I have often written blogs in a “developer diary” format for conferences or meetups, but I thought I’d try just writing what I have been up to month to month for an accurate description of dev life… it’s not all conference talks & side projects! Sometimes it's being tired and watching a lot of TV.
After a busy April and May attending conferences,speaking and running a marathon (I know, I know, I never mention it *eyeroll emoji*), I was pretty burnt out. My tweet from June 1st pretty much sums up my plans for the month: relaxing with family (both humans and animals). Did it quite go like that? Let's see....
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I often find myself Slack, Tweeting, Teams chatting to discuss what I am reading, listening to, watching learning with Friends… I thought it would be cool to share this stuff. I tried writing book reviews, but I am not great at reading a whole book, or not quickly at least! I am more of a blog reader or podcast listener, so here are a few from this month.
Podcasts
The High Low- If you already know me, the chances are you know I like this podcast as I recommend it to everyone. The lovely Dolly and Pandora discuss all things pop culture and news, the highbrow and the low, hence the name.
Ctrl Alt Delete- The episode where Emma interview Dame Stephanie Shirley was just perfect for me. If you don't know who Stephanie is, then Google her and watch her famous TED talk. She is a total superhero to me!
David Tennant with Tina Fey- Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Tina Fey and her humour. She is my favourite comedian so this podcast was a lovely insight in to her career. Last year I listened to her autobiography ‘Bossypants’ on Audible, a story of a women in leadership in a traditionally male dominated industry… not sure why I can relate. A few people have recommended the David Tennant podcast, although Tina was my main reason for this episode, I may checkout a few more.
The Guilty Feminist (ep 152)- I always love this podcast but this episode was great. The national treasure that is Emma Thompson and the awesome Mindy Kaling talking about their new film Late Night.
Feminists Don’t Wear Pink(and other lies)- It is back for season 2! Season 1 was accompanying the book (would recommend!) by the same name and season 2 has extended to not only interview contributors to the book. Episode 1 was also with Mindy Kaling!
CodeCraftCast- A great first episode from the lovely folks @ CodeCraft. I am lucky enough to know the hosts and have attended the meetups so I am super happy to hear a podcast by local devs!
Meetups
This month started with me promising to not attend too many meetups and get some rest! The first I attended was 18 days in to the month, surely a record for me?!
GLUUG- A meetup I organise every 2 months is the Glasgow Umbraco meetup. This month we caught up on what happened at Codegarden with a recap from Ryan and we also discussed the Umbraco RFCs.
Ladies of Code- Again, another meetup I organise. This month we had 2 great speakers (Peter & my co-organiser Fiona) and a great turnout of about 30 people. Even in a busy week of work and life, this meetup never fails to make me smile, I always love to hear the different things people are up to in tech in Glasgow.
Lean Agile Glasgow (@ meetup collider)- A meetup of meetups! I attended the Lean Agile Glasgow group as I had been asked to be on the panel for their Agile beginners session. Not going to lie, proper imposter feels kicked in and I had to be convinced I did infact have valid experience to share my opinions. It was good fun, with great questions and was awesome to learn from the other panellists Callum and Andy. At the end of the meetup we all gathered to hear about the other meetups which was awesome fun.
Movies
If you know me, you will know I love movies so much I have an unlimited cinema pass. Here’s what I have seen this month:
Toy Story 4- I have been looking forward to this one for a while! So good, super funny, emotional and even a wee bit scary (if you’ve seen it, you know what I mean!). Would recommend if you are a fan of the other movies, second best after the original if you ask me!
Late Night- Funnily enough, a story of an enthusiastic and ambitious girl in an all male industry was appealing to me. I went to see this movie and laughed at points when no one else in the cinema laughed at scenarios I have also been in.
Godzilla King of the Monsters- Meh, one of the films I am glad I have a cineworld card for and don’t need to pay to see. I liked the previous film in the series but this one just wasn't for me.
Apollo 11- 10/10 would recommend! A documentary with remastered footage from the moon landing mission. We went to see this in IMAX and it was totally worth it!
Books
Invisible Women- I am slowly getting through this book, taking it with me from place to place with me reading a wee bit when I get the chance. It is super interesting, I just take a long time to read!
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One other thing... I have loved having football on nearly every day this month since it's the Women's World Cup. Added extra, Scotland were there! First time we have been at a World cup since I was 9 years old and first time for Women's team. I loved this poem video for BBC the Social.
Ok, so all this plus a busy work month still meant quite a busy month despite my intentions to be a quiet one! Still found plenty of time to spend with family, get back to the gym and do some baking so definitely seems a bit more like balance :)
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