Out of the ashes

Out of the ashes of my first ancient site, midwaywebworks.com I’ve created lifeisadarkride. It’s a take off on my internet moniker, DarkRydz. It’s at least as old as the website company I created in 2010. I started it after getting laid off from a non-profit where I worked as a trade show manager. I had almost no clue what I was doing. I barely knew a handful of html. However, it was the recession, and I had all the time in the world to figure it out.

Why DarkRydz? I had this idea. Once I had the money and know-how, I’d buy an old hearse. I’d trick it out and have it serve as a, well… a hearse for someone who wanted to do their final ride in style. If engineered properly, it could carry passengers (seated of course) in the back for a nice gothy prom or wedding. I never got there, and the vampire thing kind of died down. On top of that – other than the occasional freelance web or photography job, I have had terrible luck running a business. Ask me about the Escape Room some day 😛

So here I am, 14 years later. I work for a big European company that treats me well. I know a lot more about web design, although rarely is there a need to code anything. It’s all done in the back end and I leave that to the developers. The team I work on focuses strictly on content.

In 14 years, I moved back to Michigan. I bought and sold two houses. I watched my mom, brother, and several close friends pass. I dusted off my bass guitar and joined a few bands, dabbled in community theater, took a trip to Iceland, got married, survived a pandemic… You get the idea. A lot has happened. Hopefully a lot more will, but only the gods know.

Almost every day there’s something – an old high school acquaintance, a teacher, a coworker’s husband… gone.

Some deaths you can see coming from a mile away. Some are like a door slamming shut.