Spring time in Paris

I was in France last month, on my second honeymoon with my wife. We have been married for the last 10 years! It didn’t seem so long, but looking back at old photographs when we were still in school, and then pondering over these ones below made me really look at the collected creases in the mirror and how they reflected back on her face. Seeing how our lives intertwined and changed over the years made wonder how things would have been if I didn’t gather all my courage that one day 17 years ago and asked her to go out with me.

Anyway late spring is a great time in France, sunny weather yet not too hot to make you break out in sticky sweat. We went roaming around the countryside with Ying Chow and his Taiwanese friend, visting the beautiful Fountaine de Vacluse with its green wavy gushing spring and paper mill, the lavender fields Abbey of Senanque and the amazing wild poppy fields peppering the sides of the road as we rumbled merrily over the Provencal countryside in Ying Chow’s sturdy green Twingo.

Paris was a different matter altogether, with gray clouds and gloomy skies, but that was Paris, land of the Eiffel Tower and the Lourve the shopping malls of Hausmann Boulevard. We went roaming around by foot, taking in the sights and sounds of Paris and her monuments, strolling along Champs Elysees, drinking the marvelous French cafe and avoiding the jangling Eiffel Tower model touts.

Web Mashups with Ruby on Rails

I’m going to write a book! Tentatively titled ‘Web Mashups with Ruby on Rails’ for now, I’m working with Packt Publishing to finalize the paperwork but I’m already starting on it. I’ve categorized web mashups into 3 different types, and is writing 2 – 3 mashups projects for each category. The book will take about 7 months to complete writing, but will likely take close to 9 months to be completed.

In the meantime, I have a blog post on mashups if you’re interested.