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What’s Next

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Bye Dave! Join us this Friday for Red Bucket to wish Dave luck

A hilarious flyer for my farewell party including Grumpy Cat, made with love by Amberley Romo and Kevin Wenzel. These were plastered all over the office on Friday.

Friday was bittersweet. I finished up a two-plus year tenure at The Arc, having the chance to work with some of the most passionate people I’ve ever met. Working there changed me in so many positive ways, I couldn’t even begin to list them all.

So what’s next? I’ve accepted a position as an Interactive Designer at Rock Creek Strategic Marketing – building websites and applications for its clients.

I worked in many areas of the online world at The Arc. Because of that I learned that I really love building sites and applications, and this new position gives me the opportunity to do more of that. I’m excited to meet my new colleagues, dive in and create some fantastic web experiences.

Working at The Arc was an amazing experience, and I couldn’t have moved The Arc’s online communications in so many new directions without the team there. We rebranded the organization, launched a national autism information and resource center, built new blogs with responsive designs, made huge progress on website accessibility and so much more.

On my last day my co-workers threw me a great party, told their favorite “Dave” stories and brought plenty of brownies and beer (my favorite motivators! :) ). I couldn’t have imagined a better ending to my time there.

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So Long Gmail

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I ditched Gmail this weekend. Permanently.

I had contemplated the move for a long time. One of my friends jokingly responded to my tweet about it with:

“WHY DAVE WHY?”

It does sound kind of crazy when you think about it, but here’s why:

  • I’d read Marco Arment’s, Let us pay for this service so it won’t go down, and was inspired to rethink how I managed my own data.
  • I liked the idea that my email was mine. No matter what happens to my provider, I can take it with me, both in name and data.
  • I wanted to make things simpler. No more multiple emails – just one for everything.

I’m now with FastMail. Funny thing: I used FastMail as my email provider before I switched to Gmail in 2008. Since then, they’ve seen a lot of changes. Opera bought FastMail in 2010 and recently redesigned the interface. Plus, now you can use your own domain.

I’m pleased with the switch. Pushing the delete button on Gmail wasn’t that hard with a bit of planning. I:

  • followed the import instructions according to FastMail.
  • set up new filtering rules.
  • waited a few weeks to make sure I changed email addresses where I needed to and let everyone know of the change.

It’s good to be in control.

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Hello CrossFit, It’s Been One Year

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Dave performs push presses during the 2013 CrossFit Games.

Dave performs push presses during the 2013 CrossFit Games.

I started CrossFit one year ago. I can’t believe that much time has passed already, a sign that CrossFit has stuck and changed me in a big way.

It’s given me the perfect balance between strength and cardio. It’s provided a way to satisfy my urge to compete. It’s helped me pay better attention to my health. And it’s something my wife and I can do together.

During the past year I’ve learned CrossFit isn’t so much about reps, sets or the amount of weight on the bar, but about finding your limit and pushing past it. After a recent workout, I mentioned to a coach that I felt like I wasn’t progressing enough.

“That’s because your limit changes constantly,” he said.

So far this year, I’ve already completed two of my three major goals: I did my first rope climb and I recorded a personal best in the deadlift, 235 pounds. I hope to keep pushing the limit forward in the next year and beyond.

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Idea Box: My First Open Source Project with the CFPB

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A few weeks ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released Idea Box. From the Github readme file:

…a django app for collecting and surfacing ideas from users, in the vein of IdeaScale, IdeaX, and Django Voice. Idea-Box differs from these projects in its minimal, easily integrate-able interface. Idea-Box also takes a strong stance on transparency, such that ideas, votes, etc. are tied to specific users.

I was lucky enough to be part of the team that built it. I’m excited to see where it goes and what the CFPB releases next as open source software.

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Number 34

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I turned 34 on Saturday.

That’s kind of crazy. I don’t feel any any older. I never do, but I do feel more balanced and focused. That’s refreshing. Maybe that’s what wisdom feels like?

I realized that I never wrote a New Year’s post, something I’ve done each of the last two years. Today seemed like a good time to catch up on self reflection, plus I always enjoy reading Matt Mullenweg’s birthday posts. So here goes…

Code City

Professionally, I’ve never felt so excited about what’s next than right now. I started the new year with a new job. I’m writing more code, working on two WordPress themes (to be released soon), contributing to the Make WordPress Accessible group, and diving deeper into the accessibility community.

When I first jumped into the web field I was intimidated. It looked difficult to find a niche, a place where I could make a difference. After all, the web offers a lot of opportunities to make it better, but so many talented folks are already in those spaces doing amazing things. Where does someone new fit? It takes time as I discovered. Now, I feel like I finally found my fit in the WordPress and accessibility communities.

Gutcheck Time!

What I loved most about running cross country and track in high school was the mental challenge and the camaraderie among my teammates. During tough interval workouts, I used to yell, “What time is it? GUTCHECK time!” It turned into a rallying cry for our team.

I tried to keep running after I graduated, but I never stuck with it because I missed the people. Last year I started CrossFit and have been doing it ever since.

I love how CrossFit pushes you and your body in every way possible. A few weeks ago I did my first rope climb. Plus, when your fighting your way through a workout, you always have someone over your shoulder with words of encouragement – like that rallying cry I use to yell. It’s the new cross country and track for me.

This Year

I want to build on my progress:

  • Release the two accessible WordPress themes I’m working on.
  • Finish the three goals on the whiteboard at my gym: 1. Complete my first rope climb. 2. Deadlift 225 lbs. 3. Perform my first double-under.
  • Write more on my blog.
  • Keep reading more.

That’s it. I’m trying to simplify my goals more than in years past. See you in my mid-thirties.

Aside

A 2013 WordPress Default Theme Pitch

Aaron Jorbin writes about his goals for the Twenty Thirteen default WordPress theme. He envisions an accessibility first approach, saying:

Accessibility First would involve a few decisions to be made upfront:

  • Color choices with high contrast in mind from the start. This is one area that Twenty Twelve barely missed.
  • Color choices with multiple types of color deficiencies in mind since an estimated 10% of all males suffer from some form of color deficiency.
  • Making up for browser deficiencies, specifically the skipnav focus bug in webkit
  • Make sure that the design still looks beautiful when the font size is increased 200%
  • Following the Theme Accessibility Audit Draft Proposal

I love this approach, and taking Twenty Thirteen down this path would bring accessibility to the forefront not just in the WordPress community, but the web in general.