As many utter, "yea that figures," I have a subscription to Men's health magazine. Aside from articles on actual health issues, it's douchebag magazine. I presume the typical reader resembles something like this.
Anyhow, like all hip and trendy mainstream magazines, they've got lots of product advertising in each issue. My favorites are the colognes. Not because I particularly like to smell, rather they make great air fresheners. I present to you cologne potpourri!
Just tear out those pages of beefcakes, open the cologne seal, and throw them in the trash can. Boom! There are atleast 3-4 of those in each magazine. The strong scent will last a day, but a lighter scent will hang around for up to about 5 days. I assume the same thing will work for all the women's magazines that try to sell scent.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Shape of Things to Come
I've been clearing up my old desktop because it's really begun to slow down. I have a penchant for old abandonware games: Sid Meier's Colonization, Dune, Worms, Starcontrol 2, etc. Getting these old games usually includes the risk of downloading viruses, worms, and other malware that gives your CPU a fit of indigestion. Going through my harddrive to clean up space, I've been finding a lot of old files that remind me of my old creativity days.
I feel like an archaeologist, sifting through various documents and media that I've dabbled in the past 4 years. I've found an attempt at writing a screenplay (it's bad). I've found a few rough video creations and piano songs that I had recorded. I also found sketches of a business plan concerning Wang Dogs. It's interesting sorting through all the false starts and amateur finishes. I was so hungry to create that I figured that anything worth doing was doing poorly. Hence why I still sing in the car, despite my little brother's protests.
"There is a time for everything, a season for every activity..." - Ecclesiastes 3:1
Probably the only book in the bible that held weight with me. Written by Solomon himself if you're looking for an ounce of trivium. Anyway, I think the season is back. I want to create videos again. I want to build a website, a business, something I can share and it should be something worth sharing. Not some photocopied rendition of a photocopy. Alas, I still have work to do. I need to finish this and get on with it.
I feel like an archaeologist, sifting through various documents and media that I've dabbled in the past 4 years. I've found an attempt at writing a screenplay (it's bad). I've found a few rough video creations and piano songs that I had recorded. I also found sketches of a business plan concerning Wang Dogs. It's interesting sorting through all the false starts and amateur finishes. I was so hungry to create that I figured that anything worth doing was doing poorly. Hence why I still sing in the car, despite my little brother's protests.
"There is a time for everything, a season for every activity..." - Ecclesiastes 3:1
Probably the only book in the bible that held weight with me. Written by Solomon himself if you're looking for an ounce of trivium. Anyway, I think the season is back. I want to create videos again. I want to build a website, a business, something I can share and it should be something worth sharing. Not some photocopied rendition of a photocopy. Alas, I still have work to do. I need to finish this and get on with it.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Short-changed?
My earliest lesson on getting ripped off came when we had a neighborhood yard sale back in Richardson circa 1995. The neighborhood hosted a commune-wide yard sale to sell off everything at the same time. Being the packrat that Mama W is, she brought out all the wholesale stuff she bought from K-town/Harry Hines and put it out there.
To get to the point, my mom witnessed me getting duped. I was attending to a middle-aged latina lady, while the grandmother swiped a few bouncing balls with my back turned and put it in her shawl. Ye ole distract and steal strateg(er)y.
I should have stood behind the table of goods, but too eager to collect money, I went around the side to get the cash. My mother informed me that I was ripped off just as the latinos were getting into their van. I started toward them to demand payment for the stolen bouncing balls, when mama W stopped me. She said it wasn't worth the trouble. I fumed. Like all people, I hate getting gyped.
Having returned from London, Papa W commissioned me with the task to sell a ping pong table and a compact refrigerator. Unlike most mid-life crisis, men purchase a sports car, my dad bought a ping pong table. I utilized craigslist for the task. The ping pong table was going for $70, I was expecting to get $60. A low balling couple insisted it was worth only $50. I showed them the door.
Rule #22 to craigslist-ing: When listing at 50% at retail, people will come with better offers. Don't get lowballed.
Later that day, a lady arrives with a huge Dodge Dually, and offers to buy the ping pong table for $60. I agree; however, she can only pay with a check. I duly remember rule of acquisition #3: Accept a check at your own peril.
I went through my usual story about getting frauded with a check, and the lady gave me a list of how she's a credible christian lady who would never cheat anybody. Something felt suspicious, but the driver's license checked out with the check. Still though, my paranoia was running rampant. To trust or not to trust. I had already made a copy of her driver's license, but it could be a fake.
She claims that she had driven an hour and a half to get over here and she seemed like a really nice lady, but I had never heard of Alliance Bank nor did she have a debit card that I could check as well. I had forgotten to post on my ad rule #2: CASH ONLY.
I went with my rationale and I accepted the check, helped her load the pool table on the dually and off she went. I was nervous about the check all night. I didn't want to be played a fool. When I was living in London, I was always wary of getting ripped off. Store clerks would charge different people different things for their goods. A bag of onions would be anywhere between $1.50 to $3.00 depending on what you look like.
I had this notion that people were more decent over here in the US. Well... they are. The check cleared and despite my gut feelings, everything turned out just right. God Bless Americans.
To get to the point, my mom witnessed me getting duped. I was attending to a middle-aged latina lady, while the grandmother swiped a few bouncing balls with my back turned and put it in her shawl. Ye ole distract and steal strateg(er)y.
I should have stood behind the table of goods, but too eager to collect money, I went around the side to get the cash. My mother informed me that I was ripped off just as the latinos were getting into their van. I started toward them to demand payment for the stolen bouncing balls, when mama W stopped me. She said it wasn't worth the trouble. I fumed. Like all people, I hate getting gyped.
Having returned from London, Papa W commissioned me with the task to sell a ping pong table and a compact refrigerator. Unlike most mid-life crisis, men purchase a sports car, my dad bought a ping pong table. I utilized craigslist for the task. The ping pong table was going for $70, I was expecting to get $60. A low balling couple insisted it was worth only $50. I showed them the door.
Rule #22 to craigslist-ing: When listing at 50% at retail, people will come with better offers. Don't get lowballed.
Later that day, a lady arrives with a huge Dodge Dually, and offers to buy the ping pong table for $60. I agree; however, she can only pay with a check. I duly remember rule of acquisition #3: Accept a check at your own peril.
I went through my usual story about getting frauded with a check, and the lady gave me a list of how she's a credible christian lady who would never cheat anybody. Something felt suspicious, but the driver's license checked out with the check. Still though, my paranoia was running rampant. To trust or not to trust. I had already made a copy of her driver's license, but it could be a fake.
She claims that she had driven an hour and a half to get over here and she seemed like a really nice lady, but I had never heard of Alliance Bank nor did she have a debit card that I could check as well. I had forgotten to post on my ad rule #2: CASH ONLY.
I went with my rationale and I accepted the check, helped her load the pool table on the dually and off she went. I was nervous about the check all night. I didn't want to be played a fool. When I was living in London, I was always wary of getting ripped off. Store clerks would charge different people different things for their goods. A bag of onions would be anywhere between $1.50 to $3.00 depending on what you look like.
I had this notion that people were more decent over here in the US. Well... they are. The check cleared and despite my gut feelings, everything turned out just right. God Bless Americans.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Vanity oh Vanity
"How dare you be so vain?"
It's not like I kiss my biceps every time I do a curl or smirk at my-flexing-self on the gym mirrors. I actually don't like working out nor do I enjoy eating healthy. No meat no eat!
It's something I force myself to do each day. It's an act of discipline which I had either lost or perhaps more accurately, never really had! Lord knows I can eat and gain weight like a glutton. Texas-sized servings combined with a Taiwanese appetite will do that to you.
I'm resolved to exercise 4 times a week. I've been to the gym twice so far and I biked 14km with Tommy at White Rock Lake. Just once more today and I'll have reached my goal.
It's not like I kiss my biceps every time I do a curl or smirk at my-flexing-self on the gym mirrors. I actually don't like working out nor do I enjoy eating healthy. No meat no eat!
It's something I force myself to do each day. It's an act of discipline which I had either lost or perhaps more accurately, never really had! Lord knows I can eat and gain weight like a glutton. Texas-sized servings combined with a Taiwanese appetite will do that to you.
I'm resolved to exercise 4 times a week. I've been to the gym twice so far and I biked 14km with Tommy at White Rock Lake. Just once more today and I'll have reached my goal.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Integration
Is it just me or is there just too much information out there to learn and master?
I look at my bookshelf and the non-fictions heavily outweigh the fictions. Eye-balling the ratio at 5 to 1, non-fictions have it. I don't even remember half the stuff that I've read in these books. It makes me wonder if I've been wasting my time reading these books if I can't recant the lessons or relive the excitement of the fiction.
Tangie teases me about re-reading the same books over and over and over again. In fact, I'm on my 4th reading of the 1000+ page novel Atlas Shrugged. There are still so many ideas that I need to remember and re-assess-- I've sort've made it my own personal bible. There are other books on the shelf, like 7 habits of highly effective people, Real Estate Appraisal techniques, Chess Tactics, and so on. Two years ago, I made it my goal to memorize the first 10 moves of all the major openings. Now, I probably only retain about 10% of those moves.
Maybe I'm wrong in concluding this, but I think it's better to learn a few things very well, rather than chase many things down any road that it'll take you on. It seems like such a waste to spend so many hours reading when so much of it is forgotten. I'm often criticized by peers for this narrow view of conventionalism. Doing this will keep you consistent, but on the same horn, it'll confine you to whatever breadth of scope your core books offers you. For example: devout Christians go over the same text atleast twice a year in sermons and bible study. They know their stuff very well, and while it seems anti-horizon broadening to re-read the same thing over and over again, you know for certain that they know their scripture.
I'm a disciple of integrating knowledge. Knowledge should be able to build upon other knowledge logically and without contradictions. Examine any computer program or system of thought. The more bugs there are, the more problematic it becomes. The more contradictions, the more blue screens of death appear.
The same probably applies in everyday dealings in life. I notice that life becomes less regretable when I stick up for my own convictions rather than allow them to go unrealized. One of my favorite quotations in Atlas Shrugged goes, "Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong." Sounds like it ought to be something in the Proverbs of Solomon or Ecclesiastes, but it's actually paraphrased Aristotle. Anyway, happy readings to all! (And do give Atlas Shrugged a read. At the very least you have something to burn at Nancy Pelosi's rallies.)
I look at my bookshelf and the non-fictions heavily outweigh the fictions. Eye-balling the ratio at 5 to 1, non-fictions have it. I don't even remember half the stuff that I've read in these books. It makes me wonder if I've been wasting my time reading these books if I can't recant the lessons or relive the excitement of the fiction.
Tangie teases me about re-reading the same books over and over and over again. In fact, I'm on my 4th reading of the 1000+ page novel Atlas Shrugged. There are still so many ideas that I need to remember and re-assess-- I've sort've made it my own personal bible. There are other books on the shelf, like 7 habits of highly effective people, Real Estate Appraisal techniques, Chess Tactics, and so on. Two years ago, I made it my goal to memorize the first 10 moves of all the major openings. Now, I probably only retain about 10% of those moves.
Maybe I'm wrong in concluding this, but I think it's better to learn a few things very well, rather than chase many things down any road that it'll take you on. It seems like such a waste to spend so many hours reading when so much of it is forgotten. I'm often criticized by peers for this narrow view of conventionalism. Doing this will keep you consistent, but on the same horn, it'll confine you to whatever breadth of scope your core books offers you. For example: devout Christians go over the same text atleast twice a year in sermons and bible study. They know their stuff very well, and while it seems anti-horizon broadening to re-read the same thing over and over again, you know for certain that they know their scripture.
I'm a disciple of integrating knowledge. Knowledge should be able to build upon other knowledge logically and without contradictions. Examine any computer program or system of thought. The more bugs there are, the more problematic it becomes. The more contradictions, the more blue screens of death appear.
The same probably applies in everyday dealings in life. I notice that life becomes less regretable when I stick up for my own convictions rather than allow them to go unrealized. One of my favorite quotations in Atlas Shrugged goes, "Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong." Sounds like it ought to be something in the Proverbs of Solomon or Ecclesiastes, but it's actually paraphrased Aristotle. Anyway, happy readings to all! (And do give Atlas Shrugged a read. At the very least you have something to burn at Nancy Pelosi's rallies.)
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Preventable
"The first [insight] is 70% of all health-care costs are the direct result of behavior.
The second insight, which is well understood by the providers of health care, is that 74% of all costs are confined to four chronic conditions (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity).
Furthermore, 80% of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is preventable, 60% of cancers are preventable, and more than 90% of obesity is preventable."
Source: WSJ
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Back Again
Was it worth it? Yes. Living abroad for just shy of a year has really been a wakeup call. People always say that "I remember as if it was just yesterday," but I can't claim that. It was too saturated with great memories. I think I've traveled most of the EU now. England, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, France, Germany, Austria, and Italy. There are still more places I want to see but that mission is over.
A lot of my peers are preparing for their own outward bounds. Two of my friends are planning to teach English in Japan, one is going to South Korea for 3+ months, and another is going to visit London for a brief period to expand his horizons. Regardless of their reasons, I feel a particular kindred with those who ache to travel. It's the quest for something new. Perhaps something consequential in world consumed by deontology.
Have I achieved what I wanted out there? Yes and No. I've diagnosed myself with the psychological disorder of voracious-insatiability. Yes, I saw a lot of things. Yes, I got the education. Yes, I met people from all walks of the world. But a resounding NO, I haven't done all those things to my complete satisfaction. There are more people to meet. More majesties to witness. More things to learn. And I want it all.
Nonetheless, I have other priorities now. After I finish my thesis, I've got to take the next steps in my career path. My interests haven't changed much since I first left for London. I want to build. I don't want to just be the guy who sold the guy the house that he wanted for a long time. I want to put together a deal where I can leave landmarks in cities. I want to mastermind real estate developments that are energy-efficient and profitable to all parties involved.
So what's next? 1) Finish remaining school work. 2) Get some muscle back. 3) Visit Lady TaTa in Vegas. 4) Find a good firm to start my career. 5) Austin or Dallas?
A lot of my peers are preparing for their own outward bounds. Two of my friends are planning to teach English in Japan, one is going to South Korea for 3+ months, and another is going to visit London for a brief period to expand his horizons. Regardless of their reasons, I feel a particular kindred with those who ache to travel. It's the quest for something new. Perhaps something consequential in world consumed by deontology.
Have I achieved what I wanted out there? Yes and No. I've diagnosed myself with the psychological disorder of voracious-insatiability. Yes, I saw a lot of things. Yes, I got the education. Yes, I met people from all walks of the world. But a resounding NO, I haven't done all those things to my complete satisfaction. There are more people to meet. More majesties to witness. More things to learn. And I want it all.
Nonetheless, I have other priorities now. After I finish my thesis, I've got to take the next steps in my career path. My interests haven't changed much since I first left for London. I want to build. I don't want to just be the guy who sold the guy the house that he wanted for a long time. I want to put together a deal where I can leave landmarks in cities. I want to mastermind real estate developments that are energy-efficient and profitable to all parties involved.
So what's next? 1) Finish remaining school work. 2) Get some muscle back. 3) Visit Lady TaTa in Vegas. 4) Find a good firm to start my career. 5) Austin or Dallas?
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