Me with Adrianne Gonzalez and Kyler England of The Rescues - <3

Writing a book doesn’t have that much to do with writing a book.  It’s been more about organizing information, filtering through it, and learning about the publishing and self publishing industries.  So far, that’s the case.  I had a friend come into town, and she wanted to catch some live music on Friday.  I thought I’d be suave, and make happen what I had happen with my friend Joanna, while I was couchsurfing with John and Julia (whom I met at Burning Man)— we took out some ocean Kayaks, food, and booze, and saw Crosby Stills and Nash over at Humphreys.

Humphreys however had no one playing on Friday, which I found odd, ’cause they usually have quite the lineup .  I don’t mean to be spoiled… but watching a concert by Kayak is more fun than just going to a show.  I like things to be new and exciting, or at least unique. I don’t know any of the San Diego performance spaces, nor do I know who’s playing.  Sure… there’s Google for that, but Google can land you in an outletless coffee bar with no internet (such as Living Room in La Jolla). So, we just went for some good Mexican food.

The next night however I was as giddy as a little girl at a Justin Bieber concert!  I saw Kyler England post on Facebook that she’s recovering from a midnight milkshake, and that the band is on their way to San Diego for the last show of their tour

The band is “The Rescues”.  I’m a huge fan!  They are 4 members in size, and every single one of them Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re not familiar with Ted/TedX, it’s a conference of the most brilliant minds…. They’re having a conference all day about the oil mess…. should be quite educational- just click play.

A younger gentleman contacted me that I’d make a good role model.  I love helping, and he did find me on ENTP.org — contacted on FB.  I went with it.  I listened to his stories, gave feedback in full honesty about my past, my experiences, and my answers to difficult questions… even one like “Should I go to college?”

ENTP’s are often the world’s artists…. yes, Seth Gofin’s Linchpin states that art is when you put your gift into what you are doing, so accounting can be art… it’s problem solving, navigating without a map, and working on the edge of the box.  But ENTP’s are the troubled ones that can do anything.  We know we can do anything, and thus we bounce around between anything.

We’re pretty popular in advertising… come up with creative ideas, fight deadlines, show diversity, emphasize with a brand or logo.

I gave all my answers for everything– the lessons I’ve learned in life. These are not the, but give you a sense of some.

Move away from negativity, move towards the positive stuff….. sometimes easier said than done.  This can mean reading a book that bores you, or helping someone without getting anything back.  It can – and ofte does – mean having to fire your friends that are losers.  Yeah… I wrote it… and for your question of “Who is he to judget?” screw what I think… what do you think?  It’s proven…. you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.  Income, fitness, optimisim, negativity, sarcasm, love, success– everything.

So, a loser is someone that’s holding you back.  Someone who’s not taking chances, or willing to pursue their own dreams and goals.  Someone who is fine with settling, and always talks shit about your dreams.  Ditch ‘em, and get mentors; people that inspire you to do better.  People who have already done what you want to do.  Learn from other’s mistakes… it’s much cheaper, trust me.

One thing I’ve learned is that five years from now, most everything that will have changed in your life is who you spend time with, and what books you’ve read (what you’ve learned… I do a lot of audio books / videos).  I was told that everything I said resounded as right…. Others weren’t able to connect on the same level.  Cool, I can help.

The books I suggested were Tim Ferriss’s The 4 Hour Workweek, Dale Carnegie’s Win Friends and Influence People, and Strengths Finder 2.0.

TJ took action, and got all 3 books.  I continue to help when people take action.

He said his strengths were:
Command
Ideation
Futuristic
Strategic
Self-Assurance

Mine are:

Command
Strategic
Futuristic
Activator
Self-Assurance

I’d say it sounds like he chose a role model pretty well.  I’m not talking about what my life’s been, but rather that we’re both ENTPs with 4 out of 5 overlapping strengthsfinder results.

“One day, I would love to meet you and work with you because I have noticed that you do not have Ideation listed as one of your top 5…I feel this is one of my greatest talents and I feel like out of all of them, it is what makes me stand out the most as an individual. I have endless, endless ideas. They come from everything I lay eyes on. If you used your talents and skills to help me launch them…We could make a shitload of money. A shitload. I have ideas for practically anything you can imagine….businesses included. Implementation is difficult for me though, because I have very little resources at the moment, a huge roadblock for all of my ideas is capital. This could be easily overcome if I could tap into your network….What do you think?”

Well… I value my network.  It’s my most priceless posession.  You!  Reading!  Your time and attention, and teh people I couchsurf with, do business with, go on adventure with, call friends…. It’s what I value in life.  So… to just prance into my life and say that you want access to that is balsy.  I encourage it.  Game on.  But ideation?  I don’t feel attacked, but trust me in saying that just ’cause it’s not in my top 5, does not mean that I do not posess the skill.

In fact, ideation is one of my most noticeable skills.  I can come with more uses and solutions for things than most anyone I’ve ever met.  Let’s see what he’s got.  That, and I know what motivates ENTPs    We’re a competitive bunch…. and we both have the self-assurance strength, and futuristic, so of course, we’re both going to think that we’ll win anything.    So, I challenged him…

This Monday at 11pm EST, on my weekly BlogTalkRadio show, Couchsurfing Radio, there will be an idea off!

40 Minutes of the show will be dedicated to this (Everyone still wants to know what’s up with Jason Moffatt’s cliffhanger about the Maori Healer (here’s a pic of the guy:

One of the Maori Healers at the Longevity Conference

)

The 40 minutes will be split into 8 minute segments… 2 minutes of the person with a question explaining it, then each of us gets 3 minutes.  Part of the 1st 20 minutes will be to decide which questions will be answered.  We could do 5 of these, but I doubt we’ll stay to 3 minutes each   When ideating, it’s easy to get lit up, and want to just keep going on ideas.  If something truly rocks, then we’ll keep it going.  So, we will solve 4 people’s problems.

Leave a comment with anything that you need ideas on. My strengths finder results can be found at this Blog Post on Happiness. Please share this with friends, so we can really solve people’s problems.  I charge a lot of money to do this for your company… so this is your chance to get consulting for free.  What’s not working? What would you like to do?  What’s working and you’d like to improve?  Personal? Business? Social Media? Fitness? Music? Eating? Humor? Connecting? Dude- pick a question, post it as a comment.

Which question would you like to see answered? Comment about that?  We’ll decide based on comments that have been posted by Monday night.  I know what I Can do, and I”m constantly told how helpful it is.  Let’s see what TJ has.  If he kicks ass, maybe someone will want to hire him for his creativity and ideation, which he says is a large value component of who he is.

Leave a comment, and hopefully we can give you just the idea you need.

This is one of those brief blog posts (they all start like that).   I don’t need to go into every detail, but I feel like 2 different people… and each has its strength and weakness.

In December/January, I was reaching the cusp of a period of period of distraction.  I was uber-creative, more than usual… but also hlongad a bitch of a time focusing and implementing.  I’d get stuff done… it was just getting started.  My bank account felt it.  That’s some of the stuff I haven’t been posting.  It really sucks when you get hit with an overdraft, get funds again, and keep racing the credit cards.  Not a good feeling.

Then, out of the blue, I just get hit with all these projects.  Some public speaking (which I truly enjoy – let me know if you need a speaker for your company/event/conference), some graphics, some photography, some scriptwriting/filming/editing (my favorite kind too!), and some consulting.  It seems there’s no time to sleep… the other day I blew off a midnight party when I woke up at midnight with indigestion… but I was a happy camper, ’cause when I went to sleep at 5pm, we had just celebrated getting our week’s worth of sleep-sacrifice out at FedEx at 3:57, when 4pm was the absolute deadline.  What a rush!

So, there’s hippy Ori, and yuppie Ori. Craig says I shouldn’t say “Workaholic”, as it has a negative connotation… try “really motivated” instead.  So… I’m back in my “really motivated” state now, and I don’t know if I’ve changed lives, saved a kitten, or waht… but each gig is getting cooler and cooler.  Check this out for example:

The other day, my buddy Caleb Jennings catches me on Skype.  Caleb is working with David Wolfe, and they are throwing Longevity Conference.  Caleb invited me to be their VIP Guest… but as you recall, my funds situation was not the best… I was not sure about Travel Funds, as I was busting ass to get caught up.

I’d love to see my friends, and learn new things, but is that the responsible thing to do?  “Do you guys need a photographer?”  “I don’t know… you’d have to ask Larry.”

The next day I get a call “you’re not going to believe this-  I woke up at noon, had a skype on my screen ‘Can Ori shoot the event for us, and how much?” He hadn’t spoken to Larry… it just so happened that I partied with Larry at Burning Man, and he got to see my badass photo skills, so had me in mind.  What luck?!

So, I worked all day.  I worked all night.  I worked the same the previous day, etc… I took a break to go running.  I’m in “really motivated” mode, so I’m listening to more audio books again, and exercising is easier.

Friends are great, the weather’s great, and I’m spending some time thinking forward.  Expect some interesting changes soon….

Anyways, it’s 2:10.  I haven’t packed.  At 2am I got a text confirming I have a place to stay.  It was actually Aron telling me that his friend Angel will text me.

Angel heard about my photography, and she lives right next to where the conference is.  She’s meeting me at thae airport. She sounds really cool… I don’t know much about her though, as I only asked at 10:20pm

last minute couchsurfing shoutout

In 4 hours, someone got a hold of me, and I already know that since she’s friends of Aron, she must be interesting and fun.

I feel I haven’t blogged in a while…. maybe that’s why I’m blogging at 2:30am, while my bag is unpacked.

Oh yeah, clothes.  I bought a bunc of new ones over the last few days.  Mock me if you must, but I’m looking schnazzy, and I did so very affordably at Ross. I love my new Kenneth Cole belt.  Anything Kenneth Cole looks amazing on me.  I don’t know how or why that is.  If Kenneth reads this, and wants to sponsor my journey, I will wear Kenneth Cole all day, all night (but not ALL of every night… if you know what I mean.)

So, yeah… feel I haven’t blogged in a while.  I’ve certainly been swamped with work.  So, now I’m making up for it.

Ok, seriously- gotta go pack! Stop reading!  I mean it, I gotta go!  Well… ok… I’ll just write more from Cali– it’s bound to be interesting!  Check out where I’m going.

I think I may do more event photography- it’s a fun way to travel, and I like events.  Give me a few days, I’ll organize an album.

I am watching the Oscars with my friend Sheila (who apparently knows everything about Hollywood), and I don’t really know a majority of the actors, or movies they were in.  They showed how in a previous era, Casablanca had won.  I tweeted that I never have seen Casablance.

So, since there’s more than one of us, I”m setting up National Casablanca night!  A night where we all watch Cassablanca on our own computers, phones tvs, ipads– whatever….

Join us, as we watch what is supposed to be a classic  (I presume that means the special effects will suck).

What night (after SXSW) is good for you??

I’m thrilled to report that today, instead of me driving to California, I have someone coming to couchsurf with me in Austin, TX.  I had people stay with me while I was in Atlanta, but this time, I”m couchsurfing with soeone else, and someone else is coming to stay with me (Confused yet?).

Elizabeth has never had Sake, so we’re having a Tweetup tonight–  The Sushi/Sake tweetup. (Haven’t decided on the Where… just sign up, and we’ll tell you today)  Tomorrow morning, we’re going Zip-lining. Also, we’re going to shoot some fun pics, since I’m a photo-elitist, and her photos are too normal for my taste.

That’s a good amount of adventure for one weekend.  It’s also my monthly adventure (if you read my 2010 goals… I”m semi-settled in, but I want to make sure I get at LEAST 1 adventure a month).  I may squeeze in more adventures, but a lot of consulting work has come in, as well as design work, so we’ll see– but at least I’m going ziplining, and helping someone else have a very memorable weekend.

This could be the new model for me.  Come visit me, we’ll go adventure, get you some great pics, and come up with tons of solutions for your business.

I am extremely thrilled to report on the good nature of people, and on the benefits of having over 10,000 followers on twitter:  I wanted a specific video camera for Zip-lining… The Hero Camera.  I asked on Twitter who had one, and Marshall Haas not only has one, but he overnighted it to me!  Just so I can suction-cup it onto my helmet, and get great footage of the Zip-lining experience.  How amazing is that?

Marhsall has actually just developed an awesome Iphone app where you get to beat up your boss   Stress relief is cool… but… you also get a chance to win a bunch of money, recognition, and much more… in fact.. I’m going to have to interview him, and make a blog post about this.  It’s quite fascinating the big names he’s gotten involved, and maybe it will motivate you to develop an app… neat business model.

If YOU would like to go on an adventure with me, contact me!

Fireworks - seems like a good pic for the new year

As of 2pm on January 1^st, I will have been couchsurfing a full 3 years. I have to admit, it’s gone by quickly. Everyone says “Where did the year go?” But because I blogged more this year, I actually know where it went.  I didn’t blog everything- but here’s my summary.. Read the rest of this entry »

Back then it was more like Crib Surfing Ori

I was cute and innocent back then.  My parents can give all sorts of examples of how early I caused trouble   I like being mischievious.

Anyways– this post will be short, ’cause it’s 12:30am, and I’m still packing up.  I want to be done packing soon, and get on the road to Austin, TX.  I have many awesome friends there, and we’re having a party at 8:30 (CST) at The Club at 360.  You’re invited too!

So… while packing isn’t all that exciting… this time it is.. ’cause what I can’t fit in my car is being thrown away.  And… my 3 monitors are taking up a ton of space, so… that doesn’t leave much for stuff to take.

Other than packing, this is the greatest way to start a new year:

I already mentioned a party. Then there’s great friends.  There’s an adventure (a 14-16 hour road trip in the niddle of the night).  My older brother called right at 11:59, and sang happy birthday… then I made him sing it in Hebrew… then I made him sing it in Italian (he’s really smart… could’ve done Spanish & French too).  Then my parents called and sang.  The great thing is that I recorded all their singing!  The sound will probably suck ’cause my speaker phone ain’t that great, but I was recording a funny video for my blog where …. hmmm… you know what, you’ll have to wait to find out what it is!  But I’ll tell you this much, my friend Brian that was on the phone when I came up with the idea was stunned, and said I must let him know what happens.  Since it was so crazy, and funny, I said I’d record it.  Glad I did record it, ’cause now I was able to get the b-day singing (to be posted once I’m in Austin).

So yeah.. also starting the year blogging, and making cool videos.

33 is great so far!  Yeah.. go ahead and start with the Old Jokes   “Were you sad when the dinosaurs died?”  — I told a 31 year old today that we didn’t have televisions back when I was his age

Anyways- off to pack, and get on the road!  If you want to give me a birthday present, buy me gas, it will really help me out.

The rubber chicken rules!

Fantasy Fest in Key West is so much fun!  This only proves my theory though that it’s not what you do.. .it’s who you do it with!  I’m down here crashing with Couch #2 – Cari.  She had her crate of costumes from Burning Man (Complete with piles of Playa dust ), so has dressed all of us that are here up.  I’m wearing ruffled leggings for my arms… a bandoleer, a blue raver-girl wig, crazy motorcycle goggles… and a rubber chicken that honks when you squeeze it… the Rubber Chicken is hanging out of my pants, and everyone keeps trying to make it honk.  Before you go saying that I’m being obscene, let me remind you that: Thesaurus.com lists a synonym for “Chicken” is “cock” , so it’s not me being a perv…  But, my cock was hanging out, and everyone kept grabbing it, and the “Chocking the Chicken” jokes were flying!

So… I’m hanging out with two vampire babes, and a sexy nurse.  We started off riding bicycles.  Oh yeah- one of the people took me to the bike rental place, said “This is a friend of mine.” They said “Ok.” and gave me a bike! Free bike, yay!  So… we ride to this party, have a couple of drinks, and then take off riding through the Walking Parade.  Crazy crazy costumes! Everywhere you look… and the Zombies dancing to thriller were rocking it… especially the Michael Jackson zombie!  Read the rest of this entry »

These photos are not mine… they’re just a few quickies I found when I image-searched Fantasy Fest.

Hey folks!  Today’s blog post is really short! It’s 1 pm, and I decided  to go for it… I’ve been debating going down to Fantasy Fest… but when Couch #2 called me up, said she’ll be down there, and already scored me a couch (or a hammock if I want) right in the midst of it, and Saturday’s the big parade… I decided “Screw it!  I’m going!”  I just got my 16-35mm lens back from the shop, and I’m packing up in a hurry.  So…. expect updates from Florida!  10 hours of driving, and then….. Fantasy Fest.  To see what it is: http://FantasyFest.net

Some people know me “oh so well!” Big shout out to Holly for sending me an email that had my name all over it (well.. only in the To line… but it was clearly targeted at me):  Rare Magazine Presents Dos Equis Rare Academy” -

Get Your Masters in Interesting

The world’s premiere institution for the education and dissemination
of the study of being interesting, the Most Interesting Academy, will
for the first time in its long and storied history, open its doors to
you. This is your chance to acquire awe-inspiring skills and eclectic
knowledge.
 Read the rest of this entry »

The Titos Vodka Dinner Food/Drink Menu

Food can be cooked in Vodka.  Drinks can be made from Vodka (Duh!).  Fun can be had with Vodka.  Burt Butler Beveridge II, AKA Tito, makes the best Vodka.
I was quite honored to have a seat for free at this $60 per seat dinner at Z-Tejas, a fine dining establishment in Austin, TX.  People gladly paid (it was sold out), to have a chance to not only have the delicious food that Z-Tejas is known for, but also to meet Tito in person.  Tito is quite legendary, and rightfully so. That said, I was quite pleased to find out that while many people had to wait all evening to have a minute of Tito’s time, I was seated on his immediate left.  So… here’s how dinner worked: Read the rest of this entry »

Laughter has so many physical/mental benefits! I really had a lot of fun at Atlanta Creativity Exchange when I attended their Laughter Yoga. It’s apparently a big fad in India. I felt great after leaving this class. I recommend trying this! I taped/edited it, so you can try it yourself. Spread the word! Read the rest of this entry »

Twestival is an amazing event that tries to raise funds & awareness about all the people that don’t have potable (drinkable) water in the world.  The organization CharityWater installs wells in Ethiopia, etc… So, to raise more money, they had an event in over 180 cities, which they used twitter for.  It’s quite amazing.  Here’s my video of my experience… there was Sumo wrestling… Read the rest of this entry »

Woo Hoo!  Wow, the sun will shine brighter, the air will become cleaner, people will smell better… oh yeah folks… it’s a brand new world (assuming the president doesn’t get assasinated). Read the rest of this entry »

Summary: Ori & Angela wake up at the glamorous Allegro hotel in Chicago, see the craziest things from the front lines, and show you many photos of this unique event.
Read the rest of this entry »

When I started this trip, one of my intentions was to speak to school children about adventures, about living your dreams, about photography, and of course about making sure you question authority! I have to admit that I’ve been sort of slacking in that department (pursuing the presentations), but as you all know, I got mad-crazy luck (See the Brooklyn-speak ) and what I want usually happens through coincidences. So.. couch 60 (Q) works at Brooklyn University, teaching Digital Studio Recording. I went with Q to work one day, and he introduced me to the program director, and when she told me what they are doing, I volunteered to do a lecture. Turns out they were actually in the works on a guest speaker series… So,I’m excited to say that I am the launch lecture to that series. Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday was Halloween. I was going to meet up with my buddy Dave from south Florida. I met him at Ultra 2003 in South Beach, and then in 2005 he moved to NY. A lot’s changed for us both. I took the subway, and walked. I brought my caveman outfit. I got to Dave’s place, and the doorman said he already left. I was slightly infuriated, as I don’t like people wasting my time. At least there was a big parade that I could catch. Here are the photos from that:

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Oh My Frigggin Gawd! This show is on the road again… I hit the ground running!
I took off Friday afternoon, after completing my TAXES, packing my stuff, and cleaning my room @ Couch 26′s. I hauled ass to Clearwater for Festival of Speeds’ Jetport Reception. It was a lot of fun! My ID wasn’t checked, and I didn’t have to valet park, while everyone else did All ’cause of my camera, of course.

Read the rest of this entry »