noinput.net | plug it in

Last year after we got back from Vegoose I got an email saying that they subscribed me for a complimentary 2 year subscription to Spin. Today I get this, a notice that it’s time to pay because it expires in about a week:

Click to see the full size

There needs to be some class action suit put in place since this always happens.  Just when you think you paid for a year, they tell you you need to pay again and cut the price down 80%.  My favorite part of this is at the end what my buddy Matt Bramble tells me

P.S. I know how easy it is to put a renewal notice aside to do it “later”, but honestly, this is later!!

First of all Matt, anyone who uses two exclamation points in a sentence should be shot.  That’s a good start.  Second, where did you get September 11th as my cut-off date?  I wasn’t even offered Spin for at least 2weeks AFTER holloween last year, you jipped me two full months bro. Matt, my man, as a business man trying to mess with me, you may know how easy it is for me to put off paying a bill I technically don’t owe, however as a programmer, I know how easy it is to keep a database of information relevant just the same. Maybe I should send a check to Matt dated Sept 11, 2009 and ask him what happend to 1/6th of the year?

Notice the date of when the live webcast is, and when they sent it to me.  It’s a good thing I pay for my subscription to this site.  *shakes head*

I’ve tried hard all my life to do as much as I can when promised. I’m no shining star and I realize I’ve made promises I’ve forgotten to keep or just got too busy, and for that I really feel bad about. Typically that comes with a followup promise and starts the cycle all over again. Even today I have 30+ things left on my immediate to-do list, and I’d love to get them all done before we leave for our cruise in less than a week and a half. But the real deal behind that is I know I can’t do it in the time I need to. For as long as I can remember I’ve tried to be that nice guy that helps out, offers favors, goes out of the way to put people before me. Maybe it’s the way I was raised, maybe its the Eagle Scout in me. Probably both. However when i think to how busy I’ve been over the years, the thing that keeps me going is not what I may be getting paid for it or how many websites I can knock out in a week for status.. but the gratification of accomplishment in knowing I did it myself.

I’ve gotten a lot done sofar in life, and mostly because I’ve had the fortune of keeping in good terms with people that have helped me where I need to be. Weather it be in a professional environment, or in casual, I’m proud of what I can hold to my name, and that’s something that will stay with me forever, even tho its shared with everyone’s favorite president. *heh. In any case, I was reading over a few blogs the other day and found this post on Seth’s Blog. Give this a quick read.

I gave a talk the other day, all about the unstoppable slow decline of interruption (traditional) media and the opportunities for rethinking how we communicate with people. At the end of the talk, someone came up and had very nice things to say about what he’d learned. The he leaned over and asked me to help him brainstorm about his brand’s upcoming ad campaign, because it was due to his boss on Friday.

Add up enough urgencies and you don’t get a fire, you get a career. A career putting out fires never leads to the goal you had in mind all along.

I guess the trick is to make the long term items even more urgent than today’s emergencies. Break them into steps and give them deadlines. Measure your people on what they did today in support of where you need to be next month.

If you work in an urgent-only culture, the only solution is to make the right things urgent.

Really well put, and as much as I’d be an idiot to disagree, the reality of the situation is no matter how much I shuffle priority, it’s my own fault for making priority in the first place.

I started my own business again this year for two primary reasons. To make some cash doing more programming, and to take photography. Sofar I’ve got one of those down (the programming part), however the only time I’ve picked up my camera since Christmas was to take a few shots at the Auto Club 500 race last month, and it was a chore, I couldn’t even get into it like I used to. Whats even better is I still havn’t downloaded the photos from my memory card. Hows that for priority?

What grinds my gears about priorities is this: photography means more to me than the web, hands down, so how do I put a half life on my money maker so I can do what I love best when it’s always second on my list. Can it be done without regret? Not unless it’s a priority.

I’m not a big writer, and for the most part I like to keep my mouth shut because I’m not about instigating or debating, but hey this is a blog and one can speak their peace from time to time. I have been thinking about this for a while and realized I’m bummed by the obvious truth. Creative Competition in 2008 is at an all-time-high, and I don’t see it getting much easier to deal with.

I’m 26, I realize I haven’t been on this earth for a long time, and in retrospect, barley made a mark in comparison to all the things that have transposed through history. Everyone wants a legacy, something to be remembered by. Just like Dane Cook who wants to steal ice cream from children (because they’ll remember him). Well, maybe not just like Dane, but you see where I’m going with that. I’m no fine artist, I can’t paint/sketch/draw for the life of me. I’m not an engineer and figure I’ll never patent anything that will make it into the As Seen on TV stores. And I’m not the biggest risk taker, so Discovery channel will probably never interview me just before a crazy jump or dive. I am however a photographer that has not found his true passion for art. The scary part, is at the rate technology shifts in my medium, I wonder how long it will actually take.

These days, everyone is a photographer. You probably own a digital camera, and if you think you dont, check your laptop, phone, or even your PDA, you most likely have some sort of way to take a picture or video. I’m no exception, I probably have 6 or 7 cameras of various types. But where does that leave me in terms of posting shots on the web for feedback not trying to sound vain.. attempting not to digg them so I can avoid the ritualistic “Meh, yawnz” comments.. avoiding all the forums where they get lost and buried in the midst of everyone’s flower and sunset and cloud shots.. or other less fulfilling ways to loose all that time in the day? It doesen’t leave much. But it does let me realize that some the be best shots I think I’ve taken weren’t with my expensive camera and thousand+ $ lenses, they were with a $45 rig, a $50 50mm lens and a $4 roll of film.

Now I’m not looking for sympathy, or someone to hold my hand and lead me to the top of popularity, I know I have to work for it just like everyone else trying to make a name. I already have one photo published. Is it much? Nah, not really, but at least i have bragging rights. And again I took this with my old Sony 717, not my DSLR and a super color capturing lens. I think the answer to all great artwork with meaning is in simplicity. Remembering where your medium came from, and embracing what you do best in it’s true form. Painters still use canvas, Sculptors still use clay, engineers still use sketches and math.. hell, I think I can still use film.

Competition today is by no means easy, and I think that rule has always applied. I suppose when someone wants something enough, they’ll eventually get there, but why is it that in this day and year of technology we have to look back to do it? It seems that for every friend I have on myspace, all 190 million of them, shouldn’t I be able to benefit from that technology friendship and ask them what they think of a photo? Oh I forgot, I’m not in their top 8 so all you see are the pictures of them on HCWDB on friday night, you know, real photography.

Yah, competition is tough, I guess I just need to step up my game and deal with it.

Seriously.

Ah the smell of freshly-delivered and creatively-lame spam in the morning, there’s nothing else like it is there? I mean the joy of waking up and checking your email only to get excited when it says “Downloading 1 of 12″, thinking *gasp* someone loves me, they wrote!

*cough* Yeah right, then the Outlook Jumk mail filter kicks in and you see who your real friends are

But In today’s case I found a new friend, poor Marvin Scholl, here, read in:

To: allisonjill10@hotmail.com
From: marvin scholl [marvinscholl@yahoo.com]
Subject: Employment Offer:::::::::::::::

Employment Offer:::::::::::::::
My name is marvin scholl and I am an artist. I live in United Kingdom,with my two kids, four cats, one dog and the love of my life. It is definitelya full house. I have been doing artwork since I was a small child. That gives me about 23 years of experience. I majored in art in high school and took a few college art courses.Most of my work is done in either pencil or ai rbrush mixed with color pencils. I have recently added designing and creating art work on the computer.I have been selling my art for the last 3 years and have had my work featured on trading cards, prints and in magazines.I have sold in galleries and to private collectors from all around the world.
I am always facing serious difficulties when it comes to selling my art works to Americans,so i will need someone who can help mi in receiving payment in the us,these payments will be in form of Money Orders/ Cashiers check and they would come to you in your name, so all you need do is cash the Money Orders/ Cashiers check deduct your percentage (10%) and wire the rest back. But the problem i have is trust,But i have my way of getting anyone that gets away with our money,i mean the FBI branch in Washington gets involved. It wouldn’t cost you any amount,you are to receive payments which will be sent to you mail from my business patners, which would come in form of a Money Orders/ Cashiers check then you are to cash it and send the cash to me via western union money transfer Method,all transfer fees should be deducted from the money and not from your 10% .If you are interested,please get back to me as soon as possible with this information listed be
FIRST NAME :
LAST NAME :
AGE :
ADDRESS :
CITY :
STATE :
ZIP CODE :
COUNTRY :
PHONE NUMBER (S) :
GENDER :

Regards
marvin scholl
Arts

Hmm, call me crazy, but why should I be concerned with international trade again? riggght, haha. yeah my favorite part is when he tells me he has a Hitman in the FBI lined up if anyone gets in the way.

Ahh Marvin, good luck finding your sucker, in the meantime enjoy your full house with your 2.5 kids, moron.

Ya’ know iTunes. I love you, but why must you be so difficult. I browse you’re plethora of libraries and come across your “reccomendations” for me of played out rap, I view your top-ten lists that should interest me but dont. I subscribe to your Just Released RSS feed to try and stay on top of things, and you reccomend such hits as “The Holy Moley” and “Du hast mein Herz für dich allein - Bunnies” in German Pop. But when I find something I can’t live without like the new OM records release which I’ve basically already given you my $9.99 for the album, you slap me in the face with this error.

I love you iTunes, but why pull the international card eh?