💀 Happy Halloween! 💀

Everything feels so surreal this Halloween.

October has been a whirlwind of events, filled with ups and downs for me.

We lost our family hamster Mr. Nibbles a couple of weeks ago, which was a mix of sadness and warmth, as he had lived a happy (3+ years) and passed peacefully in his sleep. I dedicated my upcoming track to him, as I was working on it when he passed.

Last week I unveiled this year’s Screamer 2024 track. A new tradition that I intend to maintain, given this is the third year I have incorporated my daughters scream into a Halloween party track.

This year, the whole family completed the Concept2 Skeleton Crew Challenge. With a Ski Erg added to the mix, I think this might be another Halloween tradition for the family, albeit an exhausting one.

I am coming up to 11 months into my creative break, and have been so engrossed in my music, family and creativity this year that I had almost abandoned the world of technology.

As I look for my next contract, I took some time to refresh my security skills.

I added the GitHub Advanced Security Certification to my portfolio after spending a lot of time working with GitHub actions in my previous role.

I really enjoyed uncovering some of the less obvious features of GitHub Security (like CodeQL) and can easily see those tools encroaching on some other products (not naming anyone!).

In between all the above, I found time to volunteer at my daughters school, pick and carve pumpkins at the local pumpkin patch, play my guitar more than usual, continue learning to play the piano, study music theory, and even hook up my SA 7000 to the RSPDuo so I can listen to the world (I have some musical ideas for this in future).

I think the only thing I did not do that I keep saying I will, is write more often, that might have to wait for my next Creative Break…

I hope you enjoy the new music and have a safe and fun Halloweeeeeeeeeen! 💀🎃👻🍬🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️🦇🧛😈