Strange weather: It’s snowing again here in Fayetteville. We decided not to take a planned trip to Tulsa because of snow and ice there (who wants to get stuck in Tulsa?). So Gina and I have been staying close to home. We had some friends over last night for beer and pizza. We go back to work on the 2nd of January. I’m dreading it, but the time away should make it better.
Books: I finished Richard Rorty’s Philosophy and Social Hope, which is a great introduction to his thought. Finally finishing that puts me in the mood to read more (perhaps that should be a new year’s resolution). Gina and I put all of our book in alphabetical order yesterday (which makes the first time they’ve been in order in a few years). And seeing all of the books I’ve read, intended to read, or started but never finished got me on this reading kick. I’m in the middle of two books right now, one by Peter Burke on historyography and Eco’s The Name of The Rose (which I started earlier in the fall but put down for some reason). I think I’ll begin there and work my way outward.
Sites: I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about bassplaying.com lately. I’ve found a slashdot-style PHP/MySQL message/news board program that I might use. I’ve been brainstorming other ideas to make the site the ultimate place for bassists looking to learn more about playing their instruments. There are some good sites out there right now in the same veign, but I want mine to be the best. If I can make it really good, I might even solicit advertising (small square boxes down the left hand margin, not big banners across the top). But that’s a big move, as all my sites have been fairly non-commercial up to this point. And I certainly don’t want bassplaying.com to be a corny portal with blicking adds in every direction. I’ve seen it done tastefully. And that’s what I want to do, if I do it at all.
Plans for the new year: The great thing about the site will be that I can use it to sharpen my PHP skills. And that is a resolution. If I ever want to make a better life for myself, I have to increase my income and the only way I can do that is by growing my skill set. Call me a yuppie wanna-be, but I’ve been poor long enough to know that poverty isn’t a virtue. When I was still in high school, I decided the goal in life was to find a way to get paid for doing what you like and what you’d do anyway. At the time, I thought that meant making it in the music industry. Then, I thought that meant making it in academia. Now, I think that means making it in the computer/technology industry. I’m hoping the third time in the charm. Of course, some of these things have substantial overlap. I think bassplaying.com will be a big deal (either in itself or in it’s value as a portfolio piece for me). And it’s still possible that I’ll one day–a long time from now–do a Ph.D. in educational technology and take a job teaching at a small university some where (my advisor here at the U of A told me he’d be happy to hire me if I’d go do a Ph.D.). Right now, much as I love teaching, that’s not what I want. I want to work in the industry and keep up to speed on it. That, for me, is the exciting part. When I think about how far web design has come since I threw together my first homepage (back in 1995), I’m amazed. Most of the technologies I’m most interested in now didn’t exist then.
Dealing with my weight will be another likely resolution item. I’m quite unhappy being this heavy and I’ve kept in better shape in the past. I know what to do. It’s just a matter of doing it. I’m starting that today. And I’m starting with exercise. After I begin to establish some good habbits there, I’ll work on the diet issues and whatever else comes up. I’m fairly confident that I can be in great shape by the end of the year. And I’m sure I can lose some weight and be healther by my birthday (in May).
Other than getting/keeping up to speed on geek-things and getting into better shape, I want to focus on domestic things more (keep the house clean, walk the dog more, you know), and do more recording. I finally have the software I need (Acid Pro) and Gina bought me a nice preamp (Midiman Audio Buddy) for Christmas. So I’m set. I could still use a decent compressor, but I’d no excuse not to spend some time recording music (both my own stuff and audio examples for the bassbook and bassplaying.com).