Ryan News (in point form)

To begin with, I deeply regret having not blogged in close to a month. I wish I could say that I was distracted by worthwhile pursuits, but more often than not, blogging has been playing second fiddle to downloaded episodes of 24, and Pirate's of the Caribbean (for XBox). I love you all dearly, but perhaps not as much I love raking the deck of a Galleon with grapeshot.

Just kidding, of course.

Of course, not only have I sinned grievously by not updating my own blog, I've also been neglecting all of your blogs as well. So expect to see lots of hits from me in the next few days.

Seeing as a whole month has passed by, there's some catching up to do:

- Andrea moved to Ottawa this past month. She found a beautiful one bedroom apartment that isn't too far from mine, and is in the process of finding a job. I still haven't gotten her a housewarming present yet, but I did happen to notice that her apartment is tragically short on video game consoles and Scotch.

- As part of becoming healthimified, I've started playing tennis (read: whacking a ball back and forth between Andrea and myself once or twice a week) and riding my bike to work. Coincidentally, these past few weeks have been solid rain, followed by ludicrous heat. On the bright side, showing up at work covered in sweat virtually guarantees more personal space in my shared cubicle.

- Take that, Galleon! Pow! Pow! Prepare to be boarded!

- Some good friends of mine were married last weekend. It was a beautiful ceremony, and drew upon Scottish, Lebanese, and French-Canadian culture. We smoked cigars on a balcony and there was, needless to say, an abundance of Scotch. It also featured a buffet with a roast that must've weighed at least 60 pounds. Come to think of it, I still can't figure out why I left without a fight.

- I received an award for the work I did with my previous job in early May. It was a bit of a surprise to everyone at my new part-time-workplace, and a pretty big surprise to me, as well. It's a very nice plaque with a certificate and signatures and everything. It's now at my new workplace, where it's helping me develop some credibility. Thus far, it appears to be working. Or maybe it's just the peanut butter cookies that Andrea baked for everyone. Really, it's quite hard to tell.

- My Dad and stepmother are flying into town this weekend for what must be their first ever visit-without-an-ulterior-purpose. That is to say, they've visited before for graduations or other special occasions, but never just for the sake of visiting. Dad has recently entered semi-retirement, so that is a special occasion of sorts. But is there some additional surprise motive for the visit? Stay tuned to find out...

Thanks to those of you who stuck out my hiatus, and I promise to write more in the days to come.