April and May

This site has been pretty quiet (with only one blog post for each of the last two months). Everything seems to be happening on twitter and facebook these days, and my blogging time is usually split between Let’s Make Games and Guts Up!.

In order to compensate for the lack of updates of late, I’m posting a brief summary of what I’ve been up to in the last couple of months.

April:

  • Broke my phone. Gah! The screen looked like it was shattered and then the pieces were stuck back on, but it was pretty new and still worked… so I had trouble justifying replacing it. Plus, I’m lazy.
  • Attended X|Media|Lab Perth. I’ve had a post about this sitting in my drafts for weeks, but I’ll summarise a little here: A great way to tap into experience and explore ideas, and critically analyse your project and team. Also, Minh was part of a winning team. Go Minh!
  • Moved house. Back into the family home. My parents are overseas indefinitely and the place has been renovated and emptied, but it still feels a little… nostalgic. It’s got a big yard and the cats are happy. We’re probably going to be unpacking boxes for a while… but we’re pretty settled now.

My poor broken phone (a Huawei IDEOS). It was my first smartphone and amazing value for money. I wish that I hadn’t dropped it:

Josh, Simon, and I at X|Media|Lab (images courtesy xmedialab):

May:

  • Trip to Melbourne: Heidi had a practical exam in Melbourne and we turned the trip into a week-long affair. We celebrated our second wedding anniversary and mostly spent time with her sister’s family. I caught up with my brother and cousin, and spent the week in a state of perpetual satiety due to the abundance of good food (and vegetarian fast food).
  • Business planning: My love for spreadsheets has reached new depths. They’re one of the best tools for informed decision-making. I’ve also grown to love Google Docs, and I abhor when I have to go back to using non-collaborative office programs.
  • Got a new phone: Yay! Why didn’t I get this earlier. The screen is huge and it’s better than the old phone in every way. Except it’s quite a bit bigger…

Two of my favourite Melbourne dishes: Cucumber w/ Garlic Sauce and Deep-fried Chicken in Chilli (from Sichuan House):

Bruce all settled into the new place, and enjoying a tree in the back/side yard:

One last thought: I was amazed that Google doesn’t have Melbourne public transport in Google maps, and even more amazed to realise how much I depend on it (and my GPS-enabled smartphone) here in Perth.