Surface Mount
Today I had to attend this 2 hour training seminar on "Surface Mount Testability Guidelines". Reminded me a lot of the times spent on ECE Senior Design, when we were trying to work with those tiny chips with a huge soldering iron ("huge" in relative terms). It was an eye-opening experience to see that in the rich corporate world, there are actually nice tools available to make surface mount soldering easy ("easy" in relative terms). Meanwhile, the U of I ECE department skimped on supplying us lowly undergrads with quality equipment. Now I'm a little bitter, thinking about all those chips we burned and the time we wasted because of that.
Another thought I was pondering is, how does my 4 years of taking ECE courses apply to the larger picture of the "real world". Besides what I do at my job, it doesn't seem like my knowledge or understanding of the Electrical Engineering curriculum really helps out much in the broader sense.
I mean, if you spent 4 years learning about plumbing, that at least gives you one big practical skill under your belt. Not only is it your job, but your expertise in plumbing is gonna help you out a lot when your own toilet clogs. Plus you got the tools and everything already there at your disposal.
Same could be said for almost any profession. If you were a mechanic, you never have to worry about where to take your car when it breaks down. If you were a doctor, you could diagnose your own ailments and write your own prescriptions. If you were a personal trainer, you can bet on having a healthy and good looking body for yourself. If you were an interior decorator, you'd never have to pay someone else to make your house look nice. If you were a stripper, you'd save lots of money because you wouldn't have to buy as many clothes. If you were an accountant, you should have no problem filing your own taxes and handling your finances. For some professions, your skill/job is more useful than for others, but you get the point.
What side benefit do I gain from my knowledge of Electrical Engineering? Hmmm, I can explain why my cell phone makes noise come out of my computer speakers (maybe). I can tell you the significance of the third plug for electrical sockets. Not very useful at all. When am I ever gonna use a Fast Fourier Transform? And is my proficiency in using Digital Oscilloscopes really gonna come in handy one of these days?
The field of EE is so specialized that outside of a desk or lab environment, your knowledge is effectively meaningless. I think I wrote about this before, but a lot of people mistakenly think that Electrical Engineers should all know how to fix TVs and that kind of stuff. To some extent, maybe we know a little more than the average person, but you're better off with an electrician graduating from DeVry. Other people think an EE degree automatically makes you an expert computer programmer or web designer. Wrong again, you're thinking CS.
But the interesting thing is, I also know a lot of EE graduates in society go on to become some of the world's most influential, respected, well-rounded people, and many of them accomplish great things, that are often times well beyond the world of electrical engineering. How is this possible, and why does this happen, when the field of expertise we're talking about is so abstract and distant from the practical world?
The only theory I have is that to graduate from EE, you probably have to be one of the best and brightest people to begin with. There are a few exceptions, but, at the risk of sounding elitist, nobody who is stupid ever becomes an Electrical Engineer. So you end up with this pool of the "best and the brightest", and from this pool, a lot are bound to stand out and lead exceptional lives.
Of course, it's just a theory, and even if there was actually truth to it, it doesn't mean that all EE graduates will become hugely successful. The fact is, they don't. At most, it says that achieving the degree shows you can hang with the upper percentile ranks of the population, and only up to that given point in life. You might be "statistically" more likely to prosper, but that's hardly a guarantee.
I would compare it to college vs. professional sports. You could be dominating in college basketball or football, be named to All-American teams or win the Heisman Trophy, but easily end up as a huge flop in the NBA or NFL. But still, the likelihood of a college star being good in the pros is much higher than that of a random schmoe off the street.
I went off on a huge tangent from what I was originally writing about, but I guess here is my patchwork conclusion about the subject. The important things have little to do with what school you went to, what you studied, and what your GPA was. You could be valedictorian in high school, but if you slack off in college, you will fail. You could get a Ph.D from Harvard, but if you stop learning and improving yourself after graduating, it will largely be a waste in the end. The most important thing is to have a driving force inside you, to constantly strive for the best, for perfection in whatever you do, for making the most of what you have. I think if you have that drive, no matter where you are in life, it would be hard for you not to succeed.
Thursday, May 29, 2003
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Radio
One of my top highlights in life these days is when I drive home for lunch, and I get to listen to Nicki's Nineties Nooner on Q101 (during the "noon" hour). It's weird, I used to think it was so lame that people listened to stuff like "80's at 8" on the Mix or whatever. Actually, I still do. But now that I stop and think about it, we're well into the next decade, here in the year 2003, and an hour dedicated to 90's music probably sounds lame to the next generation.
Still, I think Nirvana, Pearl Jam, STP, Pumpkins, etc., is always gonna be cooler than the stuff like Erasure and Depeche Mode. Songs about killing yourself or doing hard drugs beats being gay any day right? Anyways, like I was saying, listening to the 'Nooner is really good stuff. It's not so much the actual music; I mean, I have most of the songs they play either on CD or mp3 already. But it's just a different feeling to hear the stuff on the radio. Takes me back to the good old days for a bit. Plus, I'll always still hear at least one or two songs that I used to love but totally forgot about.
One thing I noticed that hasn't changed since the 90's is Loveline at night. I remember listening to that show almost every night in high school. Not because I had any dysfunctional problems, but it was just very entertaining for some reason. Now, it's 6 or 7 years later, and I just started tuning in to the show again, once in a while before going to sleep. And surprisingly, it's pretty much the exact same show. Dr. Drew has not changed at all. Adam Carolla got a little more popular on MTV and Comedy Central over these years, but he's basically the same guy too. He's still a hilarious host, and does the same routines, even down to saying "Mahalo" at the end of every show.
Maybe the only difference is the callers - I don't know if it's my imagination, but it seems like the kids have more extreme problems today. Sometimes it blows my mind, the things I hear them talk about. Even listening back in high school, I thought the calls were so crazy, like "What the-- 16 year olds are having SEX??! What is this world coming to?" But the stuff they discuss on the show today goes beyond that. Makes me kind of fear the day I have kids and have to let them loose in this society. I guess for me, growing up in a church setting and conservative family really sheltered me from a whole lot of stuff. In some ways that might have been good, in some ways not so good. But that's a whole other story, whole different blog.
While I'm on the topic of radio, one of the negatives about being off overtime hours is that I miss out on my new favorite segment on WGCI. It used to be "Tony's Trippin" in the morning, but they repeat some of those too much. The news is still good, when he "alliterates". But this thing I'm talking about, they do every night at about 5:45-6 or so, and it's quality stuff. I forgot it was called, something hokey like "Rhyme on Time", I think. Anyways, it's basically people calling up after work, the Bad Boys putting on a beat, and asking them a bunch of questions that they're supposed to answer using lines that rhyme and go with the beat. Kind of like the Birthday Line, except people can be more creative. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, it goes something like this:
Bad Boys: Are you workin?
Caller: Yeah, I'm workin yo' mama
BB: What you drivin?
C: A '97 Maxima
BB: Are your pockets fat?
C: Naw, you know they ain't
BB: What kind of gear is that?
C: Abercrombie pants with yellow latex paint
Some of the people who call up are pretty terrible (like my example), but some are pretty good. Either way, it's entertaining to me. Except I bet it will get old soon, cause there's only so many things you can do with those same 4 questions, so it's bound to start repeating eventually.
*****
My sister started a Xanga page. Please don't stalk her, but if you want to see some stupid webcam pics we took a while ago, you can see them here on the May 27 entry: http://www.xanga.com/junkfoodaddict
But seriously, don't stalk her.
*****
In other news, my computer died while I was eating lunch today. I'm afraid this time it might be for good. After rebooting a bunch of times, no luck, and I had to go back to work. I keep getting a scrambled screen, it's really weird. Don't know if it's something wrong with Windows, my video card, hard drive, RAM, CPU, or what. If anyone has any ideas on how to fix my comp, let me know before I have to order a new one.
Also, if I was talking to you on AIM during lunch and suddenly stopped, now you know why. And if you talk to me at night and I type really slow, it's because I'm on my PPC. Just a heads up FYI.
One of my top highlights in life these days is when I drive home for lunch, and I get to listen to Nicki's Nineties Nooner on Q101 (during the "noon" hour). It's weird, I used to think it was so lame that people listened to stuff like "80's at 8" on the Mix or whatever. Actually, I still do. But now that I stop and think about it, we're well into the next decade, here in the year 2003, and an hour dedicated to 90's music probably sounds lame to the next generation.
Still, I think Nirvana, Pearl Jam, STP, Pumpkins, etc., is always gonna be cooler than the stuff like Erasure and Depeche Mode. Songs about killing yourself or doing hard drugs beats being gay any day right? Anyways, like I was saying, listening to the 'Nooner is really good stuff. It's not so much the actual music; I mean, I have most of the songs they play either on CD or mp3 already. But it's just a different feeling to hear the stuff on the radio. Takes me back to the good old days for a bit. Plus, I'll always still hear at least one or two songs that I used to love but totally forgot about.
One thing I noticed that hasn't changed since the 90's is Loveline at night. I remember listening to that show almost every night in high school. Not because I had any dysfunctional problems, but it was just very entertaining for some reason. Now, it's 6 or 7 years later, and I just started tuning in to the show again, once in a while before going to sleep. And surprisingly, it's pretty much the exact same show. Dr. Drew has not changed at all. Adam Carolla got a little more popular on MTV and Comedy Central over these years, but he's basically the same guy too. He's still a hilarious host, and does the same routines, even down to saying "Mahalo" at the end of every show.
Maybe the only difference is the callers - I don't know if it's my imagination, but it seems like the kids have more extreme problems today. Sometimes it blows my mind, the things I hear them talk about. Even listening back in high school, I thought the calls were so crazy, like "What the-- 16 year olds are having SEX??! What is this world coming to?" But the stuff they discuss on the show today goes beyond that. Makes me kind of fear the day I have kids and have to let them loose in this society. I guess for me, growing up in a church setting and conservative family really sheltered me from a whole lot of stuff. In some ways that might have been good, in some ways not so good. But that's a whole other story, whole different blog.
While I'm on the topic of radio, one of the negatives about being off overtime hours is that I miss out on my new favorite segment on WGCI. It used to be "Tony's Trippin" in the morning, but they repeat some of those too much. The news is still good, when he "alliterates". But this thing I'm talking about, they do every night at about 5:45-6 or so, and it's quality stuff. I forgot it was called, something hokey like "Rhyme on Time", I think. Anyways, it's basically people calling up after work, the Bad Boys putting on a beat, and asking them a bunch of questions that they're supposed to answer using lines that rhyme and go with the beat. Kind of like the Birthday Line, except people can be more creative. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, it goes something like this:
Bad Boys: Are you workin?
Caller: Yeah, I'm workin yo' mama
BB: What you drivin?
C: A '97 Maxima
BB: Are your pockets fat?
C: Naw, you know they ain't
BB: What kind of gear is that?
C: Abercrombie pants with yellow latex paint
Some of the people who call up are pretty terrible (like my example), but some are pretty good. Either way, it's entertaining to me. Except I bet it will get old soon, cause there's only so many things you can do with those same 4 questions, so it's bound to start repeating eventually.
*****
My sister started a Xanga page. Please don't stalk her, but if you want to see some stupid webcam pics we took a while ago, you can see them here on the May 27 entry: http://www.xanga.com/junkfoodaddict
But seriously, don't stalk her.
*****
In other news, my computer died while I was eating lunch today. I'm afraid this time it might be for good. After rebooting a bunch of times, no luck, and I had to go back to work. I keep getting a scrambled screen, it's really weird. Don't know if it's something wrong with Windows, my video card, hard drive, RAM, CPU, or what. If anyone has any ideas on how to fix my comp, let me know before I have to order a new one.
Also, if I was talking to you on AIM during lunch and suddenly stopped, now you know why. And if you talk to me at night and I type really slow, it's because I'm on my PPC. Just a heads up FYI.
Monday, May 26, 2003
Memorial Day Blog
First of all a big CONGRATS goes to Dennis for landing a job he wanted. Now he can experience the feeling I'm feeling now - when you realize after a long enjoyable weekend, "Shoot, I gotta go back to work tomorrow". But the positive is, he'll be 10 mins from where I work, about 20 from where I live. Good stuff.
Happy birthday goes to Nina... join the wonderful world of 23.
I never noticed this before, but I think the banner ad on the top of my blog page is tailored to some of what I write about. Today I noticed it was an ad for model F-14 Tomcats, which I'm guessing is from when I wrote about Northrop planes. And I think before there was a banner for White Sox memorabilia, but I just figured it was a coincidence.
I watched some of the Cal/UCLA girl's softball championship game. With Jennie Finch getting so much attention on ESPN.com Page 2 a while back, I figured maybe I'd check out some hotties. And oh boy, did I get what I was looking for, Veronica Nelson, yum yum:
*****
Currently playing on my Winamp: Frankie J - Don't Want To Try
First of all a big CONGRATS goes to Dennis for landing a job he wanted. Now he can experience the feeling I'm feeling now - when you realize after a long enjoyable weekend, "Shoot, I gotta go back to work tomorrow". But the positive is, he'll be 10 mins from where I work, about 20 from where I live. Good stuff.
Happy birthday goes to Nina... join the wonderful world of 23.
I never noticed this before, but I think the banner ad on the top of my blog page is tailored to some of what I write about. Today I noticed it was an ad for model F-14 Tomcats, which I'm guessing is from when I wrote about Northrop planes. And I think before there was a banner for White Sox memorabilia, but I just figured it was a coincidence.
I watched some of the Cal/UCLA girl's softball championship game. With Jennie Finch getting so much attention on ESPN.com Page 2 a while back, I figured maybe I'd check out some hotties. And oh boy, did I get what I was looking for, Veronica Nelson, yum yum:
*****
Currently playing on my Winamp: Frankie J - Don't Want To Try
Saturday, May 24, 2003
Older People
In my sister's b-day card, I wrote to her something like "enjoy your 21st, because after that, you won't really feel happy turning older anymore". Which was basically along the lines of what I was feeling after my 22nd and 23rd birthdays, and I think I wrote a couple blog entries saying as much too.
But I think my view of getting older has been changing for the better. Well, I still dread the day I turn 30 and become a "thirty-something", in my "thirties" (it just sounds old). In terms of actually getting old, though, I guess I don't fear being 30 or 40, as much as I fear reaching that age without having made anything out of my life. It's one thing to be old, but to be old, unhappy, and unsatisfied with where you are, and what you've accomplished, is infinitely worse.
A side benefit of my sister's birthday, if you can call it that, was getting to spend some time with my mom, dad, and grandparents as we all went to dinner. I'm at the age when I wouldn't really be able to stand being around them all the time. But it's definitely worthwhile and rewarding to see them and talk to them now and then.
Anyways, as I sat at the table with the two older generations of the Chen family that came before me, I was really struck by how young and insignificant my life is in comparison to all of theirs. To me, 23 years seems like a long time. But my mom and dad are more than twice as old, and my grandparents are more than three times as old. Not only have they walked this earth that much longer than me, but they have made their time count and have much to show for it.
My grandparents basically moved from China to Taiwan at around my age or even younger. No college education, no money or parents' roof to live under, just completely on their own and having to work for every single thing they had, from the ground up. My mom and dad moved from Taiwan to Chicago around my age. Dad went to grad school, lived across from the ghettos on S. King Drive, got his first job for about $20,000 at the Chicago Board of Trade with an MBA degree.
So none of them had half the opportunities I had, yet look at them now. Years later, my grandparents are successfully retired, with plenty in savings, and 6 children who are all pretty successful and are happy to take care of them. My mom and dad started out in those rough years, but they have a lot to be proud of too. If nothing else, they can take heart in knowing they raised a fantastic son like me, and to a lesser extent, having a decent daughter like my sister (haha just kidding meh).
Then there's the older people at work. You'd think that it would suck to be around 40-50 year olds all the time, but it's not really the case. Sure, it's weird to hear them talk about taking their kids to soccer, remodeling their house, or seeing the Mothers Day gifts their sons made in kindergarten in their offices. I'm still way too young for any of that. But to be honest, a part of me really envies them. I think that's what I'd want my life to be like (except probably in 10-15 years or so).
It's really interesting and enlightening to talk to the "veterans" of the company too. I love hearing all of them talk about the days when they were working on the B-2 Bomber, back when it was a "Black" program and they weren't allowed to discuss it with anyone or even tell people they were on it. I mean, here I am, having worked 7 months at the company, and already been on 3 different projects. There's people who have been here for over 30 years, and it blows my mind to think about how much they must have been through and accomplished in that time. My boss has been here ever since the building was built, and he's had the same parking spot this whole time.
But instead of seeing them as aging and past their prime, more and more I look up to these people and want to follow their footsteps. It still sounds better to stay young and never get old, but, as my dad tells me, "Youth is wasted on the young" (he is full of those kinds of quotes). So being young is fun, but in the end, what do you have to show for it? It's not until you get older that you start to understand the bigger picture of life, and how the world works and everything. We aren't born with the understanding of the true magnitude of value in our youth, and the opportunities this time presents us. I know I didn't make the most of it.
And I guess those of us (including me) who keep thinking about how much it sucks to be getting older, maybe we shouldn't? Or at least maybe ask ourselves why it is that we want to stay young. Is it because we never want to give up the days of being out late and eating unhealthy without consequence? Because the working life, family life, seems so unglamourous in comparison to college and high school? Well, I think what I should really be worried about, when it comes to getting older, is wasting my chance to do something meaningful with my life.
See, I'm not really that bothered when I see a 30-40 year old, even when they might be losing some hair, getting a potbelly, etc. Actually, both my parents are almost 50, and they are in pretty good shape, so I don't worry too much. What I'm saying is, I see most older people simply as people who are older. I don't expect to be friends with them, but I still respect them and stuff.
It's when I see the "thirty-somethings" out partying in the clubs on the weekend when it starts to be more of an issue with me. Like, I wonder what are they doing here, trying to pick up younger chicks who don't know any better? Shouldn't they be doing something else with their life? I think some of us see that older guy and think, man, it's gonna suck to be thirty-something cause then I'll be that old guy in the club who doesn't belong. But look at it another way: I hope that when I'm that age, I won't have any desire to be that guy. In fact, I expect that by then, I'll want to be settled down, married, taking care of kids and moving ahead in my career, so it's not relevant at all. Who cares if I'm at the age when I would look retarded being at the club, I'm not gonna want to be there anyways.
And the reality, at least I hope, is that at some point along the way, we change, we get older not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. Right now, I guess it's not clear where we should be. The only words that can sum up my thoughts come from one of the true visionary artists of our generation. I offer you her words:
I'm not a girl
not yet a woman
All I need is time
a moment that is mine
while I'm in between
I'm not a girl
In my sister's b-day card, I wrote to her something like "enjoy your 21st, because after that, you won't really feel happy turning older anymore". Which was basically along the lines of what I was feeling after my 22nd and 23rd birthdays, and I think I wrote a couple blog entries saying as much too.
But I think my view of getting older has been changing for the better. Well, I still dread the day I turn 30 and become a "thirty-something", in my "thirties" (it just sounds old). In terms of actually getting old, though, I guess I don't fear being 30 or 40, as much as I fear reaching that age without having made anything out of my life. It's one thing to be old, but to be old, unhappy, and unsatisfied with where you are, and what you've accomplished, is infinitely worse.
A side benefit of my sister's birthday, if you can call it that, was getting to spend some time with my mom, dad, and grandparents as we all went to dinner. I'm at the age when I wouldn't really be able to stand being around them all the time. But it's definitely worthwhile and rewarding to see them and talk to them now and then.
Anyways, as I sat at the table with the two older generations of the Chen family that came before me, I was really struck by how young and insignificant my life is in comparison to all of theirs. To me, 23 years seems like a long time. But my mom and dad are more than twice as old, and my grandparents are more than three times as old. Not only have they walked this earth that much longer than me, but they have made their time count and have much to show for it.
My grandparents basically moved from China to Taiwan at around my age or even younger. No college education, no money or parents' roof to live under, just completely on their own and having to work for every single thing they had, from the ground up. My mom and dad moved from Taiwan to Chicago around my age. Dad went to grad school, lived across from the ghettos on S. King Drive, got his first job for about $20,000 at the Chicago Board of Trade with an MBA degree.
So none of them had half the opportunities I had, yet look at them now. Years later, my grandparents are successfully retired, with plenty in savings, and 6 children who are all pretty successful and are happy to take care of them. My mom and dad started out in those rough years, but they have a lot to be proud of too. If nothing else, they can take heart in knowing they raised a fantastic son like me, and to a lesser extent, having a decent daughter like my sister (haha just kidding meh).
Then there's the older people at work. You'd think that it would suck to be around 40-50 year olds all the time, but it's not really the case. Sure, it's weird to hear them talk about taking their kids to soccer, remodeling their house, or seeing the Mothers Day gifts their sons made in kindergarten in their offices. I'm still way too young for any of that. But to be honest, a part of me really envies them. I think that's what I'd want my life to be like (except probably in 10-15 years or so).
It's really interesting and enlightening to talk to the "veterans" of the company too. I love hearing all of them talk about the days when they were working on the B-2 Bomber, back when it was a "Black" program and they weren't allowed to discuss it with anyone or even tell people they were on it. I mean, here I am, having worked 7 months at the company, and already been on 3 different projects. There's people who have been here for over 30 years, and it blows my mind to think about how much they must have been through and accomplished in that time. My boss has been here ever since the building was built, and he's had the same parking spot this whole time.
But instead of seeing them as aging and past their prime, more and more I look up to these people and want to follow their footsteps. It still sounds better to stay young and never get old, but, as my dad tells me, "Youth is wasted on the young" (he is full of those kinds of quotes). So being young is fun, but in the end, what do you have to show for it? It's not until you get older that you start to understand the bigger picture of life, and how the world works and everything. We aren't born with the understanding of the true magnitude of value in our youth, and the opportunities this time presents us. I know I didn't make the most of it.
And I guess those of us (including me) who keep thinking about how much it sucks to be getting older, maybe we shouldn't? Or at least maybe ask ourselves why it is that we want to stay young. Is it because we never want to give up the days of being out late and eating unhealthy without consequence? Because the working life, family life, seems so unglamourous in comparison to college and high school? Well, I think what I should really be worried about, when it comes to getting older, is wasting my chance to do something meaningful with my life.
See, I'm not really that bothered when I see a 30-40 year old, even when they might be losing some hair, getting a potbelly, etc. Actually, both my parents are almost 50, and they are in pretty good shape, so I don't worry too much. What I'm saying is, I see most older people simply as people who are older. I don't expect to be friends with them, but I still respect them and stuff.
It's when I see the "thirty-somethings" out partying in the clubs on the weekend when it starts to be more of an issue with me. Like, I wonder what are they doing here, trying to pick up younger chicks who don't know any better? Shouldn't they be doing something else with their life? I think some of us see that older guy and think, man, it's gonna suck to be thirty-something cause then I'll be that old guy in the club who doesn't belong. But look at it another way: I hope that when I'm that age, I won't have any desire to be that guy. In fact, I expect that by then, I'll want to be settled down, married, taking care of kids and moving ahead in my career, so it's not relevant at all. Who cares if I'm at the age when I would look retarded being at the club, I'm not gonna want to be there anyways.
And the reality, at least I hope, is that at some point along the way, we change, we get older not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. Right now, I guess it's not clear where we should be. The only words that can sum up my thoughts come from one of the true visionary artists of our generation. I offer you her words:
I'm not a girl
not yet a woman
All I need is time
a moment that is mine
while I'm in between
I'm not a girl
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Work Status
Today was a landmark day in my career. For the first time ever, I had a conflict between two meetings. So I'm gonna mark down "5/21/03" on the calendar, as the first time I was important enough to have a scheduling conflict. It made me feel special, popular and powerful at the same time, to reject one of the meetings. I was like "Yeah... I'm too cool for you guys".
Yesterday I cleaned off the huge stacks of paper that were cluttering up my desk. It amazed me how much stuff can pile up in just over 7 months of working. At the bottom of some piles I found buried treasures that I couldn't find for the longest time. Scissors, Post-it notes, Listerine Pocket Packs, phone numbers of some random hoes I picked up along the way, and a couple highlighters.
(Now that I have a digital organizer, I'm glad I won't lose any more phone numbers to such sloppiness. By the way, if you would like to be added to my list of contacts, please email me with your info: name, birthday, phone number (cell/home/work), email address, URL, name/phone number of your assistant, and if whether you would like to be classified under "Personal" or "Business")
One thing I found was a memo dated 10/17/02, my second week at the company, from the manager on the first program I worked on. It described the general format and what I should include in weekly status reports. Now that I think of it, since then I've written about 30 of these "weeklys" between the different projects I've been on during these 7 months. But that was the very first one. I thought about keeping it for memories sake, but didn't. But still... ahh, memories.
If you ever visit the place I work, you will see that every cube has name tags of the people on the outside wall. Generally, these name tags are ordered in respect to the seniority of each person. Already, I find myself as the top name tag at my cube. Kind of weird to think that since moving in here in October, the original guy moved away, I had the cube to myself for a month, a new guy moved in, another new guy moved in, one of the new guys moved out, and just this Monday another new guy arrived. I am a model of consistency, the rock of this cube, I must say.
Finally, I would like to wish a special Happy Birthday to my favorite sister! Remember, you are definitely ranked among the top 3 Chens in my book.
Today was a landmark day in my career. For the first time ever, I had a conflict between two meetings. So I'm gonna mark down "5/21/03" on the calendar, as the first time I was important enough to have a scheduling conflict. It made me feel special, popular and powerful at the same time, to reject one of the meetings. I was like "Yeah... I'm too cool for you guys".
Yesterday I cleaned off the huge stacks of paper that were cluttering up my desk. It amazed me how much stuff can pile up in just over 7 months of working. At the bottom of some piles I found buried treasures that I couldn't find for the longest time. Scissors, Post-it notes, Listerine Pocket Packs, phone numbers of some random hoes I picked up along the way, and a couple highlighters.
(Now that I have a digital organizer, I'm glad I won't lose any more phone numbers to such sloppiness. By the way, if you would like to be added to my list of contacts, please email me with your info: name, birthday, phone number (cell/home/work), email address, URL, name/phone number of your assistant, and if whether you would like to be classified under "Personal" or "Business")
One thing I found was a memo dated 10/17/02, my second week at the company, from the manager on the first program I worked on. It described the general format and what I should include in weekly status reports. Now that I think of it, since then I've written about 30 of these "weeklys" between the different projects I've been on during these 7 months. But that was the very first one. I thought about keeping it for memories sake, but didn't. But still... ahh, memories.
If you ever visit the place I work, you will see that every cube has name tags of the people on the outside wall. Generally, these name tags are ordered in respect to the seniority of each person. Already, I find myself as the top name tag at my cube. Kind of weird to think that since moving in here in October, the original guy moved away, I had the cube to myself for a month, a new guy moved in, another new guy moved in, one of the new guys moved out, and just this Monday another new guy arrived. I am a model of consistency, the rock of this cube, I must say.
Finally, I would like to wish a special Happy Birthday to my favorite sister! Remember, you are definitely ranked among the top 3 Chens in my book.
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Top 10 Female Voices
The following is my list of top 10 females with the best voices in the music world. This list ignores all other factors such as quality of songs, personality, and hotness.
10. Norah Jones
A lot of times I hear Norah Jones's sound being described in the media as "sultry" or "sexy", but I personally don't think those words really fit. I would call it "smooth" and "chill", which makes her music so relaxing to listen to. All I can say is, hopefully she makes another album soon, before her first one burns out from being played all the time in my car.
9. Ashanti
The first time I heard her voice was in the song "Always On Time" with Ja Rule. Even though I always hated Ja Rule, Ashanti made that song a whole lot more bearable. Not much to her other than a cute girl with a sweet-sounding voice, but the charm is in the simpleness I guess.
8. Leigh Nash
She is someone who you have to hear live in a small venue to fully appreciate how quality her voice is. I'm still not a big fan of Sixpence None the Richer, but there's no question that she is just one of those people born with a God-given talent to sing and I can't help but respect that much.
7. Gwen Stefani
As far as her band goes, the only fact about which there is no "no doubt" is that she is the sole reason why they are popular (har har). My favorite Gwen Stefani vocal moment is near the end of "Don't Speak", right after "don't ... don't..." and before "hush hush darling".
6. Beyonce
Kelly Rowland's no slouch, but I like Beyonce's voice more. She recently moved up in the rankings after some quality work with Jay-Z in that song "Bonnie & Clyde", plus the remixes she did with 50 Cent solidified her position in my top 10.
5. Sarah MacLachlan
The main reason Sarah MacLachlan is on the list is because you can't make a list of top female singing voices and not include Sarah MacLachlan. I like some of her songs, and don't like some of her others, but like them or not, you gotta admit that she's got one of the best voices out there.
4. T-boz
Although she is only the third hottest member in TLC, she is definitely the one with the best voice. "Creep" and "Diggin On You" are two of my favorite all time songs, not just among TLC songs but in music period, purely because of her.
3. Alicia Keys
After listening to her CD about 5 times a day, every day senior year of college, I already thought she had an awesome voice. Then me and Olivia went to see her at the Arie Crown Theater, and it blew me away. She has mad talent, that's all I can say.
2. Mariah Carey
Her image and skank-level has fluctuated throughout the years, and she's done songs with just about everyone, including Bone Thugs, Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight, and Jermaine Dupri. But one thing hasn't changed over time: the quality of her voice. Not only is it the most recognizable voice out of any of the others on this list, but it is the kind of voice that almost gives you chills to listen to. Good chills, if that makes any sense.
1. Macy Gray
Not only does she have a great voice, but she is sooooooooo fine.
Just kidding.
1. Sheryl Crow
I'm not even really a fan of Sheryl Crow. I only know a few songs, and I don't really like that many of them. "All I Wanna Do" is shoot myself when I hear that song because it is retarded. I got a feeling, I'm not the only one. The duet she has with Kid Rock is a little annoying too. But I gotta say, her voice is pretty much my exact definition of "sexy" when it comes to describing female singing voices.
The following is my list of top 10 females with the best voices in the music world. This list ignores all other factors such as quality of songs, personality, and hotness.
10. Norah Jones
A lot of times I hear Norah Jones's sound being described in the media as "sultry" or "sexy", but I personally don't think those words really fit. I would call it "smooth" and "chill", which makes her music so relaxing to listen to. All I can say is, hopefully she makes another album soon, before her first one burns out from being played all the time in my car.
9. Ashanti
The first time I heard her voice was in the song "Always On Time" with Ja Rule. Even though I always hated Ja Rule, Ashanti made that song a whole lot more bearable. Not much to her other than a cute girl with a sweet-sounding voice, but the charm is in the simpleness I guess.
8. Leigh Nash
She is someone who you have to hear live in a small venue to fully appreciate how quality her voice is. I'm still not a big fan of Sixpence None the Richer, but there's no question that she is just one of those people born with a God-given talent to sing and I can't help but respect that much.
7. Gwen Stefani
As far as her band goes, the only fact about which there is no "no doubt" is that she is the sole reason why they are popular (har har). My favorite Gwen Stefani vocal moment is near the end of "Don't Speak", right after "don't ... don't..." and before "hush hush darling".
6. Beyonce
Kelly Rowland's no slouch, but I like Beyonce's voice more. She recently moved up in the rankings after some quality work with Jay-Z in that song "Bonnie & Clyde", plus the remixes she did with 50 Cent solidified her position in my top 10.
5. Sarah MacLachlan
The main reason Sarah MacLachlan is on the list is because you can't make a list of top female singing voices and not include Sarah MacLachlan. I like some of her songs, and don't like some of her others, but like them or not, you gotta admit that she's got one of the best voices out there.
4. T-boz
Although she is only the third hottest member in TLC, she is definitely the one with the best voice. "Creep" and "Diggin On You" are two of my favorite all time songs, not just among TLC songs but in music period, purely because of her.
3. Alicia Keys
After listening to her CD about 5 times a day, every day senior year of college, I already thought she had an awesome voice. Then me and Olivia went to see her at the Arie Crown Theater, and it blew me away. She has mad talent, that's all I can say.
2. Mariah Carey
Her image and skank-level has fluctuated throughout the years, and she's done songs with just about everyone, including Bone Thugs, Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight, and Jermaine Dupri. But one thing hasn't changed over time: the quality of her voice. Not only is it the most recognizable voice out of any of the others on this list, but it is the kind of voice that almost gives you chills to listen to. Good chills, if that makes any sense.
1. Macy Gray
Not only does she have a great voice, but she is sooooooooo fine.
Just kidding.
1. Sheryl Crow
I'm not even really a fan of Sheryl Crow. I only know a few songs, and I don't really like that many of them. "All I Wanna Do" is shoot myself when I hear that song because it is retarded. I got a feeling, I'm not the only one. The duet she has with Kid Rock is a little annoying too. But I gotta say, her voice is pretty much my exact definition of "sexy" when it comes to describing female singing voices.
Monday, May 19, 2003
Good Tired
After a long weekend, I must say that I am dead tired. It's a good tired though.
Friday, I saw Matrix Reloaded. I thought it was good, except a little confusing and long. Mostly cool fight scenes and good overall plot development. Of course, it wasn't as groundbreaking or revolutionary as the first, but well worth the price of admission.
Woke up early on Saturday and went to U of I. It was a pretty good trip, got to see a bunch of people, hang out like old times, and attend Dennis's graduation. Gotta give many props to Dennis for getting his Masters Degree (Chris Rock: "What, you my master now?"). Also, thanks for letting us stay at your place and taking care of us. One of the best hosts I know.
When I get a chance, I'll post some of the pics I took.
In other news, I am designating the following month as "Be nice to me" month. In honor of this event, I highly recommend that you all be nice to me for at least the next 30-31 days or so. Just a suggestion. Ok, that is all.
After a long weekend, I must say that I am dead tired. It's a good tired though.
Friday, I saw Matrix Reloaded. I thought it was good, except a little confusing and long. Mostly cool fight scenes and good overall plot development. Of course, it wasn't as groundbreaking or revolutionary as the first, but well worth the price of admission.
Woke up early on Saturday and went to U of I. It was a pretty good trip, got to see a bunch of people, hang out like old times, and attend Dennis's graduation. Gotta give many props to Dennis for getting his Masters Degree (Chris Rock: "What, you my master now?"). Also, thanks for letting us stay at your place and taking care of us. One of the best hosts I know.
When I get a chance, I'll post some of the pics I took.
In other news, I am designating the following month as "Be nice to me" month. In honor of this event, I highly recommend that you all be nice to me for at least the next 30-31 days or so. Just a suggestion. Ok, that is all.
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
- Tonight at 9pm CT on ESPN2, be sure to watch Wednesday Night Baseball. Two of the top pitchers on the Chinese Taipei staff square off against each other as they try to impress their owner (me). Hopefully we'll see both Kevin Brown and Greg Maddux put up complete games, with Maddux winning 1-0 on an unearned run.
- I've just been informed that tonight is also the Dawson's Creek finale. The big question is, who will die, Pacey, Dawson, Joey, or the other chick? Well, since I got the inside scoop, my money is going on Joey.
- Now that I have added another thing (my Pocket PC) to the list of "stuff I carry around", a problem arises. Where do I put everything? Especially with summer arriving, I'm not gonna have my many-pocketed coat on all the time. I don't have enough stuff to need a briefcase, but I don't want my pockets to be bulging either. A purse would be nice, but too bad it's unmanly. It would be like that episode of Friends when Rachel gives Joey a man-purse.
- Why is there an "energy drink" called "AMP"? You'd have to be a retard not to know that Amp is a measure of current, not energy. They should call it "Volt*Amp", or better yet, "Watt". (Any NERC certified readers should probably step in and correct me if I'm mistaken)
- I've just been informed that tonight is also the Dawson's Creek finale. The big question is, who will die, Pacey, Dawson, Joey, or the other chick? Well, since I got the inside scoop, my money is going on Joey.
- Now that I have added another thing (my Pocket PC) to the list of "stuff I carry around", a problem arises. Where do I put everything? Especially with summer arriving, I'm not gonna have my many-pocketed coat on all the time. I don't have enough stuff to need a briefcase, but I don't want my pockets to be bulging either. A purse would be nice, but too bad it's unmanly. It would be like that episode of Friends when Rachel gives Joey a man-purse.
- Why is there an "energy drink" called "AMP"? You'd have to be a retard not to know that Amp is a measure of current, not energy. They should call it "Volt*Amp", or better yet, "Watt". (Any NERC certified readers should probably step in and correct me if I'm mistaken)
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Asian Pacific American History Month
How many people know that May is "Asian Pacific American History (/Heritage) Month"? I never even heard of it in my life until yesterday. Now I'm kinda pissed. I can't believe I've been missing out on all the Asian Pacific American hoopla all these years. My May's have been so disturbingly lacking in heritage... what a bummer.
So I looked up info on the whole thing on Google, and learned some interesting facts. The most amusing thing to me was that Asian Pacific American Heritage Month actually started out as Asian Pacific American Heritage Week in the '70s, as the first 10 days of May (why 10 days was called a "week" don't ask me). Then, for whatever reason, the first President George "H-Dubs" Bush extended it in 1990 to span the rest of May as well. Score!!
I guess maybe somewhere along the way in the '80s, Asian Pacific Americans got more popular or influential in this country and white people decided that we deserved a spot along with the other minorities. So now it's not only Blacks, Women, Hispanics, and Native Americans who get to celebrate their very own one whole month out of the year. I too, as a Asian Pacific American now have May to hold onto as mine. It's also cool that we got a 31-day month, whereas Black people kind of got screwed with February. [in voice of Nelson from Simpsons]: ha-ha
Ok, in case you didn't know, I'm just kidding. Well, there really is such a thing as APAHM in May, and that history stuff was true too, but honestly it all couldn't mean less to me, an APA. The whole idea seems pretty cheesy if you ask me. I remember The Onion had a hilarious article in March about "Black History Month Ends As White History Year Resumes", and that pretty much sums up just how meaningless the concept of "_____ History Months" are. But if you are still interested, look it up on Google yourself, there's a lot of info on Asian History that you might find intriguing.
Normally I would take this opportunity to write down my whole spiel on race relations and all that, but I don't want this blog to be super long. See, I'm really trying to keep things short. But know that I do have a lot of thoughts on the subject of race and if anyone is interested in having a heavy discussion, come talk to me in person and we'll have a friendly chat.
*****
Update on the UPS Delivery: As you may have noticed, I did not write an entry about "Why I Hate UPS Online Tracking". This is because I did get my package, as promised by the tracking info on the website. Too bad I didn't have time to play with it much yesterday, but hopefully when I get home today, I will have a chance to check out my toy in more detail. As Chras would say, "GYEAHHH".
How many people know that May is "Asian Pacific American History (/Heritage) Month"? I never even heard of it in my life until yesterday. Now I'm kinda pissed. I can't believe I've been missing out on all the Asian Pacific American hoopla all these years. My May's have been so disturbingly lacking in heritage... what a bummer.
So I looked up info on the whole thing on Google, and learned some interesting facts. The most amusing thing to me was that Asian Pacific American Heritage Month actually started out as Asian Pacific American Heritage Week in the '70s, as the first 10 days of May (why 10 days was called a "week" don't ask me). Then, for whatever reason, the first President George "H-Dubs" Bush extended it in 1990 to span the rest of May as well. Score!!
I guess maybe somewhere along the way in the '80s, Asian Pacific Americans got more popular or influential in this country and white people decided that we deserved a spot along with the other minorities. So now it's not only Blacks, Women, Hispanics, and Native Americans who get to celebrate their very own one whole month out of the year. I too, as a Asian Pacific American now have May to hold onto as mine. It's also cool that we got a 31-day month, whereas Black people kind of got screwed with February. [in voice of Nelson from Simpsons]: ha-ha
Ok, in case you didn't know, I'm just kidding. Well, there really is such a thing as APAHM in May, and that history stuff was true too, but honestly it all couldn't mean less to me, an APA. The whole idea seems pretty cheesy if you ask me. I remember The Onion had a hilarious article in March about "Black History Month Ends As White History Year Resumes", and that pretty much sums up just how meaningless the concept of "_____ History Months" are. But if you are still interested, look it up on Google yourself, there's a lot of info on Asian History that you might find intriguing.
Normally I would take this opportunity to write down my whole spiel on race relations and all that, but I don't want this blog to be super long. See, I'm really trying to keep things short. But know that I do have a lot of thoughts on the subject of race and if anyone is interested in having a heavy discussion, come talk to me in person and we'll have a friendly chat.
*****
Update on the UPS Delivery: As you may have noticed, I did not write an entry about "Why I Hate UPS Online Tracking". This is because I did get my package, as promised by the tracking info on the website. Too bad I didn't have time to play with it much yesterday, but hopefully when I get home today, I will have a chance to check out my toy in more detail. As Chras would say, "GYEAHHH".
Monday, May 12, 2003
Technology vs. Old School
In one of his blogs last week, P talked about the charm of looking up baseball box scores in the morning newspaper. This is a practice which has gotten lost in the midst of today's readily available, live-updating websites like ESPN Gamecast, CBS Sportsline, or best of all, Yahoo StatTracker. But yeah, his opinion is a feeling that I totally share... that even though I've gotten used to having all those Internet services, I kind of miss the good old days of opening up the Tribune at breakfast, going to each box score of every game involving one of my players, and mentally calclating how many fantasy points he got.
I was reminded of this because I have been waiting for a package to arrive via UPS, with my Pocket PC and SD card. Most of us who have ordered stuff online have experienced using a "online tracking number" to see where their package is. Well, here at work I just checked the status of my order on the UPS site, and it tells me that my stuff was shipped out last week from Kentucky, routed through Indiana on Friday afternoon, through Chicago on Friday night, and scanned in at Palatine Saturday morning. It also informs me that as of 7:02 this morning, the package was sent "Out for delivery", which I can only assume means that it should be on my doorstep by the time I get home today.
Well, the point of that story is that even though it's nice to know when your stuff is gonna arrive, it sucks that online tracking robs you of the old school way of doing things. Don't we all remember the times we would race home from school every day, full of excitement to check the mail and see if the stuff we ordered came that day? Even if it didn't, that just made the excitement build that much more for the next day's mail-checking time. The hype would keep building until the joyous occasion when the package finally arrived. Well, with online tracking, all those feelings of excitement are long gone.
Another subject I can think of that technology has changed is music. I have vivid memories of me and my sister patiently waiting by our radios for our favorite song to come on (such as "Achy-breaky Heart"), so we could record it on tape. Seriously, we would just sit there all day, with our fingers hovering over the "Record" button, hoping to catch the song we wanted. Then later we would compare each others' versions to see which one was the best. Now, with mp3's being easy to get, we have no need to do any of that.
The other thing I remember about tapes was all the rewinding/fast forwarding through songs, or how cool the "Auto Reverse" and "High Speed Dubbing" functions were. Sometimes, me and my sis would record the same song over and over on the whole tape (Tag Team's "Whoomp! There It Is" comes to mind), so we wouldn't have to stop and wait for the rewinding to hear the song again. Well, the rise in popularity of CDs made all that obsolete, with the convenience of forwarding tracks quickly and easily. And now, switching between songs or looping songs is even simpler with a few clicks of the mouse on Winamp. Sure it saves a lot of time, but I can't help but to think back fondly on all the hours we spent fooling with those stupid cassette tapes.
I'm sure there's a lot of other examples, but I can't think of any more right now off the top of my head. Plus I'm too excited to think or type, and I'll probably leave work early today so I can go home and play with my new toy. It better be there, or I'll probably end up writing a scathing blog entry on "Why I Hate UPS Online Tracking".
By the way, just because I talk about missing the old school stuff, doesn't mean I would ever give up the conveniences of modern technology to go back. I guess I just like reminiscing... yes that's me, an aging old man, looking back on the primitive '80s and '90s and scowling about how "kids these days don't know how good they have it". Join me in the elderly community!
In one of his blogs last week, P talked about the charm of looking up baseball box scores in the morning newspaper. This is a practice which has gotten lost in the midst of today's readily available, live-updating websites like ESPN Gamecast, CBS Sportsline, or best of all, Yahoo StatTracker. But yeah, his opinion is a feeling that I totally share... that even though I've gotten used to having all those Internet services, I kind of miss the good old days of opening up the Tribune at breakfast, going to each box score of every game involving one of my players, and mentally calclating how many fantasy points he got.
I was reminded of this because I have been waiting for a package to arrive via UPS, with my Pocket PC and SD card. Most of us who have ordered stuff online have experienced using a "online tracking number" to see where their package is. Well, here at work I just checked the status of my order on the UPS site, and it tells me that my stuff was shipped out last week from Kentucky, routed through Indiana on Friday afternoon, through Chicago on Friday night, and scanned in at Palatine Saturday morning. It also informs me that as of 7:02 this morning, the package was sent "Out for delivery", which I can only assume means that it should be on my doorstep by the time I get home today.
Well, the point of that story is that even though it's nice to know when your stuff is gonna arrive, it sucks that online tracking robs you of the old school way of doing things. Don't we all remember the times we would race home from school every day, full of excitement to check the mail and see if the stuff we ordered came that day? Even if it didn't, that just made the excitement build that much more for the next day's mail-checking time. The hype would keep building until the joyous occasion when the package finally arrived. Well, with online tracking, all those feelings of excitement are long gone.
Another subject I can think of that technology has changed is music. I have vivid memories of me and my sister patiently waiting by our radios for our favorite song to come on (such as "Achy-breaky Heart"), so we could record it on tape. Seriously, we would just sit there all day, with our fingers hovering over the "Record" button, hoping to catch the song we wanted. Then later we would compare each others' versions to see which one was the best. Now, with mp3's being easy to get, we have no need to do any of that.
The other thing I remember about tapes was all the rewinding/fast forwarding through songs, or how cool the "Auto Reverse" and "High Speed Dubbing" functions were. Sometimes, me and my sis would record the same song over and over on the whole tape (Tag Team's "Whoomp! There It Is" comes to mind), so we wouldn't have to stop and wait for the rewinding to hear the song again. Well, the rise in popularity of CDs made all that obsolete, with the convenience of forwarding tracks quickly and easily. And now, switching between songs or looping songs is even simpler with a few clicks of the mouse on Winamp. Sure it saves a lot of time, but I can't help but to think back fondly on all the hours we spent fooling with those stupid cassette tapes.
I'm sure there's a lot of other examples, but I can't think of any more right now off the top of my head. Plus I'm too excited to think or type, and I'll probably leave work early today so I can go home and play with my new toy. It better be there, or I'll probably end up writing a scathing blog entry on "Why I Hate UPS Online Tracking".
By the way, just because I talk about missing the old school stuff, doesn't mean I would ever give up the conveniences of modern technology to go back. I guess I just like reminiscing... yes that's me, an aging old man, looking back on the primitive '80s and '90s and scowling about how "kids these days don't know how good they have it". Join me in the elderly community!
Sunday, May 11, 2003
Happy Mother's Day to all my readers who happen to be mothers. I know there's a lot of you moms out there who check my blog frequently, so I'd like to take this chance to say, "Thank you" for being good mothers.
So this morning I woke up early and drove home to deliver a pot of azaleas to my momma. I think she was in a bad mood when I got there, but it never ceases to amaze me what some flowers can do to cheer up a woman. I don't get it, but I do know that her face brightened immediately when she saw the flowers.
At church, there was a special performance by the little kids for the mothers. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was up there myself, but when I think about it, it's been almost 20 years. It's always funny to watch the kids because you see the girls are so well behaved and paying attention, but the boys are all fooling around and pushing each other.
Anyways, since I said I'd write a followup on the last blog, here it is. A page from the big book on Dudo509 Microeconomic Theory.
Advertising And The Economy
I remember a few years ago, there was an ad campaign about why advertising was good. The argument was that advertising would stimulate economic growth by increasing demand for consumer goods. Well, I do believe that advertising increases demand, which is why it is such a genius concept. And I know that more demand equals more spending equals more growth of the economy. But I also think there is a limit to how much advertising you can have before it becomes harmful, and I believe that this applies to our current economic situation.
It seems to me that the long-term result of all this advertising is that our economy becomes falsely-inflated with demand. For example, you can get people to buy more Vermont Teddy Bears by having Eddie & Jobo endorse them. This grows the GNP in the short term, but can this demand for teddy bears truly sustain the economy? In the prosperity of the late 90's, maybe... and maybe during this time it was the collective sum of demand for these teddy bears, for Playstation 2's, for Cadillac Escalades, Prada bags, etc. that was responsible for the ungodly double-digit growth in the economy.
Consumer demand was exploding, probably due in no small part to the hard work and brilliant ideas of advertisers. In turn, corporate executives saw their profits exploding and heavily invested in more, with the expectation that demand would continue to expand.
But common sense should tell us that this kind of growth is not gonna continue forever, that at some point, the bubble is going to burst. The word I used in the last blog was "saturation", and I think it's a good way to describe the effects of advertising on our nation.
The way I look at it, our economy is like a cup of distilled water. Advertising is like sugar. You add some to the cup, stir, and it smoothly dissolves, leaving no visible trace. The result is that your cup of water is sweeter, and everyone is all the happy for their sweetened water. Add a little more, the cup gets sweeter. Keep adding, and adding, and in no time you'll have quite a tasty economy.
But the thing is, anyone who has ever made Kool-Aid and been a little overzealous in the process can tell you that you can't add too much sugar to your glass of water. Add too much, and the excess sugar floats around or settles to the bottom. It's annoying, it's ugly, and it's not what you want for your cup of sweet water.
In a more accurate analogy, our cup of water would naturally grow as the population gets bigger, people get richer, and demand expands along the way. But my point is that for our given economy (cup of water), we're already beyond saturation with advertising and the artificially-generated demand that advertising creates. You might say we're "super-saturated". tee-hee *nerd alert*
Whether ads on buses or atop urinals count as "too much" is debatable, I don't know exactly where we are to draw the line. All I do know is that on the whole, there's way too much advertising for me. And my experience this morning of flipping through 6 radio stations was merely the spark that set me off on the blog I wrote.
Okay, so that was my economic theory. You probably won't find any textbooks out there comparing our economy to a cup of water, but that was the best I could come up with. Econ wasn't my major, so forgive me if none of that made sense and I sounded like a dumbass. Anyone who might have further thoughts on the subject, please make them known... i'm very interested to hear what people have to say.
So this morning I woke up early and drove home to deliver a pot of azaleas to my momma. I think she was in a bad mood when I got there, but it never ceases to amaze me what some flowers can do to cheer up a woman. I don't get it, but I do know that her face brightened immediately when she saw the flowers.
At church, there was a special performance by the little kids for the mothers. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was up there myself, but when I think about it, it's been almost 20 years. It's always funny to watch the kids because you see the girls are so well behaved and paying attention, but the boys are all fooling around and pushing each other.
Anyways, since I said I'd write a followup on the last blog, here it is. A page from the big book on Dudo509 Microeconomic Theory.
Advertising And The Economy
I remember a few years ago, there was an ad campaign about why advertising was good. The argument was that advertising would stimulate economic growth by increasing demand for consumer goods. Well, I do believe that advertising increases demand, which is why it is such a genius concept. And I know that more demand equals more spending equals more growth of the economy. But I also think there is a limit to how much advertising you can have before it becomes harmful, and I believe that this applies to our current economic situation.
It seems to me that the long-term result of all this advertising is that our economy becomes falsely-inflated with demand. For example, you can get people to buy more Vermont Teddy Bears by having Eddie & Jobo endorse them. This grows the GNP in the short term, but can this demand for teddy bears truly sustain the economy? In the prosperity of the late 90's, maybe... and maybe during this time it was the collective sum of demand for these teddy bears, for Playstation 2's, for Cadillac Escalades, Prada bags, etc. that was responsible for the ungodly double-digit growth in the economy.
Consumer demand was exploding, probably due in no small part to the hard work and brilliant ideas of advertisers. In turn, corporate executives saw their profits exploding and heavily invested in more, with the expectation that demand would continue to expand.
But common sense should tell us that this kind of growth is not gonna continue forever, that at some point, the bubble is going to burst. The word I used in the last blog was "saturation", and I think it's a good way to describe the effects of advertising on our nation.
The way I look at it, our economy is like a cup of distilled water. Advertising is like sugar. You add some to the cup, stir, and it smoothly dissolves, leaving no visible trace. The result is that your cup of water is sweeter, and everyone is all the happy for their sweetened water. Add a little more, the cup gets sweeter. Keep adding, and adding, and in no time you'll have quite a tasty economy.
But the thing is, anyone who has ever made Kool-Aid and been a little overzealous in the process can tell you that you can't add too much sugar to your glass of water. Add too much, and the excess sugar floats around or settles to the bottom. It's annoying, it's ugly, and it's not what you want for your cup of sweet water.
In a more accurate analogy, our cup of water would naturally grow as the population gets bigger, people get richer, and demand expands along the way. But my point is that for our given economy (cup of water), we're already beyond saturation with advertising and the artificially-generated demand that advertising creates. You might say we're "super-saturated". tee-hee *nerd alert*
Whether ads on buses or atop urinals count as "too much" is debatable, I don't know exactly where we are to draw the line. All I do know is that on the whole, there's way too much advertising for me. And my experience this morning of flipping through 6 radio stations was merely the spark that set me off on the blog I wrote.
Okay, so that was my economic theory. You probably won't find any textbooks out there comparing our economy to a cup of water, but that was the best I could come up with. Econ wasn't my major, so forgive me if none of that made sense and I sounded like a dumbass. Anyone who might have further thoughts on the subject, please make them known... i'm very interested to hear what people have to say.
Friday, May 09, 2003
Too Many Commercials
I hate when I go through my list of 6 radio stations in the morning, and all 6 are playing commercials. For a second I stopped on the Mix because Eric and Kathy were talking, but then I realized that they were pushing Vermont Teddy Bears for Mother's Day.
I'm convinced that the most evil people in this country are not the lawyers, but those in the advertising industry*. They are probably also the smartest people in this country too, but there's nothing to celebrate about evil genius. These fockers find every way imaginable to increase the amount of ads they can surround us with, and every way imaginable to increase the effectiveness of these ads. Worst of all, they don't care about anything other than maximizing their profits.
Everywhere you look or listen, these people have found a way to fill it with advertising. It's not just billboards, magazine ads, or commercial breaks on TV/radio. It's the sides of buses, banner ads on websites, and even on top of urinals so you can read them while you pee. It's the short commercials like the Coca-Cola Refreshing Moviemakers Award or Celine Dion driving a Chrysler that they show before movie previews, which are actually commercials themselves. Think about that, ads that precede more ads, it's ridiculous.
Not only this, but they continue to find new ways to make their advertising sneakier and more intrusive into our lives. They're not just harmless "click here" banner ads anymore, they are pop-up windows and Flash animations that fly in your face and cover up the article you are trying to read, forcing you to pay attention. You're not free from advertising once the TV show or movie starts, either. There's product placement all over the place, from that Men's Health magazine being read by the dad on Everybody Loves Raymond, to the Mazda RX-8 in X2.
I know that without advertising, many of the things we know in life would not exist. There wouldn't be free TV or free internet sites like ESPN.com and Yahoo. And I have to admit that a lot of ads are pretty well done and entertaining in themselves, not just annoying. Most of the Superbowl commercials end up being pretty clever, and I definitely thought the Aston Martin in Tomorrow Never Dies was cool.
But as they teach you in the first days of economics class, "there is no such thing as a free lunch". Sure, you don't directly pay to watch TV or play Fantasy Baseball on Yahoo. But it should be obvious that somewhere, somehow, they are making money off of you. If it weren't profitable, they would've all been long gone by now. A 30-second spot during the Superbowl wouldn't be worth millions if it didn't somehow cause us to spend more by watching it. For that matter, nobody would pay millions of dollars to Michael Jordan for wearing their shoes, if it weren't bringing back millions more in return.
I'm personally at a point of saturation when it comes to advertising. It would be one thing if the only way it affected me was the annoyance of having to delete all the spam emails or sit through commercial breaks between innings of the Sox game. I'd even be able to accept it, to a certain degree, if the ads subconsciously or consciously made me want to buy more stuff. But I really think it goes much deeper than that. There's way too much advertising, and it is costing us more than the money we spend or the time we waste. It is seriously hurting and draining our society.
The most disturbing thing to me is that advertising controls almost everything we see and hear, which in turn shapes the way we think. This is going too far. We've all heard about the girls who develop eating disorders because they want to be like the impossibly-thin models in the magazine ads, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. With nearly everything in the media being ratings-driven, everything we see and hear is somehow tailored to maximize the exposure and effects of advertising. Sadly, not even the news we watch is immune to its influence. Because CNN has to worry about ratings and profits, we're seeing less and less objective, responsible news reporting, and more and more signs of tabloid journalism, which plays up emotions and stirs up controversy in hopes of attracting more viewers.
The world of advertising is the epitome of capitalism at its best and worst. While it brings us many positive things, in excess it brings plenty of negative results as well. Without further exploding the length of this blog, all I want to say is that we can't only look at the benefits of commercialization without realizing the danger of over-commercialization. And yes, I do consider it a real danger, not just a matter of mere annoyance.
* The evilness of the advertising industry I'm talking about does not include the lovely people whose job is to buy advertising time from the networks for the ad agencies
I hate when I go through my list of 6 radio stations in the morning, and all 6 are playing commercials. For a second I stopped on the Mix because Eric and Kathy were talking, but then I realized that they were pushing Vermont Teddy Bears for Mother's Day.
I'm convinced that the most evil people in this country are not the lawyers, but those in the advertising industry*. They are probably also the smartest people in this country too, but there's nothing to celebrate about evil genius. These fockers find every way imaginable to increase the amount of ads they can surround us with, and every way imaginable to increase the effectiveness of these ads. Worst of all, they don't care about anything other than maximizing their profits.
Everywhere you look or listen, these people have found a way to fill it with advertising. It's not just billboards, magazine ads, or commercial breaks on TV/radio. It's the sides of buses, banner ads on websites, and even on top of urinals so you can read them while you pee. It's the short commercials like the Coca-Cola Refreshing Moviemakers Award or Celine Dion driving a Chrysler that they show before movie previews, which are actually commercials themselves. Think about that, ads that precede more ads, it's ridiculous.
Not only this, but they continue to find new ways to make their advertising sneakier and more intrusive into our lives. They're not just harmless "click here" banner ads anymore, they are pop-up windows and Flash animations that fly in your face and cover up the article you are trying to read, forcing you to pay attention. You're not free from advertising once the TV show or movie starts, either. There's product placement all over the place, from that Men's Health magazine being read by the dad on Everybody Loves Raymond, to the Mazda RX-8 in X2.
I know that without advertising, many of the things we know in life would not exist. There wouldn't be free TV or free internet sites like ESPN.com and Yahoo. And I have to admit that a lot of ads are pretty well done and entertaining in themselves, not just annoying. Most of the Superbowl commercials end up being pretty clever, and I definitely thought the Aston Martin in Tomorrow Never Dies was cool.
But as they teach you in the first days of economics class, "there is no such thing as a free lunch". Sure, you don't directly pay to watch TV or play Fantasy Baseball on Yahoo. But it should be obvious that somewhere, somehow, they are making money off of you. If it weren't profitable, they would've all been long gone by now. A 30-second spot during the Superbowl wouldn't be worth millions if it didn't somehow cause us to spend more by watching it. For that matter, nobody would pay millions of dollars to Michael Jordan for wearing their shoes, if it weren't bringing back millions more in return.
I'm personally at a point of saturation when it comes to advertising. It would be one thing if the only way it affected me was the annoyance of having to delete all the spam emails or sit through commercial breaks between innings of the Sox game. I'd even be able to accept it, to a certain degree, if the ads subconsciously or consciously made me want to buy more stuff. But I really think it goes much deeper than that. There's way too much advertising, and it is costing us more than the money we spend or the time we waste. It is seriously hurting and draining our society.
The most disturbing thing to me is that advertising controls almost everything we see and hear, which in turn shapes the way we think. This is going too far. We've all heard about the girls who develop eating disorders because they want to be like the impossibly-thin models in the magazine ads, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. With nearly everything in the media being ratings-driven, everything we see and hear is somehow tailored to maximize the exposure and effects of advertising. Sadly, not even the news we watch is immune to its influence. Because CNN has to worry about ratings and profits, we're seeing less and less objective, responsible news reporting, and more and more signs of tabloid journalism, which plays up emotions and stirs up controversy in hopes of attracting more viewers.
The world of advertising is the epitome of capitalism at its best and worst. While it brings us many positive things, in excess it brings plenty of negative results as well. Without further exploding the length of this blog, all I want to say is that we can't only look at the benefits of commercialization without realizing the danger of over-commercialization. And yes, I do consider it a real danger, not just a matter of mere annoyance.
* The evilness of the advertising industry I'm talking about does not include the lovely people whose job is to buy advertising time from the networks for the ad agencies
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Ramblings
Yesterday I ate dinner at a buffet for the first time in a long time. Buffets are awesome, but only once in a while because you are guaranteed to leave the place feeling bloated and cursing yourself for being greedy. By the way, if anyone knows whether or not there was an Old Country Buffet (OCB) down in Champaign please let me know so I can settle an argument.
This was followed by a trip to Barnes & Noble in Deer Park. The area there was one of the nicer places I've seen, surrounded by a outdoor mall which reminded me of Danada in the Wheaton area. Besides picking up a cookbook on the "Asian Kitchen", I also did some leisurely reading for an hour or two.
One book I picked up was on war planes throughout history. It had some good background on how bombers and fighters evolved between the various wars of the past 100 years. I especially enjoyed the material on the Northrop B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber and the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. A lot of the stuff on Russian MiGs and French Dassault fighters was interesting too. The bad thing was that they didn't even mention Taiwan's Ching-Kuo I.D.F. It's supposed to stand for "Indigenous Defense Fighter", but according to my dad, it's actually short for "I Don't Fly". Maybe that's why it wasn't included in the book.
Interesting note: In his younger days, the legendary airplane designer Jack Northrop worked in a place run by the Loughead brothers. Later on, he would create the company that became the giant which is Northrop Grumman today. Meanwhile, the Loughead brothers eventually changed the spelling of their name to better fit its pronunciation, and they went on to found the company that has become NG's top competitor in the defense industry, "Lockheed" Martin. Okay, maybe that fact is only cool to me, and a select few others. Moving on...
Another interesting note: Besides humans, the only animal in the world to have a fingerprint that is different for every individual is not the chimpanzee, not any sort of monkey, but the koala. Not only this, but if you took a fingerprint from a koala and compared it to a human fingerprint, they would be indistinguishable. I learned this from Mancow's Morning Madhouse.
Other than the book on war planes, I checked out this book that had the first 10 editions of the original X-men comic book from the 1960's. Man, were these awful or what. The concept was always cool, but the writing in these episodes was so bad it had me laughing out loud. I couldn't make it past the second issue because it was so terrible. Good thing the quality of X-men has increased throughout the years.
Anyways, these are exciting times in the life of Joseph Y. Chen. I now have a cookbook sitting on my desk, a e755 PPC on its way, and this morning before leaving for work I noticed that the Orion Telescope catalog arrived in the mail yesterday. I'm proud of myself for setting goals, and now slowly but steadily executing them.
Yesterday I ate dinner at a buffet for the first time in a long time. Buffets are awesome, but only once in a while because you are guaranteed to leave the place feeling bloated and cursing yourself for being greedy. By the way, if anyone knows whether or not there was an Old Country Buffet (OCB) down in Champaign please let me know so I can settle an argument.
This was followed by a trip to Barnes & Noble in Deer Park. The area there was one of the nicer places I've seen, surrounded by a outdoor mall which reminded me of Danada in the Wheaton area. Besides picking up a cookbook on the "Asian Kitchen", I also did some leisurely reading for an hour or two.
One book I picked up was on war planes throughout history. It had some good background on how bombers and fighters evolved between the various wars of the past 100 years. I especially enjoyed the material on the Northrop B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber and the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. A lot of the stuff on Russian MiGs and French Dassault fighters was interesting too. The bad thing was that they didn't even mention Taiwan's Ching-Kuo I.D.F. It's supposed to stand for "Indigenous Defense Fighter", but according to my dad, it's actually short for "I Don't Fly". Maybe that's why it wasn't included in the book.
Interesting note: In his younger days, the legendary airplane designer Jack Northrop worked in a place run by the Loughead brothers. Later on, he would create the company that became the giant which is Northrop Grumman today. Meanwhile, the Loughead brothers eventually changed the spelling of their name to better fit its pronunciation, and they went on to found the company that has become NG's top competitor in the defense industry, "Lockheed" Martin. Okay, maybe that fact is only cool to me, and a select few others. Moving on...
Another interesting note: Besides humans, the only animal in the world to have a fingerprint that is different for every individual is not the chimpanzee, not any sort of monkey, but the koala. Not only this, but if you took a fingerprint from a koala and compared it to a human fingerprint, they would be indistinguishable. I learned this from Mancow's Morning Madhouse.
Other than the book on war planes, I checked out this book that had the first 10 editions of the original X-men comic book from the 1960's. Man, were these awful or what. The concept was always cool, but the writing in these episodes was so bad it had me laughing out loud. I couldn't make it past the second issue because it was so terrible. Good thing the quality of X-men has increased throughout the years.
Anyways, these are exciting times in the life of Joseph Y. Chen. I now have a cookbook sitting on my desk, a e755 PPC on its way, and this morning before leaving for work I noticed that the Orion Telescope catalog arrived in the mail yesterday. I'm proud of myself for setting goals, and now slowly but steadily executing them.
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
I achieved a huge accomplishment earlier this evening. With a walkoff HR by Jason Kendall, I finally defeated Piya in World Series Baseball 2K3. This ended weeks of frustration. Maybe the next step for me is to beat him when he doesn't handicap his own batting cursor. One step at a time though....
A Toshiba e755 Pocket PC and a 256 MB Secure Digital memory card should now be in the mail, addressed to me. I'm excited, but not for the $600 charge coming on my bill next month. Basically, I expect this thing to be my notepad, mp3 player, phone number/birthday/email organizer, and maybe more functions to be explored. Updates to come soon.
I hate when places close at 9. Lately I have noticed that a lot of places do, such as the library, Best Buy, and the mall. Even though my bedtime is about 10 or 11 anyways, I still believe that every place should be like Meijer, Powerhouse, and Your Mom - always open. tahaaaaa.....
When I hear those annoying announcements like "We will be closing in 15 minutes. Please bring your items to checkout" it reminds me of the old days studying late at Grainger. They would threaten us like "Grainger Engineering Library is now closed. Exit the building immediately. If anyone is found on the premises, they will be reported to Campus Police". As if we were criminals for studying past 1am. Nerds, maybe, but what's the big deal? I've always wondered what would happen if we refused to leave. Would they arrest us on charges of "felony reading"?
More proof that I am becoming too in touch with my feelings: I just saw a Cheerios commercial when a little girl brings a box of Cheerios to her mom and dad in bed and sings "Happy Mothers Day To You" to the tune of "Happy Birthday". Instead of my first reaction being "wow, what a gay commercial", I was like "awww... that's cute." This is not the direction I want to be heading in. To resolve this issue, I will try to watch more episodes of Jackass.
Currently playing on my Winamp: Coldplay - God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
(I haven't done this in a while because I have been writing more at work and I don't have Winamp at work)
A Toshiba e755 Pocket PC and a 256 MB Secure Digital memory card should now be in the mail, addressed to me. I'm excited, but not for the $600 charge coming on my bill next month. Basically, I expect this thing to be my notepad, mp3 player, phone number/birthday/email organizer, and maybe more functions to be explored. Updates to come soon.
I hate when places close at 9. Lately I have noticed that a lot of places do, such as the library, Best Buy, and the mall. Even though my bedtime is about 10 or 11 anyways, I still believe that every place should be like Meijer, Powerhouse, and Your Mom - always open. tahaaaaa.....
When I hear those annoying announcements like "We will be closing in 15 minutes. Please bring your items to checkout" it reminds me of the old days studying late at Grainger. They would threaten us like "Grainger Engineering Library is now closed. Exit the building immediately. If anyone is found on the premises, they will be reported to Campus Police". As if we were criminals for studying past 1am. Nerds, maybe, but what's the big deal? I've always wondered what would happen if we refused to leave. Would they arrest us on charges of "felony reading"?
More proof that I am becoming too in touch with my feelings: I just saw a Cheerios commercial when a little girl brings a box of Cheerios to her mom and dad in bed and sings "Happy Mothers Day To You" to the tune of "Happy Birthday". Instead of my first reaction being "wow, what a gay commercial", I was like "awww... that's cute." This is not the direction I want to be heading in. To resolve this issue, I will try to watch more episodes of Jackass.
Currently playing on my Winamp: Coldplay - God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
(I haven't done this in a while because I have been writing more at work and I don't have Winamp at work)
Monday, May 05, 2003
Updates
Computer - I formatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows yesterday. Would've done this earlier last week, but fortunately realized in time that my original Starcraft CD was at home and I wouldn't be able to reinstall it after formatting. Phew, that was a close one... might have been craft-less for as much a week.
So after church yesterday I stopped by the D-town pad and picked up the goods. Spent most of the afternoon formatting, installing stuff, and changing all the settings back to what I'm used to. For now, it's all running smoothly and no random freezing so far. By the way, if anyone has good cheap anti-virus software to recommend, please do. I got used to getting free McAfee updates as a University student but now I'm just a regular guy who has to pay for this stuff. >:-O
*****
TV - Since I was home, I thought why not bring one of our 4 TV's back to Palatine. So I grabbed the one from the basement, not too fancy or big, but it does the job. The next time I need to get a TV, I've promised myself to buy a flat-screen HD, no less than 27".
Bringing the TV to my room paid dividends almost immediately. Even though the Sox game sucked, the TV made up for it by showing me some quality episodes of Punk'd and Jackass afterwards. I have to say that Jackass is one of the best shows ever. The best ones are where Bam Margera tries to beat up his dad, who is like twice as big as him but never fights back for some reason. Pretty much any stunt with Johnny Knoxville or Steve-o is guaranteed to be hilarious too. Although they are all disturbing at the same time.
Yesterday, one of the guys dressed up in a pink bunny suit and then they sent a trained attack dog after him. Even though I saw that one before, I could not stop laughing because come on, what can be funnier than seeing a big pink bunny being taken down by an angry dog? Just writing about it now and thinking about those images is cracking me up here at my desk. Meanwhile, the other guy in my cube is wondering, what could possibly so funny about 1553 modules and Digital-to-Analog-Converter cards in a VXI card cage?
*****
Telescope - I spent a little time looking up info online about telescopes. Telescope.com is a decent source, run by Orion, which is apparently a major manufacturer of 'scopes. Basically, I learned that there are 3 main types of telescopes. There's the traditional long one where you point the big end to the sky and look through the small end. Then there's the "Newtonian" style which is shorter, and you look through a eyepiece that is mounted near the top end. Finally, there is the short, fat kind that looks and acts like a "bucket of light". It just captures the image and reflects it back and forth inside before it reaches your eye. All three types have pros and cons, which I am still learning about. But over the weekend I talked to Ray (who bought a telescope last year when I still had zero interest in the subject), and he recommended a Newtonian to me. Since I like Ray, I will probably heed his advice.
Also important advice I learned is, don't buy a telescope from Walmart or Target. Those are too cheap to see anything cool, and usually almost impossible to mount and use in the right way.
And yes, once again, I am serious about getting a telescope. I ordered a catalog from Orion and expect to have a 'scope set up and ready to go in my room within a month.
Computer - I formatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows yesterday. Would've done this earlier last week, but fortunately realized in time that my original Starcraft CD was at home and I wouldn't be able to reinstall it after formatting. Phew, that was a close one... might have been craft-less for as much a week.
So after church yesterday I stopped by the D-town pad and picked up the goods. Spent most of the afternoon formatting, installing stuff, and changing all the settings back to what I'm used to. For now, it's all running smoothly and no random freezing so far. By the way, if anyone has good cheap anti-virus software to recommend, please do. I got used to getting free McAfee updates as a University student but now I'm just a regular guy who has to pay for this stuff. >:-O
*****
TV - Since I was home, I thought why not bring one of our 4 TV's back to Palatine. So I grabbed the one from the basement, not too fancy or big, but it does the job. The next time I need to get a TV, I've promised myself to buy a flat-screen HD, no less than 27".
Bringing the TV to my room paid dividends almost immediately. Even though the Sox game sucked, the TV made up for it by showing me some quality episodes of Punk'd and Jackass afterwards. I have to say that Jackass is one of the best shows ever. The best ones are where Bam Margera tries to beat up his dad, who is like twice as big as him but never fights back for some reason. Pretty much any stunt with Johnny Knoxville or Steve-o is guaranteed to be hilarious too. Although they are all disturbing at the same time.
Yesterday, one of the guys dressed up in a pink bunny suit and then they sent a trained attack dog after him. Even though I saw that one before, I could not stop laughing because come on, what can be funnier than seeing a big pink bunny being taken down by an angry dog? Just writing about it now and thinking about those images is cracking me up here at my desk. Meanwhile, the other guy in my cube is wondering, what could possibly so funny about 1553 modules and Digital-to-Analog-Converter cards in a VXI card cage?
*****
Telescope - I spent a little time looking up info online about telescopes. Telescope.com is a decent source, run by Orion, which is apparently a major manufacturer of 'scopes. Basically, I learned that there are 3 main types of telescopes. There's the traditional long one where you point the big end to the sky and look through the small end. Then there's the "Newtonian" style which is shorter, and you look through a eyepiece that is mounted near the top end. Finally, there is the short, fat kind that looks and acts like a "bucket of light". It just captures the image and reflects it back and forth inside before it reaches your eye. All three types have pros and cons, which I am still learning about. But over the weekend I talked to Ray (who bought a telescope last year when I still had zero interest in the subject), and he recommended a Newtonian to me. Since I like Ray, I will probably heed his advice.
Also important advice I learned is, don't buy a telescope from Walmart or Target. Those are too cheap to see anything cool, and usually almost impossible to mount and use in the right way.
And yes, once again, I am serious about getting a telescope. I ordered a catalog from Orion and expect to have a 'scope set up and ready to go in my room within a month.
Saturday, May 03, 2003
I am driving
85 in the
kind of morning that
lasts all afternoon...
just stuck inside the gloom
4 more exits to
my apartment but
I am tempted to keep the car in drive...
and leave it all behind
Cause I wonder sometimes
about the outcome
of a still verdictless life
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why... why, Georgia, why?
I rent a room and
I fill the spaces with
wood in places to
make it feel like home
But all I feel's alone
it might be a quarter life crisis
or just the stirring in my soul
Either way I wonder sometimes
about the outcome
of a still verdictless life
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why... why, Georgia, why?
85 in the
kind of morning that
lasts all afternoon...
just stuck inside the gloom
4 more exits to
my apartment but
I am tempted to keep the car in drive...
and leave it all behind
Cause I wonder sometimes
about the outcome
of a still verdictless life
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why... why, Georgia, why?
I rent a room and
I fill the spaces with
wood in places to
make it feel like home
But all I feel's alone
it might be a quarter life crisis
or just the stirring in my soul
Either way I wonder sometimes
about the outcome
of a still verdictless life
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why... why, Georgia, why?
Friday, May 02, 2003
Friday
Wow, this is the first "real" Friday that I have had in over 3 months. I actually feel like the weekend is almost here and I have the freedom to go to bed as late as I want tonight. Maybe I will play craft, or maybe just watch lots of TV, knowing that I can sleep in tomorrow. How luxurious...
*****
It's hard to believe that May is herre. I've always associated May with "school almost over" feelings. And with those thoughts come the questions of "what are your plans for the summer". I think about my roommates from last year, and all three of them are probably looking ahead to the summer right now. Ray and Dan in grad school, Roi finishing his first year of teaching junior high kids, and they all probably either have plans or are making plans.
But now for me, May is just like any other month of the year. As a matter of fact, summer is just like any other season, except it's hotter outside, there's construction on the roads, and baseball games are on every night. The phrase "summer vacation" holds no meaning to me. For the first time, there's no questions about whether I'll be interning, vacationing somewhere, or taking summer classes, because work goes on like usual.
So as a result, I don't know what to gauge my progress on anymore. It used to be that after finals in May, assuming you passed, it means you successfully completed another year and were ready to move on to the next. This would be the time when you could reasonably and logically declare that you had indeed stepped forward in the past year.
Right now, there's no clear indicator or "measuring stick" for me to be able to say "This is where I was before, and this is where I am now. Look how far I've come." We progress throughout the course of different projects, and we have yearly performance evaluations, but it's not really the same. Maybe the only true test of "passing" at the job is "not being fired". So I guess I'm doing well so far, in my first 6-7 months of working. haha...
Wow, this is the first "real" Friday that I have had in over 3 months. I actually feel like the weekend is almost here and I have the freedom to go to bed as late as I want tonight. Maybe I will play craft, or maybe just watch lots of TV, knowing that I can sleep in tomorrow. How luxurious...
*****
It's hard to believe that May is herre. I've always associated May with "school almost over" feelings. And with those thoughts come the questions of "what are your plans for the summer". I think about my roommates from last year, and all three of them are probably looking ahead to the summer right now. Ray and Dan in grad school, Roi finishing his first year of teaching junior high kids, and they all probably either have plans or are making plans.
But now for me, May is just like any other month of the year. As a matter of fact, summer is just like any other season, except it's hotter outside, there's construction on the roads, and baseball games are on every night. The phrase "summer vacation" holds no meaning to me. For the first time, there's no questions about whether I'll be interning, vacationing somewhere, or taking summer classes, because work goes on like usual.
So as a result, I don't know what to gauge my progress on anymore. It used to be that after finals in May, assuming you passed, it means you successfully completed another year and were ready to move on to the next. This would be the time when you could reasonably and logically declare that you had indeed stepped forward in the past year.
Right now, there's no clear indicator or "measuring stick" for me to be able to say "This is where I was before, and this is where I am now. Look how far I've come." We progress throughout the course of different projects, and we have yearly performance evaluations, but it's not really the same. Maybe the only true test of "passing" at the job is "not being fired". So I guess I'm doing well so far, in my first 6-7 months of working. haha...
Thursday, May 01, 2003
Health
I've never been very body-conscious, but as I get older it seems like I should be more aware of my health. Like I never used to worry about the long-term effects of drinking, but now even when I just have a couple beers, it makes me wonder if my liver is gonna turn out like those horrifying pictures they used to show us in health.
And last month I made the switch to Miracle Whip for my daily lunch, after realizing how bad mayo is for you. Calories: 120. Calories from Fat: 120. Ummm.... sweet. The thing is, I don't remember looking at the label of anything before, but I've been doing it more lately for whatever reason. Not that I'm a psycho calorie-counter or testing my blood pressure and cholesterol every day, I'm just more conscious is all. I feel fine today, but I would like to be fine 15, 20, 30 years down the road too. So I figure it's probably worthwhile to take better care of myself now while it's early.
That means I will try to control my cravings for wings and other unhealthy foods. When I do eat out, I will order water more often and beer less often. My sandwiches will use a lower-fat spread, on wheat bread, preferably with lean white meat.
But all in all, I still think I'm in pretty good shape. At least I have no signs of arthritis yet.
I've never been very body-conscious, but as I get older it seems like I should be more aware of my health. Like I never used to worry about the long-term effects of drinking, but now even when I just have a couple beers, it makes me wonder if my liver is gonna turn out like those horrifying pictures they used to show us in health.
And last month I made the switch to Miracle Whip for my daily lunch, after realizing how bad mayo is for you. Calories: 120. Calories from Fat: 120. Ummm.... sweet. The thing is, I don't remember looking at the label of anything before, but I've been doing it more lately for whatever reason. Not that I'm a psycho calorie-counter or testing my blood pressure and cholesterol every day, I'm just more conscious is all. I feel fine today, but I would like to be fine 15, 20, 30 years down the road too. So I figure it's probably worthwhile to take better care of myself now while it's early.
That means I will try to control my cravings for wings and other unhealthy foods. When I do eat out, I will order water more often and beer less often. My sandwiches will use a lower-fat spread, on wheat bread, preferably with lean white meat.
But all in all, I still think I'm in pretty good shape. At least I have no signs of arthritis yet.
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