This is repeated here more for my own future reference than anything else. On the other hand I’ll share it with the Internet anyway. Enjoy.
“Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential—as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth. You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them.” — Bill Watterson
Sort of broke my consistency with the blogging thing. Not all right by me, but here’s a summary of what has passed:
1. Pasta Dinner Benefit
Ticket to the benefit.
I attended a spaghetti dinner last Friday for Noah McClain, a two year old boy who was diagnosed with Guillian Barre Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy. The dinner was held by the American Legion post that my grandmother belongs to, and so I went to the dinner with my parents and grandmother. What makes Noah’s predicament even more harrowing is the fact that his father lost his job (and with it insurance benefits) just a few days after finding out about his son’s condition, and so the McClain family needs help paying for Noah’s medical expenses.
As a member of the Legion—for McClain’s father served in our military—the fine folks at the Legion organized this event. I’m not sure how much they managed to raise, but given the high turnout, I wouldn’t be surprised if they raised a good deal of money to help!
At the dinner, I was also pleased to interface with some members of the community. One of them was a one of my father’s present clients who praised me on the work I did on the virtual tour of their home, so that certainly made my night.
2. Spending Time with Friends
In the vein of spending time with friends, I’ve been participating in weekly trivia events at the local Hurricane’s Bar and Grill. That is until the owner there canceled it for affecting “season business.” Now, I’m not sure what kind of “seasonal business” two hours on a Monday night is affecting, because Monday is typically the lowest turn-out for sports bars. So… I’m not sure what we’re doing on Monday nights, other than hanging with my friends watching Chuck.
I also attended my friend Andrea’s birthday, from which I was called away from just as we were going to eat cake because my brother needed help prior to his trip up to Tallahassee. None-the-less, good times were had.
3. Staying Positive
I’ve been pretty positive and centered so far this month, which is great. I’m honestly getting to spend more time with myself again, which will be a good thing as once I start up school again in the next few months, I doubt I will.
Between that and a few reality checks, I believe that I’m on the right path.
Which reminds me… I have a poem attached to a wall in my room, right next to the door. Somehow, despite the fact that I walk past it on a daily basis, I haven’t gone back and read it until just recently. It’s just… been there.
I was given this poem by one of the adult aides at a community center where I volunteered my time at during my middle school years, and I had it laminated. It’s been with me for the past decade, and I want to share it with all of you, since I take it quite to whatever heart I have remaining.
The following Family Guy clip resonates with me. This scares me when I think about it.
Since this is Sunday and, like the Head Cheese upstairs, I should rest on the seventh day; I figure that this should be fun and less thought-provoking than my previous posts. Ergo, this clip in question.
(For those of you readin’ through Facebook, click here for the clip.)
And, no, I do not care who won at the Globes. I do not care for 24. And I do not care for green eggs—but I do care for ham.
It has come to my attention that some of you don’t know how to take pictures. I’ve seen the photos you’ve taken in the MLS database (if you bothered to take them at all), and you need to understand a few things about photography.
You know that saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”? It is true. What that axiom fails to add, perhaps because the person who originated it assumed this additional caveat, is this: “Those words can either tell the story well, or not.”
As with anything else, there are the basics of photography that you’ll need to understand. Photography is just as important as being able to not only write and understand real estate contracts, but also establish rapport with your buyers or sellers. It’s one of the basics of marketing, along with writing ad copy or descriptions of said property for your MLS provider.
So here’s what you need to do in order to be successful at this skill. And it’s all about the basics.
Here are a few important questions that I’ll address:
Who is going to be taking the pictures?
What equipment are you going to be using?
When are you going to be taking these pictures?
Where are you going to be taking said pictures at?
How are you using these pictures?
Why did you do any of the above?
1. Who is going to be taking the pictures?
One of two important components to this endeavor is determining who will be tasked with photography. Will it be you? Do you have an assistant that does this?
What is their experience in taking the pictures? Many people have the ability to point a camera at something and take a shot of it, but there’s something to be said about talent. Knowing what to take a picture of, as well as how to make something presentable for pictures (the right lighting, for instance) makes all the difference.
2. What equipment are you going to be using?
You are only as good as your tools. Therefore, it is imperative that you invest in quality camera equipment. You don’t need equipment that professional photographers use, but you should invest in quality items.
Do not treat this lightly: This is going to be the most important decision you’ll ever make, because you’ll need to determine how you’re going to use the pictures. If you’re going to create virtual tours, create brochures, and syndicate your listings on the net, then something in the 6 or 10 MP range is probably a good idea.
For those of you who want to be smart about it, a mid-range digital camera is the most economical option. For seasoned agents in the business, you will probably want to go higher, because the expectation is simply higher, even if you aren’t aware of it.
For those of you wanting a camera that can take wide-angle shots, you are better off with a non-compact camera where you can attach add-ons to the lens. You can get away without going to an SLR, although SLRs have dropped considerably over the past couple of years. Typically, this entails buying an adapter ring and the appropriate lens. Since I’m only pointing you in the right direction, you’ll need to take it upon yourself to research what cameras out there suit your needs, and what attachments you need. Professional camera outlets, such as Adorama, are useful and I’ve dealt with them in the past for my father’s business needs.
Your camera choice will need to factor in how comfortable or experienced you are in fiddling with the more advanced stuff. If you are wanting to control how your pictures look, in particular manipulating settings (flash, exposure, f-stop, etc.), the better your pictures tend to be—assuming you know what you’re doing. Don’t let me scare you off, however, as most cameras have an “auto” feature that usually covers most of it.
You want something that can take good pictures in low-light or natural-light conditions. I know that many people like using the flash, but flashes—particularly ones that aren’t calibrated properly—tend to wash out colors, cause the “flare” against mirrors or other reflective objects, and place emphasis on objects that shouldn’t be emphasized. Do remember that most of the time, the closest item to the lens or flash will always be the brightest object, given how light works.
On another subject: when buying a camera, you will need the accessories to go with it. These include a camera bag that can carry all the camera accessories (battery charger, extra battery, flash media), at least two memory cards in case you lose one. If you think you’re going to drop the camera, then you may want to find a protection plan that covers accidental damage. When thinking about warrantying the camera with a service plan, you will want to read over the terms of the plan first. Otherwise, it’s just as easier to buy another camera in the long run without it. Caveat emptor.
3. When are you taking the pictures?
It is important to take the pictures at the right time.
Optimally, you want to photograph the home and property when the following conditions are met, or nearly met.
During a clear day, with very little clouds and great sunshine.
When the house is presentable; you don’t want to take a picture of a house when they have Halloween decorations out on the lawn, or during a garage sale. Also, if the inside of the house is less-than-presentable, you probably don’t want to take shots of the interior. After all, these pictures will be posted in public spots, and the point of advertising is to get people interested in a property.
When the least number of people are home. The more people around, the more difficult it is to take photos, and the more you inconvenience those who live there.
For instance, most folks have a least one car per person, so if there are four people home (two kids of driving age and two parents), there may be as many as four cars there. That means that there are cars in the driveway, or in the garage, and that they’ll have to be moved in order to take the proper photo.
4. Where are you going to be taking said pictures at?
When you’re listing a property, you’re not only selling the house, you’re selling the area. Therefore, it is important to take photos of the community or the areas nearby.
If a house is five minutes away from the river and beaches, then you should probably take a picture of the river and the beaches. Same goes for a property with a “gorgeous view of nature” from “its front door step” or “its balcony.” Thus, you should take pictures of the very sight that the homeowner would see, whether it would be of the mountains, the lake, or a natural sight. That’s what will likely sell a property.
5. How will you be using these pictures?
You need to keep in mind that different services have different needs and limitations. A magazine or newspaper ad will likely only allow you 1 photo. A MLS listing server may only allow you up to 8 or 10 photos. A virtual tour may allow you to have 20 to “unlimited” numbers of photos; “unlimited” is encased in quotations because it’s impossible to publish an infinite number of photos and be done with it, not to mention the fact that there is a limit, but most users never reach it, so it remains undisclosed to most. If you do it right, you may be able to stitch the photos together to create a panorama, particularly of exterior views such as waterfronts.
Let me touch on the virtual tour panorama topic here, since I’ve done it. It is not without some effort, but nothing worthwhile is rarely effortless. So let’s me begin by saying that services such as RealBiz360, allow their publishers to upload “high definition” photos. In these photos, users can zoom in and all that jazz. It’s nice, but I haven’t run into any real estate buyer (or seller) who cares about that kind of feature. Still, you need to keep in mind that “high definition” photography will be the future, so the clearer the picture… the better. And, at any rate, the resolution of your pictures will be downscaled when they are uploaded.
6. Why did you do any of the above?
I want to say that I needed a “why” question.
However, I need you to realize that you need to always analyze and question the decisions you make, because if you don’t, you’ll never improve. You’ll become stagnant and resistant to change. Yes, some change should be resisted, but that decision lies with you, and hopefully made with the help of your critical thinking skills and not on a mere whim. When doing anything, you need to answer the question of “why?”
Why did I buy that device? Why did I take the picture that way? Did I place myself in a home buyer’s shoes and see things through their eyes? Why should I do that? Why don’t I?
The best real estate professionals—or any sort of professional on any career path—tend to be able to put themselves in the other person’s shoes and figure out how their brain works. They find out what they want and then, switching over to the supplier mode, devise a means to deliver the consumer what they want and, at best, make money doing something they enjoy doing.
And a few other things…
I have a few other words of wisdom that I’ll impart:
Do not pose in pictures or have someone pose in pictures being a “Vanna White.” There is absolutely no reason why someone should be “Vanna Whiting” appliances, pools or anything of the sort. Let me repeat the point ad absurdum: There should not be anyone in your photos, at all. The point of a photo is to show off a room, a feature, or an attribute you want people to know about. Having folks in a photo detracts from the subject of the photos.
Do not take photos of stairways, hallways, or toilets. Unless the toilet is the Super-Deluxe Toilet with Automatic Bum Cleansing Features, it’s not worth a photo. Even if it were… still not worth the photo. Unless you have a toilet fetish. (Sadly, Google informs me that such a fetish exists. There’s no technical word for it yet, as far as I am presently aware.)
Take tons of photos. Digital memory has increased in size, so why don’t you take more photos? We’re not in the 1980s where you had only 24 exposures on a roll of 35mm film. So, you don’t have to use every single photo you take, and it is nice to have a smattering of choices to choose from. Take photos from different vantage points, in different lighting conditions. Take a photo with a flash, and one in natural light. Be creative, but be creative with purpose.
Make the property presentable, clean, and no clutter. Before you take photos of a property, you need to tell your sellers that it is important to have the home presentable. The less clutter on counter tops and in rooms, the better. The idea here is that the potential buyer should be able to visualize themselves in the home, since they are going to be the ones to live in it, should they choose to buy it. Should repairs need to be done, then the selling agent needs to inform their seller of the items that need repair.
That’s all I have for now. Feel free to send me any comments, questions, or concerns. I look forward to helping people—including myself—improve my skill sets!
The end of 2009 is almost upon us and I am pleased at this fact. I normally do not look upon the change of years as a means to change oneself, as one with the power to do so can change themselves at a time of their choosing.
However, I find that the notion about compartmentalizing events between “last year” and “this coming year” is cathartic. Once the act is done, it is truly like releasing the shackles, blinders, and weights from one’s body. As I write this, I feel a sense of exhilaration that I have not felt in a very long time; I’m ready for the metamorphosis.
Ergo, I’m not going to reminisce about 2009, aside from these next paragraphs: it was a very interesting year for me, and it was within that crucible where I learned more about myself than I had ever believed possible. There are times where I feel that every part of my mind and body has gone through a kind of hell, seeing as half of it was self-inflicted and the other half inflicted by life. I’ve seen loved ones pass away (both human and animal), I’ve trusted people who were unworthy of my trust, I’ve rubbed shoulders with some of the people responsible for some of my favorite shows, and I’ve been more than sufficiently humiliated and disgusted enough where I contemplated just cutting myself off from the rest of the world.
Of course, there are going to be bright spots in all of this. With the friends I’ve come to know over the past year, and the relationships that have been established have remained beneficial—despite the metamorphosis of their nature—I’ve worked through many of the missteps and issues that have been thrust before me. Some of these, again, I’ve summoned unto myself because of my decisions. I’m not detailing them here on the public blog because, well, I’ll leave that for a story. Or a series of stories. I could write a book. I even may. It would be a comedy where the geeky savant is condignly flummoxed and besieged by faux love, overwork, played like than the best kept violin and subjected to dramas that are better experienced from an outsider’s perspective.
So, in working through many of these things, I’ve set up these goals for 2010 that I believe to be obtainable. I’m listing them here in order of their present importance. Feel free to laugh, as I cannot stop you from doing so, and accept this fact.
Get my stories published
Yes, I write. I’m unsure as to whether or not you should note this as a development, simply because everybody claims to be creative, but are typically inept at being creative. I feel that this claim needs to be elaborated on further, but not here. Later. Fodder for the future.
Other than e-mails, text messages, tweets, and the now-occasional entry on a Wiki (mainly Battlestar Wiki), I typically write short stories and I’ve plotted out a few novel-length stories back in the day. I feel that this is as good as time as any to start doing this again. I’m hitting short-story publishers as early as next week. And if that doesn’t pan out, I may just hire my own copy-editor and self-publish an anthology.
For those of you curious as to what I write, it is placed under the genre called “speculative fiction.” It’s not hard science fiction, as the science necessary for the genre isn’t my strongest point, and it’s not really “soft” science fiction either. The settings change as they can be present day, the far off future, alternate realities (and, honestly, all stories are some form of alternate reality), and the characters: a young boy who is an assassin, disgruntled explorers, a kamikaze writer, people stuck at a crossroads, a father looking for his daughter, and other fine samplings of humanity.
This isn’t to say that I’m not published, because I technically am, thanks to those wonderful Battlestar Galactica auction catalogs. I don’t receive royalties from the books, but you can buy them through Propworx.
I’ve also written a few comic books for White Eye Productions, a company that my friend Lawrence is working to get off the ground. Hopefully, it launches this year and that stuff sees the light of the day.
Establish my own business
Actually, I’ve started this process. It was official back in November. I started a company called FrakMedia! Productions, LLC. It is a web-design and Internet media company that’s already lined up a list of clients. It’s co-founded by my business partner, Shane Froebel, who I befriended as a result of Battlestar Wiki.
After the first of the year, I’m opening up a business bank account for it. Presently, Shane and I are finishing off the website, and between Shane’s expertise in programming and my expertise in getting things off the ground, I feel pretty good about it. Hopefully, I can turn this into a full-time gig so I don’t have to work three jobs. Whether this is accomplished remains to be seen.
Finish college
I left college a few years ago simply because I didn’t know what to do with my life. I had a crisis of faith. I was lost. I was working as a full-time supervisor at Best Buy, with the intent on becoming a manager and eventually getting relocated to somewhere other than Vero Beach. That didn’t happen… well, not in the way I had envisioned. I did relocate the year following my departure from Best Buy, to the other side of the coast, thanks to Battlestar Wiki.
I’m going to talk to the folks at the colleges sometime over the next month to see what I can do for financial assistance, and have a roadmap for getting my degree in Computer Science.
Unwind some more
I’m getting back into the grove with the XBox 360, reading and so forth. I’d like to play more games, if only to keep myself sufficiently sharp and somewhat within the “geek” spectrum of things. Makes for better conversation topics, if anything.
Right now, I’ve begun Dragon Age, since it is from BioWare and I am a fan of their work, having played both Knights of the Old Republic games on the original XBox. (I have not played Mass Effect yet, but do intend on picking that up somewhere.)
Open up more
I’m reserved. I’m acutely aware of this. It’s a double-edged sword that causes problems in some of my relationships. I’m much better at conversing with folks than I used to be, but this is an area of opportunity I need to continually build upon. Most of this shyness comes from the fact that my nose was always in a book and I was accosted for being different back in my youth. I was always outcast and I never really understood why, until I realized that it was because of my intelligence and the fact that I liked things that weren’t “cool,” like science fiction and reading. This contrasted unkindly to other blokes who decided to wave their cocks around playing sports and phoning in their academic performance.
Not that I have anything against athletic endeavors, except that I find something very wrong with society when intelligence is scorned by those who would rather make sports the subject of their attentions. It is a subject that disturbs me and is the source of resentment that’s reverberated back into the time of my childhood.
Having said that, part of that process will be to work on this blog, and outline all the good, the bad and, perhaps, even the heinous that comes from the new year.
And with that…
I hope that everyone worthy of having a great and prosperous new year will have one.
There is no sense in writing what I think about my own personal philosophy on life when Harlan Ellison, one of the greatest writers in American history, summarized his philosophy as thus:
“My philosophy of life is that the meek shall inherit nothing but debasement, frustration and ignoble deaths; that there is security in personal strength; that you CAN fight City Hall and WIN; that any action is better than no action, even if it’s the wrong action; that you never reach glory or self-fulfillment unless you’re willing to risk everything, dare anything, put yourself dead on the line every time; and that once one becomes strong or rich or potent or powerful it is the responsibility of the strong to help the weak BECOME strong.” — The Harlan Ellison Hornbook, Aug. 9, 1973
And with that in mind, here’s a clip from one of my favorite movies that sums up my feelings on life, as they presently are:
In the effort to organize my life, I’ve begun going through and purging all the crap I’ve come to collect over my 25+ years of life on this planet. During this endeavor, which I am still undertaking, I discovered the results of a test I took back in November 2005.
After my promotion to media supervisor at the Vero Beach Best Buy (Store #816, the “Vero Beach Vipers”—Vipers? Yep. Vipers.) one of the things that I had to take was a test to determine my “signature themes.” This would determine what my top 5 out of a possible 34 strengths were, as Best Buy is a “Strength Based Organization (SBO).”
I found this document to be completely enlightening at the time, and its rediscovery nearly four years later makes me realize that, yes, those strengths that were identified back then are still true. They’re a part of who I am, and I did forget about them here and there. This document’s rediscovery has energized me in a way I’ve never believed possible; it is a testament of my strengths in word form.
So in the interest of keeping it around for a reminder, and to let you kind (and faithful? faithless?) readers of this blog know exactly what I am all about, I’ve scanned this in PDF format and uploaded it.
Oh, and the coffee stain on page one is authentic. I don’t remember where that came from. The scanning lamp made it more vibrant than I had thought! Also, for some reason, it printed in landscape instead of portrait. Go figure.
In my search for a quote, I found this from Maya Angelou, one of America’s better contemporary poets. Thought I’d share it with ya!
“I don’t know if I continue, even today, always liking myself. But what I learned to do many years ago was to forgive myself. It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes—it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, ‘well, if I’d known better I’d have done better,’ that’s all. So you say to people who you think you may have injured, ‘I’m sorry,’ and then you say to yourself, ‘I’m sorry.’ If we all hold on to the mistake, we can’t see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror; we can’t see what we’re capable of being. You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end the real forgiveness is in one’s own self. I think that young men and women are so caught by the way they see themselves. Now mind you. When a larger society sees them as unattractive, as threats, as too black or too white or too poor or too fat or too thin or too sexual or too asexual, that’s rough. But you can overcome that. The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If we don’t have that we never grow, we never learn, and sure as hell we should never teach.â€
And here’s another:
“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things:
a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life. I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.â€
I’ve been toying with a major idea for a while now. (Not the quitting-from-Shit-Buy-idea-which-I-can’t-afford-to-do, but another one…) The idea for a major wiki.
For those who don’t know what a wiki is, it’s a website where people can come together and add information to, without knowing how to actually run a website or write up the code to generate a web page. Wikis are typically good for assembling encyclopedias and reference resources because it’s not one person doing the work. For instance, Battlestar Wiki and the venerable Wikipedia are wikis.
The major wiki idea comes from the fact that there isn’t a central place for science fiction/fantasy information. Or a repository for “all things sci-fi” in terms of pictures, information and so forth.
In the event that you didn’t know this, the Internet is one big fucking disorganized mess. It’s a central place people go for decentralized information, which is both a good and bad thing for reasons I don’t really care to list here.
But my idea is to create a major wiki with reliable information on all-that-can-be-known about science fiction.
And I’m sure people thought of trying the same thing, or are attempting something like it (on a generic level), and probably found the task to be the massive beastie that it is.
But like all massive problems, it’s all about breaking it down into smaller, more managable components.
So, for the sake of needing some proper noun, I’m going to call this project “The SF Hub”. It’s a hub because in its center is one wiki, which is the foundation to the hub. Call it the gateway or portal. It’s the foyer to the exhibit, where people can walk in and look around. The “foyer wiki” is basically a place where people can find out general information on a subject and are introduced to the topic. However, the foyer won’t have every single detail about a subject, so that’s where the other exhibits will come in — like a museum.
Each subject, like Battlestar Galactica or Babylon 5 for example, will have a “exhibit wiki”. An exhibit wiki is basically a sub-wiki that has all the detailed information about that one subject.
The beauty of having something like this is that everything can be interlinked. Let’s say an actor has participated in more than one sci-fi show — there’s no need to have duplicate information on three different wikis. Those three wikis can share the same information without one entry on said actor contradicting another entry on said actor on another wiki.
This also addresses another serious problem with the internet. Everything tending to contradict one another or be incomplete. For instance, Wikipedia may have a general article on William Shatner with his achievments and biographical landmarks, yet a Star Trek wiki, like Memory Alpha, may have a more specific article covering Shatner’s Star Trek career. Merge the two together and you have a better, more detailed resource.
If we can take a lesson from Wal-Mart, it’s that (most) people want to go to one place to get everything — the mythical “one-stop shop”. Not only does going to a one-stop shop save time, but it allows people to do other things with the time they didn’t waste on visiting five different places to find that one minor item.
Now, how will this look?
Essentially, you would enter “The SF Hub” by going to its main website, say http://www.sfhub.com
From there, you would find a directory of “exhibits”, sorted by alphabet, time period or what-have-you. Using a bulleted list form, it would look something like this:
Foyer Wiki — the entrance and directory, from which one may go to:
Battlestar Wiki (a wiki on Battlestar Galactica)
SF Persons Wiki (actors, actresses, writers, etc.)
Literature Wiki (a wiki on SF literature in its varied forms)
and so on, and so on…
So everything is in one place, but only in different exhibits, very much like a virtual museum-meets-encyclopedia-meets-”all-knowing-reference”.
So that’s my idea. At least in its nascency, beacuse I think the logistics of setting up such a thing are fairly enormous and require a dedicated team of people not just for the bureaucratic bullshit, but to build upon and maintain the content of such a beastie. Oh, and money… we can’t forget about that. Being on the net isn’t cheap, particularly when you’re possibly going to use a whole lot of resources.
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