Thursday
Aug192010
Blogging Story: Fave
Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 10:00AM
This blogging story comes to us from Fave of the Friday Favecast. Fave is also a 2007 Black Weblog Award Winner for Best Podcast (Judges' Vote).
I tried to kill myself.
Upon the encouragement of "those people (i.e., family and pseudo-friends)" -- who could never understand my passion -- I tried to kill my creative spirit. I stopped feeding him and isolated his energy from the outside world until he became weak. Despite making gains on the corporate ladder, being financially secure and achieving the approval of "those people" -- I knew what I had become was quite pathetic.
I was driving south on the Pensacola Bay Bridge in the middle of a rainstorm. It was 4 a.m. -- visibility was horrible and my being sleepy didn't help. I picked up my phone to record a voice memo and that's when my creative spirit revolted (or maybe I had just snapped). I started talking into the phone about everything from my favorite songs and torrid love affairs to why I needed to do more with my life. That afternoon, I transferred the audio file to my laptop and posted it on my highly neglected online journal.
This was my first favecast.
Over the next few months, I posted 3-5 minute "audio blogs" on current events, my writing projects and health related issues. In other words, it was boring as hell.
Meanwhile, I was listening to HoneySoul and EJ Flavors, two bloggers / podcasting pioneers who shared great music with the people. They engaged music lovers online and inspired me to stop recording sound bites with my phone and start expanding.
On December 8, 2006 -- I bought a $7 microphone and used the audio editing software on my desktop to create and post my first full-length podcast. My love of soul and progressive hip hop shined through my playlist and I committed to posting something new at the end of each work week.
In April 2007, I moved the favecast from my blog, www.favoritenitemare.com, to its own URL: www.fridayfavecast.com. My goal was to simply share the good news of great music and connect to fellow music lovers with uplifting commentary. I dreamed one day I would interview artists like Eric Roberson and interact with music aficionados online.
Three years and 100+ episodes later, God has blessed the Friday Favecast to exceed my expectations. This podcast has connected me to phenomenal artists, producers, writers, bloggers, podcasters and music lovers across the globe. In 2009, it took me aboard a naval aircraft carrier and enabled my wife and I to host Houston's first podcamp.
This podcast opened doors for me to not only interview Eric Roberson, but to produce a song with him. The Friday Favecast took me out of my kitchen in Texas and placed me in Los Angeles to attend the GRAMMYS. More importantly, I have a circle of brothers and sisters-in-podcasting who continue to energize my creative spirit more than they realize.
Being a blogger/podcaster is more than my rambling over good tunes, it's an affirmation of my creative spirit and a reminder that talents that aren't shared...aren't talents.
How did you begin blogging? Who (or what) influenced or inspired you? What has blogging brought to your life? We want to know! Send your post to staff@blackweblogawards.com in text (500 words or less), audio, or video, and we’ll post them on the Black Weblog Awards blog! Visit our Blogging Story post for more information.
I tried to kill myself.
Upon the encouragement of "those people (i.e., family and pseudo-friends)" -- who could never understand my passion -- I tried to kill my creative spirit. I stopped feeding him and isolated his energy from the outside world until he became weak. Despite making gains on the corporate ladder, being financially secure and achieving the approval of "those people" -- I knew what I had become was quite pathetic.
I was driving south on the Pensacola Bay Bridge in the middle of a rainstorm. It was 4 a.m. -- visibility was horrible and my being sleepy didn't help. I picked up my phone to record a voice memo and that's when my creative spirit revolted (or maybe I had just snapped). I started talking into the phone about everything from my favorite songs and torrid love affairs to why I needed to do more with my life. That afternoon, I transferred the audio file to my laptop and posted it on my highly neglected online journal.
This was my first favecast.
Over the next few months, I posted 3-5 minute "audio blogs" on current events, my writing projects and health related issues. In other words, it was boring as hell.
Meanwhile, I was listening to HoneySoul and EJ Flavors, two bloggers / podcasting pioneers who shared great music with the people. They engaged music lovers online and inspired me to stop recording sound bites with my phone and start expanding.
On December 8, 2006 -- I bought a $7 microphone and used the audio editing software on my desktop to create and post my first full-length podcast. My love of soul and progressive hip hop shined through my playlist and I committed to posting something new at the end of each work week.
In April 2007, I moved the favecast from my blog, www.favoritenitemare.com, to its own URL: www.fridayfavecast.com. My goal was to simply share the good news of great music and connect to fellow music lovers with uplifting commentary. I dreamed one day I would interview artists like Eric Roberson and interact with music aficionados online.
Three years and 100+ episodes later, God has blessed the Friday Favecast to exceed my expectations. This podcast has connected me to phenomenal artists, producers, writers, bloggers, podcasters and music lovers across the globe. In 2009, it took me aboard a naval aircraft carrier and enabled my wife and I to host Houston's first podcamp.
This podcast opened doors for me to not only interview Eric Roberson, but to produce a song with him. The Friday Favecast took me out of my kitchen in Texas and placed me in Los Angeles to attend the GRAMMYS. More importantly, I have a circle of brothers and sisters-in-podcasting who continue to energize my creative spirit more than they realize.
Being a blogger/podcaster is more than my rambling over good tunes, it's an affirmation of my creative spirit and a reminder that talents that aren't shared...aren't talents.
How did you begin blogging? Who (or what) influenced or inspired you? What has blogging brought to your life? We want to know! Send your post to staff@blackweblogawards.com in text (500 words or less), audio, or video, and we’ll post them on the Black Weblog Awards blog! Visit our Blogging Story post for more information.
Reader Comments (4)
#bwa2010 – New Post: Blogging Story: Fave http://goo.gl/fb/UwmJy" rel="nofollow">http://goo.gl/fb/UwmJy
This comment was originally posted on http://twitter.com/blkweblogawards/statuses/21579594097" rel="nofollow">Twitter
What a powerful story - and your closing line has been the soundtrack in my head for MONTHS. Thank you so much for sharing your story! It's stories like these that inspire young bloggers like me to keep seeking and sharing our talents.
i tried 2 kill myself -> http://tinyurl.com/2bjf4xj" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/2bjf4xj #abloggingstory #BWAs
This comment was originally posted on http://twitter.com/fave/statuses/21836649775" rel="nofollow">Twitter
RT @fave i tried 2 kill myself -> http://tinyurl.com/2bjf4xj" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/2bjf4xj #abloggingstory #BWAs
This comment was originally posted on http://twitter.com/TalentedInk/statuses/21836982318" rel="nofollow">Twitter