Posts Tagged ‘ blogger ’

palo santo sticks

palosanto

excuse my inner hippie coming out for a moment, but i had a trippy 2016.  if you catch me after a few beers, i’ll elaborate a little further.  bottom line: i spent a lot of time looking inward and discovered some things about myself that i think are pretty f**king cool.  before going any further down this rabbit hole, let me stop myself and recommend something that i found during this strange time: palo santo sticks.

what the hell is palo santo?  quite simply it’s wood from a tree that is thought to be holy.  palo santo (spanish) literally translates to “holy wood” (so it’s not just a clever name).

what do you do with it?  you burn it like incense.

why would you do this?  to cleanse your aura, chase away evil spirits, bring you good fortune…it’s powers are endless.  oh, and it smells good.

i realize it’s a bit hokey and not for everyone, but it works for me.  i burn some while i meditate or if i feel some negative energy that’s followed me home from my day.  you can find it at your local hippie store or hipster store for that matter and even on amazon.  try it out and let me know what you think.  i swear this s**t works.

nike lunar control vapor golf shoes

nike 3

nike golf shoes changed my life.  i think i’ve tried every other brand and nothing has come close to my nikes.  last season i bought a pair of fi impact nikes and they were the most comfortable golf shoe i’ve ever worn.  they’re beat to hell.  i need some new ones.  unfortunately, nike doesn’t sell the fi impacts anymore which is why i’m going to give these lunar control vapor golf shoes a whirl.  they’re on the pricier side, but they’re supposed to offer a little more support and traction which is crucial in the golf swing.  oh, and rory mcilroy wears them, so they must be good.

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48 hours in new orleans

catahotel2

we tried our best to do a 48 hours in new orleans this past weekend.  actually, it was more like 36 hours in new orleans.  we left early on saturday morning and flew home late on sunday.  we fit in as much as we could.  i’ll do my best to keep this semi-bulleted as there is a lot of information to unload.

our goal was to use the hotel tonight app to book our hotel room at the last minute.   the premise behind the app is great.  you can only book 7 days out, so your hope is that the prices come down the day of and you can find a deal.  i ended up finding a deal earlier in the week at the catahoula boutique hotel for $69.  the pictures looked fine and the reviews were decent, so i booked.  more on that in a second.

the airport ride was 20 minutes to the hotel and a flat rate of $33 via uber.  that’s pretty pricey for 11 miles if you ask me.  we got the skinny on the rate from our driver on sunday.  the airport is in kenner and they charge an $8 tax on uber to pick up and drop off at the airport which explains why it’s so damn expensive.  lyft isn’t even allowed to go there.  crazy.   Continue reading

need: blundstone boots

blundstonesi’ve been traveling a ton lately – not that i’m complaining because i love to travel.  when we’re in a new city, we tend to walk somewhere around 8-10 miles per day which means you gotta have the right footwear on to make that happen.  most trips you can find me in my red wing iron rangers, but lately they’ve become a bit heavy and uncomfortable.  oh, and you have to take them off in airport security even if you’re pre-check because of the metal.  it’s annoying.

i’ve been doing a little research for some new travel boots.  my main criteria are as follows: light, comfortable, and an easy transition from day to night.  enter the blundstone 500 series.  these are the classic australian work boots that can take a beating during the day and not get you kicked out of a nice restaurant at night (well, maybe not super nice but they’re not nikes ok).

i’ll confess, i bought a pair several years ago, but returned them do to sizing issues.  i ended up never buying the bigger size.  it might be time to try again.  i’ve heard only good things about them.  anybody have any experience with these?  if you’re debating between the 500 and 550, this dude made a really great video regarding the subtle differences.  really great job, youtube reviewer.

look who has a facebook page

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welcome to the 21st century, to take the train.  everyone seems to have a facebook page these days, so why not me.  i realize that if i’m going to post blog updates on facebook that i don’t need to be doing it from my own account.  (this was an excellent suggestion from my girlfriend who said i didn’t need to blow up peoples timelines with my bulls**t.  i don’t disagree.)  if you want to receive updates on the reg via the fb, then please like or follow my page.  here’s a deal: if i get over 1000 likes or follows by the end of april, i’ll get a tattoo or something to commemorate this achievement.  how about about that.  you can’t lose.  here’s the link one more time: facebook.com/totakethetrain.

new(ish) instagram and (re)branding

totakeinsta

yesterday i read an article on getting more followers on instagram.  i wish i would have liked it on twitter or remembered who wrote it, but i can’t seem to find it anywhere.  the gist of the article was to be a leader rather than a follower.  what i took it to mean is being proactive with finding people to connect with.  one idea the writer mentioned was letting people in your social network know you have an account and asking them to follow.  i tried that on twitter last night and 3 more people added me on instagram.  i’m going to call that a success.  i may do the same on facebook tonight.  i will keep you posted on the results.

p.s. if you want to follow, you can find me here: www.instagram.com/totakethetrain

you may be wondering why this is important?  well, let me explain.  i’m in the middle of a branding process, so to speak.  i’ve had this blog for 6 years now and it really hasn’t progressed.  it’s mostly my fault.  actually, it’s all my fault.  i’m the only writer on here.  internet 101 says you have to create content on a regular basis to be successful.  i haven’t done a good job with that lately and that’s ok.  i’m not mad about it.     Continue reading