stuart

Lifestyle choices

stuart updegrave — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 14:51:00 GMT

Life has lately been presenting me with lots of opportunities to reflect on what exactly it is that I want for myself these days. It seems that another such opportunity is presenting itself on the work front. As previously mentioned, now that the interview process with wetpaint seems to be going well (although they want me for three more hours of interviews next week; it's getting wearisome), the UW position from a couple months ago has finally come out of its holding pattern.

Comparing the two is an interesting exercise:

wetpaint will be high-intensity (probably averaging 50+ hrs/wk with possible extended periods of more than that), will offer that long-discussed "work downtown" opportunity, and has a potentially very large upside. Ah, the start-up ideal. The folks I've talked to there seem like good folk: a youngish, vibrant team of wanna-be world-changers. There's "A Mission". Pretty focused areas of ownership, it seems: most likely strictly working on web client UI at least for the first while.
UW is most likely straight 40hrs/wk, leaving more time for the rest of my life, which is filling with art thoughts. The work focus is likely to be much broader – client dev, middle-tier, database. There's a great gym at UW which employees can use, and the option to take classes is really appealing, as I'm just not that sure I want to do software forever. Not downtown, true, but close to Agua Verde for lunch!

I have periodically thought it would be nice to get to do pure web client work again, but I really grew to enjoy not being so laser-focused on one area my last few years as a dev at Microsoft, so the contrast in responsibilities is one that requires a non-trivial amount of consideration.

This is one of them there dilemmas, it seems.

Another lifestyle choice I've made recently is a decision to not be in a hurry to date again now that I find myself single. I haven't set a particular timeframe, but I'm beginning to think I should establish a minimum goal for myself, otherwise I'm likely to fall back on old patterns.

Of course, the universe has wasted no time at all making sport of my decision, by suddenly presenting a cornucopia of intrigue as soon as I've decided to focus on me. I've had several friends predict that something like this would happen, along the lines of "now that you've decided to focus on yourself, you'll probably meet someone you're interested in".

In response, I shake the fist of fury* in the universe's general direction.

And of course, there's the whole taking care of myself physically. I've lost at least 10, maybe 15 pounds since I moved to Capitol Hill. The combination of lots of walking and a fair bit of yoga (okay, maybe some of it is due to not eating as much as I used to) has resulted in me being in the best shape I've been in for at least the last six or seven years. It feels great.

In that vein, I'm really glad I've stuck to my guns on not considering jobs across the lake (hey, I guess that is yet another lifestyle choice!) as well, for I'm much more likely to ride my bicycle to work if it isn't at least 15 miles involving crossing the lake either on a bus or the shoulder of an interstate. Something I'm really looking forward to.

Dang, I feel all responsible and shit. Crazy crazy.

* Mad props to Miss Susie for introducing me to the 'fist of fury' concept.

Bad timing all 'round

stuart updegrave — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 22:07:00 GMT

I had round four of interviews at wetpaint today. Once again, it felt as if it went well to me. I've now met the HR lead, both web-client devs, director of prod dev, PM, both server devs. That's seven, out of 11 or 12 FTEs. Zoinks!

A couple hours before I'm set to head down for interviews the fourth, I got mail from pmatt, informing me that the UW positions I was so hot on a few months back were finally going to be posted.

So, of course, I submitted my resume. What else could I do? I'm planning to follow up with the hiring mgr in the morning, to let her know I've submitted and try to get verification that she considers me a worthwhile candidate.

Now comes the interesting bit – two jobs which, while both being in the same industry, are in many ways polar opposites: web client vs. cross-boundary, startup vs. academia, yeah.

Life seems to be trying to teach me some lessons about timing of late.

oh dear

stuart updegrave — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 00:27:00 GMT

I am more than a little fearful of fuel from a company named Lovecraft.

wetpaint update

stuart updegrave — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 18:55:00 GMT

Folks have been asking, so here's a quick update: I had in-person interviews today, which seem to have gone well. I met with the other two front-end devs, and the head of product development (pm, dev, test, design all report to him).

They've got me coming in again on Tuesday afternoon, when I'll talk to a pm and one of their backend devs. At that point I will have talked to half the company I think. :)

So keep with the positive juju, particularly Tue afternoon.

As I was heading in for the interviews today, it really hit me that if I were to get a job there I would be working downtown. Some of you have heard me exclaim at points in the past just how much I would like such an opportunity. Here's hoping!

new photos (Thailand / blacksmithing)

stuart updegrave — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 09:44:00 GMT

Just posted some photos to my flickr account:

A few long-delayed pictures from my recent trip to Thailand
Blacksmithing pics from my recent adventures with Tabasco

I must remember that I have a nice camera and should use it more often. :)

hot metal is, well, HOT!

stuart updegrave — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:58:00 GMT

Last Thursday I hung out with Tabasco at the blacksmith shop where he works, and he taught me a few things – how to draw tapers, make fishtails, do a bit of scrollwork. OH! And I learned to use a power hammer! w00t!

I'll be going back in with him tomorrow to turn the tapered / fishtailed pieces from last week into hooks for the pot racks he's been working on.

He took a few pics of me working; here are a couple I like:

more pics from our workday together.

More interviews

stuart updegrave — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:53:00 GMT

I had a tech screen with WetPaint yesterday, which I pretty much aced. I nailed all but two of the questions, honestly stated "I don't know" to one, and hypothesized rather well (I think) on another when asked to do so.

They've got me coming in on Thursday for in-person interviews. I think that working in Pioneer Square would be just fine. :)

We'll see where it goes from here, though I'm cautiously optimistic.

Something I'm really happy about

stuart updegrave — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 21:44:00 GMT

This evening I went to a partner yoga class with Bev, and it was wonderful!

She's been into yoga for years, and kept wishing it would stick to me while we were together. It was only after we separated that I started practicing regularly. So the other day she asked me to go to class with her.

It feels to me that our friendship is really blossoming now that we realized that "married" wasn't the right shape for our relationship. And it has room to grow, because there's a solid foundation of love underneath it.

That makes me so very happy.

job hunt progress

stuart updegrave — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 14:03:00 GMT

Dang (as in 'woohoo', not 'rassa-frassit')! I got a call from the first place I interviewed. They made an offer, for a four month contract.

And a callback for second interview from the company I talked to this morning.

Hopefully I'll have dueling offers by the middle of next week. Wouldn't that be cool?

surfacing

stuart updegrave — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 07:00:00 GMT

I've been quiet lately, duh. So, here's a bit of a catch-up on the willing-to-share-broadly bits of my life.

I'm actively looking for work again:

I interviewed at a small company called Seven Simple Machines in Fremont a couple days ago, and I think it went well. They focus on business process automation. Seems like a good group of folks, definitely a small company where I would have an opportunity to have more personal impact than at, say, MSFT or GOOG. If I go there, I'd have an opportunity to use most or all of the skills I focused on in my last few years at MSFT.

I have a phone-screen in a few hours with a place down in Pioneer Square, company called WetPaint. They look to be doing next-gen wiki platform work. The position there is focused on web-client UI development, which is really the kind of work I love to do. I enjoy doing end-to-end web application development (UI, middle tier, database, services, blahblah), but at the core I consider myself a web client dev.

If any of you reading this know of positions which fit my profile (HTML/CSS/script, ASP.NET/C#/WinForms, MS SQL Server, XML/XSLT/XPath, web services), feel free to let me know. One caveat, however. At this time, I am not interested in anything which requires a substantial commute (such as, say, across the lake, Shoreline, etc.). I wasted so much of my life commuting over the last nine years; I don't want to do that any longer if I can avoid it.

Yoga!

I spent the last half of January in Thailand, most of it on Thong Nai Pan beach on the northeast side of Koh Phangan. This beach has become one of my favorite places on the planet. I've spent time there on all three of my trips to Thailand. This time around, to my immense pleasure, I discovered that there is now a woman teaching yoga there six mornings a week.

I've been getting more into yoga over the last four months or so, and so was very happy to find a teacher there. Even better, she was the best teacher I've had so far (which made it even more difficult to leave!). I feel that I made a good chunk of progress in my practice while there (taking class five out of six days may have contributed a great deal in and of itself).

It took me a few weeks after my return from Thailand to start finding my rhythm for classes again, but finally got back into the swing of things. I have been going to class at 8 Limbs two or three times a week, and it feels great. It is with the happy- and healthy-making.

And, even nicer, a few days ago Bev asked if I wanted to join her in the Sunday evening partner yoga class she's been attending lately. I'm going to do so this weekend, and hope to have her join me in a class at 8 Limbs next week (I value her opinion on yoga teachers quite a bit, and want to hear what she has to say about one of the teachers there).

The crunchy bits

My emotional life is still quite taxing. Urg!

This is probably the main reason I've been so much with the incommunicado of late. I just don't know what to talk about.

And truthfully, this points to a somewhat larger question in my brain: how do I resolve the contradiction between wearing my heart on my sleeve with people I am really close to, and tending to play my cards close with my larger community. This is particularly of interest in this context right here. When I'm bound up emotionally, my blog tends to run dry – I don't know how to talk about what I'm going through in this somewhat impersonal-ish setting. Or if I even should, given that I don't want to violate confidences, cause more difficulty in various relationships and so on.

I guess this makes me question the value of a public-facing blog for someone like me. I suspect that the people who read this want to know more about my life and its goings-on (otherwise you wouldn't be reading it, right?), but I'm loath to reveal the details of my life in this public forum. So, then, what value is there to my audience if I am filtering that portion of my existence which is on display to only the positive or relatively innocuous?

I suspect that this is a topic I'll stew on some more. Perhaps eventually I'll come to some clarity. Perhaps not. If any of you have thoughts on the topic, I'd love to know. If you do so, please send me an email, instead of responding in the comments section – I think I'd like this sort of conversation to remain at least semi-private, though if useful bits emerge perhaps they'll show up in later posts.

Blacksmithing!

Yesterday I went out to Bothell with Tabasco, to go play at the blacksmith shop where he works. He's been working on a couple of beautiful pot racks, and asked me if I wanted to hang out at the shop and do some work with him. So I got to play with forging, learning to taper round and square stock by hand and with a power hammer, and doing a bit of scrolling. I went all assembly-line and did the tapering for a little over two dozen pot hooks. I'll probably go back in next week to do the scrolling and bending they need. Fun!

I have missed doing metal work. I'd planned to take another welding class at Pratt last quarter but my trip to Thailand caused me to cancel that. That reminds me, I should look at the spring schedule to see when classes start up again … :)

I really just want a house of my own again, so I can set up a small shop space for myself. Enough room to be able to do wood or metal projects. That's not too much to ask, is it?

Complete non sequitur: television

Battlestar Galactica and Lost are my two favorite (and only, until Alias returns from its baby-hiatus) teevee shows at present. They are both speculative fiction (duh!), but are in fact at least as much complex character-driven dramas as they are traditional science fiction storytelling. I'm sure that most of the universe is aware of Lost, as it is the most popular show on network television at present (I think). But if you're geeky, you really should consider checking out Battlestar Galactica if you haven't yet done so. The mini-series, season one and first half of season two are out on DVD, and there are many fine-quality torrents available online of the remainder of season two (which ends tonight, sadly). In fact, recent episodes are also available for purchase from iTunes, for a mere two bucks a pop (and if I didn't hate iTunes and the quality matched that of the torrented versions, I'd probably pony up that way).