Psst. Over Here!

I've moved!
See ya at the new Spot.

Love Ya!

www.ohyeahsolid.com

My Sis

Arise :: FW 2010
Originally uploaded by Esennyl

This is my sissy Ne.

She blogs here

...and is quite Fabulous and Awesome! LOVE HER!

Good Thought G.

I really like G’s Suggestion about starting to Blog more about the ins and outs of the business. I’ve always wanted to talk more about the business but wasn’t sure how to really talk the way I’d like to without putting people under the bus so to speak. I don’t know how I’d truly tell some of the stories that happen on a day to day basis without giving too much away.

So maybe the Blog would need to be anonymous? Makes sense, but I don’t know how anonymous it could be? I mean if I talk about a massage therapy center… how many people out there do you know that own a massage therapy center in Philadelphia?

Maybe the location would need to be anonymous too. Seems like it might be tough to keep it hush hush but still be entertaining. I know for a fact that it would be entertaining if I could really speak freely. But I’m not sure how freely I could actually speak without people knowing what massage therapy center I’m talking about.

I would really like to be specific about the type of business at least because all that I am learning is relevant to starting a business and life in general but OH SO MUCH greater in context! This could be a challenge though… I like challenges.

Oh and G I know I still haven’t responded to your e-mail. I will.

:)

Thinking

I’m still blown away by people that Blog for a living… Do you get that?! BLOG FOR A LIVING?! Unbelievable. I’m sitting here trying to figure out what topic I’d base my blog on if I decide to actually make money blogging. I don’t know if I like to write enough to actually make it my life though… But I’m thinking that I really might need to get up on that part of the movement. But how to think of something interesting to talk about each day? That’s the tough part. I’d have to enjoy writing enough to want to do it consistently AND I’d have to find a topic or two to really focus the blog on so that it made sense and people would want to read it… hmmm so far I gots nothin. But it’s the whole alternative revenue sources. That’s a main mantra of mine. Even though I’ve been pretty busy with Mellow I still know that there is much value in having alternating /simultaneous revenue sources and passive income… Blogging for Money is definitely one way to go.

Hey Look. This is my hundredth post.

yaay.

P.S. Happy Earth Day!

Get Rich Slowly

I just added another link to the personal finances section over to the right. I know I often add links to this site without saying much about them. Usually they are worth talking about, that’s why I put them up there… but I just don’t take the time to explain them.

This site in particular, Get Rich Slowly, is a wonderful personal finance blog. As normal, the author started out in heaps of debt and has worked his way out and learned a lot about personal finance along the way. I like the spin that this one has though because its focus is not on get rich quick schemes. Its goals are not to make one filthy rich just for the sake of fulfilling an idealistic dream of having everything that is possible to have.

Get Rich Slowly encourages people to understand money, personal finance, and saving as well as frugality and debt reduction/elimination. Its purpose however is to master these aspects of finance in order to live a simpler life that allows time for family, friends, reading, self development and expression, and purchase of things that REALLY matter to you as oppose to purchases of things that are completely immaterial to ones personal life.

The author states,

“Eight years ago, before I started Get Rich Slowly and while I was still deep in debt, I wrote on my personal blog that my goal was “to live a pastoral lifestyle”. What I meant was that I wanted to live simply, with few obligations. I wanted to work from home, to bike on errands, to squash my obsession with stuff. I wanted to read Dickens and Proust, to spend time with my friends, to enjoy life with Kris. This is still my ideal.”

I understand and agree with these statements and my goals are much like the author of this blog. I want to achieve financial freedom in order to live this “pastoral” life that allows for simplicity as well as comfort. I don’t want to worry about bills, mortgages, college tuition (mine, my spouse, or my children’s), or retirement. I want to leave a legacy of wealth for my children of course along with a sound understanding of financial principles so that said wealth is still around for the following generation.

Having these goals in perspective helps out a lot while planning, choosing investments, or skipping that cup of Starbucks that I would normally go for. I'd much rather really think about my purchases and buy things that I really want instead of things that I just buy out of habit. Breaking these habits is difficult though...

Oh Yeah Solid Travels to Europe!

As most of you know, I will be leaving tomorrow for a trip abroad.
The trip consists of vists to Germany (Munich), Czech Republic (Prague) and Italy (Florence, Rome)

I will be posting info and pictures throughout the trip here at "Oh Yeah? Solid." and also at the following site:

http://www.oystravels.blogspot.com/

Check in frequently to catch-up with me!
See you all when I get back!

Stay Mellow

Mellow has a new blog.
Check back frequently, comment, and ENJOY!

http://mellowmassage.blogspot.com/

Subscription to My Life

I think I’m due for an entry here. It’s much better than doing the mounds of work piling up… Damn pile. It’s never ending.

I gotta say that the more things happen, the less able I am to pull them together into some sort of cohesive written text for mental digestion. That’s why I’m always in and out of blogging… Sometimes I can’t get my thoughts together.

But in summary, we are still convincing people to come in for massage almost to my amazement. They’re trickling in one at a time that’s for sure, but they’re still coming nonetheless.

Had our first creepy-can’t-comeback-ever client too. That’s an experience I don’t want to go through again.

Good reviews are coming in. (woo-hoo!)

AND we’re finally up on Myspace and Facebook. Be our friend. Thanks.

Random Stuff…

Finally sent Sungee’s Cuff back to LA to be sized since apparently I have no idea how to estimate a wrist size. Thanks to Sunny for being so ready and willing to fix it for us so that he can actually wear it. Yay!

Also, added a couple links to the right side over there… Someone has taken the time to list out the things that “Educated [as oppose to just plain ‘ol] Black people like”. It's a response to someone else’s list of the “Stuff that white people like”. Let me know what you think. Do you subscribe to these stereotypes?

And speaking of subscriptions, did you know that you can get magazine subscriptions from Ebay for like pennies? Dude I lie not. I got 5 subscriptions for a total of about $10. Two have started coming. They are current, addressed to me, and very real I assure you. It's insane… Please just make sure to read the fine print so you end up with a new subscription and not a bunch of old back issues. Thanks Jerry.

xo,
G

Dooce

I think its amazing that this woman has so much traffic to her blog that she was able to sell enough ad space to make both herself AND her husband stay-at homers. Life is so strange. I couldn’t have predicted we’d be so addicted to the internet… I think I just found a new goal.

Blog Lovin

I love this blog... its keeping me more organized. A one stop shop to find all my favorite links and things... forget the "favorites" list... Enter, the blog.

Writing and the motivation to do

Sungee found a song that I wrote about a year ago during those few months that he and I weren't speaking.

Its really embarrassing to me mainly for two reasons.

One, I almost NEVER share my writing... (so feel special cuz you're reading this! ha ha) It's personal and the thought of people reading it scares me to death. I think its the whole "what is your purpose for writing" thing again... I should be writing for myself... not to impress people. If I'm writing for myself then it really wont matter what others think of it... That's not to say that I wrote that song to impress anyone... it was written for me to release some thoughts that were in my head and also because i was messing around with my guitar and found some chords that I liked...


Two, I'm pretty sure the song was about him.

It wasn't long or revealing or anything like that. I'm not angry at all... kind of relieved to have someone read something that i wrote and not keel over and die from the horrid-ness... I'm afraid to ask what he thought of it though... I'm so lucky to have a man that is so honest with me... he didn't have to tell me that he found it! but he did. i need to work on being more open with him (though I am doing much better than i ever have... still something to work on)

Geez man i was soooo embarrassed when he said he read that thing! lol man I'm a trip...

The old me would have thrown the paper away and sulked for weeks... might have even deleted this blog for fear that someone i didn't want to see it might stumble upon it.

The new me however will continue to push forward and keep writing even though some of the stuff might be gay and corny to some people. its not for them... its for me.


This lesson of paying attention to what motivates us to do certain things has been entering my mind lately. Especially with reference to what I want my future to look like, Mellow, Sungee, Family and Friends, style, etc... its really everywhere.

I of course cant speak for everyone but for me, I've noticed that when I'm motivated by the "wrong things"... (money, status, opinion of others, etc...) I don't work as well... I take so much time thinking about how wonderful it will be when I have all of those things, that i don't actually take time to make it happen. and when it DOES happen, (i make a little more money ...be it through a raise or finding a new piano student etc. , i gain some status, people say that they like me, etc...) It never feels as good as I thought it would. Never.

As much as I want to believe contrary, money doesn't bring happiness. Having people know who we are... ex. status, power, idolatry... doesn't either... they are nice to have. but they aren't material. (not Material in the sense that they don't Matter.)

Now when I am motivated by things that ARE material... for example, getting Mellow off of the ground in order to work in a field that lets me spend more time with my family and have my children close to me at work... Relationship building and making my loved ones smile... things that are based in quality time... THEN, the journey is much more fulfilling and joyful, and the motivation is pure... so the outcome is as well.

A new focus of mine is to consistently check my personal motivation. and when it gets out of wack, I want to refocus on what's important. and choose those things FIRST above the material shallow, and selfish things that may have slipped in along the way.

And so it began

Today I learned quite suddenly and surprisingly that you can't call yourself a writer if you never write.

So I better get on it.

I have a private Blog. you wont find it. I love that Blog because its just me and the internet... secretly conversing day in and day out... but some thoughts are not for the eyes of others. so they stay between the Internet and I.

I'm also doing this 3BT Thing. Thats really Rad. course its only for Three Beautiful Things. Not really for thoughts.

Hold up... i gotta go change the tv station... American Idol is on... cant put myself through this addiction for another season...

So here comes the third blog...

In case anyone wanted to know what I'm up to.
Comment and Enjoy!