It seemed easy enough...

I had the mic, I had the headphones, I had the really neatO computer. I had a blog that I really enjoyed writing on, but I found myself without the time to do it. I also had a bunch of things that would probably sound cool if spoken in a nice deep voice about two inches off of the fuzzy mic-cozy. It seemed easy enough.

I'll make a podcast!

Yee-haw, look at me everybody! I'm going to join the internet revolution! I'm going to be cutting-edge! Yes, yes....I'll be cutting-edge...and perhaps, if I do a really, really good job, I'll also be other buzzwords...like "postmodern," and "relevant," and "innovative." Yes, I'm headed for the future of communication...I'll join the likes of David Bowie and Ricky Gervais and some guy named Mike from New Jersey who likes to talk about his cat...I'll be a podcaster!

I'll just plug this mic in...test, test, test...

And I'll just record this. Chickity-check, microphone check.

OK, now I'll just take what I recorded...and add some music...and export as an mp4...

And now...ummm...


OK, folks. See, this is where I got kind of hung up. What happens next?

I don't know. But I sure as shit tell you what doesn't happen next. You don't hit the "publish my podcast" button on your keyboard and wait to get famous. No sir. You don't do that at all.

Instead, you spend three or four days going to hundreds of websites and downloading a dozen or so applications trying to turn your mp4 file into a usable podcast. You process your audio every which way possible to try and get it into podcasteriffic form...to no avail. You check out help sites, user forums, FAQ's...you write to the people at iTunes, the manufacturer of the podcasting software, and even the guys who made your microphone, on the off chance that they can help. You even get the magic key at the bottom of the labrynth, give it to the werewolf in the dark forest, get the silver medallion of Moon'sRune from him, and use the medallion to gain entrance to the witches quarters, where you hope she will give you the magic Podcasting tonic, so that you might be able to join the other relevant, cutting-edge postmodernists who have joined the podcasting revolution.

All to no avail.

I have no clue how to podcast. But I made podcast. And I would love for you to hear it.

If you're interested, it's at http://www.archive.org/details/JustinMastersonsPodcastEpisode1/

Just click on the mp4 file. It's like podcasting, but for techidiots like me who can't figure out how to podcast, so instead we just upload an audio file and make you do all the work.

I don't know that I'll make a habit out of doing audio recordings...but it was really fun. I may do it every once in a while. Tell me what you think, eh? Would you rather read, or listen? Or neither?

Let's look to the next wave of blogging...TACTILE BLOGGING. I'm not sure how it'll work, but you'll be able to TOUCH everything the blogger is talking about.

I'll get right on that. In the meantime, download the mp4 file eh? It'll make me feel like all that work wasn't for not.

Peace,
Justin