It is nice to hear your voice

Are you one of those people who get bored easily so you try different things, like new

apps and social media connections? Yeah me too, … well kind of. I am sure you know I really am not that active on the other platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, SnapChat), but I DID sign up for a podcast account so I can talk instead of posting, writing or typing. I had a lot of friends/fans tell me that they would rather watch or listen to me as sometimes it is not so easy to read. Maybe like me, you need bifocals so reading small text can be a chore or just plain impossible.
Some of my fans have said they just love listening to my deep baritone voice. So I went back to the site, Anchor, and uploaded a new, fresh picture of me and recorded a quick daily podcast on my iPhone. The thought process behind this is if it is super easy for me to record and upload a podcast, I just might be a lot more inclined to do so. I think impromptu, go with the flow, fly by the seat of my pants is the way to go. And as you know I am going to be in Vegas this weekend, staying at the Bellagio. If any of my fans/friends happen to be around grab me for a selfie or a drink.
The “plan” is I can just whip out my iPhone and start talking/recording and then my friends/fans can just listen to me. I won’t be taking my computer so there probably won’t be any blog updates. I will be posting pictures to my Instagram, so if you follow me there you will see some fun stuff. I almost forgot, here is the link if you want to follow my podcast. I think you can use Spotify if that is your favorite podcast app. It is also available on GooglePlay, iTunes, and Amazon Music!

I always wanted to be a news anchor. So this will be me dipping my toe in the water. Shout out to Jurassic sequel whatever … very predictable, drags at parts, and lots of big scary dinos. Dr. Strange 2 just released on Disney+. Yes, I already downloaded it to my iPad and I will be watching it on the airplane. Do you like my new “work” shirt? I made it myself. I found the patch with my name on eBay and then I bought a Dickies blue shirt and super glued the patch. Originally it was going to be a Halloween costume, but I really dig it. I think I will take it with me on vacation, just for shits and giggles.

 

Loading

What Does “Aaron” Think?

The first time I can remember someone wanting to know MY opinion on a topic was back when I was a product manager in a marketing group working in Boulder Colorado. It was for a company you might know, GE. General Electric. Yep, the light bulb company. “We bring good things to life.” Cute little slogan right? I was only there for a year or so but it taught me everything I needed to know about the distribution chain and logistics. The year was 1999, and if you all remember, everyone thought the world would go into chaos with Y2K. What a joke that was.

*

Anyway, I was in a marketing group of about a dozen people, and crazy thing I was the highest paid of them all. I found that out years later how my director had to go to bat to justify my salary. Hey, the power of negotiation is huge. In one of the many meetings I was required to participate in, my counterpart, the other product manager was not doing so hot, so the director asked what were my thoughts on the situation. I looked up from my Palm pilot (I know right?) and said they wouldn’t like my answer as I have a totally different take and perspective as a former IT, Windows NT network administrator. I was the guy who usually sat in silence listening to everyone else argue. Why join a pointless discussion if no one really listened? Well, my director listened, and for the first time in my life, someone actually took my recommendation and did something with it. Yep, it was me who started new marketing initiatives generating new revenue. When you prove you can make a company money, save them money, OR prevent potential litigation, you get noticed.

*

In many positions I would spearhead a newsletter. I’ve always been a writer, and sending out communications on a timely basis has always been my thing. It’s funny, a lot of my readers actually know me personally. Many of them say they can actually hear my voice in their head when they read my words. Like in a movie … a letter on the screen is all of the sudden thoughts and sentences in your ear. When Sex and the City was on air I thought how cool would was Carrie Bradshaw? She had a sex column in New York City that made her semi-famous. I always wondered what writers were paid at a newspaper. Well, we all know that newspapers don’t really exist anymore. Most newspapers are all online subscription websites now. My blog/website is sort of like that but without the monthly cost. I did have a reader tell me he would be pissed if I started charging for articles/blogs. Don’t worry, I’m not going to do that. There are other starving artists who need your money before I do. Just like Ben Shapiro, I’m just another news commentary out in the big world wide web. But actually I’m mostly on people’s smartphones, … in their email. If you’ve been a long time subscriber then you should have over 90 different blogs that I have written. And since most blogs are at least 500 words or more, it would take hours and hours to read them all. I personally have only written some, and never read them. I have only read my book once, and that was when it was written. Many parents have read it so many times they can quote lines from it. Crazy right? I will have to sit down and read it before I can write a sequel. I was contemplating recording it and putting each chapter online on YouTube. I can’t be sued for reading my own book. But if I read say, Harry Potter, I think Warner Brothers would be after me for copyright. I actually had a reader ask/request that I read the book since it is easier to listen than to read. Most of my readers/fans get their info from me via the blog and not my other social media outlets. Facebook and Instagram are a joke with their stupid algorithms. Back in the day when the business page was new, I would post a picture or something and thousands of people would like it. Now, … nothing. Seriously if you go and look at the really old posts and the current ones you would be disgusted at the lack of likes. So it is better to just use my platform where I know people are reading my thoughts.  I am willing to bet there are a lot of kids who would love to see/hear me read my book. I’ll think it over and we will see what happens. I’ll ask my nephews and see what they think.

Mortal Kombat released on HBO Max and at the theaters yesterday, and I have to say I really liked it. I loved the final kill scenes … flawless victory. If you ever watched any of the movies you will like this one. But if you are not into fantasy fighting and killing you won’t like it. It is Aaron Approved!

 

Loading

20/20 Vision – Thoughts – Writing – YouTube Video Launch

Welcome Friends! I’ve changed, have you?

If you aren’t following my Instagram account, here is the latest picture of me with my hair down. Cray cray right? I got a lot of comments that some of my fans were not getting my Facebook postings and they were sure they clicked the like/follow/subscribe button. So I looked up a bunch of my favorite celebrities and you guessed it, they posted and I never saw the posts. Well that is disappointing, I really liked seeing the Kardashians pretty smiling faces. So what I did was change the notifications to “See First” in my newsfeed. You can do the same on my page, but I probably am going to take a break from posting on Facebook. I have thousands of fans and only a few ever get to see my posts.

 

Facebook Owns My Content

So I made an announcement on Facebook, since they are changing their terms and basically said they can and will delete anything they don’t like. I didn’t actually read the whole terms, but honestly, I am really disgusted with the fact that Facebook controls who can and can’t see what I write. Don’t get me wrong, it is an easy to use platform available on every smartphone with their app. However, if you are like millions of people in the United States, it is your only source of news, connections, resources, articles and entertainment. It doesn’t need to be. You don’t need to be restricted on what you should read and see.

A long time ago, when my first real website was for personal, and not business, I did a daily “Thought of the day”. If was fun, I could be creative, post a pretty picture, and the site was basically a portal of all the sites that I used and were “Aaron Approved”. There were no blog postings, but there were lots and lots of pages. That was back in the old days of having to know and read computer code. HTML to be specific. Oh those were the sad days. If I remember correctly I was blogging on Xanga, Blogger, and MySpace. Cray right? Where are all those writings? Gone. Never to be seen again. So anyway, that site is now my work site, and this one, is my primary blog/writing space.

 

Welcome new friends

If you are new to the site, hello and welcome. Wha’s up? How YOU doin? Hopefully you read through my bio on the main page so you already have an idea of who I am. When I meet new friends I always ask what they were like in high school. Why you ask? Well, I can see a lot about someone inquiring as to what activities and extracurriculars were important to him/her. Plus, I was in a ton of things, so I quickly relate to someone when we have the core commonality. Apologies in advance for my extended writing absence on the blog. But if you check out my Facebook personal and business page, you already know there is a ton of stuff that I have written. So since Facebook is taking over what content is allowed on their platform, I have decided to take the initiative and action to move my thoughts BACK to this blog where it has no censorship. Meaning, Facebook can’t delete my post/message.

Big Hair

So I am sure a lot of y’all are just blown away with my new hair. When I say new, I do mean new. It’s not extensions, or  weave. It is all virgin Vietnamese hair. I have to say I really like having long hair. I can put it in a ball cap, tie it up, or put it under a bandana and it is like it isn’t even there. So like 5 years ago, like a middle-aged man, I started losing my hair. Yep, it sucks, but it happens. Well I wasn’t satisfied with that and I took it upon myself to reverse the damages of time, neglect and sun UV rays. Not to mention all the bad hair decisions I made throughout my life. So fast forward to today, and look at my long big hair. Wow. How did I do it? Well I was hoping  you would ask. Magic. Hahahahaha. The magic of science and changing of my lifestyle.

YouTube Channel

Actually I was working on a Ted talk, a short 20 minute stand up presentation, but I don’t think that is going to happen anytime soon due to the current state of the world. Don’t worry, that message will still come and I am thinking more of launching my YouTube channel where I talk instead of write. The Aaron Stephens Talk Show has a nice ring to it. There are literally tons of things that I could rattle on for hours. So if you want to subscribe to my YouTube, you can see my cat, Sparkles. My secret chili recipe is also on there. I think my mom is my subscriber.  https://www.youtube.com/c/AaronStephensMBA/ I will be working on my series of how I regrew my hair. Seriously, there are new little hairs growing all over my head. It is like there is a beard secretly hiding underneath. It is pretty exciting and I am getting really excited about sharing with the world. Seriously, wouldn’t life be so much happier if people had more hair? Initially I was thinking of cancer patients, but as I discovered just how big the hair industry is, my plans got bigger and bigger.

 

So thanks for stopping by and plan on hearing more from me on a regular basis. I “think” that subscribers get an email when I post something new. Cheers!
Loading

Bucket List Item – Check

Bucket List Item: Perform a solo at Mile Hi Church in front of a live audience. Check.

spacer

For years I dreamed/fantasized what it would be like holding a microphone singing on stage at my church. I am so blessed, thankful and my heart is so full of love. Dozens of people came up to me and told me they loved me and how great we sounded. People loved my bow tie.spacer

A special thank you to Stacey Landes for believing in me. The two songs actually were about believing. Our new minster, Rev. Shannon received my gift/book, and in her service she secretly acknowledged us as the “choir angels”. After I sang and was walking back to the riser she mouthed “thank you” to me. I know that the room was filled with angels.

redpackage
spacerEvery minister got a beautifully wrapped present in rich red paper with a white silk ribbon. Of course it was signed and had a bookmark waiting at chapter 1. The presentation is as wonderful as the gift inside. Certainly out of 20 ministers ONE will want to give me a wonderful review. I would LOVE a minister endorsement right about now.spacer

I was told by several people that after my book comes out I better get used to being in front of big audiences, and then I can sing, talk, laugh, joke, tell stories, read a poem or whatever I want. I’m a heck of a dancer, I can do that too. Knowing that there were hundreds or even thousands of my fans watching all over the world really made a difference for me. Gratitude friends.

spacer

Loading

I Believe

IMG_0075
spacer
Life is full of signs. I believe in signs. Earlier I found a “Believe” charm on a dog tag chain and I knew it was meant for me. It actually hangs above my monitor so I can see it. A constant reminder from the angels.
spacer
My tagline for the book is “The World is Ready To Believe.” So how perfect is that? Ready for the next cool sign? I sing in the choir, actually this Sunday at 10 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time (GMT -7) you can actually see me singing. Go to milehichurch.org and then click on live service. So here is the cool thing, I was selected to sing the descant (like a solo) for one of the songs. I know right? How cool is that? The really cool thing is the song is entitled “I Believe”. Coincidence? Not a chance.
spacer
This morning as I was rehearsing tears came to my eyes as I really listened to the words. It’s almost like this song was written for me and this book. So I wanted to share the lyrics with you.
spacer
There comes a moment when my heart must stand alone
On this lonely path I’ve chosen, like a house that’s not a home.
Sometimes when I feel I’ve had enough and I feel like giving in
You will me to be, all I can be
Now nothing can stop me
spacer
I believe in the power that comes from a world brought together as one
I believe together we’ll fly
I believe in the power of you and I.
spacer
This is the moment we have dreamed of all our lives
We’ll be the change we wish from others;
We’ll stand tall for what is right
And in my heart there’ll be no doubt
the arms of the world will come reaching out
and embrace me to be, all that I can be! Now nothing can stop me.
spacer
I believe in the power that comes from a world brought together as one
I believe together we’ll fly
I believe in the power of you and I.spacer
I believe I believe I believe in – I believe I believe I believe in — you.
I believe in the power that comes from a world brought together as one
I believe together we’ll fly
I believe in the power of you and I.
spacer
I have had a lot of requests from fans for more pictures and videos about me. The blog is a good start, and seeing me perform online will be the next. If you do happen to be online 10.19.14 at 10 a.m. GMT-7, you can see me. If you are in the chat room Sunday shout out what country you are from. I know my peeps and what countries love me. 😉
spacer

The World is Ready To Believe.

spacer
Loading
wordfence