# (1) 01 May 2011, 09:45PM: PICC 2011:
My performance at the Professional IT Community Conference went all right. Consistent light laughter, some long belly laughs and several bits of applause. Sheeri Cabral and Tom Limoncelli really hit it out of the park on Slideshow Karaoke (best practices). Thanks to The League of Professional System Administrators for inviting me, and especially to Matt Simmons and William Bilancio for organizing my attendance and appearance.
A few things I recommended at PICC:
# 02 May 2011, 10:20AM: While Listening To Weird Al Yankovic:
I subscribe to maybe twenty email lists relating to open source software or free culture. One of these: the NYC InfoLaw list, which tells New York folks about upcoming talks and events.
Last week's email advertised a "Webinar: Viacom v. YouTube: Whether Third-Party Contributory Copyright Infringement Really Exists for Internet Service Providers." I read that, then laughed aloud that the title made perfect sense to me. Too boring to be made up.
By the way, I thoroughly appreciate the work NYCInfoLaw (especially Ashley Fry) puts into maintaining the calendar; thanks!
# (5) 03 May 2011, 10:40AM: New Job, New Email Address:
As of this month, I'm a full-time contractor for the Wikimedia Foundation, serving as Volunteer Development Coordinator. My boss at WMF, Rob Lanphier, has just posted a welcome note that makes me sound all fancy.
In case you were wondering about my other clients from earlier this year: my paid work on GNOME Marketing, for the launch of GNOME 3.0, has ended, and I've also ended my work as fundraising coordinator for QuestionCopyright.org (passing it on to someone who has more time and relevant experience).
It might be disorienting to only have one job! I shall probably get used to it.
# 11 May 2011, 12:12PM: Anniversaries:
This week marks the ten-year anniversary of my first kiss with Leonard.*
In May 2001, we took a drive together to help his mom move. I played Moxy Früvous for him. He played the Beatles' One compilation for me and we joked about the lyrics.
A little over five years ago, we got married. (Want some wood?**) The more I take part in ritual human experiences that lots of people have had, the more clichés I understand. Can it be five years?! The time's gone so fast.
I am so lucky.
* As I was reminded when Reddit told me Douglas Adams died ten years ago today.
** I still make jokes referring to the 2004 US presidential debate. The other day I said "You forgot Poland" at a Wikimedia NYC meetup and someone got it. So happy.
# (2) 17 May 2011, 01:51AM: The HR And Management Secrets Of Mr. Rogers:
Showering music for the past few days, melancholy and uplifting:
Saturday: Jonathan Coulton, various
Sunday: The Mountain Goats, The Life of the World to Come
Monday: Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Tuesday: Holly Yarbrough, Mister Rogers Swings!
This last album is pretty work-appropriate, with songs like "You've Got To Do It" (on the crucial necessity of execution) and "I Like To Be Told" (on communication, planning, and trust). And honestly, how many performance reviews and offer letters would not be improved with "I've always wanted to have an employee just like you; I've always wanted to work in an team with you"?
# (2) 19 May 2011, 08:10AM: Seeing My Father's Body:
Update 30 May 2011: Out of respect for my family's wishes, I have removed the essay from my weblog. Instead see my eulogy for Dad, and my memoir "Method of Loci."
# 20 May 2011, 07:43AM: Three Wikimedia Facts:
If you have a WordPress blog, the PhotoCommons plugin is an easy way to grab photos from Wikimedia Commons as graphics for your posts.
We have a lot of job openings, including nonprofit-y, communication and legal stuff.
Basically, our number one priority right now is new editor retention -- people don't realize they can edit Wikipedia, or they try and then something turns them off. We're implementing a bunch of technical and social initiatives to turn this around.
# (2) 21 May 2011, 09:29AM: Transactions of the House:
I saw a five on the bureau in the bedroom.
"Leonard, you literally left a crumpled bill on the bureau... I'm trying to figure out what I'm being paid for."
"You're not! It's my money! You can have it if you want."
"I'm offended!"
Also, our décor now includes a copy of the US Constitution, which led me to realize you can passably filk the Preamble to "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy." At least the start of it.
# (1) 24 May 2011, 07:06AM: If There's A Theme Here I Don't See It:
The other night, a guy in a bar moved over next to me and another free culture pal and announced that our conversation was awesome, the best he'd heard that night. He proceeded to use his cellphone to film me talking about open source software and the origin of the Web and Tim Berners-Lee. I am fairly sure that he was not Derek Waters getting a new episode of Drunk History, because he gave me his business card to offer me a free wine class and his business card did not say "Derek Waters" on it. Still, as tech conference sideshows go, Drunk Tech History could be the next Slideshow Karaoke.
Unrelatedly: last night I dreamed that, in the last Harry Potter movie, Harry had to come into our world, the world of his readers, and use our readership-magic to fight Voldemort. (A dream response to my waking-life enjoyment of The Unwritten, a new comic series.) Employees of publishers and bookstores were singing and rapping about how much money they were going to make from a tie-in cookbook. Then I had to buy a cell phone from a vending machine, and it didn't work.
A few quotes that are helping me out right now: Andrea Phillips, "If it were easy, it wouldn't need doing," and Dan Kaminsky, "I love being wrong. It means the world is more interesting than I thought it was."
