100 words

  • WordCamp Scranton is coming together nicely after a bit of a rocky start. We have generous sponsors, a solid speaker lineup, amazing volunteers, and a pretty stellar announcement coming up.

    Planning this event is taking me back to college, being on USPB and all of the details involved in putting together a big event. Stressful but fun is a sentiment I think a lot of event planners would agree with. Working with people and dealing with financials can be tough, but seeing things come together is fantastic. Besides, hoping people have fun is the biggest stress of the whole thing!

    June 27, 2015

  • A1NCnYrThjL._SL1500_I’ve been trying to read more; it isn’t working out the way I had hoped, but I’m still making the effort. I have started at least 3 books without finishing them, but right now I’m reading Gumption by Nick Offerman. I loved Paddle Your Own Canoe and couldn’t wait for the follow-up title by Ron Swanson.

    It’s 21 essays about great Americans and how the exhibited gumption in their lives. I’ve made it through the Free Masons and am on Idealists. While preachy at times, I think it’s an excellent book so far. It’s definitely adding to my already long reading list.

    June 26, 2015

  • Tuesday I went to a live recording of my favorite podcast, Stuff You Should Know. It was about Public Relations & the inventor of it (and bad guy), Edward Bernays. I recommend you listen to it when it comes out because it was super interesting; Bernays was, as Josh put it, an evil genius.

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    Some of take ways from the show:

    • I made an iTunes playlist of all of the episodes I haven’t listened to. There are a lot.
    • I ordered Bernays’ Propaganda.
    • At this point Josh and Chuck can say anything and I will believe it without questioning them.

    June 25, 2015

  • Recently something I posted back in November resurfaced: Have a Daily Schedule when Working from Home. It was thanks to this tweet, hashtagged #millennials

    I fit in the age group, but I was never very fond of the term nor do I really consider myself one (the term ‘old soul’ is thrown around when people describe me). However as my generation is now the young workforce & influencers, I guess it’s something I should embrace. It’s half the reason I spoke on Coworking Space at TEDx Scranton last year.

    If millennial means flexible work/life schedule, I’m OK with the term 🙂

    June 24, 2015

  • Is it, ‘$30 good’?

    We live in an interesting world where apps, likely because there is not physical product just a download, are expected to be cheap or free. Video games are still $60 a shot, but an app that will make you more productive is $30 and it gets questioned.

    I asked that very question recently when looking at some new Desktop Publishing software. Let me be clear: $30 is not a lot of money for a great app, but the question is, “Is it worth $30 to me?” I love to support developers, but if I don’t use the app, it’s money wasted.

    June 23, 2015

  • This is the first weekend where I’m not traveling in a while. It’s also the only one where I’m not busy for a while – somehow even though I promise myself I’m going to take some time to relax, I manage to galavant.

    Part of it is I like traveling and doing things in general. I spent last weekend at WordCamp Philly and had a blast. I’m going to NYC this week for a live recording of Stuff You Should Know.

    This weekend was mine though. I did side work, cleaned up, and relaxed a bit. Recharged and ready for the summer.

    June 21, 2015

  • Three days in & I find topics to be helpful for these posts. Today’s happens to be shaving. Yesterday you could get the Merkur Classic Straight Safety Razor for $25; I paid $50 and think it was worth every penny.

    Not only does it give me the best shave I’ve ever done myself, but razor blades are less than 10 cents each. I’ll be giving the Shark Razor Blades a try next on a recommendation.

    I know it’s expensive, but I also recommend the Art of Shaving for cream, pre-shave oil, and after-shave lotion. Seriously great products there. This should get you started.

    June 20, 2015

  • It’s been about 1 month (34 days) since I’ve been using an automated saving service called Digit, and I’ve really been digging it. I’ve saved around $360 without realizing or missing it, and I keep really good track of my finances.

    The way it works is you connect a bank account, it spends a couple of days figuring out your spending habits, and then it makes withdrawals every couple of days based on how it determines you spend, and what you can spare.

    I’m using this round of savings for a trip I’m taking in August. Then it’s all wedding savings.

    Oh..and it’s free.

    June 19, 2015

  • It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. Almost a month actually. The shame is that the last post was by far my most popular blog post ever, thanks to it getting picked up by BGR. It’s perhaps a winning combination of me being incredibly busy at work, planning WordCamp Scranton, traveling, working on side projects, and wedding planning.

    Because of that, I’ve decide (with a prompt from Colin) to try out 100 Words for 100 days, which perhaps was started by Jeremy Keith.

    I will likely pepper in some actual posts, but I think this will be an interesting exercise.

    June 18, 2015