The Good Life... a weblog about life, technology, and the Opera web browser

Rebekah and I have added two new albums in our image gallery: Weekend in the Woods and honeymoon pictures. Enjoy!

While working on these pictures, I was struck by how much of a hassle it is to use different software for my image gallery and weblog. I'm going to reinvestigate the possibility of using Drupal for my image gallery in addition to my weblog. I mean, it is a content management framework. Images are content. It seems like a no-brainer.

I know there's an image module for Drupal, but I think I tried it out and found it lacking features I wanted. I'll have to have another look. Of course, if I end up deciding that a Drupal-based solution can work, I'll have to import all my pictures. And there's probably no Gallery import script, so necessity will again force me to write one. Oh well, at least I'm bringing something unique to the Drupal community.

Speaking of importers, I've been working on a Blogger importer. I'm almost finished, save for an issue with importing comments. I've had to hack my way to access the Drupal functions for adding nodes, comments, paths, and users, since no formal method to do so exists. I may work on that (again) once I'm finished with this importer work. Ideally, there would be an API to access these things.

There are so many more things I want to write, yet I feel bad for hijacking my own post. And I don't seem to have the courage to sit down and get the words through my finger tips. I miss staying up until two or three in the morning, posting about whatever came to mind. I don't feel like I have that freedom anymore (and said freedom-deficiency has very little to do with being married, thankyouverymuch).

Sometimes, I'll be experiencing life and think to myself, Self, this would be a fantastic topic to write about! I'll begin to think through the opening sentences in my head, working on the wording, etc. Then, I either get caught up in the reality of my full-time job or computer-less apartment and lose track of the whole thing. Part of the reason it's taken so long to upload the honeymoon pictures is that I wanted them to accompany a story I was going to write about our trip. That story never materialized, so neither did the pictures. I finally gave in and just posted the pictures, hoping that I'll get to the story sometime. We shall see.

A lot of Things seem to be building together to try to sour my life. Well, it ain't working, Things. You're going to have to try harder. Or, better yet, give up your futile attempts to give me a nervous breakdown! I will not succumb! Muhahaha!

Anyway, I hope more will be coming your way from Oslo soon. 7:30 comes pretty early, so I must be on my way. And yes, I was a bit exclamation happy this evening. Toodles.

Mrs. Helms sent us the following scan from The Capital newspaper in Annapolis, MD:

Greetings from Oslo. I'm sitting in the Opera Software offices again and enjoying catching up with friends. I'm still working on catching up on e-mail from the past four weeks. I'll get to it, just give me some time.

So, to keep you busy, you can look at photos from the wedding. Head over to the photographer's site and enter the username Helms and password 3145. And get ready to see loads of images.

As for me, I'm off to look for apartments. Bye!

UPDATE: Sometimes entries look so much better with pictures. I've added one above from our reception. From the left, the subjects are Angie, Rebekah, me, and Betsy. And don't forget to check out the wedding photos in our gallery (as Rebekah reminded me)!

I take it that most men show up at their wedding when they're told wearing what they're told. I hadn't occurred to me to not be involved in the planning, so I have been. Rebekah has been doing most of the research, but when it comes down to the final decision, she asks for my input. Perhaps it's been a bit more stressful for her (having to consider my input), but I've really enjoyed being a part of the process.

Since we have a lot to do in such a short time, we work almost every day on wedding plans. Next Tuesday, we start ballroom dance lessons. On Wednesdays, we meet with a pastor for premarital counseling. It doesn't leave a lot of time to do personal things, but it's as if we're being forced to mature into the people we'll need to be for our marriage to work.

Think about it like this: when you're on your own, your biggest responsibility is yourself, but when you're married, your biggest responsibility is someone else! Most people would fail miserably making that transition on the day they get married without some preparation. Putting a wedding together is loads of work. It took us about a month just to get all the addresses for the invitations together. Creating our wedding registry was the most intense shopping I've ever done. If I were to little things go undone, they'd become overwhelming and I'd be a stressed-out loony. However, by working on these things bit-by-bit, they're manageable. So, simply by helping to plan our marriage, I'm becoming more mature and responsible. Bonus!

It was about a month ago that Rebekah and I returned from Lynchburg for graduation at Lynchburg and Randolph-Macon Woman's Colleges (RMWC). It was a time to share in the joy of our friends and greet those we hadn't seen in so long. And for Rebekah and I, it was time to take another step on the path of life we walk together.

RMWC is a school of traditions and superstitions, as well as a fine educational institution. Nestled amongst the red brick buildings is an innocent gazebo-esque tower, part of the RMWC folklore. It's said that only fiancés or fiancées may safely enter, other entrants risking future engagement bliss. It just so happened that Rebekah and I were out walking that Saturday evening, following the sidewalks woven amongst the buildings and the red brick wall guarding the campus. Through the garden and past the library, we climbed the stairs next to the Engagement Tower.