I really don’t know which is more nerdy: blogging itself or blogging via iPhone on the commuter train. My initial guess is the latter and sadly it is what I am doing.
Yesterday’s experiment was a definite success. People who I know for a fact don’t read this site actually reached out to say hello. This isn’t to say I am not an annoyance to those that •I• message on a daily basis, but it does make me feel better I know that there are people out there that want to actually talk to me.
Last night I upgraded the software powering this site. After doing so I discovered a feature I wasn’t aware of and boy was it uplifting. Turns out that there is a feature that hits up Google to see how many others sites are linking to this site or aticles within. The number of incoming links on this bad boy? That’s a big fat goose egg! Yay blog!
By the way, I just have to say that I really hate the term blog. It is one of those lame and made up Internet terms created originally by open-source elitists who didn’t want ordinary people to know what they were talking about (and makes me feel like a dork even saying). This site isn’t a blog, it is my online journal that I write in because I like to write (however poorly the job may be… seriously I am 37 years old and I still have a had time using then and than properly). I don’t blog, I won’t blog, I just write. End of story.
Time to enter the Trans-Bay Tube, so that’s it for now.
-WW
Greetings Internet traveller! Thanks again for dropping in on my little corner of the web.
After publicly shaming myself with my shirtless post in the beginning of the year I figured it was about time for a check in. Don’t worry, you won’t need to shield your eyes from the screen, no picture today. I’ll save that for the end of the year.
To date I’ve lost 30 pounds, I am under 300 pounds, and I can go up a flight of stairs without getting winded. I am making better eating choices and exercising two to three times a week. I am pretty pleased with my progress but really need to crank it up a bit.
Last month I was tapped by my friend Jed to help support the social networking management aspect of a project that he has done with family and friends. It’s a super villian musical called Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and it looks like it is going to be one of the biggest projects I have ever ridden the coat-tails of. Hit up the site to find out more (or use the links below to hit up all the sites that have been set up).
Lastly, we have The Experiment. I find that on instant messenger programs I am usually the one who initiates contact with other people (probably much to their annoyance). Today I am going to turn it on and not contact anyone. I will leave it running and I am going to see just how long it takes for someone to actually want to talk to me (those actually reading this are hereby disqualified). I will post the results as soon as they are known.
I hope all of you out there are doing well and I hope the rest of the year is good to you.
-WW
** EDIT at 1:16 PM Pacific Time **
The first Instant Message has come in after 3 hours of being on. It was an ICQ spam message trying to get me to go to a site.
** EDIT at 2:10 PM Pacific Time **
Second Instant Message has come in. This time it is in fact someone that knows me and wanted to share something with me. 4 hours and 10 minutes. I’m going to reset the clock and see how long the next message takes. I really don’t know why I’m doing this.
** EDIT at 7:10 PM Pacific Time **
The one friend I’ve known the longest, Jereme, IM’d me after reading this. Thanks sir but, as said before, readers of this blog are disqualified. Appreciate the effort though.
** EDIT @ 9:14 PM Pacific Time **
Another friend from Los Angeles IM’d me out of the blue to check in. I consider this experiment a success. Someone did actually want to chat with me today.
Today was the day that I haven’t been looking forward to since March 1, 2008. Today was the day that we fulfilled my father’s final wish and released his ashes into the San Francisco Bay (or as I like to think of it the more modern version of a Viking funeral).
The ceremony was just as it should have been, and I’m glad I was there to see Dad off in the way that he wanted. It was also nice to have closure.
That being said, I wanted to share with you a quote that was in my head for most of the day.
“I really don’t know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it’s because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it’s because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, our sweat, and in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came.”
–Pres. John F. Kennedy, Australian Ambassador’s Dinner for the America’s Cup Crews, September 14, 1962, Newport, R.I.
One of the things that I have always enjoyed in life was writing. I have no idea why. For some reason letting the words flow from my mind into a form of print medium always relaxes me, makes me feel better about myself, and is darned fun.
A lot of writers tell you that the first thing to start writing about is what you know. If there is one thing I (regrettably) know a lot about, it’s television.
On a side note, this first column… good or bad… I would like to dedicate here to my father. He always encouraged me to read, no matter what I read, because he felt it was the cornerstone of keeping ones mind sharp. This made me love reading, lead my desire to write, and eventually got me here (and there). This first one is for you Dad.
So, head over to Quick Stop Entertainment, if you would please, and partake of what will undoubtedly become more of an Internet destination than Perez Hilton… heh… right.
-WW
In life, I believe that the first hero that most kids have is their Dad. For boys especially because Dad is the template that we start to build who we are on. They are the first person that we look up to because they are the first strong male we know. We learn how to treat women from our fathers. We learn what types of clothes to wear for certain function from our fathers. We learn how to interact with friends from our fathers. We learn how to shave and properly tie a Windsor knot for the first time we have to put one on.
I know I can’t speak for every one but I know that my Dad was the first hero I had. As far as I knew, as far as I cared there wasn’t anything that my Dad couldn’t do. As far as I knew there wasn’t a thing that my Dad didn’t know. I always turned to him for advice, I always craved his attention, I always wanted to make him proud. I always respected my Dad and as far as I can remember he had that respect just with his presence because the man never raised a hand to me. I always enjoyed my time with my Dad, there was never a time I didn’t want to go see him. I truly loved him with all my heart and I’m thankful that I had such a wonderful Dad. He’s still my template as I myself now am someone’s Dad, someones hero.
This past Friday Night/Saturday morning my father passed away. He did it peacefully. It came swiftly with little discomfort or suffering. It is the type of passing that I am sure we all hope for our loved ones. Even with all this in mind it doesn’t change the fact that I wish it didn’t happen. I wish I wasn’t over 700 miles away from him and I wish, oh do I ever wish, that I had gotten that last chance to tell him how much I loved him, how much he meant to me… to thank him for trying his best in making me a good man and to simply lay a kiss upon his forehead one last time and tell him good bye.
Even with all this I find that I have actually spent the entire day reflecting not on how much I will miss him, but instead on everything that he had. My Dad lived 80 long and fruitful years, he endured his trials and triumphantly came through them. He had five sons, five grand children, and a wife who loved him and cared for him in his remaining years and who instantly accepted his family as her own.
My Dad was also the most liked person that I ever met with the most friends I have ever known someone to have. He had a great sense of humor, knew how to have fun and knew the importance of getting away from it all to enjoy time with his loved ones.
I love you Dad. I am glad you are at peace and I hope you have them laughing there as much as you did here. I hope you know how much you meant to me and I thank you for everything you gave me and did for me. I’ll do my best to make you proud until, hopefully, I see you again.
Love,
William
