One thing I’ve noticed is that when something bad happens in the day, does it ruin the whole day or is it just a minor setback in the grand scheme of things?

I’ve known people that have had their entire day ruined because someone said something rude when they got to work. One comment ruined their entire morning, which made lunch suck, which made the afternoon miserable, which made all of their friends miserable after work.

I’ve known people that have been in car wrecks in the morning, manage to get to work and forget about it until it’s time to go home, but even then, it’s just another task, it’s not the end of the world. In order to be an optomist, you have to have a sort of amnesia and forget about the bad things after they happen. Rarely do they require any attention and fixating on them only makes them worse.

The day has just begun. The choice is up to you, are you going to have a good one or a bad one?

Almost two years ago, I lost a buddy of mine. There he is on the left up there.

He was a lot of fun, and one of those guys that was always in good spirits. I only knew him for a few years, he was better friends with my cousin and some other guys in the group, but it’s surreal knowing he’s not around anymore.

This picture was taken on a snowboarding trip a few of us took to Snowshoe mountain. It was the beginning of our second day on the mountain and we were getting our gear on at the top of the first run. One of the best trips of my life, and Brian was a huge part of it.

When I took this picture, I was using a 5 megapixel point and shoot Canon. It was before I had a real passion for photography, just a small hunger for making good pictures. Now that I look back on this photo, I wish I had taken more pictures of those around me, so I have more to remember them by. You never know when you’re going to want a portrait of your best friend or family member. Over the next few weeks and months, I will make a point of taking more candid portraits of those close to me and I hope you would do the same thing.

Capture a special moment, and that picture will be worth more to you than anything else you could take the entire year. Treasure the ones you love while you can.

Now it seems that people like to name drop people from the internet as if because they once conversed with said person, it makes them their best friend. It’s really quite a sad occurrence to see people try and improve their perceived social status by mentioning someone else who probably would not like to hear them name dropping.

I stumbled onto a discussion at another site, where someone else was referencing a website that I’m a part of, as if, he was a major part of it. It upset me in the fact that others could see it, and automatically think that he represents us.

One thing I’ve learned in all of my many Marketing classes is that Brand Management is an important asset that must be managed otherwise perceptions of your product can be skewed because of unauthorized people making unauthorized claims.

Now, I can’t and won’t police the internet but it’s annoying and in a world where you have about two seconds to make a first impression on someone, it pains me to know that these pests could potentially be causing a negative impression to one or two good people out there.

Name Dropping is not worth it. Say what you have to say, and back it up with good intentions. There’s no need to throw around other people’s names because you think they’d agree with you. Regardless if they would or not, you are a jerk for entering their name into a discussion in which they did not choose to participate.

Whenever someone or a group of people interact in an online community, at some point there becomes a sense of social hierarchy. So and so is higher up on the social ladder than Joe Nobody who just came into the network or website to interact. I dislike that we have to have these ladders for people, creating hierarchy inevitably leads to the guy who thinks he’s stuck on a lower rung of the ladder than he believes he should be on. However, it’s all a mental problem. No one else sees this ladder, however he’s fixated on the rungs of it that no one else can see.

Social Networking was about connecting to people, sure there are basic levels of moderation at most websites, but this is out of necessity, not out of an urge to become “highly ranked” on a website. That gets you no where, it’s just like my level 48 in Team Slayer for Halo 3. That won’t get me laid at the bar, just like being a community staffer at TiedtheLeader.

When it comes to a social hierarchy at TTL, we keep the doors shut because a lot of the people you meet online are less than pleasant. It is a sanctuary to having fun with your friends while playing some games. That’s it. If you can pass the test of not being a douchebag, you will get into our next level of conversation. At this point, that’s it. What you do from this point on, is all up to the user.

I’ve gotten a few people asking why can’t they play with me or other “higher ups” at TTL. That is what gets me. I’m no one special, I’m a guy who had a job that allowed me to get on the internet during work hours and I spent it conversing with some people with similar interests. And the reason I can’t game with everyone, I can barely game with anyone these days. School takes up half of the week days, and I try to go out and be social during the weekends. I used to spend a lot more time playing, but I wasn’t doing as much as I’m doing right now.

Basically, I’m tired of people getting put onto a pedastol because all that does, is set up the person for disappointment with those they look up to. I’ve managed in my 3 years of gaming online to meet some community leaders from most of the sites that I waste my days on. They’re all just regular guys, none of them seemed like they wanted to be rockstars or anyone “famous” on the internet.

At the end of the day, they all were looking for the next “good game” just like you and me. And I hate that a website and community that I’ve put countless hours into sometimes gets a bad rap because someone else comes along and thinks we just get whatever we want.

Sometimes I think we would all like a little obscurity, back when the only thing people knew about you was that you enjoyed each other’s company and the games you were playing.

It wasn’t ever about getting attention. It never will be. It’ll always be about finding the coolest chill people on the internet that are looking for a place to score a few games.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Tomorrow, next week, after Thanksgiving, January 1st, Once school’s over…

These are excuses. If you want to change yourself you must start now. It’s as simple as that. This is a principle that you can use everyday in all aspects of your life.

New Year’s resolutions are something a lot of people strive for. It’s January 5th, have you kept your resolution so far?

In 2009, you have the power to change your circustances drastically if you start NOW. What do I plan on doing in 2009? Finishing my graduate degree, buying my first home, obtaining a better job, and improving myself. I would like to get in better shape, I would like to improve my photography, and I would like to improve my relationships with others.

I have to start now, if I want results by the end of 2009.

What do you want to accomplish this year?

Another year gone, another fresh start to the year. So much has changed in 2008. One year ago I was still living in Chicago, and unsure about my future. I managed to move back, reenroll in grad school where I am set to graduate at the end of 2009 (fingers crossed, waiting on a helpful summer schedule).

I had quit my job midway through 2007, and was unemployed when I moved back home last February, after a few tough weeks of searching I was able to find a great opportunity. Now I’m the Marketing Director of a local real estate company.

I have a new car, since my last one sold in November 2007. I love my Accord.

My photography has really blossomed in 2008. Before I didn’t have a great grasp on the knowledge of photography. I’ve really started to understand some concepts of photography and have really expanded artistically.

Looking towards 2009, I hope to finish school, move into my own place, and to continue the trip into the world of photography. This next year will hold a lot of milestones, and I hope to embrace all of them. Here’s to 2009 being a great year. I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year’s and that you will obtain your goals, aspirations, and dreams in 2009.

Onward.

I’ll be taking it with me to all of the TTL LAN’s and it may be a good camera to take out to the bars, who knows.

I’m experimenting right now with Live Video streaming from my computer to the web. The sites I’ve checked out are Mogulus , Justin.tv, and Ustream.tv I have a few cool ideas I’d like to implement if I’m able to get them working without murdering my bandwidth (I use that for gaming).

I’m fascinated with bleeding edge technology and Social Media and Social interaction. I think that there’s a lot of new ideas out there that have yet to be implemented in ways that I would like to.

Hi, my name is Stuicide and I’m an Apple fanboy.

In other news, Tennessee lost tonight in the Sweet Sixteen which ruins my brackets (which were already ruined) but in sweet revenge they are done and the Tigers get to play tomorrow night. Hopefully we can keep on fighting.

Go Tigers.

I’ll try to write more often, even if it’s brief. My biggest problem with blogging is that I really want to make sure I have something good to say, which leads me to not say anything. Such a shame, because sometimes once it starts going, some really good insights come out. This is the first of many. Please join me on this journey of self awareness.