Steve Jobs is God!

Damn you Jobs and your crazy ass dreams! I want it!

No Fade to Black

As much as I praise Amy Winehouse's sophomore album, I'm a bit disturbed by how she's appeared in the media,

First of all, she's super duper skinny, tats on on her shoulders and I'm sure other parts. And for some reason, she always wears heavy eyeliner that extends out into cat-like designs on her top lids. Her whole body is skinnier than my damn arm. Secondly, she's most often seen with a white tight tank top, same eye make-up, teased hair - maybe, just lookin' all tired and unrefreshed. Amy, time to either get a stylist or actually listen to the one you got.

For those of you who have yet to partake of this singer's sounds, Winehouse been compared to the likes of Lady 'Day and Macy Gray. She's got this horsey voice that makes her sound more mature than her age. Her beats harken back to Motown's golden era but has got a bit more edgy sassiness.

She recently married Blake Fielder-Civil. According to People.com, the extent of his entertainment career comprises being a gopher for various music videos. Aw yeah. I hate to be pessimistic about these things but, this might sound like a case of one member of the relationship exceding the other's professional success quite quickly. As a result, the other member feels deficient with themselves and...well, I'm sure many of us have seen cases like this before.

I truly do hope Winehouse has a long career, in or out of the limelight.

TV is good again! This is one of the most positive semi-reality shows on TV. Lov Rev Run!

this one could make you squirt milk out your nose.

CHUBBERS!

I LUV THIS KID! HE'S HILARIOUS! Can't wait until Sean can get into as much trouble as Maddux. Times like these really make me rethink the whole statement about not having children.

UCLA here I come...

Well, not completely. I just signed up for a writing course skewed towards copy writing, public and media relations. I'm kind of stoked but the commute from Downtown to Westwood is going to suck major ass. I wonder if my org covers parking, too. This is a good way to ease myself back into school.

alas, my office with a view may come to an end. we're hiring way more people than we thought we were going to and we're running out of places to put them. there's no definite time line at this point but i'm cherishing every moment - haven't quite stopped since the first day i got here. thanks for the blessings, even if it won't last for a super long time. :-)

my power adapter for my little powerbook almost burned noel's finger off tonight. so scary! thank goodness i live five minutes from an apple store. not so happy that i had to pay for the stupid adapter because the genius bar was closed by the time i got there and no one was available to determine whether the little accident is covered under my extended apple care warranty. hint to all, ALWAYS PURCHASE THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. there's a reason why apple stuff never goes on sale. you can usually get your items replaced w/o question with the warranty. i learend my lesson after the whole ipod situation. that's still not solved yet. booo.

A Myriad of Nuptials

We keep throwing around numbers as to how many weddings we really are attending this year and probably next year. Let this serve as something a bit more solid than the random countst that have been mentioned in the past couple of months.

2007
1. RV
2. PA
3. GE
4. Joe's cousin - somewhere in Orange County
5. JB ?
6. DJ
7. CC
8. DB ?
9. JJ - Maui, HAWAII!!!

OMG...kill me.

2008
1. K - Barcelona, SPAIN!!!
2. RR
3. PM - Milan, ITALY!!! -- please let this be next year!

No more people...puhleeeese! Wait until 2010. That should be plenty of time for The Joe's and my checkbooks to recover and it's the beginning of a new decade! Doesn't that sound like a wonderful year to get started on a new phase of your life? I implore you.

Annual Improvements

People tend to make their resolutions at the beginning of each year. Being the ingrained Catholic, I tend to do it closer to the Lenten Season. It's hard to break old habits as much as I'm not devout. I started this practice years ago instead of giving up something with the intention of taking it back on after the Lenten Season is over - like meat. I'm an omnivore for life so that's not an option.

There are tons of new challenges this year. One of them involves getting my mind back into the school mode. All of them involves writing down plans and following through. The more I verbalize them, the closer I'll be.

Positive thoughts all around.

Clear Days in LA

Here's the view from my office today. The rain and winds have definitely pushed out all the yucky smog. Too bad every day can't look like this.

MBA here I come!....deep breath

As much as I swore off business school and never to sit in a business course ever again, I have come to the conclusion that I will get more mileage from an MBA program than a specific MPA or MPP program. I want to stay in philanthropy and possibly the public and community service sector but bring way more to the table.

I have strengthened oodles of skills with my community involvement over the years. My level of care for the public sector has grown to levels I never knew it would. “Sink or swim” has been the main motto every time I get into something new. I do not foresee this changing anytime soon.

So here we go. We’re waiting for replies from various PhD programs for The Joe. If he decides not to go through with it, I’m applying. If he decides to go, then my timeline will be a little longer. For now, I’m going to take a few courses to strengthen the skills I figured (in college) I would pay someone else for when I got older. I have definitely seen the error of my ways. I gotta be competitive, right?

Bad group project flashbacks started to happen when I attended my first info session the other evening. I remembered buzzing noises happening every time the class and professor started droning on about bottom lines and profit margins that had no higher purpose. For this reason, I MUST have a community service/public administration/public policy slant to my program. The potential of going postal would be too high for me if I could not customize a program this way.

Moving forward – I breathe in courage, hope and the true spirit of humanity with the highest intentions of truly contributing to and supporting a better world.

Guilty Pleasure - Top Reality

Woohoo! Another season of the Top Chef is over. Although many of the challenges each chef is placed in doesn't always seem like reality, I still like watching the creative process. Ok...I guess I'm kind of hooked on the drama that ensues, as well. There's just something about watching other people fight! It puts me into that "I'm glad it's not me" mode.

In any case, the right, mature person won - someone who can really run a kitchen and have the respect of his colleagues. (Those who have not seen the show yet, do not read on if you don't want to know the name of the winner.) Stupid little Marcel needed to be kicked down a few pegs before he's really elevated to a level as respected as the executive chef of an establishment. I don't care where the hell the little prick is from. His head needed to be deflated so he can actually understand what it takes to be respected by colleagues in his field.

Bravo Ilan!

being sick sucks! i'm left to my knuddling with my nyquil so 1) i don't get anyone else sick and 2) i can't breathe through my nose and this is the only medicine that's strong enough to get me through the night without completely drying me up. blach! maybe i'll be well enough to get to work tomorrow...

I was reminded today of how my friends and I have always been somewhat gungho to make this world a better place. I don't think I'll ever move away from that frame of mind but I am definitely glad I've gotten more strategic about how we go about "saving the world." Conciousness is a powerful thing. Knowledge is even more powerful. And I am definitely in a position to keep working towards that, on a very global scale.

How sad!

The world was set abuzz this week with the introduction of the iPhone, the next generation of "smart phones" and iPods. As much as I was anticipating this introduction, I was highly disappointed to find that Apple has partnered with sucky Cingular as the service provider. The $499 cost for a 4 gig version and $599 cost for an 8 gig version didn't feel too good either.

I can't deny that the device really is a computer that fits in your palm and pocket. It's a phone. You can use it for phone calls, text/picture messages and visually scroll to check your voicemail. It works like a Blackberry for emails and online access. The browser is laid out the same way it is on the ever so cute Mac and Powerbooks. Google maps comes built in and, again, is the same view as you would see on a computer web browser. And lastly, you have mobile access to your music! Granted, you'll only have 8 gigs of music at the most right now.

What are the major arguments NOT to get it? First generation brands are always most expensive. The cost of the original iPods is definitely a little more than the current generation. They were also a bit more bulky. One of my fellow Mac-addicts who totally feeds my obsession everytime I ask for an Apple-related recommendation, said that the price will indefinitely go down. Since competitors will bid to provide parts for the device, Apple will experience efficiencies in production and customers will see the price decrease. Make sense? I hope so.

Let it be resolved that I will wait for the second generation, as much as I really want to play with it right now! Hell, if the third generation is even better, I think I can be that patient. I didn't get an iPod until the 4th generation. But yes, the new iPhone is ever so tempting.

Apple, Inc., you didn't make me super happy this week. But I wasn't completely disappointed.

In related news, I sent a "recommendation" to Verizon that they need to step up their game. I don't want to switch to Cingular because their coverage sucks more than Verizon. But Verizon's phones need to improve significantly. Don't be number 2 in the country forever!

Renewals

New year, older me and the iPod is still kicking. I got it to work yesterday after banging it on my bed a few times. It's probably not the most ideal thing to do with it but it works for right now. I've also started listening to my music again. I've forgotten how much I love the eclecticsm of music and how much it sparks my different moods.

My birthday was wonderful. It was a test of patience, understanding and flexibility. It didn't turn out as I had expected but in the end, I was with people I love and heard from my distant loved ones. I was reminded yet again of my many blessings. Thank you to The Most High for everything in my life, the good and the not so good. Great things will happen this year, I can feel it. And every year will only be better.

Apple iPhone, pleeeeeeeeease!

So Apple hasn't had the best pr in the past couple of months. Their stock has gone down a little due to the suuposed back dating of stock options, poor Stevie.

Rumors have it that they're going to announce a new iPhone next week at the MacWorld conference. Please don't tease me...say it's true! It seems like a natural progression but I doubt they're going to be cellphone service providers. It would require an entirely new set of operations, staff, expenses, etc. Besides, basic business principles will tell you that corporations the size of Apple should usually stick to their niche products rather than attempt to branch out if they don't have the proper systems in place to do so.

My iPod has been broken for months and I'm going to be in the market for a new cellphone in the next few months. I'm your target consumer, Apple! Make me happy! Just make sure you partner with Verizon to make that phone happen!

Culture for the Ones Who Can Pay for It!

Maya Angelou will be speaking at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on February 23rd. The lowest priced tickets are $50. I know she's an expensive ass speaker to pay for but come on! What the hell is she going to talk about? Am I just being bitchy about this because I haven't seen her speak in YEARS and don't want to pay $50 just to see her speak for a freakin' hour and a half, at best?! What's up Maya?

The LA Music Center has a whole speakers series that individuals can subscribe to. Tickets range between $50-$150. And they scoff at those who are supposedly "uncultured."

first there was the feeling of "something" happening today. then there's the news about the baby girl. then the stupid service reniged on their promise to be at the venue on time. then the call came...i kind of had a feeling.