Warning: a completely non-technical post
A couple years ago, I looked at my CD collection and noticed that I really had no jazz at all. I've always liked jazz and blues, especially traditional styles. Part of it, I suspect, is that those musicians we still listen to have survived fifty or so years of criticism. Part of it, I know, is that those musicians were
artists -- trailblazers who made the most of their instruments.
I really enjoy watching (or listening to) artists at work. Unlike much modern music, you can
hear the instruments and vocals -- indeed, the groups often let individual musicians solo, to better accentuate their talent.
Maybe this isn't completely non-technical after all. After all, isn't a good software team a lot like a good jazz ensemble? Every player on the same page... but expert with their own individual tools, whether that be coding, testing, or writign documentation. And somehow, I suspect that the best software managers know which team members are backup musicians, and which ones need to be allowed to solo once in a while. Not just to show their expertise, but to really riff on a theme, to push themselves, to have the latitude to be creative.
It's one of the things I truly enjoy about my work -- when someone gives me an interesting problem, and tells me to "go solve it." It will niggle at the back of my brain, little bits and pieces resolving themselves into the solution. Those are the problems I like working on... the ones that challenge me. Those are the problems that will announce their solution to me at 3 am.
That's one of the reasons I like traveling. CCI treats travel days as, well, travel days. There's not much of an expectation that "normal" work will be done. Which, frankly, amounts to me spending a few hours in the airports and on planes, buried under my headset, working on whichever problems interest me most. Often, this is extremely productive time.
Mais, revenons a nous moutons...
I had the opportunity to go to a conference in New Orleans a couple weeks ago. (No, I wasn't there before Katrina, so I don't have any comparison to tell you how the recovery is going.) I got the chance to go down to Preservation Hall and catch a couple sets of Shannon Powell and the Preservation Hall All-Stars. A small, intimate venue; good music. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Tonight, after what is sure to be an intense pre-con on parallel computing, I have a ticket to go see Dave Brubeck! Can't wait to hear that...
And, yes... I promise I'll actually blog about technical news from PDC as well.