Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:52 — 29.2MB)
Welcome to episode 127 of the Journey Inside My Mind podcast!
Cover via Amazon
It’s hard to believe I started doing this over six years ago, and I wasn’t sure I’d come back. I was inspired to fire up the podcast recording software, play some music from Kutiman, and say a few words. read more »
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:30 — 41.7MB)
Welcome to episode 126 of the Journey Inside My Mind podcast! Just in time for the new year! 
Running time: 45:30
Please send in questions, comments, suggestions, feedback to daniel AT journeyinsidemymind.com
Happy New Year from beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio!
Do stop over and leave comments on the blog: http://journeyinsidemymind.com
Feel free to connect with me directly on Facebook: http://facebook.com/danieljohnsonjr
or on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/danieljohnsonjr
… or follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
Check out my Virtual Business Card with everything that I can’t put on a regular business card here: http://danieljohnsonjr.com/main/about
2010 is gone and 2011 is here. I thought about recording this at the end of 2010 and calling it Looking Back, Looking Forward. 2010 was a great year in many ways for me and my family.
+ Theme for 2010: Be More Helpful. Later, I also added: Have Incurable, Tough-minded Optimism.
+ I also set out to read 52 books in a year. Didn’t make it by a long shot, but I did wind up reading 12 books! Still way more than I had read in 2009.
+ Public speaking: spoke at quite a few groups around town.
+ Had some great interviews and got to work at a payroll processing software solutions company, doing Microsoft Dynamics CRM for several months. Even though I was laid off, it changed the way I look at business and relationships.
+ New Media Cincinnati: urged the group to try hard enough to fail at things in 2010, to take risks. We had some great learning experiences and formed a Steering Committee to guide the direction of the group.
+ Theme for 2011: Focus – Intention – Deliver. Evaluating my attention – is what I’m doing right now getting me where I really want to go? Why am I involved in this activity? When I say I’m going to deliver on something, I will deliver. Ship and get over the “preciousness” of my work.
+ Read Seth Godin’s book “Linchpin”
+ Keep on reading at least 1 book per month.
+ Look for additional opportunities to speak in public.
+ Find meaningful work – whether it’s as a freelance/independent contractor or working for someone else. Get paid! (back to the whole focus and intention thought).
+ New Media Cincinnati: grow the Cincinnati social media community – in numbers and in digital literacy.
Music: some of the music in this episode came from Music Alley from Mevio:
MinusBlue, “Ocean Sky”
Moloko, “Pure Pleasure Seeker”
Doug Ross, “Distractions”
Eric Wilson, “Now”
Download the podcast directly here: Journey Inside My Mind – Episode #126 – Host: Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Note: Some links to above content are affiliate links.
Today is Friday, January 7, 2011.
On this date in 1948, American Singer Kenny Loggins was born.
On this date in 1957, American television host Katie Kouric was born.
On this date in 1964, American actor Nicolas Cage was born.
On this date in 1977, Dustin Diamond, who played Samuel “Screech” Powers in Saved by the Bell, was born.
And in 1999 on this date, the US Senate trial in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton began.
But, for you readers here… read more »
Yesterday our daughter was on Amazon.com, picking some mp3s out to add to her wish list. She’s really been into Kelly Clarkson lately, so I created this MP3 Clips widget.
It’s been a little while since I created something from their Associates affiliate program and put on one my websites. Take a listen and feel free to browse over and get your own mp3s.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:13 — 34.1MB)
Welcome to episode 125 of the Journey Inside My Mind podcast! It’s been about three months since the last one, and SO MUCH has happened. Christmas is here, and it’s fitting to celebrate with some of my favorite music of the season. I’ve played a number of these tracks in the past five years around this time, and I hope you’ll enjoy them, too. read more »
So Google Video is doing the way of the dinosaur. I got an email saying that I could transfer videos I’d uploaded to YouTube.
Back in 2005 we had just gotten our first video camera and were looking for ways to experiment with making video. While driving home from the store one afternoon, we were listening to some music, and our daughter Keisha started making her doll Noelle rock out to it. Jennie was sitting in the back and caught it on video camera.
I took the video and put it behind the the 60-second intro of “No Use Denying” by the Cool Waters Band. Since that time, the CWB is no longer together, and the website mentioned in the video is no longer around – everything has been moved to journeyinsidemymind.com.
Originally released December 2005 to the Journey Inside My Mind podcast.
Image via WikiPedia, intended as fair-use
Hat-tip to my friend Trish, who shared this on her Tumblr blog, A Bit of Dayngr.
Over 8 years ago, our family was a huge fan of “Blue’s Clues“. If yours was, too, you might appreciate this revamped version. read more »
It’s not that I’ve just found this; it’s been sitting in our bookshelf collecting dust.
I’ve kept journals over the years, but the one I’ve held onto from high school – out of all the ones I could have held onto – is this one from my junior year College Prep English class at Mount Healthy High School
, with Mr. Burns.
Mr. Burns came into that class after first quarter of that year, replacing a teacher that many kids and parents didn’t like. And he made us write. And write. And write some more.
One of the things he made us write was this journal. I always tried to figure out what to write, and he kept telling me that my entries were too much like a diary. As a teenager, and as an adult, I’ve used my writing as a way of searching out what goes on inside me. This blog is called “Journey Inside My Mind”.
Finding and re-reading this journal provides a glimpse into who I was at 16-17, with all my insecurities and (although I wouldn’t have agreed at the time) immature thinking. But I see the promise of some things that have remained with me since that time.
One of the last entries in this journal is from Wednesday, May 20, 1987. We must have been talking about quotations, and Mr. Burns had charged us to come up with some of our own. Here’s what the young man I was at 17 came up with:
On bragging:
“We need more people who don’t open their mouths and put their “feats” in them.
On subjects:
It’s amazing that people are able to fail a subject in which our native tongue is taught.
On religion:
I have noticed that you pious people are always arguing. Why don’t you worry about convincing non-believers instead of each other?
On music:
Pleasant music annoints the soul and soothes the nerves.
On grades:
Grades are just labels which sometimes prove that school is not for learning. Too often a student would do anything to get a good grade, and sometimes that means not learning the material, remembering it, and being able to recall it.
On procrastination:
Procrastination is like acid. The only neutralizing agent is organization and timing.
On the opposite sex:
The perfect man / woman is an ideal. All men / women strive to be like him / her, but only a few ever succeed in the quest.
On the very last page, I found this quotation from one of my classmates:
To some a relationship is like tennis: after someone scores, it’s no longer love. — R. Combs
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:50 — 44.8MB)
Five years ago, in late August 2005 I launched this experiment. I had no other name to draw from to call it. At that time my primary blog was entitled Journey Inside My Mind, so I figured this project was simply an extension of that. Mostly as a way to share some good music and serve as a creative outlet.
Thank you for listening, whether this is your first time, or this is your 124th time, or somewhere in between. It’s always a little introspective – given the title, but knowing that there is one other person who listens also makes this worthwhile. So I send this on up to the internet, as a sort of time capsule. Enjoy.
Some of the music in this program comes from Music Alley from Mevio. Thank you, Ed Ovett, for reminding me of my playlist over there. If you listening to this program want to recommend some music for me to check out and play, you can get in touch via e-mail daniel AT journeyinsidemymind DOT com.
MLK and Where the Streets Have No Name. Remembering Super Bowl 2002. Dizzy Lizzy by G. Miles featuring Soul Therapy. Congratulations from Zack, Chris, and Ed. Black Coffee. The World Is Kind. Now doing Microsoft CRM and Technical Support for ThinkWare. New Media Cincinnati update. AM – Stop. My new StarCraft 2 obsession. TED Talk – Gaming can make a better world. Come Undone.
I’m moving this domain to a different registrar, so things may or may not appear wonky over the next few days. This website may or may not be available. But it will be back.
P.S. I still haven’t forgotten that I owe you a 5th anniversary show. Been thinking about the music and what else I want to include in it.
Hit me up in the usual social channels if you’d like.
Five years ago today in the wee hours of the morning, August 22, 2005, I released the very first episode of the Journey Inside My Mind podcast. I still vividly recall the hours that led up to it: downloading and learning Audacity, recording it and editing it and posting it online.
So much has changed in five years: the website, the webhost, the frequency, the music, the tools.
I don’t even really know how to mark such an occasion with this podcast, which only recently was revived. Ido plan on recording an episode to commemorate this event. I’ve received a few comments from others. You’re more than welcome to submit something if you’d like. E-mail an mp3 file to daniel [at] journeyinsidemymind [dot] com.
crossposted to danieljohnsonjr.com/main
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:36 — 43.6MB)
Over seven months ago, at the end of 2009, I recorded what was probably one of the saddest episodes in this series. I put the show on hiatus to concentrate on other things that needed attention. Producing this podcast had become more of a chore and not as much fun.
Seven months later, I’m coming up on the fifth anniversary read more »
I’ve hated how the last episode of the podcast ended. I’ve found myself listening to it a couple of times since it was released late last December.
I’ve got some content that has never been released or produced, and, moreover, I’m getting the urge to just turn on the recorder and talk again. I don’t know if there is an audience – you, gentle reader – still, but I’m getting back the urge to start throwing my thoughts out here again.
I don’t have a timetable or schedule or anything like that, but I expect that, in time for my 5th podcasting anniversary at the end of August, I’ll have put something out. Five years of podcasting! Can you believe it?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:43 — 27.3MB)
As we make the journey of our lives, it is not uncommon to find ourselves needing to put aside certain things in order to make other things better. In situations like these, it is okay to give up doing that one thing.
I started the Journey Inside My Mind blog in January 2002. I started the podcast in August 2005. This project, like so many others, has been highly experimental and without much more of a purpose except to provide a vehicle for me to be introspective and explore things creatively. I always wanted to be a DJ ever since my Dad showed me how to splice tape together and make mixtapes myself.
When I started the podcast in August 2005, I did it to get some things out as well as to promote some independent music I found myself enjoying. For awhile the show came out weekly. After some time the show came out less frequently as other things began. In 2009 only 9 official episodes – including this one – have come out. I expect the same to be the case in the future. While I have posted several “Another Rest Stop in the Journey” audio posts – which has made it easy to keep in touch, I find myself at a crossroads.
In the past year, you have shared with me as I’ve mentioned New Media Cincinnati and How I Got My Job. Both of these projects, as well as my ongoing search for employment, are making it difficult to make this show the best it can be. I think it’s time for me to focus my energy and efforts where I think I can make it count.
Through this blog and podcast, I’ve been able to make some great connections with others, and these have carried over into other areas, both online and offline. I’d like to say thanks to the Association of Music Podcasting (AMP) for their support and encouragement. I’d also like to say thanks to the 5 of you who have remained subscribed to the feed, either by email or podcast subscription (*wink, wink*). I’m not going to start naming off names, because I know I will undoubtedly forget someone.
So, let’s consider episode 122 (mp3, 29:43, 27.3 MB) the last official podcast episode over here until further notice. And remember, we’re not saying goodbye here. The journey itself will continue; just not so much on this blog and podcast. So let’s just say, “Good journey.”
Please check out howigotmyjob.com and newmediacincinnati.com
Connect with me: http://danieljohnsonjr.com/main/about
Thanks for listening and being a part of the journey!
Daniel Johnson Jr
Cincinnati, Ohio
Songs played (via Music Alley):
Firefox AK, “The Draft”
Rising Sun, “The end of days trilogy (Day 1. Beginning)” (in background)
Natalie Walker, “Waking Dream”
Derek K. Miller, “You’re the Big Sky (Rock Guitar Instrumental)”
Bill deRome, “The ending before the beginning”
Kevin Reeves, “Shine”
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“All I want for Christmas is new hearing aids.”
So said our 12-year old daughter Keisha last month as we began thinking about the holiday season here in 2009. Keisha’s had her current hearing aids for over four years, and they are showing their age and losing their effectiveness. In addition, she’s had a growth spurt has outgrown her current earmolds.
A little bit of background might be helpful here. Keisha was born just before infants started being checked for hearing loss, so we didn’t find out that she had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss until she was about 3 years old. She currently wears Phonak BTE (behind-the-ear) aids in both ears, along with FM receivers. The FM receivers enable teachers to speak into a special microphone so that Keisha can hear over the rest of the room noise.
We’re still learning how to communicate and often have communication breakdowns associated with living with hearing loss. In addition to her aids, we use some sign language, lip reading, and handwritten notes. Keisha prefers to communicate orally, but her hearing loss has left her with the need to get speech therapy to make sounds she cannot hear.
We received a referral from the insurance company to an audiologist, so that he could test Keisha’s hearing and make a recommendation for new aids and make new impressions of her ears so that new earmolds could be made.
Yesterday afternoon we met with the audiologist, and he noticed quite a buildup of wax in her ears. There was so much so that he couldn’t get a good reading when he measured the air pressure against her eardrums and didn’t get any response. He referred us to an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist) in the same building and we made an appointment for this morning.
The ENT appointment was pretty quick, because he just needed to remove the wax from Keisha’s inner ear, and more gently than with any tools the audiologist could have used. The suction tool is very similar to what dentists use. It was kinda gross to hear and see, but it was necessary. He actually pulled out a piece of cotton that had been up near Keisha’s eardrum.
LESSON LEARNED: Do NOT use cotton swabs in the inner ear. They only push the wax further into the inner ear.
We asked the ENT how Keisha could best keep her ears dry, especially since she puts her aids in after getting out of the shower. In the past, leftover moisture, when she puts her aids on, has led to an ear infection (“Swimmer’s Ear”). The ENT recommended a small capful of isopropyl alcohol in each ear when coming out of the shower to dry off the inner ear.
Back at the audiologist’s office, Keisha went in for her hearing test. I liked watching the program he used, and we could see when Keisha pushed the button to indicate she’d heard a sound. After this, he tested the air pressure in her ears and got a satisfactory response; i.e., nothing was blocking them, no fluid was built up behind them, and her eardrums were not perforated.
After this test, we went to a room, and he put Keisha’s audiograms up on a screen. We asked him to demonstrate what Keisha’s hearing was like. First, he played a woman speaking normally to give us a baseline. Then he played the audio through a filter to mimic Keisha’s hearing loss in her right ear. It was very muffled, and I could barely pick out some of the words. Then he played the same audio through a filter to mimic Keisha’s hearing loss in her left ear. I could barely make out any sound at all.
I looked at Keisha and felt like crying. This was the first time in my life that I’d been able to experience what her hearing loss is like. Even now, as I type this, I’m feeling emotional.
Keisha has described not being able to hear effectively as experiencing the world in black and white. When she’s able to use hearing aids effectively, she said it’s like she’s able to experience the world in every color. We can definitely tell a difference in her mood and personality. She definitely shines when she’s able to hear.
We got a recommendation for the best hearing aids that will accomodate Keisha’s type of hearing loss. Now we’re waiting on the insurance to tell us how much all of this will cost us. We are certainly not in a position, given my unemployment, to pay for these out of pocket. I’m guessing that, with the cost of new ear molds and aids, it could be upwards of at least $3200 total. How much of that we’ll be expected to pay we’ll know for sure soon.
The most moving part of today was being able to experience, to a small extent, what life is like for our only daughter without her aids. I can understand more clearly how valuable and important having good hearing aids is to her. I’m a bit nervous about the potential cost, but I’m also hopeful that we’ll be able to raise the money somehow.
We got word back from the insurance company. With the discount we’re getting on the aids, including audiological services and new ear molds for the aids, we anticipate the total cost to be about $4000. That’s a lot of money to come up with, for sure.
But then again, what if 400 people gave us $10? Or 200 people gave us $20? Not quite as overwhelming, necessarily. We’re going to look at other ways to get the money, but I thought I’d put this out here, since many of you have asked about how you can help.
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:29 — 41.8MB)
Tagging Daniel Johnson Jr from October 2009 New Media Cincinnati Second Saturday
In episode 121(mp3, 45:29, 41.8 MB) of the Journey Inside My Mind podcast, take a walk with me as I provide an update on what’s been going on since the last time we got together.
Breakdown:
00:04 Pre-credit sequence
01:12 SONG: The Lions Rampant, “Let Us In! (Come On)”
03:52 What’s on the show; walking outside, recording with Griffin iTalk app
06:44 SONG: A Band Called Quinn, “DIY”
10:37 Job search update, JSFG job fair, iCAN workshops, StrengthsFinder, networking
18:59 SONG: Kelly Richey, “No More Lies”
22:53 New Media Cincinnati Update: 2-yr anniversary, NMC/NMD, final of 2009 coming
30:23 SONG: Bradley D, “How To Fall”
34:30 PROMO: How I Got My Job
35:08 How I Got My Job, media appearances, my unique call to action
41:55 SONG: Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband, “Banjo Boy”
44:53 Post-credit sequence
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:16 — 56.2MB)
In episode 120 of the Journey Inside My Mind (mp3, 01:01:16, 56.2 MB), we celebrate four years of podcasting. Since it’s the 120th episode, that means a Super Mix of music from artists played on the show over the past four years!
00:00 Teaser
00:17 Association of Music Podcasting
00:26 The Longest Journey
00:38 The Wylde Bunch, “Yeah Yeah (Stomp the Bleachers)”
03:42 What happens when a man goes through his own portal?
03:55 Catching up with Daniel Johnson, Jr. Intro to the episode. Other stuff.
11:33 Butterfly Catchers, “Wake Up (2006)”
16:02 Black Lab, “River Of Joy”
20:23 “You drop the bomb on me, baby”
20:29 The Reverse Engineers, “Mercury in Retrograde”
25:21 46bliss, “In A Long Time”
29:38 Shout-out from Jennie and Keisha
30:10 Shout-out from Drew LaPlante
30:20 Drew LaPlante, “I Believe In You”
33:58 Shout-out from Sophia Ramos
34:08 Sophia Ramos, “Kill Your Pain”
37:39 “Recommended by dentists who chew gum”
37:45 Kelly Goodlad, “January”
42:36 Shout-out from John Buehler
42:41 The Subways, “I Want To Hear What You Have Got To Say”
46:03 Shout-out from Keisha
46:11 Josh Woodward, “Adventures of the Deaf Dreamer”
50:02 “No iPod Required”
50:07 “Message from Jennie (you know the woman)”
50:34 (De La Vega) Ivy League, “Breathe”
56:03 “Released under Creative Commons License”
56:13 Matthew Ebel, “Downtown” from the album “Goodbye Planet Earth”
1:00:57 Ending credits
1:01:20 “Make it a great day!”
Other links mentioned during the episode:
As always, you can get in touch via the Contact page. To call in a voicemail comment, please dial +1-513-373-4442 and be sure to let me know up front that it’s a comment for the show, so I can be sure to send it directly to voicemail.
*The Journey Inside My Mind is a proud member of the Association of Music Podcasting. Please check out their weekly podcast, AMPed New Music Weekly and follow AMP on Twitter. 200th episode coming up in October 2009!
Some of the music in this episode came from Mevio’s Music Alley.
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Today is my Mom’s birthday, and it gives me a lot of joy to share how much I love and appreciate her. Naturally, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here. Happy Birthday, Mom!
For most of my life now, we have lived hundreds of miles apart from one another, yet we remain very close. It’s nothing for me to contact her through GoogleTalk or call her on the phone. She is a great Nana to our daughter Keisha, and Jennie, Keisha, and I really loved when she lived with us some years ago.
My mom’s experience with domestic violence and abuse is a strong motivating factor in my passion in promoting domestic violence awareness. She has publicly shared her story on her own blog, and, in honor of her special day today, I would love if you did me a favor and read her story. She wrote it in two parts.
It’s graphic. It’s not for the faint of heart.
She would say it’s only by the grace of God that she is alive. But, and I think she’d agree with me, by sharing her story, it might help someone else in a similar situation.
Once again, my Mom is a hero to me. She is a survivor. My respect and love for her grows every day. I am proud to be her son. Read this and you’ll understand why.
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