I Write Therefore I Am

Wow! What a long tome between posts. I know that right now that only me, my wife and my mother are the only people reading this blog. Yet, I must begin to post daily if I ever wish to have an audience. I have decided to make writing this blog a part of my daily schedule. Since this seems to be coming from left field (for those of you who are reading this for the first time or do not know me), I think we should acquaint (or reacquaint) ourselves with the circumstances that led to this decision.

A little about me

My biographical details are available, but just a quick snap shot for fun:

• Born 11-Jun-68.
• Navy brat; moved between VA, CA & MA repeatedly for years.
• Permanently moved to MA in 1977.
• Blizzard of 78, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Battle of the Planets...yep, life was good.
• Left the Christian religion at age 12: Too much hypocrisy and conflicting messages.
• Married at 18 in 1986.
• My son was born in 1988. (I love you Joe).
• Separated and divorced by 21 in 1989.
• Read extensively about alternate religions (Hinduism, Taoism, etc).
• Studied Shaolin Kenpo, made it to purple belt level (but never took tests).
• Met the love of my life in 1993.
• My daughter Amanda was born in 1993 (I love you Mandie).
• My daughter Ayshah (pronounced Asia) was born in 1996 (I love you Ayshah).
• Remarried in 1998.
• Returned to school in 2005. Studied business management under the guise of Science of Information Technology.
• 2007 Changed major to Political Science, started classes at Northeastern University CPS.
• 2006 - 2010 worked at Biogen Idec building databases and managing data for the Engineering/Validation teams.
• June 2010 Took hiatus from school.
• September 2011 Moved into condominium.
• November 2010 Lay off, (nice severance package though).
• January 2011, picked up Winter class schedule at Northeastern.
• Now: Decided to get back into writing. Will blog daily.

So, I will start posting daily. My topics will range from political commentary, creative endeavors, to personal trials and tribulations. I am a writer who has become very lax in his trade therefore I will now adhere to a schedule. My short term goal is to blog daily for an hour and get back into a writing flow. My long term goal is to blog for half an hour and then work on my novels for an hour (or more). I have allowed my work, home and school schedules to overrun my writing schedule. Being laid off has only made me that much busier, which is not logical given that my work schedule has decreased significantly. I need this outlet as well. When I do return to the workforce I want to make sure that I do not lose sight of my true calling as a novelist.

Speaking of the lay off, I have had difficulty concentrating on projects since being released by my company. I have a few databases that I worked on as side projects and have struggled with through the holiday seasons. I was able to complete my Storage Tracking database thankfully. We have two storage units and a million totes and boxes. Finding something (such as a specific book or kitchen utensil) has been difficult, especially since our last move. Compound this with the fact that we are also storing a lot of items for my mother in-law as well. My reaction was to build a database to label items and boxes. The database tracks the location of storage, owner, and box contents. I built a search tool that iterates through the box contents to locate an item based on the search parameters (field, boolean search type, entered criteria).

Now all I have to do is go through everything, label it and reorganize the boxes according to owners (me, my wife, my daughters, etc). This also gives us a chance to determine what should be kept, given to charity or thrown away. This will be a daunting task, but necessary. Plus, we will be so relieved when we are finished. Yet, I have been unable to work on my other databases. Part of the reason is that they are not as necessary as the Storage Tracker. These other databases are more practice applications for tracking my documents, pictures and so on. Given the study time I need for school and the pull of my family life, one can see why these other projects have once again fallen to the way side.

But all is not lost. I am taking the first step towards a more structured day. Biogen Idec taught me the importance of scheduling one's day. I will admit that I stopped this practice almost completely in November of 2010, scheduling only doctor and Keystone Associate appointments. My days became so unstructured that I ended up thoroughly disgusted with my own lack of direction. School was a big factor for shaking me out of my rut. But I was only hitting the proverbial snooze button. Now I am beginning to wake once again and see that more structure is exactly what I need.

Like a circle, the end will be at the beginning

To continue my waking from a slumber analogy, I now have my feet on the ground. Blogging is the equivalent to getting into the shower to start my day. And that day is the rest of my life. As I get dressed (finish my novels), eat breakfast (fuel my bank account through work), and head out into the world (make my mark as an author) I will know that I have lived my life to my fullest potential.

Every journey starts with a singe step. This post is that step. Walk with me. Witness my awaking. Begin your own day in your own way. Most importantly, let's chat about it. I love conversation and this is a topic that will cherish.