Recently, viewers of this blog have been actually sending me email asking questions. Basically, they are the same questions worded different ways, so I figured I would throw it out there. Please feel free ask other questions (you can email me at: “blog at joeylombardi.com”), I like the feedback (and knowing there are human beings out there and not google spider-bots hitting the site).
1. Why do you write a blog?
I took journalism classes in high school and college and always liked to write. My career is technology based and doesn’t have a stomach for long form writing (everything is bullet points and executive summaries) – since I felt that part of my brain dying I opted to open a blog and began vomiting words on the internet. I started the blog when I had my business, Computer Joey. I thought I could write up things that were interesting to me technologically and drum up business for the store. Unfortunately (for the blog and everyone around me), I found myself not very excited about anything technology related due the number of hours I was working. So while I sat in the store waiting for customers to come in, I would write about anything except technology and computers. I didn’t have any expectations that someone would actually read it and for the most part, nobody did.
I didn’t post often and eventually a technological glitch made the original blog inaccessible, so I decided to start a new blog with a new tone. Eventually I made a commitment to myself to post every week to see if I can keep the schedule. Getting back to the original question, I like to write the blog because I can map a personal time-line of my thoughts and feelings realizing that the payoff on this project is long term. I write very much for me, with the hope that others can enjoy or learn from what is on my mind. At this point, I have lofty ideas that this blog will be around for decades to come and my son will have insight into who I was when he wasn’t around without any parental pre-text.
2. Why don’t you talk about your job?
When you go out to dinner with friends, don’t you hate it when they talk about work? Me too. So I don’t talk about my job here.
3. How much do you exaggerate in your stories?
Not as much as you might think.
4. Is your father really that silent/why do you write about your dad?
My father is a pretty quiet guy, he isn’t mute, but I think he wishes he could be (if the world allowed him to). I write about him because I have never met a personality type like his in all of my travels (his brothers are similar, but not the same). He is a truly unique person. The older I get, the more I understand him, so part of the exercise is to see if my take on something I wrote about him changes or adds more layers as life happens to me. Remember, many of the stories are written in stylized prose and are very much intended to be read with humor (my sister certainly laughs).
5. Where else do you write?
I have a work-focused blog called “The Source”:
http://sn.joeylombardi.com/
I am also a featured writer on the parenting blog BabyCenter:
http://blogs.babycenter.com/author/jlomba/
Recently, I have also been doing a podcast about work related IT topics which can be found on the “The Source” and at the following sites:
6. Wow – you really cut this section down, what is the deal?
12/1/2016 – I went back and read some of the questions and answers and they are so old, they just didn’t make sense anymore (there was so much babble about having kids in the future and now I have one old enough to demand meatball sandwiches… circle of life).
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That’s all for now. This particular article is intended to be a “living document” and will be opened up and changed as more questions are asked of me.
Thanks for reading!