Michael J. Swart

So happy New Year! This is the week that a lot of people look back on their year and make plans for their new year. Well, I’m no different. This week I’m taking a break from the technical content to take a look at 2011 and what 2012 might bring.

The Past (Looking back at 2011)

I started blogging a couple years ago. I picked the domain MichaelJSwart.com (with the middle initial) because MichaelSwart.com was taken at the time. I liked the sound of it any way, probably because of Michael J. Fox. My favorite character of his was Marty McFly:

And a year ago, (prompted by Jenn McCown’s t-sql tuesday post about resolutions) I made a new year’s resolution to blog weekly, keep the articles technical and to include illustrations.

And I had an absolute blast doing it! So it was easy to keep it up:

• The topics came from whatever interested me. Luckily I have an interesting job with new and different challenges almost daily.
• The time came as by treating the blog as a hobby. I figure the average person has that much free time, it’s just a matter of how to spend it.
• I like to write when I’m feeling particularly awake.
• I like to draw when I’m not because it’s more fun and it probably uses a different part of the brain so that it feels like less mental effort.

I particpated in a couple SQL Saturdays. The first one in Cleveland was great. Among other things, I learned that if you visit Cleveland’s art museum at 10 am on  Superbowl Sunday, you have the entire museum to yourself. The second SQL Saturday I attended this year was in my own backyard. I presented for the first time in Toronto and it was exciting.

The Present (this week)

So I was excited to learn this week that I received Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for SQL Server (achievement unlocked!). I feel honoured to receive the award and inspired to continue writing. I feel like I’ve learned and benefited from the SQL crowd more than I provided (expertise consumer first, expertise provider second). So many people have helped me but I’m not going to name names. That’s next week – seriously 🙂 .

The Future (2012)

So I’m going to resolve to continue blogging the way I have for the past year. It’s a challenging (if not a surprising) resolution. It’s challenging even though this resolution boils down to resolving to continue a fun hobby. This starts now but I’m going to hold off on the technical stuff for just one more week: I want to write something about people who inspire me (and why they might inspire you too). Stay tuned.

And also this year, I’m going to try something new. I want to try to participate in a local user group. Easier said than done because for me, there is no local user group and I’m going to do something about that. (Ohioans, I love you but the commute is killer 🙂 )

It’s all very exciting. Look out 2012, you won’t know what hit you.