Hello again. I’m back home after a trip to Morocco, Christmas with family in California, skiing with siblings in Lake Tahoe, and a mellow New Year’s get-together with a dozen friends out on Whidbey Island. Life is good. I had a great time travelling, my sister and I are better friends than ever, and I spent just long enough away to completely forget what I was doing when I left, and to feel excited about digging back into it now that I’ve returned.

I’ve settled easily back into home and work. All the cold and exhaustion last month has taken its toll on my health, though, and I’m going to take it easy for another couple of days while I kick this cold. I haven’t really unpacked yet, and still have lots of laundry to do, but home feels like home, and my new Moroccan rug looks great in the living room.

It felt great to turn my music system back on and get a simple beat loop going. I haven’t felt quite well enough to start writing any real music yet, but I have a Plan, and a Schedule, and am hoping to make some real progress over the next few months.

The new year seemed as good an excuse as any to redesign my web site. I’ve wanted to update the Red Echo style and color scheme for months. The new look is perhaps a bit less brash than the old one, but I think it’s warmer and more comfortable to read. I’ve also given up, after just over three years, on hand-maintaining my HTML pages. It was so much fun seeing people leave comments while I was on the road that I’ve decided to start using a normal blog engine with a comment system (namely WordPress). This will also make life easier for the surprisingly numerous people who use RSS instead of visiting sites directly.