Living the life of the entrepreneur

Recently, I decided to “anglo-size” my name from Paradies to Paradise. I can’t claim that I was original in this concept – there are many people who have changed their names for acting, politics, and business. I wasn’t even original within my immediate family… But as they say, better late than never. I don’t know if that applies here but it sounded good before I wrote it. So in making the change, I wanted to find out what famous people have changed their names, which led me to compile the following list of the better known people who have done this (note: I was trying to put people that you/I might not have known as opposed to a more obvious list of names):

Ralph Lauren (formerly was Ralph Reuben Lifshitz)

John Wayne (formerly was Marion Mitchell Morrison)

Dr. Martin Luther King (formerly was Michael Luther King Jr)

President Gerald Ford (formerly was Leslie Lynch King Jr)

Ulysses S. Grant (formerly  was Hiram Ulysses Grant)

Quite a few famous folks indeed – I found a list of many, many more here if you’re interested. Also there is a great book on positioning I read recently called “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 20th Anniversary Edition” by Al Ries & Jack Trout. There’s an entire chapter in it dedicated to name changes… and so I have to give credit to finding out about John Wayne from this book. It’s a great read on product positioning if you have a few spare hours and it’s also pretty fun as there are a number of interesting anecdotes throughout the book. Till next time,

Andy “Paradise”

I used to think it was bad to stay up late at night.  This started when I was about 6 years old and would sneak out of bed to watch TV at 3am because my parents never let me watch it during the day. They always said it would “rot my brain”… I wonder if the TV had the same effect at 3am. Either way… Night Court was worth it.

As I got older, staying up late was about sneaking out at night after my parents went to bed. I’d usually go and meet up with my childhood friend and we’d ride our bikes around in the dark. I’m not really sure why… but at the time, it seemed just so… badass.

Then in college, late nights were about partying, definitely not as cool as the bikes.

And now, after college, sadly enough, staying up late has become a good time to get that work done that just can’t wait until tomorrow. Who would’ve seen that one coming?

I’ve pulled more than a few all nighters… and some of those quite recently. If you’re ever in the situation where you need (or want) to stay up all night, here are my best tips.

Andy’s Tips for All-nighters

1. remember to keep eating every 4 or so hours. it takes a lot more energy to stay awake and be active. feed your body. Try to eat food with plenty of energy. I like to eat pasta when I’m staying up all night… I usually make extra at dinner time and keep eating it until sometime past breakfast.

2. take vitamins. ok, ok you don’t need to do this but for the hypochrondriac in all of us, taking a little extra vitamin C might not be the worst thing you’ve ever done. My favorite cocktail is 1 multi-vitamin (chewable), 1 echinasia, 2 500mg vitamin C (pill form). Lately I’ve been on a flintstones vitamin kick.

3. don’t over caffeinate. I made the mistake my first time of trying to drink coffee every few hours. After a while the caffeine ain’t going to do it. I find that holding off on caffeine until the very latest possible is the best approach. It’s also better if you can drink tea instead of coffee because the awakening effect isn’t as severe and thus the crash isn’t either.

4. music – it feeds your soul. I could never make it without some tunes. I recommend sites like slacker.com and pandora.com… after all it gets tiring trying to pick out CDs at 6am in the dark before the sunrise.

5. drink plenty of water. dehydration can make you tired. Most people are constantly dehydrated. They say the typical intake for an adult is something like 8 8oz glasses a day. I’d do double that as you’re supposed to be asleep and using less water.

6. find a buddy. it’s way easier to stay up all night if you have someone who’s doing it with you. And no, inflatable friends don’t count.

7. exercise. I find doing a bit of light exercise at around 4am can really get my batteries running again. Maybe 20 pushups or some jumping jacks. Yes, you will look insane doing this in your living room when you should be sleeping… but then again staying up all night is kind of an insane thing to do.

8. keep the temperature a little lower than usual. While this contradicts #2 in terms of trying not to get sick. It does wonders for keeping you awake. A little frostbite never hurt anyone right?

9. cold showers. This might wake you up but I’m not sure if it’s worth the pain… especially when you’re coming down off a 10 hour caffeine high. If you really want to – go for it but be warned about taking nice, warm, and toasty showers… they’ll do you in ever time.

10. write useless lists. I’ve made it at least another 30 minutes doing this which is 30 minutes closer to tomorrow morning. Boo yah!

BlogHer Founders Jory, Elisa, & Lisa

I’m not sure which is more insane… being surrounded by 1000 people who are constantly updating the internet with the tiniest details of their lives or being surrounded by 1000 women, who empowered by the internet, have met each other, many for the first time, here in San Francisco at the Westin St. Francis Hotel. These women are reaching millions of readers with everything from details of their daily lives to marketing advice to the most profound statements about subjects ranging from the divine to weight loss.

I’ve met a lot of fantastic BlogHers over the last two days and I’m sitting now at the wrap-up keynote. It’s a remarkable moment here at Blogher 2008 listening to Dooce (who is Heather Armstrong in real life) and Stephanie Klein discuss their lives online and offline.

Although I attended BlogHer 2007, this is a totally different moment. This conference is 58% first time attendees with a huge portion having started blogging only this year. Today is when I realized we are witnessing the true democratization of the internet, where any and all can connect, create, and disseminate information without boundaries. It’s a remarkable thing this internet.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ykea64t

(inspired by MochaMomma)

I woke up after 6 hrs of deep sleep and read Mocha’s post on herself… and when I read “When I’m quiet and it looks like I’m taking your shit, I’m plotting.” I had to write this post.

Before I begin though, a complete compendium to badasses can be found on this website: badassoftheweek

This week’s badasses have included, according to the website, Hector of Troy… and I thought Achilles killed Hector… doesn’t seem too badass to me. Regardless, once again though, the internet proves that everything really is online. Here are a few badasses to add to the list:

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My first badass is Michael Moore. Why? because he’s always stirring up trouble with an activist goal. I like people who see problems and try to fix them… even if I don’t agree with them.

New Kids on the Block is my second group of badasses. Why? Well for starters they recorded the song “The Right Stuff”. If you’ve ever heard it, you’d know how badass it really is.

This list would be incomplete without the smurfs. These fun loving, blue creatures who live somewhere in the woods are totally badass, not to mention they constantly beat up Azarael and Gargamel.
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Source: http://tinyurl.com/yz9zupf