Saturday, October 30, 2010
Social Networks
I saw the movie "Social Network" tonight. It was very engaging. Afterwards I remembered the people and companies I worked with in the late nineties when the Internet was just starting to take on a more mature level of development. From reading the Wikipedia article on Social Network I wandered around through information about Sean Parker. From there I remembered Tantek Celik, which lead to his LinkedIn site. From there I explored common connections to turn up literally dozens of people I had not considered in years. Folks from the Aldus, Claris, Microsoft and Macromedia years. Lots of great memories.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Week of September 19-26
Well, I guess it's time to wrap up the week. It always seems like a long time has past when I try to think back over the week. Sometimes its a blur. Other times there is more clarity. In keeping with my new blog stream of consciousness philosophy, I will just go ahead and splatter as I listen to John Coltrane playing Central Park West or, now, Pat Metheny playing Soul Cowboy on the wonderful digital music jazz station supplied by the corporate evil entity, Time Warner.
As usual, work occupies the major portion of my week. We are getting close to shipping the next release of the Corepoint Health Integration Engine in 2010. That is very satisfying. We have a couple of long pole features keeping it back but we are getting close.
Other than work, I am looking into buying more property. With interest rates at historic lows and deals to be had, I am thinking about ways to leverage that. A house I am interested in was reduced by 20k just this week (amounts to about 10% reduction). I am making a run for it. We'll see what happens with the low offer I proposed.
I was fortunate to attend a very excellent SMU Orchestra concert Saturday night. They played a premiere compostion by Paul Phillips, the orchestra director. The best piece was the Rachmaninoff Variations on a Theme by Pagannini. Of course the Brahms 4th symphony was no disappointment either. Very excellent. I love to see young people coming together to create a modern experience of historical compositions. Something about that makes life worth living.
Finally, I finished the week today walking for an hour around White Rock Lake with my best friend Diana. We had wonderful conversations about children, music, philosophy, psychology and theological variations. This afternoon turned out to be perfect weather and I heard the Mike Drake trio at Times Ten Cellars. What a treat as it was really a quintet that included the best musicians in Dallas.
As usual, work occupies the major portion of my week. We are getting close to shipping the next release of the Corepoint Health Integration Engine in 2010. That is very satisfying. We have a couple of long pole features keeping it back but we are getting close.
Other than work, I am looking into buying more property. With interest rates at historic lows and deals to be had, I am thinking about ways to leverage that. A house I am interested in was reduced by 20k just this week (amounts to about 10% reduction). I am making a run for it. We'll see what happens with the low offer I proposed.
I was fortunate to attend a very excellent SMU Orchestra concert Saturday night. They played a premiere compostion by Paul Phillips, the orchestra director. The best piece was the Rachmaninoff Variations on a Theme by Pagannini. Of course the Brahms 4th symphony was no disappointment either. Very excellent. I love to see young people coming together to create a modern experience of historical compositions. Something about that makes life worth living.
Finally, I finished the week today walking for an hour around White Rock Lake with my best friend Diana. We had wonderful conversations about children, music, philosophy, psychology and theological variations. This afternoon turned out to be perfect weather and I heard the Mike Drake trio at Times Ten Cellars. What a treat as it was really a quintet that included the best musicians in Dallas.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Weekly Roundup
Over the last few weeks I have played jazz out a couple of times, checked out a couple of Toastmasters groups, helped a friend find a car and gone on a couple of short hikes.
An old musician friend called me to substitute for the regular piano player on a Wednesday night at the Balcony Club. This was great fun and the first public gig I've had in a few years. A minor downside was the tendency for the group to "trade fours" on pretty much every tune. I think that trading fours is effective if used sparingly. Doing it on almost every tune defeats the surprise element and becomes rigid and non-creative. A week or so later I came back to sit in for a couple of tunes. This was enjoyable and I played in a trio setting, so I could avoid trading fours, which I did.
I have an interest in improving my ability to speak spontaneously. Participating in a Toastmasters organization is one way to do that. They offer a "curriculum" of 10 speeches that range from ice breaker to entertainment to use of props. Everyone who speaks gets an evaluator who gives constructive criticism. Also, there are table topics which require you to stand and give a spontaneous 1-2 minute talk on some random topic or question. I have not decided if I will commit to this yet, but I have visited two different organizations in the Dallas area so far to investigate.
My friend bought an Acura TSX this past weekend. She loves it!
We started to go for another hike on the Katy Trail today but decided instead to go to church at Unity Church of Dallas. We had not been to church there in several weeks and Karen Epps was finishing up the series on the book, Writings in the Sand by Thomas Moore. The presentation was superb as usual.
An old musician friend called me to substitute for the regular piano player on a Wednesday night at the Balcony Club. This was great fun and the first public gig I've had in a few years. A minor downside was the tendency for the group to "trade fours" on pretty much every tune. I think that trading fours is effective if used sparingly. Doing it on almost every tune defeats the surprise element and becomes rigid and non-creative. A week or so later I came back to sit in for a couple of tunes. This was enjoyable and I played in a trio setting, so I could avoid trading fours, which I did.
I have an interest in improving my ability to speak spontaneously. Participating in a Toastmasters organization is one way to do that. They offer a "curriculum" of 10 speeches that range from ice breaker to entertainment to use of props. Everyone who speaks gets an evaluator who gives constructive criticism. Also, there are table topics which require you to stand and give a spontaneous 1-2 minute talk on some random topic or question. I have not decided if I will commit to this yet, but I have visited two different organizations in the Dallas area so far to investigate.
My friend bought an Acura TSX this past weekend. She loves it!
We started to go for another hike on the Katy Trail today but decided instead to go to church at Unity Church of Dallas. We had not been to church there in several weeks and Karen Epps was finishing up the series on the book, Writings in the Sand by Thomas Moore. The presentation was superb as usual.
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