Personal
Thirty
When I was 20, my favorite quote was: "Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss" (Douglas Adams).
Today, I turn 30, and while I'm still new to this whole thirties thing, so far I continue to really like that quote: let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's continue to learn, and let's not take ourselves too serious.
With that in mind, let's end my twenties in style ...
Pearl Jam - Black
I must have listened to this Pearl Jam song a million times. This video chills up my spine and makes me want to be a rock star. Eddie Vedder's raw passion comes straight from his heart and his soul and can bring a grown man to its knees. Powerful stuff!
Houffalize
We just got back from a one week family vacation in Houffalize, a small town in the Belgian province of Luxembourg.
No e-mail, no RSS feeds, no eyeballing on Drupal discussions, and no way to stay in touch with work for one week. No e-life. It's great to be able to spend all your time with your family: we hiked, we walked, we swam and more. Pictures of our vacation are available in my Houffalize photo gallery.
Now I'm back, the mail/work backlog seems to be as bad as I expected it to be. I'll be easing back into work over the weekend, but it might take several more days before I get on top of things. Stay tuned!
Bush - Glycerine
The song Glycerine, of the post-grunge band Bush, is probably the song that has had the most impact on my life. I was 17 years old when I discovered this song. I had just moved out of my parents' place to go to college and started dating the woman that would later become my wife.
Around that time, in 1996, the song was performed live, solo, by Gavin Rossdale, during a heavy storm at the MTV Spring Break festival. Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, we can go back in time and replay sentimental memories of our youth. (The YouTube video of the MTV Spring Break performance is embedded below.)
Even today, 12 years later, this might still be my all-time favorite song. I just listened to it ... twice. Nostalgic!