stillers time!

(Mobile update) Sara and I are in pittsburgh for ... the steelers-titans game! When your friends give you free tickets - you must make the trek! Look for us on tv!

You Can't Keep Me Down Forever!

Yeah yeah - I know it's been awhile since I updated the ol' blog. All I can say is - it's been absolutely hectic over the past several months! Actually, 2009 has been busy busy busy! A quick update on some major happenings:

- The Health Information Privacy Laboratory has gone through some major changes over the past year. In chronological order:
- Late last year, Grigorios Loukides joined the lab from Cardiff University as a post-doctoral fellow!
- Next, in March of this year, Aris Gkoulalas-Divanis joined the lab from the University of Thessaly as another post-doctoral fellow
- Then, in June, Acar Tamersoy joined the lab from Sabanci University university to begin his doctoral studies.
- And, in the same month, John Paulett successfully defended his master's thesis, "A Framework for the Automatic Discovery of Policy from Healthcare Access Logs", and, sad to say, left Nashville to take up a software engineering position at Washington University in St. Louis.

Changes indeed!

R.R.?

Did you ever wonder how "Rachel Ray" rolls off your tongue like "Ritchie Rich"? Yep, I went there. No coffee for two days and counting!

Michael J & a Birthday

For my birthday, Sara assumed the role of B.W.E., or Best Wife Evaaah. Why you ask? Because she, along with several friends of ours, decided it was high time to see a Michael Jackson cover band. Was I excited? Is Billie Jean not my lover?

Porter + Sofa = Cute (Yeah, I said it)

How can you not find the latest Porter antics amusing?

Bathroom Pictures!

Um... that's quite an icky title if you ask me, but then again, it's quite accurate. Here's a link to Sara's pictures of before, during, and after the renovation of our upstairs bathroom (that's right the one in the "elf space" as we say)!

Travel & then Some & then Some More

(Ugh, just lost a whole post somehow)

I'm blogging while en route to the airport! But isn't that always the case? This time I'm on my way out to Oakland, California for a research meeting. Amazingly, I spent the entire month of January at home! A whole month that was travel free - such an amazing experience! It's amazing what you can accomplish with such time (i.e., research, teaching, grant writing, and advising! Who knew?).

However, where January was devoid of travel, February has been anything but. I spent several days in the DC area (Thanks for the Thai, Mel! And, Kat, Justin - more thanks for introducing me to the Punch Club and the yummy grilled cheese! For those of you looking for the real DC, head out to this place before it closes.) Then, I was in Germany for a week to participate in a Dagstuhl Seminar, which was quite an eye-opener. It's amazing what electronic medical record systems development and systems security research is taking place overseas. Next, I was able to stay home for a week, but now I'm back in the saddle again and about to board a plane for Charlotte before crossing the country to San Francisco.

After this trip, I'll be home for several days, then off to Chapel Hill to lead a panel at a conference, then home for several days, then off to Toronto for another - Oh, I think you see where this is going. At this point, I'm beginning to wonder if my lab thinks of me as a mythical figure. And maybe it's true - I have been noticing a number of similarities between el chupacabra and myself...

Renovations

For those that want to stop on by and check it out, Sara and I are (with a little, ok alot, of help from our friends) renovating the upstairs bathroom! We spent the weekend ripping out tile, old drywall, a dingy closet, and the old sink and faucets. I'm sure there's more demolition that we've done, but we've also started on the rebuilding work by replacing some old pipes, moving some electrical (and removing some very scary, not-up-to-code electrical [yes, I received a little jolt - who knew the wiring not in the electrical box was on a different circuit?]), throwing up drywall, and more. Ok, I way "we", but without Sara's dad and some of his power tools (go saw zaw!) we'd be lost... Anyway, for those interested, we'll post some pictures soon enough.

Holiday(s) on No Ice

Hanukkah and Christmas at the same time! What could be better. I have to run, but here are some recent pictures from our holiday extraganza at Sara's parents new house in NC.

Sara's pictures

Molly's pictures

lower g @ o'hare = ugh

The administration of O'hare seriously need to consider renovating the lower level of the G terminal. There are no windows, weak flourescent lights, and some strange smells that, for some reason, overwhelm the coffee aroma emanating from the Starbucks stand. The lighting alone is creepy and depressing. It casts a seeming fog over the area and is reminiscent of a Greyhound Bus terminal restroom (shudder).

fa la la-ing to Mayo

Once again I find myself in Chicago O'hare Airport! Today I visit the Jinglelicious hub as I transfer to a flight bound for Rochester, Minn to speak, meet, and greet with the clinicians and researchers at the Mayo Clinic. Now, if only it was warmer than 3 degrees F (wind chill) at my destination...