Sitting on a unremarkable Delta flight from JFK to SFO these are my observations:

1. Checked bags – $25. What is the delta? The overhead storage became full before the plane was half boarded and all remaining passengers are forced to check their bags at the gate; delaying boarding and artificially dictating whose bags were checked and whose were not.

2. $2 for headphones is exploiting unprepared passengers. Given how much they charge for TV shows/movies (see #3) you would think it would be in their best interest to give out the headphones for free to promote spending money on the entertainment.

3. On board entertainment – $2 per TV show $6+ per movie. No free on-board movies, no free TV show lineup.

4. Free Food offerings – Airline pretzels or cookies in bags that look like airline peanuts from the 60′s. Where’s the co-branding? Give me a taste of the latest and greatest from Fritolay or something.

I first heard about William’s story from a friend’s Facebook post linking to a YouTube video titled “Moving Windmills”. Watching the video left me in awe of this kid and what he managed to accomplish with what little formal education and resources he had access to. When I saw that he had written a book I thought it would be interesting to find out how he figured out how to build a windmill.

Reading the book I realized how much suffering, endurance, determination, and resilience it took to get William to that TED stage where he said the words, “I try and I made it”. His success wasn’t simply achievement in the absence of education, but also perseverance in the midst of calamity.

I’m not the type to buy into the value of inspirational stories of those overcoming adversity (read: I’ve never been moved to internalize the actions or achievements of anyone else), but William’s story has changed my outlook and view on life . Seeing William continuing to work to succeed in his goals while simply struggling to survive made me redefine what I think it means to “try”.

[If it's not already clear, I recommend everyone to go buy and read this book].

My much beloved high ceilings have turned out to be my biggest tactical setback. The skeeters can merrily perch themselves up on the ceiling and digest my blood while watching me helplessly agonize over their existence. My other problem has been my slow (i admit it) reflexes. Even though mosquitoes are by no means the zippiest zippers out there, they out maneuver my fly swatter like a Porsche does semi’s on I-5.

Luckily for me, evolution has given me the ultimate trumph card… Ingenuity. So how pretel did I conquer the beasts? A can of compressed air, shaken and sprayed upside down. By disregarding all the warning labels on the can, you cause the liquid coolant to spray out along with the air. Apply this on a mosquito (even one a few feet out of reach) and viola, you’ve stunned them long enough to splat them with your fly swatter. If they’re still too high, give them a few more sprays and they’ll fly around and settle someplace more accessible.

It’s funny, I always make fun of people who buy more than one of the same item – but right now, man how I wish I was one of them.

Strange… (or maybe not so strange considering what you find these days) but there’s a commercial on YouTube for my sneaks.

Adidas Grand Prix Commercial

…now if I could only find a place that had em.

Check out this Flickr Album featuring Lego art. The remake of Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” is my favorite.

…on their recent nuptials. Man, it seems that I’ve been saying this a lot lately. It seems that everyone I know is either getting married or breaking up. I guess it’s a sign of us hitting our… I won’t say it.

Thanks to both of you for inviting me to be a part of your wedding. Also for spending all that time hanging out w/Jojo and me while we were in Taiwan… I’m sure there are a lot of other things you guys could have been doing w/your precious days off. I wish you guys the best.

Here’s the wedding pictures: click here
Here’s some more pictures of the venue where the wedding was held: click here

Here’s an article on How Stuff Works describing everything you’ve ever wanted to know about hangovers. How Hangover’s Work.

In case you don’t have time to read/study/commit to memory this article, here are the highlights:

1. The adage “Beer before liquor never sicker” is true… The carbonation in beer causes your body to absorb alcohol faster.

2. Dark liquors/red wine have the greatest amount of congeners (toxins) and those cause the most severe hangovers. Drinking lighter liquors such as vodka and gin will result in a lesser hangover.

3. Fried/Fatty foods after drinking will just irritate your stomach further; having them before however will slow down your body’s intake of alcohol thus reducing your hang over the next day.

4. Eggs for their cysteine, Bananas for their potassium, and sports drinks for potassium and other minerals are good morning after foods.

5. Fruit Juice increases your bodies energy and increases the rate at which the body gets rid of toxins. They also contain vitamins that you lost from the diuretic effect of alcohol.

6. Take Multi-vitamins for the same reason as above.

7. Avoid Coffee. While caffeine will help your headache since it’s a vasoconstrictor; it’s also a diuretic and will result in you becoming even more dehydrated and thereby increasing your hangover. (Note: there’s also a study that says that drinking coffee helps reduce the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver) – so it may be worth the extra pain.

8. If you’re going to take Aspirin make sure it’s non-caffeinated and acetaminophen-free. Acetaminophen + alcohol causes liver damage.

Obviously, the best way to not have a hangover is to not drink excessively… but since y’alls can’t seem to help yourselves…follow the above and Happy Drinking.

Despite the complaints I’ve had over the years, or perhaps because of it – and all the weekends and late nights spent in that office; it’s hard to fathom Broadlane not being there. I tend to be easily nostalgic about things, but I considering it’s the longest time I’ve ever spent under one roof (except for the house I grew up in), I think it’s fair. Everything else aside it was at very least a pretty damn cool office.
Here’s a photo tribute to my home for the last half-decade. [photos]