90 Days of Mayhem

First things first; I’m officially a grandpa. I’ve been a pseudo-grandpa of grandpuppies and grandkitties for several years, but this time it’s an actual human child. And she’s pretty great. (he claims, fully aware of his biases, and not caring at all)

That final month for my daughter and her husband was the whirlwind of stress and emotion you’d expect it to be, but mom and baby are both healthy. Now that the dust-of-newness is beginning to settle, they’re getting into a groove. I try really hard not to flood social media with baby photos, but I can’t promise to contain myself forever.

Nerdlings and the Nerdy Things They Nerdle

When I initially began the transition to “full time creator” (whatever that actually means), I planned to use “Nerdlings” as a business name. Partially because I thought it was a clever name, which seemed to imply nerdiness and also an attitude of learning. But also, since I already owned the “nerdlings.net” domain, the hard part was done. (I say that jokingly, as I’ve purchased so many domains on a whim, that it’s far the the hardest part of any endeavor)

Anyway, Nerdlings is now an official business. It’s actually a DBA for a sole proprietorship, but it means I can use the name officially, and not just for funsies. The .net TLD was all that was available when I originally bought the domain, but I like the idea of a network of like-minded Nerdlings, so I’m OK with using .net instead of .com. I’m still working on the design of the company mascot, but I’m pretty happy with the logo:

There will be some branded merchandise in time for the holiday season, if you’re into that sort of thing. But more than anything, I wanted to have a fun logo that represented more than just me. There isn’t much at the store right now, but in the coming weeks, we’re planning to build up a catalog of nice quality, useful stuff.

What About Blue?!?

You know, I’ve had a really tough time getting back into a daily schedule ever since my Covid infection. Particularly one that includes drawing a comic. I still very much enjoy cartooning, so I haven’t abandoned MyBigRoundWorld, but I’m hoping to settle into a groove myself that makes content flow a little more regularly. I’m all too aware of this meme, however, so I’m trying not to get too caught up on an exact time for when things will settle down…

Adulthood is saying
“but after this week,
things will slow down a bit”
over and over until you die.
-Unknown

I don’t think I have “Long Covid” or anything, but I’m still tired far more often than before my 22-day-long trip to Corona-ville. I used to wake up every day at 5AM, and now I usually can’t function unless I sleep till 8 or 9. I’m hopeful that after a few more months, perhaps, I can get back to my normal 5AM start to the day. Either way, I’ll eventually figure out what normalcy means now. Whatever it looks like, it will include my web comic, because I still really love drawing it!

So Why the 90 Days of Mayhem?!?

I know, right? If you follow me online, you probably saw that I started a 90 day challenge, where I need to create and post a video every day through the end of the year. You can follow along at https://90DaysOfMayhem.com if you desire, but it probably begs the question: WHY?

The thing is, ever since I started my Patreon page, and people started signing up as patrons to support me — it’s sent my perfectionism/procrastination issue into overdrive. Now that people are choosing to invest actual money to support me, it seems that I should provide the absolute, very best content. I mean, don’t they deserve that? It’s a weird quirk of my brain that I’d sorta forgotten about. Back when I was creating videos for CBT Nuggets, I had a real difficult time with it. And Patreon ignited that struggle again. So, I’m giving my brain the firehose treatment.

It seems a bit backward, but the need to get a video recorded, edited, and posted every single day is surprisingly helpful. I can’t take the time to make everything “perfect” when my deadline is always TODAY. And the funny thing is, the concern about my content being good enough is always just a mean trick my brain plays. The quality is never improved by overthinking and hesitating to start. So while it seems like self-abuse, this 90 day challenge I expect to be good in the short term, and the long term.

Or, I’ll have a nervous breakdown. But I don’t really have time for that now. (See? It’s already working, LOL!)

The Internet is a Big Place, Where ARE You These Days?

It’s easy to hand off my “landing page” URL, which contains most of the links to where my stuff and I hang out, but a list of links alone isn’t really helpful. So here’s a list of links, but with a little blurb about each one. You certainly don’t need to visit all my online haunts — but if you’re curious about the places I’m placed, along with the thinks I think, here’s a quick breakdown:

• shawnp0wers.com — this is sort of my online business card. It includes the bulk of my links, but isn’t very descriptive itself.
• Main YouTube Channel — this is where my Linux training goes. Sometimes there will be other videos, but not often. I try to keep my main channel Linux-centric.
• OTHER YouTube Channel — this is my no-rules video channel. If you’re looking for videos of me being goofy, or vlogging, or trying some new idea: this is where it will happen. I expect I’ll use it a lot more in the next 90 days!
• Twitter — I’m probably most active here, when it comes to social media. It’s not exactly a central clearinghouse for all things me, but it might be the closest thing to that concept.
• Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn — I try to keep up, but they’re not as well kept as Twitter.
• Discord — I’m not really “good” at Discord, but it’s an online forum sort of software, and it ties into many other online tools. For example, Patreon supporters get special demarcations on the Discord server. It’s basically a place to chat with other Nerdlings, and I try really hard to stay active and accessible there.
• My Blog — It’s where I write stuff when I need to write stuff. I also read the stuff I write out loud, so it can be consumed as a blog or a podcast. If you’ve ever wanted to hear me think out loud, my blog is the place to go.
• My Big Round World Twitter (& Instagram) — I linked to the main webpage above, but I also always post new comics to the Twitter page and Instagram page.
• Nerdling Stuff Shack — Mentioned above, this is a storefront for merchandise. I hope the stuff which goes on the store will be useful, while also allowing folks to publicly show support for the kindness-centered community we’re slowly forming.

And with that, I should probably go record a video. I have one due today! (And tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day…) Depending on your hemisphere, be sure to enjoy this beautiful Fall or Spring weather. Transitional seasons are always a chance for a fresh start, and getting started on anything is usually the hardest part!