Best part of fall 2009 in St. Louis? The two day geek rapture that occurred during Strange Loop 2009. I went to that very first one last year on my own dime, and it was a tremendously worthwhile experience. Good networking, lots of new approaches to software development, and lots of cutting-edge research and methodologies.

For two glorious days I rode my bike from my University City home, down 5 blocks to my favorite theatre, the classy Tivoli, and nerded out.

New languages that were self-proclaimed of questionable utility (humility is refreshing).

Simplicity (al3x, formerly of Twitter, gave one of the most thoughtful and grounded conceptual discussion I’ve ever attended, including my years attending academic philosophy conferences).

Awesome slides.

The open bar at Blueberry Hill and Strange Passions night were thoroughly enjoyable from both an academic and bacchanalian perspective.

Of course, you should have seen the shill approaching. Strange Loop 2010 promises to be bigger and better. Register today for $150, rock out in STL (I’ll even show you around if you’re out of town), and enjoy FREAKING GUY STEELE AND DOUGLAS CROCKFORD!!!1!!!!1

Seriously, this was by far the best conference I’ve ever been to, blocks from my house, and tickled multiple parts of my lobes.

August 6th, 2010 | .NET, Discipline, Intelligence, IT, Software, St. Louis, Technology