JediWright.com

After catching some news coverage on the local ABC station here in PA, I had the thought that in some ways today’s parade and celebration of the Philadelphia Phillies winning the World Series was a moment of civilian harmony of sorts in which the main stream public flexed its collective power for good.

Whether or not it can yield such results when we as a nation or even on a global community level remains to be seen, but I couldn’t but help feel an underlying current there. Whether its revolting against a failed government, unifying against a global threat or any of the other countless devices mankind has left trapped to ensnare itself with, I was excited to catch such a glimpse of change.

Reading is without a doubt, one of my favorite past times.

I’ve mentioned this recently as I have with the books and authors that have been the focus of this love affair of mine. And of the genres I adore most, fantasy definitely takes the cake. Right now I’m re-reading Melanie Rawn‘s Dragon Prince trilogy and am currently finishing up book one entitled “Dragon Prince” (started earlier this week).

This kind of dragon-and-magic story is surely brain candy, one of the quickest reads and and easily escaped-to imaginary settings I can think of.

I absolutely adore it and always will.

I’m so incredibly disappointed with the way things have gone at my first company.

I was so inspired and thankful when its founder asked me to come on board nearly 4.5 years ago now. I was really struggling in Los Angeles at the time, couch surfing at the old Do LaB loft downtown on Olympic boulevard for the summer while hunting for work and a new home.

As luck would have it my friend had just started this internet fabric store and quickly found need of another set of hands to keep up with its pace of orders. I quickly assumed greater and greater responsibility and then became partner, operating as chief operating officer for a year or so. After the company had made several moves and substantial growth, I assumed greater responsibility as chief executive officer. And while serving as CEO was great for a time, it didn’t last long, nor did its respectable income.

After a year and a half, my pay had grown outdated as we had securely transitioned out of startup mode to focusing on our core competencies in a stage dubbed “Operation Cruise Control”, so had my daily tasks. Since this was my first startup and business, it took some major effort to switch gears personally, especially since we still had (and still do) have so much potential for growth. But my stake in the company was too limiting to say otherwise and so stricken of my joy of growing the company, my best pay ever and more, I tried to fit in and do as told, but having worked nearly independent for almost a years time and as a CEO (incidentally, a role I thought prematurely assigned) with a decent startup salary (from what I knew of those things then), it really grated on my nerves and natural instincts.

Not only that, but around this time we had brought in a third partner, who assumed my role as operating officer; so now there were three trying to man the helm. This proved to be both a blessing and a curse. In some ways I needed a 2nd mate to bounce things off of, since the founder had made it clear from even earlier on that he would be very much removed from daily operations (oversight was something that’s always lacked there). But in others, it could often be counter-productive.

So about eight months into this, I decided I’d had enough of the daily grind and moved to Santa Cruz to try and start up another company with another friend. In some ways it was a great relief from what had been and an exciting time to look forward at what could be, but alas, this venture wasn’t meant to be with this friend. After six months of trying to mesh our strengths and weaknesses and even less pay (zero from the new startup), I decided to bag it and head back to LA to clear my palette and figure out what was next.

I knew one of the biggest obstacles for me was never having completed college, so I enrolled full-time at SMC to try and get past my inexperience in programming to pursue my own Internet startups. I lasted one semester before getting pulled into someone else’s startup, again. This time, it was a full-on return as a lead production artist with The Do LaB guys. I worked my ass off for the majority of 2008 with them, traveling from gig to gig and country to country, crafting my event production skills further but still yearning for my own true baby of a startup.

And throughout these recent years of exploration and development, I’ve continued my role as CEO at DF to varying degrees, but never again with the sense of purpose and power I had previously. Far from power hungry am I, moreover is the desire for the freedom and responsibility that this role entails. And since now it’s only really in name that I serve as such with this first company, I find myself despairing again over the lack of quality, dedication, accountability, responsibility, and commitment that this company represents.

It’s really quite embarrassing and depressing to have my name attached to it but I have no choice until one of my own startups or my next round of schooling provides a financial out.

I’m overly hopeful but not disillusioned at my chances of success, but I’m going to keep trying, again and again and as long as it takes until I’ve found my freedom to exit (or buy-out everyone else and do as I please ).

Delaying my blog upgrade, I began preparations in earnest for my return to school again yesterday. Ironically to me, it is now ten years since my high school graduation and the third time I’m attempting to complete a higher education program. I am inspired by my fiance’s sister Olivia, who’s only got a half year left at UCLA, her third attempt to complete a higher education program (we’re just about the same age too).

Since my admissions application had been accepted at the Reading Area Community College (RACC), I had a few tasks to complete. First was to schedule my placement testing, then I had to get the necessary transcript paperwork from SMC, where I spent a semester at last fall. I ordered a rush delivery on this order as my placement testing is next Monday and they recommend delivering your transcripts at that time. I already have copies from my first stint back in 2000 at the Bradley Academy (now an Art Institute) for multimedia and my high school transcripts at Upattinas. My rush transcripts are costing me $42.25 for two copies, rushed via FedEx’s 3-day Express Saver service.

I’ll be resuming my efforts in working towards some sort of degree in computer science/technology, most likely their Web Site Development Concentration
Associate in Applied Science Degree. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully for the last several years to teach myself programming and such but I just don’t have the same level of concentration and memory retention that I do in a more structured environment, at least at this point in my life, hoping that changes as I get older and find my patience.

Hopefully the 3rd time’s a charm scenario holds true here, if not I’ll most likely have to on from my hopes of programming. Math never was my strong point and the kind of critical thinking involved with this kind of work isn’t always there for me. My determination only strengthens with time though so I’m really optimistic about my commitment to it now.

After getting my new Instinct phone last week I knew it was time for much needed upgrade for my blog.

Unfortunately, I started the upgrade under a time constraint and of course, it failed to take the first time. So now I’m left with the vanilla-flavored them you see here, which I’ll be swapping out with the original I was using or maybe something better.

I probably won’t be getting to it until later tonight though, so please bear with me as I make the necessary updates and fine-tuning for this blog.
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Update: Have restored blog to last version until I’ve got the time for the proper upgrade.

Due to a really intensive travel schedule the last six months, inconsistent Internet access and an underperforming spam filter, I’ve had to do a bulk spam deletion of all my comments. If you’ve posted a comment in that time (maybe even a bit longer than that) and haven’t seen it approved, I apologize but with thousands of spam comments, I couldn’t take the time to scroll through and identify any non-spam comments.

Please post again if you had made any, as I will be tending to my comments (and blog in general), much more consistently hence forth.

Ever since I can remember I’ve been reading.

From the early days of being read to, to the early days of reading on my own, to the more mature reading levels attained as an adult, I’ve read hundreds and hundreds of books. My love of books and reading is definitely a genetic/family trait, as all five of my siblings, my parents and other relatives are all power-readers.

Some of the earliest books I remember starting with were Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby, Mr. Small, The Biggest Bear Ever, The Berenstein Bears, and a host of other assorted kids books. Somewhere along the way I moved into the Hardy Boys, which I devoured for years. Then came Piers Anthony and his “Xanth”, “Apprentice Adept”, and “Incarnations of Immortality” series, followed quickly by all the Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Elfquest, and a ton of others. And all throughout my reading, I was always obsessed with comics books, of which I’ve collected in equally disturbing numbers, not to mention the ton of comic collectibles: cards, posters, original illustrations, etc.

Anyway, as I sift through the remaining boxes from my move back to my home state, I’m just amazed at the sheer volume of sci-fi/fantasy I’ve read and most of that before I was even fifteen years old. Around that time or maybe even a few years earlier actually, starting in 6th grade, I began straying over into the horror genre, with the likes of Stephen King, Clive Barker, Anne Rice, and Storm Constantine.

And my own illustrations and other creative outlets clearly show this love affair with fantasy. I have portfolio upon portfolio and sketchbook upon sketchbook of art from early on in elementary school stretching to present day, the majority of which is mostly fantasy oriented.

After reflecting back on all this reading and drawing I’m really taken aback by how much I’ve grown from the kid I used to be and how seemingly easily I left all that behind, in some ways at least. I always thought I’d keep on drawing away and maybe even write my own fantasy novel…perhaps I still will.

One thing I do know though…is that the fantasy never ends: there’s always someone out there doing the dreaming, even if I don’t.