Back from a small hiatus. A lot (and yet, not all that much) has been packed into the last few weeks for me. I'm fighting this weird shoulder pain that's been bothering me for months now, so some days I just feel like giving up at 11am and going back to bed. The doctor has been little help so far, but was at least kind enough to give me an EKG to assure me that I'm not having a heart attack. It's not an incapacitating pain, just a kind of dull soreness in my left shoulder, upper arm, and occasionally back. Oh well. Ever forward.

Turkey day was spent at my sister's house in Chicago. I was amazed we got there at all, seeing as when we arrived at Boston airport on Wednesday to leave, the snow was coming down strong and steady. Amazingly, our flight left right on time. I saw some uncles, aunts, and cousins that I hadn't seen in 15 years. Chicago was frigging cold, so much so I was constantly assuring Veronica that Boston wasn't this cold last winter. Of course, the last few weeks in beantown have demonstrated that this winter is no piece of cake like last winter, so my reassurances were all for naught. Veronica's family drove to Chicago from Iowa for the event. Her three-year old sister Ana assumed her usual role as the center of attention (like it or not).

The video game front has been keeping me busy busy busy. Finally got my hands on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. At first I wasn't so impressed, but after giving it a fair shake I can safely say it is everything Grand Theft Auto 3 was and much much more. More hilarious radio stations to listen to ... Lazlow is back, and there's a great new valley girl talk radio DJ ... tons of great 80's music from metal to new wave to hip hop. More vehicles to try out ... the motorcycles are terrific, and unlike most I think the helicopter and seaplane controls work great. More missions ... the main storyline missions are more involved, and there are so so many side missions to keep you busy. If you are over 18 and are into video games, this is for you. Unless you're one of those Nintendo fanboys who'd rather raise a village of teddy bears instead.

Speaking of Nintendo, the GameCube has a winner of its own now too: Metroid Prime. Veronica bought this for me not long after I got GTAVC ... big mistake. Too many video diversions. This game is sooo beautiful. The effects are just mind boggling. Your hero's faceplate fogs up when walking through hot areas. The heads-up display goes staticky when near electrical disturbances. The controls mimic actual movement almost perfectly. A real tour-de-force video game experience. My only complaints lie in the simplicity of the puzzles ... a lot like Eternal Darkness in this respect, overtly designed for adults but able to be quickly solved by 5 year olds (the red key goes in the red slot? wow!).

I've put off getting the latest Xbox headline-maker, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, until I've put GTAVC and Metroid Prime to rest. Splinter Cell looks primed to wrest the stealth gaming mantle from Metal Gear Solid. I loved the first Metal Gear Solid, but last year's sequel on the PlayStation 2, while very pretty, suffered from a ridiculously awful storyline and was just more of the same gameplay which, in my opinion, wasn't the strong point of the original. Splinter Cell looks like it has much more sophisticated gameplay and perhaps the best real-time lighting effects around.

Christmas will be spent in the heartland, in Iowa with Veronica's family. Hopefully it will be a nice relaxing week. 'Cause then it's back here to plow through my last six months at CMIR before I undertake the title of assistant professor at Stanford. It's a daunting task, moving from working on a predefined project to actually defining the project itself. A lot more complex than it sounds. But I'm looking forward to the challenge.