Those of you who know me well will know that, despite my technical aptitude, I’m often among the last of the ‘cool people’ to get with the times when it comes to the digital world (do I count as cool people? I may have just given myself an undeserved promotion). But lately I’ve made somewhat of a push, highlighted in the last month by:
- Numerous selfies on my recent trip to Europe.
- My first #hashtag (am I doing it right?).
- The new smartphone I got last week! And along with that, my first usage of WhatsApp, Messenger, and Uber.
So that’s exciting! And now, as you can see, I’m going even further, having now created a website and at the same time opening up my historically private personal life and writing my first blog post! Complete with far too many exclamation points, but that’s one of the key pluses to not writing for an editor, right?!
But why a blog post? To be honest, I’m not completely sure. I mean, I don’t plan on editing this, so I don’t think it’s going to be compelling prose. I do have some big news to share, though, so why not try something new in the process?
Burying the lede
I believe this is what my journalism friends would call burying the lede, so I’m glad you’ve read this far. Time for the big news…
I quit my job!
I suppose I should say “resigned” rather than “quit” since it somehow seems more dignified. But dignified I am not, while irreverent I certainly can be. So “quit” it is. But this is getting off-topic.
The main news in this post is that I am now, for the next few months at least, a freelancer of sorts. I’m not without options – I’ve already got an adjunct teaching gig this fall with University of Arizona’s engineering department. I may try to line up a new housemate for the fall, to help cover the mortgage. Other obvious ideas are coaching and tutoring, given my swimming and academic backgrounds.
But I have more exciting ideas too (maybe I’ll save those for another blog post? Could there be more than one blog post?!). Some of these are very sensible, just slightly more risky, while others are a bit nutty. But then I’m a bit nutty, so that shouldn’t be surprising. And if anybody can make a nutty idea work, why not me?
The point
And now I’ve finally got to the crux of this post. It’s quite exciting, really. I’ve finally, for the first time ever, positioned myself (allowed myself?) to explore ideas, to take risks, to chase nutty ventures, and to spurn all good sense and judgement (I did tell you I can be irreverent). I’m young after all, with no obligations other than my cat, my tortoises, and my mortgage (no children, no student loans, no car lease or other debt). So why not? (By the way, if you have a good answer to that question you should probably share it with me before I go too far down the rabbit hole!)
And with that, I will conclude my very first blog post. Exciting. Maybe there will be more. Maybe not. But this one has surely gone long enough.
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