that's what she said...

Tagging your posts based on topic kind of feels like those stones your aunt Dotty has in a bowl on her coffee table that say words like Friendsand Dream.

Not that they’re not useful - just the majority of the time they’re vacant. It’s only at some existential crisis where I see them and feel like “YES! THIS IS INSIGHTFUL, AMAZING, AND THE SIGN FROM THE POWERS THAT BE I WILL GET THROUGH THIS AND BE THE ALMIGHTY SHE-WOMAN I WAS BORN TO BE!” All other times I just feel like, “That’s nice.”

There’s the obvious reasons why it’s used (grouping information and making it more searchable for interested parties), and then there is how we see it being used.

Example (This is a real tweet I picked up when searching “#fun”):

• appreciating the chipotle workers #fun #getinmybelly (insert picture of 3 people smiling, huddled around the Chipotle register)

Though I’m sure there are some fun times for the workers at Chipotle* there is nothing in that tweet* that I would want to find (PS: that tweet was not by a Chipotle spokesperson). And therefore, why would you tag this tweet as #fun or #getinmybelly when it’s a standard smiling photograph showing no reason for it to be especially fun OR why you would want to eat these people.

In fact, most posts are classified in a similar and illogical way, making the usefulness of tagging obsolete and nullifying whatever need there may be. Maybe it’s from the industry’s imperative to get people to adopt tagging that has made this saturation, but I vote that it stops.

So kids, please tag with caution - because just like driving, irresponsible tagging will undoubtedly ram right into you, scar your soul and leave your brain limping from trying to reason.

* I have nothing against Twitter or Chipotle and in fact I enjoy both products on a regular basis.

By now it should be obvious I am horrible at keeping my promises. 

It’s been one year now, and none of my 2011 resolutions were held up past a couple months.

Though there is no reason to believe that this year will be any different - it’s better to try than give up. As Wayne Gretzky says, “You miss 100% of the shots you didn’t take.” So let’s do it again.

For the past three years I made a habit of creating an unofficial bucket list and make a goal of finishing off as many of those as possible. But there’s something to be said about keeping it simple and easy - so I’m going the traditional route this year.

I have chosen some specific things I would like to focus on in 2012:

1) Coding ~ One of my only tumblr posts in 2011 was about starting to learn to program. I am still on the journey and by no means do I believe I will be the best programmer in one year but I do know how to make myself better. My main problem is I do large spurts at random intervals meaning I forget parts and do a lot of review that doesn’t quite sink in. I need to make an effort to make the time and develop a consistent schedule don’t work on now I have to figure out a schedule. This means if I’m tired after work I need to kick myself in the butt and do a codeacademy lesson, or read a chapter in one of the hundreds of resources available instead of laying on the couch.

2) Health ~ Recently I have been on a healthy kick because I looked in the mirror and finally was tired of looking so chubby and feeling awful. I used to have so much more energy and would want to run and jump and just be silly. Maybe there isn’t much room in the professional world for all of that but there definitely is room for a healthier, more happy me. I already started keeping a food diary and doing some cardio at least 4 times a week. My goal is to get my activity up to 7 days a week of either cardio, calisthenics or some other active recreational activity (e.g. rock climbing, martial arts, bike trips, etc.) and continue a nutritional diet to match my activity.

3) Writing ~ I was never a great writer. Now that I am no longer the paper-churning college student, I feel whatever writing talents I may have are atrophied. Previously, my problem was over complicating concepts which led to run on sentences, pretentious and confused writing. Though now I think my problems are almost the opposite - too colloquial and riddled with marketing-speak that makes my words disingenuous and empty. Additionally, I no longer can use the full extent of my vocabulary because clients have specific messaging that can put one in an electric fence for creative license. To help resolve these issues I want to do a couple things: first, I will read a new book at least once a month, switching between a high-level philosophical text to some type of fiction. Second, I will try and use tumblr as a new blog with weekly, scheduled posts. Hopefully the reading will help keep my brain balance and the writing will help work some of those muscles that haven’t in a long time. It’s like yoga AND weightlifting!

Wish me luck.