Ed O'Reilly's blog

About Ed O'Reilly

Ed O'Reilly's picture
A graphic designer and writer, originally from NY and now living in Sydney, Australia.Ed O'Reilly's profile

The Secret of My Success

Posted 28 weeks 5 days ago by Ed O'Reilly

Productivity, Entrepreneurship, Career Building, Lifestyle

Success

Why is it that a few people “get all the breaks” while most seem to be starring in their own version of “Groundhog Day” for the better part of their lives: renting themselves out by the hour, everyday, for enough to pay the bills, buy a few distractions from the dull throb of frustration and spend their time away from work trying to forget what they did all day? Karma? Luck? A silver spoon? The hand they’re dealt? I’ve written about the vanity underlying the messages in "The Secret" as well as the vacuum of materialism. Here, though, I want to present some basic steps that anyone can follow to realize their own definition of success.

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When’s a good time to buy Australian wine? Now. And hurry.

Posted 39 weeks 5 days ago by Ed O'Reilly

Food and Drink

When I first moved to Australia I noticed 2 things about the wine: there was a lot to choose from, and it costs twice as much (if not more) than the exact same Australian wine brands I’d bought back in NY. The selection is mostly a great variety from Australian and New Zealand vineyards, and the price is largely due to taxes. But thankfully, because of a glut in production, there was good wine to be found at a more reasonable price in cleanskins .But now it looks like the days of the $7 bottle of wine are drying up.

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The Not-So-Private Parts

Posted 41 weeks 3 hours ago by Ed O'Reilly

Life Hacks, Consumer Affairs

Rolling the dice online

Raise your hand if you’ve never used Google or any of its services, don’t belong to any social network (including sites like Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), don’t have (or comment on) a blog or never gave out any personal information online, like your name, email address, phone number, etc., in exchange for access and/or membership to a website.

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Let ‘The Sun’ In

Posted 45 weeks 3 days ago by Ed O'Reilly

Deals and Coupons, Lifestyle, Art and Leisure

Woman reading magazine

I used to subscribe to a bunch of magazines, almost all being about a specific topic. When I moved, I cancelled each subscription… except one.

‘The Sun’ is a unique publication about a variety of ideas, issues and personal stories. Alive with sublime essays, poignant readers’ letters and enlightening interviews, it remains the one magazine I’ve looked forward to reading each month for over 17 years.

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Local Flavor

Posted 46 weeks 3 hours ago by Ed O'Reilly

Shopping, Lifestyle, Art and Leisure

It was time again to stock up on some things, and so this past weekend I went to my usual places: the fish market in Pyrmont (where one employee asked me how work was going since the last time I saw him), the bakery in Coogee (where the owner told me how the surf was that day) and a stop for a long black at one of the many sidewalk cafes with a great view of the ocean in Bronte.

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Going Freelance: The Top 10 Tips

Posted 49 weeks 4 days ago by Ed O'Reilly

Entrepreneurship, Career Building, Lifestyle

home office

So you made your move: you’re finally out on your own, earning a living on your terms.No more commuting, no more answering to middle-management and say goodbye to bad office coffee. You’re the boss…and the salesperson, bookkeeper, janitor and receptionist; you’ll have to do your work and, in most cases, handle the other aspects of your budding business that – up until now – were handled by a co-worker at your last salaried position.

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Cleaning House With Dr. Bronner

Posted 50 weeks 6 days ago by Ed O'Reilly

Shopping, Health and Beauty, Green Living

cleaning bottles
A few years ago, I noticed that, not only did I seem to spend a little more cash than I was comfortable with on cleaning products for my house, but I was having a sort of reaction to them: headaches, sudden fatigue and a weird taste in my mouth. At first, I wasn’t sure what it was; but I eventually made the connection between the various chemicals I was using around the house and these symptoms.

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‘Secret’ Attraction

Posted 1 year 1 week ago by Ed O'Reilly

Lifestyle, Art and Leisure

whispering secret

I finally buckled under the pressure to remain in the loop with Oprah and I rented 'The Secret.' Now, before you think I’m going to offer a movie review, I’ll simply say that it felt like an hour and a half infomercial: the actors were amateurish and the quick-cut editing reminded me of 'America’s Most Wanted' with 'The Da Vinci Code' as the graphic theme.

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Who Moved My Stuff?

Posted 1 year 3 weeks ago by Ed O'Reilly

Lifestyle

garage sale today sign
If you ever want to take stock of all that you’ve worked hard to purchase over time, and how much stuff you think you need to hang on to, go through each and every possession you own and decide what to keep and what to sell, or give away. You might be surprised at how attached you are to your stuff. I’m, of course, talking about packing up and moving.

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Do you have what you want… and do you want what you have?

Posted 1 year 4 weeks ago by Ed O'Reilly

Lifestyle

hand reaching for the skies

Sometimes, being frugal means not just saving money; sometimes it means not spending any at all. There’s been a growing preoccupation with working more to earn more--to buy more; yet, it never seems enough. A cursory glance at a landscape of malls, fast food chains and airplane hangar-sized clubs for buying sugary snacks in a container the size of an oil drum implies that this condition of over-consumption is reaching epidemic proportions.

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A (by no means definitive) list of some cool (and free!) additions for your blog or website

Posted 1 year 5 weeks ago by Ed O'Reilly

Entrepreneurship, DIY

html code
As a supplement to my last post about using WordPress to set up a personal or business website for free (minus the price of domain name registration and/or hosting), here are some ideas for enhancing the functionality of your site or blog with some plugins and other third-party add-ons. Almost all are free, although there are a few that have a nominal fee, based on what you require:

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Using WordPress for Blogging and More

Posted 1 year 5 weeks ago by Ed O'Reilly

Entrepreneurship, DIY

At the beach on a laptop
This article provides some instructions for anyone who would like to set up a basic website for themselves, but who does not have much experience with HTML, CSS, PHP, etc. Much to the chagrin of some designers and programmers, there’s a variety of easy-to-use software available that makes building and publishing a blog or website easy for anyone, regardless of experience, to do. With a few clicks, you can make your own attractive and easy-to-maintain website for personal or business use.

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