This is your life...

Someone shared a version of this on Facebook and I took it one step further and found the full size image. This is the "Holstee Manifesto".  

I grabbed this from their website, "Holstee is dedicated to design with a conscience. To deliver on this, we hold every design accountable for the impact it has for on all people, our planet and the product's quality. 10% of all Holstee revenue is used to empower entrepreneurs in the developing world through micro lending." - http://shop.holstee.com/

Here is that manifesto (click on it for the full size, it's pretty big - print it out and hang it on your wall!) 

83 Ways To Be Smarter With Money While You're Still Young

83 Ways To Be Smarter With Money While You're Still Young: "

Hank from Own the Dollar has put together a common-sense guide of 83 money moves to make while you're in your 20s.

Here are the top 10 suggestions from the post:

1. Stop using credit cards

2. Pay off your credit cards and other consumer debt

3. Pay off your credit cards on time and avoid the high late fees

4. Never have a revolving balance on your credit cards again

5. Ask for a lower interest rate on your credit cards

6. Use a charge card you pay off every month and earn rewards points

7. Start investing in a mutual fund with a Roth IRA

8. Invest enough in a 401-k to get your company’s matching contribution

9. Invest in index funds

10. Invest in no load mutual funds with low fees

Unfortunately if you're in your 30s like me, it's too late to do any of this stuff and your screwed, so feel free to blow all your savings on hookers and candy canes.

83 Money Moves To Make Before You Are 30 Years Old [Own the Dollar]

"

Never spend your money before you have it. -Thomas Jefferson

Never spend your money before you have it. -Thomas Jefferson: "

"

100 All-Time Best Ways to Hack Your Workday

100 All-Time Best Ways to Hack Your Workday: "

It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind of alarm clocks, commutes, meetings, office politics and dead-end jobs, but life doesn’t have to be that way all. Here, we’ve revealed 100 of the all-time best lifehacks for your workday, which will keep you motivated, productive and energized each week.

via careeroverview.com

There are TONS of great hacks on this list. I highly recommend it as a read for everyone.

- Michael

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"

the diligence... or?

So... again I haven't been writing as much as I want to. Perhaps, I really don't have anything to say. I feel I do. I feel I have a wealth of knowledge within me and things to talk about, and perhaps, people to want to read about it. So... we'll see how it goes. Onward...

Music

I haven't been listening to a ton of "new" music, but moreso more older music that I loved that I forgot about. Here's that list...

• Rancid - "...And Out Come the Wolves" & "Let's Go"
• Pearl Jam - "Binaural," "Riot Act,"Vitalogy," & "Vs.,"
• Lagwagon - "Trashed"

The new things I've been listening to are a mix of "old, but new to me" and actual new stuff.

• Van Halen - "The Best of Both Worlds"
• The Twilight Sad - "Forget the Night Ahead"
• Pearl Jam - "Backspacer"
• Lagwagon - "Live In A Dive"

something i've never done before

So... I'm going to keep this short.

Usually when I go to the gym I ride the bike for 25 minutes and that usually ends up being around 340 calories and just over 7 miles. I haven't ran in a while because when I would, I couldn't sustain it for all that long and it almost felt torturous. I'm the guy that couldn't run a mile, non-stop, in middle school. I'm the guy that couldn't run a mile, non-stop, in high school. I'm the guy that could barely run a mile a year ago at the age of 28.

But last night all of that changed.

so here it is

so here it is...

Just in case you didn't know, the rest of the staff at my work, is a family. And families do things like take vacations. Well... they are on one right now. They're on a cruise in the Caribbean. They're safe, as far as I know, but more importantly, they're not HERE. I am running the shop with my two trusty co-workers Dan & Gary. Gary normally works part-time a few nights a week and he has worked retail before, so that's no big deal. And Dan has helped out before and knows enough to be dangerous. Right now = so far, so good. The tough things are all the little things that I know and do on a daily basis. And I really have to remember to delegate. My body just kicks in to do it on my own, and I feel bad telling them what to do sometimes.

Anyhow... enough about work... except... Go to our twitter page and our facebook page.

So... music...
I've been digging lately, the following things:

• Phoenix "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"
• Passion Pit "Manners"
• Sly & the Family Stone "The Best Of"
• Bike for Three "More Heart Than Brains"
• Clutch "Strange Cousins From the West"
• Joe Bonamassa "The Ballad of John Henry"

... of the above, my favorite that is sticking right now is the Phoenix album. It's pretty indie and organic, but the instrumentation is great, Their songs can be basic, but still have this intensity. I highly recommend them. There is a track on that album that is called "Love Like a Sunset". That is probably my favorite, although it is a bit too long and intense to listen passively. It reminds me of something Trent would do.
... and about Sly. I'm sorry for just getting into him now. I was watching the Woodstock special on VH1 and their performance of "Take Me Higher" was so damn cool. I had to find them and listen to more. If you really don't know them, do yourself a favor and take a trip back in time to one of the grooviest and coolest groups.
So... gym/eating healthy...
I'm really trying to eat the 6 smaller meals a day. So I'll have cereal, and then a couple of hours later I'll have some fruit and some carrots, and then a couple of hours later I'll have a wrap with a vegan pattie in it or some fake meat and lettuce and mustard,... and I'll repeat the fruit and wrap thing throughout the day every couple of hours eating. Also... drinking water. As I sit here and type this I'm almost done with my 3rd refill of my Klean Kanteen, which equals 120 ozs total. This doesn't count the water consumed at the gym. I feel a little drained, so maybe I need to add something else to the mix. I'm eating enough protein and getting the fruits and the vegetables in. Perhaps, I'm not eating enough calories. Also, I'm well aware that it is 1:11 AM right now. I should be going to bed.
So the workout went well tonight. I did 25 mins on the bike and that got me about 7.5 miles and 296 calories. I did upper body tonight and my usual ab crunches. I did 3 cycles of probably 5-6 machines. I did a few various chest machines, some row machines, biceps, triceps (free weights). Even though I took a couple of weeks off, I feel like I didn't miss anything. My shoulder press has increased, my vertical chest press has increased, etc. I feel good. Today was my 3rd day in a row, and I'm definitely going tomorrow.
I miss Angel and I can't wait to see her on Saturday. I can't wait for my co-workers to come back either.

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messed it all up

ok... so i think i've settled in here and should begin some regular content soon, e.g. (artist/album reviews, photos, working out, etc.)

gym was great tonight... did over 7 miles on the bike and burned about 290 calories. did 3 complete leg circuits that consisted of 4 different machines, and each one ended with ab crunches, except for the last one, which i did with the ab machine that twists.

the diet is going well. didn't quite drink enough water, but i'm getting there.

off to sleep now.

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Trying things out..

So, I just signed up for a Picasa account, and I'm doing this blog from Zoundry.

Neat, neat things.

On a lifestyle note... I've been eating healthy this week. Going to the gym tonight (almost typed GIME, d'oh).

I went to the gym last night too, but it was just a quick 30-40 minute session before the movie. I still burned just under 300 calories. I plan to do lower body tonight, along with my usual "bike" ride. I'll let you know how it goes.

So, I decided to start this, because I felt like I wasn't saying enough on the usual community, "friend" based sites. So, I plan on using this to tell you what I've been finding out in my various interests in my life. This is what I do each day...

• Work
• Eat healthy
• Listen to music
• Workout
• Write/play music
• Enjoy life with my girlfriend and friends

In conjunction with the above things, I have some goals that I'm working on, two of which I'll share here.

1. Losing weight and getting fit.
2. Becoming debt free

So, this blog will be about those main two goals, but I'll mix in my love of music and guitar repair and probably some wonderful things to do like restaurants and concerts. See ya soon! ---------------- I am currently listening to: Sunny Day Real Estate - Guitar and Video Games via FoxyTunes

Jason McKay Create Your Badge