Me

The fun part of blogging is the desire to put some personal touches to your writing; those glimpses into who you are or where you come from that help readers understand you a little better.  To start off my own "tradition", here’s a list of things that will give you a glimpse of me in 2009.

What’s in my ears:

• Armin van Buuren’s weekly radio show "A State of Trance" (ASOT) – a weekly radio show of the latest trance and progressive from DJs all over the world.  Digital music is a great synergy when I am coding and I’ve always been a bit of a techno geek.  Recent favorites: Signal Runners – "Meet Me in Montauk" (original mix), Dash Berlin – "Man on the Run".
• Classical Trancelations by Lowland – a classical remix of popular trance songs.  This was a surprise album I heard about on ASOT and decided to pick it up.  The sound is just phenomenal and at times it feels like you’re listening to the digital track but all the songs were performed using orchestral instruments.  It’s a great break from the usual beats.
• Cold Play and The Killers – two great rock bands great for this sensitive dad type.  The songs cover all the ranges of emotion I experience in a week having a nearly three year old daughter and seven month old son.  Some of the songs really take me back to some of those memories and are great motivators when I’m too busy to get real time with the family.

What’s on my screen:

• Two words, (or is it one?)  Blu-ray.  A surprise gift from my family has my wife and I scrambling for movies to buy on Blu-ray.  We received 3:10 to Yuma as part of the gift (you should have seen our confusion when we unwrapped a Blu-ray disc with no knowledge a player was in the next box) and will be buying mostly action or Sci-fi movies to get the full benefit of HDMI and our TV’s 1080i resolution (sadly our TV only goes this high but really it’s quite a jump that I’m not going to complain).
• Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360) – The follow up to the successful Gears of War Sci-fi game about the fate of humanity at the hands of giant bugs and creepy monsters.  Arguably the next "Halo" which has some advanced features that have become standard in many games like the "cover" system where you can "stick" to walls to avoid things like bullets, missiles, and bug guts.  Engaging story mode with the ability to play solo or with friends.  The multi-player "hoarde" mode is just insane as you fight wave after wave of increasingly stronger computer opponents.  I finished waves 30-50 (the hardest) with some friends and need to go back and hit 1-29.  Other favorites are the Lego series (Batman, Indiana Jones, Star Wars) and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2.  Look me up on Xbox Live – cdrd04:
  

What’s in my eyes:

• Noel M. Tichy, "The Leadership Engine: How Winning Companies Build Leaders at Every Level" (amazon link).  One of the books for the leadership training I’m in and another one of several that have really resonated with me.  The leadership engine covers what the author believes, and I agree, makes great leaders: a leaders teachable point of view and the ability to teach that to others and grow them as leaders.  He discusses the concept of a learning organization which has leaders at all levels who have something to contribute to the whole.  Backed by solid examples this book is one of several that is shaping me as a leader.
• John Medina, :Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School" (web site).  This book was picked for an internal leadership meeting later this month.  The book explains 12 rules for working with yours and other peoples brains.  Medina breaks down the neuroscience into transportable rules that can help you work better with your brain.  The book is also a call to research to put some of his theories to further testing.  I’m nearly halfway through and have already picked out some important concepts that I can apply immediately.  One of my goals in the next month is to host a walking meeting.  We’ll walk around the building and have our meeting during the stroll.  Sound crazy?  This blog post sums it up pretty quickly and I have read other sources where companies used these to control time better.

What’s on my mind:

• Change.  My company is about to embark on what I would call radical and necessary change.  This will result in a busy and stressful year but we have a chance to build something great; something that will last long enough for the next generation to rebuild it better.  Everyone will be challenged; challenged to learn new things and to shed the old ways of doing old things for new ways of doing old things, old ways of doing new things, and new ways of doing new things.
• Certifications.  I have told myself for years I would work on these and now is the time to get back into an "official" learning mode.  My plans are to start on the MCTS for WCF (70-503 and 70-536) and go from there.  The exam prep book for 70-503 is on its way and one of my colleagues has the book for 70-536.  No timeline set yet but I will post the results when I get them.

I hope that all of you find yourselves challenged and learning in 2009.  Remember, this year is just for practice, next year is for real.