2008 snuck up on me. While 2007 was a pretty darn good year for me, I'm excited for 2008 as well. Still though, I'm gonna have to get use to writing '08' on things. That could take a while. And by the time I've really go the hang of it, they'll probably go and switch it again.
Jen and I spent the Christmas holiday in Deptford, New Jersey with her family. While her mother is still a little Christmas crazy (and passed it on to Jen), she has definitely calmed down from a couple years ago. However, she still made so many Christmas cookies and chocolate dipped things. I think I probably gained several pounds over the week I spent there. All in all, it was a fine Christmas.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the trip was that I gathered yet more evidence that I am allergic to latex rubber products (but fortunately, not LaTeX). Over the last several months, my skin has been really acting up. After months and many many visits to a dermatologist, I think I'm just about ready to conclude that contact dermatitis from latex is to blame. I had a patch test where they put a blotter of 24 different common allergens on my back for 3 days, which showed I was allergic to thimerisol and carba mix, which includes chemicals in many rubber products. While in New Jersey, I applied a latex bandaid to my finger for a minor cut, and within 24 hours I had a very noticeable allergic reaction right underneath the bandaid. Fairly conclusive, I think. I also noticed that several of the itchy areas correspond to elastic bands in my clothing, so I ordered some latex-free underwear online. We'll see if it helps any.
From New Jersey, we drove to Cape Cod for a fantastic New Year's party in a giant mansion. I had some time to play around with the 17-55 2.8 IS lens I have rented right now. It is definitely a very good general purpose lens for 1.6x cameras, although I do wish it got a bit longer. That said I'm not sure I'd want to buy one just yet. I'm not sure it gives me enough advantage over my current 10-22 and 28-135. Also, I hear a replacement for the 5D is coming out soon, so I'm probably going to hold of buying a new lens until I decide I can't afford a new body.
The party on the Cape also featured Rock Band. Jen liked it so much that we bought it. Since buying it on Wednesday, people have already come over to rock out twice, and more scheduled for Sunday. I'm really not very good at it. I've never had much musical aptitude, and although Rock Band doesn't map perfectly to real musical skill, I'm still bad at it.
After the Cape we drove on to Boston for work and a wedding. The wedding was at St James's Episcopal Church on Mass Ave. The lighting in the church was so amazingly horrible for photography, and I failed to get an aisle seat, so I don't really have an pictures from the ceremony. The reception was much better lit, and had a nice low ceiling for bounce flash, so I did at least get a few good photos.
And now I'm finally back home. While we were gone we put our cat in a Feline Bed and Breakfast. When I went to pick him up, he seemed pretty happy, and he recovered from the experience remarkably quickly. If you absolutely have to board your cat in the Bay Area, I recommend them highly.
posted: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:48 | permanent link to this entry
