I have been in your position before—I still am in a way—and I can understand the frustration you’re going through. But first, I think you should really narrow-down the subjects you want help with if you want to find a dedicated mentor. There are many of us here that will help you in some capacity to get to where you want to be. But your current list is way too big for a dedicated mentor to help you with and from the sounds of it it sounds too big for yourself to take on at the moment.
I know you want to catch up with all the stuff you’ve missed working in a dead-end job, but you should treat this as a marathon and not a race. Leave an email in your profile and focus on a few practices and technologies that the people that contact you can help you with and that align with where you are heading. Pick stuff that naturally bleed together, ie: Rails and TDD
Are you still in your current Java-based job? Ask your manager if there are any projects you can join where they are testing the stuff you are interested in—even widget companies and megacorps have projects like these. Also ask your co-workers about what they hack on outside of work, you might find your mentor this way. Even though you dislike your job I’m suggesting you look towards it to help you on your journey, because if they’re supportive enough you’ll be able to turn a situation you hate in your favour and boost your happiness a bit.
If my advice about looking towards your current job doesn’t work out, you may have to just take a break from everything for a while, like others here have said. Then come back and take on your problems with renewed energy.
Again, leave an email in your profile for others to contact you. I’m moving from away from being a developer to a designer, but hit me at energy@eswat.ca if you found anything I’ve said useful. :)
I know you want to catch up with all the stuff you’ve missed working in a dead-end job, but you should treat this as a marathon and not a race. Leave an email in your profile and focus on a few practices and technologies that the people that contact you can help you with and that align with where you are heading. Pick stuff that naturally bleed together, ie: Rails and TDD
Are you still in your current Java-based job? Ask your manager if there are any projects you can join where they are testing the stuff you are interested in—even widget companies and megacorps have projects like these. Also ask your co-workers about what they hack on outside of work, you might find your mentor this way. Even though you dislike your job I’m suggesting you look towards it to help you on your journey, because if they’re supportive enough you’ll be able to turn a situation you hate in your favour and boost your happiness a bit.
If my advice about looking towards your current job doesn’t work out, you may have to just take a break from everything for a while, like others here have said. Then come back and take on your problems with renewed energy.
Again, leave an email in your profile for others to contact you. I’m moving from away from being a developer to a designer, but hit me at energy@eswat.ca if you found anything I’ve said useful. :)