Year-End Rambling, Boring Personal Stuff, Etc.
Sometimes I just need to type. To get it out. Small ideas, news, and other mental slices of personal relevance. If this just “ain’t your thing,” by all means, please move on to the next item in your reader. Otherwise, if I may ramble on for a moment with the privileged luxury of your gracious attention, I will attempt to elaborate a few of the recent mysteries swirling throughout the rushing vortex that is my life.
First of all, the site is doing great. I am honored that you have found Perishable Press worthy of your consideration, consumption, and contemplation. Your time is extremely valuable, so I am most grateful that you have chosen to include me in your current stream of consciousness. As the site continues to evolve, I hope the silent majority will decide to reach out and say hello, drop some insight, or even some criticism. After all, “dialogue” is the second part of the site’s official tagline. <smile>
Thankfully, 2008 was an incredible year that ended with a sonic boom. While growing this site in 2008, I also launched mindfeed.org, which is a site that will be getting much more attention as things settle down in the new year. The goal of mindfeed.org is to provide a place for me to express myself philosophically, politically, and spiritually. I am looking forward to diving in and letting it all out, so to type.
A few months after the launch of mindfeed.org, I was able to legitimize my four-year-old design business, Monzilla Media, with a completely redesigned portfolio site, official tax registration, and even a bit of advertising. This may seem like small potatoes to some, but I have working toward this goal for several years now. Little by little, step by step.. striving, working, learning. Given two wonderful children, a loving wife, and a regular, full-time job in a science lab, launching a full-fledged design business on the side — while maintaining and writing for a small army of websites — is a real accomplishment for me.
Yes I am busy. Too busy, in fact. Lately I have been enjoying a change in the usual, breakneck routine thanks to the work involved in purchasing and moving into a new home. Up until just last week, my wife and I had been raising our children in a small, two-bedroom duplex. This was okay at first (four years ago), but as time went on, it began to suck, more and more. Kids grow, possessions increase, and before you know it, you’re living in a sardine can. Thankfully, the Good Lord has now blessed us with a nice, four-bedroom house with all the trimmings. Sounds great, and it is, but let me tell you that moving several truckloads of furniture, boxes, and miscellaneous crap in the middle of Winter requires extreme motivation. We closed the deal on the house the day before Christmas Eve, believe it or not, and basically had two days (i.e., Christmas Eve and Christmas day) to pack everything and get moved in. Long story short, my computer is currently in a box, and I am completely floating in a state of chaotic limbo while we work diligently to smooth everything out and restore even the slightest semblance of order. December has been a trip, in more ways than one.
Returning to Perishable Press for a moment, I have to be honest: I haven’t been at my best lately. The anticipation of the new house (and all the work that goes with customizing everything, appointments, paperwork, follow-ups, and so on) was apparently enough to distract me from reality. Rather than being true to myself, I got caught up — once again — in my voracious ego. “Me, me, me..” — you know the game. This seems to be a periodic trend that manifests when things are either going well or else getting hectic. I found myself getting rattled about the small things and couldn’t understand why things weren’t going my way! As if! Anyway, without getting into a auto-psychoanalytical dialogue about the inner workings of my mind, suffice it to say that I am once again rebooting the system. Starting over. Fresh. 2009.
New everything. A new year, new house, new routine, and an incredible opportunity for change. Much-needed change, I might add. The old routine was so comfortable as to become a rut. A terribly wonderful and predictable flowing rut with little or zero opportunity for real change. Needless to say, with all of the “newness” happening around me, I intend to embrace change with both hands. I even have new theme to roll out here for Perishable Press after I get everything organized and connected in my new office, which I am very excited about setting up and pimping out in true creative fashion. To put this into perspective, my previous “office” was a desk in the corner of the dining room, right next to the refrigerator. Sweet.
What else? Lots of projects planned, including two fantastic and inspiring WordPress-based ventures, which should hopefully manifest in the Spring of 2009. I also intend to continue expanding my design business. More advertising, more networking, more work, more independence. Of course, the long-term goal here is to go full-time into web and graphic design, earning enough money to pay da’ billz. While advancing the business front, I am also looking forward to increased blogging at mindfeed.org; hopefully I will find the nerve to begin speaking my mind about many controversial topics, including that one topic that seems just so ridiculously taboo these days. ;) In addition to all of these inspiring endeavors, I also want to begin developing two additional sites: augustklotz.com and perishable.biz. The augustklotz.com site will be a site through which I study the Bible, a task which is easier said than done! The perishable.biz site, probably of more interest to my current audience, will feature the graphical side of the artist presently known as Perishable (i.e., me.). I have tons of graphics, found chunks, artwork, sketches, digital photography, video, comix, and gobs of other visual/creative stuff that I want to share with everyone via perishable.biz. I will use the site primarily as a way to manage and organize content, but it will certainly be available to the public as well.
Beyond all of this, however, are a few personal goals. Like many, I want to be a better person. I want to live a healthier lifestyle, engage in more physical activity, see the outdoors, travel, and so on. I want to draw closer to God, be a better husband, father, and friend. I see life as a continual opportunity for self-improvement. Always the learner, never the master, in my mind. I want to write more clearly, more succinctly, but without sacrificing the inspirational “art” of writing: being yourself, saying what you want, how you want, with all of the superfluous elaboration and nuance that only the most attuned will realize and appreciate. Or something. You know what I mean. ;)
14 responses to “Year-End Rambling, Boring Personal Stuff, Etc.”
Wow. I thought *I* was busy. May all your projects come to glorious fruition in 2009! Many thanks for sharing so much useful knowledge with your readers. I come across so many blogs that try to do what you do, but you’re the one who delivers the goods.
I can’t wait to see your new theme. Quintessential is pure genius :)
Keep up the good work! I can relate to how RL can get hectic with moving and the kids. I wish you and your family have a great New Year.
lets see :
Kids = posessive …oh yes they are…I’m no longer a kid an im still possessive!
New house = DIY!! I love pulling out my black’n’hammer toolkits and hitting and fixing things all the time (including the things not broken :p)
Mindfeed = YES! get some new posts in!! its been ages.
Newsites = Bible study…which one? i’m not a christian but I have encoutered a number of variations of bible versions, where some it could be argued are fundamnetal diffrences.
New design blog!!! yes will lookinto that.
‘….including two fantastic and inspiring WordPress-based ventures, ‘ = really eh do elaborate ;)
monzilla = regarding what we discussed earlier…the eta has dramtically shortened [once we start in the new year that is :p] and got some more capital so expect to hear from me soon :D
Good luck with the new year ventures family god and all.
cya on the flip side
Congratulations on the purchase of your new home. Moving is an experience like no other, but definitely worth the stress. Your honesty is always refreshing and your enthusiasm, contagious. I’m sure you will continue to find success in all you do. Have a fantastic New Year.
Sounds like you are going to have quite a busy 2009. I look forward to reading your other site when they come online, and to continue reading this blog. I just stumbled upon it today, and I have to say that if the rest of your blog is as enjoyable to read as your ramblings, then you may have a new reader.
Good luck in 2009 …
I’ve been one of the “silent majority” reading your blog for a while. Just thought I’d speak up and say thanks for all the great tips that you’ve put together. Hope you have a great New Year and enjoy the new house!
A huge “Thank you” to everyone for taking time to comment on this post. Your kind words and generous encouragement inspires me greatly and is one of the driving forces behind Perishable Press. I wish I had more time to respond to each comment individually like I normally try to do, but things are still very crazy around here because of the move, work, and everything else.. I just wanted to take a moment to show my appreciation for your responses and feedback before too much more time had passed. The good news is that I am slowly getting settled and back on track, so things should be returning to normal very soon. I also want to wish you all a very blessed and happy New Year — may you be successful in everything you set out to do! Cheers! :)
Hah, great post Jeff. Nice to see something personal about the man behind Perishable, it really adds some perspective. I’ve added mindfeed.org to my Reader and will definitely be keeping an eye on that. I’m very curious about your view on things. I have great respect for what you’re doing with your life, as it’s very similar to what I hope to accomplish one day. I’m 22 at the moment and about to move from the Netherlands on to New Zealand to start a partnership with the webdesign company where I did my internship last year. Things are looking pretty good for 2009, it seems this is going to be a good year for the both of us.
I wish you all the best with your plans for this year, it sounds like boredom certainly won’t be a part of it. Whatever you do, just make sure you leave enough time for yourself. And of course your wife, although I doubt I even need to mention that ;)
You take god care of yourself Jeff. I’ll be keeping an eye on you.
Greetings from the Netherlands,
~Adrian
Thank you so much for the thoughtful feedback, Adrian. It has been a good year indeed, and I certainly hope that 2009 brings many blessings as well. It is good to hear that you are off to such a great start with your life. At 22, you are well-positioned to accomplish anything you set your mind to in this life. I can tell from reading your comment that you are a bright and talented individual, and I wish you the very best as you pursue your goals and make the most of your life. New Zealand is a beautiful country, and I hope to spend some time there someday. I can only imagine how great of an experience it would be.
Thanks again for the kind words about the things I am doing. It is a great inspiration to me when people such as yourself take the time to share their thoughts with me here on the site, or anywhere, for that matter! Thanks also for subscribing to mindfeed — it is waiting for me to express myself in a much more personal way, and I plan to spend some quality time writing for it as the year unfolds.
Happy New Year to you, Adrian! May it bring many blessings to you and your endeavors. :)
Best regards,
Jeff
I hope the move went well. You are doing great but are so busy. I’m excited for you about the goals that you have set for yourself. Personally, my year was bookended by two major life events and I’m simply hoping for a quieter 2009.
Hopefully it will, Kim — you certainly deserve it. Staying active online always involves a modest amount of stress and heartache, but given some of the more serious events that “real” life can throw at us, I wouldn’t want to spend my free time doing anything else. Here’s to a more joyful and peaceful New Year for both of us! :)