if you're bored, you're not paying attention

Month: August 2016 (Page 1 of 2)

Swim gear

I seem have a real talent for losing swim gear. In the past year I’ve lost two pairs of goggles by dropping them in the surf, one set of fins by leaving them behind in the locker room, a pair of sandals left behind in the locker room, and countless little bottles of body wash.… Read the rest

Better yet, Ledecky!

So the 9 year old, who loves to wear soccer jerseys with the names and numbers of his heroes (Ronaldo, Neymar) said this morning he wanted a Team USA Olympics swim cap that said Phelps on it. “Or better yet, Ledecky!”… Read the rest

Recapturing the dream of open social media

It’s hard to imagine now, but the web once meant far more than Google and Facebook. In the early days, there was an explosion of optimism and experimentation as people embraced blogging, mostly via a range of sometimes half-baked open standards that let them publish, share, and communicate with each other.… Read the rest

What I learned in college

I was one of those students who did very well in high school and college, and then, once I graduated, immediately regretted all that diligence.

I knew right away that I should have maybe taken it easier, taken myself less seriously, and been more open to things outside my immediate field of vision.… Read the rest

#firstsevenjobs

  1. Assistant proofreader
  2. Paperboy
  3. Babysitter
  4. Roadside weed whacker crew
  5. Sandwich cook/pizza maker/pizza delivery guy
  6. Door-to-door political canvasser
  7. Photocopy machine operator

All of these by the time I was 20, I think. The assistant proofreader job was my first paying gig, helping my dad proof the galleys of his book.… Read the rest

Altamont

Driving down from the Altamont Pass, the highway curves through a long, shallow, descending valley on its way down to the flats of the San Joaquin Valley. Wind turbines on either side, and the occasional cow. Karen noticed the hills rising up from us on the left side were covered in dark green trees, while the hills rising up on the right were grassy, tawny, and treeless.… Read the rest

Downriver

Floating on the American River with the 15 year old and the 9 year old, who seem so caught up in their own internal narratives that at times they barely notice the river, the flocks of ducks crisscrossing it, the geese flying overhead, the distant blue heron standing on a snag, the dragonflies, the swallows, the shimmering of light and shade on the surface of the water.… Read the rest

Motivation and inspiration

It’s been almost exactly a year since I left a salaried job and went independent. This is now the third time I’ve been an independent entrepreneur (not counting the times I’ve launched publications or products within existing corporations), and each time I’ve taken a different approach:

1999: seed-funded startup with one cofounder, attempted to raise venture capital (and failed)

2000-2003: solo business operator, primarily working as a freelance writer but with some contract editing jobs, stopped when I joined a new magazine

2015-present: Sole cofounder of a content agency, working primarily as a solo writer/editor to start but more and more with partners and contractors as the business has been growing.… Read the rest

« Older posts

© 2024 dylan tweney

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑