2021 Theme
It’s January and so time for me to think of a new Theme for the year. I don’t do resolutions anymore as don’t want to start the year with eventual failure. There is also a podcast I listen to called Cortex and they talk about Themes quite a bit. There is also a video about them.
2020 was meant to be the Year of Progression. It kind of was! This is one of the benefits of Themes rather than resolutions as they are less specific and can be twisted if required.
Originally my progression was to be focussed on my day job but it ended up becoming more relevant to home and family. With lockdown in March and moving to a 4 on 4 off rota at work I had more time to be at home and think about things to make life easier and/or better. We finally had the time to focus on clearing out the loft so we could install a train track for our son. There is more work to be done as I think there is a round 2 to be had up there but we did enough to both feel good at the end of the multiple days efforts and also we were able to install the track and my son has been using it quite often and in 2021 we will be embarking on an upgrade from the wallpaper pasting tables clamped together to a proper baseboard construction.
Another project highlight from 2020 was the reconfiguration of our Kitchen and Dining Room v1.0. We moved our fridge and replaced the tiles and it has made a world of difference and am so glad to have done it. So there was some progression but just entirely different from what I imagined would move on. But hey with 2020 you have to take what you can!
2021 – The Year of Creation
I want to make more things in 2021. I have done quite a bit of learning in 2020 and want to use some things I have learnt. An area I want to focus on more this year is Video. I want to grow my YouTube channel(s) and would love to work with some businesses in Essex to produce some live streams on Facebook and YouTube.
In 2019 I produced and presented quite regularly some cooking shows on Facebook – search ‘Matt In The Kitchen’. Unfortunately, I had to give back the computer I was using to make them to work as I changed roles. It left me with a low spec machine not quite capable of doing what I wanted and also with 2020 lockdowns I didn’t have the Saturday mornings without my son being in the house to present them. I hope in the latter part of the year he will be able to get back to his dance classes and my Saturday morning will be free to do more baking and create some tasty treats.
I have been able to save up in 2020 to afford a new computer which leads me onto the first thing I have really created in 2021. I have built my first PC.
I would say I am more of a Mac person myself but am pretty experienced in Windows too as we use them at work and have done many screencasts of software running on Windows.
The application I am looking to use for live streams runs on PC only and in terms of ‘bang for your buck’ Windows is/was cheaper (those M1 macs are amazing!). Mark, a friend of mine, pushed me over the edge as he has been building them for years and gave me the confidence that he would be able to fix anything I ended up breaking. I am pretty chuffed and am just waiting on the stock of a graphics card and probably another hard drive and it will be finished completely.
So am looking forward to creating Gear reviews and tips and tricks to help businesses and individuals improve their live video whether it is just on zoom, 1-2-1 or broadcasting out to an audience in 2021.
Check back here to watch my progress… Get thinking of your Theme and let me know in the comments if you wish.