I've been in a real funk lately since my good friend, Ken Henderson, passed away unexpectedly two Sundays ago. It's taken me this long to get into a place where I feel like I can blog again.Ken was 40, a father with young kids, and a happy marriage. I don't know the exact cause of his death, but it was very much a surprise. Ken was a SQL Server expert and author like me and we often shared a beer at the various conferences every year, as well as emailed and talked often.If you read my blog with any regularity, you might've noticed a link on the lower left entitled The Antichristian … [Read more...]
A Great New Book for the Family to Read Together
January 7, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Rachel bought me a most wonderful book as a Christmas present. If you have enjoyed books like Harry Potter or other family reading, then have I got a recommendation for you. Note, though, that this story is basically a period mystery set in late 19th century Paris. It doesn't have any supernatural elements to it, except for a sense of wonder and a charming story line.I've never encountered another book like this one. It's part story, part graphic novel - yet this book manages to use its multitude of beautiful black & white pictures to dramatically and tenderly advance the story.I've been … [Read more...]
Happy Holidays
January 5, 2008 by Leave a Comment
This Christmas was really good this year. As is our tradition, the kids and I put up and trimmed the Christmas tree a few weeks before Christmas (12/10/07 to be exact). We had fun rediscovering all of the ornaments we'd stored away last year. And we listened to and sang Christmas songs while we hung them up.Picking out the stockings was a bit of mini-adventure too, since Katie had some preferences that made it kind'a funny and silly to accommodate.I had a huge amount of fun selecting the gifts for each of the kids and imagining how much fun they'd have with each of their presents. I've also … [Read more...]
Fun in the Snow – Draper, Utah
November 30, 2007 by 2 Comments
Each year, I take the kids on an individual trip with dad. I try to make it inexpensive and unassuming. But the emphasis of these trips is always focused on communication, connection, and building good memories. This year, I was able to take Emily to go skiing in Utah. My only expense was flying her out, since my trip was on the tail-end of my PASS trip. And my good friend Joel Meyer very graciously provided a place for us to stay, food to eat, and great company. We were very fortunate to have great weather for the trip. It started snow the evening we arrived and, the next morning, we had a … [Read more...]
Amazing Sports Clips
November 27, 2007 by Leave a Comment
This is amazing. I'm not much of a sports fan, but this was really fun - 20 of the best basketball points ever scored.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTsVzOKqK-k and watch this with your kids and/or loved ones.-Kev … [Read more...]
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
November 9, 2007 by Leave a Comment
So, it was my last night in Australia and my friends Vanessa Barcellona and Ceci Weiss were enjoying some conversation and good Australian wine. Maybe it was because of the wine, but we (Ceci and I are Americans) laughed our tails off at Vanessa's description of the Australian version of Lassie - Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. Well, she went and dug up the intro for the 70's TV show for your benefit:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRQnrY5V-rY … [Read more...]
Singapore
October 23, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Singapore is such an amazing city. It's unique in very many ways. It is both multi-lingual (English and Chinese are both official languages) and mutli-cultural, with Chinese, Malaysian, and India populations plus Europeans. Chinese is the majority ethnicity, but I didn't meet a single person, from cab-drivers to business people, who didn't speak English. In fact, most people watch American television programs and listen to American pop radio. (The view from the Quest Software offices at right.)It's an extremely wealthy city with modern high-rises everywhere. (I sometimes wondered if it's … [Read more...]
The Aussie Bush and other various plagues
October 13, 2007 by Leave a Comment
After Sydney, I headed out to speak at Charles Sturt University in the teaming metropolis of Wagga Wagga. It's about the size of Pulaski Tennessee and in the middle of BFE, in other words, the Australian outback aka "the bush". The airport at Wagga (they don't say it's 2nd Wagga for some reason) shown at right is about as big as a large IHOP or Shoney's and attended by the same sorts of people. In the picture at right, you can see a BOGAN kid in the foreground wearing the uniform of his favorite Aussie Rules team and the big Aussie rules football. It's a fun game to watch and, much to my … [Read more...]
World Famous Sydney
October 13, 2007 by 2 Comments
Everyone recognizes the world famous Sydney opera house. I consider myself a lucky duck to have taken a harbor ride right next to the darned thing. The only thing that could be cooler than seeing a world famous landmark is to see a world famous landmark in the arms of someone you love. (sigh...) I was really fortunate to be able to dine with several friends from Quest - James Delve, Prasant Moorthy, and Vanessa Barcellona. We road a JetCat from the pier right next to the Opera House out to Manly, a very posh suburb of Sydney. There, we ate at a very good restaurant called "Ribs & Rumps" … [Read more...]
Brisbane, the Gold Coast of Australia
October 13, 2007 by Leave a Comment
As Florida is to us Southerners, so Brisbane is to Australians. It's the fun, sunny, beach-laden place to go for a vacation. It's also hot and humid as can be.Brisbane was one of the original penal colonies that the Brits set up to house convicts from England back in the day. Now, it's a beautiful and thriving city. To the left is a picture of the Story Bridge, one of only three bridges of this size that can be walked across on the very top girders (with a tour guide and carabiner lines for safety). You can also make out the "CityCat" high-speed ferry boat that's plying the river. I only had … [Read more...]
