Got A New Job!

Well, I did it! I’m back to the workforce as a cubicle drone, since freelance writing wasn’t working out for me.

I’m pretty much going back to doing the same stuff that I did before I tried out freelance writing, which is Clinical Data Management. In case, you’re wondering what Clinical Data Management is, it’s essentially looking over clinical data gathered from a clinical trial and making sure that it abides by the drug study’s pre-determined protocol. Sounds pretty action-packed, doesn't it?

So, with me now back to being a monkey in a cubicle jungle, does that mean I’ll stop writing and blogging? Absolutely not! Maybe, I’ll be doing it less, but I’ll probably be still keeping up with my blogs on the side, while I work. Maybe, once in a while, I might even write an article or two. But now, writing is now officially back to being a “hobby” for me as opposed to a profession (or more like an attempted profession).

Overall, there’s a few things that I’ve learn from trying to make a living as a freelance writer. Here’s a basic list.

1.) Freelance writing is NOT for the lazy! In fact it’s very hard work.

2.) Freelance writing is about being PRO-ACTIVE and not just waiting for an assignment to fall on your lap. Unfortunately for me, I learned that a little too late.

3.) Freelance writing requires more discipline and self-conditioning than most regular jobs in general.

4.) Freelance writing is all about advertising yourself, making contacts, and keeping contacts. This is another thing that I unfortunately didn’t concentrate hard enough on.

5.) At the beginning of any freelance writing career, starting a blog is a must.

Interesting Site - "Storied Mind"

I found this very interesting site just the other week or so about writing, depression, and spirituality. It's called the Storied Mind. For one thing, this writer has a very stimulating "exploration" style to his writing as he freely ponders and philosophizes on the various layers of life and existence, especially through the eyes of one who suffers from depression.

Though I don't necessarily agree with some of his spiritual views, but I do find his entire exercise of contemplation to be very stimulating and almost poetic in many cases.

The link to his site is http://www.storiedmind.com/

From now on, this site will be included in the "Links" section of this blog.

My Maine Journey - Introduction

Finally, after a few days of missed updates, I can finally write about my nearly week long trip to Maine (August 25th-30th). Overall, I’ve been to Maine about 2 or 3 times in my life and this most recent one really opened my eyes on the things that are wonderful about this state other than just lobster. So with each update for this Maine series, I’ll include a few photos or a video log or two along with some commentary. One or two pieces of advice will also be given for anyone who plans on going to Maine in the future.

So for this first entry, I’ll begin with a simple sunset photo of the first motel I stayed in upon arriving in Maine. You're probably saying to yourself "What? A motel shot?", but hey, I think this is a nice photo to begin with since it's the basic starting point of the whole Maine experience (besides the long driving).

First Piece of Advice for Maine Visitors
Advice #1: If you live quite a few hours away from Maine and you plan on driving there, devote one whole day to driving and don’t try to schedule any Maine exploration that same day. Not only will you be tired when you explore, but you’ll also be rushed and will probably not enjoy it as much.

Shot My First Gun!

Continuing on with catching up from the previous weeks, on Saturday, August 23rd, I went with some friends to a firing range somewhere in Pennsylvania. It’s called Sunset Hill. And there, on that nice sunny August day, I finally fired my first gun—a 9mm Beretta! Boy, it was a lot louder than I expected. A short clip of it is posted below.



Overall, it was quite a blast. In addition to that I also got to fire an STG-58 machine gun, Defender shotgun, and a sniper rifle. To say the least, they were all pretty amazing. But I’d have to say that out of all of them, the shotgun was my favorite. Not only did it have a strong kick, but also all you had to do was aim it in a general direction and you hit everything in and around your target! A pic of my shotgun experience is right below.

Now that I’ve completed my first item on my “Bucket List” that should just leave the following:

1.) Go on a cruise. (never been on one)

2.) Visit the West Coast. (never been there)

3.) Visit a tropical beach. (nope, never been there either)

4.) Shoot a gun. (DONE)

5.) Visit Europe. (yeah, same as above)

6.) See the New Year's ball drop at Time's Square in person.

7.) Visit Japan. Eat some Kobe beef. (visited China, not Japan)

8.) Go snorkling/scuba diving.

9.) Eat a dog!!!! (seriously, you would think I would have covered that during my trip to China)

10.) Go to a wine tasting. (I'm such an uncultured twit)

11.) Go spelunking.

12.) Learn how to fly a plane.

Wish me luck on the others!

Ain't He Cute! - My Nephew From Philly

On August 19th through the 20th, I went down to visit my brother at Philly for one last time before his family moved to Shanghai for employment purposes. Well, it was a little difficult to say goodbye and I'll especially miss seeing my nephew, Joshua, grow up. The good thing is, at least I have this video of him! In case you haven't already guessed, the lady in the video's my mom.

Just Got Back From Maine - Will Update Soon!

To say the least, Maine was awesome!

Update from Massachusetts!

Greetings from Massachusetts, Mad Hermit viewers! This past week has been much busier than usual and so there's been much less time to update this blog. Fortunately, enough, by this weekend, things will be caught up and I’ll be able to fill everyone in on what’s been going on.

Currently, I’m on a trip with my family to Maine and given that I probably won’t have much Internet access for the rest of the trip (with today being an exception due to some fabulous wireless accommodation by the hotel), there won’t be much to see for the next few days. Sorry to disappoint (yeah, like anyone really cares)!

But, anywho, I’m currently trapped in a nice cozy hotel room in Massachusetts, which is the halfway point to Maine from Jersey. Tomorrow, I’ll probably be crossing over the New Hampshire border later that day.

So, I’ll try my best to bring back as many souvenirs as I can (like hopefully a kidnapped Stephen King or that weird clown from “IT”)! Wish me luck and I hope I don’t stare into the “deadlights”!

A Mad Hermit Disclaimer

I'm just writing this disclaimer to let people know where I stand with certain things that I post on this site.

For those of you who have been following "The Mad Hermit", every now and then, I have the habit of posting videos or various "art" pieces (namely in the artist's showcases) that I find either amusing or poetically crafted.

But I have to note that, just because I may promote certain pieces from select artists, it does not necessarily mean that I promote or share the same views of those said artists/performers.

FabledVerse, for example, is one artist who, although I enjoy some of his pieces, I do not share the same views as him based on what I saw from his other Youtube posts.

So I just wanted to clear that up for everyone out there just to be "safe".

Happy reading!

Check Out My New Blog

I recently started this Asian American blog for the today.com network. It's called "Asian America". For those you who are interested, be sure to check it out at:

http://asianamerica.today.com/

So far, I've been trying to divide my time between "The Mad Hermit" and "Asian America". It's been quite a hassle, to say the least, but hopefully I'll get use to this. From now on, this site will be included in the "Links" section.

Three Sites On Writing and Freelancing That You Need to Check Out

Today, we have a special treat, here, at "The Mad Hermit".

I ran into three specific blogs that anyone who's interested in writing should check out. From now on these sites will be included under the "Links" section of this blog.

"Caught in the Stream"
This writing blog is wonderful blog that displays the art, the poetry, and the various writings of Francis Scudellari, the founder and maintainer of this site. His work is very stimulating and for those of you who also enjoy abstract art, this is definitely for you!

"Word Strumpet"
This site is run by Charlotte Rains Dixon who's a free-lance writer, novelist, copy writer and a creative writing teacher living in Portland, Oregon. Her blog covers tips on creative writing and it also records her personal experiences and insights from her travels as a constantly growing writer. It's a very wonderful and well-rounded site, overall, and it's definitely worth a look.

"The Freelance Writer Journal!"
The Freelance Writer Journal is a blog that specializes in hints, tips, and articles that "a freelance writer will ever need to make a career out of freelance writing". Overall, this site had somewhat of a long hiatus in updates and has, only recently, began updating on a more regular basis. But, despite this, the site carries some promise in terms of giving good advice for beginner freelancers and it could help them out in terms of avoiding some beginner mistakes.

The Mad Hermit Youtube Channel

Though I should have presented this earlier, for those of you who are interested, my Youtube channel can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/MadHermit7

This channel basically contains all my videos in addition to some other videos from other people that I found quite interesting. From now on, I'll include my channel in the Link section of this blog.

Being Sick Sucks!

Sorry for the lack of updates these past few days! After getting hit hard with the flu, I've been devoting nearly all of my time towards recovering and in getting a last minute freelance assignment done.

To at least give you something more than just words, I've included a glamorous snapshot of myself from Monday just to give you an idea of my condition, along with a practical solution towards relieving a runny nose. Enjoy!

A Brief Update- Samuel Godfrey George's Blog

Just a brief update to everyone regarding one of the blog's links in the "Links" section. For those interested in viewing the poetry and thoughts of Samuel Godfrey George, he's changed his blog title from "Relish the Cognitive Process" to "The Voice".

Yes, the address is still the same, nonetheless, at http://samuelgodfreygeorge.blogspot.com/, but the title is just different. Please note this.

Jonny's Got Some New Shoes!

Got myself a brand new template for "The Mad Hermit"! Do you like it? I hope so, since I'm pretty much going to be sticking with it for quite a while.

Anywho, for those of you who are interested in changing their blog templates or design, here are two useful sites that are worth a gander:

Free Blogger Skins

Blog Templates

Update - Blog Commercials

Just to update you viewers on what's to come.

I've recently signed up for a program known as "PayPerPost" and, essentially, it's a program that allows you to earn money for posting entries that promote various companies/products. So basically, from now on, don't be surprised to see me posting a promotional post advertising a random brand/service that really doesn't have anything to do with "The Mad Hermit" at all.

Just think of them as "blog commercials" that pop up every now and then between shows. All in all, when these promotionals come up, they'll be tagged under "promotional", so in case you're confused for whatever reason, just look for the tag.

- The Mad Hermit

Blog Update: Sorry for the Difficulties

For those of you who happened to gander down to my blog between yesterday and 11:15 AM today (which is probably around 3 whole people), all of you may have noticed that the video entries were non-fuctional. Well, for the sake of not leaving anyone out in the dark about what happened, basically I ran into some difficulty with the video uploading process and, later on, some small technical loopholes with Youtube.

But now, everything should be all fixed and there shouldn't be any further issues regarding video posts. The only problem is, now all my video entries have been made public on Youtube. I know this is a little ironic to say (given that this blog itself is a public site), but I'm not sure exactly what I just got myself into by opening this up to the Youtube community. To say the least, this could either help me or hurt me and only time will tell.

New Video Blog Addition

Quick Update

This is just going to be a quick update on what's going on in the blog.

About a day ago, I placed an order for a web cam using some gift cards that I got from Christmas (piece of advice--once you get gift cards, be sure to use to them immediately!). According to a recent notification, the web cam has already been shipped so, hopefully, in the next day or two, I could start including video blog entries onto "The Mad Hermit".

In the long run, I think that this could be a good improvement to the blog, since it would put a more "human" face to it. Well, let's hope this works!

Welcome to the "Blog"

This is my first attempt at trying out the "blogging"experience. As of now, I don't really have an exact theme for my blog other than having it to be a journal of miscellaneous thoughts and discoveries about my life.

For those who read, feel free to introduce yourself, comment, or maybe crack a fine joke. I'm always in the mood for humor, providing that it's good of course. Right now, this is a fairly quick entry as I'm about to embark on a short trip to Philly to attend my nephew's baby dedication at my brother's church.

Personally, I hope this blog would be the beginning of a wonderul endeavor for me as it would be to whoever reads this. If not, at least it would be some sort of creative outlet for me to vent and express my views (whether offensive or inoffensive).