Dr. Dean (A Thinker & A Knower) 02/22/2012
I know what you are thinking. Does Dr. Dean know more than I know? Honestly, I don't know but I truly think so. Think about it! He is a Doctor which should put him in a class of knowers higher than thinkers like me. Truth be told, I only know Dr. Dean from his knowledgable blog and thoughtful comments that he adds to mine. I say knowledgable blog because I think his blog is well thought out with tons of knowledge. As a reader, I know from his writing that he thinks through the thought provoking topics, narrowing down his thoughts to add insightful, reader friendly knowledge for the thousands of thinkers and knowers who read his knowledgable thoughts daily. Look I don't want you to think I think I know it all because now I read Dr. Dean's blog. In fact, I think it's safe to say that Dr. Dean probably doesn't think he knows it all either. That's not the kind of thought I get from his online presence. Although, that being said, I now know I know a lot more than I knew before because Dr. Dean's got me thinking in a whole new thought provoking way which, between you and me, makes me more knowledgable than you could have ever imagined before you started reading today's topic of thoughts. If you want to be in the know, go over and visit Dr. Dean and his blog at www.themillionairenurse.com. Until Tomorrow, Jai 14 Comments Child Genius (Safety Product FAIL) 02/21/2012
I can't deny my loving daughter, who we have nicknamed "La Garra" (the claw), gives lots of love and has nifty hand skills. A few months ago we were at a friend's house and she lunged out of my arms to grab a lonely glass of merlot that was sitting quietly on the table. She hooked on and tossed it onto the ground. Did the merlot deserve it? Maybe yes but nonetheless the glass and its mommy juice saw its demise. Then a few weeks ago we were in a packed elevator and my daughter swiped a pair of glasses off of a fellow elevator goer. Fortunately we saved the glasses from an early and untimely death. My wife and I justified her behavior by saying something stupid like maybe she has a thing for Prada. The foolish man and victim on his face along with the passengers laughed at what they thought was a cute move from an adorable girl. However, the other day my wife and son went for a walk and I stayed back with my daughter. I decided to get on the computer and try to get some work done. Click clack I hear behind me. I look and there is my daughter with the child safety outlet cover in her claw. I thought to myself maybe she wants me to put it back in being that I use the outlet as my phone charging outlet from time to time. So, I tussled, got it out of her hands, put it back in its place and turned back to work. Click clack I hear behind me again. I look and there is my daughter with the child safety outlet cover in her hands again. Wait a minute I think to myself. Isn't this supposed to be a child safe item? My daughter is only 11 months old. I sometimes struggle to take it out. So, I tussle with her again, get it out of her hands, push it firmly in its place and sit back and watch. Within a second I see her with my four eyes and hear her with my own 2 ears click clack. 5 times later I finally run to get my video camera to prove to my wife I am not making this stuff up. Now before you watch the video I recorded I want to stress that I did research (after the fact) and apparently Safety First Press Plug Protectors gets 1 star for there are several other child geniuses (I had no clue) in the world that render this a product FAIL. I know my wife and I should have done better research and luckily I can sit and make light of my daughter's claw and Jai like genius in a blog post but why in HELL does this product still exist? If you are a parent and you are reading this please please please don't buy this product... Even if you child isn't a genius like mine. Until Tomorrow, Jai
George Washington Who wouldn't want to be the first President of the United States? He might have turned down being called King but nobody can deny George is on top of the list. Fun Facts About George Washington.
Abraham Lincoln Who wouldn't want to be Honest Abe? He is arguably the most popular President who people have placed on the highest pedestal. Even Abe is wondering what the hype is about.
Theodore Roosevelt Who wouldn't want to be one of the toughest Presidents this country has seen? Ironically the Teddy Bear was named in his honor when he decided not to shoot a bear held by his men.
John F. Kennedy Who wouldn't want to be mack daddy JFK? He is undoubtedly the handsomest President who has ever strutted the White House.
Barak Obama Who wouldn't want to be the first non caucasian President of the United States? He might be the 44th President but he's definitely in a class by himself.
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In case you were wondering... Yes that is an image of my daughter that I photographed the other day with all natural light that came through the bedroom window. I would love to say I am a great photographer but the subject truly outshines the skills. By the way my daughter will be 1 in a couple of weeks and I am almost done taking a photo a day of her during her 1st year. That will become a video too. Did you know I photographed my son everyday too? Have you ever seen the video? I call it Father Takes A Photo Every Day For 1 Year. Click the phrase and let me know what you think. Anyway, I gotta cut it short today (sorry SB) because my son has been home sick with a fever and he keeps asking me to play with him and when I tell him that I am blogging he cries. I keep thinking to myself why are you crying I am the one who should be crying. Have you seen my adsense account? And now on to some numbers... My new Alexa Ranking is 176, 891. Thanks Yakezie. To read more about what I wrote about this week just visit the links below. 1. How Not To Hate Being Photographed 2. 5 Unromantic Things Not To Give Your Loved One On Valentine's Day 3. How To Save Money (Mom's Way) Until Monday Jai How To Save Money (Mom's Way) 02/15/2012
That is why when Melissa Batai from momsplans.com sent me a copy of her ebook called "Mom's Dining Out Deals" I had to listen. Why? Because she is not only a mother but she is a mother times three so she is definitely speaking from a deeper place. Side Note*** Hats off to you Melissa because between you and me I wouldn't want my wife to be deeper than she already is after the 2 watermelons she gave me. Anyway, her ebook is AMAZING. It's a quick read with no extra fat in it (pun intended) so you get right down to the savings. Melissa has included a total of 70 different strategies to go about saving money when dining out and she places a little blurb on the strategy's strong points to make you see the overall picture. Side note*** Unbeknownst to her, she turned me on to Ebates (1 of her goodies added to her strategy) a few weeks ago. Shhh Anyway again, pick up a copy of her ebook Mom's Dining Out Deals because trust me you won't be disappointed. How do I know? 3 ways... 1. I read it and only knew 15 to 20 strategies. 2. It's only $5. You will most likely get that back times 2 after using just 1 strategy. And 3. She has 3 watermelons. Until Tomorrow, Jai  Click To Enlarge Image
Bouquet Of Poison Ivy Believe it or not, I knew a guy who was itching to give his ex girlfriend a bouquet of poison ivy as a token of his loving affection. It turns out that she got wind of his plan and called her new boyfriend to weed out the situation. Lingerie From Your Previous Relationship Believe it or not, (again) a female friend of mine one time gave a pair of elephant pouch underwear, that she had stolen from her ex, to a new guy she was dating. She swore to me that she had washed them and I swore to myself to never date her. Jenny Craig Dinner I am not going to lie, Jenny Craig is a great program. I have lost a significant amount of weight after I gained several pounds because my wife got pregnant twice. However, no matter how romantic the JC marketers design their Valentine's Day meals, I can't perform my Rudolf Valentino act with a 3 cheese ziti dinner for 2. * Trader Joe's Wine Good Ole 2 buck chuck... Don't get me wrong Trader Joe's wine is fine for the other 364 days during the year but not for Valentine's Day. There are several companies that make inexpensive wine that don't have cheap ass mother f***king date written all over it. Opened Box Of Chocolate I am going to make this obvious one short and sweet... Unless you are a ping pong champion with a fishing boat who runs all over the world then don't open the box of chocolate because your name isn't Forest Gump. Until Tomorrow, Happy Valentine's Day Jai How Not To Hate Being Photographed 02/13/2012
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Luckily there are 3 ways to minimize the self inflicted pain of having your picture taken so you can finally enjoy those moments and say to yourself I don't hate being photographed. Practice Facial Expressions If you want your biceps to look big you have to lift weights. If you want your photographic moment to look unique and truthful you have to practice facial expressions. That is why I have a photographic exercise I make my clients do during their session which totally throws them off their game. I call it the Funny Angry Cute/Calm Excited and Sad exercise or FACES for short. That is right I have them make a funny face, angry face, cute or calm face, excited face and sad face. Why? Because once a client sits in my chair they automatically think they should start to smile... Survey says WRONG! in fact I could care less if you smile or not because whenever you tell someone to smile both sides of the lip muscle rises up into an awkward arc shape that resemble constipation. So, in order to keep my clients from being constipated (so to speak) I make them go through the F.A.C.E.S exercise first so that they get out of their head and stop thinking so I can take a great shot of them. Here are my F.A.C.E.S
Take Self Portraits Do you have an ipad, iphone, blackberry, or even a camera phone? If you don't then just pull out your digital camera and take a lot of photos of yourself especially right before a photo taking season like the holidays. Don't worry you can delete them when you are done analyzing them and if you are worried that someone will hack your device and post those horrible unwanted photos on the web... think again, you just aren't famous enough yet :). Taking self portraits in different situations helps you learn to fix the things you don't like seeing in the photo. Wether it's the angle you position your face or the curve in the angle of your nose that bothers you, taking a lot of self portraits throughout the year will make it a lot easier to set up your shot when someone in the crowd turns and says, "hey get together I want to take a picture of everyone." 
Self Portrait Of My Wife And Me
Just Say F**k It Have you seen your license and passport photo lately? Were you the deer in the headlights during the holiday family photo? If you think those are bad take a look at your high school graduation photo. Trust me both you and I hope to God those hairstyles don't come back. However the truth is that nobody really cares. Life moves forward wether you look great in the photo or not and sometimes, if you are brave enough, you can use it for a conversation piece. I one time asked a girl out on a date by showing her my horrid license photo and using a cheesy made up oneliner. This is what I said.
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HOWEVER! BIG WARNING... If anyone reading this thinks that this road I'm on doesn't have MANY CHALLENGES both financially and emotionally then you are NUTS. I am an educated man who happens to be born with just a little more risk taking then fear in my heart. If you want to make money then be a money maker. Ok now on to the goodies. I started making Youtube videos because I thought I had the ability to make funny videos that people would love which would bring lots of money. 4 years later I realize that it isn't that easy. However, late last year I won a commercial competition that gave me the emotional, physical and spiritual resurgence to continue making Youtube videos. That's when my loving wife called and said
That was in late October 2011. So, I busted my ass thinking of something that would win us a million dollars so that I could have a little more financial freedom and my wife would finally have enough money to remember my name. On November 14, 2011 I posted the video and a blog about the experience but thought nothing of it because I had about a 1 in 18,000 chance. However no matter what the outcome I was extremely proud that my submission video was a 100% family affair. 1. I wrote, acted and edited the video. 2. My wife did hair, makeup and costumes. 3. My brother directed and filmed the piece 4. And my 2 kids knocked it out the acting box and stole the show. Disappointingly but not surprisingly I found out that I didn't make the cut on January 5, 2012 and blogged about that experience. However, 2 weeks before the super bowl my video started picking up hits by the thousands and the money started to roll in. Yes roll in. (I will blog about it once the adsense numbers are confirmed) Day after day I would call my wife over to look at what I was seeing which made all of us happy and proud of our success. We danced like little kids in the middle of the floor as our children watched us scream in a Merengue like fashion, "FINALLY WE HAVE A VIRAL VIDEO." So you might be wondering... Did I make a million dollars? No, but I made a nice little nest egg. Does my wife remember my name? No, but now she calls me Joe which is really really close to Jai. Anyway, enough about that... Let's get on to some other GREAT news. IN JUST 45 DAYS OF JOINING THE YAKEZIE CHALLENGE I FINALLY DROPPED MY ALEXA RANKING BELOW 200K. THAT'S RIGHT JAICATALANO.COM IS NOW AT 198,180. Ok I am done typing loudly. :) Before I wrap up for the weekend I want to say thanks to Yakezie and everyone else that has been a part of this fun crazy journey. Thanks to my family... especially my wife and my brother. They both have been super supportive on many levels. And I want to give a big shout out to Fanny (a dancer and friend from Dance On 2) who has always commented on my videos and has continually sent me positive energy. (Next stop 225 Fanny) If you want to read more about this past week and have a smile at the same time, check out the links below. 1. 10 Questions To Ask Your Headshot Photographer Before The Photo Shoot 2. Who Does My Son Look Like Mom Or Dad? 3. What The Buck? Until Monday Jai What The Buck? 02/08/2012
By the time I got home last night I was extremely tired and ready for a well deserved sleep. Usually when it's very late I go right to bed but something inside me said to open my email. Casually I sat at my computer waiting for everything to load up but sleep was creeping in. KaBOOM!!! Suddenly and to my surprise I wake up to see an email from a Yakezie member. Instead of just telling you what he said I want to take a moment to say it totally woke me up. Not only was I half asleep driving home but I was all alone thinking of my sleeping family. So when I got home I should have just gone straight into bed with all of my clothes still on. Pretty stupid on my part I know but as an artist and a family man I have two sides to me. I am obsessed about being the best in everything I do and I am a tiny whiny bit narcissistic. Really! That is me in a nutshell. I mean I've many more sides to me but that is who I am so... Even though I was tired my tiny whiny narcissistic side woke right up when I read... Hey Jai, Since your Super Bowl commercial entry was going viral, I forgive you for missing your surprise. Enjoy! Buck Inspire Click his name and see for yourself. Buck you are a class act. I don't even think you can begin to know how nice it was to hear all those wonderful things. Buck you do Inspire. Until Tomorrow Jai Who Does My Son Look Like-Mom or Dad? 02/07/2012
Please click the photos above to enlarge them so you can have a better view and then take a second to cast your vote below. Thanks. Until Tomorrow. Jai | Loading
Jai CatalanoMy personal fun blog about my finances, digital photography career and my life with 1 wife and 2 kids. :) CategoriesAll ArchivesFebruary 2012  |
