"Success is not making money, it is making time"

You won’t find me at a party or on a dance floor at the last day of the year, counting down seconds with strangers for the upcoming year. You will probably find me at home. With my basketball shorts and white tee on, and a bunch of torrents running on my computer so I can finish my download limit round for the month with complete optimization. Also, there is a glass of cold milk with a tray of cookies to my disposal. I have a few unread text messages that are in no rush to read. To me, I would like to say it is just another day. But in reality, it is not. No matter how stubborn you are in the beliefs of December 31st of a year not being an important day and it being just another day, this is one day that no matter what you are doing, you are forced to rush through a bunch of memory reels of this past year. You could even be stubborn enough to say that this thought did not come to me at all, until you come around your other friends who are bragging about what an amazing year they have had. And by all means, ‘amazing’ has always been defined by perspective. So, to each its own.

New Year’s is not something you celebrate. It is something that popular culture has created for you to think it is worth celebrating. What are you celebrating anyways? For me, I am celebrating family, friends, health, success and goals. I don’t need to be at a party to do that. I have all that right at the comfort of my home. But what I do realize is, this critic inside me had made me analyze all the mistakes I have done in the past year to make them better in the new one. I have also realized all the money and time I have wasted, and I do regret the time being wasted part. But the money part…I am happy what I spend on. Insert “Money comes, money goes” caption to feel better. I have also realized that as a human, I have created so many damn memories that I am starting to forget my other years, and according to me, that is an accomplishment. I mean at times, I would always look at the end of the year and pray that the next year would be better than this year or sometimes have an intuition that the next year is going to be horrible before it has even started. I mean, 2007 and 2008 had been really horrible years for me. 2009 showed some hope because there was some improvement. 2010 was another downhill one. But 2011, damn. That year, either I changed, or the times changed. But as a person, I felt I grew up. I felt progress. I felt achievement. I recognized myself. I once knew, exactly what I wanted. I was confident again. At the end of 2011, I felt that this year was such a ride, there is no way 2012 could match up to that. And to my disbelief, it did more than just match.

I don’t know what I can expect anything out of 2013 and neither do I want to go in with a bucket list of things in order to top my 2012. I usually take it one day at a time, and that recipe has worked more than fine for me in the past few years. But I do want to grow, I do want to progress, I do want to learn, I do want to fail and I do want to succeed. I hope not to cry, but I do plan to smile. I hope I don’t fall, but I do plan to jump. I hope to plan, but I don’t plan to hope. I don’t know what your resolutions are and neither do I know my own. If you respect time and health, you don’t need to make resolutions, everything else will fall into place. Also, pray once in a while for the life you have been blessed with. Sometimes if you take the time and look around you instead of straight ahead, this world is not as pretty as it seems.

The truth always tastes bitter…

new york city. from James Ogle on Vimeo.

Kevin Rose interviews Scott Harrison of @charitywater from charity: water on Vimeo.

One of the smartest charity founders of our generation. I have been talking about Charity Water. You guys have to watch this video. To me, he is inspirational and innovative. The work he has been doing, only an angel could co-sign. His legacy is truly amazing.

I Am: Kendrick Lamar from Rocksmith on Vimeo.

This phone will only look normal in the hands of Lebron…or Shaq. Other than that, to the world, this is a tablet. But it does look pretty good, I won’t lie.

The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a…
Yes or a No or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting….
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for
Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying.
You’ll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

I have been waiting for this technology to arrive in Canada for almost a year. Do you know how many ideas can be executed using this beautiful piece of innovation? Wow. I am so thrilled for Square to actually get all those financial institutions convinced about this. I am glad that it finally pulled through. Earlier in 2011, I was in talks with the Square team for using their API for a certain software. But that idea could not be executed because it was not available in Canada. I had emailed several members of the team looking for solutions to use their API or service for the growing of my own application, but still, technically it was not possible unless they were able to step into Canadian soil. This not only was a technical issue, but had several legal issues surrounding it as well. It would be a messy affair if I even had to get in it. Earlier on, I had taken some of their concerns with financial institutions and pitched it to the Financial department of the city, seeing what the clause was between the American financial institutions and Canadian banks, and why they had to be separated for one to do business offshore anyways. I had a report made and sent it off to Square executives for review and further perseverance on this matter. How did I get in contact with them in the first place? I guessed their emails. The only board of directors that was in direct contact with me was Tristan O’Tierney, who is the co-founder of Square. This was when I was heavily motivated and hungry for my startup to succeed. Now I am in a complete different position. Nonetheless, they managed to bring Square to Canada beside all the hassles. This technology has been out since 2009, and finally Canadians can get a shot at using this amazing product. By the way, the UI on their applications has to be designed by Picasso because it is a piece of art. I have never been fascinated by a dashboard (other than Mint.com) like this one. Take a look and sign up at www.squareup.com/ca now!!! Don’t wait, you want your free card reader shipped out to you ASAP right? Don’t waste time! Thank me later.