usefulness of Twitter

trying to play my video game, i could not connect to the network. i wasn't sure if there was a problem with my system, internet or if the playstation network was down... so i decided to search twitter and see if other people were going through with it... and every 5 seconds or so, people would post that they could not log on and also show the same error code i was getting.

the very first time i found anything useful or something i cared about on Twitter.

my tennis skills

have diminished quite dramatically.

police foundations

if you put the sticker on the car after you give, they actually do help when you get pulled over... ex-deputy chief just told me.

National Pride

I have to admit that I was not rooting for Yuna Kim. Not because she wasn’t great, but because so many Korean-Americans were so passionately supporting her. Let me clarify. I have no problem with Koreans living in the US rooting for her. But it doesn’t seem right to me that Koreans born in the US were rooting for her and not the American skaters. I know it’s just a personal problem that I have, but I really dislike when ABCs or ABKs (is that a term?) just think of themselves as Chinese or Korean. You are American too! It’s fine to have national pride for your parents’ home country, but you should have some pride for your home country as well. That’s right, China and Korea are your parents’ home country; the USA is your home country. Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent. Back to figure skating.

Yuna Kim was expected to win. She was under enormous pressure. The weight of her whole country was on her shoulders. She had to win a Gold medal. If she didn’t, she would lose all of her supporters and sponsorships. Okay, I have three issues with that:
1) South Korea had never won a medal in figure skating. Why would Silver or Bronze not be good enough? Why must it be first place or nothing for Asians?
2) Regardless of whether she won Gold, she is an amazing skater. Why would she lose all her sponsorships (see #1)? And even if she lost all of her sponsorships, boohoo, she is a millionaire. She has already made $8 million in endorsements!
3) Even if she became a disappointment to her country (again, see #1), her home may be in Korea, but she lives and trains in Toronto. She could just stay in Canada permanently. I don’t remember the exact statistics, but I think it’s something like 60% of Olympic athletes train in the US or Canada, and about 40% stay here and never return to their home country after the Olympics.

After watching the short program on Tuesday night, Americans Mirai Nagasu and Rachael Flatt were great, but Yuna Kim, Mao Asado, and Joannie Rochette were clearly the best. By the way, why was Yuna Kim called Kim Yu-na, while Mao Asado was called Mao Asado? Isn’t Mao her first name and Asado her last name? Shouldn’t they consistently put last names first for all Asians or just stick with first names first for everyone? Another random question – I wonder if Japanese Americans were rooting for Mao Asado, who is Japanese, or Mirai Nagasu, who is Japanese American. Probably Mao Asado since Asians like to root for winners and not the underdogs. On the same note, I wonder if countries with Olympians that aren’t actually from that country still feel national pride. For example, the ice dancing pair, Chris and Cathy Reed, are American, but competed for Japan. Their sister, Allison, competed for the Georgian team, but has never even been to the country of Georgia before.

Anyway, during the free skate on Thursday night, Yuna Kim’s performance was perfect - technically and artistically. While other skaters slowed down as they approached their jumps to steady themselves, she threw herself into them at full speed, yet touched down with such lightness. Her skating, connecting steps, footwork, and combination spins were beautiful. She was the obvious winner and got a ridiculous score. You could really see that the large weight had been lifted off through her smiles and tears. Mao Asada had to skate next and try to top that. She was close, but then she stumbled on some ice going into a triple and was forced to cut it to a single. It didn’t seem fair, but I guess that’s life. You could tell she wasn’t satisfied with her performance. She didn’t even crack a smile when they announced she was in second place.

Joannie Rochette was next. Her mom died of a heart attack four days before the competition. She decided to go ahead and compete. She was very emotional, but skated passionately, and was truly the picture of courage. Finally, it was Mirai Nagasu’s turn. She was great, but definitely not at the same level as Yuna or Mao. I think she could be a star in 4 years. Although this would be the first time the US didn’t medal since the 1960s, I was glad Mirai didn't surpass Joannie. How could you not root for Joannie? She deserved to medal. Yuna was so cute on the podium. She absolutely deserved to win, and I was definitely happy for her. But I dreaded seeing all of the facebook posts that would say "we won!!!" In the words of Andy during another Olympic event, "WE won?! Who’s WE?! THEY won. WE got second." Go team USA! :-P

Innovation

It's all relative. In health care, we think having electronic medical records is so innovative, but it's really not. We can use ATM cards in any bank machine in the world and withdraw cash, yet we can't go to another hospital and access our health records.

Learned a lot today from LEAD...

good quotes:
- turning point of a leader is when he stops saying "we should do something about that" to "I'm going to do something about that."
- "passion and action" - Lisa Borders

i  really need to find what i am passionate about in the community and go all in. right now, i'm really leaning towards helping small businesses...

South Korea

i like how they rally around their own... but i think they do it a little too much.

something about my wife... that i have to re-learn all the time

she isn't a team player

political agendas in the work place

is there any way to separate personal political agendas from doing what's best for your company? is this possible?

getting past the plateau

this is going to sound a bit conceited but when it comes to things that involves some type of skill, i would say i'm above average and have a pretty quick learning curve. for example, i would say i'm pretty decent in tennis and probably better than most people. i would also say i'm better than most at video games, musical instruments and sports. maybe even typing.

(sidenote: sounds real cocky, i know... but i should also mention that i am really horrible at more things than i am good at... like dancing. i really suck at dancing. and cooking.)

however, no matter how much time i spend on one thing, whether it is tennis or video games, i reach a plateau that i cannot seem to surpass. it's like the tortoise and the hare. i have an all out sprint and out in front, but as time passes, i'm just in the middle of the pack. i feel like i just don't have what it takes to be at the very top. i feel like i'll always be just "good enough."

Blocking

Andy and I are taking an improv class, where we are learning about the basics of improv and group dynamics. It is definitely out of my comfort zone, but I have to admit, it is actually pretty fun. A couple weeks ago we learned about "blocking," which is saying no to someone's idea or denying what they are trying to put forward. Here are some examples:

A: Let's go for a swim!
B: No, I hate swimming.

A: Let's go for a swim!
B: We can't, the pool is empty.

A: Look at my new pet rabbit!
B: Rabbits are stupid.

A: Look at my new pet rabbit!
B: That's not a rabbit. That's a pig.

They are kind of funny, but it shuts down possibilities and prevents the scene from advancing. We practiced doing some blocking scenes and I was really good at it. Andy realized that I am a natural "blocker." He always knew that saying no comes easily to me, but loves having a term to put with it now. Haha!

At the end of every class we play a "99 ___ walk into a bar" game. Here are some good ones I came up with (after class):

99 cars walk into a bar.
The bartender says, "You're just an accident waiting to happen."

99 meals walk into a bar.
The bartender asks, "Why are you all smiling?"
The meals say, "Because we're happy meals!"

99 straws walk into a bar.
The bartender says, "You suck!"

french phrase of the day calendar

my french phrase of the day calendar is actually pretty darn accurate.kinda scary actually.

today's phrase: j'ai un mal de tete terrible (i have a terrible headache).

leadership

in all my previous companies, i never really cared who the executives were and what they did. all i knew was i got a paycheck for doing my job. i couldn't even tell you their names right now. i never understood why my fellow coworkers would always want to attend company town hall meetings and cared so much about what our leadership did. all of a sudden i care and not sure why.

Color Trends

I am taking an interior design class to learn the basics of furniture placement, use of color, texture, lighting, etc. Last week our instructor told us about the Color Marketing Group.

Ever wonder why every other car you saw in the '90s was silver? Or why your parents had an avocado green refrigerator in the '60s? Or why hotel rooms were mauve in the '80s? Well, you can thank--or blame--the Color Marketing Group, a 1,700-member international, Virginia-based, association that has dictated color trends since 1962.

The organization has semi-annual conferences where they forecast color trends up to 3 years in advance for all color-related consumer products and services. Factors that influence the direction of color range from social issues to politics, the environment, or the economy:

• In the late '90s/early '00s, colors and design were very bright, modern, and contemporary.
• After 9/11, there was a turn back to warmer and more traditional looks and colors of browns and beige.
• In 2003-2005, blues and turquoises became popular because they were calming and relaxing.
• In 2005-2007, reds, oranges, and yellows were big because the upcoming 2008 Olympics in Beijing and growing economy in India drew people to “ethnic brights.”
• In 2007-2009, greens were popular as people became more environmentally conscious and eco-friendly. The colors ranged from earthy green to lime to dark forest green.

Now grays are the hot color for 2010. Due to the volatile economy, the general consensus is that the safe color is neutral. However, slate and charcoal grays are the new neutrals. Browns and beige are out. Colors are heading back to modern and contemporary, but mixing with colors and styles that recall simpler times. Pops of color are being added as a pick-me-up. From pewter to ash, grays are getting put together with splashes of pinks, blues, and violets. Grayish purples are really popular this year.

Isn’t it crazy how much power one organization has over all industries, including fashion, textiles, home furnishings, interior design, graphic design, and even car manufacturers?!

South Koreans and Speed Skating

Koreans are real good at speed skating... but why that sport? so random.

being a boss

means you have to manage your time even more diligently and have no way out of dealing with office drama.

Deep Thoughts

Our blog title was inspired by "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey" and "Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley" from SNL. While Andy will be posting daily lessons-learned, I will only be posting significant (or interesting, random, silly) thoughts and observations. Here are some of my favorite Jack Handey quotes:

• Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, you'll be a mile from them, and you'll have their shoes.
• Children need encouragement. If a kid gets an answer right, tell him it was a lucky guess. That way he develops a good, lucky feeling.
• Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.
• I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it.
• I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they chose a king, they don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas.
• If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."
• If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
• If you're in a war, instead of throwing a hand grenade at the enemy, throw one of those small pumpkins. Maybe it'll make everyone think how stupid war is, and while they are thinking, you can throw a real grenade at them.
• It's true that every time you hear a bell, an angel gets its wings. But what they don't tell you is that every time you hear a mouse trap snap, an angel gets set on fire.
• Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
• Somebody told me it was frightening how much topsoil we are losing each year, but I told that story around the campfire and nobody got scared.
• Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door.
• Sometimes when I feel like killing someone, I do a little trick to calm myself down. I'll go over to the persons house and ring the doorbell. When the person comes to the door, I'm gone, but you know what I've left on the porch? A jack-o-lantern with a knife stuck in the side of it's head with a note that says "You." After that I usually feel a lot better, and no harm done.
• To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other.
• To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kind of scary. I've wondered where this started and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus, and a clown killed my dad.
• To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" You can say, "Sorry, got these sacks."
• Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny.
• Whenever you read a good book, it's like the author is right there, in the room talking to you, which is why I don't like to read good books.
• When I was a kid my favorite relative was Uncle Caveman. After school we'd all go play in his cave, and every once in a while he would eat one of us. It wasn't until later that I found out that Uncle Caveman was a bear.
• You know what would make a good story? Something about a clown who make people happy, but inside he's real sad. Also, he has severe diarrhea.

defragging computers

trying to defrag a computer is very time consuming, mostly because my pst files are over 10GB... and i have 3 of them. compacting a pst file is the same as defragging it...same thing, different terminology.

the purpose driven blog

i had a thought the other day... that i should really start recording realizations. i hate learning them over and over again, only to find myself no wiser or better. so i have decided to make a commitment to myself and, as i overheard on MARTA yesterday, "learn something new everyday." i am going to attempt to learn something new every day, and log it in this blog. it could be as small as learning how to say "shoes" in chinese or something life changing. who knows what will become of this, but at least i will try.

fair warning: some of the stuff is going to be incredibly stupid and obvious.