I AM RAMIDIO

Oh Crap Oh Crap Oh Crap

2012-02-22T20:44:00.002-08:00

This was suppose to be a fun post about how nice the day has been but that all changed when I realized that I missed my mothers birthday. It was on the 19th of this month and well I totally forgot. Thankfully she was cool about it. There has been a lot going on and one might assume that anyone else might have also forgotten but then again that does not excuse my behavior.

Dear Maternal Parental Unit:

I am sorry for missing and therefor forgetting your birthday. I am glad that you are an understanding person. I love you very much!

The End

Ramidio If Still Around

2012-02-21T18:18:00.004-08:00

Its easy to say that you are going to do things but it's another to actually do what you say you are going to do. In the end only you can make things happen. Sure you can pray and ask God for assistance but I believe that he only and should only assist those that show a desire to deserve what they are asking for. This year I started by asking for more biz clients but rather than hoping and doing not much of anything else I decided to actually try really hard to make that happen. It is really that simple. Not easy but simple.

This is my challenge for myself for the rest of the year. To do whatever it takes to get that which I desire. Not just from more business but also a leaner me. Healthier me. Thinner me. I am not saying that I am fat but I do have some pounds to loose. Do I have a plan? Yes! But that plan might change if a better option comes along.

This past week and especially the beginning of this one has surely been exactly what I was talking about above. I wanted something and did a shit load of work to prove that I deserved what I wanted and I got it. Simple but not easy. Simple in that I knew what I needed to do but not easy in that there was a lot of work involved. Let's face it that in this crummy economy there is no room to be lazy. Just saying! Well let's see what you can do to get what you want. Let's hope that you are willing to do it.

Thursday Oh Yeah Its Thursday

2012-02-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

Today I had to get out of the house and get work done so I went to the Lost Bean coffee shop where I was able to get a good amount of work done. Sometimes when you work from home you just need to get away. Its rather funny because my condo gets cold in the mornings and since it does not have a good heating system it makes it hard to work sometimes. Hence the outside. Although sometimes it is nice to just work outside of the home.

What I really would like is to have an office space. At the moment the why I don't have one is because it is not financially affordable. I keep saying that one day when I win the lottery I will then thus be able to afford an office space. Perhaps I should start playing in order to actually have a chance at possibly winning. So tomorrow I am going to buy a lottery ticket and hope to win something. Let's be honest all I want is to win enough to pay off my debts (mortgage etc.). I keep you updated on what I win (if anything).

I am trying to write insightful things on here but somehow I am missing the boat if you will. Then again a diary is not meant to be insightful but rather honest and just from the heart and the mind. Well it's my bed time now hahaha so good night and may the force be with you.

I Dislike Valentines Day

2012-02-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

Yep you read me right I really do dislike this day. It's suppose to be about love and celebrating love. Yet only on this day? What about the other days of the year? My other issue with it is that it has been turned into a day to waste your money on needless things. Now don't get me wrong if I had a bf I would totally celebrate with him but I would not spend money on roses or chocolate. I would most likely make a card. That leads me to admit that I am tired of searching for Mr. Right. Just plane tired. I have had my share of Mr. WTF and Mr. Not The Right Guy. Someone new please! Just saying.

On another note last night I went to Avanti Cafe in Costa Mesa with a friend and ate the most delicious pizza. It had spinach arugula pesto sauce with yams, a faux burger topping and 4 cheeses. OMG! Yum!!! I think if I lived in Costa Mesa I would totally go broke from eating here often. You should try new places at least once in your life. This being one of them. That concludes my lack luster post for the day. Good night!

A Week Has Passed

2012-02-13T22:01:00.000-08:00

I find it really interesting how time flies. Fast and furious is more like it. It comes and it goes. Some times it's great and other times not so much. But what a week it had been. Started like any other where I worked and worked and... Well you get the gist. I won't go into my work stuff. I love what I do but this is not the blog for that. That weekend of the 4th was relatively normal and to be truthful I don't remember it. I guess what means that it must not have been memorable. This is odd since I tend to remember. Yet this time I do not. Oh well.

So this past weekend was a blast. Saturday started out with me hanging out with good friends and having a blast. I need more of those days. Please! I have really thankful for the friends I have. Sunday was also really nice. I got hang with family and just have a good time. I have to say that I am truly blessed with a great family. Not that it's a perfect one but it is one at least and let me just state for the record that there is no such thing as perfect.

This week started as a stressful one. I have those every once in a while. Just feel as if I can't control the situations I would like to and what I can control I am not all that interested in. How weird is that. Well Yeah. I don't have much else to update with other than to say that I hope that 2012 is a bit nicer to me that 2011 was. That is how I will end this post. If you would like to know why I thought that 2011 wasn't so nice. Well? Don't ask! It's a long story and half of it would bore you.

Been A While I Think

2012-02-04T16:39:00.000-08:00

Why do I feel like it has been a while since posted on this blog? Not sure why I feel like that but I do. My plan to blog on here daily could have been considered a fail but the truth is that life happens. Then again I also have another blog so that would be two posts a day on top of everything else. OK well enough with the excuses on to the life and times of me. I have spent the last day or so trying to get my business listed on Wikipedia. I thought that maybe this would assist in generating more traffic. But there is an issue with doing that. The issue is that I am not well known enough I guess. I am not famous like an actress. Hah! I have been trying to revise my listing with every comment made and am getting frustrated. No wonder I could not find any information about any other landscape companies. I intend to change this. I will get my way and ultimately get listed somehow.

I also would like to talk about sourcing your images. I used an image in a blog in 2010 (my other blog) and forgot to source the image and got a polite email from the company that has copy right to the photo. Luckily they were willing to still let me use the photo as long as I gave them credit. Which I was more than happy to do. Seriously though if you are going to use content from the Internet have respect for the person who created the content.

On another note I am still trying to figure out how to get quality content on here. Bear in mind that I am not a writer bu merely a person who likes to blog and would love to make millions doing it. Hey you never know. I have lots of ideas and trying to manifest them into reality is not as easy as I thought. The problem is that some of these ideas require money and in this economy that is in short supply. Even for me. Although I may not have the complete funds what I do have are the great ideas that I know someday will manifest into reality. That is the hope that I am going with. It is never wrong to have hope. Well I am at my moms house doing laundry and should get back to it so here's to you getting what you hoped for. Cheers!

Many Things To Share

2012-01-30T22:44:00.000-08:00

I should mention that I got to spend Thursday night and half of Friday with my half brother and sister who were visiting. We along with my mom went to visit my dad who is in a nursing home. It was nice for all of us to be here since all of us in one room had been long overdue. I think that in the past 4-5 years I have seen my dad in that state so many times that it was normal to me. My sister on the other hand was a bit emotional. This got me to thinking about death and how it can come in a moments notice. I am prepared if my dad was to die. I have spent the last few years preparing myself. But non the less is it hard regardless of how prepared you may be. I know that someday I will die but thankfully not by my own hands. I would never do that to myself.

I have many things going on in my life and somehow these changes as odd and sad as they may be are making me believe that perhaps it's what is meant to be right now. So Saturday I got to spend the evening with some girl friends and had a blast. I had spent that morning meeting a potential client and working so it was nice to hang with friends. On Sunday I had lunch with my mother. It's nice to know that I get to see her often. Thank God for that. I am usually not the emotionally expressive type but I have to say I really to love and appreciate my mother. She has done through a lot in her lifetime. I love you mom!

Well today being Monday was a nice work day. Got stuff done and even had time to take a descent lunch break. I worked on a proposal for a client did some social media catch up and discovered my new found liking of this site called pinterest. It's like having a vision / bulletin board but this one is online. Just love it. So tis is what tis is. I am actually loving this life and looking forward to the new year. What ever it is that is planned hey "bring it". I am so ready and if there is a battle to be fought I intend to win. You know it. That is just how I roll.

I should mention that I learned that my bff is moving to Texas. I will admit to being sad but at the same time I believe that people need to do what is best for them. Not quite sure how I will be dealing with this but I am sure in true me fashion I will find a way. I almost feel like this would leave me disconnected from other mutual friends but maybe it won't. This will definitely be a journey worth exploring further. With that said it is 11 pm and time for me to go to bed. Might as well since I have a laundry list of things to do tomorrow. May you have a restful night of sleep and may I have the same. Cheers!

Tamarind Of London

2012-01-27T21:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went to Tamarind of London in Newport Beach with two girlfriends and let me just tell you that it was good times with good friends. Yes the dinner can be pricey (depending on what you order) but you only live once and indulging once in a while is good for the soul. I was worried that the food might be too spicy which my body can't hack but to my surprise it was just the right kick. I ordered a Tofu stew dish with rice. Just the right balance of flavors mixed with a perfectly cooked rice equaled yummy in my tummy. The portions are just right and at the end of the evening I cleared my plate (I felt full but not stuffed).

My friends tried the mango/rice pudding desert and loved it. I being diabetic did not have desert. You do need to make a reservation to get in but if you are so inclined to enjoy a nice evening dining close to the beach and having a gay old time then I would suggest you try this place. At least once do yourself a favor and live! Would I go back? Yes and most likely I would order something different (meatless of course) to try something new.

You see here is my theory... On the one hand the economy has made it hard for some (including me) but on the other hand I am human and need to enjoy life. Oh and in case you did not know this place is Michelin star rated. I believe that is the highest rating a restaurant can get. Which automatically tells you that the food must be good.

The Last Three Days

2012-01-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a rather chill kind of day. I try not to do anything business related on Sundays. Hey I need as least one day off. Taking any other day of during the week depends on my schedule. Usually I find myself working on Saturdays. I don't mind it since I love my day job but there are days when I miss having a place to go to and work outside of this house. Someday I will be able to have an office, then again that would be an expense that I don't totally need but would like to have. It's kind of weird to want something that I don't need and cannot financially afford. But I guess what is how it is for the rest of society. Being pushed to want things that we don't need and can easily live without. Luckily for me when you are a business owner you learn to live with a lot less. I have learned that I don't need a television nor do I need to eat out daily. Two things I content with.

Getting back to my week. I spent Monday morning working then had lunch with maternal parental unit at Whole Foods and then did some grocery shopping. I love shopping at Whole Foods because of the quality of produce in comparison to Superior or even Von's and Food For Less. I strongly believe in taking care of ones health and eating right. Even if I could afford to eat out every day I would not. I should also mention that I don't eat meat. I don't eat a lot of dairy or gluten. I don't eat pasta. I don't eat a lot of rice and stay away from sugar. Things made from refined sugar does not enter my body. Thankfully I have willpower and enough respect for my body. I am grateful to have understanding and strength. That officially ends my Monday.

Tuesday and today was all about working and marketing and working and... It was fun. I even scored a potential client meeting. All in all this week has been good. I have been trying to blog at my other blog almost daily to draw traffic to it. I will say that the one thing that I am really looking forward to is dinner with some girlfriends this Friday night. I guess for now that will conclude this post. Until next time!

Good Friends And Good Times

2012-01-21T19:25:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day of hanging out with some of my high school classmates. We gather at least once a year in January to celebrate the anniversary of a classmates death. We do some sort of craft project and this year the craft was to paint a pot and plant it with pansies. This also involves some food and a few beers. Followed by a visit to my friends grave site to pay respects. We then place the graft at his head stone.

It is so nice that we can all get together many years after having graduated and be able to maintain a friendship that goes beyond just being classmates. I feel grateful that my friends parents host the event every year. It is always fun and exciting. Officially it has been 9 years but it will always seam like yesterday. His name was Ryan and he will always me missed.

This is the part where I express extreme gratitude for my life and health. Where I feel thankful to have great friends and even though we don't see each other daily or even weekly at least through the magic of facebook and even phones we can keep in tough.

The picture above shows a sample of the pots we made. It is a lot of fun to craft and can be therapeutic. Let's admit that some of us get so drawn to working and working that we forget to have a life and do things that can get a bunch of us together talking, laughing and having a good time. Here's to you having your good time with good friends.

The Price Is Right

2012-01-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday me and a few friends and friends of friends got to go on the price is right. It was a very interesting experience. In total there was a couple hundred of us that got to be in the audience. When we arrived we had to wait for 3 hours. During this waiting period we filled out some forms, got our photos taken, had a group photo shoot and were even interviewed. I will say though that we were interviewed as a group. In the group that I was in there were 15 of us. It was during the interview process that they decide who gets in but you don't know until they make the announcements on stage. The stage looks really big on TV but in reality it is small. In the actually studio you were forbidden to take your cell phone or any other device that takes photographs etc. I personally did not get picked as a contestant but I had a blast in the audience and am sure (hopefully) that I got my 15 minutes of fame sitting next to a really loud Hispanic guy. That specific episode will air on the 27th of Feb.

There is a part of me that wishes to have been picked as a contestant but there is a another part of me that feels grateful to have been able to experience the process. And there you have it folks. My Thursday experience. Today being Friday was relatively calm. I got some day job biz marketing done and did a shit load of laundry. I also did a lot of social media update. Tomorrow I am having lunch with a bunch of high school friends so I will keep you posted. Stay tuned till then.

Networking And More Networking And...

2012-01-18T22:11:00.001-08:00

It has been an interesting couple of day where I got to do some serious networking for my day job. The events were with 3 different female based networking groups. Some of the ladies went to all three but for the most part I got to meet some new people and pass out some business cards. It was fun because I love to talk about my day job.

At most of these meetings it all about getting the word out. Even if someone you give your business card to may not need your service or product that does not mean that they can't refer your business. They may just know of someone... The trick to these networking events is to be optimistic yet realistic and at the same time be on your game able to talk about what you do without having to think about it. I have an elevator speech ready and prepared to give the second some asks what I do.

In this crappy economy one has to be ready to do anything it takes to promote ones business. You must also be ready to network and network and...

The Human Stain

2012-01-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

Last night I watched a movie on Hulu called The Human Stain starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman. The movie is about an African-American man who as is on screen mother termed is "white as snow". He spends most of life not really being in contact with his family and passes himself off as a white man. Know one ever figures things out until his death. Not even his wife knew the truth. This got me to thinking about how lovely it is to just be me and to be proud of who I am and where I came from.

I was born in Tehran, Iran and lived their till I was 9 and half years old. At the time there was a war between Iran and Iraq so my father decided to move us to the United States (California to be exact). We would go back during the summers to visit. Majority of my family is Muslim although I was never really raised to believe in much. After high school I went through a period self discovery where I attended different types of services and discovered through various readings exactly where I belonged.

I am going to make two omissions on this blog. First of all I am proud to be Iranian and to have been born in a country with such rich history. Secondly although I am not a devout Muslim I am proud to label myself as one. In life you have to be proud of who you are and be comfortable in your own skin. My theory is that in order to be loved then you must be able to love yourself first. If only everything else was that simple.

Thank You Maternal Parental Unit And O Mr. Right

2012-01-14T19:02:00.000-08:00

I am at maternal parental units house. I have been here since 2ish. She is at work so then you must be wondering why I am here. Well sometimes I need to get away and go someplace else. Even if it's to the home of someone else. In this case my maternal parental units. I love that I get to go over to her house even when she is not there. I get to eat her food and maybe watch a little television. It's the greatest thing to have a place that you can get away to. Escape from the day (well sort of). I spent my day blogging at my other blog and just trying to relax. I have had a busy week of working and marketing my day job. Glad to say that today was relatively relaxing while tomorrow shall be even better ( I hope). No harm in assuming it will be.

I know that my maternal parental unit has the day off tomorrow so we may have lunch someplace or do something. Regardless it should be a relatively low key kind of day. Yet joyful. Do you enjoy your days? I actually even enjoy the days that I am working. That may sound odd to some but I actually love my day job. Even better I love that I get to live my passion and make money doing it. Don't get me wrong here. I am not a millionaire (yet). But I am happy with my life. Now if only Mr. Right would walk in the door. Out of all the things I have done and achieved in life, he is the one person I have yet to locate. Then again I am not desperate either. When the time is right it will be. All things will fall into place as they are meant to. Here's hoping that we all get that which we desire (assuming we are worthy of it).

Today And Being A Blogger

2012-01-13T19:36:00.000-08:00

Today was an interesting day of getting up late and feeling as if I had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. I felt a little queasy but I knew that the day had to go on. I got to meet my new downstairs neighbor although he is not actually going to live there. He bought the unit and is going to make some changes and then rent it out. I also got to meet the new tenant or renter if you will. She seamed nice. We shall see. So I got to do a blog post on my other blog and this is something that I want to do more often. I realize that I need to blog at least 4-5 times a week on my regular landscape blog in order to draw better Google traffic. Can I do this. Well the best I can do is try. It's easy to say that you are going to do something and have thoughts in your head. But the hardest part is committing to those ideas. I find that If I write it down then it makes the action of having to it more real. So here I am going to say that I am going to blog on here more often. Perhaps daily or at least several times a week. As I will also have to do the same on my other blog (my day job blog). I know that I want to do this and I know that I want to try to be a better person. A person who does not procrastinate. Who makes lists and does all the things on that list without getting lazy or failing. By the good graces of god and my efforts something will give and lead to greatness. It will and I will.

I would like to add a little side note that I will not be really posting on here about my day job and I will do most of those posts on my day job blog. This is meant to be a bit more personal.

Almost TGIF

2012-01-12T22:38:00.000-08:00

Well it's almost Friday and I for one am happy since this will be the first weekend in a long time that I won't be working. Even better this Sunday commences the "me time" experiment where I will spend most of Sunday spending quality time with a very important person "ME". I would like to think that I and do believe that I deserve to be treated with love and respect and given quality time. First and foremost by me. How can someone (Mr. Right) come into my life and love me if I don't love myself. I must be able to love myself and feel confident in myself in order for someone else to do the same.

So I am putting an end to this week. This is going to be the ramidio experiment where I not only try and see if I can keep this blog up and running regularly but also if I can make quality time to myself. I believe it is possible and I am going to make it happen. I know I can. I know I can. I know I can. Having said all this I would also like to say that today was a great day of catching up on all kinds of social media marketing and biz little things that I had put aside on the back burner. I am now mostly caught up and feel a little less stressed and more free. I also got to spend the evening with a bunch of fellow landscape designer where we shared some wine and good food and great conversations. What a great end to my good day. Cheers and may you sleep well.

The above picture is how free I would love to someday be. Where I can sit and relax and not have anything to worry about.

Its Wednesdasy

2012-01-11T21:09:00.000-08:00

It's Wednesday and it was a marketing kind of day. I spent most of the day doing and catching up with marketing things and social media. I randomly found (YAY!) and ended up in a #landscapechat on Twitter. Me (@earthfriendlyla) and a bunch of landscape designer etc. met on twitter to chat and have a gay old time. We were talking about water amongst other things.. Anyhoo the day ended rather nicely by having dinner at Whole Foods with my maternal parental unit. I ate vegan pizza and let me tell you the pizza there is good and cheap. Healthy for sure. This whole day got me to thinking that about all the things (good things) that randomly happen in life amongst all the daily adventures that go on. It looks like 2012 is going to be a great year and somehow I can see lots of interesting adventures coming my way. Already it's happening. Life is taking shape and I am just going to enjoy the ride. Let's hope that your ride is as adventurous as mine.

New Years Resolutions

2012-01-10T18:26:00.000-08:00

I don't like to make new years resolutions all that much. I believe that they should be made every day of the year and not just on new years. So I am making a resolution to continue to eat healthy and workout regularly. I am not saying that I don't do that, rather committing to continuing to do so. It's really simple to say that you are going to do it but not so simple to stick to a plan. Thankfully I have will power and I love myself enough to treat myself with love and respect. This year I am going to challenge myself to take it one step further by eating less dairy. I am a vegetarian so not eating meat is easy but the not eating dairy part is a lot harder. I tried once for 5 months where during that time I ate no dairy at all then one day I craved it so bad... I am not committing to not eating it at all but just deciding to eating significantly less of it.

I am also going to make a yearly resolution to take more time out for me. You know the old saying that I am too busy for myself. Well this year I am going to put some "me time" on the calendar. Starting tomorrow I am going to virtually pencil myself in to my Google calendar. The event shall be titled "an afternoon date with Rama". The day shall be this Sunday and the time shall be a few hours. What am I going to do during that time? Well that is to be determined and will depend on my mood but I can guarantee that I won't check my business email, answer any phone calls or do anything that requires serious thought. Well it's time to get of this machine and spend some quality time with the women who carried me in her whom for 9 months. I have a very special name for her... "Maternal Parental Unit"