Ulysses 26 update looks great. Now with custom fonts and better support for accessing my web server (meaning I can connect to it again. Will I re-up or stick with iA Writer?
Unfortunately I run into an error where I cannot post to the Micro page from either Ulysses or iA Writer so now it comes down to use the pay and use or subscription based software?
“We learn by doing.”
This is the way you master your hobby, by getting on and doing it. Learn, practice, re-learn and practice some more. This goes for writing, sketching, photography, painting, or everything else. You don’t get good without practice, keep your head down and move onward.
There are no shortcuts to becoming a good photographer. Just go out and take photos. You don’t need a specific lens or a new camera because you cannot buy skill. It does not matter whether you share images to your website or Instagram because all the “likes” will not help you improve. If you want to take good photos, you have to take numerous photos first. The majority will be crap, and that’s okay. I’ve come back home with maybe 5 usable images and been happy.
With your writing, it does not matter what software application you use, what blogging platform or newsletter publisher or what type of personal computing device you do it on. If the goal is to become a better writer, then just write. A lot of it will be crap, and that’s okay too. I’ve cranked out possibly 5 good articles a month and been happy.
Consistency and constantly. If it isn’t worth the time and effort to put into it, then perhaps it isn’t relevant for you.
You cannot buy in and expect dramatic results with your new gear. The gear doesn’t make you better. Only you can make yourself look good by trusting the process. It’s time to go out there and get it.
Here’s something about me: I’ll tweak and twerk on something until it’s molded into something I’m happy with. And just when I’ve got it down to what I want, I switch to something entirely different.
Example- I’ve been working with a fantastic site setup here in the past so much that it got to the point where all I had to do is…write. So I’ll write for a time and then I would tweak the web site again instead.
I can’t help it, because it’s fun. The tinkering allows me to think and do it just for the hell of it. Imagine a chef creating something from a recipe but in reverse order or adding/subtracting ingredients as needed. That’s where I am at.
These past few months I think I have finally settled on a solution I am proud of here. It’s functional, it looks great and everything makes sense. For the first time in a long time, I am content.
However, I do reserve the right to tweak and enhance the current set up.
Just for the hell of it.
There are many things in my life that I don’t need. I don’t need half the technology I have, nor most of online services that I pay for. This includes the hosting for my website. I don’t need it, but it does serve a purpose deeper than the amount it costs me each year and gives me value.
My website(s) have been up for more than two decades (learning from a file error mistake, the earliest post I still have is from 2013) and it has been through various iterations. The most recent of which was going back to a personal web server host. The benefits and hours devoted to the setup and install outweigh the costs.
This website has been many things over the years such as, attempted portfolios, business ventures (photography) and a lot of design coding, but still provides an outlet for me. In reality, this website provides very little to me, it doesn’t receive accolades or followers as much as it used to, my life would remain unchanged if I didn’t have this outlet, but I still want one.
This is a journal, a hobby for sure, but writing gives me something that nothing else provides. I love networking with people and I enjoy journaling. Long form and short form both help me document my life as it is currently. Sometimes other people join me here and that is fantastic. Just because I receive nothing in return (on the surface), it doesn’t mean that this doesn’t have value. I believe everyone needs to have their own space on the world wide web.
No one or their website, should focus on follower count, advertising, tracking or page views. You won’t recoup your costs, let’s be honest. This is a personal website and are beholden to no one. You publish what you want, when you want and how you need to.
I don’t need this but I want this.
Own your website. It’s important because you control the format now and forever if you want to. No social media because that isn’t yours. Your social media account is just renting space until you are evicted.
Buy a domain name, choose a blog host, install WordPress blogging software on it. Once you are about 50% content with the way your own site looks, move on to long form and short form writing, photos, drawings, whatever you fancy… because it is yours. Leave the final 50% for slow, and incremental enhancements along the way. If you’re wondering what style or format you should write, write as though if you were writing a friend in an email.
Categorize and tag your posts for future reference and easy search on a topic you wrote 5 years ago. You’ll thank yourself later.
While going through the downloaded archives of my old Twitter account, I realized several things which are going to shape the way I write on the web in the future.
The mundane rituals of the past will now seem fascinating in 10 years time, because you see that things have changed and have also stayed the same. Such as living in a different state(s), or you’re now with someone else. Taking a moment to capture your life as it is now helps nostalgia down the road.
2006–10–25 19:37:06 +0000 My obligatory first tweet here on TWTTR.
2007–12–07 03:42:50 +0000 still can’t get Photoshop working and now I can’t open the RAW images I took from my new Nikon D200 camera. @#$%@*&
2012–01–17 21:30:40 +0000 Relocating to Tulsa in T-minus 12 hours.
2012–12–07 13:50:58 +0000 Holy shit I turned 40 today.
Twitter: @mojodenbow
Those tweets are well and good for documenting the times but how much more valuable are they on your own website? Social media isn’t forever, they come, go and most will take all the effort you put into it with them. I can look back fondly on my brief flirtation with both Linux and Windows operating systems, or a photo of my daughter from 2009 easily.
JANUARY 1, 2013 / CHRIS / INFODENBOW
HAPPY GNU YEAR
I’ve taken on another project that involves diving deep inside the Linux operating itself. For a few years I’ve been using a dual boot hybrid desktop using Ubuntu and Windows 7. I’ve added the Fedora distribution inside a virtual machine inside Ubuntu and deleted the Windows partition. Oh, and GNU = “Gnu’s Not Unix”
So I continue generating text, photos, doodles and anything else I want. For me. This website is a kinetic journal and I plan to continue doing this right to the end. I suggest everyone create their own website here on the WWW.
As a digital writer, I love the modern day writing software that allows you to create, distribute with ease. However, I grew up using a typewriter and I’ve missed the “clickety-clack” of the mechanical keys as I typed. Now I can have that again with this Royal Scrittore1Italian for “Writer”.
I have had a need to simplify my websites and the expenses that come with them. Everything changed today.
A year ago I transferred this website to WordPress.com for simplicity and ease of use but I gave up too much control. Today, I transferred it back to my own web server and taking full control back. This move will save over half the expenses too. At the same time, I moved my photography website back and forth between web hosts, Adobe and my own server as well.
I signed up with a Adobe Photography plan again mostly because of their web portfolio hosting that comes with the plan. This is cheaper than hosting my portfolio on WordPress or my own web server.
Today is a fresh start for this site. I have moved all of the articles published previously to the Archives page. There was an unfortunate issue with migrating the data over resulting in the first ten years going missing or a corrupt .xml file. Now the records go back to only 2011. I’ll keep sorting that out as I don’t want to lose all those memories.
ChrisDenbow.com was rebuilt in an hour and it will take time to clean up the migration process, slap some paint on the walls and customize the site to my liking. For now, we’ll log this attempt at version 1.0
