devmorgan.com

I have heard this word a lot lately. It partially explains why my writing has been more sporatic lately. So, for that, my apologies.

So. A few big things have happened in my life, some of which geekier than others. First things first: I’m engaged! This is very exciting, and well, pretty much awesome. For the record, I didn’t do anything too fancy, but I did do the one knee thing.

Now on to the geeky things! I have been working on a research project for about a year now, involving Data Mining and Data Warehousing. Dr. Jai Kang, his son, and I have written a paper based on the research, and it was accepted to a conference! In Italy! So, come May, I will be heading out to Milan to present the paper with Dr. Kang. Very exciting time indeed. I will likely make a copy of the paper available here after it is presented.

I am also working on my capstone. I am staying pretty quiet about it online right now, but I can tell you it will be really cool. It will involve a visualization, and will be available as a web application, and of course, I will allow access it from here.

I also have had several interviews, hopefully I’ll be getting a nice development job in the coming months.

I guess the long and the short of it is, I will be posting more soon I hope. I just need to catch up with everything that is going on in my life. So, until then, adios.

life, relationships, travel

Several months ago, there was an XKCD comic called Morning Routine. It is the original inspiration for this comic. I started to think about when I end up sleeping with my laptop in bed. It’s when I’m alone, and usually only when I am feeling pretty lonely.

It’s kind of a painful reminder, isn’t it?

comic, life, relationships

First off, my appologies in the long delay in posts. I’ve had a rough few weeks - and I am sure the next few won’t be much better. These rough weeks have given me a lot of opportunities to think about what is keeping me sane. Friends.

Friends can take many different forms. Some friends are buddies, while others are companions. Others can be lovers, and some can be confidants. The only real requirement for friendship is that two people actually care about one another. The level of caring can vary, but there must be some minimal form.

Now, I am fortunate to have some great friends. Over the years they have come and gone, and that happens in life. I’ve only had two people whom I have considered ‘best’ friends in my lifetime, and unfortunately distance and time has made those friendships wear away. However, I am very close with several friends, and I want to quickly mention two friendships that have helped me past the few weeks more than I could have asked.

It’s strange, I’ve known one friend for 7 years, and the other for about 6 months… but how long I’ve known them doesn’t matter. The key with why they have been such great friends is simple: They were exactly what I needed, at exactly the right time. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from them.

Sometimes just being able to hang out isn’t enough. Being able to have a friend that can be there, and care, truly care, can lift your spirits beyond that of anything you could expect.  The friend might have a role that isn’t just a bar buddy, or a hug pal. They may be there for you physically, or maybe virtually. The friend needs to have the qualities that help supplement you in the moment, and make your life, and theirs, better.

The reason I wanted to mention my two friends is because I have also had to say goodbye to them in the past week. Sure, I’ll stay in touch, but they are both moving farther away, and remaining as close of friends will be difficult. However, they will still be friends - just their role will change. They know who they are - but I want another chance to tell them thank you. Thank you.

So, seize the moment and remember to appreciate the friends you have - it becomes easy to forget how important they may be in your life. I know that sometimes I forget. So, in the past few weeks, I have tried to make it a point to tell my friends how much they’ve helped me through. Sure, it sounds corny, but I think its something that should be said - especially if I want to be a good friend back.

friends, life, relationships

Finally back to drawing. It’s been a rough few weeks with my girlfriend on the west coast, so I decided to draw about what I feel. I suppose that’s what art is about, right?

It’s painful learning that *hug* just isn’t the same as the real thing.

comic, relationships

So. In an attempt to keep myself occupied today during layovers and waiting in the airport, I’ll write about my graduation.

Why not, right?

So, I graduated… again. Of course, in true style, I still am not actually done with my grad degree. I still have a couple independent studies ahead of me and my capstone project. Alas this is nothing new, as I also “graduated” my undergrad degree early as well.

Anyway, I hate graduations. Why? Let me count the ways:

1. You have to say goodbye to friends.
2. You (usually) have to move.
3. You have to start thinking about the future.

Saying goodbye is never fun. A friend of mine wrote a note in facebook, asking the question: “Who would willingly spend several years of their life building a new group of friends and family in a place far away from home, and then at the end of those years, leave?” It’s a good question. I know the chances of seeing a lot of the people I saw every day ever again is quite low. Now it’s easier than ever to keep in touch, but like my old roommate, sometimes communication completely breaks down. It’s a damn shame, but it’s apart of life.

Moving sucks. Lets put that out there right now. In the past 2 years, I’ve moved six times. Six. Friggin. Times. Moving gives you some time to be nostalgic, going through the stuff in your life as you pack it all up. This time while packing up, I was remembering the parties and fun that had happened at the apartment… something that will not likely occur again to the same scope or scale. Oh well.

Now, I know we are supposed to think about our futures before we are walking across the stage for graduation, but once you shake the hands - its official (almost), you have to get a real job. I know in the fall I will be going back to StormFrog, but it’s always scary thinking about where you want to end up. Do I really want to be a code monkey all my life? Do I want to become more ‘business-y’ even if it means more money? Do I still want to end up in Boston? Who knows.

Well. Flight is about ready to board. Maybe I’ll write more or draw a comic on a layover.

education, friends, life, rambling, relationships, travel

So, some people get all hyped up about Valentines day… other people don’t.

This comic is for the database geek that got all excited and swept up, and then realized the truth. Yes, I used most of the art for the last one, but give me a break! Finals are coming up!

Sometimes it just isn’t there. If it’s only there around February 14th… maybe it isn’t real :-P

coding, comic, relationships

In anticipation of Valentines Day. I figured I would draw a comic, where a geek professes his love.

In summation:

for (int i=0; i<ways.length; i++) {
   print("I love thee, " + ways[i]);
}

Have a great Valentines day!

coding, comic, relationships

I got home from Buffalo Wild Wings tonight in an, amused mood, to say the least. Sure, I was a little tipsy from the beer, and sure, it was past 2am and I was beginning to get a little lethargic. However, something interesting happened tonight… I finally got up the courage to talk to a waitress I had a class with years ago. Don’t shun me yet, I really am not that creepy. I told her she looked familiar, she replied that I looked familiar as well, and we eventually struck up conversation about it. Yes, I knew exactly how I knew her, but I couldn’t come out and say it - that would be … awkward - but I was able to maintain nice chatting for a while. By the end of the night, we had determined that it was the class that we were in together. Ok cool. Not much of a story though right? Right.

Yes, I facebooked the waitress, and her status was engaged (I was a bit sad, but whatever). However, Discussion about tonight sparked an interesting conversation with a friend. My friend is a great guy, but he is jaded. He says it is just real life that caused him to be this way, but he brought up a good point.

Girls today aren’t what girls were when we were growing up.

Well, of course there is normal cultural change, but, my friend argues that most women are (paraphrasing) loose, crazy, cheaters, bitches, unwilling to have true relationships, self-serving, slutty, (and he goes on..). Well, I wasn’t quite ready to swallow that. I have lots of female friends that don’t fall into any of those categories.

Well. Several.

Ok, Ok… a couple.

I am not kidding. I tried to think about all the girls I am friends with… and to be honest I can count on my hand the ones that do not fit into ANY of those categories, or haven’t since I’ve known them. Why is this?

Read more…

booze, life, relationships

I have decided, it is time to reinvent myself. No, I am not going to be any different then my friends know me. In fact, I will be more like me than ever before. I am just going to make sure I stay that way.

Goals

1. Look my best, smell my best, and be my best. Always.
2. Don’t be intimidated by Women
3. Be myself… around everyone.

It’s been a long time coming, but maybe this will be what I need to do to get me out of my recent funk. I will force myself to work out every day. If I can’t get to the gym (since I usually can’t), I will at very least do push-ups or sit-ups when I wake up. I will start wearing cologne more. I will dress so I look good, every day I can.

I will not be afraid to blow it around a pretty girl, I will act myself, if I crash and burn… so be it. It never bothered me before RIT, why should it bother me now?

Most importantly, I will be myself. I always put up a slightly different facade around different people… it is time to tear that down.

This moment marks the start of my reinvention. My reinvention, to the way I used to be.

life, relationships

So, it’s Thanksgiving, and I have been pondering what to write about. I was going to write about the nice dinner that I had with my family (and extended friends of family), but I decided that it wouldn’t really be that interesting. So, I was going to draw a comic (I haven’t had much time to play with my Wacom), but I still can’t draw, and I don’t really even have a good idea.

Well, even though I have sent and received 57 text messages today (as of right now at least), someone just text messaged me with something to write about. I was just talking about how it is kind of a bummer being single for holidays, and I was being cute about how i missed having someone to cuddle up with for them.

You are the biggest dork ever Dave haha seriously I don’t know why you haven’t found a girl yet haha

Well. This text really did make me smile. It was sent from a good friend of mine, and last year around this time I kinda had a crush on her - and we spent most of Christmas text messaging each other back and forth (lets just say, that is the reason I have a very high text limit plan now, heh). It never really panned out to us having a relationship or anything, but that is fine since we are pretty good friends now. She does seem to put a smile on my face sometimes with a good message.

It’s messages like those that give me hope that I won’t be single forever. I find it very difficult for myself to be single. I grew up in relationships, and I like being in them. Having been so close to becoming engaged, it is a strange feeling when you don’t have someone to spend your holidays with outside of your family. After a year and a half of being single for holidays, I don’t get as sad about it anymore, but I still miss it. Here’s to hoping my ‘biggest dork’-iness pays off in the end :).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

rambling, relationships