I forget where that title name comes from, but I think it suits my current mood and post. Over the past few months I have been rather quiet around here due to various reasons. Plain and simple, I was shit on months back and I haven’t overcome the hurt I received from this. I was pushed away and because of this I took quite a bit of time off to collect my thoughts and see where I wanted my future to go.

Many of you know that I have decided to spend more time on cycling than anything Ubuntu and I think this was for the best, and still think it is. Jono has been talking about burnout recently, however my reason for my so called burnout episode isn’t covered by his talk (yet?). Over the past few months I kept trying to fit in again and found it difficult on many levels. Since 2005 I have been working pretty much non-stop in the Kubuntu community and this has been my best experience ever. I have made a ton of new friends that I hope to keep forever. Everyone there is just truly amazing.

So where was I? Well, when I started in Kubuntu I was that documentation dude to help out my buddy Jonathan Jesse. I did this for a few months before I wanted more. I had done Debian development for many years prior helping out where I could, so I decided to go ahead and work on some packaging for Kubuntu. After 2 years of pestering enough people I finally did the whole MOTU and Core Developer thing. From there I served on various councils such as the Kubuntu Councils, MOTU Council, Regional Membership Board, and I am sure some others. I have written various pieces of code, fixed bugs upstream, and run the whole gambit of what I thought a good community member would do for a project he loved and cherished deeply.

In my time off, I missed so much. There have been so many changes that I haven’t been able to keep up with, and believe me, this is a good thing. Ubuntu and Kubuntu are maturing faster and better than I could have ever imagined. Because of this, and my time away riding the hell out of my bike, I don’t know where I fit in anymore. I am working with Scott and others on the Kubuntu Netbook edition and attempting to get the state of Kubuntu Documentation back up to par again. Thanks to the amazing Rick Spencer for fitting me into a slot helping out with the Netbook stuff, and for that I will be forever grateful. Hopefully we will have an amazing presentation for the Kubuntu Netbook Edition to show everyone for Karmic.

So with that, just know that I might be down, but I am not out. I will no longer stick my nose into the politics and bullshit that has knocked me down in the past, but I will put my nose to the grind stone and continue working on making Kubuntu #1 anyway that I can. I apologize if I have neglected any email from you in the past. I am working on fixing all of that and it will take a little bit of time. I also apologize for making some commitments and not following through on them. I have contacted most of you on this already. I regret that I have to turn down any requests outside of Kubuntu and KDE to help you, but that is how it has to be right now. I am currently working on repriortizing a bunch of things so in the future I am sure I will be able to lend you a hand, so don’t hesitate to keep in touch. My number one priorities right now are obtaining stable employment as this consulting crap is for the birds and continue my cycling adventures. Cycling has helped clear my mind to levels I could never imagine. I guess 300 miles a week can do that to a person 🙂

Thanks to those of you who provided support and the confidence I needed in order to try and continue on, and thank you to everyone who has sent many well wishes and to those who messaged me on IRC and listened to me whine. Now when you message me, I will probably try and get you to help us out on making Kubuntu #1, so be ready!