An Afternoon at the Museum

Today, I had a chance to get out of the house and get away from work, school, and chores. The two younger boys, Tom and Karl, and I went to the Reading Public Museum to see the "Born to be Wild" motorcycle exhibit. Here's what was on display.

The exhibit included the two motorcycles from the movie Easy Rider, historical motorcycle as well as fanciful custom choppers, some of the more extreme ones looked completely impractical to ride. The exhibit is worth seeing.

The photos are ones I took. To capture the truest color, I didn't use flash photography inside the museum and the exposures were longer than normal. Since some of them were almost a half second and I did not have a tripod, some pictures were unusable while others were a bit blurry. It's time to get a tripod, and some polarizing filters to minimize reflections from glass. Next time the photos should be clearer.

A pause to take a breath

It's been a while since I last wrote. Various things, from work, to family, to school, to side projects all seem to eat up my time.

I've been thinking about ideas, and how to catch and hold onto them and eventually bring them to life. At times, perhaps while driving to work, my mind just swims with seemingly novel ideas. When they come, as if by a Muse's bidding, I do my best to hold onto them, to play with them a bit so that each sticks in my mind. It always happens at the most inopportune moment. Then my attention gets redirected to more pressing matters, like keeping the car on the road while driving. The same also happens when I hike. The more relaxed pace allows the luxury of thinking the idea over, relishing it much like one would relish an especially sweet and juicy clementine. It is, for those moments, like stepping out of time. When I cycled, the experience was similar. On several occasions I remember cycling for hours while pondering breathing, rhythm, and the biomechanics of pedaling, for example. My work, quite literally, involves the direct translation of ideas into a choreography of action which some machine will execute. Simply put, I write software. For any, but the most trivial, application this requires a deep immersion in the problem domain as well as an intense focus. In a team setting, it also requires good communication. Clarity, conciseness and completeness are what I strive for while developing software, both in the software artefacts produced as well as any communication and documentation. How does this relate to the earlier points? Well some of my best work on the most challenging pieces I worked on, I achieved while in a waking dream-like state. One could easily imagine a Muse on my shoulder. Those who've programmed, or written novels, or painted, or done any creative work, have experienced similar episodes. As wonderful as it is, it is tiring.

Lately, with all that I'm trying to do and accomplish, it is too much sometimes. I long to hike in the woods with cheery company and to relax. I'm sure the boys and Misce would be up to it when the weather is warmer. Oh to climb a wooded hill topped by some rocky knob! To be among the trees again. When at the top, to see the peaceful countryside below and pause to take a breath. Soon, soon, soon.