Good Times in Fremont, Nebraska

Well we just returned from a 4-day stint in Fremont, Nebraska. We were in town shooting a wedding for our 2 friends Sarah and TJ.
Fremont is small farming town (about 25000 people) located approximately 40 miles west of Omaha. I say small but there is a WalMart and 24hr Hy-Vee located in town and many of hotels, Holiday Inn Express and Choice Sleep Inn offer free wireless. The downtown is a little area offering a few decent restaurants and shopping. One of the highlights of the downtown is the Blue Bottle Cafe offering free wireless and tasty treats this is definitely a must see if you're ever visiting Fremont.

The weather was a wee bit sticky but still a lot cooler than the 106 we returned to in Las Vegas. The pool was a little murky due to a lack of chlorine...a quick scrub and some chemicals and we'll be swimming in it tomorrow. :-)

That's all for now...we're moving along at Arrogant Apparel so take a look when you get a chance.

VP

Arrogant Apparel Project

So I tried to upload my AA logo and it came up Blue??? I don't understand...I converted the image from an eps file to jpeg and the colors were red and black, but when I uploaded it the image was blue...weird.So went back and uploaded the web page from our site...I'm still really new at this...but I'm not scared. So tell me what you think of the logo and our idea to help fund raise for the burn units. We're donating the profits from the sale of these shirts to the local burn units. My brother is a Vancouver Firefighter and he's told me of some absolutely horrible results when people are burned in fires in homes, cars, and simple accidents.

Fire knows no religion, no color, no creed; age, size and gender do not matter - it is completely indiscriminate in who it burns. We have all known or heard of someone affected by fire. This is a small way to help in the treatment and healing of burns. the sales will be driven by word of mouth and electronic marketing. Sales figures will be made available to the local fire agencies and reconciliation of sales will be a transparent process. Let me know if you come across our site and if you're interested in purchasing a t-shirt to help raise funds for this worthwhile cause.

Pricing and official launch information will be made availabe on our website, www.arrogantapparel.com and on my blog.

Thanks again,

VP

Is "Being Arrogant" a Good Quality?

American Heritage Dictionary
ar·ro·gant (ār'ə-gənt) Pronunciation Key
adj.
Having or displaying a sense of overbearing self-worth or self-importance.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version)
arrogant [ˈӕrəgənt] adjective
extremely proud; thinking that one is much more important than other people

Why do I ask? Well I've decided to resurrect an idea I had more than a few years ago - start my clothing company, Arrogant Apparel. I've been toying with the idea now for a while and after a few near starts I've brought my focus onto it now. I've recruited an excellent designer, Jason Pietrzak, to assist me with getting this project off of the ground. We've got a really cool site up at www.ArrogantApparel.com and have a MySpace page at www.MySpace.com/ArrogantApparel for friends and customers alike to look, shop online and give their feedback. It'll be a time consuming project at the beginning...and in the middle right up until the end. I'll be attending my first MAGIC show in Vegas at the end of August where I'm sure be simply overwhelmed by all of the information I'll be exposed to.

We're going to have some cool designs, fun slogans and outright cheeky sayings on the shirts. We'll also be doing some "good-works" designs as well for worthy causes we feel are important to support (Breast Cancer and Local Burn Units). I'm very excited about this and I know we'll be successful. Please drop me a line and tell me what you think.

VP

I'm friends with Nigel Skeet

I just had a great cup of coffee at Strbx with my friend Nigel Skeet. He's an amazing photographer, you can visit him at
http://www.nigelskeet.com/. He's in Las Vegas shooting for Von Dutch...nice deal. He get's to shoot amazing celebrities and free clothing as well. He attributes much of his recent success to maintaining an open mind, lessening the clutter his mind collects and finally abandoning the notion of caring about what other people think of him. I liken it to realizing you are the only person keeping score in the game of your life.

And to think that I knew him before he became a star ;-)

Seriously though he is one of the most authentic people I know and I'm so happy I met him along the way.

Sunday Mornings

I love Sunday mornings. It doesn't matter where I am - Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Cork...I love Sundays.

Currently there is the war in Iraq, tour de France and a heat wave in Las Vegas. I don't have a set path to follow. I jump from local to global news throughout the day. I do have various news outlets I follow - local papers (if I understand the language) TV and now more than ever I search online news-reporting sites for my information( Reuters, ITN, Memri, Al Jazeera, France24,Radio Netherlands, Now Public and the Independent). I feel I get a broader view of the current events happening in our world in addition to the news I see on CNN, Fox and MSNBC.

I have also found myself looking at different blogs around the blogosphere to get an idea of people's opinions and getting a sometimes raw honest view of what's happening on this big blue marble.

I'll take my time today as I always do on Sundays - to read and digest the updates from around the globe and locally. I try and devote as much of the day to myself as possible - it's funny how that may sound selfish to some...but not to me. I know I'll be back at the grind tomorrow so I give a little gift of casual research to myself on Sundays.

When travelling, I like to take time to read the local news or about the city I'm in - it gives me a sense of familiarity with the place. It's also a great way to share and provide intelligent or at fact based opinions with locals without getting too deep. It may give you something to talk about with the local barman/barmaid as you sit in an unfamiliar pub as the only American in the room. If you're in an internet cafe, ask about a local blog - It goes a long way to change the perception of "disinterested arrogant American" . Tell a local that you read that the local community center is hosting a music night and ask their opinion- it shows you're taking an interest in the local activities. I try and stay away from topics of religion and politics- certain cultures don't appreciate a foreigner visitors' opinion when it comes to local or regional matters - even if you agree with the general residents opinion. It often does no good to bash your government in a country you're visiting - it may be seen as disloyal. Even though you may be a firm believer that dissent is in fact a strong part of our democratic system and process - it may serve you well to talk about local issues - IMHO.

Back soon,


VP

Great Days

So I have gone and returned from IRL and I'll write about that soon enough. I wanted to say I have been having some great days lately. I've been reading the book, The Secret, lately and man has that changed my attitude lately...I'm close to half way through it and it's been a pretty easy read for me. I started reading it and remembered reading or started to read a similar book close to 20 years ago but for the life of me I couldn't remember the title. I became quietly obsessed with the previous book and trying to remember the name and today as I was reading the Secret it came to me - Creative Visualization, by Shakti Gawain. I was thrilled that this had come to me and sped down to my B&N and picked up a copy...I promise my self I am going to read it.

I have been having good thoughts now for a while and my creative self is coming back to me. I am reinvigorated and thrilled to be writing again...

More soon.

VP