Unquiet Desperation

This week at game night, I was discussing the December Info Detox with Kris. While we were prepping for our Savage Worlds campaign, I made a mental list of things that I wanted to do while I was going dark for December. Here’s the complete list:

1. Clear out who I am following on Twitter, Facebook, Skype, AIM, etc. Some folks I’ve not spoken to in ages and some I don’t even know.
2. Clear out my del.icio.us account, and my local bookmarks as well. Time to get things organized.
3. Clean up my hard drive. Archive this year’s old podcast files and other media.
4. Clear out my podcast list. There are only about six podcasts I listen to regularly and that need to be downloaded. Everything else can be moved to my Google Reader, to be heard when I feel like it, rather than taking up space on my hard drive.
5. Clean up my RSS feeds.
6. Find specific times for writing and for working out. Next year is going to be more about these two things than about writing code.
7. Clean up my office (again), including those bookshelves. Need to move the books I’ve finished to the basement and make room for the 40+ books I have yet to read.
8. TEASER: Prepare for a new podcast from yours truly and the witty Mr. Johnson. Should go live in late January.

Most importantly, I’m going to unplug, spend time with the family, and clear my head for the new year. It’s so easy to get swept up in the things that happen on and around the Intarwebs that we forget that we are more than just digitally social beings. We need the analog facetime with others just as much.  I’d encourage everyone to take a little time away from email, twitter, and such this winter (or summer, if you’re Down Under) and reconnect with those around you, your neighborhood, your community.

In case I do not get a chance to blog, I want to wish everyone Happy Holiday-of-Your-Choice, a Happy New Year, and a safe holiday season.  I’ll see you all in January.

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Everyone…say hello to the newest member of the Miller Family. Her name is Ceilidh (Kay-lee), she’s a seven week old chocolate labrador retriever.

Yay! Puppies!

It’s coming up on that time of year…time to unplug a bit. This is something I started last year, during the vacation I usually take between Christmas Eve and New Years, but this year I’m going to expand it to the whole month.

On the First of December I’ll be shutting down all my IM / Twitter apps for the month, I’ll only be answering email once a day unless it is for work (and not at all during my Xmas-New Year vacation), and blogging will be kept to a minimum. The only podcasting I’ll be doing is that which is currently a commitment, which will be for Playing For Keeps. I’m going to stop reading RSS feeds for the month and simply enjoy the quiet.

I’m always amazed at how much better I feel for stepping away for a time, and let’s face it…if it’s important, people know to phone me about it. There is a tremendous sense of false urgency that comes from trying to keep up with all of our various communication mediums all the time. Sometimes it’s best just to walk away, to retreat for a while and recharge your batteries.

(Kudos to Kris Johnson, who’ll be going even further than I will this year. You rock, sir.)

7th Son scheduled for 2009 print release

J.C. Hutchins, author of the successful “7th Son” podcast novel trilogy, has accepted a book deal to publish “7th Son: Descent,” the series’ debut novel. The thriller is scheduled for a 2009 U.S. spring/summer release by St. Martin’s Press.

“7th Son” is the story of seven strangers who have been brought together after the recent assassination of the U.S. president. The men discover that they are human clones, with identical childhood memories. These “John Michael Smiths” have been assembled to catch the man who murdered the president. Their target? Their progenitor, the original John Michael Smith, code-named “John Alpha.”

Hutchins is widely-known as one of the vanguard authors in a growing genre of free online audiobooks — also called “podcast novels ” or “podiobooks.” These novels are often read and recorded by the author, and are promoted online in podcasts and web blogs. “Podnovelists” like Hutchins leverage these new technologies — and the ubiquity of iPods and other portable devices — to find audiences for their work.

Read more at the official web site…

Congrats, Hutch!

When I was at the Pimps and Hos party this year at DragonCon, Beatnik Turtle was out playing on the balcony of the room. I made some offanded comment about developers being devices for converting caffeine into code.

They wrote a song about it.

It’s the Song of the Day today. Check it out!!