And so it starts...

Before I became passionate about computers, I was a writer ( and I suppose I still am ). As such, I've had a lot of experience with blogging, but it's always been personal; a hodge-podge of poetry, politics, and other mundane matters. Then a friend of mine, also a geek, suggested that I begin a blog that shares some of my self-taught programming knowledge. It's a bit more accessible, and it's something I've flirted with doing for some time. So I'm doing it.

This is my geek blog. Here, I will give out programming tips, source code, discoveries, opinions in the field ( of which I have many ), and so forth. I'm a Linux user, so there will be an open source slant to all of this, but I do believe in reaching across the aisle with cross-platform programming and the like. I also do like games, though I'm a tad behind ( I'm playing FF7 on an emulator currently ). I will occasionally do a game review if something impresses me.

Last, I may discuss music now and then as I'm a huge J-Rock fan ( Japanese rock, in case you don't know what I'm talking about ). I can see a lot of my friends rolling their eyes at my irrepressible fandom, but this ~is~ a geek blog, and J-Rock is pretty damn geeky. My free time is a fairly simple rotation of fancies: J-Rock, Games, Programming, J-Rock, Games, Programming, J-Rock... etc. And a little bit of internet fun on the side.

So a bit about myself.

I'm Joseph Austin, and I live in Nashville, TN. Great people here, but also ass-hats. And no jobs. I'm a recent college graduate and I'm feeling the heat of this ruined economy. I have yet another interview next week, but even so I'm getting up early tomorrow to go apply at another ten places. Hurry up and fix things, Obama, hit the undo button!

I like to program, and my dream is to do games. Thats the cute fantasy of a lot of would-be programmers, but the difference is that I actually like to code. To me, programming games would be the ultimate mix of creative story telling and pure geekiness - a convergence of my two main personalities. I grew up on Adventure games, where stories and puzzles helped hammer logic into my brain. I discovered early that no medium could draw me into a plot like one where I'm the hero, and I still have yet to lose that feeling. I want to one day create a universe so exciting, original and interesting that it actually inspires players, the way games like Gabriel Knight and Final Fantasy does for me.

I have a website: http://www.vasilisagames.com

There's a game on it, but it's REALLY old. I'm touching up the source a bit, but it's filthy. I was still in school when I wrote it. I can't wait to upload some good code, and I have some moderately good stuff almost ready for launch. The date for release on my latest project was for Saturday, but I got sick a week and a half, so I'm extending it. I'll be posting that on the site soon, maybe tomorrow.

Well, that's all I have to say for now. I'll be thinking about what to write tomorrow :)