Update to some random thoughts

1) I took a look at the book on Processing, and it does look quite nice. That being said, I’m not quite sure what I’d use it for. So it fell a bit on my list.

2) Letterman is still pretty much the same. I haven’t seen Leno. Jon Stewart, however, looked TOTALLY crazy last night. It was really quite scary.

3) Rob Coburn, you had better hang out with Raluca and I pretty darned soon….

4) Despite ordering the Python in a Nutshell book, I have semi-officially decided to put off learning Python for a bit. I think that I am going to re-focus my attentions on Scheme, and work my way through the Little Schemer, The Scheme Programming Language, and SICP. I’ve been through some of them, but haven’t gotten to the end of any of them.

5) The Giants won! Beat the Bucs, and are going to play the Cowboys next week. I hate the Cowboys, so this is going to be a big deal. I’ll probably try to watch it.

6) Steve, congrats on the potential new-old gig!

Back on two wheels

I rode my bike to work today. It was the first time I had done that in an excruciatingly long time.

It turns out that neither would have killed me. I made it up the rather stiff hill in front of NIH quite easily. Didn’t get to work gasping for air, feeling sore legs, anything. Really quite boring, come to think of it. But it was a great day to be outside. It’s too bad that the trip is so short as it wasn’t quite the work that I would like, but I can only take what’s given to me. The next day I have more time, I am going to venture around downtown Bethesda. Seems like a fairly bike-friendly town. I don’t really make New Year’s Resolutions, as they’re more birthday resolutions to me, but I am definitely going to ride more this year. Last year was a long string of mistakes. Beach road, here I come.

Not that I want to jinx this beautiful weather, but I have gloves, my head warmer and all the rest lined up for when it returns to normal January weather.

Thanks

The coolest part of having a website is seeing that people I’ve never met, from places I’ve never been, have looked at something I’ve done. For the last day of the year, I just want to list the places that have sent traffic to this website. I think this is really exciting, and really interesting. Thanks!

United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Austria, Indonesia, France, Italy, Singapore, Brazil, Romania, India, Finland, Japan, Portugal, Poland, South Korea, Spain, China, Malaysia, Peru, Pakistan, Latvia, Lithuania, Iceland, Morocco, Serbia and Montenegro, Myanmar, Ukraine, Turkey, Thailand, Mexico, Slovenia.

Random Thoughts

1) The idea of beautiful programming books representing the connection between art and programming is an interesting one. I think that there is an “art” to programming, but I don’t think there is really a direct connection. As a musician, I have a very formal vision of an “artist”, and knowing many programmers, few have qualities that I consider artistic. I think that the art of programming is different than visual or music arts. That being said, there are many artistic looking books, including programming books. My favorite is The Little Schemer, and it’s successful typography.

2) I’m glad to hear that David Letterman and his group pulled off a deal with the Writers Guild. Not only do I like his humor more than others, but he impresses me as a substantial human being. Way to go Dave… the beard, however, is kinda weird.

3) My friends are onto the fact that I have a blog. They really don’t need any more ammunition for calling me a nerd. Be that as it may, I am going to try to be more social, in the wake of my father’s passing.

4) One of the books that was recommended as “beautiful” in #1 was a book on Processing. I have been putting off looking into it (so I can relearn my Graph Theory, learn Python for the first time, among other things). But when I found that it included techniques for data visualization, I added it near the top of my to-do list. If only I can find enough free time to finish with Graph Theory or Python!

5) The Giants looked better against the Patriots than I had expected. Their downfall was similar to that of the Ravens and Eagles; not being aggressive enough in the second half of the game. I’m not sure what teams do during halftime, but they came out flat, and tight. It would be nice, however, if they could use this game as a springboard for their playoff game next week.

6) I hadn’t realized that there was a book created to be a sequel to Strunk & White. I’ve had Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace on my wishlist for a while, but it just shot up near the top. Liz, the interviewer, has written a few posts that have turned me on to a number of Information Architecture books. And now this. I know she plays the cello… I think her brain works A-D-G-C just like mine.

Cat's out of the bag

Raluca Bucur has found me!