sacha chua living an awesome life

Drupal / Rails development: John (from john & cailin) posted good interview tips for hiring Drupal developers. A comment in the blog post led to this funny learning curve graph, which reminds me of the Emacs learning curve. There are similar hiring tips for Rails developers.

I like the work I’m doing at IBM (mostly nonprofit projects funded by IBM grants, yay changing the world!), but it’s interesting to see lots of demand for Drupal and Rails skills. I want to get wizardly at Rails and/or Drupal, and I think this will be fun.

Winter vegetables: Thanks to the community-supported agriculture program, we have three butternut squashes, one pepper squash, lots of turnips, and lots of kale. We’ve just gotten through turning all those beets into borscht. I’m learning about all these winter vegetables. Fortunately, Cheap Vegetable Gardener has tips on what to do when you’re swimming in kale, beets, squash, mustard, or chives.

Connecting with people: A post from Linked Intelligence on social networks and relationships led me to the Mackay 66 Customer Profile – a 66-question template that you can use to gradually flesh out your knowledge of a person. I like questionnaires. I think this will help me get better at talking to people – I can pick one or two questions to focus on, then gradually fill in the blanks. Maybe I should build a CRM into Quantified Awesome…

Publishing an e-book: Allison Abel shares tips on publishing your own e-book. I’m collecting data and ideas for a possible mini-book on quantifying life and changing behavior, so I’ll want to come back to this post and other tips on this topic.

Spending money well: Jason Chen points out that you may want to spend your money where you spend your time. Fortunately, I track both time and money, so I can tell if my priorities line up. =) (Good laptop? Yes, worth it!)

One of the great things about spending time with my family is seeing them with old friends, the kind of friendships developed over decades and despite distance.

Mel Chua shares this poem by James Hayford:

Time to plant trees is when you’re young So you will have them to walk among – So aging, you can walk in shade That you and time together made. – James Hayford, "Time To Plant Trees"

Greg Wilson writes about friendship and running partners in life:

In the end, the search for that feeling is the common thread through
almost everything I’ve done. … We are none of us long in this life,
and I think we all want to believe that when we have to run our last
lap, we won’t have to run it alone. I think we all want friends to
keep pace with, day after day, while we’re alive, so that we can be
sure that someone will be out there, still running, when we’re not.

I want to enjoy and be inspired by great friendships through the decades. It’s easy to be insular, but if no man can really be an island (or at least be healthy doing so), I might at least be a peninsula. =)

Speaking of planning ahead, Trent (The Simple Dollar) has great advice on what to do at life’s crossroads. Living a frugal life and keeping expenses down means that we can take more risks, yay.

Photo © 2006 lincolnian, Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike License

Elizabeth Sandberg’s story about a savvy pie pumpkin seller reminds me of the advice to sell benefits, not features.

She wasn’t actually selling pumpkins. She was selling the only remaining ingredient I needed for an easy, award winning recipe — two pie pumpkins. She was selling me what I came to the farmers market for — not individual produce items, but a delicious meal.

Speaking of food, Laura Grace Weldon shares an intriguing inside-out caramel apple recipe on GeekMom. I like the occasional caramel apple, but the store-bought ones are enormous, and we’re slowly phasing out sweets and desserts. This might still sneak into one of our experimental kitchen days, though.

Another GeekMom find: Amy Craft recommends graphic novels geared towards kids. J- likes graphic novels, and has been working her way through the Toronto Public Library’s manga collection.

Enjoy!

Photo of pumpkins © 2010 llstalteri, Creative Commons Attribution License

Here are some bits and pieces that probably won’t end up in their own blog posts, but which I thought might be useful to share.

Making better use of time by listening to podcasts: I tried using BeyondPod to download and play podcasts during commutes and chores. Bonus: Turns out it has Tasker support. I’ve set up Tasker to automatically play podcasts when I plug in my earphones. By default, BeyondPod pauses when I take my earphones out. Handy! I’m not sure whether I’ll stick with the free version, buy the $7 app, or use a different podcast player yet, but it’s a neat idea.

Practising drawing during the commute: I can’t really listen to podcasts while I write or read – verbal interference – but I can practise drawing. I’ve started drawing in a small notebook whenever I have a chance to sit down during my commute. Nothing amazing, just deliberate practice: straight lines, boxes, circles, faces. It’s really easy to draw lots and lots of faces. Draw plenty of circles, add two dots in almost any location, and then let your mind fill in the rest. I like drawing so many faces close together with the randomness of the occasional subway jolt. With all those variations, I get to see which kinds of faces I like.

Cats can be very cuddly: You know how cats are supposed to be independent and aloof? Luke is a complete sucker for attention. Leia likes putting her arms around my neck and being cuddled. Even Neko heads for our laps (well, W-’s lap these days, not that I’m jealous or anything) whenever we’re on the couch.

Tweaking routines – hair towel: Turns out that a hair towel / turban is much better than using a regular towel. It keeps my hair out of the way, dries my hair faster, results in less laundry, and helps me avoid forgetting wet towels. My mom was onto something when she gave it to me.

Paul Gillin invited me to do a tweetchat about blogging. I learned so much from it, and I hope others do too! Here’s what we talked about.

On making the time to write

Your output is amazing. I don’t know where you find the time to post daily. How do you do it? @infoBOOM
Writing != extra work. Making it part of the way I work helps me be more effective. http://sachachua.com/blog/p/21845. Also, I think about ROI on my time. No TV; yes writing, reading, experimenting. http://sachachua.com/blog/p/22053.

How much time do you spend per blog? What time of day do you do it? @dgriess
I’ve tried writing morning pages, but I usually just write whenever I’m learning or solving problems.
Let me ask another way, about how much time goes into each entry? @dgriess
Depends on topic. Usually 5-15 minutes extra, or 30+ if I’m braindumping tips for others / exploring something new.

What would you recommend for those who try to blog on behalf of their company? How can they carve out time? @KevinMGreen
It’s marketing, professional development, networking, and all sorts of good stuff. Great ROI. Makes sense to do it.

Finding time always seems to be the biggest challenge. @KevinMGreen
Try tweaking your workflow so that you write along the way. Check importance/efficiency of other things you do.

On perfectionism and personal branding

My question for this chat: What would help _you_ get more value from blogging? What are your challenges / goals?
kurtisgriess: Hardest thing abt blogging for me is planning and perfectionism… takes me forever!
pgillin: Hardest thing for me abt blogging is feeling I have to always be profound. Worried about wasting ppl’s time.  (Sacha: Reading is optional, skimming is easy. You don’t have to be perfect, or profound, or even interesting. ;) )
KevinMGreen: likewise Paul #infoboomsc always trying to deliver can be intimidating
Sacha: Me, I’m looking forward to writing about more things (life! work! awesomeness!), and getting better at organizing for discovery.

What are common mistakes you see/experience? @KevinMGreen
Perfectionism and the related fear of having to publicly change your mind or admit room for improvement. ;) Partly our collective fault, because we scare people re: the unforgiving memory of the Internet. I disagree with that. You are never going to be perfect. You’re also never going to get better unless you try. ;)

I wrestle with "perfecting" a thought. Probably thinking too hard on my individual entries. @dgriess
It’s easier to work with a draft or post than with a blank slate. There will always be a better way to say things.

I can imagine there would be some folks out there who may not feel comfortable about blogging their work. @elsua
Blog transparency may not be for everyone just yet, but it’s surprisingly less scary than most people think.

How can people bypass that risk aversion and dive into it slowly, but steadily? Don’t fear, just blog? @elsua
Small steps can help people get over fear, experience immediate benefits: http://sachachua.com/blog/p/7316

   … Ideally that people should understand how blogging is perhaps the most powerful trait for their personal brand @elsua
I wish people worried less about "personal brands" and felt better about connecting as _people_. =)

On finding ideas

Many people have trouble coming up with ideas for their blog. Any tricks you can share? @infoBOOM
Write about everything (http://sachachua.com/blog/p/22082). Don’t worry about niche (http://sachachua.com/blog/p/7046).

Can you share any tricks for what to do when you run out of ideas? Or does that ever happen? @infoBOOM
Do you ever run out of things to learn, or things you can help other people learn? No lack of material.

What’s the one tool/resource you rely on to create such compelling content? @KevinMGreen
Best resource for blogging: Life. Best tools: the questions: "Why? Why not? How can we make this even better?"

On practices

Do you write in your blog more for yourself or for others? What’s the balance? @kurtisgriess
Mostly myself (can’t trust my memory). Often for (usually specific) others, just in case others find it helpful.

What’s your thinking on comments? Do you try to respond to them all? @infoBOOM
I reply to as many comments as I can. I’m sure some slip through cracks. Easier than e-mail. =) Also, warm contacts.

How would you describe your voice? Or does that even matter to you? @infoBOOM
My blogging voice? Me. I’m like this in real life. It makes writing much easier — and living’s easier, too. =)

You don’t use gimmicks like "top 10" lists or "best and worst." Is that by design? @infoBOOM
Can’t stand reading or writing generic blog posts with arbitrary rankings. I’ll use mnemonic structures, though.

You post weekly review lists. What’s the reason? @infoBOOM
On the practice of a weekly review: http://sachachua.com/blog/p/6946

In your opinion, what’s the ideal length of a blog post? Or does it depend on the topic? @elsua
I try to stick to one clear thought per blog post, saying as much or as little as I have to say about that. Lengths vary.

What do you use to manage your editorial approach? I still send myself emails which is not really effective. @KevinMGreen 
I keep a big text file on laptop with rough notes and ideas, and I post snippets on a regular basis or by plan.

When someone sends you a question by e-mail, do you often post answer to blog and send them link? @infoBOOM
Shift e-mail conversations to blog posts when possible. Widens the conversation, reaches more people, saves more time.

You do write about a lot of topics. Do you ever worry that you lack expertise in these areas? @infoBOOM 
When you’re learning, that’s the best time to write. Don’t wait until you’re an expert and you’ve forgotten.

Miscellaneous

When you started your blog, did you set goals on spec. milestones (traffic, subscribers)?  @kaeppler
Early: class notes, Emacs snippets, things to remember. Didn’t care about traffic or subscribers, but happy I helped. Still don’t focus on traffic or subscribers, although honoured to see them. It’s not about numbers, it’s about people.

[…] Was "living an awesome life" your first blog at all? @kaeppler
It’s actually just an alternative name for sachachua.com – livinganawesomelife.com is easier to remember/spell. ;)

You’ve written that blogging has made you a better presenter. How? @infoBOOM
Practice in figuring out what to say, how to say it. Archive of potential material. Better ROI and reach. Invitations. Also, feedback on content, delivery, and technology. Continuous improvement. Confidence. Connection.

Many bloggers are too focused on the audience and less about the personal value they receive. @KevinMGreen
Tons of immed. indiv. value.http://sachachua.com/blog/p/22119 New bloggers, take heart, even if no one reads you! #infoboomsc

Can you tell one or two stories of remarkable things that happened to you because of your blogging? @infoBOOM
Got job created for me (http://sachachua.com/blog/p/6456), found mentors (http://sachachua.com/blog/p/6928)…

Sacha, would love for you to share insights on how you use blogging to narrate your work @elsua
Blogging is a great way to understand complex issues. It also helps shape culture of knowledge-sharing – many benefits!

Is there one blog post that stands out as particularly memorable to you? And why? @infoBOOM
It’s like asking me what my favourite book is. ;) Lots of context-sensitive favourites. A recent highlight: http://sachachua.com/blog/p/22017, but that could be because I cut my finger in the process. ;)

We’re thinking of doing another tweetchat with #infoboom in three months. In the meantime, if you have any questions, thoughts, suggestions, or tips, please feel free to share them through comments, blog posts, and Twitter! Would you like to host a conversation about a topic I’m passionate about? Let’s talk about it!

• Update build and deployment plan
• Refine alert behavior for Drupal site
• Participate in IBM’s Innovation Jam
• Paperwork: expenses, time, overtime
• Write about lesson 2 from Johnny Bunko: build on your strengths
• Cut second set of pieces for sewing
• Write about Emacs

I picked up a lot of ideas from this weekend’s WordCampToronto, and I’m looking forward to doing a front-page redesign over the next few weeks. I finally got around to using YSlow to look for ways to optimize my site (or at least make it suck less), so things should be marginally better now. Thanks for your patience! =)