Had hoped to have some new art ready, but I've frankly been completely stalled out, artistically, for months now.

But my research goes well. Got a (desperately overdue) 20" G5 iMac in October, so I'm finally running OSX and researching in CS2. Did a six portrait project for Laura that went well. Oh!, and finally got Aperture loaded up about two weeks ago, and it's definitely living up to the hype!

Funny story from last week. With CS2, I could finally investigate the Shadow Highlight command and test its mettle. Almost immediately, I recognized that it was chasing down the same algorithm that I've been researching for two years. This was somewhat alarming! Is it superior, or invalidate anything I've been doing? Went to bed troubled and concerned that it would take me months to reverse engineer it and learn from it.

After some thought the next evening, I managed to replicate its effects virtually exactly. In about ten minutes. Whew! Six months of trial and error that I won't have to do. And a nice little validation that I'm not just your everyday Photoshop whore, haha. Ten minutes?!? Who's your daddy...?

Life is rather lonely here, but I'm a homebody anyway, so I'm better suited than most the other westerners. I have some buddies, surely, but we all tend to be a solitary lot. Have managed to scare up a moderate collection of MP3s for my iTunes though, since I didn't bring almost anything from the States. (This summer, I'll rip my whole collection to bring back with me on a hard drive.)

One good friend from the States (who found me this job to begin with) lives a few doors from me, but we tend to get in deep philosophical discussions and argue like cats and dogs. He's much more of a nihilist than me, and I get (tokenly) resentful when he declares that this doesn't matter or that doesn't matter. Hogwash! Everything matters, I say.

Unfortunately, photography is quite frowned upon here, so I've barely taken any pictures. I see some beautiful skies sometimes "out there," but can't really get the shots I want from inside the walls of the compound. But I'm resolved to "push the limits" a little more aggressively next year, a sense of entitlement having come along with some duration here. Much of the architecture is monumentally impressive, I want my shot at it.

Internet access is sporadic. DA is filtered out by the main services here, and I can only get to it by occasional satellite access. But email works and I can generally keep up with most my reading. Have gone through phases of no net at all, and those nearly drove me batty.

The job pays well and I look forward to paying off all my debts by the end of 2007. So this transition will have been a huge net gain in the long run. Solitude feels like a proper price to pay, though I have to be careful not to think about my cat too often. I miss her terribly. But my best friend cares for her well, and so I'm thankful they have each other.

What a year it was, hmm? I turned 40 in October, so there's been lots of cause for reflection. Funny thing, March 1 was probably the greatest accomplishment of my life (in terms of affecting people worldwide), but I go weeks at a time without thinking about it. It was actually quite a lonely experience at the time and it's encouraged me to think about my future differently.

So, as with every new year, I reflect upon the lessons learned, try to file away those matters I'd rather forget, and focus ahead on priorities anew. I tend to make my bigger changes rather slowly, but I think there's a major diastrophism gathering steam in my future. As if this last one wasn't profound enough!

And, of course, since you guys are my extended worldwide family, I had to wrangle that satellite so I could say hello and let you know I'm thinking of you. I hope art will return to me, and that art generally will brighten lives for all of us in the new year.

And in each our own adventures, I hope we will all find many causes to celebrate, and make 2007 a year we will always remember fondly.

Look to the future for the hindsight to determine the present. It's a fruitful strategy, use it sometime if you're having difficulty in the present tense. It makes all the difference to me.

I guess that's my thought for the day, my gift in leiu of art itself.

Much love to you all, and merriment!