If you know a World War 2 soldier, thank them. The freedom and liberty we enjoy today is due to their sacrifice. We are forever in their debt.

A recent study found that night owls have more mental stamina than their early-to-rise counterparts.

The study found that those who woke up early were less likely to be able to focus after 10 hours of being awake. Finally, I’ve been vindicated.

Time to go set the alarm – 10:30am ought to do it.

I dedicate this award to taking naps, eating bananas, and drinking Newcastle Brown Ale.

I studied World War 2 in school – to say that this video is unique is an understatement. We are now getting to the time where those who lived during the World War 2 era are dying and can no longer tell their story. Hopefully the young generation of today will be able to learn from this video.

The brave little girl, who’s family defied the Nazis until they were betrayed lives on far longer than she ever would have hoped.

They are:

• The Art of War by Sun Tzu
• Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky
• Trust Agents by Chris Brogan (and Julien Smith)

I’m currently reading:

• Piercing the Reich: The Penetration of Nazi Germany by American Secret Agents During World War II by Joseph Persico
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

• Take naps and not feel guilty: I don’t know what I would do without my naps, they help me function.
• Get aches and pains without wondering why: In your twenties you should be feeling pretty good – your muscles and body functionality should be pretty decent. In your thirties you can complain about all the minor body nuances and put it down to getting old.
• Sleep in and be proud of it: One of my favourite things to do on a weekend is to sleep in. Hey, all of you early risers, more power to you. I’ll take my extra sleeping time thanks.
• Not giving a crap: You’ve put up with rubbish your entire life. Now is the time to say “No more! I’m old and don’t care what people think!”
• Being forgetful: Not being able to remember names or details can be pretty frustrating. But when you’re in your thirties you have an excuse – getting old.

Here’s a picture of some donuts to cheer up all of the ‘old’ people reading this.

As a soccer coach, I have to leave Nashville every Tuesday and Thursday to get to Smyrna as close to 6pm as I can get. That means my wife has to leave her job a little early downtown, come pick me up in Hillsboro Village, and then we join the mad rush of commuters trying to get the heck home headed Eastbound on I-24. However, without fail, every Tuesday and Thursday, traffic is unbelievably busy. It’s not even stop ‘n go, it’s stop ‘n stop. There is no rhyme or reason why it should be this way – logically speaking, you would think the traffic would be the busiest (both East and Westbound) on a Monday and Friday, the two days when people have to return to work, and the other where they can’t wait to leave. But no; for some reason, the traffic on a Tuesday and Thursday are the worst. I’ll give you a couple of examples. On Monday morning, it took us approximately 25-30 minutes to get to work and approximately 30 minutes to get home. This morning (Wednesday) it took us around 25 minutes to get to work and about the same to get home. Yesterday (Tuesday), it took us 45 minutes to get to work and an hour-and-a-quarter to get to Smyrna – an hour-and-a-bloody-quarter for a thirty-minute journey! There was no fender-bender, no police hold-up – it was all traffic congestion.

“But Internet Monkeh, surely you’re leaving different times so the traffic is different?” Nope. My wife and I generally leave the house around the same time and leave our workplaces at the same time.

I have a solution that will solve the traffic crisis, boost jobs, put money back into the local economy and help the environment – the Music City Star train needs to be available as an option for Rutherford County commuters. The current route that is shown on the RTA website has the train headed out to Lebanon from Riverfront via Donelson, Hermitage, Mt. Juliet and Martha. I pulled this copy straight from their website:

RTA has provided Middle Tennessee with commuter rail service between Lebanon and Nashville since September 18, 2006. The RTA Music City Star makes trips to and from Lebanon and downtown Nashville Monday through Friday during peak rush hours, and makes an evening run on Fridays.

Oh, really? That hub of activity that is Lebanon gets train service while the county with one of the largest housing developments in the country has to fight it out on the interstate. Don’t even mention the bus service as being a viable option – all the buses I’ve ever gotten into Nashville have always been standing room only. It’s a joke. Even worse, in bold white text in the footer of the MTA website is the text RTA is a Clean Air Partner of Middle Tennessee. Oh, really? If you’re that concerned about the environment, let’s get serious and give the thousands of commuters who travel both ways on I-24 another option. If a train can be operated to Lebanon, then surely one can be operated to Rutherford County.

I’d be interested to know from media outlets such as @wkrn if this option has ever been explored. If it has, what’s the status? If it hasn’t, why not? It’s not like it’s not needed.

If you use I-24 as part of your daily commute to the office I’d love to hear your opinion.

I got one of those emails a few weeks ago, you know, the ones where they say that your image has been chosen to be featured in some online publication. But wait, this one was for real. I was notified by an Emma J Williams, Managing Editor of Schmap Guides, that one of my pictures (this one) was on the shortlist to be featured in a Schmapp Nashville Guide.

Good right? Well hold on there one second – these emails are surely sent out all the time? I did a bit of research and sure enough, Schmap is a legit online guide. About 2 weeks later I was sent another email to let me know that my image had made it and was selected for inclusion in the newly released seventh edition of our Schmap Nashville Guide with full credit.

Brilliant – cheers Schmap!

As part of my job as SEO Manager at Sitening, I get to contribute to the Raven blog (Raven is the most powerful suite of Internet Marketing tools available online). The Raven blog is read by Search industry professionals from across the country. This means that articles on the Raven blog need to be well written, of high-quality, provide useful information and be thought provoking. As a contributor, my posts not only represent my professional thoughts, they also represent Raven and Sitening.

So it’s a huge honour personally and professionally to have one of the articles I authored, 7 Social Media Websites and Their Impact on SEO, listed as one of the best internet marketing posts of 2008 (scroll down to Social Media: Strategy for Social Sites – mine is the third one down). I’m particularly honored  because the winners were chosen by Tamar Weinberg, Managing Editor at Search Engine Roundtable and owner of Techipedia.