Bridging the Gaps

You know it's bad when your Mom bothers you to update your blog.

Doings in May included a return to BSDCan to discuss Open Source for Newbies along with the fabulous Cat Allman. We tailored the talk to discuss how more experienced contributors can make communities most welcoming for new folks and got great feedback from the audience, which will be integrating into the presentation.

As always, we're looking for useful advice on helping newbies get involved, so if you want to share your thoughts, please find one of us. We'll be speaking at Open Source Bridge in Portland on the opening day of the conference, so if you happen to find yourself in the Silicon Forest please pop by to see us. I'm particularly excited about Open Source Bridge given the event's focus on Open Source Citizenship. I'm looking forward to hearing more from my fellow attendees about what this citizenship looks like to them and exploring the concept of what being a part of the "community" means in terms that are a bit less, well, fuzzy.

I'll be denting extensively from the conference if you're interested in hearing more about these conversations.

I also spent two weeks on holiday in the Netherlands and Los Angeles. Highlights included the orange and white tabby that followed me on my walk through the Dutch countryside, late night partying with a bunch of Aramco Brats and my conversation on photos with the kindly elder Dutchman who parked beside me at a cafe in Amsterdam while I was reading Pratchett's Equal Rites:

Him: So you're on your fourth visit to Holland?

Me: Yes, it's one of my favorite places on Earth. I'm heading to Keukenhof tomorrow and plan to walk through a field of tulips.

Him: Have you taken many photos on your trip?

Me: No. I don't really take photos. I prefer my memories.

Him: Wow. You don't hear many people say that these days. Good for you.

We enjoyed a cup of tea and other philosophical musings before he continued his day elsewhere. Have I mentioned how much I love the Dutch? And if you're wondering why I never post photos from my adventures, well, now you know.

Please take note that if you do go to Keukenhof, you don't really get to walk through a field of tulips. You do, however, get to wander through a truly spectacular hedge maze.

And.... Hi Mom! (My only^H^H^H^H most loyal reader.... :)

Phone Conversations Are Hazardous

I truly hate talking on the phone. Business calls? Happy to have them when email won't cut it. Maintaining long term voice communication with friends and acquaintances when I can have a 'logged' discussion via IRC, GChat or email? Thank you, but no thank you. I have way to much going on in my life. Logs are required for getting stuff done. I'll gladly charge my phone to SMS you rather than pick up that land line.

Over the past year, though, I've learned to somewhat get over this whole phone aversion thing with my female friends. Specifically, Skyping with Lynne in Sydney. Video chat ++. There are no logs, but since it's kind of like being on your own TV show, I always remember what happens.

Then again, that's just me and Lynne - we play off each other well. Lynne and I keep threatening to tape our road trips and get our own YouTube show, but we've never managed to do it. Lynne, we really need to do this. I think we'll probably get to it around 2010 and it'll be set in New Zealand. Worked for Peter Jackson.

Lynne flew home a week ago, right after the first day of the Nonprofit Software Development Summit. This conference just rocked, btw. We'd spent the weekend herding cats at MeetBSD. MeetBSD featured copious amounts of dancing, and there was much rejoicing.

We also spent a week and a half touring the East Coast, which was eventful but not particularly restful. These things happen, though - I am fortunate to have many good friends to visit. Spent time in Boston thinking about Free Software, Obama and Crafting with Jag and Naphtali. They are two of the most awesome people ever. Lunch with the Free Software Foundation folks. Josh was in California getting acclimated at his new job, but he'll be out to California soon.

Walked the National Mall and went to the Smithsonian with Lynne and MJ. Ate delicious Southern Food. Drank delicious Taittinger champagne. Saw Addison randomly on the street, leaving a Drupal documentation sprint. Had a hotel room with a truly awesome shower.

D.C.'s highlights always remain the same for me: the Jefferson Memorial and the Hall of Minerals. So many beautiful shiny things, so many different structures and colors to engross the eye. Every time I visit I think that everyone who lives there could ostensibly visit them every day, free of charge. Spent a lot more time mulling about freedom at the statue of Thomas J.

Missed Arlington for the first time, which I regret. Stopped in a few small towns in Maryland and Massachusetts. Escaped from New York via the George Washington Bridge. Saw a few other friends here and there, caught up with even more online since I was in their time zone. It was good.

Which leads me to the entire point of this post. I looked at my iPhone (a.k.a. Steev - more on our impending breakup later) for the first time today and realized Randi had SMSed me about heading to the DNA Lounge. While it's a Monday night, it's also Thanksgiving week and not much is going on at work. Meh, why not? Since I'm out of AT&T's range here, I had to call. Sigh. Dialed. We began to do the version of the quick update, task-oriented, planning conversation about the evening, but turned out it just wasn't going to happen. C'est la vie, and likely for the best. Then we tried for the quick update, task-oriented version of gossip. Epic fail on that, though we have truly set a new standard for euphemistic discourse. Included in this conversation was at least two minutes spent discussing how much we hate using the phone.

When Randi finally walked out of the office to her car for the drive up to San Francisco, I pointed out once again that phone conversations were, in fact, awful and hazardous. We'd come to a particularly pivotal moment in the story, and we'd have to take it up later. It's like being stuck in a looooooong commercial break during your favorite Soap Opera. (Mine was Dallas.) Erg.

Decided the Soap Opera actually totally uninteresting, so I decided to watch James Bond instead. And James Bond, of course, makes me feel like writing. At last the poor blog gets updated. :)

Live and Let Die is the only Moore I can really palate, and that's because the New Orleans settings are beautiful. MeetBSD came with a visit from the lovely Louis and I saw Rob the next week at the Nonprofit Dev Summit. Erin swung into town to drive home with Louis. It's time to get back to New Orleans again soon, I can feel it.

I suspect I ought to do more work on this phone aversion for the sake of my carbon footprint. Chat can do in a pinch. Still, nothing beats having coffee with the people you love. Or iced tea. Or champagne.

I will make you iced tea. I will bring the champagne. Please don't make me use the phone.

The Merry March Travels of LH

I hit the road again this Saturday, though this time I won't be leaving the States. Heading first to Boston, where I'll be speaking at DrupalCon 2008 along with Chris. I'm particularly looking forward to the GHOP panel and the Summer of Code BoF, as well as Dries' State of Drupal talk. Also curious to learn more about how the relationship between Drupal and Acquia works, especially how their business model, which is centered around community support, functions on a day to day basis. Of course, it's always great to see old friends, meet new people and share their stories. I can't wait to hear the story of how DROP came into being, and am planning to canvas all available GHOPers and GSoCers for suggested program improvements

Most exciting, though, is getting to see Angie again. It has been far too long.

The following week I'll be in Chicago for our team all hands meeting, followed by PyCon 2008. It's always a blast to see Ben, Fitz and Trow in their native habitat. The pizza is not bad either. If you haven't heard it yet, Ben and Fitz's podcast PC Load Letter is a must hear.

Chicago Engineering has grown a bit since the old days, and it will be nice to spend a bit more time getting to know the guys I hang out with on IRC. Should be fun to hang out in their new office space, too. I seem to recall rumors of floor to ceiling white boards....

On 18 March I head to NOLA, where I am going to top off four days vacation with a visit to Penguin Day New Orleans. Louis has already promised to take me to Lake Pontchartrain, along with Cafe du Monde. I have a lot of ideas about what I want to pack into those four days. There is just never enough time to spend in New Orleans, and I have not been back in over four years.

Having never been to a DrupalCon, PyCon or Penguin Day, these next three weeks should be quite interesting. If you should happen to find yourself at any of the above, please keep an eye out for me, come on up and introduce yourself.

Man, do I want a café au lait.