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Had to force a post tonight – didn’t want February to slip by without another update. So what’s up with us? Well, top story is we’re getting really excited for our Thailand trip. The more I think about it, the more it sinks in how epic this is going to be. It’s basically a Shanghai reunion on a private tropical paradise. Jarrett and Candice are getting married, and people are dialing in from all over the world to make an appearance. America, China, England and even the UAE will all be represented. We are leaving two weeks from tomorrow and it can’t come soon enough. I even bought me some new boat shoes for the trip – damn, ain’t nothin’ like some new boat shoes!

I’ve started a redesign of PortfolioFamily.com, but due to some other web commitments I’ve made, it’s gonna be awhile before I have a chance to get back around to it. I promised my dad almost a year ago that I’d put a site together for his business – he’s a doctor, an ophthalmologist, so he’s a lifesaver for your eyes. He does laser surgery and lots of other stuff, all types of eye surgery and everything else all the way down to just figuring out what kind of prescription you need for your glasses. A couple months ago I woke up with a nasty pain in my eye and I called him, and he was like, well, you might have a corneal scratch or you might have an ulcer, I can get you some drops but do you have insurance? Cause they’re gonna be like a hundred bucks – I mean, I could just give you some if you were here but you’re at work. I said, well what do you think? How about I just wait till later this afternoon and I’ll come over and get some? And he said – and this is how I knew it was serious because my dad is always – always – totally cool about the situation, playing it down – he said, well, if you’ve got an ulcer then I’d wanna jump all over it. So he phoned it in to the pharmacy across the street from my office and I paid fifty bucks and had the drops within 20 minutes, and my eye was fine by the end of the day. Problem solved. That’s the advantage of having a doctor for a dad – and I’ve loved being a doctor’s kid my whole life.

So you would think I would have built the damn site by now, but no – I’ve totally slacked on it. In fact, the domain is coming up for renewal, so it’s been a year. Pathetic. My goal is to get this thing out of the way before I get to Thailand – in fact, I should be able to do it faster.

Then I’ve got a site I’m building for Xianyi, for a super top-secret site she’s planned out for herself which I can’t tell anyone about yet cause it’s so fresh and so clean. But it’s gonna kill.

And then I’m helping Aunt Jennifer build her professional site cause she’s reached a point in her business where people are asking where she is online and she has no answer, so we came to an arrangement to trade services. She is a master of the Alexander Technique, which is a system for relieving stress and tension in the body by practicing proper posture. Lord knows I need some of that with my chronic cubicle cramps. It’s hard being a corporate warrior.

I’m getting excited about golf again as the season approaches. Tiger made his return to the game after an 8-month break for injury. He wasn’t too stellar: he beat a no-name in the first round of the Match Play WGCs, then lost to Tim Clark, a decent but not incredible Englishman South African. But I’m getting the bug again. It’s funny how my ardent love for golf really does die for a few months each year – I guess the weather has a major impact on it. But maybe I just need a few months off every year. Anyway, I’m bringing my clubs to Thailand.

We watched the Oscars earlier this week and though most of the winners were easy calls, the show was a good one. I liked the feature of having five previous winners come out and give speeches about the nominees, because it put a little more emphasis than usual on the worthiness of nomination. Although there were some backfiring moments, like when Adrian Brody said, “If you Google the resume of Richard Jenkins you’ll find he’s done over 60 films…” – Google the resume? Did it feel unseemly to anyone else that he threw Google in there? Oh, and the dancing numbers were lame, especially the one with Beyoncé, which was a total waste of her voice. Though it was better than “Single Ladies,” a song I hate with a singular passion.

UPDATE: Let me not forget Wrisley’s follow-up to the Oscars, his live report from the very slum of Slumdog!