Anthony 101: A Blogging Introduction

As part of WordPress’s new Blogging 101 Assignments my goal is to introduce myself and my purpose. As I pause to consider what to say, I stop to consider what it is that I would even say my purpose is.

On my Twitter profile I call myself a “Tech Savvy Photographer / Web Developer / Television Employee.” This does accomplish a good detail about the various parts of my busy life. I work a full time job at a local network affiliate in the engineering department making TV happen. Early in this career I purchased my first digital camera and began to explore my creative side with photography. I learned quickly and enjoyed using my spare time to walk around with my camera. I’ve completed two 365Days projects; once by myself and one with my girlfriend (now wife). We continue with our photography as a side business.

Anthony the technical director
A photo from my 365days project, showing me at my day job behind the Kalypso production switcher.

When my wife went back to school for Graphic Design I used my spare time to continue my self-education of web design. I’ve always enjoyed computers and toyed with computer science and coding when I first entered college before I bit the tv bug. I began with a site for our photography business but I knew it could be better and wanted to learn the skills to do so. I’ve continued to learn when my day job and side job allow the time. We’ve expanded our side business to include graphic and web design and I’m happy with the work that we’ve provided clients, but I know that I can do more and better work.

Too long I’ve let myself jump from thing to thing. During my life I have always learned skills very quickly. This led me to be good at many things, but I never focused on just one. Even when I started getting very good with my photography I let distractions get in the way of honing the skill. I know that I’m very good but I wonder where I could be.

I want my blog to not only be a journal of my process in learning new skills that lead me to the life that I want, but also to help anyone who comes behind me. So often when I’m searching for an answer to a question or a bit of code I find it on someones blog who found the answer and wrote about it. I hope that I can help and inspire someone who found themselves in my position of needed a question answered and found it. Not from a manual or a guide, but from a random person on the internet, sharing their knowledge.

I plan to write and code more. This daily practice of asking and answering questions will be the commitment to a goal I have often overlooked by the shiny new skill in a different direction.

If you’re reading this shortly after I’ve written it you’re probably wondering about the site I’m using if I say I want to be a web designer.

Well I’ve often found when designing my own site that I spend far too much time tinkering with details of the design that I never end up writing anything. I want the content to be more important this go around. The only design process I’m going to work on is some better styling for pre & code tags, as well as syntax highlighting so that my code looks much better. Other than that I plan to keep the Bones WordPress Theme as it is. I use Bones for most of my WordPress work and I like it for a starting framework. I’m just not ready to start working on this particular site.

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