Julie and I just got back from our cruise vacation that brought us to destinations including Key West, FL and Nassau, Bahamas. What an awesome trip and just perfect for us to relax and finally kick back for a while. Oh, and eat way too much of course!

Surprisingly enough I did not suffer too much in the way of technology withdrawals when I was gone, as I was more than content with just relaxing for a change; I think Julie and I both were. So it is possible to live without internet access, cell phones (for the most part), and computers for at least 7 days. If you have not tried this technology separation exercise, perhaps you should as you may be surprised how easy it is to let go of for a while. However, we did have our mp3 players which came in handy while kicking back on the deck and for the flights there and back.

Well I guess I was one of the lucky ones who were actually able to find a Zune 80 as from what I have read they are currently in limited supply. This is actually my first MP3 player purchase, and I had been waiting for the release of these players since I had first heard about the 2nd generation Zunes a few months back.

Now I have only had it a day, but so far I am completely impressed with the quality of this player. The new version of the Zune software is definitely easy to work with courtesy of a nice clean user interface, which I always enjoy.

*View more photos here

The Chicago Skyline Stylization was essentially a stab in the dark, as this just sort of happened from playing in Photoshop. The right mix of filters, add some layer blending, then some brush work, and the result presents itself. I actually did this a while back and never posted it, but it is here now for your viewing pleasure.

*click for full view