The Working From Home Lifestyle Revolution

By Jim Calder

My wife woke up recently and said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we just had to wake up and walk downstairs to work? Think of all the time we would save, we could shower at lunch and wouldn’t have to spend an hour getting ready in the morning,” she said. “We wouldn’t each have to drive two hours every weekday.”
Just a few days later I was facing an hour and a half ride into work (my usual commute is only an hour each way) because of heavy rains. The horrible commute got me thinking, why don’t more people and more companies embrace the Work from Home (WFH) lifestyle?

My Manifesto

Most of the people that I know who seem to love their jobs also seem to be working from home. Some own their own business, others work from home full time, and others work from home only once a week. I currently work for an employer that gives me clearance to work from home once a week.
The common thread is the ability to balance our busy lives while merging our careers with our personal lives. This can only be found via the knowledge, understanding and foresight that the amount of hours spent in the decaying office parks of America do not equal doing great work. I know plenty of people who think they are fooling us. They show up first at the office and make sure that everyone knows that they were there the latest. These people are only fooling themselves. They are doing nothing original.

Not A Utopian Idea

A few decades ago this may have been a Utopian or even radical thought. But today it is just common sense. As we evolve as people we are beginning to realize the amount of stress that we take on through our careers. A major portion of this is from commuting to and from an office complex when we have all the tools that we need at home. As a proud member of the ROWE movement (Results Oriented Work Environment) ROWE , I am shocked that more people don’t work towards the goals of ROWE.
ROWE boils down to that fact that you are paid for the work that you do – your performance – not for the hours that you clock into an office.
One of my personal goals is to start to convince my current and/or future employers why coming into the office even four days a week is excessive for individuals who have proven their loyalty and dedication to their work.

Why People Don’t Get It

I think that there are common misconceptions that people have with the term; working from home:
Working From Home Doesn’t = Hate: Working from home does not mean that you hate your job, your office, your coworkers, or responsibilities. It just means that you would prefer more flexibility balancing your work and your personal life.
Abuse By Others: Putting “Air Quotes” around it when you say you are “working from home” is just about the dumbest thing a person can do. It makes you look like a total slacker and people pretty much assume that you don’t have a work ethic and just watch TV all day when you are working from home. But even worse, you ruin the experience and reputation of working from home for all of us who actually are more productive in the home office.
Jealously: Working from home is not for everyone. Doctors and nurses for instance would have trouble working from home all the time. Others are not dedicated enough and shouldn’t be working from home until they have learned to manage their workloads on their own without being told what to do. It is also difficult to work from home when you are in industries like retail and hospitality. However, for people in many office based industries it is not only a great option it is also an effective and smart move for companies.
It is Not A Day Off!: A common misconception about working from home is that it is a “day off”. There is nothing further from the truth than this statement. If anything you have to work harder on days that you work from home, because people are watching and waiting for you to screw up.

Why WFH Works For The Employee

1) Working From Home is a statement from your employer, that they believe that you are doing a great job and want to see you become even more productive.
2) Eliminates stress. Not having to commute and sit in traffic to get to an office will most likely add years to your life and make you enjoying your work even more.
3) WFH allows you to multitask and do house chores like laundry, running the dishwasher, and more while working, which gives you more time for living life.
4) Many who work from home claim to have less distractions. Think of all the times people pop into your office, just to chat about the weekend or what’s new. This is eliminated when we are working from home and it makes you more productive.
5) More time to take care of yourself and your families. Our schedules are more flexible to take care of ourselves and our families (parents, children, partners, grandparents) and to go see the doctors when needed.
6) Salaried employees don’t punch a clock. Yet, so many employers are still judging their work based on the time that they spend in the office. This must change and we know it.
7) Technology allows us to communicate with team members and perform our work just as effective as when we are in the office.

Why WFH Is Smart For Employers

1) Happy and healthy. Employees feel true and earned respect for their employers for allowing them to have a chance at a happier and healthier life.
2) Increases loyalty. Employees who have been waiting for better times to make moves with their careers are starting to do so. WFH increases loyalty for employees that the company wishes to retain.
3) Office space and equipment are expensive. Most employees would be willing to use their own phones and own computers for the opportunity to work from home full time or the majority of the time. This cuts down on the costs for the company.
4) The technology has arrived. There are no longer excuses to not be able to WFH. Employees can call or Skype into meetings. We are in constant communication with coworkers with instant message tools like Skype, gchat, AOL or others. Email allows us to work from any location on the planet. Most IT directors can set employees up with remote access to the company’s servers.
5) Be progressive. Companies that have employees who work remotely are viewed as progressive and living in the current times, instead of set in the stone ages. You will attract better, stronger employees with a WFH policy.
6) Healthier employees that have the time to take care of their health are more valuable to companies than sick employees.

Are you Ready for Working From Home? Find out by continuing to read the rest of this article RIGHT NOW at Continue Reading Article .

Another Way To Look At Things

By Jim Calder

Do you have trouble focusing? Find that you are staying up later and later on the computer? Feel like you can never just focus your attention on one thing or project? The solution is simple, turn all your shit off permanently and go see a doctor. However, if this is too extreme for you, you could just read this blog and see a new way of looking at things.

I am technologically overstimulated.

Thanks to modern technology I have the attention span that is the size of a gnat. I had a half-day at work today and planned on working on a freelance project but as usual I got sucked into many, many things. My work email, Facebook, Facebook Chat, a Youtube video or 10, Gmail, Gchat, organizing my Google docs, Blackberry Messenger, Texts, and so on.

I find some evenings I am online for hours and have lost focus. I yearn for the days before my day when people sat in half lit rooms smoking and drinking whiskey while slowly typing ideas on a typewriter. Think of all the “boxes of failed ideas” that existed on hard paper somewhere in the rooms of the past. Ideas must have been more valuable back then, more rare. They weren’t just tweeted, posted on Facebook or emailed out without thinking them through.

Just as my attention span was about to rip me from this google doc that I am typing this blog in, a brave new thought hit me.

What if our “modern Technology” – especially the virtual chats – equals today’s version of “boxes of failed ideas”? Today, we hash and flush out our ideas with others instead of forming the ideas in quiet rooms on our own. We run our ideas past small focus groups consisting of family, friends, coworkers, and even strangers with similar interests.

Ideas kept to yourself will never thrive. Share them and grow them with others.

PS: Don’t fear the boxes of failed ideas, they are your biggest asset.

Jim Calder is the brand architect and co-founder of ProLong Magazine. Jim was born with the perfect combination of cockiness and self consciousness. He has over 10 years of publishing industry experience and lives and works in Philadelphia, Pa. Jim strongly believes that the current 9-5 Monday-Friday format of “Work” is dying. Those that refuse to recognize this will be left behind in the decaying office complexes across America. He currently can be found on the greatest adventure of his life as a newlywed with his wife Melissa. Jim can be contacted via email at jim@prolongmagazine.com

By Jim Calder

I am in the construction business, and have been for several years now. I don’t physically build houses, buildings, roads, etc. What I have been trying to build—or better yet to help build—are people. On our team, the “construction people” we believe that the more people that do well increases our chances for growing and doing well ourselves. This is not rocket science, it just makes sense.In fact it isn’t a new idea either, but it is good to be reminded of it often.

Qualities of the Construction People

-We take the time to lend advice.
-We take the time to give feedback.
-We take the time to lend our knowledge.
-We offer resources when we can.
-We encourage and give positive support.
-We realize that we can learn from watching others do well.
-We realize that everything in life does not have to be a big competition.
-We are teachers and learners.
-We embrace failure, but more importantly learn from it.
-We care.

The Demo Business

On the other side of the spectrum are the people in the demoing business.They rip people down whenever they see an opportunity. In this quick life we all will come across far too many in the demoing business. Sometimes it can take form of people who are scared individuals snickering and casting doubt about your new business venture. They may say how it will fail, they may say that you won’t find revenue, and they may say you don’t know what you are doing. I don’t know why, when, or how these people choose to go into the demoing business, but somewhere they make a clear choice.
It is sad and it is just plain lazy to be in the demo business, and perhaps that is what makes it so easy for some.

The Mind Set of a Loser

If you constantly go around bashing other people’s ideas, hopes, and dreams you are really kind of a scum bag. These people are tricking their own minds, by justifying the fact that they are lazy and don’t want to try and do something extraordinary with their lives themselves. They think to themselves … these people are all failing, so I won’t even try … because I am afraid of failure. These people route for failure by others to confirm their own doubts.
I say that failure should be worn as a badge of honor. If you are not failing you are not taking risks. If you are not failing, you are not doing anything worth talking about. If you are paralyzed by the fear of failure you are most likely only doing enough to get by, enough to please the boss, and enough to stay unoriginal forever.

The Rewards of a Builder

Yes, it takes a lot more energy to be a builder. But the rewards are also much greater. The next time you hear someone is starting something, building something from scratch, really think about it before you judge. Before the instinctual negative words of doubt come flowing from your mouth, do us all a favor and take a step back. Take a moment of reflection and and inner look at your soul and guts and think about why you are about to spew negativity into someone’s world. It just may change your life.

Jim Calder is the brand architect and co-founder of ProLong Magazine. Jim was born with the perfect combination of cockiness and self consciousness. He has over 10 years of publishing industry experience and lives and works in Philadelphia, Pa. Jim strongly believes that the current 9-5 Monday-Friday format of “Work” is dying. Those that refuse to recognize this will be left behind in the decaying office complexes across America. He currently can be found on the greatest adventure of his life as a newlywed with his wife Melissa. Jim can be contacted via email at jim@prolongmagazine.com

The Age of the Worker

By Jim Calder

We live in a new age. An age where the worker is valued above all else. For years companies have devalued you as the employee by cutting your pay, increasing your hours, freezing your salary all in the name of the economy and more. That day is over friends. An individual today has extreme power. We have access to tools that previously were only available to a company with resources. We can create and build on our own, and that by nature is a threat to “the old way of thinking about work”.

We are motivated to succeed, for ourselves and for our families. We don’t respond well to fear tactics, and if exposed to them for too long, we move on. All because we realize that life is too short and we are too valuable. We learn new skills for the benefit of ourselves and our careers, before someone has to tell or ask us to do so. We value other things besides our salaries, such as working from home. The Internet has made us versatile. We teach ourselves to do almost anything with the help of our friends Google and YouTube.

Managers may still treat you like a cog that can be replaced. However, you are the one allowing them to do so. You are an individual with unique skills that you have learned and own, so be proud of it. Companies that refuse to change will be left in the past with the rest of the dinosaurs. Companies that only offer you the fear of losing your job as motivation have no place in today’s marketplace. Fear is not a motivation tool, it is a weak sign of a weaker foundation of a company, corporation or business. Advanced companies are well aware of this and making changes.

At your next review instead of joining the ongoing cycle and defending why you deserve your job, ask yourself this:
-Why does your company deserve to have YOU as an employee?
-What has your company done for YOU?
-Why is this company worth YOUR time, YOUR hours, a large portion of YOUR life?
-How has this company showed ME that they value the work that I am doing?

The message is spreading and quickly. ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) is a human resource management strategy. This progressive movement was co-created by Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler (pictured above) and thrives on the theory that employees are paid for results (output) rather than the amount of hours one works.Their idea has been adapted by large American retails such as Best Buy, Gap, and other companies. This duo has created their own consulting group called CultureRx and their message is selling.

Not enough evidence that this way of working will work? Let me leave you with this inspiring video from the TED conference.

Jim Calder is the brand architect and co-founder of ProLong Magazine. Jim was born with the perfect combination of cockiness and self consciousness. He has over 10 years of publishing industry experience and lives and works in Philadelphia, Pa. He currently can be found on the greatest adventure of his life as a newlywed with his wife Melissa. Jim can be contacted via email at jim@prolongmagazine.com

And Drinking On Sunday

By Jim Calder

As I am writing this I just watched the completion of the Pro Cycling Tour TD Bank North Philadelphia International Cycling Championship. This year I was a little busy with some other projects and didn’t make it out to Manayunk nor a quick walk down the the Ben Franklin Parkway art museum circle to watch this race. But I had it on in the background of the house for the last six hours plus. I have been following/attending this race since 2002 when I first moved to Philadelphia. My appreciation for this race has changed greatly over the years. Years ago it was just a great excuse to drink all day on a Sunday and it still is for many!

The race is known as one of the most difficult one-day events in the US. The course is 156 miles long starting and the art museum down Kelly Drive through East Falls, Manayunk and Roxborough. According to Wikipedia, top cyclists have participated including Eric Heiden, Gred Lemond and Lance Armstrong. Armstrong actually stared his professional career when he won this race in 1993. Nine American cyclists have won the men’s portion of this race since its inception in 1985, even though this year an Australian took it home.

One of the best places to see the action (because it is the slowest part) is the Manayunk Wall. This also make for the best party and drinking spot. The steepest section of the wall boasts a 17-percent grade. This race represents the best of the city that we call home. In days past we would fill up water bottles, Gatorade bottles, etc with the liquor of our choice add some soda or juice throw it in a book bag full of us, which also worked as a self cooler on hot race days.
We would show up late and sometimes only able to catch one lap up the the wall, and end up drinking till it got dark. Sure back then I appreciated that these riders were doing something that I wouldn’t be able to do on my best day, but it was more like wow, where are we drinking next. Ah the memories come rushing back. I remember one year my future wife and some friends were trying to get on an outgoing Septa train that was too crowded. A friend to remain nameless and I jimmied a door to the train open an lifted the ladies onto the train until we got yelled at by Septa.

Today, watching it from a distance with the temperature at 87 degrees I feel real respect for these racers. Screw this respecting the race crap, next year I am going to refill the soda bottles with booze and join back in the Par-T.

Jim Calder is the brand architect and co-founder of ProLong Magazine. Jim was born with the perfect combination of cockiness and self consciousness. He has over 10 years of publishing industry experience and lives and works in Philadelphia, Pa. He currently can be found on the greatest adventure of his life as a newlywed with his wife Melissa. Jim can be contacted via email at jim@prolongmagazine.com

By Jim Calder

Have you ever had a bad boss? No, I mean a really bad boss. A boss that would micromanage you because she didn’t know how to run the department. A boss who whispers, whines and talks in circles. A boss who only cares about how many hours you spend in the office and not how much work you produce and how many innovative ideas you bring to the table.
My former boss at my last job was hands down the worst boss that I have ever witnessed in 10 years of publishing. The ironic part is that she was in charge of running two magazines about the publishing industry. There were many negatives while working under her leadership but over the years I have found that it is extremely unhealthy to focus on the negatives. It may be our most valuable gift as human beings, the ability to learn from past experiences, take it in and make internal changes to better oneself.

Here are some lessons that I discovered and learned during that negative phase of my career.

1) The details matter. Sometimes we are so focused on the big picture, the exciting “what comes next” part, that we gloss over the details of producing the best current project.

2) Content is not just articles. It is anything that deals with your brand. Discussion boards, comments on article pages, social networking, video, podcasts, and more. A true brand leader will take ownership of all content that the brand produces.

3) If I don’t stay up to date on technology I will be irrelevant in 5 years.

4) You can’t take on others’ anxiety. It is not yours and should be non transferable. I am an individual and I deal with stress in different ways. If someone on my team is freaking out, running up and down the hallways and asking why everyone else is not as freaked out as she is, I can not solve her problem for her.

5) Just because someone is in a leadership position, it does not mean that they know how to deal with people.

6) Bad time management is a cancer. Stay away from it because it will inevitably spread down to you.

7) Being a Manager is not the same as a leader. People can manage a team but it takes true innovator to become a leader.

Jim Calder is the brand architect and co-founder of ProLong Magazine. Jim was born with the perfect combination of cockiness and self consciousness. He has over 10 years of publishing industry experience and lives and works in Philadelphia, Pa. He currently can be found on the greatest adventure of his life as a newlywed with his wife Melissa. Jim can be contacted via email at jim@prolongmagazine.com

By Jim Calder

Anyone can have ideas. Many are fooled into thinking that just coming up with an idea is the hard work, when in reality it is the easiest part. I just had an idea for a screenplay. It is about a relationship between a man and his cat. It is a dark emotional story. I see something like the man and his girlfriend adopt the cat together, all sorts of events happen with the cat in the scenes. Then something happens between the couple that changes things. Someone cheats, the wife is in a horrible accident, etc. The man is alone and depressed and drinking away his sorrows. He is about to commit suicide when the cat brings some lost toy he forgot about out from no where and drops it at his feet. The man puts the gun down and decides to live.

In the right hands this could be a an Oscar Award winning film if someone really put the time in to develop the story line, characters and plot. With performances as bad as Sandra Bullock’s in The Blind Side, this is not that far off. But it will almost certainly never happen in my hands.

A true aspect of a creative innovative person that you want on your team is someone who is capable of saying no. This person recognizes when a project is not right for their hands.

I see it every day when someone has a great idea for a huge revenue generating project. They put the wrong person in charge. The wrong person is too afraid of loosing their job to say no. They take on the project and almost always will fail.

Getting back to the crazy man and cat tale with the twisted attempted suicide ending; it is not that I am afraid to dedicate the time needed for writing a screenplay. I have actually authored 2 screenplays in the last 10 years that I have never managed to get past the final editing stages. The important point here is that I have the ability in myself to recognize that screenwriting is not what I am best at. I know a successful screenwriter and I know the hours and dedication it takes him to craft a successful story that stands out above the rest. It consumes his life.

The next time your boss approaches you with an idea of a project that you absolutely know that your talents are not suited for, simply say that you feel that someone else on the team would be better at leading a project like this and that you would be more qualified for A,B, and or C type projects. If someone fired me for an honest problem solving answer like that I would not want to work for that company and would want out as fast as possible.

Saying no, will save you valuable time and energy for the right projects when you find them.

Jim Calder is the brand architect and co-founder of ProLong Magazine. Jim was born with the perfect combination of cockiness and self consciousness. He has over 10 years of publishing industry experience and lives and works in Philadelphia, Pa. He currently can be found on the greatest adventure of his life as a newlywed with his wife Melissa. Jim can be contacted via email at jim@prolongmagazine.com

By Jim Calder

I am recommitting myself this week.
Not to a church, a school or a person but to the art of blogging. I was born a writer and I hope to be remembered as one someday. A new mini goal of mine is to blog on a regular basis. I feel that it is fitting that my first “new blog entry” in this journey is a mini interview with someone that I consider a guru and innovator of the blog format.



Seth Godin is a marketing guru, best selling author, highly acclaimed public speaker whose many highlights include being asked to speak to the employees at Google. Seth has the number one visited marketing blog Seth’s Blog.
I visit it at least once a day and always take something away from reading. From an outsider’s view I consider Seth’s bog the corner stone of what he does. I see his blog as his playground, where he flushes out his best ideas.

Seth has authored two of my favorite books The Dip and Tribes . I look forward to reading his latest book Linchpin .

I recently interviewed Seth and asked for some insight and advice for our ProLong readers in the area of career. I am thrilled to report that he was happy to help out despite his extremely busy schedule. This alone has been motivation for me to commit to the art of blogging. In my first official new blog era please enjoy these responses from SethGodin.

ProLong Magazine: With all that you are doing, do you have any advice for our readers in the area of attempting to balance your work and your personal life?
Seth Godin: Factory work is work where a manager tells you what to do and you get paid (ultimately) by the hour. If you do this work and you want to get ahead, then you have little chance of also finding balance.
On the other hand, if you can make the brave decision to do art, to choose your own path, to create a career filled with meaning and insight, then balance is no real problem.
So, if it’s a problem, look at the core decision that’s driving it.

ProLong Magazine: A common theme in your writing is doing things that are not just satisfying the status quo. Please tell our readers why they should never be satisfied with the status quo?
Seth Godin: The status quo is average, and leaves little room for you to break through, to have real impact and to stand out. Big change brings big opportunity, no? It feels risky to do this, but in fact it’s the safest path you can take.

ProLong Magazine: Many people judge the value of their life based on the impact that they have had in their career. Do you believe that this is a good quality for a strong career or bad and why?
Seth Godin: I think there are many valid ways to live a valuable life, and the thing is to not give someone you don’t respect permission to be the judge of it.

ProLong Magazine: Do you believe that Mentors are important?
Seth Godin: Mentors are overrated, and the idea of finding some stranger or near stranger to sign up to be your mentor is nuts. In my experience, when you find someone who is teaching life lessons as a matter of course, stand near them, listen to them and work harder than you feel you can to learn those lessons. But no need to make it official.

ProLong Magazine: Do you have any quick advice for people who will inevitably have to deal with a bad boss at some point in their career … someone who refuses to embrace change?
Seth Godin:
1. They’re probably not as bad as you think.
2. if they are, leave.

Jim Calder is the brand architect and co-founder of ProLong Magazine. Jim was born with the perfect combination of cockiness and self consciousness. He has over 10 years of publishing industry experience and lives and works in Philadelphia, Pa. He currently can be found on the greatest adventure of his life as a newlywed with his wife Melissa. Jim can be contacted via email at jim@prolongmagazine.com

Ten Topics in 2010

By Jim Calder

Any music fan will tell you that there are voices that stick inside of your head and voices that get shut out and shut down by the miniature hydro powered vaults that we place on our ear drums, which are directly connected to the “Music Taste” sections of our brains. There are voices that the naked ear can hear in just minutes and know that the word “special” is far too simple to use as a description. The amazingly beautiful words for these voices have yet to be invented. The feeling comes over you quickly like a rush of caffeine. You feel like you are in an exclusive invite only club. The club of secret insiders who realize that an artist is about to be huge before the rest of the world knows it.
Lissie Maurus is one of those voices … and I am inviting you to the club.

In November 2009 my wife and I walked into the Tower Theater outside of Philadelphia to see Ray LaMontagne perform. As we made our way to our seats we weren’t prepared for the opening act – a charming, seductive, powerful and soulful voice emulating from the blonde haired young women down front. Enter Lissie Maurus. I must admit I first heard Lissie a few days earlier when her song “Little Lovin” was being played on WXPN in Philadelphia, but I didn’t realize it at the time. Either way, “Little Lovin” had made an impact on my brain.
I have always been a fan of people who are and continue to be approachable. I found Lissie on Facebook and she agreed to do this interview with ProLong Magazine.
Listen to Lissie’s song that first hooked the staff at ProLong Magazine now as you read this article.

	Lissie – Little Lovin’ .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Topic 1 – Ray LaMontagne

ProLong Magazine (PLM): Can you talk about how you ended up touring with Ray LaMontagne, the first time you met him and how this tour has given you additional exposure?
Lissie Maurus (LM): I have the same booking agent as Ray. I guess he was sent a bunch of CDs of possible openers and he ended up going with me. The first night he introduced himself, he gave me flowers and said if I needed anything to let him know. He is very kind. It was fantastic to open for such an amazing and powerful artist like Ray. He inspired me with the huge crowds he’d pull in and their passion for him. Of course it was great exposure. His audiences listen. I’ve been doing my own shows here and there and opening for other groups as well, a combination of both.

Topic 2 – Start in Music, Annie and the Smell of Hair Spray

PLM: We recently read that you started singing in the play Annie in school. Do you remember the first time you were on stage singing alone in front of an audience? What did that experience trigger inside of you that made you want to pursue a career in music?
LM: When I was really young, I always hummed and sang. At age five I started taking these dancing/singing/acting classes with a local kid’s group. We’d put on shows and I remembered loving the night of the show. That excitement leading up to the show, then performing and how rewarding and exhilarating it was, even at that young age, the thrill hooked me! It was an experience I would always associate with the smell of hair spray for some reason, which is strange because I never use it. But it was that big event that I loved! When I was nine I auditioned to be Annie in a local dinner theatre of my own accord. I ended up doing 80 shows and felt like it was where i was most comfortable! It felt good to have the vibration of singing coming out of my throat and into a space. First time, not sure … but those were the early days.

Topic 3 – The EP

PLM: You released your EP “Why You Runnin” with Fat Possum Records . Please describe what the release of the EP has meant to you and how long it has been in the making?
LM: It’s been fantastic to have some music out. I’ve been playing for years, recording in bits and pieces, but it wasn’t until this last year, that a “sound” started to form. It had been unclear to me for a while because I had always played solo. But as far as the EP goes, I met Bill Reynolds through mutual friends and we ended up recording some songs together over the last year or so. We took 4 of them and I also used a writing demo I’d done in London with Ed Harcourt to create this collection (the EP) … then I was able to get it to Fat Possum and a release date was set.

Topic 4 – Rock Island, Illinois to Los Angeles, California

PLM: You grew up in Rock Island, Ill., and then lived in L.A. for awhile. Tell us about this journey and what advice would you give for others who are thinking of moving to L.A. to advance their careers in the arts?
LM: Well obviously Rock Island is a lot smaller and the Midwest is incredibly different from the West coast as far as landscape, population, weather, etc. People wise … I think you have to be more of a team player in towns like where I grew up. The focus is more on the whole than the individual in a way. In LA it seems to be all about the individual, which is good in that people can truly be themselves and go for it on their own terms … but bad in that people can be more selfish and less genuinely thoughtful of others. I grew up in a blue collar kind of place so there’s a lot less emphasis on material things than in LA. I’d like to think I took the good from both places and melted it into the little stew that I am.
There are way more things to do in LA but maybe it is that the things you do in Rock Island end up getting more focused energy.
I adjusted to LA in that I found a great family of friends a year and a half in that were like minded. I sold honey for awhile at farmers market to make some dough and get outside. I think that LA is different for everyone. I think people need to really hang on to who they are if they move there because ultimately that’s what makes a person interesting. You gotta work hard and balance staying open to new people with setting up clear boundaries. And so much of advancing your career is honing your skill and meeting people … and probably luck!

Topic 5 – An UnSquashable Spirit

PLM: Is it true that you were kicked out of high school and how has that experience has influenced your music?
LM: I was but I don’t want to go into it. But it shaped me in that it kept me focused on establishing that I was a good person who meant well but needed to break away from anything that tried to squash my spirit.

Topic 6- Artist Influence

PLM: What artists have influenced your sound, music style and your lyrics?
LM: Everything from folk to musicals to female singer songwriters to classic rock, jam rock, country, reggae, rap, pop … you name it! A bit of it all found its way into my view of music. But mostly I don’t think about it and I just do what feels right.

Topic 7 – Passion

PLM: When you are not singing or writing lyrics what areas of life are you passionate about?
LM: Being outdoors, chilling with the pup, cooking, homemaking, watching funny shows and films, spending time with friends and family.

Topic 8 – Off The Beaten Track

PLM: You live with your dog, in a farmhouse in Ojai, California, away from the beaten and obvious track of LA’s music scene. Why have you chosen to remove yourself from the day to day LA scene?
LM: I wanted a yard and to be closer to nature. My dog needed a yard. I wanted to spend more time alone. I wanted to get away from traffic and certain hassles. I still pop into LA from time to time when I need to see/play music with friends or yearn for a bit of excitement!

Topic 9 – Interesting Family Line

PLM: Your family line has a lot of history: a grandfather who was an international barbershop quartet champion, a great-grandfather who was a train-jumping hobo on the famous Rock Island Line, and a father who delivered you at birth. How do you channel these people and experiences in your music?
LM: I’m not sure how … I’ve inherited passion and conviction and a need for adventure I guess.

Topic 10 – Living Life

PLM: ProLong Magazine is about increasing the life in your years. Do you have any tips or advice for our readers; for how you have managed to balance building your music career and still have time for friends, family, pets, and other hobbies?
LM: Just staying in the present, having faith and doing my best to enjoy my experiences as they’re happening has helped each separate part of my life feel richer and more wonderful when I’m able to be in it.

Photos courtesy of www.myspace.com/lissiemusic

Ten Topics in 2010 is a new column by ProLong Magazine. It takes a look at different topics for a person that we feel is making a mark in 2010.For more information on Lissie visit Lissie’s MySpace Page


Jim Calder is the brand architect and co-founder of ProLong Magazine. Jim was born with the perfect combination of cockiness and self consciousness. He has over 10 years of publishing industry experience and lives and works in Philadelphia, Pa. He currently can be found on the greatest adventure of his life as a newlywed with his wife Melissa. Jim can be contacted via email at jim@prolongmagazine.com

Listen to More Lissie

Even If You Don’t Sleep All Night

By Jim Calder

I am usually a very patient person. Unfortunately, like everyone I have my moments and breaking points. This is going to be a full disclosure blog that may be a bit long.  Last night started off as a decent Friday night, but I had no idea of the events that would follow. The traffic home on a Friday night from work can take an hour and a half on a typical Friday night, and two hours on nights when it rains. However, last night there was no rain, and I got home in a little more than one hour.

6:15- Home from work and in the door.
7:30 - Dinner with my wife
8:30 - Surfing online a bit
9:00 - Some cocktails and unwinding
10:00 - We watched the indie film “The Puffy Chair”, which we would highly recommend.

1:00 am - In bed and out for the night … or so I thought.
3:30 am - My wife wakes me from my snoring and tells me that something is beeping.
3:31 am - I say, “what are you talking about … oh it is the battery in the smoke detector, it needs to be replaced- I will do it in the morning.”
3:35 am - We realize that a loud piercing beep would be continuing for every minute for the rest of the night unless we got up and did something.
3:36 am- I take the battery out of the smoke detector in the bedroom … but we still hear beeping.
3:38 am - I try taking the battery out of the hallway smoke detector, thinking that maybe the batteries went on both of them at the same exact time … but still hear the beeping.
3:40 am - I get a step stool and unhook the smoke detector unit from the ceiling. Exposing the wires in the ceiling … but still we hear the beeping.
3:45 am - I repeat this step in the hallway so that both detectors are completely unhooked and detached from the ceiling … but we still hear beeping.
3:50 am - My calm wife (who has work in the morning) and I search the house for 9 Volt batteries, which of course we had none. Why do smoke detectors have to have these odd shaped batteries?

3:55 am - We dress and decide to head out to a 24hr pharmacy in search of 9 volt batteries.
4:00 am - It is freezing in Philly, and my aging car must warm a bit before heading out. However, the streets are dead quiet. It was as refreshing and calm as the eye of a hurricane as I experienced back in Long Island in the early 1980’s when hurricane Gloria rocked us.
4:10 am - We found a Seven Eleven that was open and Melissa ran in for the batteries.
4:20 am - We get back home and are optimistic that we will soon be asleep again.
4:25 am - I replace the bedroom smoke detector … but the beeping continues.
4:26 am - I hit the reset button, most likely pissing off the neighbors.
4:28 am - I replace the hallway smoke detector battery and hit the reset button … but the beeping continues.
4:30 am - I open the circuit breaker panel in our living room and begin to cut the power to sections of our apartment. I cut out that section where the smoke detectors are … but we still hear the beeping.
4:35 am – I realize that I may have met my match. These smoke detectors are unlike any that I have ever seen or battled before. I felt like there were cameras on me and I was Larry David in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I imagined grabbing my baseball bat and smashing the ceiling to little pieces. I was completely puzzled and still in an early morning haze. The smoke detectors were wired into the building security system somehow. I had the complete fire detector in my hand yet … the wires in the ceiling were still beeping.

4:36 am - My wife’s patience is completely gone at this point and understandable so. She decides to call our landlords up. She calls them and leaves a message for the morning.

4:38 am – We set up shop to sleep in the living room as we close the bedroom door … but we can still hear the beeping.
4:39 am – I put on the radio to muffle out the sound but my wife and I start to take our frustration out on each other. I thought that smooth Jazz would be a good sleeping soundtrack but she thought it was too big band style.
In the interest of full disclosure I am not going to lie. There was some yelling and finger pointing by both of us.
While I am changing the radio station in the dark I miss the call back from the landlord. The landlord leaves me a message concerned because she half listened to our message and thought the building was on fire or something.
4:40 am - Melissa demands the phone from me and calls the landlord back. She gets her on the phone and explains the situation but they are confused on the other end and frustrate us more by suggesting that we take the battery out of the unit.
4:45 am – I try one last thing, by completely shutting off all power to the apartment on the circuit breaker … but we still hear the beeping. I contemplate calling our local church and getting a priest out to bless our apartment because, there is obviously something unholy going on in this apartment.
5:00 am – Still wide awake the landlord’s husband calls my cell. He says there might be an emergency number to call downstairs in the hallway of the building. But at this hour we decide that we might as well try to tough it out and get a couple hours of sleep and deal with it in the morning.
6:00 am – Melissa and I apologize to one another for taking our frustrations out on each other. With pillows over our heads we drift off and go in and out for the next few hours.

9:00 am - I wake up and can’t sleep. I put a pot of coffee on and start making some calls. The landlord had emailed me the number of the Security company that installed the alarms so I gave them a ring. They told me that I needed a pass code for the building from the landlord to enter into the panel in the first floor of our apartment. I call the landlords but they don’t know the code. I tell the landlord to call the company and get the code. The landlord calls me back with a code. I go down and try the code … but we still hear the beeping!

10:30 am – I attempt to salvage the weekend a little bit; I make some awesome pancakes for us. Melissa takes a shot at calling the alarm company; they tell her that a technician will be calling us back.
11:00 am - I talk to a tech and he tells me that my landlord has to call and make a service call appointment, that as the tenant I cannot do it. I call the landlord and tell him that they said that he has to call to set it up. While still staying calm, I tell the landlord that I need him to do whatever he can to get someone out here today or we will be staying in a hotel tonight and it will be coming out of what we pay him for this month’s rent. He agrees to do whatever he can.

12:00 pm - A new technician named Roger, who is very calm and polite, calls me and asks me about the problem. I explain and tell him how the beeping is coming from the wires. He tells me this is impossible and I explain that I realize this, but it is happening. He asks where my Carbon Monoxide detector is located. The carbon monoxide detector is a standalone battery powered unit that is sitting three feet away from the smoke detector, on the windowsill.

I start to feel really dumb right about now and voice it to my new pal Roger. The carbon monoxide detector is showing a digital symbol that means batteries are dead. I take them out with Roger still on the phone and … THE BEEPING FINALLY STOPS! Ironically the sound from the smoke detector is the same sound that the carbon monoxide detector makes.

I tell Roger how stupid I feel and he replies, “don’t feel bad Jimmy, this same thing happened to me once and I am a professional.” He ended the conversation by saying … “Have a great afternoon Jimmy.”

Thanks Roger, I intend to do just that, but maybe after a nap. Even though I can still hear the beeping a little bit in my head, I know it will stop soon.

If there is a moral to this story I feel it might be to never take your frustrations out on your loved ones, no matter how sleep deprived, pissed off or frustrated you may get … the beeping is eventually going to stop.

PS: I may not be as bright as I thought I was 24 hours earlier, but I am bright enough to end by saying that I love you Melissa and I am sorry.

Jim Calder is the brand architect and co-founder of ProLong Magazine. Jim was born with the perfect combination of cockiness and self consciousness. He has over 10 years of publishing industry experience and lives and works in Philadelphia, Pa. He currently can be found on the greatest adventure of his life as a newlywed with his wife Melissa. Jim can be contacted via email at jim@prolongmagazine.com

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