Today marks the one year anniversary of the Habitation of Justice. I should say something profound, so here it is:

The chocolate moose is not in season.

If you can figure that out, let me know. On a more serious note, as far as blogs go, this has been a pretty quiet year for me. There were times when I literally would get only one visitor a day, and sometimes I’d let weeks go by before blogging another post. I had been focused on other things, (like going to law school), but as soon as it became clear that my life wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon, I started to pay more attention to my blog. The last few months were all about promoting my site and optimizing it for search engines so I could bring in more traffic. Now I’m getting upwards of about 100 visits a day, which is still nowhere close to my goal, but at least it’s much better than what it used to be.

Sooooo, now that it’s been a year, where do I go from here? What direction should I take this blog in? Ever since my law school dream bombed out, I’ve been entertaining fantasies on how I could make a living out of blogging instead, quitting my dead end job and hitting the road, living the life of a nomad as I moved from place to place, finding ways to help people I encountered in my travels, and experiencing exciting new adventures that would endlessly provide great writing fodder for my blog.

Could it happen? Not unless I can find a way to monetize my blog so that it brings in a full time income, a feat that only one half of one percent of all bloggers on the Internet have been able to accomplish. And usually those types of blogs have the kind of niches where they tell everyone else how THEY can make money off their sites. Either that, or it’s rife with affiliate marketing and other business related themes that I simply can’t get into. I just don’t have the mentality for it. I can only tell a story, and telling stories through this particularly venue has not proven to be an especially profitable one for most people.

But…. it’s all I got. After racking my brain trying to come up with a niche suitable for me, I decided that it had to be something that I could always love doing, rather than delving into a niche only because it might prove to be more of a money maker. I loved to write, but not about products and marketing and technology and business and whatnot, but about life in general. About what’s real. About my deepest emotions, hopes, and despairs. About my life experiences, and how readers could relate to it. But I realized in order to blog about life, I had to first HAVE a life.

So I guess that’s what will define my second year: finding a life worthy of blogging about, and telling a story that could immerse the reader in my riveting world. Well… at least as riveting as I can possibly make it.

Only time will tell if this will be my breakout year (both online and offline), and whether I’ll be able to generate the kind of readership that I’ve been looking for.

So stay tuned, it’s going to get very interesting from here on out.

Tags: affiliate marketing, anniversary, blog, bloggers, blogging, fantasies, fodder, full time, habitation, job, law school, life, mentality, monetizing, niche, niches, nomad, search engines, story telling, time income, traffic, travels, writing, year anniversary
Categories: Blog Fog, Lincoln's Personal Log
 
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So I’m idling by the traffic light, A/C cranked to the max, Phil Collins blasting through the speakers, and I’m watching this guy in front of me driving a brand spanking new Mustang GT, with a very obvious manual transmission, this I knew because it was rolling back towards me while the idiot was chatting with his shotgun riding bimbo.

I hit the horn hard, but the Mustang didn’t stop, rolling and rolling, until the guy finally woke up and slammed on the brakes just before he could have hit me, leaving only mere inches between his rear end and my grille guard.

The light turned green and he shifted gears again, but not before sticking his arm out the window and giving me the finger. This of course, after I had just saved his stupid arse from denting his precious ride.

Love this town.

Tags: accident, bimbo, brakes, car, collision, driving, fender bender, gears, idiots, manual transmission, mustang, mustang gt, new york, phil collins, rear end, shotgun, speakers, traffic, traffic light
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
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“We’re getting new computers!” Mick rubbed his hands together, barely able to contain his boyish glee.

“It’s about fricking time,” I said. We had been due for a major revamp of our network for the longest time now. In fact we were still using terminals that were older than me for our work here. The new network though promised to bring us brand spankin’ new computers, consolidate all our antiquated databases, and eliminate at least half of our workload. It was the kind of thing we could have only dreamt about, but it looked like it was finally going to become reality.

Several tech guys showed up with cables, and one of them discussed the new setup with Mick.

“Yeah we’re gonna replace these two terminals here, should happen in a couple of weeks or so.”

“Don’t forget we need an extra computer too. We have five guys here and four computers. That’s just not gonna work.”

The tech guy just ignored me and continued chatting with Mick. I seem to be getting a lot of that lately. Am I dead or something?

The tech guys started removing shingles to wire some cables through in preparation for our upgrade. One of them removed a shingle over the desk behind me….

And a flood of mouse droppings came pouring down.

“Sh–!!!”

It was everywhere. On our fax machine, the computer, court papers, the keyboard… just… everywhere.

We had a problem with this before, and basically nothing had been done about it. But now we were approaching critical mass. I mean seriously, does someone need to drop dead from mice poisoning here before people start to give a flying leap?

What truly depressed me though was the look on my coworkers’ faces. This look of defeatism, the sad reality that nothing they said would ever make a difference. They just stood there, shrugging their shoulders while the sky rained its pellet sized crap on us. Their tired eyes revealed virtually no will to fight.

Screw that. These bastards are gonna get a war from me. Let the poo fly, cuz it… is… ON.

Tags: cables, computers, corruption, coworkers, critical mass, defeatism, fax machine, glee, job, leap, mice, mouse droppings, network, screw, shingle, shingles, shoulders, tired eyes, upgrade, workload
Categories: In The Coal Mine
 
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I hate that kid. I hate his nerdy glasses, I hate his friends, I hate his friend’s friends, and I hate his stupid broom too.

But worst of all, I hate people who are willing to camp out for days at their local bookstores just so they can get the latest and greatest copy of the book starring, whose else, but that wand wielding little twerp.

I mean seriously people, what is this, Star Wars? Get a frakking life already.

Honestly, it’s not that I’m opposed to the idea of reading the Harry Potter series (or watching the movies), and getting a cheap thrill out of doing so. But when I see you wearing the wizard hat and pulling up your bedsheets with its Harry Potter icons while you snuggle down with one of J.K. Rowling’s books for a good read, (and you’re in your 40s for crying out loud), I don’t see someone who merely has a hobby he or she loves. I see someone who’s gone completely around the bend and is a prime candidate for drugs and lots of therapy.

And this is just the Christians I’m talking about. Really, go here and tell me if you don’t find this obsession just a little bit disconcerting.

I really don’t get this. Maybe it’s because overhyped fiction has always been a turnoff for me, a personality trait that also proved to be one of the reasons why I’ve never seen the movie Titanic either. Whatever everybody and their mother did, I tended to do the exact opposite, if for no other reason than just to maintain my individuality. Worldly fads simply didn’t appeal to me, and following after it with any degree of enthusiasm always left a bad taste in my mouth.

And yet Christians go bonkers just as much as the world does whenever there’s word that a new book or film is coming out. So let me ask you Christian Potterheads: why does Harry Potter, a fictional character no less, thrill you and move you more than Christ does? Why isn’t it enough to simply read one of the books in the series and go, “Hmm, that was interesting?”

Nope, can’t stop there. You have to camp out at bookstores, turn your bedroom into a museum of Harry Potter paraphernalia, scream like a banshee at people who threaten to reveal spoilers, and whenever you get the chance to talk about it, (which is every 5 seconds), it’s Harry this and Harry that, and Harry, Harry, Harry, HarryHarryHarryHarry…

Obsessed, MUCH? Some of you I swear need to get a good smack upside the head… with by a 2×4.

Do you not see anything wrong with this at all? Do you not even feel a teensy weensy bit embarassed? Forget about the witchcraft and the occultic elements and the controversy therein. This is about taking a hobby and pushing it to the point of obsession, an obsession that even goes so far as attempting to demonstrate Christian symbolism in Rowling’s works, as if by doing so it would somehow be seen as a validation of sorts for Christians to continue obsessing over literature that revolves around magic and witchcraft.

Please. I’m sure I myself could find Christian imagery in the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show if I looked hard enough. “Ooooooo, see Rocky flying and coming to save Bullwinkle?? Just like the Lord Jesus came to save us!”

In the end, I have to say there’s something truly disconcerting about living in a world where not having read a single Harry Potter book makes ME the weird one.

Tags: 40s, apostasy, bookstores, broom, cheap thrill, christian, christianity, Christians, craze, fads, fictional character, harry potter, harry potter series, hobby, hype, imagery, individuality, insanity, j k rowling, j.k. rowling, magic, mania, obsession, personality trait, symbolism, turnoff, witchcraft, worldly
Categories: Christians Gone Wild
 
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“Linkie?”

“Yeah, Karen?” Karen was a co-worker of mine who worked in our firearms division. I’ve had a thing for her ever since she started working here…that is, until she passed me up and married another co-worker last January. Of course.

“Do you know what band sang the song with the line ‘broken wings’ in it?” She then proceeded to hum the song, her cute face partly visible as she leaned over the cubicle wall that divided us.

“Hmmm, not sure, but I can Google the lyrics pretty quickly for you if you want. You can check to see which band rings a bell.”

“Is Mick around? Maybe he knows,” she said, completely ignoring my suggestion. Her hands were on top of the wall now, the shiny wedding ring on her finger gleaming in the light. I cursed inwardly.

But it wasn’t just the ring that annoyed me. I also HATED it when people would initially ask me for help, and then quickly dismiss me out of hand in favor of someone else. Don’t even give me a chance here to prove I’m not the idiot they think I am. Sheesh.

Dammit people, I’m a @#$%-ing human being. Can I not be afforded some modicum of respect at least?

“Sorry, Mick went on vacation. Let me look it up for you though, I’m sure I can find it. I’ll let you know.”

“Ok…” she said, and her head dropped out of sight. I could still hear her humming the song from beyond the wall.

I went to Google and found the lyrics to several songs containing the phrase “broken wings”, so I jumped up to call Karen over and have her take a look.

“Hey Karen,” I said, peering over the wall, “I got a few hits here and…”

But she was already gone.

I just stood there, marveling over how easily this woman could still hurt me, even now.

“Take these broken wings,
And learn to fly again,
And learn to live so free.
And when we hear the voices sing,
The book of love will open up,
And let us in….“

Up yours Mister Mister.

Tags: book of love, broken wings, co worker, firearms, fly, google, job, karen, loneliness, lyrics, mister mister, phrase, respect, song, suggestion, unrequited love, voices, wedding ring
Categories: Romance and Relationships
 
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I’m beginning to think the people I work with here are complete morons.

To protest the insanity and corruption of this place, I decided to wear my badge upside down. It was just the sort of thing that would earn me a quick reprimand, but I didn’t care. I wanted to make a statement.

Only thing is, nobody noticed. I’m serious. This is three days now and nobody so much as blinked. These are people who are supposed to be trained to look for anything out of the ordinary, and here I am, waltzing around with an upside down badge right under their noses.

Un-fricking-believable. What a week.

Tags: badge, corruption, insanity, job, morons, noses, protest, reprimand, upside down
Categories: In The Coal Mine
 
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