Sometimes these quiz things are fun, this one is one of those times.

Interesting stuff, and shockingly (probably not) it hit the nail right on the head.

trait snapshot:
clean, self revealing, open, organized, outgoing, social, enjoys leadership and managing others, dominant, makes friends easily, does not like to be alone, assertive, hard working, finisher, optimistic, positive, likes to stand out, likes large parties, respects authority, practical, high self esteem, perfectionist, dislikes chaos, busy, not familiar with the dark side of life, controlling, high self control, traditional, tough, likes to fit in, conforming, brutally honest, takes precautions

I am doing some tweaking to some of the pages here at UI.

You know I don’t like to follow the crowd, this whole “rotating link-lovin” bull crap annoys me. Unfortunately having a blogroll the size of the Mississippi River on my front page annoys me too. As a result I have to give them their own page now. I figured since I was giving them their own page that I should categorize them too.

I am doing the same thing with my links.
I am also finally getting around to getting contact info up as well, as far as my various user names on the different social-networking sites, as well as e-mail, etc.

Hopefully all of this will be done by Wednesday evening. (No promises, but that’s my goal)

Thanks for hanging in there.

If you’d like to be listed in the new blogroll shoot me a message either on twitter (|at|wfyoung3) or via e-mail will|at|willyoungband|dot|com. You can also shoot me a line on myspace or facebook, but I’m not linking those right now because I don’t feel like it.

The latest edition of the Unobjective Intelligence podcast (The Will Young show) is ready for your ears.

This week I discuss:

• Community, and how all our efforts to create authentic community are futile.
• Independent music and how independent musicians have it so much easier than they ever have in the past.
• Campaign 08′ update complete with some 3rd party candidate updates.

As always if there is something you’d like to hear please shoot me an e-mail.

 

 The Unobjective Intelligence Podcast Episode 9 [42:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You can download it using iTunes using the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode to download to your MP3 player.

Community:
Dictionary.com’s definition(s) of community

Independent Music:
Myspace - Is quite possibly the fastest way to get your stuff discovered.
Purvolume - Another great place to host your music online.
Ind-Music.com - a great resource for independent musicians.
Audacity - a great program for PC users for their recording endevours.
The fruity company - as much as I really don’t like this organization they have quite a large amount of tools to help the independent musician.
Jay Aden - GREAT solo musician I talked about on this weeks podcast.
Jami Brackin - another great singer/songwriter doin her think in Nashville. I used to work with her…I can’t wait until one day I can say “I knew her before she was famous.”
Leah Kauffman - she is the voice behind the “I’m in love with Obama”, and the “My box in a box” youtube viral hits. She has an AMAZING voice.
Chris Jackson - His wife is an amazing blogger, and He is an amazing musician. I can only imagine the amount of creativeness that flows through their home. His stuff is so mellow, that I have honestly started to blare it when things get tense at work.
Obadiah Parker - I quite literally stumbled upon these guys one day, and they kick butt!

Campaign 08′ Updates:
Candidate Sites:
Barack Obama - Presumptive Democratic Nominee
John McCain - Presumptive Republican Nominee
Charles Jay - Boston Tea Party Candidate
Chuck Baldwin - Constitution Party
Cynthia McKinney - Green Party
Bob Barr - Libertarian Party
Frank McEnulty - New American Independent Party
Gloria La Riva - Party for Socialism and Liberation
Gene Amondson - Prohibition Party
Brian Moore - Socialist Party USA
Ralph Nader - Independent
John Taylor Bowles - Independent
Jackson Kirk Grimes - Independent
Alan Keyes - Independent
Frank Moore - Independent
Kelcey Wilson - Independent

CNN Election Coverage
Yahoo News Election Coverage

So I upgraded to Wordpress version 2.6 this morning and it was fairly painless.

I’ve got to admit switching over from Blogger (thus ending all but one connection with the *evil* empire that Google is creating on the internet) to Wordpress was a great idea. I’m finding the possibilities and the places I can take my blog are almost endless. This of course doesn’t matter to most non-blog-geeks out there, but seriously if you haven’t considered it I would definetely encourage you to check into Wordpress. There is so much out there you can read about them and generally speaking I haven’t ran into one person who does not like them.

Check out this video for an overview of Wordpress version 2.6:

Thank you Wordpress developers for making an easy to use, complex tool to allow bloggers to step up their game.

I have not had to even think about work since Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 3:30 pm and I’m not going to lie, it’s been pretty freakin sweet.

I’m what you would consider a work-a-holic, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to work.

Up until recently, if you asked me what my idea of a good time was I’d tell you a 12-hour work day. That’s all changed in the last 12 months though. I, like most Americans, now have a job that I absolutely detest. However, also like most Americans, at least the ones fortunate enough to have a job, realize that the likelihood of me finding anything new is slim to none. So I’m pretty much stuck in that place between needing to survive financially while having a job that allows me to do so and being completely dissatisfied with my current job.

Needless to say, this malcontent with my current job has me desiring every opportunity possible to not work. It’s a new concept for someone who at their previous job averaged 60 to 70 hours a week.
I think though, scratch that, I KNOW that where I am at right now, is exactly where I am suppose to be.
Before I was always working, had little time for friends and family and had even went as far as saying “Who needs a significant other, I’m married to my job,” and I didn’t see anything wrong with it. Of course I had become extremely unhealthy, in a physical sense. Obviously waking up at 5 am, being at work by 6 am and working until 7 or 8 o’clock at night, meant that making a healthy dinner was out of the picture. Most nights I’d grab a $ 4.99 large pepperoni pizza, gobble down the whole thing, go to bed, and wake up to start it all over again.
I had become what one would consider a bit of jerk. Ah, who am I kidding, I was more than a bit of a jerk, I would bite peoples heads off all day if they didn’t do things the way I wanted them done. At any rate, it actually got to the point for a little bit that my subordinates would actually elect who they would send in to the office to see what I had for them to do for the day. The worst part about my new found attitude is that I didn’t see it. Of course I was reminded of it on a daily basis, but I refused to believe anyone.
Finally, I ended up quitting. With one weeks notice to boot. I had talked myself into finding a plethora of reasons for despising my job and then I just left. Truthfully, it was probably the healthiest, best decision I’ve made in my adult life. If I had continued on the path I was on, I would have undoubtedly had a heart attack in my late 20’s or early 30’s. I was stressed to the core, sick continually, fat as heck (and for those who don’t know, when you’re not eating healthy and stressed you actually gain more weight than you would if you weren’t stressed and didn’t eat healthy, of course if you weren’t stressed you’d probably eat healthy, so it’s sort of a vicious nasty cycle :-)), and I had really forgot that I had friends and a family.

Now, I’m in a much lower stressed environment, actually the stress in my current job is so low that I create my own stress just so I feel normal, which is in no way normal behavior. However, what I do now, is not what I want to be doing. Actually, it’s not anywhere close to what I want to be doing.

I’ve learned though that I have to embrace this particular point in life as a learning experience. I’m being taught that there is more to life than working. I’ve reconnected with my family, I’ve gained true, long-lasting friendships that I never thought were possible before. My attitude and approach to life in general has changed immensely. (Of course some would argue that I am still a bit of a jerk…and I’d agree…I am still a BIT of a jerk, but I’m nothing like I used to be). I’ve learned to take pleasure in simplicity and to embrace the opportunities to simply do nothing.

…nothing

That is seriously all I’ve done since my staycation started. But generally speaking my staycation has consisted of me NOT waking up to an alarm clock, and not knowing what the day has in store.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I would encourage you if you’re a work-a-holic to embrace the weekends, that’s where it all starts. True work-a-holics have no idea what a weekend is. You’ll find when you start to embrace those two days off (no matter when they fall in our week) that you’ll start to see there is more to life then work.

I’m so over being a work-a-holic that I may lead the drive for America to become a 4 day work week country, like many other countries around the world!

As for the rest of my staycation, who knows. I’m open to anything.

Pictures so far:

I get asked on numerous occasions why I immerse myself in the online world of blogging, social-network services, online chats and the like.

Carlos posted a great entry that sums it up, please check it out.

I commented back with this (I’m posting, so you’ll have a better idea of why this entry resonated with me):

Well written and I couldn’t agree more.

I feel like what was once my small, semi-dedicated circle of friends has expanded through this vast world of online relationships. I’ve “met” people that I wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity to meet, that have let me in to their lives and who I’ve let in to mine. To me it’s not a “network” of people whose names I can drop, it’s a family. It’s people who are willing to lend a hand from 900 miles away even if it’s through an AIM chat.

Thank you for this concise and poignant statement. It resonated with me immensely.

I know that there are many out there who say that online relationships are unhealthy. I’ve always, and will continue to beg to differ. I think it is very possible to maintain a very healthy lifestyle, and maintain very healthy relationships even if a large number of those are online. Let’s face it, we’re living in a new world.
I could go on for quite a while telling you how Alex has inspired me with his dedication to his ministry and to the people of his community and to his family, or how without thinking twice he answers my e-mails when I have questions that in the grand scheme of things are completely a waste of his time. Or I could tell you how both Carlos and Heather have given me not only a sound biblical example of parenting, but a realistic “We don’t have all the answers but dang it we love our kids and we’re trying our hardest to be the best, Godly parents ever” example of what a parent should be. I could tell you how Anne and Crystal have reminded me on numerous occasions that the only way you’re going to get anywhere in life is to remain transparent, and to constantly be on guard when it comes to matters of the heart. I’d probably also mention how Chris, reminds that you do not have to agree with someone to know that they are right, that they are wise, and that they are thinking about things well outside the realm of anything you could possibly grasp. (Consequently, I’ve met Chris in real life, and he does the same in real life as he does online.) I’d probably even tell you about Pete who reminds me continually that life DOES indeed come at you fast, and the only way you can deal with it is to fully embrace what is thrown at you.

That’s just SOME of the many people I follow, you can always check them out in my blogroll, and in time I’ll be adding some more of the blogs I read either via their feeds or online that are not currently up there.

The point I’m trying to make with this, is that I’ve grown physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally and spiritually as a result of the blogosphere. I’ve also done a lot of growing as a result of my “real life” relationships, but I can not and will not allow others to write off relationships formed via the internet as if they lack substance, because, well they clearly do not.

Thanks again Los for sharing your heart.

The latest edition of the Unobjective Intelligence podcast (The Will Young show) is ready for your listening pleasure.

This week I discuss:

• Medical Tourism and why it bothers me so much.
• Why book smarts aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
• A campaign update.

As always if there is something you’d like to hear please shoot me an e-mail.

You can download it using Apple’s iTune’s using the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode.

Enjoy and have a great week!

I do not believe that there is such a thing as “useless trivia” or “useless facts” or “useless knowledge”, heck I don’t think anything that engages your mind, or allows you to learn something is useless.

A co-worker placed a list of “Things you should know, but probably do not” on my desk this morning and I figured I’d share some of those with you.

Like for instance did you know that if you dropped a raisin in a glass of fresh champagne it will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top?

Or how about, everyday an average of 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents!

Here’s something I’m positive you probably didn’t know: a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death.

Those are just a few interesting things you should know, here are some more:

• The decleration of independence was written on hemp paper.
• The dot over the letter ‘I’ is called a ‘tittle’. (I know you English majors knew that)
• Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller.
• Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.
• There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
• The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never a recorded Wendy before.
• Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during WWII were made of wood.
• Upper and lower case letters are named ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the ‘upper case’ letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, ‘lower case’ letters.
• If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $ 1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.
• Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!
• The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

But, if you refer to my previous post, you won’t take my word for it. Do some research, determine if these are true or not!

Thanks to Crystal I discovered the worth of my blog this morning.

Apparently, my blog is worth more than I’ll probably ever be worth.

Ladies and gentleman the Unobjective Intelligence Podcast is back and better than ever! (**NOTE** Because I’m hosting the podcast myself now, I have to go through the iTunes store submittal process all over again. Once the podcast has been approved there will be a button on the right for you to subscribe via itunes, and have the podcast downloaded to your iPod. Also, I’m not sure why, but this episode seems bassy to me, that’s not on purpose, just so you know.)

In this episode:

• Where I’ve been.
• A campaign 2008 (or Obama) update.
• Do you watch a lot of television, or spend a lot of time with the internet? Well you may be emotionally and relationally stunted. I’ll tell you why.

 

 The Unobjective Intelligence Podcast June 22, 2008 [32:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Links I promised in the podcast:

Evidence that lack of social contact stunts you relationally and emotionally.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21210531-2703,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_torture
http://hoder.com/weblog/archives/008389.shtml
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/22/AR2006062201763.html
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/putnam1/putnam.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone
http://www.bowlingalone.com/

Have something you want addressed in next weeks podcast? Shoot me a line.