I finally did it (II)

The second piece of my evil plan is up and running ;-)
Say hello to little www.gudlaif.com.

gUd NaiT.

I finally did it

I allowed myself to make it happen.
Years ago this idea of ¨t-shirts that start conversations to inspire people¨ hit me. And hasn´t left.
Then this blog came along. Like I said on the third? post:

Why do I blog? What do I blog about?
I think blogging is a great way to enter this ¨global conversation¨ the web is becoming. I write about life in general, and then try to make a contribution. How?

A few years ago I thought:
- Conversations are the best way to share thoughts, feelings, etc.
- We all deserve a good life, but often don´t know how to live it.
- T-shirts are a powerful way to start conversations.

Why not put together the three: life, t-shirts and the desire to live a gud laif? I established my mantra: be gud. live laif.
...
And so the idea was born. Every once in a while I make t-shirts with thoughts on them. Thoughts about life in general, generally those that I believe contribute to living a better life. Then those t-shirts become conversations when worn by someone.

That was November, 2006. After months of dealing with the ¨you know whats¨ involved in the creative process, finally the t-shirts are a reality. And the nice part is they´re (becoming) available to the world (little by little) over at:
www.cafepress.com/gudlaif

Expect to see more t-shirts coming soon.
Then what? Who knows. But like they say: it´s the things we didn´t do that we truly regret.

Fell free to check them out and let me know your thoughts, here in the comments section or by e-mail: gudlaif@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!

Bonus:
Feeling you want to do something really interesting and don´t know how to start? Feeling insecure about what people might/will/could say or think?
Read this post by Seth Godin.
Then read Hugh MacLeod´s ¨How to be creative¨.
Then thank them, not me.

Blogging is like Sex (III)

So...
Back by popular demand (no, motu proprio really) is the Trilogy ¨Blogging is like Sex¨ with its third (and final?) episode. Who would´ve thought you could find 19 similarities between both. Heh.

Wait!

If you haven´t done so yet, read the
first
and
second
chapters first for the full experience ;-)

Then enjoy the third:

Blogging is like Sex (III):

14. ¨He´s worried his post is not long enough for her...¨
15. You shouldn´t pay for someone to blog...you.
16. It´s not nice to accept money to blog for other people, either.
17. If I were you, I´d worry if you only post every six months.
18. I´d worry even more if you don´t get any comments about your [infrequent] posts.
19. There really is no good blogging without LOVE.

Got another? Leave a comment with it!

Get off the ladder!

They call it the Corporate ladder. And they say you should climb it. That´s the goal.

I say the Corporate ladder is a state of mind. The wrong one to be in. I say it´s confusing goals with outcomes.*

Why?

When ¨moving up the corporate ladder¨ becomes your career´s goal, you do stuff that´ll take you up the ladder. Never mind sacrificing your passion for the sake of moving up the ladder you´re in.

Get off the [corporate] ladder!

I feel like making a series of t-shirts with these ideas in them. What do you think?


* For great examples of confusing goals with outcome, in the realm of trust, visit Charles Green´s blog.

Who would have thought?

A while ago I wrote this post about the similarities between blogging and sex.
Then I wrote a second post.

Lately, I´ve been getting a lot of visits from random countries, mostly Eastern Europe. I did my research, and...

As it turns out, if you google ¨sex laif ¨, the third hit is the first episode. Heh.

The third episode is almost ready. Now, for integrity´s sake, I need to make a t-shirt... Humor is another way of changing the world, no? ;-)

Stay tuned.

Public Service Announcement for Spam victims

Do you live in Puerto Rico? Have you been getting lots of spam  sms messages (unsolicited, irrelevant to you, stuff that just interrupts and annoys you) on your phone for a while now? Signed by ellow.mobi?

Call them and tell them you don´t want their unsolicited e-mails. I did and, contrary to my expectations (I thought this was an AT&T thing that I´d have to stand if I wanted sms service), it stopped. They did say they got the information from my carrier (shame on you AT&T...Yes, I know that must be somewhere in our Terms of Agreement. Shame on you still).

I´ll spare you the visit to their website. Their phone is (787) 707-0750. And  they do spam phones other than AT&T´s.

Happy end of spamming season.

Old San Juan

This is a street in Old San Juan.
The light was great for pictures that day. Photo taken with my iPhone.
But the coolest thing was the visit I placed Ben & Jerry´s after that ;-)
By the way, the owner of that B&J´s in Old San Juan is Michelle Campi, yep, that Michelle Campi.

Confusions, chapter N+1

Why?

Why did you get up Today?
Tough answer?
Just wondering...

Confusions, chapter N

Expect everything...

Here´s to ¨you´re everything I ever expected...¨ Cheers.

How much heart is there in a song?

Feel it yourself.





Via the crazy Famous Mortimer.

What goes first?

No matter how many times...

In short: Shel Israel is a renowned blogger, book writer and consultant, advising companies on how to adopt social media and ¨embrace the conversation¨, even when it´s hostile to you . Loren Feldman is a smart provocateur.

The story by Mike Arrington is here.

Bottom line: When faced with harsh criticism from Feldman, Israel did exactly the opposite he proclaims and makes a living out of.

That doesn´t make him a bad person. The hardest thing to do in life is to ALIGN your actions with your beliefs/predicaments, or ¨live your personal brand¨ if you want to put it that way. The problem is that, in that very hardest moment, you have to kill your ego. That´s the lesson we learn day in, day out.

No matter how many times we hear it, we agree on ¨the what¨. But ¨how?

Chances are...

Facebook now has 64 million registered users. That means 1 out of 100 people on Earth are registered.
Think about it...

With so many options available to us in every aspect of life, it is critical now more than ever to align your daily actions with your long term goals. And it is now easier than ever to find people with interests and beliefs aligned with yours.

One click away, not six degrees anymore.

Blogging is like Sex (II)

Back by popular demand:
[Click here for the first episode of ¨Blogging is like sex¨. Thanks.]

8. Don´t ever think that post you wrote drunk at 5 AM impressed anyone...
9. Thou shall not covet your neighbor´s blog.
10. ¨I´ve seen his blog. Nothing to be impressed about...¨
11. They say you should blog to please yourself first.
12. Yes, it´s a myth: No one can post 10 times a day.
13. Having a blog does not mean you´re going to post everyday.

Perfect Sunset III

Another sunset...the third of the series.
The first one I took in Aruba.
The second one in Miami.
This one´s here in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

There´s always something special with sunsets.

The problem with not understanding

Web 2.0 = human dynamics 101.

That's my opinion. These web 2.0 tools we have today are just enablers for us to interact, in the same way we do offline, on a larger scale and faster pace.

One unexpected feature of these tools is that they drive control freaks crazy. Why? Cause you cannot control the interactions that take place when you use them. Hence, the need for authenticity and transparency, of really focusing on the other side of the interaction, rather than your own.

Authenticity and transparency nurture trust. The problem with not understanding these tools, is that you will never align your behaviors online with those that a connected, hyperlinked world values. At the core, these are non other than, I think, our true nature.

Blogging is like Sex (I)

Blogging is like Sex.

1. You start doing it out of curiosity.
2. You don´t have to wait until you´re married to blog. Not anymore.
3. Your parents never taught you how to blog.
   
4. You´ll always remember your first post.
5. Had you known it is this liberating, you would´ve started years ago.
   
6. ¨I can´t blog right now. I´ve got a terrible headache.¨
   
7. ¨No, seriously. I really enjoyed your last post¨.

Global Warming

Looks more like WRONGbal Warming...

En español...

In English...

Oh well.