Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Image by bitzcelt via Flickr

2011 has been one of the most challenging years of my life, I think. Most recently, this holiday season has found me the most melancholy that I’ve been in quite some time.

The depression I’ve felt has been seasonal and circumstantial. I’ve shared about this before, and there’s more that I need to share. This post, however, is not the one I’ll do it in.

Instead, as I type this the day before Christmas Eve 2011, with just over a week left in the year, I’ve gotten more in touch with why I’m where I am. (more…)

I really love the @GoogleTalks on YouTube.  This one from Conan O’Brien from May 2010, in addition to being wildly entertaining, struck chords with me.

Conan O'Brien (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

Keep in mind that this was done within a few months of him leaving The Tonight Show. The part where he shows how he responded is what resonated with me. Specifically: (more…)

I named my business Jazzmania Productions for a reason. I believe in helping connect others and telling great stories using technology where it fits. I’ve been doing it with my own projects and love being able to help my clients do the same with theirs.

Music and all that Jazz

I’m a fan of all kinds of music. I love rock and roll, classical, new wave, and I enjoy power pop. I’ve even gone country, and I like some rap music.

But I didn’t really get jazz until I got to high school.  One of the really fascinating things I love about jazz is listening to it live.  You hear a song from a recording over and over again, and you get really familiar with the different solos.  Every solo is different by design. You’re just given the constraints of how long you’re supposed to play, what tempo to play in, and what chord structure to follow.  Within those constraints, you’re free to create whatever you want.  And sometimes those constraints can be changed, too. (more…)

Image by Edwård via Flickr

Your use of social media will vary from everyone else’s. Especially mine.  I’m continually refining how I use tools like Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, and LinkedIn to make them more useful to me, based on what I want to get out of them.

I know you follow on Twitter, friend/subscribe on Facebook, circle on Google Plus, and connect on LinkedIn.  I prefer to call all of this “connecting,” because whether we’re really friends or not, I usually like being connected somehow.  We’ll work on the relationship as we go.  That’s my approach. (more…)

podcincy image via John Blue

I write this almost three weeks after attending the very first PodCamp Cincinnati, held at Northern Kentucky University‘s College of Informatics at Griffin Hall on October 22, 2011. This is the first time I’ve tried to share some of my thoughts on this blog. I’d certainly like to share about the specific sessions and content that was shared, but I feel compelled to first talk about how important it is that we even had a PodCamp Cincinnati. (more…)