Patrick O'Keefe

photo credit: nyoin

I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has really supported me in 2011. This is decidedly unspecific, but I suspect that you know who you are.

Thank you to all of my loyal, close friends. That’s a small group. You know who you are.

Thank you to everyone who has been genuinely kind to me. I hope that I have thanked you all individually throughout the year. I mean it.

Thank you to everyone who shares my work and uses it to build a better business or online community. Your success helps to validate my work and I appreciate it.

I hope that you have a great holiday season and a happy, healthy and successful 2012.

I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be a really interesting year. I’m ready. Let’s get it.

Disclaimer: I am a long time Amazon.com customer, which has led to me becoming a huge fan of the company and a shareholder. I just wanted to get that out of the way, up front.

I really love the Amazon Kindle Fire.

I would estimate that I am safely spending more than an hour every day on it and, more often than not, multiple hours, just depending on what my day is like.

There is a lot of video watching. I’m currently working my way through “My Name is Earl,” every episode of which is free for Amazon Prime subscribers. I also have been playing a bunch of games. “Night of the Living Dead Defense” and “Airport Mania 2: Wild Trips HD” are among my current favorites. (more…)

photo credit: i.m.indraneel

I’m a fan of the Harry Potter series. Today, I watched the final movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.”

When I think about things like this, what I tend to think of most is the passage of time. I wasn’t a fan early. I got into it in the early 2000s and the second, and maybe the third, book had already been released. My brother Sean was a fan first and that’s how I picked it up.

In 2000, Sean turned 11. I turned 16. My youngest brother, Trent, turned 2. Now, all of us love the series and we went to see the final film together. I’m 26, Sean is 22 (and heading to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to start his third year of college, and first away from home, in just 6 days) and Trent is 13. So, that’s what I think most of. Being kids and now being adults (and a teenager) and the time we spent together. I always marvel at the passage of time. (more…)

I pre-ordered the deluxe edition CD of Jay-Z and Kanye West’s new album, “Watch the Throne.” I expected to have to wait for it to arrive to check out the album, but I didn’t realize that buying a ticket for the “Watch the Throne” tour entitled me to a digital, standard edition copy of the album.

My favorite tracks on the record are “No Church in the Wild,” “New Day,” “That’s My B****” and “Otis.” They just released the visual for “Otis” and I like it a lot. Just Jay and Kanye having fun.

photo credit: woodleywonderworks

We’re nearing the end of 2010 and so I wanted to take a moment to wish you a happy holiday season and a happy, healthy and successful 2011!

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who has supported me this year. This includes the people who enjoy my websites, who like my writing and share it with others, who regularly read my sites and those who provide me with encouragement and inspiration. I really appreciate you.

As always, I have a lot of different plans and things I want to accomplish this winter and in the new year. Wish me luck. I wish you the best of luck in accomplishing your objectives.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Patrick

photo credit: Calvin Lee

I returned from SXSW Interactive a few days ago, and a full recap of the event is forthcoming, even if it isn’t soon (I’m maybe half way as far as catching up to everything I need to catch up with). In the mean time, I wanted to share something.

One of the things that I felt pretty strongly throughout is that I am incredibly blessed to know the people that I know. As I wrote this post, I started grouping people up into categories, but that’s  just too difficult. There are my long term friends, there are friends I’ve made recently, there are people who I’m still building a relationship with, who I wouldn’t (yet) identify as a “friend” in the serious sense of the word, more as an acquaintance and I am sure there are other categories, as well. (more…)

photo credit: internets_dairy

When I was growing up, Nickelodeon was probably my favorite TV station. I loved the channel and still do. It’s a highly memorable part of my childhood.

When I was at IZEAFest last year, I had an animated and highly enjoyable conversation with Ryan P. Thompson about old Nick shows like “All That,” “Doug,” “Kenan & Kel,” “Rocko’s Modern Life” and more. That conversation continued on Twitter where, somehow, I brought up that I had won Nick or Treat. (more…)

photo credit: jasonawhite

Here’s a gift: Larry Granillo of Wezen-Ball.com has taken up quite the cool task: he’s going through the long history of the Peanuts comic strip and cataloging the the various baseball related numbers associated with Charlie Brown or, to be more specific; the wins, losses and some other fun categories, like the number of times Brown is knocked down by a line drive.

Stats aren’t the only thing, though: the posts read as a treasure trove of information of the baseball played in the series. (more…)

My prayers and thoughts are with the people of Haiti and everyone affected by this terrible disaster.

What is apparent in times like this is that everything counts, no matter how small. Can you afford to donate $5? $3? $1? If so, that’s great. It may be a small amount to you, all on it’s own, but coupled with other small amounts, it becomes a big, powerful amount. You can find a list of charities on WhatGives!?

Can’t afford to donate? You can still spread the word. The power of online community and social media has afforded everyone a voice if they choose to have one. If you’re on Twitter, Facebook, etc.; you have a community of people and connections. Share worthwhile initiatives with them and help bring awareness. It only takes a few moments to send a link or retweet something on Twitter, but it does help. (more…)

I was on Facebook when I saw that my friend Tom Tollefson had joined the “Save Al Kaprielian’s Job!” group. Started by Zito and Karen Blake, a pair of DJs at Boston-area radio station 103.3 WODS-FM, the group has 2,823 members as I write. But, you’re probably asking: who is Al Kaprielian?

Al has been the weatherman on New Hampshire-based TV station WZMY (formerly WNDS) for 26 years. In the area, he’s something of a legend, due to his approach to explaining the weather, which is fun and light-hearted with imitable, high pitched catch phrases. “High pressure!” “Good eeeevening!” I lived in the Hudson and Nashua, New Hampshire area for around 10 years and if there is such a thing as a local TV fixture, Al is it. To get a sense for why this is, watch this video, which was produced to commemorate his 25th year at the station.

I also went on a field trip while I lived there where we met and got a tour from him. On and off TV, he’s always come across as someone who cares about the weather and, more importantly, a good man. (more…)