Conquering the World, Script by Script
Sometimes I wonder if I take on too much because I am paranoid about letting people down (irrelevant of who they are). I can’t decide if this is an ego thing (i.e. must prove I can do this, must show my skill) or an inbuilt desire to prove that I am actually a nice, helpful person and that my lack of tact and bitchiness is not always intentional.
Maybe I am just too much of a perfectionist and can’t stand the idea of someone else doing it ‘not quite right’… (now that is an ego thing.)
That slightly ‘deep’ ramble is inspired by the fact that — despite being surrounded by work scripts/projects, other people’s scripts, q*bee projects, my scripts (old and new), reviews etc — I am still considering re-writing my weblog/CMS in the next couple of months. It is almost two years old, after all. The poor girl is barely holding up under the strain caused by the massive amount of love, appreciation and comments I get ;)
I think I like being under pressure.
Natasha said:
On 21 Feb at 8:39 pm
Aww, poor CMS *pets it* It definitely sounds like you have your hands full, good luck with all your projects :)
Riitta said:
On 21 Feb at 8:59 pm
At least it seems like you can manage it all – I could never handle that much going on. Don’t load too much on your shoulders, it just might backfire one day. :S Apart from that, you don’t need to prove anything, we already know you’re ace. :)
Grant Mc said:
On 21 Feb at 9:09 pm
I think i work well under pressure if i don’t have pressure i tend to get distracted and not always do thing and forget about things, like now i should be designing my site but i thought i would check my RSS instead.
Angela said:
On 21 Feb at 9:28 pm
I think you like being under pressure too. Glutton for punishment eh?
Hillarie said:
On 21 Feb at 9:58 pm
I just think you do want to help; not to prove yourself, but just because it’s the right thing to do. I mean, how many of us could have been hacked if you didn’t step up and tell people to stop using those crappy scripts? Nah, you don’t need to prove yourself. The world already knows that you’re one of the greatest things on the internet! And, if pressure gets what you need done, it’s OK. Woah, I can say something semi-inspirational! I had no clue I had that ‘ability’!
Meli said:
On 21 Feb at 10:22 pm
We’ll take your CMS hand-me-downs!! Seriously, though, you’re doing a wonderful job with everything, from what I can see. Taking on all of these scripts, and they always turn out better. I’m one of those people who function better with higher stress levels, too… I always have to have three or four major projects going on at once!
Meli said:
On 21 Feb at 10:23 pm
PS: If you do ever get sick of this CMS and really want to get rid of it, I suggest BellaBlog. :)
Jem said:
On 21 Feb at 10:31 pm
Hah, I didn’t mean to turn this into a “tell me how great I am” entry! :o Thanks everyone :)
Katy said:
On 21 Feb at 10:50 pm
heh, I stopped trying to be nice and helping people with scripts a while ago, and it’s such a good feeling :) That probably makes me a bad person, but meh. Having lots of things to do is good though – if I don’t have stuff to keep my brain occupied I go a little bit crazy…. and is it really two years since you did this? wow, that’s ages ago! I still have all your original code somewhere too, hehe
Belinda said:
On 21 Feb at 11:12 pm
Pressure = greatest thing ever. I can never get anything done when not under pressue.
Peter Green said:
On 22 Feb at 12:05 am
I think it’s great that you are asking your self these questions, and I would hazard a guess that your motivation is ‘all of the above’. To be self aware is very healthy thing, something I see way too little of in this world of ours! I would say, keep on asking these questions of your self and keep looking for the answers, just don’t let it take you over, though I feel that you probably wouldn’t. As you are well aware it’s good to help others and something I think that makes the world a much much better place. I strongly believe in open source software, because it promotes ‘openness and collaboration’. You only need to add a couple more things to this mix, like tolerance and understanding, and you have a good grounding for a wonderful world! Phew! I got a bit heavy there! Peter
Amelie said:
On 22 Feb at 12:29 am
My CMS is better than yours >:P
Melissa said:
On 22 Feb at 1:05 am
Eeee, BellaBlog! XD The perfectionist thing is completely understandable, that’s exactly how I am, muahaha! I work and work and work at something until I get it just right…or as “right” as it can be. :P It’s quite appreciated, all that you do for the Q*Bee and beyond. :D You be definitely “le phpninja”. ^_^
Jenny said:
On 22 Feb at 2:33 am
Ha, I do exactly the same thing — rewrite the CMS when I really don’t have time. I tell myself that I’m testing out new things for possible implementation at work (and I am), but really I do it out of curiosity, “can it be improved…” But I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all; if you didn’t have the urge to go re-writing code that still basically works you wouldn’t be as good as you are. More of a positive intrinsic motivation than an ego trip.
Louise said:
On 22 Feb at 5:53 am
You are definitely doing good by re-writing other people’s scripts. If you don’t point them out, and offer fixes, a lot, everyone one will continue assuming that these “broken” scripts are ok. Besides, maybe some of the original creators decide to abandon their scripts, or don’t know how to make them better… You’re an educator of sorts Jem – People listen to you, and there is a lot of thought and knowledge behind what you say. But people will always disagree with facts, laws, religions etc. Even if many consider them the “best” way to do/think of things. So it’s good that you’re trying to point people towards “better” ways.
Amanda said:
On 22 Feb at 6:49 am
Go for it Jem. Although (ideally) I wouldn’t see any change on my end, as long as you feel comfortable with your end, that’s all that matters. :)
Mumblies said:
On 22 Feb at 7:13 am
I think it’s genetic Jem, you come from a long line of “I must get this done” people I’m afraid I’m not sorry I raised you to be a perfectionist. In my eyes a constant need to improve oneself is a good thing :o)
Chrissy said:
On 22 Feb at 11:17 am
Sometimes you just have to say no to a couple of projects and let a few people down to protect your own sanity. Though… I know how hard that is.
Stephanie said:
On 22 Feb at 1:51 pm
I think your CMS works fine, though I probably don’t see that much of it. After all, there are tons of people who use Cutenews and WordPress for years on end. Maybe you should update a few security issues, and that’d be enough. It could be an ego thing, there are tons of people like that who overexert themselves. But then, it’s these people who are well known, acclaimed, and eventually become successful. But they do make a few sacrifices here and there for others, usually doing something that they really want to do. In your case, rewriting the CMS.
Jem said:
On 22 Feb at 1:56 pm
There are no security issues; I wouldn’t leave anything even remotely insecure up on my website… :X The problems with the CMS are not going to be noticeable to the average visitor — but involve things like MySQL optimisation (or the lack of), untidy and inefficient code, repeated code that could be function-alised and difficulties that occur with changes to the structure of the layout because of the way it’s all implemented. There are a few visible issues but these are minor anyway. It’s all back-end stuff, really.
Han said:
On 22 Feb at 3:31 pm
I suppose it’d be quite satisfying to rewrite it but its when your halfway thorugh and you’ve deleted smething vital that you wish you’d not touched it!!
Hev said:
On 22 Feb at 4:13 pm
Some people thrive on pressure & don’t know how to live without it. If there isn’t enough outside pressure then the brain & body will create some. You may just be one of those people.
Nan said:
On 22 Feb at 4:36 pm
I feel like this all of the time as well. Unfortunately it is hard to be a perfectionist while taking too many things on you at the same time. I really want to do things perfect too and if I have too many doubts on how to I end up procrastinate them all doing a lot of things half.
Alys said:
On 22 Feb at 8:23 pm
I actually do not work unless I am under pressure. That’s having no self discipline for you. The title of the post really made me laugh – strikes me exactly the sort of thing you would do Jem :)
Alys said:
On 22 Feb at 8:24 pm
That should have been “strikes me as exactly the sort of thing you would do Jem :)”
Sara said:
On 23 Feb at 12:50 am
wow, this has turned into a blog full of comments telling you how great you are! i guess you already know what i am going to say though, so there isn’t a need for me to type on.
Riitta said:
On 23 Feb at 6:37 am
@Han: Backups, anyone? :3
Rachael said:
On 23 Feb at 9:28 am
I say good luck to you if you want to work on your CMS. It’s a big feat even coding one in the first place. Can I make one suggestion though? If you’re going to work on the layout, please don’t get rid of the css that makes all the links jump in IE. I love that! Leave that in!
Matt said:
On 23 Feb at 7:29 pm
I think I like being under pressure too, it’s how I do my best pieces of school work :P A little strange, but oh well. And perfectionists are awesome ;)
HannaPai said:
On 23 Feb at 8:20 pm
Okey, the fact is you’re good in what you’re doing (as everybody has already said. So go girl. (Still little lost with laptop’s keyboard.)
Jenn said:
On 24 Feb at 10:33 pm
I’ve always thought you did quite well with everything you take on. :)
Six said:
On 03 Mar at 3:48 pm
Maybe I’m paranoid, too, Jem, but I can’t help thinking that certain people were given certain skills for a reason. *eerie, Twilight-Zoney music ensues* I just get the feeling that you are doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. BTW, did someone mention BellaBlog? 8D
Steven said:
On 03 Mar at 6:06 pm
Don’t worry! I’m like that, too. Everything HAS to be perfect. All my scripts are crap, too, but they work, don’t they? I just re-did my layout. My whole site really, and I wrote a comment script for the tutorials, and it is a piece of crap, but it works. I’d go for it. Then you could release it. BellaBlog… Nice ring to it… I’d buy it if you offered a Free and Premium lol.