My first annual post-something-every-day-in-December thing

Thanks to Joe for turning me on to this.

Obviously, I haven’t blogged in a while. Let’s see if this can turn the tide. At least for 31 (-1) days.

December 1 One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

2010: Liberation. This has been the first year that I haven’t had a normal job since…well…I was in school and didn’t have a job. I worked for Microsoft right out of college; left Microsoft for Skytap; left Skytap for something, anything that didn’t involve working for my manager, and ended up getting angel funding three days later; left Dibspace for something that would pay my rent, and have been having a killer time doing consulting and contracting ever since.

I work more than I ever have before, but I set my own hours and make money at a level directly proportional to the number of hours I put in. More  importantly, it has allowed me the opportunity to really double down on my Rails and iOS development skills while simultaneously building my business skills and portfolio. I have been exposed to a ton of cool opportunities and people, and have learned more about my craft and myself in the past eight months than I have in the past several.

2011: Opportunity. I feel like this coming year will be a pivotal one. I can see a panoply of opportunities on the horizon, and I’m excited to see what comes of them over the next year.

December 2 Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?

Well, I write a ton of code every single day. And commit messages. And client emails explaining what’s what. But, I’m guessing that isn’t quite the gist of the question. I wish I wrote more. And one of my semi-long term goals is to write a technical book. In the short term, my goals are impeded by writing code, but that doesn’t make me unhappy.