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
Charlie,
This is a fabulous list! & the love is mutual, thanks for that too.
I didn’t know you had a Starbucks connection… it seems I know a lot of ex-Starbucks people. I guess it was a good training ground for creative thinkers. (I love how you kept the list semi-business-y. That was my original intention but I couldn’t get a muse to sit on my shoulder so I gave up. Well done.)
I’ve known quite a few people who adore rain, but never wind. That is my favorite thing on this list.
I never swear in front of my parents either. My Mom occasionally does swear now (I’m 39; I guess she thinks I can handle it), and it embarrasses me! Unlike you, I am easily embarrassed. People who know me well think it’s cute to make me blush, but once you know me well, it’s kinda harder to do. I think I am one of the last people on the planet who does, truly, blush. It’s a lost art.
Thanks for coming out to play. It’s fun seeing what a few people I really admire could do with this.
Regards,
Kelly
Alright, where’s the dirt. Where’s the sordid affairs, the scandals… I need gossip, man, gossip!
Oh, hey, when the hell are you getting a Twitter account so I can heckle you every day?
Stephen King: Just finished reading Lisey’s Story, and I loved it. I never realized that he could write a story that makes me care about the romance between two people. This book also involved an imaginary world, so that was bonus.
Now reading Jack Whyte’s Uther.
And I’ve already done my 7 wierd things about James on our site (where yes, people do get wierd things about me. Like, the fact that I can’t spell wierd right and feel comfortable about that e before i thing. That makes eight.)
Kelly -
Thanks, glad you liked. It’s funny what you said about your mom swearing and you getting embarrassed, as my parents seem to be loosening up a bit as well. My mom just bought her first laptop and my dad is now playing Flight Simulator video games in his office.
Ahh, you’re a blusher! That’s a talent, girl, a talent! Are you a blusher only when you’re embarrassed?
Thanks again for the tag! I had fun
No, not only when embarrassed.
Ahem. Now, I am blushing.
James -
Well, I’ve never had an affair, but I admit I always sort of wanted to know what it would be like. The secret calls, the hotel rooms, little notes you pass, the STD you have to tell your wife about…oh, wait.
But then there’s the guilt. And the fact that I can’t keep a secret for more than about 12 seconds. I’m so unable to keep secrets that I confess my transgressions before I commit them.
“Um, honey?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“Thought I should tell you I’m going to have an affair.”
(Hands on hips) “You bastard! Who is she?”
“Oh…nobody. I’m just planning for the eventuality. I’ll feel terrible about it, I promise. And it won’t happen again. I mean…it hasn’t even happened yet, but it won’t happen again after it does happen. If it does. Which it might, but probably not ’cause now that I’m telling you about it it doesn’t really seem like much fun.”
On a different note, I don’t really know what Twitter is. I know you’re using it now as you posted about it, but when I see the word “Twitter” I sort of go comatose. What the hell is it? Better yet, why use it?
Kelly -
That was way too easy.
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie,
DO NOT get him started on that subject.
And yes, it’s pretty easy to get me blushing. And smirking. I am doing both now.
Kelly, you mean Twitter or affairs? Hahahaha.
Charlie,
I have yet to discuss affairs with Mr. Chartrand but you will be sorry re: Twitter. He must not be near the computer right now or you’d already know.
His absence is probably due to him crafting a 6,000 word epistle on the benefits of Twitter. Which I STILL don’t know about.
James? We know you’re lurking…
Anybody who uses epistle in a sentence on a blog is a forever buddy of mine. The love grows.
Re: affairs–have one with your wife. Very sexy, no STDs.
Re: Twitter–giant time waster. Do not fall into that trap.
Affairs: Very, very sex hot and fireworks en masse. Definitely not worth the guilt and the lies you have to weave, which is why my last affair was when I was 18 years old.
Twitter: It’s instant messaging in mini form. You log on, hang out with your friends and generally joke around, laugh, share links, promote your business shamelessly, and go work when you’re done.
The morning crowd is between 6 and 8.30, then it goes hush until mid-morn break, then hush until afternoon break, then the night crowd comes after seven… it’s a blast. I’d love to chat with you.
Hey, we could discuss sordid affairs, even.
@ Kelly – Ah, the lady has a fickle heart, ever spurning and rejecting. Unrequited love blooms.
James,
That last is nearly a poem, so back at you:
Ah, Man With Pen
Were he closer
Perhaps trouble
If you love me so, you’d better tell me, because Naomi’s the only one to put a marriage license in front of me thus far. I’m considering her proposal.
Besos,
Kelly
Surrounded by women, all fickle and choosy
Man with a Pen has more chance with a floosy.
(Or carrying on his engagement with Charlie,
Which happened one night after wine. It was funny.)
Women love for a moment and then they’re all gone.
It seems like a spark but the fire’s all done.
The day he discovers there is true love out there,
He may be too late and the lady won’t care.
And such is life lived, with chance and regret
So the man’s better off with his pen, I bet.
James,
Ha ha! You, sir, are a horrendous flirt. Easy when you hide behind a keyboard? I feel I’ve said that before, which is probably because it’s true.
Takes fickle to know fickle… but choosy, yes.
From what I hear there aren’t a lot of floozies where you live. Bon chance.
I remember the engagement well, it was very touching. Perhaps Charlie’s wife can handle this affair, but it’s not very secret, so the jazz might not be quite so hot.
Real women do not love for a moment & gone, you ol’ sourpuss. Are all Cancers so negative, or just the woodsy Quebecers?
This is not the finest poem I’ve ever had written for me by a long shot, dearest Man. Keep the day job.
(Testing Babelfish, don’t laugh if it’s bad. I know the papillon part is right)
Baisers de papillon,
Kelly
My affair with James is no secret, nor is it an actual affair. I believe in order for it to be official I would indeed need to be married. Which I am not.
I know I should never have written that in such a public venue as this because here’s exactly what happens next:
There’s a knock on my door, and I answer it. It’s a floozy and I kindly take her in. Ordinarily I wouldn’t but it is raining after all. I make her some tea. Oh, wait. I don’t actually even know how to use a stove. We go out for a coffee.
On our way, I notice we’re being followed. I furtively glance over my shoulder and see dozens upon dozens of similar floozies, each more scantily clothed than the next.
They’ve all got “Ignite Living” or “Charfish Design” tattoos on. A couple of them in naughty places.
Like the shoulder, I mean.
I can’t help pulling a Kelly-blush because I’m honored that my RSSers are coming out of the woodwork with a chance to have a mocha. My treat.
That’s just the beginning. Soon I have to change my name, cancel my email accounts, get a new phone number, take down my websites and start wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. All so this line of floozies will just give me a moment’s peace.
Hehehe… I can write way better poetry than that. But I was aiming for fast and funny with a slight touch of sad charm. Did I come close? (Made ya laugh lol)
As for floosies, there are TONS of them in my neck of the woods. Smoke a pack a day and drink me under the table type of leather-faced old floosy.
Then there are also tons of very sleek French women that look quite nice indeed but that are very vapid in the head.
I’d like a person nicely in between. And being Cancer, I need lotsa love and attention. It’s all about me.
Charlie would do. He knows it’s all about me.
RIGHT, Charles?
SEE? Charlie understands.
So does Kid Rock:
“I wanna find love. That’s my problem. But the money makes it hard to tell the real from fake.”
I’ve got the same problem: more money than I know what to do with.
Last time I was on a date my girl said, “You’ve got such wonderful eyes.” Then I noticed she’d pulled a $20 out of my wallet and was actually talking the picture on it.
You both realize that I’m completely neglecting my work today to play in your comment section.
And it’s sunny out. I want to go be in the sunshine.
You can bask in the sunshine of my love, James.
Ahh, now there’s a lovely thought. Can I pluck daisies and have a nap in the grass, too?
Okay, look. Go download Twhril, create a twitter account for charfish and come screw off work with me. (That way I can blame you.) I know Kelly won’t.
Charlie,
I remember reading somewhere way back that you were as-good-as married (?), which means an affair with James counts. Except that in order for it to be an actual affair you’d probably have to be closer than Seattle.
You fantasize very well. Many men imagine themselves followed by floozies. Take James, for instance…
James,
What are sleek ladies doing in the woods? Get out, ladies, before it’s too late!
I am halfway between sleek and drink-you-under-the-table, being Irish, but I’m also halfway between New York and D.C.
Write me “way better poetry,” I’ll decide about lavishing selfless Capricorn keyboard-love upon you. Until then, I get to be in love with Harry (talk about unrequited!) and Naomi, and Charlie, and Friar….
Flirt, flirt, flirt. This was a serious blog once. I remember.
Besides, I can’t be in love with a Man I can’t SEE, beautiful Pen or not.
Later…
Oh, Jamie, are you so very rich?
Then I don’t need a picture.
Puh-leeze.
Such a well-shaped arm, though.
Dude, I don’t even know if it’s YOURS.
No, actually, I’m only mildly well off which means I can buy a CD now and not have to worry that I won’t make rent, and I also don’t have to check my bank account daily to see if anything will bounce, but I can’t go out and buy a new sofa without thinking twice.
Nor do I really care about money. I mean, I like things. Stuff is cool. Lots of stuff. But it’s just stuff and I’d rather live in a cardboard box with nothing, as long as I’m happy.
Money isn’t on my big priority list.
Psst.
Everybody knows it’s all about you.
2 seconds of serious? I hear you about money. That’s been the saving grace of my life, not caring about it much.
Now back to sillyness.
(Made you say Dude. Ha!)
Wintery moonlight slivers through the shadows of twilight
Slipping off smoky fur, glinting on golden eyes
Padding softly across the moist earth, it travels.
No purpose, no need, no reason but the motion of distance
A distance that chasms deep between here and now.
And alone, the wolf finds its way to where it never knew it went.
Not romantic. But nice.
Nope, sorry, that was not written for moi. Can’t abandon others for you yet. My coffee-date with Friar is still on.
Nice, though. I’m very fond of wolves.
I say dude all day long, my love.
Oh, now I have to write something just for YOU?
Hm hm… A challenge indeed…
Charlie, would you like an ode? Kelly’s being fussy.
You really are all about you. Want me to forsake others and you can’t manage a hot love-poem? Not here, poor Charlie, who loved me just this morning…
Some Man With Pen you are. Harry would write me a poem. If he were reading this.
Charlie, are we bugging you? Just yell “get a room”…
Charlie didn’t write me a poem because he’s very busy trying to explain this to his lady.
“Umm, it all started with blushing, which was kinda fun, and now I may be engaged again to a dude…”
Sure, James, write me an ode. Just don’t feel bad if I don’t reciprocate. Most poetry I write is of the “Nantucket” type and you wouldn’t be impressed. Nor would any of the other readers who, if these comments are any evidence, have all died.
Harry is the only productive one in the bunch apparently. I know he’s out there but he’s buckling down like a good boy.
Harry is currently on the phone with me trying to talk business and coding and I’m ignoring him to play with you guys.
He says he doesn’t do poetry, though, so it looks like I’m the only bard in the bunch today.
*sigh* Men in love do write poetry, so I guess the Vegas wedding is off. Ach, Harry, I hardly knew ye…
Do you know how hard it is to work in five-minute stints?
Come and play, dear Bard With Pen.
@Kelly & James: Get a room already.
@Charlie: Yeah, I was working. Slaving away at the keyboard like a diligent worker drone. I call James, expecting to find the same and lo and behold – he’s over here playing!
And now I come here to find the fair Kelly has truly forsaken me for the both of you, and not only that, bromance is in full bloom between the Charfish and the Frenchman!
What a cruel, cruel world it is!
At least the cats haven’t deserted me…oh, wait, there they go now. Apparently, the crumpled sticky note is far more interesting than I am.
Well, I’ve still got Lucifer.
Harry the not poet -
Thank god you’re here! All this poetry and bardishness is tipping things in an odd direction.
Quick! Say something about DOC types, meta tags and XHTML commenting!
Well, I’ve been hip deep in CSS and Photoshop all day today. Haven’t touched the meta tags, but I’ll soon be downloading the xml files for the final install.
Tomorrow will be a repeat of today, for me anyway. Been having fun making sparkly things too, nifty little effect that is. Got some new filters too from Alien Skin. You’ve seen those, haven’t you? They’ve got a great line of filters.
Waiting on my gear to come in the mail for the iaido classes too. Hey, and I can use my own katana. Since I have to name everything (my 8th quirky thing about Harry), I decided to call the sword “Hotaka” which translates to “Step by Step”. Pretty cool huh?
First class is this Friday. Need to get these projects done though, papa needs a new bow if he’s every going to learn kyudo next.
(that good?)
Damned typos. It’s that sneaky “Y”. Should be “ever” not “every”
*contemplates words that mean “leaps and bounds” or even “impulsive skydiving attempts”*
Sounds good to me. Were you talking work? You can’t do that here. We’ve hijacked the thread completely and derailed the whole blog post.
Oops. Charlie might have clients who read this.
Hi. My name is James. Charlie is a fantastic graphic designer and you should hire him. If you do, we offer compelling content to match. That means that between Pens and Fish, you get a site that stands out like never before.
Okay, so I get the first new post in a while from Charlie in my e-mail, and I really think it’s cool so I am going over to leave a Comment. I see that there are already 41! “Wow!” I thought to myself (or I may have said it out loud, as I am home alone with no pants on), “41 comments already. There must be some turned-on readers leaving links to their own interviews.”
Nope. 4 people chatting. Heh. James, Harrison, and Kelly. Now I know where you all hang out when you’re not at Ittybiz.
I gotta get out more.
@Stephen, who is the only person I will use @ for:
At home alone w/ no pants. You’ll fit right in.
Wife is home now. Pants become mandatory.
@ Kelly – Wait. I write you a poem and you go for the guy with no pants? I’m shocked. Honestly. I have pants AND running shoes.
@ Stephen – Actually, we hang out at Men with Pens. Why aren’t you? IttyBiz is where I go when I want to swear.
@ Charlie – Why aren’t you hanging out at Men with Pens OR IttyBiz? And have you gotten a freakin’ Twitter account yet?
I may have to call off the wedding.
Oh wait. I could bask. Basking is better than throwing a hissy fit.
Harry -
A fellow martial artist, eh? That’s awesome and I’m starting to feel the hairs on my chest unshrivel from James’s iambic pentameter.
One of the things I almost included in my “List of 8″ above (which now seems like I wrote it about a decade ago) is that I’ve been doing martial arts my whole life but have never had to use it. I desperately want to get punched in the face. Just to see what it’s like. Or punch someone else in the face, which I also haven’t done.
If you’ve had the experience, let’s hear about it. If not, just write back and use the words “Craftsman” or “Black & Decker” and my day will be fully right again.
Stephen -
Well, actually the comment number looks a bit inflated. It’s really just James being insane, Kelly being flirty, and Harrison being the paragon of industriousness.
But you’re the practical type too, so…I’m seeing the universe go right again.
James -
Thanks for warning my clients about what they may see here. No worries though. That’s exactly why I started this blog…so me and my friends (but mostly me) could be idiots and not have to worry about the bottom line.
No need to be an idiot, Charlie. I’m managing very nicely without you.
And you see, I can’t do this on my own blog. (Well, yes, I can. Not to this extent though.) So I’ll come do it on yours.
Be forewarned – it’s wineglass hour. My favorite hour of the day.
James,
1. I loved you first (well, not FIRST first…), but you are like water. You run too freely and never burble what I want to hear. Plus, you don’t comment sensibly on my blog enough but you burn down Charlie’s blog with me whenever it suits your fancy. Plus, you did not write ME a poem.
2. See 3, but substitute “@Stephen” for “Charlie.”
3. Because Charlie loves me and plans to spend all his days at MCE from now on. He will be my muse and sit upon my shoulder, Starbucks in hand. He will tell me jokes when I am in horrid meetings, celebrate when I am in lovely meetings, cause trouble when I am not in meetings which thank goodness is mostly, and commiserate with me because I live in Delaware, where it is bloody hot as usual. If there are Delawareans reading this, what I mean is, I love this place.
Charlie, if you think today is bad, mulitply by 365. That’s Twitter. He will get you, sadly. I am waving goodbye, because James is a temptor extraordinaire.
Later…
@Charlie: Getting punched in the face is not fun. Wouldn’t advise it. Been there, done that, in and out of the ring.
So, martial arts experience…okay, you might not ever shut me up now. I studied Okinawan Goju Ryu for 10 years and got my brown belt before I had to leave it and answer the call of real life.
That sucks really, because if I hadn’t gone to art school I probably would have pursued a career in martial arts.
Now since I’m older and all the schooling and jockeying for a good job are out of the way, I can get back to the stuff I love most. In this case, martial arts.
But…not just any martial arts. I’ve always wanted to learn iaido. See, I can’t just have a weapon sitting on the mantle looking good – I want to know how to use it too.
And being a Sagittarian I have this never ending need to learn. Now I’m starting on this new venture.
Needless to say, there are no Craftsman or Black & Decker katas. Maybe I will have to come up with one.
Your turn, what style did you study?