Posts filed under 'Personal'
So, I’ve been to a number of Women in Tech type of events. More often than not they tend to be 95% marketing folks and/or bloggers. But I am so pleased to find that She’s Geeky is extremely dev heavy. And many of the topics are truly techie geeky. What fun!
Session1
Cyber Security
Agile in Reality: Keeping your promises
Backyard Chickens (What the cluck?) : Websites and Mobile Apps that support the poultry industry
Career Suicide: work harder, make less money, under utilize your tech skills and love it
Hitting the glass ceiling in Software Engineering
Session 2
Network Technology (Hardware/Software)
Writing Browser Etensions
Facebook Social Networking Privacy and You
Name that App
Women + CS (no whining)
Going Beyond Relational Databases?
Session3
WordPress/ PHP Plugin Development
I Can Improve Your Website
Commerce Dept Geen Paper on Privacy Response
Do people have a hard time understanding you at work because of your accent
CMS Design and Implementing Patterns
Session4
News/ Blogs iMagazines/ Etc: Where are we headed?
Troubleshooting Leadership & Management
Weather Stations
She’s Geeky Seattle and Allies
Monetizing Blog/ Online Services
Session5
Agile Event PLanning
BeeKeeping
Tech Moms: Navigating your career with kids
Project Management and Development Tracking Tools and Best Practices
Starting Up: Now what?
Branding: How to do it without feeling “gross”
January 28th, 2011
Whoever comes are the right people
Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
Whenever it starts is the right time
Whenever it is over it is over
If you are not learning or contributing, it is your responsibility to respectfully find some place that you are.
January 28th, 2011
Since the fall, work has really heated up. Which is a good thing. RBM has more work than developers these days. We also have a monthly workshop now that has been well attended. I’m also working on putting together a women’s study group in February. All good.
But it means that I don’t have an oodle of free time for pursuing my Railscasts Project. Since the summer, it’s lost steam. Which makes me very sad because I gotten a lot of positive feedback. And I’d like to continue.
As I’m blogging now, an idea occurs to me. A way to keep this idea going and perhaps involve others as well. Sadly, I haven’t the time to share at this moment. I’ve just arrived at the She’s Geeky conference in San Francisco. And there’s already much to blog about on that topic.
We haven’t started yet, but already I know I’m in for some mind expanding. We’re in one huge loft with curtains separating the space for breakout groups later. All the seats are arranged in circles rather than rows. One area is just a bunch of pillows on the floor. And there is a teepee in one corner. I’m fascinated about how that might possibly be used.
It’s time to mingle and chat with the new arrivals, but I’m going to do my best to live blog as much as possible.
January 28th, 2011
It’s Thanksgiving. I swear that September through January is always a god damn blur. Every now and again I’ll lift my head up, shout out some expletive and then get back to the business of getting through the holiday season.
At this rate, I’ve averaging one railscast per month. Considering that Ryan churns out at least one a week, my project doesn’t appear to be progressing as I’d hoped.
But hey, I have photos to make up for it.
November 24th, 2010
The market is really tight for ruby developers in Boston. Companies are often complaining that there is no talent to be found. But I think that’s mostly because companies are mainly looking for rockstars. And there are few of those to go around.
I understand that tech teams for startups need to be lean and effective, but if Boston rubyists want the community to grow they are going to need to convince their companies to invest in mentoring intermediate level programmers or even advanced beginners with solid experience in other realms.
Because I’ll tell ya, refining your skills on your own time after work is… hard. And as much as I try to find motivation through crazy ideas like the Railscasts Project and posting my little FaceBook app side project to github, I have commitments (my little girl) and obligations (my little boy) that demand my attention away from my laptop.
Is there really a work life balance for the ruby developer when the language and tools are evolving at such a frenetic pace? How the hell do these cowboys keep on top of it all?
Maybe they don’t know everything and just pretend they do… That’s a boy quality, isn’t it? And quite possibly, I know more than I may portray… That’s a girl quality, isn’t it?
How come I always feel like I just missed bus? (That’s a human quality, isn’t it?) Does anyone else feel this way?
The boston.rb community has been discussing various mentoring programs that they’d like to create. And I’m down for that. But honestly, I don’t believe it’s possible to learn how to speak French once a week and after the kids go to bed.
To become a true Parisian, don’t you have to go to France and immerse yourself in the language and the culture and the food? So, isn’t it mandatory for the aspiring rockstar to work with a development team during office hours that practices agile slicing and dicing and are dedicated to testing and tasting their work, who ladle gems and libraries down their gullets like a sweet, creme based soup?
“That seelly Amerreecan weell neverr be eh true Parisian. No!”
I’m thankful to have a job that let’s me play with ror every day. Still, I wish more companies felt like @dpickett who recently tweeted:
I would place my bets on enthusiasm over talent any day. Invest in those that want to learn instead of those who think they know everything.
September 9th, 2010
Oh Geek Mama… Why o why have you forsaken the Railscasts project? Is it your homage to _why last week?
No. I haven’t given up! I swear I haven’t! Big project at work. Working all weekend. Up until wee hours. Exhausted.
But I won’t let that stop me. Just slow me a down a little bit. But this week I’m getting myself back on track…. just in time for my planned vacation at the end of the month. Yay.
Ain’t nothing gonna break my stride
Nobody’s gonna slow me down
Oh no, I’ve got to keep on moving
Ain’t nothing gonna break my stride
I’m running and I won’t touch ground
Oh no, I’ve got to keep on moving
Yes. I admit it. I wanted to grow up to be a Solid Gold dancer.
August 23rd, 2010
Okay… I got behind over the weekend. I skipped a couple of days and now I have to do double posts to keep up with my end goal.
But… I’ve also got to get to the gym. No really. I’ve got this wedding coming up and I think there’s a possibility that my ex-boyfriend who I haven’t seen in 15 years is showing up. Yeah.
After two kids it’s especially important to look sexy for this event… even though I think it might be a Star Treck/ Zombie theme.
Actually, I’m not sure if the groom is kidding about this or not. I’m hoping we do end up in costume. Although, honestly ladies trekkie costumes tend to be a little unforgiving.
Anyway, both endeavors are incredibly important. So I’ve really got to stay motivated. Thankfully, your feedback has been incredibly helpful. I’ve gotten some really great emails and comments from folks and I want to let you know that I really appreciate it.
Okay… gym now. Second post later. And if my dear friend does have a costumed wedding, I promise to bring mine to RailsConf!
August 16th, 2010
Bizarrely, the movie Julie and Julia is having a profound affect on me. I like the idea of creating a structured program to become proficient in something.
If Julie Powell chose to cook all 524 recipes from Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking during a single year…
I wonder how long it would take me to implement features from the 224 Railscasts episodes produced by Ryan Bates?
The Railscasts Project: Nobody here but us aspiring ror rockstars
Hm… I might not get a movie deal out of it, but I’d settle for a trip to RailsConf 2011.
July 28th, 2010
Now that I’m a mom of a one and two year old, I only watch movies in installments. Yesterday, I snuck in 45 minutes to watch the first half of “Julie & Julia”, the Meryl Streep movie about Julia Childs and the blogger who cooked her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
I don’t normally blog about movie reviews, especially movies that have no geek factor whatsoever… But I noticed something subtly intriguing about this movie. The husbands.
Roger Ebert had this to say:
“Julie & Julia” is not lacking in entertainment value, especially with the Streep performance. But if the men had been portrayed as more high-spirited, it might have taken on intriguing dimensions. Both husbands are, frankly, a little boring: They’ve been assigned their supporting roles in their marriages and are reluctant to question the singlemindedness of their wives.
Boring. Hm. Yeah, in most movies husbands of smart, vibrant women are usually portrayed as ignorant, controlling and/or abusive. It’s not drama if the marriage isn’t in a shambles.
Granted I’ve only seen the first half but what a refreshing sight to see two intelligent, educated and successful men who are supportive of their wives seemingly crazy endeavors. Both husbands are more interested in the happiness of their spouses and seem genuinely thrilled with their success.
They say that “behind every great man is a woman”… well, I’m not ashamed to say that behind this woman is a great man. When I told my husband that I would likely be missing the NE RailsCamp this September he was shocked (and quite annoyed) that I would consider missing it simply because I was worried about leaving him alone with the kids for the weekend.
With the support of my husband, everyone who posted comments with encouragement and some creative scheduling, I’m signing up for RailsCamp.
And by the way, if you know my husband at all…. the last thing you would ever call him is boring.
July 27th, 2010
RailsCamp New England is being planned for this September in Stowe, VT and I find myself really torn. I really really want to go. But I don’t know if I can leave my one and two year old for a whole weekend yet.
It might sound a little weird being the only girl in a cabin full of 30 guys. Actually, the event is at the SkiAdventure Lodge, so it might not be too strange. But it also sounds really thrilling to spend a whole weekend immersed in ruby geekdom. I can only image all the amazing tech goodness I would soak up.
Even if there were a way to coax my husband into bringing our kids, it kind of defeats the purpose of a weekend getaway. Besides, as progressive as these Boston rubyists are, I don’t know that they’ll appreciate my newly mobile children running around. Chances are they may be escaping their own kids for the weekend.
And that’s just it. How many of these guys can just leave their babes at home with their wives, while I worry about childcare? Sure I have an amazing, understanding, fabulous husband… but even he would find a whole weekend alone with two toddlers quite daunting.
*Sigh* Maybe next time.
July 22nd, 2010
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