19 Oct 09 Being (a better) Nick Starr
I have had a number of people ask me where I’ve been the past few weeks online, as I am posting to Twitter and Facebook far less than I previously had. I’ve been hanging out with someone new in my life (please don’t get excited, my ‘never had a second date with a guy curse‘ still stands), and he has unknowingly had a large impact on how I think about things.
When we first met, he was already following me on Twitter and sent me a message that he ran into me on the Muni one day. After hanging out for a while, he got to know the ‘real me’ and see beyond what is just online. I started to realize that he expected me to break down or jump of a bridge at a moments notice, and didn’t like that he had already had those thoughts in the back of his head about who I was based solely what he read online.
So, I’ve been posting less, trying to post more positive things, and cut out the negativity. It is difficult to find someone to spend time with and get to know on a deeper level (anywhere you go, but it seems to be especially true in the gay community and in San Francisco). I don’t want to start off things 10 steps behind because of something they read online or heard about me from a friend.
So I am trying to ‘re-image’ myself, and get rid of the negativity from my life. I am not going to tolerate seeing negative posts and comments on my Facebook account, and will be removing people who want to push their negativity upon me.
I am also closer than ever to getting my Nick Tuck surgeries, and estimate that I will be able to afford them this upcoming January, well within my goal of getting it done before I turn 30. I am very excited about this and look forward to completing the transformation I started over 2 years ago when I first moved to San Francisco to discover myself and become the best version of myself (mentally, physically, emotionally, etc) that I can be.
Tags: better, change, gay, negativity, Nick Tuck, nicks tuck, positive, san francisco, sf, surgery, Twitter
19 Aug 08 Feast of Fools
I first met Fausto Fernós & Marc Felion of the Feast of Fools at the second podcast expo where I briefly said hi. I was very much in the closet at the time so I didn’t want people to see me talking with them. How ironic that I would be outed to some of my best friends at the time, Dawn and Drew, during that trip.
We hung out quite a bit more at the 3rd podcast expo a year ago. It was a week after I moved to San Francisco and was on the way to being able to be more myself and express who I was. I had a great time hanging with them and was there for a great cake sitting video with their hot fan Jonathan.
We then hung out at The Stud in San Francisco a few days after the expo for a live show. I was given a free pass from Curtis Jensen to Steamworks, one of the sponsors of the Feast of Fools show. I didn’t really think anything of it at the time but eventually decided to check out the club. 
Thru the Feast of Fools and Curtis being there I learned about Steamworks, which is now the company I work for, and have for the past 3 months now. I was able to come out under my own terms 3 months ago and feel better about myself, and life. I am free to finally be myself.
Since then a lot has happened….It was great to be able to hang out with Fausto & Marc in Vegas at the 4th annual New Media Expo (formerly podcast expo). We recorded a show and discussed being outted 2 years ago by Nobody Likes Onions, depression and my suicide attempt on Twitter, and the future of podcasts and online communities.
Here is the invite code for Ping.fm which I mentioned towards the end of the show: vivalaping
It is a great listen as I think there are quite a few unanswered questions about me and who Nick Starr really is. If you are in the San Francisco area make sure to head out to Meet & Greet in San Francisco (Pilsner Inn) with Peaches Christ on Thursday, August 21, 2008 • 7-10pm 225 Church Street, San Francisco, CA, and donate to their travel fund.
Tags: bar, fausto, fausto fernos, feast of fools, fof, gay, interview, marc felion, new media expo, nme, outted, pme, Podcast, podcast expo, san francisco, sf, steamworks, suicide, the stud, Twitter, twitter suicide
13 Aug 08 New Media Expo in Vegas
I am getting ready to fly out to the New Media Expo (formerly the Podcast expo, and about 3 other names which everyone will be saying. You will be seeing a lot of tweets about different meetups, dinners, lunches, events, and parties if you follow me on Twitter over the next few days, as well as some cool info about people I meet out there.
This is my 4th year, and the conferences 4th as well. It sort of became a bit too corporate last year, but I think Vegas will bring the life back into the attendees.
I’ll be headed to the GLBT Podcaster & Listener Meet & Greet hosted by Fausto & Marc of Feast of Fools Thursday at 7pm at the SpaceQuest Bar, Hilton Hotel, NLOL Comedy show Thursday night at 10:30pm, Revision3 Meetup Friday at the Double Down Saloon from 6-8PM, and have friends flying in from Toronto which I met recently just for vacation. I am sure that there will be other great events I’ll be at, so if you want to say hi and are in the area, watch my Twitter stream.
Also, if you want to see what is going on (wether you are at the expo or not) watch/bookmark this link for all tweets related to the New Media Expo. I try to filter out all the noise and get all the tags people will be using in that customized Twitter Search, but if there are extra tags I should add let me know.
I also did an interview a few weeks ago, which is live today with Victor Cajiao of the Typical Mac User Podcast about social media & new media. We discussed a variety of services and how you can use them to gain and keep an audience as well as other trips and tricks of the this new media world we live in. Make sure to listen to the show here, subscribe to future shows in iTunes, and follow Victor on Twitter.
Well I’m off…my brand new Moo business cards arrived 1 hour before I was leaving the office so I’m ready to have fun and party it up in Vegas baby! Cya there!
Tags: convention, convention center, feast of fools, glbt, hilton, las vegas, moo, moo card, moo cards, new media expo, nlo, nlol, nme, Podcast, podcast expo, tmup, Twitter, twitter search, typical mac user podcast, vegas, victor cajiao
28 Mar 08 Social Media Sites
I admit, I have dropped the ball quite a bit in terms of blogging and keeping up with updates on here. I am pretty occupied these days with work and trying to make it out here in the San Francisco area. In doing so, I haven’t really been keeping up that much with friend requests, etc from all of the various social media sites out there.
Obviously my favorite is Twitter. It is a site where you can “micro-blog” your thoughts, what you are doing, where you are going, etc in 140 characters from a mobile phone, computer, etc. If you want you can add me as a friend on Twitter. You can also read the NY Times article about me and Twitter which was published a few months back.
Facebook is pretty much the biggest in terms of being the talk of the town. There are so many plugin programs and add-ons that make Facebook a cool place to get lost in for hours. Add me as a Facebook friend.
Pownce is a service created by Leah Culver. It is similiar to Twitter, but you can send files and reply to others posts. I tend to not use this service as much, but with Ping.fm I am now posting my updates to the site, and responding when others reply to a post. Add me as a Pownce friend.
Jaiku is similar to Pownce and Twitter just not as popular in the US. Add me as a Jaiku friend.
FriendFeed brings all of the major sites together in one place. I’m not a huge fan of this service right now, but it is getting a huge buzz. It is sort of a river of friends. Add me as a FriendFeed friend.
LinkedIn is a professional type Facebook. It is all about business contacts, making new connections, and building your network on a professional level. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, you should get one. They are one of the fastest growing sites around and sign up over 1 new person per second. Add me as a LinkedIn friend.
Last.fm is a great site for connecting your music taste with those around you. It was recently bought by CBS, but hasn’t lost any of its amazing features. It also “scrobbles” your music that is playing in iTunes, WMP, etc and helps you track your listening habits. Add me as a Last.fm friend.
Upcoming is a great way to find out to help you get out of the house and find the great parties of the night. Concerts, parties, events, meetups, etc are all found on Upcoming in your area. You can check out who will be there, and see a map of where it is. Add me as an Upcoming friend.
Yelp is an amazing service. It is full of user reviews of restaurants, shops, laundry mats, hair stylist, bar, and any other business you can think of in the area. It is started as most social media sites and startups in the San Francisco area, and it has really taken off here. The downside is that it hasn’t taken off in many other areas. If you are moving to SF, or even just want to check out some new places to eat/hangout Yelp is a great service. Add me as a Yelp friend.
All of that being said, I am in the process of redesigning the website to have more a Web 2.0 / Social Media type feel and vibe. I am sort of happy with the redesign so far, but need to spice it up a bit more. Hopefully the changes will be live on the site within the next few weeks. In doing so, I also hope to further intergrate the various social media sites I do use with the blog here to bring more content to all that have faithfully subscribed to my site for the long time it has been running.
Well I hope to make some new connections, and find some old one that I might of forgotten. Add me to your favorite social media site, and email me AT NickStarr dot com with any thoughts on other sites you like or think I should try out.
Tags: facebook, friendfeed, jaiku, last.fm, ping.fm, pownce, social, social media, Twitter, web, web 2.0, yelp
