Pages
Links
-
Recent Posts
Enterprise Posts-
Archives
- July 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
A pattern of first quarter melancholy
After classes yesterday I got home and bent W.’s ear “woe-is-me” style brooding over things. This morning, still feeling a heavy yoke of academic load, W. made a crack about how she’s seen this mood before.
She recollects how this is the sixth time we’ve gone through the start of a semester at SI. New material, new challenges…and old new’ness. The strain of upward struggle we’ve come to know as “the first few weeks of class.”
But it’s still going pretty well. After all, I’ve met a number of new classmates and am continuing relationships with classmates I met last semester. I’m also experiencing two new professors, distinct teaching styles, and diverse but equally vast subject matter.
My brain is crackling and sluggish to respond. Thus my sense of melancholy and minor despair. My under-powered brain being worked like an old mule in the desert sun. This too will pass. As the man said…
The sun will rise again tomorrow!
~Iswar Rattan
Image: I took this on Sunday. It’s the Michigan League. I met a couple classmates for a short interview on a topic they are researching for a class. The building is very old and has shiny waxed floors and lots of wood paneling.
A cold tuesday and some change
Historically speaking, this was a pretty big day. Given the last few years, I’m ready for a change. Like summer or just warmer weather. Or golf season. I’m ready for golf season to start again.
But alas…I know that won’t be for another 3 months, about five papers, a couple presentations, a final exam, around 70 journal articles, book chapters, and blog entries, not to mention a couple dozen visits to my favorite parking garage.
New classes equals group projects. I met with a new group this past Sunday and felt really good about how things went. Somebody took notes without having their arm twisted. Everybody showed up and had laptops running and connected within Michigan time.
Things change if you wait long enough. Today marked changes all over the place. At work and school, change happens rapidly. With family and friends, change can be more gradual. But change happens. It can be good or bad but is usually a bit of both.
I remind myself that change is the fertile ground upon which risk and venture rely.
School is about to kick it up some notches so I better get my rest while I can.
Goodnight world.
Who makes decisions about IT?
Ozzie just wants a quiet place to sleep during the day. Don't we all?
The professor asked a lot of yes/no raise-your-hand type questions during his lecture yesterday, working the response into his message. I though that an effective information sharing strategy for teacher and students alike.
At one point he asks if anybody thought they could run an IT organization. A few of us raised our hands. He then asked if we could make a decision to spend 100 million dollars on IT.
He paused to let this sink in.
In my head I immediately started laying out the infrastructure, thinking about server room configurations, machines, experts to run them, the type of research I’d need to do, etc. While I was in my head pondering this, nobody raised their hands. When I decided I could probably figure it out, I half raised my hand.
The prof chuckled and slapped me on the shoulder before continuing his lecture.
And for some reason I’ve been thinking about that moment. In my head I wasn’t thinking that my decision to spend 100 million dollars on IT stuff for a business would be a good one, just that I thought I could work through it.
But his reaction makes me think I’m missing something. Which makes me wonder, do I have the vision or am I just fooling myself? Does it take a vision or an ability to envision? Am I grossly overestimating myself?
Much to learn but I’m ready. In that class, for this semester, I’m thinking like a CTO and not a web services development programmer.
Image: The weather has been cold and getting colder. In a chilly concreted-corner of the basement where I’m usually huddled near a space heater in front of a computer I found Ozzie Ghato, a fuzzy curled ball of sleepy catness.
Preparing for class and the long term
While the semester started yesterday or today, I won’t have my first class until next Monday. I have a growing stack of articles to read in preparation and I’m starting to feel that anxious twitch of “must work on homework.”
There are so many things converging between work and school I feel I’m always in the same conceptual realm. Not that I don’t keep looking for the next thing.
Which makes me think that maybe the next thing is always that; the next thing. It isn’t going to be the thing that completes you. Unless it’s a bullet or something.
So while I brace myself for another 15 week marathon of assignments, reading, and constant attention, I think about why I’m doing all this and whether it is going to be useful to my future. It’s turning out to be quite an investment.
Regardless of what the future holds, what I’m learning is valuable because it forces my brain to see beyond the fences repetition build. Seeing beyond, learning to recognize the short term from the long term is what education is about. Short term is important, but long term matters more.
Once I get into classes though time will fly by. I predict blog posts, more post-it notes, and repeated whiteboard use.
I keep reminding myself that school is good, the lessons valuable, the experience irreplaceable. Time will tell of course.
The long term just goes on.
Image: A picture taken in October trip to Chicago. Came upon this between two buildings and liked the juxtaposition of shapes.
The break was nice but now to the grindstone
The past week went by really fast. W. and I got into a groove where we sleep in every day, wear pajamas until the the afternoon and eat whenever we feel like it.
That can only go on for so long before you find yourself compelled to spend 15 hours straight haxoring a blog template you think is sweet because your blog template is so old and stale.
W. was considerate over the last couple days while I focused like a bomber on actually getting a new design thrown together in such a way that different facets of my online work appear seamless.
There is a long ways to go yet, but I reached a stopping point at least.
And in one more week…school sweetness. My brain is ice in the glass of education.
Image: This is an actual word my oldest nephew played during a scrabble game. I ended up giving it to him because it was just so sad. But I laughed a long time. And still laugh a little looking at it again. Not entirely sure why though…