Friends are the best treasure

Friends are the most important thing whether you're a jail house bird, or a Billionaire. When you remember your best friends, you don't remember caring about how tall they were,
how beautiful, or what hobbies were in common. You remember the moments that made you think, smile, and feel happy.

What doesn't matter:

• Education
• Height
• Beauty
• Income level
• Ethnicity

Me:Art

When I see an art piece, I don't just look at it, feeling nothing. I don't glance at it and pass it by. I walk up to it and stop... I experience it. I put myself inside of the art and in that moment, I feel it inside of me. So I basically want to steal fancy art and have sex with it. Join me some time, let's accost some art!

I had babies!

8 baby birds came in to my life. My father commented that he'd heard about a lady that made really good money by releasing white homing pigeons at weddings. He was ok with the idea of me cordoning off a quarter of his prize winning back yard, to put up an ugly bird coop. So I did! He never let us have pets. Years of being a father (and putting up with our shit) had softened him.

They loved to fly circles around the house, and I began training within six months.

I wanted my brother to see them.

Unfortunately, he died and came home as ashes in a box. The first time I ever did a release for an event was for his funeral. I like to think that he saw them then.

A friend made fun of me, "It looks like a GUY lives here!" So the next time she visited, I told her that I heard a strange noise coming from my window. tap tap tap. When I opened a window, there was this bird staring me down and looking angry. He said, "I got my nest right outside your window and yesterday this place was a mess. My wife left me... I think that's YOUR fault!"

SO I cleaned my room right away, and his wife came back. He was so happy that he left me a present, go open the window... So after hearing my crazy story, she opens the window. It's a chocolate bar, but it's been frozen. I say, "Oh my god, it's frozen, there's only ONE thing to do, GIVE me the candy!" - And I take out a hammer and gleefully pulverize it right in front of her.

Finally, I take the chocolate devastation and say, "Now follow me!" - we walked to a nearby restaurant that serves ice cream. Yup, we dusted the ice cream with frozen chocolate from the birdman. The moral of the story? - Have fun, be creative. I made someone smile and laugh so hard they were snorting their snot.. all for a few bucks. In life, you're going to meet many people that might give you a chocolate bar. Some might even give you the expensive chocolate. But only a few friends will give you awesome memories. That's going the extra smile!

My week

I spent a lot of time up in the mountains at Lucky Peak. Jet skis, beer, 13 people, 7 dogs. I connected more with the dogs than the people. The people were all kind and accepting, however they had a typical sense of humor and good conversation. I found myself yearning for a cup of coffee and a late night conversation about ethics, philosophy, psychology... you know, something deep.

Today, I connected with my second niece. We went to the city's 150's Birthday celebration, then went shopping. I enjoyed talking to her about fashion: shoes, whatever. She'd point out all the outfits she liked, and I was really impressed. She never asked me to buy anything, and everything she liked was tasteful. No slutty gear for this 14 year old girl. I feel proud of her, and think she's developing into a fine person. She talked a lot. I forgot how much a kid can talk... about everything, jumping between subjects in a random fashion.

Technical Issues - irritations - WIP

List WIP

Begin copying files, windows knows how much space is needed... 20 minutes later, it tells you that you don't have enough space at the destination drive. It could tell you in the beginning.

At airport, departure board shows time of departures, until time remaining for each departure. Which one introduces more human error and steps to find out a traveler's ideal timing? We've been in the digital age for years, but have never updated the way we manage departure boards. Ideally, a hybrid system would show both departure time, and time remaining.

eBay, 20 people bid on something, one wins. That means 19 losers wasted time looking to find something, and waiting after their bid. That's not sustainable, people will eventually get frustrated and leave. The ideal solution to reach market peak price without loss or guesswork is for a seller to list a starting price and and end price. As the duration for their auction goes down, the 'buy now' price goes down. Simultaneously, allow  max price offers, which are publicly visible and binding.

Go to your shower, fill a bucket with water. You accidentally push a lever down at the end of a spiggot. Now you're taking a shower instead of filling the bucket. Happened to you too many times? That's because the action of the lever should be reversed. That way, if it's ever accidentally activated, then it's in 'bucket mode' and not ' shower mode'. Shouldn't the least risky mode be the one which is most easily (or even accidentally) activated?

Go to website, begin to fill out form, time out, have to relog, all information lost. First, generous timeouts save time and frustration, second... mouse movement can be seen by JAVA, that makes it easy to know that someone is still active and that their session time should be refreshed (Do NOT rely on POST/GET events to refresh session time, rely on user activity such as mouse movement.)

Just in case I ever become too important, some guy will find this post and quote it into my biography.

A person says, "Would you move to Singapore" and I say...

"Yes, I never lead an opportunity by saying no." - You could lead with "How about Siberian winters and something involving my unmentionables in a vise." And I will at least tell you... I'm going to hear you out. Not that I got anything against Singapore.

And let me tell you... you'll never know how completely crazy people really are... unless you have the patience to tell everybody 'yes', grab a lemonade, and wear that nodding smile which says, "and there's also a bonus for hiding dead bodies... Yes sir, wonderful sir, do go on!"

So, all you people who say no too fast. You've been missing out.
Never lead the opportunity of fully living your life (or realizing your success), by ever telling someone "no" too quickly.

Things that are good - WIP

This is a working list:

Horchata
meditation
dessert
music
being in the now
not taking life too seriously
patience

Bad Joke

So a Wallstreet banker says, "I really wish I could have a job right now."
A vagrant overhears him and says, "Serves you right, economy wrecker!"
And the banker says, "No, a hand job, you idiot. Tsk! Why would _I_ be out of a job?"

Whoa

Now, I’m sure many of you have encountered little shits in supermarkets. Little kids running about and knocking things over, being rude, walking all over their parents, you know the kind. But the worst are the biters. Yes, those little cunts that feel it is okay to bite you whenever they feel like it.

Okay, here’s the best part. A biter got me today when I was grocery stopping. He broke the fucking skin, too. This was when the gears started turning, the moment I saw a tiny sprinkle of blood on the little shit’s teeth as he was grinning at me like the little cunt he is. I made my eyes get wide, and started screaming “SHIT! SHIT!.” Now, my good friend, Tom we’ll call him, was there too, and he instantly picked up on it. He started shouting “FUCK! MAYBE HE DIDN'T GET IT! FUCK!.” By now, the kid is scared shitless and starts crying, and instantly, Mom appears out of nowhere and starts getting pissy at us for yelling at her kid.

Here’s the kicker, I look her straight in the eye and say, “Maam, get your son tested as soon as possible, he just bit me and I’m… I’m FUCKING HIV POSITIVE.”

And now there is silence. Not a peep in the entire store. The brat knows he just fucked up big time because his mom isn't defending his ass. She just stares at me wide eyed. I walk away from them, buy my shit from the wide eyed cashier, all the while blood is dripping from my calf, making a nice little trail on the floor. And, just s we leave, we start to hear the mother sobbing. Sobbing like the cunt she is.

I have never felt any more satisfaction than the moment I heard that sob.


-----------------------------
This is just a repost story.

Tim Burton

I love Tim Burton. He's so unique, and he makes dark things so beautiful. The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride... 100% wow. He captures the dark parts of us and weaves a story of beauty for them which makes them feel validated. For example, Corpse Bride has a lot of loneliness, rejection, jealosy, and it's about resolving these dark emotions. The story starts so sad, and I like that because it's somehow more honest and true to life.

Nobody else is doing that much.

Fashion

This is from a world famous fashion school in the UK (St Martins graduates show off their stuff by doing a catwalk fashion show. This is the 'future' of fashion.

Yup, that's a fish. Animal rights groups are in an uproar. Wearable pets is a little inhumane and just isn't a good idea, but this gets me thinking....

Quick! Help me do some hip crowdfunding for wearyourpets.com - It's time to embrace our fashion future! At my website, you can buy a fashionable accessory 'bird walk' that just sits on your shoulders, giving your bird the luxury experience of walking completely around you head. Yes, that's a full 360 degree bird walk. It will also have a designer poop chute that's actually a teflon cloak so bird shit just slides right onto your floor...

You know, I thought that purse-doggies were a bad idea, but now I'm thinking we should probably just sell purses with the doggies ALREADY INSIDE of them. A masterful pairing of pootch and handbag, come to 'Doggiebag'. My best customers will be trophy wives who are paired with sports cars and big hair. Come on people, let's EVOLVE your fashion. You're so drab! Oh, you need a purse doggie!



I hate high fashion... A picture is worth a thousand angry words right now.

Yo dude, we're gonna go clubbing. You coming? Yeah, lemme put this... thing in my mouth and get that funny hat. Yeah, I'm going to pick up chicks now.

True fashion... makes you look good, elegant. It wraps you in a layer of beauty and sophistication. Not vulgar.

After your poor victims complete their cat walks and return home, they put on some real clothing suitable for public... and they look well enough dressed that they could attract a member of the opposite sex or at least not embarrass their friends by being seen together. At that point, they become fashionable, and they are ready to be seen... but who sees them then, the show's already over.

High Fashion. Rather than my eyes being opened in any way or being attracted due to some kind of beauty and creativity, I want to look away in revulsion. If I ever was directing a movie and I needed something terrible for a nightmare sequence, I do believe that I would hire a graduate of St Martins fashion university.

Things I have done - WIP

Actions can define a person. What kind of a person are you? This is me...

A friend I haven't seen in years was going to have her son taken away from her by the state unless she could pay rent. I paid her rent twice.

I used to have a large tub, so heavy it takes two people to lift it when full. I would fill this with alcoholic drinks and take it whenever a friend was having a party. If I got hungry, I would also leave the party and return with hamburgers for everybody so the party had food.

When I moved to China, I sold a car for $2.00 to a friend who has been in a car accident, and did not have a reliable car.

I have sang for audiences of over two hundred people.

I have performed comedic performances in plays for hundreds of people.

A girlfriend broke up with me and was in the cast of a play. The night following the final performance, everybody had pizza, and we watched a tape of the performance. After this, anyone who wanted could borrow the tape, one at a time. - I walked three miles in the cold rain to bring her some leftover pizza, and the tape so she could see the performance at home. I knocked on her door and ran. I left a note with the pizza which had words left from everybody wishing her well. It also had our finger prints instead of signatures. (it was a murder mysery, and of course, it was a mystery to know who left the pizza).

I went in to a bank. One of the employees was crying. She was crying so hard that it was clear that someone may have died. I went to a Hallmark store nearby and got a card. I left a message wishing her well, and reminding her that people care. I went back to the bank, and requested the same teller I had previously. She was nervous that she had done something wrong. I stepped close and secretly gave her the card, then explained that I saw her coworker crying. I said, "Write something nice, sign it, pass it around." She understood instantly. I was late to work that because this was more important.

I met a girl who had lost a loved one to suicide. My brother was lost to suicide. I wrote her a poem explaining that she isn't alone. She didn't know how to comfort anyone else, the poem contained what I had learned about comforting people, and being comforted, after my brother died. The easiest way to be strong is to be strong for others. Once you start that, you will have untold strength from a source you didn't know existed.

Now, I'm just going to define myself by some less noble actions...

I had a flock of white racing pigeons. They return home when released. I ran a simple business. Give me $50, and pigeons will be released as part of your wedding ceremony.

I played a video game and found out how to work the market by reselling things. I began to sell for real money and paid for college. Later, I hosted a forum with advice and training about doing online sales. I wan invited to become a business partner with someone in China. I packed my life into a bag and left for China five years ago. We started a VC company together. Later, I was asked to join another company. I had an entry level position. My work improved their profit line by $250,000 per year.

I have hosted free house parties. This is a way for people to have fun, relax, and make friends. I have done this weekly for years. I am usually so busy taking care of people or answering simple questions like "why do you do this" that I have made very few friends from this. I still do it. I have spent thousands of dollars doing this, and I have given a good experience to over 1,000 people in total. I have invested in KTV equipment so people can sing and play their own music. (better than most house parties that only have beer and loud music.)

I have hosted free English corners so that Chinese people can learn English. I did this long before I wanted to be an English teacher. I have worked two jobs at once so that I can teach English on the weekends for a friend who needed a teacher who could be trusted to provide quality.

More about me...

I dated a girl for two years. I never held her hand or kissed her. She just needed a friend. I never pressured her for more. On her birthday, I bought her a ___read and find out______. When presenting the gift infront of an audience of friends, I announced that I got her a "BOOM BOX"... "But don't worry, it's an old one, and I got a good deal on it." She looked so embarrassed and mortified. Who gives a boom box as a gift, especially an old one? I then gave her the gift, which was small enough to fit in one hand. As she unwrapped it, she saw it was a wind-up music box that played the song "You've got a friend in me".

A flatmate who works at the same company got drunk. I stayed with her for over an hour until she was ready for a taxi. I bought a bowl in case the taxi made her puke. She followed me into my bedroom. I tucked her in. She followed me again. I tucked her in again, and stayed with her.

A girl that had a crush on me got drunk and wanted to have sex. She was on top of me and grinding. Everything inside of me said yes. I told her we would wait until she was sober to see if she felt the same way.  That's like saying yes later. She sobered up, felt embarrassed, and went home.

A girl I was dating and getting close to was going to have sex for the first time with me. Every man wants sex, most would say yes without ever questioning it. I knew that if I did this, she would become filled with emotions and would become very attached to me. I wasn't that attached to her, and I didn't want our relationship to be out of balance. In fact, I had been losing interest for the last few weeks. In the same way that a girl can be "not ready", I was not ready. If I was going to break up with her, I wasn't going to have sex first and then break her heart. I did what few other men would do. I told her and broke up with her, no sex. Who does that? Can you think of one man in your life who would have turned down sex because he cared about someone's feelings?

Still reading?

Things I enjoy
Sociology, psychology, philosophy, emergent technology, science fiction, nonfiction, music (any), entertainment (singing, acting, dancing, writing, stand-up performance, drama)

Things I don't enjoy

• When a person takes more than ten seconds to fully express a single thought that could (and should) be expressed in five of less. (When someone takes FOREVER to get to the point.)
• Lack of order, organization, logic, or efficiency.
• Improper formatting.
• People who fail to enjoy or understand art, or anything abstract.
• Forgetful people (especially if they refuse to write anything down)
• Repeating myself when forgetful people refuse to write anything down

Without going too much further, it's easy to see that I am kind of brainy. I'm not smart, I'm not knowledgeable, and not weird about it, just brainy. I.e. I like anything that relates to thinking. I like people who think and create.

Movies that girls can't shut up about

There's two movies that American girls can't shut up about, as two men they will forever (openly) fantasize about
'Dirty Dancing' (with Patrick Swayze) and Labyrinth (with the dude with the crazy hair).

That's what I told Hui. She'd never seen either of these, so tonight we started with Dirty Dancing.

Last week, we saw 'Citizen Kane' which had a 100% approval rating from 'Rotten Tomatoes' which aggregates movie reviews from the most widely known critics in the world. i.e. the likes of Siskel and Ebert. I refuse to say 'Siskel and Ropert', because... who the hell is Ropert? I grew up with Ebert, thank you very much. Well Citizen Kane had a 100% review rating, and the movie totally sucked balls. It represents what's wrong with artsy movies, as do directors like Stanley Kubrick. We recently saw this movie called, 'Sleeping Beauty', and it also sucked balls, and I was convinced I'd see 'Stanly Kubrick' in the credits, so I watched the credits and finally googled it. Don't watch either of these movies expecting that they'll get good later, they don't. 'Sleeping Beauty' had a 50% rating, when it should have been something TERRIBLE like a 10%.

From now on, I'm just going to watch movies according to what girls consider to be unforgettable and just can't shut up about.

So tomorrow, we're going to watch Labyrinth with David Bowie!

Feeling Lonely?

I have survived for up to a year at a time without feeling lonely. Then a moment comes where I'm in the same room with someone that has adorable behaviors and a shining personality...

It all comes at once, and I can suddenly feel that I've been lonely for a very long time.

One goes home in a classical style that matches movies. It's dark, cold, and raining. I want to forget that I'm lonley, but I can't. I also want to do something about it.... but...

Those amazing people aren't interested or were already taken, because they're amazing.
And then the whole game of meeting people with any intent at all, whether that intent be lust or true love... that's heavy and screws it up anyway, and I don't want to play that game.

Meeting people, impressing them, spending ridiculous amounts of time and money, or sending 1,000 emails in a single night because women on classifieds sites have a 1 to 1.5% response rate... It's all demeaning. I don't want to lower myself to crap like that. I'll stay single.

If I can keep myself busy, then in a few days I won't remember that I'm lonely, and maybe that crushing weight will disappear for another year at a time. In some ways, I don't like being around nice people. They remind me that I'm lonely, and that's kinda painful.

USB 2.0 is a lie?

I am starting to wonder if USB 2.0 is a lie. It came out years ago. Wikipedia says 2000 (12 years).

In 2013, I've plugged in a lot of USB devices. My computer always tells me, "Whelp, this could be faster, if only you had inserted that device into a nifty and new 2.0 port."

I know what you're thinking, but I buy a new computer about once every year. It's not the drivers, it's not the motherboards, and it's not the devices...

The cake is a lie. For ONCE in my life, I want to plug in a flash drive and see it operate at 2.0 instead of 1.0 speeds. You know... just once would be great.

I ask, is it just me or is emergent technology a lie for everybody?

Hold on to your pants, 3.0 is on the way!

2013 Resolution

Someone else's quote [fixed]:

Purpose, motivation, and happiness... doesn't last. But neither does daily hygiene. You can't go a month at a time between inspiring yourself. Imagine your quality of life if you would regularly inspire yourself. - That's it, my 2013 resolution. I know, it's a bit late. A job (or anything worth doing) is better off late, than on time and half assed.

Finding Drivers

I own this


To get drivers, I go to Belkin.com
Then I look closely so that I can search in the 'support' section to find drivers.

This thing has about EIGHT sequences of numbers and letters which could be the MODEL number.

Try one, nope. Try another, nope, try another, nope... you get the gist of it. Why does every company make model numbers hard to locate, and completely indistinguishable from all of the other little numbers which mean SHIT and are utterly useless?!

Finally, I put in the right model number, and I find a product page. "NOW we're getting somewhere!"
I put in the 'version number' (at least that one was somewhat labeled), and now I'm seeing links to download either drivers, or software.

I click. It takes me to belkin.com

WTF?!!!

I go back, in disbelief.. Yup, the links just link to the HOME PAGE. WTF!

So now I use GOOGLE, at least now I know the model number. I find a page that has drivers.
Guess what? That page is on BELKIN.COM !!!!

Yup, they can't even set their links right.

I sent them a letter using a feedback form, which I could only use as a desperate last resort because their website doesn't list any EMAIL addresses for feedback in English. They just list phone numbers and company addresses. Useless, that's like telling people to fuck off - They did have a little link to serve those people who want to 'submit an idea'. I let them have it.

I'd love to be able to triumphantly declare that I'll never buy from them again because they're stupid, but so is every other tech company on earth. This problem happens with EVERY damn company. There's not one that gives a shit about users being able to find drivers long after they've thrown out their installation CDs or turned them into coffee coasters.

It's so bad... you can install a device, and look it up in 'Device Manager', Windows won't even be able to spit out a product name half the time. This is what humans do to each other. We design good products and then we do this.

Kennedy Salad

Lemon juice + salsa + pesto.
Try it.

I wonder if this is low calorie compared to other dressings?

Innocence lost

People say when one gains carnal knowlege, that they are no longer innocent.
I think that's one of those sayings which is completely off the mark, and is perpetuated because if you don't really think about it, you just might find that is'very easy to just agree with.

"When live gives you lemons, make lemonade." - Easy to agree with, but try telling that to someone who just lost their spouse to something tragic. There's no wisdom in it then. It certainly isn't universal, but it didn't contain the necessary context and limitations to make it so.

How much of our lives do we believe certain things that aren't universal, taking them as some universal article of faith?

So let's revisit "innocence lost", that one bugs me.

It isn't lost. However, knowledge is gained. There's this idea that once someone knows sex, they have to become an incurable sex maniac. Their innocence is lost, and they will try to sleep with every neighbor's wife, and begin seducing young children like a predator (or a Catholic priest). Obviously, the whole thing is grossly out of context.

Innocence isn't lost unless you're talking Adam and Eve and you believe that 99% of all sex is a sin. In that case, yeah it might be lost. Once Little Johnny learns to masturbate, that game is over and he'll be a sinner for the rest of his life, because... it's human nature, and it's awfully gooooood.

Innocence lost... For me, I recently had a connected experience, that's why this has been buzzing in my mind. I happened to have sex with 'the fantasy girl'. The one who has a figure that belongs on a three page foldout, and is a master and lover of 'sin', if you'll call anything sexy a sin. My entire life, my mind had told me that the sexier someone is, the better it'll be. What I learned is that sex is sex, and the mind lies about that one.

Innocence lost? I do feel a little guilty for what amounts to a one night stand. Guild passes. The whole innocence lost thing revolves around a change in behavior, how will my behavior change?

Well, like I said, the mind lies about "sexy is better sex". If anything, this would improve my fidelity to anyone that I am ever with because I know that if some gorgeous figure flashes her tits and tries to allure me with the perfect body, and... everything else that goes with the sexiest woman imaginable.... well, they'll get turned down because sex is sex is sex, and a rose is a rose is a rose. The greatest illusion I ever believed in was that sexiness is better sex or different sex. It's absolutely the same. That's the real story of this post. Sexiness is a bit of an illusion.

Innocence isn't gained or lost by knowing or not knowing anything... unless you're a religious nut job.

English Translation

There's a game I play called Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
I'm going to launch a technical project on sourceforge, to translate from Japanese to English.
Mostly, I'll be perfecting 'Engrish' into English. Mostly grammatical stuff.
I'll probably be working with a small team. I'll be learning some new programming stuff like their subversion controls and GET repositories. Techie tech tech blah.

Incidentally, I'm also looking at a career of teaching English. I want to get a TESL certification so that I'm not a fake teacher in Shanghai.