I succumbed to easy thrills of pulp novels and read Atlantis Found by Clive Cussler. It's the kind of novel that requires turning off your brain for the duration, but it's exactly what I needed. He is not a bad author, but some portions are written with evident ham-fistedness. Also, while the novels of this type are bound to feature stereotypical archtypes (a dashing rogue, a trusty sidekick, a damsel in distress), this one doesn't really develop them into interesting characters. Well, at least the main ones are adequate. I understand that this book is only one of 18 based on the adventures of the same character, so I will probably make an attempt at another one in the series, and then decide whether to continue or not.

Also started reading Stephen King's The Gunslinger and Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves. That last one lives up to reputation as one scary book.

I must be one of the last few people who don't have a DVD player. I realized this after a friend wanted to come over with a movie to watch and after I asked if it was VHS or DVD, he looked at me strangely and said, "Funny."

And I also haven't turned my TV on in six weeks.

I am supposed to give a talk on PHP-GTK at the PHP International Conference in Frankfurt in November, but I'm waiting to see how soon my passport/visa situation gets resolved, because both of them expire at about the same time in November and I don't want to be denied entry back into the USA if I travel. The whole INS thing is really ticking me off -- so many rules and bureaucratic junk, I've been here for 9 years and I still have over a year to wait for my green card. And now I read that Mexican president wants Bush to make it easier for illegal immigrants to stay here, where is the justice I ask you?

The Russian group that I'm involved in is producing a weekly radio show that's broadcast on Sundays. Last couple of times I was sitting behind the controls and directing the show. Fun.