… when the heck did it become December 19th? The house is only half decorated, the Christmas cards haven’t been mailed (well, one was, but that was more an accident than anything else, I was somewhat coherent that day). I’m not done my research and Masters as I had planned to be. No finalized New Year’s plans yet (but they are coming along, Chinese anyone?). Do have my shopping done, but again that was almost done by accident (hurray for the Internet, but gotta make sure things get shipped on time, right?). No resolutions yet, but no progress on last year’s either :S.

What have I been up to? Not long back from another IEEE business trip. This time to the “IEEE mothership” - Piscataway, NJ. A nice quiet place that even the car hired from the airport can’t find. It was very cool to see headquarters and work again with Bruce, Igor, Laura and Chris, to get a CD with resources for students put together.

After two days in NJ, it was time to head to someplace a bit more interesting… NYC. Travelled via train from New Brunswick, NJ (did you know there’s also a Newfoundland, NJ?) to Penn Station and onward to the hostel. It was my first hostel experience, but it’ certainly not gonna be my last (we plan to hostel a bit in Australia in April). For the price, it was awesome, though I’m not sure I could do it for more than a few days in one place with strangers… it’s just not me.

The highlight of my trip had to be seeing the Broadway musical Avenue Q. It’s like Sesame Street for adults, complete with swearing, puppet sex and puppet nudity. Lots of good tunes from the soundtrack including “The Internet is for Porn”, “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist”, and “For Now” (which includes the line, “George Bush is only for now”, that got the applause). Currently the show is only on Broadway and in Vegas… if you ever find yourself in either of thos places, check it out!

New York City put me in a little of a Christmas mood, though it’s slipping again - I’m bombarding myself with carols this morning. But one can’t help feel joyous under the tree at Rockerfeller Centre or in the world’s largest Toys ‘R’ Us. The threat of a subway strike put a damper on some of my plans (the spreadsheet was not used as much as it could have been). Oh well… next time…