Dave Caolo

Check out this description of a local re-imagining of “A Christmas Carol”

“This is truly a holiday ghost story, featuring terrifying images and dark emotions … There’s no countinghouse, no top hats, no parties, no feasting, no Tiny Tim. Four top-notch actors, in black turtlenecks and black pants, are on a black stage with a table, a chair, and a few candles and flashlights.”

There’s no way in hell I’d go see this artsy-fartsy molestation of the definitive Christmas story.

My kids aren’t too thrilled about the traditional Thanksgiving meal, so I let them make the Peanuts Thanksgiving Feast, as prepared by Snoopy:

Earlier this afternoon, I was doing my Saturday chores. Folding laundry, moving trash to the shed, tidying up the house. With the TV off, Norah Jones on iTunes and my wife out with the kids, I was having a nice time.

I walked into the playroom, and it looked like the Fuzzy Pumper Barber Shop had exploded. Dried Play Doh was everywhere. I went into the kitchen, got a trash bag, and returned to the playroom.

As I bent over to start scooping, I saw the kids’ dry erase board. On it was scribbles, dots and my daughter’s name, written in her own hand. Her squiggly little letters declared ownership of the random markings above and below. As I stared her little piece of artwork, I couldn’t help but acknowledge how earth-shatteringly awesome my life is.

My parents worked two jobs each and were the very definition of “broke.” My dad was gone before my sisters and I woke up in the morning, and returned each night to find us sitting patiently at the dinner table, not permitted to begin eating until he arrived.

My mother worked the graveyard shift at the hostpial, and went back to sleep after getting us out the door to school. As a parent myself, I understand the full weight of the sacrafices they made for us, and I’ll love and respect them for the rest of my life for it.

It’s a different story with my own family. We’re not rich; far from it. But my wife works as an elementary school teacher, and spends the whole summer at the lake or beach with the kids. It’s great for all three of them; a dream life.

But the biggest dream realized is my own. For years, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if I could work from home? Wouldn’t it be phenomenal if I was a major part of the Mac community? Wouldn’t it be amazing if I was always available for my kids, whenever they need me?”

I spend two days a week working outside of my house. Two days. Other than that, I’m either working from the kitchen table or with some of my friends at a co-operative office. I’m the co-lead blogger at one of the top Mac sites on the web. I’ve never missed a ballet rehearsal or recital, soccer game, school “show,” birthday party or whatever.

My wife and I aren’t rich, but we pay our bills and have enough left over for an occasional day at Water Wiz. And that’s just perfect by us.

I love that I can recognize the improvements in Grace’s scrawled letters. I love that I know what the kids’ favorite books are, the names of their school buddies and the silly routines that get them to bed.

Most importantly, I know that it can end in an instant.

Sometimes, things are so good, I just want to stop and write it down. I’m not religious, but I’m certainly blessed.

Very clever idea from SixApart. They’re offering free pro-level Typepad accounts to out-of-work journalists. Those who sign up will also receive promotion on SixApart’s Blogs.com, membership in their advertising program and more.

When I sold cars, we called this “The Puppy Dog Close.” Who’s going to say “No” to a puppy they brought home? No one, of course. SixApart is giving journalists an opportunity to do what they love, perhaps via a new medium, with lots of support. I’m betting they’ll have a slew of new paying customers 1 year from now.

It’s great to see a company create an opportunity from an economic downturn.

Recently, I’ve heard lamentation in the blogosphere. Incredible, I know. But this isn’t the usual bitching about poorly trained baristas or the new Star Trek trailer. Instead, bloggers are upset about the perceived diminishing role of the personal blog.

Consider the winners of recent weblog awards, and you’ll see 300lb gorillas like Engadget, Boing Boing and Gizmodo. Each has a team of skilled writers and editors who work for pay. Large corporations like Whole Foods and Starbucks* run terrific blogs as well. How’s a guy with a Typepad account and a sack full of opinions to compete with that?

Let me tell you right now, this is not a post about SEO. It’s not about the Oh My God Top Five Tips For Bloggers Ever Finally Revealed! You’ll find no unnecessary bold meant to get your attention, or lists with

1. Ideas
2. Brainstorms
3. Demonstrations
4. Concrete answers

I could tell you to include an image with every post, conveniently list popular posts and display your orange RSS icon prominently. I could, but I won’t because none of that will amount Jack Squat if you don’t know what the hell you’re trying to acheive in the first place.

Before you type a single letter, you’ve got to ask yourself the question, “What exactly am I trying to achieve with this blog?” I mean, sit down with a pencil and a piece of paper and figure it out. Write down your answer. That’s your purpose for cluttering my display with your pixels. Next, list the goals that will help you realize that purpose.

Finally, and this is the most crucial step, reconsider your answer regularly. Every few months at least. You’ll probably find that it has changed. Here’s what I mean.

When Merlin Mann started 43Folders, his interests were personal productivity and the GTD system specifically (correct me if I’m wrong, Merlin).  He built a decent following and produced great content. Then he reconsidered and switched gears:

“In light of some new directions I’m taking with my work, 43 Folders is changing focus and approach from being the ‘blog about productivity’ that many readers may view it as today.”

Were some people bummed? Yeah, probably. But who cares? Merlin knew that if he trudged along, writing what his readers expected, the whole thing would become drudgery and the content would suffer.

His interests and passions shifted. His life’s focus changed, and his blog went with it. Today, 43Folders is just as fantastic as it’s ever been because Merlin took the time to define exactly what he wanted 43Folders to be, and let that definition guide his content.

“But, Dave,” you say. “43Folders has a staff of writers. It’s the very type of blog we’re complaining about.” Simmer down. I’m getting to it now.

Daring Fireball is a great example of a successful one-man show. John mainly writes about Apple, Inc. I’d dare say that his purpose is to share his opinion on Apple’s products and practices, with a maraschino cherry of general nerdery on top. It works because John is a good writer, but also because he’s true to his blog’s purpose.

So John has found a niche: the tribe of Apple fanatics. What if you want to write about a broader topic? Check out my friend Liz’s Motherhood Is Not For Wimps. Liz shares real-life stories from her life as a parent. A pretty broad topic, no? But it works because there is a huge number of people who find her stories funny, uplifting and ultimately relatable. Liz knows that her goal is to share stories of motherhood with her readers.

Like we saw with Daring Fireball, you’ll find no staff at Motherhood Is Not For Wimps. No corporate back end. Just a passionate, focused writer.

Want to go for the combo? That is, a single-person blog that has gone through the gear-shifting that affected big ‘ol 43Folders so positively? Fine.

Shawn Blanc made a name for himself by writing insanely detailed reviews of popular Macintosh software. Before that, he wrote an equally exhausitive series on freelancing. Today, you’ll find posts on technology and brief blurbs about interesting pieces of software. Shawn’s focus has changed, and thank goodness. He could have forced himself through more mind-bending reviews, but his heart wouldn’t have been in it, and that would have been obvious.

Here’s what John, Shawn and Liz have in common with The Big Boys: Focus and direction. A plan. Engadet is about the coolest gadgets on the planet, and only those gadgets. Motherhood Is Not For Wimps is about beautifully-written, honest stores that engage parents everywhere.

So, there’s the question. “What exactly am I trying to achieve with this blog?” Write it down. Define the goals that will get you there. Now you’ve got a plan. Finally, review that plan at regular intervals and never be afraid to abort the mission. Your blog (and your readers) will be better for it.

Here’s my final bit of unsolicited advice. If your heart’s not in it, don’t do it. “I want to be like So-And-So, and So-And-So writes about Topic X, so I’ll write about Topic X, too. Then I’ll be like So-And-So.” Now you’ve contracted First Year Songwriting Major Disease.

When I was at Berklee as a songwriting major, I suffered from the First Year Songwriting Major Disease. That is, everything I wrote sounded incredibly like the music of established musicians I admired. No one wanted to hear how closely I could mimic Sting’s style, and I’m uninterested in your impression of So-And-So. Read their work to hone your skills (grammar, style, usage, etc.), but don’t succumb to temptation. I want to hear your voice.

If you’re passionate about the the most effective odor eaters for rental bowling shoes, kick my ass with your knowledge and skills. Screw So-And-So. When it comes to stinky footwear, you are THE MAN. Now go out there and rock it.

*I really want a Gold Card. Mail me one and I’ll love you forever. Seriously, I’ll even alter my son’s (or daughter’s) middle name. For real. Come on, send me a Gold Card, or The Baby Jesus will cry.

My wife came home with a present for me this afternoon: A Barack Obama bobble-head and a Barack “…action figure we can believe in.” The best part? The bobble says, “Yes, we can” when his head jiggles.

Awesome.

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a coating for solar panels that boost their effeciencey from 67.4% sunlight absorption to 96.21%. What’s more, it allows for absorbtion of the full spectrum of light across all angles, regardless of the sun’s position in the sky, eliminating the need for motorized panels that follow the sun. Pretty incredible.

[Via Ged]

Last week I listed the WordPress plug-ins that are a part of my standard installation. Today, I’ve picked out some more favorites (plus a couple goodies). These are plug-ins I’ve used with various projects and my own site. If your favorite isn’t listed, let me know! I enjoy finding new ones.

1. Google XML Sitemaps creates a Google sitemaps compliant XML-Sitemap. You needn’t lift a finger, and your custom pages are included. Plus, it pings all major search engines with each update.
2. Sideblog WordPress is what powers the “Interesting Finds” section of my sidebar. The way it works is simple: Identify the category you want to appear in your sidebar and paste the code in the right location (or add the widget). I love it because it allows me to post all the interesting things I find, while not cluttering up the longer articles.
3. Google Analytics for WordPress makes it super easy to install Google Analytics code. The best part is that if you change your template, you needn’t paste the Analytics code in again. The plug-in takes care of that for you.
4. flickrRSS pulls your latest Flickr images. I dare say this should have been included in my base installation, as so many templates make use of it.
5. PodPress powers my podcast, The Sci-Fi Cast. I do love this plug-in. PodPress takes care of all the data that iTunes wants, including categories, image and more. Plus, it puts a flash player with each post. It’s great.

Other goodies

WordPress for iPhone/iPod touch [App Store link] is pretty nice. Writing short posts is pleasant enough, and adding photos is easy. The truth is I prefer SixApart’s Typepad iPhone app as a mobile blogging tool [App Store link], but the demo of WordPress version 1.2 looks promising.

Woopra isn’t unique to WordPress, but there is a WordPress plug-in. It provides real-time stats, lets you chat with visitors, tag them, and much more. It’s in beta right now that they’re qutie pokey about approving new sites, but it’s worth it.

Last time, Nina suggested I check out WP-SpamFree, an anti-spam plug-in. I’ve only used it briefly, but it’s doing a nice job of catcing spam so far. Thanks, Nina!

The most popular search terms on davecaolo.com today. Weird.