2008 was also a big year for us as I changed jobs, and finally have a wonderful position at a publisher, spending the majority of my time with my beloved Macs! In January of '08 we moved into our new home, and we love it dearly.

I have gotten back to playing paintball on a pretty regular basis, and have been doing a lot more with my photography as well, shooting an occasional wedding, and a ton of engagement photos lately. We have 6, count them 6 family weddings this summer, and that is on my wife's side of the family. My cousin is getting married as well, but we don't have details on that one yet.

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matt. 24:24)

The following link is a fantastic read for those of you who prefer a little history and fact mixed in with your faith.

http://josephlied.com/bicentennialboy.html

You fought a great fight, and gave it all that you could. Rest easy now, bro. The pain is all over, and you are at peace and without pain. Heaven is a lucky place to have you, you will be missed.

Godspeed.

The first issue I am having is a mild amout of darkness in the upper corners of the screen. I have reported this to my Apple dealer, and am waiting on a response a little over a week later.

My second gripe is that when replying to emails in the Apple Mail program, it frequently freezes up. I NEVER had a problem with this on any of my G5s.

My 3rd gripe is that when you wake the computer up from sleep mode, it seems to take much longer for it to recognize that it is on the home network.

Photoshop performance is pretty much the same, and Aperture performance is MUCH better. I'm waiting to see how Adobe CS3 fares, hopefully a lot better.

On a final note, this machine is QUIET!!!!!

So, it was time to upgrade. And upgrade we did!!!! I have been feeling an increased amout of love towards a new Mac Pro for the past several months. Who am I kidding? Since the day it was announced!! I have been doing my normal level (OCD level) of research for a few months, and came to a great surprise. The new 24" iMac fit the bill quite well. I chose a build to order model sporting the intel core 2 duo at 2.33 Ghz, 2Gig of RAM, and the 256MB graphics card. This behemoth of a computer has to sit ALL the way at the back of my desk so I don't have to turn my head from side to side to see the whole screen. It is pushed back even further than in the picture. The brightness had to be turned down almost all of the way as well.

Loving it!

Most of you already know that my wife and I lived separately for almost the entire first year of our marriage. We mutually decided late last year that the money wasn't that important, and that being together was more important that the financial advantages of my being in the city. It has been a long year of realigning career goals with personal ones. I'm at a major career crossroads as I type, a change is imminent. When I was young, I always thought that by this age, I'd be working on my second or third million, and that we'd all be driving hover-cars. Ha.

Life really is good. The non-commute has opened up our lives in so many ways, and we get to visit family and friends far more often. Travel is the theme for this summer. It is something that I miss greatly, and that The Wife is coming around to accept. =)

What has 2007 brought with a storm??? Happiness, contentment, and a chance to pause for a moment to reflect over the past five years. The first 2 of those five were a flurry of exciting weekends, travel to exciting and exotic locations, a rediscovery of who I am, and unfortunately, a time when I had to live life pretty selfishly. That period of time finally got me to the point where I can actually say, "My ex was a bitch, and I am so much better off without her." My wife is the person who I live my days for, and I am very lucky to have met her.

Time went on, I learned the lessons that I needed to learn, and life got a whole lot better. Other than on the career front, I'm living my dream life. I recently enrolled at the New York Institute of Photography, and am looking forward to receiving some real world instruction, not just picking up what I can, when I can. I am waiting to hear back about what I would consider my dream job. The interview went extremely well, it's just one of those very slow processes.

Anywho, off to work. Write more later, promise.

Life is really great, I'm happy to report. The wife and I are settled in now, both of us deciding what step to take next. I'm working for a great company right now, but feel that a job change is right around the corner. It isn't that I'm not happy with what I'm doing, it is just that it isn't what I was put on this earth to do. I have 2 very exciting prospects that I am considering, one with "The Ivory Tower," the other with a local media company, one that is very web 2.0

The wife finished her Master of Arts this past year, and her career has taken off very nicely. I couldn't be more proud!

My photography work is going to take a major turn in the near future, especially the wedding photography. We decided that with all of the hours involved in shooting weddings, we are only going to be accepting new wedding clients that are personally referred. That will leave the majority of my paid work being portraits and school/team photos.

Enough about the "Jobby" stuff.. What is going on with everyone else??? Pam, it was GREAT to hear from you recently, I'll look forward to sending more details about life to you in the VERY near future, sorry, it has been super busy. Carla Beth? You still out here in cyber space? April, I still drop by for a read all the time. Speaking of which, I'll be in touch with you VERY soon. I need some art work done for Brochspot.com..... You're still the best out there! Tony? Where are you these days?

Type more soon!

Broch