I'm not talking about peanuts or stuff that comes out of your nose. We're going with the not traditional definition here. Like the one above that came from [Urban Dictionary](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Goober).

Goober is just the perfect term for when my 3-year-old stands on his chair in the middle of dinner and shakes his bum like Elvis while singing some ridiculous song that he made up.

It's what you call your child when they are doing something that should make you mad but the way that they are doing it is just so funny that you can't help but laugh at them.

I've got a house full of goobers and they certainly make my life interesting.


Goober

What a wonderfully expressive word. It makes me think of all the young people who get into trouble through sheer youthful exuberance.

Picture The Little Rascals or the kids in The Sand Lot.

I think my favorite example though would be the lost boys from Hook. Swinging around with cool names like Rufio and spouting awesome catchphrases like Bangarang.

It just conjures up images of innocent childhood mischief. Maybe I enjoy the word because it could apply so easily to my three boys who are 7, 6, and 3 at the moment.

More probably I'm just nostalgic for the days when I didn't have so much responsibility and I could be a rapscallion myself. Maybe that's why the short url I bought to use for links is [ras.cl](http://ras.cl)

Also, I love how it makes me think of hitting someone on the head with a tiny vegetable in the onion family. Ha!


Rapscallion

## 3.5 - Stars

[My book review policy](https://robertaskidmore.com/book-review-policy/)

I've always loved the imagination and the scope of this book. I think this is the second or third time I've read it.

The Ringworld just sounds majestic. It does make me wish we got a little more description of the world itself though. Niven seems more interested in the function of his ideas rather than their grandeur and that makes me a little sad. I kept waiting for this word-painting of the Ringworld to be splashed across the canvas of my mind. But it never really happened.

I feel like this happens to the narrative as well. The plot was interesting and inventive and the characters seem like they have so much potential. But the story just didn't grip me in the way that a lot of other books do.

Again I think this comes back to perhaps the reason behind Niven's writing. In many ways, I feel like his books are just the vehicle for big ideas and the story is a second class citizen. Whether it be the Ringworld itself or the interesting alien races that he's created in the Puppeteers or the Kzin the actors and settings in the book have so many cool attributes that their personalities seem flat.

Even Louis Wu, who I really enjoyed at the beginning of the book, seems to flatten out as it progresses. His relationship with Teela seems forced and weird to me.

Overall though you can't discredit the sheer inventiveness in the book. The Ringworld universe and all its races and characters are certainly different and complex. I just wish they had more interesting personalities.


Book Review: Ringworld - Larry Niven

## 4 - Stars

[My book review policy](https://robertaskidmore.com/book-review-policy/)

Each book in this series takes a brand new character and throws them into a brand new situation that arises directly from the nature of this world that Butler has created. You know you have an interesting world when you call tell so many stories in it and they are all interesting. Who knows, if Butler had lived longer we may have another entry. Certain the human colony on Mars would be an interesting place to visit.

This is by far the strangest book of the series and my least favorite. Still very good by any means. The characters and story were interesting but it didn't quite live up to the first two novels for me.

It could be because I read them all immediately after one another. I felt like the first two books had a lot to say about human nature. This book didn't seem to add anything new.

Most of it was focused on the relationships of a new Human/Oankali hybrid. While we do get a lot more insight into the alien Oankali race and how they operate it didn't feel like there were any new insights into humanity like we got so heavily in the first two books. A lot of the narrative was devoted to Oankali seeming to lust after human beings to form mating groups with.

While the characters and story were interesting, it just wasn't as meaningful as the rest of the series.


Book Review: Imago - Octavia E. Butler

## 5 - Stars

[My book review policy](https://robertaskidmore.com/book-review-policy/)

I think I liked this book even more than the first in the series. We get a few characters back but this story is mostly told through the viewpoint of a new character who is the son of Lilith and Oankali.

The transition is seamless. I read the books back to back and even though the character is different and the setting is even different, we are on Earth now instead of an Oankali space ship, I still felt just as immersed and engaged in the world that Butler created.

And man, what a world.

I think one of my favorite things about Science Fiction is the author to put human beings in any kind of situation imaginable. That allows for great freedom in exploring and commenting on humanity.

This book has a lot to say about humanity. There are times when our view of human nature is devastatingly bleak. But even the darkest moments are shot through with hope.

The theme I see in this book, and in many SciFi stories, is that human beings are fatally flawed, but there is always hope if we choose to accept it.

I love that message because that is what I see when I look around me. Especially in our current political climate. I could easily see some parts of humanity regressing into the hate and violence that is depicted in parts of this book.

But at the same time, I see some many courageous people making a stand and that makes me optimistic for our future.

This book is fantastic. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.


Book Review: Adulthood Rites - Octavia E. Butler

## 5 - Stars

[My book review policy](https://robertaskidmore.com/book-review-policy/)

There are a lot of books out there with an interesting premise. There are a lot of books out there with interesting characters. There are a lot of books out there with gripping writing that immediately pulls you into the story and never lets you go.

This book has all three.

I'm starting to realize that one of my favorite things in a story is reasonably intelligent characters who are doing the best that they can with a crazy situation. They'll make mistakes and some of them might have even been avoidable. But when they make a mistake you understand the character enough that can see why that made the choices that they did.

Lilith, the main character of this novel, is probably one of my favorite protagonists for these reasons. She's intelligent and level-headed as they come.

Even the Oankali, the alien race in the book, fit into this mold. I think that's what makes them so relatable and so interesting. Although they are superior to human beings in every way, even with their vast knowledge they still make choices that seem right at the time but later turned out to be mistakes.

I think that's what I love most about this book. That the trauma and the tragedy seem both avoidable and entirely inevitable at the same time. I think that's a mark of fantastic writing.


Book Review: Dawn - Octavia E. Butler

Have you ever been cut off in traffic and then later on down the road you see the car who cut you off pulled over by a cop? Congratulations, you know exactly what Schadenfreude feels like.

I love this word because it's exquisitely specific. It's not often that I experience this emotion, but when I do it's such a unique feeling that it deserves its own word.

Now I can use this word whenever I see Ohio State lose in football.

Nothing against the fine and lovely people of Ohio. My parents are actually living there right now. But I spent my early childhood in Michigan. Plus there's something about insisting that the name of your university starts with the word "The" that just seems beyond pretentious, which is another good word for you.

Also, this is awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3_DjiLLDfo

[Definition.](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/schadenfreude)


Schadenfreude

![](/img/app-uploads-2018-12-skidmore-family-2018-683x1024.jpg)

## The Family

Well, let's see. In 2018 we sold a house, bought a house, and had a baby. We also had two weddings, Corryn's sister Talisa in Provo and Rob's sister Jodie in Nashville.

We were sad to leave our first home. But with almost 4 kids and three bedrooms, it was getting too small for us. We moved out in June and stayed with Corryn's parents. While there, our little Everly was born. In July our new house in Vineyard, UT was ready. We really like it. There are a lot of kids so Halloween was crazy fun. The schools are really close. Rob's work is really close. Corryn's family is really close. It's growing like crazy. Kind of like our family. :-)

## Rob

Rob's still loving working at [Grow.com](https://grow.com) where he is a Software Developer. Not much else has changed. He's getting older and slower. He still loves writing and reading. He read over 156 books this year. You can see the whole list [here](https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/10782637).

## Corryn

Corryn still loves Disney, dancing, and being a mom. She had Everly at the end of June and went back to dancing at the end of August. In September we went to Disneyland so she is happy. She loves decorating the house for holidays and trying to keep up with the kids.

## Henry

Henry started 1st grade. He's a gregarious little guy. His favorite thing to say is "Hi, I'm Henry. You're my friend". He thinks he's faster than his dad (I let him beat me once). He likes pretending to be a ninja, playing Pokemon Go, and driving us all crazy.

## Owen

Owen started kindergarten. It's great that it's so close. His first day we got there early so that he and Henry could play on the playground with the other kids. They played on the merry go round. A few hours later we got a call from the school. I guess he spun around a little too much and threw up on his first day. Luckily he's a resilient little guy.

He loves doing anything art related. You can find him drawing pictures of Charmander (his favorite pokemon) or cutting snowflakes.

## Myles (Hoot)

Myles has had an adventurous year. He's grown up a lot and we are grateful. So far this year he has flushed a number of things down the toilet. Including a tongue depressor. That was a fun one because the toilet would work sometimes when the tongue depressor was a certain way and stop working when it shifted. He somehow broke a ceramic light switch cover with a baseball about 5 seconds after I brought it in the house. He stuck a baseball in the exhaust pipe of my dad's truck on the day we were supposed to move out of our house. I had to spend about 40 min fishing it out with a metal skewer and some tweezers. While we were staying with Corryn's parents he threw a toy car at their TV. The good part is that we all got new TVs. The bad part is that our new TV has two giant perpendicular lines running through it.

Luckily he's pretty dang cute. ;-)

He also gave himself a fitting nickname when he wrote "HOOT" on a piece of paper and told me it was his name.

## Everly

Everly was born on June 26th and, I might be biased, but she is stinkin cute. When we took her to Disneyland in September, more than once she was mistaken for a toy doll. Corryn loves dressing her in pink and putting bows on her head. Everly loves kicking and flapping her arms until she pulls the bows down over her eyes. We're excited to have another girl in boy land.


Skidmore Family Letter 2018

![](https://robskidmore.me/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/books-rob-skidmore-1.png)

## Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

I've read this one before and it's a good one. It's set on a remote scientific outpost. On a planet that is covered by a sentient ocean. It ends up doing some crazy things to the people on the station. It's one part psychological thriller and one part hard science fiction. I highly recommend. Lem goes pretty in depth into some of the speculative science and it's pretty interesting.

## Ancillary Mercy by Anne Leckie

The last book in the Radch series. This one was just as good as the first two. I have really liked this series. Once again Leckie heavily invests in characters. It's just as much about character and why people do what they do as it is about what they do. Since the main character is a former AI it also has a lot to say about the nature of humanity.

## Political Order and Political Decay by Francis Fukuyama

This is the second part of Fukuyama's effort to explain how our human politics work. I'm not too far into it but already there are a few interesting points. For one, some people may look at other well-goverened and stable countries and think being like them is just as simple as adopting their governmental policies and programs. I know I've been the victim of this. Why can't we have digital identities and vote online like Estonia? Why can't we replicate the stability and financial policies of some of the Scandinavian countries?

This book has helped me realize that you can't just cherry pick things that are working for others. Political order in the United States has been forged in a very different environment than these other countries. If we tried to enforce some of these policies from the top down they would probably not stick. Or they would fall victim to the malicious or shoddy compliance of bureaucrats enforcing a policy they don't agree with.

In the end, if Americans want reform then Americans will have to change. We can't send someone to the White House and expect them to make America great again. Each individual American has to take responsibility to change themselves and that is what will make America great again.

## The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

I liked this short book. It was full of little snippets of advice and anecdotes on life and mindfulness. I'll probably read it again. I feel like a lot of the value of the book is in the fact that it is full of short things that we need to be reminded of often.


What I'm Reading: September 16, 2017

![](http://robskidmore.me/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/books-rob-skidmore-300x146.png)

## Origins of Political Order - Francis Fukuyama

I finally finished this one. It was awesome. I'll definitely have to re-read. It was interesting and dense. In the last few chapters, there were a few things that stood out to me.

The United States today has a lot of parallels to pre-revolution France. The government has proven ineffective at extracting assets from the wealthy and so the burden of taxation falls on the lower and middle class. We also have a government that, although they cannot pass on the office to descendants, they can exploit the system to their advantage.

So far the American people have proven ineffective at getting them to change. Our government continues to be run by elite cliques and powerful corporate interest lobbies. Our government and its various agencies have been captured by corporations. Just look at what happened to the banking industry after the 2008 financial crisis, absolutely nothing. They have been allowed to continue to leverage themselves beyond reason knowing that the American people will bail them out. The FCC and its leader/corporate shill Ajit Pai have just about successfully dismantled net neutrality, something that no one except the misinformed and the Internet Service Providers wanted. It's ridiculous.

At some point, people will get fed up. I think that's why a lot of people voted for Trump. Sadly I haven't seen any of the change people were hoping for. Mostly it seems we've got more of the same. Except our executive branch has turned into a revolving confederacy of ineffective sensationalists. With the POTUS being the foremost.

Hopefully, we've evolved past the point where the Tree of Liberty must be refreshed with the blood of patriots, to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson. Avoiding something like the French Revolution would obviously be ideal. Judging by recent events across the country I'm not sure. Although in spite of the negativity and violence going on across the country I have seen a lot of good come out of the disasters of this hurricane season.

Who knows what the future holds. Hopefully, I can prepare my kids for whatever comes.

## Ancillary Sword - Anne Leckie

This is the second book in the series. I really enjoyed it. Once again this was all about the interesting characters. I thought it had some interesting things to say on the topic of artificial intelligence as well as human rights. Overall, I'd highly recommend this one as well. This whole series has been a fun ride. I'll have to reread.


What I'm Reading: September 9, 2017

![](http://robskidmore.me/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/books-rob-skidmore-1-300x146.png)

## Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

> "And I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany's" - Deep Blue Something

I knew this movie and book existed. But other than the fact that the Audrey Hepburn was in it and Mikey Rooney gave a cringe worthy caricature of Asians, I knew nothing about it. I figured it was about time I learned more.

It was actually pretty enjoyable.

## The Emperors Soul by Brandon Sanderson

I'm not terribly experienced with Sanderson. I'm more a SciFi guy and he tends to write a more fantasy. But what I have read has been very good. This is a short one, but it's a really well developed and interesting story. It really pulled me into the world that Sanderson created. I'd recommend it.

## Set Your Voice Free by Roger Love and Donna Frazier

I've never really liked the sound of my own voice. I think that's true of most people. I always felt I sounded a little nasal which might be due to the fact that I'm pretty sure that I have a deviated septum. But, I've always wanted to do podcasts and youtube videos. And I knew I wanted to make some changes if I was going to be hearing my voice so much. So I picked this one up on Audible. I just started this book but I feel like it's already making a difference. I've started recording myself every night when I read to my kids. It's really helped me focus on how I'm forming the sounds. I'm excited to see what I can do with the rest of the material.

## The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama

Some books I can polish off in a few days. Others take me weeks to digest. This is one of the latter. Because it's more of a dense and fact filled book without a story to draw me in, I usually try to listen when I can give it my undivided attention like when I'm driving, or running, or biking. So the progress is slow. But I am still really digging this one.

One thing that stood out to me was the relationship between religion and state creation. It's had a profound influence in some of the regions that the book has talked about. It will be interesting to see what the author has to say when we start getting into Christianity.

After what I've read it seems clear that our society is built by a combination of warring influences. We have religion, which deals with the ethical and spiritual side of things, government, which deals with more economic issues as well as law and order, and families/tribes. Those seem to be the big three as far as I have read. This is very interesting since it seems like in our time a fourth factor, the corporation, has been introduced. Also, family and religion have declined. I saw an interesting article the other day about when the wage gap really started and it was back in the 70's. That was right around the time when the initial push back against religion and the traditional family started. Of course, correlation is not causation. But it is an interesting parallel none the less.

## Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

It took me a little time to get involved in this one. I think that's just one of the downsides of starting with an audio book when you can't give it your undivided attention for a good 30min+. Once I got engaged I was hooked though. The characterization is great. There honestly was not that much plot going on. An ancillary (AI/human/thing) is traveling to assassinate an emperor. And that's pretty much it. But you get to meet such interesting and rich people along the way. It's funny, I read Rendezvous with Rama, an Arthur C. Clarke novel, about a month ago. He is very light on the characterization. It's there but it's not the focus of the story. The focus is on the cool alien things that you discover. Ancillary Justice is much the opposite the plot is intriguing but it's the people that get the light. I'm excited to move on to the next book.

I also think that Ann Leckie's story is super cool. She's 51 and just started publishing in 2006. This novel, her first, won a slew of the most prestigious SciFi awards. It just goes to show that you don't have to get started early and be a child prodigy in order to have wild success.


What I'm Reading: September 2, 2017

![](http://robskidmore.me/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/books-rob-skidmore.png)

## The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama

I've been working on this book for the last few weeks. A significant portion of my reading is done through audio books. Mostly because I can listen while I'm doing other things, like driving or sometimes working. I like to listen to dense informational books while I'm doing something that doesn't really require a lot of attention like doing the dishes or going on a run. That way I don't miss anything from the book. This also means that I tend to take longer to read these types of books and the reading is generally pretty split up.

This book sets out to do exactly as the title says, explain the origins of political order. So far, the author has talked about why Chinese government tends to be more authoritarian, why India is a little all over the place, and we've just started in on early states in the Middle East.

I'd give the book high ratings so far. Based on what I've read, there are a number factors that influence the rise of political order some of these include how land is owned, how it is passed from generation to generation and a number of others. But the two biggest seem to be tribal/familial ties and religion. The way the author connects Jainism and Hinduism with the current way that India is governed is particularly interesting. As is the conflict between Islam and the nomadic tribes in the Middle East.

Overall I'd recommend this for sure.

## Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson

I've been through Neuromancer a time or two but this is the first time I've tried to tackle the entire Sprawl Trilogy. The first thing I'll say is that these books are not a good fit for audio and I don't think it's the narration. I've had two different recordings of Neuromancer and each is just as hard to get into. Sometimes audio books will suck you in and keep you on the edge of your seat the entire ride. Not so with any of this trilogy. I've had to struggle to stay engaged with the story and characters.

Honestly, I think it just comes down to writing style. Gibson's work is pretty dense and filled with lots of great descriptions of cool technology. This makes it interesting but also pulls you out of the story.

I've still enjoyed the books but I feel like I'm not getting as wrapped into them as I have with other stories. I think I'll probably just have to go back and read a paper copy when I get the time.


What I'm Reading: August 26, 2017

Testing Software

A reminder America. Just because someone voted differently than you does not mean that they hate you and oppose everything you stand for.

Just because someone voted Trump doesn't mean they are a racist and misogynist who wants to build a wall and deport all foreigners. Just because someone voted Clinton does not mean that they want to take away your guns.

Our country looks divided because our political system is binary.

Just remember, American values and beliefs are not binary.

They span a wonderful and broad spectrum.

A women’s rights supporter can genuinely vote for Trump if their beliefs on Gun Control are more important to them.

An NRA member can vote for Hilary if they feel that LGBTQ rights are more important to them.

Let’s drop the hate and vitriol.

We aren't separated by a gulf. We differ only by a few degrees.


Election 2016

## Say Hello to Prime Directiv

I've got a side gig going with a good friend of mine. We are building a life planning app and hoping it will turn into a full time startup. Rather than explain it all to you I've included our application video and my pitch at Salt Lake's Startup Festival.

## Application Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO_LY8wySbQ

## Pitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCQxVVhyjX4

> If you start me up If you start me up I'll never stop - Rolling Stones


Start Me Up

![Our Fair Share of Hipsters!  Love SF](/img/6-5476-9428305690_c737313a9c_c.jpg)

Hey all you people around my age (20's-30's), do you feel like you're getting the short end of the stick?

### College

Here we are entering adulthood. Many of us shouldering crushing student debt because we all bought into a narrative that college was the correct path to a meaningful and productive life. What has happened to the people who sold us that narrative? A lot of them got rich by inflating the cost of tuition by leaps and bounds, far outpacing inflation. Where has college gotten most of us? No job and crushing debt.

### Defict

Not only are we in debt, but our government has saddled us with a possibly insurmountable mountain of a deficit. Do you want to know when it started? Right around the time we were all being born. Where did all of this money go? Beats me. It didn't go to helping me pay for college.

Want to guess what those politicians are doing right now? Working together, making legislation to fix all these problems? Nope, when they are not writing petty letters to former rogue nations they are probably fundraising or voting to increase their own salary.

### Planet

The same people who hiked up our tuition have also ravaged our planet. Rain forests disappearing, polar ice melting, fossil fuels burning, all at such a rate that our children's children may not even realize they existed.

### Healthcare

Our health care system is a [Charlie Foxtrot (caution swears ahead!)](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/clusterfuck). Government meddling has turned it into an unwieldy behemoth of nonsensical regulation, inflated costs, and unsustainable practices. Do you really think Social Security will be around when we all turn 65?

## Blame, blame, and more blame

Not everyone older than us is the enemy. Only the powerful ones.

They are the ones who are we are paying interest to. They are the ones who are then turning around and **borrowing from us with no plans to pay it back**. What happens when it comes time to collect? They don't care they'll all be dead. Just pass the problems on down the line. And, surprise! They left a nice trust fund so their kiddies are taken care of while the rest of us have to fend for ourselves.

### It's on us too

We were naive. We drank the kool-aid and got high on the pipe dream because it sounded nice. It sounded easy. Go to an All-American college. Get an All-American job. Buy an All-American automobile. And to do all this borrow a massive amount of All-American dollars.

From the way they pitched it, happiness seemed like something we might actually achieve rather than something we could pursue but never attain.

We never thought that our dream of happiness might be a wolf in the guise of a sheep.

We have been complicit in all of this. They told us to go to college and we did. They told us to borrow their money and pay them the interest and we did. They said, "can't afford to buy our nice expensive car, that's okay we'll let you lease it. Oh, you also want to buy a house but the prices of new homes have also leaped beyond inflation? That's okay there is this new thing called a subprime mortgage."

And even if we did nothing, [silence is just another form of consent](http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?SilenceImpliesConsent).

## What now?

I'm not trying to paint a bleak picture. Just calling it as I see it.

So I ask you, my family, friends, and fellow Americans, what are we doing about it?

We better come up with something fast or future generations won't be born with silver spoons in their mouths but ticking time bombs.

Image Credit: [Christopher Michel on Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cmichel67/9428305690)


Talkin Bout my Generation (Getting Screwed)

![Startup Hipster Drinking Coffee](/img/3733-12547099783_8c2d69c52a_o.jpg)

Too many people take the title without regard or respect for what it means.

They think that just because they have a blog with Adsense that trickles in a few dollars, they can stick a title after their name.

Or they want to sound cool to their friends.

Or they want to seem more attractive when they are out shopping their resume to corporate big wigs.

Or they lurk at meetups with a million ideas they talk big about but never follow through on.

Or or or.

## en·tre·pre·neur

> a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, **taking on greater than normal financial risks** in order to do so.

Did you catch that part? I put it in bold. Here it is again just in case. **Entrepreneurs take risks**.

Where is the risk in putting ads on a blog? Or selling courses on Udemy that you make in your spare time.

Also quitting the job you can't handle so you can leech off others while pretending to work on the next big thing isn't risk. It's called cowardice.

It irks me a little when I see random people on twitter call themselves entrepreneur just because they can.

It cheapens the term for the real entrepreneurs.

## Real Entrepreneurs

I've seen these people up close. They don't care about titles. Or impressing online strangers with the number of buzzwords they can cram into their bio.

They are too busy changing the world for petty things like that.

## I worked at a startup.

We built kids furniture. It was founded by a guy my age. He was a brilliant engineer. He borrowed money from family, did consulting work, and bootstrapped his way to a business.

When I came on I was doing marketing. We were the only employees.

So am I an entrepreneur? Absolutely not. What risk did I take?

I was offered equity. I turned it down.

He was on a mission to change the world. I thought it was beyond awesome. But it wasn't my mission.

I have an incredible amount of respect for him and anyone who makes the attempt.

## We need a better word

I hate debating semantics. Most of the time, it's pointless. But I feel like our language is failing us here.

It's like the difference between a writer and an author. An Author has reached a certain milestone in their writer journey. Anyone can be a writer, but author carries weight.

What is the entrepreneurial equivalent of writer?

I don't know.

Whatever it is that is what I am. And I contend that's what most of the self-proclaimed entrepreneurs should be.

I hope when I reach that milestone and finally have my own startup the word entrepreneur still means something.

You call yourself what you want. But don't call me entrepreneur until I've earned it.

Image Credit: [uberof202 on Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/117693452@N04/12547099783)


Don't Call Me Entrepreneur

If there is one aspect of my professional life that I need to improve upon it is tracking my time.

## What? Track time?

If a client, or my boss, wanted to know exactly how much effort I'd put into a certain project I'd be lucky if I didn't have to give an educated guess. If it was a project that I hadn't worked on in a long time I'd be in trouble.

Worse, I have no idea how efficient I've been and no way of knowing how to improve.

## Out of the frying pan

Recently we had a few big projects come down the line at work and I found myself turned into a bottleneck. There were a lot of good reasons like inaccurate time estimates and scope creep. But bottom line was me working like crazy while the rest of the team twiddled their thumbs. Not a good situation.

What's worse is that I was stuck in the thick of it. I was trying to catch up, without the luxury of being able to take a step back and see how I could make it better.

I was so busy running around putting out fires with a bucket that I was unable to go and find the hose or figure out how to prevent the fire in the first place.

Luckily I recently stumbled upon two different web apps that have come to my rescue. :-)

## Rescue Time

[Rescue Time](http://robskidmore.me/a/rescuetime) is my new favorite web app. It automatically tracks just about everything I do when I'm on the computer or using my phone. I can tell exactly how much time I spend using a certain program or browsing a certain website.

**Instant Magic**. I feel like I have always made pretty effective use of my time. But installing the app and just being aware of exactly what I am doing has made it much easier to keep focus.

One of my favorite things about the app is that the UI is so simple I can tell at a glance how effective my day has been. This screen show shows exactly how much time I recorded, when it was recorded, and how much time I spent in various preset categories. All this activity is distilled into one big, bold number that tells me how productive my day has been.

![Rescue Time Dashboard](http://robskidmore.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/rescuetime-dashboard1.png)

Rescue Time also records in detail so I can look and see what my top websites have been. Not only is it pretty interesting to see my tracks all across my desk top and the web, but it's also incredibly useful

![Rescue Time Spotlight](http://robskidmore.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/rescuetime-spotlight1.png)

I haven't yet sprung for the premium version but at this point I think it's inevitable. It's just too powerful a tool not to.

## Wakatime

[Wakatime](http://wakatime.com) automagically tracks how much time I actually spend in my code editor making things happen. It integrates with all the major code editors.

![Wakatime Supported Editors](http://robskidmore.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/wakatime-editors.png)

Sublime Text is my go-to all-purpose editor. But, when I'm working on something particularly complex, I often find myself in PHPStorm or one of the other Jetbrains IDEs. I like Brackets a lot and I use it for some Javascript stuff but it hasn't quite reached the level of Sublime Text. Adding the plugin to each of these editors was as simple as a few clicks.

As soon as everything installed, Wakatime started tracking.

![Wakatime Dashboard](http://robskidmore.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/wakatime-dashboard.png)

Just one glance at the dashboard told me a lot about what I was working on. Like the fact that I somehow managed to spend the exact same amount of time working on my two projects that day.

But that wasn't the only insight. I was able to see which tasks I could just blast through and which ones have taken a little time to work out.

For example I can look at the gaps in my reelgrobman project and figure out just what they were. The biggest gap was my lunch break and a 30min meeting right after I got back. But the other gaps are either times when something in the office distracted me or when I was not working inside the code editor.

## The Punchline

What really gets me pumped about these two apps is how they work together. I can login to Rescue Time and see which programs/websites I was using during the time gaps I found in Wakatime.

If Rescue Time tells me I was on Facebook that's obviously not a good use of time. But if it tells me I spent all my time on stackoverflow or google then I know I was probably troubleshooting some code or digging around for answers.

How awesome is that. Now if I go back to my task list I can see which tasks were simple and which ones required a little more work. I can also tell exactly how much time I spent coding as opposed to searching for answers.

This is super valuable for a number of reasons.

First, I can give much better estimates. Because I can see exactly how much time I've spent working on a particular file I know exactly how long it takes to build certain elements of a website. This is invaluable information for our sales guys. Now when they are putting together a proposal they know exactly what to charge for certain things rather than just making a guess.

Second, if you have ever worked with a designer then you know they can either be your best friend or your worst enemy. With the type of data granularity we get with these two apps I can tell exactly what parts of the design were challenging. If I spend 10 min working on a homepage element and then the next 40 min are spent on stack overflow I know that I just ran up against a challenging piece of design or functionality.

Bottom line, Wakatime and Rescue Time tell me exactly how much time I am spending working on a homepage or an interior page or a header. This leads to more accurate estimates, and better feedback for designers on how much time designs take to code.

I've just gotten started using these tools but I'm excited to see what new things I can learn. I've you haven't yet tried either of these apps you definitely should. They are pretty awesome in their own right. But with their powers combined...

Edited: Added a few points I missed earlier. Also, if you want a more practical breakdown of the method check out my comment below.


Two Tools To Boost Your Web Development Workflow

![e.e. cummings quote](/img/7030-6630396411_acfdc59a8b.jpg)

If you have ever read Cormac McCarthy you know what a writers voice is. Every single clipped sentence is blunt, stark, and brutal just like the subjects of his books.

We can all recognize a writer's voice once we have a little familiarity. Just as we recognize people by their voice when we can't see them.

But somehow, somewhere, someone got the words tone and voice confused. The subtle but significant difference between the two has been so obfuscated that I'm confused. So confused the I will probably use voice when I mean tone and tone when I mean voice at least once in this post.

## The Problem

Mostly it is a harmless error, like the difference between a Pedialyte and it's generic knockoffs. Both of which will help a sick infant stay hydrated. But sometimes this confusion is not so harmless, like the difference between Pedialyte and Pediasure which is apparently a shake that helps toddlers get enough fiber. Sorry honey.

One not so harmless error between tone and voice happens way too often.

A lot of hot shot blogging experts advise newbies to "find their voice" and they are totally right in saying so. A voice that is fresh and different is an awesome thing to have.

But a lot of newbies take this to mean that they need to pick a tone and stick with it. Example: "I'm an upbeat happy blogger so my tone will always be butterflies, puppies, and fluffy hugs of joyness."

WRONG-O. Never ever pick a tone and try to stick with it. Such a course of action will only end in misery, like giving extra fiber to a sick seven-month-old.

Just so that we are clear, **never do this!**

## You Will Be Frustrated

Have you ever tried to write a happy story when you were sad? It is impossible. This is true with any tone of voice. If you are feeling thoughtful then it's probably a bad time to write that snarky marketing post that you are planning.

(Oh. Snarky Marketing. That's good. \*checks domain availability\* Dang it).

Anyway...

## Readers Will Be Frustrated

First of all no one wants to hear the same tone all the time. It gets old. I love McCarthy, but if I somehow survived the apocalypse and had nothing but The Border Trilogy to read I would lose my mind. Probably quite literally, those are some depressing books.

Second, your writing will be disingenuous. NEWS FLASH >> Readers can tell when you are not sincere and they don't like it.

Don't try to sound smart. Readers can tell when you don't really know what words mean and when they are out of place in your writing.

Don't try to sound sarcastic. You will probably just offend a lot of people. Written satire is much harder to pull off then auditory.

Don't try to sound humorous if you don't think you are funny. You jokes will fall flat.

**Don't try to sound like anything!**

## Beyond The Tone

There is much more to a voice then just tone. If Cormac McCarthy ever decides to write a happy, sprawling, Victorian novel in the mode of Jane Austen, sure the characters might flounce around in pretty dresses and covet the same gentlemen, but even out of his traditional subject matter McCarthy would still be McCarthy.

This is because there is much more to a voice then just a tone. You can recognize e.e. cummings poems before you have even read a word just by the way that they look on the page.

Syntax, paragraph structure, grammar, word usage; all of these things add layers to the voice and take it beyond the realm of simple tone.

So don't worry about people not recognizing you. If you usually write pensive calm posts don't be afraid to rage-post if you are worked up about something. Most likely your readers will be saying to themselves, "Thank goodness we are not reading a robot.";

## Be Who You Are and Let Your Voice Find You

A writer’s voice is their personality. Part of it comes naturally but part of it also is a result of a lifetime of reading and writing experiences.

Just like a real personality, a writing voice is mercurial. At least the part that people see. Think of it this way. When you are mad you are still you. You are just the angry version of yourself. When you are sad your personality hasn't changed, you are just showing a different side of it.

Don't deprive yourself or your readers of the entire glorious thing that is you. Let them see every little facet.

Throw out your blogging tone and just start being yourself. People will love you for it.

## Talk To Me

What has your experience with voice and tone been? Let me know in the comments.

Image credit: [Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/29601905@N05/6630396411/)


Forget About Finding a Voice and Just Be Yourself

![ideas](/img/4004-4414374988_5315061507.jpg)

My ears get hot and I feel the uncontrollable urge to swallow for no reason. That’s how it feels when I talk about ideas that mean a lot to me.

I know you have felt it too whenever you open your mouth to express something coming from deep inside you.

It’s hard to talk about the stuff that really matters. So hard, that many of us never do it. Many of us have profound ideas that can change the world but they never get expressed.

These thoughts need to be exposed. Ideas that are not shared are worthless. How can we ever find the truth without giving what we have to others? These things that matter are what make us human.

Each of us has the potential to be awesome. We all have thoughts that matter. We all have a voice and we all have something that needs to be said.

## What’s Stopping Us?

Our biggest obstacle is fear.

We are afraid that people will criticize our ability to express our thoughts or we are afraid that people will criticize our thoughts themselves.

That’s all. Remove these two obstacles and a whole new world will open to you (if you weren’t already singing Disney’s Aladdin you are now).

But how do you get past them?

## Train Yourself

In college I took a song writing class. The professor gave us one piece of advice that has always stuck with me. He said, “Train yourself to a national or world class level and then turn your heart to the things that matter to you.”

No matter how good your lyrics are if your music sucks no one will listen. No matter how profound your thoughts, if you can’t write a decent poem no one will ever understand them. Train yourself because then you are able to tell your story and share your idea.

There will always be naysayers. But when you are confident in your abilities it is much easier to brush them off.

If someone told me today that my writing sucked I would politely thank them for their opinion and then give them the finger as soon as their back was turned (I would never do this). I know I am a good writer. I have not always been and if someone had told me that I sucked a few years ago I might have been devastated.

But confidence in my abilities has allowed me to write about things that matter to me.

## Start Somewhere Safe

Earlier tonight my younger brother came over. He is in his second year of college and is trying to figure out what to do with his life. Last week it seemed like he had found a direction that would make him happy. But tonight when I asked him about it he was reluctant to talk.

Turns out he told someone about his plans and she said that they were stupid. Stupid is the vilest word in the English language. If I knew who this “friend” (in quotes for a reason) was I would give her more than one piece of my mind.

Once again, there will always be naysayers. If you are unsure about your idea share it with someone you trust. Someone who you know won’t make you feel dumb.

I can always count on my parents and my wife to give me great feedback. They love me and even though they sometimes have to tell me that my ideas need a little work, they never make me feel like I am dumb.

Whatever your situation, find a circle of safety. Share your thoughts with these people. Take their advice and make your ideas better.

## Take Small Steps

I started writing poetry in high school. Like most high school poets I sucked. Also like most high school poets I was blissfully unaware of how much I sucked. My mom loved my poems. My teachers thought they were pretty good too.

Then I got to college and quickly learned the truth. My mom didn’t know much about good poetry and she couldn’t give me the feedback I needed to get better.

Your circle of safety might be protecting your feelings and giving your confidence a boost but, in order to really become better and make a difference, you have to branch out.

My first creative writing class was terrifying. I was acutely aware of just how inadequate my writing was. But as I shared it more I realized that everyone else was just trying to get better too. As I took higher level writing courses I met even better writers who gave me even better feedback.

One of the last courses I took was a mix of undergrads and grad students. It was intimidating reading the work of truly talented writers. If I had jumped into this class my first semester, I probably would have seen how my work paled in comparison and given up. But the little steps I took during my other classes prepared me. As a result the class was a challenge that strengthened me rather than breaking me.

It was scary but, after a lot of hard work and a lot of anxious writer’s workshops, by my senior year I was able to turn out a decent poem. I even had one published in the [university’s literary magazine](http://inscape.byu.edu/2012/03/02/sky-woman/).

I am not claiming to be a great poet. I am not the next Billy Collins or W.S. Merwyn. But I have improved a lot and I know I am at least semi-proficient.

Taking small steps outside my circle let me incrementally improve my writing without reaching the point of discouragement.

## Your Turn

What are your big ideas? What are you afraid to share? Let me know in the comments. This is a safe place I promise.

Image credit: [Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/smemon/4414374988/)


How To Write About Things That Matter

![House Plans](/img/54-116863933_52b51b5244.jpg)

My wife and I are big fans of the **[HGTV](http://www.hgtv.com/love-it-or-list-it/show/index.html)** show **[Love It Or List It](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_It_or_List_It)**. The premise of the show is this: Hilary tries to remodel a home so that the family will want to stay in it and David tries to find the family a better home so they will move out.

Today as I was writing this post a wonderful metaphor hit me right in the face. This show demonstrates perfectly the process of writing and organizing a blog post.

## Building/Remodeling The House

No one builds a house one room at a time. First they construct the outer walls. Then the inner walls. Then everything goes crazy.

Once the framework is up people start working on every single room of the house at the same time.

It is the same with remodeling. On the show, once Hilary gets into the house there are people putting sheet rock up in the bedroom while someone else is tiling the kitchen.

I write in the same way. For me **the process of creation is non-linear**. Starting with an introduction, moving to the first paragraph and so on until the conclusion would be impossible for me. I wouldn't even try it. Usually I start with an idea and a I write down a few bullet points. Once the house is constructed I start filing out the rooms.

Paragraphs come together. Words spill out at random. Some rooms are finished before others. Some don't get any attention until the very last minute.

Often, if something feels wrong, I will rip it all out and start over. I had the idea for the HGTV connection when I was about halfway through this post. I had to delete most of the things that I had written, some of which were quite awesome.

## Giving The Tour

Although you can build a house or write a post all over the place you can't show it to someone else that way.

If Realtor David started by showing people the kitchen then the 2nd floor bathroom, then the basement closet, then the main floor dining area he probably wouldn't get many people to move in.

The same is true of your blog posts.

**When you show your ideas to someone else it has to happen in a logical order**. If most of your thoughts are still sitting half formed in your head or if you start running all over the place you will lose your reader.

## Holla Back

Are you a linear writer or all over like me? What tricks do you use to keep yourself organized?

Image credit: [Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/fugue/116863933/)


What HGTV Taught Me About Blog Posts

![Perfect Pizza](/img/5137-5448271311_82c198452e.jpg)

Some of you may know the now famous Hemingway quote about rewriting.

> Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do?  
> Hemingway: It depends. I rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, 39 times before I was satisfied.  
> Interviewer: Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had stumped you?  
> Hemingway: Getting the words right.  
> (Ernest Hemingway, "The Art of Fiction" The Paris Review Interview, 1956)  
> [(Source)](http://grammar.about.com/od/advicefromthepros/a/rewritequotes.htm)

Unfortunately some of us, myself included, take this advice and go crazy.

I mean like stark, raving, sitting in your underpants at 3am typing out your 7th draft of an email to you mother asking for the recipe for the delicious scones you ate as a child, crazy. And that's just not good.

## Perfection Can Be Bad

I know this because I am a perfectionist when it comes to writing. If I don't control myself I will agonize over every single word. Then I will change it. Then change it again.

I spent an entire semester writing a [short story](http://raskidmore.com/the-guilty/) for my Western Literature class. I must have rewritten the first paragraph at least a dozen times. Eventually I realized that my changes are not making the story better they are only making it different.

And we all know Einstein's [definition of insanity](http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins133991.html).

By the time I realized that I was insane the semester was winding down and I didn't have the time that I wanted to spend on the rest of the story.

The result was an awesome hard hitting opening that quickly dissolved into bland prose.

## The Truth

If I would have just learned to curb my voracious rewriting I would have ended up with a much better over all story.

When you are working with tight deadlines like the end of a semester or Wednesday, if that's when you need to publish your post, perfection is unattainable. Most of us just don't have the time.

Maybe an incredibly dedicated full time blogger could crank out one or two perfect posts a week but not indefinitely. Eventually the effort would take its toll and they would burn out.

## Relax

We all need to realize that every blog post doesn't need to be a masterpiece. I'm not saying you should [single-cheek it](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=single%20cheek%20it). But every blog post cannot be Farewell to Arms.

Should you strive to write the best post ever? Absolutely. But be realistic. If you have already have all the information and your point is made the just click publish. Let it go. It is fine like it is.

## Holla Back

Are you a chronic rewriter? What do you do to keep it from crippling you? Or do you think I am totally wrong? Let me know in the comments.

Image credit: [Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/raver_mikey/5448271311/)


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