Undefined Value

I like the iPad. A few friends and acquaintances accuse me of being stupid and easily fascinated by sparkly objects. Rather than have the same argument over and over again, I'm writing all my thoughts and predictions here. I will speak no further on the subject until I actually own an iPad.

Another year older. I'm solidly in my forties now. It's not too bad.

We've had a few additions to the family in the past year: we bought two more Yorkshire Terriers, named Boo and Tweezer. About a week and half ago, Boo gave birth to a puppy whom we've named Sparky. He hasn't opened his eyes yet, but he's growing fast. So we now have four dogs, which is more than we really want, but I doubt we'll be able to part with any of them.

I've lost thirty pounds this year. I'd like to lose another twenty, but I'm glad I haven't regained what I've lost. As a result of the weight loss and diet, I no longer need medication to control hypertension or cholesterol. So I'm healthier than I was last year, and I hope that trend continues.

My wife decided to put a patio in the backyard this summer. The project grew a little beyond its initial scope, but the result is that we have a really nice backyard now. I like to go out there and read on weekends. It makes our little house feel a little bigger. I still really like it in Dahlonega.

I notice in my "42" entry that I said my career was in a rut, and it still is. However, I will have some opportunity to learn new things at work this year, so while it's still not what I want, at least it won't be completely boring.

Usually when I write my birthday blog post, I can review the last year's worth of blog postings to remind me of the things I did during the year. Unfortunately, this year I decided to limit my blog postings to programming- and technology-related topics, so I don't have a record of the really interesting things that have happened. But I do know that I'm happy, and that's all that really matters.

Being the arrogant lummox that I am, I've taken it upon myself to make a list of ten New Year's resolutions for everyone to follow.

1. Be a better parent. Make time to spend with children (even if you have no children of your own).
2. Be a better spouse. Are you the partner you promised you would be?
3. Be a better friend. Your life isn't all about you. Reach out to others.
4. Be a better citizen. Educate yourself about what's going on in your city, in your nation, and in the world. Ask questions. Respect those who disagree with you.
5. Take care of your health. Prepare healthy meals, get some exercise, take your prescribed medications, get a physical exam and vaccinations.
6. Put more into your work, but don't let your work take anything out of you.
7. Correspond with people. This doesn't mean forwarding e-mail jokes, posting your status on a web page, or ranting about what some politician has done. You need to write about meaningful things, and carefully read what others have written.
8. Examine your beliefs. How did you get them? What are they based on? Do they still make sense to you? Can you imagine what it would be like to hold different beliefs? Talk to someone who does have different beliefs.
9. Get rid of what you don't need, literally and metaphorically.
10. Relax more. You really do have the time.

Now you'll have an answer when annoying people ask you what your resolutions are.

Last month, I committed to do a lot of writing. Let's see how I did.

I was going to write one blog entry per day. I actually did 22 entries during the 30-day month of November. Not 100%, but not too bad.

My other commitment was to get a new iPhone app into the App Store. That didn't work out. I did work on an app, but as it progressed, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth finishing. So instead of spending that time working on an app nobody would use, I spent time learning about JavaScript.

So, I didn't really meet either commitment, but I'm OK with that. I don't mind letting myself down.

I've often dreamed of participating in NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month, in which people pledge to write a novel during the month of November. Unfortunately, I'm not really a novel-writing guy. I could maybe write a short story or two, but I'm just not enough of a writer to generate 2,000 words of fiction per day.

So, instead of doing that, I'm going to commit to do these things during November:

1. Publish a blog article every day.
2. Get a new iPhone application into the App Store.

This article does not count as a daily blog entry, as it is really more of a meta-entry. The real blog entries need to be programming-related or computer-related.

This is why you'll be seeing a lot of blog entries from me this month. Please feel free to call me bad names if I skip a day.

Whenever I'm asked how I got interested in computers, I relate this story:

When I was about ten years old, my father took me to an IBM open house. Dad worked for IBM during its heyday, when it was the biggest computer company in the world and would seemingly control the computer industry forever. Employees were treated very well, with lots of company-sponsored picnics, dinners, holiday parties, and so forth. This open house was a celebration of the opening of yet another new IBM office in the Atlanta area.

I was a smart kid, but had never played with computers. This was before TRS-80's and other home computers were available. I think we may have had some Sears-marketed Pong game at home, but otherwise my experience with computers consisted of what I saw in sci-fi TV shows and movies.

While walking around the office, Dad showed me and the rest of my family the IBM systems. I was bored: all I saw were a bunch of glass-walled rooms containing green-screen terminals with huge printers connected to them, and guides bragged about how many pages of text could fit in their memories and how fast the tractor-feed printers could print reports and paychecks.

Then, almost as an afterthought, we went into this little room where a couple of bearded guys were sitting at a small terminal. I immediately sensed that these guys were not like the other IBM'ers. I now know these guys were programmers, but back then I just knew that even though these guys wore ties, they weren't businessmen. These guys were different, and cool.

They asked me if I wanted to play a game on their computer.

The game was Lunar Lander. It was a purely text-based game, without any graphics or joystick controllers or other videogamey stuff. It told me how high above the lunar surface I was, and what my rate of descent was, and asked me how much fuel I wanted to burn. (See 40 Years of Lunar Lander for examples of what this experience was like.)

I was unable to successfully land, even after several tries, but I was suddenly and permanently obsessed with computers. I had no idea how they worked, but I knew that the computer contained an imaginary universe where a lunar lander was descending toward the moon. I figured that if I learned how computers worked, I could create some imaginary universes of my own.

So, I started asking Dad about how computers worked, and he started borrowing manuals from the system engineers and bringing them home to me. Then I got an Atari 800 computer for Christmas one year.

Since then, there have not been very many days that I have not been playing around with imaginary universes. I owe it all to Lunar Lander and supportive parents.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, and also thank you to the nameless, bearded guys who invited me to join their game.

Christmas Card Picture
Originally uploaded by kristopherjohnson

Another birthday has passed. It has been an eventful year: I got married, and I've become part of a new family.

My wife Pebble is the most amazing person I've ever met. She's smart. She's kind. She's giving. She's forgiving. Most of all, she's open in a way I thought nobody could be. Marriage and life aren't always wonderful, but she's a wonderful wife, and I know I've chosen the right partner. We grow closer every day, and I honestly can't remember what my life was like before I met her. (I'm pretty sure it sucked.)

For my birthday, she bought me the complete collection of Planet of the Apes movies on Blu-ray. I didn't even ask for it. How cool is that?

My stepson Bailey is about to become ten years old. Like his mother, his emotions and thoughts are always right at the surface, so I always know where I stand with him. He is sometimes incredibly cute, and other times he's apparently possessed by Satan, but I know we'll always love one another. He loves his new grandma and grandpa (my parents), and enjoys spending time with his new cousins (my nieces).

We also got a puppy. He's a Yorkshire Terrier named Mouse, and he thinks he owns the house. I believe there is nothing cuter than a Yorkie puppy.

Our little cabin in the woods is nice, but we all agree that we'd like more space, and we're all getting tired of driving two hours a day to get to and from our occupations, so we're probably going to be moving closer to Atlanta some time this year. But we're not in a hurry: we do like our little cabin in the woods.

My forties are shaping up to be a lot better than my twenties and thirties were. Life is good. (But I occasionally complain about it anyway.)

I've done more traveling in the past year than any other. My wife and I went to Waikiki for our honeymoon, and also visited Pensacola and the Grand Canyon. I went alone to Australia for three weeks on business, finally putting my passport to use.

Career-wise, I'm in a bit of a rut. I had hoped to do some job searching this year, but with the economy the way it is, I consider myself fortunate to have the contracting gig that I have. I'll try to acquire some new skills this year. Maybe next year...

Another year has gone by. I didn't really set many goals for myself last year, so I'm not disappointed by any failures (although I am disappointed that I didn't set any goals). I lost 20 pounds and ran the Peachtree Road Race, but I've regained the 20 pounds.

The biggest change in my life is that the Match.com thing worked out and I am now part of an "us." This is making me very happy. We live in a newly-purchased old cabin in the woods. I'm now spending my weekends doing yardwork and other handiwork, which is a big change from my old lifestyle. I now have access to a chainsaw and will soon have a tiller. At some point, I'm going to have to learn about wells so I can get rid of the sulfur smell in our water.

I never understood why all the guys with wives and girlfriends never have any free time to hang out with us unencumbered guys. Now I understand. There's not much "me time" anymore, but I don't miss it. (Love you, sweetie.)

I am practicing guitar whenever I have some free time. I hope to be able to play some actual music by this time next year. I also want to master the drums on Rock Band.

I'm going to start taking a self-portrait on each birthday. I hope my deterioration will be very slow. I haven't decided yet whether the beard is going to be a permanent part of my appearance.

[UPDATE: 2/4/2008: Beard is gone.]

[UPDATE: 2/26/2008: I miss my beard.]

A few weeks ago, I was talking to an older gentleman at a golf course, and I mentioned my 40th birthday was coming up.

He smiled and asked "It went by quick, didn't it?"

Yes, it did.

I celebrated my 39th birthday this week, if the term "celebrate" can mean "sit alone at home and watch TV just like every other night." Because my birthday is in January, I do Birthday Resolutions instead of New Year's Resolutions. After all, that gives me a couple more weeks to figure out what it is I want to do with the coming year.

I've got one year to do all the things I want to do before I turn 40. But there's nothing I want to do. Yeah, I'd like to get into better shape, be smarter with my money, clean out my closets, find a better job, and the other typical stuff, but I know that none of these wants are engaging enough to hold my attention for a year.

So, I really don't have anything to write about, but I wanted to record this so that I can look at it next year and be comforted that I didn't fail to accomplish any of my goals.

I know some people will probably wish me a Happy Birthday, let me wish you all a Happy Birthday as well, whenever it is.