JediWright.com

I haven’t done a list in I don’t know how long, so here’s one for 2009, recognizing my top ten, notable events:

• I got to see a woman/my partner/Tristan give birth to our first child and son Lee, born (1.24.09)
• I completed yet another phase of build-out at the first house I’ve helped build from scratch
• I got to see Lamb play live
• My immediate family got together, including my sister and bro-in-law from Spain (who got to meet Lee); last time was some years ago
• Made my first trip to Ireland
• Flew solo with Lee back to PA for a quick family visit
• Moved back to Los Angeles, California
• Helped navigate my Internet fabric company through treacherous economic waters, coming out ahead, out of debt and on track for renewed profitability
• Lee: rolled over, crawled, stood up, took his first steps, started “talking”, along with a multitude of other firsts
• Discovered some interesting truths about myself through some very heavy introspection

2009, distinctivefabric.com, family, lists, music, top 10, travel 2009, distinctivefabric.com, family, lee, lists, music, time, top 10, travel

Continued infrequency in my posting comes as no surprise, since I’ve been working so much this spring/summer. But, a brain dump feels in order now, so here goes.

I’ve been busting ass at the Home Depot mostly, with a few hours woven in here and there at the first part-time job I picked up here in Akron back in April. I finally got my operator license there about a month into the job, at Home Depot, and thank god since it was really proving counter-productive working without it. So along with getting the gist of their “reach truck” (hmm, pretty much what it sounds like) and “tow motor” (forklift), I’ve been learning a lot more about pesticides (yuck), herbicides, fungicides, seeds, plants, various equipment, and more.

It’s actually kind of a nice little education into a number of things I can tie in with Green Gurus and any related consulting there. And on the Exchange front (the other part-time job), I’m learning the systems they have in place for an interesting buy/trade they deal in. Could provide an interesting entrepreneurial option at some point, either with them or in one of my own ventures I’ve had shelved for awhile now.

On the parenting front, the wee pup is getting big. He’s eating solid foods (insofar as bottled veggies and fruit can be anyway) and loving it. He’s gotta be pushing close to 20-lbs now and is finally starting to hold himself up in a seated position, on his own.

And as I can squeeze it in, I do what I can to tend to Distinctivefabric.com, which has been making steady headway at knocking away at its debt (I think largely in thanks, to me having opted out of my salary indefinitely). Along the way, we’ve parted ways with its first founding member and are now just in a weird limbo of knocking out our debt, exploring any liabilities associated with assuming 100% ownership, etc.

Other than that, things are very routine and boring. Just trying to make it through the summer, with the help of what I hope to be a nice break with a short trip to PA to visit with mi hermana Amanda in from Spain, then a 10-day stint with The Do LaB in Ireland for their third year there for Electric Picnic. Hopefully afterwards, some moving plans will really come together and life will pick up more.

Until then, I’m just reading as much as I can, the oldest refuge I know.

2009 distinctivefabric.com, family, fatherhood, green gurus, home depot, lee, parenting, the do lab, the exchange, travel, work

A month has gone by since I last posted and nothing’s much changed…aside from the job front; I took a full-time job with the Home Depot.

There just hasn’t been much for me to write about recently…just struggling more now in some ways of dealing with fatherhood. Every single one of my endeavors or educational pursuits is on hold. It’s really shitty. I’m working an average of 60-hrs a week right now and then dealing with as much of DistinctiveFabric.com as I can. The rest of the time is spent either with the boy and Tristan or household chores, etc.

Coming to terms with my life at this point is frustrating, to say the least. I just don’t have the time to cultivate any new skills or refine any old ones.

So, for now, my blog and virtually everything else will lie dormant, indefinitely. Or at least until something interesting enough comes along to knock me out of this depressed lethargy.

2009, distinctivefabric.com, fatherhood 2009, distinctivefabric.com, fatherhood

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.

2009, business, craiglist, daily log, employer, employment, family, startups 2009, business, craigslist, distinctivefabric.com, employers, employment, entrepreneurs, family, jobs, startups, the do lab, work

So today I get one of my fabric partners regular shipments of my mail from the last few months from my west coast office.

These deliveries are always so horrific to open, since still nearly half if not more of my life routes through the LA office: all of my DF responsibilities (taxes, corporate filings, chargeback notices, merchant notices, etc.), Green Gurus (nearly the same minus merch stuff since we’re not active), much of my personal stuff (subscriptions if I have any, health ins crap, etc.), and a host of other misc items.

Today was no exception of course. Not. These last few weeks have been killing me and everything I’d come to create in my nearly 7 years in LA, has been coming to a head, rather their end, including: Green Gurus, sustainably powered hosting and data storage plans, etc. I’ve been doing the best to minimize this but now into my 6 month here in PA, things just are really fraying from either end, faster and faster.

The only good note I can think of these days is my son Lee. I’m doing my best to not dump my negative energy into him and more and more am coming to enjoy time spent with him. It’s tough though, what with my losing my salary last week, amongst everything else: Rivertribe plans were just winding up, SolarHoster/InfinityDrive were still hanging on, barely, Tristan’s wish to move us to Ohio, my enrollment into ITT Tech with full tuition coverage but no living expenses covered, and no vehicle of my own still.

Anyway, Lee’s gaining about a 1-lb a week right now and still looking very handsome and cute.

Incidentally, my Flickr uploads haven’t been coming through in about a week or so and Yahoo is taking forever in identifying the issue. I’ve uploaded half again or more, of what’s there already, but they’re just not showing up. So I’m thinking about switching over to Picasa maybe. I don’t relish the idea of having to recreate all my sets there, but at least it’s free and it works.

2009, baby, distinctivefabric.com, green gurus, lee, rivertribe, solar hoster, startups 2009, baby, distinctivefabric.com, employment, green gurus, infinity drive, lee, solar hoster, tristan, work

While seemingly inevitable, it still sucks to face the facts and have to lay yourself off from your own company.

This is exactly what I’ve had to do this week to keep operations going at Distinctivefabric.com. So I’ve filed unemployment in California, though with their budget issues, my chances of getting unemployment income looks bleak.

Here’s what my resume looks like on the CalJOBS board:

My CalJOBS resume

And on the job hunt front, my options there seem equally dispairing as:

1. I don’t have my own vehicle and since I live in the rural country, public transit is not an option.
2. I have horrible credit and many low-end paying jobs (which are really probably my only option) do credit checks. I know because I’ve been refused a job countless times due to this issue.
3. The economy. Duh.

Oh what a great time to begin fatherhood. Moving here was one of my life’s biggest mistakes yet. A rebound from this would be a miracle.

2009, daily log, distinctivefabric.com, startups, work 2009, business, caljobs, daily log, debt, distinctivefabric.com, startups, unemployment, work

Sometime last week I started resurrecting the old outdoor adventure company, well at least its services anyway.

I started working at what had been called Schuylkill River Canoe & Tube, then Valley Forge Outdoors, then Hidden River Adventures, and what was to become Rivertribe, at the age of 16, in the summer of 1995. I progressed from in my 6+ years there from the new guy handling equipment at the beach/dock, to serving as one of its general managers. After the company closed its doors in the fall of 2001, I headed west to California, where I spent close to 7-years.

Now back in PA where it all began nearly 15-years later, I’ve found my long-lived hope of returning to the river business as a way of life reemerging stronger and clearer than ever before. I’d been hedging around my interest in doing this with the previous company owner and was getting a lukewarm response. So I decided to step things up a bit and started throwing a website together at my previously registered domain, Rivertribe.org.

I simultaneously emailed a bunch of former employees from the old river days and some new potential teammates while building out the site and renewing my discussions with the old boss. So far feedback has been good and the owner is more cooperative than before.

I’ve also partnered up with an old friend Cory, who has really taken to the Rivertribe concept and so we’ve been hammering away at all the details over the last week. It’s starting to get pretty intense, what with my other efforts at starting up the SolarHoster and maintaining my work with the fabric company, not to mention the still new tasks the baby has brought with his birthing.

Needless to say my time has been nearly completely devoured these last few weeks and I’ve been posting here less frequently than my previous goal, but that’s just how it goes sometimes.

Be sure to check Rivertribe.org and as always, can be found streaming bits away on Twitter.

2009, baby, business, distinctivefabric.com, past present future, rivertribe, solar hoster, startups 2009, baby, business, daily log, distinctivefabric.com, lee, news, past present future, rivertribe, solar hoster, startups

My office is too cold, had to move to the dining room to work last night and today.

Posted via email from JediWright’s Posterous

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I must vent. Now.

DistinctiveFabric.com, Inc. is tanking (or so Josh and I think), but what the hell do we really know anyway? We’ve only been running this damned thing for four and half years now and barely with any involvement from its founder and our chairman, Adam. Guess this is what you get for putting a couple of first-timers in executive seats and a declining economy. Ironically enough, our sales have only been going up since last August, but our previous debt carried over, coupled with an inconsistent cash flow, just hasn’t weathered the dip in December as well as we’d hoped and planned for.

SolarHoster.com is failing before it even runs.

InfinityDrive.net is failing. Again.

GreenGurus.net…is all the above and more: I can’t even log on or into the damn site.

The baby is due any day now and we’re broke. Tristan wants to move back to Cali. I want to stay and I want to go. I wanted so much to birth Rivertribe finally.

Now all of my business ideas are crumbling. And I can’t get a job because either:

1. My credit is so bad they won’t hire me
1a. I’m overqualified on paper due to past employment
2. I never finished school and got a degree and the necessary experience
3. The economy sucks ass cause the rest of this country shares in some of my misery

I’ve lost hundreds of keyword domains I never should have bought in the first place.

I’m now thirty freaking years old and my life is miserable. Okay not really. I still fight and fight and fight for success. I have no idea of what drives me. I had hoped to figure that out with a whole lot more in life before having a child.

Now what? God only knows. Actually, I’m now giving serious thought to starting up a church. A fucking church. Jesus Christ. I must be insane.

Either through “Order of the Jedi” – I now own orderofthejedi.net and jedichurch.net
Or through “Moon Temple” – I now own moontemple.org and moonchurch.org

I’m fucking crazy. I’ve always known it. And I always see people thinking the same freaking thing, even if they deny it when asked.

Well, if I’m crazy I might as well build my own crazy house, heh?
–
Update 1.15 10:50am: Feeling a might bit better now. Course, the wee hours of the night often leave me despairing more so than the light of day.

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My primary source of income has recently dried up and am in great need of immediate employment. Require a net minimum of $2,800 per month in salary just to cover essentials for me, my partner and our baby due in two weeks.

Any leads anyone can share with me would be immensely appreciated!

Employment history below.
–

EMPLOYMENT
Distinctivefabric.com, Inc. – Present
2079 E 15th St, #330, LA CA 90021

Chief Executive Officer
*Management of corporate affairs, taxes, corporate filings, license/permit renewals, etc.
*Oversee web development, product creation and launches, marketing campaigns, sustainability integration, etc.
*Excel in dynamic and fast-paced order fulfillment, Internet startup and management environments.

The Do LaB / Lightning In A Bottle Arts and Music Festival – Present
2023 Bay St, LA CA 90021

Senior Production Artist, Assistant Director of Sustainability
*Assist in design, building, installing, and transporting large-scale art installations and event productions
*Co-manage client-relations pre- and post-production
*Assist Director in greening company operations and country’s leading sustainable arts and music festival
*Co-manage 200+ paid and volunteer staff
*Excel in management and coordination of multi-tasking, high end installations and client-interfacing

Green Gurus, LLC – Present
2079 E 15th St, #330, LA CA 90021

Founder and Chief Executive Officer
*Manage team, clients, corporate affairs, marketing, web development, etc.
*Excel in dynamic and fast-paced Internet startup and management environments.

Rooftop Promotion: April 2003 – April 2004
Gardena, CA

Director of Media Relations
*Coordination of artist promotions through press and radio contacts
*Managed Filemaker database of press and radio contacts
*Excelled in multi-artist PR

Hidden River Adventure: August 1996 – November 2001
Monocacy, PA

General Manager
*Managed inventory, equipment, group bookings, ecotours, transportation, staff, maintenance
*Lead carpenter and builder of corporate offices
*Excelled in customer relations

COMPUTER EXPERIENCE
*Applications: Microsoft Office XP, Word and Excel; Apple OS X; Google Docs: Document, Presentation, Spreadsheets, Adwords, Adsense; Open Office, KOffice, The Gimp; Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver; QuarkXPress; Transmit, Fugu, Telnet Launcher, Filemaker, Drupal CMS, Plesk and cPanel; Abelton Live, Reason
*Languages: Basic UNIX, PHP, HTML/XHTML, CSS
*Browsers: Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Opera
*Social Networks, Utilities and Apps: Basecamp, Wiki, WordPress, Blogger, Twitter, Flickr, Picasa, Posterous, Facebook, Myspace, Tribe, LinkedIn, YouTube, Revver, Vimeo, Digg, Hugg, etc.

EDUCATION
Santa Monica Community College
Santa Monica, CA
Computer Science
Pursued completion of undergraduate degree

The Bradley Academy / Art Institute
York, PA
Multimedia
Pursued completion of undergraduate degree

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I’ve been thinking...I’ve reached the resolution that it’s time I get a real job again.

And while my role as CEO at DistinctiveFabric.com is nothing less than that, it’s still working for myself on my own terms, more or less.  But now with a child on the way and the support of two plus myself placing more and more demands on my cashflow, I need to really start earning more than just enough to get by, as I’ve chosen to do on my own terms up until now.

So I’m working up a new resume, cleaning some of my more professional-based social network profiles up, and otherwise readying myself for what will be probably be an excruciating jobhunt in today’s messed up career/marketplace.

I’m hopeful that my diverse experience and resulting experience from the last seven years in Cali will serve me well, but am in no way naive to the challenging times everyone, not just employers, are now experiencing or are about to face.

Posted via web from JediWright’s Posterous

baby, career, ceo, children, distinctivefabric.com, employees, employer, startups, work