01/22/12
I don’t know about everyone else, but it takes me either all day or all week. For instance, I have a journal-type post for one of my blogs (rawlifewizard)that was pre-rough-drafted/conceptualized (I’m not really sure what the academic term is for this) on Jan 15th (exactly a week ago). But, because I work a full-time job, and I’m trying to excel at work, I’m putting in over 10 hours extra at work weekly, resulting in way more sitting than is recommended for health. However, in my job, I’m really doing one of my great loves which is web development. I’m not complaining.
On top of that I’m checking into opportunities for finishing my Master’s Degree online. Any of you who’ve ever pursued an undergraduate degree will understand that, with all the paperwork and application submissions and essays for financial aid this is a whole project in and of itself.
I’m also concurrently reading up on and doing home study tutorials on various computer science topics and technologies to enhance my knowledge and improve my earning power. I am recruiting my friends who have web development and design education to come work for my company, which is in growth mode currently.
If that wasn’t enough, I’ve also begun a quest to master these items simultaneously, (but in actual practice it’s more akin to dynamic multithreading). Here are the main topics I’ve chosen to concentrate on:
- Computer Programming/Computer Science
- Human Social Dynamics and Interpersonal Relationships
- Heavy Metal Guitar
- Karate
- Eco/Green/Sustainability
- Native American Studies (esp. Plains Indians)
- History of Everything
- Spanish Language
- Japanese Language
- Philosophy of Everything
- Story Telling, etc …
Those are the main topics. I’ve decided that I’m not satisfied with being a “Jack-Of-All-Trades” because everyone knows the rest of the phrase is “Master of none”. I see the fact that I haven’t mastered much in my life, nor lived up to the potential for certain greatness I KNOW is within me, as disservice to my inner self. I choose the path, not to impress anyone else, but solely because it is what I feel I must do. I can’t explain it, but I am called to a great purpose. I am to be a teacher and a healer, and since I have finally rebuilt my emotional workings, and thrown off the shackles of hate and learned instead to embrace love and gratitude, I have already begun mentoring and counseling others to help them find their way on the great path. I have found one of the best ways to learn is to teach. Ironic, isn’t it? But it has been my experience that when you can teach something to someone else in a way that they understand, you thereby reinforce your own understanding of the concept.
Some of my more specific, focused areas of interest are:
- History of Money, Trade, & Currency
- Cryptography, Codes & Code-breaking
- History and Origins of Slavery
- History of Collapse of Complex Societies
- History of Disease & Evolutionary Medicine
- Histories of Indigenous Peoples & Their Dispossession
- Natural Medicine & Ancient Healing Technologies
- Commonalities Between Monarchies, The Holy Roman Church, and Corporations
- Unexplained Phenomena & The Supernatural as science that we just don’t understand yet.
I plan to publish papers and perhaps books on these topics. As a non-fiction author, Isaac Asimov is a great model for how I will write my books. See Asimov On Numbers and Asimov’s Chronology of the World for good examples of his scientific, yet easily digestible writing style.
But above all else, my health is top of the list. I’ve had digestive and eliminative problems since 1999 and I think this God’s Herbs fruit fast is the answer to my prayers. The only side-effect is when my body goes into detox mode, I think it shuts down thinking mode and therefore that is why I get tired and fall asleep after ingesting. This means I’m unable to get as much done as I would like. I am a multitasker by nature. But I wonder if maybe I’m just trying to do too much too fast?
Now, yesterday I made time to do some writing. Unfortunately HOLLYWOOD/BIG ENTERTAINMENT are trying to push a bill that would essentially give them a monopolistic control over the internet and they’re doing it under the guise of an “Anti-Piracy” bill (SOPA/PIPA). There was a big online blackout where several prominent websites spearheaded by Wikipedia went dark in protest of the bill. That’s all great and it had a great effect by temporarily preventing the passage of those creativity-devastating bills, but many of the folks who protested and such don’t realize IT’S NOT OVER YET! The bills were’nt killed — only postponed.
So, I spent yesterday writing a two-page email to my congresspersons which I submitted through a web form from an activist group for expediency. That was time I had allotted to do my blogging. But with this fast I’m on, and the fact that I sometimes have hemorrhoids and it hurts my butthole to sit for long periods of time ( greater than 2 hours) can be a barrier to writing production and how many blog posts I can complete.
EXCUSES AND JUSTIFICATIONS ASIDE …
Here are the steps I usually take when producing a blog post:
- Brainstorm the topics content of the blog. (30 min)
- Write the article text in MS Word. A large chunk of this time is devoted to fact-checking any statements of fact and just making sure that the information I am publishing is accurate to the best of my knowledge. (2-4 hrs)
- Proofread and correct spelling errors (1.5 hrs) (NOTE: by this time, I’m usually already tired, but still I push on …)
- Identify keywords and bold them, then decide which terms will be hyperlinked, and to what. This step often takes as long as it took to write the article text because I have to research and Google for the most appropriate, and usually most thorough and concise link. (2-3 hrs)
- Apply text and layout styles and formatting (30-45 min)
- Locate images and position within the blog (1-2 hrs)
So there you have it … Basically, to produce a blog post that I am satisfied with and proud to publish, I essentially have to sacrifice the day to blogging only. I don’t have professional schooling as a writer or a blogger … this is just the process that intuitively makes sense to me. However, I am interested in hearing how you guys and gals with blogs of your own produce your stuff. Short of hiring a secretary, I think I’m pretty much doing the best I can. But, I would be interested in any tips you might have to cut the time in half. For me the biggest time-eater is all the research I do to ensure my statements are accurate. Accuracy is important to me and I feel it says something about you as a responsible individual that you took the time to make sure you weren’t just spreading gossip and falsehoods that you heard were true from a friend who heard it from a friend, etc.
If there is an easier way to produce a decent blog post in less than a day, by yourself, I don’t know what it is — but I’m open to suggestion.
(BTW: If you’re at all curious this post took me 3.5 hours to produce. Note there are no images and no facts that I need to back up. I also didnt’ add any text or layout formatting. There may be spelling errors as well)
Next time perhaps we will look at how to integrate your WordPress blog so it automatically posts to Facebook … or maybe we’ll examine the Evil that Monsanto is generating in the world by trying to patent living organisms and we’ll find out who the supreme court justices were that ruled that organisms could be property, instituting a new form of hi-tech slavery. I haven’t decided yet …
**** I was just informed that my good friend’s son just got kicked in the head by a horse. Please, I ask all of you to pray for Chayse and send healing loving energy his way. Thank you my friends. You are all beautiful souls! ****
Regards,
Kristobal
“Be excellent to each other!” — Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
My other blogs:
RawLifeWizard – My personal journey of natural healing and detoxification
CodeSlayer2010 – My programming journal
