Sunday, January 31, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 31 - Month in Review; Goodbye January!

Everybody needs help. One thing this blog is helping me realize is that in one way or another, people are looking for help with things. Friends have ideas for small businesses, some people need help getting their idea off the ground and running - maybe someone could even use a couple of hours of your time to help stuff envelopes. Everyone needs help with something to help make their lives a little easier.

I think that was one of my intents in mind when I came up with this blog in the first place. Sarah, myself and our friend Sherrie were tossing around ideas like:
  • "Help me make my dreams come true"
  • "Live vicariously through me... I'll live your dreams for you..."
You know, just the idea of empowering myself and others through doing things that need doing. I still haven't veered away from that line of thought - I think one thing that the 2010 20K can help provide is a number of situations that I hope to be mutually beneficial for myself and whatever clients I encounter along the way.

This first month has been good - I've gotten the opportunity to learn much about blogging, some do's and don't's, and ideas of how I'd like to develop further in the time that comes. I've found something to do that keeps me interested and dedicated, and all in all, I'm enjoying myself while doing it :)

I'm sorry to be so vague about some of the projects I'm working on figuring out at the moment - a lot of it isn't settled quite yet, and I wouldn't want to mess up anyone's plans due to me being a leaky faucet for information :) Worry not - I'll mention things in due time when signatures have hit the paper and the hands have been shaken! Shook? Shaken? I think it's shaken. Let's go with that.

In other news, thank you, Mark, for another donation of $20.10 to the fund :) I grant thee a boon - if you need something, let me know, and I shall do my darnedest to try and provide it! That helps the 2010 20K running total finally surpass $100! (It only took me a month :S !!!)

But yes, like I said, the heat needs to be turned up. I don't necessarily feel I've been slacking outright - I didn't come into the challenge with a firm plan, which I definitely don't advise to ANYONE, but with learning as I go, I feel that I'm building the infrastructure I need to do well as the months progress. Back to the topic at hand, though - the heat needs to rise. What I hope to crank out soon:

  • More real-life applications of the 2010 20K
  • Looking to get involved with https://payperpost.com/ to generate more opportunities - I've learned from the Google Ads experience, so now I'm going to try something that is directly tied to my performance
  • Also looking to get more exposure with doing some photography - I've scoped out places like blogto.com's Flickr group that will sometimes take photos to put in the National Post and t.o.night
  • More ACTION! More DRAMA! More... money?
And worry not - the reality blog is DEFINITELY not forgotten :) I'm going to keep this blog interesting, even if all y'all have nothing to say about it - but I guess that means that no one can stop me either, eh? (insert more evil laughter here.)

The Math:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $108.14
That's all folks - enjoy your night, keep reading and thanks for the support :)

Everyone peace from west to east,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

The 2010 20K: Day 30 - "Missed Opportunities..." -- Hall & Oates

It's not all about the money. This is something I know and would like to stress. Money is good to have and can be quite useful, but should never be the be-all and end-all tool behind any motivation.

Donations:

I have a couple of old jackets to get rid of that're taking up space in the closet. With the tempatures getting as low as they have, I think there're many others who would benefit from them more than the seldom-used space in the house!

And it's so convenient!

http://www.diabetes.ca/get-involved/supporting-us/clothesline/ - picks up from home, also accepts PDAs, cell phones and printer cartridges
http://www.clothingbank.ca/ - picks up from home

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be able to get my piece for the Threadless 10K contest done to the quality I'd like by tomorrow. Trevor already pointed this out, that I need to stop leaving things to the last minute - I know it can be hard to balance all of life's commitments - maybe it's just about better time management?

Here's a look at it, anyway - the theme was to "create the next trend" - I decided to look at trends instead, and show what the next trend might be in tech - maybe with a glow in the dark effect. What I was aiming to show was all the different tech all branching into one device which is like a roll-up of them all - something like what the iPhone would be like in its next generation (not yet pictured):



This won't stop me - minor bump in the road. There's another contest at http://shirt.woot.com due Wednesday - they have weekly derbies with $1,500 top prizes - this time around, the theme is "Heart", and I have an idea :) Hopefully I can actually get it in on time =/ There's a good idea rolling around in my head, and I hope to bust it out in style.

So time to wrap it up, pop in a DVD and make my way to eventual sleep.

The Math:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $88.04
Keep it warm, y'all.

--case p.

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Saturday, January 30, 2010

The 2010 20K Day 29.5: Is You SERIOUS?!

Worry not - I'm still rather proficient in English - but damn. I'm here with my computer, trying to compile the image of the tee design I've been working on to show y'all, but the system is HANGING. I've been shutting things down one after another, trying to hasten the process, but it looks like it's going to stay right where it is. I intend to take care of it one way or another before I sleep. Tomorrow sees a baptism and family time with Sarah's peops - should be good. And then we start a new month!

Hopefully get this blog up soon - bear with me!

Thanks,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

iPad v. A Rock

Ha! Sorry, Stevie boy - this time, it just doesn't look like you've got something groundbreaking going on ;D

Posted via web from Doomz Uncut

Friday, January 29, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 29 - Rich Dad, Poor Dad, So Sad.

Hey all,

A good evening for good reading! After the crazy week I had and a good solid power nap for a couple of hours, I'm pretty much recovered. Still need to get some more rest soon, but alive and kicking.

I'm glad I made it to the weekend in one piece - I have the odd tendency to really get into accomplishing things, and might forgo things like a decent night of rest here and there in the name of getting something done. Trying to find balance is helping me curb that habit, though.

One thing I did do tonight is spend some time with Sarah watching a bit of television. One thing we watched was Shark Tank, the type of show that always interests me since I like to see other business ideas and the moves that make or break them. Especially when people are making that first foray out and trying to get people to get as interested in their ideas as they are :)

The OTHER thing I watched... well, I guess I did check out a bit of NUMB3RS - what can I say? I'm a big fan of crime dramas. However, the OTHER thing I watched was Marketplace on CBC. Today's episode was based on the Rich Dad, Poor Dad seminars you see ads for all over the place - I've seen a bunch on the TTC as of late while on the way in and out of work recently. The episode was really good to watch - it, again, helps one realize that there's no easy way to make money in the world, and moreso that there are plenty of people out there who'll gladly take your money to make you believe that there is. It went over the seminars being run under a licensee of Robert Kiyosaki's company, and how they're running seminars that are essentially just cash grabs that become more and more expensive as time passes. From $500 the first time to $12-$45,000 the next. YOWZA!

Now, if you read the comments on the episode, it does point to the fact that the episode seems like more of a witch hunt than an unbiased view of Robert Kiyosaki and the successes he HAS generated through the use of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. HOWEVER, from the comments I did read, it seemed that those who were successful using Kiyosaki's system never attended one of these seminars - they used their own smarts and abilities to take Kiyosaki's teachings from the books and make themselves weatlhier in the process. I know my brother's been reading Kiyosaki - may be something I need to do myself.

Anyway, enough chatter there - please check it out for yourself below:

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2010/road_to_rich_dad/main.html

In other news, as usual I have several tabs open on my Firefox, including:

A quick glance at the clock tells me that I'm cutting it close. So, with that said, I hope you're all keeping warm on this freezing Friday night (The Weather Network says it feels like -27 C out there!), and thanks for joining me on yet another day of the 2010 20K!

The Math:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $88.04
Have a great night and join me tomorrow - I think art will be the name of the game!

Adios amigos,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

The 2010 20K: Day 28 - Lookout Weekend... Here I Come!

2010 20K Day 28 by Casey E. Palmer  
Download now or listen on posterous
2010 20K Day 28.mp3 (3197 KB)

Voice Post!

I'm really starting to notice that I talk pretty fast and tend to lisp it up a bit when I'm just talking off the top of my head. Yow. I might need to nip that in the bud!

Things mentioned in the post:

http://www.kickstarter.com/

It'll be good to get a project up here - but it'll need to be something GOOD!

http://blogs.photopreneur.com/how-to-get-paid-for-your-flickr-photos

How to Get Paid for Your Photos:

I'm going to get reading in-DEPTH on this. Maybe tomorrow I'll discuss the methods I find, taking good shots on a small budget and how to get word out there - just gotta find the time :D

My "t" key is starting to go on the fritz. Come on, lappy - you can do better than this.

The Math:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $88.04

Have a good night one and all :)

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

The 2010 20K: Day 28 - Lookout Weekend... Here I Come!

2010 20K Day 28 by Casey E. Palmer  
Download now or listen on posterous
2010 20K Day 28.mp3 (3197 KB)

Voice Post!

I'm really starting to notice that I talk pretty fast and tend to lisp it up a bit when I'm just talking off the top of my head. Yow. I might need to nip that in the bud!

Things mentioned in the post:

http://www.kickstarter.com/

It'll be good to get a project up here - but it'll need to be something GOOD!

http://blogs.photopreneur.com/how-to-get-paid-for-your-flickr-photos

How to Get Paid for Your Photos:

I'm going to get reading in-DEPTH on this. Maybe tomorrow I'll discuss the methods I find, taking good shots on a small budget and how to get word out there - just gotta find the time :D

My "t" key is starting to go on the fritz. Come on, lappy - you can do better than this.

The Math:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $88.04

Have a good night one and all :)

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Thursday, January 28, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 27.5

My peoples! Hope your day's been well!

Today was another long one - in fact, I didn't get out until 10 - urgent projects require sacrifices. I just have to make sure that it's not me too often and we'll be okay ;) It's quite the hard working team that I run with, so finding balance isn't always easy. So I hope you'll all accept a morning blog from me if that has to be the case. I'm going to try and get a money-making idea out daily for you casual readers out there, to try and make sure that I'm helping you at the same time while I'm trying to hit my goal - I want to keep you coming back for more, right ;) ?

Anyway, I'll see what I can get up before the start of tomorrow's work day. Keep cool!

--case p.

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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 27 - Upside-Down... Work, You Turn Me... Inside Out...

I hope everyone's not expecting an inspiring, thought-provoking and introspective blog post today, because I promise you that you're not getting it. I made it out of the office around 8:30 after a VERY busy and intensive day!

I've been working on sketches for that shirt this week, and so far, I'm fairly happy with how they're turning out, despite the fact that I'm not sure that I'll find the time to assemble it all into the awesome image that I have in my head.

People have been asking about the microphone video I put up the other day - alright, let me clear up a few things:

  • I'm not selling the mics - I own them and they're not going anywhere!
  • I'm offering recording services to anyone needing them - like I said in the video, it's good for reciting lecture notes, vocals for a song or even a message you want to send to someone :) The quality will more or less be that which you've heard in my voice blog posts, so pretty clear - I've had other mics here and there, but an actual meant-for-recording mic blows them all out of the water
I've noticed that my page views have been going up like craaaazy (some days are up 300 from where they were at a couple of days ago!) I wonder what's up with that? I've been checking what site stats I can get my hands on, but nothing's adding up. Thanks for checking things out regularly, though - it's highly appreciated! (Though in the back of my mind, I'm wondering how much of it is spam, but I'll get a system figured out - you just watch!)

It's been brought to my attention the idea of writing an appeal to Google and apologizing for misuse of the system - it's true that I didn't know, but then it raises the question of whether or not Google Ads would provide a stable source of passive income for me? Anyone out there who's had some experiences with it that've worked out okay for them so far?

As I ride off into the sunset, I hope you're all doing well. One potential client sent a mockup of a logo for me to look at today, so hopefully that'll develop into something more substantial. This weekend = sketches + writing the blog URL on business cards + web design wherever I can manage to fit it in. Should be good to just sit back and get things out of the way.

Thanks for keeping the blog alive with the daily reads, the comments here and there and lots of side conversation.

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $88.04
You know, this running total is going to need some WORK. I'm going to have to hustle harder in month #2!!!

Peace out one and all,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 26 - Good News and Bad News

Ugh. Just UGH.

Bad News

My Google AdSense account got disabled this morning. Before even reading the email, I had a good idea why. I need to read terms and conditions way better than I do.

Prohibited Uses. You shall not, and shall not authorize or encourage any third party to: (i) directly or indirectly generate queries, Referral Events, or impressions of or clicks on any Ad, Link, Search Result, or Referral Button

Sucks. You know, I'm not angry. It's really my own stupidity here. So that drops me a good $100 or so. *sigh*

Well, it's off to the races again, then. There IS no such thing as free money, eh =/

Good News

At least there's some good news. My boy Jon hooked me up with a $25 donation shortly after the 25th day of the 2010 20K - I appreciate it, man!

No video today since it's been a long day and I'm more or less working on sketches, but I plan to get the end product to you guys by the weekend ... obviously, since that's when the contest ends :D

So what can I do to make this a little more interactive? Expect polls, opportunities for you to have a stake in how I go about doing my crazy jobs - oh man, it'll be great. I hope you're excited, since there's good times coming :)

R.I.P. Google Ads account. It was good while it lasted.

The Math:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $88.04
  • Comments, as well, are also very much appreciated ;)
I'm out like a light with the switch down,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Monday, January 25, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 25 - Direct Advertising, Day 1

Download now or watch on posterous
2010 20K Day 25.mp4 (21422 KB)

Oh man, big things poppin' today! So for one, no more of this http://doomz.posterous.com/tag/201020k beeswax. Oh no. Due to my friend Michal's genius thinking, I have now purchased http://www.201020k.com and THAT'S where you'll now find the blog! Tell your friends, your enemies, your lovers! IT'S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!

Secondly, it's going to be a fiendish week, balancing the day job and arting it up like a madman, but if anyone can pull it off, you're LOOKING at him. Well, looking at what he's writing, but really, is there a difference?

Also, I've mentioned a few of the things I can do for anyone looking to hire my services outside of work, but I thought it might be better if I did a bit of illustrative work - today's video is the first 2010 20K Ad! Today's service: High-quality sound recording with the Shure SM58 and the Shure X2U XLR to USB convertor!!!

Check out the video and let me know what you think!

Man, I'm so PUMPED. Writing out http://doomz.posterous.com/tag/201020k on the back of my business cards was giving me hand cramps, anyway...

The Math:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $63.04
  • The Google Adsense Running Total = $91.01 (I'm totally serious about how much I appreciate this! I'm not just spewing out empty words here! Until posterous lets me post ads directly on the blog, please keep clicking ads at http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com! It's thoroughly appreciated!! SERIOUSLY!!!)
  • Comments, as well, are also very much appreciated ;)
Keep on visiting, keep on viewing!

Peace out home fries,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Sunday, January 24, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 24 - The LONG weekend has a SHORT epilogue

2010 20K Day 24: Little To Report by Casey Palmer  
Download now or listen on posterous
2010 20K Day 24.mp3 (874 KB)

Seriously, ain't much go on today. Oh yeah, can you FEEL that command over the English language! Ha - anyway, the mp3 explains it all - church and take-home work reigned supreme today, but the day is far from over - until I rest, it's going to be a sketchfest over here!

Nearing the end of the month. What can we expect in February? Well...

  • The resurrection of doomsdayblaze.com with the hopeful emergence of caseypalmer.com for my more "professional" side
  • More MEDIA. More EXCITEMENT. Mo money?
  • A couple of secret projects coming to light (I hope!)
I can feel it in my bones - it's gonna be so slick people'll think I'm made of oil
Gonna see the blog and it's gon' make their blood boil
Ooh, they hatin, ooh, they seein'
That they're just not as serious as that dude Casey P issssssss...

Enough of that.

The Math:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $63.04
  • The Google Adsense Running Total = $82.25 (Thanks so much! please keep clicking ads at http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com! It's thoroughly appreciated!!
  • Comments, as well, are also very much appreciated ;)
Tomorrow, I'm gonna start a trend that will hopefully find itself popping up in the blog time and time again ;)

Peace y'all,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Saturday, January 23, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 23 - Prelude to a LONG weekend

Jan 23 Randomness by Team R&C  
Download now or listen on posterous
Team R&C Jan 23.mp3 (2717 KB)



If a 14 year-old can do it, Doomz can do it too, right? I've gotta schedule an appointment with a Financial Rep. One that actually knows what they're doing - tax season is around the corner - RSPs need consolidating, TFSAs need attending to and stocks need investing. Penny stocks? I think the 2010 20K could handle that. Money often doesn't do much if it's just sitting around on its own, if I'm not mistaken.

Sarah got a survey in the mail from here:

http://www.shoppers-voice.com/

And after confirming its legitimacy, I've decided to give 'em all that personal info they so desperately want - I mean, there's the chance of getting a prize of $7,500 in the best-case scenario, and getting coupons at the worst, so it's not really all that bad, right?

So today, while not directly affecting the finances, was good for talks, brainstorming and following up with future clients. Always keeping busy! Didn't get around to dropping a line on any other bloggers - and the rest of the weekend is still looking to be filled with a ton of work, but hey. Can't win 'em all, although I try.

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $63.04
  • The Google Adsense Running Total = $77.17 (Thanks so much! please keep clicking ads at http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com! It's thoroughly appreciated!!
  • Comments, as well, are also very much appreciated ;)
And for a special treat, a sound post of Team R&C just doing what they do best.

(Going all sorts of crazy!)

Peace and thanks for reading,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Friday, January 22, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 22 - Prelude to a LONG weekend

Man! Anyone looking to hire an SEO expert part-time? 'Cause I'm starting to get there! Thanks to people helping me out over the last few days, I've learned about:
  • Site registration
  • Better use of meta tags
  • Google Webmaster tools
Among other things - it's going to be easier to customize my blog (and future sites) to meet the needs and demands of my audience with all the tools I'll have at my disposal! (Cue psychotic evil laughter.)

I'm hoping you'll see them soon, but I feel that my other websites are coming together pretty well. I tend to make a lot of notes in notebooks, Google Docs, text files, etc., so now I'm just getting them all together to make sure that I'm not missing anything - content is king, right?

End of the month is creeping up on us faster than I'd like! I'm really REALLY hoping to get more work time in this weekend, but it seems to slowly be slipping out of my fingers as more things pop up. I wouldn't do so well as a hermit - I can tell.

Post-work update:

Soooo, I've just taken a bunch of work home for the weekend, which gives me an extra challenge - doing that work on top of the work I already planned to do for the 2010 20K. Hm. Looks to me like I'll be a shut-in for the most part. Hoping to hear some good news on a few different projects this weekend (commissioners, you know who you are!), so hopefully you'll see some new stuff coming in the next while!

Threw some ideas out at my friends tonight while at the Mysteriously Yours Mystery Dinner Theatre (I totally guessed whodunnit), and people seem to be keen on what's coming next. That's always encouraging :)

Right, time to pack it in - all the stuff I have piled up to do won't do itself. Unless, yanno, I win the lottery and hire someone, but we've seen how well THAT works for me :D!

Anyway, time for the figures:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $63.04
  • The Google Adsense Running Total = $68.05 (Thanks so much! please keep clicking ads at http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com! It's thoroughly appreciated!)
  • There's also the option of donating to PayPal by clicking on the button on the right side of my blog!
  • Comments, as well, are also very much appreciated ;)
Blog Sidebar = needs moar links! Weekend quick project, methinks!

Rest well, my readers! One day soon, I shall attempt to KNOCK thine SOCKS OFF!

Until then,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Thursday, January 21, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 21 - SEO, FO SHO.

PART I:

It's morning!

Wake up. Brush teeth. Delete spam e-mails from BlackBerry. Rush out to catch train. And here I am!

Today, pay day, is a grueling day. I'm one of your average people - you know, the ones that have spent their paycheque the moment it comes in? Oh yeah. After slicing and dicing my biweekly pay every which way (transportation, church, insurance, etc.), I'm pretty much back where I started. Really though, I've gotta count my blessings that it's only really this rough with the month-end cheques - the other ones give me the leverage to work toward my goals more freely. And work toward them I shall! The next month of awesome pay won't be till April, where our pay schedule fits three cheques in over the course of the month. That will see some major debt damage! I'm looking forward to it :D

Mi amiga Jeanne pointed me out to a contest last night, but it looks like it's open to US residents only, so feel free to check it out: The Bravo TV Launch Your Line Contest. Seems like you have lots of room to sweep away some competition if you're a decent artist.

PART II:

Search Engine Optimization. Awww yeah! It's time to hook this blog up RIGHT! I'm keeping on it using Google Analytics in the background, coupled with Feedburner to see what's going down in the RSS world, but my coworker filled me in on the world of website REGISTRATION. It's time! IT'S TIME!!! Time to put this blog on the MAP! I'm going to see about getting this blog officially part of the mightiest of the search engines out there to boost its presence. I registered on Google, Yahoo and Bing tonight - the weekend will probably see me registering on dmoz.org and starting to try and find a community of bloggers with similar interests of 20-somethings trying to reach their New Year's resolutions and trying to make some side income in their spare time :D

Now! You might be asking, "But Casey, how can I help? I read your blog daily, but I want to make my contribution to your site!" Well, my adoring readers, I have JUST the idea for you! Link me! Post me up on your pages, in your blog, wherever you see fit! The more times a site is mentioned on the Internet, the more search engines pick it up and give it a wicked awesome rating! I implore you! I beg you! I'll write nice things about you! Please D:

PART III:

That's about it for now! I'm hoping that the weekend will be filled with the excitement and the potential to do many great things with the resources that I've got. Expect more videos on what Casey Palmer can offer you! Expect me to add more meta tags to my blog so people can oh-so-easily find it on the Interwebs! Expect me to start making some more money, because damn it, this is what this blog's all ABOUT, right?!

The Figures:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $63.04
  • The Google Adsense Running Total = $59.92 (Thanks so much! please keep clicking ads at http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com! It's thoroughly appreciated!)
  • There's also the option of donating to PayPal by clicking on the button on the right side of my blog!
  • Comments, as well, are also very much appreciated ;)
Until pigs fly, I remain,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 20 - Staking a Claim on the Internet, Day 2

"The internet is the biggest library in the world with all the books on the floor"

This Internet stuff is hard. Doing a search of "casey palmer", this blog doesn't show up until the 10th page on Google.
"casey palmer blog", still not until the second.

So, it is with a heavy heart that I've decided to delete my MySpace account of so many years. Maybe not THAT heavy. I mean, to be honest, I've barely used it in the past however many years - there was a time where it mattered, but I've long since moved on to Facebook, Twitter and other places. It won't be that big a loss. It's the first step in cleaning up a lot of the crap that seems to be associated with my name on the Internet. I know a certain someone who'll be pleased with this, by any means :P And what do I go and write when deleting an account I've had since the dawn of time?

Just don't really need MySpace anymore. I've moved on. The Internet is a big place and I rode off into the sunset some time ago. I hope Tom won't take it personally. He's a really nice guy. A bit omnipresent, but it's all good. We're forever homies.

*daps*

If you'd like to help me out with getting this blog a higher ranking on Google, I ask that you click a few links - when there, hopefully there should be options to promote and comment on the links I've suggested - I hope you take advantage of those to help get this blog a bit more prominence :)

I'm going to have to brush up on my PHP to use the Posterous API the way I want it to. S'all good - side projects keep me going :)

Hey! My blog got mentioned in the Press section of The Bitter End's website! Sweet. Totally unrelated to the 2010 20K, but I'll take whatever press I can get!

So that's about it for today, y'all - making money? It's not easy - here's some ways to help quickly if you can:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $63.04
  • The Google Adsense Running Total = $50.84 (Thanks so much! please keep clicking ads at http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com! It's thoroughly appreciated!)
  • There's also the option of donating to PayPal by clicking on the button on the right side of my blog!
  • Comments, as well, are also very much appreciated ;)
And that Technorati code at the bottom? Yeah, uh - just ignore it :) I need it in order to get this blog captured in their database.

Peace out, home fries!

--case p.

---

Technorati Code:

D5UGE2CYRTHA

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Albino Raven: Mario's Closet

Aw, man! So cute! You really appreciate how many Mario games there have been and the insane amount of variety in the costumes that've been put together when you see this.

I DARE you to try and name them all! *glares at Tom*

Posted via web from Doomz Uncut

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 19 - Staking a Claim on the Internet

Still brokering deals with a few people to get some side work done - I'd like to thank everyone who's come forth with ideas on what can be done to help raise cash over the course of the 2010 20K - one thing I also need to work on, however, is exposure. I went and signed up on Technorati so I could claim my blog, I'm making sure to try and get maximum exposure when I post the blog entries up - oh man, I am PUMPED.

I know, as well, that I'm far from the first person to try and make money on the side, and far from the first person to document the efforts. A couple of blogs that were brought to my attention, for example, are the following:

This first one is one I suspect as being a little spammy. I think the person who found it got it from one of those ads about making extra income on the side or teeth whitening or whatever. Not much substance to it, but it does touch on some of the ideas I first had when putting the 2010 20K together:

http://withmykids.blogspot.com/

This next one was suggested by a coworker and is a little more robust. Dumb Little Man is a blog all about improving one's life, and this particular entry waxes upon five ideas for making money using the Internet - I wouldn't be surprised if these ideas find their way in this blog somewhere in the coming months:

http://www.dumblittleman.com/2010/01/five-ways-to-get-started-making-money.html

I wanted to post my blog as a comment to this site, but I went about it too late in the day. Pretty interesting though, how people are seeking to fund those who're wont to do "unconventional labour". It's people like Dave Meslin who keep society's creative side from growing sterile. Kudos, sir - kudos.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/752509--porter-this-man-has-ideas-lets-put-them-to-work

Posterous doesn't allow for Google Ads yet, though "they're working on it". So for now, it looks like I'll have to keep the ads on LiveJournal until I figure out better alternatives. I've also started adding ads to the feeds, to those of you on RSS - please feel free to click on a couple at the bottom of the longer posts!

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: The 2010 20K Running Total has finally risen! That's right - in order to facilitate the transfer between my Google Ads account and my actual bank account, Google needed to have me confirm an amount that would be deposited into my account. Now, I'm used to the 2 or 3 cents you get from your first PayPal signup, but 84?! Man. They must make a ton of money off of this service.

With that said, I'm wrapping up the night with some emailing and a little more site building before bed. A new doomsdayblaze.com up by the weekend? No promises, but I sure HOPE SO. Hm, I think the blog's sidebar needs more links. That's on the to-do list for tomorrow.

The Figures:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $63.04
  • The Google Adsense Running Total = $45.29 (Humourously enough, this is also the last four digits of a phone number I once had :) Thanks so much! please keep clicking ads at http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com! It's thoroughly appreciated! I'm also noticing that this amount tends to fluctuate - I need to figure out how to optimize it!)
  • There's also the option of donating to PayPal by clicking on the button on the right side of my blog!
  • Comments, as well, are also very much appreciated ;)
I'm outtie like a light.

Thanks for reading!

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Monday, January 18, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 18 - We Be Vloggin'!

Download now or watch on posterous
The 2010 20K Day 18.mp4 (25112 KB)

YAY FOR FIRST 2010 20K VLOG!!!

I'm gonna need some time after work today to just get some things done. One of the things that really wears me out sometimes is just carrying so much STUFF. I have a bag on my back right now with my laptop and several art supplies in it; looking down at my feet, there's one bag weighed down by several books, and a duffle bag with a bunch of other stuff. I've gotta somehow consolidate it all before I go home - maybe leave some stuff at the office and grab it tomorrow? Hm...

On that note, one of the things in the bag is business cards. I probably have 300-350 cards that I printed via moo.com with my face on them - what I'm thinking is that I could paste the url for this blog on the back and start handing them out around the city. A step in the right direction while I figure out what I'm doing?

Other suggestions that have been brought to my attention:

  • Becoming a Scrabble tutor
  • Attending Scrabble tournaments
  • Babysitting
  • Singing at weddings
There's gotta be better ways to make money every day than picking change up from the streets every day, right?

Anyway, check the video, and I'm signing off for the night. Sketches to draw, stories to write, sleep to be had!

The Numbers:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $62.20 (no thanks to YOU, Super Bingo!!!)
  • The Google Adsense Running Total = $39.25 (thanks so much! please keep clicking ads at http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com! It's thoroughly appreciated! I'm also noticing that this amount tends to fluctuate - I need to figure out how to optimize it!)
  • There's also the option of donating to PayPal by clicking on the button on the right side of my blog!
  • Comments, as well, are also very much appreciated ;)
One love, much respect and see you tomorrow!

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Saturday, January 16, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 16 - Been a Work Day

Can't say I really left the house today - did more of a work day - some planning and working out details of the five or six opportunities I've got lined up. 2010's going to be a busy year! Lots of playing Dexter season four while I worked. Good times!

And now, for the most unintentionally phallic image drawn today:



Back to work!

The 2010 20K Running Total = $62.20
The Google Adsense Running Total = $26.55 (thanks so much! please keep clicking ads at http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com! It's thoroughly appreciated!)
There's also the option of donating to PayPal by clicking here: Donate

Enjoy the rest of your Saturdays,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Friday, January 15, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 15 - Sometimes the Odds are Against You

http://www.geist.com/contest/6th-annual-geist-literal-literary-postcard-story-contest

Oy, what a day. So I tried to enter this contest which needed to have its entries postmarked today, key word being TRIED. Let me tell you alllll about it.

So yesterday, I bought a postcard to enter this contest over at Midoco - which is likely my favourite art store in the city. (You'll often find me there fawning over their Copic Markers - some of the most coveted and overpriced art supplies known to humankind.) It's pretty cool - it's one of C.M. Coolidge's pieces where he painted dogs doing human things (you know the most famous one where they're all playing cards) - this one in particular is called The Reunion:

Reunion.jpg

Source: http://ibdennis.com/reunion.html

So, awesome. I ended up writing a story on it, called "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie", which you'll find attached to this post. Here's what my schedule today looked like:

  • 9:30 - 6:15 work
  • 6:15 - 6:55 travel to Sarah's, which took 20 minutes more than usual due to delays and our ever-reliable TTC subway system with which Toronto is graced [/sarcasm]
  • 6:55 - 8:15 work on developing "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie", pretty much from scratch - I only had the concept of what I wanted the story to be about, and then I just started writing from there
  • 8:15: head out to go find the nearest post office - the one around the corner had closed up shop some weeks ago; so the next closest one according to the Canada Post website was a Shoppers Drug Mart by Pape subway station
  • 8:35: arrive at the Shoppers only to realize that they NO LONGER HAVE A POST OFFICE. Talk to the guys at the store to find out where the closest post office is, confirming on my BlackBerry...
  • 8:45: After a bit of a walk, arrive at Postables, only to find that it closed at 7 pm
  • 8:46: Call Sarah to let her know I'll be going to the Shoppers near Spadina station, as I distinctly recall it closing at 10 pm back when she lived close to there - she offers to look it up to make sure
  • 8:47: Realize that my stupid BlackBerry needs a new battery as it doesn't seem to be able to hold a charge and died mid-conversation (I'd charged it up at work)
  • 9:02: Arrive at the Shoppers near Spadina, only to find out that it closed at 9
So, to my chagrin, the story was never sent. My chances at a $250 prize shot! But perhaps this is divine intervention - God telling me not to spend the $20 entry fee unless I'm damn sure that I'm sending my top quality stuff in. Oh well, at least it made for a good story. So here I sit, listening to Shalamar, typing this up in order to vent and get it out of my system. Canada Post and I need to have some WORDS. This isn't the first time they've led me astray!!!

Anyway, this weekend will be filled with sketching, working on updating my resume and portfolio, and just figuring out what opportunities lay before me. I've far from forgotten that the Threadless 2K10 challenge's deadline is around the corner, and that I need to get something on paper - IMMEDIATELY!

Hope the rest of y'all have had a far more restful evening than I have.

The 2010 20K Running Total = $62.20
The Google Adsense Running Total = $26.55 (thanks so much! please keep clicking ads at http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com! It's thoroughly appreciated!)
There's also the option of donating to PayPal by clicking here: Donate

And that's about it! Please let me know what you think of the short story :)

T-t-t-that's all, folks!!!

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Thursday, January 14, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 14 - Open Commenting Now Available!

Huh. Seems that open commenting was available the whole time - the option just wasn't where I expected it to be. I'll leave it on for now - if it gets unmanageable, I can always change it later.

The weekend is going to be one of my more open ones - I'm hoping to be able to hack away at a bunch of concept work this weekend - I'm not about to go spread the idea of 2010 20K if I don't have the foundation set up ;)

Picked up some postcards for that Geist contest - tonight will be intense amounts of writing shall be done before I sleep! I'll likely post up whatever it is I've come up with tomorrow.

Still in talks with my old classmate - I also need to give another friend a call - and then there's a couple of other projects in the pipeline.

For some reason, I foresee a working weekend....

RECAP

Blurb - check out my book!
Livejournal ads - click on them to hook a brotha up with some more money - so far @ $18.95 US
Ask questions (commenting now available on the blog itself!)

The 2010 20K Running Total = $62.20 - I'm seriously going to go around and look for change on the street this weekend....

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Wulff and Morgenthaler - the most messed up comics on the Internet

Despite their twisted nature, these still make me chuckle. Or is it DUE to their twisted nature that I chuckle?


Posted via email from Doomz Uncut

Women - the most dangerous creatures on the planet!!!

And now for something COMPLETELY different...

129068725142396237.jpg

This one, we knew.

Posted via email from Doomz Uncut

Shit Tyrone, Get it Together!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 13 - Reality Blogging

Best idea EVER. Obviously, there's a ton of reality television out there on the airwaves. It's really taken off in the last decade as we now sit in front of the TV to see dancers, singers, survivors, people in search of love and people willing to travel, battle or eat anything for one big, fat paycheque.

But have you seen a lot of reality BLOGGING? Yes, one could argue that all personal blogs are reality blogs - real people talking about real things to their audiences. But they're seldom done in the style of reality TV - people conquering regular challenges in the pursuit of an end goal. This blog would be PERFECT for that. I've thought about the prospect of finding a different store to work for each weekend (work with me here - I know a lot of stores would be hesitant due to HOUR policies and loss prevention worries) for four hours or so (or maybe 8 for 110 - 55 is still the magic number), and I could blog about the experience and give them some publicity. I think this might work! I'll have to write up a letter about the challenge and a resume specifically tailored for this, but if I can make this happen, it would be SO AWESOME!!!

This also has me thinking of a business idea - giving OTHERS something to blog about. I know I've often been subject to the boredom bug - what if someone helped you to find ways to make your life more interesting, tailored to your needs? Or helped you and your friends set up a reality blog of your own? Casey Palmer - consultant in awesomeness ;)

The Google Ads have seemed to kick off pretty well so far - the estimated earnings to date sit at about $15 - please keep clicking at http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com (think about it this way - the sooner and more often you click, the less you'll need to hear my begging and pleading for you to do it!) - cheques are paid out monthly with a minimum of $25 for payout. January's been a slow month (since, you know, I'm only starting out), so I hope to supplement where I can while I get things sorted out.

One of my other goals in life (more of an on-going one) is to clear out all the extra unneeded stuff in my life. For example, I have this box full of photo reference for drawings that I've never used:

But now I'm starting to and it's resulting in sketches like these:

(I think it's evident from my attempted Sandra Bullock and Seann William Scott that I could do with doing some more portrait work.)

So I'm going to keep at it, since the sooner and quicker I start drawing comics again, the sooner I can start getting Fish n Chimps out again for the masses to enjoy :)

One other thing I found in a desk drawer was a bunch of Avery business cards, from back when I used to print my own business cards for conventions and whatnot. Once I get a design down, I think I'll start getting these passed out around town so that the word can start spreading.

Daily blogging also seems to have some side benefits - an old classmate contacted me today with a proposition for doing some marketing/research/general advertising/internet guru stuff - I still don't quite know what this means, but I'm hoping to find out when he gets back to me :)

So I'm thinking that some of y'all ... okay, maybe MOST of y'all don't comment since you don't want to be in the spotlight or whatever whatever. What if I told you that there was a way for you to ask me questions without commenting? Even.. yes, I'm going there... ANONYMOUSLY? Yeah, this might open me up to all sorts of horrifying thoughts lurking at the back of your mind, but when have I ever treaded with caution?

I have two sites where you can freely ask questions, and I'll aim to get back to you sooner than later:

Hit me with it! I know you have stuff you want to know about me and the madness behind all of this! I'm here! Bring it on!

The 9 to 5 is promising to get more challenging in the next few months, but don't think that'll keep me away! I hope you keep visiting, keep ad clicking and keep asking questions in the next coming while - you never know what to expect, or if you might be able to help :D

Until next time, I remain:

--case p.

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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 12 - Somewhere Between Selling Out and Hoping to Sell Out

Today's Updates:
  • Okay, you guys have GOT to help me out. So far, I've made about $3.60 from friends clicking on my ads on http://doomsdayblaze.livejournal.com - that's pretty awesome! Until I figure out Google AdSense completely, I would love if you could go over there and click on a few to help generate some more bucks while I figure things out! I'll be your friend FOREVER. And if I already AM your friend forever, you should be getting over there and clicking ANYWAY.
  • Texted SHERLOCK to 66843 to try and win an XBOX 360! Leave no contest IGNORED!!!
  • I see you, Heart & Stroke lottery. Wanting $100 of my hard-earned cash for a 1:3 chance at prizes. You're tempting, but not tempting ENOUGH. Though I'm all about potentially winning $1.5 Million, this is about the plight of one man again the odds trying to make a goal. If I do it all in one fell swoop, that just won't be a good read!
As usual, sketching like a fiend:

If you want a piece of your own, feel free to drop me a line - I'll be showing plenty more examples over the course of the 2010 20K :)

I'm going to follow up on a few jobs that I've heard from friends - see what I can do to get some wheels turning :)

And now for something completely different ... Casey Palmer's self-indulgent lessons in body, mind and soul, and how they too are connected to the 2010 20K!

GETTING THE 2010 20K LOOK RIGHT

http://www.thebodyshop.ca/landing-perfect-shave.html

So in order to do well in the 2010 20K, I figure - hey, why not give people a face that they can trust? So I decided to try and re-do my shaving style to give myself a crisper, smoother image. I think it was Saturday when I decided to hit up The Body Shop at 100 Bloor St W to figure out what I could do to step the shaving game up. Seeing as how I use electric clippers, buying shaving cream just seemed like it would be a total waste of time. But a good shave is not a good cream alone! After taking a good look online and around the store, I thought I had an idea of what to go for. I developed a trifecta of good that'll get the face right avoiding razor burn and ingrowns:

  • Maca Root Face Scrub to exfoliate the skin and get it ready;
  • Maca Root Energetic Face Protector to moisturize and firm up the skin - so that the razor doesn't completely mar it up; and
  • Maca Root Razor Relief to cool and calm the skin - yes, it's just like aftershave - only with MACA ROOT!
FYI, Peruvian Maca Root, while also good for virility and increasing libido (worry not, I won't be eating my creams) also is good for keeping the skin youthful and lively. Granted, with Black skin, I may not need it - but hey! Why take chances?



Et voila, the end result! We'll see over the coming weeks if some baby smooth skin will look good enough on posters around the city to help hit that 20K goal :D



Alas, kids, that's all our time for now - remember, click a link, help a brotha! Coming tomorrow - THE PLAN TO END ALL PLANS! Yes, you read it here first - A... REALITY BLOG?

Get ready. You're not going to believe the madness going on in the head of Casey Palmer!

The 2010 20K Running Total = $62.20 (since yanno, I haven't got PAID from the ads, yet.)

See you tomorrow!

--case p.

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Monday, January 11, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 11 - A Case of the Mondays

More Money, More Problems

Source: Metro, Monday, November 23, 2009 page 28

Just wanted to get an article up to point out that money isn't the objective of this challenge - it's more something needed to effect more definite change in my life. New opportunities, goals and ideas will hopefully come from it when it's done :)

Google AdSense up and running - check

Money Made from Google AdSense = $0.00 - well ain't this a *****. 29 people have viewed my pages with ads, but not one person clicked on 'em? Oh, man. It's so on. I consider this an act of passive war! I'll get people clicking on ads if it KILLS th... me. Right. Soon, my pretties. Soon the pennies will start rolling in!

Received a Facebook message from my friend Megan today about another contest, I'll need to look into it for sure - it's way shorter than the Indie Writers' Deathmatch, but it's due in four days. Hm. This one's a postcard contest, where you need to write a story related to a postcard that you send with it. Still with the $20 entry fee, though! Writing contests, thou shalt be the bane of mine existence!

The sources of extra income are dwindling, so that only means I've gotta move more aggressively. I'm glad that people are commenting all over the place - I need all the advice I can get. I've gotta start picking up Careers sections and finding focus groups, start posting up ads around town when the website's up - whatever comes to mind to make that money :S I'm certain I'll figure this out!

The 2010 20K Running Total = $62.20. Man. January, you've gotta pick up the pace!!!

--case p.

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Sunday, January 10, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 10 - Things I Won't Do For Money...

...ESPECIALLY for $55.

So after posting yesterday's blog, one of my friends sent me an MSN message with the following enclosed:

"Clean my toilets".

Thanks, Kev. While this is definitely on the list of things I MIGHT do, there's a caveat. I'd expect the hirer to pay the costs of travel. It just doesn't make much sense otherwise. If I have to pay $55 (or more!) to make the $55 back, there wasn't much sense in travelling all that way, was there? So yes, $55+applicable costs will be the rate :)

So just so your imaginations don't run COMPLETELY wild, let's list off some things I WON'T do for $55:

  • Sleep with you (and no, Sarah won't give it the okay, so don't try that angle, either)
  • A job that obviously costs wayyyy more than $55 to do (like, I dunno - develop a database system for a company of 20,000 people)
  • Anything causing direct harm to myself or others
Just to name a few.

Didn't get around to finishing up the Indie Writers' Deathmatch entry, but hoping to use it for something else in the near future - submissions for indie mags are always being requested.

Another week is upon us, and I still have a few things to do before bed - a resume to send out, things to scan and various items to consolidate. Gonna be one of those nights, I guess :) Hopefully this week will be rife with opportunities to increase this total!

The 2010 20K Running Total = $62.20

Thanks for reading and wish me luck this week,

--case p.

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The 2010 20K: Day 9 - The Bridge from Planning to Reality

One of the methods I commonly use for saving - and caveat, I'm saying that this works for me personally, not necessarily for everyone - is saving my change in a bucket. I don't spend change if I can help it (and it helps that I'm not a coffee drinker); I take all that change goes in a bucket so I can eventually deposit it into the bank account. At the same time, though, you don't want to leave it sitting TOO long. You start to think about it after a while - all the change I have sitting here, I could be using to pay debts, gain interest - whatever it is that you could do to improve your financial situation. I just did a roll-up (i.e. the times where I'll sit down and roll up a bunch of change), and there's $451.50 to be banked (plus another $125 US cheque, a British 5 pound note and a cheque for all of 19 cents from a refund) [note: Just returned. Apparently TD has free change counting machines. When did THIS happen? All that time and effort... for nothing D:]

Today's activities won't include too much for the 20K, I fear. Two birthday parties tonight mean that I won't work directly on my site, but I'll still be working on the layouts on construction paper, and trying to get that entry for the Indie Writers' Deathmatch done by tomorrow.

In fact, why don't you give the "monologue" I wrote a read and tell me what you think? Any comments, positive, negative or ambivalent would be HIGHLY appreciated. [Sarah took a quick read over it at one of the birthday dinners tonights and gave some crits and comments - please note that this copy has not seen them yet.]

Premise: In a dystopian near-future, economic collapse has sent the United States into a frenzy, and after being shunned by the United Nations in their time of need - including their neighbours to the north - they attack to make their point made and voices heard. This is a short story detailing the situation found in one of the cities affected by these events.

This used to be a nice town. That was before urban sprawl led to social collapse. Before vertical growth sent everyone scrambling for refuge in the tunnels. Before the glass house that we thought protected us all was found to be cracked just enough to shatter from the first stone thrown.

Back when the word "Canadian" meant something.

Who would attack US, the Canadians thought.

I mean, we ONLY had a wealth of natural resources. We ONLY had the second-largest political land mass on the globe. We were ONLY one of the last economies to feel the chilling touch of the Great Recession. Oh yeah, NO ONE would want a piece of THAT.

And yet they kept pretending that nothing was coming. The prices kept rising, but that didn't matter - condos, computers, cars, real estate, stocks, bonds, drugs, identities - whatever was on the market, they'd eat it up like there was no tomorrow.

Too bad so few realized how SOON that cliché would become so APPLICABLE.

When the U.N. turned their back on the US in their time of need, all those years of pent-up rage, blind patriotism and political shenanigans came to a head when their neighbours in the Great White North couldn't be bothered to spare them a dime.

We thought we'd be safe in our overpriced highrises; our new digs from the boutiques downtown; our brand new luxury cars with the tops down in our pleasant - albeit brief - summer days.

Like I said, let me know what you thought.

Karaoke tonight reminded me that I should look into singing lessons eventually - my breathing was ALL sorts of messed up. I can sing okay - just not with any stamina ;) But I guess that would translate to my performance in intramural sports as well - huh. Who'da thunk it.

Ah! I also received an AWESOME idea from Jen, someone who was at one of the parties I attended - if I break down the $20,000 into daily chunks, I can try to advertise to do jobs at one flat rate to try and make those daily goals :)

So $20,000/365 = $54.79, so let's round that up to $55 to make it easier.

Imagine:

Casey Palmer - The Job Man! Does any* job for $55!
*the option to do a job or not is at the discretion of Casey Palmer and Casey Palmer alone

I could advertise this alongside my resume and people could challenge me to see what jobs I'd actually take on. It'd be interesting :D I need to get my sites done so I can advertise this PROPERLY. I thank you Jen for your beautiful, beautiful brain.

That's all I've got in me for now.

The 2010 20K Running Total = $62.20

--case p.

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Saturday, January 09, 2010

Day 9 is coming!

(We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog post with this public service announcement)

Casey Palmer can currently be located at BMB Karaoke in the process of losing his voice. Your regularly scheduled blog post will return upon HIS return to his not-so-beloved laptop. --case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Just for the taste of it... Diet Rap!

oFGXa.jpg

I wish I came across random happenstances like this - too hilarious!

--case p.

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Friday, January 08, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 8 - Expectations

chart?chs=400x300&chd=t:0,0,1,1,1,3,23.1,40.1,62.2&chds=0,65&cht=lc&chxt=x,y&chxr=0,0,8|1,0,65&chtt=The+2010+20K+Running+Total+by+Day&chg=12.5,7.692&chm=N*f01*,000000,0,-1,11

I took some time this morning to teach myself how to use the Google Charts API. It's a handy tool for making graphs on the fly by simply putting the data you need in a URL - but I can see how it might become a little more difficult to use when you have a LOT of data points to put in. Expect to see more tinkering in future updates.

So 2010 may very well be the year of explicit contracts and service level agreements with clients. I mean, I'm a nice guy and all, but some things really blow my mind at times. Let's take, for example, the calendar I worked on near the end of 2009 and was trying to get a follow-up done in the last couple of weeks by getting desktop stand-style calendars printed with the same images (by the way, if you're ever trying to do this, make sure it's in the October-November period of the year - it gets FAR more difficult to find a printer after this).

Let's look at some numbers on the original calendar:

Time spent on making 13 drawings for the calendar = 10 hours
Money spent to print the calendar = $24.85
Money spent for next day shipping = $15.00

Money paid to Casey for this calendar = $20.00

The look on Casey's face upon seeing this = PRICELESS.

So yes, even though people may be friends or you may have or had a good working relationship with them, you still need to get things down on paper and a firm understanding put together before you start doing the work. Otherwise, things like this happen. It's not something that I'll let sour the relationship nor will I be bitter about it, but I'll definitely approach things differently next time.

Today was still a good day, though. I sat with one of my more "big business"-minded friends, and she was able to have a good talk with me on the ideas of things like incorporation, focusing my efforts on doing one thing well and how to invoke actual growth in money. It was good to bounce ideas off of someone who's really into making effective change in a limited scope of time.

Doing some research on avenues already available to me, and I've (re-)discovered a couple:

I'm resurrecting an art book that I published called Blazin' Apes: Sketches to Sketches, Brush to Brush (Edwin, I still need to sign yours!) - it's a collection of work that I've done over the years, collected into one tome - feel free to support if you're interested :) You can get more information on it by clicking below:

http://www.blurb.com/books/312787

Also, LiveJournal gives Paid/Permanent users to generate revenue through ads in their journals. I might try it out - LJ friends, if it drives you insane, please feel free to let me know. But, you'll need to give me a better alternative for continued revenue. Deal?

Today's increases came from $0.10 donated by Sakshi this morning, which was awesome - every little bit helps :) - $2.00 from cashing in a December lottery ticket and $20.00 from that calendar job. Money is money, right? This means that...

The 2010 20K Running Total = $62.20

For anyone who's done the math, $20,000 over the span of the year means that I'll need to earn an average of $384.62 to make it. It's a good start, but I'm going to need to turn up the heat in order to hit the goal. But Day 7 out of 365? It's WAY too early to say die :) Let's DO this.

Thanks for reading,

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Thursday, January 07, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 7 - Still Schemin'

Just finished reading Chris Ballard's The Butterfly Hunter: Adventures of People Who Found Their True Calling Way Off the Beaten Path last night.

Today's haul was a decent haul - another $16 from some winning Cash for Life scratch cards (yes, from Sarah - it's been indicated that she's been having quite the active role in this blog - but if she's reaping benefits from it, then why not?) and $1 donated from Sakshi (thanks, Sakshi!) - tomorrow I see myself cashing in some lottery tickets as well :) Gotta get it where you can, right?


Some more ideas:

Casey's scanning service - I have an 8" x 14" scanner that converts film into digital images, so I'd do that for a nominal fee

Casey's portable mini recording studio - I have a Shure SM 58 with a Shure X2U to connect it directly to a computer, so if someone needs to record quality audio, I've gotcha covered

Casey's organization service - files all over the place on your computer? Can't remember where you put that doohickey? Casey Palmer to the rescue! I can run mindmaps to organize your notes, Excel spreadsheets to get your finances sorted out, or even build new scripts to help make what you do on your computer far easier

Been more of a lackadasical day - hope to have an active weekend of 20K action - writing, drawing and websiting needs to be done!

Also, if anyone wants to share any Settlers of Catan war stories, I'm all ears. I think I'm on my sixth near-win (as opposed to an outright loss) in a row.

The 2010 20K Running Total: $40.10

Thanks for reading!

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 6 - The Smell of Progress

This has been a good day for the 2010 20K :) I woke up this morning to find that a friend had donated $20.10 to the 2010 20K (since our sense of humour is AWESOME) through the PayPal link. Wow! Thanks! That's really encouraging - I hope that eventually I'll be able to do something more than a mere mention on the blog of such things :)

Inglorious Basterds seemed to be a waste of 2 1/2 hours to me - it had it's moments, but I left it with a feeling of whateverness. Since I wasn't all that engaged, though, I did manage to work on some sketches for one of the shirt ideas:

A pirate, viking, vampire and luchadore I sketched up for a shirt I call AWESOMESHIRT (name pending)!!!

Hung out with my friends Shar and Melanie for dinner - it was good times. They suggested that I could try my hand at DJing for the 2010 20K, with my wealth of music knowledge. Worry not - if you asked me to DJ your party, you wouldn't get wack music. Imagine a wedding where the DJ makes sure that the dance floor is always full! Awwww yeah, that's my kinda party :D

Another day down, another idea on the table! The Indie Writers' Deathmatch is around the corner - I see a Friday night all-nighter coming up around the bend to hit the deadline!

I'd also like to get into writing kids' books... but we'll delve into this later.

All the best and thanks for reading!

The 2010 20K Running Total: $23.10

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

The 2010 20K: Day 5 - Beating the odds?

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Snagged from another Posterous I follow at http://reflectionof.me/the-resolution-cycle-1 - I assure you that this cycle won't be happening to me.

Alright, so this will be one of my quicker updates, as I've rented Inglorious Basterds and it needs a watching before its due date tomorrow.

This has been one of my weirder evenings so far.

In vaguely the correct order:

  • Went to Kinko's to put in an order for desk calendars - only to find that they DON'T do desk calendars, being the shoddy organization that they are (all artists who have ever gone there to mass produce ANYTHING know EXACTLY what I'm talking about) - I've been directed to hit up The Printing House in the morning, which I will, but if anyone else has any suggestions on what route to take for this in the downtown Toronto area, please let me know
  • A massive subway delay caused me to get some reading in, but also miss the 6:10 train home, so I found a couch near to the station to continue said reading - there I met a young dude by the name of Mark who was asking about my Bleach bookmark - we had a half hour conversation about anime, manga, swapped our sketchbooks and email addresses - he seemed like a pretty cool dude looking to make art and acting connections - we'll see if this is a networking opportunity as the 20K continues :)
  • Then I gave $5 to a homeless woman on the way to my train. Turns out that she's a prostitute on probation due to drug abuse and I was the 11th young Black man to have helped her out since last summer... which she believes is due to there being a Black American president in power which is changing the world for the positive. ...yup.
  • Met up with my buddy Andrea to belatedly swap Christmas gifts, and she contributed another $2 to the cause, if only to double up on the previous contribution. Hey, I'll take it!
Anyway, in any case, I'm glad to be home so I can rest a little.

Indie Writers' Deathmatch:

http://www.brokenpencil.com/deathmatch/

Deadline for this is the 10th with a top cash prize of $300. With entries needing to be 1000-3000 words, I'm hoping to whip something up over the course of the week. Please keep posted as I'm going to need some SERIOUS voting help if I do!

As well, I have some vague ideas for a really bloody, gory short story, but if anyone has any ideas they want to send along and see incorporated in what will be nothing short of a masterpiece, get in touch with me!

Threadless 2K10:

http://www.threadless.com/loves/threadless2k10

Last night, Sarah helped me come up with a few really good design ideas for this contest - I'll hopefully be able to get them put together by the January 31st deadline, and like with the Indie Writers' Deathmatch, I'll need some serious help with votes! Keep posted - winning the $10,000 prize would be SO AWESOME.

If you guys come across any other contests you think I'd be interested in, let a brotha know!

Comments:

So it seems that some people may have some apprehension about commenting since they might not know much about the commenting options. Let me quickly cover them:

  • Posterous - you'd need to have a Posterous account to log-in with this options
  • Facebook Connect - to quickly explain how Facebook Connect works, it's an authentication system where you use your pre-existing Facebook information to log in to another site. What this does NOT do is: put a new app on your Facebook; take any of your data outside of the privacy settings you've already set up; or alter your Facebook usage in any way. It's probably the safest and easiest method for most of my readers out there. Feel free to consider it and try it out :)
  • Twitter - similar to Facebook Connect, but for this you need a Twitter account to log in with.
Also, you can also get in touch with me at palmer DOT casey AT gmail DOT com, if you're REALLY skeptical.

Thanks for reading!

The 2010 20K Running Total: $3.00

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous

Upular: An "Up" Music Video

This is the kind of stuff that one of my local comic shops posts about on its blog - a music video composed almost entirely of sound bytes from the movie "Up".

It's called "Upular". It's going on my iPod. IMMEDIATELY.

Trust me. It's awesome.

--case p.

Posted via web from Doomz's posterous

Monday, January 04, 2010

Funny Moments 2009: Doomz on the News

Going over some random and humorous things that occured to yours truly in 2009 - like the time where Sarah and I lost our trip to the Bahamas due to Conquest Vacations going under, and after some ranting and raving on Twitter about the whole deal, Muhammad Lilla, a reporter from CBC news asked if I'd be available for an interview.

Several emails and a couple of phone calls later, we'd set up at a parkette close to work and the new was shot.

I eagerly awaited seeing myself on the 6 o'clock local news, but nothing came up. Figuring that it had been scrapped, I went off to do other things.

Until the phone calls and emials started coming in.

6:30 pm: Dude! You're on the Ottawa news!

9 pm: Casey, what're you doing on the National?!

11 pm: What! Why're you on my TV in British Columbia?!

Casey Palmer. Showing up in the most unexpected places since 1983.

--case p.

Posted via email from Doomz's posterous