Monica

loosecanon

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The book contains a lot of good advice and analysis of the nitty-gritty of being a manager (or, sometimes, a managee) in the high-tech world. His experience is colored by acquiring all of it in Silicon Valley, but I still found myself nodding a lot. The chapters on meetings, detecting agendas, and figuring out where people are coming from (incrementalists/completionists, organics/mechanics, etc) are valuable for anyone. I found myself rethinking my weekly team meeting, my one-on-one ineteractions with my direct reports, and my nearly-non-existent one-on-one meetings with my own manager.

Sometimes the author draws black-and-white lines where, in reality, there are many shades of gray. Almost no one is either an incrementalist or a completionist, for example; most of us are in the middle. But I have seen exactly those tensions play out on the projects I've worked on, enough to find value in the distinctions. He over-simplifies, presumably for rhetorical effect (for example, saying that incrementalists lack vision); there's usually a grain of truth, but don't take any of this as gospel. My take on it is that if it gets me thinking, it's done its job -- even if I disagree on the details.

The writing style is informal, occasionally vulgar, and humorous (as promised in the title). The chapters are short (most originated as blog entries), so it's easy to take it in bite-sized chunks. (That said, I read it cover to cover in two sittings.)

One criticism of the publication rather than the content: Michael, Michael, Michael... people would pay a little extra for the increased page-count that would come with a civilized font size. Trust me. Ouch. (I'm not sure if it's 8pt or 9pt, but it is certainly smaller than I am used to.)

I highly recommend this book to anyone in the high-tech industry. Or, if you don't want to get the book, at least check out the blog.

So, bottom line: if you're a ba'al t'shuvah, go read Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz's Teshuvah instead. If you're the relative or friend of someone who's become more observant and you want to grok this, and just talking with your family member or friend isn't an option, read one of the dozens of intro-to-Judaism books (if your Jewish knowledge is weak) or look up specific topics (like kashrut) at reputable web sites. And if you find yourself holding What Do You Mean... in your hands, by all means go ahead and mine it for the practical advice if you like, but be prepared to skip most of the exposition.

Our congregation is currently looking for an associate rabbi, and I managed to get myself onto the search committee. I'm glad to be able to play this role, and I'm glad to have the opportunity to see this process up close. We conducted our first phone interview this morning; in some ways it's not that different from interviewing programmers. Sure, the domain is rather different, but either way, you want to try to figure out how the candidate goes about solving problems, how he works with others, and so on.

The user interface on my cell phone is worse than it first appears. Someone left me voice mail, which I listened to but didn't immediately act on. I figured I could always go back to the "recent messages" menu item to re-hear it. Nope -- no way to do that through that interface. The secret for getting to the voice-mail box is that it's on speead-dial #1 -- which is in the manual, but I shouldn't have to consult the manual for something like that. Putting it on speed-dial is fine, but it should also be linked from the menu that is otherwise about messages. Sheesh.

Dani brought home a book of poetry called Now We Are Sick. That, and that it is edited by Neil Gaiman (and Stephen Jones, who I otherwise don't know) should tell you something about the amount of twistedness in the content.

My copy of "Clam Chowder: Kosher" (new DVD) arrived yesterday. This is a collection of songs from several years' worth of concerts that they actually have publication rights for (mostly traditional, out-of-copyright, and self-written material). It's a good collection. That it was recorded from the back of the hall is obvious; the resolution isn't as good as you'd expect from settings where they can put cameras everywhere they want. But it's good enough. The only regret I have in watching it is that I know there were some fun "audience gags" at some of those concerts (I was there), but none of those were included. Some can't be becuase the songs weren't; for example, the Vegetable Liberation Front, or maybe it was People for the Ethical Treatment of Vegetables, showed up for "Carrot Juice is Murder" one year, but that song isn't on the DVD. On the other hand, I remember uniformed flag-waving folks parading in for one performance of "Ye Jacobites By Name", which is on the DVD, but that's not the version they used. One of the things that makes Clam Chowder special is the relationship they have with the audience; I wish that had come out more on the DVD.

For people who just want easy food to take to SCA pot-lucks (that didn't come from a bakery or out of a can), I recommend Traveling Dysshes by patsmor. I think she's done a good job of compiling accessible information for entry-level cooks. I was one of her kibbitzers for the first edition some years ago, and there's now a second edition.

1. How has the field of software documentation evolved during your career?

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2. How did growing up in the SCA community in particular influence who you are now? Would you have grown into more or less the same person in a different social environment, such as your current congregation?

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3. If you could become a pen pal of any person from any time, with whom would you correspond? (To avoid paradox, assume that the person exists in a parallel universe, so you could even correspond with yourself from the past without causing reality to implode.)

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4. Alternatively, what do you do if the genie allows you to undo after seeing the consequences? Specifically, you may once instantly revert reality to a backup copy of the moment before he would have contacted you. Does your answer change if you could remember your experiences from the forked reality?

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5. How would you characterize the stories that you most enjoy reading or watching? How have these desiderata changed over time?

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Here's how this works:

1. If you want to be interviewed, leave a comment saying so.
2. I will respond, asking you five questions.
3. You'll update your journal with my five questions and your five answers.
4. You'll include this explanation.
5. You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

Neverwhere focuses on Richard Mayhew, a businessman (banker?) in London who gets sucked into the underworld. Not underworld like in mafia -- underworld as in a different world that exists beneath the streets of London and that is populated by some very other-worldly sorts of folks. Gaiman seems to do particularly well with putting ordinary people in extraordinary situations and making good story come out the other end. One of the things I liked about Sandman is that despite the millieu, I felt I was reading about people. Maybe not people who could ever exist on Earth, but people nonetheless. Some of the core characters in Neverwhere share that quality.

There are stock characters, and caricatures, to be sure. The visible bad guys (who I keep wanting to call Guido and Luigi though those aren't their names) are stereotypical but well-done and just the right blend of archtype and creep. The enigmatic Marquis is a mystery until the end. Door, the sweet young thing at the center of the conflict, seems helpless but isn't entirely so.

At the center of this is Richard, who doesn't really fit in either world and is now caught between them. The resolution of his story is nicely done, but I won't say more lest I spoil things.

There is one bit of cinematography (or art design, or something -- not sure where to place the credit) that was very effective. Somewhere in each episode we see this sequence of images -- the first time it's a dream, but not always -- that doesn't make a lot of sense. It's always the same sequence. Over the course of the six episodes, the meanings of the images become clear. Nice.

In general the production values are, um, toward the lower end, but you know what? I don't care. It was well-done within what was apparently a limited budget. I care a lot more about story than about sets and props.

Neverwhere was released on DVD in the US last year. (That's good, because Nth-generation PAL-to-NTSC tapes aren't always so wonderful. :-) ) The show aired in 1996.

Caveat: There is also a book. I read the book before seeing the show. I didn't know it had been made into a TV show when I found the book, actually. When I learned about the TV show I thought it was based on the book. Nope -- other way around. The book is a novelization. I think I might have enjoyed the show more if I had not read the book first.