It’s snowing in Seattle tonight.  It doesn’t do this very often, so it’s nice to get a real taste of winter.  Comcast has yet to successfully get my cable installed (third visit is tomorrow…) so here I sit once again in a cozy coffee shop listening to Christmas carols and watching the snow float gently to the ground.  It’s a beautiful sight.

Turkey day was great - I got to see a lot of family members and play with my wonderful little niece and nephew who I miss so much.  The only down side was the 12 hours of travel from door-to-door that it took to get out there and another 12 on the way back.  It was definitely worth it, though, and I slept through most of it.  Time to go do some donuts in the parking lot!

Happy Thanksgiving, all.  I’ll be spending the day with a whole bunch of family back on the east coast.  Enjoy the turkey!  *gobble, gobble*

Question of the night - Does certain technology (specifically text messaging) make people more social?  The theory I’ve always assumed is that the insertion of text messaging systems into society tends to separate people and make them more distant by removing a sense of interaction and personality and instead allow people to interact without repercussions of the standard conversational experience.  But can this in turn make people more willing to interact?  For an example using text messaging - I can send out a message to numerous people inviting them to some event.  I can send this in mass and without concern of getting blatantly turned down.  If somebody doesn’t want to go, they just don’t reply.  Furthermore, I don’t have to go to the trouble of initiating a conversation with several people and face being rejected in person.  What’s easier?  Taking the effort to call somebody and form a coherent conversation on the spur of the moment or send them a text message that’s been carefully thought out and initiate a non-real-time conversation that allows you to contemplate your replies.

A lot of what got me started thinking about this is services like Dodgeball. Dodgeball is a service that sends a text message to your “friends” when you send a text message to the service indicating an establishment that you’re currently at.  Although huge in Seattle, it is not nearly as popular in Chicago.  But it is a great service that allows you to catch up with your “friends” with minimal effort.  Pretty cool, if you ask me.

That’s all the speculation for this evening.  I’m still stealing Internet from Tully’s.  Comcast comes to my house for the third time tomorrow - hopefully the third time is the charm.  Installing cable in a house is a slightly more complex process than in an apartment building. ;o)

So…does anybody want a Damon for Christmas this year?  Home is kind of far away and I’m entertaining the idea of spending Christmas in a foreign land this year…so if anybody has the need for a Damon in their Christmas plans, just let me know. :o)  All I need is a place to sleep - I am otherwise self-sufficient!

On my way out from Chicago to Seattle, I took about 150 photos.  The scenery was just gorgeous, especially in Montana.  I just put a bunch of them up on flickr so take a look at my pics tagged with road trip.

Busy with work, which is good.  On an awesome client this past week and next and doing some really interesting things.  Tully’s is kicking me out now so I’ll have to post some more later - still no Internet at home.

In case you’re wondering, I did successfully make the drive from Chicago to Seattle, with some brief stops in Omaha and Denver (thanks to both my friends there for putting me up…or putting up with me…for the night).  The last day was the best, being a 20-hour haul from Denver to Seattle.  It was tough, but I did surprisingly well and the only tough part was the second to last hour.  Other than that, a good mix of wonderful scenery through Montana, stand-up comedy, my cb radio, and recordings of This American Life kept me awake and alert.  I’ve got some pictures to post, but it’ll be a while until I unpack my camera cable.  I should mention I’m already on the road for work (yeayea, so much for less travel…not to mention I’m not even home to receive my belongings from the movers), but it’s an awesome client and job in Beverly Hills and the movers situation has been taken care of.  For now, I need to crash.  On the “Damon is angry at you” list after tonight - the TSA and Alamo Rent-a-Car.  Another round of thanks goes to Hertz.