My Bumper Sticker Every once in awhile it’s a good idea to do a little refresher, reintroduce yourself, and let everyone know who you are. The reason for this is simple – time goes by.
When I used to be a teacher in China we’d have a course last for about 20 weeks, then a new one would start. Most of the time it’d be a lot of the same students returning for the next level, but quite a bit there’d be a few new students thrown in and of course some of the old ones would be gone.
I guess you could call this turnover, and internet websites experience it a lot. Audiences change, and so too does the person running the site.
So today we’re going to do what I’d do during that first class of a new course, a little introduction. I’d make my students talk about themselves a bit, and it was interesting to see how far some of them had come in confidence and ability level.
You can read my first introductory post here, and there have been many more sprinkled along the way, usually as apologies for big blowups on my writing blog…this one, which now has more than 350 posts.
But I’ll let you find those hidden gems on your own. Let’s roll!
When I used to be a teacher in China we’d have a course last for about 20 weeks, then a new one would start. Most of the time it’d be a lot of the same students returning for the next level, but quite a bit there’d be a few new students thrown in and of course some of the old ones would be gone.
I guess you could call this turnover, and internet websites experience it a lot. Audiences change, and so too does the person running the site.
So today we’re going to do what I’d do during that first class of a new course, a little introduction. I’d make my students talk about themselves a bit, and it was interesting to see how far some of them had come in confidence and ability level.
You can read my first introductory post here, and there have been many more sprinkled along the way, usually as apologies for big blowups on my writing blog…this one, which now has more than 350 posts.
But I’ll let you find those hidden gems on your own. Let’s roll!
Greg Strandberg
You can learn most of the pertinent facts about me on my About Us page, but I’m a nearly-33-year-old poor writer living in Missoula, Montana. Last year I made $19,827.26 and this year I might just get up to $19,000 if I’m lucky.
Just because I’m poor doesn’t mean I’m useless, however, as most great artistic and forward-thinking minds throughout history have had to contend with poverty at one time or another, perhaps constantly.
I’ve got wife from Russia named Evgenyia and a 3-year-old son named Paul. She works at a daycare here in Missoula so we have some extra money to supplement my meager fare. We lived in China for several years and you can read all about that in my books.
I don’t apologize and I don’t suffer fools gladly. I’m confident and I have authority. I say what I think and I say what I want – I have nothing so I have nothing to lose.
Sometimes this rubs people the wrong way. What can I do…stop? Say ‘I’m sorry’? Get into a fight?
When I see something I don’t like or can do nothing about – like maybe a pesky Republican talk radio show host – I just don’t listen or watch or pay attention to it.
If that’s how I make you feel, do us both a favor and just go.
Because I don’t have to be here and no one’s paying me to write this site. Thos ads you see on the sidebar? I might make $4 from those a month, if I’m lucky. So there’s no bought-and-paid-for message here, folks – this is about as authentic as it comes.
For many of you that’s taboo, silly, or just plain stupid. The long-term consequences of actually saying what you think? Shit.
Oh well. Here are a few of my areas of expertise:
Just because I’m poor doesn’t mean I’m useless, however, as most great artistic and forward-thinking minds throughout history have had to contend with poverty at one time or another, perhaps constantly.
I’ve got wife from Russia named Evgenyia and a 3-year-old son named Paul. She works at a daycare here in Missoula so we have some extra money to supplement my meager fare. We lived in China for several years and you can read all about that in my books.
I don’t apologize and I don’t suffer fools gladly. I’m confident and I have authority. I say what I think and I say what I want – I have nothing so I have nothing to lose.
Sometimes this rubs people the wrong way. What can I do…stop? Say ‘I’m sorry’? Get into a fight?
When I see something I don’t like or can do nothing about – like maybe a pesky Republican talk radio show host – I just don’t listen or watch or pay attention to it.
If that’s how I make you feel, do us both a favor and just go.
Because I don’t have to be here and no one’s paying me to write this site. Thos ads you see on the sidebar? I might make $4 from those a month, if I’m lucky. So there’s no bought-and-paid-for message here, folks – this is about as authentic as it comes.
For many of you that’s taboo, silly, or just plain stupid. The long-term consequences of actually saying what you think? Shit.
Oh well. Here are a few of my areas of expertise:
English as a Second Language
I know how to teach English, but even better, I know how to teach teachers how to teach English. Not as many people can do that, and I have a website to prove it, www.esladventure.com.
You can check it out, as well as my 10 ESL books for teachers. It’s a pretty niche market, but golly, I make some money from it, which is better than just having what you’re good at sitting on a shelf and looking pretty.
You can check it out, as well as my 10 ESL books for teachers. It’s a pretty niche market, but golly, I make some money from it, which is better than just having what you’re good at sitting on a shelf and looking pretty.
Writing
I’m a professional writer and have been since April 2013 when I began doing it full-time to make a living. Isn’t that the definition of a professional – someone “engaged in a specified activity as one’s main occupation rather than as a pastime?”
I say this because many of you writers are probably wondering if you should waste any time here, which I refer to as ‘putting a site on my bookmark bar.’
Well, that’s up to you. I’ve got my work right out there front and center, warts and all. I will tell you that my own books don’t sell for shit, but I do make some good money writing all kinds of stuff – some of it rubbish, some of it shining gold – for other people. They like it, most of the time.
Alright, let’s be honest - I’ve got close to 50 books* on Amazon and some of them do sell. I make about $300 to $500 a month off of them, and that’s with barely any marketing, if any.
I’ll put that little asterisk there because, let’s face it, some of them are more like pamphlets than books, if you want to whip ‘em out and go by size. But who’s counting?
Mainly I put this blog up for you writers to come and look at, I guess. I started it as a way to write about writing so I could be a better writer, and you might want to do that on your site. No one will read the shit, but after a month you’ll run out of things to say and can start doing some real work.
Besides that I have some marketing stuff and tips and tricks for eBook covers and editing and the whole-self-publishing-nine-yards. It’s all over there on the sidebar in the categories.
I will say that I don’t write too much on this blog anymore because I just don’t feel the need to impress anyone and I’m getting bored of writing about writing.
I say this because many of you writers are probably wondering if you should waste any time here, which I refer to as ‘putting a site on my bookmark bar.’
Well, that’s up to you. I’ve got my work right out there front and center, warts and all. I will tell you that my own books don’t sell for shit, but I do make some good money writing all kinds of stuff – some of it rubbish, some of it shining gold – for other people. They like it, most of the time.
Alright, let’s be honest - I’ve got close to 50 books* on Amazon and some of them do sell. I make about $300 to $500 a month off of them, and that’s with barely any marketing, if any.
I’ll put that little asterisk there because, let’s face it, some of them are more like pamphlets than books, if you want to whip ‘em out and go by size. But who’s counting?
Mainly I put this blog up for you writers to come and look at, I guess. I started it as a way to write about writing so I could be a better writer, and you might want to do that on your site. No one will read the shit, but after a month you’ll run out of things to say and can start doing some real work.
Besides that I have some marketing stuff and tips and tricks for eBook covers and editing and the whole-self-publishing-nine-yards. It’s all over there on the sidebar in the categories.
I will say that I don’t write too much on this blog anymore because I just don’t feel the need to impress anyone and I’m getting bored of writing about writing.
Montana History
I’ve got a Montana history blog and I’ve got 4 books on Montana history so I call myself an expert on Montana history.
Again, this might rub some of you the wrong way, but how many people do you know that have a book on history, let alone 4? Shit, many of the professors at Montana’s universities that are teaching Montana history don’t even have one book. I’ll brag because I’m confident and I produce results, and if you don’t like that, you can go – it’s that simple.
When you know dates and names and facts and figures you become confident, mainly because about 90% of the population doesn’t know them. This allows you to defeat them in arguments more easily, at least until that pesky thing called ‘belief’ comes along and mungs things up. At that point no amount of facts will convince someone.
But if you want to give it a shot, you’ll find it all on my Montana history blog and in my Montana books. I know a lot of smart people will look up those free and affordable resources in the coming years, and they’ll profit off them handsomely. Maybe you’ll be one, I dunno.
Again, this might rub some of you the wrong way, but how many people do you know that have a book on history, let alone 4? Shit, many of the professors at Montana’s universities that are teaching Montana history don’t even have one book. I’ll brag because I’m confident and I produce results, and if you don’t like that, you can go – it’s that simple.
When you know dates and names and facts and figures you become confident, mainly because about 90% of the population doesn’t know them. This allows you to defeat them in arguments more easily, at least until that pesky thing called ‘belief’ comes along and mungs things up. At that point no amount of facts will convince someone.
But if you want to give it a shot, you’ll find it all on my Montana history blog and in my Montana books. I know a lot of smart people will look up those free and affordable resources in the coming years, and they’ll profit off them handsomely. Maybe you’ll be one, I dunno.
Montana Politics
Am I an expert in Montana politics? Ha, that’s a laugh, huh? I’m certainly an expert at failing in Montana politics, and that’s the first ingredient needed for success.
Let’s take a look at what we don’t know about Montana politics:
No one has the answer to these things, but the various camps are scrambling around as best they can to try and make their person win. I keep abreast of the latest developments in regard to these things, as well as how the media interprets them, or doesn’t.
In the state of Montana I’d say about 5% of the population does this on a regular basis and with multiple sources. I’d say even less write about their findings and opinions on them. Even fewer know the procedures involved in getting elected, and fewer still know policies and procedures that come after.
So am I an expert in Montana politics? I’m damn close, and in a year from now I will be, if I continue as I am.
But why continue? It’s a good question, and one every ‘politician’ has to ask themselves at one point or another. Maybe after the election I’ll quit, but that never comes about. It’s far more likely that I’ll begin researching the upcoming race.
Why?
So we can develop strategies to counter that Americans for Prosperity money spilling into the state, the money that’s used to put corporate-backed candidates into office.
Right now we’ve got Steve Daines, Ryan Zinke, and Lawrence VanDyke, and they’re all bought and paid for stooges working for the Koch brothers, big-time oilmen that want to control this state so they can siphon off its resources and turn their $100 billion into $250 billion…or however much they need to feel good about themselves finally, or get over their John Birch daddy complex, or whatever it is that’s keeping them from being men.
So that’s the plan for November 5, mainly because when I don’t have stuff to write for other people I do this, because you can’t write books that don’t sell all the time.
Let’s take a look at what we don’t know about Montana politics:
- Who’s going to win;
- How they’re going to win;
- What will happen when they win.
No one has the answer to these things, but the various camps are scrambling around as best they can to try and make their person win. I keep abreast of the latest developments in regard to these things, as well as how the media interprets them, or doesn’t.
In the state of Montana I’d say about 5% of the population does this on a regular basis and with multiple sources. I’d say even less write about their findings and opinions on them. Even fewer know the procedures involved in getting elected, and fewer still know policies and procedures that come after.
So am I an expert in Montana politics? I’m damn close, and in a year from now I will be, if I continue as I am.
But why continue? It’s a good question, and one every ‘politician’ has to ask themselves at one point or another. Maybe after the election I’ll quit, but that never comes about. It’s far more likely that I’ll begin researching the upcoming race.
Why?
So we can develop strategies to counter that Americans for Prosperity money spilling into the state, the money that’s used to put corporate-backed candidates into office.
Right now we’ve got Steve Daines, Ryan Zinke, and Lawrence VanDyke, and they’re all bought and paid for stooges working for the Koch brothers, big-time oilmen that want to control this state so they can siphon off its resources and turn their $100 billion into $250 billion…or however much they need to feel good about themselves finally, or get over their John Birch daddy complex, or whatever it is that’s keeping them from being men.
So that’s the plan for November 5, mainly because when I don’t have stuff to write for other people I do this, because you can’t write books that don’t sell all the time.
RSS Feed