It sounds obvious, but for me, the most difficult part of graduating from college is figuring out what to do next.

I feel like I've spent much of the last year wandering aimlessly, trying to figure out what it is I want to do with my life.

Right now, I have two projects going on simultaneously:

• Trying to start my own video production company, producing videos for commercials, TV networks and bands

• Trying to start an iOS development house, creating iOS apps for local governments

"Trying to start."

That phrase pretty much sums up what I mean by "wandering aimlessly." I feel like I've done some of the work needed to get these businesses going, but I don't feel like I've settled on exactly what I want to do.

After contemplating what it is I want to do now that I'm done with college, I decided I need to start making both long and short-term goals to get me to where I want to be.

Therefore, I'm making a few of my short-term and long-term goals public so that I can be scrutinized by friends and family throughout this holiday season, as well as motivate me towards a future that I can call "successful":

SHORT TERM GOALS:

• Learn Objective-C to a point where I can make a simple camera application that sends pictures to a specific server
• Practice different Final Cut Studio tutorials to learn new tips and tricks

LONG TERM GOALS:

• Build a solid business plan that outlines what I want to do for the next 20 years
• Decide the camera workflow I want to use for the next 5 years and begin investing in it
• Pick a name for the businesses and establish an LLC for one (or both) of the companies
• Use this blog to post about things I care about, both professionally and personally

Lastly, my biggest goal for the next year is to have an answer to the question: "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"

(I apologize if it seems like I just rambled in that post. It's been a while since I've blogged.)

While I can't say it's not entirely without merit, here's a rather cynical view of American broadcast television from the view of Great Britian.

A historical change has taken place, and I've now realized it. Stuff used to be valuable, and now it's not.

After moving a half dozen times in the past couple years, I believe I've gotten better at not accumulating stuff. My biggest issue is getting rid of digital "stuff" (e.g. music I'll get around to hearing, full-res photos of dumb things I've done that I might use some day).

For decades, NFL TV broadcasts have relied most heavily on one view: the shot from a sideline camera that follows the progress of the ball. Anyone who wants to analyze the game, however, prefers to see the pulled-back camera angle known as the "All 22."

While this shot makes the players look like stick figures, it allows students of the game to see things that are invisible to TV watchers: like what routes the receivers ran, how the defense aligned itself and who made blocks past the line of scrimmage.

The holidays are upon us again — it sounds vaguely aggressive, as if the holidays were some sort of mugger, or overly enthusiastic lover — and so it’s time to stick a thermometer deep in our souls and take our spiritual temperature (between trips to the mall, of course).

For some of us, the season affords an opportunity to reconnect with our religious heritage. For others, myself included, it’s a time to shake our heads over the sad state of our national conversation about God, and wish there were another way.

Interesting op-ed in the New York Times.

I've been a huge fan of Cee Lo Green since "Crazy" and he's one of the few people that is on my "Musician Bucket List."

This documentary, to me, highlights everything I love about Cee Lo's music: uncompromising, trailblazing and true-to-self. Be sure to catch part 2 - both parts are roughly 6 minutes a piece.

I've always been a big fan of looking behind-the-scenes, so naturally, these shots of a distribution center for Amazon really amaze me. It still amazes me to think that when I order a book online, actual human beings are required to locate the item, package it, ship it to an airport, load it onto a delivery truck and drop it off at my door.

For those of you not following the story, some hackers have found code to this software on mobile devices (both the iPhone and Android) called Carrier IQ. It allegedly sends a ton of data back to the carriers, including logging keystrokes and recording data sent through Wi-fi, even if it's encrypted.

The important thing to take away, however, is that even though we all like to fight the "Apple vs. Android" battle, the real war is The People vs. the Carriers.

Journalist Walt Herrington shares his experiences that come along with 26 years of knowing George W. Bush. A very long article, but very informative.

“Some people walk up and say, ‘Oh, man, history is going to judge you well.’ And my quip is, ‘I’m not going to be around to see it.’ And to me, that’s one of the most important lessons you learn through history—you’re just not gonna be around to see it. … I’m confident of this: that those conclusions will be more objective with time than they could conceivably be now.”

"If they want to increase their rankings in U.S. News & World Report, an easy way to do that is to bribe high-scoring students to come to your university with non-need-based aid," said Richard Kahlenberg, a specialist in education at the Century Foundation.

I'd like to hope a fair share of them are accepting financial aid/loans because their parents are teaching them the value of money, but it still stinks for the rest of us with loans and debt for a degree in, ahem, journalism.