Failure To Attract

I turned 22 today.

I thought it’d be interesting to keep a bit of a log of how my special 24 hours goes.

12:00 AM - Order French Toast Platter from Kerbey Lane.

12:20 AM - Go pick up food, bring back to hookah bar.

12:35 AM - Start eating my birthday breakfast the minute I officially turn 22.

12:38 AM - Blush profusely as my great friend Tam gets everyone left in the hookah bar to sing me happy birthday.

1:00 AM - Go home and pass out.

8:30 AM - Wake up for work.

9:08 AM - Arrive at work (Whoops, okay, a little late.)

9:14 AM - Start writing this post.

9:15 AM to 5:30 PM - Worked

6:00 PM to 7:00 PM - Appointment

7:00 PM to 8:00 PM - Get ready for party and head to the Rockin’ Tomato

8:00 PM to 10:00 PM - Party with friends and family and friends from work, with amazing pizza and food.

10:00 PM to 12:00 PM - Move the party to PipesPlus to bring friends food and hang out.

12:00 PM - Went home.

All in all, it was one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had.  I had so much fun!

-David

Tags: birthday

It’s live!

Go check out http://www.doyouwantablog.com.

I know, I know, it’s very bare, but I wanted to at least show people the very basics of what blogs are capable of.

Go look!

-David

Tags: blog, do you want a blog, doyouwantablog.com

I love blogs.

I don’t know what it is about them - setting them up for people, making them look good and functional, figuring out different ways to utilize the various blogging softwares that I play with to make them as versatile as possible - but I love them. They’re so much fun to fool around with!

I know that the next big purchase I want to make, is buying a car. I have so many ideas in mind for what to get - things I want that are waaay out of my current price range to things that are a good deal. A friend of mine in California is thinking of selling his 2007 Volkswagen GTI, a car I drove back in January when I visited. I loved that car… it was ridiculously easy to drive, loaded with more features than you can imagine - with a slew of them that aren’t even in the manual!

He’s thinking of selling it for just about as much as I would have paid for the Honda Fit I was wanting to get, and I know he takes care of that car with the intensity only a car fanatic can bring to the table.

I still have a strong love for the Subaru WRX STI - Ever since I got to briefly drive my friend’s in Tampa, and would adore getting a similar one to his. Only problem is… the cost is close to double of what I’d be able to afford, if not more than double. So eventually!

Eventually I plan on having several cars just for the hell of it.

So the idea is to basically gather up a bit of a fan base (Haha) and put all the money I make with blogs away for a down payment on a really good car. Hopefully I can also pay off the monthly payment amount with money from my blog business - and the good thing is that I really, really enjoy setting these things up!

The software I use is really very amazing. You can do so many things with it, and it’s ridiculously easy to use and learn. If you want a website with a blog, you need to Send me an email, or check out the Interested in a Blog page for more details.

-David

The other day, I was walking back to my cube from the restroom with a conundrum settled into my brain. It had settled there a very long time ago and hadn’t really spoken up until lately - “What the hell am I going to do for a business?”

Well, as I traversed the long hallway between the good restroom (the bad one is worse than the name suggests) and the ‘floor’, I thought about my trip to Tampa, and setting intentions for what I want, and then about a conversation I had with my friend and client Heidi Walter about setting intentions, and about how important it is to set it and forget it, as it were. Obsessing about your intention or thinking about it all the time gets you negative results - and that’s where I was lacking. I find it difficult to let go.

So, all of a sudden, an apostrophe hit me as if lighting had struck my brain (”That must’ve hurt”) - what if there was a place for people to go where they could put their intentions down, and effectively set and forget?

So now I introduce you to http://www.setmyintentions.com, the first place out there to provide a community specifically designed around the techniques surrounding setting intentions successfully.

The site is not currently live, but in the process of being configured and set up, so look for it soon!

Hope to see you there,

-David

I just got back from Florida yesterday.

I was visiting a few good friends, including my old roommate Avery whom I hadn’t seen in a while, as well as other people extremely dear to me. It was a good trip, but brought a few things to light about myself that I’m not happy with, and feel I need to eradicate. But that’s another story.

Another good byproduct of my trip, is realizing exactly how sedentary of a lifestyle I lead. I’ve always wanted to go forth and change that, but my motivation has never been there - something I’ve talked about before. After this trip, though, the motivation has slowly grown. Like an urge from the pit of my stomach it’s surged up through my body to my brain, and has sparked a genuine desire to move forward in all the things I have neglected; my physical, mental, and emotional growth, my online business/businesses, my creativity and productivity.

The downside to feeling all of this motivation is that it’s all external. It’s been inspired by outside events - albeit powerful ones - but it’s not the kind of motivation I’m looking for. Does that mean I’m just going to ignore it and go back to what I’ve been doing?

Absolutely not.

This has happened for a reason.

I’ve been putting it out there for a long time that I’ve wanted motivation to change and better myself and feel happier with myself and with life. And this is the Universe’s reply.

So, I’m keeping up the momentum from the friendly tug the Universe gave me and I’ve come up with a few interesting ideas, as well as figuring out some of the things I enjoy doing, that I could offer as a service, or create a video for.

I am moving on this, so expect an update in the next few days about a completed idea.

-David

I’ve been trying to come up with my niche for a few years now.  I have several talents that could work, and I’m going to pursue them… but I’m not all that passionate about it.  Not to mention, some of those talents are very hard to teach someone.

So, last night, I decided.  I’m going to do something along the lines of teaching how to be romantic and/or how to express themselves in relationships.  I’ve always been one of those hopeless romantics - ever since I was in fourth grade and read The Courtship of Princess Leia (Yes, I’ve always been addicted to Star Wars) - and I want to see if I can put anything I’ve since picked up and learned and even thought of myself to good use and help anyone.  Especially guys who don’t understand how to make someone swoon.

Now I have to say, admitting all of this to the general public has my eartips all red, and I’m slouching a little in my chair in some embarrassment.  But hey, if I can help people learn to express their love for people, then I need to do it.  This world has far too little of it, and I personally believe that contributes to a lot of the world’s problems.  Call me an old (or young) hippie, but I’d rather be that than an uptight, repressed person in denial about himself.

One of the more inspiring stories I’ve heard in regards to the power of it all, was about Bob Marley.

Back in 1977, he was shot days before a free concert that had been planned… I can’t tell the story that well, so here’s an article from the time from Rolling Stones, written by Carmen Crowe:

“Bob Marley, one of the world’s best-known reggae performers, and three other persons were shot December 3rd when seven gunmen burst onto the grounds of Marley’s home in Kingston, Jamaica, where he and his band, the Wailers, were rehearsing. Miraculously, amid a shower of bullets, there were no fatalities.

Island Records spokesman Jeff Walker said the musicians were on a short break from preparing for their headlining appearance at a free outdoor “Smile Jamaica” festival, cosponsored by Marley and the Jamaican Cultural Ministry December 5th at a Kingston race track. It was 9 p.m. on a Friday evening when two cars roared into the driveway of Marley’s home on Hope Road. After sealing the exit with one car, four of the gunmen began firing into the windows of the house. Another man, described by one observer as looking like “a 16-year-old kid, scared to death,” burst in the side door and began firing wildly. One of the gunmen entered the kitchen, pushing past percussionist Alvin “Seeko” Patterson, and took aim at Marley. Group manager Don Taylor happened to be directly in front of Marley and took five of the seven shots, four in his upper thighs. One bullet grazed Marley’s chest directly below the heart, and passed through his arm. Also shot were Lewis Griffith, a friend of Marley’s, and Rita Marley, who was shot once in the head as she tried to escape by car with five children who were present.

While the gunmen escaped during a chase by police, the victims were rushed to nearby University Hospital, where Griffith remains with serious stomach wounds. Rita Marley underwent surgery to remove the bullet from her head and was released the next day. Don Taylor, injured the worst, was placed on the critical list and later flown to a Miami hospital, where he is reported to be recovering.

Released from the hospital December 4th, Marley was swiftly tucked away in a hide-out in the Blue Mountains. “He was convinced someone was still trying to kill him, not just scare him,” said Walker, who stayed with Marley over the weekend. “There’s not much more to say until the men are found. One of the cars was found abandoned in Trench Town.” Besides heavy police protection, Marley had the support of his fellow Rastas, who hid high in the surrounding trees, armed with machetes.

The “Smile Jamaica” festival began on schedule, even though other expected acts like Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh and Burning Spear didn’t show up; early arrivals numbered 50,000. Third World went on first and, according to filmmaker David Silver, who was present at the show, played the “set of their lives” to a crowd unsure if Marley would even show up. In touch with the concert site by walkie-talkie, Marley was unsure himself; his band has scattered after the shooting. While Marley thought it was over, all the band members were rounded up except for Aston “Family Man” Barrett, and Marley decided to appear.

According to Walker’s description: “We raced down the narrow roads of the mountain at top speed with police escort. They cheered in the streets as Marley approached the race track. He ran right out of the car and onto the stage, where Michael Manley [prime minister of Jamaica, who had visited Marley in the hospital] hugged him warmly.”

Marley, in full view of the crowd, by now, 85,000, made a small speech: “When I decided to do this concert two and a half months ago, there were no politics involved. I just wanted to play for the love of the people . . . ” He then proceeded with “just one song,” as Manley, also in full view of a possible assailant, stood atop a VW bus beside the stage. Though he was unable to play guitar because of his wounds, Marley and the Wailers performed for an hour and a half. Even Rita Marley, her head bandaged, sang backup.

“It was very, very moving,” recalls Silver. “There was no violence at all. Everybody was just swinging with the music, and Bob . . . Bob was like some wild creature — he was prancing and jumping like some crazy shaman. I’ve never seen him like that.”

At the end of the set Marley unbuttoned his shirt to show his chest wound to the crowd. Next he rolled up his sleeve to show where the bullet had passed through his arm. Then, mimicking the action of pulling guns from two side holsters, Marley laughed, left the stage and was raced back to his mountain hide-away. He left Jamaica December 8th for an undisclosed destination, but plans to return shortly.”

One thing that was not included in this story and might not have even been said by him, was that when confronted about his decision to go on stage so quickly after being injured, he said something like “The men who perpetuate hatred in this world aren’t taking a day off, why should I?”  Even if he didn’t say it, it’s a powerful idea.  Something that resonates with me personally pretty deeply.

I’m always open to suggestions, but I know that soon enough I’ll be starting a blog as the beginning and going from there.

-David

Once again - things have been crazy!

My newish 9-5 has been putting me through the wringer… I admittedly kind of enjoy the work, and I get paid decently for overtime - and I’ve been putting in a lot of overtime lately. But one thing does remain true throughout all of this…

I still don’t want to work for someone else.

So, I’m working on a new online business, which will hopefully be launched in the next couple of weeks. I’m still going to do the website consultation and assembly, just not nearly as much as I did before. My plan is to have a few streams of income coming in (Like Pat teaches), and to be more than self sufficient in the next few years.

I say years because I know that’s how long it takes. A lot of people out there want a quick fix, and get upset when the money doesn’t just fly in immediately. I’ve observed a lot in the past half-decade, watching people such as Joe Vitale, Bill Hibbler, Craig Perrine, Pat, and numerous others who have been successful in the business do their thing to become successful. Time, patience, and the determination to follow through are essential. Let me repeat that: Time, patience, and the determination to follow through are essential.

Now, it’s one thing to understand this knowledge, but a totally different thing to actually practice it. I know that very intimately, because over the past three years or so, I’ve been completely lazy and inactive toward my goal - and its cost me! I continue to think “If I had started doing all of this diligently back then, I could possibly be in a similar position as Pat.” That’s a mindblowing thought!

After working at my 9-5 for only a few months, I am easily and constantly reminded about all of these things, and have been learning to self motivate myself - my biggest obstacle - to help me reach said goal.

Maybe I’ll write a couple of posts in regards to how I discover how to self motivate.

Until then… I should get back to work. See you on the flip side!

-David

Well, maybe using “disaster” isn’t quite the word I’m looking for.

For the most part, the weekend went fantastically! I believe everyone who attended got all that they needed out of it, thankfully, and it seems like all was well. All in all, we enjoyed ourselves!

The one thing that took some of the shine out of the weekend, though, happened on Saturday night. I had run into town to pick up some swim trunks and a FlipVideo camera for this wonderful woman, Jennifer Mauro, and upon arrival to the Best Buy to retrieve said FlipVideo… a man pulls into a parking spot close to mine, and starts yelling at me about how I cut him off in the car on the way to the store. I apologized profusely to this livid man, not remembering actually doing it or not, and he slowly got back into his car.

You can always tell when someone is pissed off at you, with facial features, body language, and then that stupid posturing, attempt to intimidate thing that most men will do when they lock eyes with you, never blink, and try to get you to back down.  It’s a primal dominance thing.

In any case, after apologizing, I went inside for 10 minutes or so to get the camera, and when I came outside - the tire closest to him, the front right one - was hissing and mostly empty.

Basically… he slashed one of my tires.

At the time, it didn’t really piss me off that much, as it was mainly just an inconvenience.  I called the cops to file a police report, and changed the tire.  It wasn’t until I saw the time that I got upset - the hotel closes the pool at 10:00 PM, and it was 9:45.

It all ended up being alright though, as it’s just another one of those life events that keep things interesting.  Though, as the old Chinese curse goes…

“May you live in interesting times.”

I thought I’d try to see how well the integrated video embedding tool - to see if the other embedding options via plugins and such do a better job at it or not. I’ll be plugging in a youtube video, as well as an mp3 of the song. Here’s to hoping!

The video:

Justice - DVNO

The mp3:

Justice - DVNO

Viola!

EDIT: Hmm. Apparently it doesn’t quite embed it like I suspected… at least my awesome YouTube plugin for WordPress works perfectly. …I hope.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_XzCR2MbrU]

Yep, it does!

-David

So, I’m now typing from the newly installed version of WordPress - an amazing blogging platform.  This new update includes an incredible suite of options that kinda just blows my mind.  I’ve been realizing more and more often how powerful WordPress really is, and I think I’m going to be adding a new service to my repertoire, for installing and configuring WordPress for a multitude of other things beyond blogs.

Did you know that WordPress actually allows you to use it as a simple platform to create well designed looking websites, with an amazing control panel for ease of use.

As part of the new features, it includes a way to automatically embed YouTube (or any other video website) videos, as well as pictures, music, or just about any other type of media.  It also includes basic SEO techniques, such as tags, a permalink with the ability to make sure that the title of your post is included in the permalink, making sure that it indexes with search engines properly.  This is not a new feature, but it now includes the ability to edit what the permalink should be, so you can SEO it even more.

These are just a few of the amazing features included in the new version - without even mentioning the slick interface.

I think I’ll charge $200 for installation and configuration, as well as some support to help you figure out how to even use it to it’s fullest extent.

Interested?  Email Me.