February 2009

Numero Uno

Submitted by jgrubb on Tue, 02/24/2009 - 12:48pm

To speak into the void.

So I've had this idea simmering on the front burner of my brain for several months now. But first, I should probably introduce myself, or do a bio, or something. Maybe this will take several parts, because I've never tried to write a bio, and I feel like I've done a good job living unconventionally with my first 30 years here...

Toward the point...

Submitted by jgrubb on Tue, 02/24/2009 - 3:16pm

Okay, so this blog is gonna be really boring if I do it in chronological order. I want to make sure that my two readers so far have something to look forward to besides cleaning out my mental closet.

I had an idea for a business that would be really cool if someone started.

Just in case.

Submitted by jgrubb on Tue, 02/24/2009 - 9:03pm

I know you know this already, but can we keep this off the Earthboard until I figure out what this is going to be about? I'm self conscious enough already. Danke...

Band meetings.

Submitted by jgrubb on Wed, 02/25/2009 - 12:32pm

Generally suck. You want to know what happens when 6 musicians get together to discuss running their business? Not much, usually...

Health.

Submitted by jgrubb on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 6:25pm

I started running about this time last year. I hadn't exercised regularly since college, where they gave you gym access along with your tuition. I spent the rest of my 20s gaining about 2 or 3 pounds a year, and not really doing much in the way of taking care of myself. It had occurred to me that the only exercise I was really ever going to be able to afford was running, but I hate running.

Computers.

Submitted by jgrubb on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 6:33pm

Let me just say this, and I was a big PC defender/Mac smack-talker for many years. The adjustment period, when I bought my Mac last summer, was about an hour long. I just had to get used to closing windows in the left side of the screen instead of the right. Since the adjustment period has ended, and working on this thing has become sort of an extension of my arms, I gotta tell you - Macs just stay out of your way. It's that simple. I don't fight with it. i don't have to reboot or reinstall. I don't even have to think about it.

The road.

Submitted by jgrubb on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 6:44pm

It wears you out. All the stories about how road eventually grinds good musicians into dust may be partially true. I'd suspect that it has more to do with drugs and alcohol on the road grinding musicians into dust. I don't have that problem, so mainly it just wears me out.

Language.

Submitted by jgrubb on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 2:11pm

iPhone as PR tool.

Submitted by jgrubb on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 5:23pm

So, if you're in a band and you don't have a website, you're not really a band, right? If you own a business and you don't have a website, your business doesn't really exist, right? If you ran a festival, could you see how you could get by without having a website?

The iPhone, and the mobile platform in general, is going to be the means by which info is spread, by which content is delivered, by which people are entertained and kept in the loop. The portable website, but better. Can we all agree on that much?

SaaS.

Submitted by jgrubb on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 7:40pm

Ever heard of it? It stands for Software as a Service, and it's a little sector of the software/tech business that everyone is keeping an eye on right now. One of the leading vendors of this service right now is a company called SalesForce.com. My brother in law is actually their director of recruiting for the midwest region. What SaaS does is remove the need to buy software for your business. It moves the important stuff to the "cloud", which is another name for the internet, and charges a monthly fee for the service.

AIG.

Submitted by jgrubb on Sat, 02/28/2009 - 11:03am

This is a nice little explanation of how AIG got into the mess it's in, if you're interested in that kind of thing...