Last night I went to check out a launch party for one of my friend’s websites: Bellaga.com, an online boutique for fashion designers. I expected the usual tech-crowd – most of our gatherings are geeky on the extreme, with a M/F ratio of about 99%. So I was very surprised to see last night a lot of women – even models I assume – plus a live DJ and open bar. In retrospect, the site is about fashion, and parties with free unlimited drinks are like catnip for fashion industry people.

We didn’t stay long – I’m leaving for Canada today so I had to pack – but enough for my friends to almost get me drunk. Almost.

‘Tis the season to be jolly!

This has been a pretty packed holiday – usually I get to spend these days indoors catching up with videogames I want to play – but this year was different. Lots of people, parties, going out, things to do.

The Christmas lunch was at Nico’s with all the gang. As usual, we got stuffed like this was gonna be our last meal on Earth, but the food was top-notch.  Afterward we went to see Sherlock Holmes – which is fun btw.

Yesterday I traveled to Brooklyn to Roxy and Slava’s place for another get-together. There was Russian traditional food, lots of booze and happy music. Pictures from the joyous event can be found here.

Looks like this is it for 2009, so I’ll see you all happy people next year. Cheerios.

After a great weekend – attended a birthday party on Saturday night (clubbing till 4 AM) and a dinner party on Sunday (with delicious home-made food)  – this week started with me getting sick. Really badly. On Monday night I went to see a Comedy Central Presents show (stand-up comedy, basically) and by the time it was over I was feeling like someone just hit me with a sledgehammer. Repeatedly. The next couple of days brought some relief, but I’m still away from recovery.  I can’t take any days off (my company doesn’t have sick days and I already used all my PTOs) so I have to come to work and try not to infect my friends. Hopefully by next week I’ll be done with it.

Been spending my nights – as long as the sickness allowed me to – playing Modern Warfare 2. For anybody who played the first one, this one is a must. Same fast-paced, gun-blazing, insane-action shooter, with missions all over the world. From running atop shanties in Rio de Janeiro to infiltrating Russian oil rigs (and even a prison), the game delivers on every aspect. Multiplayer is fun as well, you gain levels and equipment the more you play. I’ll explore that more after I’m done with the singleplayer campaign.

The last piece of news is that I managed to finish my first iPhone app. Don’t get excited, it’s just something simple for work – a browser for our wallpaper catalog. Usefulness: 0. Probability that anyone outside my company (scratch that, anyone *at all*) will use it: 0. Having all the time in the world to learn Objective-C and CocoaTouch: priceless.