# Instantiate Blog

A common occurrence over the last several years (and even more so the last several months) has been discovering the solution to a problem I'm faced with, or otherwise getting useful guidance toward solving it myself, from miscellaneous blogs and personal sites found by Googling. Often these blogs or websites are just the public record of someone's hobbies, whether a personal interest or a professional pursuit.

Embracing the perspective that almost any problem, obstacle, or hiccup that I'll face has already been tackled and overcome (and written about!) by someone else, I'll google the keywords of an error message or desired outcome and land on a blog post by someone who's been there and figured it out. And I can't overstate how frequently I search for tutorials and documentation to guide me into something new which have proven invaluable. These uses, combined with the realization that it could help me professionally to get some of my work, tinkering, stumbles, and accomplishments out there, inspired me to throw together a new blog.

At the outset, I have to cohesive "vision" for its intended purpose or target audience or anything else. But all too often the ramblings of others -- combined with the power of Google -- have been a major help to me, even if the original author(s) was never aware! So why not share my own various explorations?

Some "Things-To-Post" that initially come to mind:

• Hadoop - Errors & Solutions: basic-level pitfalls and mistakes I made, plus lessons learned.
• Data Analysis - Matching Countries & Counties: I recently started re-creating my old "senior capstone" project from 2010/2011, and one meticulous task is properly matching & merging data from various sources. 
• Crazy Ideas & Miniature Projects: things I've thought of, thing I'm working on. If I'm lucky, someone else out there will stumble across it and can share some wisdom. 
• Simple Scripts: misc. small coding tasks or projects
• Nifty discoveries, useful tools, etc.: mobile apps, handy utilities, neat sites, awesome products

Plus, I finally have something to link to in online profiles & job apps:
       < Link Personal Webpage / URL >
        And don't forget to feel slightly inadequate if you have nothing to put here! 

It's the small things in life. ;-)