I love my secret winter project.
It started on Christmas day in 1981, when, at age 15, I got my first computer: a Commodore VIC-20.
These are the BASIC books + program cassettes! I tore through:
I sat down Christmas morning, plugged in, opened a book…and didn’t get up from my chair until I had worked through the whole thing, days later.
I had never been so compelled by anything that did not sport a pony tail.
Ever since, when the days get short, I feel the urge go larval and hack something fun. Just for me.
Looking back on Github I see these recent winter projects (ok and some fall projects too):
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Dec 2016: FJ: Functional Java—the obligatory tiny functional programming library for Java GitHub - Bill/FJ: Functional Java—the obligatory tiny functional programming library for Java. · GitHub
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Nov-Dec 2015: iiqm-clj: Incremental Interquartile Mean using Clojure Finger Trees IQM and Finger Trees by Bill Burcham on Prezi GitHub - Bill/iiqm-clj: Incremental Interquartile Mean using Clojure Finger Trees · GitHub
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Oct-Nov 2015: hamstar: Hamstar Transforms Hamster (Immutable) Ruby Collections Better GitHub - Bill/hamstar: Hamstar Transforms Hamster (Immutable) Ruby Collections Better · GitHub
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Dec 2012: orchestrated: a minimal Ruby workflow orchestration framework running on delayed_job and active_record GitHub - Bill/orchestrated: a minimal Ruby workflow orchestration framework running on delayed_job and active_record · GitHub
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Nov 2009: wavenub: expose public Google Waves to the Internet (perhaps you’ve heard of it) GitHub - Bill/wavenub: Expose public Google Waves to the Internet (perhaps you've heard of it) · GitHub
Part of the joy is not rushing into it—and not rushing out of it either. And not having any externally-imposed requirements. There is so much freedom in just making something that makes me happy. Making it in a way that makes me happy. Spending as much or as little time on any particular detail as suits me. No need to convince anyone before, during, or after!
I haven’t decided on the project for this winter. But there is no rush.