I did have time to hit up a couple shows in the Seattle area. I’ve been paying close attention to a local hiphop group that goes by the name Helladope. You should check them out:

“pleasureful, danceable, chunks of funk candy that you want to stick in your ear and leave there forever” – Niki Benson on SSG

“…one of Seattle’s premiere hip-hop acts” – Mike Ramos on EarCandy

I also moved out of my crazy small 630 sq. ft. apartment. I’m moving onto bigger and better rental spaces – 2100 sq. ft. house, baby! I’m loving it, but the entire place is empty. Time to buy some furniture I guess.

Anyway. I’m back, I’m alive, and I’m moving on to a new project at work and it’s all iPhone development. Should be good to get some more hours logged in Xcode. I get to geek out over the next couple months! Maybe I’ll find some time to write some more tutorials that go beyond “Hello World!”

I’ve read almost halfway through the book Managing Humans, by Michael Lopp, and just thought that I would post a quick update.

Verdict: It has a lot of character, especially for a management book, and I really like it.

Let me explain.

The book is told from the point of view of the same fictional character Michael Lopp uses on his website: Rands.  Rands is semi-fictional, just like all the characters and stories in his book – while they derive from real experiences and situations they’re actually fake.  But they do an amazing job conveying the message.

I like that the book doesn’t sound too definitive.  At no point do I get the feeling that this book has the exact answers, but at every point I keep thinking about how the concepts apply to my own job (I’m a software developer by the way…).  Not feeling like I’m reading a text book makes me feel more relaxed and actually helps me process the information better.

Anyway… I like the book.  It’s easy to read, makes me think, and is funny at times.  I’m reading for pleasure yet I’m still learning so much.  Thanks Rands.

Unfortunately when the weekend came I didn’t find much comfort in relaxation.  Instead I spent money on buying Twittersort.com.  I’ve proceeded to spend almost my entire weekend coding the website – we’ll see if I can get it up and running tonight.

It’s been a lot of work, but I’ve got all the major hurdles jumped over already.  Twitter API – check.  Website database communication – check.  Proxies for Twitter API and Website database communication – check.  Silverlight front end – piece of cake.

I’m not going to spoil what the idea is, but I’ll be sure to post all about it once I go live, so come back soon so you can check it out.

It was great meeting Adam Kinney, Scott Barnes, Chris Swenson and Michael Bach for the first time.  Take a look at these guys’ websites.  Smart people worth keeping an eye on if you don’t already.

After my vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, we were flying back through the Dallas/Forth Worth Airport and our Seattle flight was canceled.  They told us that we’d be stuck for another 48 hours!  So we decided to try and get a flight from DFW to San Diego and then from San Diego to Seattle.  By the time we made it to San Diego, however, our new Seattle flight had been canceled as well.  Dang.  Luckily my uncle lives in San Diego and I’m currently crashing at his house with my girlfriend.

Here are some pictures that my family sent from Seattle.  Lots of snow!

December 21st: Looks like about 6-8 inches.

Morning of December 22nd: Looks like about 2 feet! Craziness…

Now, if only it weren’t raining in San Diego…