I’ve created a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, to give you some more detailed information about me and this blog and all kinds of stuff. If you have any further questions, please send them to me via email, and I’ll update the FAQ with the questions and answers.
- What is your name?
Alan Howard - Where do you live?
Canberra, Australia - Where are you from?
I’m Australian, born in Victoria. - What is your age?
I was born in 1966 and my birthday is November 29th. Click on ‘Contact Me’ at the top of the page to get my email address and ask me where you can send the presents. 🙂 - What is your marital status?
Single and looking. 😉 - What do you do when you’re not blogging?
Work, read lots of stuff on the internet, play computer or roleplaying games, take photos, and go out to dinner or brunch on weekends (especially yum cha!). - What exactly is your blog? Is it a personal, political, or religious blog?
I’d like to think that it’s everything that is important to me. This is about life through my eyes (it used to be called Life Through My Eyes, but I changed it to ‘Alanz Eyes’ when I created this new blog), and what’s important to me can cover so many different areas of interest. I’ll write about events with my friends, if I’m inspired to write about them. I’ll write about something I feel, and why I feel it. I’ll write about something I do or see, and I’ll write about news and political stories, if they inspire me to write about them.A great deal of my focus is on relationships, personal growth, spirituality and life, so a lot of what I write will be based on those topics. Some of my writings even turn out to be articles. - Do you have any other blogs?
I used to have quite a few, but they were mostly experimental. Now I just focus on this one blog. - How long have you had a blog?
Well, technically I’ve only had an actual ‘blog’ since mid-2005, but I’ve been keeping an online journal since 1998, which I’ve regularly updated over the years. I’ve transferred the content into this blog though, so if you check the archives you’ll see it goes back to 1998. - Do you have any goals that you hope to achieve with your blog? What are your motives, and what does it give you?
I hope to become a professional writer one day, and this is my self-training. It often frustrates me that people with no previous writing ability can sit down and within only a few months they have a top selling book as a result of their blog, or their blog is number one on the internet because everyone loves it.How does one get to that level? How do these people become writing geniuses when they’ve never written before? I’m trying to find that spark in me which takes me there, and this is my ‘in-between’ time – in between mediocrity and fame. I hope you’re not suffering too much from it.As for motives… I’ve actually been keeping a diary since 1985. I put it onto the internet 13 years later in 1998 as an online journal and I’ve been writing in it to this day. My motives are simply to record my life.
One day I want to write a story of my life, and my diaries and online journals will be the source material. It’s going to be a nightmare of a project when I get around to it, but it’s going to be done.
What does it give me? A challenge, to present my life in such a way that people are going to want to read it. It gives me a sense of excitement and satisfaction to know that I have a bunch of regular readers who keep coming back, who are interested in what I write about and want to come back to read more. Some of them have been with me for years. Thank you, I really appreciate your loyalty and your interest in my writings.
I hope newcomers who read what I write will also be interested enough to hang around for a while.
- What kind of work do you do?
I work in IT as a contractor. I’m currently contracting as a Business Analyst with the Australian Government. - What would you do if your work found out about your blog?
Panic!! No, not really. A number of work colleagues and even managers have been ‘fans’ of my journal over the years, and various other work colleagues have visited the site as well.I have nothing to hide, and any mention of my work is done in such a way that it’s either positive or, if it’s negative, will not betray the identity of anyone concerned in any way or violate any security or privacy concerns. It’s really common sense. If you want to write something that may upset someone in your job, there’s a simple rule – don’t write it! - Where, when and how often do you write?
In order of frequency, I write at work during lunch times or when I’ve finished for the day, at home when I’m relaxing after work or on weekends, or in bed before I go to sleep of a night. I write as often as I’m inspired to. - Where do you find your inspiration?
My inspiration comes from daily events, daily frustrations, and daily conversations. News stories are a major source of inspiration, as they inspire me to express my outrage over them. Stupid, ignorant and arrogant people can also inspire me to write about them. Memories are inspiring too, and sometimes I like to share them. Lately, Twitter is a good source of inspiration, along with many blogs that I read. - Who do you write for? Yourself or your readers?
Both. I write for both me and you, but ultimately for me. - Who do you think are your readers?Ordinary people living ordinary lives, who have stumbled upon me from search engines or who I’ve shared my blog with from online chatting. Some have stayed out of a sense of social obligation, while others have been genuinely interested in my outlook on life.
- Anything erotic in here?
There might be, if I feel the urge to write about it. Don’t count on it though. While my own privacy isn’t very important to me, the privacy of others is, and anything erotic you might see will first have their approval. I might write some erotic fantasy in the future, but we’ll just have to see…. I might actually do that on a separate blog altogether. Good luck finding it! - Do you write back to everyone who comments?
I really appreciate all those who take the time and effort to leave a comment, and so I try to respond to everyone who makes that effort. They’ve taken the time to comment about something I’ve written, so it’s only fair to thank them for that, and to reply to any questions they might ask. People leaving comments help inspire discussion, and increase the ability to learn something new and even make new friends. - Does anybody close to you know that you have this blog? Why do you not choose to be anonymous, like so many others?
Most of my friends know I have this blog, but most of them don’t actually read it. Some have felt they’re intruding on my private life, and refuse to accept the fact that if I was worried about my private life, I wouldn’t be writing about it!I choose not to be anonymous because I have nothing to hide or be ashamed about. I don’t feel the need to have a secret identity like some others do. If there’s something I want to keep private, then I simply don’t write about it, or I write it in such a cryptic way that only I will know what’s between the lines when I read back on it later. - Have you had any unwanted attention in real life as a result of your blog?
None at all, in over 12 years of having an online presence. I think it’s more likely that women will have unwanted attention than men. - Which blogs do you read; who are your favourites?
I have too many blogs that I read via RSS, so I’ve removed them from my blogroll. I’ve removed the blogroll too, as it was just cluttering up the site. My favourite blogs are those which add value to my life. I hope that this blog might add value to yours…If you like my blog, please let me know!