05.03.08
Posted in Friends & Family at 9:13 am by Steve
I may be coming to a point where my schedule (and workload) are at manageable levels. That hasn’t happened in a while…and I’m excited about the idea of having free time.
Yesterday I even had time to go and witness my son’s first haircut. We went down to the same barber that used to cut my hair when I was a kid (actually, he still cuts my hair). It really meant a lot to me to be able to do that…especially as this town has been changing so much these past few years.
On the work front, I have accepted, in word, a position with a start-up company as what will probably end up being the executive vice president of user experience. No contracts have been signed, but I have confirmed with the founding partner that the terms seem agreeable and I would sign a contract when he had one ready to review. We’re expecting to nail everything down over the next week or two.
I’m about 2 months away from my 20-year High School Reunion. It’s an odd feeling to think that 20 years have gone by since graduating high school. Time simply goes by too fast…in the twinkling of an eye.
All in all, along with catching my breath, it feels like I’m hitting those last few bumps in the road before a stretch of smooth sailing. Oh, the future will have more bumps…life works like that. I mean, how could you really appreciate the good without ever knowing the bad. It’s the duality of opposites. It’s what makes life “living”.
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04.25.08
Posted in General at 10:34 pm by Steve
The past couple of weeks has been anything but boring. Once again, change is in the air. But everything seems to be changing for the better and I feel myself becoming much more comfortable with life in general.
I have been really excited about this song I’ve recorded. It’s almost done, I just need to add the highest harmonies and finish the mix. I had the great honor of having a great drummer here to record the drum tracks for me. I’m really getting excited about music again. It has inspired me to get some more of my music recorded. There are a group of songs that I just never recorded after I finished writing them, and I really am proud of them. I’ve also re-arranged the opening track from my Wasted Time album in a way that really captures the mood in a way I didn’t in the original recording. They all deserve some attention. I will get them all recorded, one by one, over the next several weeks.
That also ties in with my change for my business, Fountain Pen Music. As I return to my roots and just indulge in songwriting again I want to use Fountain Pen Music to facilitate that and to help promote it. I’m still working on the new Fountain Pen Music site, but have also made a deal with a marketing firm to get their design ideas. It should be very interesting once it’s all done.
And fresh on the heels of that I am entertaining an offer to get in on a very interesting start-up. I can’t say too much about it, but my role, if I accept, will be more of melding technology with creativity…which may be what I am best suited to do. I also really do love the energy of the whole start-up company. A real “roll-up your sleeves” mentality. There’s an excitement there that I just enjoy so very much.
There is some left over drama from my dad’s death last October that keeps refusing to go away. And, while it is frustrating I don’t think it’s going to be a big problem, even though there may not be a way to keep lawyers out of it. Some people just don’t deal well when they don’t get their way…regardless of whether their way is fair or right or just plain selfish.
I just finished my Lemoncello after a long day at the end of a long week…so I’m going to take Emerson (our dog) out one last time and go up to bed.
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03.31.08
Posted in Friends & Family, General, Music at 1:55 pm by Steve
…really make you wonder.
I don’t know how or why, but since last week I’ve been getting non-stop calls and emails from recruiters and a few HR departments. Today alone I could have taken 3 different jobs. It really makes me wonder. I know the universe likes to test us to see if we are really committed to our paths, but there comes a point where you begin wondering if maybe it’s all a hint. The universe does that too.
And, so I sit here, trying to focus on some website for some company - and I wonder if I’m squandering what time I have on stupid technology projects when I could be writing music.
Late last week an old friend emailed me to comment on a group of old songs I had posted to a website. She and I had a conversation a few weeks back about my frustration with the amount of music I’ve been doing lately. Her email was a simple 2 sentence, life is too busy for paragraphs style that we’re all familiar with. The first sentence just some semantics on the post and ordering of the tunes. But it was the second sentence that hit me like a lead balloon: “I also beg you to please start writing music again.”
and with that I sit here on what would have been my father’s 85th birthday and contemplate how complex life has become and how I feel like I don’t even recognize myself anymore. For a guy who used to answer the question “what religion are you?” with “musician” I’ve certainly lost a ton of faith.
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03.21.08
Posted in technology at 2:52 pm by Steve
For those that might not know, there are a group of tests for a web browser called The Acid Tests, which tests the browser’s ability to render a web display properly (as referenced by the World Wide Web Consortium). These tests are meant to provide benchmarks for browser developers to use to improve their products.
Well, it’s not surprise that in most circles Firefox is considered to be the king of web standards & compliance. It is also widely agreed that Internet Explorer is, in contrast, the nemesis of web standards & compliance. Other browsers are assumed to fall somewhere between the 2.
Recently Apple released Safari 3.1 for Mac & Windows claiming to be faster, more stable and more compliant that other browsers. So, naturally I wanted to put that to the test…the Acid Test.
I decided to pit Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer (IE) & Opera against each other in the 3 available acid tests to see who really was king of web standards & compliance. I was surprised by my findings.
The Acid Tests
There are 3 Acid Tests, each designed to test a different reference point within the development of web standards. At this point every browser should pass Acid Test 1 & Acid Test 2 without issue. Acid Test 3 is, however, a test of proposed standards and while a browser passing is a good sign, it is not yet something to worry too much about if a browser doesn’t get a 100 out of 100 in the test’s grading.
Acid Test 1
All the browsers passed the first Acid Test.
Acid Test 2
This one was surprising. We had a 50/50 split with 2 browsers passing and the other 2 failing the test. Yes Internet Explorer failed, but so did Firefox. Both Safari & Opera passed.
Acid Test 3
Acid Test 3 isn’t a simple pass/fail test, but rates a browser on a scale of 0 to 100. A 100 being a perfect score of rendering all the items on the page. Surprise, surprise Internet Explorer scored a 5 out of 100 (at least that’s the best I could tell while trying to read the results, as they were mangled beyond almost all recognition). The next worse was Opera, scoring a 46 out of 100. Firefox came in 2nd with a 53 out of 100, leaving Safari as the clear winner with a 75 out of 100.
Who Knew?
I’ve been a rabid Firefox user for years and believed the it to be the best, most compliant browser available. With Apple’s release of Safari 3.1 I need to rethink that assumption and my browser choice.
With the exception of Internet Explorer all the browser are available for Mac & PC users. I tested the latest versions, which were: Internet Explorer 7.0.5730.11, Firefox 2.0.0.12, Opera 9.26 & Safari 3.1 (5525.13) on both Mac OS 10.5.2 & Windows XP Pro SP2 with all the latest updates (as of this past Tuesday).
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03.19.08
Posted in General at 12:53 pm by Steve
So I ask myself - why do I do things I don’t want to do and then avoid the things I really want to do? Am I some kind of masochist, an expert at self-sabotage or just too damn scared to take a chance on a dream?
And…why is life so complicated?
So, if anyone has an answer…I’m listening.
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02.20.08
Posted in General, Music at 11:47 pm by Steve
Joseph Campbell used those words to encapsulate all the resident knowledge and life lessons of mythology into it’s most basic form. We’ve all heard “follow your heart” or “follow your dreams”, but there’s something more pervasive, more all encompassing about “follow your bliss”. Our hearts can get us into trouble, because they are easily fooled. Our dreams are equally dangerous, because they can be influenced by those we trust. Our bliss is such a powerful sign-post. You always know when you are doing what you love to do, because you love doing it. There is no elusive meaning or obfuscated lesson.
Once again I find myself at a crossroads. My bliss looms before me just as other opportunities beckon me. And through it all I recall some very good advice I once received, “you don’t need to go through every open door.” Or, as I later reasoned, “just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you should do it”. And that’s where I stand at this moment, but not without every intention to start running towards my bliss.
I’ve already begun re-thinking what exactly it is that Fountain Pen Music (my company) should be. And I think I have a vision that is a lot closer to where I need to be. I say “a lot closer” because I also realize that my vision right now may not be 100% accurate. But even with that, I know it is a lot closer to where I need to be heading than it has been up until now.
I’m not going to go into detail about my new vision right now, but I will say that the Fountain Pen Music website is already undergoing a revision. Feel free to keep your eyes on that site over the next few weeks to understand where this is all coming from (and going to).
And one last thing: if you haven’t already noticed, I have a new tagline (up in the header), “not all who wander are lost”. It is a message I received from a very special someone who never fails to believe in me…even when I don’t believe in myself.
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02.08.08
Posted in General at 5:54 pm by Steve
I’ve been contemplating redesigning my site. I’m envisioning something new with more “stuff” happening. I’m going to think about it this weekend and see what comes to mind.
On another front, I had a very good meeting this afternoon and may be onto something exciting. We’re going to prototype this idea and see what we can do with it. If it’s even half of what I think it could be, it will be phenomenal.
Stay tuned…
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