Wow. I didn't realize it's been so long since I posted anything. What few readers I had have surely moved on by now.

As usual, I blame a computer game. Empire Earth is on the sidelines right now, as I've been playing Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast for the past two weeks. I finished the single player portion of the game last week, and I've just started spending my late nights hacking and slashing opponents in the multiplayer game online. I'm not that good at it yet, but I'm getting there. I'm honing my saber skills by playing bots and computer opponents in the SP game. I've been waiting years for this game, so I think I'm justified in jumping into it with both legs and an arm or two.

I got a Blackberry device last week from the office. Our resident gadget guru, Craig, got a new Blackberry, so I inherited his old one. About a year ago, I had the small, pager-sized device, and I loved it, but now I'm getting used to the Palm-sized one instead. Either way, it's cool to have my work e-mail instantly accessible. I'm going to DC for a business trip later this month, so I'm looking forward to using it there. While it would have been convenient in SLC at BrainShare, in retrospect I'm glad I didn't have it there. It was hard enough to keep up with the sheer volume of e-mail over the web; a Blackberry would have been unmanageable. And a constant distraction.

Two weeks ago, I went to see Dream Theater at the Beacon here in Manhattan. I've always wanted to see DT, and when I found out they were touring and stopping here, I wasn't about to let a little thing like no one wanting to come with me keep me from going alone. I had a fantastic time. The band is great on their albums, and they are even more energetic and frenetic onstage. They played for almost three straight hours, with only a 20-minute break between sets. I recognized about half the songs; the ones I didn't know were from their new album (which I haven't heard yet). Everything sounded great and the crowd of college boys and middle-aged rockers was really into the show. My only regret was that I didn't bring earplugs. The show was really too loud, especially where I sat in the lower balcony. My ears didn't stop ringing for three days. After that concert, I'm always bringing earplugs, even to a string quartet recital. I'd definitely see DT again if/when they come back to NY. They were every bit as good as I thought they'd be, and I was inspired to pick up their recent live release, Scenes from New York. I'll have to listen to it this Friday night when Liz is away for the evening and I have the stereo all to myself.