Rhymes with Almonds (sort of)

After returning from a great trip to Austin for the South By South West Interactive festival, I was just getting settled into work when I got the news. My company has been hit hard by the current economy and I thought I was going to be immune from the rounds of layoffs we had experienced…I was wrong. But getting laid off couldn’t have come at a better time. I came close to thanking them for doing this to me. Close. Let’s back up a bit and I will explain why I took this so well.

In the past few months I had been starting two projects outside of work. One is a site that deals with affiliate marketing. I won’t say more about it, except to say that I am working with a former colleague of mine; Jamie Birch of JEBCommerce. The other one I am much more exited about (sorry Jamie).

The second project I had been working on started out as an idea I had to try to visit all the people I follow on Twitter. I decided to expand on the idea and travel around the U.S. and interview people and companies that are using Twitter in interesting and fun ways. I will also talk with people who have huge followings as well as those who have never heard of and/or used Twitter. Of course, I will tweet all throughout this journey. To help with my travels I will need a co-pilot. I’m still trying to figure out who will be the lucky person for that job. I also intend to partner with companies who are already using Twitter as well as companies who aren’t yet on Twitter who I can convince to make the leap. Partners will be chosen that can assist with the logistical challenges of the project; transportation, lodging, food, you get the picture. In exchange for their support I will tweet my experiences using their products/services on my travels. I intend on being totally honest about what I think of their brand; if I stay in one of their motels and it is filthy I will say so. This is what Twitter is all about, right? The name of this project is Twitter Road Trip. The Twitter account for this is twitter.com/troadtriproute140 (roadtrip was already taken, although I may still be able to talk the owner into giving it up).

If I was still employed right now I would have attempted to talk my company into “sponsoring” my project in exchange for using it as a case study in social media. Also I would have used the trip as a vehicle (sorry) for increasing my company’s visibility in the social media space. My fear was that they would exert total ownership and control of the project and shut me out. Now I don’t have to worry about that.

Originally I had asked my employer if they would send me to SXSW. They didn’t see things my way and I am SO glad they didn’t. I decided to go anyway; taking time off from work and paying my own way. Because of this I was able to focus my efforts at SXSW on building connections and interest in Twitter Road Trip.

I could tell that this trip was going to be beneficial when I ran into Steve Woolf and Zadi Diaz of EpicFu fame while waiting for my connecting flight in Denver. I talked with them about my project and they seemed genuinely interested. I plan on getting back to them to see what we can make happen.

In Austin everyone I mentioned my project to had positive reactions. This is a tough crowd to pitch to; if they like it you know you have a good idea. I ran into a lot of people from Revision3, home to some of the most popular online shows; Diggnation, Tekzilla and The Totally Rad Show to name a few. Each one of them was very interested in my project, especially Glenn McElhose, AKA Hippy Glenn (This guy is about as sincere as they get). I even was fortunate enough to speak with Jim Louderback, CEO of Revision3. If I play my cards right this project could have a very prominent home online.

Things are looking really good right now. I have a lot of follow-ups to do this week. I may also have some freelance development work to tide me over until my projects really get going. If only I had gotten laid off BEFORE I went to SXSW.

In no particular order:

Oh yeah, the game was really good too.

I went out on Thursday night, exactly as long as I lasted on the last challenge. I had to work late unexpectedly and had run out of natural foods to keep me going until I got home. So a gyro and fries welcomed me back into the land of quick and convenient foods. While I’m glad that I made it as far as I did, I was hoping to make it at least one more day. Oh well.

Fast forward to Friday night; I’m enjoying some pizza and beers with some good friends. As I am reveling in the greasy goodness of the fine food that Bennidito’s has to offer, who do I see walking in the door but my fellow contestant Andrew. He immediately gives me the “shhh” gesture followed by an evil grin. Andrew disappears into the crowd only to emerge moments later with a pizza box that I can only assume isn’t filled with assorted produce. I quickly texted Remi to appraise him of the situation. Moments later the results of Andrew’s would-be covert operation were confirmed online. If you are going to go out, Bennindito’s pizza is one of the better ways to go. Well played Andrew, well played.

So it looks like the other Mark is the final participant. Looks like he is going to have no problem making it till the end. Congrats Mark.

And to all my supporters over the past week, I thank you. Now excuse me while I tear into a bag of potato chips. Hey, they’re Tim’s; so it’s kinda non-processed, right?

Its the end of the third day of the challenge and I’m feeling pretty good. On Monday I hadn’t taken the time to prepare a proper lunch to take to work. So I ended up throwing a bunch of fruits and vegetables into a sack and heading out the door. What seemed like a healthy idea at the time turned me into a ravenous beast later in the day. Not getting any protein for the better part of a day really threw me for a loop. Adding insult to injury, when I got home I had to take the time to MAKE a meal instead of just shoving some food down my throat. I ended up making a stir fry with zucchini, mushrooms, garlic, grated ginger and cilantro over rice. Pretty tasty.

That night I decided to hard boil some eggs to take to work on Tuesday. The eggs really helped me get through the day. My earlier prediction that I would be grazing all day long is pretty spot on at this point. Tonight I had a “gently” raised piece of steak with some veggies on the side. Not quite the plating job that Andrew did for his dinner, but it turned out very tasty. After that I got to work making a stew that will last me the rest of the week. Then I juiced some oranges (is that right?) to use for banana-blueberry-oj smoothies that I intend to have for breakfast the next couple of days. Whew!

I hope the rest of the group is doing well up to this point. Becky, I know you can defeat your nemesis. Geneva, I don’t know if you realize how hard coconut milk is to extract. Remi, I am amazed that you are playing nice still. Good luck to the rest.

This challenge has got me thinking quite a bit about the trade-offs a lot of us struggle with between convenience and nutrition.

Some of you may remember the food challenge I did last year. Myself, and seven others, were only allowed to eat seven different things for seven days. It was a grueling challenge and I only lasted five days.

This time we have challenged ourselves to only eat non-processed foods for a week. I think things will be easier since the variety of choices is much greater. The hard part for this challenge is the sheer amount of preparation involved in making a meal. I think I may end up doing lots of small meals or even revert to grazing continually.

I forgot that we were getting started until yesterday and as such had hardly any of the correct kinds of foods on hand. I quick trip to the grocery store this morning got me going until I could make a big trip to secure a good portion of the products I would be consuming for the week. Same as last time, I got a box of oranges, a whole bunch of spinach and a dozen eggs. In addition I bought a wide range of fruits and veggies and will be using more of the brown rice I had from the last challenge. In keeping with the theme this time, I can only get animal products that are naturally raised. As I put it to a friend, only meat that has been well taken care of and read bedtime stories.

In the end, I think this challenge is one that I may be able to continue (to a degree) long after the week is up. Here is a list of the other contestants this time around:

Andrew
Becky
Mark G
Jordy
Remi
Geneva

Wish me luck!

UPDATE: I left out Paul from DTE, another contestant from last year. Sorry about that Paul.

I just finished watching a documentary called “Zeitgeist.”  It covers three main topics; religion, 9/11 and the central bank.  According to the movie, the relationship that these three topics have in common is the theory of the eventual creation of a one world government.  I won’t tell you what my opinion of the topics covered or what conclusions I have drawn, but I will tell you that my eyes have been opened to the point that during and immediately after watching I felt almost nauseous. I encourage you to watch this video and tell everyone you know to do the same.  I consider myself an intelligent person who is not easily swayed.  If this video doesn’t at least get you thinking about the issues raised, you are probably as ignorant as the makers of the documentary believe the American public really is.

Let’s just say I am seriously considering not continuing to pay federal income tax!

I wanted to share this story I came across about a chamber of commerce that did something ingenuous to help people see the effects of spending locally:

Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce uses $2 bills to track local spending

I would love to see Spokane’s Chamber of Commerce try this.

Who cares what I ate today, I’m out!  The thought of a three-day weekend eating the same old crap was too much for me, so I threw in the towel.  You can see me going out in style.  Ryan, you are a scoundrel.  Four days was long enough.  I get it…it’s hard!

While I thought it was soy that I would tire of, it turned out to be eggs that I am averse to (for the time being anyway).  I consumed 2 dozen eggs over the course of 4 days!  My cholesterol can’t be doing too good right now.

Thanks to all of you who offered support.  To those of you who think this is easy, it ain’t.  It really makes me appreciate how lucky we are in the Western world to have the variety of food choices that we do.