It's been a long time since I posted. My project neared its launch date, and that was the end of my free time. And you know what? It launched. Last night. Late. I got home at 4AM this morning. Check it out.
I would talk about it some more, but I'm too drained to think about it right now. Plus, it's work. Can't talk shop outside the office. Emily in PR would have my head on a platter. But let me know if you have any thoughts about the site, about the e-mail. I'm a little too close to it all right now.
The last 6 weeks have been a blur because of this project. Let's see, I attended a wedding last week. John and Irene. Because they're both from Stanford, I saw a ton of old classmates there. Some folks I haven't seen for ages. Tina. Shanon. Rob. Elaine. Su. Jeff. Grace. Cindy. Jon. Actually, I never see any of those guys, so it was strange even running into Howie and Sharon and Alan and Mark. No one seems to have changed, though. I guess 5 years out of school, most people don't morph remarkably. Gosh, I'd hate to think I'm down evolving.
The wedding took place at a beautiful setting, but being from Seattle, I brought the cursed rain with me. The wedding was held outside at the Ritz Carlton at Mission Viejo (sp?) south of Los Angeles. We were on a cliff by the ocean, and on the beach below 50 to 60 people were out there surfing.
John wrote his own vows, and for a tough guy, I was pretty impressed. It takes a lot of courage to declare your feelings for the woman you love in front of a big crowd. He even got a little choked up, which for John is somewhat of a surprise.
For the most part, everyone looks great. Phew. I'm glad I haven't packed on too many pounds since graduation.
Lots of former couples at the wedding. For the most part, we were all pretty civil and good about it, but at times it was a bit odd.
My step-brother-in-law Jeff is a babe magnet. There's no getting around it. I wish I had his height and his angular face. He really should just take up modeling full time. Sigh.
Howie gave me his first demo CD! It's pretty impressive. I don't know too many people who take up DJ'ing late in life. It's good to see him indulging his hobbies. Since he doesn't watch movies, sometimes I worry he'll get bored.
Joannie and Karen both graduated that weekend. I couldn't make it all the way home because I had to get back to Seattle for work on Sunday. The whole time at the wedding, I kept logging into the site to do more alpha testing. I'm pretty proud of both of them. Joannie for finishing law school as part of law review and nailing that clerkship. Someday soon she'll be making a lot more money than I will. And she'll be married, too! Karen, for finishing that Computer Science degree. When I suggested it to her, I was half serious. I never thought she'd really choose to do that. I admire programmers. And she nailed an extremely high paying job with Raytheon, too. They're all growing up.
My website is #1 in Google if you search for Eugene Wei now. As Steve Martin said in The Jerk: "The new phone book's here! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity I need! My name in print! That really makes somebody! Things are going to start happening to me now."
I've been at Amazon over 3.75 years now. I didn't even realize it when it happened. I actually missed the day. That's a long long time. With folks like Jen taking leaves, everyday I feel more and more like a fifth year senior at Amazon. I see fewer and fewer of the old-timers around, and the people I work with seem to get younger and younger.
I know, I sound like a broken record. I do feel the passage of time like a strong current around me. I guess it's better than hanging around too long, though. Like The X-files, which is coming back for one more season without Mulder. They should have just ended it this year. I love the show, and it's still better than most of the stuff out there, but really, it's past its prime. I hate seeing the things I love lose their luster. That's part of why I hope Jordan doesn't try and come back. He'd be good, but I like to remember him great.
Haven't ridden my bike in two weeks. Ugh. I'm not loving myself right now.
I'm rambling. I'm tired. I'm going to sleep. Must remember to discuss why I'm so impressed with Microsoft tomorrow.