I know it's pretty late to post this after four posts this year. I had not wanted to write one, same reason as I posted much less last month. (In fact, I am posting this because I am trying to make myself post one each day.)
In the beginning of last month, I started to think the whole thing about blogging and I slow down. I wasn't sure I would resume when this new year started and I still don't know if I will continue. Two years ago, I posted about my definition of a blogger in an old blog, it's clear to me, I am still not one that I want to be. I never have a great vision for my blog, never want it to be some top 1 in whatsoever ranking blah blah list. But I do want it (the content) to reach a certain good quality. Sadly, they are still far from that point. To put it in simple words, a nice personal blog is all I want to achieve.
Many of my posts are very short and lack of rich descriptive explanation. For instance, I rarely explain my source code. I simply paste the code, then end the post. I usually think the code is simple enough, everyone probably knows. Even they don't, but who really reads? So I don't explain. When I read other blogger's posts, programming blogs or other topics. I often find myself envy their writing skill, they can write a 500-word post for one simple thing as if they are writing the first page of The Lord of the Rings, but I could probably use one line to end the story. Two if I try harder.
I don't like to write stuff I don't use when it's about computer topics, I wrote things I would use as often as by daily-basis. Unfortunately, with simplicity and easy satisfaction (it's another way to describe superb laziness), I hardly have many things to talk about or if I do have something, they usually just have few lines to be finished off.
However I do have a few informative posts and they do get some valid referrers from forums or other people's blogs, but that's only a handful. I want to write something like "The first course of Bash scripting." Yes, I want to write one like that in a blog post or break up into few small pieces if I have to. This leads to blogging technique and consistence problems I also wonder, I am that kind of person who says yes one minute ago, then says no.
When writing a blog post, it's not easy to tag (label), you need to choice wisely. Also, referring to old posts is another hard task. I have been reading some blogs, those blog writers can link to their own posts flawlessly and seamlessly. By my observation, they don't write a new post just to link to old posts, they write follow-ups intentionally or not.
The only thing I can say positive is the layout and style of this blog. I spent quite some time to adjust and make it my way, I wrote my own HTML5 template (though it can't pass validator check, but it's not my fault!) and some tools which helped me to build up CSS/JS/font resources on Google App Engine.
Time to change the subject, the blogging obstacle isn't the only reason I slow down. I was caught up by Stargate, SG-1 and Atlantis, 15 seasons. So far, I have watched Star Trek (except TOS) and Stargate, I might watch Babylon 5 some day, then I will earn the Trinity of Scifi Space. Once again, I want to explore the final frontier!
So what else I shall share about last year? Right, many bloggers would list some statistics of last year in this kind of post, but I think I will just tell you some things I would like to share.
First thing, I have quit Twitter and Instant Messaging more than six months, I know I don't need them and I am right. Though, I did want to tweet some meaningless when I just quit, but I haven't for quite a few months. Twitter isn't a necessity anymore.
Also I became a lactarian (lacto vegetarian), who eats likes vegetarian but also eats dairy product (say Cheese!) and still no eggs. I decided to go for this instead of a true vegetarian because I believe dairy exists to make lives thrive. If so, there is no reason not to consume them. But eggs are different story to me, they could be supposed to bear new lives, although even in natural not all are fertilized, but I still don't want to eat them. I know you won't buy a fertilized egg from supermarket because they don't put boys and girls together, however still no to eggs. By the way, some do eat fertilized eggs.
I wanted to convert when I watched a tv show, I believe it's on Discovery channel. It's about farming tuna in the ocean. I watched them and suddenly I realized that they would be on some family's or restaurant's dining table. There were thousands, and that's how we have them for our fresh served seafood and delicious dinner.
Recently, I discovered a great tv show, Jimmy's Food Factory on BBC. The host shows viewers how supermarket food are produced in food factory. There are a lot of interesting facts when manufacturing mass food products I didn't know before. Some episodes are about raising turkeys for Thanksgiving eighteen months before, yum lambs (how could you stand with that when little lamb baa baa at you, and you make a roast lamb dish for your few years old kids?). You will see a lot of new innocent (they have no a clue what they would be) lives being bred and raised, then be sent to supermarket after they are put to death in a such humanity way. And for live seafood when you buy and cook at home, I feel terrible even more.
Anyway, becoming lactarian did make me know more about food and also made me reading the package. There is a very funny thing when I started to be one. I thought 'How am I going to live without butter?' I didn't know it's made of milk, I thought that's body fat.
I started to notice how many food products contain eggs or animal-by-product for texture or flavor. There are always some extracts or essences listed, then you have to put that back. As for eggs, I have given up toasts and some kinds of breads. I even tried to make eggless onion rings, many batters contain eggs. One thing out of my expectation, do you know marshmallow is one vegans have to avoid? I learned it from the show.
Also, it's really painful when your breakfast plate doesn't have nice crunchy bacon and creamy scrambled egg. Try without them only for one day, you will see how hard it will be.
I'm not trying to provoke something between vegan and meat-eater, I don't do this for health or religious reason, it's my personal choice and I don't really have problem with people who have different diet. In fact, I have problem with parents who allow or make kids vegan for whatever the parents think or believe, they shouldn't.
Now back to this blog, I might be writing some more. I am thinking some cheatsheets (because I can't remember what keys to press sometimes) or short guides or specific topic of programming. Anyway, keeping writing is the way to start.
Lastly, I want to share a nice scene from Losers, don't stop believing you can make things happened but you have to fire up for them first!
