yelyah - “slick socks 20111015” piano improv
Probably the biggest downside of losing my primary computer for a week (while it was being repaired) was the fact that I completely lost the programming roll I had been on.
For some context, programming seems to be something I pick up every so often. In between, I seem to completely forget how to program (or at least I think I’ve forgotten), so it becomes a big deal to try to pick it back up again.
I did have access to another computer during the repair, but it didn’t have any of my tools installed. And yeah, I could’ve gotten everything up and running, but there’s this whole issue of trust for me. Like, there’s a reason why my 6 year old studio computer stays in the studio and isn’t used for anything else. Trust.
It’s that trust that allows me to know that I can fire up the studio computer at any time when an idea strikes and (pending a hardware failure) not have to worry about computer problems.
So that was a big part of the problem with trying to switch everything over. Plus, for whatever reason, this computer beachballs a lot. It’s no fun trying to get work done on a system that randomly stalls (or at least it feels random).
I’ve got my computer back now and (knock on wood), everything is fine. With the exception that I decided to take the plunge and do a clean install of Lion. I kinda figured I might be asking for trouble.
Well, so far the trouble hasn’t been Lion itself, but the Xcode 4.2 install. Not that I really understand it all, but Apple replaced the default GCC C compiler with this LLVM C Compiler. In 4.2, they completely removed the old GCC compiler.
Now, I’m guessing that if you already had an install of straight GCC, that 4.2 doesn’t actually remove it, but one thing is for sure. Without it, a whole lot of stuff doesn’t want to compile.
My solution which appears to be working so far… I found the Xcode 4.1 install on my other computer. Now I can actually install Ruby, hurray.
So in addition to that fun, I’ve just been trying to build back momentum. And get inspired again.
My cycle seems to go like this:
- get hyped up about solution X
- actually start building something with solution X
- grow bored with solution X
- get hyped up about solution Y - repeat process
Which is why it was such a killer for someone like me to have something other than my actual damn self kill my progress on step 2. I mean, to me, it’s not surprising that I started falling in love with WordPress again once I was thrown out of my programming roll with Ruby.
I did come to a conclusion with WordPress finally. I mean, it’s the same conclusion I come to all the time: I’m not in love with it enough to actually start writing PHP again.
The plan was never to replace Ruby though. It was to learn WordPress specifically for building content sites.
But now that I know (once again) that there’s no future for WordPress and me (until 6 months from now), I’m back to trying to figure out how to reignite the flame with Ruby.
Or web development at all for that matter.
And speaking of cycles, every so often, I go through a cycle where I think I’m actually a designer. One of these days I might actually prove it. But only if I can actually manage to make it into the BUILD IT phase.
