I’ve always wondered why people act like they need a daily cup of coffee to wake up. I’ve always been a little wired and never needed anything to “wake me up.”

Recently I’ve been waking up early and have really been struggling (I’ve always been a hard sleeper).

I’ve decided to move my workout to the mornings and because of that, I’ve started using N.O.-Xplode as a supplement. Every morning, I drink a cup of this stuff… it’s great. Its just like someone else drinking coffee… I need it to get going and as soon as I take it, I’m up and ready to go. I think the stuff is meth… My heart pumps a little faster and my brain works a little faster.

I’m not recommending the product or anything like that, I’m just happy that I found my morning coffee.

      

Everyone knows New Year’s Day is my favorite holiday. On this day, we’re able to wipe away all the mistakes we made and start fresh. We get to evaluate our prior year, during the evaluation we’re not critical on our selves, we’re just evaluating to make ourselves better next year.

I made a lot of mistakes last year. I’m hoping to make a lot more this year I’ve learned a lot more than I ever expected and achieved more than some thought was possible.

I look forward to 2008, I will own the year and this time next year, I’ll be standing with my 3 page list of goals and red pen… I’ll have a bunch of the goals achieved and a lot more goals that I didn’t even come close… but at least I’m trying.

      

Continued education has always been a concern of mine. I’m sure my sister has gotten tired of me preaching about constantly keeping up with the now by reading blogs, books and up-to-date magazines, as this is just as valuable (if not, sometimes, more so) than actual class time. However, I recently decided to further my knowledge of the business world by enrolling in UALR’s Bowen School of Law. Being a local business owner, I plan to parlay my legal knowledge into a smarter, more productively run company to contribute to the economic development of the Little Rock area and eventually impact our state-run agencies in a way that will bring powerful and positive change.

Being in an executive position, I have run across my fair share of fighting politics, red tape, and threats of legal action. Because of these, I have a great desire to make changes in our legal policies that will be advantageous and fair to fellow business owners. Business ownership is tough and I want to wholly understand my rights as a businessperson and use my knowledge as ammunition against the war that is entrepreneurship. Being a part of the process for legal change, which will be nothing but positive for economic development for this state, is of utmost importance to me. Not only can I make a difference for my company, but I could possibly do a world of good for companies all over the state and, if I’m really good, the country.

I have many interests and hobbies. One that I have pursued for the past three years has been real estate. I sometimes feel I am lacking the legal knowledge necessary to owning property and having tenants. Recently, I was in small claims court with one of my tenants (an unfortunate reality of being a landlord). And while I don’t think that anything could have gone any differently had I had more knowledge of the law, it was all so fascinating that I started to wonder what, as a property owner, did I not have the appropriate knowledge of to make a difference in my real estate owning experience? Questions like these come up every day for me. I want to have a greater understanding of the law for so many various aspects of my life.

A law degree comes with a certain degree of credibility. And while I do not intend on using my degree to change careers, I do wish to make legal change. Change in business and in the state and change in my everyday life. Knowing the law and working hard to empower myself to actually make change is my passion. I want to impact Arkansas. I want to learn about Arkansas law. I want to empower myself and for the time being, this is the greatest way I know how.

      

I haven’t written in a while and its for good reason. I’ve been soooo busy lately.

Ok… not a good reason… but a reason. I’ll update everyone in a longer post but the skinny is this (in no specific order):

• A new hobby of fishing
• A new hobby of water sports
• Purchased a new apartment complex (bigger is better)
• iProv is BUSY
• Started Law School
• A new girlfriend (not so new)

      

I just got home from Florida. I was there for one of my bestfriend’s wedding.

As I was packing and unpacking, I started thinking that there are a lot of things that you either have way too much of or way too little of.

I thought it was funny. Maybe you will too… probably not.

1. contact cases
2. toilette paper
3. collar stays
4. socks
5. milk
6. eggs

I also started to realize that I wear 20% of my closet 80% of the time. I’m pretty sure thats true for most people. I’m going to increase that 20% number… by giving away clothes that I don’t wear.

I want less stuff.

      

I just talked to a friend in Nebraska and he wants me to come up for a four day float trip. I recently went on a trip to Las Vegas where I stayed in a friend’s condo… How great is that.

So, my new wish is that my friends will scatter throughout the world so I can have hundreds of places to visit and a free place to stay. Go away so I have a place to stay… if you’re looking for company, invite me… I’ll take advantage of anyone that will let me.

Let me know if you have a cool place to visit and a free place to stay and if anyone wants a place to stay in Little Rock, just let me know.

      

I’ve been making changes to my blog for a number of reasons. But one of the reasons is because I’m going to try and monetize the blog. Currently it doesn’t make any money, not directly. I hope that some of my “technical” articles have resulted in new service contracts for iProv, but either way, I haven’t personally seen a check for this site.

I’m going to keep everything public and feel free to ask any questions, I’ve making RSS feeds more visible. I’ve always been a big advocate of RSS feeds but I’ve never really “advertised” the ability.

I’ve also added the ability to leave a donation via paypal… really… EVERYTHING HELPS… It takes time to write a blog and I’m hoping my blog isn’t going to be so much of a “journal” but more about information and a knowledge base. Just click on the page that says “Donate to RJsWeblog”

I’ve added Google Adsense to show advertising to my main links. I will get a small royalty each time the link is clicked… SO CLICK THEM.

I’ve added “Recommended Amazon Stuff” so that if you order from that link, I’ll make a small referral fee. Yeah, small. But I get to choose what is “recommended.”

And lastly, I’ve added text-ad-links.com to the right hand side, these ads will also be published in the RSS feed as soon as I do the WordPress upgrade. I recieved $100 in free advertising just for signing up as publisher as well

I’ve reorganized some of my link categories too. I like to think I’ve organized them in order of interest.

I’ve got a list of other changes I’m going to make but I’m only spending about 2 hours a week on making the changes. The other time is going toward writing and my “real job.”

I’ll try to keep track of how much time I take as well.

Hopefully this weekend, I’ll upgrade from Wordpress 1.5.2 to Wordpress 2.1. Wish me luck.

      

I just got back from Kansas City and I didn’t take any pictures. I’m an idiot.

I haven’t seen my family in Kansas City since I was 17… I got there and spent so much time having fun, I forgot to take pictures. Well maybe the next time I go there I will… Nobody believes that I have an Italian finally.

Next week is Memphis… maybe I’ll take pictures there.

      

I posted pictures of Chris and Jessica’s Wedding… It’s really a bunch of pictures of me with other guys in the wedding. Congrats Chris and Jessica.

Chris and Jessica’s Wedding Pictures

      

I’ve posted pictures from my Dartmouth trip. I really enjoyed every second. It had world class professors, a beautiful city, and a great group of students. The people I met there remind me why I would trade education for relationships any day of the week.

The people that were with me at Dartmouth have “hard to find” characteristics. These are the type of people that I want in my “everyday life.” They’re motivating, fun, challenging and force you to want more from yourself and your business.

If you ever have the opportunity to go to Tuck’s Executive Education Program, I completely recommend it.

Check out the pictures