Happy New Year to all my fans out there (Jen). Yes, that's right -- I have fallen off the blogging horse once again and not even the new year was able to get me back on it. But I'm here, with an update.
Work has been hectic (how many times have we heard that before) but good. I wrapped up a very successful innovation project, and I have been assigned the lead role for managing Coffee-mate liquid. It should be a pretty brutal yet exciting next few months. I have no idea how I managed to achieve success in innovation, so I am really walking into this blind. Either way, I am blessed to find myself in this position.
In other news, Gloria and I also welcomed the new year by buying our very first home! We got a pretty good deal on it, and we're pretty stoked. After purchasing the place, my current apartment's flaws really became more apparent. No insulated walls, minuscule washer/dryer, creaky floors. Needless to say, we can't wait to move in. We are currently in escrow and if all goes well, we'll have the keys on Feb 8th!
Here are some pics of the living room, dining room and kitchen, with the model furniture. It is a 3-bedroom condo, and is pretty spacious. The only thing that I would wish for is more kitchen cabinets so it's off to buy a buffet table.
I'm a visual person so it's ground-breaking news anytime I pick up a book. Ironically, I learn so much when I do read that it's a wonder why I don't do it more often.
I've started to read "Made to Stick" by Chip & Dan Heath. As the title suggests, it's about what makes messages stick and why some messages, both true and false, are more easily remembered than others. The book starts by presenting some facts that seem like common knowledge: - Coca-Cola rots your bones - The Great Wall of China is the only man-made object that is visible from space - Strangers tamper with Halloween candy by putting razors in candy baskets
These all sound like very realistic facts but believe it or not, they are absolutely false.
Let's look at the Halloween fact. At one point, sociologists went back and researched every reported Halloween incident since 1958 and found no instances where children had been harmed due to strangers tampering with candy. Yet, this story caused parents to worry and even drove California and New Jersey to pass laws against candy-tampering. Totally false, and it looks like a total waste of legislation and tax dollars! (not mine -- I'm Canadian)
Ah, but the Great Wall fact is true, you're thinking to yourself. Well, as the brothers Heath point out, "The Wall is really long, but not wide. If the wall were (truly) visible, then any interstate highway would also be visible, and maybe a few Wal-Mart superstores as well". Yes, that's right -- FALSE! And of course, we now have Google Maps to prove that this is indeed false.
My wife, Gloria, did not find as much amusement in these facts as I did. In fact, she insisted that Coca-Cola does rot bones. Her 2nd grade teacher even put actual teeth in a cup of Coke and they eventually dissipated. She saw it with her own eyes, she claims!
And I think that is the point of the book -- Gloria's 2nd grade teacher delivered his message in a very relevant manner. Chances are, teeth that are connected to a body are constantly nourished, which prevent them from rotting. But by delivering the message with "dead" teeth, the teacher altered the message slightly to make it stickier and have a lasting impression on the kids.
I find this fascinating. I mean, it pretty much means that if you truly understand what is important to your audience, you can craft your messages to make them meaningful and stickier. Imagine how hour-long presentations and retardedly-long emails would be enhanced! I'd probably pay attention and remember half the stuff.
i went to foot locker with the intention of getting some adidas shoes. for years, i've always bought nikes but after attending UCLA (an adidas school) i was down with the 3 stripes. i mean, i have a bunch of UCLA/Adidas gear and if i'm rocking ucla/adidas shorts and nike shoes, i've been told that i'm cross-dressing -- can't have that.
so there i stood, ready to buy some adidas shoes when it hit me: adidas shoes at foot locker are freakin' ugly. nevermind that footlocker is nike-biased (huge nike display at front of store, "house of hoops" joint-venture between FL and nike), but before this weekend i thought adidas was up and coming; with a selection like this, i stand corrected.
in any case, i got some air max 360's that glo pointed out to be the best looking shoes in the store (yea, who cares about technology). and of course, since she pointed them out, she had to get a pair too! now we'll be totally retarded and rock identical shoes at the gym. holla!
P.S. can you believe this is glo's first pair of nike shoes ... ever?! as a runner she hates nike shoes but i guess living with me for 2 months has gotten her to see the fashionable side of sport. ha!
i decided to start building my linked in contact list, and in doing so, revived a ton of memories. some of my best years were spent working on Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flex Builder, where I met some incredible individuals.
Dexter, from the previous post, was one of the first with whom I actually exchanged more than a standard template greeting, and look at how fun that was. Another ex-coworker was Mark Anders, a former VP of my group. He was in charge of building ASP.NET and has some true passion for building RIAs (which prompted his move to Macromedia). Mark started on Flex/Flex Builder and he has moved on to yet another exiting endeavor: Thermo.
Reading some of my old coworker's blogs and watching the video of MAX made me really miss working on cool technologies with some really passionate folks. If anyone from Flex Builder 1.0 is reading this -- what's up!
I got an email from an old friend and colleague whom I haven't seen or spoken with in a while. pretty nuts!
while preparing to ride elephants in northern thailand on my honeymoon, i was in a small conversation with someone in the tour group and mentioned that i used to work at Macromedia.
"Do you happen to know someone named Gabriel Chua?"
I had to pause a minute before i realized they meant 'Gabe'. the world is pretty goddamn small, gabe. -dexter
passion richardson, marion jones' relay teammate who might lose her bronze medal from the 2000 olympics, says that she was not taking drugs then and should not be penalized for jones' mistake. you gotta love her logic.
she claims she should keep her medal because she was not on 'roids. but has she forgotten the dynamics of the relay race? perhaps, because she fails to see that the team did not win fairly; it was a team race, so the team is penalized. i don't think that's so hard to understand. if one person on the team was disqualified during the run, the team loses and no one gets a medal.
she then goes on to say,
"I mean, you don't know what was going on on the other teams, so how do you really rectify that situation?" Richardson said. "There's really no positive outcome in either way that it goes."
fantastic! if we were to go and judge everything on hypotheticals, then why even give out medals!? you have to wonder how someone could actually hear this argument as they are giving it to reporters and NOT think that it doesn't make any sense.
The new TV season is upon us and, needless to say, Glo and I are hooked. This is my first time with a DVR and while they say having one makes TV viewing more efficient, I find myself watching WAY more TV than I should. Yes, I can skip commercials and watch TV on my terms, but I also end up watching EVERY episode of Rob and Big, Making the Band 4, Punk'd, Top Gear, Unique Whips ... the list goes on.
Then there are the regulars... Monday: Chuck, Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, CSI: Miami, Heroes Wednesday: CSI NY, Top Chef-soon-to-be Project Runway Thursday: CSI, Without a Trace, Big Shots Friday: NUMB3RS, Las Vegas
If I had to pick a top 5 for the season, I'd probably go with: Heroes, Big Shots, CSI NY, Chuck, and Two and a Half Men, in that order
as for CSI: Miami, Horatio needs to stop being so damn dramatic, eliminate those abnormal pauses and speak like a normal human.
