A bit of navel gazing, if you don't mind...a moment to think about why I'm writing this stuff.
I mentioned before that I'm writing because I feel like it and this is an easy subject for me—but that's not a very useful explanation. A better one is that this stuff has proven itself hugely useful to me, and I'm hoping others will find it useful as well.
You've probably gathered from context that I, like most folks, have a day job: a software consultant developing systems for all kinds of clients. We're winding down a big project now, finishing features, writing documentation, and transitioning support. At the same time, I'm heading up R&D for a new product to be developed in-house, a first for us. Not very long ago those two efforts right there would have been enough to swamp me.
Now, I'm also working on Premake, with two big releases this year and at least one more to come. I'm building out this website too, with another round of changes in the works. I am learning how to develop for Mac OS X and the iPhone (to be featured prominently in Premake 4.2), and getting ready to bring my old Flat Four project back online.
Away from the computer (as much as anything can be these days) I am teaching myself how to draw, playing my guitars again for the first time in almost 15 years (and you can tell...I suck!) and writing for the first time in almost as long. I am teaching myself Spanish (hola!), and tonight is my first Kung Fu lesson. Oh yes, I'm married with two kids, a house-in-progress (aren't they all?), pets...the whole nine yards. And after all that, there is still time for Fallout and Rock Band, hanging with friends, and catching up on Battlestar Galactica (still on season two—no spoilers please!). And that's just what I'm doing now…you should see my to-do list!
Point being: there is a lot I want to do in my time here on Earth. Until recently, I wasn't able to get it done, and it was seriously stressing me out. Now I am getting it done, and the stuff I'm writing about is a big part of that.
To be clear, though: what I've covered so far isn't what got me moving. What finally made everything click was figuring out what I wanted, and building up the courage to go after it. How that happens is rather more philosophical. But it couldn't happen until I cleared my time and my mind to figure it out, and that's what stuff like scaffolds and MITs can do for you.
I'd like to cover a couple more topics in this "stupid simple" series, and then I'll probably slide back toward the technical stuff as I learn about Cocoa and the iPhone. If you have any questions or comments — love it, hate it, whatever — feel free to let me know here or in the comments.
