Dec 13
That’s it. And just like a Band-Aid and it’s over. A long, awkward Band-Aid that was removed at the pace of Frank Blethen’s action packed speech.
Amanda Vilbrandt is now Cougar alumni.
Now begins the search for food and the quest to get out of town as soon as possible.
Dec 13
Pictured above is my perspective from the stands at commencement. On the left, the main stage. On the right, the sliver of the main projected screen that I can see. Currently the speaker on the left looks like a small hairless William H. Macy on the projected image on the right.
Now to the speaker at hand. Mr XXX , I can’t remember his name, is the chairman CEO of The Seattle Times as well as a member of that family. (EDIT: later found to be Frank Blethen, Publisher and CEO of The Seattle Times) As someone who has recently left journalism, it is flat out weird that Mr X is doing everything but asking for money to save his paper during his commencement address.
Dec 13
Look we made it, graduate intact. Now begins the multi-hour saga that makes you really earn that degree. It’s basically a final test. If you pass they give you stuff (diploma)..
Dec 13
Stuck in traffic only 10 miles away, team Vilbrandt is contemplating walking, an alternative plan and who is first to be eaten if we’re stuck in this snow storm much longer.Â
Meanwhile commencment continues without us…
Will Batman make the ceremony? Stay tuned!
Dec 13
It’s been a long time since the phone version of this blog has seen the light at the end of those Internet tubes. I’d have to say most of that was my uneasy nature about blogging while on the job as a journalist at The Spokesman-Review.
Now things have changed. The old SR has given me the boot almost exactly a year after I got the initial offer. Unemployment has made me realize that there is nothing harder in life then trying to actually collect unemployment checks (I never managed to get one). Finnally I’m back on my feet at a new company.
I’ve been at my new company for about a week, but things are looking up. Last week I participated in a 48 hr film festival in which everything from scriptwriting to final edit has to be done in 48 hours. It was awesome.
Anyway, the real reason you are seeing the long lost phone post is that today/tomarrow, Amanda Vilbrandt (pictured above) will be graduating from WSU. Almost one year ago to the day I did the same humilliating act. …but I blogged it.
Now the challenge is can I do it again? I will.
Stay tuned for WSU commencement 2008…
So here’s what I’m thinking.
Not that I don’t like WordPress or anything. Really. I recommend it to everyone I know. In fact I love WordPress. I think it is the slickest thing ever. But it is time to part ways.
Actually since this whole Python thing hit me a couple of months ago and I started programming in the language I became an instant fan. So much so that, gulp, I’m ditching PHP for Python as my blog/site language of choice.
Particularly there’s a bunch of custom stuff I want to do. Normally I’d just find a WP theme and hack it to bits until I got what I wanted. However this time I’m looking for something a little different. Mainly features over design.
There are a few features that I want to mess around with and frankly as possible as they are to do in any language I just feel in the right grove with Python to the point where I think I can get the most bang for my buck.
Now when I say Python I’m really saying Django at the same time. Django is the web framework I’ve been working on the last couple of months on a number of projects. It is fast (to develop with) and sexy (i.e. powerful).
Realistically what I’m talking about here is using a framework on a personal project for once. I’m so used to writing everything from scratch (PHP in the past for Web sites) that using any framework whether good or bad is still a lot less code for me to write. So switching languages is a direct result of my desire to continue playing in the Django sandbox.
But this whole transition thing hurts. It’s only an idea right now, but I still feel the pain. I really love WordPress. It is very well developed and has served me well for many years as the go to product for a light content management system and obviously as a blog engine.
Whatever I do, I might just try and figure out a way to keep a WordPress blog running somewhere. I like it that much.
–Edit June 30, 2008 @ 10:48pm–
Maybe not…
Apr 24
Sometimes things happen for a reason. That is what I told myself when a baby goat show up in the office. I really don’t know the details, but yeah, a footstool sized goat just appeared out of nowhere. It did have a handler trailing it, and it did leave a liquid present, but that doesn’t take the shock factor out of a goat in the office. It’s just one of those things that you can’t really understand until you see it for your own eyes.
Dramatization
Jan 30
So today is my birthday. Although I am generally disapointed and pretty much down on my own birthday, I am using this as a segway into bigger and better things. Since the last time I posted I joined the ranks of the Spokesman Review in Spokane Washington as Multimedia Producer. Today, just so happens to mark the 1 month mark on the job. All I can say is there is potential for greatness. In the last few weeks I’ve been involved in steps to start some really cool things. Hush hush for now though. Save that for another blog, one that isn’t so personal.
Reason One: Birthday-ness
So I’m posting today for two reasons. One I am constantly reminded of my birthday today by friends and colleges. Thanks to everyone. I just recieved this link from Amanda Vilbrandt via my Facebook wall:
http://www.visualeditors.com/apple/2008/01/happy-birthday-brian-immel/
All I can say is I am absolutly flattered. The care, the thought, the time. Thank you Charles Apple for demonstrating once again your endless pool of mentorship and infinate levels of sleep deprivation.
For those of you who know me best, you know my birthday marks the start of the “Week-Long Celebration of Fun” – last year warped into the “Month-Long Celebration of Fun”. So that will be starting soon. Check here and Facebook for details.
Reason Two: The Blog will Live on
It has been hecktic. New job, new city and graduation. I’ll suck it up though. What has really been keeping me down is the lack of internet so far. I hope to get it hooked up this week. What that means is a new blog (cross fingers) with a phone element. Not just phone posting. I really want to take this into top gear and leave the experimental phase. That means more. Video is a real option as well. I’ll let you know. Let’s hope I can get that Internet up and running soon though.
Until then. Happy Birthday to me. And thank you all who have supported me and helped me though the year. It was a rough one. Today is where I meter my New Year’s Resolutions. My birth year resolutions.
Dec 24
After some of the worst plane-airport-plane sleep anyone can get (is there really any good sleep?), we have arrived at SeaTac Airport.
In this photo Amanda Vilbrandt calls her parents and I try (and fail) to demonstrate how much colder Washington is than Japan today. We lucked out though. Almost 50+ degrees everyday. Pair that with lots of walking and we got hot lots.
I know I know. After a long trip to Japan and all I post is one arrival wrapup post. Yes this is true. Japan is something you must experience – like the Matrix – and as such I can’t do it justice on a cell phone. But, I do have a plan. Stay tuned. Let’s just say I took lots of photos. I am a photographer so what were you expecting.
Amanda Vilbrandt and I show our discontent when we hear that something broke and/or fell off the plane (like an engine?). This is my “Brian is not pleased face”. Don’t be around when I am actually angry.
Well I guess it is important. I guess.
Just tape it on and let’s get going to Japan. I got games to play, sushi to eat and engrish to butcher.