Working from home is great in so many ways, but everyone once in a while it’s important to work somewhere else.  To see other people, get a change of scenery, and all that.  It changes how you think and can really open up some ideas you didn’t know you had.  Plus the chai is pretty good there:)  I’ll be working in our Newbury St. office next Thursday so that will provide yet another change of pace.  I think it’s good to work somewhere new at least once a week.

Emma made this amazing Shrimp Roti for dinner.  It was very complex and time consuming but it was really good.  I have banana bread in the oven now for desert.  I’m in the library, with the fire going, catching up on a few things before I read for a bit.  We got a new fireplace door/surround installed last night to replace the older one which was a bit heat stained and not really our design style.  The one is great and makes the fireplace seem MUCH larger than before, which is great.  I can’t wait to get this room finished with hardwood floors and built-in bookshelves.  Someday (hopefully not too far off).

I’m going out tomorrow to look at some possible office spaces.  We have a great space on Newbury, but as we now have 6 people working here in MA I want to get some larger offices somewhere that’s less of a traffic situation.  Wish me luck.

I’ve been REALLY impressed by the SOPA/PIPA blackout protests across the web today, and how effective they have been at raising awareness in the general public.  I’m hoping a million phone calls were made and some congress critters have realized that representative democracy means listening to your constituents and actually representing their interests, not just taking in bribes lobbying money.

I just got back from my first trip to LA. I was there for a week, working the first half, and exploring the second half. Overall it was a great trip! Did some shopping, visited the La Brea Tar Pits, went out to a crazy club night with a burlesque show, walked from the Santa Monica Pier down through Venice Beach, and ate lots of good food.

The Pros:

• Amazing amazing cars everywhere! I have never seen more Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, BMWs, Mercedes, tricked out Range Rovers, and more.
• Beautiful People Wearing Amazing Clothes and Shoes.
• Great weather! It was mid-70s and sunny the whole time.
• Great shopping. Dangerous shopping.
• Very friendly people. We made friends everywhere we went.

The Cons:

• The Smog.
• Super slow 3G data service.
• The focus on appearance over getting things done.
• The one-up-ing race of cars, clothes, etc…

I wouldn’t want to live there, but I am looking forward to visiting again!

2011 was a great year in many areas of my life.

My company Spark::red enjoyed strong growth and I feel like its been an amazing success. You can read a bit about our growth this year here: Spark::red Year in Review.

I travelled to South Africa, Montreal (twice), Aruba, Maine, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Seattle, and more. I rode my motorcycle up Mount Washington. I ran a 5k. I did winter driving school at the Team O’Neil rally school. I drove at Loudon race track in both my S4 and my Ducati. I went to a ton of concerts. I ate at some amazing restaurants. I cooked some great food. I read some great books. I had an amazing set of new experiences with my wife.

It has been a great year. My best memories have been time spent with my wife, travel, motorsports, and building my company.

This coming year I want to do more of the stuff that sticks in my mind. I want to scuba dive, snowboard, travel, spend time on the track in my car and bikes, go shooting, take photos, cook, write code, triple Spark::red revenue, read, write, run another 5k. it’s going to be a big year and I can’t wait!!!

I went up to Loon Mountain yesterday and did my first snowboarding of the season. I’d never been to Loon, but it seemed nice. It’s early enough in the season that only a small fraction of the runs were open, and the conditions weren’t perfect, but it was a cold crisp day, with some light snow falling, and I had a great time.

Most of my snowboard gear is from about 10-11 years ago, so this season I’m updating a few elements. I picked up a new jacket and gloves last week and Saturday was my trial run for both. I used to ride with a thicker warm jacket that I’d just wear over a t-shirt, but I’m trying some layering with my new Rome DSK jacket.

It worked great, I was warm, and I LOVE the jacket! Having a snow skirt that hooks up with your snow pants means you keep warm and dry regardless of the wind or any butt sliding wipeouts you may have. Likewise my Burton gloves were Goretex, warm and dry. They have inner liner gloves that stay on your hands when take off the gloves, which is great, because if you need to fiddle with your bindings, headphones, sunglasses, etc… you can do it with optimal dexterity, but still keeping your fingers warm. Big fan. I need new boots through, after 11 years most of the padding and insulation are packed down to the point of uselessness.

Loon is only about 1:45 minutes away so it’s an easy day trip, especially if, like me, you’re only good for 3-4 hours on the slopes (although I assume that will get better as I get back into snowboarding shape). I’m planning on going a LOT this winter. Last year I only made it twice, right at the end of the season, and I regretted it. So this year I hope to hit the slopes a couple times a month at least. Wish me luck!

The ride out was one of the best routes I’ve ever ridden.  It was MUCH better than the ride to Mount Washington.  We left from Chelmsford and rode route 119 West and up into New Hampshire, over into Vermont onto route 9, and then headed South on routes 100 and 8 back into Massachusetts.  You can see the route here:  Route Map.  The roads were beautiful, fast, curvy, and virtually empty.  We saw some of the damage from the flooding that took place recently.  Trees and buildings knocked over, bridges washed out, roads partially gone, etc… You see it on the news and online, but driving through it was a different experience.  Nature is powerful stuff.

We blocked off a road with our bikes in Vermont and I helped a Snapping Turtle get safely across, which was pretty cool.  Otherwise the ride was uneventful, fast, and fun!  We had some navigational issues getting to Mount Greylock in that I had my GPS set for the visitor center, which is on the South side of the mountain, whereas since we were coming in from the North, it made more sense to head to the summit from the Northern approach.  Eventually we made it up to the top, which had some amazing views.  The food at the summit leaves a lot to be desired, so I’d strongly recommend eating somewhere else.

On the way back we thought we’d take Route 2.  Unfortunately Route 2 is closed due to flood damage, so we ended up having to run a huge detour and it took much longer to get back than we expected.  Knowing what I know now, I definitely would have just headed back on the way we had come, as it is an AMAZING ride.

This year was a much smaller ride, just three bikes: myself, Christian (which Hannah riding with him) and Alex.  All Ducatis, which was fun.  Having a smaller group was easier in many ways and made the whole day a little more laid back, although I did miss the massive group ride dynamic as well.

It was a long day, leaving my house at 9 AM and getting home just after midnight, but it was a lot of great riding, amazing views, good photos, and good friends.  Climbing Mount Washington was amazing as always.  At the top there was a huge glider circling the mountain and leveraging the wind and updrafts.  I shot some video of that.  On the way home at a rest stop in New Hampshire I got some cool photos of the moon behind impressive clouds.

You can see photos and the glider video here:   Mount Washington 2011 Photos

or just look below: