Welcome 2005

At midnight I hope to be no where close to a computer, so I’ll post this now because I’m sure it’s 2005 someplace already. Thank you, everyone, for such a wonderful year and I wish you all the very best for the coming one.

Here are my resolutions for 2005:

  • Build up my piano chops — On some level I always wondered how things would be different if I stuck with piano instead of switching to sax. I’d like to learn a lot more piano.
  • Read more — I got some great books for Christmas and I think more offline reading would be good for me.
  • Release more — I let releases build up too long, I think most things I’m doing would benefit from a shorter development cycle. I also still have a lot of code I still need to clean up and GPL, more for the *Press family perhaps.
  • Write more — I’ve been happy with my code output lately, but my regular writing has suffered and I haven’t composed or arranged any significant music in about two years now.
  • No more mental roadblocks — For any of the above it would be easy to say “it would be easy to do X if I had Z” but this year I’ve learned that Z is just holding me back. Physical or habitual crutches may be more comfortable, but comfort is a terrible thing when you’re trying to push the envelope.

16 thoughts on “Welcome 2005

  1. Pingback: FairlyClever
  2. Matt, maybe we should collaborate on a WordPress theme music? πŸ˜‰

    Happy 2005, and more power to WordPress and the rest of the *Press family!

  3. Hello Matt, I don’t mean to interrupt New Year’s festivities, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m using WordPress for the blog of Sarvodaya (http://www.sarvodaya.org), the largest development charity in Sri Lanka, and the one being especially effective in responding to the Tsunami. In case you’re unfamiliar, Sarvodaya comes recommended from your man, Arthur C. Clarke (who lives here in SL).

    “Considering supporting Sarvodaya, the largest development charity in Sri Lanka, which has a 45 year track record in reaching out and helping the poorest of the poor. Sarvodaya has mounted a well organised, countrywide relief effort using their countrywide network of offices and volunteers who work in all parts of the country, well above ethnic and other divisions.”

    I’m not trying to advertise here, though we can use all the help we can get. I just wanted to thank you for making it possible to deploy a voice in a fast and efficient way. Blogs are fun for leisure, but they are saving lives right now in Sri Lanka.

    The government and NGO’s even are dropping the ball big time. I’ve gone to their meetings and they’re completely disorganized, and information flow and processing is mad messy. The only decent info is coming from the tsunamihelp blog at blogspot, and wavesofhope.org, also running WordPress. A team of crack bloggers deployed to a disaster site would be worth a gaggle of government offices.

    But I’m taking up your thread. I just wanted to say thank you.

    Indi (http://www.indi.ca)

  4. Interesting. I tried to pick up the piano once, but was utterly unable to do so after playing the sax for a few years. Sax playing is a line, while piano is mainly cords – on a sax, even though you use both hands, you’re usually using both in concert to play one note. Kind of like typing – two hands, but only one letter at a time. Piano messed with my head because it meant both hands 1) had to move independantly of each other, and 2) lots of fingers had to hit lots of different places at the same time. I couldn’t get my hands to move independently of each other, and thus ended my career on the ivories.

    Long way of saying: more power to you, champ.

  5. dear mike,

    maybe piano is alittle harder than sax πŸ™‚ but it is also so much better than sax in the outcome

    maybe because i am a piano man

    but i feel that the piano music is so much rich (not the kids somgs for sure)

    but i also think that about music your soul will make a bond with the instrument that is made for you and you will find this one the simplest

    thanks alot

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