About Jordan Hess
In the beginning...
I was Born n' Raised in good Ol' Southern California. I went to school, I got older, I got a job, I moved to utah, got a few more jobs and now I'm here.
Why Web Development?
I love understanding how and why things work. This can be, at times, an insatiable curiosity and often self-propelled by the simple desire to understand more and more. If curiousity killed the cat, and I was a cat, I would definately be dead by now.
That said, there is a magnificent community that surrounds web development. With enough determination, and some google magic, you can learn how to make pretty much anything you can imagine. There are some amazing resources and people out there who willingly share their knowledge and experience. I've always enjoyed learning from people actually doing whatever it is I want to do, then teachers who solely teach.
White Beard = Santa Clause, Red Beard = Viking, Black Beard = Pirate/Terrorist
In May of 2009 I went to the World Beard and Mustache Championships in Anchorage Alaska where I competed in the Garibaldi category. Afterwards with the help of a friend who is a photographer, Jessica Peterson, I made a reverse time-lapse video of me cutting it.
I came in 4th place in the competition, in other words, I lost, as everyone who didn't place between 1st through 3rd, came in 4th. In hindsight, shoulda been ready to switch category. One category only had two contenders; I coulda came in 3rd. hehe.
Education
Long story short, I am self-taught. Google and me are like that! (You couldn't see but I was crossing my fingers. True Story.)
The slightly longer version is, I very much enjoy learning, especially through trial and error. To me its like an adventure, or discovering something, whether or not somebody else has already discovered it before, the process of doing it myself brings me great joy.
I also thoroughly enjoy sticking it to the man, and the man says to stay in school. So, the man can suck my big toe.
Lessons Learned
In my time on this earth I've learned a few things here and there. Some of these things are completely useless, others I have taken to heart and they have helped form the very fiber of my being.
Listed below are a few of these things.
- Yellow doesn't look good on me.
- Learn by practice, not by theory. (AKA, School/Teachers are a joke. You'll learn far more from a blog of someone who is actually doing what you want to learn, then a teacher who isnt.)
- Never say anything in anger that you wouldn't say in peace.
- Inner dialogue makes me smile.
- Ego gluttony, the number one killer of potential. "Do not feed the Ego!"
- A Mac doesn't make you a good designer anymore then Linux makes you a good programmer. So you might as well be using Windows. :-P
- Change is the only constant. Don't vote for something that is going to happen regardless.
- Don't trust unicorns, especially if your name is Charlie.
- I'm probably not laughing with you...
- In the absence of natural talent, but with determination and a willingness to learn, you can accomplish extraordinary feats.
- If you can't do it yourself because you don't know how, Learn to do it yourself. If you can't do it yourself cause you don't have time, but you do know how, hire/pay someone else to do it.
- If you're gonna laugh, Laugh loud. It's good for you and it's contagious. But if laughing may be inappropriate for the setting, try a smile, they are pretty good too.