Oh shit, him again?
It’s been a while since I’ve been seen being friendly and social around these here Internet parts but that’s all about to change. I’ve been doing a podcast with my friend Brian called Grumpy Old Geeks for the past few months. We’ve got 8 episodes in iTunes and are at the top of New & Noteworthy in iTunes for Technology and Tech News. At least for a little while longer. You only get a short stint there but it’s gotten us our first few hundred listeners. Doing the podcast has re-awakened something in me to be creative but it was the last episode that has completely changed everything. A little more on that in a bit.
I’ve been lying low for a few years due to a confluence of really bad experiences that soured me on online life in general. Bad start-ups. Bad people. Bad clients. Just a lot of bad all-around. I was blogging for almost a decade and frankly needed some time to recharge after the implosion of Metblogs. The decision then though was to walk away from it forever, get a nice day job doing code-monkey stuff and retire in obscurity. There was a bit of a problem with that…
Writing and photography were my only creative outlets and with the need to keep up with those removed with the sale of Metblogs, I sank farther and farther down a well. If I wasn’t working, booze and TV pretty well took over my life. Yeah, I’ve had good jobs but those were taken away from me through events that were out of my control. Now I find myself as a freelancer with few job prospects that don’t involve soul crushing commutes or doing mind numbing work. I have one client that’s keeping me sane and fed so thank god for that!
Back to the podcast… In episode 8 of the show I recount my experiences with interviewing for jobs and how shitty the process is. How I feel like an old General Motors welder watching the robots roll onto the assembly line knowing my time is short. It was an embarrassing pity party and it was the BEST thing I could have done. To listen to myself whine like a little bitch was emasculating, humiliating, and really hard to take. But it’s EXACTLY what I needed. I soooo needed that kick in the nuts and that it came from myself is all the stranger. Oh Internet, you such a little rascal.
I’ve listened to the episode 5 times now and every single time I get more of the old fire back in my belly. I’m going to drop all the self-pity bullshit and pull my ass back up and get back in the real game. It’s a deep ass well I’m in but it’s time to climb out and see the sun again. I’m starting a new solo podcast that’s going to be a diary of my progress and I’ll also still be doing Grumpy Old Geeks and I know it will get a little more exciting in the coming weeks. I’ve let my mind, soul, body, finances, and friendships atrophy over the past few years and it’s going to be a fight to get back in shape. Like I said, the well is deep but I hope there are some tidbits I can share on the trip. I’m saving a lot of this story for the podcast because it’s easier to speak it than type it. It’s also a bit rough in parts and I don’t think I’m a good enough writer after my extremely long hiatus to do it justice on the page.
I’ll be posting links to the show here once I settle on a name and get it all set-up. BTW, podcasting is fun. You should try it! And you should also subscribe to Grumpy Old Geeks and hook us up with a 5 star or nice review ;-) Cheers and talk to you soon.
