Hanging up the eye patch can lead to clearer vision
While I’m waiting for my install to finish up I thought I would write a few quick thoughts about how Linux helps someone like me get things done.
I used to pirate software left and right after I started using the first PC that was my own. I had all kinds of goodies. Photoshop 5, Nero, Sonic Foundry Acid & Soundforge, Maya and whatever else I could get my hands on. More often than not I would get it installed and not get any further than that. I used things like Photoshop and Nero on a regular basis, but outside of that I did little more than tinker around a few times and later remove it, leaving my registry a crippled mess.
I spent a long few years watching progress bars and download speeds of many p2p apps while trying to convince myself that I was going to be a veritable factotum of multimedia creation.
- Some day I would build my own recording studio
- Some day I would be a successful independent graphic designer
- If I used Dreamweaver 4 Ultradev long enough I was going to be an amazing web developer
If I continued in this fashion I was doing nothing more than making excuses for myself.
If anything I want to move away from my computer. I want to spend less time using it. I want a set of applications that will remain familiar over time. I don’t want to be sold on anything. I don’t want to read reviews painted with 13 pages of fluff on flavor of the week tech sites.
I’ve watched the industry standard applications that I’ve worked with for years come along with new “features” and I’m guessing everyone is running out of ideas.
I don’t see a reason to drop a few hundred on updates every couple years any more. I find now that I have no need for any of the new features that have come along in the last half-decade. Especially since I can blow the dust off my old Windows 2000 Pro box and still get all of my work done.
I’m glad I’m walking away. Just give me some tools and I can take it from there.
Time to go play.
Have fun!
-Mike
The first post
So here it is, the beginning. Kind of…scary? exciting?
I started this with the idea of becoming a grandmaster web designer about a year ago. I searched for a domain name, picked up some hosting, and then I let it sit and rot for the next 10 months.
I realized that with work and family I just didn’t have the time to do what I thought I wanted to. Truth is I don’t have much ambition in the realm of designing or developing anything these days. Dreamweaver always gave me a headache so I moved on to one text editor and IDE to another until I realized that I just wasn’t any good at what I wanted to do yet. Instead of admitting it and embracing the idea that I wasn’t any good at something I went the easy route and blamed the software.
It felt like I was turning into that old man I would talk to back in my helpdesk days. You know the type, the ones who where still running Windows ME and switched off their computer by unplugging it from the wall socket. The same wall socket that was supposed to be where the internet was saved. Needles to say I was finally realizing what I was becoming and I didn’t like it.
Self evaluation
I’ve been working in the print industry for about 14 years now. I started out pushing a broom at a mom and pop print shop in high school and ended up 11 years and a few hundred miles worth of moving later, where I am now; a desktop publisher and graphic designer for a small town newspaper.
Now that I’ve been working a desk job for about 5 years total I’m becoming a bit jaded of the whole thing. I hardly touch Photoshop or anything related to it at home anymore. It all became a job. Not even so much work per se, but a job. Something I was supposed to do whether I wanted to or not. At this point I thought it to be a good time to stop, drop, and roll.
Now that I’ve decided to make a career change that would cause me to start from scratch at the age of 32 I feel a bit better. Worried, anxious, excited, nervous, but better. I have something to focus on. I have a situation where I am forced to pick and choose exactly what it is I want to do and be who I want to me. It may not make sense to some, but I’ve spent far too long drifting about without any goals or ideas that I found worthy of rolling up my sleeves and digging into.
And so it begins
I’m hoping to use this space to share experiences and knowledge. I can’t really say what the focus will be on, but I’m hoping to create something that even I can come back to for reference and information. Personal things like development, and design. Fun things related to computers and music, also involving development and design. Who knows. For now I’ll leave this up until I come up with something useful.
Have fun!
-Mike