Klout NYC Party & My First Klout Perk

Last week I went to party thrown by Klout at Grindspaces. Klout is a platform that measures one’s social influence and as an offshoot offers other features such as Klout Perks, along with a few other super secret things in the works.

What’s Worth Worrying About

Aurel Schmidt: Florid Reveries

The first three weeks of 2012 have been great. I’ve been fortunate to have had old friends visiting the city, taken on a few projects at work, and was able to not only  get to Carsten Höller: Experience at The New Museum  before it ended, but also snagged a ticket to Coachella 2012.

However, the  inevitable stress has started to build up again what with some bad family news, writing assignments piling up for Contently, and realizing that trying to fund the trip to Coachella means I’m living off of rice and beans for three months.

Hipster Runoff Shows Content Farming Expertise Writing About Lana Del Rey’s SNL Performance

When you write for your own blog, you find yourself working on a post and then stumbling upon a different gold mine. After a less than stupendous SNL performance, Lana Del Rey has received both criticism and sympathy from the likes of Spin with mixed opinions on Del Rey’s poor performance as a result of being an overhyped indie darling with little experience. I’ve written about Lana Del Rey a few times on this blog mostly over my confusion on how I feel about a trending artist who may have gain too much attention too quickly. However, “Carles” of Hipster Runoff hands down has the best, although lengthy, post regarding Lana Del Rey, his existence as an indie music blogger, and content farming.

At the End of Dreary Winter, We Have Coachella To Look Forward To

After the new year, the rest of winter is a long dreary period that feels never-ending. With the only upcoming holidays being national holidays that only equate to a day off from work (though you are not sure why) or those where you are commemorating/commiserating with a loved one/friends, the latter with plenty of booze (both St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day), the endless winter days seem shorter because the cold and darkness keep you inside for days on end.  The best thing to do is not let the chilly weather affect your disposition and instead make plans for the rest of the year, plans which can include one of the best (albeit mainstream) music festivals that takes place in southern California, Coachella.

My Favorite Things #14 – The First Week of 2012

I’m not sure about you folks, but this first week of 2012 was pretty stupendous.

Why NY Tech Scene Is Full of Artists, Not Capitalizers

A few weeks ago I was reading a New York Times article called On the Move, in a Thriving Tech Sector talking about how more start-ups were receiving funding and moving into larger offices, further strengthening “Silicon Alley” a.k.a. a vertical line that spans from Midtown to downtown Manhattan where many startups call home. One line that caught my attention was a quote from   Adam Pritzker, a founder of General Assembly, who said that the NY tech scene differs from the one in Silicon Valley because people were more like artisans than capitalizers: “what this movement is doing is showing people that they aren’t cogs in a larger bureaucracy. It’s reconnecting them with things they make themselves, with craft.”

How To: “Remember Every Day” 2012 Desktop Calendar

A month or so ago when I was searching for Christmas gift ideas, I found a version of a desktop calendar on Etsy. I never saved the link and trying to find it in the Etsy abyss was impossible, so I created my own version.  

My 2011 Year In Review and Five Favorite Blog Posts

Yesterday I read Jocelyn K. Glei’s article on The 99 Percent Simplify Your New Year’s Resolution Process: Reflect, Select, Remove, which stressed the importance of positive reflection when looking ahead to the new year.  2011 was my year of getting over the initial shock of being out of college and in the real world, but in the end, it was unmistakeably a great journey.

My Favorite Things #13: Holiday Cookies You Must Try

When it comes to the holidays, there are some years I am on top of it; buying thoughtful gifts and wrapping them in hand drawn paper, baking cookies, making cards, and the week I have off between Christmas and New Year’s Day is incredibly relaxing.  I’m not sure what happened this year, but I wasn’t able to get half the things I wanted to accomplish done, but one thing I refused to let go was making a bunch of holiday cookies. Always overly ambitious, I made five different recipes.  Two were family staples, one is a holiday tradition, and two were new discoveries via Pinterest.

10 Reasons Social Media Nerds Love the Holidays

1. All the opportunities to earn points and badges on Foursquare

Crowded airports, becoming mayor of your parent’s house, and please oh please, let there be a Santa badge.  Better yet, let there be another #snowpocalypse.