Will Work For … Well, Anything.
Okay, it’s time to start trying to put this blog to some kind of real-world use. As you may be aware, I’m currently looking for work. I’m an experienced web and software developer, but I’m open to pretty much anything — yes, I have applied at McDonald’s, Burger King, Lowe’s, KMart, Circle K, etc. As a friend of mine pointed out, I’m overqualified for those positions and probably won’t get a serious look because of that. Searching the various job posting sites is pretty much part of my daily routine, but El Paso has next to nothing to offer.
That said, I’m offering myself out to the wolves here. I have two resumes attached at the bottom of this post, both in Microsoft Word (2007) format and PDF format. The “Long” resume contains more jobs; I recently created the other resume as a quicker (and prettier) alternative, and it only contains my recent software development experience.
My resume is mostly buzzword compatible 
I have experience with Java, C#, ASP.NET, Database Development (mostly MySQL, but a little work with DB2 and MS SQL Server). I’m also quite skilled at HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (including the Prototype.js and Dojo Toolkit JavaScript libraries). I don’t have working experience with Visual Basic of any form, but I can make sense of it and work with it if necessary. I do have some PHP experience as well, though not so much in a professional setting (so it isn’t in my resumes). I’ve been trying to learn it recently, and I can definitely get by with it; however, I admit that I still have to do quite a bit of internet research whenever I’m working with it.
Of course, I’m not limiting myself to just programming work. If you have any kind of position open, or you know someone who might be hiring, please contact me and I’ll look into it. If it’s not in El Paso, then most likely I’ll have to telecommute. And if you are looking for a web or software developer (or pretty much anything — also freelance writing or editing) on a contract basis, I’m willing to oblige; just drop me a line and we can discuss the project and see where we can go.
Resume Downloads:
- Matthew Cory Resume (Long) (MS Word 2007)
- Matthew Cory Resume (Long) (PDF)
- Matthew Cory Resume (MS Word 2007)
- Matthew Cory Resume (PDF)
Very Superstitious
Well, if you didn’t notice, yesterday was Friday the 13th, a day long reviled by those with superstitious tendencies. Thankfully, little happened that was out of the ordinary on my end; hopefully yours was similarly uneventful. Whether you believe in it’s lack of luck or not, it’s difficult to avoid noticing the effect it has on the general population; even if nothing happens, most people still treat the particular coincidence of the number 13 and Friday as a day not to be trusted.
Because it was Friday the 13th, ESPN radio’s Freddy Coleman was talking about superstitions in sports (and that’s a broad enough topic to justify hours of talk time, not just the few minutes he dedicated to it). His discussion was geared mainly at the futility of lucky underwear or not discussing a no-hitter in progress — and with sound logic behind it as well. As he put it, the fact that Michael Jordan wore his North Carolina shorts under his Bulls uniform probably had very little to do with whether or not he was the greatest basketball player of all time.
It did lead to some interesting calls when he asked listeners to tell of the “best” (or at least most interesting) superstition they’ve heard of from an athlete, a team, or a fan. One caller, a Cincinnati Bengals fan, explained that he’d convinced his wife that they needed to be … “intimate” before every Bengals game or else the team would lose. Worked out great for him and his wife; don’t think it helped the Bengals very much though.
Fans have lots of superstitions of their own, most more mild than a little mattress dancing before a game. I’m sure you know some of these very well — favorite jerseys, lucky hats, pre-game rituals or required seating arrangements. Without going into the potential “supernatural” possibility that perhaps the Fates do pay attention to such matters (that would be interesting — one deity telling another “You know, I wanted the Steelers to win, but they just didn’t have enough fans with their hats backwards…”), I’d definitely believe that fan rituals have absolutely no bearing on whether a team wins or loses. I say that even with my own superstition — almost every time I start watching a game, the team I’m going for starts losing (which is why I don’t watch sports very often).
But is it really so pointless for the players’, coaches, etc. to have superstitions? I’m not quite sold on that. Not because going months wearing the same underwear really might affect the path of a football in flight (well, it might affect whether those defending you can focus through the stench, but that’s a little too disgusting for this conversation). Avoiding the baselines when walking onto the field will probably do very little to determine whether or not the batter hits your pitch for an infield pop fly or a home run. Bouncing the ball exactly so many times at the free throw line won’t change the law of gravity to ensure the shot flies perfectly to the hoop.
There is, however, lots of psychology involved in sports, and that’s where superstitions play a large role. If someone tells you that you’re gonna have a great game because you’re wearing the same socks you wore the last time you played well — and you believe it — then odds are you’re going to play a lot better. The key part there is that you believe it, which is why I emphasized it. It’s almost entirely in your head, whether you can do it or not. Now, granted, that doesn’t mean your fastball will be impossible to hit — maybe the batter is wearing his lucky socks too. But you’ll be able to focus more on your pitching, you’ll have more confidence, even though nothing has changed.
When I was a pianist and performing at recitals and talent shows, I had my own little routine. I’d wear my glasses, watch, and class ring (when I’d gotten it) up until the time of the performance. Then, when my name was called, I’d remove them as I approached the piano and place them in my pockets. Did it really have much bearing on whether I played well or not? No, of course not. In fact, most of the time that I practiced I was wearing them. But it helped me focus. That little ritual was my way of saying “Okay, we’re moving from just waiting to play to actually playing now, so get yourself ready.” I could have played just as well wearing all of those. It was a psychological trick, a way to change gears from pre-performance anxiety and waiting to “okay we’re playing now.”
Everyone has their own superstitions — whether they realize it’s a superstition or not. When you’re writing, do you have to have your cup of coffee sitting next to you? Maybe a cigarette burning in the ashtray or certain music playing in the background? Do you have to go to particular websites every morning before you feel like your day is officially started? Most people probably would argue that these aren’t superstitions per se, but they serve the same purpose in a way. They adjust your mind to thinking in a particular way, to focusing on one particular subject.
That’s what even traditional superstitions do too — black cat crosses your path? Then when something goes wrong later in the day, you’re more apt to notice it (and you’ll have something to blame it on). Find a four leaf clover? You’re more likely to look for good things to happen, and when they do you’ll think it’s your lucky day — even though it probably would have happened had you not been searching for mutated greenery.
So I want to hear from you of course. What are your superstitions or rituals? What do you just have to do before you feel comfortable doing something else? I’m all ears.
–Matt
An Open Invitation
As some of you may know, I’ve been (perhaps half-heartedly) trying to run another site, http://ChocolateForDogs.com/. It’s aimed at being a writer’s community site, with the goal of helping writers get their work out and share ideas and tips with other writers. There’s a few great submissions up there right now — feel free to check it out — but the overall site just isn’t what I’d planned on creating.
If you’re familiar with any kind of web development or general web interfaces, you might notice that it’s a Joomla-based site. Joomla is a content management system (CMS), pre-canned and pretty customizable. (If you don’t know what a content management system is, think of a blog on steroids. That’s not quite right, but it’s close enough.) I thought I could tweak it enough to help get the site up and running — and I have, to some degree — but it’s not where I want it. It needs too many hacks to get it where it needs to be, and I’d rather not do that.
What I’d like to accomplish with ChocolateForDogs is creating an environment where writers are comfortable submitting their content, where they’re able to get feedback from other users, and to make it accessible to all writers — not just those with ambitions of becoming the next Stephen King or Stephanie Meyer. I’d like to get high school kids involved where possible, or college students. Not just fiction writers, and not even just writers — there’s no point writing something if no one else is going to read it, and the vast majority of readers out there have no major desire to become writers.
Someday, I’d like for the site to grow large enough to where it can help support community involvement in writing and the arts, but we’re talking years down the road and lots of legal crap beforehand (I looked into some of the requirements for going the non-profit route; it’s not terribly difficult, but even the Wikipedia article had too much legal and business jargon that I got lost).
Right now, however, my main goal is just to get the site self-sufficient. It needs to pay for itself, and it needs to have enough left over to where I can help pay some of the bills around the house. I need to create the new backbone for the site — which shouldn’t be too difficult, and only a week or two worth of work — and I have a couple of features in mind for the new version that could generate some (not a lot, mind you) revenue. I need to get the Google Ads off of it, because they’re not doing a damned thing anyways, and I personally hate seeing ads at a site (no matter how non-intrusive they may be).
What’s in the Stars
So here’s what I’m planning on doing with ChocolateForDogs.com in the long run:
- Redesign the Interface. This is pretty much necessary, because moving away from Joomla will give me much more flexibility and I’ll have to recode it anyways — why stick with someone else’s template?
- Easier Submission Process. Right now the site is set up so that users must upload their content, I review it, and then manually put it into the system (copy and pasted from the file the user uploaded). This needs to change. Users should be able to automatically submit their content (and possibly even have it published immediately — the jury’s still out on that one) without having to upload a file. It’d be nice to allow other users to review submissions as well, because I may not be able to get to one right away.
- Writer’s Notebook. This is one of the “premium” features that I’m planning on charging for (though I still haven’t figured out the best way to handle the charging — per project? Monthly subscription? Don’t know right now…) Even then, the main reason I’d charge is because, like I said, the site needs some revenue; if I were independently wealthy I would have no problems opening it up. But this would be a section where writers could keep track of their drafts, invite others to review their work, and perhaps it would include other organizational tools as well (i.e. character details, scene notes, to-do items, etc.). This would be integrated with the main content submission process — users could submit content directly from this section (though they don’t have to — “regular” submissions would always be free).
- Freelance Writer’s Planner. Another premium feature, and might be integrated into the Writer’s Notebook. It would give the user the ability to track assignments they’ve been given, when it’s due, how much they’re going to get paid (if any). Might also have a student version for homework assignments too; not sure.
- Networking. Now this is nice and fuzzy No real details in mind on this, but the plan is to let writers work together, communicate with each other, set up events (like book signings or interviews), have discussions, etc. Really important, but not top priority right now.
Okay, those are most of the plans I have for the site I can think of off hand right now. If you have other ideas, I’m all ears.
How You Can Help
Of course, the whole reason I’m putting this out here is because I need help with getting this thing off the ground. Otherwise, I’d just do it and tell you about it when it’s ready — surprises are much more fun (well, most of the time). Here’s some things you can do to help get ChocolateForDogs.com off the ground and get it to the point where it can start helping writers around the world:
- Donate. Yes, money is the main thing necessary to get it off the ground. I hate it, but it’s a necessary evil. The site needs funding for marketing purposes, hosting, and I have to pay bills and put food on the table for my family. I’m not doing this to get rich — if I can average the equivalent of full time minimum wage, I’ll be perfectly content. If you have a PayPal account, you can donate from the link at the ChocolateForDogs.com site; if not, contact me and we can discuss the options.
- Freelance Projects. I have no problem working for a paycheck too, and if you don’t want to just shell out money for nothing, I might have services I can offer. I’m (obviously) a freelance writer, a web developer, and a software developer. I can do editing work too, though I don’t have a portfolio to show for it. If you have other ideas, I’m open to suggestions. Either way, just contact me and we can discuss it as necessary.
- Sign Up and Submit. Even though I plan on making lots of changes to the site (when possible), ChocolateForDogs.com is still open and accepting new users and submissions. Everything on the site is free — just register and start submitting!
- Spread the Word. You might not have the ability or desire to do any of those, but maybe someone else you know does. Post a link to this site, or to ChocolateForDogs.com, or tell someone you know. Read through the various submissions on ChocolateForDogs.com and share some of them — they all have links allowing you to tweet the submission, buzz it (Google buzz), or “Like” it on Facebook. All of those help let others know about the site, and maybe they’ll want to join or submit their own content.
And, like everything, I’m open to suggestions — if you have some other way you might be able to help, don’t hesitate to tell me!
Okay, I need to get back to The Search. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them here or contact me. Catch you on the flip side.
–Matt
Wanting to Clear Things Up a Little
It seems there was some confusion after yesterday’s post, and I want to try and clear it up a little bit. First off, let me just get this much out of the way: I’m not giving up on writing. At most, I’m putting it on the back burner for a little while. Even then, I’m mostly just admitting what’s been the case for a while now anyways — if not to everyone else, then at least to myself. Let me try to put it in a different perspective here, and even if it doesn’t help explain this at all, maybe it’ll give you a bit more insight into the kind of person I am.
Several lives ago, I was a pianist of sorts. Not professionally, not by a long shot. But I plinked around, and by most accounts I was pretty good at it. Wrote some music, learned some pretty high-level pieces. It was more than just something I’d screw around with on the weekends, but it wasn’t a large enough part of my life where I could’ve gotten a full scholarship to Julliard, for example. I took private lessons off and on for several years, and most of the time I’d do my homework the way everyone does homework — work on it until you get it done. Like English or Math homework, it was pretty boring, and mostly because it was of the “have to” kind instead of the “want to” kind. When I worked on the pieces I wanted to learn though, most of the time it was quite different.
Generally speaking, the way I’d approach a “practice” session was like this: I’d be sitting around the house, bored to tears. I’d go back to the piano, pull out a book of sheet music, and thumb through it until I found something that looked like fun. I’d then play as much as I could of it — sometimes all of it, more often maybe a page or so — until I got frustrated or bored with it. Then I’d find a different piece to play. Rinse and repeat. Rarely did I learn a piece in its entirety; most of the time, I’d learn a fair amount of the main melody section and give up when it got to the really hard part that I just couldn’t figure out. Basically — and this is the key point here — if the piece didn’t just come to me, if it wasn’t “easy”, then I’d scrap it and move on to one that was. Given the tastes I had in piano music, which included some of the most difficult pieces around, it should make perfect sense that my repertoire was quite small.
This is, obviously, a very ineffective method of learning an instrument. But it worked for me — at least, it worked well enough to where most of the people who knew me during that time still wonder why I’m not pursuing it anymore. By the time I “gave up”, I was quite a capable pianist.
Now, what I mean by the piece “coming” to me, or being “easy”, is not that the notes just happened to find their way under my fingers when they were supposed to. There was a lot more to it than that, and I did spend a lot of time practicing by “rote”, where I’d just sit there and work on the same measure or two for twenty minutes before moving on to the next one. But at those times, working on those two measures came easy to me. Other times it didn’t, and it was a matter of just sitting there, forcing myself to try. I’m sure you’ve been in similar situations — you have something you want to do, and you’ll do what it takes to get it done. At other times, even if its the same task, just thinking about it makes you miserable. If you’re a writer, I’m sure you know this very well. Sometimes the words flow like water; other times, you don’t feel like writing a shopping list.
Most people — at least, most of the ones I’ve heard discuss this matter — force themselves to work on something even when they don’t want to. I’m not talking about “work” work, like going to the office and shuffling papers for eight hours. I mean the stuff you can forget about doing for a week and it won’t make one bit of difference — you won’t get fired, you won’t lose your house; nothing will happen if you just “don’t” do whatever it is. Working on your novel, or your symphony, or your video game. Hobbies, basically.
I’ve never been able to do that, and that’s probably why I’m not on the New York Times bestseller list, or performing at Carnegie Hall next weekend. If I want to do something, I’ll attack it like a pit bull, damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead. If I don’t, then trying to just builds resentment and stress. If I’m in the mood to write, then I can take on a full novel in a matter of weeks — I’ve done it twice already. If I don’t, but feel I have to, then I stare at a video game, angry at myself for not getting it done.
Is that the way it should be? Is that the key to success in this world? Hell no, not by a long shot. Success comes from years — sometimes even decades — of consistent hard work. In the same breath though, is it worth it to drive y0urself crazy worrying about it? No, it’s not. It’s better to just be honest with yourself, and admit where you’re at. You either want it bad enough to where the work is irrelevant, or you don’t. There’s nothing wrong with not wanting it bad enough — maybe next week you will, or next month, or next year. Or maybe later on things will change to where the situation levels out better with how bad you want it, and you won’t have to try quite so hard to get the same result.
Maybe this makes sense; maybe not. Regardless, I’m not giving up on writing. I don’t know when — or even if — Shattered will be finished to the point I’ll be happy with it. I don’t know if there’ll be another book after it, even though I have a lot of stuff in mind for it. Maybe I’ll write another book that’s completely different, with different characters and maybe even a different genre. Maybe not. Maybe I’ll get a job bussing tables tomorrow, and I’ll be content enough with it that I’ll be able to relax and focus on writing. Maybe I’ll write twenty short stories this weekend, or maybe it’ll be a couple of years before I come up with something.
Right now, I don’t really know, but I’m okay with that. I don’t have to know. If I can get myself to accept that, then I can move on to the next battle
–Matt
A Time to Change
I haven’t said anything, because it isn’t really anyone’s business right now, but I’ve been unemployed for almost two months. It still isn’t anyone else’s business, save for me and my wife, but it serves as a good starting point for this post, so there you go. I’ve been sitting around the house for a month and a half trying to think of ways I can make a buck, using the talents I have, and driving myself batshit-insane in the process. (Yes, batshit-insane is the technical term; look for it in the latest DSM.)
In this time, I’ve been doing freelance writing to make some extra cash, but mostly living off of my wife. I’m honestly quite ashamed of that; it’s my fault I’ve been out of work, and not because I just screwed up and got fired. I quit. Or resigned, if you want to paint it up a little. I quit because I didn’t really care for where I felt the company was going, and also because I’m Me, and I Can Handle It. Yes, that fine touch of arrogance that makes one think little can go wrong since they’re the star of the show.
That arrogance is an old friend of mine. Its gotten me into trouble many times.
I don’t say this for some self-effacement effect; I say this to just lay the cards on the table. I fucked up. Plain and simple. Contrary to popular belief (and what some genetic tests may say), I am human. I make mistakes.
Since I resigned, things have happened to put things in a different perspective. I thought I’d be able to support us with the freelance writing until something else came along; I know now that I can’t — at least not in the way I was trying. I thought I’d be able to get a few of my web site ideas off the ground to support us. I know now that I can’t, because it takes money to make money, even if that’s just to support you until you start making it on your own.
Shortly after I quit, my wife and I found out she’s pregnant. On one hand, this is absolutely wonderful news. We’ve both wanted children for a long time, and started trying shortly before I quit. On the other hand, I can’t support us right now; how the hell can I feed another mouth?
A little over a week ago, I received horrible news. I’m not going to discuss it, but it too has put things into an entirely different perspective. It’s one of those life-changers, and its one everyone will go through at some point. But its something that I need to deal with, and I can’t just sit around and play house-husband anymore.
Even though I can’t do a damned thing about it, I also can’t lean on my wife any more than I already am. She’s pregnant and supporting us; she doesn’t need the added stress. Hell, she doesn’t need the added stress of just supporting us, let alone if I were to try and pawn my problems off on her.
So I need to get a job. I need a paycheck, and I need to get out of the house. I need to take the load off of my wife’s shoulders — some of it, at least — and carry as much of it as I can myself. That way, maybe I can lean on her — ever so slightly — with this new problem and any others that come around.
I’ve been lying to myself for the past couple of years. I thought I could handle a job and a home life and a fledgling writing career. And maybe I could if I wanted it more; maybe that’s the problem, that I just don’t want it bad enough to put in the extra time it takes. But whether or not that’s true, I simply can’t do it. Not right now at least. And I can’t handle trying to make money by doing my own thing; it is simply too much stress, and it’ll just drive me crazy.
I haven’t written anything new in well over a month, and that was after a year of nothing new. I’m unable to focus on Shattered, and it still needs a lot of work. I already emailed my publisher to see what they want to do about it — it’s contracted, so I don’t think I can just bail, but I can’t bring myself to do anything else either.
The worst part is that it isn’t very likely I’ll find a job of any kind anytime soon. I spent too much time bouncing around to be an attractive candidate for anything that pays halfway decent. I don’t have a degree. I’ve spent ten years programming computers and websites; there’s no such jobs here in El Paso, and we aren’t willing to relocate. Any other position, and I’m pretty much entry level. Hell, I even got turned down by K-Mart as a sales associate. (Several others if you count the ones who simply didn’t respond.)
But I need to put writing on the back burner for now. I need to put my “killer website startup” attempts back on the shelf for now. I need to be able to put food on the table, gas in the car, and make enough so my wife can pay her copays the insurance leaves her with.
No comments on this one.
I need to get some dishes washed.
–Matt
Great First Day – Keep ‘Em Coming!
Well, today was the first full day for ChocolateForDogs.com, and all told it went better than I expected. Got some users signed up, ran into a snag with GMail accounts (can’t have everything now),and got the first posts up that aren’t from me!
Also, today we setup comments and social bookmarking options for content, so you can give the writers feedback and share your favorite posts with your friends on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz.
So, for the first day, it went great! Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get some more users and some more content. I’m also looking into setting up event calendars for authors and maybe some other odds and ends too. If you have suggestions, don’t be afraid to mention them! And if you want to join in, go to http://chocolatefordogs.com and sign up!
Catch you on the flip side.
–Matt
Writers Wanted!
ChocolateForDogs.com is now live! We’re looking for writers — all backgrounds and genres — ready to send their content! It’s a great way for you to help build your readership if you’re an existing author, and a great way to get started if you like to write and just haven’t done anything with it.
And seriously, I do mean anything — one of the upcoming submissions is details of a dream! I’m going to be adding software development tutorials once I get things leveled out a little bit, and I’m going to be adding some of my short stories too. What can you add?
Registration
For right now, we’re having a two-step registration process for authors. The first is “regular” registration, for the site in general. In the second step, available once you’ve registered, you’ll submit information about you as a writer — this will be used to build your Author bio page. I’ll review that information, create your bio page, and give you author access. Then you’ll be able to submit your content!
Submissions
To make sure people are just submitting random junk (read: spam), the submission process is slightly different from what you might expect. You upload your submission — plain text, rich text (RTF), or MS Word format — and I’ll review it. I do some copy editing and maybe make some suggestions about the submission — you can take those as you wish (but I’ll try to be helpful, not just critical, and explain the suggestions as best as possible too). Then it’ll get posted to the site, and you can sit back and relax. Or work on your next one. (Or stress out about random stuff in general, if you’re anything like me…)
Now, I know there’s little content there right now. I know the site looks dull and boring. That’s because it’s only been open to the public for a day And I really need your help — it can be great, but not if it’s just me posting random junk up there (like this site, come to think of it…). So get in there — http://chocolatefordogs.com/ — look around, and start submitting!
–Matt
ChocolateForDogs.com Author Pre-Registration
Alright, for all you writers who are interested in building your readership with the new ChocolateForDogs.com website, check it out:
I added a pre-registration form for you to fill out. The site should be ready to launch sometime this week, and I’d like to get you set up and ready to go with it. I’m still working out the kinks — and probably will be for a while, I’m sure — but we can get you started and get some of your submissions ready to go when it launches.
Fill out the form, and I’ll get back to you ASAP. We’ll work out details like your bio, links, etc., and you can give me an idea of where your writing will belong (i.e. genre, category, whatever). In the beginning here, it’s gonna be a lot of “play-by-email” work while I’m getting things straightened out, just to give you a heads up. But we’ll work it out, and hopefully it won’t be too long before we’re able to automate most things.
Anyways, it’s late and I’m blabbering on, distracting you when you should be filling out the form. Catch you on the flip side.
–Matt
ChocolateForDogs.com Down to be Revamped
You may or may not know of my other site, chocolatefordogs.com. It is – or rather, was – where I’d post programming tutorials and tips.
Well, it’s done. With that, at least. There’s nothing there right now, but soon – hopefully within the next week – therell be a new site there where writers from all backgrounds, styles, genres, and formats can post their own content free of charge.
Right now I’m working out some of the main details – submission workflow and author access rights especially – but it should be moving along pretty well. To get something up and running, I’m going to be using “off-the-shelf” software. We’ll use that for a while, and see how it stands up to the task. When people start using it, there’s sure to be changes to make it easier and better; hopefully what I’m using can accommodate those easily enough. If not, then I’ll look into doing a custom site and see how that pans out.
And, FYI, the site will be completely free – no fees, at least to start with (and I don’t see any reason there will ever be a need to charge).
Keep your eyes on this site for updates!
–Matt
Calling All Writers!
I’m looking for all writers — fiction and non-fiction, all genres/areas of expertise. I’m in the process of starting up a new community site, and I’m looking to see who’s interested. It’s still in the planning stages right now — looking to get it up and running here in a week or so — but it’ll be one more place you can get your content out to the world and help build a readership! You’ll be able to submit your content of any kind, and we’ll edit it for you and work with you regarding the edits! You’ll get feedback on what needs to be changed (if anything!) and why, not just accepted (and possibly changed), or rejected with no reason. You’ll keep all the rights to your work, and we’ll take it down whenever you want it taken off.
If you’re interested, let me know, either via the comments here or by sending me an email at the address on the contact page. If you know someone who likes to write, send them along.
Gotta run — catch you on the flip side.
–Matt
Networked Blogs (on Facebook)
