I wanted to find a quote on perseverance, and I came across one of my all-time favorites. If you don't already know, I love pop culture, which of course includes Star Wars. I regard it as one of the greatest movie series of all time, and this quote came from Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Luke travels back to Dagobah to finish his Jedi Knight training where Yoda says to him, “Do or do not. There is no try.” You can either choose to persevere, or you can fail. I love this quote, and now I have a  new outlook on why it is so powerful.

These tracks are perfect for a Monday morning (bonus points if it's raining,  because who doesn't love rock n roll in the rain?). It has a little bit of funk, some indie and a whole lot of rock. It's bound to kickstart your morning faster than Starbucks ever could, and your whole week will be on point because of it.

If you're a Spotify buff like I am, feel free to add this mix to your music collection. I also love the album artworks for these songs, so check them out below. Give me ideas for more mixtapes in the comments section, and check back soon for more mixtapes!

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only person left in the world that still makes mixtapes. And no, I don't mean the continuous long-play style mixes many DJs & producers release on the reg. The mixtapes I make have the same concept, though.

Taco Bell’s latest social media campaign has people drooling on their keyboards. The elusive Quesalupa, featuring the world’s first cheese-filled taco shell, is the new brainchild of the Taco Bell kitchen. In less than a month, it has already made a major impact on the internet, including Twitter, led by the #Quesalupa campaign. Here’s the catch; Taco Bell is only test marketing the Quesalupa in Toledo, Ohio. The fate of the new creation rests in the hands of the Toledo market, but Twitter users are making sure they do all that they can to convince Taco Bell to fully incorporate it onto the menu. 

Let’s take a look at the strategy Taco Bell used to bring awareness to the Quesalupa. Based on my research, the first video mentioning the Quesalupa was broadcasted on Conan O’Brien’s late night talk show on TBS where the host visited the Taco Bell headquarters and was given a sneak preview of the menu item. Since the video went online on Jan. 21, it has racked up nearly 1.8 million YouTube views. Taco Bell also utilized internet opinion leaders Joshua David Evans and Booking Daym by allowing them to review the new item and post a YouTube video to their followers.

Taco Bell’s first tweet about the Quesalupa came on Feb. 2, where the hashtag campaign was primarily introduced. The company chose careful words to announce the new product and was able to  create a huge amount of buzz in a very short timeframe. As of Feb. 13, the #Quesalupa campaign had reached 8.9 million people and had been mentioned 3,620 times. Out of these mentions, there have been very few negative comments. 

This campaign is still in its early stages, however, I think at this point Taco Bell is able to take a more gentle approach by letting Twitter do what it does best; talk. The market is driving the conversation, and its an overwhelmingly positive one. Although careful monitoring should still take place, Taco Bell is sitting in a pretty great position. I can only hope that the #Quesalupa campaign will be successful enough so that I can run out and grab one in the near future. You can do it, Toledo!

I absolutely love being the baby of the family. I've used it to my advantage plenty of times, and have mastered the 'I don't know what you're talking about' face. But until I read this article I didn't realize how much this dynamic shaped my adult self, the person I became once my older siblings went off to college.