the crew

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Well, it has been far too long since I was comfortably seated behind this desk, writing periodic updates to the site. I suppose that one could classify this post as still fitting the “periodic” tag, though somewhat extended in definition. Suffice to say that it is good to be writing a short blurb once again, and I thought it only fitting to write regarding the past several weeks of absence.

Seldom is absence by choice, and this is no exception to that rule. Work began getting a bit hectic, causing me to lack the time needed to play with some of my AS3 projects, and then I had a 2 week business trip. During the second week of my trip, my wife’s grandfather passed away, so I returned home for a single night before heading out once again – this time towards Alberta, CA. Our family spent the next week traveling through BC and AB, attending his funeral and visiting with family before finally arriving back home. That arrival was a mere two days ago.
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Yes, that’s right: Kotaku will be without the immense blessing of my presence and personality during their E3 Expo coverage in June. In a follow up to yesterday’s post, I wanted to inform my faithful readers that I was not able to snag the victory in the writing contest and claim my role as a game reporter for the week. Am I disappointed? Absolutely. But, I must acknowledge that I was quite encouraged to have made it as far as I did, and I hope that I may possibly find a little recognition out of the whole thing.

Let me once again express my deepest thanks to Kotaku for even presenting such an opportunity as this. I am thrilled to have had any part at all, and – after asking specifically how badly I had lost – when Brian informed me that I actually came in third in their vote, I figured that is nothing to sneeze at. Third place in a contest that determines the next attendee to the pinnacle of video game summits: indeed, not a bad place to be at all. However, the sting of “so close but yet so far away” is definitely there.
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As many of you are probably aware (well, at least the gamers among you), video game news giant Kotaku launched a campaign last week to offer a solitary individual not currently involved in the gaming industry a chance to attend and cover the highly anticipated E3 Expo with them this year. Donning my fanboy facade, I registered for round one of their contest and received word Tuesday that I had been chosen as one of the dozen finalists to participate in the big challenge.
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