PyCon! This is going to be my first PyCon - actually, it's not really even going to be that. Due to my not making my mind up soon enough, I wasn't able to get a room for the earlier days, so I'll be coming in Sunday morning, and will pretty much just catch the sprints.

I'm really looking forward to returning to Chicago. I've been to Chicago once before, and really enjoyed it; O'Hare's architecture alone is just beautiful, and the city itself is an experience. I'm really looking forward to seeing the city again, and this time I'll actually bring along a camera to record it.

I bought a Canon Digital Rebel XT from Amazon, which should now be on the way. I had been planning to get a 'proper' digital camera for some time, and figured I should have it on hand when I got back to Chicago, so I went ahead and got one that looked like a good entry-level SLR. One thing I haven't decided is what (if any) online photo-sharing service I'm going to use. There's Flickr, of course, and SmugMug, and I have to admit a pretty important comparison point for me with them is the completeness and sanity of their API, as it'd be great practice to write a little upload client for them. Anyone who has coded against their APIs have a suggestion?

And between all the touristing, I do plan to do some sprinting. I'm going through Malcolm Tredinnick's advice, and hopefully will be marginally prepared to do some hacking on Django.

The other big news is that I'll be turning 18 on Thursday the 20th, while in Chicago. A great way to finish off the sprint, I think. I turned 15 while on a flight to Hong Kong at the start of a very memorable trip to China; on the other hand, I don't remember my birthdays since then, since I stayed in town. Lesson learned; I think I'm going to make it a goal to travel somewhere interesting to mark each year.