At the start of this year, <a href="https://alexstandiford.com/articles/personal-updates/so-long-designframe">I shut down my agency-model business</a>. This allowed me to cut out a lot of professional "dead weight", and focus on finding clients who value the <a href="https://alexstandiford.com/category/portfolio">skills I've amassed since I started web development</a>. To put it bluntly, I cut the bullshit around my services, simplifying my approach, <a href="https://alexstandiford.com/articles/classifieds/im-looking-for-freelance-work">and simply started asking for work directly</a>.

Start with the basic building block of all narrative.

In a village of La Mancha, the name of which I have no desire to call to mind, there lived not long since one of those gentlemen that keep a lance in the lance-rack, an old buckler, a lean hack, and a greyhound for coursing.

core/paragraph

Paragraph

At the start of this year, <a href="https://alexstandiford.com/articles/personal-updates/so-long-designframe">I shut down my agency-model business</a>. This allowed me to cut out a lot of professional "dead weight", and focus on finding clients who value the <a href="https://alexstandiford.com/category/portfolio">skills I've amassed since I started web development</a>. To put it bluntly, I cut the bullshit around my services, simplifying my approach, <a href="https://alexstandiford.com/articles/classifieds/im-looking-for-freelance-work">and simply started asking for work directly</a>.

And you know what? Both last year and this year, I had myself booked up within a month. Maybe it's the relatively small volume of work I need (this is a side hustle, after all), or perhaps it's the nature of the work I am accepting, but even when others are saying that they're seeing dramatic decreases in their clientele, I haven't had much trouble finding good work for the last 2 years.

And you know what? Both last year and this year, I had myself booked up within a month. Maybe it's the relatively small volume of work I need (this is a side hustle, after all), or perhaps it's the nature of the work I am accepting, but even when others are saying that they're seeing dramatic decreases in their clientele, I haven't had much trouble finding good work for the last 2 years.

While I can't say 100% what is causing this, I do think I can largely attribute it to my <a href="https://alexstandiford.com/articles/speaking/presentations/reclaiming-authenticity-building-your-personal-hub-in-a-post-twitter-era">strong focus on authenticity for my personal brand online</a>, combined with the strong network I've developed over the last decade in WordPress, but more than anything, I think it's just because I refocused myself, matching the clientele I seek out to my more-lucrative skill sets.

While I can't say 100% what is causing this, I do think I can largely attribute it to my <a href="https://alexstandiford.com/articles/speaking/presentations/reclaiming-authenticity-building-your-personal-hub-in-a-post-twitter-era">strong focus on authenticity for my personal brand online</a>, combined with the strong network I've developed over the last decade in WordPress, but more than anything, I think it's just because I refocused myself, matching the clientele I seek out to my more-lucrative skill sets.

<a href="http://casualweirdness.life/articles/travelogue/second-summer-here-i-come">Here's (hopefully) to another really busy second summer</a>.

<a href="http://casualweirdness.life/articles/travelogue/second-summer-here-i-come">Here's (hopefully) to another really busy second summer</a>.

Killing My Agency Was A Good Choice

In-case you didn't see, <a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-tavern-launches-forums">WPTavern launched a forum today</a>. Yep, that kind of forum. A good ol' fashioned asynchronous, centralized sounding board for talking about WordPress.

In-case you didn't see, <a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-tavern-launches-forums">WPTavern launched a forum today</a>. Yep, that kind of forum. A good ol' fashioned asynchronous, centralized sounding board for talking about WordPress.

Overall, I think this is a good thing. I firmly believe that WordPress depends too much on non FOSS software - I'm talking about thing like GitHub, Slack, and Twitter. All of these options have free, open source alternatives that work as well (GitTea, Element, Mastodon), so as far as I'm concerned, anything that wants to make us less-dependent on proprietary for-profit software is a great synergy opportunity for WordPress.

Overall, I think this is a good thing. I firmly believe that WordPress depends too much on non FOSS software - I'm talking about thing like GitHub, Slack, and Twitter. All of these options have free, open source alternatives that work as well (GitTea, Element, Mastodon), so as far as I'm concerned, anything that wants to make us less-dependent on proprietary for-profit software is a great synergy opportunity for WordPress.

Now, if we can just go a step further and make that Forum federated, we could change it so that the posts on the forum display on Lemmy (a federated, open source Reddit-like experience), and then still get the benefits of the centralized platforms that we've all grown accustomed to.

Now, if we can just go a step further and make that Forum federated, we could change it so that the posts on the forum display on Lemmy (a federated, open source Reddit-like experience), and then still get the benefits of the centralized platforms that we've all grown accustomed to.

This is a good thing, and just like my urging to go back to commenting on blogs, I think is an opportunity to move WordPress into the future of the web, where I think it's poised to really succeed if we can recognize it.

This is a good thing, and just like my urging to go back to commenting on blogs, I think is an opportunity to move WordPress into the future of the web, where I think it's poised to really succeed if we can recognize it.

WPTavern Brings Us Full-Circle By Launching a Forum

So, I've been going through a bit of a shift in the kind of music I want to listen to lately. For the last, god, 10 years, I've been mostly listening to Haken, Devin Townsend, some off-beat things like Diablo Swing Orchestra, and a fair bit of Nine Inch Nails. Some bands akin to that, as well, like Ayria.

So, I've been going through a bit of a shift in the kind of music I want to listen to lately. For the last, god, 10 years, I've been mostly listening to Haken, Devin Townsend, some off-beat things like Diablo Swing Orchestra, and a fair bit of Nine Inch Nails. Some bands akin to that, as well, like Ayria.

What I haven't been listening to much of has been blues-centric rock. It's mostly been a either industrial metal, or prog. In-fact, even before that, I wasn't ever really that into this kind of sound historically, and ironically enough haven't had a well-curated list of things from this sound.

What I haven't been listening to much of has been blues-centric rock. It's mostly been a either industrial metal, or prog. In-fact, even before that, I wasn't ever really that into this kind of sound historically, and ironically enough haven't had a well-curated list of things from this sound.

But over the last few years, my wife, <a href="http://katestandiford.com">Kate</a> has really gotten into a lot of folk rock, and <a href="http://casualweirdness.life">since we live in a camper</a>, her tastes seem to have started to bleed into my tastes lately. Or at least, that's what I think it is. Hell, it could just as easily be because I've been playing a lot of older rock tracks like Blue Suede Shoes and Leroy Brown <a href="/micro/1988">while performing here at the campground this summer</a>. Either way, I've found myself wanting to listen to music that's a lot more approachable than the weirder stuff like this <a href="https://youtu.be/JyfcbeLfYbI?si=2_4AY0XmCVBRclxv">DSO track</a>, or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_e4YX73Ww4">Haken's Cockroach King</a>. Conversely, it's heavy in a very different way than the noisy stuff like Devin Townsend's Deconstruction album, all of which are things that I've historically been into.

But over the last few years, my wife, <a href="http://katestandiford.com">Kate</a> has really gotten into a lot of folk rock, and <a href="http://casualweirdness.life">since we live in a camper</a>, her tastes seem to have started to bleed into my tastes lately. Or at least, that's what I think it is. Hell, it could just as easily be because I've been playing a lot of older rock tracks like Blue Suede Shoes and Leroy Brown <a href="/micro/1988">while performing here at the campground this summer</a>. Either way, I've found myself wanting to listen to music that's a lot more approachable than the weirder stuff like this <a href="https://youtu.be/JyfcbeLfYbI?si=2_4AY0XmCVBRclxv">DSO track</a>, or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_e4YX73Ww4">Haken's Cockroach King</a>. Conversely, it's heavy in a very different way than the noisy stuff like Devin Townsend's Deconstruction album, all of which are things that I've historically been into.

I'd say the closest I've ever gotten to this sound is what I can only describe as "objectively cool music". When you hear <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTW0Uf-34BA">Casualties of Cool</a>, or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNBzPrFTPtE">S.G Goodman's The Way I talk</a>, you go "DAMN they're so cool." The music is usually straight forward with simple, consistent time signatures, predictable song formats, and simple, yet fantastic hooks.

I'd say the closest I've ever gotten to this sound is what I can only describe as "objectively cool music". When you hear <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTW0Uf-34BA">Casualties of Cool</a>, or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNBzPrFTPtE">S.G Goodman's The Way I talk</a>, you go "DAMN they're so cool." The music is usually straight forward with simple, consistent time signatures, predictable song formats, and simple, yet fantastic hooks.

Anyway, I realized I had a few songs that recently caught my attention that kinda aligned with this sound, so I threw them together in a playlist along with a couple samples that seemed adjacent to it, and clicked on Spotify's magic "Enhance" button.

Anyway, I realized I had a few songs that recently caught my attention that kinda aligned with this sound, so I threw them together in a playlist along with a couple samples that seemed adjacent to it, and clicked on Spotify's magic "Enhance" button.

And...whoa! It actually worked! Historically this hasn't been very effective for me. It's unclear why exactly, but usually the music on the song wouldn't fit the vibe I was looking for well enough. Maybe I was trying to be too specific then. Maybe it's just because the music is easier to categorize, who knows?

And...whoa! It actually worked! Historically this hasn't been very effective for me. It's unclear why exactly, but usually the music on the song wouldn't fit the vibe I was looking for well enough. Maybe I was trying to be too specific then. Maybe it's just because the music is easier to categorize, who knows?

Spotify’s “Enhance” Feature Is Awesome

Prompting ChatGPT With Blog Content

Recovering From The Mysterious Database Error

Mounting My GoPro To My Kite – With Footage

In the midst of transitioning myself into rediscovering WordPress, and publishing <a href="/articles/blog-posts/rediscovering-wordpress/">content on my blog first</a>, I realized that one thing that kind of bums me out is that nobody posts comments on my site. As far as I'm concerned, anything that's published anywhere that's not on my site should be treated as ephemeral, even if it necessarily isn't.

In the midst of transitioning myself into rediscovering WordPress, and publishing <a href="/articles/blog-posts/rediscovering-wordpress/">content on my blog first</a>, I realized that one thing that kind of bums me out is that nobody posts comments on my site. As far as I'm concerned, anything that's published anywhere that's not on my site should be treated as ephemeral, even if it necessarily isn't.

So, when I receive a reply to something, or have a fun interaction with my content with someone else on social media, I find that at least a small part of me is sad, because I know that interaction is probably not something I'll keep. (I draw the line at manually cross posting comments lol).

So, when I receive a reply to something, or have a fun interaction with my content with someone else on social media, I find that at least a small part of me is sad, because I know that interaction is probably not something I'll keep. (I draw the line at manually cross posting comments lol).

I know that WordPress is going social, and I also know that someday, this problem might get drastically improved, but I am getting into the habit of choosing to comment on people's actual blog content first, and only replying to a post directly on social in situations where there is no other option.

I know that WordPress is going social, and I also know that someday, this problem might get drastically improved, but I am getting into the habit of choosing to comment on people's actual blog content first, and only replying to a post directly on social in situations where there is no other option.

I invite (and encourage!) you to start doing the same!

I invite (and encourage!) you to start doing the same!

Let’s Go Back To Commenting on Blogs

Recovering From A Botched bashrc Change on DigitalOcean

My (Very) Basic PoSSE Setup

In 2009, I started blogging. But not like...blogging in the traditional "I'm just writing content" sense. In the "I want to make money with a website" sense. It was a photo-editing tutorial website, (in hindsight, inappropriately) called Gimped! and it was chock-full of tutorials on how to edit with the photo editor, Gimp. I kinda wish I still had the content from that site, but I long-since gave it up, because I have historically had a bad habit of deleting stuff when I don't want it. I built it because I wanted to make money selling ebooks, as well as ads and other things. It actually found mild success, too.

In 2009, I started blogging. But not like...blogging in the traditional "I'm just writing content" sense. In the "I want to make money with a website" sense. It was a photo-editing tutorial website, (in hindsight, inappropriately) called Gimped! and it was chock-full of tutorials on how to edit with the photo editor, Gimp. I kinda wish I still had the content from that site, but I long-since gave it up, because I have historically had a bad habit of deleting stuff when I don't want it. I built it because I wanted to make money selling ebooks, as well as ads and other things. It actually found mild success, too.

In fact, every website I've ever built over the years has, in one way or another, been driven by the direct promise of money. All of my blogging has always been about "earning credential" and "SEO marketing", and all of those things. Blogging has always been a part of my content strategy, but I've never just...used it as a place to publish personal content, or anything that I'm simply writing because I want to share it, like I do on social media.

In fact, every website I've ever built over the years has, in one way or another, been driven by the direct promise of money. All of my blogging has always been about "earning credential" and "SEO marketing", and all of those things. Blogging has always been a part of my content strategy, but I've never just...used it as a place to publish personal content, or anything that I'm simply writing because I want to share it, like I do on social media.

<a href="/articles/essays/your-site-as-a-central-hub/">The last year has invigorated that notion</a>. The idea that I can post on my site and treat it more like I treat my social media accounts than this idealistic place where I only write 2000 word essays. What's crazy, is it's not like this is new. In fact, that's really how blogging started. We just twisted it into something much more than it was, and let Social Media replace our traditional sense of what it is in the process. Look at <a href="https://jjj.blog/">JJJ</a>'s blog, <a href="http://ma.tt/">Matt</a>'s or <a href="http://chriscoyier.net/">Chris</a>' blog. Each one is chock-full of very short posts (ya know, blog posts) that are little more than quick anecdotes and that's it.

<a href="/articles/essays/your-site-as-a-central-hub/">The last year has invigorated that notion</a>. The idea that I can post on my site and treat it more like I treat my social media accounts than this idealistic place where I only write 2000 word essays. What's crazy, is it's not like this is new. In fact, that's really how blogging started. We just twisted it into something much more than it was, and let Social Media replace our traditional sense of what it is in the process. Look at <a href="https://jjj.blog/">JJJ</a>'s blog, <a href="http://ma.tt/">Matt</a>'s or <a href="http://chriscoyier.net/">Chris</a>' blog. Each one is chock-full of very short posts (ya know, blog posts) that are little more than quick anecdotes and that's it.

I think my website should be the most personal piece of me on the web, and yet it was historically been reserved for "my best" content, instead of a holistic look at me. As a result, all of my authenticity found itself on social media instead. I think that sucks. Why should Elon freaking Musk get the most authentic version of me? Mark Zuckerburg? Or anyone else for that matter? Screw that noise. I'm publishing stuff on my website first.

I think my website should be the most personal piece of me on the web, and yet it was historically been reserved for "my best" content, instead of a holistic look at me. As a result, all of my authenticity found itself on social media instead. I think that sucks. Why should Elon freaking Musk get the most authentic version of me? Mark Zuckerburg? Or anyone else for that matter? Screw that noise. I'm publishing stuff on my website first.

I've completely removed all of the big barriers that stopped me from publishing on my site before. Don't have a featured image? So what! Lacking the minimum number of words to make it a "worthy post"? Who gives a damn, publish it. What about headings? Not today, partner! Is this optimized for SEO? Who freaking cares.

I've completely removed all of the big barriers that stopped me from publishing on my site before. Don't have a featured image? So what! Lacking the minimum number of words to make it a "worthy post"? Who gives a damn, publish it. What about headings? Not today, partner! Is this optimized for SEO? Who freaking cares.

And with that, I've been actually using WordPress. like...just WordPress. To do WordPress things. As WordPress was intended to be used. 100% for myself. Like a personal, public journal. And you know what? It's amazing. I've taken some time to <a href="/articles/personal-updates/new-website-who-dis/">re-build my site</a>, and have made small customizations to my WordPress install, but seriously, I'm loving the writing process in the block editor. Turns out, when you get all of the stupid formalities, it's a lovely process.

And with that, I've been actually using WordPress. like...just WordPress. To do WordPress things. As WordPress was intended to be used. 100% for myself. Like a personal, public journal. And you know what? It's amazing. I've taken some time to <a href="/articles/personal-updates/new-website-who-dis/">re-build my site</a>, and have made small customizations to my WordPress install, but seriously, I'm loving the writing process in the block editor. Turns out, when you get all of the stupid formalities, it's a lovely process.

Rediscovering WordPress

Freelance Web Developer &amp; Senior Software Development Engineer at GoDaddy. Digital Nomad of 4 years. I talk about WordPress, off-grid, &amp; RV life.