La vie professionelle

I am a Development Editor for Sams Publishing in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. I work on open-source web and database technology, as well as MacOS and Linux titles. (Indeed, this page is being written in a text editor on my new favorite flavor of Linux, Ubuntu).

MySQL Press

I am currently the lead editor in charge of the relationship with MySQL Press, the birth of which was founded (at least from our side) and negotiated by the wholly capable Mark Taber in conjunction with the nice people at MySQL AB. Shelley Johnston and I were the MySQL editorial team before Shelley left the company in February 2006, leaving me with the editorial reins. Leading the MySQL book market with significant and trustworthy authors, such as Paul DuBois, Luke Welling, Laura Thompson, and many more, the title count is ever growing with two significant releases planned for the first quarter of 2006: MySQL Administrator’s Guide by MySQL AB and MySQL Clustering by Harrison Fisk and Alex Davies.

Developer’s Library Phrasebook Series

Mark Taber and I are language fanatics. We mirror each other’s knowledge of foreign languages—he with German and a little French; me with French and a little German. It was from conversations that we had about how we like to learn and improve our language skills that we started thinking about the idea of a “phrasebook” for programmers. We hired language maven and Mad Magazine enthusiast Christian Wenz help develop the idea into a reality. His book, The PHP Phrasebook was the first one in the series, and he is currently working on a JavaScript Phrasebook, as well.

Other Important Titles

Some of the most important titles I have worked on in the past couple of years have been MySQL by Paul DuBois, Advanced PHP Programming by George Schlossnagle, Red Hat Fedora 4 Unleashed by Andrew and Paul Hudson (don’t miss out on the upcoming Red Hat Fedora 5 Unleashed and Ubuntu Unleashed by the same authors!), along with too many more to mention specifically.

Ever Forward

Some of my current side projects include trying to move Sams Publishing into the digital future with XML technology and electronic delivery of content. I spent October 2004 - March 2005 working on XSLT and XML for IUPUI in preparation for this project. Understanding what programmers want and need is forefront to me, and giving them the appropriate options is my challenge. Modularity and portability are the key and we are starting to make a lot of advances in these areas. Keep your eye out at the Safari Bookshelf and the Sams Publishing website for the brave new world of publishing in the twenty-first century.

La vie de loisirs

My life outside work is increasingly busy, but increasingly fun. Maybe that makes the word “loisir” above a bit misleading: Only some of it is leasure, but it’s all fun. This is some of the stuff I would dedicate myself to more fully if I had a winning lottery ticket in my hand.

Web Programming

In college, I had a Brother word processor, which was pretty much a typewriter on steroids. I would occasionally use the amber and black montiored VAX system in the computer labs, but mostly only when I had to. I never used its clunky old version of WordPerfect to write my papers; I stuck with the trusty Brother. When I graduated in 1995, I started getting freelance copy editor jobs, and I had to buy a computer. I remember before my first freelance job someone asking me if I had Word 6 and saying I was thinking about getting it (which technically wasn’t a lie, because I certainly was thinking about it if it meant work for me). I had never even heard of “Word 6,” but I went out that night and bought a computer and this box full of something like twenty 3.5 inch floppy disks full of something called Microsoft Office. I was up-and-running immediately. I took right to it, too. I had my own webpage about William Faulkner up before the end of the summer.

Now, I would say I am a full-fledged computer geek. If I am at home, the I can often be found at my desk playing around (likely playing World of Warcraft) on my iMac or with my 12" PowerBook sitting on my lap. My most recent projects are as follows:

Hoosier Logic

Originally conceived as a Xeroxed “zine” by Sean O’Neil in the early ninties, Hoosier Logic was reborn in 2005 as an Internet magazine. With a push by Matt Gonzales, Sean agreed that he would like to resuscitate the idea of a format-free magazine written and edited by people who either are from or currently live in Indiana. Excited about the idea, I offered technical and editorial support to help bring the magazine to fruition. Eventually proving to be too much work for one person to handle (what with Matt finishing his MA and getting a job), Hoosier Logic was put on the back burner.

In December 2005, I started to miss Hoosier Logic as an outlet for writing and programming. I decided that with the birth of the blog (and its subsequent glut of blogging applications), people finally have a viable outlet for keeping in touch with their friends and family (or just rambling on about politics or what their weekend plans are) without having to be professional web developers. (And we know a lot of people who use it.) Therefore, I have picked up the mantle to lead the charge towards an aggregated site with some proprietary content, including but not limited to the renaissance of Sean’s infamous “Ask the Mick” column. (If you are a friend of mine and you are interested in having a Hoosier Logic blog, please send me an email. The incredibly talented designer Amy McAdams has agreed to help me in the design of a variety of WordPress templates so your sites can be really pretty.) Planned relaunch of Hoosier Logic, May 2006.

A Day in the Life

The “A Day in the Life” Project was conceived over a game of Euchre in May 2004. Erik Styles gently slurred through his rum-soaked haze that he thought it’d be a good idea to have our creative friends write about their days. The first day was chosen at random and agreed upon by Erik, Andy Shutz, Amanda Cravens, and me.

So far, many creative people from all over the world have decided to participate. What’s more, they are participating in more than one language, including Irish Gaelic and French.

The idea behind the project is simple—write about a given day. The guidelines are pretty straightforward: 1250-2500 words or about 5-10 double-spaced pages; using any literary form you like, from essay to short story to poetry—whatever.

We look forward to making this a several-times-a-year event. If you wish to participate in the future, please contact us and we will be glad to add you to our list of potential participants. In the meantime, please enjoy the work that others have created!

Otiose Portfolio

Trying to move my personal content away from the damonjordan.com site (it just ain’t cool to have a blog with your name on it, or so I’ve been told), I have created Otiose Portfolio as my online clearing house. First posted in January of 2006, it is home to my main blog (Prolix and Jejune), travel blogs (currently only Forty-two Religions and Two Sauces about my 2006 trip to England), and a photo gallery.

Check This Box

You remember in school when kids would write notes that said, “Do you like me? If so, check this box and pass it back.” Well, this site’s conception is kind of like that. But right now, it’s just the conception. I own the URL and some webspace for it, but construction has yet to begin.

Golf

When I was growing up, I hated golf. I associated with the establishment. Or at least my dad and brother. Anyway, I wanted nothing to do with it. But then in the winter of 2000, I got the notion that I wanted to get a set of golf clubs. Maybe because my friend Andy had just moved to town, and I knew he played; maybe as an excuse to spend more time with my father and brother: I don’t really know why I got the notion to take it up, but I did. Now I’m hooked, and it only makes winter that much longer. I’m not very good at it, but I do enjoy playing competitively when I can, which means that come January, the Spring Four-Ball at South Grove Golf Course can’t get here soon enough.

Reading and Writing

I am totally fickle in my reading habits. Some days, I am very into poetry (coming back constantly to William Carlos Williams and the still-living Neal Bowers) and essays (like those in David Foster Wallace’s newest book, Consider the Lobster), so all I want to do is read magazines (but I really like the expensive ones like The Believer or The Paris Review). Other days, I yearn for fiction, be it short or novel-length. Yet other days, I can spend hours reading encylopedias (which makes Wikipedia unbelievably dangerous).

I would like to take this part of the About Me page to give a shout out to NaNoWriMo, which encourages everyone to write a 50,000 word novel over the course of the month of November. Do it; you’ll learn some stuff about yourself that you never knew, I swear.

Citizenship

Alright, now citizenship might not be considered hobby-worthy, but the older I get, the more that old history degree starts gnawing at me. More and more, I am thinking about American politics and what it means to be a patriotic American. I do plan on becoming involved in the next presidential election by volunteering some time—don’t quite know how yet—to a worthy candidate. But I’m not saying who yet.