In his recent column in WIRED, Paul Ford has a great metaphor for science, one that really resonates with me as a software developer. He writes, After a while you realize that science itself is just an API to nature, a bunch of kludges and observations that work well enough to get the job done.…
Way back in 2005 or 2006, my brother-in-law1 introduced me to David Sedaris’s books. He did this one evening by describing to me some of the funny stories Sedaris recounts. They were indeed funny, and the events of that evening seemed to mimic the humor of what I was hearing. At the time my brother-in-law…
I took the girls to the library again so that they could return the books they checked out three weeks ago. They then wandered about looking for more books to check out. I think they like they concept of borrowing books. While I managed to resist the last time, this time, I couldn’t help me…
Back in June, I wrote about the project management paradox. In that piece, I tried to answer the question, Why is it that I can manage large, complicated, technical projects at work, but be paralyzed with indecision when it comes to managing my own to-do list outside of work? What’s worse, I can’t even settle on…
In one daydream, I am sitting on a covered porch that faces south toward a vast cornfield. There is a gentle breeze that blows and if I look up at the corn, I become distracted by the waves that seem to ripple through it. Beside me, on a small table, is a sweating glass filled…
Lately, I have been trying to slow down. I think it began on our recent vacation. I’ve noticed lately that I do everything quickly. I walk fast. When I walk with the Little Miss, holding her hand, she often says, “Daddy, you’re walking too fast.” I try to see how quickly I can empty the…
A few days ago, the Yankees played the Chicago White Sox (and ended up losing a close one). What made the game unique was that it was played in the middle of a corn field at the Field of Dreams stadium Dyersville, Iowa. The field was originally constructed for the 1989 Kevin Costner film, Field…
Note: I never know what is a spoiler and what isn’t. I think it varies by person. With that said, it is possible there are spoilers in what I have written below, but I don’t think I give anything significant away. Still, that is my own judgement so if you haven’t yet read the novel,…
There is no need for me to say that it has been incredibly hot and humid here in northern Virginia. It’s the same pretty much everywhere in the U.S. right now. So I’m saying it for my non-U.S. readers so that they have the context for the post. Hot. And humid. For some reason, news…
When I was a teenager, we would spend several weeks each summer visiting my grandparents in New York. For some of the time, they would take us on road trips. We visited Cooperstown, the Catskill Game Farm (which no longer exists, so far as I can tell), Howe’s Caverns. Sometimes we’d venture into New Hampshire…