its been a long time

…since I actively spent any time blogging. What you don’t know is that it has been a long time since I’ve done any writing whatsoever. The last two posts on this blog revolved around the birth of my first son, Grant Dawson, on May 16, 2009. This was one of several events that took place almost a year ago that sent me directly into a whirlwind of activity that found me barely keeping my head above water.

It was also about this time that I found myself newly promoted into front-line management. The team that I entered first in 2000 as a Bioinformatics Intern during my last summer as an undergraduate, and then as a Software Engineer/Web Developer I following graduation in 2001, was now mine to lead. After doing this job now for nearly a year, I can safely say that my career as a developer has both prepared me for this role and left me completely bankrupt when faced with the responsibilities that are now mine. More on this to come.

Another event that transpired in May was the sale of our first home. It had been on the market since March, and we “paused” the showings as Grant’s arrival became imminent. It was near the end of May that we received both our first and our last post-Grant showing phone call. I remarked to Wendy - “these folks are going to buy the house.” And buy it they did. Unfortunately for us, we had no idea whatsoever where we were going to move. What ensued was a chaotic whirlwind of house hunting which ended with us making an offer on a house that wasn’t even on the market. And that’s the house I’m sitting in while I write this first entry of 2009. Ask me to tell you the story sometime - it’s a good one.

So, why I’m I here? Why not just leave the blogging task. After all, isn’t blogging passe at this point?

I credit my return to the blogosphere to an incredible book by Jared Richardson and Matthew Bass - Career 2.0: Take Control of Your Life. The basic premise of this book is to “Actively manage your career.” One of the ways by which the authors share how to do this is writing - sharing what you know with the community at-large. Of course what they shared was no surprise to me. I already knew all too well the career benefits associated with blogging. What I needed was a proverbial “kick in the pants.” And that’s what Career 2.0 did for me. If you’re in the software industry - take that back, I don’t care what industry you’re in (these principles are transcendent) - do yourself a favor and read this book. It will change something about your life, guaranteed.

So, with that, let’s start the conversation again. I’m looking forward to where it might lead. Cheers!