Chris

So the Houston metroplex had a thunderstorm stall right over us last night/early morning that dumped a lot of rain in a short amount of time. We here in Katy (West Houston) got as much as 10.22” of rain. That is almost a foot of rain, people.

My mother-in-law drove to one of the airports here and as she was going down into the tunnel connecting one tollway to another, her car went right into flooded water. 3/4 of her minivan were submerged instantly. after calling 911, she was rescued by firefighters who had to pry open a door and lift her out of the chest-high water. She is not the kind of person to take risks and drive foolishly into a situation like that. It was early, dark, pouring down and that section of the tunnel curves. No way she could have seen that coming.

It took me 3 hours to get to her after navigating stalled traffic, flooded streets, frontage roads and people who were out joyriding in big ass trucks. At one point, I was in danger of having my car engine flooding when a rush of water came out of drainage ditch and caught me in the middle of it. I was able to finally drive up unto a raised median and waiting for it to recede enough to drive on. After getting her home, my father-in-law and I went to the scene where her vehicle was towed out of the water. I managed to retrieve her luggage, laptop, purse and even the shoes she was wearing.

We’re safe, she’s dry and Houston is slowly drying out but her van is a total loss. Her husband ended up giving the vehicle to a guy with a tow truck after AAA was unable to send busy towers and scrap yards refused to buy it.

Today’s theme song brought to you by Stevie Ray Vaughn: Texas Flood

Also, here is some dramatic footage from Flickr user Finna Dat

Scroll through to the sections of I-10 and the West Sam Houston Tollway merge. It is now a lake.

I’ve spanned a few generations of music media formats in my lifetime and was wondering about my firsts. My very first 8 Track tape was the Eagles’ Hotel California. First record was Dire Straits Brothers In Arms (Money For Nothing!). The first cassette tape ended up being Brothers In Arms again. The first CD I ever owned was Madonna’s Immaculate Collection. Don’t you judge me! First digital download was Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Church Red House Blues.

I’d love to hear what your firsts were!

1. 
2. Create a blog or website
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
4. Open a Twitter account (and follow me @mojodenbow)
5. Be relevant and informative
6. Grow your personal brand
7. Monitor your online reputation
8. Connect with people in the industry on LinkedIn
9. Unplug and connect in the real world
10. Ask for testimonials based on your work
11. Common courtesy (a lost art)
12. Donate your time in support of ________
13. Give praise often
14. Thank you cards (paper, not digital)

What would you suggest instead? What is more important to you in this list?

* This is a blog post from Mojo Denbow For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & Disqus

Each week I’ll post a few links that I have saved that may be relevant and informative to you & me.

50 Great Photographers You Should Know

Freelance Web Designer’s Toolbox

The Disturbing Beauty of Oversaturated Pictures & Lomography

The Ultimate How-To Grow Your Social Media Network

Build Your Ultimate Contact List

Google Voice As A Mobile App in your iPod?

Combo Mojo.info is back!

Contxts- Mobile SMS business cards

Feed Demon 3- The perfect Twitter client

How To Listen In A Bad Economy. 67 tools for social media monitoring

* This is a blog post from Mojo Denbow For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & Disqus

Wonderwife, DVD and I piled into the car to escape cabin fever and get cultured at the Museum of Fine Art Houston today because of thunderstorms. If you have not visited your local museums, what is stopping you? We have a membership to the MFAH and appreciate it’s contributions. When we arrived, our feet took us to see the traveling exhibits that included antiques from the National Museum in Kabul, Afghanistan. These pieces of history and art have been rescued from the Taliban’s cultural destruction.

Also travelling was an exhibit on European war prints from 1500-1825 AD. I loved the amazing detail of these drawings and etchings of how the tools of war had evolved as well as the battle scenes.

Of course a trip to the museum would have my Miss Art History major (Wonderwife) stroll through the vast array of Renaissance and Impressionist works.

* This is a blog post from Mojo Denbow For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & Disqus

As a kid, my football team took a day trip to the lake. At this lake there is a 10 story drop into the water with underwater caves. After scrambling up the inclines leading up to the cliff, your first inclination is to take a look around at everything you see from up there. Your second look is at the cliff’s edge. You came up here for a reason and it didn’t involve walking back down. You are hesitant to do so, but you know that you want to take that huge leap.

You wouldn’t jump and leave sure footing unless you knew for sure there was a safety net of some sort, right? You have prepared yourself for this, built yourself up as high as you can go and it is time to act.

I’m not going to misguide you. I was hesitant and I jumped anyway. At first your stomach feels like it will travel and lodge in your throat. But if you are successful, you will overcome this and start to enjoy moment and yourself. I guarantee you will make a splash and not end up on the rocks.

Take every chance. Drop every fear. Jump.

* This is a blog post from Mojo Denbow For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & Disqus

Today we celebrate the historical fact that a man was killed and raised from the dead. Jesus is alive…w00t!

To celebrate we enjoyed a wonderful message in church with friends/family, feasted on prime rib and relaxed.

Here are a few images from little DVD’s Easter shoot session:

Freelance Camp Houston!

Venue: Houston Technology Center

Date: April 11th, 2009

Time: 10 am to 4 pm

Cost: Donate (or Free if you are really broke)

Register: http://freelancecamp.eventbrite.com

Freelance Camp is a place to discuss and explore the different approaches to running a successful freelance business / small service company. The Houston camp is FREE to attend thanks to some very cool sponsors.  So come ready to learn, and if you’re up for it, sign up to give a talk the day of the camp!

Thanks to our sponsors:

Werkadoo, The Houston Technology Center, Caroline Collective, Powered Production, Laundry Tree, Coffee Groundz, InHouston, Saint Arnold, Blellow, Advantj Media, Angelos Pizza, Houston Networking News, BMeyer Bookkeeping, Diosana Group, and Carl Pipes Inc.

Be sure to come to the after-party and Werkadoo Launch Celebration right after the camp! Join us at Caroline Collective for free beer, food, and music! The party starts at 5pm and ends when all the kegs are tapped. See you there!

Caroline Collective
4820 Caroline St.
Houston, TX 77004

Thanks to the support of Bridgette Penel, Debra Robinson, and Travis Skweres from Werkadoo, Marc Nathan of the HTC, Shane Pearlman, Louis Sandoval Jr., Brad Parler, and a lot of other folks, this event is going to be a huge success!

A special thanks to the freelancecamp.org team for the use of the brand and for all the advice and support.

If you are a photographer and live in Katy, Texas, (or anywhere else if interested) you are most welcome to join a small group of like-minded people. We’ll discuss anything/everything you want in regards to photogs, cameras, etc. The idea is to have an open environment and conversations. Highly informal, very beneficial. Who knows but maybe we can turn this into a frequent event. At any rate, the Mojo and WonderWife will be there. Just look for two people with cameras and a laptop out.

If you are interested, leave a comment or shoot me an instant message to mojodenbow

The details:

Baker Street Pub

drinks, food, free wifi, good seating in or out!

Monday, April 13, 7PM to ?

23501 Cinco Ranch Blvd (In La Centerra shopping district)

Katy 77494

http://www.sherlockspubco.com/Main.aspx

* This is a blog post from Mojo Denbow For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & Disqus

I haven’t been a fan of baseball since I stopped playing it back in the 6th grade. I’d cheer on the Yankees because there was no professional team close by when growing up unless you count the Texas Rangers. Ugh. Now that I live in a huge metroplex that has 4 pro teams, I’m going to catch a couple games and support them!

Monday was the Houston Astros opening day and I was able to cover the event from the field and press box. Thanks to Sally Gunter for making this possible.

Minute Maid park’s 10th anniversary helped add to the festivities of Opening Day as did retired Astros Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio. Lyle Lovett sang the Star Spangled Banner just as he did ten years ago.

The Astros were hoping to recover from a devastating loss last season that helped eliminate them from the playoffs. After hurricane Ike struck Houston, much of the area was without power and so the game was moved to Milwaukee as a “home” game against the Chicago Cubs. Guess who came to dinner last night? Yes, the hated Cubbies.

The hopes of avenging that loss died quickly. With only the second pitch of the game, the Cub’s Soriano hit a homerun to Center field. It took 7 innings for Houston to get on the board. The final score was 4-2.

* This is a blog post from Mojo Denbow For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & Disqus

Like many iPod Touch/iPhone owners, I love the third party applications that companies and developers create to enhance it’s functionality. I thought I would offer a peek inside my apps in hopes that you may see something you like and would need. Also, if you have apps that you think we’d be interested don’t bogart them….share in the comments!

• Skype– Make calls, send SMS, chat for free (wifi networks only)
• Evernote– sync your voice, text, images, pdf files and more
• Twitterific- Tweet and retweet with your followers
• Fring– all of the most used instant messengers in one client
• Brightkite– geo-location tool to let your contacts know where you are
• Waken Shaken (alarm clock)- I like the soft green glow and nature sounds
• Freshbooks– Invaluable invoice, time-tracking tool for client work
• Box.net– web storage for all your files needing to be shared
• Soonr- connect/sync with your computer’s files
• At Bat- baseball season is here, time to keep track of your team!

* This is a blog post from Mojo Denbow For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & Disqus