Interview'There's No Rules With the Amish, That's Part of the Problem': A Few Things About Blogging Awesomely in Amish Country, with Bryan Allain
Bryan Allain is the latest fascinating individual to be featured here in the new brandonsneed.com series "A Few Things About..." He's excellent at blogging and hiding under laptops. He graciously agreed to talk blogging, sports (as the former author of the now-nonexistent Prayers For Blowouts blog), humor, Amish people, and why he keeps blogging even when it makes him like, no money.
He makes people laugh (most of the time) over at BryanAllain.com and tries to make people better bloggers over at BlogRocket.com. He also might be one of the coolest, hardest-working dudes I know.
I stumbled across him via his "The Noah's Ark According to the Office" post sometime last year, and have been following him ever since. He's also been kind enough to interview me on his podcast, The FreshPod, even though my younger brother plays for the Yankees and he's a Red Sox guy. That's love just like Jesus, I would imagine.
And I don't actually "know" him, except through the magic of the Internet. He lives up in Intercourse—yes, Intercourse—Pennsylvania, where he does something for some boring company and blogs in his free time. In the meantime, he has to deal with Amish people, their transportation-by-horse-and-buggy way of life, and thus when he jogs, he has to dodge the patties their horses often leave in his path.
Sorry. That was gross.
Anyway, I'll let him do the rest of the talking. I'm glad he decided to swing by ... although honestly, I'm not real sure why. Whatever the reason, it's always a good time. Enjoy.
'My Life Had Been A Party All Over The World': A Few Things About Getting Clean and Sober Without The 12 Steps
Welcome to the second installment of "A Few Things About", an interview series with fascinating characters, exclusive here at brandonsneed.com.
Evan Morgenstein recently tweeted that he had been clean and sober for a full year. This is remarkable for two reasons: one, his life revolves around giving people a good time, and people have that good time most commonly by getting not sober. And two, he didn't go through the usual 12 Steps program to make it happen.
Evan is the president and CEO of several integrated companies that focus on representing talent and corporations. He’s started six companies since 1997. He’s a self-described “prototypical Type A control freak." He says, "I live for the excitement of closing new deals. Not the money. It’s being in the throws of negotiation that fuels me.”
And yes, that's him with Buzz Aldrin above.
So without further ado, here's Evan, about life as a newly sober partygoer.
'A Few Things About....': An Introduction
It seems like every week I run across someone through Twitter or Facebook or who knows where else who has lived something amazing. Their stories don't always make for magazine material, but it's not their fault, and honestly, they probably should be featured somewhere.
So ... ta-da! I'm giving their stories a place to live here at brandonsneed.com.
I'm calling it "A Few Things About....". Basically, I explore awesome things people are doing and then share them with you awesome people. I'm starting this because, among many other reasons, I just love great stories. I don't really have time here to spend reporting and writing the epic features I am starting to work on for magazines, but this is my lifeblood, man. The concepts in these stories, the characters, the lessons, the fun, the good and the bad, the tears, the redemption—I live for this.
I posted the first installment on Friday. It was a look at minor league baseball through the eyes of my younger brother, Kramer, a pitcher in the Yankees' organization. He bribed me with tickets to his games. I'm so easily corrupted. Also, I was really interested in that life. I was once chasing it. I also knew that many like me have dreamed such dreams, so I knew you'd like hearing about it.
My next one will be about
'I've Been Living In A Comfort Inn': A Few Things About Life As A Pro Baseball Player
Welcome to the first installment in a new feature here at brandonsneed.com: "A Few Things About ...", in which we explore awesome things people are doing. (And, yes, I am sort of ripping off Esquire's format for "What I've Learned," where we remove the questions and just leave the answers. But hey, it's one of my favorite magazines, so that makes it okay. Right?)
Kramer Sneed—my younger brother—was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 32nd round of the 2010 draft. If you’re a clueless Kramer fan, and not a baseball fan, here’s a breakdown of Kramer and what it meant when he was drafted by the Yankees.
Kramer's first love in life was basketball. Well, sports in general; basketball was his baby. Being 6-4 and lefthanded, though, he wisely decided to pitch in college. He went on to become the first player drafted out of Barton College in about 15 years.
There's some irony here. Unlike Kramer, I did go to college shooting for a career in baseball. And, unlike Kramer, I didn't make it.
Now he's in the thick of it, working like whoa to get where everyone around him is trying to go. The majors. The Show. Where "you hit white balls for batting practice and the ballparks are like cathedrals and other people carry your luggage and the women all have long legs and brains. Where the pitchers throw ungodly breaking stuff." Where every day is the greatest day of your life. (At least, according to Bull Durham.)
Before that, all but the most unbelievable of ballplayers spend a few years grinding through the minors. Here's a look at how Kramer got where he is, how he's doing, and what life's really like in the minor leagues. Enjoy.