I’ve never really thought too hard about the name. It just came out naturally and stuck. It started as a slogan some time ago, after trying a few other wordings that didn’t quite work. At one point, I even used “The Art of Work at Life.” Don’t ask what that meant, or why I chose it. I honestly don’t know either.
Rockstar Now Geek might not mean much to other people, but it means something to me. It reflects a transformation from a musician who was very extroverted into someone who prefers to mind his own business, live quietly, and spend time tinkering with stuff.
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So, What’s the Project?
It’s another blog. I know. I’ve started a dozen blogs over the years.
The difference this time is that this one accompanies the stories I create through video on YouTube, Instagram, and even TikTok. This blog exists as the “home” for those videos. To make them searchable, I write posts based on the narratives, or sometimes my own alternative interpretations of the videos.
I have other projects hosted on Ghost, and some will live on WordPress.com. This one is on Substack, for a few reasons:
- Very affordable to start. The hosting is free. I only bought a domain (rockstarnowgeek.com) and paid a one-time $50 fee to use a custom domain on Substack. That’s a custom domain and a decent layout at a very low cost.
- It’s dependable. I’m done administering my own hosting. I’m moving all existing blogs (and my clients’ websites) to hosted solutions so I can focus on what I do best: creating content.
- Email subscribers matter. Substack’s model is solid. I’m not planning to monetize or sell paid subscriptions (at least not now). The goal is to build organic subscribers by consistently publishing stories.
- Content is the main strategy. I don’t know what the future looks like, but most of my time will go into creating content. Hosting it on Substack helps with that.
The content is written in Indonesian.
Why Indonesian? You might ask.
In the past seven years since moving to the U.S., I’ve been obsessed with improving my English to survive and function here. However I’ve had a couple of jobs related to Indonesian language. As a native speaker, I realized that that’s a professional asset. I speak, read, write, and listen to Indonesian natively, and it’s important to keep using it, even informally, like I do on RockstarNowGeek.com.
I also create my videos in Indonesian. This way, I hope my bilingual skills stay intact and sharp.
Being native doesn’t mean it’s effortless. Living and breathing in America means I’ve been slowly unlearning Indonesian culture for a while. Now, more than ever, I want to keep it. It’s my identity, and I’ll carry it to my death, but it takes effort.
It’s very easy to just become “American.” And yes, I do aspire to be American, but with a touch of my native culture. That’s what makes me a unique individual living here. I think that matters. I’m not trying to become someone else.
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What’s the Story?
The content has always been based on my daily life, not in a literal “vlog every minute of the day” way, but through what I see, feel, hear, and learn while transitioning into the Californian way of life.
Why?
Because it’s the most natural thing for me to do. This is something I’d spend time and effort on even if I never got paid.
I love telling stories. The format was video, and now, also a blog on my own website.
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Is there a Long Term plan for this?
Honestly, I don’t really know.
But I imagine this becoming a collection of personal stories that live on the internet for a long time. After surviving death, I realized I want documentation of my life in digital form. Now I have that, and I’m building an archive, a library of memories.
Hopefully one day my daughter, or anyone really, will watch or read them and feel inspired.
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I think that covers the basics of why I’m starting this project. If you understand Indonesian, or don’t, but are willing to use translation tools, head over to rockstarnowgeek.com. Read around, subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next edition.
