Bella and her "sister" Jenny are playing upstairs right now. They just came downstairs wearing pajamas, with stuffed animals stuffed into their shirts. They said "I have a double-ditch baby!" "Me TOO!" "Oh no, we've got to go upstairs and get into bed, the baby is going to come out!" "MINE TOO!"
Pamela and I are trying to figure out what a "double ditch baby" could possibly mean.
Right now I'm hearing yelling and running around - it sure sounds like the miracle of life is pretty dynamic.
Reminder: Jenny is 4, Bella is 3.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Prepare to Disengage
I was having lunch today with my buddy Paulie, and he had recently gone through a pretty rough breakup - after 2 years, they with no real animosity had to concede that things weren't working all that well. When I saw him last, I was a bit worried, but relieved. So today it turns out, he's back in the dating pool, and seems very happy. And he's going to read this and say "dude, what you talking about me for?"
It's actually relevant, because at the same time, I'm starting to break up with a long term client... at not with a bang but a whimper. After a few years, we've decided to start seeing other people. I'll always have fond memories of them, but with every day I spend separating, spending less time over there, the more "in-focus" it's becoming just how strange things had got.
This is a small hospital, and when I started, I was sort of "consultant at large", helping their team where needed. We had some great successes together. But as time went on, the project got bigger, and my time allocation stayed the same, and things just grew past the point where I could really be effective as a project manager. Then they hired a guy to "help me" - and now he's going to do the job.
I should be clear - I've done a great job, and they're a great client - but it's time for them to move forward with their own team for a while, and perhaps they can bring me back in as a "consultant at large" again when things have stabilized a bit.
It's been strange to have this happening - at first I was a bit panicky about losing these billable hours... and there was the fear that "they'd never get along without me". Again with time, I find that they're getting along fine, and my other work is more than compensating with the hours!
So it's a long way around to say that me and my friend both have gone through ending some long term relationships recently, and honestly it made me really happy to see him doing so well today.... because I can see myself turning that corner pretty soon too!
It's actually relevant, because at the same time, I'm starting to break up with a long term client... at not with a bang but a whimper. After a few years, we've decided to start seeing other people. I'll always have fond memories of them, but with every day I spend separating, spending less time over there, the more "in-focus" it's becoming just how strange things had got.
This is a small hospital, and when I started, I was sort of "consultant at large", helping their team where needed. We had some great successes together. But as time went on, the project got bigger, and my time allocation stayed the same, and things just grew past the point where I could really be effective as a project manager. Then they hired a guy to "help me" - and now he's going to do the job.
I should be clear - I've done a great job, and they're a great client - but it's time for them to move forward with their own team for a while, and perhaps they can bring me back in as a "consultant at large" again when things have stabilized a bit.
It's been strange to have this happening - at first I was a bit panicky about losing these billable hours... and there was the fear that "they'd never get along without me". Again with time, I find that they're getting along fine, and my other work is more than compensating with the hours!
So it's a long way around to say that me and my friend both have gone through ending some long term relationships recently, and honestly it made me really happy to see him doing so well today.... because I can see myself turning that corner pretty soon too!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
This month in Keyboard
In my third favorite geek magazine, Keyboard, there are two interviews that rocked my world: Goldfrapp and Imogen Heap. I love them both - Goldfrapp's soon to be released (but inexplicably in my CD player for over a month) album Supernature is superfantastic, and Imogen Heap's solo album is an amazing labor of love.
What's interesting to me is that both of these artists do music that is not that far removed from what I do when I have time - electro-ey dancey stuff with a nod to the 80's and 90's... but reading the interviews, they couldn't have a work style further from mine.
Imogen is an obsessive editor - she records everything as audio and chop chop chops it up and rearranges every note until it's perfect. It took her a full year to create the 11 songs on her album... in her home! She never sequences.
Goldfrapp are PLAYERS - they do take after take to get the performance right, then splice it together. You wouldn't guess it to hear their blippy bloopy stuff, but again, they never sequence!
Both referred to long hours of just noodling on the piano. Imogen said that growing up she would play the piano for 5 hours a day, and when her family traveled, they had to find places with a piano nearby or she'd go nuts.
For both of these groups, they are very engaged in the music making PROCESS - they like to play, to edit, to tweak.
This is compared to ME: I am very engaged in the music making RESULT - I rarely can spend more than 8 hours total on a composition... I need to move on. I don't like to improvise or "noodle" or "jam" - I prefer to direct my efforts toward creating a product. I think that realizing this critical DIFFERENCE in my style from others is sort of a relevation:
For years I've read things like these interviews and said "man, I'm going to TOTALLY work on my scales now - I've got to work up my CHOPS for JAMMING!". And 30 minutes later, I'm done with that idea and reading a book. This time, I read it and realized - the difference is that they love their process in a way I never really did or do. I'm WAY too impatient.
So my resolution is to be more comfortable with how I DO work - I get great results from my own process, and not to feel inferior when reading about total musos and their work styles. It's their bag.
What's interesting to me is that both of these artists do music that is not that far removed from what I do when I have time - electro-ey dancey stuff with a nod to the 80's and 90's... but reading the interviews, they couldn't have a work style further from mine.
Imogen is an obsessive editor - she records everything as audio and chop chop chops it up and rearranges every note until it's perfect. It took her a full year to create the 11 songs on her album... in her home! She never sequences.
Goldfrapp are PLAYERS - they do take after take to get the performance right, then splice it together. You wouldn't guess it to hear their blippy bloopy stuff, but again, they never sequence!
Both referred to long hours of just noodling on the piano. Imogen said that growing up she would play the piano for 5 hours a day, and when her family traveled, they had to find places with a piano nearby or she'd go nuts.
For both of these groups, they are very engaged in the music making PROCESS - they like to play, to edit, to tweak.
This is compared to ME: I am very engaged in the music making RESULT - I rarely can spend more than 8 hours total on a composition... I need to move on. I don't like to improvise or "noodle" or "jam" - I prefer to direct my efforts toward creating a product. I think that realizing this critical DIFFERENCE in my style from others is sort of a relevation:
For years I've read things like these interviews and said "man, I'm going to TOTALLY work on my scales now - I've got to work up my CHOPS for JAMMING!". And 30 minutes later, I'm done with that idea and reading a book. This time, I read it and realized - the difference is that they love their process in a way I never really did or do. I'm WAY too impatient.
So my resolution is to be more comfortable with how I DO work - I get great results from my own process, and not to feel inferior when reading about total musos and their work styles. It's their bag.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Chicago and the Deep Sleep
As I type this, my daughter is asleep 8 feet away in a semi dark hotel room in Palatine Illinois. 20 min earlier, I was catching an allergy break back at the hotel (everybody we see in Chicagoland has a dog, cat or multiples thereof - I am always VERY allergic down here). Pamela and the in-laws were going to swing by to pick me up to go see Grandma B (not the Grandma K for whom we were here celebrating her 90th birthday)
Anyway, I got a call from Pamela - Bella had fallen asleep in the car - I could get a pass on this Grandma night if I took custody. I readily agreed and met the car as it pulled up.
The entryway is as far from our room as you can actually get in this hotel - at the opposite end of an L shape, and four floors up. I wrested the sleeping girl from her car seat, and carried her the entire way up, put her in bed, got her coat off, put pajama bottoms on, and tucked her in, without even a HINT of waking up.
I vaguely remember times when I was a little kid falling asleep in a car, or at a holiday party, and waking up in my own bed, and thinking that something truly magical had occurred... it made me feel safe and small and cared for. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be on the other side of this mystery!
Rolling back a day: We did have that 90th birthday party for Grandma K, who was just thrilled about her gift of the iPhoto book. Pamela's brother Richard did a very nice iMovie to accompany it - nice songs and photos, with video greetings at the end from family who couldn't make it (and some extras from those who did... BELLA!). I was happy to help burn it to DVD, and my laptop pitched in when the DVD player conked out too!
In all, it's been a good trip, and I got to eat lots of evil Chicago food: Lou Mahnati's pizza (where the sausage is a complete LAYER of the pizza), Portillo's burgers, Beefs, Polish.... Mmmmmm!
Anyway, I got a call from Pamela - Bella had fallen asleep in the car - I could get a pass on this Grandma night if I took custody. I readily agreed and met the car as it pulled up.
The entryway is as far from our room as you can actually get in this hotel - at the opposite end of an L shape, and four floors up. I wrested the sleeping girl from her car seat, and carried her the entire way up, put her in bed, got her coat off, put pajama bottoms on, and tucked her in, without even a HINT of waking up.
I vaguely remember times when I was a little kid falling asleep in a car, or at a holiday party, and waking up in my own bed, and thinking that something truly magical had occurred... it made me feel safe and small and cared for. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be on the other side of this mystery!
Rolling back a day: We did have that 90th birthday party for Grandma K, who was just thrilled about her gift of the iPhoto book. Pamela's brother Richard did a very nice iMovie to accompany it - nice songs and photos, with video greetings at the end from family who couldn't make it (and some extras from those who did... BELLA!). I was happy to help burn it to DVD, and my laptop pitched in when the DVD player conked out too!
In all, it's been a good trip, and I got to eat lots of evil Chicago food: Lou Mahnati's pizza (where the sausage is a complete LAYER of the pizza), Portillo's burgers, Beefs, Polish.... Mmmmmm!
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Baltimore!
So in real life, I'm a healthcare IT consultant. Most of the time, this means I just manage projects and beat up on underperforming vendors. But sometimes I means I get to be STRATEGIC. Monday was just such a day.
A client in Baltimore engaged the company I subcontract through to help them determine their Vision 2010: Apparently Vision2005 was decided in 2000, and it was very Accounting focused, and the clinical people were adamant that Vision2010 have more of a patient/provider centric view.
No problem. Others from the company went and did current state assessments, looked at their budgets, their issue lists, etc. I was asked to go and help them brainstorm on a few subject areas that I'm pretty good at: Web, Radiology, Labs, Pharmacy, Rehab, Orthopedics.
The gig was I go with the project lead (Glenn, the owner of the company) who would give the presentations and guide the discussion - I was to be a note taker "ringer" who could move the discussion forward. The meetings started at 9am Monday, and we flew out Sunday night.
7am Monday, Glenn called - he got a stomach flu. He would not be able to attend AT ALL, and can I run with it?
So here I was on a gig that I literally had only briefed myself on in the airplane, was only going to be a kibbitzer and stenographer, and now I'm the leader.
Fast forward to 2:30pm, the meetings are done, Glenn was safe to travel, and we took an early flight home - 3 hours earlier than planned, and i was able to tuck Bella into bed!
And the meetings? I TOTALLY KICKED ASS. I think I'll be going back to assist with more of these...
Visioning sessions are such fun because you get to throw out the rule books and talk about what is best for the patients and providers - people really start talking about what would make people's lives easier and better - and they're often surprised to hear that their ideas aren't so crazy, that I've seen it happen elsewhere, that this is POSSIBLE.
And if my sessions do lead to something better happening at this site, I'll be very proud.
A client in Baltimore engaged the company I subcontract through to help them determine their Vision 2010: Apparently Vision2005 was decided in 2000, and it was very Accounting focused, and the clinical people were adamant that Vision2010 have more of a patient/provider centric view.
No problem. Others from the company went and did current state assessments, looked at their budgets, their issue lists, etc. I was asked to go and help them brainstorm on a few subject areas that I'm pretty good at: Web, Radiology, Labs, Pharmacy, Rehab, Orthopedics.
The gig was I go with the project lead (Glenn, the owner of the company) who would give the presentations and guide the discussion - I was to be a note taker "ringer" who could move the discussion forward. The meetings started at 9am Monday, and we flew out Sunday night.
7am Monday, Glenn called - he got a stomach flu. He would not be able to attend AT ALL, and can I run with it?
So here I was on a gig that I literally had only briefed myself on in the airplane, was only going to be a kibbitzer and stenographer, and now I'm the leader.
Fast forward to 2:30pm, the meetings are done, Glenn was safe to travel, and we took an early flight home - 3 hours earlier than planned, and i was able to tuck Bella into bed!
And the meetings? I TOTALLY KICKED ASS. I think I'll be going back to assist with more of these...
Visioning sessions are such fun because you get to throw out the rule books and talk about what is best for the patients and providers - people really start talking about what would make people's lives easier and better - and they're often surprised to hear that their ideas aren't so crazy, that I've seen it happen elsewhere, that this is POSSIBLE.
And if my sessions do lead to something better happening at this site, I'll be very proud.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
KONG!
King Kong was amazing. THE HUMAN MIND was not meant to process such THRILLS I say. The montage of depression-era NYC started it so beautifully. Skull Island was incredible - not so much the natives bit, but more the Brontosaurus LANDSLIDE? Or the scene with Kong and 2 T-Rexes and the girl caught in vines in a ravine? Or the BUGFEST in the crevasse?
But what was most amazing was that Kong really felt REAL - sure there were some moments where he looked a bit CGI, but there were as many moments when the PEOPLE looked CGI too (rag doll effect). But the facial expressions and the hand movements were very organic, and really created a REAL creature for me.
Some comments: First, me and my buddies had a STRONG urge to leave at the end of the Skull Island sequence, because we all know what happens in New York... Secondly, I do think that through some judicious trimming a half hour could have been lopped off... Jack Black was FANTASTIC in his role, as was Naomi Watts.
And finally, this movie owes a debt to Kerry Conran - Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow really blazed the trail for this retro-realism and showed us that you CAN make a movie like the good old days, only BETTER. You could argue that Conran and Jackson were playing from the same score, but really, before Sky Captain, nobody had tried to truly recreate the "feel" of an old film quite like this.
But what was most amazing was that Kong really felt REAL - sure there were some moments where he looked a bit CGI, but there were as many moments when the PEOPLE looked CGI too (rag doll effect). But the facial expressions and the hand movements were very organic, and really created a REAL creature for me.
Some comments: First, me and my buddies had a STRONG urge to leave at the end of the Skull Island sequence, because we all know what happens in New York... Secondly, I do think that through some judicious trimming a half hour could have been lopped off... Jack Black was FANTASTIC in his role, as was Naomi Watts.
And finally, this movie owes a debt to Kerry Conran - Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow really blazed the trail for this retro-realism and showed us that you CAN make a movie like the good old days, only BETTER. You could argue that Conran and Jackson were playing from the same score, but really, before Sky Captain, nobody had tried to truly recreate the "feel" of an old film quite like this.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Hablo un pocito d'espanol
Today I am a man. I finished the first level of the Pimsleur Spanish lessons this morning - 30 lessons. I can now speak in three tenses and use two dozen verbs... and have the basic rhythm of the language flowing! On Saturday when our househelper Ana came by (Venga de El Salvador) we spoke in spanish (Hemos hablado juntos en espanol) and she was floored. We've agreed to speak for at least 5 minutes just in spanish when we see eachother (Accordamos hablar solamente en espanol para cinco minutos quando veremos).
Of course German remains a love too - I have come up with a "Strategy" for both German and Spanish: I will make a list of words and concepts that are relevant to my life. Music, synthesizer, computer, robot, synthpop, sausage, roast beef, pizza, daughter, laughter, satire, shoes, coffee, espresso, drumming, levitation, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, the future. I'll focus my learning around these concepts... so I can be properly JIMMY should the need arise in any language. (Might as well collect the words in French and Japanese too - you never know.)
Going to see King Kong tomorrow night! To quote George Michael:
Why can't you do it?
Why can't you set that monkey free?
Always giving in to it...
do you love the monkey or do you love me?
Of course German remains a love too - I have come up with a "Strategy" for both German and Spanish: I will make a list of words and concepts that are relevant to my life. Music, synthesizer, computer, robot, synthpop, sausage, roast beef, pizza, daughter, laughter, satire, shoes, coffee, espresso, drumming, levitation, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, the future. I'll focus my learning around these concepts... so I can be properly JIMMY should the need arise in any language. (Might as well collect the words in French and Japanese too - you never know.)
Going to see King Kong tomorrow night! To quote George Michael:
Why can't you do it?
Why can't you set that monkey free?
Always giving in to it...
do you love the monkey or do you love me?
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Ghosts of Gear Past
As we were scanning pictures from Grandma K's history, I came across some old pics from my life too... and this one stopped me COLD. Some may know that I was once the king of the Gear Junkies - I got into collecting old synthesizers in 1990, about the time that a LOT of people were unloading their beautiful synths to get the latest digital beasts from Korg, Roland, and Yamaha.
In this picture from 1993, you can see my TWO PPG Wave 2.3s, and the PRKFD keyboard. Not shown is the Waveterm B "brain". Also in the picture is the Rhodes Chroma that I got for $200 in perfect working order, and a Roland Jupiter 8. Cropped out was a Linndrum.
Around this time, the studio also had visits from... a Yamaha TX816 (8 DX7s in an austere black box), a MemoryMoog (nicknamed "Dr Voltage"), an Arp Odyssey, A Simmons SDS7.
The CABLES were a complete snake pit - there were at least 3 and upwards of 12 cables attached to each unit of the studio (power, MIDI, audio) - the snarls were the stuff of legend. I was uniquely blessed by an absence of ground loops, so my music didn't suffer from hummmmmmm.
Compare and contrast with my current studio... a Mac G5 and a Yamaha ES7, One cable. Bliss.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
You call this UPDATED?
Sorry to both of you who read this that I haven't been updating this past week - the holidays were hectic. A few tidbits:
1) The In-Laws were in town for New Year's and we worked on a secret project for Pamela's Grandma's 90th birthday: a hardbound iPhoto book of her life. 70 pages, and we scanned over 130 old pictures! We hit the limit of my old (3 years) scanner, and I ran off to MicroCenter and I got a new one - WAY better - higher resolution, faster, and with better software for autodetecting documents and cropping - it completely made the task do-able! One button press per picture!
2) My Language Frenzy continues unabated: I just finished lesson 25 of Spanish, and have been working through German Textbook to improve my grasp of grammar: I'm finally "getting" some of the compound constructs. Example - Schlissen is to use a key. Abschlissen is to lock, Aufschlissen is to unlock, Einschlissen is to Lock IN, Ausschlissen is to Lock OUT.... It's a language by and for nerds.
Also, I had fun with Papa - since I'll be going to Tokyo sometime in 2006, I'll be learning Japanese, and I want to know how to do some basic reading. So I got some kiddie books on Kana and Kanji, and am learning them by drawing them. So Papa and I went shopping for Calligraphy pens and Sumi brushes and grid-ruled notebooks... it was a great bonding experience!
3) The MOVIE premiere was Tuesday the 27th, and it was VERY well received. Nick the Chicken and I went together, had dinner at the Loring Pasta bar first, then over to the Varsity, where we sat with over 200 people to watch the 2 hour romantic dramedy that Justin wrote, directed, and starred in. It was inspiring - just the concept of it - and the movie was very good too! Great work Justin, and I was happy to be a part of it!
That's it for right now, but there will be more updates in the coming days...
Jimmy
1) The In-Laws were in town for New Year's and we worked on a secret project for Pamela's Grandma's 90th birthday: a hardbound iPhoto book of her life. 70 pages, and we scanned over 130 old pictures! We hit the limit of my old (3 years) scanner, and I ran off to MicroCenter and I got a new one - WAY better - higher resolution, faster, and with better software for autodetecting documents and cropping - it completely made the task do-able! One button press per picture!
2) My Language Frenzy continues unabated: I just finished lesson 25 of Spanish, and have been working through German Textbook to improve my grasp of grammar: I'm finally "getting" some of the compound constructs. Example - Schlissen is to use a key. Abschlissen is to lock, Aufschlissen is to unlock, Einschlissen is to Lock IN, Ausschlissen is to Lock OUT.... It's a language by and for nerds.
Also, I had fun with Papa - since I'll be going to Tokyo sometime in 2006, I'll be learning Japanese, and I want to know how to do some basic reading. So I got some kiddie books on Kana and Kanji, and am learning them by drawing them. So Papa and I went shopping for Calligraphy pens and Sumi brushes and grid-ruled notebooks... it was a great bonding experience!
3) The MOVIE premiere was Tuesday the 27th, and it was VERY well received. Nick the Chicken and I went together, had dinner at the Loring Pasta bar first, then over to the Varsity, where we sat with over 200 people to watch the 2 hour romantic dramedy that Justin wrote, directed, and starred in. It was inspiring - just the concept of it - and the movie was very good too! Great work Justin, and I was happy to be a part of it!
That's it for right now, but there will be more updates in the coming days...
Jimmy
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