Sunday, December 9, 2007

Skid Row Can Do

Sunday morning.

I must apologize to those for the slow start on Skidrowbroadcasting.com.

It takes alot of work and organization just to deal with the details of it.

Don and I started this for many reasons. One of the reasons is to show people who live on Skid Row that they can do anything. Sometimes it is hard for me to believe it, to tell you the truth. However, this station is living proof.

Don had his dream and I had mine. It is hard starting a career in the television industry in the best of circumstances. In my present circumstances, it is between none and none to the tenth power. However, nothing says that one can not teach oneself. There are no rules that say you can not read books or study material on the internet.

sometimes, it felt as though I was getting nowhere. The technical information was so much to absorb. Finally, I figured I did not have to learn the technical information as much as I needed to know the broad categories underwhich certain internet related topics fall under. I would read something over and over to understand it. I would ask people. I would keep plugging away, picking up stuff here and there. I would discover this website and that website. I would pick up one word and tie it in to all of the other bits and pieces. (and I still do not know much).

I had no camera for months. For months I kept trying to get one. Finally I obtained one. I still do not know how to use 90 percent of it. However, I finally learned how to upload pictures. Everyone read how I struggled with that process and how badly I wanted to have photos on my site. finally, it was done.

Of course, the first blog site was the beginning and then I transfered to blogger.
I continued reading and continued to have problems with interpreting the geek speak.
Every so often, I would have a moment of clarity and that moment was followed by days of more confusion.

I moved in here two months ago. I started blogging two months ago. Within that time, life, for me, on Skid Row has changed. My time was monopolized by compliance requirements in one form or another. It was just something that had to be done.
It is a part of Skid Row life. Those who follow through on the requirements maintain a residence and a chance to move forward. Those who don't, are back in the streets. Those who don't let ego and pride get the best of them.

Long distance swimming, camping, long distance running, cycling and hiking teach you one thing. They teach you how to perservere and put everything out of your head and endure. Concentrate on one foot in front of the other.

I had to put one foot in front of the other for many years now. When I started to find my stride, catastrophy hit. At times, when things are so fresh, it is hard to see that a catastrophy is not a defeat, but only a set back. It takes time to stand up on those wobbly legs and learn how to walk again. After one has walked a few miles, one has to learn how to believe that he is walking.

There are many things that make you doubt yourself. Moreover, one day you can believe, and the next day, doubt can set back in. There is such a curtain of negativity that surrounds one's experience down here that you can miss the good things that are taking place.

You battle yourself and the daily contingencies that come out of thin air.
but you keep hacking away at the forest of the unknown.

This last month, after so much change after so much struggle, I had the chance to receive a lot of new information. I was able to make copies of hundreds of sheets of paper to study. I found industries that I did not know existed. I found companies that fascinated me. All of them are in an industry that is related, in some way, to the internet. It is quite fascinating.

Blogging, itself, has so many areas. there is personal blogging and niche blogging.
There are many diffferent ad programs. I doubt very much if any of them would be interested in topics related to skid row but that is not the point. the point is, if I did not share my life after drugs, and talk about drugs, I never would have learned any of this. I never would have met all of these different people.

I have spent most of this day and I will spend most of tonight getting organized as there is no way to move forward if I can not access information in a quick and easy manner. I must digest the information I already have and obtain some more every day.

I do not know what the next month will bring. I only know that, potentially, there is tremendous growth to experience. I shall put out resumes. I will continue to learn about blogging. I shall continue to work hard to improve my writing and, with that, the ability to present content as I figure out what content I want to present.

It is the self growth that is exciting and that is why I am glad Don and I are doing this. IT will show the people of Skid Row that, yes, you can grow and do things that people say you can not do.

People label Don as a mental patient. People label me as a drug addict. We are not suppose to be able to dream. We are not suppose to be able to be diligent in the pursuit of goals and dreams. Don survived mine fields and seven years of Skid Row.
I believe it is a fair bet that he can be diligent in the pursuit of his dreams and accomplish them. I believe I can as well.

If we only put together one show, one program, then it is one more that was done before we tried this.

It does not matter if someone comes along with big money and tremendous resources that we do not have. What matters is that, with American ingenuity, we found a way to communicate and present. That is what is important and by doing so, we will communicate to the people down here that they CAN DO. We will communicate to those that are not here that people, down here, CAN DO. What we do not have in bells and whistles, we will more than make up for it in passion and determination.

We will learn alot in the next four weeks. I learned a tremendous amount of stuff in the past four weeks from my blogging experience. I can not wait to learn some more. Hopefully, we will show people that they can do as well.

Good Evening world, I love you.

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