Principal. Highly important.

First and foremost:

Stylin': Randomness (Part Two)

Part Two: Electric Boogaloo.

I'm trying to avoid going a month without posting here! Last post was April 5. I win. A few articles came out recently that I really like, so I'd like to highlight them here.

From Dappered: 50 Men's Style Greater-Thans. Good general guidelines to go by not just for style, but for other parts of life as well. I'd never thought of club soda and bitters as a way to settle stomaches or just as a break from drinking beer/cocktails. Others I like: "Tieless + Jacket > Shirt + Tie but no jacket" "Wearing a suit for no reason > Feeling weird when you “have” to wear a suit." "Getting out on the dance floor/singing a song at karaoke > Refusing to even try"

From Style Girlfriend (which is the latest site that I've added to my daily reads. Good content and she updates just about every weekday): 15 Reasons to Kick Start Your Style. Not just because there's a picture of Ryan Gosling. I love so many of these. "Because you’ll never improve your style if you don’t try," and "Because your clothes make a statement about who you are. Dressing like you don’t care about your appearance makes people wonder what else you don’t care about," are just great lines. But, as I covered in a previous post, she also touches on what really got me started on improving my style with "Because a pretty girl giving you the once-over feels pretty damn great."

From Effortless Gent: How to embrace trends without completely victimizing yourself. A couple of lines I really like here: "You should wear what you love and what makes you feel good. At the same time, it’s smart to learn what actually makes you look awesome and shows that you’re an adult with good taste." and "Some things are trendy, some are classic, some are classic that become trendy and go back to being regular ol’ classics again." The rest of it you can read and follow as you wish.

As far as what I've been doing with my wardrobe, I've made a few purchases here and there. Picked up these loafers yesterday at a nice price. A pair of cream (or some kind of off-white color) jeans just because. And these two beauties:
Jacket
Navy, cotton, double-breasted, double-vented blazer with ivory buttons from H&M. This is now one of my favorite jackets. Too bad it doesn't have a breast pocket! And a simple, classic white button-down collar shirt. Something that can never go wrong. This one is a slim fit from Old Navy, and I plan on picking up more when they go back down to $15. The pin says "Birthday Boy" in case you were wondering.

Merely "Bent" and Hopefully Not Broken

(My pre-watching post on Bent here.)

I looked forward to Bent after seeing the cast including David Walton and Jeffrey Tambor, along with Alan Sepinwall giving the show his stamp of approval, and I was not disappointed. There was good chemistry with the cast, particularly between the show's leads Amanda Peet and David Walton, and there were many laughs to be had. Another thing I liked was their music choices as songs I enjoy like Grouplove - Lovely Cup and The Airborne Toxic Event - Changing were played in the background of scenes.

What fans of Bent are hoping now is that Wednesday's season finale, in which Peet's character looks to finally be coming around on the idea of being involved with Walton's, is not the series finale. The show did not receive much promotion on TV or online, was put in a timeslot against popular shows like American Idol, Modern Family (reruns), and Happy Endings, and was aired in a three-week span before the May sweeps period. These are all red flags that point toward NBC simply trying to air the filmed episodes and get rid of it. As expected, the show did not gain much viewership.

Is there some hope for Bent and fans of the show? Yes. In this article from Vulture, it's said that the show "... was actually highly regarded by Peacock brass," "The fact that NBC didn't decide to air Bent in the summer actually bolsters the argument that the network once possessed at least some hope the show could find a pulse," and "The programming theory was viewers might get sucked in if they were able to see bigger chunks of the show at once, with the relationship between Peet and Walton evolving more quickly."

So, there's a chance. It may be extremely slim, but there is a chance that Bent comes back for another season. Even if it's a 13-episode order for Friday nights I would really like to see more of Peet and Walton's relationship blooming, Peet's character's future ex-boyfriend trying to win her back, Walton's crew's antics, anything Tambor does though he was the weak link on the show's six episodes to date, and more Margo Harshman (Peet's character's sister) who I have a huge crush on now.

While I'm sure there won't be anything as big Chuck's Subway movement or Community's #sixseasonsandamovie campaign, if there's something going on to try to save @NBCBent, expect to see me tweeting it and posting about it on Facebook.

Ideas for Posts Grab Bag

Haven't had the self-motivation to put time into a post lately, but I have ideas floating in my head and want to put them down here for you and me to look at! Then you and/or I can figure out what I want to write about next time I write something up.
  • TV
    • Mad Men: Episode, outfits, Pete, Peggy, how much I hate Betty
    • Community: Troy vs. Abed, Britta's evolution
    • Bent, which would be fitting because I wrote an introduction post for it.
    • House, which ends in a few weeks
  • Style
    • Continuing the "Getting Started" theme I went with before. What kinds of clothes to buy, what to look for in those clothes, how to start putting together outfits, etc.
    • Posts on specific pieces of clothing, whether it be a category of clothing or a single piece
    • Celebrity/blogger looks I like. This would probably just be 10 pages worth of Ryan Gosling pictures, followed by a page or two of Daniel Craig and George Clooney.
  • Events
    • I'm going to the Sleigh Bells concert tonight at 4th & B. We'll see if that's worth writing about!
    • Coachella next weekend! After I recover some energy from that, I'll definitely write about it.
  • Social Media: What I use different platforms for. Path, Pinterest, and Instagram could all be their own posts. Twitter and Facebook would probably be one post, but I don't feel like I need to write anything about them because it's probably already been said.
  • Competitive mindset ideas: Something I've posted about before, mainly inspired by content from Day[9]. Even as I'm typing up this post, I'm listening to Day9's show from a week ago that's about identifying+simplfying problems and how to deal with them. That'd be worth writing about. Another thing that's been on my mind is exploring the ideas of "not losing," "just win," and "win by as much as possible."
Feedback on what of these topics I should get to or something else I could write about appreciated! Tweets, Facebook posts, or snide remarks in the comments here all work well. Probably won't get to a post today, but I'm thinking Sleigh Bells show tomorrow and Bent on Thursday as its season ends on Wednesday night.

"Proven Social Media Strategies to Rapidly Grow Your Business" hosted by Social Media Club San Diego

On March 29, Social Media Club San Diego (twitter) hosted an event at Ansir Innovation Center (twitter) with a presentation by Michael Stelzner from Social Media Examiner (twitter) on social media strategy. I was in attendance mainly for Michael's presentation, but also for the catering from Daphne's California Greek (twitter), and wanted to share my thoughts about the event and notes on the presentation.

In case you don't know about Social Media Club, here's their desciption from SMCSD's Facebook page:
"Social Media Club is being organized for the purpose of sharing best practices, establishing ethics and standards, and for promoting media literacy. This is the beginning of a global conversation about building an organization and a community where the many diverse groups of people who care about social media can come together to discover, connect, share and learn."

I've been attending SMCSD events since it was started over a year ago and have not only learned a great deal through the presentations given, but have met new people and had good times at each event. If you are interested in attending the next SMCSD event, it will be on April 18 and focus on hospitality. Keep an eye on the Twitter page for more information.

On to the event itself. Upon arriving at Ansir, I was greeted by friendly faces but was immediately distracted by the smell of gyros and pita bread. Saying hello to friends would have to wait because I needed dinner from this buffet:
Photo
I may have also had some wine to go with my food. After getting my food and drink, I walked around and chatted a bit with friends before taking my seat. The notes I took on the presentation will be below. They're not super detailed. Sorry. I was drinking. And I took the notes on my phone while still texting and tweeting. All in all, the event was very informative with good people and delicious food. Thank you to Social Media Club San Diego for throwing the event!

My notes on Michael Stelzner from Social Media Examiner's "Proven Social Media Strategies to Rapidly Grow Your Business"
  • Great insight, access to great people, recognition
  • People don't give a shit about you
  • Walk alongside customers rather than forcing them to do something different
  • Create a better lure than competitors and customers will bite
  • Problems: Channel overload, "Do people trust your business?" (company trust trumps good product)
  • Focus on people: Little/no cost, help with smaller problems --> look to you for bigger issues
  • True gifts make you valuable to people
  • If you give something, people feel compelled to do something in return
  • Elevation principle: Great content + other people - marketing messages = growth
  • Focus on people, experts,  and successful peers. Not yourself, products, or services
  • Embedding marketing messages into content = bad. "How can we help you" rather than "How can we sell you"
  • Marketing content "A drop or two for every gallon"
  • The formula: Great content, other people, caging marketing messages, recognition, provide access to great insight+people
  • Build a "gathering place"

And here have a picture of me eating while Michael was speaking:

Photo-3
Herringbone sportcoat. Cashmere scarf. I like my grays. It was cold.

Stylin': Getting Started

When there's a goal to be reached, you have to start somewhere and it's usually best to start with small steps. "Dressing better" is the goal I set for myself, but it's a vague goal in the sense that there's no one way to do it. It doesn't mean wearing suits. It doesn't mean buying expensive clothes. What it means to me is figuring out a personal style and moving toward that.

My path toward dressing better started because of one thing: I put some effort into dressing up rather than just putting on whatever one night and a pretty girl complimented me on dressing well. That's all it took. I enjoyed looking good and figured that if one girl liked a sharp dressed man, other girls did too. Spoiler alert: They do.

Where did I go from there though? Like I said, small steps. The first step is small, but the most important one: Figure out the right fit for your clothes. Wearing clothes that fit properly is the #1 priority. One quote that gets thrown around is "A $200 suit that fits well looks better than a $2000 that doesn't." "Fit is more important than fabric which is more important than function." (from Image Granted's Ten Commandments of Style) is something to keep in mind as well. Fit, fit, fit. Some of the guidelines I follow:
  • “Clothes should skim. Not cling, not billow.” as Dappered's Beth puts it. If you want to wear shirts that are really tight and skinny jeans because that's your thing, then more power to you I guess. Not my thing. Wearing clothes that are too big makes you look like a fool though.
  • Shoulder seams (shirts, jackets without structures shoulders) should be on your shoulder. Crazy concept huh? If the seams are on your arm, it's too big.
    • What these made me realize: I figured out I'm a medium in shirt/jacket size, not large.
  • Pants don't puddle at your ankles and they're not so big that you can't wear them without a belt.
Figure out the right fit for you. Try on clothes and see what works, and if you need specific measurements like neck size or chest size go get measured at a store or suit/tux rental shop.

My next step: Figure out what the hell I want to wear. This was just reading and looking around online and deciding what I like and don't like for my personal tastes and lifestyle. Sites like the ones I listed here are good, as is Pinterest's Men's Apparel category. I settled on focusing on more classic pieces like blazers/sport coats, cardigans, polo shirts, slacks, and dark jeans (no fading/distressing). Along with that, I focused on basic colors so that all my clothing worked with each other: white (particularly for shirts), brown, grey, navy blue, and black.

The last step I'll go into detail about: I started donating clothes that didn't fit the way I wanted or weren't part of the focus I set for my wardrobe. If it's not in my closet, I can't wear it. This was done gradually as I couldn't afford to buy everything I wanted all at once, but I did find my most ill-fitting clothing and got rid of it right away. Eventually I got rid of jackets/polo shirts/dress shirts that were size L, pants with waists that were too large, and most of my graphic t-shirts.

And finally, the most fun (but expensive) step: Get new clothes that fit and are part of the wardrobe you planned.

(I finished this post hours ago and just finished a double-check. I hope this all makes some sort of sense because a lot of things haven't been making sense in my head today...)

Watching TV: Bent

I watch a lot of TV shows, to the surprise of nobody that knows me. My last count of shows that I actively watch was 14. Mostly sitcoms as they interest me the most and I think there are a lot of really funny sitcoms on TV; Parks and Recreation, Community, Happy Endings, and Archer being my favorites. A new sitcom is now on my radar thank to a Sepinwall review and stamp of approval: Bent.

Bent stars Amanda Peet (previously on TV in Studio 60, which is one of the countless shows I've been told to watch but haven't gotten around to), David Walton (who was in Perfect Couples which I enjoyed, as well as having a good guest spot on Happy Endings), and Jeffrey Tambor who I don't or shouldn't need to introduce. Peet is a divorced lawyer who hires Walton and his crew to redo his kitchen. They become attracted to each other despite Peet's character already being in a relationship. Tambor is Walton's dad. There's a girl from an old Disney show that plays Peet's sister, too.

Sounds pretty generic right? Despite that, I'm going to watch because of Walton and Tambor. Sepinwall's stamp of approval means a lot to me too as I tend to agree with his reviews. I'm okay with unoriginality as long as it's done well, and Sepinwall says this show does that with, "Again, it is trodding exactly zero new ground. We've seen every combination of this kind of love triangle in the past. This is just a very well-executed version of it."

There is one red flag about this show though: It seems that NBC is trying to get rid of it before it even starts airing. There are six episodes and they're going to be shown in a three week span against shows like American Idol, Modern Family, and Happy Endings. I'm hoping that Bent sticks around as I plan on watching the six episodes, but if it doesn't then it was only a time investment of a little over two hours.

Bent will be shown on NBC, Wednesdays at 9 PM and 9:30 PM.

Welcome Back, Community. #CoolCoolCool

NBC's Community came back from its "benching" last night. I'm very happy with that! Not just because the show is back (it's one of my two favorite shows on TV with Parks and Recreation being the other), but because the episode was good as were ratings.

In case you didn't know, Community wasn't on NBC's winter-spring schedule when it was released in December. A couple of shows were moved around and a new show was added (Are You There, Chelsea?). NBC said that the show was put "on the bench," and that it will return later in the year. Many fans of Community took this as a bad sign for the show and started Twitter campaigns, writing letters to NBC, and even form flash mobs outside of NBC buildings in support of the show. It took a few months, but Community is back on the air now to the delight of those fans.

"Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts" isn't one of the concept or homage episodes that Community is well known for, but it's a good example of how solid the show is even without having to resort to a theme. I won't go into a full review of the episode (if you want that you can read Alan Sepinwall's review). I will note some observations and some of my favorite lines in the episode:
  • "Wireless racism: the future of the past is now." and "Shall I notify authorities?" It makes so much sense that Pierce invested into racist technology.
  • Britta suggesting that Pierce and Shirley team up for a possible sandwich shop and planning Shirley's wedding is nice growth for the character for a character that used to be the worst.
    • "She's just pro-anti," is more like it.
    • The "Literally two minutes later" and "One minute later" of Shirley laughing and staring at Britta were good too.
  • Jim Belushi took an unexpected punch to the face with the "It accomplishes nothing but everyone keeps using it and nobody understands why!" line
  • I'm so happy that "Troy and Abed being normal" isn't sticking.
  • Things I saw in Jeff's heart: playing cards, scotch, a house, Annie, Annie's cleavage, and a car. And Hilary Duff?
  • Subway saved Chuck from cancelation; wonder if they're going to try to help keep Community on the air too.
  • Alison Brie is hot.

Stylin': Randomness (Part One)

I feel like posting something. Anything. Style is the easiest subject to post about right now for me to write about. Plus, it's leap day. I want to say I posted something on leap day 2012.

Dappered is the site I never fail to check every weekday for new posts. It's my biggest influence on buying clothes due to the sale posts and reviews which I tend to agree with, and gives me things to think about whether it be about style or anything else in life. Some of the recent posts I've liked:


The Style Blogger and SB Daily are a couple of sites I check regularly, with a new post up every few days or so on the main site. Plenty of good content to go through, but what really caught my attention were a couple of posts about essential items: The first 25 and The next 10.

Image Granted is a blog I don't read as much but Grant regularly tweets links, thoughts, and advice. One of his recent posts is titled "The Difference Between Fashion & Style" and has some lines I really like: "Style is what every man should be aiming for. Style—much like life—can’t be forced." and "Style is comfort, confidence, and consciousness all in one. Conscious of its own story and disinterested in anyone else’s. Style can be seen, heard, and felt."

Pinterest (link is to my page) has been a fun way to share and browse through different looks and items.

To start off my year, I posted 2012 Style, or... and figure I should give some sort of update now that 2 months are over.

  • Suits: No three-piece suits yet, but I have bought two suits so far. Charcoal multi-purpose: J. Crew FACTORY Thompson. "Summer suit:" LL Bean Signature New Traditional Twill. Links are to Dappered reviews of each. I do have separate waistcoats I can wear with those at least. Still on the radar: The aforementioned J.Crew FACTORY Cotton suit and a navy three-piece. Being in southern California means "summer suits" are really four-season suits, so I can go for having multiple.
  • Shirts: I'm embracing button-down collared shirts again as they look the best when going tieless. Tieless is appealing to me because 1) I don't have to bother with figuring out what tie to wear and tying it and 2) it keeps me cooler than wearing a tie. Again, SoCal. Saturday's high is 74 degrees and Sunday is 79. I've bought four shirts with button-down collars and will be getting more.
  • Polo shirts: Haven't found button-down collar polo shirts yet, but I did buy a couple of Merona Ultimate Polos from Target which are amazing for the $10 I paid for them each.
  • Henleys: Going back to Target, they had henleys for $8 so I bought 4. Only worn one so far, but I liked it and so did the people I saw that night.
    • On that note, I'm trying to embrace purple. I don't like red or pink, but purple is okay. One of the polos and one of the henleys are purple.
  • No trench coat, topcoat, leather jacket, or cardigans yet.
  • One thing I am working on a little is shoes. I now own two pairs of wingtips in brown and gray. There are a couple of other pairs I'm looking at as well. More loafers would be cool because I'm a lazyass.
  • Also, I bought a scarf. Cashmere, and on sale. I like it, except this one is pretty short so I want to get another one that's longer.

Assumptions

More and more Day9 love, of course. In one episode of his show (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-9VLVkm8R4 ), he bring up one of the
main things that holds people back in their competitive mindsets:
Assumptions. Plenty of material here to help me think about the way I
approach challenges. Here are my notes on the episode:


Assumptions fill ambiguity and get in the way. They are difficult to
examine, are often invisible, and are very powerful.

"How do we solve the problem?" gets asked before "Do we have the right
information and assumptions?"

Wrong assumption: Knowing secrets = skill "All I need is the key
insight or trick to win"
Right assumption: Process = skill. Know the processes, not just tricks.

Wrong: Broad variety of knowledge = skill
Right: Depth of knowledge > breadth of knowledge. Have a strategy that
works, and know how to apply that strategy. Also know how to get back
to that strategy if you get sidetracked. Being excellent at one
strategy means you're an excellent player. Being decent at 100
strategies means you're a decent player.

Wrong: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Right: You can probably improve what currently works, so always try to
improve. Be more efficient. If it's working, that doesn't mean it's
optimal. Try to improve what already works.

Wrong: The system is flawed. The system is messed up so the result was
messed up or could not be found.
(note: This is where he brought up the insurance salesman riddle that
I previously posted)
Right: The system is NEVER flawed. If you are playing in the system,
you are held to it. You can't change the system. Strive for perfection
within the system.

Wrong: Believe patterns.
Right: Question patterns. "You don't need to VERY win. All you need to
do is win. A win is a win is a win is a win."

Wrong: Language is knowledge.
Right: Language is a tool that can help out but is not necessarily the
truth. "Just because it's surprising doesn't necessarily mean it's
good."

Wrong: If I have a good answer, I answered the right question.
Right: Make sure you're answering the right question. Question your
question and make sure it's the right question before answering it.

Riddle me this.

Another "I love Day9 and the things he talks about" post. On his daily episode today, he used a riddle to introduce a section of the show. I am now in love with this riddle and will share it with you! Doing it off of memory rather than looking it up, so hopefully I get it right. Have fun.

A mother of three kids answers her doorbell, and it is an insurance salesman at the door. After listening to his pitch for a few seconds, she stops him and says "I've heard enough. Here's what we'll do: If you can figure out the ages of my three children, I will buy your insurance. Here are your clues:

  • The product of the kids' ages is 36.
  • The sum of their ages is the same number as the address number of the house next door.

The insurance salesman thinks about it, looks at the house next door, and says, "I need one more clue." The mother agrees to one more clue:

  •  My oldest daughter plays the piano.

The mother ends up having to buy the insurance.

("Insurance salesmen aren't smart enough to figure this out" is not a valid answer.)