Well it’s been a while since I last provided anything for my few and random readers. That’s got to stop; both the idea of a lack of readers as well as the lack of updates by me.
I started Jackowick as a place where I could document class projects, as well as add some comic book ramblings geared mostly towards my love of less popular Golden Age comics. I like exploring new tech from the everyday user standpoint, but overall I like exposing people to new ideas and things that are a little off the beaten path. “If you like using this, you might want to check this out”. Things that could help people get some new ideas, and hopefully say “huh, that’s kind of neat”. Recently, I HAVE found lots of neat things, little experiments/experiences, but just haven’t made the blogging process into a habit.
Habits are only habits when they occur with some frequency.
So here’s what planted and fertilized my new seedlings:
In March, I took a business trip to India for a little over 3 weeks. While in Kolkata, I did a lot of leisure reading, and found myself spending a LOT of time on two personal finance blogs, GetRichSlowly.org and TheSimpleDollar.com, and took the time to crawl through the archives and read the stories, not just the articles, by and about the creators, J.D. Roth and Trent Hamm respectively. The blogs are well written with reader submissions, variety, homespun advice, and personality.
One thing that stuck out about their collective advice and style was that a successful blog should have some connection to the reader, which is often achieved with the support of those extra details about the author, and exposing one more to the reader, making a connection, and getting personal.
Also, while in India and reading these blogs, and not having to pay for my food and lodging thanks to the company, I noticed the effects right away of being thrifty and saving money, and it’s given me some new insights into my own savings patterns. Very humbling to realize how many times I’ve made small mistakes or unnecessary purchases, and how they add up.
So while I’d love to get right into my recent projects like installing jolicloud on my netbook, working from across the world on my new HP laptop (and the whole purchase process with Best Buy), and my progress on my X-Men #1-200 collection project, I’d just like to take a moment to say “hello” for the first time really, and introduce my life.
I’m a 30something comic collector who works tangentially with tech stuff (I do testing, QC, and some diagnostics with a large company that sells data), and I like knowing more than the average Joe when it comes to computers, but I’m no code monkey. I started going back to school at the local community college many years ago in a never-ending quest to take classes for the enjoyment and learning process. I have almost finished an art history associates degree, am partial through an associates in the new Game Design Program (learning video game making) and I have a lot of extra credits stocked up in writing, English, and history. I recently bought my first home, and all of this combines into a semi-chaotic life of constantly moving around, organizing and reorganizing, and watching my money while chasing my dreams.
So stick around, I’ll be targeting at least 1 new update a week but also working towards 2-4 weekly updates on a regular writing schedule. As JD and Trent have shown me through their blogs, being organized is one of the best ways to accomplish any goal.
Time traveling jackalope 