QuirkeyBlog

I know I said this was no longer a personal arena bit I think it’s ok to post news this big

So it’s been a little while. I’ve missed writing and I am resolved to make QuirkeyBlog full of words once more. This summer has been amzingly busy, but I can say that, though this blog has heard nothing of it, I’ve gotten a a lot done. I’m going to be a little self-serving and separate them out so look out for more after this.

Another brash decision - I’m going to keep this blog preety strictly about development and projects. Twitter will henceforth (such a great excuse to use that word) be my personal log. You’ll soon see new outlets for my other disparate interests.

In other words, Stay tuned . . .

Lasting longer then I expected, my Jimi wallet has bitten the dust (or more accurately was decapitated - aka the top tore off). After almost 16 months of use, I learned to love its quirks and always liked the questions and gawking when ever I pulled it out of my pocket.

The biggest improvement was down sizing my pocket - the move from a costanza-sized-full-of-useless-cards-and-reciepts type beast was a major relief to all of my jeans. In a typical modern epiphany after just a couple weeks with out that extra weight you realize that you don’t miss it and there’s rarely a time when you don’t have what you need in the jimi’s constrained proportions.

The only problem I’ve found is something that may be particular to NYC. Where the entire world has really started to move away from cash - the purveyors of this city specifically restaurants and coffee carts are particularly paper only. This made the jimi’s two folded bill restriction a little hard to manage to say the least. I found myself stuffing bills in the corners of my pockets.

So where to from here? I think I’m going to pass on the Jimi and I’m looking very enviously at the sweet looking Dosh wallets they sell at wejetset - maybe I can finagle myself a deal.

Or some other metaphor to describe catching up so I can blog again. See also: getting it off my chest, cleaning the slate, etc.

The past couple of months have been hectic. They’ve been different. They’ve been a roller coaster of code, sweat, and new beginnings. I will continue to write in vague, general statements until someone stops me.

Lets start with the biggest news, I’m no longer working full-time for RadioTail. Greg has also started something new. There’s a lot to say about this - so details later.

So if I’m not heads down on RadioTail - what have I been doing? What I want to do! Specifically - code Ruby and Rails full-time. I’ve become the lone developer amongst a crew of amazing designers and thinkers at Intersect, Inc. Working with these folks has led me to produce some really awesome projects and code to back them. I’ve got to say that doing almost nothing but Ruby has been a joy. I’m constantly discovering new ways of doing things, and constantly re-factoring my own process to make it as streamlined and agile as possible. Again - more on this later. I’ve come along way from being just a side-line admirer of what the cool kids were doing.

One of the best things about working with Intersect, besides working with some of the coolest and smartest people in this fair city, is that they have been really open to me taking on whatever I want outside of the day. Whether thats working on my own ventures, or being a Rails Ninja for Hire. I’m trying to say - hire me to develop your Rails dream project - email me at aaron at this domain.

So right now, I have a bunch of idea, a decent amount of energy, and I’m reveling in the awesome time of NYC in the summer. Its muggy, but there’s so many awesome things to do. Now that I’ve cleared my throat, maybe I can talk more about said awesomeness.

Kat and I have been trying to take full advantage of this week and next week being Dine in Brooklyn 2007. The basic deal is you get 3 courses for $21.12 - some places its 1 person, some places its a two-for. What an awesome thing!
So far, we’ve hit up a couple of different places.

Le Petit Marche - a very nice albeit almost standard French bistro in the Heights. Serving up standards in a nice atmosphere will get you pretty far in my book, as long as the service is good and the frites are tasty. Le Petit wins on both points. They were insanely busy when we arrived, but our waiter was on point for our almost two hour meal.

Gen - an amazingly delicious Japanese spot 8 blocks north of the Brooklyn Museum. We had gone before - its a great place for pre or post museum dinner - but the prix-fixe was an insane amount of food and a wonderful variety. Gen stands out because it provides very interesting original dishes as well as traditional Japanese with an artful yet simple take. Good Japanese should be simple - the ingredients (raw fish, the rice, etc) should be the star. At Gen, this is certainly true, deliciously simple flavors that consistently left me wanting more. Even the Sashimi is a slightly angular cut - a small detail that just made me appreciate the tuna even more.

We also took advantage of three courses of fried at the Atlantic Chip Shop (fried macaroni, fish and chips, fried twinkie). Still some of the best fish and chips and still half a heart attack.

We’re looking forward to some more new places this week! Forward me any recommendations.

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roboppy/228947895/