It’s been a busy three months.

February. I’m having difficulty trying to describe the month here, which I suppose is descriptive in its own right. Scattered, but productive, and more or less a catch-up month for myself personally. Ms. Pei has been in Taiwan for a few weeks, giving me a bit more time than normal to hunker down and get some long running projects moving.

Which has certainly happened. Multiple jobs are getting finished or pushing forwards towards beta ranges, and things are just getting done, definitely a good feeling. The new personal project has a name, and will hopefully be showing itself to the world soon. Feeling solid creatively. Doing good work – happy about that. Focused.

Recap. Genuinely ate a piece of fish which I loved. Finally got a hold of my dream lens (Canon’s 85mm 1.2L II), a gift from the lovely ladyfriend. Made a chicken pot pie from scratch. Got hit in the neck by a firecracker in SF for Chinese New Year. Cooked with wagyu for the first time. Saw Wicked in SF. Started the Mac/Chrome transitions. Slept in for the first time in years.

2010. This month was largely getting back to business. Days are consumed with the simultaneous work on four different sites at the moment. Two for work, one contract, one personal. The big, interesting personal project was just approved and is getting shipped off to be built by a pile of engineers. If I can bring this beast to life, it will become a major chunk of my life. For the time being though, it’s an exciting side project. Oddly enough, it kind of felt like a down month in goin’ out and doin’ stuff, but I did manage to squeeze in some time in Seattle/Vancouver and a quick jaunt out to Monterey. February is going to be busy – and it starts in exactly one hour. Bring it.

December. A month which has been hard to get to slow down, amplified by social ties and big projects, both work wise and on a personal level. Despite all this, it actually seemed like somewhat of a down month in activity, I suppose, given the insanity of November. I’m excited on what I’m working on though. Really, genuinely excited.

Fun photo stuff. Got to learn a lot in regards to strobes and did a portrait session of sorts. Tried the miracle fruit. Met an ex-horse cop who taught me how to cook pork belly. Ate a lot of macarons. Climbed a 5.11a. Stayed within California. Brewed and bottled beer in my house. Exchanged prints with some of the best photographers in the area. Purchased a labbit. Loathed humanity during the holiday prep, yet enjoyed the family time this year. Grateful for what I have, and looking forward to what this bizarre 2010 will bring to us.

Perhaps a bit better when viewed large.

November. A cold month with travels to cold places. In my scant one-week gap between positions, the lady and I packed our cold-weather gear and headed off to Europe to hit two places which I’ve wanted to hit for years, London and Iceland. Both incredibly photogenic and likeable places, but in very different ways. Iceland worked its charms on both of us – it’s already luring us back with it’s insanely pretty and desolate landscapes, and quite possibly one of the greatest spots on Earth, the Blue Lagoon.

The new job – it’s going fairly well. The first task which dropped on my plate is fairly massive, and I’m still wrapping my head as to how it will pan out – but I’m learning people’s names and becoming less awkward in the office. They have enormous faith in my design abilities and I already feel like I’m making a dent towards solving some of their larger UI issues, but time will tell if I’m successful. Two weeks in and I’m doing just fine – I think I’ll be alright.

Other news. Became an uncle. Brewed beer. Climbed a 5.10D. Rode the LA Metro lines. Ate breakfast in a city named Hella. Ate at Gordon Ramsay. Nearly was hit by a glacier-filled wave. Drove through snow. Said goodbye to a lot of good people. Ate some turkey. Made it through another month.

October. This entire month has been more or less been focused on one core thing. What to do with my career. The end result is that after two and a half years, I’m quitting Kaboodle. Not an easy decision, considering it was a job which had built up a lot of friendships, was a position I was good at, and was excellent for photo ops. The ultimate decision was in how I want to proceed in life – as a designer or an engineer. At Kaboodle, I was hired as a designer, but due to my coding abilities, I worked myself into an engineering role. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to put a larger focus on design, so I’m going to a company who wants me to do just that.

As of next month, I’ll be starting at Plaxo/Comcast, as a User Interface Designer. I’ll be digging back into design full time instead of spending most of my day buried in code, which is definitely something I’m looking forward to. The whole “fresh start” concept is a major force at play too. The team there seems pretty solid, and I’m looking forward to getting scared, nervous, and ultimately growing as a designer again.

I am certainly sad to leave behind Kaboodle, but at the same time I realize it’s time. The company is changing and it’s not one I fit into anymore, not that I was ever a particularly good fit for the company to begin with. It was a great opportunity and experience as a whole, but there is always a time and place to step aside and let the next generation take the reigns, and that time for me is now.

September has been a more difficult month, but in the grand scheme of things, life is still going pretty well. There are new challenges and new opportunities which are presenting themselves, and new adventures are being had. Also, I had cigarette flavored ice cream, and took my most popular photos to date (both in terms of views and interestingness). I’ve more or less given up on updating swanktastic with any kind of regularity – perhaps these once a month “hey I’m still alive” posts will suffice.

I’ve been traveling a lot lately – and really, it’s a trend which I hope continues. After burning though so many weekends writing articles cramped up in this office, it’s great to get out there and take advantage of this life for a while. The most recent adventure was road trip which extended from New Mexico to Colorado to Utah to Nevada to Arizona to California. A ton of driving to be sure, but great for photography, as it goes through a lot of scenic areas.

Life is really good lately. Mentally, I’ve been able to calm down a lot and stress levels are way lower. Things which would have normally caused me mental guff are falling by the wayside. I suppose that I’m simply happy, and that’s a really nice feeling.

Final thing from Japan. I’m sure people are sick of hearing about it. But, I should mention – the food. They’re known for eating pretty much everything from the sea, and being pretty damn precise in their food. Hey, they also spend the most per person on food than anywhere on Earth – BUT, also have the highest life expectancy of any country in the world (84 female, 77 male, to be precise). They’ve also got the most new Michelin stars of any country, with a pile getting three-star nods and huge lists of two and single-star places.

Even if you aren’t big on fish, Japan still has a pretty sizable chunk of food options which are quite good – and there were Italian, Chinese, and French food places all within walking distance. Sadly, no burritos to be seen.

Likely the most interesting meal was at a fancy teppanyaki restaurant in Roppongi, known as Omae/Morimoto XEX. Despite a fairly late arrival, the treatment and service was absolutely top notch. Food quality, really good overall, and some really nice modern twists to the mix. There were, however, these guys and the disparity between American and Japanese cooking. These guys were cooked right in front of us, on a hot grill, while still alive.

It’s something you really don’t see here in the states – animals being killed right in front of you – we tend to be fairly isolated, hoping to be blissfully unaware of how food gets from the farm to our plate. I have to admit, the whole thing was so unexpected that it stuck with me. Watching a creature, even as ugly as that, forcefully trying to claw away from the grill as it was cooked, a process which seemingly took quite a long time. As the eyes stay on and don’t close, the only way you can tell if it’s dead is that it’s not moving.

The chef even cooked up the arms/legs and head separately to eat, although honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to eat the brains of a creature which I just saw killed right in front of me. One notch too far. To be fair though, the (rest of the) shrimp was really very tasty though, and that restaurant overall does excellent work, great tasting food and really unique preparations. Kind of kicking myself that I didn’t try an authentic Kobe dish there.

The rest of the experience at Omae was great though. Super extra fantastic!