Why I Go Slow…

I have to say. I love the Mad Gringo and his shirts. I bought three of them as well as two T-shirts. The Mad Gringo has a motto for life called “Go Slow”. There are even bumper stickers on the website that say “Go Slow or Die.” Sort of a mellow take on the NH State motto, “Live Free or Die.” I had heard about the Mad Gringo a couple of months past and checked out his site. Mad Gringo has some of the best looking hawaiian shirts I have ever seen. I decided to buy a few. I bought enough to get free shipping. And shipping is free on orders over $70.00 through Dec 1, 2007, so go there right now.

Go Slow is something that is rather unheard of today in our rat race world. Go Slow is that life that you live when you are on vacation. When you are away from your computer, your iPod, your blackberry and your corporate noose (some call it a tie). Go Slow is a Pina Colada in one hand, your loved one’s hand in the other hand sitting under a chickee on the beaches of Aruba. Go Slow is when you take the time to really enjoy life and the things around you. You can keep the spirit of go slow alive all the time, on vacation or not with a Hawaiian Shirt. how so? Well with a Hawaiian shirt on you tell random strangers “I’m on Vacation.”

Go slow

True Story, last night I went to the drugstore to pick up a prescription. I had just come from bowling with friends from work. I made sure I got in the right frame of mind by wearing one of my Mad Gringo Hawaiian shirts. I loved wearing it while bowling, it had the perfect weight and felt great. Well, after bowling I went to the drugstore. I went to get a prescription filled. I got to the counter and they told me the wait would be 25 minutes. That is right after they showed me the tube of cream that I was picking up. The pharmacist assistant physically had it in her hands, yet still 25 minutes. Well the corporate part of me said, “come one 25 minutes you have it in your hands.” Luckily the Go Slow part of me relaxed and wandered the store for a bit. While looking at holiday candy I walked past a woman who noticed my shirt and complimented me on it. Because I was in the Go Slow mode I was receptive to the good vibes. I smiled and said thank you for the compliment. It put me in a whole new frame of mind, I entered the true state of Go Slow. That feeling made the time go by without hassle frustration or worry.

So, I told you I have two T-shirts and Three Hawaiian shirts, that is the Pacific Blue shirt in the photo. I got the T-shirts because the logo for Mad Gringo is awesome. It is a skull and crossbones pineapple head. And that logo is on many of the accessories that the Mad Gringo carries including the new line of Caribbean Golf Hats, Floppy Beach hats, Boat Signs (I need to get one for next year’s Buffett concert) and flip flops. Mad Gringo has sarongs, t-shirts and even a closeout section. One of my favorite things that they have are the gift baskets. Not your typical gift baskets, these are packed with Mad Gringo goodness. There are three sizes and each includes an array of great gifts. And while you are there don’t forget to get a sticker for your car, let everyone that you like to “Go Slow”.

I’ll be wearing these shirts during my future Wired Kayaker podcasts. I even put the Mad Gringo’s vacation countdown on that blog. And a few other Mad Gringo things, check out the Wired Kayaker for more.

Photo-A-Day #967 12/01/07

Day one of Trevor Carpenter’s December Challenge. The challenge is to take a portrait a day for the month of December. Portraits are not my strongest point, so I’d start easy with a subject that I’ve had a bunch of experience with. So 31 days and 32 different subjects, some family, some friends and some strangers. I hope to learn as much as I can about taking portraits this month.

Today I did a marketing blitz of my December contests. I went out and visited many blogs to tell people about the contests and I hope that many people decide to enter the contests. I have a bunch of great prizes to give away. So 15 days from now I hope to have many people who will be participating.

The first entry for the Win a GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite is Neil Galloway of Thoughts From My Life and he’s set the standard for a great post for the contest. Trevor Carpenter also wrote up a post about the contest on Photowalking.org. The perfect compliment to photowalking is automatic geotagging.

Today We got my parent’s tree put up and it is a beauty. We don’t have our own tree up at the moment but this is the first year in a long time that we are actually getting one. I’m looking forward to putting one up and sharing it with Eva. Eva is doing well and had a big day, here she is in a bonus photo enjoying her swing.

Photo-A-Day #967b 12/01/07