so the week begins
cool air, grey clouds, gentle mists
my tea calls to me
Tis a grey morning in Seattle. Autumn’s coolness fills my senses. Time to rise, drink some tea, then face the world.
A Monday morning haiku
Category: Personal Reflections
Lessons learned about life; pearls of wisdom I’ve gleaned through pain, failure and honest reflection
Friends Who Introduce You To New Music Are The Most Important Ones
If you’ve read my blog for a while, you’re probably aware I think highly of Wil Wheaton. If not, I have written about him a number of times. Well, today he penned another post that got my nostalgia going: “sweet and tender hooligan“. One element of this essay that really struck me was about a young woman, who is named “Kara”. First loves, when it’s love and not just lust, are powerful things in lives. And, as Wil’s, Kara holds the place well. In a beautifully written way, Mr. Wheaton shows how she expanded his world in so many rich, deep ways. The kind of person we all want in our lives and should strive to be in the lives of others. Anyway, give it a read: it’s well worth it.
I didn’t have a “Kara”, exactly. I had several elements, though. There was a girl when I was in high school, a senior when I was a sophomore, who was much the same for me. I didn’t have a crush on her but thought she was massively cool. Very goth, quite radical for my little suburb of Seattle. She didn’t shave her legs! Another alien notion to me at that point. Though not a one-on-one relationship, she invited me to hang out with her senior friends. This crew introduced me to Rocky Horror, and bands like Roxy Music, The Jam, The Clash…and that’s only what I remember. There had to be more, but sadly the brain cells holding those memories have evaporated. Up to this point in my life, I had limited musical exposure. Top 40, that’s it. And that mostly meant disco (though I’ve developed an appreciation now, it was not really my…um…favorite back then). These folks opened my eyes in ways that dramatically changed me, some in ways that I’m still working on understanding. And, for that, I’m grateful. Like Wil is to Kara.
The playlist below features a few songs that this post brought to mind. These are some key songs by some key bands. I hope you enjoy!
An Breezy Night Haiku
It’s a stormy, rainy, windy night here in Seattle.
Dawn's light a ways off
Evening rains dance in the wind
An open window
Another Career Transition Update
I’m currently studying web development. Here’s my post that explains the why, and this link will be show you the series of updates about my change.
My last coding focused class was in the spring, where I took PHP and JQuery, two key programming languages for creating websites. Over the summer I took Project Management, Math and Desktop Software support (when I mapped out my path, I had a few gaps and I thought studying hardware would be fun). With PHP, I got to do some work with MySQL databases. This quarter I’m whole hog into SQL, MySQL and Databases: I get to study database theory and design, along with a class specifically focused on SQL scripting! This might be my favorite part yet!
I really enjoy databases. That might actually be a better descriptor of my current study program. Yeah, lots of web site creation, but I’ve had several classes with database elements (an intro to Office, including Access, and then there’s PHP where we did MySQL API calls, and a few other elements). And now my two data systems classes. Drives home the point that Web 2.0 is, ultimately, about interacting with data.
For some reason, databases come naturally to me (I’m sure I just jinxed myself and the rest of the quarter I’ll struggle mightily with SQL syntax…knocking on some wood now). So far, each of the database classes have just felt straightforward, that the syntax is clear. Javascript, for instance, was considerably less so. I’m looking forward to this, even though I still feel like I’m drinking from the proverbial fire-hose.
As I’m slowly marching towards the end of this stage, I feel the need to plan my next steps. When I went into this, I expected to come out and become a Web Developer, whatever that really meant. Now, I see so many possibilities, so many directions, so many things I can do with this knowledge. And I see how much more I want to learn. I’m exploring these and will post more soon.
Monday morning haiku
dawn upon the clouds
hints of red within the leaves
gentle morning mists
Sunlight Cafe
this sunlit cafe
motion of people living
strangers intersect
Dusk: a haiku
within the twilight
the glorious sky coloring
night's tranquility
A Word Challenge Haiku: Insidious
I’m very fond of “Word Challenges”. Today I’m taking on Fandango’s One Word Challenge, and the word is “insidious“.
despite their beauty these insidious flowers destructively grow
Photo by Munro Studio on Unsplash
A Blog, A Reflection, And A Recommendation
My friend Bill posted this earlier today: “Where everyone would love to drown“. Seeing the headline in my inbox, and knowing Bill, my brain connected it to the Stevie Nicks song “Sara”. Google, and its scion YouTube, assisted me as I wanted to listen as I read. Here’s what I played:
Hints of youth, of those people who’ve impacted us greatly, but who fade to myth over the decades. That’s what came to mind for me.
In response, a haiku awakened. True to form, I guess.
Summers of my youth Tastes of freedom and heartache Crowds passing me by
I highly recommend you head over to Bill’s blog, the Pink Lightsaber. He’s a talented writer well worth the gift of attention.
Dandelions Windchimes
with the wind waiting
gentle sun upon wind chimes
breeze awakes slowly