In previous years, I’ve written these entries with lists and bullets, being an engineer and all. But that’s kind of utilitarian don’t you think? I’m not at a stage yet where I will be writing letters or cards emails to everyone yet, so a blog will have to do.

By far, the biggest event, both in terms of current and future impact is that Pauline and I got engaged. After a brief excitement on how to plan this thing they call a wedding, it has been on the back burner for awhile. Things may pick up in January when there are countless wedding shows.

I did some travelling this year, mostly in the first half of the year. The highlight was going to France because it was free! I actually made a couple of bucks profit due to conversion rates and reimbursement. I went to give a presentation, but I also had four days to explore Paris! In June, I went with my parents to China on a duckling tour. It was my first time within China proper, although we were pretty sheltered as “official” tourists. Jeb and I also, on a whim, took a quick trip to London, which was my first time in Europe. Ah the life of a student is great for spontaneous things isn’t it.

Having a lot of spare time means an opportunity for building up hobbies. I continued to play Warcraft frequently this year, and I obsessed about Urban Dead for a while. In my spare, non-Warcraft time, I bought a couple of new Gamecube games to play, but wasn’t too impressed with the Wii. I also started getting serious about photography (two new cameras this year). I, along with several classmates, started a group photoblog which has spurred several photo outings and fueled my photographic passions. In March, I started up Free iTunes Downloads as my second attempt into niche blogging, and I think it’s going pretty well. I’ve made over $500 so far!

Half of my summer simply disappeared due to travelling, shifting from Waterloo to Toronto, and starting an internship at IBM. I did have an opportunity to catch too many Blue Jays games, and a couple of concerts. The one that sticks out in my mind is VFest, where I saw an amazing headliner in The Flaming Lips, was right-up-there for Phoenix, finally saw The Strokes live and a very tight performance from Zero 7. Also, Victor had a BBQ, but what else happened in the summer? Hmm need to check my calendar.

In terms of professional development, I spent most of my year bumming around doing “research”. Once I made it to IBM however, I was able to get more on track. My thesis has been written, and is undergoing review; so I should be convocating at the next possible opportunity. I’m glad that this degree is over. As part of my time at IBM, I manned an exhibit at the Technology Showcase at CASCON and participated in several of its workshops. DQ has been quiet this year, because both of us have been focusing on different matters, although we were asked to be a mentor at CUTC last January.

Related:

Year in Review 2005
Year in Review 2004

Posted by Kevin in Blogs Tags: 2006, best-of