Gotta start somewhere

They say starting something new is always difficult - and surprisingly, I've put off creating my own blog for a long while. Not sure why that is: I'm not a shy person, I don't really care if people disagree with me or don't like what I have to say, and I'm certainly not afraid of my own opinion.

So today, being a nice, slow day at work :) I decided to finally step up and do what several of my friends, most notably Sleb, have been saying I should do.

I work in a corporate environment with 70,000+ staff, so I tend to write and get TONS of e-mail. As a result, I typically heavily edit things that I type up because they can get forwarded to a lot of people (including externally). So, I think the first thing I'm going to do, is NOT do much editing of the blog - I don't want my ideas watered down - I want them to come out however they come out, and if I have to deal with a few flames or just say "I was wrong" later, or "oops, didn't mean it the way it sounded", I'm cool with that.

Thinking about what to write about on my first blog wasn't easy (okay, not rocket science, but I want it to be something meaningful), so I thought I'd use it to just brain-dump some of the ideas I'm hoping to use for future blogs.

1. First and foremost I'm a GEEK at heart (I've got the coffee mug, shirts, and certification to prove it), so you'll see a lot of posting on my chosen profession - security. In particular, I'm a Windows geek. Yeah, I know what some of you out there are thinking - isn't everyone! Sure, ther'es lots of them, but in the Windows Security space, I really know my shit (light patting on the back).
2. Learning Linux - yep, the Windows geek goes Linus :) I've always prided myself on being able to learn anything (though I really don't enjoy doing any deep-down programming), so why not move over to the penguin side...
3. My pet IT projects - log management and analysis. In particular, my little project is how to do this for FREE (or as close to it as possible), so I'll post tid-bits as I run across them, and probably a list of favorite links.
4. Woodworking (maybe). Everyone needs a hobby and my woodshop is mine. After a few years of collecting tools and renovating the house, the house is almost done and I've had more time to really get into the shop, so I might (occasionally) run down that path.
5. The wife and kids: the wife is XX years old (yeah, like I'll make the stupid mistake of saying her age) and the kids are an 11 (soon to be 12) year old boy and 3 year old girl. I also have a dog and a cat, so life is VERY full (sometimes too full - but I'm sure we all experience that from time-to-time).
6. Random thoughts and side-bar rants.

For those of you who know me, let me know if you think there's something I seem particularly wound-up about, and I'll take a stab at blogging it.