My blog n'at

It’s 1:22am and I have no idea why I’m wide awake. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately with my birthday coming up this month (woohoo), how I consume media and what I’m doing next.

Take for instance this post. I’m writing it on my DROID from my bed when I should be sleeping. Should I keep up a blog or use my Tumblr feed more?

Every day there is a new hot service that pops up and since I work in social media for a living I need to decide if its worth my time or that of my employer to have a presence on it. Not as easy as it may sound.

Keeping up with what we do have is already very tedious and exhausting but hopefully new tools I’m pushing to have in place will take some of that burden off.

Oh yeah February. Almost forgot about ya for a second fella. o O (Fella? How do we know Feb isn’t a lady? Why do I even care? Focus spoon!)

So this month will be an interesting one. Weather should be incredibly nice, taxes need done, county should bend me over and shove a new assessment up my rear soon and a certain utensil turns 3. Mix in pgh beer week duties, that podcast thing I do, write and get merchant ideas together the shortest month could be a pain.

Life moves pretty fast. If you stop and take a look,  you’re probably blocking traffic. Get the hell out of the way.

I’ve written this about 4 times now so we’ll see how this will turn out. I realized in the previous drafts that I’ve lost my tolerance for stupidity and that I have a lot of built up anger towards people constantly telling me what they think I should do and that if I disagree its my views that are uneducated.

Its time to cut those people loose.

I took some time to myself (in between the kids fighting) to think about why I was always overwhelmed and exhausted. The answer turned out to be that I spread myself way too thin again and I need to stop. I have a problem saying “no” when asked to take something on and I need to start. I need to get organized if I want to get control of everything again. I don’t have time for SIDT like I wish I did. Making time to do more than working full time and being a dad is increasingly difficult so I need to write down what’s on my plate and refocus my energy. I also need to quit bringing my day job home with me.

I need to take a weekend away from the family and all the hectic things in my life and go figure out what I want to do.  Not a “where do I want to be in 5 years” but more of “what needs to be done personally and professionally.” My social media presence needs a new direction, my servers and sites need consolidated/reorganized and overall I need to make time for myself. Someone in this house  is working every day of the week so its very easy to feel overwhelmed.

2012 has started and i’m already feeling behind

One thing that I’m bad at is remembering the year. I kept thinking it was 2010 for some reason and have no idea why 2012 doesn’t seem far fetched. Maybe I have a thing against years with odd numbers? This past year was eventful personally but when it came to blogging it was kinda meh. Either way here’s a quick recap so my kids don’t have to sift through archives.

January 2011
Year started off great with the Winter Classic (even though Pens lost) and spending the first 2 weeks home with my new baby. I also decided that I would attempt to go a full year without drinking a Bud/Miller/Coors product. Not to be some elite prick but to see for myself how tough it would be. With the amount of picnics we attended and moments of weakness for going cheap I’m proud to say I’ve made it a full year and some days.

February 2011
Kept the busy pace with a quick trip to Baltimore to pick up the first of what would be many awards for a website I made. Even thought it was winter I was falling in love with the city. I will be going back soon. I also hit my mid 30′s while only suffering a minor “oh shit, I’m getting old” moment and Teaspoon got his first haircut while hitting the terrible 2.

March 2011
2 things happened, we got sick and I ate a lot of fish.

April 2011
My mom wanted to know why I didn’t invent Facebook, the internet or cure cancer. I had some views on the sale of Iron City which turned out to piss off a bunch of yinzers and Pittsburgh purists. Eh, it happens.

May 2011
Should I Drink That turned 5 years old on the 5th and we had a whirlwind bash in Boardman, Ohio as we took over the Big Tap In after party. We cracked open a 101 oz bottle of Double Arrogant Bastard that we have been sitting on for 4-5 years. It came with a padlock. Nuff said. I figured out how you can take a trip with Megabus to Erie (or Pittsburgh from there) and have a very low cost time. I celebrated national Craft Beer Week and if you haven’t heard me talk about it yet, am on the planning group for Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week coming in 2012. This month also was record breaking numbers as we raised money for March of Dimes which helps preemies such as my boys.

June 2011
After many years of hard work I graduated cum laude from college. It was incredibly stressful when I threw work and the family into the mix but the support was fantastic! I’ll probably have my student loan bills paid off when Teaspoon is starting school.

Last night my father in law treated us to Golden Corral for dinner since he knew with the boys we needed something quick and if it was tasty that would be a bonus. After being stuck in the house all day doing work we just needed to get out for the night.

I have never been to a Golden Corral before. In fact, I’m not even one for buffet style places because I really don’t eat a lot in a sitting (I’m not fat, I’m cultivating mass) but it is fast and easy for the kids plus my good friend Jimmy swears by them. This night would prove to be a lesson in people watching.

If you’ve never been to a Golden Corral before its a buffet style dining establishment where  you can start with salads, go to chicken, steak, seafood/pasta and finish on deserts (for their online menu click here). Sounds pretty basic and kinda like a Ponderosa right? Hold on buccaroo it gets better.

1. the price – children under 3 eat free (score!) and our dinners were about $11 an adult.
2. the food – I never question my F.I.L. when it comes to food. The man has the same palate as me so if he says something is good, I listen. The quality of food was rating high with me. The fried chicken was juicy and crunchy, I asked for a medium rare steak and for one of the first times in a restaurant I actually got it the way I ordered it. Bourbon chicken was a dropkick to the mouth of spice. I never made it past those because I kept going back for steak but the Shrimp Alfredo looked amazing along with mac n cheese.
3. the service – the place was jammed with holiday shoppers and our servers were a level of politeness I rarely see. One kid was being a jag to his table but others we encountered were top notch.
4. the customers – Now there were a lot of normal folks eating but this is where you’re going to get your bang for the buck. You know that site People of WalMart? Well there should be one for here. I don’t know if it was the holiday season but as I was told online last night “you go there when you want to feel better about yourself”. Last night was a collection of 70′s Steelers shirts with matching tats, nascar jackets, missing teeth and some serious hardcore yinzers with 6 kids. Oh yeah and I saw a guy with a Charlotte Hornets Starter jacket and hat. The highlight of the evening was the table next to us enjoying a family meal with a very “manly” aunt who didn’t wear underwear. We all had a show.

I had a fantastic time eating with my family and can see why friends of mine have raved about this place. Strap on the feedbag and go to town Johnny, this is a quality place I’m going back to!

I hate shopping for cars. I hate talking to salesmen and I hate mechanics in most cases.  Why? I get its all about making money but I’ve had so many bad experiences that I trust very few and none are in Pittsburgh.

Today I started on the journey on which I hope is a fast trip.  I love my car but the time has come that I need to upgrade.  My needs are simple; drive to work every day and room for baby seats.  Easy right? Apparently every car I looked at was “The highest rated in baby safety”.

*oye* my head.

Here are a few things I learned today.

• We have this thing called the internet which shows me what the current price is. Oh yeah it’s on my phone and I can compare with stock at other dealerships.
• The guys I’ve talked to thus far have been pretty nice. Feels kinda weird not hearing “let me go get my manager” right away.
• If I have my kids with me and I say “I’m fine, just checking out your lot.” that doesn’t mean you keep following me and calling Teaspoon “hey sport”.
• Your website is how I make my shortlist. If your site isn’t mobile friendly or easy to search… I’m not shopping there.
• Speaking of websites, having “Call for price” is a strike. If you’re getting in new inventory that’s fine but not your whole site.
• Easiest way to start a Twitter fight by only asking a questions is saying “Who should I buy a car from?”. That also starts the fight between which brand/model car you should get even if you already said what you’re looking for. Remember you don’t know what you need, Twitter does.

I’ve never been a fan of the current MLB playoff format. I liked it better when it was NL/AL West vs East and it came down to the final weeks to take out number 1 (Baseball should not be played in November either but that’s a different post). The invention of the Wild Card awhile back was great for some clubs to squeak into the playoffs but what this also means is that teams celebrate like they won the World Series after every round. If you’re going to keep it, the AL/NLDS is a waste of time and should be a 3 game “whew we’re lucky to be here” fight to go to your league title.

Does the NFL celebrate excessively after each round? NO. Does the NHL? NO. Does the NBA? I wouldn’t know since I don’t watch basketball. Come on its hockey season!

Texas won their ALDS and a trip to the AL title game. Not the AL title itself but the chance to play for the title.

(if this doesnt load, thank the MLB. click here to watch the flash file)

I get that you’re happy you won. You’re the defending league champs, to celebrate as though you’ve never been there is amazing. You haven’t won anything yet fellas but you spray enough bubbly that you have to water goggles.

You accomplished part of the final goal so have a beer and congratulate your teammates. Champagne showers are meant for champions, not for job that has to be finished.

I was surprised in myself as to how I reacted when I read on Twitter that Steve Jobs passed. I actually got a little emotional and it felt like losing a relative even though I have never owned a product from Apple.

The first computer I used was an Apple II e in the 1980′s and once I went to college I was straight PC. Only reason for the move was that’s what Pitt had in the computer labs and if it wasn’t a machine running Windows 3.11 I was on a Unix box.  Apple’s though, never saw one. Then I ended up selling PC’s and built them from scratch and all of my programs were on PC so again, why would I use anything from Apple.

Then podcasting happened.

Granted there are other things that shaped podcasting but it was iTunes that got most of the public hooked and a became credible tool for broadcasting our content. The ease of using iMovie and Garageband started the movement of the everyday Joe becoming a viable media creator.

I don’t think many people outside of the geek community realize how much of their plugged in lifestyle they owe to this man.  Steve, thank you for being a visionary and moving forward when people said it will never work. Because of your influence most of us in social media wouldn’t be here.

Might come as a shock for some of you (OK not a SHOCK but more of a heh, I didn’t know that…) but I just graduated college on Friday with a degree in interactive media. I was waiting for my final grade to come in so I would know where my final ranking is. I have one assignment left and I’m at 97% in the class so I think its a safe bet to say I’m good to go.

I didn’t walk in graduation on Friday even though my wife wished I did; I would rather save the vacation day so I can spend it with my boys. Yeah it would have been cool to get the medal and all that jazz with dressing up but I would much rather have a day at the park with the monkeys.

It has been a long and difficult four years when I think about it. I’ve become a dad twice to preemies, I was laid off from a job of 10 years (1 week before Teaspoon was born 2 months early nonetheless) I dealt with a shitty landlord who did nothing as my townhouse was falling in around me and my family during Snomageddon and attack of the bees, I moved and I bought a house. All while somehow maintaining a GPA above 3.5. What was even more challenging was that these classes were all online and we had 2 breaks a year for a couple weeks. That was it. Also when you’re in online classses you may think its a breeze but in fact its very demanding because you have schoolwork almost every day.

When I started, online schooling was new and I had only a couple options. I took a lot of heat from my family because it wasn’t traditional schooling and they cant deal with anything that isn’t traditional but fact was, I couldn’t sit in a classroom with my work schedule and still get things done. I needed to be flexible and that’s what online gave me.

Now its common to see people taking their masters and many other degrees online because lets face it, we’re in a shitty economy and we need to work. The bonus to online schooling though is that while I’m up at 3am after a baby feeding I can get classwork done and submitted.

So what comes next? Well I’m taking a well deserved self imposed break. At least a year off from schooling to relax and spend some quality time with my boys and enjoying being a dad without the burden of having to say no because daddy has homework. It took me until my 30′s to realize what I had a passion for. Yeah I’m good with computers and web but that’s not what I wanted to do, that’s what paid the bills. Come to think of it what I wanted to do didn’t even exist 5-10 years ago.

What about here? Well this is my last post for awhile. Not like I was ripping up the feeds before but I knew that this last semester would be difficult since the job I was hired to do 2 years ago was finally being published and I had a heavy workload.

I thought about having a series of posts venting about the stupidity of the world and then ending with a big ole SEE YA but decided against it. I’m taking time away from everything. I have yardwork I want to do, I have writing on the side I want to get done and also I need to get things organized because some things coming up. Something badass and I need to force myself to take a step back and get my ducks lined up.  Its gonna be cool but I need to make sure I’m 100% ready. I have a couple books I want to read that aren’t tech manuals for once and really just want to see what its like not staying up until 2:30am stressing over homework.

Twitter, Facebook, everything… its an internet vacation where I can and I’m going to take time to finally stop and smell the hops. When I come back we’re gonna have some fun. I promise. You may see some posts randomly so don’t unsubscribe just yet.

I’ll see ya when I see ya.

-spoon

P.S. Get the August issue of Pittsburgh Magazine when it comes out

I really should start “Shit my mom says” as a category.

Last week I’m talking to my mom on the phone and in 1 conversation I was told that the pedophiles are around because of the internet and asked, in complete sincerity, “Douglas, why didn’t you invent Facebook?”

I did everything I could to not crash my car on the Parkway while trying to process that one.

Mom learned about The Social Network on Oprah and ever since tells me how its amazing that such a young man is a billionaire. Anytime she hears of someone in their 20/30′s making it rich I usually get the “why didn’t you do that?” speech. I had to roll back the history and once again tell the tales of my history to her.

While in my freshman year at Pitt (94/95) I had my first taste of working on computers. Enough so that I wanted to change my major from Psychology to Comp Sci. That’s when they dropped the bomb, direct quote from her and my dad was  ”you will NEVER make money in computers.”

I could go into greater detail about the lack of support because they didn’t understand and blah blah blah but really, wait for my biography or buy me a pint and we’ll chat. Honestly I think its an Erie thing and why so much talent flourishes once it leaves.

I still get phone calls asking to fix computers and you know what, they were right, I could never make a living because everyone wants their computer fixed, a website made or a social media strategy for free.

OK this post is taking a turn I wasn’t expecting when I started writing it. nice.

With world changing on an almost daily basis don’t discard someone because they’re not doing something you understand. We don’t know what the next big thing will be. I was told by a family member to quit podcasting when I started because it was a “waste of time” and in the 5 years since I started I think its treated me rather well.

I still hear “whats wrong with that person” because you dont follow the 1950′s idea of a professional. That is until someone makes money and your mom asks why you didn’t do it.

Don’t even get me started on the craft beer thing…

trainwreck

waste of an hour

jumped the shark

I’ve never seen 50000 people bail so fast on a webcast in my life. I stayed tuned in to see what would happened and what I got was an hour of public access quality writing and sfx of fart jokes and applause. The only saving grace was the girl who would get up once in awhile and bop around while the others sat there sucking what is left of Charlie Sheen’s fame.

I’m sure the only time my kids will ever ask about this moment is when they have a school project on social media disasters but when they do I can point to this post and say “boys, I was there.”

I think this train may end faster and more harsh than the one Ted Williams was on.