We caught up on the most recent episode of the Biggest Loser tonight and though I have nothing to say about the show itself right now…. I will say that it feels much better to get up off the couch after the show feeling sore from working out and working in the yard today than it does when you finish the show and need to take the Ben Jerry’s container to the trash can, which is what we did a few weeks ago. It’s not a new years resolution thing, but the fitness thing is in full swing here @ the Snowmass compound. We have made some scheduling decisions about how to make sure we end up at the gym more often, we have joined “Daces with the Stars” @ RCC, which will be a workout, and I am going to be starting the YMCA 10K training team next Saturday! So yay for us and whatnot…

-Kamen

Mortgage payments are important, some might say they are top of the list kind of commitments……..I would have to agree with that. There’s nothing like having a roof…then not having a roof. A roof is stability in more ways than one and in a way, that stability rules our lives. We work hard to keep life stable. We stop working hard, our lives just might topple over. I can’t tell you how many times I have considered making a bold move in the interest of a better, happier direction in life, but shy away from it because the short term stability may be put in Jeopardy. Just to clarify, better and happier is not money in this conversation. It includes money, but is not about the money.

I have been in some way shape or form connected to the computer / internet / networking / web development industry for a dozen years now. I am not a master of anything, but am pretty good with a bunch of different things. I have been considering my future and what I want to do with the experience and interest I have. I decide a long time ago that working for myself is my ultimate goal. I have been thinking about my plan of attack for at least five years now and wonder if the leap is near… I am so close to jumping ship and swimming for it, but the water looks mighty cold and the coast looks so far away.

I have had some preliminary success in working my way up to working for myself, but the next step is a big one and the two options I am faced with are not ideal. To keep the stability, I must make what I make now, more or less. If I jump and swim on nights and weekends only, my family may not see me for a while. If I pitch a hybrid role to my boss, I may find myself with a stay or go situation, which would smash my plans of working for myself RIGHT NOW. The problem is that I have enough of a word out that I can make one move and just might get swamped with work and I am scared of that. If I go with the night and weekend business plan, I need to be able to set aside some time for family and I am scared that the new business would suffer if I do that.

So what am I to do? Not interested in small business loans or anything like that, don’t want to leave my company high and dry, don’t want to go on family hiatus, but don’t want to put off my goals for much longer…….

Apparently I am in a pickle, and I’m not particularly fond of pickles…

-Kamen

In an effort to keep a running “Archive” of my post graphics, I have decided to create a single page dedicated to post graphics. You can access it from the top of the page and as a make new post graphics for the site, I will add them to the page. When I started using Gimp recently, I wrote a post about it and confessed that I am not much of a graphic artist. I still hold that description as accurate, so many may open my “Post Graphics” page and laugh. Be that as it may, the main intent is to see progress in the months and years to come. Just as this website has helped me to improve my writing ability, I hope to find the same outcome with my graphic design skills and it will be to have one place to reference when checking up on my progress.

-Kamen

Since some of my readers come from RVA Blogs, which happens to be the blogosphere of Richmond, VA, I want to invite RVA Blogs readers and contributors to the party. I would love to see some native Richmonders to get in on the fun!

NaBloPoMo really got me going with my content creation and once it was close to over, well, I wanted more. Normal people might have made a new years resolution to “blog more” or something, but I decided to take it into the realm of nutty.

Blog 365 was what I came up with and now there’s a community backing it!

I started Blog 365 on the Ning network and am ready to fill it with people!

December is going to be over faster than you know it and I am sure that many of you are considering the things you hope to accomplish in 2008. I think blogging everyday for 365 days is just what the geek/writer/or other in you is looking for!

Keep in mind this. Blogging is a very open form of expression and does not limit one to only writing. Get creative! One angle someone may want to take would be to take a single picture of themselves in the same place everyday. Think of the awesome flip book you would be able to make at the end. If you are a YouTube addict, you might want to post a daily YouTube favorite. The options are without limits…

The rules will be simple and the rewards, unless I get some nice donations of some kind, may be enhanced writing ability, deeper thought capacity, a feeling of pride in your work, and a touch of C.T.S.!

A worthwhile endeavor indeed!

-Kamen

I think NaBloPoMo was a fantastic idea and I have fully embraced the challenge and have been posting like a mad man this month. But now that the challenge is almost over, what’s next? I could slow it down and wait for next years NaBloPoMo… Or I could think of a new way to blog my self silly!

Enter BloPo365, or some similar name. The January 1st to December 31st blogging marathon!

I’m not sure how many people are going to be on board for this, but even if I have to do it alone, I think I am going to commit to some kind of framework that will end up being an entire year of posts.

There may be a few technical hurdles…. like posting whilst on vacation or when out of internet range for extended periods of time, but I am sure some rules can be made to accommodate the hurdles.

So is anyone interested in making this an official challenge?

Drop me a line, it could be lots of fun!

-Kamen