Time flies fast and before I know it, it’s already the holiday season.

I’m not really that overwhelmed. It’s usually this time that most people I know,  gather all their family members to re-unite and catch up. And because I live at home, family time is everyday and not just during the holidays. Of course, we go our separate ways with our own schedule but we still go home to one same place. My two sisters live away from us, raising a family of their own. But even then, we keep in touch almost everyday whether it’s by phone, text messages, or facebook. So what else is there to look forward to this holiday season? plenty, to my surprise.

During the time my sister, her husband and two girls, went to visit us for Thanksgiving, I realized how much I missed them especially my two nieces. They live in SoCal and every once in a while they would schedule to visit us.

Anyway, Thanksgiving Thursday passed by and on that Sunday, it was tree lighting ceremony in Centerville, Fremont. Centerville? I know it’s no San Francisco, but I want to stay more local and milk every bit of Arts and Culture this suburban life in our area has to offer. Plus, I know it takes forever to get the kids ready so it’s perfect Centerville is only a few minutes away from the house. So I rounded up the troops and headed to the tree lighting ceremony.

Once we got there, with our Starbucks Coffee (my sister is obsessed with Starbucks), Christmas Carolers greeted us with their wonderful voice singing Classic holiday songs. Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus took pictures with the kids. The whole placed was Christmassed-out (if there’s such term). Festive lights, candy canes, poinsettias everywhere, and of course, the giant Christmas tree. My sisters chased around the kids making sure they were not too cold or not perspiring, my parents were also busy looking after the kids. My baby nephew slept through the whole event. My younger sister Roczane, I forgot what she was doing, I think she was also playing with the kids. And me? I was busy taking pictures, changing the setting on my camera at each shot. I am no photographer but my HD digital camera has become my new toy.

Around 6pm, everybody counted down to the Christmas Tree Lighting. We had to do it twice because the lights wouldn’t work. In the end, we settled with a halfway lit tree.

Afterward, everybody left almost instantly, perhaps to get away from the shivering cold weather. My family and I drove to the restaurant where my cousin works as a waitress. We went to visit her and have her join us once her shift is over. The restaurant is called “Tribu”, the one in Union Landing. Of course there was nothing vegan in the menu so I had to walk to Fuddruckers and order my Gardenburger for take out. During and after dinner, we took pictures and the kids would strike a pose. Maybe they are now trained considering picture taking in our family is a big deal. My family members don’t even care to see the actual photos, they just like the act of getting their pictures taken.

By the end of the night, I realized family time may sound too common and familiar to me, but it’s a feeling that I will never get tired of. After all, they do give me space and alone time when, well, let’s say when I’m blogging.

La Conferencia Rails 09 ha llegado a su fin. Desde aqui quiero dar la enhorabuena a los organizadores, han sido unas jornadas muy completas, y sin duda alguna cada año la conferencia ha ido cogiendo mayor relevancia en la comunidad.

Como comenté en mi anterior post este año he tenido la oportunidad de participar como ponente. Para mi ha sido una muy buena experiencia compartir con la comunidad algunos contenidos que he aprendido en este último año en ASPgems. Me gustó mucho el final de la charla, algunos asistentes se animaron a participar en el debate, básicamente la pregunta es ¿un desarrollador Rails concentra ciertas características que significan una ventaja competitiva frente a otros desarrolladores? En mi opinión, si,  en el siguiente post expondré los principales motivos que estuvimos explorando en la charla Tribu on Rails. Os dejo la presentación por si queréis echar un ojo a los contenidos que estuvimos  viendo.

Magical

Bruce Parry documentary on the Anuta tribe: Going Tribal.
Play all <—-+

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Here are our additional photos taken during our Coron Island hopping. Enjoy!

]]> http://sinalefa1.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/mi-firma-en-las-paredes-documental/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:25:25 +0000 sinalefa http://sinalefa1.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/mi-firma-en-las-paredes-documental/ http://themorbidangel.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/why-i-left-my-heart-in-coron-photos/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:52:42 +0000 themorbidangel http://themorbidangel.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/why-i-left-my-heart-in-coron-photos/

For the reviews click here.

]]> http://sinalefa1.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/boceto-xxxii/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:12:14 +0000 sinalefa http://sinalefa1.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/boceto-xxxii/ http://nsisolution.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/lentreprise-tribu/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:26:05 +0000 Pascal Veilleux http://nsisolution.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/lentreprise-tribu/

Cette présentation est tirée d’une conférence qui s’est classée au Top 10 du Congrès des conseillers en ressources humaines (CRHA). Chantal Dauray (Concerta Communications) et Nadine Murtada (SPB Psychologie organisationnelle) expliquent en quoi l’entreprise peut se comparer à une tribu et comment le Web 2.0 est un outil des tribus modernes.

On y parle aussi des rituels d’équipe pour attirer et accueillir de nouveaux talents, créer des liens avec et entre les employés et consolider le sentiment d’appartenance. Montez le son de vos haut-parleurs et écoutez la musique !

Vous pouvez voir Chantal Dauray en entrevue ici.