2001 -- A Year of Odyssey
A year and a bit more in the life of Bryan Walls
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Fending off persistent vendor in Antigua, Guatemala
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The last year was most obviously a year of travel. I took separate trips to Guatemala, Italy, Ecuador, and Mexico, each for at least a week. The most important journey of the year, though, was into a significant romantic relationship with Diane, a lovely, talented lady inconveniently located in Atlanta, Georgia.
Work is there. The actual work itself is challenging, interesting, and often gratifying. The politics and bureaucracy is, I suppose, challenging in its way, but continues to be frustrating and demotivating. I'm still working primarily with the Science@NASA website, but have extended my involvement in work with the Macintosh Users' Group (working on rolling out Mac OS X), and with streaming audio and video at Marshall Space Flight Center.
The house is full, with two roommates. Besides Ronald Graham, who has been with me for years now, Dee Dee Corley has been renting for about the last year.
Having a woman's touch around the house has been nice. I've done some renovating: new laminate flooring for old carpet, and tiling a bath. I moved everything out of my bedroom, and can't bring myself to stick all that stuff back in, but won't throw it away, either. So now the library and living room are full of junk, but my bedroom looks great. Mostly.
I went to a weekend event called Life Training Weekend in the Fall. The weekend was a mixture of community building, indoctrination, and group therapy. It presented some useful techniques for recognizing and dealing with personal neuroses, and how to plan and implement life goals. I chose to seek a serious dating relationship. Within a couple of weeks I met Diane. Diane just attended Life Training in March of 2002.
Diane is a graphic designer living in Atlanta. She is a contra dancer; I met her at the Atlanta dance weekend. We fell in love very quickly, and have been getting
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Diane and I in Isla Mujeres, Mexico
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to know each other for the last few months. She joined my two brothers and me for a week in Caribbean Mexico before Christmas, then we spent Christmas in Tampa with her siblings and friends, before returning to Atlanta on December 27, where she had bunion surgery on Dec 28. We're looking forward to her being able to dance again fully -- she's well on the mend.
Neither of us has ever been married. That will be changing soon! I proposed to her on March 14, 2002. We're planning a relatively small wedding with at least a couple of larger receptions sometime in the Fall time frame. You're likely invited to at least one of the receptions! Diane's house is now on the market, and she'll be moving to Huntsville, soon. My house is going to be seeing many changes soon, as is my home! I've already given friendly eviction notices to Dee Dee and Ronald.
Spiritual stuff hasn't changed a whole lot lately. I'm still unchurched, and rather uncertain of those who are sure of some truth for me. I believe in a God and in prayer. I'm very thankful to have found Diane! I believe we're going to be cause and help in spiritual growth for each other.
