Reboot

It's been awhile since I've had time or energy to blog. School and work are really taking an enormous amount of my time. I'm taking Physics and Accounting II this semester, neither of which are particularly easy courses.

At work right now I'm something of a bottleneck as well. I'm the only one with a current license to the software we use to develop installation packages, and I'm building 3 separate installers, all of which have an extremely high priority.

In addition to the needs of work and school, I'm also going through something of a revolution in the way I think about the craft of programming. I recently read a book that was, as M. described it, the Atlas Shrugged of programming. It's given me a lot to think about, and many new areas of software theory to explore. So I've been spending my evenings reading about design patterns development principles.

I haven't even had much time to read. Since I finished Debt of Bones, I've started the 10th Horatio Hornblower novel, but I haven't made much headway.

Still, all of this is good in a sense. While it is stressful and difficult to be as busy as I am, getting my degree is a high value for me, taking on more responsibility at work is definitely part of the career-path I've chosen, and the theoretical tools I'm developing for my career are going to have a huge impact on both the quantity and quality of my productivity. I'm going to have to arrange for a rest in the next month or so though. Even if it means taking a couple of vacation days or something.

It's been busy

It's been an extremely busy time for me. I'm taking Physics and Accounting II this semester, so my brain is pretty tired from that. Additionally, MS has introduced me to what he termed the "Atlas Shrugged" programming--an assessment with which I have to agree. I've been busy digesting the contents of "Agile Software Development" and learning about Object Oriented Design Patterns. Between all this, I've barely had time to breathe.

Sometimes it's hard being so goal-oriented :).

Maria Mena

I almost hate to say it, but her song "You're the Only One" really appeals to me. She's definitely all pop star at this point, but she is clearly distinguished from the Christina Aguilera / Brit'ney Spears crowd. First of all, she writes her own songs. That's a big deal for me as I don't believe that anyone that doesn't know how to write their own songs really knows how to sing.

Perhaps one might argue that most pop is fluff. I actually agree, but fun fluff is still fun. I'll be watching this girl to see what she does when she grows older. I've often wished that Christina Aguilera would do a jazz album as her voice is definitely suited to that style--I think that Maria Mena is fine where she is right now, but as she matures, I believe that her music will too.

SOUNDTHESIRENS.COM - Review :: Maria Mena - White Turns Blue

Full Frontal Nerdity

For you D&D players out there.
Full Frontal Nerdity

Full Frontal Nerdity

For you D&D players out there.

Full Frontal Nerdity

My hero in his younger years

monkey methods: Bill Gates Strikes a Pose for Teen Beat Photospread, 1983

Debt of Bones

Debt of Bones is a novella written by Terry Goodkind that takes place in his Sword of Truth universe. It does not stand on its own as a work in that assumes a reader-familiarity with the world and various peoples and cultures. Ordinarily, this would be a severe criticism. However, this novella was commissioned specifically for a collection of novellas by favorite authors, set in their favorite universe, for the fans of that universe.

As such, I would not recommend reading this book to anyone that has not read at least the first 6 Sword of Truth novels. In addition, there's not a lot of book to justify a hardcover purchase. Get the paperback instead.

For fans of the series, this story delivers all the best features of Goodkind's heros--self-reliance, clever, unexpected risks, lucid reasoning, and awesome power.

Naked Empire

I'm a week overdue to report on Naked Empire. This is the 8th book in Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. Since Faith of the Fallen, Goodkind has been much more explicitly philosophical in his novels, integrating philosophical issues with the plot in a fantasy setting. In the previous book, Goodkind took a side-trek with a completely new character who it turns out is the sister of the hero. He introduces other characters in the previous book that end up playing a pivotal role in "Naked Empire."

This is part of the reward of reading a fantasy series--you get to see apparently minor characters set up pivotal events without realizing what they're doing until it's way late in the game. This is a hallmark of the skill of Goodkind's storytelling as well--he is very good at bringing in that long-overlooked-supposedly-irrelevant fact that serves as the linch-pin of the entire plot.

As much as I have enjoyed his books so far, Naked Empire is not his best work in my opinion. Unlike his other novels, the climax isn't as ... clear and necessary. Despite my misgivings, it still stands as a seminal work of fantasy fiction. Goodkind is clearly in the elite of fantasy authors. I highly recommend him to anyone.

Tsunami - Kalutara, Sri Lanka

Tsunami - Kalutara, Sri Lanka

These pics are worth looking at.

Wx Plotter Fun Tests - Nerd Quotient

Apparently, I'm not as nerdy as I thought. I'll have to work on that.

Wx Plotter Fun Tests - Nerd Quotient: "
"

Loreena McKennitt: The Visit

I'm listening to "Tango to Evora" from "The Visit" right now. I haven't listened to Loreena McKennitt in years. I've forgotten how good some of her stuff is. I love this song in particular. It's very old-world. It brings back nostalgic memories of one of the best relationships I ever had--we met over Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, and Loreena McKennitt.

B. was happy to see that I liked Tori and Sarah, but when she saw my Loreena CD's as well, she was intrigued. Thus began a very strange, intense, and easy relationship. I still mourn the way she and I got along--I've never had that again with any woman. I had no idea at the time how rare that was. When I have that again I'll have to take better care of it.

My New Toy

Last year I started a new annual tradition, and this is the first year I was able to cash in on it. I decided that I would set all of my change aside as soon as I got home. So, over the course of the year I collected around $40 in change which I deposited a couple of days ago. Add to that a $50 Amex Gift Card I got for Xmas and I've got fundage for a fairly nice and frivolous present for myself.

Here's what I decided on.

http://media.zzounds.com/media/brand,zzounds/606cg_top-69877e7132baef2e67e3e72c2e5ff773.jpg

The people at www.zzounds.com were great too--they had the order processed and shipped within 2 hours. I sprung the $7 for 2-day shipping, so it should arrive by Friday. I've been trying to get back in to playing the guitar lately, so this should provide ample motive to play more. I'm especially looking forward to combining several effects. I had written something years ago that made use of Chorus, Reverb, Delay, and a Volume pedal. It'll be fun to try to ressurect that old tune.

If this goes well then I'll have to get a decent loopback recorder.

On Altruism and Peanut Butter

Hilarious. The logical end of altruism. That's probably not accurate though--I'll probably come across an even more ridiculous story tomorrow.

It must suck to be that kid--but jeez where does all this accomodating everybody else end? Here's a tip--if you are the one that has a problem, then you (or in this case your parents or guardians) are the one that has to take responsibility for dealing with said problem.

The Worst Thing ...

...about being sick is not the actual illness; it's looking at your house after you've been debilitated for 3 days. My house is a mess. My nightstand is covered in empty, pulpy glasses that used to contain Orange Juice. There are clothes and dog toys on every floor in every room. The trash needs to go out, bills need to be paid, groceries need to be bought. Argh! It makes me want to be sick again just thinking about it. I guess what it really boils down to is the lost time--it's not only the time you lost doing things that are fun, productive, or relaxing, but also the time you're going to lose trying to catch up and get your life back in order.

Being Sick Sucks!

Title credit goes to my friend Elona.

The Aviator

I saw this movie yesterday. It's a biography, so it doesn't have much in the way of plot. However, it is very well done, and serves as a reverent, but honest portrayal of Howard Hughes. As one of the more controversial figures in recent American History, it's hard to for an objective opinion about him without extensive reading. The movie serves as a brief introduction to his life and his madness which for me is the springboard for a more in depth study of this figure.

Despite his madness, he was able to soar (no pun intended) to magnificent heights in the airplane production world. He nearly died (twice!) test-piloting his own planes. Yet he still test-piloted the plane that everyone said would never fly. He was consistently able to see farther and do more in his field than anyone else. People thought he was crazy for this reason, knowing nothing about his actual psychological problems. But in this area, he was genius.

I have no way of attesting to the accuracy of the film as I have done no other study of Howard Hughes. I can only say that the film paints an interesting picture of the man, and was extremely well executed in every way.

The Pillars of Creation

Book 7 of the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind is quite different than any that have come before. It is the first in his series that does not make the slightest pretense at being focused on his primary hero. Instead he built a story that was only tangentially related to his primary hero, but focused on a completely new character. In fact, he does not have a single scene in the book for the first 550 pages. The most interesting thing about the way the story is built is that his new character is good, but is at odds with the primary hero. Thus it becomes the most interesting type of conflict: that of the good against the good.

If you expect this book to be about the hero Richard, it will disappoint you. But if you take the book on its own merits, it's still a pretty good story. Not one of Goodkind's best, but still good by any standard.