Random Thoughts
[This is stream of consciousness writing – no attempt to be eloquent.]
I’ve been working late most nights and most weekends on the ACA so this is the first weekend in a while where work is not part of the agenda. This past week I had gotten to the point where I was so tired that by around 3PM I’m having the attack of the sleepies. I’ve been going to bed earlier than normal, with Tuesday’s bedtime clocked at 7PM.
Since I had successfully submitted the ACA data, this weekend was a celebration weekend!
As part of it, I went to the bookstore and got a bunch of books. Now, yes, those books are related to a couple of new projects at work but still, I hadn’t been to the bookstore in months so it was a treat. Part of the project will be to make the reports more informative, visually appealing and have a WOW factor. I’m going to be exploring how to use the Microsoft Power BI so some of these books will show me some ideas on how to use Power BI. I also added some books on analytics and strategy for ideas on what kind of things to present and how to go about doing this. Data visualization is also another topic.
The only thing missing, and what I need, is something on data storytelling because that is actually going to be the hardest part for me. I need to be able to craft compelling stories to make the topic come alive. Also, missing is a book on Quickbase because that is another tool I’m going to be working with. Quickbase has a “university” so I guess that is what I’m going to use to quickly get up to speed on that product.
The fact that I can’t find many books on Quickbase leads me to believe that it is not a popular product, so for folks thinking that it might look good on your resume, I would not bet on it. Tableau has a few books so having Tableau on your resume might look good while Quickbase would be meh.
Also I’m thinking I might need to use Quickbase as a database vehicle and Power BI as an analytic visualization tool.
As a form of practice and exploration, I’ve been trying to change up my emails by playing with the new corporate branding logo and colors. I’ve been curious as to how those email newsletters are done, with a whole bunch of pictures and engaging imagery. After some research and playing around, I found Microsoft Outlook does not allow for much creative layouts (at least initially) and definitely does not work with animation. I’m going to have to work with emails a lot to see if I can come up with some creative solutions to provide visual pizzazz in my emails, in the hopes that the experimentation will transfer over to my projects. Gimp is a tool that I will be using a lot, and maybe Canva (but more as a source for ideas in layouts and to produce jpegs or pngs).
In addition to going to the bookstore, I also went to the art store and browsed through the art supplies and books. I got a book on gorgeous drawings, ranging from color pencils to graphite to pastels to charcoal. The artworks are so good that they put mine to shame. It is actually a little discouraging. The color pencil drawings are phenomenal; the image on the left is a combination of pastel, color pencil and gouache. I also lusted after the sketchbooks with tan or gray toned papers and watercolor pads but I was good and did not put them in my basket. I was very good today.
One thing about gathering ideas, which what going to the bookstore and art store is all about, is that sometimes I will be bursting with ideas (usually not really to the project at hand, unfortunately), so many that it feels like my brain is heating up. Seriously, my forehead seems to get hot. The problem with these ideas is I can’t implement them or actually produce them fast enough. The ideas come faster than I can make or implement. And when I do complete the idea, quite often they are nowhere near what I dreamed up, especially the visual ideas. The digital, coding or process idea that are generally geared toward work seems to work out okay, even if not performing as originally intended, because the ideas still work in some fashion and I can still put them to use. The visual ideas, on the other hand, I often can’t put them to use if they don’t look good enough. I have to really rip them apart to apply portions of it to a different use in another picture.
Okay, enough stream of consciousness for tonight.
You must be logged in to post a comment.