ROBERT OWEN — Technology Leader & Musician
Technology leadership, music, and the space where they overlap

The Saga of the Spinach Caserole

This is another post I originally posted on LinkedIn. Sharing here to keep a good history of the article. That original post can be viewed here. So, each year for Thanksgiving I make two dishes – by request.A cheesecake (some say it’s glorious, some bow, others simply whisper its name), and a parmesan spinach that has become… well… a thing … Read more

The Accidental Genesis (Friday’s Performance) – Night two

Horn player musings of creation – from the second performance. Warm-Up Warm-up is a strange place. Nothing officially counts, yet everything matters. Notes are tested, breath is measured, confidence negotiated quietly with physics. It is preparation, but also possibility. Looking down between my feet during warm-up, I saw it again. New universes. Not fully formed. Not confident. Small clusters and … Read more

The Accidental Genesis – Horn player musings of creation

Program notes for a universe formed during intermission – Performance night one. Observed shortly before intermission. Note the presence of the creator’s feet for scale, accountability, and mild judgment. At first glance, skeptics will say the image above is just a spill.Condensation. Gravity doing what gravity does. A little gross, maybe inconvenient, but ultimately meaningless. That theory collapses under even … Read more

The Great Tab Debate: A Conversation with My AI Friend, Tabitha

The Great Tab Debate: A Conversation with My AI Friend, Tabitha Alright, folks. Let’s talk about something we all do, but no one wants to admit: the tab-hoarding behavior that takes over our browsers. You know who you are. I know you’re out there with 20+ tabs open, claiming it’s “efficient.” Sure, I get it, maybe it is…. until you’re … Read more

What If? – Gig Edition

Crazy thoughts?  We all have them from time to time. But this weekend, I had a doozy. Sitting in rehearsal with The Symphony of the Mountains for our side-by-side concert of Movie Music with area high schoolers, I was playing along when—like all brass players must—I needed to empty my slides. (“spittious-accumulatious” for the uninitiated.) I looked down at the … Read more

Feedback – two way street

This is a copy of a post I placed on LinkedIn. Feedback its a Two-Way Street:  The Gift You Must Be Ready to Receive At work we often hear and read complaints about the lack of feedback. Team members claim they crave it, and we as leaders, strive to provide it. But there’s an unspoken truth: many of those asking for … Read more

Snow-pocalypse… and Cold

January 19, 2025 – 9:45 AMDiary of a Snowbound Visionary, Volume II: The Cold Strikes Back Dear readers of frostbitten chronicles, The week since Snow-pocalypse 2025: January Edition has been one of reflection and stubborn snow. Despite temperatures attempting a feeble rebellion midweek (a balmy 50 degrees on Thursday, practically tropical), stubborn patches of icy defiance clung to shaded corners, … Read more