sol.net

All that makes a blog: dereliction and my lack of organization

// October 30th, 2008 // Comments Off // Everything Else

Poor blog…I have neglected you!

These past few months have definitely been a blur to me in regard to updates and managing my personal web/head space…but I think I’ve reached a point where I can finally consolidate and be consistent.

This blog has seen its up’s and downs over the past few years, usually only seeing a few posts a month.  this will change as I feel like I have a lot more to say and the regular means to say it.

Since I am somewhat starting new with this blog (only importing posts from my last iteration), I think it will be a little fun to at least document the history of my blogging activity so as to also see how my focus has changed as well. (this is more for my own personal documentation)

Blogging, for me, started out of necessity….the need for me to tell the world what I feel and how I view things.

My first ‘online posting’ (10/23/2003) to an actual blogging platform, Xanga, was when I was in a lot of transition personally and professionally (I wasn’t even a professional at anything yet), just getting out of the ‘i’m a college student mentality as well as a life changing break up of then-fiance….I had a lot to say and a lot of idle time as I was unemployed. 

My next big transition (when I moved to Durham, NC – 02/2005) was when I started to get serious about learning technology, specifically blogging and organizing, to which I met 3 wonderful and inspiring people: Brian Russel, Ruby Sinreich , and Lanya.  I became more passionate and was all ‘activist’ (still am on some levels)…which gave me a purpose to write and track my learning via blogging…..these efforts even let to some linkage by MIT’s Technology Review for a post I wrote about Continuous Computing…whodathunk….

After my departure from Durham, I was unemployed again!…so I spent the month or so between jobs really ‘upping’ my computer ‘game’…by purchasing ~$500 dollars of O’reilly books and overhauling my desktop machine to dual boot with VMWare installed.  It is during this time I started self-hosting my own blogging platform as I started to become more adept and actually had time to do it ‘right’….I also started teaching people and I wanted to Podcast, so I did..

Recently ~<1yr…I moved here to Charleston and became a full time internets-worker while also having my previous hosting service contract end.  What a better time to switch and learn/apply more, right?!?  Right….so here we are and I look forward to chronicling my adventures while living in charleston!

I guess the title of this post is that I see a lot of potential for this blog to be useful to others (but as of late has been a derelict)….but in order to do so I need to become more organized and regular.

Some things I want to document are my experiences in learning some technologies for the total newbie because a few of my friend have asked, but also I have been brimming with thoughts related to many other topics that I just want to get out there!

bear with the mess that is my blog…

// October 22nd, 2008 // Comments Off // Uncategorized

I have recently set up and imported a lot of posts from my old blog….but I will be organizing and updating things really soon!

so bear with me

self deprication

// February 18th, 2007 // Comments Off // Uncategorized

Well, here i sit in the weee hours of the morning, wondering why…oh why, I am just that absent minded.

Aside: self deprication seems to drive the most traffic to my corner of cyberworld…might as well continue the trend. every search engine places really high my blog Sol.Net when you search ’self deprication’

I have a relatively new laptop…and lately I have been doing a lot of web developing work on it, as well as a lot of stuff for my current job. As it was, I configured a dual-booting system with fedora core 5 and win xp. I partitioned my hard drive for this to work, because microsoft and linux have different types of file structure.

well, i decided i needed more space on one partition (windows) because i was using it alot to view itunes music and the like. and with my haste, i decided i needed to change the partition size without backing up my systems…….

i was happily playing with mandriva’s automated partitioning helper, when i accidentally removed both partitions on my hard drive, effectively ERASING EVERYTHING on my laptop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

what will i do with myself….im soooo stupid!

things are GRE-at

// November 10th, 2006 // Comments Off // Everything Else

so yeah, im taking the GRE….Graduate Record Examination…tomorrow and I feel oddly relaxed. I’ve studied my butt off and taken a few test practices, but I feel like I should be a little nervous, but the fact is that things are okay; things are good.

What do you say when you have a group of outstanding coworkers and children/teacher/chaperones? I say you live it up! Although busy, this past week has been very good for me in the fact that I am more confident in my teaching, not to mention that I was evaluated by my bosses last week…which went super great. I feel validated and also like my work has been paying off! This time last year, I would not consider myself a competent teacher.

I think a lot of people should consider teaching and it’s rewards, especially those who might be a little timid, but where do I want to go???!!! In my life, that is….

Well the other night i was talking to one of my friends/coworkers (thanks Cheryl) on things I could do in the future and she thought I should be a professor!! It’s kinda funny she said that because I actually have never entertained that idea before, but it makes sense. I will be around a bunch of idealistic people, be able to talk all of the time, while doing research on cool things, and also being able to write grants and help others! Who could ask for more, right? Well, I definitely feel like I am moving and starting to shake the coconuts out of the tree.

The GRE will be a great starting point for me to align myself and think about 4 to 10 more years of education. Phew….could I overcome that hurdle? I get distracted by so many different areas of knowledge.

times are busy: this weekend I will be taking the GRE, then next weekend I will be in cambridge, ma for a job interview, then the following weekend I will be turning 27 along with some turkey lovin.

times fly by!

marriage, engagement, and babies

// October 16th, 2006 // Comments Off // Uncategorized

Well, this has been an exciting weekend!

My friends Darren and Kim got married this past saturday, my little sister Michelle has a healthy baby, and my cousin got engaged!

When good things happen, they happen in groups…..Im exhausted!

Between driving and riding a lot this weekend, keeping a nervous groom at ease and helping getting a wedding together, having a million phone calls, and hearing lots of good news, it seems this definitely is harvest season!

I hope to post pictures in the near future, but until then, I am super excited for everyone.

I guess it’s time for me to meet someone too…sheesh

insight, independence, and i

// October 4th, 2006 // Comments Off // Uncategorized

October seems to always creep up on me…..no matter the year. Well here it is….OCTOBER ‘06!

Things have been busy for me lately, but I do have to say that I have been enjoying my ‘busy-ness’ I feel like the longer I am immersed in nature, the more profound understandings of myself become exposed.

I tend to appreciate things more, little things…little people, and little gestures that random people do for me.

I like bugs more now (which, if you know me, is amazing news since ive been deathly scared of bugs since I was little)…like argiope spiders, rolypolies, damsel fly nymphs, and grasshoppers…I also am starting to finally and totally let things shed away pastwise. I really don’t care, well I care, just am not as interested in holding onto things that have brought me down lately. I’ve accepted what has happened in my life’s past, and I am here now as consequence, or more as reward.

I am coming into my own – and finally feeling more like an adult.

Found a baby snapping turtle yesterday and just stared at him/her for almost an hour trying to figure out how it felt right before I snatched him from the ghost crab that was going to eat him. It kept on being itself and didn’t really care if I was holding him/her or not, just that it could crawl how it wanted.

I want to crawl…and not be afraid of doing what I want and need. I think I am there now and ready to fully apply myself in any endeavor.

I can soar like a hawk…like the red tailed hawk on my arm yesterday. it bated and squeezed its talons through my glove, but looked at me in a knowing way (it’s okay, im just trying to get balance) So I trusted him.

I like validation in my efforts and knowledge…and it felt really good today when my bosses gave me good feedback on my teaching…but something was different in myself, something that I just realized about myself…the fact that although the feedback keeps me striving to be better, I can do things. Do things that make me who I am.

I guess it’s kinda hard to articulate what I feel, but feel I do…more passionately than I have in a while about myself….and what I want and what I have interface to create this comforting web of independence and ambition.

I’m a social liberal…

// September 29th, 2006 // Comments Off // Uncategorized

You are a Social Liberal (71% permissive) and an… Economic Liberal (21% permissive) You are best described as a:  Strong Democrat   Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Update on me

// August 23rd, 2006 // Comments Off // Uncategorized

So I haven’t really been blogging much lately on here. Things have been pretty busy since I’ve been working ‘outdoors’ with children which has kept me a little more unplugged than usual.

We recently finished up our Summer Day Camp for younger children. It was very fun and laid back with us being in the water half of the day, swimming at the beach or pool, but I really missed the meat of my job. I truely can say that I love teaching, and in a few weeks I will be able to concentrate more on conveying knowlege rather than making crafts. The unfortunate part is that some of our staff are now moving on into different positions, so they will be missed, but we have very capable and awesome new staff aboard.

It still, in my few years out of college, amazes me how amazingly cool the people I’ve met in my various positions. World travellers, scientists, activists, conservationists, and genuinely interesting and sincere people who want to change this world into a place where everyone can enjoy a better life. How inspiring!

It’s just, and I think a recurring theme for myself, where do I fit into this fabric? As I sit on the edge of where I am going, I start to get a little nervous about my future and what it holds. With the ever-present escalation of war and tragedy, I also find myself wondering how I can be a part of the solution. Rather, I wonder how I can be in the position where I can make decisions that help others most effectively. I could go into politics, become a lawmaker, lobbyist, or elected leader or I could go into nonprofit world where I do some politics, provide direct service and aid to the needy…..or I could educate others with the knowledge that intensifies my passions and hope they also feel the same…..or be a scientist where some discovery or health issue may be mitigated.

I guess the question for me is how can I effect the most change as a single person? Do I have the charisma and integrity for politics? Do I have the creativity to discovery something that will enable society to be more free or able? Am I an effective enough teacher to teach discernment and critical thinking with a moral mission?

I don’t know….but I want answers and I feel school is the best beginning.

I like many things and am getting prepared to take the GRE for graduate school in a few months, but find myself at a crossroads into what sort of education I need.

They don’t tell you explicitly how to find the tools to be a good leader or good steward.

Nail it down!

// June 19th, 2006 // Comments Off // Uncategorized

It seems as though yesterday I was in high school sitting in a classroom where I thought nothing of my future, but the next wrestling match or perfect surfing journey.

Fast forward to today…where my priorities have dramitically shifted, and my future sits presently in my ‘living’room. Where am I going? How am I getting there? Who am I, and what do I really want?!?

The only major constants in my life have been to contribute positively to society, be a good big brother, son, uncle, friend and loving husband & father (one day)…

Am I making progress? Certainly…but it seems slow because of my indecisiveness and inability to choose a solid career path. I am a career gypsy of sorts, hopping from one interest to another; notwithstanding my youth and propensity to be intensely focused for short bursts which accounts for my jump from idleness to research, to computers, to education, and finally to my realization of how I must advance my formal education.

Hallmark of me in choosing a program in which to enroll is the gamut of disciplines. Recently I have been thinking of applying to a Coastal Environmental Management program, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Social Work, Computer Science, Masters of Information Science, Masters in Educational Leadership…blah, blah, blah

What to do?

I want to continue to work as well so I can support myself and build experience. I guess it is just a frustrating time for me in what I should choose. However, I increasingly feel that I should already know! I’m single, almost 27, no children and have established some formal training and experience…shouldn’t I be entering a career? I can go anywhere, right?

My current job is wonderful, but unfortunately somewhat temporary as I’m on contract (again, like americorps). While I am learning so much from my coworkers and supervisors and having a blast playing with kids on the beach, the pay is not ideal (still considered poverty) while also considered transitional and meant as a stepping block to a teaching or educational career. I love teaching, but am torn in thinking that is my primary career focus.

I have a lot of passion for technology and its uses, fighting inequality across all barriers, while also wanting to be an entrepreneur, social activist, techno-saavy-open-source-evangelist, and a globetrotter.

Can I do it all?

Maybe, but here I am trying to figure it out in one night.