Grant Baldwin
Join Grant's Email List:

Category Archives: Random

New Partnership With Jostens

Filed under Random

I’m stoked to announce that I’ll be partnering on some events now with Jostens Speakers Bureau. If you’re unfamiliar with Jostens, they are the premiere speaker’s bureau for youth events. They have been in the business for several years and work with many of the top youth speakers in the country. I’m excited to be doing some work with them and look forward to a long term partnership together!

You can even check out my ugly mug on their home page right now!

1 Comment

Final Thoughts On The Olympics…

Filed under Random

So today the Olympics comes to a close.

It’s bittersweet for me considering how enjoyable they have been to watch, but at the same time, they have consumed a ridiculous amount of my time. Not to mention that I find myself watching completely random events that in my right mind, I would never watch!

Here are some final observations regarding the Olympics:

  • I still have a purely heterosexual man crush on Michael Phelps…it has decreased some in the last week however.
  • Why are these sports in the Olympics?
    • Badminton – how about we had bocce ball or washers to the next Olympics? (Washers is a backyard trash game for those who aren’t familiar)
    • Trampoline – do we really give medals for who can bounce and spin?
    • Rhythmic Gymnastics – they jump around with a hula hoop…need I say more?
    • Synchronized Swimming – these girls have way too much makeup on. It should be called “Synchronized Creepy Water Clowns”
    • Race Walking – you’ve seen these people walking at your local mall. They scare me.
  • The gold medal men’s basketball game between the US and Spain was phenomenal. It was nice to see multi-million dollar NBA players put their pride aside and play for their country and not themselves.
  • I hope the 2016 Olympics are in Chicago…I’d try to go.
  • Bob Costas is one of the best media people in sports. Hands down.
  • I watched a lot of volleyball. Indoor and beach. I think if I was paired with Karch Kiraly, we would still get our butts handed to us by Misty May and Kari Walsh. They’re good.
  • When I was in 8th grade, I won the all-city 200 meter race. Little known fact…
  • Water polo should really be called “Sport-Where-You-Try-Not-To-Die”. Or “Death-Ball” works too.
  • Is it that tough to pass a relay baton from one person to another? Just wondering because the US didn’t seem to know how…
  • Usain Bolt is really fast. Didn’t like the unsportsmanlike finish to his win on the 100 meter race. He is really fast though. I wonder if he’s faster than the Jamaican bobsled team? Things that make you go hmm….
  • I think my man crush on Michael Phelps is gone now.

There’s my 2 cents. So goodbye Olympics. It’s been a fun two weeks. See you in London in a few years. Don’t forget to write.

 

1 Comment

NEW Video & Newsletter

Filed under Random

I sent out a new e-newsletter yesterday but if you’re not currently on my email list and would be interested in checking that out, shoot me an email at grant@grantbaldwin.com and I’ll send you a copy.

Also, I posted a new video on YouTube today. It is some clips from a few of the youth events I spoke at this summer. The footage is better than the other demo video I had.

Check it out here

Enjoy!

1 Comment

Questions About Michael Phelps & The Olympics…

Filed under Random

I was watching my daily dose of “The Michael Phelps Show” (aka ‘The Olympics’) this evening, and I began to ponder some questions:

  • If I was racing Michael Phelps in the 100m freestyle, would I stand a chance against him if I had a 50m lead? (Probably not)
  • Will anybody watch the Olympics now that Phelps’ part of the show is over? (I bet ratings drop)
  • Is Michael Phelps good at Marco Polo? (I would be a “fish-out-of-water” the entire time)
  • In six months, will you watch a swim meet on a Saturday night on NBC? (Me neither)
  • I wonder if Michael Phelps’ mom is a good cook? (I bet she is)
  • Which is faster: a US men’s relay team or me on a jet ski? (They’re not that good…or are they? Hmm…)
  • Do you think Michael Phelps would be good at synchronized swimming or diving? (Stick to swimming)
  • As a dude, is it wrong to have a purely heterosexual man crush on Michael Phelps? (I think I do)
  • If Phelps was running for President, would you vote for him? (Depends where he stands on the issues but I’d consider it)
  • Do you think Michael Phelps ever pees in the water while swimming? (As long as he saves enough for the post-victory test sample)

1 Comment

The Power of Craigslist

Filed under Money & Finances, Random

If you’ve never used Craigslist before, you’re missing out. Craigslist is the classified section of the Internet.

And the best part…it’s free to buy and sell.

I’ve bought and sold several items on Craigslist and am always amazed at just how quick things sell. For example, I listed an old laptop this morning. By early afternoon, I had a call from a guy who wanted it. We met 45 minutes later, and I walked away with the full price in cash. Amazing.

So if you’re looking for a deal on something…anything…be sure to check it out.

And if you’re really bored or just looking for something amusing to do, check out the “Missed Connections” section of the site. It is sad, hilarious, and creepy all at the same time. Look it up and you’ll see what I mean…

2 Comments

Also On This Day…

Filed under Family, Random

As I was driving home from the hospital last night, I realized that our new little daughter, Emilee, will have two interesting facts about her birthday:

  • Same birthday as the new 3G iPhone (pretty cool)
  • Same date of a trashy convenience store chain, 7-11 (not so cool)

I guess it all balances out on the “cool” scale…

Post a comment

Oops…

Filed under Random, Travels

I’m in West Lafayette, IN today on the Purdue campus and am speaking at an event later this afternoon. So earlier I leave the hotel to go grab something for lunch. I pull into this parking lot in my oversized SUV (oddly enough, my only rental option available at 2.30am). I park and then try to reposition the car and in doing so, I end up clipping the side mirror of the truck next to me.

Oh crap.

And even better, the guy whose car it was saw the whole thing and came out to greet me. Thankfully he was pretty cool about it and we were able to get it fixed pretty easily. It certainly could have been a lot worse.

Another element of the glamour of travel…

1 Comment

E-Newsletter Coming Out…

Filed under Random

I send out a monthly e-newsletter that has some updates of where I’m at, what I’m working on, and an article that hopefully is a little thought provoking! If you are interested in subscribing to that e-newsletter, you can do so by just entering your email address in the box at the top toolbar on this page.

I’ll be sending out a new e-newsletter early next week. Just a little FYI in case you’re interested…

Post a comment

And You Thought You Had A Strange Job…

Filed under Funny, Random

A few days a month I do some seminars for business professionals on time management and organization. But before I get too deep into the day I always enjoy going around the room and having people share a little bit about themselves and what they do. And I’ve heard of some interesting jobs, but this one today took the cake…

This guy worked with a local university in the medical school and his job was to order cadavers and specific body parts for students to work on! He works with various companies who sell this stuff and his job is to sort through pictures to determine which bodies and body parts they need.

Wow…

And you thought you had a strange job…

Post a comment

The Hotel Wakeup Call

Filed under Random, Travels

I’m in McAllen, TX today and tomorrow speaking at a seminar. But one thing that I’m really excited about is that I’m staying at a Holiday Inn Express. Do you remember the infamous Holiday Inn Express video?

But this morning whenever I received my wakeup call, something happened that I wasn’t used to. Normally hotels have some type of recorded message wishing you a “cheerful and magnificent” day…or something like that.

But this morning, my wakeup call came from an actual live person.

It caught me off guard and thankfully I didn’t say anything stupid expecting it to be a recording. But it got me thinking…I would kind of like to go down to the front desk and interview that person because I bet they could tell some great stories of how people answer their phone. Naturally, people aren’t at their best when the wakeup call comes in so I’m sure they would have some pretty humorous stories to tell.

1 Comment