See what I mean!

So I spent the entire day yesterday reading about creationism versus evolution.

I found an interesting debate. I was surprised to find a surprisingly good creationist debater. Of course once he said he actually believes we are all descendants of Adam I chuckle but the guy is well spoken and obviously really intelligent.

Too bad he was busted on tax evasion. Oooops.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL-cORRZdng

resolution

Im going to write more frequently in this blog. I went back through it and remembered things I would have never remembered.

Here is a pic of my girlfriend all gussied up for the office christmas party. Just because I can.

Hooray Beer!

Admittedly, I spent 7 years in college simply for the chicks.

I got a degree that I didn't believe in and had no clue about what I was going to do with it.

I had shit jobs after college. The first one I recall well. $8 per hour doing help support for a call center. The kind of call center that you THINK is the official company support, but rather farmed out to a warehouse of college kids who literally read the manual while they answer your questions.

Then there was the sales job where I sold high-end networking hardware. I dealt with a 25 year old boss that would fake-golf while talking to you. What the hell is up with that? I hated that they posted our sales numbers. I hated the people that I worked with. I hated my life.

I had no prospects and was on the path to 30 years of mediocrity.

Somewhere in the middle of this I went out to have a beer with my current roommate.

And I met a guy he used to go to high school with. He was enjoying a beer with his laptop and we struck up a conversation. He worked from home and created a little book teaching people how to generate leads for their businesses. He sold the book online.

I recall vividly when he leaned forward and showed me the screen. As we were talking he was making sales for this book. 30 bucks a pop. The list scrolled down the screen. He was pulling in something like $1000 per day at the time. (Now he owns an empire online and is truly self made crazy wealthy.)

I sat back with my head swimming. Making money while you sleep, eat, drink. It blew my mind. I befriended this guy asap and hung out with him a few months.

His views on money and life were new to me. I met others like him. The silently rich folks who sold stuff online. And the people that helped the cogs flow smoothly. Webmasters, copywriters, etc.

I quickly began reading the books they recommended to me on marketing, copywriting and personal development. I started playing with my own ideas. Writing sales letters and testing them online. I got good results.

At this same time I took the networking aspect of this new life just as seriously. I met others and rubbed elbows. I quickly learned to close my jaw when they would mention things like making $50,000 in one day.

Through my networking and quest for new knowledge I got a job working for a prominent direct response marketer in Austin. One of the best copywriters in the country. I was underpaid and I was drawn and quartered with to-do's.

But I saw the innerworkings of his business. His model for success. His patterns of thought. I worked for him for 2 years. It was like school. But this time it felt real.

I digested his copywriting. His emails to his prospects. I got to spend his money testing various sources of online traffic. I met other gurus through him. I would sit in on lunches with them and hold my own conversationally while they casually talked about things that I would have never dreamed possible a few years ago.

Now I sit here in my room, working from home. I have just acquired a new client totaling 3 for me. What is now simple marketing common sense to me, I am getting paid to show others. They are happy to have me. Thrilled. One client calls me a rainmaker. I have a long way to go to a life of passive income, but today I am proud of myself enough to write this blog.

I think about how that moment of going out with my friend altered my entire life for the better. I never had an answer for those kind of questions before. But that night is clearly one of those moments that sent things off in a completely new direction.

The only other time I can think of is right around the same time when I realized that music was something I was completely ignoring and put a craigslist ad for the band. The very first post of this blog was right around that time actually. Ive come a long way in 3 years. Looking forward to more years of surprises and twists. (mostly good I hope!)

summary of my week

you dont even know

Thanksgiving was great

Had the family thing my life has been missing for awhile.

Ohm

The studio experience was a rollercoaster of emotions.

We knocked it out like professionals and I am 90% happy with our results. Bass and drums are solid for the most part. One song (possibly my favorite) is a hair too fast to me. Ill see if its possible that we rerecord it or I just live with it. I am considering forking over my own money to make it happen if possible. Its possibly something no one would even notice but me. Yet I am concerned.

This band is a constant growing experience for me on both a personal and artistic level. In particular my experience with humanity. But Ill keep the rest of that thought to myself. God knows I obsess enough to never forget.

Dream - Death and the Cave

had another dream that felt important.

I was back at the old house. Down the hill was a cave. There was a staircase that lead to a very dark section of the cave. In this dark little section was a seal that if you sit on it, spirits surround you and visit you. The only catch is when you take part in this experience, you die.

For some reason my grandmother told me that I had to take part in this. She was younger. Maybe in her 50s, early 60s. She wasn't deeply upset telling me this. It was more like something bittersweet and to be accepted. I found myself walking down the hill alone towards this cave. It sort of reminded me of Empire Strikes Back when Luke went into that part of the forest alone and fought himself. I think as I was walking to this cave I thought of that in my dream. But all trace of irony and humor was lacking here. I was heavy with the realization that I was literally walking down the hill to my death.

I went into the cave and saw the staircase. It was dark and scary but I remember being disconnected from the fear enough to remain pretty calm. The realization of this being my last moments alive dawned on me and I went back outside awhile to take in the world one more time. The sun was setting and reflected off the water like thousands of gold flecks. I was acutely aware of the beauty of everything. It was a windy day. I didn't want to leave.

I walked back into the cave, looked at the staircase and then completely changed my mind and left. The dream gets totally random at that point so nothing really worth talking about but that part was so grave and sad. I was totally alone. Enjoying the world one last time before walking up that narrow stone staircase into the darkness, to my death. I couldn't do it. I was supposed to. But I didnt.