Foggy Perspective

Several folks have asked why I'm not using Drupal for a Drupal-based blog.  The simple answer is another tool met my requirements.  At least I thought it had...

It's often asked on the drupal.org forums whether Drupal can be used for such-and-such type of site.  Drupaleers typically respond with the affirmative and then someone else chimes in about another package being better.  The arguments and flames begin.  And so on and so on... 

The goal is to determine the immediate needs, consider future needs, and then evaluate multiple packages.  Something other than Drupal may fit the bill perfectly where-as Drupal may be overkill.  

This was the approach taken for Foggy Perspective.  The needs were simple.  A no nonsense blog with minimal maintenance, easy access, tagging, and feeds.  There are enough Drupal installations to manage that an additional instance simply for a blog wasn't desired.  Posterous offers an incredible feature of allowing content to be submitted via email.  Tagging and feeds easily come in both packages.  Posterous appeared to be the winner...

... Until the request to add Fogger Perspective to the drupal-planet was made.  Occasionally blog posts will be made to Foggy Perspective that simply do not need to be relayed around the drupal-planet.  The about posts are a great example of this.  The drupal-planet tag was added to control which posts are drupal-planet worthy.  It wasn't until this point that the realization hit that posterous does not offer tag specific feeds.  Ugh!  

So new posts have been put on hold temporarily until something can be figured out.  Maybe this is a sign that a drupal-based blog should be hosted on Drupal.  Or maybe the hosted wordpress / blogger platforms will meet the needs.  In either case, please stay tuned for another possible change to Foggy Persepective.

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Given that Foggy Perspective is evolving into a Drupal based blog, I figured this is as good an opportunity as any to reintroduce myself.  I'll try to keep it short and sweet.

Hi... I'm Craig.  Some of my friends call me asch (short for Aschbrenner).  I'm an IT Analyst (consultant, etc.) and have been playing with computers since my dad first bought one back when I was in early grade school.  I cheer for the Illini where I graduated from but don't make it back very often since I live in the South.  I'm married to an awesome woman who puts up with me and I have a son who will be six months next week!

I started off my career as a consultant.  Did the dot-com thing and traveled full-time.  I jumped around a few small to medium sized (non-consulting) companies and decided I enjoyed the variety of consulting.  So I'm back consulting.  Have been for three years now and loving it.  Consulting gave me more opportunities to learn... learn new technology, learn new business models and industries, and experience a wide variety of personalities.  

I wrote my first (very simplistic) computer program when I was seven or eight.  Programming isn't what I do though.  I used to develop but never wanted to become an expert.  It often kept me too far away from the client and business side of things.  What I do enjoy though is building things!  I like to tinker and see if how I can fit things together.  Legos were some of my favorite toys growing up.  I didn't want to build the cookie-cutter shapes though.  No... I wanted to mix and match pieces together and see what new creations I could come up with.  

It's that lego concept that keeps me involved with Drupal.  Drupal isn't an off-the-shelf application. It's a toolbox (or lego pieces) that I can fit together to solve a need or simply create something new.  That's why I'm here writing this new blog about my experiences with Drupal.

On a side note you'll notice that I'm blogging with the about tag. No single about page can ever capture everything there is about someone.  So as I reveal more about myself I'll use the about tag.  I'm sure something will trigger a new thought that I can share.

Thanks for stopping by!

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For my few readers out there you've probably noticed that Foggy Perspective has been quiet for quite some time now.  Work has been busy as always and the newest addition to my life is definitely where I spend any free-time.  I still try to keep up on the latest webtech but there has been little time to blog about it.

I've also been keeping busy freelancing building Drupal websites.  I've had a great time learning, building, learning, breaking, learning Drupal for several years now.  Since I'm still actively involved with Drupal I want to spend time sharing what I've learned.  So from this point forward, Foggy Perspective will revolve around my experience with Drupal.  Thanks for reading!

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