Basically Myra » tx

Waiting for Ike

nmyra — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:37:35 +0000

It has been a long day preparing and waiting for Hurricane Ike to make landfall on the coast of Texas. With Ike on six hours away, I already feel completely saturated with media coverage on the storm. Good luck to everyone along the Gulf Coast area bracing for Ike – especially Galveston. I’m personally hoping that Houston will suffer only minor flooding and wind damage. There have been some pretty amazing images taken by locals that just blow my mind. This one caught my interest. He’s hanging on just like the rest of us.

Photo credit: Brett Coomer

Gary Vaynerchuk at The Corkscrew in Houston

nmyra — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:27:16 +0000

Saturday night was an eventful night for the Houston creative community. Not only were we celebrating the grand opening of Caroline Collective but we were also raising our glasses at The Corkscrew with Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary had an insane traveling schedule this past week. I believe he had some 7 flights in 7 days! Recently, Gary has been flying coast to coast for his book tour, the Houston Food & Wine Week, SEED conference in Chicago and even the Bravo TV awards show in New York. Houston was very lucky that Gary fit us into his hectic schedule despite all the traveling and consecutive nights of little sleep. The man is a machine! More importantly though, all of us who got to share a conversation or two with Gary were blessed to experience his incredible energy and passion for life and true happiness. Gary is more than just a wine guy. He is a great guy who infects everyone he meets with a euphoric impression. After meeting with Gary, you can’t help but to think how well he has branded himself. I think there is a lot more in stored for Gary Vaynerchuk beyond his wine business, daily video blog or any future book deals. Gary has many more mediums to conquer and many more unsuspecting fans to win over.

If you get a chance, go visit Gary while he’s on his book tour. I promise you will walk away extremely fulfilled by the experience as I was. Here’s a video of Gary addressing his supporters at The Corkscrew last night. I don’t know one person who walked away from the party last night who wasn’t, at the very least, intrigued by his genuine desire to personally meet all of those who came out to support him. Houston thanks you, Gary! We hope you enjoyed it just as much as we did.

Gary Vaynerchuk

nmyra — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:31:36 +0000

Last night, I had the honor of meeting Gary Vaynerchuk. Most people know him as the host from winelibrarytv.com or perhaps a die-hard NY Jets fan. I’m fortunate to now know him as a genuinely great guy who loves life. I think I walked away with many more lessons on life, family, and finding real happiness then lessons about wine. As a self-professed Vayniac, I tune in to his daily video blogs and “follow” him on Twitter but getting the chance to converse with him face to face went completely beyond my expectations. Gary brings life into the room and soul into a conversation. When Gary speaks, you can’t help but see the passion he brings to the table. People flock to him and it isn’t hard to see why. Gary has a magnetic personality.

As I got to know Gary a little bit, I found that we share similar backgrounds in respects to our immigrant family background and life growing up within that structure. I had a mother who was an owner of a spirits/wine store and it was funny to share laughs and memories about parents putting their young children to work in the store. As the evening went on, it struck me that Gary epitomizes how people should treat one another. I think it’s pretty powerful that one person can inspire change like that. Perhaps Gary V could be the one to give Obama a run for his money in this election. Instead of “change,” Gary’s slogan could be “thunder.” Bring it.

Go buy his book! Gary Vaynerchuk’s 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World