Jon Lasser

After three job titles in nearly as many years in the Global Services group at Isilon, I'm moving into Engineering. I'll be the Sustaining Engineering Lead, which will put me knee-deep in issues being escalated from Support into Engineering, and will also probably involve me more deeply in the maintenance releases.

I'm a bit nervous, in that I've done a great job of being the voice of the customer, translating that for Engineering. I hope I can retain the ability to see problems from the customer's point of view while also making myself useful to the Engineering group. There's necessarily a lot of tension between those perspectives, and it'll be something of a balancing act to resist adopting all of engineering's imperatives.

My mantra regarding this has been that my job is to solve the same problems as I've been working on, but wholesale rather than retail.

The Very Good Taste Omnivore's Hundred meme, via deathquaker



1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
5) Italicize ones you haven't eaten but WANT TO TRY (extra rule via deathquaker)

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J; sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (Not interested in cigars)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (Don't know if I've eaten enough dirt to qualify. If I haven't, well, I'm not interested.)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (Separately but not together)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate (Possibly, but I can't confirm I've had it.)
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

2008-08-12 - Self Portrait
Originally uploaded by disappearinjon.

Here's the self-portrait I did at the comics workshop. I've also updated my post with my diary comic so that it's something you can actually see.

It doesn't look exactly like me, but it's fairly recognizable, which for me is a great success.

Yesterday I attended a comics workshop hosted by dlasky as a benefit for 826 Seattle, where I volunteer.

I managed to draw not only an identifiable self-portrait, but also the below "comic diary" documenting my Monday:


[2008-08-14: I've updated this with a version you can clearly see.]