Earlier this month, I attended a meetup of Girl Develop It Minneapolis and heard a presentation by Eryn O’Neil on dealing with crisis in tech — moments when everything breaks, or nothing goes according to plan. Her ultimate message: Projects and organizations are made up of human beings, and solving a problem often comes down … Continued
Our industry moves very fast and technology in general seems to grow exponentially. But we shouldn’t lose sight of where we were and why things are the way they are today. For example, when I started building websites, I used a plain text editor and tested for XHTML and W3C compliance. I would proudly display … Continued
Sometimes we make commitments to things — people, projects, good habits, new thought patterns or styles of relating, and somewhere down the line it becomes much harder than we expected. We no longer have the belief that we can do this thing, yet we have the commitment. It’s easy to want to hide, procrastinate, focus on … Continued
Like many people, when I first heard about the school shooting in Florida last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, I didn’t spend much time thinking about it. It was another school shooting, the 18th in 2018, and already I could see what would happen: some outrage, thoughts and prayers, then we’ll forget about … Continued
This weekend, in between watching clips of the Winter Olympics and becoming deeply invested in athletes whose names I just learned, I read a New York Times Magazine essay about figure skater Jason Brown. Brown, who is an alternate for the U.S. team this year, is best known for a 2014 routine in which he … Continued
Too many weekends go by where I sleep in late and then wonder where the day went, and before you know it…Monday arrives. This weekend I made the effort to get up early and make the most of my weekend. On Saturday I got up early and headed off to a Yoga class. I am … Continued
A few years back, I was sitting in my son’s 1st-grade conference when his teacher said she wanted him to start showing his work when solving math problems. My son was solving everything in his head. The answers were almost always right, but he wasn’t easily able to tell people how he solved the problems. … Continued
New Year, New You? A new year means new goals. New goals mean you are going to have to level up in some facet or another. There’s a saying in sports that goes “The best ability is availability” and it is true. If you aren’t in the room it can be a case of out … Continued
I was on paternity leave. My fatherhood-related Theme of the Week is about cuddling. Dads stereotypically look forward to teaching kids to throw footballs or something. As I approached fatherhood, I tended to look forward to building stuff with my kids. Like, I first showed my daughter how to use a drill when she was … Continued
We did it; we made it through 2017! A lot can change in a year and now that another one has gone by, it’s a natural time to start fresh and to ask yourself, “how do you feel?” The beginning of a new year can be exciting, but also a bit overwhelming. There’s an entire … Continued
Let’s imagine we’re all astronauts, hopelessly stranded in space. Heavy, right? If, in that moment, someone asked us for our deepest wish, what do you think we might say? In his book “Fear”, Thich Naht Hanh reasons our deepest wish might be, “To be back home walking on our beautiful planet Earth.” In that moment, … Continued
Dancing is great! It can lift your soul, change your mood, and get some of your energy out. * Stuck in traffic? Do a little dance. * Landed an excellent project? Do a little dance. * Just removed gluten and dairy from your diet? Do a little dance. Celebrate the moments that deserve it! Hell, … Continued
Last week I embarked on a 21 day fitness challenge. It’s not that intense – I’m just focused on doing some sort of physical excersice every day for 21 days. Aside from being extremely sore the first few days, it has been amazing. The most amazing part for me hasn’t been the physical wellbeing, but … Continued
A couple days ago, I was really excited to finish a new feature for a pro bono iOS app I was working on, but there was just one piece missing. It was a piece I was dreading, so I left it off until the end. I knew there was a “proper” way of implementing it, … Continued
“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” -Dr. Seuss This week is all about being grateful, giving thanks, and being with those we love. Even though we should be doing this every day, sometimes we need explicit reminders. We get lost in the hustle and bustle of … Continued