avid reader

i haven't written for a while, but i have been coasting through my days at work, reading what ever website suits my fancy at that particular moment. on a given day i read my friend's sites first, so i'll start with that.

phil is one of my oldest friends. last june, he relocated to new york city to earn a masters degree by teaching spanish in the public school system. new york city has a massive deficit of qualified teachers, and it's been 10 years since phil has been in any sort of grade school classroom. although hardly a substitute for the flesh and blood version, phil has been keeping in touch with daily emails and frequent posts to his weblog, rocky hands. phil has an undeniable wit and a storyteller's insight that makes his words a compelling read. he's never taught before and if i were some shifty magazine editor i would write something like "read one man's account of life in the trenches of new york's public school system."

tari is my sweetheart. like her tender boyfriend, she's had a tough time making a regular habit of writing, but when she does i really enjoy it because so much of her voice comes through in her writing. she's a scientist at a struggling bay area biotech, so she's got a fair amount of free time on her hands while her company figures out how they are going to move forward. read it, and maybe post some comments or send her an email.

my brother luke lives in a cabin in the redwoods on the mendocino coast, with his sweetheart. he's working hard to get his music career of the ground. he's quite talented, and you can hear his music on the website. he incorporates sound samples with guitar and cello into his self produced recordings, and his lyrics are as finely crafted as his recordings. his kittens are so cute, after i look at their pictures on his website, i want to smash my skull in with a hammer.