Good Vibes
Great Spirit of NORG-veey
April 28th, 2008 Good Vibes, Humor atholkay 1 Comment »
Okay really, seriously now, I hope to have returned. The blog appears 99% repaired by the Tomato crew and basically functional as before.
The other reason for my longer absence is that I’ve been off vacationing in Florida at the expensive mouse house for the last week. I would have said something earlier, but with the blog mostly down and the Department of Homeland Security still having us at Condition Peach, I felt uneasy about posting online that my house was going to be empty apart from a pair of attention starved cats.
Oh… Condition Peach… that’s actually Condition Orange, but the signs are starting to fade in the sun a bit. It still feels weird to listen to the endless blaring of the threat level in the airports and dumping all the carry on luggage through the scanners. That’s a lot of people working that security thing and they mostly look bored beyond belief. Jen got some special attention as security guy with a wand waved it over her her and had her down to bra and panties in a back room in under a minute. All I could think as it was happening is… damn I have to get one of those wands.
Oh relax, that didn’t happen, just working in a joke that I cribbed from the paper this morning.
Anyway… don’t worry the cats got fed and apparently serious love from our sweetie cat sitter. The mail was wedged into the mailbox like I was trying on one of the three pairs of fantasy jeans I have hanging in my closet, but alive cats and absence of pee smell generally nets you a front of the class seat for a repeat performance.
(edit: apparently Jen got the post office to hold the mail until the day we got back. I just carry the bags.)
In an completely unscientific study I can forcefully announce that the American dollar must be seriously tanking as Disney World seemed swamped with European tourists enjoying the exchange rate between the Euro and the Dollar. We’ll be tieing it 1:1 with the Rupee next week I heard. I kept thinking I was seeing the same guy everywhere for a while but nope… just dozens of Chelsea supporters on holiday apparently.
The World Showcase in EPCOT is like the best idea ever, but painfully short of where it could be. Seriously, if you can’t buy a David Beckham shirt in “England” and down a British Rail meat pie as penance for whatever sins you’ve committed, why even bother?
France would be better if Disney made working there part of its progressive discipline policy. I.e. Verbal Warning -> Written Warning -> Working Counter in France -> Termination. You get to see the Effiel Tower and get some haughty service. Just like being in France!
Also someone from the Norwegian government needs to step in and raise a royal stink about the Norway bit in EPCOT. Great spirit of NORG-veey that place makes Norway look like Germany minus the fun. If you’ve ever been trapped in the holding cell after the Maelstrom ride you’ll know what I mean by NORG-veey.
Seriously now, just deep six either Norway or Canada and get Australia in there. Everyone likes Australia despite 90% of the land mass being like the surface of Mars. Mexico is great though, being an excuse for having a maragrita stand for the win.
Yeah I said add Australia, not New Zealand. EPCOT needs that blindingly obvious landmark building and the Sydney Opera House would work great as a scaled down model. Also I have a hunch that there would be some inane sheep based ride that would make no sense at all. You’d be riding around in sheep cars looking at the history of sheep for two minutes and the ride would dump you into a shop filled with sheep shirts and mugs and stickers etc. So I defer to Australia just this once. Plus Paul Hogan could star in the Aussie attraction assuming he’s still alive.
Best Disney memory… listening to a teenage girl on a cell phone trying to find her friends with some in front of China and some in front of Japan in the World Showcase.
“but I’m right here!”
“I’m waving my arms… how can you not see me?!”
“I’m standing right in front of China and I can’t see you”
“Well I’m in China and I can’t see you either”
“…”
I had to help her out and explained this was in fact the Japanese pavilion.
“Some creepy guy just said I’m in Japan… I’m so lost” (don’t ask me how you get lost on a path that is basically a big circle)
“Well I don’t know, it’s not like you can tell these countries apart”
So I pointed out that the scaled down Forbidden Place thingy in China had a golden roof visible from the entire lake.
…she looked at me like I was from NORG-veey.
Happy 1 Year Blog Day
March 12th, 2008 Bad MLS Photo of the Day, Deeper Thoughts, Good Vibes, Photography No Comments »
Well… actually that was March 9, but if I actually celebrated that date on time the rest of the family would wonder why I could remember that date, but not their birthdays. So celebrating two days late… as is my idiom.
So one full year plugging away at Reagent. Notable high points that can be measured….
Winning the Carnival of Real Estate. CMA vs Zestimate - Just The Facts Ma’am. Pretty much after that post the venomous assault on the accuracy of zestimates all but disappeared from the real estate blogs. I’m still waiting for the gift basket from Zillow for that. Bastards.
Winning the Consumer Orientated Carnival of Real Estate. A Dumpster is Cheaper Than Selling Your House. Just a fun piece.
Getting in the L.A. Times. I Get Mentioned In The L.A. Times. Did I mention I was mentioned in the L.A. Times? Just mentioning it.
Cracking 50,000 visits in the first year. It’s in the footer on the bottom left. It’s not monstrous numbers, but respectable.
Actually getting a monthly writing gig with the Arkansas Realtor Association. The Arkansas Realtors® Association Leaves Me Voice mail. I’m now doing a monthly photography article for them that actually gets printed in real magazine format. Like a grown up.
Page Rank of 5. Click on the link to www.iwebtool.com to see where Google thinks I am. Though I just checked and half the data centers are down and strangely two of them think I’m PR7. Which I tend to disbelieve.
That being said, a lot of the good stuff – the really good stuff - isn’t measurable.
No doubt I’ve become known for a single post topic. The Bad MLS Photo of the Day. Sparking many copies…
MLS Trash Can, Horrible MLS Photo of the Day, Worst MLS Photo of the Day, Terrible MLS Photo of the Day to name a few.
Am I offended by this? Not at all, it’s flattering and I’m always happy to see a new bad photo post theme. I don’t own the post format of “bad photo + mockery”. I’ll claim I do it best, but it’s not mine alone.
Every time someone new does a bad photo post, it means that the message is getting through and spreading nationwide that bad real estate photos need fixing, and can be fixed. If you want to run bad photo posts… do it! I just ask people to not copy the name exactly.
It’s a quiet revolution based on laughter and awareness rather than threats, fines, lawsuits and drama.
I’ve influenced thousands of agents improve their photography or decide to use professional photographers. Not a day goes by now where I don’t get email of new bad photos, or something that says “we’re all laughing at your blog in the office”. I’ve even had emails asking if they can use the blog in their training classes and conference presentations. (Of course you can!).
My favorite ones are comments and emails where someone says thanks for helping them do better with their photos. There’s not a stat counter for that, but it makes me happy knowing I helped someone do better.
And of course a huge round of thanks to everyone that has commented, linked, linked back, emailed, phoned and emailed me photos over the last year. I’d love to pretend that this blog was some sort of juggernaut “bigger than me” now, but… well it isn’t. It is my blog for better or worse.
But at the same time I deeply know that the majority of my success has simply been emailed to me from others. I’m stunned, saddened and laughing my ass off each day by what people email me as realtor photographs.
There are simply too many people to link to…
…if you know me, and I know you… thank you.
Sunshine On My Shoulders
February 29th, 2008 Good Vibes, Photography, Rules of Good Photos No Comments »
I’m just gonna hammer this point home 
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high
If I had a day that I could give you
Id give to you a day just like today
If I had a song that I could sing for you
Id sing a song to make you feel this way
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high
If I had a tale that I could tell you
Id tell a tale sure to make you smile
If I had a wish that I could wish for you
Id make a wish for sunshine all the while
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high
Sunshine almost all the time makes me high
Sunshine almost always
Words by john denver, music by john denver, dick kniss and mike taylor
Sunshine just makes you feel good.
Ive Got Gadgets And Gizmos Aplenty
January 21st, 2008 Good Vibes No Comments »
Heres Nick Pitera having a shot at winning the Give Us Your Voice contest for Broadway World.
And yes, his voice is real.
From Aladdin.
Merry Christmas - Elf Bowling 7 1/7
December 24th, 2007 Good Vibes No Comments »
Just a quick note to say Merry Christmas to everyone. Posting will likely be pretty light over the next few days.
I hope you all have a wonderful day, whether you celebrate it, don’t celebrate it, or just nod and smile and grinch your way through it for the sake of appearances. 
Anyway… bored out of your mind? Elf Bowling 7 1/7 has a free 1 hour demo and then just $10 to buy the silly fun. I’m stuck on a score of 278.
Busy As Bee
November 20th, 2007 Good Vibes 4 Comments »
Posting has been way off thanks to many good and fun things happening all around me and generally crunched for time.
Here’s a good photo story…
The house has been sitting on the market for eight months. I mean dead on the market. No showings for months. Vacant.
The listing agent calls me in to shoot photos…
Four days later it’s under contract.
I’m telling you – good photos sell homes.
Good Vibes - ZOMG Overload!
October 25th, 2007 Bad MLS Photo of the Day, Good Vibes 1 Comment »
Just a quick note of thanks to everyone that has been pleasantly spamming me with Bad MLS Photo of the Day submissions. I’m starting to get them fast enough and of “high enough quality” that I’m thinking of running a Sunday post with some of the over supply.
I really do appreciate everyone sending them in so frequently.
This photo sent on by Tonja Fellet!
Good Vibes - A Little Blue Vase
September 27th, 2007 Good Vibes, Photography No Comments »
I shot a house that “needs work” today. Going to be listed around $130,000 or something. Junk in a few rooms, very dark, clutter on every flat surface. Trying to find things to feel good about, I decided that the built-in between the dining room and the room of no discernible purpose was kinda nice.
I removed everything off the built-in except the two little glass vases. You can still see some junk in the background too. I tried a HDR shot to even out the windows, but no joy as every combination of images just crapped out junk.
Lit from underneath and behind, the little vases just glow.
There’s a number of things wrong with the photo.
But I can’t not smile when I look at the little blue vase.
Good Vibes - The Garden Song
September 22nd, 2007 Good Vibes No Comments »
Inch by inch, row by row
gonna make this garden grow
all it takes is a rake and a hoe
and piece of fertile ground.
Inch by inch, row by row
someone bless these seeds I sow
someone warm them from below
til’ the rain comes tumbling down.
Inspiration The Muppet Show and Dave Smith at the Real Estate Blog Lab
