Month: May 2006

  • Please read my reviews. (commenting is implied [well, no longer implied now that I said that - but sort of implied because it's in parentheses] and appreciated)


    at dawn from the ferry between the North and South Islands of New Zealand

    On Sunday, Esther and I had a great time at Six Flags Great America with awesome weather and short wait times for all the rides.

    While we were there, at some point, I asked myself why I was teasing her so much. Teasing her about getting wet on the water rides, teasing her about dripping ice cream - practically anything could've come across as teasing but I tried to keep myself in check. Why is that? Then on Loveline last night as I was going out to buy her a surprise present with her own money (), Dr. Drew talked about how men use teasing as a form of endearment. We do it with our closest buddies, and we do it when we meet new guys and want to get along with them. Actually, how much teasing the other guy dishes/takes is a good indication of how well they know each other and how close of friends they are.

    Girls aren't like that. And it's hard to shut down such a tried-and-true method of friendship. So I'm working on it, and I think it gets easier for her as time goes on. I mean, she's a sharp cookie, but I don't want to torture someone either when I'm just trying to lighten the mood.

    Thoughts? As a girl, have you felt hurt from a guy who probably didn't know any better? Guys? You know what I mean?


    Brent routinely puts into words what is still lightyears out on my own mental awareness horizon. (this)
  • Dianne brings up a good point about the suspensions and the high school I went to saying, "since it's a PRIVATE school it can do what it wants."

    I agree that it can set standards and rules as a private institution that a public one ought to avoid doing. My concern is over the outcome - even if a private school can suspend students for things outside of the classroom, the question is should they take the liberty? As an example, one of my classmates back in her/my sophomore year began exotic dancing, something she was never disciplined for in any way. Most people didn't know about it. Today, though, had she blogged about it, she would most certainly be suspended or expelled. To me, there's a breakdown of the law - the police or social services should be catching that kind of thing because it's clearly illegal before turning 18.

    The real concern is whether suspending or expelling would help someone who obviously is in great pain and is truly seeking out attention and affection in the wrong avenues. Kids have had messed up and hurting childhoods since Abel was killed by Cain. Now blogs and profiles can be printed and passed around a school board meeting like never before. In my mind, this steps up the responsibility of people who can make a difference to take the action and help instead of simply flushing the person and problem out of the bowl.

    Punishment is for those that can self-correct. Rehabilitation is for those who are so lost that the North arrow needs to be installed in their internal compasses. And punishment is a great responsibility - just because an authority or board of authority knows about something does not mean it gives them the right to punish or a position to have a positive effect by punishing.

    Your thoughts!

  • I graduate again in 2 hours!

    (info)

  • One grade is in! I've got an A- for Strategic Management. Tonight is the final hour in my MBA, unless I bomb it in which case there will be another final hour.


    Some kids at my old high school were suspended for profanity on their MySpace accounts, something that does not surprise me. It does make me question why they would want to step into such a messy issue, but it's something they're good at screwing up, historically. A la NCU.

    I don't believe schools belong in the business of suspending students for things they do outside of school. If they do something illegal, let the law take care of it. If it isn't illegal, and if it's done outside the school, take a deep breath and realize that you're a school board member and need to keep the megalomaniac under control.

    Am I missing anything? Should schools be allowed to suspend kids for _____ done outside of school?


    from last summer
  • Timmy posted this earlier...

    "A
    child's position in the family impacts his personality, his behavior,
    his learning and ultimately his earning power," states Michael Grose,
    author of "Why First Born Rule the World and Last-borns Want to Change
    It." "Most people have an intuitive knowledge that birth order somehow
    has an impact on development, but they underestimate how far-reaching
    and just how significant that impact really is."


    Conley concedes
    that birth order is significant in shaping individual success, but only
    for children of large families -- four or more siblings -- and in
    families where finances and parental time are constrained. (In wealthy
    families, like the Bushes and Kennedys, it has less effect.)

    It was interesting, but it doesn't really apply to our family. I'm technically a middle child in grad school, a younger brother going to med school this fall, and younger siblings that are rockstars compared to me. The article does disclaim families where the parents are able to be at home a lot (full-time in my case) and money is not a restraint (and it really was not looking back).

    First Borns:
    More
    conscientious, ambitious and aggressive than their younger siblings,
    first borns are over-represented at Harvard and Yale as well as
    disciplines requiring higher education such as medicine, engineering or
    law. Every astronaut to go into space has been either the oldest child
    in his or her family or the eldest boy. And throughout history -- even
    when large families were the norm -- more than half of all Nobel Prize
    winners and U.S. presidents have been first born. Famous eldest
    children include: Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Richard Branson, J.K.
    Rowling and Winston Churchill. And macho movie stars are First Born,
    too, including Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce
    Willis and all the actors who have played James Bond.

    Kinda describes all of us... except none of us are at Ivy League schools. Okay, so maybe money was a limiting factor.


    Middles:
    Middle
    children are more easy going and peer-oriented. Since they can get lost
    in the shuffle of their own families, they learn to build bridges to
    other sources of support and therefore tend to have excellent people
    skills. Middle children often take on the role of mediator and
    peacemaker. Famous middle children include: Bill Gates, J.F.K., Madonna
    and Princess Diana.

    Still, we're a family of easy going people. I had no people skills until recently, and they're starting to grow now... but maybe it's the nature of our family.


    Youngest:
    The youngest child
    tends to be the most creative and can be very charming -- even
    manipulative. Because they often identify with the underdog, they tend
    to champion egalitarian causes. (Youngest siblings were the earliest
    backers of the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment.)
    Successful in journalism, advertising, sales and the arts, famous
    youngest children include Cameron Diaz, Jim Carrey, Drew Carey, Rosie
    O'Donnell, Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal.


    In a good way, it reminds me of Esther who is the youngest. She certainly identifies with the underdog and is committing her life to helping them. It'll be interesting to see how Christina and Victoria go - I can see Christina (second youngest) being the one to choose an "egalitarian cause" to champion.


    This week at our company, we had fire extinguisher training! It was fun. You start with a fire and a fire extinguisher like John here:

    And ideally, you extinguish it like I am here. I've never done it before, but it was a rush! Highly recommended to anyone! Not recommended for children.


    How to Deliver Flowers to a Downtown Location

    Step 1

    Identify a cute girl who recently landed a sweet job in an office building near your dentist so that you can make a surprise delivery to her while she's working there. Check.


    Step 2

    Purchase flowers. Not necessarily spare no expense because it's the thought that counts, but at least get something nice. Even a single rose will work. In this case, a small bouquet is selected. For future reference, there are many flower shops in the downtown area.

    Step 3

    Locate cute girl. This is a challenging step. Here's an unedited, exclusive glimpse at the text message exchange required. *not work safe - contains mushy lines*

    Outbound: "Aaaahhh! I'm getting a cavity filled now! I'm numb!
    Inbound: "You have your first cavity?! bad boy. i love this job, i have to convince them to keep me"
    Outbound: "Awesome! What suite did you get assigned to?"
    Inbound: "1234"
    Outbound: "I mean what kind of office. I hope 1234 stays your work address!"
    Inbound: "Im [sic] the head receptionist. i want to give you lots of kisses later to make your mouth feel better :) "
    Inbound: "The 12Th floor with a view of the lake"
    Outbound: "Sweet what color is it? I might remember it." [note: this message was never delivered for some reason]

    Step 4

    Using the limited information, attempt to deliver flowers.

    Target's desk

    Step 5

    Leave flowers with substitute receptionist as part of backup plan since the target left for lunch until 1pm (coincidentally coinciding with my eye doctor's appointment today).

    Step 6

    Return to the rest of your day.

    ^^ numbed up with the truck garden in the back.

    Wait for the text message.

    So yeah, that was my day. I had my first cavity of my life - in a baby tooth that's been in my mouth for 20 years and has no adult tooth to replace it. So it never got the sealant that my other teeth did... Can I add that permanent retainers make it hard to floss your front teeth?! Wow, I was bleeding profusely! And then to have my eyes dilated and desensitized at the ophthalmologist... I was a basket case driving to lunch with my granddad. Headed off to Waupaca tonight. Catch you all later...

  • THANK YOU XANGA FOR SHUTTING DOWN TODAY WITH UNDER A DAY'S NOTICE.

    That's right, I paid $100 for this kind of wonderful customer service. Noobs.

    Hopefully they get their heads out of their flowers and get some redundancy.


    On the topic of bugs.

    (click for a good example of what you can do with a cheap camera )

    That guy was on my shirt in Dunedin right after I had a really bloody nose. Not just in the British English sense, a bloody nose. Really.

    All while at this little house (bee picture and all).

  • I wrote an e-mail to a college friend of mine last week. He had died on February 3rd in a hiking accident in Colorado while he was out by himself and found the next day by searchers. While going through my e-mail contacts, I ran across his name and paused - then wrote a little note. The sad part was when it bounced back saying his account was shutdown due to inactivity. Hello, someone needs to work on that automatic e-mail.

    It strikes me how people think of deceased people. Some say "my dad is...." when, of course, it ought to be "my dad was..." But you can't correct them when it's how they think of someone. Yet I wonder what is a healthy way to think of people who are no longer with us. In one culture, you are to act as if the person never existed, removing any reference of them and never speaking of them again. Compared to an Egyptian pyramid, we've got quite a contrast.

    Do you wish you could say something to someone who's died? Do you think they can hear you?

  • My first home.
    You can make one too with Google SketchUp.


    I've gotten 138,292 spam e-mails since April 4th - and counting.


    Today is my brother David's birthday. He was born today in 1987 and died five months later. I've got some time today, and I think it would be good to stop by to remember him.

    Time for a flower picture? I think so... All of these are from right before I left while in Dunedin and Christchurch. Fitting and fun, I think.