Embracing Change

Much has been going on lately. In so many ways life has been changing for me. Not in a good or bad way but in an is what it is way. I actually enjoy the change in routine lately but that being said I have been slacking on this blog. As a quick recap the past four weeks challenges were:



-Week 39: Straighten Up/Improve Posture
-Week 40: The Facebook Experiment
-Week 41: Finding Spirituality
-Week 42: Living on the Fringe

Anyhow, before going into those weeks details, life as of late.

Like I said, much has been going on. Changes on the job, meeting new people. I am actually back into BJJ full force. I am also playing with my old band again, kinda weird actually. To tell you the truth, I haven't been able to digest a lot of the changes going on. It's more of a go with the flow, day by day type of thing. Some of the changes are well known:

Thanks Steve. RIP

I just heard that one of my friends father had a heart attack. My own dad is going in for a procedure on his heart. I guess if I had time to dwell on it, then it could possible affect me more, but for now, I have to move on and decide what is best to do in the moment and hope for the best. I guess in embracing some of the challenges of the past week, throw in a dash of previous challenges and I am seeing things in a new light. 

Now Week 39 was about improving posture. I guess it was more of a pet peeve of mine and also didn't require much in the way of effort (well it did require a lot of awareness). The main amount of effort came in the form of standing straight against the wall for a minute before leaving my house. Week 40 was about how Facebook friends are made and influenced. I spent some time working on things like writing on peoples pages and choosing carefully worded status updates. But it started to have larger ramifications when I started thinking about how my own attitude determined a lot of how people react to me. 

Weeks 40 and 41 were a throwback to finding some kind of spirituality in my life. I started embracing the take action ethos and jump first ask questions later type of thing, but then I started just to ask questions. Week 40 was embracing what I had known in term of Law Of Attraction to present moment awareness type of stuff, whereas week 41 was looking into the more mystical and really woo woo type of stuff. Things like horoscopes and more arcane forms of knowledge. 

Without going into too much detail, the weird "cocktail" of the past few weeks led to some new perspectives for me. I won't say that I have everything figured out, but my own perspective of life has changed ever so slightly. For now, I found this cool speech by Arnold:

Weeks 37 and 38

It's technically week 39, but I do want to get caught up with the past couple of week challenges. But before we do that, you will notice some changes to the look of the blog. I am in super massive experimenting mood right now. I guess it's the past few weeks that have been causing this weird shift in me.

Before we get to that, let's see what I did the past couple of weeks.


Week 37:

It was massive networking week. I realized that I am the worst networker ever.  The book that I used as reference was a book by Joe Sweeney called "Networking is a Contact Sport". First off, this is an awesome book. I recommend it pretty much to anyone. It makes you realize that networking is such an important thing in this day and age. If you take away everything you have, what you have left is your network of friends, family and colleagues. His plan for networking is kind of interesting. He proposes a 5/10/15 action plan. In other words, everyday you have "5" interactions, you contact via mail or e-mail "10" people and you call "15" people. Yeah, I know, it's kind of tough. But I did learn some valuable skills and it is definitely something I should devote more time to.

Week 38:

A couple of weeks ago I was looking into creating a passive income sort of internet business. Well last week I started work on a brand new project. Actually a couple of projects. I am working on my first draft of an e-book and I should have the final in a month or so. I have to work on some of the photographs for it and have a few people test it out. It also means I've been working on getting up to speed on this type of business and that means reading... a lot. Oh well gotta love it.

Lights, Camera...Action!

I am typing this blog on one of my old computers. My charger for my macbook pro is now sadly passed over to the other side. I am not upset about this. I actually get to listen to some old music I have on this computer and it is bringing back some pretty cool memories. I've found some old journals on this computer and it has been like a trip down memory lane. Anyhow, I've been really intrigued by a couple of things lately. First off, I have been watching this show called "Restaurant Impossible" with Robert Irvin. Now don't get me wrong, I am far from being a cook, but the premise of the show is interesting. He goes into the restaurant and finds out why it is failing. He then goes about changing the restaurant in the span of 48 hours. Makes you want take action on your own life, even if you don't have a restaurant.

The other thing I have been into is this group of guys pushing the limit of what is possible. I guess I first started watching Rob Dyrdek, namely a documentary on his life and it kind of led to me thinking bigger and in walks Dude, Perfect. It's better that I show you.

They have an awesome book on going big. Basically, whatever you are thinking of doing, times it by 10 and go further than that. I love their attitude.

I just had to get one Rob Dyrdek vid in. Anyhow, I think it is time for me to pass out...be safe!

David was made by stripping away the unnecessary...

Happy Labor Day! What was I doing today? Laboring of course. I had an interesting week. I've been so overwhelmed with stuff lately and everything hit me all at once that I really felt run down. Okay was that me whining? Pretty much. If I ever needed a control-alt-delete it would be now.

Before I rant on, let's talk about the past couple of week challenges.







Week 35:


Look me in the eye!

The weeks challenge consisted of me working on my eye contact. It was influenced by a book called "The Power Of Eye Contact" by Michael Ellsberg. It was actually a very interesting experiment. I really do need a longer period of time before it becomes completely life changing but as such... I noticed also that wearing headphones  in the city along with lack of eye contact really made me withdraw into myself. I became aware of me isolating myself from life. Too deep.

Week 36:


I spent a week working on and researching Internet Businesses. I was reading some profiles on some people and I guess I was really intrigued with people able to make a living doing something on the internet.

It was also somewhat something of a small fear in me. A fear of putting things out there. I guess this blog could somewhat count in terms of putting things out there but I guess I reason it as no one really looks at this blog and it seems more self serving for me as a sort of journal for this past year. That being said, I am completely overwhelmed with great ideas. I am actually in the process of taking "actionable steps" towards several ideas that I had last week.

This weeks challenge is actually going to really embrace "Networking". I have a few books that I will mention in the next post that have actually influenced me. As for the stripping away.  I am embracing the fun quotient for this week. It may lead to other issues but I feel that "well it isn't working this way anyhow". What does this mean? I am going to try using fun as the gauge for if I am doing the right thing.

Anyhow, a really cool remake of a song that I have been enjoying lately...enjoy

Learning from the Stoics

This past week was spent reading books from "The Stoics". It was more of learning of a philosophy then any particular challenges. Unfortunately I only had a week but I did learn some interesting lessons.

I guess I was jaded a little bit from the self help movement. I was noticing the past few years that I started to lean towards business books then my usual litany of self help books. Actually let me go back a little bit here.


When I was younger I guess I believed in whatever I was raised to believe. I guess if I had to choose something that I believed in back then I guess it was in the basics of religion I was raised to believe in. I then slowly moved to the Occult. I remember finding a book of mantras and remember thinking it was really cool. It kind of lead to a few other books but I guess it wasn't too crazy. I mean I didn't have any voodoo dolls or anything, but on a surface level it was "the occult". After that I kind of moved into super religion, almost evangelistic. It kind of was what I did until a few people that I thought were good turned out to not be so. After that I kind of went towards there is no God deal. I pretty much just figured it was all useless and just do what you do. And thatttttt (wow this is kind of a long evolution)moved towards the Self Help  do it, take action kind of philosophy. I set goals and just took a lot of action. That slowly shifted to a "Law of Attraction" kind of philosophy. Now where do I stand at this point in my life. I think it is kind of complicated. I do believe in something more out there. I also think that the law of attraction is fine but you also have to get out there and fail. You have to be willing to try out things. Leading to Stoicism.

I learned about these philosophers who preached a very practical approach to living over two thousand years ago. They were known as Stoics. I especially enjoyed the works of Seneca. A typical idea of the philosophy would be for example, if you are afraid of losing your job and poverty, actually spend a week having no money. Or making 20 dollars last all week. After going through this type of process you realize that it isn't going to kill you and that you are able to survive something like this. It might not be easy but I did learn a lot from this approach to life. If you are interested in the philosophy definitely check out the works of Seneca. I kind of jump around from the different letters that he wrote and pick up something everytime I read him.

Anyhow somethings to check out:

So distracted....hmmmmm

What makes for a year challenge leads to much distraction. I can't say that makes for a good excuse to not keeping 100 percent current with this blog but then again, I wish I had more time in the day.

I have been into so many cool things lately and reading and learning a lot. I really wish I had more time. I realize there are so many cool things in this world if I only had the time. I also realize that who we are as people are pretty much determined by our thoughts and beliefs about who we are. Trying out so many different things has a way of causing you to evaluate the many different perspectives about what is really possible (in a non self help guru kind of way).



I have been trying to maintain my personal focus as well as trying out different weekly challenges and also maintaining the basics of everyday  living (job, friends, family and such). I can't say that there are some things that haven't suffered and maybe at this time in my life that's okay.

So what did I do these past few weeks:

Week 31:


Baby Steps. Or to be more precise the concept of Kaizen. It was a process of thinking smaller and doing smaller. I got pretty much the entire philosophy from a book entitled "One Small Step Can Change Your Life" by Robert Maurer. I guess the lack of focus got to me and I was getting overwhelmed so I really kind of took to this book.

Much of the philosophy concerned making changes in such small incremental steps that it bypassed any internal resistance to change. One of the examples being going from a Venti (large)coffee drink to a Grande (medium) if I want to slowly end an addiction to coffee. If I have some project, I would do the smallest possible step. For example doing laundry, I might just take out the laundry bag. Those are small examples but I have to admit, it definitely made a difference and you should definitely check out the book.

Week 32:


Getting funky. I actually decided to try my hand at slap bass. That sort of funky, slapping popping type of bass sound. It was kind of fun. I mean, heck I sucked at it but it was definitely interesting. Once again a week made it kind of not enough time to get even half way decent but interesting none the less.


Week 33:


I actually got back to drawing. One of the earlier challenges was "Art Week". This week was strictly drawing. It's actually something I intend to do a little longer than a week. I am actually going through a book by Mark Kistler called Drawing in 30 days. I always loved Mark Kistler and his Kaizen approach to teaching drawing.

So anyhow, that should bring me up to date. For now. I am trying to be more forgiving with my situation and I have a bunch of habits that keep me sane but also take up much of my time. I am hoping to get my Jiu Jitsu back on track and just get myself focused again. Until then something else to try...

"The ends justify the means..."

So it's been awhile. I think I am going to use that as my opening phrase for the rest of these blogs lol. The past three weeks have been quite interesting. The challenges have revolved around some interesting issues in my life. The challenges from the past three weeks were:

-Negotiating
-Politics
-Economics

I know, not terribly exciting. But for whatever reason, the past few weeks started off with me reading about John Adams and Benjamin Franklin and then that became an off shoot of reading about the aforementioned topics.

The most interesting book of the bunch I read was "Winning at Office Politics" by Marie G McIntyre. What a great read. I also read Freakonomics  and a few books on Negotiating and Economics. A good one being "The Little Book of Economics" by Greg Ip.

Now I'm the type of guy who kind of just deals with life in a "go with the flow fashion". I never really paid attention to how the interplay and dynamics of people come together. I learned that I dealt with life from a small bubble of my consciousness and instead of dealing with life as it really was. Now I don't want to come off like I've become all paranoid and I really feel that I've only scratched the surface of what is possible with this newfound revelation. But like I've mentioned before, 7 days is not a long time.

Anyhow a few things inspiring me lately:

Latest Update

I am writing this on my iPhone at a Barnes and Nobles enjoying a green tea and almonds. I am currently listening to the film scores channel on Pandora. I had a couple of free hours to kill before work and I figured I really need to update the blog more often so I am trying my best to try different ways to do that.

First off some updates. Last weeks challenge for me was to take time and actually do some chores. Yes, like when I was 12 and had chores to do. Tasks such as everyday cleaning and scrubbing to paying bills and finishing projects around the house that needed tomget done. Tell you the truth, I found it kind of relaxing. In a sense it was almost grounding. From doing laundry to scrubbing my bathroom (which I realized I should do more often). I put on my headphones and pretty much got everything I wanted to get done. If I could only keep this up lol.

This weeks challenge is gonna lead to he next few challenges. I would consider myself a relatively creatI've person (lol), but with that comes certain tasks that I do not enjoy. Activities that are more left brained in theory. These are areas I have avoided in one way or another my whole life. The specific tasks being in no particular order:

-negotiating
-networking
-dealing with difficult people or situations
-social and political awareness

I realize this specific objectives and challenges are gonna be harder to quantify by I realized that these area will definitely help me out in some major areas of life. This week I have been reading negotiating books and hopefully in my line of work I will be able to practice some of these things. Otherwise I'm gonna have to get creative in how I approach these specific "arts". Anyhow my hands are cramping up. So for now i say adieu...

And so it goes...

I am posting a pic of the Green Lantern Emblem because one, he was my fave when I was a kid and two, I like the whole symbolism of creating anything from your imagination. Enuff said...

I've been doing private journals as of late which made this page a little bit less inspired. I am hoping to journal in this blog more and try to catch up with where I am now.

As for last weeks challenge and this week challenge. Last week I focused on passion. They do say follow your passions. I was doing a lot of little challenges as well. I failed one of the big ones. I didn't realize how big a task a 1000 piece puzzle was but I definitely was not able to finish it in a week. As for the passion part, I started thinking what I would do if no decisions could be made because of money but from straight passion. Almost as if passion were the new currency. I have to admit, it was tougher then I thought it was gonna be. I had to start thinking in different terms and after a while I would revert back to making money or at least how it could possibly turn into something lucrative. I also enjoyed a few books and a such. Had some new foods I haven't had and add to that it was my birthday led to me having more fun then I really should have lol.

This weeks challenge is about giving. Something in line of Random Acts of Kindness. I felt resistant  somewhat with this one. I thought I was more generous. I guess we are always more of something in our minds. It is the little things I guess, and in some ways I believe that some people may misinterpret some of these acts but I do think it is important to trod through. I still have a few days to on this one.

I have been busy in a lot of ways and somewhat scattered in my focus. It's been affecting me in little ways. I know that there is a benefit in doing these little challenges but I have to say that they are taxing on the "mental game". One of the things I have been looking at are some of the Buddhist types of beliefs of accepting what is. The total embracing of everything going on in ones life. I guess this lack of focus has something to teach me about focus ironically. I may be incredibly tired right now so much of this may not be making sense, but I accept that. I have to say that I learned a lot this week. It was a trying adventure but many lessons were gleaned. I will definitely have to post that story next time. Till then, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........

Insight

Watching "Good Will Hunting" and realizing a lot of things in my life. I feel the movie has always hit a spot with me. I think that there is a lot of this movie in my life. Not the genius elements of the movie, but more the life growth in it. Damn late night television.

It's been a weird couple of weeks. More in a good way. Spent the better part of the past few weeks analyzing things that kind of through me. I would notice very subtly things in that I was resistant to. It was little things. Not that there are things that I don't want to do and I am indifferent to. More like I am resistant to and I am slightly on the left of afraid of doing it. Not fear just a pull towards not wanting to do it even when it shouldn't make a difference. Okay now I sound sort of crazy. Oh well.

Things that I am slight resistant to:

-Submerging myself in freezing water (conquered)
-Fasting with no food or water for 24 hours (to be attempted on Yom Kippur)
-Playing speed chess against the people in the park
-putting together a 1000 piece puzzle
-BJJ Tournaments

Well that's all I could think of for now. Anyhow, some of these might not be specific challenges but just small here and there challenges which I will take on along with the other stuff I will be doing.

Last weeks challenge was to post on eBay. How stupid is that? But I am resistant to dealing with the trouble of doing it and getting ripped off. I had a few bumps in setting  it up and I am only selling some books. Still learning my way around it. I had to get a book and still don't know all the stuff on it. But oh well.

This weeks challenge involves body language. I am doing the program of "You Say More Than You Think" by Janine Driver. After talking to some friends about this, I realize that I come off a little aloof. Some people have said that before they met me I came off as unfriendly. I have to agree. I think it is more shyness than anything else. After reading the book I realized that there are a lot of things that we say subconsciously. Anyhow, it's late, I'm delirious and time for bed.

Much Ado...

Week 21 and 22:


Well last weeks challenge was really weird. For most people it would have been relatively easy but for me it was kind of tough. My challenge last week was to do nothing. Huh Rey, you really lost it now. Now I know that sounds dumb and somewhat of a copout. But not for me. Let me explain.


I was going into last week thinking I should do some rah rah motivational, goal-setting sort of week. Problem with that. That is my normal response. I always do that. I also got injured last week and couldn't move the left side of my body. So I made the decision. Nothing...

I basically  did not go to jiu-jitsu, yoga. I didn't run or workout in anyway. I read only fiction and tv. I was somewhat normal. I have to admit, it was probably the most profound week I have had so far. One day, it was pouring and I spent 4 hours in Barnes and Nobles with a cup of coffee (okay a few cups of coffee) and books. It occurred to me that I was free to make decisions. I wasn't reverting to my normal self and I was coming from somewhere else. Inspiration. And it was also something else affecting me. My lack of trust. The trusting of life. The trusting that life was working the way it was supposed to. I mean, I am always going to be working on something, that is a given. It's just now I let go of outcome (somewhat). I really have to dwell more on last week, because it was more profound than I am capable of putting into words.

Week 22 Challenge:


This weeks challenge comes from reading author Joe Vitale's "The Awakened Life." It comes from the first section. It is to think optimistically. It involves, not thinking like a victim (tough). It means that I can't complain (damn...just kidding). It means reframing things as positive. It means I can't say that this is gonna be a tough challenge, but I get to do something cool for my life. So far, things have been awesome. Technically in the book, the challenge is to not complain for 30 days. I think that's possible. The challenges lie in looking at my life this past week. Reading the book made me realize that I have a victim mentality in certain areas of my life. I guess I subconsciously kind of fell prey to certain ways of thinking. For the next week at least I have to take responsibility for everything that happens in my life, good and bad.

I am also gonna do a few other exercises he mentions because they do sound somewhat beneficial.

Anyhow, it is late and I have had a pretty cool week. I'll keep you up to date in a separate post. Till then...laterrr

Week 19 and what's up for Week 20

So I am late yet again for another blog, but on a positive note I am consistently late. Okay maybe that was a bit cheesy, but then again so is the word cheesy.

Anyhow, this past weeks challenge was to meditate. I was, and to a certain degree still am kinda scattered in all the things that I should be doing. I really needed to meditate and get some kind of focus. Well let me tell you, it was tough. I haven't meditated in a while and it was really tough. Maybe it's due to the circumstances in my life currently. I also feel like I took on a lot of activities and am doing a lot of new things.

As for other areas of my life. I have been doing really well working out as of late and getting some momentum. That is until a few days ago. I have been a bit aggressive in my workouts and kind of put myself out of commission for a few days. I decided to make this week about getting myself healthy again and get more rest and do workouts that are a bit more restorative. I do want to change up this week to a large degree due to the fact that I have been going so strong for a while. Nothing fancy just more rest really. I like to be proactive in life and keep going but I am learning that being proactive is knowing when not to do something.

As for other areas of my life, I was thinking back to what I have done so far this year. I mean to think about it, it is almost the middle of the year (if we make it past judgement day that is... May 21st End of the World Humor). I had lots of flashbacks to some of my prior challenges and it actually felt like something from which I could draw from. Whether I was successful or not, I found that since I did something similar, I would be able to take action in ways I normally wouldn't. I have to admit, it's been tougher as of late and I really have to chose some challenges that push me in different directions. Really the lessons I am learning are about doing different things. If it doesn't work, try something else. That and learning to adapt to different situations. But the only way you can learn to adapt to different situations is putting yourself in a variety of situations. Anyhow, I will post this weeks challenge in the next blog due to that fact that I am losing consciousness. Anyhow, till the next one...later.

Never Surrender...

It has been a while. Seems I am saying that a lot lately. I have been busy doing a half million things lately and trying to get to writing this blog has been a little difficult. First off:

Last weeks Challenge:

Week 17:


Was a health week. I was to do The Egoscue Method everyday. I did pretty much everyday. I did do an abbreviated version though on Saturday. Translation, I did half of it because I felt overtrained. That has been a tendency of mine and truthfully I should work more on my recovery mode (sleep). Trying to find that perfect balance is tough for me. Work in progress I guess.

Week 18:


This week is a tough one for me. I need to get a hold on my finances. This is one I am hoping to keep going on after this week. Finding a balance with my finances is tough for me as well. I kind of have a tendency to get gung ho with it at first and then it falls off by the wayside.

My particular gameplan will include:

-Finding out where I stand (ughhh)
-Tracking my spending
-Use of Tools, particularly Mint.com
-Learning resources...Books I will mention in a latter post

Other strategies will present themselves I am sure. I really do not want to do this but I realize that I have to get a hold on this area of my life.

Making changes in life is hard and like when I am on a diet, I will similarly have to make some sacrifices  this week as well.

The first resource is gonna be a book by Ramit Sethi:

The name of the book is I Will Teach You to Be Rich. He has a blog as well at iwillteachyoutoberich.com. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. I guess I will be taking that first step;)

Later

Psychologically Tougher Than I Thought...

Adversity has been an interesting teacher. It's been busy few weeks. I've been in the middle of a few projects and trying to keep up with these weekly challenges. The tough part for me is keeping up with my personal goals while trying to grow with these weekly assignments.

My big fear is not living up to my potential. Actually throwing out things this week reminded me so much of all the dreams and goals that I've had in my life. I found so many things that reminded me of my past. I threw out a lot of junk, but then there was stuff that I threw out that was just tough to get rid of. It's crazy how much junk we accumulate in our lives. But it was the stuff that I didn't throw out that just brought back so many memories. Pictures from my past. Some of the friends that I grew up with. Little mementos that reminded me of good times. I still want to throw out stuff. I guess I already got rid of 50 things, but I want to keep the momentum up and get rid of some more stuff.

Other than that, it's been a good but tiring week. I finished up week 4 of my running program. I also started doing my TRX and I think it rocks. I should put up a review of that product soon. I also am inspired. Some great fights coming up. GSP vs. Jake Shields and Manny Pacquiao vs Mosley. Watching a lot of the training documentaries on them is really inspiring and makes me want to workout LOL.

I realized adversity is what makes me hungry and makes me want to grow. Being comfortable is the worst curse of all. You think everything is alright. You think that there is nothing to do. Time passes and then you see that you are stuck. If you are lost and don't know what to do, you're in a good place. If you are comfortable, you ain't reaching high enough. Later..

Nothing succeeds like failure....

So I know it's been a little bit. I didn't get to post last week due to some interesting occurrences in my life. I probably won't go into it in this blog until things are further revealed but it did affect circumstances in my life to a certain degree. That being said...

The Last of the Samurai:


Was dwelling on the plight of the Samurai. I remember watching the Last Samurai and thinking that it was sad to see the end of an era. In this day and age it would seem that everything is so transitory now. Life changes faster than ever. How does one adapt to such a quickly changing landscape?

What was interesting was that there was a lot to learn from the Samurai. They had been a force to reckon with until pretty much the advent of the gun. Not to say that everything about the Samurai was obsolete. There was much going on with the spiritual and mental dimensions but in the end, the once feared Samurai sword became obsolete. People still practice swordsmanship today but it is highly unlikely that we will be going into battle with swords anytime soon.

Giving up what we know so that we grow into the new is kinda tough. I have to admit, I am pretty stubborn about change. I keep thinking, why mess with what works. But after a while, even that doesn't work anymore.

I've been playing a lot of Starcraft 2 lately online. I'll probably be playing a lot more being that Online Poker has been banned in the US. Yeah, it kind of sucks, especially since I did that challenge a few weeks ago. Life changes so quickly. Anyhow, I have been allowing myself to just think differently about Starcraft. I kind of play knowing that I will lost and look to accomplishing some other objective as a sign of growth. It seems that if you are afraid to lose it ironically seems to make it more likely. I also realize that it's more than just in the gaming world. I have to admit, your ego has gotta kind of develop some tough skin because you have to get used to sucking. I'll play a game and do different strategies while playing. If I become too reliant on doing something a certain way I'll force myself to do it another way. Even in jiujitsu, after a while people will figure out what you are doing. Those who change the quickest seem to keep growing.

That being said, I realize that I am a failure in life. But embracing failure and learning to adapt quickly becomes the only way to survive.

Week 15 Challenge and Week 16 Challenge:


So I didn't post last weeks challenge. I tried learning Spanish. Tried is the key word. I don't consider last week a triumph but then again was I really expecting to learn Spanish in 7 days. Well...I guess I was. I used an app that I downloaded and it pretty much reminded me of high school again. It walked me through a whole bunch of non essential bits of pronunciation and conjugation that I really didn't get into the meat of learning Spanish and that left me a bit peeved. Oh well. No sense in beating myself up.

I guess failure is an option.

For my week 16 challenge I will be getting rid of 50 things. It was an idea from a book called "Throw Out 50 Things". Clever title huh? Anyhow, I figure I need this in my life right now. Life is not only about what you add to your life but also what you eliminate from it as well. You should check out my diet. Anyhow loving this song... I heard it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Later.

Running the distance with a touch of food poisoning...

Playing Catchup:

So it's been some time since I've blogged, this I know. My last challenges were to play poker, or more specifically play 100 games in 7 days. FAIL...oh well, I played 89 games and then was hit with a case of food poisoning. I actually will finish those 11 games to finish it. I gave it a go and did pretty well (meaning I actually made money). 

My last weeks challenge was actually to start a running program. I actually am gonna continue this challenge for 12 weeks. I figured I would make it a "challenge" to get a good start on it. I am actually following the protocol set forth in the book "Run You Butt Off" by the editors of Runners World. It's driving me crazy that my shoulder is messed up because I would like to start lifting again. I actually wouldn't mind doing another round of p90x. But being that the adaptable survive I guess I will stay with what I'm working on now. Namely running, kettlebells yoga and jiu jitsu. And sticking with my diet. 

A great resource for info on working out and eating right (well at least for me) is marksdailyapple.com. I am also considering adding TRX Training via trxtraining.com. I would say I was a solid weekend warrior. I have a ways to go to be a full blown athlete but I would definitely surprise you. One of my goals would be to run a 5k. But enough with that challenge...this weeks challenge is.

Week 14:

Quite some time ago, I practiced a lot of music. Namely piano and guitar. I was working a lot on different things and ended up hurting my hands. I would play in pain and it ended up not being a good thing. Flash forward to today. I still have issues with my hands. Playing pop piano or blues and such has never hurt my hands but ten minutes of classical piano...done. It has been a lot better now that I've been working with the grips I mentioned in an earlier post. Which brings me to...

Learning a Chopin Prelude. Ouch. If you don't know, Chopin is tough. I am picking a Prelude because it is only one page. It's been quite some time and I hope I still have the chops, and I also hope I don't open up a bad can of worms and jeopardize my hands even  more. 

Life Goes On:

Been in a weird head space the past few days. Preoccupied with various issues in my life. I keep getting these moments of insight at various times and it makes me reevaluate various situations in my life in a new light. I guess I allow myself to experience the full effects of the emotions attached and in some ways it can get overwhelming. After a while I am good to go. But resolving the issues attached is not so easy. I guess part of it is comparing yourself to others in life and wondering if how you are living is right. But in a lot of ways, that is a double edged sword. Maybe you are comparing yourself to the wrong people. 

My Hero of the Week:

Week 12 Update...or how I learned to live without TigerBlood

First off, guess who made a cameo in a Strala Yoga video? That's right yours truly, I come in around the 2:03 mark:

And another video which I found pretty darn cool:

Okay no I haven't been taking the old "tigerblood", but I am doing pretty darn good on this week challenge. Kinda. First off, how stupid am I to miscalculate the math in this challenge. The reason being I had an idea in my mind on how I was gonna accomplish this and then I changed how I was gonna do this and then I kinda confused myself (don't worry I am a professional). Right now I am at the 51 mark. My way of playing has changed to. I switched it up to playing 6 games at a time and then playing twice a day adding 1 to make it 13 games at a pop. I don't have to work till later on Saturday so I will try to fit in 13 in the morning and then another 13 after work. That is the play anyway, otherwise, Sunday is gonna be a long day. 

Anyhow, I am actually doing pretty well. I started with 115 and I am over 130 now considering I am playing $1.20 buy ins. I have found that I play a lot better now. Keep in mind that six games at the same time goes by very fast. I have to make a lot of decisions really quickly and a lot of the times all at the same time. I don't have time to second guess myself so I just pretty much make a decision and do it. I am so much better when I don't over think and to tell you the truth, thats a pattern that runs throughout my life. The results are pretty shocking to me to tell you the truth. I was hoping to at best break even but right now I am having a good run. My poker play has improved and I realized that I can accomplish a lot once I set my course in motion. Anyhow, the week isn't over so I am off to bed...hope all is well with everybody...nite

Shut up and deal....

The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by those with an academic bent.  ~David Mamet



So here is a late post, I know, I know. I have been trying to fit everything in so I guess as they say, "It is what it is". 


Last week was fun. I played a lot of games and it was more fun than I thought it was gonna be. I did get frustrated in the beginning but after a while, I just rolled with it. They do say that playing games do have value so I am gonna try to get in a few hours a week and not necessarily because of the benefits, but more for the unwind.


I played a variety of games. Games on my iPhone and iPad and video games like Black Ops. I guess one of the most interesting things I learned is that it's okay to just have fun and play. I am so driven sometimes that I forget to play. But that is not entirely true but there are times where I could just back it off a notch and just chill. But on the other hand, there are people who take these games way further than I do. There is nothing wrong with that as well, I guess it's more of why you are playing at that particular time.


Week 12:


So I am already into week 12. I was holding off on this challenge due to the effort I knew I would have to expel. I started the challenge on Monday and this will run until Sunday. The challenge is basically to play 100 games of poker in "Seven" days. That's right, "Seven" days. So far I have 25 games in. Keep in mind I do have work and other projects I am working on. I manage it by playing 4 games at the same time. 


It's been a while since I've played online and I kind of just jumped in and did it. I also don't want to lose the house on this one so I am playing on FullTilt Poker and I am playing the 1.20 games. I started with 115 dollars and after 25 games I am up to 119. Wow, I know...4 bucks. Tell you the truth I thought I  would have been down. There are 75 games to go so, we'll see how it goes.


I always loved poker but never really played the number of games I needed to to get better and to make money. I would play more casually. This in itself wasn't bad but if I am going to push it I should push it. I do believe your typical online pro plays a lot more games than this. Part of it is due to the fact that they are playing more hours of course, but also some are playing 8-12 games at a time. There is one guy who plays 60 games plus at a time. With that number he is aiming to get 700-1000 games in a week. Whew. So in the higher order of things, 100 should be manageable.


Anyhow, gotta go and do something productive;(.


Till later...

Last day of thanks and Week 11

"Hadoken"










Just finishing up last weeks day of thanks (sorry, so much going on).

1-"Battle Los Angeles": I know, how silly. But truthfully I liked this movie a lot. The message it left me with was the quote of Winston Churchhill's "Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm". Great ending to the movie too....Check it out!

2-Finally getting some sleep: Not a lot, but a lot more than I have been getting. I guess the last week was a bit more taxing than normal but the little things again right?

3-I had  a customer in today. An older woman, very nice. I have to admit, I thought she was annoying in the beginning but then I got to talking to her more. I sell her a phone and I find out she loves Mickey Mouse and she is kind of scared about changing phones and then I surprise her and go on Google and take a picture of Mickey and Minney Mouse. She smiles one of those surprised heartfelt smiles and her husband did too. It was definitely worth the little extra step with them.

4-My coworkers: I closed tonight as the only salesman. A few people called out. My closing crew surprised me. Some stayed longer and others really came through. Thanks guys.

5-And once again, to my friends. I guess I've used this one a few times but I am very lucky to have some cool friends in my life. I guess it's just noticing how important they are to me.

Thank you,

Week 11:


A Time to Work and a Time to Play:

Tell you the truth, I was struggling to find a challenge for this week. I mean I have a lot of things left to do, but in terms of being able to pull it off with the week I have ahead of me. So I finally settled on Gaming Week.

I wouldn't say I hate games but I am generally not all that into them. I mean there are a few games that I do really love. I also am a competitive person by nature so there is that, but in general I don't play many video games. I know there are benefits to playing games. There is the problem solving and hand eye coordination benefits. It also develops the ol' reflexes. That being said...I bought Black Ops.

I was thinking about getting this game for a while. I honestly don't know if I will be able to finish it because frankly, I suck. I also do know from a friend that it is a quick game. But then again, I am just gonna enjoy the experience. I mean I am always trying to do something or accomplishing something. Why not just enjoy life and have fun. Hmmm, this is going to be an interesting week;)

To all those in need...

First off, my heart and prayers go out to victims of the earthquake in Japan and all the subsequent tsunami victims as well. May God keep you safe.

Trying to make sense of it all and I guess it's not up to me to have it all figured out. It's been a weird week. I am questioning a lot of who I am how I relate to the world. Who says I know what's right and if my way of living is the right way. All I can say is I don't know. In some ways I feel that's a good thing. I think I would be more worried if I knew it all. Schrodingers Cat I guess.

Some really amazing photographs by performance artist Li Wei:

It takes impossible ways of seeing the world to do impossible things right?

Anyhow I am majorly sleep deprived and feeling a bit under the weather so forgive me for sounding like I'm rambling.

And now on to what I am thankful for:

1-I finally had time to watch a few videos that I had on my ipad. I had put them on there hoping to find the time to watch them. Being that I was a passengers on a 3 and 1/2 hour car ride I was finally able to watch them. They were talking about the art of magic and made me question my own approach to the craft. 

2-I am out of it and under the weather but I am lucky that my friends and family are okay. 

3-May sound shallow, but thanks for the update to my iphone and ipad os. It was annoying that my ipad kept rotating without me being able to lock the screen.

4-I am lucky to have been able to just get away and get some much needed perspective on my life. 

5-I am actually pretty lucky to have a quiet night in, I really needed it.

Anyhow I am going to pass out. Hopefully I'll feel better in the morning. G'Nite.

3:42 in the morning and I'm on my iPhone

So here I am trying to sleep in a hotel room in Binghamton. I have to say for the sad occasion it was a really keep day. Yes I had to go to another wake. It was the mother of one of my best friends growing up. I really felt like another child in their family. We got together and listened to music we listened to growing up and playin cards and reminiscing. It was pretty cool. Reminds me of just how fast time flies. I feel like I havent seen these guys in a while and it may be a while before I see them again but for this moment in time, it's like we were back...sad face.

1-The fact that these guys were my friends is the first thing I am grateful for. God please may the best times be ahead and not behind.

2-The fact that there were kids at the wake which reminded me in each passing there is rebirth. What was a sad occasion was made a little more pleasant trying to fit all these spiderman stickers.

3-I am thankful for the free day. Man the way I ate today, I shouldn't have another free day for a few months.

4-My iPad for supplying the tunes from which all the memories came...gotta love Pandora

5-My iPhone for letting me post this at 3:56 in the morning and no laptop, oh and free wi-fi at the Howard Johnson.

The realization of how important my friends and family are to me become more and more evident with each passing day. I guess all we can really do in life is make good memories. G'nite;)

Fell into my midweek slump, realized I could still keep going:)

I'm reposting this song cause some funny things happened today. First off, I've been feeling a little under the weather and a bit down from a few sad things that have been happening lately. I think I got bummed today because I got stuck in my head. That happens from time to time. I realize the best thing for me to do is let it run it's course and then I come back to where I need to be, which is right here in the now.

Did my yoga today and picked up a few things in the city which brings me to why I reposted the video. I had the song on my iPhone and I was just listening to some tracks and the song I wrote in a previous challenge came on. Yup, the song is called Thank You. The weird part I was looking at this book at the same time:

It's a book about a man who wrote a Thank You Note for everyday of the year. He thanked everyone from his kids to co workers to the mailman. Really cool book. And I also saw this:

Yup, thank you's all around us. So that would be my first thing I am thankful for today.

2-Awesome Yoga class. I feel so much better when I get to do it. I wish I could do it more often. If Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is my yang, Yoga is my yin. 

3-Check out this article on maclife.com:

http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/how_selfpublish_your_ebook_kindle_ipad

I started a book a little while ago. I also started another smaller book. I'm gonna upload it as soon as I get through my second draft that way anyone who wants to get it for their kindle can. It probably sucks, oh well. I am mainly doing this to encourage a writer friend of mine that it is possible. It's not the first or last time that I put something out there that is bad so either don't download it or get used to it lol. 

4-I am thankful for a new song I am working on. I really like it a lot and unlike my previous challenges I am taking my time on this one (well not too long). I'll hopefully get a rough mix out by next week. 

5-I am thankful for channel 711 on my fios box. It's MTV Live and I love watching musicians perform. It kind of lights a fire underneath me and makes me wanna keep going. 

Everyone gets in a funk every now and then and I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with it. Staying there is another story. There is so much to be thankful for and hopefully I keep this challenge up after this week is over. 

Thank you for reading