So what am I procrastinating on?

I’m working on another design for something, yet again, while working on my podcast, attempts at music/songs, and IT’s all wrapped in this thing known as “life.” So, what makes me keep going?  The ideas never stop, and if they did, then I better be locked up in a padded room and throw away the key!

Now on with the post:

ITRadio

IT’s been a couple of months now that Frosty has retired as co-host from ITRadio, and I’m showing no signs of stopping the show.  ITRadio’s my baby, my outlet, my way of forgetting about work and the stupid shit going on in my life.  I’ve been brainstorming ideas left and right with friends, and even throwing ideas to Frosty to get his opinion. He may be done co-hosting, but I know he still cares about the show, and will give me an honest opinion on an idea.

I’ve been running with the “2 Mics, 1 Graeme” idea for a few shows now and I’m enjoying talking to myself, I mean my brain. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out at first, but I think it has some serious potential.  Some think it might be hard to hold a conversation with yourself, but that’s me. People wanted to know what it was like to “get inside Graeme’s/Weird Cookie’s” head, and this is it.  I trash talk myself.  Oh yeah, and Weird Cookie may have left wrestling, but there’s no difference between the two names. Graeme is Weird Cookie and Weird Cookie is Graeme. (sorry for the mini WC tangent there).

I love that ITRadio is still an underground show, but I would love to sell out. As much as I am/was against a structured show, I need to create that for the show. I’ve been having brainstorm sessions with friends for months now, and I feel bad because we come up with great ideas, but I never utilize them. I want to play promos/commercials for sponsors. I want to (and am) bringing back the ITRadio Rock Paper Scissors Intercontinental Championship Challenge. I want to bring my music to the show that I create (which will also work for FeedThisBlog). With all this said, I want to do it in such a way that I still enjoy what I’m doing.  Even if I lose every fan, friend, and listener of ITRadio, I would still do the show if I enjoyed it as my outlet!

FeedThisBlog.com

As you may know, FeedThisBlog.com came out of the code name for a new ITRadio WordPress layout earlier this year, and once I decided to roll with the idea of a new website I had a picture in my head of where I wanted it to go. The only thing I lacked was the drive, motivation, and time.  Sure, IT should be easy to write my thoughts. Hell, I spout shit from my mouth on a weekly basis with ITRadio, how hard should IT really be?  Hell #2, I used to LiveJournal/blog like crazy while I was still in school & wrestling (http://weirdcookie.livejournal.com) and I had no problem writing down my daily thoughts and actions. I don’t need to question why I stopped writing, but instead I need to set a game plan for the site.

I want this site to be very “Graeme driven”, not that ITRadio isn’t “Graeme driven,” but the behind the scenes thoughts and ideas from me and more of a “check out what I’ve done” type of site.

I’ve created hundreds of song ideas  using Ableton Live in the past 7 years, and I keep meaning to post them, but I never do.  I write/compose/create tracks using royalty-free samples, as well as my own ideas using MIDI, my keyboards and soft synths.  I should just start turning them in to MP3′s and have them be released on a weekly basis.

I’ve created HTML (not freehand by any means, thanks Dreamweaver) websites before Geocities was even around for my own enjoyment and I want to post the sites that I’ve done, as well as the WordPress themes that I’ve created over the past 4 years. Both with the original layout image and what I used as the final design.
All in all, everything comes down to MOTIVATION and PROCRASTINATION.  The motivation is there, and I don’t think it’s a matter of procrastination that is limiting me in what I do, but I get overwhelmed with even the smallest of challenges.  If you don’t believe me, you should hang out with me when I’m trying to clean my room/studio.

Thanks for reading this, and please, if you have any ideas that can help me with any of my projects, or you would like to lend your help and support, let me know.  I use ITRadio and FeedThisBlog as outlets for what is inside my head.  I know not everything I do will spark the interest of everyone, but I hope there are some things you can enjoy, even if it’s a 30 second track of “noise,” or seeing how many times I can say “fuck” (or “phuck” depending on my mood).

I didn’t expect starting two more projects in the following months, but it happened. In May/June, the “Social Media, What?” podcast started, followed by the Nususa Live streaming online concerts.  I didn’t feel that I had too much on my plate, but instead, I had the right amount of things to tide me over.  I needed every one of these projects to drive me to the next episode of ITRadio, the newest post on FeedThisBlog, learning more about social/new media, and how to pull a streaming online concert series off.  Some people thought there’s too much on my plate, yet I thought I had enough projects to keep myself motivated, which is what I needed to keep myself busy.

Then came the news from Frosty that he was going to “hang up the podcasting gimmick” and leave ITRadio as a co-host.  In the back of my mind, I knew the day was coming, but when he finally said he was calling it quits, it made me take a step back and look at where I was, and where I wanted to go with everything.  Do I quit ITRadio? What do I do with “SMW?,” FeedThisBlog, and the live streaming concerts? What am I going to eat next to twoop about later?

That’s when the idea for this blog post popped into my head, yet it took 3 weeks to write.  I needed a place to put my thoughts on the future of everything, and I wanted others to see the ideas, too.  In case I fell behind or didn’t know what to try next, I could always come back to this post.

Where does IT go from here?  I’m starting from the most current project, and working my way back… because as Hot Donna would say, IT always comes back to poop… on ITRadio.

Nususa Live – Live concerts streamed to your computer.

I’ll admit it, the live concert idea was simply that… an idea.  I have seen a few bands do live concerts via the internet, but the websites promoting the concerts never followed through after a few shows, or the band doing the concerts lost interest. So, when I threw the idea out to Ian of StudioZeroSeven, he took the idea and ran with it.

Sure, we’ve only done one broadcast so far, but we already have two more concerts, for sure, lined up.

Where I see Nususa Live going:  I want to see artists perform in an intimate setting, but where the whole world can tune in.  I want to have local and national talent performing in a new medium, and hopefully a new audience. I may have limited video skills, but I want to get better. I want to be able to produce something special that not everyone is able to see everyday, and also come back for more.

Nususa Live is something I couldn’t do on my own, and I’m glad Ian liked the idea, ran with it, and also was willing to use StudioZeroSeven as the venue.

Social Media, What?

SMW? is the project that almost didn’t happen.  A great social media/new media friend of mine and idea man, WW3/Goldbar.TV thought I should do a social media podcast, talking about all things social media, but from a non-expert point of view.  I happened to meet my co-host, Ian, at a local TweetUp.  We both have the same mentality to learn everything social media, and the best way to learn is to help others learn as well.

I wanted, and believe I’ve managed to create a show for the people just getting in to social media, and also people who want to learn more about social media, but don’t understand the so called “experts.”  I want the show to be a laid back show about anything that seems to be relevant at the time, because who knows what medium will be a thing of the past when you wake up in the morning.

So, what would I like to see happen?  Interviews with anyone that involves themselves in some form of social/new media, more media content, may it be blogs, links, pictures dealing with social media and make the website/blog a “go to site” for all things social/new media.  I want to ride every wave of this form of media to see where it takes not only me, but everyone else who’s involved in some way, shape, or form.

Part 2 coming to you next week!

Sorry for the delay in posts… all that care to read my ramblings! Thank you.

Graeme

p.s. Not sure why I made this look like some kind of letter, but I’m not hitting the delete key anymore for the night!

Hey everyone, just thought I would let you all know, I have just started a brand new podcast called “Social Media, What?”.  Recorded at StudioZeroSeven, it’s the first ever episode of Social Media, What?! Each episode your hosts, Graeme of ITRadio (and FeedThisBlog) and Ian of StudioZeroSeven, will cover different topics and how they impact with Social Media… even if they don’t always know what they’re talking about.

I’m to lazy to write something new, so I just copy and pasted this from Social Media, What?’s ‘About’ section, haha.

“Social Media” and “Social Media, What?” are like art… there are no rules! They are shotgun blasts of information that are splattered on a wall to see what sticks.  People create and upload content for others to see, and the emotions it creates when seen and heard.  The hosts, Graeme and Ian, want to inform our listeners what we have learned in the Social Media world, and hope to also learn from the listeners, as well.

We’re not experts. IT seems that most of the podcasts that are out there dealing with Social Media are geared towards the ‘experts’ in Social Media. There isn’t a show available for the average joe, and that’s where Ian and myself come in.

These three places are times during your day you stop concentrating, start to daydream and your mind works in the background as your thoughts go on autopilot. I’ve realized this and I’ve also come up with the solution on harvesting the ideas.

While you’re driving, have a voice recorder nearby, call your own voicemail or Twitterfone your idea. If you do use Twitterfone as a source of recording, be sure you want the public to hear your ideas or use/steal them for themselves.

When you’re showering, your options are limited, but you can use a voice recorder. If you don’t have a voice recorder, check your phone, because most new phone models have a voice record function and don’t forget, you can always dry yourself off so you can write down your idea.

The easiest (and best) place to get and record your ideas is while you’re sitting down on the crapper. You are able to text a message on your phone, call your voicemail/Twitterfone, use a laptop or you can go old school and bring in a pen and paper.

I know these places aren’t everybody’s choice place for ideas, butt (pun intended) if you have ideas, write them down! Even if they are the worst idea when you look back at them, it never hurts to write them down. If you know someone who might be able to put your idea into motion, make that connection. Getting the idea is the first step, but to see that idea realized, you need to move the idea forward!

Also, don’t try and force the ideas, because usually those are the ones you want to flush!

_______________________________

I love hot dogs (or the way I say IT: hut dogs), but not just any kind of hot dogs. I love the hot dogs that used to be 3 for $1 rotisserie style hot dogs from Kwik Trip gas stations in WI.  I loved these hot dogs and once I moved to Minnesota, the only times I would have them would be on road trips. There are Kwik Trips in Minnesota, but IT’s not the same and they’re not close to where I live. During my Indy Pro-Wrestling days, I had created an urban legend with my obsession with Mtn Dew and the Kwik Trip Hot Dogs. The only thing about the urban legend stories, were the fact they were real.

I didn’t start eating the Kwik Trip hot dogs until 1999 when a friend showed me the “rock star breakfast/lunch/dinner.” I would eat them as often as I would eat Taco John’s while still living in Wisconsin.  The hot dogs were just regular Oscar Mayer wieners that Kwik Trip sold in their store.  What drew me to them? I don’t know, but I had to have them any time I would go to a Kwik Trip. IT was my obsession at the time and I don’t even know if the word obsession is a strong enough word to  describe my need to have them.

I moved to Minnesota in 2000 and that was also the same time I was involved with an Indy Pro-Wrestling federation that did the majority of their shows in Wisconsin and many of them were in my hometown of Eau Claire. So, I would be traveling around Wisconsin at least two or three times a month and every weekend I would have Kwik Trip hot dogs.  In fact, I’ve eaten at almost every Kwik Trip that Eau Claire and surrounding cities had. Even to this day, if a new Kwik Trip opens, I have to have the hot dogs, no if, ands or buts!

I made it part of my Weird Cookie (my wrestling name) gimmick, which wasn’t a gimmick at all. I have a LiveJournal that I would update throughout the week in between school and the wrestling shows. I would talk about the stupid road trip stories that Horace the Psychopath, Rain and I would have and the trips to Kwik Trip. And it never was just hot dogs alone, there would be the Mtn Dew that would be talked about, too.

I don’t know what kind of influence I had, but I had instant messages from fans turned friends that said they had Kwik Trip hot dogs for dinner, including a Mtn Dew to drink. IT would be one thing for them to have it for dinner, but they felt the need to tell me.

This was also the time my metabolism was going crazy! There was one weekend I had to stop at my parent’s house and pick something up. For whatever reason, I raided the fridge out of habit and they had an almost whole pizza and they let me take it.  From my parents place, we drove to the nearest Kwik Trip that was 5 min away. By the time we parked, I ate half of what was left of the pizza when I got it.  We went in to the Kwik Trip, purchased my hot dogs and some junk food and waited for the others to pay.  When I made it to the car, I hit up the trash can to throw away the hot dog tray gimmick. I ate all the hot dogs while waiting.   After that, finished the rest of the pizza, my junk food and I was still hungry.

Recently, I met up with my family at a Kwik Trip in between Minneapolis and Eau Claire.  After my dad gave me whatever I needed to pick up from him, I had to run inside to use the bathroom. Not sure why, but he and my sister waited until I came back out to leave. During that time, my dad turned to my sister and asked if I was buying hot dogs.  She said, probably.  Sure enough, I walked out with my 3 for now $1.39 Kwik Trip hot dogs. I can’t NOT do IT. IT’s not a gimmick, IT’s real.

I love my Kwik Trip hot dogs, no matter what the price, I’ll get my hot dogs even though I have been slacking and either getting chicken and Swiss cheese sandwiches or just the jumbo dog, but rarely will I get hot dogs from any other gas station, because IT’s not the same to me. I need them from Kwik Trip or I won’t get them.