Monday, April 30, 2007

Today [4/30] DJ Zenith on Throwdown Sound

Today I will be returning to Throwdown Sound for a special set.

What: DJ Zenith on Throwdown Sound

Where: Duh! throwdownsound.com

When: 2-4 PM Pacific Time
             4-6 PM Central Time
             5-7 PM Eastern Time
             11-1 AM Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

7 books to read and many more...

at a minimum. as i wait for the right job to materialize, i have four (yes four) technical books i'm either reading or finishing. i am focused (as i keep blogging).

i am glad the pressure is temporarily off so i can finish this one book i want to finish. it's only a mere 400 pages of technical sheet.

then there's three books i am in the middle of now: DaVinci Code Decoded by Martin Lunn, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling (i'm not ashamed of this at all... i wanna be a wizard), and Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (The American Empire Project).

Books I'm meaning to get back to or start in some cases: The Bible, The Qu'uran, Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson, Head Crash (a spoof on Snow Crash which is good even if you haven't read Snow Crash), a Jack Kerouac Biography: On the Road, Fast Food Nation, a reread of the Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and many more....

Monday, April 23, 2007

cycle o' life

workout-eat-study-study-music-read-sleep-rinse-repeat

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

I am so singularly focused right now

My head hasn't been this clear since at least 1999. You think I'm exaggerating? I'm not.

I went from being pretty upset last week and not wanting to interview to looking forward to the opportunity. I wake up every day feeling happy and cool as a cucumber.

My day(s) consist of the following:

  • 1 - 1.5 hours exercise

  • 1 - 2 hours of hanging with friends over a coffee or ginger ale. All my friends know I'm a walker freak so sometimes they call me to go for a walk. I call that a two-for-1... Hanging with peeps and getting additional exercise.

  • 2 - 3 hours of business

  • 5 hours with two specific technologies I'm looking at


And the crazy thing is... I'm really enjoying it! I studied last night until 11:30 and got up at 5:30 to get the ball rolling again.

I had my interest in software architecture renewed this/last week by some awesome friends. One of the top five minds in the business started it... We met three years ago. We had dinner last week.

And it's my friends (as in plural) unrelenting support and belief in me that has made all the difference.

Yes! Of *course* I'm still a DJ. Software is my bread & butter though. I'll be back behind the decks in public soon. Of *course* I play at home all the time. But first thing is first people.

So in conclusion, Ms./Mr. Interviewer... bring it on! I can take it & then some.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Easter post: two out of two

We lived all over. Michigan. The Phillipines. Korea. Southeastern Virginia. Washington, DC. Just to name a few. We always invited the orphans. There was a minimum usually of 10 guests and usually closer to 20.

My parents still have get-togethers. Their chili-con queso at super bowl is well-known. The mushroom swirls at Christmas are epic. And if you decide to eat my dad's chili.. you are on your own brother.

When I used to bring dates to the house... I warned them. Don't do the putt-putt golf contest with the bottle of hennessey. I don't *care* that you're twice daddy's size. He looks so harmless and friendly. He's got the boisterous laugh and the disarming smile. He's irish you fool.

Just as an aside: No, I'm not. He's a step dad. But. Still.

Not one date ever listened. And so. They have a guest bedroom and so it goes.

What's my point again? I never understood why some people say I only want *family* at my holidays. I had an ex who's spoiled little sister took this attitude. Sure I was invited but it was the attitude that was troublesome.

But I've noticed lately that people are frightened over the war and bonding together. I think that is absolutely awesome. Not the part about the war. Of course not.

I think it's awesome that people are realizing what's important. These days I'm giving all my friends a kiss on the cheek hello & good-bye. A well-timed kiss on the cheek goes a long way.

So. Pucker up people.

1 Easter post out of two.

so happy Easter folkses. i am reminded of growing up in the espicopalian (anglican) church. as i was growing up as the daughter of a military officer, i was instilled with these ideas of strict patriotism and loyalty. and there's the golden rule and one of the ten commandments: do unto others as you would have done unto you (sorry if i didn't get it quite right... you get the idea).

and as a loyal and patriotic six year-old... i wanted to carry the amercian flag in church. the american flag went up the aisle on the left and the american flag was always to the right.

well, as you can imagine... my family was the most rambunctious group of three in the church. my brother was always harassing me... he was one year older and always off the height charts and i had to get really creative to get him to stop. then we were running up and down the outside of the pews exploring the wonderful wall-to-ceiling stained glass windows that decorated our church. who could get there fastest? why, the one that ran over the other first. and you had to be cleva.

then we have my six year-older sister discussing how we were both: "sooooooooo immature".

so. when i went and asked the acolyte director to be an acolyte at age six.... he didn't know how to respond. my parents had done their best to discourage me. i didn't know anything about reading between the lines. if my parents had told me straight up not to do it... i *might* not have.

but. the acolyte director thought it would be very unchurchly to say no. he quickly found out (as he has told me since then), that the best thing to do with rowdy youngsters was to put them up front in the acolyte pews and teach them they had to behave. teach them the bible. all of the sudden, the minimum age for acolytes at our church became six.

by the time we returned from our overseas duty, our church had become the center for the acolyte order of Francis & Claire. They rushed me to the ceremony by the bishop. For whaterver reason, you have to become a canterbury by the time you are 18. It's a distinction for life. I kept putting it off. I asked, "why"? The director said because.

I don't regret this decision. It's just that that period in my life was so confusing to me. I was getting pulled in five hundred directions. I was in engineering school in my second year. Anywhosit.

What does a canterbury acolyte do? He/she has fulfilled all the posts. She/he has served the priest directly in communion. Yup, she's carried the flags and the torches. Her job is to preside over the service and fill in at a moment's notice.

I remember one time that I looked over at one of the youngsters. He had started to cry. Under my breath I tried to discern why. His mommy had disappeared from the pew in the middle of service. I had to rush him off to the bathroom so he could see she was OK.

While we were out there, we asked him if he had to go. We took him into the restroom. We made sure he washed his hands. Then it twas back into the service. All very quietly of course. I gave him a big hug for good measure.

What's my point you ask? It's that family is family. Not blood. Family. I live 3000 miles away from my family in the proper since so I've had to create family here. Home is where the heart is. Happy Easter.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Liskov Substitution Principle

I'm reading about it. If you're a software architect, then you need to know and love: http://objectmentor.com .

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

terry gross and fresh air and george clooney

today i am listening to an interview with george clooney. i couldn't agree more about his idea of the word *liberal*. why is that a bad word??? two words: "karl rove". but seriously. why?

geek out

so. i had a great interview last night. over dinner. i have no expectation to get this job. this man is one of the best and only true architects i have ever met.

he was able to explain inversion of control, how you can use RMI without beans, and many other things. it was fun for me. he would be a tremendous architectural mentor for me. that's what it's about.

the whole interview i could see the gears of his brain turning about how to make the language better... or write another language, or this other language that takes care of threads... why should your engineers worry about threads anyway???

if you don't know what i'm talking about... that's fine.

i feel blessed to have had the privilege. my gutt tells me that i'm heading in the right direction. and that's enough.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Saturday night

i had one of the best saturday nights in a long time. i went on a walk and ran into a friend of mine. we sipped wine and watched movies. i've gotten over the whole bar scene for sure.