My new personal blog

To anyone who may still be subscribing or stopping by here, I have started a new blog at http://jarredtaylor.com. You can also continue to find my more formal writing at http://tropophilia.com.

Tropophilia has launched

We have launched our new blog, Tropophilia, at http://www.tropophilia.com/. Check it out, subscribe, become a fan on Facebook, leave a comment, and tell your friends!

From the ashes, a phoenix will rise

Hi all. Thanks to those of you who still stop by to see if anything is going on in these here parts. I'm sure you're all disappointed that you find little is happening with Journeys with Jrod. I apologize if I've let you down, but I just don't seem to have the same interest in writing about the details of my own life right now.

Besides the obvious changes of graduation and starting a new life in the nation's capital, there were emotional dramas at play that did not bear discussing in the digital realm. And since those dramas consumed most of my thinking time, there was really little else to write about; and what little there was to write about, there was no motivation to make it happen. Instead of turning to blogging to confront my emotional demons, I turned to my family and friends to help me survive the last eight months of 2007. It was definitely the wiser choice. If any of them are reading, you know that I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there for me. And so does my mama.

Maybe one day, when I'm sorted out enough to reflect properly on my day-to-day experiences, I'll bring this blog back to life. I really enjoyed the year or so of work that I put into Journeys with Jrod. Right now, though, I'm going to let it hibernate.

Personal chaos aside, I'm still a geek. Indeed, many posts here were devoted to technology-related subjects (usually Google). While I might be taking my personal blog off life support, this is not the end of Jrod's blogging career. Indeed, it may just be the beginning.

The more observant among you may have noticed that the text in your address bar changes to a different address when you visit this blog. This is part of some technical testing that I am doing for a fresh and shiny new project that I am starting with three of my friends. The forthcoming Tropophilia -- due to launch in the next week or two -- will explore the massive changes that our world is undergoing. Climate, technology, politics: it's all a-bubblin' with change. Good and bad ramifications come with that change, and my friends and I are making it our mission to assess both.

I know this sounds broad, and it is. Our baby will take more definite shape as it rolls along. Right now, all we know is that we are tropophiliacs -- lovers of change. We want to make our blog accessible to the general reader by providing context through both explanation and links, but we also want to reach out to kindred spirits who read about and are excited about the shake-ups that are happening across cultures, industries, political lines, and all other demographics. Hopefully if you're not a tropophiliac when you first start reading our blog, you'll be one by the end. I'll let you know when we launch fo' shiz.

Thanks for every visit and comment made to this blog over the past two years. When we do anything -- read a newspaper, watch TV, spend time with our loved ones, read a blog -- we're literally "paying" attention. You're giving the gift of your awareness to someone else. That gift is precious, and I think we forget that too often. So thanks for every second of your attention. I hope, on the whole, it has been worth your investment.

For now, this is Journeys with Jrod's final yawn before going into the cave for the winter. Don't worry. I think we'll meet on this page again in due time.

The Dawn of E2K in India - New York Times

The Dawn of E2K in India - New York Times

Someone read the last sentence of the second paragraph and let me know if it makes sense to you.

Oh Friedman... stop drinking on the job...

I am still alive

I'm alive, loyal readers. Most of you probably don't check this site anymore, have unsubscribed from the feed, and are even letting those glory days of JwJ fade out of your memories. I wouldn't blame you.

I am really hoping to bring this blog back to life. I have felt somewhat uninspired over the past two months, as I have broken into the real world and have become distracted by the excitement - as well as the heartbreak, exhaustion, and frustration - that it brings. But I have come to realize that this is exactly the time of my life that I need to be cataloging my thoughts. I don't keep any other journal, and in thirty years I (and others) will wonder what I was feeling and thinking in this time of unparalleled change in my life.

So, I won't make any promises... but I really want to get back on the blog wagon soon. Just give me a while to find my groove again. Who knows... maybe even the satellite challenge will come back from the depths!