Our 7th Wedding Anniversary!

Marriage: Allows you to annoy one special person for the rest of your life.

Happy anniversary Duncan!

Catching Up

My silence on this blog has spanned a period of time that includes all of my anniversary type dates - my 8th blogiversary, my 4th twitterversary, my year celebration on Empire Avenue and my not-yet-40th birthday. Let's just call it a blog hiatus.

The Gift of Time!

You may recall my "Dear Santa" post in November where I lamented not having any specific or material "wants" to put on a Christmas wish list for my family. Instead I asked for the gift of time with them, in any shape or form they desired. Well this Christmas morning I received just that - and I couldn't be happier with my gifts! Wonderfully creative and full of opportunity to spend time with each other, each one makes my wish come true. I am blessed!

Duncan gave me a series of gift cards to venues/events and a written note outlining what he likes to share with me at each place and why.

Raven gave me a movie she had seen at school once and really wanted to share with me.

Wesley gave me the Pacific - we are going to start watching together in January.

Dear Santa...

I'm having trouble this year deciding what it is that I would ask for to receive at Christmas if I were to make such a "wish list." Thing is, I really do have everything I need and am quite happy with what I have. I'd truly be happy just to enjoy the holidays with my family, see the happiness on their faces and to maybe steal some snuggle time with kids who will one day (too very soon) be too old for hugs or even just away from home at school or elsewhere in their lives. Honestly, this is possibly the last at home Christmas we all have together as next year my son will be off at university already. Life marches onwards.

Because there isn't really anything I need, the Mom part of me would be happy just to use any extra resources we have to make this a great holiday for the whole family. However, as unselfish as this might at first seem, the truth is that it is not helpful to my family, who would like to get me something for Christmas and keep asking me for input or other direct suggestions to that end. I'm not sure what to say even though I am aware that I need to find something to say.

I'm a Mom so I really do mean it when I say things like "I'd love it if you made me something" or "Whatever you think to get me would be a treasure to me" but this is mostly met with mild disdain and the rolling of eyes (yes, both from my teenagers and my husband). My husband has gone so far as to threaten if I do not come up with something for my Christmas wish list than he will be getting me some sort of trinket with "Homer" engraved on the side of it (for dramatic affect, I'm sure).

So as I lay here in my bed and contemplate this dilemma I find I am pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone. I already have a house full of possessions I may or may not use on a regular basis. I know that there are many places in the world where a small amount of money spent on me for a gift (that I might not need) could save the life of a child or improve the quality of life for an entire community. I do tire of the seemingly competitive nature of our throw away consumer economy and culture at times and yet I do realize (as I feel the same about giving presents) that my family desires to express love and attentiveness through the purchasing of a gift for me with their hard earned money. This is what our culture teaches us is expected, for better or worse. This dilemma is definitely a first world problem and in ways I am ashamed of my part in it. But I recognize too my helpless participation in it is required for many reasons. I am also relieved that this is the biggest issue facing me at this time. Life could be worse.

So, what can I tell you? There are items I suppose that I would be happy to receive, that in a perfect world full of infinite possibilities, I could see myself asking for. For example I would love to use an iPhone 4 with it's snazzy new camera, or have a video camera to make home videos for youtube or even a new camera body as mine has aged significantly. But all those cost enough money that it seems silly to ask for when I already own devices that perform similar tasks. I wouldn't cry if I opened an iPad on Christmas morning, but as I already have both an iPhone and a laptop why would I ask for that? I did want AppleTV but now with Netflix and Playstation Network the addition of AppleTV is merely superfluous. Indeed, isn't it all? That can't be the point, can it?

A scanner would help me get all my old family pictures into the digital realm (where I find I am spending most of my free time), my turtle would love to have a bigger domain to call his own (as would my goldfish), and (even though I have a gym membership) I'd love to have a treadmill at home so I can exercise everyday. I love having my hair and nails done and a tattoo would be cool. I love books (a better gift would be time to read I suspect, but that's not realistic) and I love to travel (I'd love to be going to see the last launch of the Space Shuttle in February). I don't have any winter clothes or a winter jacket (although I'm ok wearing Wes's jacket from last year). So I guess there are many ideas to choose from. I just don't want to ask for those things.

If I had my way I would ask for the gift of time. Personal time with each of my kids to get to know them as the people they are becoming and date time with my hubby, as well as family time together - a game night once a month, movie nights, day or weekend trips and time just to sit around and chat about our days. It seems as we all get busier and busier time for opportunities like this get farther and farther in between.  But these are the things that I crave, need and desire. I have a strong awareness that when I die these times will be all that matter to me, not what items I have possessed or consumed in my life, but the memories of the times I was held in love by those who love me in return. And if I am lucky enough that, when I die I am once again surrounded by family and friends and held by those who love me, then I will have had, all my life, everything that I've always wanted or needed.

So, Dearest Santa, please, if you can, show my wonderful and loving family that I will happily accept everything and anything that they want to offer me and that it really is the thought that counts. I promise to cherish it (and them) forever.

Love,
Allie     
 

(e)ALLIE joins the Century Club!

I've been exploring Empire Avenue now since March and I've enjoyed every stage that I've traveled through as an influencer there. I really do like the gaming elements of the site, especially the achievements you can earn as you build your portfolio and connect your social media sites. However I have come to realize that what I really love about Empire Avenue is the people there. Connections I have made - both locally and globally, communities I've become a part of and the friendships forged is what actually brings me back to the Avenue every day. The success of (e)ALLIE today is not just my own success; it is the fruit of the community I have found there. I could not have come this far without the support of my shareholders and other supporters on Empire Avenue... and neither would I have wanted to. Thank you all!

Do you have your (e)ALLIE yet?

(e)ALLIE is on the way up! Come on along for the ride!

Mooooo!

I was very excited to come home and find that my Moo Cards had arrived! I loves them! These are the little business cards I have on my key chain that everyone asks about, looks at and then chooses their favourite - I find they are quite popular. I print them with pictures I have taken myself and this batch of Moo Cards has my social media info printed on the back.

I highly recommend Moo Cards to anyone who is looking for a fun and non-traditional style of business cards that they can put their own personality into (these would also work well as gift tags). Check out Moo.com for other items you can create and have printed and you too can have the great experience and customer service that keeps me coming back year after year! Also, if you would like to order something let me know as I have some promo codes for 15% off your next order - I'd be happy to send one to you.

Beyond 2010 Hackathon

I've stayed up all night with a great group of talented people at the Beyond 2010 Hackathon (in Edmonton, Alberta) and an equally talented group of people in Birmingham UK. We've all been hard  work developing a mobile app tool to help people in the event of a disaster. It's been a fun and productive process and I really love the truly collaborative nature of the project - we've all been using typewith.me to produce the written documents and skype for conference calling with the UK Hackathon team. I'm really happy to have had an opportunity to be involved in this (thanks to Brittney LeBlanc for coordinating!) and I can't wait to use and see the final product! And hopefully we will all have created something that saves lives and eases suffering. 

Look at me, I'm in a Cave!

I was the featured Empire Avenue member today on the Dragon's Cave.

You can read the whole article HERE.

Guestblogging From an Undisclosed Location

Duncan and I co-wrote a playful election piece for Edmonton's popular podcast talk show - The Unknown Studio. Involving Battlestar Galactica and Edmonton's 12 wards, it was a lot of fun. Intrigued? You can read it here:

Edmonton’s Quorum of Twelve (October 07 2010, the Unknown Studio)

Updating my links...

If you were wondering where @AllieW went ...  I am now @Allie!

Allie Wojtaszek Photography

Introducing my new facebook fan page - Allie Wojtaszek Photography. Please stop on by and check it out. If you like what you see make sure you click the "LIKE" button so you can see future additions to the site and (if you want to) participate in the discussions.

Empire Avenue is YouTub'in!

Tonight Empire Avenue added YouTube as a network connection. You can check out my YouTube channel HERE and feel free to add me as a contact. I have recently started uploading short video's I am taking with my iPhone.

William Pitcher has created this great video in celebration of Empire Avenue's addition of Youtube. I am pleased to be included (although I'll admit it gave me chills)!

I See Pictures Everywhere

On Friday I participated in something of a first for me - a live interview with Adriel Hampton via the social media site, twitter.

Adriel asked me questions about Flickr, Empire Avenue and how I tie them both together. The interview could be watched by anyone who wanted to follow along in real time on twitter, but Adriel also put it all together in an article on his blog called Q&A: ‘I See Pictures Everywhere’ which you can read by clicking on the link.

Turns out I'm quite happy to talk about Flickr and my photography so if anyone has any questions they should feel free to ask. The medium of twitter worked really well for an interview and it was a lot of fun so I hope we see more interaction like this in the future.

I'd like a Small Virtual Island...

Last night Empire Avenue went through an "important one-time adjustment to the market," that saw some shares gain and some shares lose. (e)ALLIE fared well in the Erindale "adjustment," my stock went up just over a point (now third on the leaderboards for Overall Share Price) and I received enough eaves that I was able to reinvest in my portfolio and get the Millionaire Achievement Award (that I so wanted). More importantly I am excited that the changes implemented will allow me to produce higher dividends for my investors - I'll be watching that with interest over the next week or so.

As I predicted I was sold out by the time Erindale came into play and there seemed to be some demand so I upgraded again, allowing another 5000 shares of (e)ALLIE to be available for anyone who wants them. As always, if you are interested in joining Empire Avenue please let me know as I would be happy to send you an invite.

True Story...

I had a check up with my Doctor today and he was asking me about my sleep habits - worried that a new medication I recently started might be causing insomnia for me. I wasn't sure how to answer that so I described to him Empire Avenue and told him it was hard for me to know if I was staying up at night because of the medication or because of Empire Avenue. He asked me some questions about how long it takes me to fall asleep once I do pack it in and after some thought he declared that the medication was having no ill affect and that my poor sleep habits are indeed entirely related to Empire Avenue!

Outstanding!

(e)ALLIE is sold out again and I don't think there will be another upgrade for me before Erindale, although I am sure some shares will come available due to normal stock movement. Thanks to everyone who helped me sell 25,000 shares, it's been a lot of fun so far!

Do you have your (e)ALLIE yet?

In Empire Building Network's latest article, entitled Top Influencer Scores Compared Prior to Erindale, William Pitcher writes:

“As in July (e)ALLIE, who is ranked 12th by share price, has the best Influence Scores based on the four numbers provided by Empire Avenue. She is also the best value relative to her share price.”

Pitcher goes on to recommend (e)ALLIE, (e)ANGLER, (e)MIMI, and (e)LAUGH as the best value of the 45 share price leaders based on Influence Scores. You can view his spreadsheet here.

As we head into the much anticipated Erindale modifications in just a couple of days I think we are all trying to figure out what those changes will mean for our portfolios. It is common thought that the influencer scores will play a larger role in determining someones value - but we don't really know for sure what that will look like.

I've been trying to focus my investments on influencers who have consistent scores across all of the connections, usually in the double digits. This means (for now) I haven't been investing in those who don't have flickr hooked up or are still in the under 5 range on their scores. Of course, the results of Erindale might change my mind, but that is my strategy going into it. And of course I aim on keeping my own values as high as they can be (within reason of course, it has to be sustainable).

At the time of writing this I have less than 600 shares available... there's a good chance I will be sold out again by the time Erindale arrives. I want to thank all of my investors for their support and Bill (who by the way is one of my best investments) for good analysis and writing!

September...

Means I am back to the gym now after the laziness of summer vacation. Thirty minutes on the cross trainer tonight and I am feeling it!

I recently watched a TED Talk (Keep Your Goals To Yourself) where Derek Sivers talks about how you should never verbalize your goals to people as it apparently makes it far less likely you will actually carry through with those goals (something about your brain considering the immediate accolades you get from people when you express your goal to be equivalent to "Mission Accomplished") so I'm not going to tell you how often I am planning on going and I won't list my most immediate goals.

This TED talk is worth a listen and is only three minutes.

I Was Here

I remember once when I used to take the bus I was coming home from work on a particularly full bus - people were crammed so close together but everyone was ignoring everyone else. I remember looking at my patch of window, staring out at the traffic (also crammed together) and feeling strangely ... alone. I wanted to reach out and write in the condensation on the window I WAS HERE.

When I was a kid, to be a smartass, I liked to write "Kilroy was here" on various surfaces. But years later I realize the commonalities. I do want to leave my mark on the world... and some might suggest that I have, or that I will, but really in 1000 years (or more) what will I mean to anyone?

Kilroy (and Allie) was here.