Thanks Ryan!

This was taken with a Canon 5d digital camera. The singer, Riley, is 8 years old!

Riley sings “Don’t Stop Believing” from Ronnie Silos on Vimeo.

The original post is here >

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

Damon Tucker over at DamonTucker.com filmed this for his blog. Damon lives on the Big Island of Hawaii, he has a lot of great articles to read at his blog. Big Island Hawaii is not an an island I’ve been to, but it’s on the list.

Damon was at a blowhole there on Big Island recently and took this amazing video. It’s amazing because it doesn’t appear the diver has a lot of room for error when he jumps.

Blowholes usually eject (spray) a lot of water out of a small crack in the lava, the one in this video isn’t doing that. These blowhole pictures show what blowholes are known for…

Photo credit: Nakalele Blowhole, west side Maui. Flickr.com user: tomeppy.

Photo credit: Hawaii Blowhole. Flickr.com user: ewen and donabel.

Some people die each year at one of the blowhole locations in Hawaii. Usually people get caught unaware by the force of a large surge of water out of the hole, get knocked off-balance and fall into the blowhole – sometimes head first. Be careful when you go to check them out – they’re great fun – but can be really dangerous too.

Some Blowhole locations:

Oahu – close to Sandy Beach.
Maui – west side, past Kahana, near rock stacking location.
Big Island – South Point
Kauai – Spouting Horn

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

1. Think iffertdenly.

2. As soon as you catch yourself with even 1 procrastinating thought – smack yourself in the head and put yourself on the spot until you do something toward resolving it.

3. Nobody thinks like you do. 100% of what you think makes sense can’t possibly make sense to someone else. The onus of explanation, of understanding, of communication is on YOU.

4. Go for the big goals or go for the small ones – but always be GOING for something.

5. A move across town changes your view. A move across the country changes your job, friends, hobbies and gives you a new perspective on your country. A move across the world can change your personality, lifestyle, morality, religion (or lack of it), and worldview.

6. What if you made your biggest goal your smallest? What would your biggest goal look like then?

7. Exercise, meditation, and music clear your head. TV fills it with desires you think you should have… which later become real. That should scare the hell out of you.

8. When you’re eating… eat. When you’re walking… walk. Living in the moment, that is, fully experiencing what you’re doing in the present and not the past or future is the coolest experience. Enjoy it often.

9. Much of the world has no use for socks.

10. The internet and all the technology we have can help you become immensely successful. There are 9 year olds creating great software programs, websites, and businesses. Challenge yourself to learn whatever it is that’s stumping you at the moment. And then, do it again and again.

11. The point of life seems to be whatever you you think it is. Have you asked yourself the question?

Best of Life!

Vern

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• What are your Life Dysfunctions? (1)
• What are Life’s Most Important 8 Questions? (0)
• Video Games vs. The Game of Life… (6)

This photo caught my eye as I was looking through images of Hawaii on Flickr. This happens when the wave breaks over the edge of lava, causing this eery – and scary, effect.

There’s a blowhole on the west side of the island of Maui that occasionally has a big wave break over the top of the lava flow holding it back from the blowhole area. Usually it just breaks over a little bit, getting everyone pleasantly wet.

Occasionally it breaks BIG and scares the wits out of everyone. Pity you if you’re standing on the TOP of that lava flow as the big one hits… I saw a guy get whacked with a wave once – he fell down and held on – but got all cut up.

I usually reserve my amazement over Hawaii photography – but this Patrick Smith has some amazing photos of some of the Hawaiian islands. If you browse through his Flickr photos of Hawaii be sure to check out this one too:

Smooth stone beach near Hana, Maui

I’ve been to this beach – it’s beyond beautiful – one of the tops in Hawaii out of what I’ve experienced.

I’ll say it again… if you can go to Hawaii – ever in your life, you MUST go to Hawaii. It is amazing beyond words.

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

Living in the Hawaiian islands for six years I’ve visited my fair share of Hawaii beaches but today I asked myself a question – Which is the Ultimate Hawaii Beach? The ultimate beach in Hawaii would have it all – and would fit all sorts of people. You could take whoever you have visiting to this beach and they’d have a great time because it has everything a person could expect.

The Ultimate Hawaii Beach has…

• Surf. Great bodyboardable, surfable, bodysurfable surf. Kids could ride in the small 2 foot shorebreak and everyone else can enjoy 2-4 foot waves further out. A protected area where one could snorkel within walking distance would be too much to ask for – but, I’m asking for it.
• View of an island off the coast. To me this is part of what makes Hawaii so cool. Beaches in Florida, don’t have this. Beaches in California – I don’t think generally have this.
• A cool breeze sometimes, or most of the time. Not so much wind that you’re sandblasted like what goes on over at Sandy Beach, but the ultimate beach in Hawaii would have some wind most of the time. I don’t like sizzling in the summer in Waikiki in in front of the Royal Hawaiian (The Pink Hotel) all that much anymore. The air in Waikiki – even at the beach, doesn’t move much in the summer. Add to that you get blisters walking across Waikiki sand sometimes – and it’s not the ultimate experience!
• Free parking – even if I have to walk 3 blocks. All of you living in Hawaii or having driven in Hawaiii all know how this is.
• Shave ice  and ahi poke stand. At a bare minimum, the ultimate Hawaii beach should have a handful of food and beverage stands stocked with ono kine grindz. One of those food stands should have huli-huli chicken. One should have ahi shoyu poke and ahi limu poke (Ahi means tuna, poke means cut crossways into pieces. Ahi poke has amazing spices including raw tuna with maui onions, seaweed, chili water, scallions, sea salt, uhm, here’s poke recipe.) Ideally they’d import the poke straight from Kahuku Superette which has poke to die for. Note: you haven’t experienced Hawaii unless you’ve eaten 3 things: Shave ice, preferably from Matsumotos. Ahi shoyu/limu poke. Pupus.
• Mix of people. The ultimate Hawaiian beach would have all sorts of people – Hawaiian, Filipinos, Haoles, Japanese, everyone having a good time in same place.
• Shady spots to grill out. Ten hours of straight sun will toast you crimson. There should be some big trees with a lot of shade either over the beach or in a grassy area behind the beach. Ideally one could camp here too. Nothing like stretching out the day beach trip into 2 or 3 days!
• Kid-friendly beach. Soft sand to dig through and cover each other with. Big crabs the kids can chase.There might be nothing more fun than chasing crabs bigger than your hand (or head) until they run into their hole. Then, digging them out and freaking when they jump out of the hole at you.
• Restrooms.
• Freshwater showers. Gotta get the salt off ya after swimming.
• Lifeguard. At least one – even if it’s just to handle things like feet cut by the reef, jellyfish stings, etc.

Ok, that’s what I came up for in describing what the ultimate Hawaii beach would look like. Have any in mind?

I can think of a few beaches that fit some of these, and even most of these criteria – but you know what? I can’t think of any beach that fits them all.

My favorite Hawaii beach? I’ve gotta say it must be Bellows AFS up past Makapu’u in Waimanolo. The atmosphere is ultra cool and laidback. The water is safe and clean. There are usuall 2-3 foot waves. There are plenty of big trees providing shade. You can grill and campout. There are restrooms, showers, crabs running around, and they sell huli-huli chicken outside the front gate.

Video of me bodyboarding at Bellows AFS…

Ok, I’ll make a Google spreadsheet to compare Hawaii beaches. If you have more information you want to add to this spreadsheet comparison of candidates for the ultimate beach in Hawaii just let me know and I can add you to the list of editors.

Here’s the link to see the Ultimate Hawaii Beach chart in full-size.

Here are links to maps of the beaches on the Ultimate Hawaii Beach spreadsheet:

Kailua Beach Park, Oahu >

Waimanolo Beach Park, Oahu >

Waikiki Beach, The Wall, Oahu >

Ka’ena Point State Park, Oahu >

Makapu’u Beach, Oahu >

Ka’anapali Beach, Maui

Rate for yourself – the ultimate Hawaii beach in the “Ultimate Hawaii Beach Poll”. Choose your favorite 3 Hawaiian beaches and let me know if your favorite isn’t listed here…

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• Jumping Manta Rays, an Awesome Experience! (0)
• Amazing Experience: Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii! (1)
• What’s a Moonbow? An Awesome Life Experience! (0)

Oahu, and the other Hawaiian islands have amazing and almost non-stop wave-action going on. Waves are nearly continually breaking somewhere on each island.

For the first year and a half or so I only bodyboarded. Bodyboarding was the biggest rush once I learned how to ride 4+ foot waves. I had heard about bodysurfing but didn’t really care for the longest time. What could be fun about swimming with a wave? Would that be better than bodyboarding? I didn’t think so.

Finally I tried it. I don’t know how I ended up without a bodyboard on the windward side of Oahu one time – but I did. Probably I lent my board to someone that was having a hell of a lot of fun while I watched. I decided I’d try bodysurfing.

It took about 20 tries to get something going which was a bit depressing. For surfing down a wave with your body the waves should be rolling in rather fast. On the northeast side, they are usually a bit choppy and bodysurfing the shore-break is no fun at all. Someone at Sandy Beach will tell you that! (wicked shorebreaks at Sandy’s)

A, D mark Point Panic - a great bodysurfing spot on Oahu, Hawaii just west of Ala Moana Park. Google map.

Nobody can stand on you, you won’t be that much like a surfboard… but no matter. You can have a lot of fun bodysurfing yourself in small 2-4 foot waves.

Bodysurfing is the closest thing you can get to communing directly with the ocean. It’s better than soulsurfing a long board and hanging ten. It’s heaps of fun!

Here’s a great video of bodysurfers at a bodysurfer exclusive beach on Oahu called, Point Panic. As usual there are guys there with boards because nobody seems to care what the signs say.

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• What’s a Moonbow? An Awesome Life Experience! (0)
• The Ultimate Hawaii Beach? (0)
• My 2 Near-Death Bodyboarding Experiences in Oahu Hawaii’s Big Surf (3)

One of them is over at JoysThaiFood.com where we are selling her ebook with the idea that when she stops working because she’s too heavy (pregnant) to work – she can go back to doing what she loves – cooking Thai food and telling everyone else how to do it through video and her articles.

What is the right price for an ebook?

Of course content matters. But, assuming you have an ebook about something that is in demand, Thai food recipes and cooking instructions for instance, what is the right price people will pay for it?

That’s what I’m experimenting with at JoysThaiFood.com blog today.

We’ve run a $39.90 promotion for about a month now through Google’s Adsense system. We haven’t had a sale yet.

If you’re interested in the sales landing page – it’s here:

Joy’s Thai Food Recipe Ebook >

Before you say $39 is too much – we have sold about 5 ebooks at this price previously before dropping the price and selling more. Without all the bonuses we’re giving away with this offer.

In your opinion – does anyone care about the bonuses or should we leave them out?

Or, lower the price a few dollars and leave the bonuses in?

What’s the ideal price-point for a printable PDF ebook about Thai food recipes?

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

This YouTube video shows a tour boat that goes out from Big Island Hawaii and takes tourists to see up close the various spots where the volcano, Kilauea, squirts lava into the sea – creating more of the Big Island on an ongoing basis.

Watch the whole video – and don’t forget to click the HQ button on the lower right hand side of the video player because you can see this in high quality which is much better than the compressed version.

Also note – 1:10 into the first video it shows something I had no idea even existed… a lava waterspout they called it.

Amazing Hawaii… as I’ve said probably 20 times in this AimforAwesome blog… if you can go – you MUST go at least one time in your life. Go see all the islands. Run up your credit card bill – whatever you have to do. It’s WORTH it. I don’t know if I’d say that about any other place in the world. Hawaii is worth that though…

Hawaii Volcano Kilauea Erupts into the Pacific Ocean >

More lava flow video from Kilauea >

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

1. Pad Thai – this has noodles, scrambled egg, scallions, bean sprouts, lemon, shrimp and other amazing ingredients packed into one delicious meal. I add some fish oil (salty fish oil) with garlic, lemon, and chilis that really makes Pad Thai one of the ultimate Thai foods.

2. Tom Kha Gai – A chicken soup with coconut milk, lemongrass, and straw mushrooms that I like about the same as the very popular Tom Yum Goong or Tom Yum Gai soups.

3. Rambutan – a golf ball sized fruit with an almond like seed in the center. Pop the whole thing in your mouth and chew the flesh off around the seed. Spit seed.

This fruit looks like it came from Pluto (not a planet) but it’s one of the most amazing tasting fruits I’ve ever had. We buy them buy the kilogram for about 65 cents.

I wrote all about rambutan because I love it so much.

4. Durian – this fruit can grow as large as a basketball, but usually are smaller than an indoor volleyball. They have very sharp points on them – and you might mistake them for a weapon rather than a fruit.

If you walk by a table of these you might mistake the area for an outdoor restroom. Yes, the smell like… well. Rotten eggs is being too kind. The smell can knock someone over that isn’t ready for it. I had an open mind when I tried it the first time – and you know what? It is one of the sweetest, most amazing textured and delicious fruits I’ve ever eaten.

Some Thais love this so much that they eat it until they die. No joke – it’s bad for the body if taken in large quantities – not sure why…

Here’s a video on YouTube of someone trying durian for the first time… yes, it smells THAT bad…

Durian video >

5. Som Tam – if you like salad and you’re looking for something different you might just enjoy this dish, it’s considered THE national dish of Thailand and is loved by many foreigners (myself included) as well. They shave unripe papaya into a bowl and add chilies, palm sugar, lemon, green beans, peanuts, garlic, fish oil, and bla-rah if you ask for it. I do.

Bla-rah is fermented fish or crab sauce – with fish or crab ‘parts’. Supposedly it ferments for a year, but probably nobody keeps it that long anymore, it sells too fast. They are supposed to boil the sauce to kill parasites and things – but, sometimes they don’t.

Here’s my wife’s Thai food cooking blog som tam in 4 languages page >

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

There’s something cool about people that are either egomaniacs… or that just do as they wish without giving a damn what anyone else is thinking. Who knows which this guy is – but, it’s a great statement. He’s dancing in front of everyone by himself, shirtless… he’s not doing it because he’s good or buffed… he appears to be just having fun… digging the music… the scene.

Slowly this guy’s singular statement gains some momentum. You can learn something about the mindset of people as you watch how the first few dancers join – then the masses – and then the celebration at the end of the song… what does it all mean?

Really interesting video for me from a psychological standpoint… a peek at societal inhibition and what happens when the movement reaches “critical mass” so to speak and nearly everyone is jumping in.

If you have a fast internet connection you might want to see it in high quality…

Sasquatch Music Festival Dancer – high quality

Best of Life!

Vern

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

Do you have a website with an audience that might be interested in starting their own business? We’re looking for websites that have an audience of entrepreneur minded people that may want to start their own business – offline or online, in the future. We have a great way of helping your site out to make some income partnering with us to become affiliates.

Are your website visitors made up of:

• College students – any major, but particularly business majors?
• Small business owners?
• Stay at home moms and dads?
• People suffering through the economic downturn because of layoffs or loss of job?
• Internet savvy surfers that might be interested in creating their own online business?

If so, we might be able to join efforts and find a way to create a win-win-win for you, visitors to your website, and us.

Please write AimforAwesome at Gmail and tell me a couple details:

1. URL of your site(s).
2. Your name and physical location in the world.
3. A little about the demographics of your visitors – or, if you’re not sure, that’s OK.
4. The number of unique visitors you have per month.

I’ll write you back immediately and let you know more about this program.

Best of Life!

Vern

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

Bodyboarding and swimming at Honolua Beach, Maui, Hawaii. Something the whole family can enjoy when the waves are small.

Living life in Hawaii is a dream for a lot of people. Many that can afford a vacation to the Hawaiian islands return home and are a little bit shell-shocked. In a good way. Hawaii is definitely one of the most beautiful places in the world.

If you’re one of those that has visited one of the Hawaiian islands: Oahu, Maui, Big Island, Kauai, Lanai, or Molokai you will inevitably ask yourself the question:

Can I live in Hawaii?

Everyone asks themselves if they can do it too… live in the paradise that was only a dream before they actually went and experienced Hawaii in realtime.

I’ve lived in Hawaii for 6 years and I have some insight into what it’s like to live there. I’d like to share that with you in the hopes that it gives you a realistic picture of what moving there would actually be like. It’s not for everyone – really. There is good as well as bad.

Probably the best way to present this without writing a book about my time living in Hawaii is to make a Positives and Negatives list and let you sort it out for yourself.

Living in Hawaii Negatives:

• Island Fever. Hawaiian island fever is a frequent complaint of those that live there for any number of years. In Hawaii you are, in fact, isolated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. You’re thousands of miles from any major country. If you’re anything but Japanese or Filipino you are probably feeling like a minority – because you are. Hawaii is a multicultural melting pot. It’s not easy to pick up and fly away to a neighboring state for the weekend. There are no more road trips to other states as you did in the mainland. Hawaii is a bit confining – especially if you don’t have the money to visit the other islands often, and visit the mainland once or twice each year.
• High Cost of Living. When I was living on Maui in 2004 I remember shopping at the supermarket and being fascinated… EVERYTHING was over $5. Everything. I had trouble finding something to buy that was under $5. I had to actually look. Everything I wanted was over $5. Add to that the cost of gas, renting apartments that are very small and with pay for parking issues all over Waikiki if that’s where you plan to stay, and it gets expensive. I think auto and healthy insurance is expensive too. Can you live in Hawaii making $25,000 per year? Yes. But, be prepared to be really frugal and live in a manner you may not be accustomed to (slumming).
• Parking. I mentioned parking above, but it deserves it’s own bullet-point. Parking on Oahu, Hawaii is a minor catastrophe. For instance… drive down to Waikiki to bodyboard at “The Wall”. There is a parking lot close to it – and it’s packed every weekend, and weekdays too unless you get there before about 9 am. There are meters. I think it was something like 12.5 minutes for 1 quarter. There is a maximum of 2 or 3 hours you can stay before the meter runs out. If you happen not to remember the meter is running out as you’re bodyboarding, bodysurfing, surfing, sunning, or whatever you’re doing – you’ll get a $35 parking ticket the very INSTANT the meter expires because there are meter-maids and meter-dudes that are camped at that parking lot trying to earn their daily pay. Here’s a local’s view on parking. Vehicles are towed quickly in Hawaii if you’re in the wrong spot. Finding a good spot is not so easy. Parking is in a sick state in Waikiki, and generally not a joy elsewhere in the state.
• Traffic. If you’re working far from where you live on Oahu, Hawaii then traffic is going to be an issue. A big issue for some. It never bothered me that much because how upset can I really get sitting in an air conditioned car listening to my favorite music, drinking amazing coffee and looking at all the people around me? Not that bothered. Hawaii traffic can really get some in a tizzy though. It’s atrocious during rush hours on Oahu. On Maui – not a big deal, small spots of traffic during rush hour in Kahului. On Kaui – traffic is non-existent, ditto that for Molokai and Lanai. On Big Island I can’t say – not been there, but I don’t think its too bad.
• Petty Thieves. On a couple occasions as I was far out on the waves bodyboarding I saw guys looking through my bag on the beach. I yelled – but who’s going to chase down a young kid on drugs for you? Not many. Not me! Auto smash and grabs, purse snatches, wallet snatchers, bike thieves… they’re all there in Hawaii. It has to be expected as there is a huge gulf between the haves and have-nots. The have nots get theirs too, but before it’s theirs – it was yours. You will have some of your things taken. Be smart and try to limit your losses.
• Limited Things to Do. Yes, this is actually a complaint of many people that I know living in Hawaii. For myself, I’d never cite this as a negative for Hawaii – but, I realize I’m not like most people. On Oahu there are quite a few things to do. There is a lot of shopping, multiple malls to shop at, concerts to see… many different sporting matches to go watch. There is every sport imaginable to take part in if you’re active that way. There are beaches everywhere – with all those cool things to do at the beach: Snorkeling, swimming, diving, surfing, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, looking for crabs, playing cards & backgammon, sleeping, etc.

Living in Hawaii Positives:

• Perfect Weather. I’m not exaggerating at all. There are probably over 300 sunny days on Oahu each year. The other Hawaiian islands get more rain. Maui must, having lived there a year I think we got plenty more rain than Oahu does over the year. Kauai has a mountain ridge that has the label, “Wettest place on earth”. The weather in Hawaii is typically about 80 degrees and with a slight breeze called “trade winds” that blow from the northeast to the southwest (I think I have that right). In fact, local Hawaiians often tell directions in relation to which side of the island gets the most wind. The northeast side of Oahu is also known as the “windward” side. The opposite is the leeward side I think. Hard to remember this stuff.
• Laid Back Lifestyle. Sure, everyone works. Well, most do. But, even though everyone is working there is this underlying attitude that life is not about work. The people living in Hawaii understand well that the secret to a happy life is about what you’re doing outside of work. Work-style is a little more laid back. There is less intensity about it. People get their work done – but, it’s not a pressure-cooker environment unless you’re working in sales and your living – your income depends on it. I had a friend that sold insurance over the phone in Hawaii and he did not enjoy his working conditions. I knew another couple that sold time-shares on Maui. They made a lot of money, but nobody could really stand them as they were far to motivated and concerned about making money off those they knew and were introduced to. Those living in Hawaii like it laid back and want to keep it that way. After all, that’s why they’re living in Hawaii in the first place. To be surrounded by a like-minded group of laid back people is really invigorating and gives one a great feeling.
• Cultural Experience. There are a variety of cultures to be experienced while living in Hawaii. As I mentioned, the Japanese and Filipinos are the predominant groups and of course there is the Hawaiian culture which most groups have adopted. There’s a large variety of food to choose from. Imagine going through the McDonald’s drive through on Maui like I did most mornings and ordering rice with shoyu (soy sauce), scrambled eggs and Portuguese sausage! There are Korean food restaurants, Hawaiian restaurants, Japanese restaurants… every group has their own restaurants. Thai, Burgers, Filipino, Italian, it’s like the best foods from all over the planet assembled on Oahu. Quite a nice experience if you like a variety of food. The best is when you befriend some locals and they ask you to picnic with them at Ala Moana beach park on the weekend. You’ll get introduced to some amazing local-style foods like lumpia and Kailua pig!
• SO MUCH to Do! This is my take on it. I had trouble figuring out each day what I wanted to do for fun after work. There was just SO MUCH to do that my head was always spinning. I’m an outdoors and adventuresome type. If you are too – you’ll probably never ask yourself what there is to do, you’ll just be doing it. There are amazing mountain hikes of all difficulties. There are scores of great beaches on each island. There are so many things to explore. There is more shopping than I could ever want. There are places out of the way that are amazing to explore… the tide pools at Dillingham Air Field on the North West shore is one such place that is just amazing and somewhere that most visitors never see. Pity. Whether or not you surf or bodyboard you can learn to bodysurf. Bodysurfing in Hawaii is excellent because there are some beaches that are bodysurf only! Bodysurfing is a lot of fun, and pretty safe.

So, after reading these positives and negatives about life in Hawaii – could you deal with living there full-time?

If you have any questions about living in Hawaii – feel free to leave a comment. I’ll try to answer. I don’t know everything about life in Hawaii obviously, but I’ll be happy to give it a shot.

Best of Life!

Vern

More Hawaii posts:

Want to Change Your Life? Move to Hawaii!

Bodyboarding Oahu, Hawaii: Bellows Air Force Station

Hawaiian Philosophy of Life Part 1, part 2, part 3

Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii >

What’s a Moonbow? Hawaiian night-time rainbows.

Photo credits: Top, Apornpradab Buasi. Maui from helicopter, Flickr user, jurvetson. Taro burger, Flickr user, love-janine.

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• Want to Change Your Life? Move to Hawaii. (37)
• The Ultimate Hawaii Beach? (0)
• Thailand or Hawaii… Update (3)

Get the story straight! >

Another internet marketing post about a guy, supposedly a leading internet marketer, with a disgusting message…

Jonathan Mizel is Part of the Problem >

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• Randy Duermyer’s Home Business Site (0)

Is Twitter just hype-fueled nonsense or is it really taking off among mainstream online populations?

One can’t help but notice that the ones that are really into Twitter are those that are using it for internet marketing purposes. I make it a point to tweet about blog posts I create here and at IncAnswers.com if I think they’re interesting and can help others.

I like the searches that can be done on Twitter – but, I’ve used them for purely curiousity and not to try to recruit new viewers for my websites. I can see where some businesses could really use Twitter to their advantage right now.

But, is anyone paying attention?

I read an article this morning that really puts a perspective on the whole Twitter phenomenon. Apparently 10% of Twitter’s members are responsible for 90% of the Twitter chat going on, so says a Harvard Business School study recently. That’s much different from other social media services.

It’s a case of people not really understanding what they can do with Twitter. Or, not needing what it can do. I can’t imagine my mom using it. My brother isn’t using it – he’s very tech savvy – a software tester. In fact, I don’t have any friends using Twitter that I haven’t met online. I have many friends with websites, with internet marketing skills that I’ve known pre-Twitter. None of them are using it.

Purewire, who operates TweetGrade, looked at 7 million Twitter accounts and found that fully 80% of accounts have less than 10 followers! 30% have no followers!

In my own case – Twitter could go away tomorrow and that would be OK with me. I’d miss it a little bit. Life wouldn’t come to a halt though.

What is the power of Twitter among mainstream internet users?

Are you using Twitter? Are your friends tweeting?

If Twitter went away tomorrow would you care? Get upset?

What is the benefit Twitter offers you on a daily basis? For your business?

I think for most of us – the answers just aren’t so clear. Sure it’s popular. Sure it’s fun. Sure it’s great to share information and find up to the minute conversations about topics we’re interested in.

Where does it go from there? When does it become really applicable to the Operah Audience? LOL – I can’t even spell Operah! I’m sure this is wrong because it looks wrong, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what the correct spelling is. I tried ‘Opera’ and that’s obviously not it either. Actually, there’s no reason I should know how to spell it… throw away your TV, take control of your life…

Here’s the article I read this morning that inspired me…

Twitter users not using Twitter >

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• New Twitter User: What? Who? Why? Video (4)
• I’m a Tweeter. You Talking to Me? (6)
• HP Twitter Police Clear up my Customer Service Problem! (1)

One of the ways your business can be successful (or not) is to create a lot of conversation about your business, your products, services, you or your commercials. In this case it was all about the commercials. The products are good – or, were last time I had them about 5 years ago.

If you’ve never experienced this you’ll thank me. If you’ve seen them, you either love them or hate them. I love ‘em. But, that’s just me.

Be D-I-F-F-E-R-E-N-T!

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

Let me make it clear – I’m not a Mac guy. I have never bought, oops. Wait a second. In 2004 I bought a Mac Powerbook 17″ computer for just over $3 grand. I was processing a LOT of digital video at the time and I wanted to use the amazing “Final Cut Pro” software from Apple.

I had the pretty brick Powerbook for less than 48 hours as I sold it after not being able to make the mouse pointer move as fast as I wanted. I was dumbfounded. Anyway, besides that one error – I’ve never bought anything from Apple.

I almost got interested in the iPhone at one point in time about a year ago until I found out it didn’t allow tethering to my notebook computer as a modem! What were they thinking?

It’s a “must have” for me and not having it is a deal-killer. So, I ignored the iPhone ever since I found that out. Recently I’ve been hearing rumors that the new iPhone might have that capability. I’m looking into it again.

Rumors are the new iPhone will look a LOT like the old one. Exactly the same on the front side many say. On the backside is rumored to be a new 3.2MP camera which will now offer video, apparently that feature too was lacking in the original iPhone. I didn’t know that then, but that too would have been a deal breaker for me.

Well rather than write paragraphs here’s a bullet list of what the new iPhone is supposed to have…

Compass. Yes, North – South – East – West type of compass. I don’t know what good this will be. Does anyone need a compass anymore? It’s like a sextant… who uses those?

3.2MP camera with video capability that I mentioned already. One rumor is that during composition of your photos you can maneuver a square over the point in your photo you want you make sure gets properly focused. Pretty cool and a needed feature since one never knows what a mobile’s digital camera is focusing on.

Some are even calling for video-conferencing functionality. Hmm. We’ll see. I couldn’t do it from Thailand’s ultra-slow network anyway.

Tethering to your notebook – or whatever your preferred internet experience is, through USB cable so you can use the iPhone as a modem.

600 mhz processor. This is a 150% upgrade from the present, 400mhz.

256MB RAM – doubling the 128MB current iPhones have.

16GB and 32GB versions. Apparently still no slot to add cards.

Improved battery life. A much needed feature apparently since Apple has implanted the battery into the iPhone making it impossible to change yourself. Does the word draconian mean anything to anyone?

Despite Apple’s cheerleaders I’m still at odds with Apple’s choosing to omit many things that should be basic functionality on a device that’s supposed to be the creme de la creme.

No memory slot? Come on now… who you fooling?

If the above features do reveal themselves to be true – will you buy the iPhone this time?

Photo credit: Flickr.com member, andrewarchy

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

When I wake up in the morning and see the sun it’s like a starter gun went off. I can never lie in bed if I see the sun coming through the window – I’ve got to get up and see what I can get started on.

I don’t know why I’m that way – I just am. I wish I could give that to you so you could be the same way. Everyday I wake up and see the sun (which must be 340 days a year here in Thailand) I start planning what I’m going to do for the day.

I challenge myself to see what I can fit into the 16 or so hours that I’m awake.

Do you challenge yourself everyday when you wake up?

Credit: Motivational poster by wigflip.com. Motivating words: Vern.

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

Well, they’re all traumatic, aren’t they?

I thought I’d create a whole article about relationships and what might be a healthy way to approach them… and a healthy way to get over breaking up when they go wrong.

“Healthy” meaning you’re a winner whether they’re going right or wrong. You always have to remain the winner because love relationships are that one area of life that can destroy you. Literally destroy you because you put so much into them.

I’m downplaying it when I say I have had some outrageous break-ups over the years… Despite great intentions and I think doing the right things with what I was faced with, I still lost some amazing people that I fell totally in love with… If we’re counting them , that’s 5 people I broke up with after being totally in love with them.

Currently I’m head over heels with my current girlfriend/common-law wife and finally I know what it is to be in a healthy relationship where trust = 100% and yet, if it goes tragically and unexplainably wrong – I’ll be OK in a short time because, though I love her to death – I’m also OK with knowing that things can change anytime. They do. I’ve seen it over and over in things I used to attach my mind to.

The way people – and especially women I think – are raised in the USA is that they think there is one love relationship that is IT forever for them. There are good and bad times in relationships most realize, but, it’s forever. They search for that relationship and every time they fall in love and get married or date seriously for 2+ years – that’s it. That’s the one and they are totally taken by surprise when something happens – like the male partner finds someone else. (can easily be role-reversed)

I have to admit – when I fall in love – I’m IN LOVE – completely, 100% in it for the duration and head over elbows in love with the girl. I don’t feel right when I’m not in love and I miss the 1-1 relationship if I don’t have it.

Well, lose 5 people you love tremendously and there begins to be some growth in that direction. It’s common sense starting to come into the picture. In hindsight I can see the faults that happened in each break up and see where, though I couldn’t have prevented any of them – I might not have been so attached to the person – to the relationship and think – THIS IS THE ONE, the only one for the rest of my life…

First, lets agree on something…

All you can control is yourself. And, it’s quite tough to do that. Extremely tough.

And yet, you can. It takes effort, but you can control your life and what you do in that life.

After a break up you should grieve and throw shi* across the room, hit your pillow, buy a punching bag, take up racquetball and get your frustrations the hell out of your system because you need it. You were wronged – horribly wronged in your mind, and you’ve gotta deal with breaking up by expressing it. You’ve gotta express it with words, screaming, anger, punching, kicking, hitting and crying. Do it somewhere appropriate. Somewhere safe. But, DO IT.

You must feel the hurt. Feel free to ignore friends and family that try to rush you out of feeling bad. FEEL IT. Hit the bottom and feel like dirt for as long as it takes you – but, always have some other parts of your life that are rewards… that are good to you.. make sure you’re having fun when you can. Sports, movies, reading, traveling, eating out, friends, anything that makes you happy – do it and do lots of it anytime you feel better than dirt.

Give yourself permission to hit rock bottom. But, notice when you’re not all the way at the bottom – and in that space of 15 minutes, an hour when you’re at a higher level – do something fun to break the spell depression has on you. Eventually you start to destroy the power of the spell and you’ll get tired of depression. Time does heal everything. Not completely, but it sure crusts it all over!

Relationships are only as powerful in your life as you allow them to be.

What I mean is, you can be 100% into a relationship – in a completely lost state where you’re tied into that other person with your heart, soul, mind, time, thoughts, hopes, dreams, and everything that makes up “you”.

Or, you might assign your relationship some portion of 100%. Say, 10%.

If 10% and you lose it – what happens? You grieve – sure, but you have 90% of your life remaining the same. Life goes on… the game goes on, and you’re a winner in it because you’ve got a good strategy.

Structure your life more like that… give your relationship 25% maybe. 50% if you dare. See what happens when things go wrong? You have something left. You’re not 100% lost if your relationship doesn’t work. You’re 50% out. 25% out. Maybe even 10%. Looks a lot more bearable at those numbers, yes? You have to make those numbers… decide them for your relationship.

Tracey Chapman says in a song…

This time… I won’t show I’m vulnerable. This time I won’t give in first… this time I will hold out with my love… this time, I will not be hurt…

I’m gonna love myself more than anyone else… I’m gonna treat me right. Gonna make you say that you love me first, you’ll be the one with the most to lose tonight…. this time… this time… Won’t let my emotions rule my life. This time… gonna lock my heart up safe and tight… this time… I’m gonna be my own best friend… this time… I’m gonna be the one….

And that’s sort of the same attitude you have to take… hold a little bit back for yourself, for your sanity…

How can I say this? How can you hold back from giving 100% to your partner? Is that LOVE? Or, what is that?

In a relationship you’re 50% of the equation. You control just 50% of it.

Your partner is the other 50% and you NEVER know how much they’re in it for – or, if it’s changing within their mind at any time… They might be 100% into you for a few months, then 80%, 50%… Maybe they find someone else they’re 50% for – damn, that’s 50% you and 50% the other person…

You’re going to get hurt if you don’t hold something back… that something doesn’t have to be what you GIVE that person. Please don’t misunderstand. It doesn’t have to be holding back how much you love and feel the love of that person…

What you need to hold back is your idea in your mind that it can’t change… it can, everything does change. You have to realize that with your mind – that your life consists of 100%.

Your relationship is part of that. NOT the whole thing.

How can it be? You have friends, work, hobbies, family, and self. Assign percentages of your life to those essentials too – and think about them often.

Every single thing that you can point out to me – changes as time goes. Time affects everything. It’s a basic truth the Buddhists have acknowledged for thousands of years. Everything is impermanent.

You might attach to the idea with your mind that your relationship is permanent. It isn’t. It’s ALWAYS in flux. It’s ever-changing and not completely controllable by you, or you AND your partner. Time introduces so many variables to a relationship that it’s impossible for you both to control them.

So, after a relationship breakup – in the short term – you’re angry and hurt… life seems like a joke without this person you built your life around. You feel like it’s all over… and I’ve been there. Couple times. Though I thought – maybe I’ll kill myself, I never reached that point. Never got serious about it because I always had something fun – some friends, family or someone that was worth living FOR.

I always had someone that I didn’t want to destroy because I couldn’t tough it out and continue what seems like a stupid, ridiculous game at times (life).

And, so I hurt for months the first time. It ripped my insides out and that’s all I saw for a couple months… and then, gradually I pulled out of it. Everyone can pull out of it.

Think about it as a game. The game got sick for a little while, but now you’re learning about life… it IS sick sometimes. It’s undeniably unfair and ugly. Think of it like you just learned a WHOLE lot and that you’re slowly mastering this monstrous game that has infinite ways to hurt you… and you’re getting better at it with each major problem you put behind you.

Put this one behind you… take some time and learn something about what happened… figure out how to go about it smarter this time… with a little bit saved for you…

Change the pie-graph so it looks more like 25% friends, 15% family, 15% Self, 20% activities, and 25% relationship. Not filled in 100% red like a Valentine’s Day heart with your lover’s name on it.

You’ve got to set yourself up to be the winner. With every game you play. One of the best ways to do that is to have a realistic view of it to start. Everything is impermanent. Everything changes. Base your life on these ideas… you can’t be a loser with that system. You just can’t be….

Best of Life!

Vern

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• Cheating on Your Spouse? Consider this… (4)
• Friends (2)

If you’re logged into FaceBook, or want to – you can see it right now – here.

Amazing what you can do when you just do it – yes?

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.

Great question. A lot to look at there… and, first-off – I don’t have the answer that will satisfy the question.

Yes and no – are the answers I came up with.

To answer this question first one must take into account culture. I assume this woman was writing from America, but not sure. Culture everywhere profoundly affects how people within the society deal with being truthful to others.

In Thailand the answer is a resounding – “NO!”

In Thailand – everyone lies as naturally as if one were telling the truth. It’s a function of a culture where one of the major goals of the culture is to gloss over every minor problem or issue before it becomes a problem and keep everyone smiling and happy. Really, it’s true. The entire culture is built on this idea that keeping the flow of happiness going is the most important part of social interaction. Those that don’t go with the flow aren’t seen as playing the game correctly and aren’t well liked by others for it.

Imagine the difficulty when an American comes to Thailand and tries to interact… it’s not a pretty sight. So, this is what I’ve gone through personally for the last 4.5 years.

Unfortunately, or fortunately maybe, I haven’t changed much in my American ways. I still call a spade a spade and I don’t enjoy someone lying to me to smooth over any confrontation or problem that might be created if the truth were known. However, I’m able to ignore smaller issues – at least not ask about them if I sense it’s one of these situations where it’s not going to really matter.

So, I give you this tidbit so you can see that culture really affects the way people act. Lying within the culture in Thailand is seen as necessary. They don’t really consider it lying in the same sense as Americans might. They see it as necessary and as a valuable skill to survive and thrive in their culture. Are all Thais like this? To some degree – all Thais play the game like this, yes. Thais that gain the most respect are the ones that can fluidly escape any situation by downplaying any negatives – lies – or other issues in the smoothest way and without creating any problems, confrontations, or loss of face.

American culture is quite a bit different. In America we insist on the truth in all circumstances. Nothing but the truth will do for us – and some take it to extremes. Maybe this is what was happening with this woman that wrote me about her relationship.

In America, can the truth be told – can someone be genuine in total about their feelings, beliefs, actions, thoughts, and dreams – with another person? I can probably answer – yes, it’s possible and maybe it occurs sometimes. Two people that are friends can probably do this with some frequency in the population. I wouldn’t say it’s common between friends though.

Now, ask that same question about two people in love in a committed relationship – and I’ll probably have to say – it’s very, very rarely possible.

What are the reasons people lie? We’ve already looked at why Thais’ lie as a group of 65 million people. They’ve found it’s in their best interests to do so. The social interactions go much more smoothly when not fussing about the little things – and they realize they don’t necessarily need to hear the little truths about every situation because it creates a lot of stress, anxiety, problems to deal with that they’d rather not deal with on a daily basis. They’ve resolved the issue in one sense… on a daily basis they occupy little of their time with small problems that can be overlooked. On the other end – the long-term, negatives build up and erupt over time – often resulting in deaths in relationships and social interactions.

Here are some reasons we, in America lie:

• We’ve done something we know is wrong and others would consider wrong and we want to present an image of ourselves that is better than that.
• We’ve done something we believe is right, but know others would consider it wrong and we want to present an image of ourselves that is better than that.
• Telling the truth would hurt another person’s feelings – and we want to spare them from that.
• We lie to get something we want.
• We lie to avoid something we don’t want.
• Put another way, Phil at Philforhumanity.com says we lie out of fear mostly. Fear of harm, of conflict, of punishment, of rejection, and of loss. He also mentions we lie for altruistic reasons.

Many times we lie with good intentions. Lies don’t have to be just selfishly motivated, though I’d dare say that most times they are selfish in origin.

Whether or not it’s possible to be in a relationship with someone and be totally genuine and transparent demands looking at that relationship and at the two people in it. (presumably only two, but would go for polyamory and everything else too)

Let’s look at some situations people frequently lie about…

If your partner is unreasonably affected by things you admit to doing – and you aren’t going to change and stop doing those things, you might feel justified in lying so your partner doesn’t stress out.

If you have a compulsion – maybe it’s smoking, that you can’t break from and your partner is always asking you – “Did you smoke today?” You may resort to lying about it to avoid the confrontation over it.

If, during your daily activities you are routinely coming into contact with your ex-boyfriend and your husband is asking you whether or not you’ve seen this person recently you might choose to lie and say you haven’t seen him.

If your husband is asking you, “Do I look older than I did when we met (10 years ago)?” You might choose to ignore the fact that he looks older just to make him feel better.

If your girlfriend is asking you if she’s not “pretty”, you tell her how pretty she is… knowing full-well she’s nothing like the societal definition of prettiness but that your friend subscribes to this silly ideal as being essential for her.

There are many reasons why we lie.

Is it possible to go through a marriage being 100% genuine and honest with someone?

That would depend on you and the other person primarily. Two people that decide to be 100% truthful and transparent with each other could do this. It’s possible.

These two people would need the ability to overlook small issues that others would blow out of proportion. These two would need to be able to trust their partner completely. These two would have to have a strong sense of identity and morality – that the other agrees with and mirrors, in order to exist as two people being 100% truthful with each other.

Now, in some cases this might actually be easy… if neither partner is interested in asking many questions about what the other did with her time or what she was thinking about – the relationship could go quite smoothly, couldn’t it?

If these two people were questioning each other about their whereabouts, actions, and what they were even thinking about – it would probably be impossible to continue a relationship like that for very long at all.

I’ve been with a person like that – have you?

So, in large part it seems like – it’s quite easy to get along in American society without lying and with being 100% truthful to someone that demands very little in the way of answers from you.

On the other hand – if someone is very demanding and questions you about every tiny part of your life – being completely honest with someone will inevitably bring up points of contention. We are all different people. We all have selfish motives and intentions. We all have fantasies, regardless if we’d ever act on them – but, for our spouses to hear of our fantasies would probably bring about some conflict. As long as our spouse is not asking about our thoughts and fantasies and why we’re having them – we’re OK.

So… In a relationship in which two people largely trust each other and aren’t concerned with finding out the minutia of their whereabouts, conversations, actions, thoughts, and dreams – it’s possible. I wouldn’t say it occurs often at all. In fact, I don’t know anyone that has a relationship like this except myself and my partner.

In a relationship in which the two people are very concerned with knowing everything going on in the other person’s world and thoughts – it will end in failure, or at least be contentious. Some thrive on that though, yes?

I wanted to mention the woman that wrote me said this…

We promised each other to be transparent and to tell each other even the most hurtful things, is that ever possible??

I would say – not possible. I’d go so far as to say, that’s not a good thing to agree on in a relationship either.

I have this idea about telling another person the most hurtful things…

I’ll tell someone a truth that will hurt – hurt a lot, only if it will bring about some change in the person that propels them forward and brings them to a new understanding about themselves that is better than it would have been without knowing. Of course this is circumstantial and needs to be looked at in detail before I’d consider it.

With my partner now – I can say I’m 100% honest with her and have been for years. It’s a one-of-a-kind relationship and I’ve never had such an arrangement in my life with another person – partner or friend. It has a lot to do with my maturity at this age, and the mindset of my partner. We trust each other 100% and yet, if either of us had a transgression of a minor nature – we’d get over that quickly because we understand human nature, fallibility and all that. Neither of us asks questions about the details of the other’s daily activities and thoughts and fantasies. It’s just not something that matters.

With my friends – I’m not often 100% truthful. I don’t see a need to be most times. In the past I have told friends some things that hurt a lot. Usually because they asked me. Sometimes, they didn’t have to ask. I’ve told people that their underarms reeked…

Why did I do that? That bit of knowledge will help them through life. I’ve told people that they’re not good listeners and that it’s no wonder they don’t have anyone to talk to – nobody could stand to be in a 1-way conversation – on the receiving end – for very long. What’s the point?

I’ve dropped some bombs too.

If I can help a person by giving them my honest opinion about something – that I strongly believe others are holding back from the person… I’ll do it with the idea that it may change their life. Actually, I do it when I know it will change their life. I’m not really concerned with whether someone likes me or associates with me after that point… I think much better to help someone get further in their own development with or without me as a friend.

What do you think?

Have you been blatantly honest with someone when you sensed they’d grow from it?

Are you able to be 100% truthful with your spouse? Totally transparent – volunteering information even without having been asked?

Share on Facebook

Related posts

• No related posts.