I’m sure a lot of you have been getting tagged in your facebook accounts from friends who have just revealed 25 random things about themselves and would like for you to do the same. I’ve been trying my best to resist, since I rather just write for my blog than some notes section in my facebook. Then came the forehead smack – My facebook notes is tied to my RSS feed of this blog, so anything I put on here goes on facebook anyways.

So, here you go . . . .Check below to see who I’m going to tag in the blogging world:

Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page. If you don’t see “notes” you’ll need to add it by clicking on the “+” sign and add “notes.” Paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. I believe in Ghosts, but don’t think they’re all bad. This probably is a result of growing up with Casper and Ghostbusters.
2. I watched Titanic 7 times in the movie theatres, but not on purpose. This is really hard to explain, so I’m not going to try.
3. I believe having over 10+ dogs in my life has given me committment issues.
4. As competitive as I am, I’m glad I’m not a sore loser . . . . I think.
5. With that being said, I’ve broken golf clubs over my knee.
6. I have the memory of an elephant and probably the thighs of one, too.
7. I was raised in an italian household as a baby for a few years.
8. I am amazed and proud of my friends accomplisments every day.
9. My first concert was a New Edition Concert at the Arrowhead Pond where I was drugged by secondhand smoke of some sort, which led to hallucinations on the drive back home.
10. I’ve been on a one week road trip from LA to Chicago and Back, so that I could attend summer school in time.
11. I think about my funeral and wonder who would give my eulogy.
12. I don’t think I have a best friend, but I have a good idea of who my groomsmen would be.
13. Some of my closest friends are the ones I speak to only a few times a year.
14. I love thinking outside of the box and throwing out ideas, even if they suck.
15. I only played volleyball in High School.
16. I’ve been hit by a truck on a freeway while riding my motorcycle and didn’t break a bone, but broke down when I told my sister.
17. I’m the oldest for those of you who think otherwise.
18. I didn’t vote in the 08 elections.
19. I went to a new school in 2nd grade and spent recesses alone in the corner all year.
20. I learn better by visualization.
21. I don’t like fortune tellers because the last one told me my life would suck.
22. I like Star Trek more than Star Wars.
23. I feel I was cheated out of Honors English in High School.
24. I need at least 7 hours of sleep or you’ll notice.
25. I’m only 5 lbs heavier than I was in 8th grade.

• sent traffic back to her site
• help her sell some of her other books
• give her an opportunity to track how many people are reading her book

Suze might be great at keeping money and sound, but she’s obviously lacking in knowing how to make money online.

I started off the year living in a new west side culture of Santa Monica ready to start a new sem consulting business. We had a plan to build our client list and give ourselves a solid foundation for us to work on our own projects such as PinkDeals.net. A combination of active and passive income was the plan that would make us rich! We’d live the entrepreneurial life of late mornings and and even later nights chatting away with other bloggers we’ve met over the years. Working when we want and how we want with no one to tell us what to do. 08 was gonna be great!

Next thing I know, I’m back in corporate america working for a company that I just couldn’t pass up. Being young and single, I had a real problem leaving “money on the table.” If there was a project that could be done, a job that I could take and a new client that could be signed, then I was all over it. One of the best pieces of advice that was given to me when I was in my early 20′s was not to waste my time lounging on a couch, watch tv and becoming a zombie. So, along with my 40 hour a week job, I was doing consulting on the side along with building and running my own businesses. I thought I could do it, but I was wrong.

As the year went on, the economy was just getting worse. Rising gas prices and then the market crash just sent signals that major decisions needed to be made in my life if I was going to survive this turbulent future. Bearing down and understanding what gave me the best return on my time invested was what I needed to concentrate on.

The 9-5 job was going great, so that’s checked. I learned that I do like a 9-5 job with the hustle and bustle of fire drills and working with a team. One thing aspiring entrepreneurials don’t really talk about is the lack of social interaction during the day. Some people need it and some people don’t. I think you should really look at yourself in the mirror and think about what work environment you work best in.

Consulting – The biggest lesson I learned was to do a better job interviewing the client and seeing if they’re going to be the type to demand more than what they’re paying for. No matter how much you get paid, once one of the parties feels that they’re getting taken advantage of, it’s the beginning of the end. At the end of the day, I realized that I needed to optimize my client list so that everyone at the table was happy.

Projects – Forget about bartering services. Just pay for what you want. It gets done faster and you don’t have to worry about hurting anyone’s feelings. I promise you that you’re going to save yourself a lot of heartache at the end of the day.

Blogging – well, I’m writing, aren’t I? 2008 saw a big time decline in the amount of posts that I came out with. One of my 2009 resolutions is to make up for that lost time and to try and pump out focuses content, which can clearly be seen by the significant reduction in categories. I’ve also spent the last couple of days redesigning my blog with a large of the inspiration coming from one of my favorite blogs out there - DoshDosh.com

Working with Others – Everyone has a role and you need to build a team where you fill each role. The great teams are the ones where people not only know their roles, but when there is something missing, they’re able to adapt and help fill in that hole. If it’s not working on for you and someone else, then it’s best that you end amicably and wish each other the best of luck.

Education – I can honestly say that I didn’t learn as much in 2008 as I did in the previous years. With everything that was going on, I was using my existing knowledge to get by. Talking with my peers from around the world, I know in my gut that I was missing out on what was going on in the industry. I’m going to do my best to catch up and get back out there on the cutting edge of internet marketing. Also, one thing that this economic situation has taught me is to not put all my eggs in this internet marketing basket. With that being said, I’m going to explore other facets of marketing, both online and offline so if things were to get worse, I am better armed to face the challenges.

Words to live by - “Reach for the stars, but keep your feet on the ground!” – Theodore Roosevelt

What were your expectations for 2008?

What lessons did you learn in 2008?

How are you preparing for the upcoming economic conditions?

How do you like the new design and look of the site?

The Pitch: Who Wants the King?

Your Legacy! Your World!

Goal: To become a global icon and cement your legacy as the greatest basketball player ever!

How: Sign with the 2010 Los Angeles Lakers

Why:

Kobe Bryant will be entering the twilight of his career. He’s already showing that he doesn’t care about the stats by taking 33 minutes a game right now. Imagine what a couple of more championships will do to him. The Lakers will need someone to carry the superstar torch.

Supporting cast will be second to none. The Lakers will still have the twin towers under contract and in place with Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum anchoring the posts. A small, quick guard in Jordan Farmar. A defensive specialist and perfect role player in Trevor Ariza. Everyone’s young and ready to go for a dynasty run. By the way, we also have the greatest coach in NBA history sitting on our bench.

Global Icon time. You know it as well as the rest of the world. Asia is the future. The only reason NYC has gained it’s global status is because of it’s enormous ties to europe with it’s european ties there. If you want to dominate the world, you’ll have to come to where Asia and the United States meet – Los Angeles! With the largest population of Asian Americans in the US residing here and millions flying back and forth from here to Asia, there’s no way NYC will give you the accessibility to 3 Billion people (India & China) the way Los Angeles would be able to.

Los Angeles Lifestyle – It’s always 70 degrees and 30% humidity here. We get earthquakes once a year at MOST and they’re not even that bad. The fires and mudslides only effect a few people. Just buy in a smart location and you’ll be fine. There’s celebrities galore out here so you won’t be mobbed everywhere you go. We know how to respect people’s spaces. Oh, and the most beautiful people are in LA. Sorry NYC, you can’t compete on that.

Legacy time – Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlin, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant. All of these guys easily crack the Top 15 players of all time and a big reason is because they were part of a great franchise. This is the franchise with the highest winning percentage in league HISTORY. We’ve reached the finals more times than any other NBA team. We’ve won a trophy in every decade the NBA has existed. Dr. Buss has created an atmosphere of excellence and will take the chances necessary to win.

Lebron – the question is posed to you – you can see how serious LA is about winning, now can we see how serious you are?

LA is yours for the taking!

So, these are my 5 Reasons why $5 Gas doesn’t suck as bad as we think!

1) $5 Gas is Environmentally Friendly – All those tree-huggers must love what’s going on as their wishes of less cars, more carpooling and an overall smaller carbon footprint per person is coming true. By the way, find out your carbon footprint here with this widget I found!

2) $5 Gas Helps Us Lose Weight – It looks like $5 gas is starting to make people realize that walking a few blocks to the market isn’t really that bad. More and more people are  either walking or riding their bike to help them get around. We haven’t seen this much calorie burning since the caveman days when we had to hunt and gather our own food!!!

3) $5 Gas Makes Us More Social – More and more cars are being left in the garage in favor of carpooling, trains and subways. It’s a great opportunity for you to meet new people and helps us realize that “hey, people aren’t as crazy and senile as I see on the news!”

4) $5 Gas Makes for Less Traffic Jams – With less people wanting to drive, there are going to be less cars on the road. Less cars means less traffic. I hope to gain at least ONE day back from the 2 weeks I lose sitting in traffic every day!

5) $5 Gas Improves Local Economy – I’m assuming most of us live in neighborhoods where we can walk down to the local farmer’s market or local restaurant for a night of entertainment. We can probably discover new neighborhood events going on like outdoor movies in the park. Bottom line, we’re not going to be venturing too far away from home anymore, so why not enjoy where we live?

Anything else you can think of? Feel free to comment below and let us know!

Also, don’t forget to check out this great LA Times article “Envisioning a World of $200 a Barrel Oil“

Here’s a list of 20 things I thought would cover most nice gestures, just in case you evil people out there forget what your heart felt like .

• Write a Letter to an Old Person – Yes, a letter with a pen, paper, stamp and envelope. For you young whipper snappers who don’t what I’m talking about, google it. I know “Old Person” is a pretty relatively term, so think of someone your grandparents age. If that’s too old, then write to a friend you haven’t spoken to in over 10 years.

• Teach someone younger than you how to do something new – i.e. fishing, changing the oil, dicing an onion, riding a bike, etc.

• Call someone who’s sick and make them smile.

• Go through your closet and find 3 nice peices of clothing you don’t wear anymore and donate them to a local clothing drive.

• Talk to the shyest person you know.

• Let someone ahead of you in line.

• Fix something for someone.

• Do something nice for someone and don’t let them know that it was you who did it.

• Read a story to a small child.

• Pay the Toll/Parking for the car in back of you.

• Stick up for someone.

• Plant a tree.

• Donate Blood.

• Volunteer at the local homeless shelter.

• Tell the manager of a restaurant how great your waiter/waitress was.

• Pull over and help someone that’s stranded on the side of the road.

• Return the grocery cart for someone at the supermarket.

• Buy a book for a child.

• Give up your restaurant table to an elderly couple.

• Offer to babysit your friend’s children.

So, this is how it’s going to work:

1. Pick one of these nice gestures and do it.

2. Share your experience – Email, Youtube, Twitter, Blog Post or at a Club Meeting.

3. In the same announcement, challenge your network to do perform one of these gestures as well. If possible, display this list of 20 gestures to make it easier for them to think of something to do.

That’s it. I’m not asking for links. I’m not asking for any sort of credit for this idea. I just want to see how far this can go and hopefully by Christmas of this year, everyone will have at least one story to share about a good deed they have performed.

Next, if you missed the Apple event today, they just announced the release of their iPhone Developer’s Kit which gives developers the blueprints of how programs work on iPhones. What this means to the average consumer is that we’re going to get a lot of NICE programs for our iPhone now without having to hack at it and worry that our iPhones are going to turn into glorified paper weights.

Why is Apple sitting pretty you may ask? Well, for those of you who missed my Steve Jobs is a Genius post a couple of months ago, I pretty much nailed what he was going to do today regarding the distribution and compensation of iPhone apps. There are going to be a lot of newly rich developers coming out this year.

My apologies for telling people to invest in Apple stock when it was at 160-ish and now is in the 120′s (blame that on the weak US dollar and fear of recession), but I’ve put my money where my mouth is and have invested even more into Apple stock. They’re going to have a VERY nice 2nd half of the year.

Who wants to think otherwise?

Things I’ve learned over the years:

A Night of Drinking takes away a Day of your Life

When there’s a valley, there’s always a peak.

You are who you surround yourself with.

There are friends, then acquaintances, & then people you just don’t need in your life.

It’s more productive waking up early, then waking up late.

Take more risks when you have Less Responsibilities.

A broken heart is a healthy heart.

Money doesn’t buy Happiness, but it does buy time!

It’s never too early to say “thank you!”

I think that’s it for now. I know I had more yesterday on my actual birthday, but with the hangover and everything, I just couldn’t think. =). I just can’t wait to turn 40 so I can look back at my life and smile some more.

Is there anything you want to add to the list? What lessons have you learned throughout your life? Are you looking forward to “old age?”

I want to give thanks for:

My Family – I’m especially thankful that my family is doing better than ever after such hard times before.

My Health – even with a slight stone in my kidney

My Friends – without them, I wouldn’t be the person I am today with the opportunities I have today.

Everything else that has happen this year has been great. I never would have thought I would be where I am today in regards to my career and the whole blogosphere. I can’t wait for the new year to start.

Now I got to go to Grandma’s and chow down!

That is when the hackers got to work and started coming out with web-based hacks such as Jailbreak that allow users to use different carriers other than AT&T and use 3rd party apps such as my favorites – NES Emulator & Tap Tap Revolution! Once word started to get around through sites like TUAW.com and MacNN.com that it was easier than ever to hack your iPhone, people started purchasing iPhones at a record setting pace. One stat showed that 1 out of every 4 iPhones purchased were purchased with the intent of hacking.

Apple quickly tried to put out this potential disaster, as they have a very lucrative profit sharing deal with AT&T. Some estimates I have heard are around 40% of revenues generated from users over their 2 year deal and then a percentage of their lifelong contract if they stay with AT&T. Apple would be losing out on the market they so dearly wanted to be part of. The third leg of their media empire was starting to become shaky.

So, what does Jobs do?

He gives a big F-U to the hackers by saying that he will be releasing the SDK (Software Development Kit) in March of 2008 so that all programmers will be available to develop for the iPhone. For those of you who don’t know, the SDK is like the blueprints for the iPhone operating system. Once the uber-smart programmers learn it, they’ll be able to make programs that take full advantage of the iPhone’s capabilities.

Now, why do you think Jobs finally decided to open up the iPhone? Was it because he knew he was fighting a losing battle? or did he finally figure a way out to monetize the demand for 3rd party apps on the iPhone. I think he finally realized that this isn’t like the personal computer where he needs to hide the secrets of the operating system in order to maintain his market share in the hardware market. Jobs has finally realized that there is only one iPhone and that unlike the computer, can be a truly big money making machine if he plays his cards right. So, follow me here:

Jobs introduces iPhone.

Hackers get to work.

Jobs notices demand for 3rd Party Apps

Jobs opens up wireless purchasing of itune music.

Jobs opens up iPhone with SDK

Programmers start to build Must-Have Apps

Apple sell more iPhones

iPhones sell more iTunes Music

Now, here comes the genius part. The part where Jobs will be regulated to God status if he is able to make it work. Jobs will set up a deal with programmers similar to ones artists signs with recording companies. He will sell iPhone apps on iTunes for $0.99 and programmers will make a percentage off each sale. Imagine buying an iPhone Airport App that tells you the current status of your flight for $0.99. Imagine how many people would buy that app, then imagine how much that programmer would probably make instead of asking for a paypal donation. The potential for this is so much greater than the ringtones fiasco Jobs tried launching a few months ago.

The quality of apps and iPhone usage would go through the roof and both parties will win because Jobs will be able to make more money in hardware, software and iTunes products and programmers will be able to make more money than if they tried to promote and sell the programs themselves.

Current Apple Stock is at $163.95. I would suggest buying some stock soon!