Da blog
I am a self-made webmaster, self-diagnosed with ADD. I have started this blog, evernerve.com, to teach you everything that I can about life and webmastering. I want to teach you how to build good websites, and of course make money from them. During this process, most people fanatically try to earn millions as fast as possible, while forgetting that life beyond the Web in fact does exist. Therefore, I am also going to give you advice on how to live a normal life and not become a sick, spineless webmaster. I will post articles about the following:
Web
- Enjoying the life of being a webmaster/web designer
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) - this one should bring you €€€ (I’ve put the euro signs here instead of dollars because the dollar is in decline)
- SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
- How to create beautiful and compelling designs, that are pleasing to your third eye and to your site visitors also
- Hosting and domains
- Blogging
- Web basics (HTML and similar nice things)
Life
- Keeping a sharp mind
- Expanding your mental capabilites: Memory expansion, speed reading and similar nifty stuff.
- Mens sana in corpore sano. That’s latin for “A sound mind in a sound body”. I am also going to tell you how not to become a lardball or a skeleton.
- Martial arts (see above)
- Self improvement (all of the above + NLP, hypnosis, social interactions and such)
- Loud music (grindcore, death metal and such sick stuff)
- Going into extremes
- Alcohol, tobacco and other interesting shit for anyone sporting ADD
- Living abroad
Da man
I am a dude from Europe.
I was a little angel in elementary school, having excellent marks, but who tended to associate with lowlifes and roam around backyards, basements and rooftops (early signs of unruliness). During these mythical voyages, I fell through ice during winter, got bitten by a semi-domesticated dog and almost burned one eye. This is also the period when heavy bullying began from various unsavoury characters (which led to suicidal tendencies later). Also, this is when my family moved for the first time. From a small, provincial town on the seaside to a big inland city. From that moment on, I led something of a double life, having two different worlds, one during summer and other vacations, and the other during school.
High school was a turning point: that’s when I got my first computer. I was hooked instantly. The school suffered. I didn’t give a shit. It was a cool sanctuary from the bullying that continued (switching from physical violence in elementary school to psychological abuse and torture). I began creating graphics on a 4.77 MHz machine with a Hercules graphics card (monochrome ruled because it was inexpensive). Soon, I got myself an Amiga (via begging my parents) and began doing gfx in Deluxe Paint III, which was really something in 1990. I joined a demo group - we made an intro :). An important thing happened during this period: I met a real bully. A true scumbag that scared the shit out of me: bigger, knife-wielding, sneaky son of a bitch that even followed me around in an attempt to extort money from me. I was terrified. And no one was able to help me, not even my own folks. This encounter was the second turning point: I enrolled in a martial arts club and thus began my life-long love story with martial arts. Thank you, unnamed asshole, for you made me discover a whole new world and stuff about myself I didn’t know even existed. What followed was Kenpo, Ninjutsu, Aikido, Kick Boxing and more recently, Muay Thai.
Studies came. I enrolled at the university, planning to become an architect. I was very talented at drawing, but my sense of spatial purpose, architectural relations and meanings sucked bigtime. I was frustrated and it took me many years to realize that I wasn’t cut for an architect. Not for a brick-and-mortar one, anyway. A digital architect, well, yes! I am a self-taught webmaster, I learned everything from the books and the Web. Never went to a single course. Yep, it is possible, although more slow and difficult for someone with ADD. I began by learning HTML, which I found on a webpage… I think it was called “Anthony’s HTML course” or something like that, I’m not sure.
When I understood that I was to leave my studies, I began working at various places, doing various jobs, to be able to rake in some money while I was still learning web design. Amongst other things, I worked as a technical and simultaneous translator, thanks to the gift I had from birth: a knack for learning new languages and an excellent hearing. I speak fluently 4 languages and know some basic stuff about two exotic ones: Arabic and Korean. This knowledge alone makes you a very interesting prospect for employers and business owners. Also, you are able to communicate with a large number of people, almost anywhere in the world. Believe me, this is a very, very nice and cool thing. It opens many doors and introduces you to new worlds.
Later, I began working in the web design field, first as a freelancer, than as an employee, in small as well as large companies. I learned a lot there. It was well worth it, even if the pay wasn’t much. Then, I began freelancing (and pulled off a couple of projects which brought me respect and money) and working as a part-time teacher in the IT field. There I discovered my urge to pass my knowledge onto others.
I am living abroad again, and freelancing again. And I am earning money from the websites that I made. My websites. And I will show you how to do that too.
