Thank You StumbleUpon

"You'll never meet anyone if you don't leave your house," is what my friends said. And not that I would recommend staying in and Stumbling to find love, but it sure worked out for us.

I would have to credit my "Borrow A Boyfriend," Mr. Jeff Daly. A "Borrow A Boyfriend" is when your friends let their boyfriend come and help you with all that guy stuff. Computers, mechanical issues, getting a view into the mind of the testosterone laden gender, that kind of thing.

Jeff was especially gifted in the computer department and would insure I had the premium internet connection and the latest Beta Invites. After a tech stop Jeff had installed that StumbleUpon button in my browser and I was so immediately hooked on it that it became our inside joke. "Come out tonight Lisa you just can't stay home and Stumble." And when citing some new piece of information both Jeff and I would smirk and say "Oh I just Stumbled Upon it." And so when I told Jeff that I had met this guy on StumbleUpon he said "What?"

I had returned from teaching a Braille Class up on the Ventura County Community College campus to find a message in my inbox from NeonSurfer. I had seen that icon over and over. That big eyeball and unkempt brow I had been to his page. And now he sent me a message! My heart started to race and I walked around my one bedroom cottage pacing.

He asked if I was into Science Fiction and I said I love Star Trek. He asked if I surfed. I questioned "in the water ... with a board? Nobody actually surfs?"

He asked if I was into computers? And I said I was into dots. He asked "Can you be more vague?" And I thought, "Wow, can you be more condescending." (And yes he can be BTW.)  And then I explained my name Dot-Girl. I was a Braille Transcriber, He was NeonSurfer, a neon tube bender turned wonk.

We spent about 6 months sharing links on StumbleUpon before we ever met. Our relationship escalated from our StumbleUpon avatars to email and then I allowed him to IM me. Thought it might have been a mistake at the time because man that guy can share links and keep em coming.

StumbleUpon gave us this chance to share who we were and what was important to us. That has grown to a way of life and our very business. We treasure the friends and connections that we find via these new conversational tools.

We keep running into people like us. The synchronicity and adventure grows. To be with someone with whom you share so much has been in indescribable gift and to be with someone who likes to explore and learn has given me the life I once only dreamed of.

Thank You StumbleUpon
XOXO

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks, and to everyone else who is not content with sitting in the back of the bus...

Are you ready for change?

Q is for Quantum

The word quantum is Latin for "how great" or "how much."

Do you want the red or blue pill?

H is for Hero

There are many people in your life that show you the way, who are they, how do they help you? how can you help them?

Who Are Your Heros?

Surfwise

Like many American outsider-adventurers, Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz set out to realize a utopian dream. Abandoning a successful medical practice, he sought self-fulfillment by taking up the nomadic life of a surfer. But unlike other American searchers like Thoreau or Kerouac, Paskowitz took his wife and nine children along for the ride, all eleven of them living in a 24 foot camper. Together, they lived a life that would be unfathomable to most, but enviable to anyone who ever relinquished their dreams to a straight job. The Paskowitz Family proved that America may be running out of frontiers, but it hasn't run out of frontiersman.

We're Better Together

There's no combination of words
I could put on the back of a postcard
No song that I could sing
But I can try for your heart,
our dreams, and they are made out of real things
like a shoebox of photographs
with sepia-toned loving
Love is the answer
at least for most of the questions in my heart, like
Why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together

Mmmm, It's always better when we're together
Yeah we'll look at the stars and we're together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah it's always better when we're together

And all of these moments
just might find their way into my dreams tonight,
But I know that they’ll be gone
when the morning light sings
and brings new things
for tomorrow night you see
that they’ll be gone too,
too many things I have to do
But if all of these dreams might find their way
into my day to day scene
I'd be under the impression
i was somewhere in between
With only two,
Just me and you,
Not so many things we got to do
or places we got to be
We'll sit beneath the mango tree, now,

Yeah It's always better when we're together
Mmmm, we're somewhere in between together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

MmmMmmmmMmm, Mmm MMmmM

I believe in memories
they look so, so pretty when I sleep
Hey now, and when I wake up,
you look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time,
There is no, no song I could sing
and there is no combination of words I could say
but I will still tell you one thing
We're Better together

Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives - JFK

#ThankfulMonday ok You're up! What are you thankful for? #OCGood

Most of all I want to thank surfing & all the people that has brought into my life.

I want to thank @TrisHussey for getting me hooked on @Chrome and sealing my move to the clouds...

I want to thank @Roebot for dragging us around to play with all the cool kids like @TrisHussey

I want to thank @GraemeThickins for taking the time to crash @LisaMcClure 's bday party and feel some of our #Ohana.

MAHALO's to @MariaBrophy who has been grabbing iElla from school everyday whilst @LisaMcClure & I toss fishes to the whales.

I want to thank @LisaMcClure for her love. When we are together, 1+1=7 (Did I mention we met on the internet?)

I want to thank the people and a city to my north, Dana Point, for embracing new technology's like @Twitter

I want to thank my friends here on @Twitter for the ambient intimacy that arises from a virtual space like this.

I want to thank @TheTollRoads for lighting a fire under my ass. You guys are your own worst enemies.

I want to thank @Surfrider for its victory with the @SaveTrestles campaign http://bit.ly/306IaU and YOU CAN TOO!

But trust us on the sunscreen...

Video By Generation iCarly

What is Authentic? What is Punk Rock? What happens when you give your 8 year old a FlipHD? I think someone may be watching too much iCarly.

Rendering Authenticity is the New Measure of Value

If rendering authenticity is the new economic offering then conversational media is the tool of choice.

"What happens when you customize a service? What happens when you design a service that is so appropriate for a particular person, that it's exactly what they need at this moment in time? Then you can't help but make them go wow! You can't help but turn that into a memorable event. You can't help but turn that into an experience!"

Companies and small businesses who properly employ the tools of conversational media have opportunities every day to WOW customers and potential customers. Having your social media tools set up to find your clients exactly when they need you is an experience you can offer if you use your tools well. When was the last time your web presence made someone go "WOW!"?

So if experiences are becoming the predominate economic offering and customers are evaluating you on your authenticity the question clearly becomes "How do I render authenticity?"

And it boils down to two things.

1. Know who you are as a business. Be true to yourself.

2. Be who you say you are. Be true to others.

Provide places for people to experience who you are.
And that will make your customers happy and help your business grow.