Spoogly.com

Chicago Pictures

Spoogly — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:54:14 +0000

I was in Chicago for a training class and was able to spend a day walking around the city. Pictures are posted here. It is definitely one of my favorite cities - a lot to do, a ton of nice restaurants, and very clean.

Amsterdam Pictures

Spoogly — Sun, 18 May 2008 11:09:52 +0000

I was in Amsterdam for the last week for work and was able to get a good number of pictures. I am still lagged so I uploaded them to the gallery early this morning since I couldn’t sleep. Check them out by clicking here.

New Pics Uploaded

Spoogly — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:11:01 +0000

Two posts in one day. Sweet Jesus!

New cake pictures and a bunch of new pictures from our Washington DC trip have been uploaded. Click here to view them. I’ll work on updating the captions when I get some time.

Auf Wiedersehen

Congrats to Calvin and Sarah

Spoogly — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:41:50 +0000

Congratulations to Calvin and Sarah! The Slegals have a new addition to their family - Anthony Frederick Slegal. He was born on April 13th at 4:25pm and was 8lbs 1oz.

Best of luck to great friends of ours in the beginning of their parenting journey.

Books and Librarything

Spoogly — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:05:41 +0000

I read a lot, so I am always trying to find different books to read. I started doing some research to see if there were any sites out there that allowed you to catalog all of your books, get reviews, etc. There were a few top sites on the web. They were Librarything, GoodReads, and Shelfari. It took me a little while to decide which site to use, but after some research (and a lot of negative web information about Shelfari) I chose to try Librarything. It allows you to add all of the books you have read (after 200 you have to pay for an advanced membership), catalog them, review them, get reviews from other readers, discuss authors in forums, etc. For any book junkie the site really is useful.

Check out the little widget on the right side of the site to see 8 random books pulled from my collection. Clicking on them will take you to their Amazon information page. Most of the books in my collection are spy thrillers, but there are some good non-fiction books there as well. Once I get all of my old books out of the closet and cataloged the variety will increase.

Picture Updates

Spoogly — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:48:56 +0000

Hi everyone,

New pictures have been uploaded of new Cakes and picture descriptions in the gallery have been updated.

Take care!

Happenings…

Spoogly — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 19:57:44 +0000

Oktoberfest

So this past weekend was pretty interesting, I guess. I wanted to check out the Oktoberfest at the Penn Brewery since I have been taking German for the last 6 months or so. The whole plan sounded great in theory, but it took over 30 minutes to find a parking spot (super packed) and we only stayed for a few minutes. I have never been there before and there wasn’t a lot of room for the thousands of people there. It was nice to see the old style brewery and maybe we’ll get a chance to go down there for a dinner on a non-Oktoberfest weekend sometime.

Divided We Fail

One commercial that caught my eye this weekend was the new commercial from AARP that advertises the dividedwefail.org campaign. Now, I’m not too sure about the target audience since it is something that is being supported by AARP, but I really love the idea. It’s about time there is a place where people can go to talk about the issues that are important to the actual people of this country, not some political agenda. Not saying that there isn’t a political side to this campaign, but I wasn’t really able to tell if it swung one way or another. Check out the site if you get the chance. Our country needs some major change and this site looked to be a good spring board for ideas, stories, etc. A real movement for the public.

Time for the Steelers and Cardinals. Go Stillers!

Random Update - Endlich (finally)!

Spoogly — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 23:29:57 +0000

Well, once again it seems as though it has been an extremely long time since I’ve updated this site. A lot of things have passed in the last few months such as our 1 year wedding anniversary, our dog’s 1st birthday, trip to Orlando for work, etc. As usual, I have a ton of books that I have read, but haven’t had the chance to write about lately. Hopefully, I can get back into a swing so that I can at least give a general opinion.

Another thing I have been focusing on is learning a 2nd language - German. So far, it is going good and I have private lessons in the city. I have updated the site to a new theme and am hoping to put some actual work into making it functional.

Book Review: Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

Spoogly — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 19:40:06 +0000

I have read a good number of books since my last review, but I wanted to write about this one while it was still fresh on my mind. The book is Labyrinth by Kate Mosse and it is another book that is about the Cathars under persecution from the Church in France circa 1209AD. There is a set of secret books that explain the “grail” which in this book is a mixture that allows you to live for hundreds of years, and the Church is trying to obtain it. While the medieval story plays out, the author does a great job of telling a present day story that parallels the strife, family history, and conditions that the characters in the 1200s went through.

Check out the site - http://www.labyrinthbook.net/home/index.asp

Pros - Well researched story - flows well

Cons - 500+ pages, not a quick book.

Highly recommended.

Ubuntu Feisty Fawn Released! - 4/19

Spoogly — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 19:40:00 +0000

So, I am a little late on this post, but the new version of the Ubuntu OS 7.04 is available as of Thursday 4/19/07. I have tried many different distributions of Linux and have been using Ubuntu for about a year now. I don’t do any crazy tasks with the spare laptop I use it on, but it will definitely be my OS of choice once my main tower dies. Each release just keeps getting better as more of the OS is refined. Hats off to the Ubuntu developers and community.

Check it out - http://www.ubuntu.com