Time

Time is the most valuable commodity. Think about money, power, or relationships with people. Time can be converted into any one of these things, but the reverse is not true. Time spent cannot be regained.

Feeling in different languages

There are so many ways to express feelings. It's fascinating to hear how other languages express the same emotions. For example, certain songs express thoughts in a way that's only possible in a certain language. You can't always translate a song to another language and have the same effect. The inflexions, consonants, syllables and vocal changes --- they are all language dependent.

Listen to Laura Pausini in La Solitudine. Or Hikaru Utada in First Love. In the first line of the first verse, she sings, "Saigo no kisu wa..." In English, it is, "Our last kiss..." She could put that much emotion into the first line, only because of how those thoughts spell out in Japanese. You can't naturally stretch the single-syllable words in "our last kiss" to have the same effect.

It's plausible that you experience the world in different ways, through different languages. Why should we confine ourselves to feel in just one?

There is a buyer for everything

The products just have to reach the right audience.

Sweet, $

Congratulations! Your Disclosure has been approved by the Patent Committee to receive a “Patent Disclosure Award” & "Patent Pursue Award". You should be receiving the above awards on the July 15, 2007 payroll period.

Services and products

I am getting more inclined to ditch the idea of product development altogether. There's too little value to be added in goods and too much work. Unless you come across the holy grail in the form of the killer product, of course. Isn't it much more profitable to sell services? Or rather, sell things such as convenience and efficiency.

Lorenza Ponce

Flipping through the channels, I froze when I saw her on stage with Bon Jovi in his 2007 Unplugged session. When did she join the band?

Violinist/vocalist Lorenza Ponce has been mesmerizing audiences worldwide with her mastery of the violin, hauntingly beautiful vocals, and her dramatic yet graceful stage presence. Recently, she was the lead violinist and string arranger for The Dixie Chicks 2003 Top of The World Tour. Lorenza Ponce is the violinist of choice for rock superstar Bon Jovi, has toured extensively with Sheryl Crow, and was the featured violinist/vocalist for new age megastar John Tesh's One World PBS Special.
http://lorenzaponce.com/bio/index.php

Happiness is a choice

It's all a matter of perspective. Choose to be happy :D

Tradeoff: maximum reward vs opportunity

I must tread lightly. Because I have found myself thinking that if only I were at Google, I could make this project awesomely sweet. They have swifter technology and brute manpower, but I have the idea. I feel like they're hundreds of hungry Chinese ready to pounce on my Disneyland.

Busy vs free

Some people try to end up as busy as they can. Overbooked, overscheduled, unnecessarily stressed, burning both ends of the candle and constantly struggling to get enough sleep.

Some other people try to be free. Busy is only justified if it's for something important, and there is no such thing as busy for busy's sake.

The Magnificent Seven

... was inspired by The Seven Samurai.

Car night

It's late and no one's awake. Kinda lonely being up at this time. It used to be more entertaining.

Washed the Z and shined her up with some Z8. Then did the interior for once. SEX. Dropped her back at the apartment and picked up the MX6. That bitch's trunk wouldn't open earlier. And power-steering's been giving me problems lately.

I was hungry after detailing the Z so I went to pick up some grub and brought it to my "work area" (the coin-operated car wash area that was well lit). I had with me: my toolbox, paper towels, power steering fluid, hand pump, flashlight, 2 burgers and small fries. I wolfed down the fries and chomped down half the burger, then set it aside as I crawled into the trunk from the back seats. Damn trunk... how does it open. I found the latch and worked it but the trunk won't budge. After a while I shifted the flashlight and noticed that I had somehow cut myself and I was bleeding all over the place. Eventually I see a little clip that goes 'click' up and 'click' down. Hmm. I pushed it up 'click', then tried manhandling the latch again... *THUNK* the trunk opens. I must've accidentally shifted the clip earlier. Oh well, trunk fixed.

On to the next item --- popped the hood. I finished the first burger and started on the second burger. I set it down near the bumper. The fluid I had was cherry red. The fluid in the reservoir was some nasty ugly color. Squish-squish-squish I worked the pump and the old fluid was sucked out. I kept doing this for a bit. A cop car doing its rounds drove by; I poked my head up, hid the tubes behind the open hood and smiled. I didn't want them to see that I was playing with power-steering fluid and have them fuss about my disposal methods. Ah finally... time for the new fluid to go in. Thick, syrupy, pinkish-red. I could already tell that it would do some good. I started up the car, turned the wheel around a couple of times. Mmmm felt good.

Then I decided to examine the intake. Filter looked good. Interesting airbox. What the hell? There was a loose piece of paper caught in there. That must've been equivalent to having a stuffy nose. OMG the engine oil was low. Am I leaking oil? I topped it up when I got home. I shall check the level again tomorrow when the oil settles. I cleaned up and enjoyed a feeling of accomplishment, and a sense that things were now better than they were.

Smooth

... is a buttery, silky weight transition through a turn. Nice braking, downshift... mmm perfect rev-match. Downshift. Open up throttle, steady steering through the apex. Full throttle into graceful bliss...

Is that it

She called the other night, asking me what I was up to. With some friends, I said. She said she wanted to hang out. Not tonight; I've made other plans. She keeps insisting. After a while it got to me. Then I started to get the feeling like I was obligated to, but then I thought what the hell is going on? Oh no you have no right to make me feel shitty. How's your boyfriend, I asked her. What was more disappointing than what she'd do with other guys while in a relationship, was hearing her try to rationalize it. I don't want to play this. And I hate needy people.

I figured out the cause

... of the over-straining of my lower back muscles when paddling. My outside leg weakens over time, and I unconsciously start to support and stabilize my upper body with my lower back. The result of this is that my lower back muscles start tightening up and seizing.
What I tried yesterday was sliding my inner leg forward a little, to help support and stabilize my body more throughout my forward lean. This took off alot of stress from my lower back and hamstrings.

I'm having power steering problems

Steering on the mx stiffening up after long drives (overheating?). I hope all it needs is new fluid.

One step at a time

When working on (seemingly) open-ended projects, I sometimes forget how refreshing it is to have a to-do list. Or rather, a to-do-today list. Get it done, check it off, close and done for the day.

Material possessions and (lack of) character

The only qualification anyone needs to purchase something is money. And money doesn't automatically imbue you with character.

EDFC

Trying a dampening setting that's 5 clicks tighter. Cornering feels sharper and crisper.

Note: Oil changed. 49700 mi.

Tweaking the stroke

This is a picture my coworker sent me yesterday, critiquing my dragonboat stroke. Things to work on:
1. "reach more with top arm"
2. "bury the blade before pulling"
3. "rotate more to keep hips under torso, so that the lower back doesn't support the weight of the entire upper body lean"

Someone could have told me about 3. earlier. My back's still all jacked from Tuesday's practice.

Oh I see

So that's why she stopped calling. She's in a relationship now. Good for her :)

Fat nasty tube amp

The electric guitar has been sitting there forever. When do I plan to get an amp? So many dirty licks to play.

Sometimes I forget to breathe

Breathing is supposed to be taken care of my brain unconsciously. Yet sometimes my brain forgets this as it's multitasking, and my breathing is interrupted. Then when I try to focus on breathing, I get distracted. I need to relearn how to continue breathing while I'm concentrating.

Something I'd like to practice

Don't give advice if it's not asked for.

Stupid zealots

Some of the people who give religion a bad name are the stupid zealots. And I don't say "stupid" to emphasize my opinion, but I mean stupid as in dumbass. Instantly recognizable for their boisterous enthusiasm and religious paraphenalia, these guys enjoy sidestepping logical reasoning and often "take things as they are". When questioned, they resort to childish banter such as "because the Bible says so" or "because that's how God created them". They sound like pre-programmed, indoctrinated drones. When I see people like that, I lose respect for them as a human beings. Last I checked, God created humans, not mindless sheep. So ironically, as religious as they think they are, I consider them an insult to God's creation.