I need to build a website..

..and I'm not sure where to start. A new computer and a scanner would be useful. And hey, why not throw in Adobe Creative Suite while you're at it??

On alignment

2012 has started fantastically. On January 1 I woke in the woods by the rushing Chattooga River. I took a hike and went for a trail run. I took photos. I did my yoga on a mat covered with nature's glitter: sparkling mica flakes. I cooked a meal for two on a fire....and I thought some about my resolutions. (I think I, and you, always have resolutions and the idea is just amplified when the calendar changes, but still, it's generally a good idea to resolve to do something every now and then isn't it?) One of these is figuring out the best way to navigate the web and its many associated tools to best suit me, professional me as well as personal me. While completely disconnected from the web, and completely engrossed in the present moment--the woods--and the simple needs of my body, I realized I could more clearly imagine the digital presence I want to work toward once I got reconnected back home.

I have realized that having an iPhone has spurred my shift away from social media. I've noticed I don't want to be on facebook as much, and that among all the rubbish I do enjoy the interaction with close friends and photo sharing elements of social media the most.

If something is right there, all the time, I don't feel the need to be as connected to it directly. For example, I've disabled notifications from facebook on my phone and twitter will be next. Can't they wait till I'm ready for them?

So I begin the new year pondering how to align my professional and personal presences on the web. The Internet is an amazing tool that can only serve us as much as we allow it and construct it to. I'm an aspiring writer and photographer; I love my 9-5 job, but I don't really know where the two collide. I want to maintain some privacy--today there is so much information about everything (Isn't a little mystery nice sometimes?)--but if I ever want a real presence, I must use my name, myself, my real self. That's what people like. I think.