We saw a production of David Sedaris's Santaland Diaries at the Bathhouse Theater tonight. Funny stuff.

Afterwards, we walked over to the Greenlake Bluwater Restaurant to get a spot of dinner. We both ordered Tuscan White Bean soup for a starter, Emma had the Turkey Pot Pie, and mine was the Fettucine.

The soup was fine and my fettucine was okay. Emma's pot pie had problems. The potatoes were raw and it had a funny lemony aftertaste. She pushed the plate away and waited for the waitress to come by. The waitress apologized and brought Emma the menu. Emma opted for the meatloaf, since that would come quickly. The manager apologized and offered …continue.

Perusing Eric S. Raymond's blog recently, I noticed his claim that as a one-time maintainer of GIFLIB, just about every cellphone and browser has some of his software running in it.

That got me thinking about my own reach and where software that I've con­tributed to can be found.

‘Oh that a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a Heaven for?’

—Robert Browning

I spent seven years on the IIS (Internet In­for­ma­tion Services) de­vel­op­ment team at Microsoft. By any measure, that's a successful product, running one-third of all websites. There are over 100 million registered websites. Many of them are parked and many others see negligible volume, but that's millions, perhaps tens …continue.

Emma and I moved in together in August 1998, and promptly started a tradition that we've maintained ever since: Games Night. On the second and fourth Thursday evening of every month, we invite our friends over to play board games.

For us, it's a low-effort way to stay in touch with our friends, and for our friends to see each other. Some people are regulars and make it almost every time. Others we see once or twice a year at Games Night, if that. Games are the excuse, but many people come by to chat.

We provide a space and a pre­dictable time. We have drinks on hand and often a snack. Our …continue.

As I mentioned last month, I par­tic­i­pat­ed in this year's AIDS Walk this morning.

I raised $1106 online, handily exceeding my goal of $750. I also raised another $115 in cash and checks at the fundrais­ing barbecue that we threw on September 27th.

Thanks to the 20 people who sponsored me!

This year is the 22nd an­niver­sary of the Northwest AIDS Walk. A whole generation has passed. Twenty years ago, AIDS was a gay man's disease and a death sentence. The Reagan ad­min­is­tra­tion was just beginning to ac­knowl­edge the existence of AIDS, half a decade after it had first been recognized and thousands had died.

AIDS is still a serious problem, but the de­vel­op­ment of an­ti­retro­vi­ral drugs a decade ago means that people with HIV are living longer, healthier lives than before. More than 1.5 million Americans are now living with HIV/AIDS: 9,000 of them in King County. 40,000 people are infected every year, and most new infections are among African-Americans. The U.S. is getting …continue.

I formed a Bike to Work team at Cozi. More at the Cozi Con­nec­tions Blog

Last week was the second an­niver­sary of my brother Mark's wedding to Lizzy.

Next week will be the first an­niver­sary of my sister Michelle's wedding to David.

The day after that, my parents will be flying to Egypt to celebrate the fiftieth an­niver­sary of their first date.

And Emma and I just got back from a three-day weekend in Astoria, Oregon, to celebrate the tenth an­niver­sary of our own first date.

Sheesh!

My little brother, Mark Reilly aka the Alien Resident, suc­cess­ful­ly defended his doctoral dis­ser­ta­tion on Tuesday and may now be addressed as "Dr. Reilly."

He studied part-time at the European Graduate School in New York City, while juggling several jobs. His doctorate is in Media and Com­mu­ni­ca­tions and the topic was Propaganda of the Dead: Terrorism and Revolution, which he picked before 9/11.

He is only the second PhD in the family. My uncle Pat Deasy was the first.

Con­grat­u­la­tions, Mark!

This year is the 21st an­niver­sary of the Northwest AIDS Walk. A whole generation has passed. Twenty years ago, AIDS was a gay man's disease and a death sentence. The Reagan ad­min­is­tra­tion was just beginning to ac­knowl­edge the existence of AIDS, half a decade after it had first been recognized and thousands had died.

AIDS is still a serious problem, but the de­vel­op­ment of an­ti­retro­vi­ral drugs a decade ago means that people with HIV are living longer, healthier lives than before. More than 1 million Americans are now living with HIV/AIDS: 9,000 of them in King County. 40,000 people are infected every year, and most new infections are among African-Americans. The U.S. is getting …continue.

Last night, I un­wit­ting­ly bought some habenero peppers when I was shopping for in­gre­di­ents for Afghan Chicken. They tasted hot, but not too hot, when I nibbled a couple of small pieces. I cut them up with my bare hands. By the time that I was finished, my fingers felt as if they had been burned! As if I had burned them with steam or something. It took several hours for the pain to go away. For­tu­nate­ly, I didn't rub my eyes or more delicate mucous membranes, while I still had the habenero oils on my skin.

The chicken itself was fine: not too spicy. The cooked-up onion marinade had …continue.