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Looking back 2008 was a very challenging year both professionally and personally. I stepped out of my comfort zone and went after what I wanted. I’d be lying if I said I did this voluntarily every time. Sometimes, the situations left me no other but to venture out. With some planning and some luck I end up where I had hope to be by the end of the year. Along the way, I met some great folks, made some new friends, became more idealistic, lost faith in the baby boomers, and gain faith the millennials. Most of you probably watched this chapter of my live chapter unfold live via Twitter, Facebook, Frienfeed, Tumblr and this blog….whenever I updated it. The highlights of 2008 include South Carolina primary, 1631 S Streeet NW, ServiceNation Summit, DC Primary, November 4th, Frat house 2.0, Boston/NH, my investiture, and becoming an American. I will remember 2008 as the year I decided to get involved.
As for my resolutions, here is how faired:
1. Maintain a GPA above a 3.5 - DONE. I was able to keep a 4.0 GPA.
2. Read 6 books (outside the classroom) and write about them on here - FAIL. I did not read six books I think I read 3… Sad I know. This is commitment that I make every year and continuously fail at it. I’m not really sure why. I’m an information junkie and I do read a lot but I haven’t managed to read books. I blame it on the amount of reading and writing I have to go school.
3. Reconnect with 5 or more family members back home - DONE. I think I reconnected with more than 5 family members. But I still don’t talk to them on the regular basis. It gets quite expansive to call home regularly. And Skype does not have exactly have stellar services. If you’re using a software to call Africa or other third world countries, I’d love to hear about it.
4. Record all financial data for the entire year - FAIL. I’m going to try again this year. I will be switching to Mint something this month.
5. Bring in 10K to 15K through freelancing - DONE and most of the money went to paying for school.
6. Open an IRA or Home buying fund - FAIL. Instead, I focused more on the opening and beefing up an emergency saving account. It came in handy when I was let go earlier this year. So I’m glad I went that route instead.
7. Go to 12 museums - FAIL. I think I went to 2 museums, I did do more cultural stuff around the city including BSO, Kennedy Center, Book signings and lectures.
8. Learn Ruby on Rails - FAIL. I don’t even have it installed on any of my computer. I instead focused on learning how to customize WordPress and give it a professional touch.
9. Be a better boyfriend/Better Work life balance - FAIL. At some point during the summer, I was working, going school, working on a the Silverman Campaign and doing freelancing. That’s not balance at all. However, I have become much more organize and learned how to schedule leisure time as well.
10. Get Management Position in IT or Public Policy - I did get a management position at Be The Change, Inc from which I was let go earlier late in the Year and I’m now at a Public Affairs firm. I’d say I’m moving towards the right the direction professionally. I’ve moved a way from a purely technical background which was the real goal here.
I could have done better with my resolutions, but I’m satisfied with my performance. I’m will my 2009 resolutions up shortly
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1:02am |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
It is a sushi kinda day
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1:10am |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
Reading 15 Useful Tools for WordPress Bloggers - Six Revisions http://tinyurl.com/89wotq
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1:10am |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
Reading 50 Resources for Getting the Most Out of Google Analytics http://tinyurl.com/6lu7qh
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3:17am |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
@wei_yang 3 hours later it was well worth it.
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3:22pm |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
RT @jcolman: So you wanna win a free trip to the Inauguration? Be the change! http://ping.fm/CO0GQ
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3:23pm |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
@RocchiJulia did you make a submission?
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3:36pm |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
@Northernista thx for following.
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3:38pm |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
@RocchiJulia Looking forward to hearing more about it…. and thank you.
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3:41pm |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
Microsoft’s open Source CMS…. http://www.visitmix.com/Lab/Oxite
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4:07pm |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
Reading: Brighkite Integrates with Facebook http://tinyurl.com/8okeo6
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4:46pm | henrim posted a tweet on Twitter. |
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4:55pm |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
@RocchiJulia LOL. It is not that bad. about 1 per week for me.
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6:35pm |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
There is less than 10 folks in my office… maybe I will work from home tomorrow.
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7:30pm |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
@israelconsulate is holding a press conference and answering your questions about the #Gaza Bombings #AskIsreal
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7:32pm |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
Misspelled the hashtag… @israelconsulate is holding a press conference and answering your questions about the #Gaza Bombings #AskIsrael
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12:21am |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
My new camera…. http://tinyurl.com/5gao9x
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12:25am |
henrim posted a tweet on Twitter.
RT @awolk: Transcripts of Israeli consulate’s Twitter press conferences now up at http://www.israelpolitik.org/
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12:48am | Images of Deep Frying a Turkey. |
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After much Talk, I finally decided to deep fry a turkey the Day after Christmas this year. It actually came out very well as the images below show.
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For those who celebrate, Merry Christmas. And to the rest, I wish you a safe and happy holiday season.
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This entry was backdated to the week when i read and collected these articles. The articles are as valuable today as they were a week or so ago.
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File under: Restaurants | No Comments »
During my time of unemployment, one of the things I tried to do is to catch up with friends around this city/suburbs. One such friend is Josh Silvertsone. Josh had been ranting and raving about a restaurant where he had become a regular located in downtown Bethesda. The place’s name is Visions (blog). I met him there for lunch on a Friday and little did I know Josh and Tony (twitter), the chef , had been working on introducing a new menu item name after him. Well it’s official, the Josh Burrito is now available to all (see the announcement below). You should go try it. Have had one one I can confirm that that it is delicious.
p.s. If you’re foodie and want to chat with a chef on a regular basis, make sure to connect with Chef Tony, he is all about social media.
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The past week was a crazy one; the end of another semester and the start of a new gig. Now that life has calmed down a bit, I wanted to take a second to say a big thank you to everyone that helped me during my job search. My job search ended late last month when I accepted an offer for the position of Web Strategist at DCI Group, where I will be helping our clients navigate through the social media interweb. In these tough economic times, I was lucky enough to received multiple offers. However, I would be lying if I said I did all the work that got me these offers. In fact it was quite the opposite. During my search, a number of people graciously volunteer their time to proofread my resume and cover letters, help make video resumes, offer career advice, make introductions on my behalf,be a reference, and pass my resume along. Between writing cover letters and submitting my resume for various position, I attended a number of social media/technology events around town where I met an incredible number of nice and smart folks using the web to bring attention to some great causes. I will work to keep in touch with as many of them as possible. But more importantly, I hope to work with some of them (in pro-bono capacity, of course) on some of the projects that they are currently undertaking.
The entire job search experience was very humbling and I’m very grateful for all the help I received. Again Thank you.
Image by d0ntblink
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File under: Internet, Obama, Politics, Web 2.o, blogging | No Comments »
During the campaign, Obama relied on technology to supplement his traditional media outreach. He used the web to make the case directly to voters why is he was the best choice for President. Whether you agree with his policies, the approach was a successful one. As president, I had hoped that he would continue this approach while governing. However after the election, some of the outreach efforts slowed down. As some bloggers have pointed out, there had not been any action on his twitter page in 10 days. When I saw his first weekly address yesterday, I was delighted. I’m glad to see that he will continue his approach of talking to directly to the people.
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File under: McCain, Obama, Politics, election 2008 | No Comments »
I can’t vote today (for many reasons I’ve cited here before) but I’m asking you to.
As it was written in the Economist several days ago, "it is impossible to forecast how important any presidency will be" nor can we predict how good of a president any politician will be. In fact history has shown us that some of our finest presidents were mere novices in the political arena, or so we thought, while some of our worst presidents were seasoned professionals. So In effect, no matter who we vote for today, we are all taking a gamble.
Recognizing that there is not much we can do about that aspect of elections, I urge you not to think of this election, or any other election, in that prism. Instead, I propose that we think of this election, and all elections, as a responsibility and an opportunity.
It is our responsibility to hold elected officials accountable, to hold the torch that was passed onto us by previous generations dating back to our fore-fathers, to tell the world that democracy is alive and well and is indeed the best form of government.
This election is also an opportunity. For some, it is the opportunity to correct the mistake from 4 or 8 year ago. For others, it is the opportunity to re-affirm their beliefs from the same period. For many, it is the opportunity to participate in the democratic process for the first time. But for all, it is an opportunity to be heard; an opportunity to take this country in a different direction; an opportunity to make history regardless of ideology or background.
So today, I am asking you to vote.
I am asking you to vote for me and many others like me who won’t have the opportunity to be heard.
I am asking you to vote for our men and women in the armed forces serving abroad that won’t be able to vote because of archaic absentee ballot laws.
I am asking you to vote so that we can put people in office with the moral courage to deal with challenges facing our nation today at the national and local level.
I am asking you to vote so our generation may be heard.
Most of all I am asking you to vote because your vote, your voice, matters.
Some will dismiss my call to action as a gimmick to get people to vote for Senator Obama. It is true that I support Senator Obama. I do so for many reasons that others have penned more eloquently than I ever will. And it is indeed my fervent hope that you do cast your ballot for the junior senator from Illinois. However, this is not to say that Senator McCain will not make a good president. In fact, I believe that he will be an adequate president or even a fine president. Very few of us have served this country like he has over the decades. Though I question his vice-presidential pick, I believe that he will take that same dedication and love for our country to the white house. I did not write this to endorse any candidate running on any level, but simply to ask you to vote.
So I will ask again, please go vote.
The late Robert Francis Kennedy reminded us that "few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation." Today, your small portion is to go vote.
[picture by joecrimmings]
