I am having a flashbacks of error messages from COBOL. The solution is exactly the same for all of them: google what the error code is or what you want to do. Almost every time, someone has been trying to do what you are doing, and has documented failures and successes. It is  encouraging because you don’t feel alone, but also discouraging because you feel that you are trying to slam through a brick wall with your head; it hurts.

I am looking back at my thoughts from the first classes of the semester, and I am not seeing the kind of results that I had optimistically (naively?) put my sights on. But even with not being quite what I wanted to have at the end of this process, it has taught me that this isn’t the end. And that’s a good thing. I remember stating earlier that I didn’t like some previous projects that have lain dormant after the end of the corresponding semester, and I am confident that I will continue to tinker with this puppy until I get it perfect: that is to say, never! This also brings me to the issue of between midnight tonight and class on Tuesday, I will still be working on it to try and keep improving it, I hope Greg doesn’t mind!

I am learning that I don’t really want to be a “web genius” like Zuckerberg or Wozniak, because I do still want to be the journalist writing for the public, rather than one of them writing behind the scenes and changing our online lifestyles. It is laudable, but I want to be finding the stories that people read and get engrossed in. This by no means changes the fact that I find this class extremely interesting and fulfilling. I am so glad that I can now control my own online presence instead of dictating needs to someone else without knowledge of what is occurring. I find it detestable to not know how something works, and that is what will keep me employed as a journalist, and this class makes me even more valuable to would-be employers.

My final project has gone through several facelifts, and I am pleased with how it is shaping up, but I do not think that it is my vision yet. I do not think that it will be there until I completely work out some issues with the Twitter idea, the way for the blog to situate itself, and other ideas I have. I have come to the concession that I will probably find things I want to change about it every time I look at it.