Kyle Pace
Curious, Empathetic, Strategic

Now

My Now page is a monthly update of what I am focusing on right now. It is for information that is less permanent than what lives on my about page, but more comprehensive than what fits into a blog post. More about what inspired this at this link.

A beautiful shift in the seasons as I shift my seasons into my 35th year! This month I'm working on:

  • Working through my choices for the SPL Summer Book Bingo - my partner and I are going for a blackout this year!
  • Finishing up my final in-person classes for my MBA program, 3 more and i'm all wrapped up.
  • Learning and re-learning the fundamentals of playing the piano from many different perspectives.
  • Looking forward to a two-week stay-cation coming up soon!

This month I turn 35! Kinda crazy how time just keeps moving forward in life. I have been pretty happy with how I have been spending my time lately, here is what I have been up to:

  • I started reading an excellent book Business School and the Noble Purpose of the Market - Correcting the Systemic Failures of Shareholder Capitalism by Andrew J. Hoffman. If I had read it a few years ago when I was just starting my MBA it would not have had the same impact, but almost two years into the program and nearing graduation the messaging hits home. I highly recommend it to anyone adjacent to business schools, or thinking about starting a program soon.
  • Continuing on my music learning journey I have been putting time into learning Ableton Live and also picked up a Novation Launchkey MPK4 25 key MIDI controller. For under $200, I'm really happy with the purchase, and it has been a lot of fun to play around with!
  • I picked Duolingo's Spanish course back up after being away for a while and dabbling in some other languages. In college I took a few years of Spanish and a lot of it is still in my brain so I decided to head in that direction again and have been enjoying it. My next step is to start conversing more with others.
  • Another great purchase was a 13" iPad Air. I picked it up to read sheet music on at a more natural size but have found that it is excellent for reading my cooking magazines and cookbooks on as well! I was worried it would be too big and heavy but overall neither has been true.

Spring is in the air here in the PNW - the time of year when it looks bright and sunny outside, but it's still way colder than you thought it was, and you really should have brought a jacket...but at least there is sun! 🌞

This month I have:

  • Keeping up with my one book/week pace, which has been very rewarding! I track everything I read over on Stroygraph and would love to connect with others over there!
  • Starting Piano lessons with an in-person teacher for the first time. I had been teaching myself through Piano Marvel but I found the lack of a guide difficult.
  • Enjoying the two classes i'm taking this quarter which are an intro to Cybersecurity class and an overview of 'Great Leaders'. With my program coming toward it's end it has been nice to be able to take intersting electives that have been feeling more meaninguful and enjoyable than many of the core classes did.
  • Exploring a bit of vibe coding with Coda and other tools, and also being blown away by Gemini's deep research feature. It is hard to believe just a few short years ago I could not effectively querey the entire internet in natural language!

It's been a chilly and soggy last bit of winter here in the PNW with a few wonderful days of 'false spring' - when we all dig out our shorts for a day or two until the cold comes right back. Lots of time inside working on projects and learning new things. This month I have been:

  • Continuing my way through the Free Code Camp curriculum. I made it all the way through the HTML and CSS modules and am onto Javascript! I have found myself really enjoying the learning and am excited to keep moving forward. My goal is to be finished up with the whole course by the end of the year.
  • Reading (and finished) Impact First Product Teams by Matt Lemay. The book brief and excellent. I also recommend his other book Product Management in Practice.
  • Deepening my commitment to learning the Piano and Music Theory. I picked up my learning again at the beginning of the year using Piano Marvel and have been having a lot of success - and fun with it! I love the app, but the one thing it seems to lack is a depth of Music Theory teaching - so I found a supplemental course from Berklee School of Music on Coursera which has been very helpful so far!
  • Finishing my winter quarter in my MBA program at Seattle University. Two more classes in the spring, then three more and i'll be finished!

I'm thrilled to be through the darkest part of the year here in the PWN - growing up in Alaska there is actually much -more- light here than where I grew up but December and January are always the hardest to get through for me. Here is what I'm focusing on this month:

The beginning of the year is always a great time for...well...beginnings! 😄 Here is what I am focusing on this month:

  • Starting to build out this site which is meant to be my home on the net. I plan to use it as both a portfolio and blog space - and expect it to evolve over time.
  • Beginning the new Free Code Camp curriculum they just released and am working my way through the HTML section. So far I have been more successful at sticking with the course, the redesign added instructional videos and also broke up the course differently than it was before. I'm finding it engaging, and fun!
  • Using Beeminder to track my goals and habits. I began late in 2024 then really leaned into it during the new year. Tracking goals with a monetary penalty seems like an odd thing to do, but it is also working for me so I'll keep at it and see if that continues!
  • Working on reading at least 25 pages a day rotating through a variety of books
  • Starting to volunteer at the Seattle Central Public Library every other Saturday at the volunteer desk 📚