know the score

i'm back from brazil and life at home has wrapped her arms around me again. i was up at 7:30 this morning to get through email and take a quiet shower before p. woke up; then it was get him into the shower, run to the bakery to get some fresh bread (mmm...), cook a healthy breakfast for two, get p. off to school and then back home to get some work done.

quite a different pace from the last week or so where i sat on beaches with a drink in hand and little else to do. i did my best to not even think about work and free software, and i think i generally succeeded.

of course, it wasn't all typical vacationing. as brian, a new friend from the free software world who also lives in canada, observed: life can be a bit surreal around us oddball types. for instance, birthdays played a significant role in our adventures: we visited a nude beach where we played by the rules and stripped down to birthday suits; took a jog on thes and and then played in the waves. very liberating.

we also managed to get ourselves invited to not one, but two birthday parties. one was professionally dj'd with a small and excessively inexpensive bar; a number of the partiers were dressed in various costumes ranging from pirates to french maids. the second birthday event was in the apartment of a local free software aficionado's parent; this was prefaced by a freshman college party and followed up by a night on the town visiting some of the interesting establishments of florianopolis. we watched the sun ascend over the ocean that morning from a pier where people were fishing with nets. a moment to remember.

it wasn't all party party though. i would get up in the morning with the sun, shower and then head to the beach with a towel and do some yoga. it was very ... healing in some way to look out over the rippling blue ocean glittering beneath early morning sunshine and work my way through various poses. i was usually done before too many people started taking their morning beach strolls so the peace and tranquility was left alone. this really helped contribute to a feeling of unity with the natural world again. i needed that =)

i also came back with a yerbe mate kit from a local market so i can enjoy that local drink as i wander about the city this spring...

and of course there was FISL which was noticeably bigger and more productive than last year's installation. so kudos to everyone who put it together! i know that i made a good number of connections within the local community, regional business interests as well as international companies. it sometimes strikes me as a bit funny that sometimes one has to go to another hemisphere to connect with companies that are, relatively, in your own backyard.

showing KDE4 had a huge and positive effect. people are quite amazed by what is already there, and i'm sure they'll be even more impressed by what emerges as we move through 4.0, 4.1 and beyond. even outside of the presentations i gave (one on kde4 in general, and one a technical coding presentation, both to packed rooms of at least 4-500 people) i was holding coding tutorial sessions on the exhibition floor for new and interested developers. sitting around and sharing our cool hacks with people who will undoubtedly turn around and contribute their own efforts in the futrue was in itself extremely enjoyable.

in any case .. i'm back in black. see you all around the intarwebs =)