The simplicity of such a strategy makes it easier to keep focused on the tasks at hand. It also makes it easier to know whether or not you have even reached your goals, because the measuring stick is very easy to read. I’ve decided to implore his strategy with these three goals in mind: listen, engage, and develop.

Listen

This is something that I began doing more of shortly after I created this blog. However, it is still an area of importance that deserves attention. Listening means finding more sources of information I find interesting and making note of them.

I also need to try to listen more on the social networks (Twitter, FriendFeed, and the like). This is an area where I’m having difficulty in filtering the signal from the noise. I probably need to start making use of some nifty tools like TweetDeck or PeopleBrowsr to help me to achieve this.

Engage

In the immutable words of Captain Picard (oh, wait, it’s actually just one word). Listening alone is not enough. I need to engage those who provide the words of wisdom I find fascinating. This is something I know I have not done enough of, so I’ve made it one of my goals this year.

Most of the discussions I had last year took place in comments on blogs. I don’t plan on abandoning commenting on blogs, as it is still a great way to remain involved. However, I will make more of an effort this year to try to increase my involvement in the social networks. Last year, the majority of my involvement on social networks came from broadcasting my blog and my Google Reader shared items to FriendFeed.

Develop

I will try to develop more useful tools and gadgets for whatever interests me at the moment. I’ve developed some nice free tools and iGoogle gadgets (most recently my Amazon Search gadget), and I hope to do more this year.

Development will not just be limited to programming. I also intend to develop more useful and interesting content for GeekLad as well as MakeUseOf. I would say I intend improve my own personal development as well, but I find that to be way too cliché and generic. This year I’ll just stick to programming and content.

Photo Credit: scottwills.

I drove from Boca directly to the very same hospital I left just five days prior.  I spent three nights with her, because my wife had to stay home with our oldest who was very ill with a fever and vomiting.  My parents came up that Saturday and were a big help once again.  During her second hospital stay, they did additional tests (including an MRI to get a better picture of her brain) and once again everything came back normal.  From what I gather, very little is known about the root cause of epilepsy, and it can only be diagnosed by the symptoms.  The doctors can rule out “visible” problems with the brain with tests, and if everything is normal they then determine it is epilepsy.  One doctor said it best when she said that it is a diagnosis by exclusion.

She’s now taking a medication called Keppra, that is supposed to help prevent seizures.  We are hopeful it will help and we also hope she will outgrow them (she’s only a year and a half).  She has returned to her spunky little self, and is once again running all over the house enjoying life.  My wife and I are definitely having a more difficult time coping than she is, but we’re getting through it day-by-day.

Things are slowly getting back to normal, although I’m not really sure exactly what normal is anymore with all that has happened.  I will be getting back to blogging soon.  I’m still learning about microblogging, and I do broadcast messages on occasion several social networks with Ping.fm.  I’ll be blogging about my experience as a microblogging n00b soon enough, so stay tuned!

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