Wow.  I can’t believe it’s August already.  Where did July go?

In a few short days I’ll be jumping in a car and making the long drive down to Knoxville to speak at Codestock.  Of course, I’m not crazy enough to make the 9-hour trip by myself, so Friday morning I’ll be driving to Toledo to meet up with Jason Follas.  I’m really looking forward to this event for several reasons.  Not only will this be my first trip to Tennessee, but I’ll be meeting lots of great people.  It’ll be great to finally meet James, Scott, Nathan and several other tweeps in person.  Of course, as I review the speaker list, I start to panic  a bit and wonder if they really meant to select me as a speaker.

Once again, I’ll be doing my “An Introduction to Castle ActiveRecord, or Stop Writing CRUD!” talk.  Based on the recently-released schedule, it looks like I’ll be speaking in the last timeslot of the day.   That should make for an interesting day.  I’m making a few tweaks to my presentation and hope to record the talk.  The last time I tried to tape a session, it didn’t turn out too well, but I’ll certainly give it another try. 

A few weeks ago, James approached me with an idea.  He said, “I’ll donate ‘x’ dollars to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum‘ IF you wear a t-shirt I’m having made during your presentation at Codestock.”  After a little thought, I told him I’d do it.   The t-shirt I’ll be wearing will remain a surprise, but I will post pictures after the event.  When I mentioned this to several friends in IRC last week, they chimed in and said they’d be willing to donate some money as well.  Sweet!  In the spirit of helping a fantastic children’s museum in Ann Arbor, I’d like to open this up to everyone.

I can say that the t-shirt will be in good taste, but it will be cause me a bit of embarrassment.   So, if you’d like to a) see me sweat just a little bit more during my presentation and b) help a great organization, please take a minute and donate what you can.  It’s a great cause – the museum is an awesome place to take your kids for a few hours!

While I’d prefer everyone click on this donate buttonso I can collect all donations and then write the Museum one big check after Codestock, you may certainly skip that and simply donate directly to the museum using this link.  If you do donate directly to the museum, please leave a comment on this post.   100% of the donations I receive will go directly to the museum.  If you have any questions, please use the contact link on my blog.