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Reviewing my archives

I’ve been reviewing my posts from 2011. I remember some of the highlights, but other posts trigger memories that had slipped past. This is good. This is the archive working as it should, giving me paths back into things I’ve learned and forgotten.

So I’ve been going back further in time. It turns out that Calibre makes it easy to convert HTML to other formats, including the MOBI format that Kindle uses. I had modified my WordPress archive templates to give me a bulk view that’s useful for copying posts into my archives. I added header tags for the different months, and copied the resulting HTML files (ex: 2011). Then I converted the files and loaded them onto my Kindle.

I’ve been going through my 2010 archive, and I’m surprised by which things resonate with me after this time. I flip past pages and pages about collaboration and presentations and all of these tips. The posts I linger over are the weekly reviews, where one-line mentions expand into memories. Sometimes I come across things I’ve written about life, and they flesh out the memories more. Not often enough. I’m going to write about life more.

Many posts are about looking ahead: things I want to do, sketches of success so I get a better idea of where I’m going. Other posts are about lessons learned. Work-wise, I’m pretty okay at remembering and applying what I’ve learned, or knowing where in my notes I can find things again – configuration snippets, techniques, and so on.

Life is fuzzier. I read my blog posts and wonder how I grew into or out of interests, how my days changed. This is probably what I should write more about: things I’m learning in life, and echoes of the present.

I write about things I’m learning at work because I think that might be useful to other people. I write for myself, too. What will I want to remember five years from now, ten, fifteen, more?

A cat, circling around, settling into my lap as my computer balances on the edge of my knees. This feeling of being in between spheres.

Short URL: http://sachachua.com/blog/p/23064

On This Day...

  • 2012: Monthly reviews: October and November 2012 — In September, I wrote: What will October look like? I took a month-long break from consulting in September, so I’m [...]
  • 2010: Conference tips: planning your attendance — Make the most of your conference by planning which sessions to attend. Think about your objectives. What do [...]
  • 2009: Lessons from 2009 and plans for 2010 — There is something incredibly powerful in being able to look back and see how much you’ve grown in a year. [...]
  • 2009: Informed Judgment, Terrence Hickey — Here are my notes from the Top Talent call on informed judgment, one of IBM’s leadership competencies. Click on [...]
  • 2008: The economics of entertaining at home — Last Saturday, we hosted a dinner party at our house. There were eight people, including me and W-. For starters, [...]
  • 2007: Quick update: purse found — Add this as yet another story about Filipinos doing good. =) A customer brought my lost purse to Josie, the owner [...]
  • 2006: Twenty-three years and two strikeouts — You just can’t win them all, I guess. As warm and fuzzy as other people feel about me, there are people [...]
  • 2004: Of joy — “…it might be true that the sun rises regularly because he never gets tired of rising. His routine might be due, [...]
  • 2004: Upcoming Dreamworks movie — http://www.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/madagascar/md_qt_lrg.html Penguins rock.
  • 2004: More about call centers — From Sean Uy: I’m thinking that maybe the graduates should be warned about going to work in the local call centers. It’s good [...]
  • 2004: More about call centers — From Levi Guerrero: While I must say that ePerformax’s contract does indeed reek of bull crap, I know for a fact [...]
  • 2004: Kanji for last Saturday — IBMの代表者によると、9日、IBMのコンユーターの事業は中国最大手のコンピューターメーカーに買収されました。 IBMのだいひょうしゃによると、ここのか、IBMのコンピューターのじぎょうはちゅうごくおおてのコンピューターメーカーにばいしゅうされました。 ばいしゅうされました。| [It] was bought. コンピューターメーカーに買収されました [It] was bought by a computer maker. 中国最大手のコンピューターメーカーに買収されました。| [It] was bought by China’s (big hand?) computer maker. 事業は中国最大手のコンピューターメーカーに買収されました。| The [...]
  • 2004: Kanji sentence for the day — メニューファイルで、新規作成を選択してください。 メニューファイルで、しんきさくせいをせんたくしてください。 選択してください。| Please choose. 新規作成を選択してください。| Please choose “New…”. メニューファイルで、新規作成を選択してください。| Please choose “New…” from the File menu.
  • 2002: Notes — Heavy traffic on the way home. Much work still to be done, but at least my Linuxchallenge stuff sorta works. [...]

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Stories from my Twenties: Highlights from a Decade of Blogging