Rational Frank

So much to do

matthewdeville — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:16:10 +0000

Finish Code Simplicity

Keep reading and studying PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice

Read The Shape of Design

Finish reading Responsive Web Design

Add octopus to painting I was working on

Take new mtn bike out on a trail

Give the dogs baths

Learn Git

büro destruct edding 850 font

matthewdeville — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:32:22 +0000

http://type-for-type.com/?h=1027

go get it.

Book Lust

matthewdeville — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:31:23 +0000

According to the Dental Hygienist

matthewdeville — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:22:56 +0000

I grit my teeth, but only on the left side. I’m stressed, apparently. Which explains when I get that pain on the left side of my neck right below my earlobe. I had that Tuesday, after the grand inquisition, which apparently I did well in, but left me exhausted anyway…

this image has nothing to do with dentistry, it is by Robert Fludd. I think it is nifty.

Hello 2012, Goodbye Coffee

matthewdeville — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:27:23 +0000

goals for 2012:

no more coffee. yerba mate instead
no more beer
no more carbs
no more working on sinking ship projects on time off
lots more learning
lots more art
work on anxiety issues
be a better dad
be a better husband
save more money

simple enough, right? why do I feel like I’ve been here before?

Pattern Recognition

matthewdeville — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:42:41 +0000

project scoped by overzealous sales person
project assigned to inexperienced developer
developer spins wheels and feels bad for not “getting it”
other developer steps in to help
realizes problem at hand is not simple in the least
other developer asks for help from another developer
head-banging ensues
nights spent working on sinking ship project desperately trying to find an answer
post on stackoverflow.com and get smacked for “not trying hard enough”
vacation ruined
project way over budget
many features remain undeveloped
self doubt
anger
feel like a failure yet hang on to thread of knowing that it ain’t exactly all my fault
rinse and repeat

sales people have no place in the scoping of projects. no place.

“Another Year Down the Drain”

matthewdeville — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:44:22 +0000

Salvatore said that once. We were eating dinner in the blue house in Linthicum, I think. “Gee, great” I thought, “how uplifting!” Old men are prone to those kinds of proclamations.

People my age are supposed to be excited for the new year. I recall being quite happy to say goodbye to 2008. I’m happy to say hello to 2012. Especially curious to see how all this Mayan prophecy junk works out.

Okay, then, 2011 in review:

my baby boy was born in march. he’s amazing. such a happy little guy and very easy going. I just wish he’d stop trying to bite my nose.
I built a patio in the summer. I dug out six inches of dirt and moved it with a wheelbarrow to the back yard, then filled it with sand and finished it off with flagstones. It was meaningful work, let me tell you.
Since baby boy was number three, I got neutered in August. Ouch. Since I tend to bumble through life I never thought about the impact this would have on cycling. If I had thought about it, I may have chosen to remain intact.
we went to disney world in september/october (2011 was blurry. I can’t remember completely.) I was surprised at how much fun the trip was. Sure, there were times when I was annoyed, but I had a great time with the kids.
One saturday in November, I went to REI and bought O a new bike. She loves it. It was a stretch money wise because we were very focused on paying off a bill, but it was worth it.
I quit drinking for about two months, hoping to inspire others around me to quit. Didn’t work.
I quit coffee for about two months to see if it had an impact on GERD. It helped. Then it got dark and rainy in October/November and I folded.
I tried to lose weight all year. apparently I didn’t try hard enough! except that time I had stomach flu and lost 8 pounds overnight.
Between the snip snip, the boy being born, stomach flu and general laziness, I’m 300 miles behind my cycling goal. But I’m okay with that. Sort of… I’ll hit 10,000 miles in January. Good enough.
Work was challenging and stressful. I’ve been coding since the middle of summer. I find it very gratifying but also frustrating since we don’t have any full time developers on staff. Not much chance for mentorship…

What do I want in 2012?

a little tranquility. (ha!)
inner tranquility. when I quit coffee, I felt very calm. I could use some of that again.
I need to learn to relax. Having goals is great but when they wear you out and everything is a blur, that ain’t living.
the wisdom to take time out and engage with my children.
sleep.

This is a bummer of a post. I get this way at the end of the year, like my grandfather.

Now, it’s time to got paint with O.

Ice Cube on the Eames

matthewdeville — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:33:07 +0000

Exhaustion

matthewdeville — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:15:21 +0000

Last week I got to work almost everyday 90 minutes earlier than usual and worked 60 minutes later than usual — or so it seemed, or so I’ve convinced myself — to wrap up a sinking ship of a project. In many ways, this project was a real cluster. At the same time, it was a project that constantly nagged me and pushed me to push myself and learn new things. Like AJAX in wordpress on the frontend side. SQL queries that went beyond “SELECT * FROM”… to using JOINs and BETWEENs and other joyous geek weaponry.

Sleep has been crap for one reason or another. Diaper rash, nightmares (in neither case am I referring to myelf, but the children…), dogs needing to take a dump at 2:39 am, concerns about people at work f’ing things up on the project management side of things… (some folks should not be project managers…)

I’m exhausted. Straight up bone tired.

But the good thing is I don’t feel particularly frazzled. I’m too tired to be frazzled!

Industrial Stereogram

matthewdeville — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 03:24:51 +0000