Kelly tagged me for this one and I love Kelly so I’d better respond. Thanks for the tag, girl!
The meme this time is to give 8 pieces of juicy info about yourself that others might find interesting. I’m not sure how interesting I am, but I know for a fact that I’m not juicy, so we’ll see how this goes!
I’m not a big fan of talking about myself. I’m an even lesser fan of asking myself questions which then lead me to talk to myself about myself. So, for this one I’ll pretend to be someone else interviewing me. Preferably someone with a super sultry lounge-singer voice. And I’m going to be asking a few questions of myself that will hint at some ways I run my business, make money, etc. Enjoy!
How do you make your money?
- Web & Graphic Design
- Writing
- Affiliate marketing (nope, I won’t tell you the niches)
- SEO
- Blog Consulting
- Animations
- Adsense
- On-site advertising
- Sell stock vectors, icons & the like
- I do a lot of investing in the stock market
What job have you had that nobody knows about?
I was a successful day-trader in the stock exchange for 18 months. I gave it up ’cause that shit is tense! I also worked as a store designer for Starbucks, designing 250+ coffee shops with which I sullied every corner of the planet.
How many websites do you maintain?
As of the writing of this sentence, I have 7 successful (profitable) websites, and 1 site that totally and entirely sucks donkey ass. Two more are rolling out over the next couple months.
What’s a surefire way to make you laugh out loud?
Doing or saying something funny is a good bet.
You can also put me in the middle of a good windstorm. Not a tornado, but not a little sissy breeze either. There’s got to be some power there, so it tussles your hair and whistles in your ear. I love wind and the sound of trees in the breeze so much that in a windstorm, I raise my arms up in victory and literally laugh until I’m crying.
Give us something personal. Some idiosyncracies.
- I don’t swear in front of my parents. Okay, I do. But it makes me feel really guilty.
- I’m hopelessly and helplessly addicted to popcorn.
- I can’t cook. Not anything.
- It’s nearly impossible to embarrass me.
- I can’t stand drinking water.
What projects do you have going now?
Aside from regular client work, I’m writing a fiction book, polishing up a new astoundingly bitchin WordPress theme, composing an album of guitar music, writing and illustrating a children’s book and continuing to not be able to cook.
What are you worst at?
Well, cooking for sure, but doing laundry is up there. I do laundry when everything is dirty, and every drawer and clothes hanger is empty. Even then I debate just burning it all and going shopping for a whole new wardrobe. The only problem is that I also hate shopping, so that doesn’t really work either.
Do you read?
Voraciously. Here’s what I’ve liked of late:
- Business & Investing
- Seth Godin
- Jim Cramer
- Warren Buffet
- William O’Neil
- IBD
- The Motley Fool
- Fiction
- Trevanian
- Terry Pratchett
- Robert Rankin
- Christopher Moore
- Neil Gaiman
- Stephen King
- Steve Berry
- Hesse
- Tom Holt
- Ayn Rand
- Essays/Non-fiction
- Bill Bryson
- PJ O’Rourke
- David Sedaris
- Edward Cline
- Various programming/scripting books
- Books from Berklee Press (music theory and such)
Tag on!
I’m supposed to tag some others now, but to be honest, the only people I feel like asking are people I know for a fact wouldn’t do it.
Instead, how ’bout some of you tag yourselves and leave me a link in the comments!?!? If you so choose, here are the rules:
- Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
- People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
- At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people (oops!) and include their names.
- Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’ve been tagged, and to read your blog.
59 Comments
I am a Sagitarian too! So I just can’t sit still. I am supposed to be working on a prject right now. Or dinner.
>>Kelly, I am coming over to MCE in a bit. There is a lot that I want to digest over there. I need a couple of hours without interruption.
I am going to make dinner now, my lovely bride is grousing. Then I have to get some friggin’ work done!!
Harry, Charlie,
My understanding (limited) of martial arts is that you are NOT supposed to be jonesin’ for a fight. I thought you were supposed to feel so peaceful and powerful that you’d hopefully never have to use it. No?
Okay, now they’re talking martial arts. *deep, deep sigh*
@ Kelly – Alright, unsolicited advice time. Blog posts: You have good stuff to say. Shorten it. You pack too much in a long post. Give me short posts, and I’d visit more.
Give me subscribe to comments, and you’d have a faithful, loyal commentator. The way to a man’s heart and all. Seriously. Ditch Typepad. Look at your blog name, and ditch typepad.
As for being like water and wanting to hear the right sounds, perhaps you’re not sitting at the best location of the creek. There are pebbly beds, there are smooth, rounded corners and there are even wild waterfalls. Which do you choose?
Now, I’m wondering why you’d want me to burn down your blog with comments like the ones I’m putting up here on Charlie’s blog?
James,
Love you more than ever right now. You are cute when you’re all fired up. Well, the well-shaped arm is cute. The rest of you is a little fuzzy.
Short, medium, long. I try to mix it up. A few long ones lately, to avoid having a huge series which I didn’t want. Ah, well.
It’s ditched this summer. I told you I would! I’ll have a little time off from work and I’ll do it. I’d hoped they’d come around before then, but all they’ve added is the RSS for comments. *sigh* more work for me. Not really what I want to do while I’m up in the mountains, but I will.
I do not want you to burn down my blog, silly. Believe it or not, I respect your ideas. At this point in the day that might be hard to believe. That’s how I started reading you (and Harry, who never ever hardly ever comments at MCE, and never burns anything down. VoR and all). Because you are a great writer and I adore your brain. Thus I have a crazy idea that you might have enlightened opinions on occasion.
Hmm, I’ve thought about it, but you do not want a serious answer to the water question so you aren’t getting an answer at all.
Until later,
Kelly
Charlie,
I am totally blushing right now. See, it’s not only when embarrassed.
@ Kelly – You realize that within a week, we could set you up in a really nice place… with all the features a man could ever want.
Yes, I’m talking about the blog.
Enlightened opinions… I have many. Want to hear something crazy? I don’t voice 80% of them from fear of someone a) calling me crazy despite the fact I know I’m right and b) not believing me because my opinions fly in the face of what the sheep do.
I am shepherd, not sheep.
@ Charlie – You’re working too hard. Download Twhirl. I’ll make you a star.
James,
Yep. I realize that. Whaddya think, I didn’t hear you the other 42 times you said it?
“with all the features a man could ever want” Gee, which Man? ‘Cuz I have to get all the features just one Man With Pen could want…
If we all waited around for the moment when our opinions *should* be voiced, you’d have a very dull blog indeed. MWP thrives on every opinionated person this side of Timbuktuu feeling welcome to voice their crazy opinion.
This can not be coming from Le Roi du Comments. Isn’t adding to the conversations in corners far and wide, teaching and learning, being shepherd and occasionally, if the ego can handle it, sheep, what this trip is about?
Bye, Charlie… you can’t last against him unless you are very, very strong.
*clink* Santé, James.
The problem is running a business blog geared towards creating reputation and credibility while being able to use my intelligence, experience and knowledge as I wish I could do.
Sometimes I come close. There are a handful of posts I write that remind me of Charlie’s windstorm, where I know I’ve got it and the words are whipping about me like a hurricane while I spread my arms wide and laugh.
There are others where I know – very consciously – that I’m rocking the boat. That I want to ROCK the boat, but have to settle for rocking gently.
Because the aftereffect of a shakedown isn’t pleasant.
On the other hand, I’m often surprised at how accepting my opinions are on my blog. I’ve said some controversial (I think) stuff, and no one even batted an eye. There were days where Harry battened down the hatches, ready for an onslaught of hatred, and…
Nothing. Acceptance.
It boggles me, this acceptance. At the same time, I sit back and think, “Well, well… So the people say red but they truly want blue like I offer… how interesting.”
Sometimes, I just get scared at being someone others look up to or look towards. That’s a very powerful position to be in, and I know I should be very careful how I wield that power. And I also know that there are many times when it’s not my place to wield.
A time and a place for everything.
Then again, my time is now.
*clink* À vous d’ailleurs, ma belle.
James,
If it makes you happy, I will refuse to look up to you. Heck, I don’t even know how tall you are. You might have to look up to me.
It ain’t that. Lord knows I’m not built for reverence. I’ve been around too many blocks. I surround myself with smart folks where ever possible. The web just makes it delightfully possible.
I presume you put on your pants one leg at a time, like everyone else does, and “so you’re Brad Pitt? That don’t impress me much,” as your countrywoman sings.
Geez, Harry, let him look at those RSS numbers too much and he gets all burdened-with-the-fame and stuff. I’m just a little ol’ email reader from back when you were Men Without Pens, and you’re the same dudes.
Not that I wouldn’t be glad of the burden. It’s a nice burden to have.
Later…