Liz Burr

21 Months Ago

2008-11-05T00:15:35Z

21 months ago I did something I never ever thought I'd do: I signed up to help out on an election campaign (you can play Where's Liz in that pic, I am somewhere in the crowd, haha).

It was early. Obama had just announced he was going for the gold. People were apprehensive about the idea of a Black man actually running and winning. I know some of my friends were really skeptical, telling me they weren't convinced, yadda yadda. I didn't fight it back then. I admit, I was apprehensive too, but for whatever reason I believed he could do it.

I am in Chicago right now with lots of friends and lots of people. I am going to the rally. The city is electric with enthusiasm. People are either going to rally or riot, true story. I just got back from a tour of Obama HQ in downtown Chicago and it was all I ever dreamed it would be. Only with less people around. Everyone was pretty calm, tho I was impressed with the energy of the New Media team (and yes I am jealous of them too--dope gig!).

Hopefully tonight my blind faith and enthusiasm that began 21 months ago will come to fruition.

On Staying Sane

2008-10-28T15:35:54Z

I have been working a lot lately, mostly on the startup, and I've been running myself a little ragged. Due to this I have been searching for things to help me stay focused and calm, but organized and competent. Two things in particular have greatly helped me:

1. An Assistant. I hired an assistant because I was putting off some of my paperwork and smaller items and procrastinating with getting things done on the business side. My assistant is superawesome. I started her off with only a few hours a month, but I am going to increase her hours as much as she can handle (and as much as I can afford) so that I can have sort of a backup person to remind me of things, stay on top of my pile of bills, etc. My assistant is definitely more than just an assistant though, so I am very lucky to have her on board.

2. Mini Vacations. This past weekend I went to Atlanta for Morehouse/Spelman Homecoming. No, I didn't go to Spelman but I have lots of friends who went to Morehouse and they go to homecoming every year. Anyway, I did the unthinkable and didn't work for 3 whole days. I just kept an eye on email via my iPhone and had lots and lots of fun. Staying in a nice hotel, renting a car, and inviting your friends to come share in on the fun helped reset my frantic life. I often work 7 days a week, and perhaps something like 15 hours a day. It was very difficult to leave my work behind, but I managed. I think I may plan for something like this every other a month: a trip somewhere either to visit family and friends I haven't seen in a while or to go to a special event. I feel much more focused and refreshed now that I am back, and I didn't break my bank either.

I am still in search of other things to stay healthy and sane, but so far I feel like I am off to a good start. What keeps you balanced?

NY State of Mind

2008-10-12T08:44:39Z

I'm up late. Thinking about moving.

For the last 18 months I have had this itch to move to New York City. Some days the itch is faint. Other days it's ridiculously strong. I don't have any strong reasons to move to NYC (job, family); my sole motivation is to do it just to see if I can do it. Then move back to California where I will (presumably) get married and have children and raise them in sunny Orange County, preferably Irvine or Newport Beach. If you knew either of these two cities, you might want to barf, as they're pretty much the epitome of Levittown, only with better weather and Asians. I can't help it though, I grew up in Tustin, and my first job was in Newport Beach. I spent my entire life watching the happy people live their happy little Levittown lives in Irvine and Newport, I guess that was my reference point for The American Dream.

Back to NYC. My ace Boom lives in NYC. Lots of cool people I know and love live in NYC. LA is starting to bore me. Yes, I love the weather. I hate driving. That's a lie, I love to drive. I hate the time spent driving though. I love my New Mexico road trips. I don't like how a NM road trip is the equivalent of a trip to the San Gabriel Valley for me. But I do feel bored here. Social life is almost stifling here.

I started to look on craigslist for NYC apartments. I can't help but feel like a fish out of water, toying with this idea. I haven't been so off kilter since my first week arriving at MIT back in '99. I remember it so vividly, my first night there. My parents shipped me off to MIT all by my lonesome. My dorm room was so bare and sterile. I was afraid to walk outside by myself at night. I was obsessed with not losing my dorm room keys. It was just me, in this new foreign place. For years I tried to avoid that feeling, but now, I kind of yearn for it again. Newness.

I just may put a plan in motion to move to NYC. Not making any promises. I did move out to LA for A Reason and I have yet to seriously confront that Reason. I have my excuses (work, school, new business), but in reality I have never given it the ole college try. Moving to NYC would mean turning on that idea for now, and so I wonder, do I have the guts to go for what I said I wanted? Do I still want It?

We shall see.

Oh, I have a blog. That's right.

2008-10-05T17:22:51Z

Life is moving along well in the world of running my own business. Between working with my clients, managing the business side of the business, and launching a startup, my schedule is crazy. I have evaded a few panic attacks the past few weeks, which is good because they wouldn't have been worth it. I alternate between obsessing over my checking account balance everyday, and swiping away to my hearts content and forcing myself NOT to look at my bank account balance for days. There's got to be a happy medium in there somewhere.

I want to thank all the folks again who come by and send me a sweet email or leave a comment to cheer me on. It seems right when I am almost to a low point (albeit dramatic--I really don't have much to be sad about lol), somebody somewhere says something to put a smile on my face, and I push forward. Thank you.

I have a cold. I need health insurance. I know how to get health insurance. I know how to get affordable health insurance. But I am being silly and want to save that money. I will get my health insurance soon though. SOON. I just have to get my mind right and fill out those forms again. I hate forms. I hate paperwork. So much so, I have $250 free bucks waiting for me. I just have to fill out a form to get it. It's been a month and I still have not filled out the form.

I had to send a fax out of state this week. It cost me something over 5 dollars to send 4 pages over at Kinko's. What the mess? I have two fax/scan/copy machines, but no phone line. I don't think getting a phone line is worth the cost...I've been looking into some electronic faxing solutions. If you know of any, let me know.

Now that I am the master of my own schedule, I have been thinking about going to more conferences to beef up my skills and such. I don't like networking (surprise! It's because I am shy). But I love conferences. So, I am going to SXSWi this year, and I am batting my eyelashes at The Future of Web Apps. I have never been to Miami, either! I just need to get myself one more fat contract and I will sign right up.

I find that I am addicted to work. Doesn't matter which project (a client, the startup, my pet projects), I am just always working working working and getting a little lost in my work. Like, I'll go out on a weekend night, come home at 2 am and then work until 5 am. And for some reason I cannot sleep past 8 am to save my life. My energy is on a hundred, thousand, trillion! I felt guilty for taking the day off to be sick in bed. I need to watch myself. Good thing I have planned a vacation at the end of the month. Going to ATL (again) to see my best bud as well as one of my line sisters, and have a very non-work filled weekend. I am excited. Of course, I plan to play hard, so that means I'll be working hard up until then. Maybe if I can schedule in weekend getaways every month or so, I will be ok.

Ok, I need to get my day going. I have roughly four hours of meetings today. Fun.

Airtime

2008-09-26T16:11:36Z

If you happen to be in the Miami, FL area, tonight The Champ, myself, and possibly Panama Jackson of VerySmartBrothas.com will be guests on Keeping It Real with Te-Ericka, a radio show on WBRY 1640 AM. The show airs every Friday from 10 pm until midnight, EST. We'll be on there discussing internet dating and relationships. If you're not in the area but want to hear us kicking that dopeness, you can also stream the show here: http://www.barry.edu/radiostation/ (click on Listen Now/Live Stream). So far we are slotted to appear in the middle of the show. See you there!

Watch This. Now.

2008-09-23T17:43:27Z

I was wandering along my social media happy trails (i.e. surfing for something interesting to read, watch, consume), and I came upon this here video of Gary Vaynerchuk at New Media Expo NY. It is titled, "Building Personal Brand Within the Social Media Landscape." I suggest anyone into web, social media, branding, etc. watch it. I think it's helpful if you need that extra push in getting your web projects DONE, or even started. I know I need a daily push. Sheesh. I might need to watch this very morning when I wake up to work on my projects.

Enjoy.

ATL

2008-09-18T04:25:30Z

I am in Atlanta having the time of my life. Okay, so it's not exactly all fun and games. I am actually here visiting with a client of mine, so it's business. But since my business is composed of FUN things I LIKE to do, all my business work is fun. I really do love what I do and the awesome and inspiring people I work with. I also get excited by the things my clients have cooking, and I want to hurry up and help them release them to the world so they can get feedback and just keep improving on their products.

Lately I have been on a new music kick, finding tracks that speak to me, or keep me emphatically lip syncing in the car. This week, my fave tracks are:

1. It's Over by John Legend feat. Kanye West. "Newsflash: shorty we over / We like Def Jam and Hova"
2. Miss Independent by Ne-Yo. I can appreciate someone who can appreciate an independent woman. Still keeping hope alive over here, lol.
3. Love Lockdown by Kanye West. I love Yeezy on AutoTune. This song may or may not be hip hop, but it's dope.
4. Live Your Life by TI feat Rihanna. This is the new theme song of the week. I don't like how Rihanna comes hard on the hook and TI sounds like Mumbles Malone. Not a fan of his delivery on this one, but the hook makes up for it.

Hopefully I will get back to the A soon enough. This was just a quick trip to dip in and dip out. I missed seeing a lot of folks I would have liked to meet up with, but I hope my next trip will be a little less packed in schedule. I need to do better at that whole SOCIAL part of Social Media.

Okay I didn't sleep at all last night, so I am going to go ahead and enjoy this comfy huge king bed calling my name.

My Interview on Black Web 2.0

2008-09-12T15:55:01Z

I was interviewed by the folks over at Black Web 2.0! Go read.

Officially Official

2008-09-10T06:46:50Z

Well, it's been two working days past the last job and I think things are going okay. Today I was notified that my paperwork for my LLC has officially cleared. I have a few other things to do, but for the most part I am now an official business owner.

I want to thank everyone who sent me e-mails and commented on the last post. I am thankful that I have so many people on my side, real friends and internet friends. Sometimes it's a little awkward to know people who don't even know you personally are pulling for you. Either way, I appreciate all the positive vibes coming from everyone.

I can't lie, I am still figuring this all out as I go along. The problem with being on the cusp of new things is that you don't know where you'll be in 6 months or a year. I am somewhat used to this feeling, as my undergrad major at MIT was new, and I was always taking new courses (those were my favorite). My grad program was new, in terms of an academic offering, as well. I like being in that new space....so I suppose it's no surprise that what I am doing will be a hybrid of new....things.

Right.

I've been hemorrhaging money the past few days by buying myself office supplies, office equipment, furniture. I want to hurry up and GROW this business so I can move into a two bedroom apartment. I am outgrowing my space already. I would love to be able to set up some real office space and get a decent tax deduction. Ching ching.

The official office dress code is tank tops and basketball shorts.

I've been going to the gym. Something insane like 5 days in a row. It's been months since I went to the gym regularly. I figured that now I *really* don't have any excuses as to why I don't go to the gym, or buy groceries to eat healthier (and save money). My time is my time now, so I should be able to manage my health. Besides, how is my business going to operate successfully in the long term if I am living an unhealthy lifestyle? Now I think of it more as an investment in my business.

I am still trying to figure out how to manage my time. I am not sure when my best productivity period is. I tend to always stay up until midnight. I also wake up early. I think that 3:00 Oprah time slot happens to be when my brain does not want to focus on work. I might have to break out the plastic foam mat, and have graham crackers and apple juice every day at 3 pm. Throwback kindergarten nap time may also become official office policy.

I can afford to take a vacation right now, but I am going to push through on some things in leiu of that. I am going on a trip to Brazil in November (two weeks), so I may hold out until then.

Anyway, that's the Liz Biz report for now. I now have to set up the company website, but I will keep ya'll updated.

I Quit

2008-09-05T16:49:04Z

Today is my last day of work. I resigned from my job several weeks ago, and the day has finally come for me to say goodbye.

No, I am not sick of my job. No, I am not sick of the people who work here. No, I didn't get a new job with another company. I absolutely loved the work I did at KCET New Media, and working with the people there has been pretty awesome. I used to get clowned in elementary school for watching so much PBS (KCET, specifically), and so I sincerely have a soft place in my heart for this station due to my childhood allegiance (haha). This place has a very fun work environment where I've had the freedom to come up with as many ideas as I could muster, and then see them through. I am often held in high regard as an expert on social media, blogging, all the stuff that makes me warm and fuzzy inside. I also love the flexible dress code. Jeans and sneakers are very important to me. No, really.

Everything was great for me at KCET. Until one day I realized I have been coasting through life for the past few years. You see, I have been supposedly carving my way through life since I left Boston (and my job at WGBH--again I love PBS!) three years ago. However, I haven't been proactive at much of anything. Yes, I completed graduate school, but I wasn't initially looking to go to grad school. MIT was the most difficult thing I had ever been through--I was scarred for life academically. Grad school was the last thing I wanted to do. I didn't research grad programs, and apply to different schools and go through a selection process. I worked at USC, heard about this program my co-workers were all in and signed up. Luckily, a program for online communities was just starting, so I hopped on board because it was perfect for me. This job at KCET? I wasn't looking for a job. I was perfectly happy at my last job, with an awesome boss and free tuition. But KCET came along and created a position for me, gave me the salary I asked for--it was an open and shut case. The last four months I have been close to losing my mind because I have been consulting on the side, and working on starting up my own web properties. I am also the CTO of a startup. Again, these opportunities came to me with little to no effort on my end.

I didn't ask or solicit for any of these things, but they have all been awesome experiences to add to my life path. I am thankful that these things have come to me when they did. But it still remains: I have been coasting through life. If I can happen upon these great opportunities just by being fabulous me, what could happen if I actually put myself out there and took a risk? What could happen if I actually created some goals and planned for them?

I have to say, it feels enthralling to plan for something and see it through. I used to be a planner. One of those four year planners. I planned my way into MIT. Freshman year of high school I just woke up one day and decided I was going to plan my way into a top tier university. Nobody in my family has been to a top tier school and only one person (my grandmother) has actually finished college. Nobody was pressuring me to go to a top tier school, especially at age 14. Truthfully, I didn't even know what the top schools were, but I knew that's where I needed to be. I had some nerve back then, thinking I could get really far, given the cards I had been dealt (un-rich, minority, female, single-parent household turned domestically abusive household). I was getting Ds and Fs in middle school, and had a shoplifting habit. I had every excuse to fall back and coast through life, but I made the decision to be proactive about my future and plan myself into a better, happier solution. The day I received my MIT acceptance letter felt so good because it was a long time coming. I had worked so hard for it, and it took a lot of risk and commitment on my end to think it was something I could accomplish. What ever happened to the 14 year old Liz who took a little bit of risk, thought outside of her given circumstances, did some planning and adjusted things along the way? That Liz sure had some guts and imagination. She didn't know it at the time--and she didn't broadcast it--but she had some audacity. I need to get that Liz back.

Anyway enough of my Only In America story. I am quitting my job in the middle of a recession so I can start my own new media company. I will be consulting as well as launching my own web properties. I have shelved too many projects over the last three years. It's time I plan and put real effort into them. I am too fabulous to sit by and coast through life like this. I have some awesome clients I consult, and I enjoy the flexibility and the projects I am working on. I am at the point where I can't manage both my fulltime job at KCET, my consulting work, and get my shelved projects off the ground. The money has been great (though I am too busy to spend it, thus I've been accidentally saving more money than I've ever had), but my sanity and health has been suffering. I have been flaking out on people and projects--and I hate flakes. So, the job had to go. I will miss my job and colleagues, but I am confident this is what's best for me right now. In fact, it's perfect timing.

I admit, it's a little scary. But the worst thing that could happen is I have to go back on the job market. That's not a bad worst case scenario, if you ask me. Even though we are in a recession, there is no shortage of head hunters contacting me out of the blue about new opportunities. So, I'll be aight. Trust.

Wish me luck.

VSB Turns 100

2008-08-29T03:45:32Z

Today Panama posted the 100th post on VerySmartBrothas.com. It was a momentous occasion for us all, so we ended up posting the VSB 100th Post Commentator Awards, which was pretty freaking hilarious if you ask me. We unveiled our VSB clothing line. Ok, so it's not exactly a clothing line, it's an online t-shirt shop that let us scribble some text on some shirts. We will have a real deal t-shirt design shop at some point soon...when we have money and I have the time lol.

There's quite a bit of mystique behind running this site, if you ask me. Some days P or The Champ will post something they thought they completely mailed in, and it will end up breaking our comment record, or it will be our highest pageview/visitor day. People email us all the time, asking our secrets on blogging. I'm not sure there is a secret, unless you count the secret sauce those two posess. We post once a day, 5 days a week, at midnight. We have a format schedule for the week, and some other things we monitor. But the rest is just personality.

Anyway, as much as I wish I could keep up with the hundreds of comments the site gets everyday, I can't. I try to read them at night, or read them via email notifications. The VSB readers are a passionate bunch. I had the pleasure of meeting up with a passionate VSB Reader for the first time when I was at my sorority national covention, and it was pretty wild for me to see her tell all her friends about our site and how much she loves it. Reading the (almost 700) comments today was awesome, as we asked some of our lurkers to come out of the woodwork and tell us about themselves. Hearing how we help people get through their day at work just makes me want to work harder at improving the site for everyone. No we aren't saving lives, or planting trees, but it still feels good to put a smile on somebody's face.

I thank P and The Champ for making this site so awesome to be apart of. I definitely love having the dataset of readers/users to please and authors/co-owners to serve. It's kind of like a big internet science experiment for me. Personally I think I've been mailing it on the tech side thus far, and I've been barely getting by lol. Soon I will have more time to do the things I know the site needs. It really can be a fulltime job after a certain point, and the site's growth is pretty steady.

Okay, enough gushing. Thanks to everybody who listens to me ramble on about my beloved friends and our crazy website.

Change Protection Program

2008-08-26T21:27:53Z

Sometime last month, George 2.0 was in town. OJ and I happened to be hangin out together, so we decided to meet up with George and friends. After all, we're all apart of The Exchange so it is our duty (or at least mine!) to meet every Exchange crew folk in real life.

Meeting George was awesome and he definitely gets two thumbs up. He's a funny, smart, charming cat and so are his friends. Somehow, OJ and I unknowingly walked ourselves into a video shoot, though. Clearly there was something in the Kool-Aid because I never volunteer to be on camera lol. Lucky for me though, I didn't have any speaking parts. Anyway, check out the video they made that day, I dig the campaign: Change Protection Program.

P.S. I also took some pictures from the chill session, posted to my Flickr.

Two Bi-Racial Friends on Being Black

2008-08-23T01:47:16Z

From the NYT Freakonomics blog, on mixed race children:

There are some bad adolescent behaviors that whites do more than blacks (like drinking and smoking), and there are other bad adolescent behaviors that blacks do more than whites (watching TV, fighting, getting sexually transmitted diseases). Mixed-race kids manage to be as bad as whites on the white behaviors and as bad as blacks on the black behaviors.

Me: since when was watching tv a bad adolescent behavior?!?!?1
BFF: I'm guessing they mean watching too much television
Me: lollll there is no such thing!
Me: long as ur homework is gettin done
BFF: yep you're Black
Me: LOL!

I'm Good, I'm Gone

2008-08-22T20:32:34Z

I'm working a sweat, but it's all good
I'm breaking my back but it's all good
'Cause I know i'll get it back
Yeah, I know your hands will clap
And I'm working,
Yeah, I'm working
To make butter for my piece of bun

And if you say I'm not OK
We're mus't to go
If you say there ain't no way that I could know
If you say I aim too high from down below
Well, say you're not 'cause when I'm gone
You'll be callin' but I won't be at the phone

-Lykke Li

Lovely Maxwell

2008-08-17T23:40:40Z

Can I just say Maxwell is one of the coolest cats around? I loved him when he performed an Al Green tribute at the 2008 BET Awards. For those few minutes while he was on stage, I forgave BET for all their transgressions. Seriously. His performance, his suit, his cool shades, the shoes, the haircut. He was dope boy fresh, for real. He recently performed This Woman's Work and I thought I would share the youtube clip. I hope he really comes out with an album soon. All I know is that he likes to lurk on his MySpace account a lot. Otherwise, he keeps a low profile.

Also, D'Angelo is one of my favorite soul brothers who has been MIA. Read this great article in SPIN about the details behind his low profile/issues. It also sheds a little light on Maxwell's absence as well.