This is actually the first time I’ve had any sort of website, besides social networking pages, where I am actually going to make an honest effort to do something worthwhile.

I’ve had websites in the past. Poorly assembled relics from another era, back when the web was just starting to gain popularity.
With my first site, I could barely code HTML and had one eye in a book with the other on a screen. I raided other sites for .gifs that moved, making little icons appear on the page next to different links, crowding the site with garbage. I thought it looked cool. I was excited it even existed.
Websites during the early days were all pretty crude, though. Coding a site was kinda like being a little kid who’s really proud of the macaroni picture he made in art class; jumbled with pasta of all shapes and sizes, globs of white Elmer’s slovenly smacked all around a green piece of construction paper along side some crude crayon or scented marker drawings and stickers. Your mom felt obligated to put it up on the fridge, no matter how ugly she thought it was, because you were so damn proud of it. Even though the world thought it was ugly, you thought it was the best thing ever. Ah, the infancy of the internet…

The second site I created was much later in my career. I was now schooled in Photoshop enough to make my own cool graphics. I had a copy of Adobe GoLive, which was supposed to make the whole idea of site construction simple. I think I did a pretty good job, all things considered. The problem was that, even though I had designed it for a singular purpose – as an informational page for my ongoing serial, Unlucky Seven – I never added any actual meat and potatoes. There was just a contact page and a bunch of promises in the form of an ambiguous “Coming Soon…” page.
The design was cooler and sleeker and, graphically, fairly awesome. In the end, it was like storefront on a studio lot: it looks like it serves its purpose in the most grand fashion from the outside, as if it had always been there and it was a reliable and wonderful building for a decade or so. Inside, however, it’s hollow and empty and you realize that it’s just a façade.
Unlucky Seven is, of course, a very real project. Don’t get that part wrong. I just couldn’t think of what sort of information to put on that site before I was frightened off of it totally by someone reminded me that this was, after all, the internet and I had no way to prevent idea theft beyond simply stamping a copyright on the site without any proper documentation. Not sure how well that would hold up in court, but I didn’t want to take the chance.

This is the third actual site I’ve done. Of course, I didn’t do it, this whole thing is just a style sheet available for free from WordPress. And, I know, it’s not its own actual site yet, but I’m working on it. Once I get some scratch together, I plan on buying my own domain. The advantage of this gigantic blogging conglomerate over others is that I can very easily plug exactly what you’re seeing here into another domain without a problem. Justinbidula.com may not be very far away. I may have to think of something better than that, though.

The reason I’m here and not anywhere else is that this place is a little more mature, slightly more professional looking, and definitely a better address than the one I used to have. Kinda like how people want to live in Beverly Hills because it makes them feel more important. Better address, better contacts, better exposure, and less association with teenage angst. After all, this is adult angst, now.

My question to you, dear reader, is this: Looking at the site so far, what do you think? Do you like this layout? Do you have any suggestions for what I should do with it? Is there anything you think I should add? Do you not like the colors? I mean it, folks. I’m here to make this a good-looking thing to showcase my writing. Any suggestions in this the opening week would be much appreciated.
Hell, suggestions any time would be much appreciated. That’s one thing I should do. Open a suggestion box here. I think I’ll get to that right now, actually…

The real writing will be here soon, I promise, just as soon as I get this house in order.

Keep fighting the good fight.

—end transmission—

For those of you who know me, this is probably my third blog.

You might be asking why I’ve decided to take up another residence.  Honestly?  Because it’s much better to direct someone to a domain name like this when you’re trying to show other professionals your writing style.  Rather than asking them to “check out your livejournal” or “hit me up on Facebook or MySpace”, you can give them a simple domain with one specific purpose rather than forcing people to sift through the detritus which tends to pollute places like that.

I am fairly sure that anyone interested in my writing for professional purposes could give two shits less about what I need for my collections in Mafia Wars and don’t really need to know that I found a lost cow in FarmVille.

For those of you who have been following me from my blogging infancy on LiveJournal, pushing up on a decade ago (believe it or not), I welcome you back.  I can’t promise that I’m going to start posting with the regularity and vigor with which I once had.  Things have changed since then.

When I was updating on a daily basis back in ought-one, for instance, I was busier, but could still make time at the end of the day.  One of the few advantages of part-time retail employment is not working every day from nine-to-five.  This allowed me the luxury of glorious insomnia; the ability to stay up far beyond the wee hours if I so chose due to the sheer lack of anything to do the next day, besides maybe go to a class or two and fucking around at my college radio station.  Nothing that required the devotion of being fully awake and nothing that couldn’t be sat through without the promise of an early afternoon nap upon completion.

I can promise that, when I post here, it will be of the quality which has been demonstrated throughout my career.  I can promise that I will make an effort to update this place as much as possible, maybe even dredge up some classic entries in a vain effort to archive some of my better attempts at social commentary in a more professional environment.

To those of you picking me up for the first time, welcome.  I hope you’ll stick around.  You will find my opinions honest and, usually, wordy.  Don’t let this discourage you, however.  The vocabulary only looks intimidating.  Keep reading and you might find something entertaining.

Everything from everyday happenings to social observations to reviews of music, movies, and video games will appear here.  It may not be as regular and consistent as you like, but it will be interesting when it happens.  I don’t expect you to always agree with me, but, that’s what the comment field is for.  I love comments.  I welcome debate.  I have no problem answering to any of my opinions or listening to any of yours.  You may even change my mind, though you’ll find it a tough task, as I’m rather bull-headed and tend to stick to my guns.  I’m sure, in the end, we’ll be great friends.  If not, the hell with you, stop reading my blog.

In any case, welcome to the latest iteration.  This will be my new home.  I can only hope that my baggage fits in here with everyone else’s.

Fight the good fight.

In the words of one of my writing idols:

“Buy the ticket, take the ride.”

Mahalo.

—end transmission—