As I continue to grow the blog, if people are interested in setting up a small writing group, I think it would be great to do some weekly prompts. Eventually, if there is enough interest, we could develop some sort of scheduled event (perhaps bi-weekly or some other timeline), where we get online together and read our writings to the group. 

This could be done to either illicit feedback, or simply to enjoy the act of writing and reading your work outload to an audience. 

If you're interested in this sort of thing, feel free to reply. I will gauge interest before developing the program. 

Generally, I try to post a writing piece every week, but officially, the cadence is a post bi-weekly. During this week, I am on vacation and I am working on a lot of different items while I'm away, so I will not have capacity to post this week. I will be back next week with some new writing. 

Also, an update about the Youtube channel: I had given myself a deadline to have my first video posted, which has already passed and I'm no where near done with that. Video recording and editing are not my forte, as writing is my preferred method of content creation, but I am trying to become more comfortable with the software and other tools. I am not giving up on the Youtube idea, I just need more time before I am able to begin posting there. I will have an update on the new deadline soon. 

I'll be back next week, I hope everyone has a great day and I'll talk to you again shortly. 

Ryan

Another aspect of my life that I consider myself to have some authority in is cooking. I cook for my household everyday. Unless I'm on vacation somewhere that doesn't have a kitchen I can use, then I'm cooking. I much prefer the taste of my own food, and I can control what ingredients are put into the food and how many calories are there. I talked about before that restaurants are my friends. They're a business that is there to provide the most delicious and tasty meal they can to you, which usually results in increased calories and macro-nutrients like fat e.g. more butter. 

I'm not saying restaurants are inherently bad or anything, I just like to cook myself. Plus, I can be at home and do other things around the house while the food is cooking, like I can get a quick workout in or tend to the chickens or something like that. 

I also love hosting parties and family gatherings at our house. I really enjoy preparing holiday dinners and seeing everyone's enjoyment when we sit down at the dinner table to feast. 

What aspects of life do you have authority in, but don't hold any official credentials? 

Most of my information is already in the "About the Author" post, but I'm happy to discuss here as well. I currently in in Pennsylvania. My wife and I moved into our house recently, about 16 months ago or so, and we're busy fixing it up and building our garden and homestead out. We're currently raising 8 chickens, who hopefully start producing eggs in August. 

Originally when I was in school for my undergraduate studies, I was a writing major, but I had a sudden realization that I didn't think I could earn a decent wage as a writer, so I shifted over to business. After graduating, I began working in the insurance industry, and still work there full time today. I am also currently enrolled in an MBA program. 

It is an interesting combination, which I really enjoy. I get to use my analytical skillset during the day to earn a wage, and flex my creativity muscle at night when I write for the blog or my personal novel and non-fiction works. 

Aside from the professional items, I really enjoy rock climbing, I got to a local climbing gym twice a week and mostly focus on boulder problems. I do venture outdoors for bouldering as well, mostly in West Virginia. I thoroughly enjoy outdoor activities like kayaking, hiking, whitewater rafting, camping, and backpacking. One day I'd like to hike the entire Appalachia Trail but I'll probably need to be retired to have enough time; that's one reason for me to stay in shape. 

I also enjoy movies, shows, reading novels, playing games, poker and pretty much and card game. Variety to me is so important, I get bogged down when I'm doing the same thing all of the time, which is why I have so many different activities in my life to keep me going. 

I look forward to meeting everyone that interacts with the Zennado community, and hopefully we can build at a group of people that enjoy discussing Zen philosophy, mediation, and of course anything that life gives us. I also really enjoy talking about general topics like cooking, homesteading, work, and gaming.