Neal was here

Here’s a short list of the websites I’ve started and never finished:

• http://www.bohlingfamily.com
• http://www.nealbohling.com
• http://neal.zapto.org
• My personal music site, refined
• My own flickr-ish site, for fun

I really want to get back into the web design, especially now that I’m starting to develop some contacts that could actually give me PHP work. But time is a precious resource that I’ve squandered on ‘school’ and ‘relationships’, so again the fun times are put off for another day.

I guess on the up-side, I have been able to code these sites in the past couple years:

• http://www.amantemission.org
• http://www.wearesorry.info
• My music site up to what it is now
• A personal bookmarking site

Working on a recruiting DB with a PHP front end for work

So all is not lost, but forward progress is slow.

I’ve decided to go to grad school.

Specifically, I’m going to get my MBA.

Eller Business School here at the UofA offers an evening program that concludes in 18 months. It sounds like an excellent program that is both cheaper and quicker than a standard MBA. The trade-off is that you have to work like crazy.

I’ve decided to get an MBA and get it from Eller for these reasons:

1. I’ve always wanted extended education, but finding a topic is incredibly difficult. You can’t go to grad school for graphic design (at least at UofA ), and I can learn everything I want to know about computers from books or industry experience.
2. The program is quick.
3. It’s as cheap as it’s ever going to be.
4. Starting a business at some point is something I want to do. Having the MBA will help me have the confidence to give it a shot.
5. I’m good at technical work, and I love it, but I like being part of a bigger picture. Business will help me think in ways that will put me in a position to do that.
6. The ladies love it (especially my lady).
7. Eller is as convenient as it can get.
8. Eller has a good reputation (#31 in the nation, according to their website)
9. I’ve always been fascinated by small business owners. I don’t know how they do it; they just think on a different level. I am likely very naive, but I’m mystified by these creatures and want to understand their processes better.

I’m still struggling with whether the value I get from the MBA is worth the cost, but I keep coming back to YES. Education is almost never a bad idea, and I enjoy business enough to get a lot out of the program.

My application goes in next week. We’ll see how it goes.

STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES

I want to completely lose it.

I’m not talking a casual flirtatious dance with disaster. I’m not talking about just thinking about it. I want to jump in whole-heartedly and lose control in my desire and passion. To completely be sold out day in and day out.

I want to work for myself and run my own business, successfully.

However, I’m sensing more and more that the only way I can do this is to completely lose my mind.

I have a great job with a great future. My paycheck pays my bills and lets me do what I enjoy. Why would I muck that up?

What would happen if I don’t succeed? Where would I live, what would I do? How would I provide for a family, or even just my own big mouth?

These are the things that stop me. My stupid rational mind weighs risk and potential gain and tells me it’s not worth it.

But the other part of my brain, that part that yearns for freedom and creativity, screams at me daily to get off my tuckus and prove myself. This and other desk jobs will always be around. Your ability to create may not. Get out there and use it; take risks; be genius.

So this is my new goal : lose my damned mind! and become so entrenched with desire that it becomes ridiculous to not follow through.

And then, prepare.

If you read backwards through this online chronicling, you’ll see that I have spent a month working on mornings. Despite the great feeling of success, I seem to have made zero progress.

Last week my manager gave me two options: be in on time or leave. I am choosing to stay. This thing cannot beat me. After all, it is merely mornings. Just don’t tell me that at 7:15 or I will eat your face.

This brief encounter with potential unemployment has starting ponderings regarding other options for employment. For a brief moment I considered walking away from IBM and becoming the truly great [.?.] that I am destined to be. Then I decided that I have bills to pay and would hate to leave IBM on these terms. Call it responsibility, or call it fear of the unknown; it’s probably a little of both.

With this newfound thinking, I realized I do have an actual passion and it’s not in the realm of mainframes (although I do find these giant processing machine fantastic). I thoroughly enjoy web-related programming: apps, plugins, themes, pointless ditties. They are all amazing. I also realized a serious dream I have is to be part of a web designing firm. Especially at the top.

This, unfortunately, scares me for a couple reasons: a.) the web is ever changing and staying on top of the new technologies takes time and effort. b.) I have an artistic propensity, but my implementations are still rough and charging for them seems unfair. c.) not a lot of money in that business unless you really do well. d.) who knows how long web will stick around, and how long a given web skillset will be viable. With the skills I’m learning in IBM, I could do this job for the next 50 years. Web doesn’t last like that.

But it also appeals to me for several other reasons. 1.) Own your own business. 2.) Do the work you want to do. 3.) PHP, Javascript, Perl, ASP and .NET > PLX. 4.) Emerging technologies provide potential for early self-establishment in the industry.

So I’ve decided to at least throw some effort at that realm of my life again. I’m going to look into some design classes at the local community college, and start web programming whenever I get spare time. In that effort, I’ve started / restarted a couple websites:
 http://www.bohlingfamily.com

 http://www.kairosministry.org

Both are basic WordPress installations with no coding required. And I stole OSS templates for the themes. It’s a meager start, but a start. I’ll begin building my library of personal PHP libraries and plugins, and design a few templates myself here soon.

I’m also rejoining the effort behind a company a friend of mine started a couple years ago, Thought Design. Munsey has taken full ownership and has been driving it since, but it’s time to start working with him again more and more and see if we can make it a viable business.

While that grows, I’ve got a couple different projects in the fire. This template needs a redesign, I’m working with Elements at PCC to rework their site, and I want to put together two different code packages and fully explore AJAX. Plenty to do.

so let the internet sub-revolution sort of slowly think about beginning.

Maybe I will cut my hair. Some days long just doesn’t work.

I, sad as I
Sit I, sad as it is?
I sad? Ask! Sad as I.
O, she said I as eh. So?
Lob my sad ass; sad a symbol.
I sit, sad as tis, I.

Don’t ask. It’s just backwards and hilarious.

I oft find the need to write a short snippet about this gentleman John Hodgman. It is that time again. Behold his witty, random, dry communications:

Apparently, he has a new book coming out in October. I never read the first, but I did listen to the audio version. Perhaps we will get lucky and he will again release it in mp3.

Regardless, I will find myself with a need to know the content.

Read the rest of this entry »

apparently I need to adjust the css on my site or maybe just redesign again. soon……..

In true nerd fashion, I decided it was time to convert one of the old laptops I had to a digital photo frame, and to use Christmas as the catalyst to motivate me. So at Christmas, I gave my parents this thing:

It wasn’t the simplest process ever, but it was fun. I wussed out and just ran Win95 which was already on the old Toshiba, but it gets the job done. I put a couple extra pictures of the process on Flickr.

Check it out, it’s pretty sweet:

http://macenstein.com/default/archives/759