Forever? Forever-ever? ...Forever-ever?

I like this new idea from the Post Office:

Post Office Hopes Idea Of 'Forever Stamp' Sticks

I could get down with buying up a bunch and using them over the years - just have to make sure not to loose them. :) Hmmm, I guess it would be an even greater honor to get your face a forever stamp.

(I wonder how this would effect the Post Office's cash flow. If people rush to grab forever stamps, they will get a decent influx of cash upfront (of course they do hemorrhage money every year anyway). )

"Chick Lit" Mashup

I feel a little bad for this Harvard* girl:

Publisher Drops Book Deal With 'Opal' Author

As my friend RJ put it, "She's a little ahead of her time." All she really did was a creative chick lit mashup. She took the best parts of a couple books, flipped them, and made them her own, made them something new. From what I understand, she did it with finesse too. According to RJ, authors should be able to "clear samples" and remix old text. I like his idea. She's like the Kanye West of teenage women's literature.

Down with those pesky little copyrights!!

haha :)

Cheers.

*I feel the adboard would love for her to take this same approach on a final paper.

Keepin it real

I like to read Sheeshamunga, a blog with thoughts and observations by a good friend. She's got some thought-provoking posts and some funny commentary on everyday observations.

Check out her latest post:

Keepin it real: "Normally I am not going to be throwing a bunch of links out here, but this is too important to pass up:

http://thankyoustephencolbert.org/

Watch the clips."

The link is definitely worth the watch (scroll down to the links to 3 video clips). It shows Steven Colbert's speech at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. If you don't know about Steven Colbert's The Colbert Report (or at least The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) you have been living in the dark.

We all could use a little more truthiness.

Enjoy.

Thanks Driver B. ;o)

"Baby Got Book"

I ran across this video while surfing the world wide interweb today:

"Baby Got Book" - Dan "Southpaw" Smith

Yeah, it's what you think - a play on "Baby Got Back." It's a comedic Christian rap about the Bible. At first I was cracking up, then as it keep going (yeah, it's the full song - not just a verse), I was impressed how well he's able to pull off the whole deal. He has some cool one-for-one swaps of words and themes. (Its still had me rolling the whole way through though.)

Check out his website: www.whiteboydj.com

Yo!, I need to get me one of those KJV chains!! :)

Enjoy.

School Days

I am not sure why it's taken me so long to blog this:

I am going to Wharton! - Yippie!! :)

I was refraining from blogging the whole experience until I told my boss, but now I am happy to say: I am headed back to school! I told my boss and my director a couple weeks ago and the formal announcement to our department was sent out last week.

It was a pretty long journey, starting with MLT's MBA Prep program, which is geared toward increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in MBA programs (I highly recommend contacting them if you are considering applying). I applied and was accepted in January '05. Through the program, I worked on my business school application (GMATs, introspective analysis, essays, references, etc) pretty much all of 2005. The process was tough at times, but my couch, Couch Jackson, was very supportive and encouraging, with just the right level of finger-wagging.

In December '05 came the true crunch time. With applications due just after Christmas, I had to buckle down. I had gotten the GMAT out of the way in May, so Dec was a month of essays. I am grateful for the volunteers from the program who read essays, made comments and corrections, etc. I am also grateful for my wonderful friends who took their time to read through my essays as well (Big ups to Desiree - she read every essay for every school! ...well except Wharton, but I still got into the others :) My recommenders were also fabulous. I had one who was unable to complete the recommendation. When I asked my backup, he was able to bang them out in a matter of days, saving my hide!

After pushing the "Submit" buttons, the anxiety and relief were both overwhelming. I couldn't believe a solid year of work was done and out of my hands. I also couldn't wait to find out what my future will be.

I had heard from some schools and was waiting to hear from others when I got the acceptance to Wharton. In that moment, the rest of the schools faded out of focus into the background. Visiting during Wharton Welcome Weekend all but solidified my decision (sending in my deposit truly solidified my decision :)

So it's official, I am going to be in the 125th graduating class from the world's first collegiate business school, established in 1881, the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

God is good.

Amazing Origami

Check out: Robert J. Lang's Origami. It's amazing the things he creates with folded paper! I am sure it took a million years. I am always in awe of such dedication to intricite hobbies.

Enjoy.

(curtesy of Pogue Posts - a blog from NY Times tech author David Pogue)

Next Chapter in the Chronicles of M&M

I am up in State College, PA this weekend on my last trip to see Matt and Molly before they head back west. It's been such a pleasure getting to know them over the years. They are a great couple. :)

Last night two of their friends, Matt and Whitney, came over for dinner. I like those two - another really fun and chill couple. Needless to say, there was non-stop laughter and jokes all night long. We playing a few rounds of Scattergories. I had heard of it, but that was my first time playing. Tons of fun, especially with a larger, creative group.

In other news, Matt got a new toy today: nord lead 2 virtual analog synth. It is crazy fun! We have been playing with it all morning. Matt figured out how to make it say "Yes" - it almost sounds real :)

Check out the action:


Well, M&M, it's been a pleasure hanging out with you guys in State College. I look forward to visiting Omaha again this summer. :) God bless!

Frolicking in Valley Forge

Had a great time yesterday after work. The weather was perfect so Adrienne and I went out to Valley Forge Park with some take out Indian food (which was half bad) and some cheap, boxed wine from the Wine & Spirits store that was next to the Indian place.

Check out the pictures of our sillyness: Frolickling in Valley Forge - Facebook

Mala K Party

My normal routine is to head up to NYC Friday after work, hang out for the weekend, then head back to Philly late afternoon on Sunday. This weekend I broke routine and stayed for Kamala Salmon's party: the Mala K Music Album release of "H"- The Music, Vol 1. It was definitely worth the 6am train ride straight to work the next day. :)

The party was tight. It was held at Libation, and the turn out was pretty impressive - especially for a first party and on a Sunday night. There were performances from the voices on the album, including Kelley Nicole, Soulfege, and Shu.

Nuff respects to Kamala for a good time and great music. I can't wait to see what the future holds for all my friends. They are so talented, and (as my mom would say) they do me proud.

For more info, check out the website: www.malakmusic.com

Gotta love a marathon ...and Keren (gotta love 'em both :)

This past weekend, I took a trip to NYC - surprise, surprise :)

It was my friend Keren's b-day last week, so she had a nice get together at a local bar (well, a couple local bars - we did some hopping). I figured I would come up for the weekend for her party, especially cause I missed the festivities last year. I had a good time and met some more of her friends.

I like hanging out with Keren. She is a good person all around. This weekend was rainy and there was a Godfather marathon on AMC, so we were chillin for the most part catching various parts of the series, on and off, and piecing together the rest from memory.

Yay, Keren. Happy Birthday again.

Hanging with Matt, Mo, and Casey

For St. Patty's Day (hey, I've never professed to being timely with
the post, okay?) I took a quick drive up to State College, PA to hang
out with my favorite newly weds. I was pleasantly surprises to find
out Casey was there the same weekend.

The four of us had a good time. Matt and Molly throw a Party that
Friday night with some of their friends from PSU. As always everyone
enjoyed themselves.

I am so excited for M&M! They are headed back West ... well Midwest, but still. =) I am going to miss hanging out with them when they go to Omaha. But, they are going to have a wonderful time back in their home state. (And I can always come stay at their house... HOUSE!! ...when I come visit)

Yay Matt and Molly!! Congrats!

Sure, I can hear you now.

This is my first post from my new phone: an SE W600i from Cingular. So far i am loving it. I was nervous about switching from Verizon but so far I get better reception every where I go. Yay for new gadgets!! :)

More Lego Fun :)

I previously posted about Bible stories being depicted with Legos. Well check out this aircraft carrier: Lego Aircraft Carrier.

I assembled one of those 3-D Puzzles (Neushwanstein Castle) when my leg was busted back in high school. It took a couple full days to get the whole thing together, so I can imagine the dedication it takes to put together such elaborate creations with Legos.

Enjoy.

(I ran across these aircraft carrier pictures while surfing www.digg.com. - very cool place to start a bored web surfing session. There are some cool links.)

The Ultimate Flying Machine?

Airbus worked with BMW to come up with the interior for the A350. I've got to get me one of the these! :) The business-class ride in one of these planes will be pretty comfy according to the specs quoted in the article.

Check it out @ www.newlauches.com

Enjoy.

The Hardcore. Straight outta Harvard.

Check out this clip of Natalie Portman's gangsta rap on SNL:

Natalie Portman: Gangsta Rap

Yeah, I went to school with her. I think that makes it even funnier. :)

Enjoy.

(Thanks for the link, RJ)

Text Away

From Engadget Mobile today...

Text messaging bigger than Hollywood?:

We find this one a little hard to believe, but according to at least one set of stats, text messaging is a bigger business than the movie industry. Revenues for texting in 2005 were about $75 billion, vs. $30 billion for Hollywood. Text is even bigger than the video game biz, which only brings in $40 billion. And, to top it off, texting has a 90% profit margin. Given that texting is bigger than the movie business, we assume it's only a matter of time before it has its own stars and scandals. Oh, wait, it's already got that, right Paris?
(reference:www.textually.org)

I am not sure of the numbers (presumably all worldwide figures), but if true, thats a cool figure for text messaging. Pulling down that much revenue with 90% margins, the cellphone companies seem to be making out like a bandit (yet Verizon insists on charging extra for every little thing! grr. And another thing, Verizon, if I pay $100 - $200 for a phone, I was all the bloody features it is supposed to come with!!!! ...sorry, I am not pleased with Verizon right now) Somehow, knowing what cellphone companies are making off me isn't going to deter me from texting my friends. It's just too convenient. :)

The City is Mine

D, RJ, RJ's friend, and I went down to Fisherman's Wharf in San Fran today (pictures forthcoming). D and I parked the car at a 1hr, metered spot, and as we were headed to meet RJ and his friend, we saw a spot open up in the free, 4hr parking area. D runs to get the car and I stand in the spot.

Just before D turns the corner, this old guy in drives up in a Jetta. I wave him off. He then rolls down his window down as yells, "You can't save spots. You don't own the city you know!" Just then D pulls up and parks in the spot.

For a moment I felt bad. Then I remembered: the city is mine.

:)

Who's Line with Richard Simmons

Here's another long overdue link. Check out this episode of Who's Line is it Anyway? with Richard Simmons as the guess. This thing had me rolling the first time I saw it.

Enjoy.

Kosovo music video

There are a bunch of links I have been meaning to blog. This is one of them: Kosovo Its a fun take on the Beach Boys song Kokomo. It's not a new video (found it a while back) but I still get a chuckle out of it.

Enjoy.

Lego Bible Stories

Check out this Lego depiction of Bible stories. It is pretty extensive. A guy who goes by The Reverend Brendan Powell Smith took the time to put these scenes together. Definitely impressive - and he keeps adding new stories.

Enjoy.