So as I begin my actual blogging career, I’d like to share with you how I’ve arrived at this particular site.

I got this WordPress site in the spring to build a Web portfolio on for a class, though I quickly realized WP doesn’t have an easy-to-use Issuu extension, so I moved my portfolio here. See how awesome that resume scrolling feature is? Why doesn’t WordPress allow that? If I can ever figure out how to make that work, I’ll integrate that portfolio until WordPress, but until then I prefer Issuu and Blogspot.

But as I blogged on this site this summer for yet another writing course, I realized I really wanted a site to vent about the frustrations and irony of life, so I decided I would convert my classblog into this, so I started looking around for ideas.

I particularly liked what my MSCNE friends Rikki and Kelsey used their blogs for. It was an additional writing medium where they provided commentary on politics and journalism and whatever they were doing. It was great because while we follow each other on Twitter and spent a rather blurry week together last year, their blogs gave me a concrete opportunity to learn more about what was going on in their lives as fellow journalists even though they’re in Michigan and Washington. Then I realized if their opinions on life entertained me, there must be billions of people that want to know what I think.

And so I’ve removed the class-related posts from this site and now this will be the chief site through which you can find out everything I think about anything in 140+ characters. (For less than 140 character updates on my life, follow @tyjohnson1)

But what about the other Ty Johnsons out there? What if I want to follow in Mr. Schnell’s footsteps and get a real domain? What if I’m not the coolest Ty Johnson on the Internet?Trust me, I looked around on Google for quite some time (0.32 seconds) to gauge the Ty Johnson competition and the market out there for me-related domains.

And so here are some of my Ty Johnson brethren:

3D Modeler Ty Johnson of Oregon: http://www.tyjohnson.net/
This Ty most likely was late to the domain party, as well, but that .net definitely lends some legitimacy to his site. Here’s a bit about him from his bio at tyjohnson.net:
“For over four years now, I’ve helped studios bring their ideas into the third dimension. Most recently I was “Modeler” for LAIKA Studios and created countless 3D assets for developing feature films.
I realize the life of a model doesn’t begin and end with me. Instead, I take it upon myself to understand the needs of riggers and texture artists and do what I can to make their jobs easier. Time has also taught me to channel my fine-arts background into every project with a haste that could only come from commercial experience.”

Artist Ty Johnson of Kansas: http://www.tyjohnsonart.com
This story is awesome. Apparently he has been missing for more than a decade and this site is run by the son of a friend. Here’s an excerpt from his bio:
“Ty was born in Kansas in 1941. He did 3 tours in Vietnam. He was a boxer in the marines. After Vietnam he came and stayed with us for one night ….“then he disappeared for over 10 years.”After being a missing person for over a decade Ty sent an intricately drawn card to my dad that just said, “Still Alive” signed Ty. My dad said of him, “I knew him better than anybody, and I didn’t know him.” He was a very mysterious guy. He had a large vocabulary and was very well educated but liked the excitement of being in the ghetto. My Dad said about him”He wasn’t afraid of anybody.” “

The real Ty Johnson?: http://www.tyjohnson.com/
This is evidence that having the definitive domain name doesn’t mean you necessarily have the best content.

Photographer Ty Johnson of Virginia: http://www.tyjohnsonphotography.com/
This Ty Johnson and his Nikon have found some beautiful angles on life. Just sit through his home page slideshow. I really like the colors. Here’s a bit about him from his bio:
“Over the past several years I have come to love photography. I am constantly trying to learn as much as I can and take every opportunity to do so. Though I love shooting almost anything, my favorite things to shoot are vivid colors, candid moments, and movement.”

And finally, here’s the Ty Johnson site that made me saddest, and not because it was a domain purchased by a father for his son that just went back on sale through godaddy.com this month: tyjohnsonblog.com

Here’s the cached version: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:POmVReku89sJ:tyjohnsonblog.com/%3Fs%3D+tyjohnsonblog&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

So, looking for a Web site domain (during a week that already sucked) I’m met with this message:

“Wishing you the best Future,Promising you the Love that you deserve.”

The sentence, as much as I don’t understand its choice of capitalized words, was almost uplifting. A random Google search of myself brought me to a nice thought during a dark time. But, of course it was followed with this:

“Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here.”

So…that best future and love I deserve…that doesn’t exist? Great.

And so this concludes my blog introduction to myself by showing you which Ty Johnsons I am not. If you have thoughts or if you’re a Ty Johnson that wants your site featured on this blog post (or a Ty Johnson that wants your site removed from this post) let me know!

Thanks for reading!