donharper.org

End of Summer

don — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:57:35 +0000

Been a good, but busy summer. Hope it was a good one for you.

On A Wing And A Prayer…

don — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:59:39 +0000

From somewhere over the south, on my way to Boston.

Posted from my new Droid.

Still Alive

don — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:54:49 +0000

Hello, all. Sorry for not posting (Up until this spring, I have managed at least a post a month since I started this), but I have been busy with work, and in a bit of a creative funk.

Trying to get back into the swing of things. I recently went out and bought some film (*gasp* What’s that?) for my Minolta SRT-202, which is a fully manual 35-mm SLR from the mid 1970′s. I have not finished a roll yet, but I am enjoying the process of working with it again. Still working on the Olympus digital as well, plus a Nikon CoolPic point and shoot. I have been posting some of my P&S photos (along with some others) over at www.donaldharper.com.

Peace, Love, and Linux

don — Mon, 03 May 2010 02:34:40 +0000

Peace, Love, and Linux

Originally uploaded by kino-eye

Linux is alive and well. Click through for the story…

A week in

don — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:35:31 +0000

And I am settling into the new job. The new employer is an Australian based investment bank. There is more of a culture adjustment than I am normally used to going to a new job. The Australians have a different approach to a lot of things than the Americans, and for the most part, I find it refreshing. The major downside? Having to be in the office every day. (yes, I know, cry a river of tears for me on this one.)

In other news, I have decided to restart my Project 365, but this time I am not planning on posting the images the same day. If I do, bonus, but with the change in the work schedule, I do not think I can manage it, so I am not going to try. Come keep tabs on me over at my Project 365 website.

The family is doing great, and so far has been making the adjustment to my new schedule with grace.

Moving on…

don — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:57:16 +0000

Friday was my last day at JPMC. After working there 3.75 years, I decided for a lot of reasons it was time to move on. So, Monday I start a Macquarie Holdings, an Australian Investment Bank. No, we are not moving to Sidney, but staying here. Macquarie is increasing there presence in North America.

What will I be doing? Still Linux. To start with, I will be working closely with a line of business (or business group, or business unit. Take your pick) to help them implement projects in the Linux space. After I learn the ways of the business and the ways of Macquarie, then I may move into a more global IT role, helping to shape and implement Linux across the whole of Macquarie.

Everybody I have meet with have been very friendly, very cheerful, and very smart. Very refreshing. I am looking forward to the new challenges and the new options.

And, as an added bonus, during my first month, I get to go to San Fransisco for training. Nice to be working someplace that actually values training, again.

A new year is here

don — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:10:05 +0000

And I have not put anything up here.

I have been working on re-launching my photoblog over at www.donaldharper.com, and I just finished up the new look. There was a lot of back-end cleanup I had to do, and it seems to have worked well.

I have also brought back Abandon The GUI!. I have some ideas I wanted to share, and they are too geeky for this place, so I brought it back.

As for goals this year, I have decided to keep it simple:

Simplify – in all areas I can, to reduce stress and enjoy life more
Work on my photography as an art and a passion, but nothing more

I know these are kinda vague, but these should keep me focused for the new year.

Goals for 2009

don — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 03:23:09 +0000

As the year has come to an end, it is time to look back and see where I got with my goals:

Social
- Join and participate in at least one organization/club (outside of church). With the Katy Linux User’s Group and the Katy Photography Group, Check
- Work on blogs more. Working on relaunching my main photo blog, and thinking about this site. Also toying with bringing back an old site, but nothing firm yet.
Travel
- 1 Trip with family not to see family. The campout and the beach trip. Check!
- Start planing on bigger trip. Decided to put this on hold until we have killed our debts.
Photography
- Take and post a photo a day. To date, only missed posting twice, but have pictures each day. Check
Simplify
- Reduce wardrobe, books and computer stuff. Have not bought any new books this year aside from school. Yeah for the library! I have cleared a lot of clutter from the wardrobe, but still need to finish. Computers, sadly, no movement.
Finance
- Set up emergency fund. Fund is going, and working the debts.
- Set up wills. Ah, about this…
Health
- Take better care of self. I am down over 30 pounds, been eating and exercising much better, and I feel great!

I am pretty happy on where I have ended up. I have some general goals for next year, and I will be coming up with some specific ones as well.

Come back in a while, and check them out!

Where did October go?

don — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:53:16 +0000

Wow….we are in November and talking about Thanksgiving plans. Where did October go?

I guess, I was busy. New projects at work, school work, and keeping up with the family. Fall is also festival time around here, and we have managed to get to TRF:

Quick update

don — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:02:11 +0000

Post Office Boxes

This is just a quick note on what I am doing.

School is coming along just fine. My java class is taking the most time, but I am starting to get the hang of it.

With fall brings cooler weather, and that will give me more chance to out and take pictures with a local photo club. This photo is from a outing we took last month. It, and two others, will be displayed at a small show at the Katy Heritage Museum sometime soon. My first show!

The kids are doing just fine, and both are loving their classes.