Take It Easy

I know I said I was going to use the time stamp style of blogging.  Whatever - something hit me today and I need to get it out - NOW.

GoPro Bus Selfie with the Blue Light Special

As I was walking from the RTD Union Station to my office this morning (6:28am for you time stamp people), The Eagles started playing in my ears.  I really wasn't listening or even registering the music until after the first stanza.  Then it hit me...

"Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy

Lighten up while you still can

Don't even try to understand

Just find a place to make your stand

and take it easy."

The crazy thing is that I have been preaching this my whole life - take it easy.  The trouble is that I don't know how to follow my own advice.  I don't take it easy.  I get all uptight with my panties in a wad.  I pretend that I am "taking it easy" but in reality, I suck at it.  

I am a procrastinator - this is my attempt at "taking it easy" but in reality this just makes it harder on me and then I stress and kill myself with anxiety trying to catch up.  Procrastination is a very skewed way to think about taking it easy.  It doesn't work.

GoPro Bus Selfie Video when the bus driver turned on the lights.

I have started following some internet bloggers and they are really good at "taking it easy".  Well at least they make it appear that way.  These individuals make a living traveling the world and blogging.  They also freelance write when they need money but the important thing is that they are doing what they WANT to be doing.  They are not following anyone else's rules or template for success.  They are taking it easy with their own expectations of success - the key being that it is "their" expectations and not anyone else's.  I have always tried to meet someone else's expectation of me which is NOT taking it easy.

Okay back to the song - I want you to really listen to it.  Can you agree with the lyrics?  Pretend Don Henley is singing to himself and not to some scorned lovers and a new woman.  Now do you hear it?  Can you hear the sage advice being spoken?  It screams at me to slow down, take a close look at myself, forgive myself, and live my life taking it easy.  This doesn't mean lazy - it means a life full of compassion, forgiveness, and positive vibes everywhere.

TAKE IT EASY!

17 November 2014

2:33am - I can't sleep. Not even close. Anxiety for work slapped me hard and then dug its nails into me making sure I stayed awake. Fuck - this sucks. Why do I stay at a job that impacts me so negatively?  Oh yeah - the money. We need the money. Well this has better change real soon. I have been saying this for years now wondering when I will actually do something about it. Enough for now. I need to try and sleep.

5:59am - I just made the sprint to catch the HX bus into Denver. My hamstring screamed the whole way - damn I wish I hadn't pull it. I did finally fall back to sleep after my anxiety awakening. I was able to turn my anxiety into annoyance.  I cannot believe I let something like work interrupt my sleep. It took a long time (I remember seeing 4:00am on the clock) but I succeeded. So well in fact that Heather woke my up to tell me I needed to roll over - I must have been snoring.  The 5:13am alarm startled me but I was able to get out the door and catch the bus I needed to catch. Now I need to survive the day.

6:21am - still on the bus.  Decided to look up what "bae" means.  Turns out it means "poop" in Danish but people use it in social media to mean "baby".  I guess people are calling their loved ones shit.

Flies on Bae

7:11am - My "Transform My Life" app just changed.  It is a good assignment today:  "Today, as you dismiss the conditioning that 'insults your soul,' replace it with that which uplifts your soul."

7:24am - BREAKFAST at the office - enough said.

9:20am - I made a short video blog explaining my Monday Blues:

11:41am - I just finished lunch.  Not much of a lunch - a whole chicken breast. All I can think about is how I shouldn't be here.  Mondays are always bad.  Actually, my work anxiety starts on Sunday afternoon and normally dies Tuesday afternoon.  The time between is me fighting being here.  I resolve to finish out the week on Tuesdays for some reason.  I am working on my exit plan but it still sucks not being able to focus on snakes all day and being forced to think as a consultant for an industry lead by greed.  Photos like the one below make it all worth it though!  :)

1:38pm - I made a trip to the 7-Eleven for a quick afternoon snack.  I make this trek about once every 2 weeks and each time I get giddy with excitement.  The trouble is this feeling is followed by self-disgust and loathing after I eat those horrible Cheetos.  Tough shit - I put the crap in my body so I better learn enjoy the crappy feeling afterwards.

3:22pm - The dream machine is cranking away.  I have to move on and the sooner the better.  I have a project for the Center for Snake Conservation that has been churning in my brain for a while now (an actual facility) and it is time to bring this project to the crowds.  I will be working on building a crowd funding project this week to be released in time for the holiday giving season.  I need money to bring snakes to people.  I will make this happen.  Stay tuned for more on this but I just wanted to let you know that my brain is churning...BIG TIME.

7:47pm - watching Monday night football and brainstorming.  Almost time for sleep.  New day tomorrow.

Sunday - 16 November 2014

9:02am - Checking out video cameras that I want for Christmas.

Sony HDR-CX900/B - This one has a 1" sensor for AWESOME video recording.

9:35am - just published my Christmas Wish List blog. Time for breakfast.  

Two Egg Open-faced Breakfast Sandwich - I ate well today

10:26am - listening to iTunes radio while doing dishes. Aqualung by Jethro Tull starts playing.  This song has some of the best lyrics...

"watching as the frilly panties run"

10:45am - Time to clean the basement - guests will be here in a week.

11:55am - watching the Broncos game while cleaning the basement.  Broncos are having a bad game so far.

3:22pm - Cleaning off the key shelves.  Holy hell did we keep a lot of shit on these!  Just look at all the membership cards we have!

Membership cards that I haven't decided to throw out yet

4:23pm - It is already getting dark.  I hate winter...I really, really do.  No snakes, short days, and cold weather make Cameron a sad man.  Actually I like snow and the crisp beautiful light of a sunny day after a fresh snow.  I went out earlier today and played a little with the dogs in the snow.  The dogs have a blast and I smile.  :)

4:27pm - I made myself an interesting vodka martini (if you can call what I made a martini).  I made a simple sugar - lemon juice mixture to mix with ice cold vodka.  It isn't too bad.

4:38pm - Skid Rows's Rattlesnake Shake just played on iTumes radio - THE UNIVERSE SPEAKS AGAIN!

5:29pm - Chicken is on the grill.

6:45pm - Chicken is off the grill - time to eat.  My parents got me a chicken leg holder for the grill for my birthday.  This was my first time using it and I like it.  It was a no effort grill.  I put the legs on the rack, set it on the grill, and came back when they were done.  NOT TOO BAD AT ALL.  I am going to have to see what else I can cook with it.  :)

Chicken legs just basted with sauce - 30 more minutes until they are ready to eat.

8:30pm - Alarm went off for me to finish my blog and get to bed.  Watching the Patriots dismantle the Colts.  Good Night!

Christmas List - The Real Wish List

I want a video camera.  I have 2 GoPros (a Hero 3 and a Hero 3+) and a Sony HDR-CX100 HandyCam but it isn't enough.  As I explore video, I am learning very quickly that quality of the camera matters.  My cameras are AWESOME - please don't get me wrong.  I love them.  They are amazing but they are not of the quality I need for upclose and personal quality snake videos.

The GoPros are really fun to play with.  I have two because I dropped the Hero 3 into my coffee once and it killed it.  Well, it actually just killed the battery charging mechanism which I learned when I put a fresh battery into it after I got the Hero 3+.  I am just glad I didn't throw it away before I tried a new battery in it.  But GoPros are action cams, the are not made for creating quality educational videos about snakes.

GoPros are great for making action videos...

Coachwhip! from Snakes on Vimeo.

My Sony HandyCam is great too but it is old.  Video has come a LONG way since 2008.  I need an upgrade.

So what do I want for Christmas?  I REALLY want a Sony HDR-CX900/B which is a low level professional video camera.  It has a 1" sensor which is huge for handheld video cameras making for rich and crystal clear HD videos.  Unfortunately, it is also $1,300. 

The Sony HDR-CX900/B

The video camera that I will settle for is the HDR-PJ540/B. This is a high-end consumer camera with a steady shot feature to enable handheld filming.  No more tripod.  This camera is $700 - still out of reach without planning and saving.  It will make excellent and sharp videos of snakes in all types of light.

The Sony HDR-PJ540/B

So - this is my Christmas wish list.  If you wish, dreams can come true.  If you don't, you will be stuck in the same place forever.  Video is a great medium for reaching people about snakes.  I can show people their true nature and behavior.  Photos are amazing but they can't relay how incredible snakes are.  Snakespiration!

Time For A New Way Of Blogging

It is time for a new sort of blogging.  I haven't blogged much lately because I think I have to write something spectacular but it just isn't in me. Maybe I will "write" again and maybe even frequently but I feel I have been trying to force it which is exactly against my nature.  If you try to force me to do something that I don't want to do, I am going to dig a hole, climb inside, and bury myself so you can't find me (shit - I won't even be able to find myself).  This is EXACTLY what has been happening to me at work and home lately.  I have found myself hiding instead of thriving.

Yes - I have been having great fun with the Snakespiration vlogs but those are literally 6-7 minutes of vlog, 5 minutes of processing, and then 30 minutes of YouTube uploading.  Plus I WANT to do these - they are tons of fun.  I just wish they were interactive with an audience - maybe it is time for a daily Hangout-on-air but those take a lot of time (planning and engagement with viewers).

So what is my solution - it is simple really.  I am going to post a timestamped account of my day.  I am going to log into blogger and write short snips of how I am feeling, what I am doing, what I am thinking, and what I want at that moment.  What a great way of capturing my day!  I am already doing this with short vlogs and instagram posts.  I will just be adding words and timestamps.  I think this is a brilliant way for blog, vlog, and just have a TON of fun instead of the stress of writing that amazing blog again.

Don't understand?  Here is an example:

7:13am - Hanging out with the dogs on the couch by myself.  I am beating myself up pretty badly right now for all the things I haven't done.  It is an incredible day out and I should be blogging.  What should I blog about?  The dogs?

7:53am - the boys have joined me on the couch with the dogs.  They are in a mood.  a crazy mood and I need to feed them to end it.  I need to finish this blog first.  :)

webcam snapshot of me blogging

You get the point from here....(I hope).  I will still write the other blogs - I just need a way to focus my life and see where things aren't working (dig hole and bury myself).

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Snakespiration Episodes 3-5

Snakespiration Episodes 3-5 we are finally getting to the good stuff - sexing snakes, snake myths, and number of snake species.  ENJOY!  Be sure to watch them in HD!

Snakespiration!

Snakespiration – A Daily Video Blog with Me

What is Snakespiration?

Snakespiration is my personal daily challenge to inspire as many people as possible to really think about snakes, their natural history, and how they benefit a healthy ecosystem.  I am going to shoot for 30 days with this challenge but will gladly keep going as long as YOU keep asking questions.  I can always talk about snakes but I want to know what you want to know.

SNAKESPIRATION!

How will this work?  I will draw a question or activity out of a hat and have 24 hours to think about how I want to answer the question.  I will answer your questions unscripted and unedited.  You may see things that make you laugh, cry, angry, sad, or happy.  If you feel an emotion, I know I have succeeded to Snakespire you.  So send in your questions either through comments (YouTube, Google Plus, Facebook), tweets, or email (contact information will be at the end). 

My goal is to inspire you to think, talk, and appreciate snakes so my responses will not just be boring old facts regurgitated to you but instead be based on interactions with LIVE snakes. 

I will use a GoPro to film all episodes so everything will be in High Definition video.  I am hoping that the GoPro will give us a unique and interesting perspective that is interesting and engaging.  The plan to try to keep each episode under 10 minutes (ideal range is 3-6 minutes long) but you never know because once I start talking about snakes, it is hard to get me to stop.  If you have a question that pops up that I do not answer in the time allotted, send me a note and I will try to answer it in the next episode.

Okay – let’s make this happen.  Time for some Snakespiration!