I got my wish.  I’m couchsurfing in another country.  I have the most amazing friends I could have imagined, and even though most aren’t here with me, I feel that I am totally loved.  So, now I’m 34 — here’s the latest from Costa Rica.

1st, since you’re curious as to how I’m celebrating, I am going to learn to surf waves, not just couches.  I would’ve done it sooner, but I injured my foot when jogging barefoot on the beach. Read the rest of this entry »

Sarah enjoying her 10th birthday at Pops

Lately I’m noticing a major trend in helping people.  I’m kind of addicted. This set of stories is almost in order, but the shorter story that happens later, I’m putting in the front.

While at dinner at the 140Conf Smalltown, I got to talk to Sheila Scarborough, who was telling me about how on her drive to Kansas, she stopped by Pops Soda Shop in Oklahoma.  This place has over 500 flavors of Soda from all over the world!

This of course fascinated me, so I decided I would go on my way to Austin.  I went and it was pretty cool (and that will be another blog post- I took video and photos). In this blog post I’m not writing about the soda.  I’m writing about Sarah. 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.

Happy Hanukkah

Hi everyone!  I just wanted to wish you a Happy Hanukkah.  Even if you’re not Jewish…. enjoy it. I suppose this shouuld be my favorite Jewish holiday, as I was born during Hanukkah.  The 1st thing I despise about it is that in America, no one knows how to spell it.  Is it Channukah? Hanukah?  Hanukkah?  And many more variations.  It’s always on a different time of year, since we Jews have an older calendar than y’all.  None of the calendars I use (Palm Treo, computer, etc) use that calendar system… but I know it exists, ’cause Hanukkah is always on a different time.  Anyways… it’s known as the Festival of Lights, and that’s why my name is Ori, which means “My Light” in Hebrew (unless you misspell it– then it’s “My Skin” or “My Leather” which is great if you’re going to a Fetish Club.).  Of course, I bring much light and joy to my parents’ lives, as well as many others… I bring other things too… but that’s life.

Wikipedia says (and my personal insights afterwards): Read the rest of this entry »

Not me, just a photograph I shot

One month till my birthday.  I’m usually the goofy, fearless, carefree person… but lately, I”ve had a few bad days, which led me to some reflection, and a tiny bit of a confidence loss.

I turn 33 in one month, and visiting in South Florida has given me plenty of reminders that I don’t have a wife (or a grilfriend), or kids.  My parents made many “subtle” reminders, and my friend Johnny (the one who designed the most awesome Couch Surfing Ori logo) just got married.  My friend Robert just had a kid (well… Megan had the kid, but Robert helped).  It kind of seems that everyone is either getting married, or having a kid — although, on a separate note, it seems like everyone else is getting divorced — which just means that for some reason, kids and marriage have been defined by my brain as important… thus, have entered my reticular activator (that’s the portion of your brain that brings you from an alpha-wave state, to a beta-wave state… you know how you don’t actually pay attention to anything when you drive to work the same route, thus can fiddle with the radio, talk on your cell phone, etc…  That’s alpha.  Beta is when you’re paying attention to something… like when they’re announcing the lottery numbers. When you buy a new car that you never saw many of before, and all of a sudden, you see a ton of them… that’s because now that car is important to you, thus has entered your reticular activator, thus you snap out of alpha, and pay attention when you see one).  So… while it seems shallow, I figure I’d feel better, and have a better chance at attracting someone if I’m looking better.  That, and why not start my 33rd year looking nice?

I had already made progress with my 30 day raw diet, and had since lost a few more pounds- totalling 34 pounds — though as of today, I’m at 191lbs (24 pounds down).  So… with 1 month left I am committing to a diet and exercise regiment.  I haven’t had time to think about what it is that I’ll actually do though… just that I’m going to do it. Mom made me two cups of coffee already (I was just visiting my folks in South Florida, but am heading out today), which have sugar in them… bad start.  So, I am delaying my departure by at least an hour so that I can get a nice 7 mile run in.

Hydroxicut hardcore has been known to get results– I may pick up a bottle of that (Yeah… no kidding… this is not the same healthy route as a 30 day raw food diet), and have a salad for lunch.  Everyone keeps advertising those Acai pills… I wonder if they work.  I ran into some guy that said he lost 85 pounds with it.  All these ads on all these sites for “Get ripped without creatine, exercise, etc…” show 2 different models in the before/after, so clearly I don’t trust those (and I don’t know how they haven’t been busted).

I need to do weight training too, as building up muscle burns up fat.

It’s not hardcore adventure, but for the next 30 days, on top of my usual stuff, I’ll also be using the blog to hold myself accountable to my diet/exercise routine.

p.s. if you know an awesome girl who’s smart, funny, has a great sense of humor (a  must for putting up with me), is entrepreneurial and adventurous, has the ability to travel (or work from anywhere) – put in a good word for me, eh?

I left South Florida on Saturday morning’ish. I made it to Tampa by Saturday evening, in time to make it to Couch #6′s NO CLOTHES party…. This was after an ex girlfriend of mine flaked out last minute. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 15 (the beauty of starting on January 1). I woke up… it was freezing cold… literally! I mean…I did crash the day before because of ice! So, I get up, I watch the news… more than 104 accidents since midnight.I guess that means there were a lot of Floridians in Texas. Read the rest of this entry »