JediWright.com

Today I received the above graphic by email from AT&T, in attempt no doubt, to try to shore itself up against what must already be the commencing mass exodus from their services to Verizon’s for the iPhone 4. I personally haven’t made the switch yet as the current service there does limit you to use of only data or voice, not both together as AT&T does.

That being said, AT&T’s feeble attempts at bribery are gonna have to ramp up quite a bit if they think 25% off accessories (actually, to be clear, it’s off ONE accessory), will keep me beholden to them.

I’ve been hoarding domains for years, while brainstorming countless hours on various startup ideas with the intention of one day putting one or more to good use.

This practice has been tapering on and off in waves ever since I knew I was going to be a father. But I literally don’t go by a day without some new startup idea or improvement for an existing startup/service. And sometimes, like this week, I feel like I’ve had an epiphany (again) about the next big thing. Admittedly, this feeling often lasts long enough for me to end up purchasing another domain that ends up collecting cyber-dust. I am still determined to manifest something on my own though, so I keep at it, believing that one day I’ll either actually managed to finish the training necessary to manifest these ideas (i.e. learn programming), or I’ll actually come up with something someone else gets equally excited about to hop on board with the resources necessary to make it happen.

I’m to the point, it seems now, that I’m willing to air those ideas. Since so many have already come to be, I might as well just put the intention out there plain for all to see. That way the odds are greater that someone might align with me on one or at maybe I’ll find some small measure of solace/credit if it was documented prior to someone else doing it.

Anyway, as usual, I’ve been noodling around with one of my startup ideas and was wondering what it would take to create some sort of auto-posting feature that takes news headlines (via Google Alerts, etc.) and posts them to Twitter and/or blog simultaneously.

Is this something that can be developed easily or is it more of a time-consuming project? Seems like it’s a common feature with some websites/services these days.

The startup idea stems from my own interest in finding something to do, either in a melting pot like Los Angeles where there’s just far too much to choose from or the polar opposite, with a place like Akron, Ohio where seemingly nothing happens. So this particular startup is an idea that originated with lawknds.com, where I planned to basically list events, with blog coverage of them, reviews, etc. Initial monetization would come through advertisements (naturally), from both event organizers and related products/services, with the possibility of a premium account for users that offered perks negotiated through relationships with event promoters and others on the site, i.e. discount tickets, vip packages, advance purchasing, etc.

However, since this idea sat for so long others have come along and begun offering similar services, laist.com comes to mind (they have one for most major US cities). So I’ve been thinking about narrowing the focus of mine to strictly wknd coverage, hence the name and the series of domains I’ve started collecting for this purpose: lawknds.com, sfwknds.com, nycwknds.com, vbwknds.com, miwknds.com, lvwknds.com, dcwknds.com (I thought these were the most notable US cities to start with anyway).

Anyway, not sure if this is worth pursuing, especially since I don’t have the best idea of what’s involved code-wise. Anyone out there have any input or interest?

p.s. Another idea in a similar vein was for artistlofts.org, since years ago I was living downtown in a loft and didn’t have an iPhone yet or other location-based services, I thought a directory of lofts with locally based goods and services would have been handy…

Today marks two weeks since our move here into Akron, Ohio. It’s a return for Tristan to her hometown and a departure from my own, in Pennsylvania. Neither of us are super thrilled about it; we both just really miss pre-parenthood right now and our lives in Cali.

Regardless, I see some potential here. Downtown Akron, though small, still has some measure of vibrancy to it.

The job search is proving the most frustrating so far though, out of anything. One month online and nearly two weeks in person should have returned at least a call or email, but I’ve gotten nothing (other than spam/scam email responses). As an entrepreneur, I see a lot of potential – I always do. But as an employee, I’m losing confidence. More than likely, I’m just getting impatient due to the stress of landing an income and admittedly, of going back to work as an employee, not the employer. Though in some ways, I’ve been craving this, since the stresses of self-employment and entrepreneurship have taken their toll on me over the last few years.

It would be nice to find something cool, engaging, challenging, and stable. And maybe on the side I’ll pursue some more modest startup ideas here, time and resources permitting.

On the homefront side of things, our house, known as “the Chitty farmhouse” is cool, though it does have a few issues (what house doesn’t?). We’re mostly settled in now, though short some bedroom storage since we have little closet space. Our cats are adjusting to our roommates cats nicely, as we ourselves work to adjust to living with roomies again. We have a separate studio/garage space that I look forward to modifying for my future office/studio use, once I’ve secured a job.

Other than that, things are pretty low-key. I’m enjoying the relatively quiet neighborhood, more reading and getting to know the area.

So, as our friends continue on with their rockstar lives in Cali, we struggle to shift our lives for the necessary stability of parenting, all the while wondering what is to become of our own lives.

Finding purpose outside of parenting is a must for our survival, I think.

Google brought it to my attention to submit my question on the WhiteHouse.gov site tonight. So here’s what I wrote:

“Where are the small biz bailouts? If small biz is as crucial to our nations prosperity as you claim, why throw millions of dollars of aid to big biz? Let’s see a lot let less talk and a whole lot more aid to those that truly need it to survive.”

And a snapshot of it on the site:

I’ve been looking for a job now for over a few months (actually I’m always looking, but I’ve been scouring the ads intensively since we moved to PA and even more so for the last month when it became clear we needed to move) and have gotten zip-zero-zilch in the way of response from any of my resumes, submitted or posted online or otherwise.

I’m so fed up with my failure rate at finding conventional work and the criticisms from family. It’s no wonder all I’m getting is shit from them and apparently Tristan’s too, about how my priorities are wrong and so and so forth – I’m dead in the water when it comes to entering the conventional workforce.

Though in my defense, I have been taking as many hours as are available, while here in PA with an old boss doing some carpentry. And I’ve had to continue working for DistinctiveFabric.com for the last month unpaid, since my salary was frozen. As CEO and co-owner, I have a lot of responsibility that I can’t just write off, so a good deal of my time is taken up each week dealing with things there. And I had started a company last year with a friend who’s been investing since August or so, so I can’t just walk away from that. I have my obligations to him to see things through there with that. Also, I HAVE A BABY for the first time and a partner who’s struggling with post-partum depression on top of a previous depression (due to me moving us here). And oh yeah, I have no car of my own. That’s the real decision-maker there: no wheels = no job commuting (I borrow my old boss’s truck when working for him).

I’ve known I don’t fit the conventional mode for most of my life. And besides school, I’ve noticed it most acutely while in the general workplace. That’s why I’ve always found myself always pursuing some startup idea or another, cause I know the only way I’m ever going to make real money (short of moving back to LA and working for The Do LaB indefinitely) is to create my own company.

I’ve lost track of how many resumes I’ve put out over the last month. I’ve had an offer from The Do LaB though to go work Coachella again with more paid to me in a day rate than I’d make in nearly a week at any other job. But Tristan sees it as the wrong course, stating that it doesn’t make any sense and I need to focus on finding stable income once we move to Akron (in less than two weeks now). I don’t completely agree: it’s a great paying gig, they’d cover my expense (including travel) and as a plus, I’d get out to check in on DistinctiveFabric.com after having been gone for six months. On the other hand, the time spent in Cali would require some expense while there, so I’d probably lose about a 1/5th of my pay to that.

I’ve never totally bought into a conventional path to anything and I guess it really shows at this point in my life. It’s almost as if employers and family latch on to that immediately and steer clear (or cast harsh judgement on me for leading a different life).

The only route I see offering any sort of solution here is joining the military (okay yes that’s drastic but I’m venting here , cause I sure as hell don’t wait tables. I tried once and it was a complete nightmare. But if I’m down to minimum wage jobs or the military, maybe a move back to LA is the best choice. I’ll have to see how things go with the in-person job hunt first before turning everything upside down considering another move to LA.