Help Me Heal Planet Earth
Hi, my name is Steven Feuerstein. The title above used to say “Welcome to My Life". My life is of no importance. What’s important is for humans to stop killing life on this planet, and do all we can to save life, and heal Earth from the wounds we have inflicted upon it. I know: heavy stuff. Sorry, not sorry.
Well, if that hasn’t already sent you fleeing from this site, may I shamelessly invite you to subscribe to Feuerthoughts, an occasional email with thoughts I am thinking that you might want to think about?
What brings you here? If you’ve heard of me, chances are you are a member of my family or you work with Oracle Database and the PL/SQL language. My career in software’s been great, but I’d love love love to discover that you are visiting because of my work on invasive species. I believe that the #1 priority of anyone who has the luxury to not have to spend all their time working and taking care of their family is to help heal the planet.
Before I blah-blah-blah about myself, this powerful song from Tracy Chapman expresses my views, my anger, my despair at this moment very well:
The Rape Of The World – Tracy Chapman
Mother of us all
Place of our birth
How can we stand aside
And watch the rape of the world
This the beginning of the end
This the most heinous of crimes
This the deadliest of sins
The greatest violation of all time
Mother of us all
Place of our birth
We all are witness
To the rape of the world
You've seen her stripped mined
You've heard of bombs exploded underground
You know the sun shines
Hotter than ever before
Mother of us all
Place of our birth
We all are witness
To the rape of the world
Some claim to have crowned her
A queen
With cities of concrete and steel
But there is no glory no honor
In what results
From the rape of the world
Mother of us all
Place of our birth
We all are witness
To the rape of the world
She has been clear-cut
She has been dumped on
She has been poisoned and beaten up
And we have been witness
To the rape of the world
Mother of us all
Place of our birth
How can we stand aside
And watch the rape of the world
If you look you'll see it with your own eyes
If you listen you will hear her cries
If you care you will stand and testify
And stop the rape of the world
Stop the rape of the world
Mother of us all
Mother of us all
Mother of us all
Mother of us all
Sigh….ok, back to me.
Really? You’re Still Here? OK, Me:
Professionally, I’ve focused exclusively on Oracle PL/SQL since 1994. Wrote ten books on this one language (! and more details here on my - hard to believe - Wikipedia page), traveled far too much to present and train, and wrote a whole lot of code (still doing that last item). As of February 2021, I work for Insum Solutions, a Montreal-based Oracle APEX consultancy, as a Senior Advisor, which means I am old and they don’t want to give me any actual responsibilities. OK, that’s a joke. It’s just that I don’t want any actual responsibilities. Can’t I just be a “living legend”?
“Unprofessionally,” my primary focus in the 21st century is to help heal our planet by removing invasive species in the North Carolina Triangle area. Over the decade that I have been obsessed with invasives, I have rescued hundreds of trees from almost certain death, and I mean big, mature trees that are each home to many creatures, that are vital participants in their native ecosystems. I feel so lucky to be able to do this. The work has changed the way I look at the world. It has saturated my life with purpose and meaning. You really should check it out!
Please visit Rewild Earth for more information about this work.
I Just Seem to Keep Going On and On
I suppose I’d have to say my favorite movie of all time is The Fifth Element. “Time is of no importance. Only life is important.”
I try to follow these simple mantras to make the most of the rest of my life:
dapa - direct and positive action
act now, perfect later
outside > inside
moving > sitting
book > screen
doing > typing
Oracle PL/SQL
If you’re here to learn more about PL/SQL, check out my blog. If you’re looking for a zip file of demonstration code, click on the Download Demo.Zip button below. Warning: NONE of that code is production-ready.
The Oracle Dev Gym
Go to the gym when you need to build your Oracle Database muscles. Quizzes, workouts and classes on SQL, PL/SQL, database design, logic and other tech. Primary developer on the Oracle Dev Gym: My son, Eli Feuerstein.
Practically Perfect PL/SQL
I also have PL/SQL videos on YouTube. Lots of them. Many of hours of deep dives. Some videos very tongue-in-cheek. Enjoy!
Steven’s PL/SQL Books
Trust me; I know you think you have too many books. But you still might consider some of the ones that I wrote!