The World of Joel

So I didn’t post last Friday, and I may not post tomorrow, and this is all because of my second quarter of summer school finishing up this week. I have finals today, and I have another final on Wednesday. Although most schools have already started there Fall quarter, I actually don’t start my Fall quarter until the last week of September, so next week is my one free week to just relax, sleep, and catch up on some more much needed R&R time. So I apologize in advance for the next day or two, but I promise I have a lot of interesting posts to make in the days and weeks to come! For now enjoy my network of TV sites which by the way the new Fall season starts premiering shows next week, so get ready everyone!

I used to be an avid bowler, you wouldn’t know it by my 109, 115, and 77 scores today, but nonetheless bowling is by far one of the most under rated sports out there, it is just a blast. It has been at least a year since I went to the alley, but after a great lunch with Jenn we went with Jake and Amy (my brother and sister) to a local bowling alley where we got an hour of bowling and another free lunch. It was a great time and the best part is my brother Jake and I were playing against each other each time and even with my terrible scores I still held him off, I won’t mention the 77 game, where he had to only knock down two pins in the tenth frame and through two gutter balls. I hope to hit the bowling alley a lot more before the summer comes to a conclusion. Below are pictures taken with my iPhone.

Jenn

Jake

Amy

I can’t believe I have gone two weeks without letting everyone know that I got an iPhone for my Birthday. Yes that’s right I took the plunge and went to the next generation of communication with the iPhone. Ok so maybe its not the next generation but it is actually a pretty cool phone. Like many things there is no denying the “Wow” factor when your walking around town and people see you pushing away on the touch screen or just seeing the Apple Logo as you walk by. Sure you will get a few questions from people but in all it is definitely an eye catching device. In terms of usability as a Cell Phone it is great outside the fact that its AT&T which has to be the worst wireless provider around. I never dropped calls on Verizon but with AT&T the service is rather spotty in my area.

Needless to say I have had a great time using the iPhone, the features are amazing, watching video as you can see below looks amazing, listening to music is great, and using the maps feature on the device is fantastic. I have found movie times, directions to events, and got reservations in ways that I never would have with my other phones. One thing I need to be careful of is keeping it clean, being that it is a touch screen it gets a lot of smudges and finger prints. There are a lot of nice little features like the alarm clock which has some great features, the calculator is solid, and Safari works well. I however don’t plan to use the Mail service, its just more inconvenient then anything.

For those on the border on whether they want to get an iPhone, I would say go for it, take the plunge. It is a solid cell phone, and a great iPod. I like having both devices in one and thus far I have really enjoyed the transition to using the iPhone. Now we just need to work on Ringtones and bringing iChat to the iPhone.

You know what my biggest problem is when it comes to web development? I get so into my sites for a good month or so, I plan them out, I have gerat ideas, and then for some reason or another I end up slowly losing interest in the sites and move onto a new idea. The only reason I seem to stick with sites is if they begin to perform well, something that many of my TV Sites are. However I have found over the past week that I am battling the temptation of moving myself to other projects especially with all the back work I have put into creating this network of TV sites. The only regret I have about this network is not implementing more into the sites then I have. I think I get to a point of content and then feel like that is good enough and to be honest I realize that in this highly competitive society, being satisfied with mediocrity will never cut it. So if you start making you way around the network of TV Sites you will notice some interesting changes with the inclusion of message boards, polls, wallpapers, and more. I am hoping that Google remains friendly to my sites and come September when these shows begin I will have some serious momentum going through the entire season. I am continually reminding myself that these are good ideas, and now I just have to go do them. Anyways keep an eye out on all the sites as it should be a full network wide update throughout the week.

As mentioned in the previous post this has been a rough week, I moved out of my house and am now at Jenn’s house, downstairs in a guest room. Jenn did a fantastic job setting up the room, it really looks nice and I have everything setup to get back to work. I really have been slacking this week, a lot of emotions go through my head but finally I am starting to come to terms with everything and am hoping for a great upcoming week. I apologize for the lack of updates on this blog as well as other TV blogs that I run, but I am really hoping for a big next week! I have so much to catchup on, here is to the weekend!

Well the past five days have been crazy, it was somewhat unexpected, but I am actually in the process of moving out of my house. My parents and I have decided it best that I leave, mainly due to some disagreements that have been taking place over past weeks. Being 21 it is hard to be forced out, somewhat embarrassing, but at the same time it is probably a good thing. I have been ready to move out, but financially I have never felt secure enough to do so. So right now I moved into Jenn’s folks house in a downstairs guest room. Jenn and her mom have set it up beautifully and by this weekend I should have a few pictures of the new house. I am hoping that this change of pace not only helps my relationship with my parents but also gives me some breathing room and some more focus on finishing school. In general that is the reason for the lack of posts, but you can expect to see daily updates again starting today.

In general it feels good to be in a new environment although my ultimate goal is in the long run to get my own place. When that happens, I don’t know. In general I have to say the process is tough, moving my stuff out of a house I have been in for 20 years is not an easy thing (not to mention all the junk) but I should finish it up today. This isn’t the way I figured I would be moving out but then again sometimes its better to just have something sprung upon you. Hopefully this change will be both positive for me and Jenn and my relationship.

Well today is supposed to be a big milestone, my 21st birthday. The question I am sure will come up a few times today, do you feel different? The obvious response is, no not really. However today I am actually working for a good half of the first day at the bank, and then dinner this evening with the family and Jenn. It’s weird to see myself in my 20’s I don’t know I just remember always thinking how old that makes you, and to be honest I just don’t feel that old. However I guess this is me hitting my prime and I should live it up, but with school just literally hitting a close all I feel like doing is sleeping and eating. All in all today should be a great day, starting at about 3pm (when I get off of work) that is, and hopefully I can rest up a bit as well!

It is not very often that I get a break from school, but today concluded my first quarter of summer school, which was a five week free for all that finally came to a screeching halt this morning. I have never been one to stay up late to finish assignments but I had a take home final for a Social Psychology class I am taking and I spent a good 15+ hours on this assignment which concluded this morning at 3:30am! The sheer joy and frustration I had this morning when I completed the assignment was something I had never experienced before but definitely gave me the true UC feel. However I have the next five days off until second session starts when I am taking yet again another two classes. Oh well busy rest of the week, my 21st birthday is tomorrow and Jenn’s 20th is on Friday. Yes our birthdays are only a day apart! Anyways thats the plan of attack for now, I am just so thankful that I have sometime to let my brain setting and get ready for another quarter! A break, now that sounds good to me!

So as many of you know from my experiences with my Macbook, that American Express was my saving grace. I began using American Express back in 2005 with my American Express Blue card and quickly upgraded to a free year of the American Express Gold card in the middle of 2006. What I love about my American Express card is first that the customer service has been fantastic, and with the Gold card you have no preset limit so whether I was putting my down payment on my Car or I buying the Macbook I never had any problems. And when I cracked my Macbook screen there 90 day Accidental Insurance kicked in and covered the repair 100%. So when I received the notice of the ability to upgrade to there Platinum card (one step below the ultimate Black or Centurion Card) I was all game. There is a hefty yearly charge for using the card but with 24/7 Platinum Card Concierge service, some great travel benefits, and a lot of other really strong features I am really excited to have the Platinum card. Check out the nice little box and portfolio it came in!

So as many of you have been reading over the weeks, I have been working on a big new project, and lets just say it has grown since the conception. It all began back in April when the TV series were beginning to hit there stride down the home stretch and I realized something I really enjoy watching TV. Why don’t I make a few fan sites for the shows I love. So that was just the beginning of what then turned into a much bigger project. I started out with just two sites OfficeTVBlog.com and HeroesInsider.net both shows that are moving forward with there viewers and two shows that I particularly love watching. I noticed right away within the first couple of days that I was generating traffic and some some ad revenue. So then came the announcement of the new Fall TV Shows for 2007 and I realized I should be buying domains right as they are announced and creating a network of fan sites, and thus the project we have today a compilation (just the beginning) of TV fan sites that all include News, Episode Reviews, Interviews, Wallpapers, Quotes and More. Want to check out what I have been working on? Here is a list of the fan sites currently completed or nearing completion:

OfficeTVBlog.com: Fan Site for The Office on NBC
HeroesInsider.net: Fan Site for Heroes on NBC
JerichoBlog.net: Fan Site for Jericho the recently saved show on CBS
FNLBlog.com: Fan Site for Friday Night Lights on NBC
PushingDaisies.org: Fan Site for New Show Pushing Daisies This Fall on ABC (Best Domain I Got)
ChuckTVBlog.com: Fan Site for New Show Chuck This Fall on NBC
BionicWomanTV.com: Fan Site for New Show Bionic Woman This Fall on NBC

I have so many more that are in the process that I will continually be updating here at WorldofJoel announcing the expansion of the network. In fact for those who think this seems somewhat disorganized, I agree and I actually have a grand scheme that I hope to have completed by this Fall season, but it is rather complex and is taking a lot of hours, so only time will tell. However any feedback on the sites, designs, content ideas, interested in writing for any of them, let me know! Thanks for reading everyone and the continued support!