Track of the day: The Pop Soul Jazz Funk Love Shuffle by Centre Line

Centre Line
"The Pop Soul Jazz Funk Love Shuffle" (mp3)
from "Centre Line"
(Caprimusic / GLP)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

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Men And Woman Never Shop The Same

The shopping season is upon us. The time of year I dread most. I'm not a shopper. And I have a hard time being around people who are shoppers. Here is how I shop:

1. I need something new, say a dress shirt


2. There are a couple of stores I like to shop at, I've prioritized them, and I go to the first one


3. I go right to the clothing section


4. I quickly scan the area for something that catches my eye


5. I look for my size and a nice color


6. I look at the price tag, if its within reason I keep it, if not I put it back


7. I may or may not try it on. I know what fits me and I will wait until I get home before trying something on. I figure the odds are in my favor it will fit so why waste time trying something on at the store?


8. I repeat the process if I'm getting more than one item


9. Head to the checkout counter


10. Pay the cashier and I'm out

I rarely if ever browse. Once in a while I might mosey on back to the electronics to see what is new. I never buy, but I look. I hardly ever buy the impulse items. I feel accosted by all that crap and refuse to buy it. If you have kids you know what I mean.

Now, this is how my wife shops:

1. Spend hours looking at ads in the mail and newspaper. We subscribe to the newspaper the last two months of the year so she doesn't miss any of the "good" ads


2. Take all of the research to the mall


3. Go from store to store, whether its on the list or not


4. Look at everything in the store, and more often than not walk out with nothing


5. Try everything on, at least 6 items at a time or more


6. Fill a cart full to overflowing


7. Spend the next hour putting most of it back


8. Stand in long lines for hours


9. Buy several of the impulse items because they would make great stocking stuffers


10. Carry ten bags around each weighing in at thirty pounds


11. Bring home more than you intended and spend the next several days deciding what goes back to the store

OK, some of that is exaggerated. But honestly, the shopping experience during this time of year is very stressful to me. I'm a go in and get it kind of shopper. It's not that I don't want to shop, it's that I can't stand fighting through crowds to get the big sale items. It's just not worth it to me.

What about you? How do you shop? How does your significant other or friends shop?

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Great Links From The Past Week

Here are some great links I came across during this past week.

LifeHacker asks Does Google Make You An Efficient Time-Waster?

Russell Beattie posts Mobilized Bookmarks in Del.icio.us

Jesse Stay write Auto-Follow Those that Follow you on Twitter

Box.net opens up their API

Upcoming local events from Utah Tech Spotlight

Chris Brogan writes Elements of a Personal Brand (probably the best blog post you'll ever read)

Zenhabits writes Top 10 Resources and Inspirations for Decluttering Your Home

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Props To My Peeps

Today's prop goes out to Douglas Cootey. Douglas has been helping behind the scenes of PodCampSLC for the past few weeks, among a hundred other tasks. He was gracious enough to get a logo created for our event and is working on a few more projects.

The name Douglas gave his blog is pretty interesting, The Splintered Mind, and it recently won an exciting award, one of the Top Ten Depression blogs, and I ain't talking about a depressing blog. Douglas writes about depression, ADHD and a few other things. He's funny and has a very even tempered personality. Please take a moment and visit the blog and subscribe to the RSS feed.

Thanks for all you've done Douglas.

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Attended My First KenCon Tonight

Local writer Ken Rand had his monthly KenCon today at the Barnes and Noble at the Southtowne Mall. KenCon is really has a gathering of local writers who talk about what they are doing, conventions they have been too and share some work with the group.

This was my first meet-up with this group. I feel a little out of place seeing that I'm the only one not yet published. I'm working on it. It was great. The people there tonight are first rate. Here is a list of those I could remember and a link to their site. The fun part about this meet-up was I got to reconnect with an old friend I hadn't seen in 5 or 6 years. Turns out she's running a very successful magazine here in Salt Lake.

Ken Rand - Ken is the grand master of all. He has hundreds of stories several books published including two upcoming books called Pax Dakota and Where Angels Fear. Ken is the host of KenCon aptly named for himself.

Patrick M. Tracy - Paul is a speculative fiction writer. He also writes poems and shared one with us tonight. Fantastic. Love Patrick's writing.

Paul Genesse - Paul has such an energetic and contagious personality. Paul has a book coming out in May 2008 called The Golden Cord, and has been published in various other books.

Eric James Stone - Eric is a science fiction and fantasy writer and has been published in various magazines and books.

Rebecca Shelley - Rebecca has a new book coming out in January called Red Dragon Codex. From what I understand she is a very accomplished writer.

Beth Wodzinski - Beth is Editor-in-Chief of Shimmer, a speculative fiction magazine which is published quarterly.

There was also another couple there who came later and I forgot to get their names. Sorry guys. Maybe someone can help me with that? I also forgot to take pictures, but since it was my first visit I guess its ok.

I appreciate Ken inviting me, I can't wait for the next one. I want to report I've written a lot more of my Novel and short stories by then.

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