Where the frick have I been

Greetings all 5 of you who are still following me. I got caught up in the “I really need to write this post and it is important so I better put a lot of effort into it but then I never find the time” trap. So here is the best I can with the time I want to devote to this post.

1. I am no longer the developer evangelist for deCarta. Actually I haven’t been since the end of August. I left not because I didn’t believe the company but it was that my old firm Jones & Stokes (now ICF\Jones & Stokes) made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I loved the work I was doing at deCarta and I loved the product. I helped finish up the mobile API and then helped launch it at Navteq Connections but since them I just a cheerleader on the side.  Most of all though, I really loved the people I worked with (I love you man). They have a great team of people and they have a great product and I am still a big fan. They gave me the space to become more of the person I want to be and I am forever thankful to them and especially my boss Marc.

2. As I stated above I now work, again, for ICF/Jones & Stokes. I am now the Applied Technology Practice Leader and Senior Conservation Biologist and I work out of the San Jose office.  In this new role I work on technology projects, help organize the tech savy people at ICF/J&S, and help to set vision for where our practice goes with technology. We have experience in Microsoft technologies, ESRI, Java, Linux, and FOSS4G. I am grooving on the new work I do and my ability to help set vision in the company. I have been traveling to our regional offices and interacting with the Mothership back in Fairfax.

I enjoy doing a lot of things and so I don’t expect work to fulfill all my career desires nor do I want to pigeon myself into one industry or type of position. I love being a tech evangelist, I love working with tech, I love working on ecological issues, and who knows where life will take me. All I know if I like what I do now and I look forward to whatever is around the bend.

3. I have not been writing for basically that last year for several reasons. There have been personal issues I have been struggling through but I think things are definitely on the upturn. I say “I think” because I have learned to live more in the now and because I want to keep working on the relationships which are important to me. Saying things are good gives a sense of being settled and I am not sure life is ever that way (except when you are dead).

I have also not written much because twitter and facebook have sucked up my writing energy. I have found that tweeting definitely decreases my desire to blog. I am really not that interesting and so most of what I need to say can be done in 140 letters or less. Facebook serves as my social networking outlet and so therefore the blog has suffered.

All of this is to say – I am still here, doing fun stuff and really enjoying life in a way I haven’t in a long long time. I would like to tweet less and blog more on some of the cool stuff  I am doing and some of my thoughts in general. No promises but if you stick around I will try to be more of a presence here.

The music quote of the day comes from the Barenaked Ladies CD, “snacktime” ( a must buy, especially if you have kids) – “When I make mistakes I use a lot of salt ’cause salt makes mistakes taste great”