Bradezone

How about another round of frivolous updates? Okay then.

• I recently joined Merge in Greenville as the new lead developer. The team is great, and if you check the bios, you see that oddly enough none of us are native to the area. They somehow found me despite my interviewing for jobs in such random places as New York City and Portland, Oregon. I’m eager to see what comes of the new gig.
• In related job news, my resume was also found by Amazon, and they set up a phone chat with me this coming Tuesday. It looks like they develop with Java, which is not my favorite language in the world, but it sounds like they have a job opening for development work on their main site, so we’ll see what the deal is there.
• This is the first Bradezone post from my new MacBook Pro.
• I put a new thing on my Apps page—a script that improves Firefox’s password-saving feature.
• Hopefully I’ll be moving out of my crappy house in the forest with a broken roof, blown fuses, no DirecTV, and no heat, and into a better location sooner than later.
• Recent fantasy drafts were held for hockey and basketball, and I brought my A-game to each. Starring for Belvedeeks Junior High are such NHL dynamos as Alex Ovechkin, Nick Lidstrom, and Roberto Luongo, while NBA stalwarts Elton Brand, Shawn Marion, and Chris Bosh lead the way for the Last Minute Wings.
• I am still in a fair state of mental disarray about a certain situation.
• I might be late to the party, but Black Cherry by Goldfrapp is one of the best albums I’ve heard in a while.
• The Titans are still undefeated. Is this the year?

So the time has come to get the résumé in order and prepare for what will surely be a move to someplace random. The prospects are exciting, but in light of recent undertakings I may find myself far from those I care about most. I’m really not sure what to think about this or how to handle it best at the moment. I suppose the best leads will be revealed in due time, at which point a momentous decision will need to be made. I hope and pray I make the right one.

Sifting through the sites of fellow web developers and designers, I ran across one man’s thoughts on what makes a good blog and his substantially saltier take on how better to manage the information he consumes and produces. I find myself in general agreement, and I believe my approach to this blog is reflective.

Another bit of news that I stumbled on was the death of author David Foster Wallace, apparently of suicide. I was not familiar with him before, but I am motivated to check out Infinite Jest, if only because of the brand-naming scheme used for calendar years in the near-future setting of the novel. One quote from Wallace really captured my attention: “[I]t is extremely difficult to stay alert and attentive, instead of getting hypnotized by the constant monologue inside your own head.” I feel a certain kinship with those who have the propensity to think too much. His unfortunate death reminds me once again of my theory of mood swings. Times of depression are when we most need to reach out, but stupid, stupid pride gets in our way. I hate to see it happen, especially to one as thoughtful as this guy.

But let’s not end on a downer. There has been a distinct lack of frivolous nonsense on this site recently, so allow me to rectify that. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Man Factory. Note the free download link.

So I needed to take a drive to clear my head, and I chose a good night to do it. An electrical storm was in the works, causing the sky to change from a shroud of darkness to an incredible array of massive clouds backlit by the lightning behind them. What surprised me even more was the utter frequency of the effects. And the whole thing was experienced amidst the sounds of the Wipeout Fusion soundtrack. The event was fairly awe-inspiring—like a divine fireworks display.