I miss you, Mom

I still can't believe what I'm about to write. We lost Mom-- the boys' Gramma-- early on the morning of March 27.
I don't have what it takes to write anything worthy of her memory right now-- if I can muster it at all, it'll have to wait a while-- but I did put together a slideshow of these pictures collected over the years. For anyone who knew her, I hope you find a few images here that make you smile and remember her for the warm, loving-- and *so* strong!-- person she was. We miss her dearly.

The songs are by our friend, Geoff Smith.

Movember's Over!

Well, I think we'll call it a Movember!

On Friday night, we had a great party at the Big Bang to honor the end of the month (pictures are here)-- had several members of the team, along with a bunch of our sponsors and other supporters, brave the cold and parade traffic of downtown Nashville.







Who knew Metro would throw a parade to celebrate the end of Movember? :)

The final tally of all the donations submitted for Team Nash Stache was-- are you ready for this?-- $1,085.

Close to $1100. I just think that's amazing!




Many thanks to all the members of Team Nash Stache for their help and support throughout the last several weeks:
Chuck Bryant
Jackson Miller
Chris Chamberlain
Tom Mason
Bo Hussung
Anne Hussung
Justin Seiter
Chad Riden
Brad Blackman
Ryan Williams



Special thanks, of course, also to all those who chipped into the cause-- no matter the size of the donation, everyone who took the time to participate really helped make this whole thing worth it. Thank you.




Here's the donor's list. I hope I didn't miss anyone.
Allison Moeck
Andrew Duthie
Angela Theodoridis
Angie Miller
August Ray
Brad Blackman
Brian Bellliveau
Chad Riden
Chad Stahl
Chris Chamberlain
Christian Grantham
Chuck Bryant
courtney watson
Dave Delaney
Flip Kromer
Jack & Kay Mulkeen
James Belliveau
jan shipp
Jason Moore
Jason Wurth
Jean Belliveau
Jennifer Gilbert
Jim Reams
John Harbison
Justin Seiter
Kate O'Neill
Laura Hayden
Mark Anundson
Patty Mulkeen
Philip Cloutier
Rita Cloonan
Robert Hussey
Sabrina Cipriano
Sarah Miller
Tom Mason

This has been an awesome experience, and I hope we can get this group back together again next year! And judging by some of the pictures, I'm guessing Chuck (at left) would like to get this group back together, as well.
Til next year..

CanConnect

With all this noise I've been making about Movember around Nashville, the leader of a cool local Cancer Community resource-- CanConnect.org asked me to write a guest post for their blog. It was posted this morning. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Movember: we're having a party!

It's confirmed. We're having a Mo Town Nash Stache Bash at the Big Bang on Broadway in Nashville.
December 5, starting at 5:30pm (Happy Hour!) and going til they shut the place down.
If you've never been to the Big Bang, you need to go. It's a great time.
And it'll only be better with our team there celebrating the end of Movember, having some drinks, taking lots of pictures, and handing out a few prizes..

If you're on Facebook, you can find the details and RSVP here.
If you're not on Facebook and still would like to RSVP, shoot me an email and I'll put you down.

The Gauntlet, she is thrown down..

Our local Team Nash Stache is about to cross a milestone in its fundraising efforts for the Prostate Cancer Foundation-- we've nearly crossed the $500 mark!
That's a great achievement, thanks to generous donations from a good number of people. You can see an updated list of donors to each member of the team-- and also catch a few glimses of the Mo's in the making-- via their Mo Space Pages.
Here's the team:
Chris Chamberlain
Jackson Miller
Chuck Bryant
Justin Seiter
Tom Mason
Anneinreallife
Bo Hussung
Ryan Williams
Chad Riden
Brad Blackman

We're off to a great start and we're really going to do some good.

But I know we can do more!
We've got 11 days left in the month.. and there are 10 of us on the team.

$1,500.

That's our mark.
As the former Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien, might have said, "The gauntlet, she is thrown down."

Think we can make it?
I know we can.

And you can help. Just click here and make a simple $10 or $15 donation. Then pass the link on to a friend and let's see how high we can take this thing together.

Movember Day 16

It's the 16th Day of Movember.. the serious itchy-ness has passed... for now. But it's still very coarse and bristley.. my boys don't even want me to kiss them on the heads at this point. Maybe with a little more growth, it'll soften up?

Don't forget to hit my Mo Space Page to check progress and make a donation.

New Nashville Tech Podcast..

It sounds as though a few of the local Nashville Barcampers have brewed up a quasi-technology-oriented podcast. Jamie Meredith (http://www.tmgstudio.com/) and Tom Cheredar (http://tomcheredar.com/) are among the ringleaders. They've posted one episode so far and are, I'm told, in the midst of recording another one tonight.
Check it out:
http://nashtechnica.com
I'm glad to see the BarCampNashville/ local technology-ish conversation expanding..

Remembering...

On days like today, I try to take a little time to think about some of the truly amazing things people have done for our country, for the sake of freedom and democracy here and around the world.

In my own family, I think about three people, in particular.

First, my father. He served for 21 years, first in the Army and took part in the post-war occupation of Germany. Then, a few years later, re-joined in the Air Force and was involved in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. This picture was taken in 1950 at a site in Troy AL. My dad is standing in the back row, third from the left.



My uncle, Pat, served in World War II as a medic in the Philippines. He was injured in combat there on May 8, 1945, after delivering aid to more than 15 of his wounded comrades. He was awarded the Silver Star and a Purple Heart.













And finally-- I've been thinking today about my father's first cousin, Kieran Culliton, who was killed in action on December 27 1944 when his bomber, a B-24 from the 707th Bomb Squadron in the 446th Bomb Group, was shot down over the North Sea. Just a year earlier, Kieran had graduated from Harvard University, class of 1943. In this photo, he's kneeling, 2nd from the left.

For these and other members of my family, and for all those who have served in the name of freedom and democracy, I am humbled and grateful.

Facial Hair against Prostate Cancer

So I'm spending the Month of November growing a moustache. Technically it's a Van Dyke right now.. and technically that's against the rules.. but I'll get to that in a second.

A few weeks ago, my Dad was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. Based on all the tests they've done, things look like it'll be okay. Scans indicate that, as well as anyone can tell, the cancer doesn't look like it's spread. And, although the biopsy indicates the cancer is pretty aggressive, this particular kind of cancer is about 90% treatable. Dad's begun a kind of hormone therapy that, by all accounts, does an incredible job at stopping the cancerous cells in their tracks.

So we remain cautiously optimistic. And in another couple of months, they'll do some follow-up tests and we'll know if this therapy has been effective and go from there.

You may be asking-- What the hell does all this have to do with Facial Hair?

Fair question.

Coincidentally or not, around the time that all this was going on, I spotted this tweet from @kevinrose about some kind of fundraiser to fight prostate cancer. The fundraiser is run by a group called Movember-- working with the Prostate Cancer Foundation. It took a couple of days to percolate in my head, but pretty soon it all came together.

For as long as I've been alive, my Dad has worn a moustache. I've never actually seen his upper lip in person. So it just makes sense for me to do this. And hopefully, we can have a little fun in the process and raise a little money for a good cause.

Now my Dad is not someone wanting to be made over.. in fact, I'm not sure he's crazy about this idea in the first place.

So it's not much-- but it's a little something I can do. We've recruited a bunch of my local Nashville friends and acquaintances-- Team Nash Stache-- and we're all growing some Mo's and publicizing for a good cause.

Want to help? Here's what you can do:

If you'd like to 'donate to my Mo', you have two options:

1. Click this link and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account, or

2. Write a check payable to the ‘Prostate Cancer Foundation', referencing my Registration Number 1827631 and mailing it to:

Prostate Cancer Foundation
Attn: Movember
1250 Fourth St
Santa Monica, CA, 90401

All donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

The money raised by Movember is donated directly to the Prostate Cancer Foundation which will use the funds for high-impact research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer.

Another option-- even though it's the 11th of November already-- it's not too late, if you'd like to join Team Nash Stache.

So come on and help us out. It's fun. And check out my Mo Space page for periodic updates. Who knows.. if I get to liking this thing, I might just keep it.

Goodbye, Sylvie

We lost our dear friend, Sylvie, today. Over the last several weeks, she seemed to get very frail and weak very quickly. The vet couldn't find anything diagnostically wrong for a cat her age-- she was around 15, we think. But she just wasn't herself. And it was obvious.

I can't write a proper obituary just now. After a day like today, I just don't have the words in me.

But suffice it to say that, in the end, she went off to sleep gently in my arms. Although we're sad to have lost the spunk, and sometimes spite (remembering the way she'd knock things off my dresser to wake me up to fill her dish), that she brought into our house over all these years, we know she's sharpening her claws somewhere on the Big Guy's furniture..
Sylvie Ferocious Johnson.
~1993-2008.
Rest easy.
There should be no shortage of fresh chow and a willing hand to wrestle with where you are now. We will miss you.

A Good Question

Watching Attack of the Clones with the boys this morning, in preparation for tonight's Clone Wars movie (they'll be going as part of friend Jake's Birthday party), when Aidan and I had the following conversation:

Me: See, Anakin and Amidala are falling in love.
Aidan: Why?
Me: That's a really good question.

A Few Standards...

A few standards of life in a house with two growing boys:
1) we're always out of something in the fridge or pantry
2) there's always a potty that needs unclogging
3) Jango Fett is always missing one of his guns (and sometimes his head)...

Before you discard...

how considerate of them to remind me...

My boys are Digging you..

A couple of quick little (sorry for the darkness) videos of my boys singing along to their favorite Geoff Smith song, Digg the Code.
Aidan got really shy after he realized I was recording them.. and now he's TERRIFIED that our friend Geoff might actually see this video... but I've assured him that all will be fine if he does. :)

Ones and 0s video

Nashvillegeek colleague, Geoff Smith's got a cool video out for one of the songs on his new album. It premiered tonight on Geekbrief.tv.. take a look.



Ones and 0s by Geoff Smith from Cali Lewis on Vimeo.

Nashville Tech: Jackson's Take

Jackson Miller, local contract software engineer and purveyor fine second-hand hipster gear, does a really nice job offering up his thoughts on Nashville as a Technology Hub

Nashville's Tech Mushroom...

Nice article here from VentureNashville.com (mushroom? really? does that evoke the right image?) about the various tech-oriented groups around town that have been meeting. And another post here at the VentureNashville blog that re-emphasizes the point of the article.. that these informal and institutional groups (i.e. Nashville Geeks vs. the Nashville Tech Council) don't seem to naturally co-mingle.

As someone who's attended events hosted across the spectrum, and also as a technology manager from the institution to beat all institutions, the great State of Tennessee, I have a few thoughts about this:

1) nothing against the NTC, but the few of their events I've attended have largely been about Tradeshow floors. Vendors trying to sell me something. Sponsors trying to get their 'impressions' quota. And lots of business card trading.

2) NTC events seem to largely center on DATABASE SECURITY. Just my impression. Nothing empirical to back it up. Not a lot about application development, user experience, UI design, or new technologies. Again, just an impression. I could very well be wrong.

3) like most professional associations, the conversations at NTC events are mostly alot of "this is what I do; now what do you do..." it's like a series of mini-interviews. Not very comfortable. Not very natural.

4) The Nashville Geeks events are largely about socializing. Informal, yes. Not a lot of collared shirts-- mine is sometimes the only one. And not exclusively a technology audience. There are artists and musicians and writers in the group. And lots of marketing folks. Tech-oriented, certainly. Folks who like to get their geek on with the latest WordPress release or tinkering with the latest social-networking-fad-tool of the day. And lots and lots of digital photography. And cutesy business.. er, calling cards. Lots of those as well.

To be honest, in some ways, I've felt a little out of place at the Geeks events only because I'm the only person (or one of the few) there who works for a large technology shop in a fairly formalized, not-too-cool, not-yet-too-open-source environment. My group's not blazing any trails with PHP or Rails. We're building enterprise software for a large, highly proceduralized government agency. Not a lot of the other folks at the table at Noshville are in that game. And yet, all that being the case, I feel very at home there.

What's ironic is that the social/digital media crowd at the Nashville Geeks events-- the breakfasts, the Barcamp Crew meetups, the bourbon nights-- the talk at those events is a lot about products and marketing and getting messages out to consumers-- this is what social media's largely about after all, isn't it-- but the atmosphere is more collegial than commercial. I'm not being sold something at Barcamp. I'm part of something.

Interesting that Digital Nashville's first mixer the other night appears to have been the first event that crossed this apparent boundary in any kind of significant way.. and everyone, even Dave Delaney, was wearing collared shirts!... and I missed the dang thing. Ah well, I'll be sure to catch the next one.

Exciting times to be in this industry in Nashville.. Looking forward to what's to come.
God, I love this town.

A little something different..

Okay, I don't mean to shill but we bought Geoff Smith's new album the other day.. in the hazy hang-over of having just spent the previous evening hanging with friends and neighbors (while the kids were at the grandparents') at Geoff's bar, the Big Bang. Such a good time.. and I was especially happy to get SleepyMama out there.

Back in February when I first visited the Bang, at the PodCamp Nashville after-party, I knew it was a place she'd enjoy.. and although I'd been encouraging her and some of the other Moms in our neighborhood to get over there for months since, this was the first time I'd been successful.. and happily, it was an evening when I was able to come along as well.

So that's that.

Anyway, while we were there, we were talking to Geoff and he was telling us a bit about his new album he'd just released, "Ones and 0s". He called it a 'Dynamic' album, in pre-release through his RingtoneFeeder service. Dynamic meaning the album has basically been released like a podcast. Purchase a subscription, hook up the rss feed in your reader of choice-- looks like it works best with iTunes-- and get the first 12 songs right away, along with a few other goodies (iphone ringtones, the "I'm a Twit" video, and the liner notes). In iTunes, it's pretty easy, then, to move the tracks over into your music library. And then, over the next year, Geoff says he'll be sending down more material to subscribers.. karaoke versions of the songs, live recordings, who knows what..

Well, it should be fun to find out. It's just an interesting experiment to take part in. And Geoff's a local Nashville artist, and a really genuinely nice guy.. so it's not hard to support him.

So, to all the 5 of you reading this.. go out and grab Geoff's album over at Ringtonefeeder.com. You don't have to have an iPhone. You don't have to have iTunes. But you do need to have 15 bucks. Not too bad.

And if you find all this dynamic stuff too scary for now, just sit tight.. the album will be available in more traditional formats (iTunes store, Amazon, even pressed CDs).

I hope you enjoy it. We're walking around the last few days humming "If This Geek Ruled the World" all over the house.

When worlds collide..

Found this video of my old grad school buddy, Mark Marino. We were in the English Dept at Notre Dame together back in the day.
Mark has gone on to become a professor at (the otherwise much hated) University of Southern California.. from what I've seen of his work, he's been doing some interesting research into the nature of narrative and exploring how an internet-enabled world is affecting how we think about stories.



But this presentation kind of turned my head. Perhaps if he's reading this, Mark can comment on his scholarly trajectory here... source code as literature.. interesting, but, speaking as a software development guy and former literary poseur, I have to ask..
can you guys be serious?

PodCamp Nashville interview reel!

I was wondering where this footage wound up.
Glad to see it finally online.
Dave Delaney came around with the camera and happened to capture my first in-person meeting with Geoff Smith.. pretty cool.
Someone should have reminded me to look at the camera, though.