I Love My Friends & Family

So I’m back here on the east coast and last night I hung out with a bunch of good friends, the days before that I saw my family, and it’s been great!

I haven’t seen a lot of these people for 9 months (or more) and it’s totally fun. A few guys seem weirded out because of my studying with The Art of Charm, but hey–I can’t win ’em all. Plus, the weirdness was minor, and was far overshadowed by us having fun.

Anyway, I just wanted to express how happy and loved I feel right now, and a lot of it is because of my friends. Thanks, guys! 🙂

The Hype Machine Is Awesome

If you don’t know, now you have no excuse.

The Hype Machine

I get almost all of my new music from The Hype Machine. Try checking out the Popular page, or you can just listen to everything I like.

Register your account, and you can listen for as long as you like, as well as get your own fancy-pants music feed delivering music that you like, right to your face.

Enjoy!

Top Secret P.S. If you click “read full post” under any songs you can like, there’s a good chance you can download them from the originating music blog.

Disclaimer: if you like the music, buy it and support the artists!

First Post

Just breakin’ in the ol’ WordPress. I just landed in NJ and am on a bit of vacation. Very Nice!

Trying A New GTD System

Note: This post is a blast from the past! It was originally published in 2008 and some of the products mentioned in the text have changed significantly since then.

I’m fed up with MonkeyGTD.

The software has been in alpha for what seems like an eternity, and must be at least a year. This is most likely because there seems to only be one developer on the project.

Dear Simon Baird:

Please get help! You have an awesome software, which is only hindered by its lack of speed. I know you’re working to improve its speed, and already have, but the releases are not stable and I can’t even figure out how to use them.
So please, Pretty please, solicit some well-intentioned open source coders?

Sincerely,
Alex

With that out of the way, let’s look at my past systems, and then the new choices. Continue reading “Trying A New GTD System”

The Perks of Being A 10 (And how to do it)

“I’m sorry, we cannot give you the tickets now. It is impossible.”

Even though she’s speaking english as her second language, hearing ‘impossible’ is not a promising sign.

“You were supposed to check in 2 hours before your flight.”
“Even though it was delayed by 4 hours? How could we know that?!”
“It’s okay, let’s just relax. We need to get on this plane before it leaves, so how else can you help us?”

My traveling companion is getting heated and almost just yelled at the RyanAir service desk employee. Doing that would get us nowhere, so I appeal to her for help in our situation.

If I said that the same thing could get you discounts, preferential treatment at bars and restaurants, help you make more friends, do better at business, and get free stuff, would you want it?

If it were free to learn and practice, and would make you a happier person, would you do it? Continue reading “The Perks of Being A 10 (And how to do it)”

Vannes Is Better Than Paris? Have The Most Fun In Brittany

I believe that taking trips makes you learn things about yourself, especially when traveling solo. For instance, on this trip, I fully realized how much I like being in huge cities—New York, Paris, Barcelona
 the culture is fascinating and I get a kick out of how some things are the same wherever you are. For instance: the attitude of a big-city-dweller seems quite similar from NYC to Paris.

That said, I think that Vannes provided a more authentic experience.

(Vannes’ population is around 55,000)

Little towns have their own culture, history, and way of life. It’s a far cry from the hustle of visiting one of the aforementioned cities!

So then, here’s how to have the most fun while you’re there:

  • Go find the park
    Being out in the sun makes me really happy. One of my first days in Vannes, I just walked around and ended up finding a duck pond and surrounding walking trail. I was able to sit there and see people passing by, and watch the birds flying around. It felt great—sitting there and writing in my journal, having basically no desires and no agenda. Ahhh, relaxation.
  • Check out the Galettes
    I really can’t get over how delicious galettes can be. The Breton people really got the formula right: thin savory pancake + whatever toppings you want + bowl of cider = crazy delicious. Consider opting for the “menu” at lunchtime — a galette followed by a sweet crepe is heavenly. Continue reading “Vannes Is Better Than Paris? Have The Most Fun In Brittany”

5 Cheap Ways To Cope In A New City

Let’s recap: It’s my first day in France and I’ve finally met up with my CouchSurfing host, Raphael. He graciously took me to his apartment to drop off my bags, and now I’ve been kicked out and must entertain myself until tonight when we meet up again.

1. Walk around until you are lost, and then find your way back

This serves a few purposes—you’ll better acquaint yourself with the neighborhood and you will develop more of a sense of direction for the future. Also, you’ll find numerous useful things: metro stops, bars/cafes/tobacco shops, cool stores, parks
 If the place you spy is open, go in and check it out! If not, just take note of where it is and come back later.

Design Bookstore!

This was an awesome store that I found in Paris, right by the Canal. The name was exactly what it was—a store devoted exclusively to design books! If I lived near here, I’m sure that place would become a very expensive habit; all the books they stocked were awesome! There was an entire section devoted to books on typography and another exclusively about color. I browsed this tiny store for about an hour.

When you get tired of walking and browsing, it’s time to take a break. Continue reading “5 Cheap Ways To Cope In A New City”

12 Sites I Use to Get More Awesomeness From Life

(also: My Quest for Maximum Awesome)

Note: This is a post from my old blog! I’ve resurrected it through the magic of Archive.org. Be aware that some links and things may be broken, and I hope you enjoy reading it.

“League of Awesomeness” graphic stolen from ZeFrank.com

So, I’ve embarked on what I like to call my “Quest for Awesomeness”. I think it started a few years ago when I was nicknamed “Awesomer Alex” by my friend Boxy
 but that’s another story.

Since then there have been many developments in this Quest. One notable point was when I found out about GTD. My friends and family thought it weird that I was reading books on personal productivity
 them thinking this would become a running theme which still exists.

Okay, before I get ahead of myself, here’s the list:

  1. The Blog of Tim Ferriss — Tim wrote “The 4-Hour Work Week” which is one of the best books I’ve read in a long while. In fact, I was so impressed after reading a friend’s copy that I actually went out and bought it. He posts here strategies for designing your lifestyle in order to achieve maximum enjoyment.
  2. Steve Pavlina.com “Personal Development for Smart People” — I’m pretty sure I found this site through Lifehacker. Steve has a lot of awesome articles here which center around personal development. I highly recommend checking out some of the value-assessment exercises he has, they’re great for finding out what is really important to you.
  3. Lifehacker — No way could I ignore this behemoth of life-hackery. A multi-author blog, Lifehacker focuses on tips and tweaks that help you get through the day. They also review and create software, and thoroughly categorize everything. If you want to subscribe to their RSS feed, I highly recommend using their RSS feed filters
  4. 43 Folders — One of the original GTD-centric sites, 43 Folders has gotten an overhaul and is now a multi-user project. Anyone can join and contribute, but only the best make it to the front page. Great tips and great community started by Merlin Mann.

Each one of these sites is a treasure trove of valuable materials—exercises, strategies, challenges, and inspiration. I’m subscribed to all of their RSS feeds and read them all.

Another important moment in my development was when I read The Game by Neil Strauss. People seem to have mixed opinions about the material he presents in this book, and with good reason. Understanding social dynamics and using them to your advantage is controversial in itself, and Strauss presents a cross-section of this subject.

I can understand why people don’t like it: lots of guys in this Community are sketchy and have less-than savory motives. However, if you read Strauss’ excellent narrative, it ends on a very good note—that the purpose of “The Game” in the first place is to better yourself and get what you want from life. That said, here are my favorite 4 pickup-related sites: Continue reading “12 Sites I Use to Get More Awesomeness From Life”

Huge Zombie Botnet Threatens the Internet!

Holy crap, This is the scariest article I’ve read in months! Apparently, there is an enormous botnet created by a worm/malware called Storm. This one is particularly interesting because it’s actually attacking the researchers trying to figure it out! Attacking, in this case, is overloading their computers with so much spam and network traffic that they SHUT DOWN. Crazy!
Link to article.