<scottAsavage /> » The Fourth Wall

As one chapter ends, another begins

Scott — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:57:15 +0000

In early October 2003, I remember sitting in the middle of a long table across from a group of people who would, unbeknownst to them, shape my life in so many ways for the next almost eight years. This was my job interview to work at SAMHSA as an SAIC contractor.

I remember the interview vividly, and remember the faces and names of everyone who was there. Some are still here with SAIC at SAMHSA, some have left, and one or two have even retired. One of them, Alla, was very pregnant at the time and left six months later – only to come back again at a full-time capacity.

For eight years I have worked side by side with the amazing federal employees and other contractors at the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration as a contractor on the Web & Application team. In those eight years, I’ve learned a lot about both my chosen profession (web/application UX/IA/design), about friendship, about hard work, about teamwork, and about life in general.

This Friday will be my last day here, and it’s a bittersweet thing to me. I’ve made amazing friends, I’ve had a great time. There have been bad patches mixed in here and there, but they are outweighed by the great things that I’ve seen and experienced.

To anyone who says that federal employees don’t do anything or are wasteful, I implore you to look at SAMHSA as an example of the polar opposite. The people I’ve worked with here – hundreds, literally – are the most motivated, caring individuals. They truly believe in the organizations’ mission to bring substance abuse & mental health issues to the forefront, and to bring relief to those who have and are suffering from addictions and afflictions. It makes me feel good every day that the work I do here helps to reach millions of people in need.

That’s why it’s so bittersweet. Good people. Good work. Good times. Good memories.

So, on July 1st, I begin working for Monster.com as their new Sr. User Experience Designer. It’s going to be quite an undertaking that will put all of my current skills to use and will teach me new ones, but it’s going to play to my biggest passion: creating wonderful things, and making good things even better.

I don’t know what exactly the future holds, but I’m looking forward to experiencing it and working with new people and new challenges while holding the memories of SAMHSA & SAIC close to my heart.

Technorati Tags: monster.com, new job, saic, samhsa

Format Change

Scott — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:11:50 +0000

It’s become fairly obvious over the last year that I lack the motivation and/or time and/or topics to continue posting on my blog like I used to, so in an effort to try and make it more active again I’ve decided I’m going to start posting like Gruber @ Daring Fireball does – posting links and snippets with a little bit of commentary – on a daily basis as much as possible.

So, keep your eyes here for the change starting on Monday, March 22, 2010.

Technorati Tags: Daring Fireball, format, Gruber

Video from “Snowpocalypse 2.0″

Scott — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:31:36 +0000

Here in Germantown, MD we’re really getting pounded by snow and high winds. A few days ago we got about 38 inches of snow. We had a few days to clean up and get out, and now we’re dealing with another blizzard again that could, when all is said and done, drop another 15+ inches of snow on us.

To help pass the time I’ve made two videos with my little Flip Camcorder and posted them to my Youtube account. That said, enjoy these videos!

Blizzard footage from my bedroom window

More blizzard footage, this time from my front door

Technorati Tags: blizzard, cold, snowpocalypse, winter

Changing hosts!

Scott — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:18:35 +0000

Due to some technical issues with my previous host, I’ve decided to finally take the plunge and move to Media Temple (mt). I’ve been contemplating this decision for a long time but until today I had no real good excuse. Unfortunately my host since March of 2005 had a fairly massive network outage in the middle of the day. An outage so bad that it knocked out their entire network, their status page (which wasn’t hosted on my primary network), and even their homepage (not a normal occurance when an ISP has an outage).

That said, please forgive me if you have any trouble accessing my sites over the next week or so. I’m trying to move everything over slowly and careful so the downtime is minimal.

And… if I don’t post before next week, have a great Hannukah and a Merry Christmas!

P.S. Don’t forget – you can follow me on Twitter @mexijew!

Technorati Tags: Hosting, ISP, Media Temple, Network, Outage

Still alive! Seriously!

Scott — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:37:47 +0000

I’m very sorry for the lack of posting lately. Between the new house, the job, and all of the other work that has fallen into my lap over the past few months I’ve had so little time to be creative and write here. I”m getting back into it, however. I’ve got a notepad full of outstanding topics I want to discuss on here.

Come back soon for more great discussions and debates. Till then!

Technorati Tags: alive, busy, home, work

Summer 2009 so far

Scott — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:53:53 +0000

We’re about halfway through the summer now and I thought it’d be nice to post some highlights from my summer fun so far. First off, I’ve created a collection of pictures on my Flickr account that has the full compilation of all the pictures I’ve taken this summer, although most of the pictures are from the weddings of my Father and of my best friend Brian. There’s only a few random pictures in there, specifically from when I spent the 4th of July in Philadelphia, PA.

To check out that collection, head on over to my flickr account now. Also, there’s a great preview of the wedding video from Brian & Erika’s wedding over at our friend Cheryls website – http://caslproductions.com/blog/. Go have a look at that – it’s a great preview of what was a truly beautiful wedding.

So, what have I been doing this summer to keep myself busy? Weddings and dealing with my house, actually. Since June I’ve attended three weddings, with a fourth coming up this Saturday – which should be the last wedding of the summer. Whew! Everyone seems to be getting married this year.

Additionally, last weekend I was fortunate enough to meet up with some of my old friends from SFOL/FSF at the 31st Annual Shore Leave Star Trek convention. While I didn’t actually attend the convention, I did browse through the dealer room and had a great lunch with my old friends. I think next year I’ll actually stay overnight and join in the drunken debauchery (which was broadcast live and in color this year, thanks to a handy webcam someone brought!).

The house. Mmm. The damn house. I won’t go through all of the pain and mental anguish that the house has put me through, but I will say that the last two weeks have been – thus far – problem free. Hopefully it’ll go like that for a few more months.

For those actually keeping track of things, I am now fully unpacked, with the exception of the kitchen which is going to be remodeled by Sears sometime in the next few weeks. After that I’ll be having a house warming party finally. The office/guest room is done, complete with sleep sofa, desk, chair, computer, bookcase, and lighting fixture (which I totally forgot to buy until AFTER I’d finished putting the room together). I’ve also hung all of the artwork I own (big thanks to my father for donating some of his nicer pieces).

So, that’s my summer so far. Hopefully I’ll find some way to fit a beach trip or something in. All work and no play makes Scott a dull boy.

Technorati Tags: Frederick, FSF, New Jersey, Philadelphia, SFOL, Shore Leave, Star Trek, Summer, Travel, Wedding

Truly blessed

Scott — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:26:13 +0000

As I sit here in a cool, pleasant Holiday Inn hotel room in Toms River, NJ, I can honestly tell you that I had a wonderful day today on my 28th birthday. In fact, I’d go so far as saying that this is the best birthday I’ve had that I can remember. It was also the most simple day in a string of complicated months I’ve been through.

I’m up here in New Jersey for a most joyous event – my father’s wedding. Two years ago, my father met a wonderful woman named Susan through the Jewish dating service JDate. Since then, what has been a truly horrific decade in both my fathers life and my own has turned into a true barchot (hebrew for “blessing”). His life has completely turned around and for the first time in a very long time I can say that he truly seems happy. Which, in turn, makes me truly happy.

So, despite all the badness that I’ve had to deal with these past few months, spending my birthday up here with my father, my aunt, and my new step family has been the best, most relaxing, most happy experience in quite a long time. Now… time to get to writing the toast for the wedding. After all, I’m the best man.

Oh – by the way – thanks to everyone for all of the great, heartfelt birthday wishes on twitter and facebook. I really appreciate it. You all really helped to make this my best birthday ever, and I wish all of you could’ve been up here to celebrate it with me.

Technorati Tags: Birthday, Blessed, Facebook, Family, Father, Happy, Holiday, Jewish, New Jersey, Twitter, Wedding

All Good Things…

Scott — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:40:00 +0000

For almost a decade I have been posting all kinds of things on Mexijew.com. My thoughts, my aspirations, my frustrations, my life, my work, my hopes and my dreams. It’s been a controversial site at times. I’ve received my fair share of anti-semitic e-mails and anonymous slams because of things I’ve said. I’ve even had the attention of Howard Stern and Fox News for some of the things I’ve posted. Today, however, it’s time to move to a new home.

As of May 26, 2009, I will no longer be posting on Mexijew.com. I am moving my base of operations to ScottASavage.com. My format will be a little more professional, my posts a bit less… raw. My reasons for doing so are complex. When I started Mexijew.com I was barely over the age of 18, full of angst and lacking of skill, experience, wisdom, and tact. Well, I’m still full of angst and lacking of wisdom and tact, but I’ve got experience and a bit more common sense now. Besides all of that, I would like to be able to put my blog into my portfolio, and of course move to WordPress after all these years using Blogger.com.

In the next few weeks I’ll finish migrating posts over to ScottASavage.com and will change Mexijew.com into a redirector. Until then, please head on over to the new site for the latest and greatest. Expect more frequent posts and more interaction.

Thanks to everyone who ever visited Mexijew.com, left a comment, or sent an e-mail. It’s been a wild ride. Let’s keep the momentum going for the new site.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Blogger, Change, Launch, Mexijew.com, New Site, WordPress