Day 250: Typhoon Season!

G'day,

The typhoon season in Japan was in full-swing this weekend. While Osaka was not directly hit there was still a massive downpour over Saturday and Sunday.

Whenever typhoons do hit Japan the media over here goes wild! It is literally wall-to-wall coverage of live reports from the scene, with of course the weather reporters getting absolutely hammered by rain and wind.

As I "braced" myself for the coming typhoon little was I to know that another typhoon was brewing over on Digg! As I said yesterday a video I made was submitted without my knowledge and it had spread like a raging typhoon when I was asleep.

I got the first inkling on Saturday morning when I checked my email. My in-box was "flooded" with notifications from YouTube, 20 times above normal activity.

I thought to myself, "What happenned?", I couldn't figure out why that particluar video was viewed and commented on so many times.

It wasn't until I checked my YouTube messages that I found the answer. My video got "Dugg", and as a consequence it went to the "newly popular" frontpage on Digg.

I had heard about the "Digg Effect" before but to it actually see it happen to my video was very surreal. I went over to Digg to check the vibe and quite honestly, my jaw dropped!

There were already 50 comments about the video and to be honest, many of them were extremely tough to read. It was a very bittersweet feeling, to say the least.

I have to admit I did take the criticism very personally. I think this is because that video represented a lot of hard work and culminated in being (at that time) the proudest moment of my life.

So, it was very hard to be objective about it, if you know what I mean. On the Internet I think there may be a tendency to view people in videos, on blogs, etc. as unfeeling beings. But trust me I am a "real person" with real emotions.

Anyway, it has now been 36 hours since the drama unfolded and I have had time to reflect. In reality, if you put yourself out there online you have take the good with the bad.

I made the decision to do that back in November 2006 and I have to accept the consequences, whatever they may be. But don't get me wrong, the response overall has been overwhelmingly positive and I am extremely appreciative of that.

Now I just gotta put it behind me and hop "back on the horse". The best way to do that is to get back in the gym and focus on "being in the moment" rather than thinking about the past.

I think excerise in general is a great way to clear your mind. As you can see from this blog excercise was actually the key for me to turn my life around after 6 years of "failure".

So, tomorrow I'll do just that!

Thanks again to everyone who wrote me messages/comments of support. I am truly grateful and I will do my best to support you as well.

Peace,
AJ

P.S. Below are Day 250 pics for July 16, 2007: Mission 3 Phase 1 - Day 21 of 60