Curious Dale

Hello! My name is Dale Botha and welcome to my blog!  As you may have guessed, I’m curious! (both definitions!)

I was always the guy in class that asked too many “apparently“ stupid questions (which, when answered, actually weren’t so stupid..i’d like to think).  I also used to take things apart, a lot, to see how they worked (and only relatively recently developed the skill and patience to put things back together again!) and have had “small things amuse small minds“ said to me more times than I can remember because I can become interested in some “small thing“ which gets me thinking and wondering. eg.  watching and playing with bubbles while washing dishes!

I like: reading – sci-fi, fantasy, science, running in the forest (off the path :) ), spending time with family, podcasts about technology and programming, audio books, thought provoking conversation, good wine, good coffee, meeting and connecting with new interesting people, the internet, heavy metal, exploring new (and old) places, driving fast, motor cycles and space.

Writing has always been a peripheral interest and I’d like to put some out there on the interwebs.  So I’ll set my hand to airing my opinions and divergent interests in the form of an article every couple of weeks.  I”ll also be blogging about various topics – Ruby on Rails, my blogging project – winemonkeys.co.za, tech news, stuff more pertenant to South Africans.

I would especially like to mention 4 authors whose writings in inspire me in one way or another:

Paul Graham: Internet Millionaire, Startup Guru, Author and Essayist.  The  depth and insight of his writing shows a piercing intellect with ability to just look and evaluate objectively stripping through assumptions and unspoken “everyone knows“ and pull from various divergent fields and arrive at similarly piercing and insightful conclusions.

Douglas Adams: Just for his pure imagination and free and fun writing style eg. The Bistro-matic drive and “Welcome to insane asylum“ – pure mad genius!

Douglas R. Hofstadter: I have his “metamagical themas“ and “GEB: The Eternal Golden Braid“.  They are brilliant, insightful, fun and, at (most) times, mind-bending!  These 2 books center around AI, language, programming, thought creativity, aesthetics and more.  They really take your mind where it’s never been before!

Ayn Rand: Author, philosopher, creator of Objectivism.  I’ve only read “Atlas Shrugged“ (It’s a mammoth read, but worth it!) and “Anthem“ which is comparable in size, metaphor, insight & hope with Jonathan Livingston Seagull!“) and they forever changed the way I view the world!  They center on the individual, the indomitable spirit of man, and the troubles which individuals and our society face today.  They really inspire me to be a better person with stronger personal integrity and a defender of the good in man.

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Warm Regards

Dale Botha