Officially autumn

Oh, it's that time of the year again: crisp air, crunchy leaves and fantasy football.

I love playing fantasy football. The drafts, the smack talk, the problem of coming up with a good name for one's team...

The ubiquitous nature of the Internet has changed the face of fantasy sports. No more manual labor with calculating points. Drafts are done in real time. You have choices about which type of league you want to be in, how the scoring is set up and what website to use. Add in countless commentators giving you weekly predictions and the sum equals a game that could be played by my 4-year-old niece, who would likely have as much--if not more--success than I do. I am a rational person and I know this to be true. And yet, I am sucked in by the pseudo-competition.

Lest you think I have completely lost my marbles, I lobby for responsible fantasy team ownership. Is there such a thing as "too much of a good thing?" I say yes. After more than two leagues, I think they start to cancel each other out. You can't remember who you have on your teams or if you do, it's because you have a massive notebook with the team rosters and too much time on your hands. :)

This is the day

Last weekend, my brother got married. Aren't they beautiful?



The bride and groom with their nieces and nephews.



Autumn made a surprise appearance for the day (it snowed the night before) and brought along the sun. My father preached on Psalm 118:24 for the ceremony. The afternoon was filled with photographs, cake and lots of smiles and a few tears. The evening brought a lovely video of the new couple, an informal home-cooked meal, a fabulous speech by the best man, lots of visiting with family and friends and more smiles and tears.

"This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 118:24

Chippewa Valley Code Camp

I'm preparing a presentation on usability for the upcoming Chippewa Valley Code Camp. CVCC is a free, one day conference with three different learning tracks. The conference is geared towards software programmers and developers. If this is something you are interested in, I encourage you to check it out. Maybe I'll see you there!