By Special Request: A Happy One

Once again, it’s been too long since I’ve written a newsletter. Every time I’ve thought about writing something in the last few weeks, I’ve stopped myself, because you all have already read my fears about AI, the state of my country, the state of education, the state of voting rights, and the climate crisis.

So, Jill suggested I should write a happy one. How am I doing?

The truth is, I haven’t found it that easy to be optimistic about the future lately. There are the big and obvious problems in the world, but there are also a lot of small irritations that driving me crazy, like the fact that my computer keeps trying to help me with writing this newsletter and it’s more work to turn it off than it is to ignore it and grumble about it.

Okay, I took a breath, and it turned out it wasn’t that hard to turn off that particular assistant and regain control of my writing.

I was talking with a new client the other day and doing the normal “introduce yourself” thing. I’ve done this talk so many times over the years, that I’ve reached the point where I just blurt out whatever comes to mind about my work/life history. So, I said something about how my career in tech and teaching started after I dropped out of English, film, art, and journalism school and quit my first and only corporate job after six months, and that I’ve spent the last 30 years constantly learning and adapting to new circumstances and never specializing or becoming an expert in anything.

For me, this was my standard self-deprecating way of introducing myself. The new client (a very smart man, indeed!) responded with, “So, you’re uniquely qualified for teaching about AI.” I thought about what he said, then I exclaimed, “Damn right! This is my moment!”

When Jill and I were running the art gallery during COVID, she used to say we would be fine, because we’re cockroaches. I think that’s true about right now too: the pace of change, the pace of work, and the pressures to keep up with what’s happening in AI and the world in general are all increasing. But, people who are entrepreneurs, artists, self-employed, or generalists, have rarely felt entitled or secure. In a world where smart people are predicting that all jobs will be done by AI within a few years, and where the world’s biggest companies are doing their best to make that a reality, a lack of having the kind of specialized skills that paid top-dollar 10 years ago is a superpower.

It just so happened that today was the day I had to turn in the last pages for my new book (Coding All-In-One For Dummies, 3rd edition), including the author bio. I modified my standard bio to be much shorter. Instead of a long list of accomplishments and skills, I simply state that I’m a “Jack-of-all-trades.”

It’s time to give away books again! I have 5 copies of “A Developer’s Guide to Integrating AI into Applications” and 5 copies of “Microsoft Copilot For Dummies.” If you promise to rate the book on Goodreads or Amazon, I’ll mail either book to you for free! Just email me your address (U.S. only) and if I still have copies, I’ll send you one!

If you don’t want to feel guilty when you don’t end up writing a review (which is what happens to half the free books I mail out), both books are on sale now wherever books are sold! They make great Mother’s Day gifts.