Scott Schroeder Says

Since I Last Updated..

Scott Schroeder — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:02:04 +0000

Blogging On Empty

Scott Schroeder — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:04:31 +0000

Regardless of nomenclature, writer, editor, publicist, publisher, blogger, author, artist or copywriter, we all experience those void in creativity and lack of energy moments whereby we just can’t generate the thoughts necessary for publishing post-worthy content. And, make no mistake, I’m not talking lack of time here because well, let’s be honest, if the creative juices are flowing, we’ll disregard time (and even stay up all night long) just to publish said thoughts and ideas.

Like Jonathan Morrow mentions in his thought provoking, eye opening article, Is Blogging Keeping You Poor, we’re all limited to the amount of actual creative energy we have on hand (obviously some of us exhibit more than others but, still, we are all naturally prone to burning out). And, if you can’t tell from some of the (huge) gaps between my blog postings, I’ll be the first to tell you, I, too, have creative spurts that come and go. When they are buzzing, I’ll blog like it’s my birthday. When they are not, I’ll drop off the face of the blog like it’s my business. It happens to all of us. So, what can we do?

A Couple Remedies To Help Fuel Creativity

Put down the computer, the note pad and the writing utensils.
As strange as it may sound at first, getting out of that writer’s slump can be done by simply walking away and focusing your mind on something other than writing. When we ease our attention and discontinue the struggle for ideas, our mind and body will naturally resort back to creative mode, when the time is right.
Find what you are passionate about and surround yourself with said passionate content and/or experiences.
Seriously. The juices flow the most when we are passionate. After all, don’t we tend to cover material that we are passionate with?
Read a book, a magazine, a blog post or, better yet, a Twitter update.
When you can’t think of another sentence’s worth, try reading through some otherwise random content so as to help bring new thoughts, ideas, recollections, points of view and vocabulary into your brainstorming. Most of the time, you’ll discover something new that you’d like to write about.
Skim through any and all of your previous postings and drafts
By referencing back to your older articles or drafts, you will often analyze your content and notice that your perception has since changed. Perfect. Get those new thoughts out on paper and continue drafting until you feel the flow, per say.
Take a vacation
Funny enough, sometimes we just need to break for a bit longer than the first suggested remedy mentioned above calls for. Yep, totally freeing yourself from all related blogging influences, especially including your (normal) blogging environment will totally help you to get that blogging drive back, sooner than you’d normally expect. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that while on said vacation, you’ll be enlightened and inclined to get out the notebook and begin writing again.

What about you? What works for you when you experience, for lack of better words, writer’s block?

Meet Me In The Trap Hollywood Sports Park, Its Going Down

Scott Schroeder — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:32:09 +0000

In less than 48 hours, the Tech Paintball brawl will be teeing off at the Hollywood Sports Park in Southern California. Brought to you in part by a love for fierce battle, Tech Paintball is truly fueled by the desire to give back, specifically to reputable charities through donations raised by the event.

Although I have to admit that I am a bit scurred for the pain that comes with paintballing, I am glad for the opportunity to be able to unite, network and join such a great cause with the like-minded industry folks. With that said, I am not 100% certain as to whether I will actually gear up for the paintball warfare but, I will definitely be there in true form, with a fat sack of Scotty Snacks to feed the whole crowd with.

So, whether you are feeling the paintballs or not, head on out to Holly Sports Park and witness some all out fun for the greater good of others.

*Ticket and Event Info

And, for the tunes that inspired the title of this post…

Have You Seen This Person?

Scott Schroeder — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:45:28 +0000

I think it’s beginning to become more apparent that Twitter certainly lays down the law and/or takes the necessary precautions against abusive, spammer Twitter accounts (at least for me it is as over the past few days I have tried to click-through to the URL’s for some of my supposed new Twitter followers and have landed on the account suspended page instead). It’s a shame the folks behind Twitter have to manually set aside work time for policing the indecent behavior that some choose to exhibit but, this is the inevitability of persons to buck the system, a common characteristic of the freedom that is to the social web and the Untied States alike. Regardless, you got to love the web graphics that Twitter uses for their landing pages - very creative, very intuitive and, most importantly, very fun.

You Say Two-Step, Others Say Dubstep

Scott Schroeder — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:28:33 +0000

In 2006, when I lived out in the bay area of San Francisco, I recall the crowd boasting about ghost-riding the whip while getting down with the hyphy movement alongside E-40’s hit single, Tell Me When To Go. During my last visit to the bay (for the 2008 Thanksgiving holidays), it appeared as though the kids are now getting grimey to the London based beat that’s especially dark and full of bass, the dubstep. With a hip hop-ish rhythm tuned into a drum and bass like sound, the funk from the UK has been brought (once again) and folks are lining up, letting their minds loose and nodding their heads….

Colourful by Skream

I Don’t Care for the Word Diet but I’ve Definitely Got To Change My Exercise (and Eating) Habits!

Scott Schroeder — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:13:18 +0000

Like a college freshman just after first semester, I’ve beefed up (over the past year) into something I otherwise would not have previously imagined. With the abundance of over-sized meals (especially those late night, munchies meals) combined with the lack of visits to the gym, I’ve managed to evolve beyond my normal clothing fit as well as my target cholesterol and body weight rankings. Although the mirror has not been successful in helping me to keep trim, the truth certainly prevails when I think about the belt that I no longer need for the once too big khakis that used to sag loosely below my boxer drawers.

So, if like a visitor at the front door, this article is starting to ring a bell, sit down in that chair right there and let me divulge in how I plan to overcome the situation that’s bulging from my waist line with a phrase that I will coin as four sure to help health habits. And, please feel free to chime in at anytime with any and all suggestions that you may have as I obviously don’t have all the fitness facts.

Four Sure to Help Health Habits:

I. First, I plan to reduce the size of the meals that I consume. I know, I know, this is no fun, especially for those meals when we swear to be starving because we skipped a meal or, better yet, “haven’t eaten all day”. Regardless, reducing the portions of the meals consumed will help greatly with digestion as well as metabolism and appetite in the long run. To do so, I will try to slow down my eating by, perhaps, bringing a book along with my meals or, better yet, fidgeting with my (i)phone while I eat so as to help spread out the meal and, hence, reach my level of satiety before I overeat.

II. Next, I intend to cook more meals at home so that I will be able to truly enjoy fresh, naturally healthy meals while also helping to keep in line with Roman numeral number one by preparing smaller, less filling meals. And, keep in mind, this one may also help to increase the size of the rubber band that’s needed for my grip (i.e. money roll) since I will be saving more while spending less on eating out. On a side note but, appropriately worth the plug, I hope to share (and swap) some meal ideas via a new food site of mine that I’m currently working the design/layout for, Scotty Snacks

III. Then, not to play Jon Q. Law and strictly enforce all sorts of restrictions on one self but, I do want to try my best and keep an eye on my daily caloric intake as I believe that this will help me to better keep an eye on what I am eating and, more importantly, the amount there of. Foods rich in calories will be best consumed earlier in the day and/or prior to exercise whereby foods with less calories will be more for evening/night time meals. And the same goes for foods high in complex carbohydrates as these tend to be equally high in calories, too.

IV. And, last but certainly not least, (in addition to the beach bicycle riding that I have been doing and intend on continuing to do along the ocean and surrounding areas almost every day of the week) I plan to make an appearance in the gym AT LEAST 3 times a week. While there I will carry out some cardiovascular along with some strength and endurance training to help burn some calories, shed some fat and tone some muscles. Plus, while outside of the gym, I will utilize a common household item for various exercises around the apartment (and will certainly expand upon said efforts in a later blog gathering).

Certainly no walk in the park nor easy tasks worth just making a new year’s vow to, these are life resolutions geared to improving the mind, the body and the overall maintenance there of. As I click the ‘publish’ button and make this post public, the fun starts… now! Wish me luck.

*What do you think? Would love to learn about any additional ideas/solutions that you may care to recommend.

Why I Still Like To Use StumbleUpon

Scott Schroeder — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:18:57 +0000

In addition to helping to spread the (web)word regarding websites that I find to be valuable and, hence, certainly worth passing on, I tend to also give sites ‘thumbs up’s‘ for the simple fact that I will be able to re-visit a website that I otherwise have forgotten the name/URL there of. I can’t tell you how many times I struggle to recall the sites I previously found to be beneficial. With the help of StumbleUpon, I am able to quickly (and easily) locate the specific sites/URL’s that I ’stumbled’ and, hence, follow through with my intentions for finding them again.

Sure, there are many a functionality that StumbleUpon (SU) successfully serves for those individuals looking for specific web content as well as for those individuals looking to promote specific web content, a few of which I covered a while back in some of my former social media weblog discussions like StumbleUpon: Growth Hormone For Your Website and It’s Not Digg, It’s Not Del.icio.us, It’s StumbleUpon. Mainly, as of late for me, SU helps me to save certain URL’s for future returns. And you? What about you? Do you (still) use StumbleUpon?