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I resisted caffeine this morning but quickly found another jolt of shock while browsing videos on Motionbox.com. Unlike Youtube, Motionbox is more of a home video site with some really cool features for editing videos online and also an hd player. I did a search for summer 2008 while logged into my Motionbox account and was shocked to find sex videos listed next to videos of babies playing with toys.
I went to youtube and did the same search, summer 2008 and got back results like summer 2008 on the poker channel, and all the fashion runway shows. The closest thing to sex that I see is SMF Cybersexy which looks like a video game or cartoon of some sorts…definitely animated and not real human body parts. I’m not saying that there are no sex videos on youtube. Search for masturbating and you’ll get some results. However, at least they don’t show naked body parts as the start of the video and therefore the icon for the video.
So to all the home video makers – tag your sex videos as sex, masturbating, whatevers…but so that it’s clearly defined that it’s sex and not that you had sex in 2008 or summer and therefore it ends up in a general search. And really, how about some self restrain and keeping it private. You can still share it but just create a group for sex videos.
I’m a little bit surprised that motionbox doesn’t have better monitoring of the videos that are uploaded. To each his/her own and Motionbox can’t really stop people from updating their homemade porn videos but at the same time, imagine if someone browsing through a search and had their kid sitting next to them staring at the screen. “Mommy/Daddy, what is that? Can we watch it?” And maybe users need a how-to video on naming and tagging their content and what to make public and leave private?
A month ago my ex-coworker mentioned that there was a rice shortage and prices had sky-rocketed in the Philippines and his wife family was very lucky they had a rice plantation. We joked that his wife’s family was probably responsible for the higher prices because they control the production. I didn’t really think much of it at the time and then my mom talked about how expensive rice is when i talked to her two weeks ago. Last night, I asked the Uncommon Male how much the bag of rice (2 lbs) cost at the Safeway in DC and was shocked to hear it’s $3. Back in January/February, I had gotten a 5lb bag of rice for $2.50 or $3.00.
Not everyone eat rice in every meal but for those who do, most Asian and Spanish/Mexican cuisine uses rice in most main dishes. What about substituting with other grains? I haven’t surveyed everything but based on what I have purchased recently, the price of pasta has gone up 80-90%. What I used to be able to get for $.60 is now over $1.00. The price of meat has gone up but not so much to shock me maybe with the exception of ground meat/hamburgers.
We are a household of 2 and I am already conscious of the price increases. I can’t imagine how a family with children and multiple cars manage over $4 a gallon for gas, $3 a gallon for milk and everything else.
The Uncommon Male has always said to me that Americans had it cheap compared to Australians who are used to paying $6 a gallon for gas and $13 for a kilo of bananas ( ~ 2 lbs) at one point last season. Have we always had it too easy and is now just experiencing what is considered just normal in many parts of the world.
We’ve had quite a month and a half – got married in a comical yet sweet ceremony at city hall; applied for the uncommon male’s green card; on my one month’s wedding anniversary, my company went out of business and the list goes on and on. Needless to say, it has been a stressful time and not really the marital bliss in terms of events that most newlyweds would have liked to have after their wedding. We’ve yet to have our honeymoon and it probably won’t come any time in the near future. However, I am consoled by the fact that when we first met each other, we had basically a month of traveling and beach hopping in the Philippines and Vietnam.
Last night was the first time we really started to look at all the options that we have given my new found freedom to be wherever, whenever. We’ve talked about the three places that we’d want to live, New York, London and San Francisco. There are of course pluses and minuses to each and we had always thought that the decision will be made by the location of my next job. However, there is always the question of when will our careers get in sync? The uncommon male is currently working out of Washington DC and I will be joining him down there for the next three months while we sublet our New York apartment.
In this economy, can you move a family, granted it’s only the uncommon male and me, for a new job? How long will it take for the other person to find a new job and how secure is one’s current job?
I was lucky to have survived the 2000-2001 lay-offs unscathed even though I worked for an Internet consulting firm and most Internet consulting firms went out of business during that time frame. I’m not quite as lucky this year but it is an experience I will remember for awhile. It is something which I have never experienced before to walk into work one day and within the hour find out that that company will soon no longer be in operation. It is an overwhelming sense of loss and feeling lost. My poor friend Joanna came back on her honeymoon and ended up on IM with me through that morning’s shock.
Unlike others who may be tied to a location because their siblings or parents are there or who knows that they have to live in New York because it’s home or the most exciting place ever, we’re not really sure home has to be one specific location except that we are together. D.C. isn’t an obvious choice either for many reasons.
Although we’ve always had two careers in mind, this is the first time we’ve seen how unclear it can be to balance two careers with the choice to decide where those careers will take place. Can too much freedom be just as frustrating as having little or none?
Two weekends ago, we took part in the Open House New York events. Open House New York is a non-profit organization that focus on education and community events around NY’s architecture and urban development. It was modeled after simiar organizations in London and Toronto.
Although most of the sites closed starting at 3 pm and onwards, we managed to make it to 4 locations after a late start at 2 pm. Our first stop was the Austrian Cultural Forum in the midtown 50’s. From the outside, it is an impressive modern building squished in a very narrow space designed by Austrian born architect Raimund Abraham. We were told that Abraham won because his design incorporated the staircase in the back of the building, thereby creating more space than other architects’ designs.
It is an impressive interior functionally for the use of space and makes me think of Ikea! in the use of blond color wood. For such a narrow and tight space, the building has an auditorium complete with a piano that is conveniently stored away in the ceiling. Yes, I’m not mistaken…the ceiling.
Although I have never understood or quite appreciated religion, I am often in awe of churches, temples, mosque (I’ve only been in 1 mosque ever in Kuala Lumpur and I don’t think I was supposed to be there). Church of the Transfiguration in Murray Hill is quite inspiring from its serene front garden (it’s like entering into another world that’s not right in the heart of New York City) to the ceiling of the church with criss-crossed beams like that of the hull of a ship.
I’ll have to remember to go back to the Church of the Transfiguration every month or so, sit in the garden hopefully unnoticed and soak in the serenity.
Our last stop of the day was Paul Rudolph Foundation/Modulightor Building. My oh my…what an architectural feat of urban living, granted in miniature form. I don’t think anyone over 5″10″ can live there without feeling claustrophobic. Stairs extend from walls and twin size mattresses are found in nook corners that exemplifies coziness while providing a slight bit of privacy in a building where none of the separating walls reaches the ceiling. Never more so could I say that the decorations bring life to a space as sculptures, vases and other rich cultural artifacts adorns white walls and sand/greyish color furniture pieces.
I couldn’t have spent a more enjoyable Saturday in New York. It reminds me of what I love about the city, there is so much to see and do. Next year, I’ll have to start earlier in the day and make my way to the other boroughs.
I always thought that I’d need to travel to Europe to enjoy really beautiful architecture but it’s all just subway rides away. I guess architecture is something that’s often overlooked in terms of tourism in New York. Visitors come here to see the WTC site or Time Square for its sheer overwhelming madness of Soho for the shopping but not necessarily to appreciate the design and urban development.
I’ve recently experienced several straining family related financial situations that make me firmly believe financial management should be a part of the high school curriculum. One of my close friends and I are in similar situations in that family related financial troubles have been the cause of much grief to us. Such common sense principles as spend what you have not what you will have, time value of money and save, save, save are so simple and intuitive yet so difficult for many to follow.
I’m not quite sure how I learned to manage my money and save. My parents lived within their means and were never extravagant. Yet, my sister ran into a bit of credit card debt after college while I paid off my college credit card bill within the first 2 months of working. Even though my sister and I grew up in the same environment, we had and still have very different ideas about money in our early years but I’m glad to say, have reached similar conclusions in our near/early thirties. Although I didn’t necessarily learn all about financial management through my parents, I definitely did not learn it in school. Thinking back upon it, I am quite puzzle as to why such crucial principles to living responsibly was never taught to me in an academic environment.
In this day and age, when young adults are the target audience of credit card companies and teenagers have thousands of marketers promoting products to them, personal financial management should be a mandatory part of the high school curriculum. One of our friends’ 16 years old sister recently asked for a pair of Christian Dior diamond earrings which cost several hundreds of dollars for her 16th birthday present. I don’t think I even knew Christian Dior as a brand until I was in college or graduated from college. Just consider some recent stats: U.S consumers are carrying $2.456 trillion in debt and the amount of revolving credit rose by $5 billion in July.
Given that many young adults today already face staggering student loans when they graduate, they should really have the tools at hand to manage their finance responsibly. I admit that I knew very little about personal credit score until recently but I wish that was something taught in school as well. One last thought, teaching financial management is the same as teaching sex education to prevent teenagers/young adults from ruining their lives.
What do I think should be in the curriculum?
- time value of money
- compounding interest
- budgeting/cash flow management
- fine print lines of credit card agreements
The August issue of American Vogue featured an article on Huma Abedin, the traveling chief of staff for presidential hopeful, Hillary Clinton. As observed on Gawker http://gawker.com/news/huma-abedin/, the Vogue article is lengthy but lacks substance similar to the Observer piece in April. Huma is characterized in short as a control freak, beautiful and a force to be reckon with. Yet, there isn’t much evidence of her intellect and capabilities outside of showing composure in designer clothes and accessories and having a keen understanding of political dynamics in the Middle East having lived there until her teens and raised by parents who are professors and of Indian and Pakistani descent. She has worked for Clinton as an intern/aide since graduating from George Washington. I just don’t see how she can be sought out for her expertise in matters related to the Middle East when she hasn’t worked in an objective international capacity outside of being Clinton’s aide. If she has, the authors of the artices in Vogue and the Observer should have pointed that out rather than rely on just the opinions of others. How about demonstrating the woman’s true smart rather than focusing on how smart and polish she looks in an Yves Saint Laurent suit?
It is worrying too that high power people in Washington like Senator Clinton is heavily relying on the advice of people who haven’t had extensive professional experience in international politics. Even if she grew up in the Middle East, I think that things have changed drastically in the 12+ years she has been away in Washington at college and working for Clinton. Somehow I don’t think that growing up in Saudi Arabia was so bad.
I’m sure that Senator Clinton have some very smart people working for her which makes me surprise that they allow such articles to be printed. Not so much the fact that the articles has a lot of fluff painting Huma as a super-woman, a wonder-kid. By putting forth the image of Huma and Hillary has dynamic, stylish, professional women, they are widening the gap between Senator Clinton and middle America, a weakness of her campaign. I would hope that America is ready for a woman president. However, I’m not sure if America knows how to relate to a woman presidential candidate and the fact that she’s an accomplished lawyer/politician woman makes it even worse. There’s no need to paint a perfect picture of these women to give the average Joes and Janes out there more reason to stay clear of Hillary Clinton. I hope Hillary’s team start to realize that they need to bring Hillary more down to earth to start winning the votes in areas she desperately needs.
Like most average middle class person, I am fascinated by news about Prince William and Kate Middleton’s relationship and the late JFK Jr and Caroline’s. However, I am disappointed at the same time that Kate Middleton, fresh out of college, is an accessories buyer and Caroline who started out as a teacher also turned to fashion.
Why don’t these influential men date women who have some real intellectual interest and carries that through to their career? I can’t really see fashion adding much value to society granted that we all like to look good. Why doesn’t Prince William date a lawyer or a banker or someone who works in the non-profit or government? Granted that in the beginning of any career, one is most of the time doing busy grunt work and toiling away. Even so, there is that hope of doing something great and once in awhile, making a difference. My friend Ann might be furious with my insinuation that fashion is pointless. However, I should point out that she was a former consultant and a savvy business woman. Even she herself has said that what she does in fashion is mindless.
It is a sad state of our society that women who are featured in all the newspapers and magazines, often do not provide much of a role model for younger generations to look up to. I think the men are often choosing partners who places less emphasis on their careers so that as time goes on, there is no threat of competition. The woman plays the supporting role. Perhaps it is also the fact that these men are extremely affluent and therefore the capabilities of their partner are less important than good looks and glamor.
Nevertheless, it would be refreshing to see a prince or an heir to a political legacy dating a woman who is career-oriented and a 21st century woman.
For as far as I can remember, I’ve spent an average of $6 on lunch as a working professional with the exception of special occasions and some lunches with co-workers. Think and Ask, a non-profit news organization, reported inflation between 2000 and 2006 was 16.14% with food inflation at 33.2% between 2002 and 2006 (http://www.thinkandask.com/2006/050506-inflation.html). I see the evidence of food inflation in the change in price for a slice of Joe’s pizza on Bleecker and 6th Ave. When I first moved to New York and lived in the East Village, a slice of plain cheese was $1.50. Over the years it has gone up to $2.00 and is now $2.50 i believe.
So how is it that I’ve managed to have lunch for under $6 year in and out? It is quite amazing if you factor in my work location which has been in areas occupied mostly by finance companies, giving nearby vendors the perfect opportunity to inflate prices. Did I lower my food standards? If you know me at all, that would be very hard to imagine. Food is a very important part of my life…almost too important sometimes. Although I don’t eat at Cosi or in a restaurant every day, I also don’t go to Subway. Although for the most part, I think Subway is sub-standard, they do have a tasty chicken bacon ranch sandwich. I’ve always looked for variety and therefore have usually opted for delis where there are cooked food, sandwich and salad bars. My current lunch place of choice is this deli that has a deal of the day for $4.95. It comes with an entree and a side which is always vegetables for me. Thanks to the deli, I discovered brussel sprouts which have a great cabbage earthy flavor. At most delis, you can also get a sandwich/hero for under $6 as well as a mixed salad if you choose your salad fixin’ well. In the winter, a medium size soup and a bagel from Au Bon Pain makes a comfort food lunch for under $6 as well.
The key to keeping lunch under $6 in my opinion is the drink. Since 2001-2002, the only thing I drink is water, tea and sometimes coffee. My first job out of college was a bit stressful at times and I found myself drinking way too much Coke that I decided to stop all together. Life most restaurants, I think lunch places do make quite a bit of margin on the drinks. a bottle of soft drink is usually $1.50-2.00. I’d rather spend that money on more good food.
I wonder for how many more years will I be able to keep lunch cost under $6. Maybe until I retire? That would be something.
1. Thou shall take heed of the thunder and storms the prior night as an omen and beware of the weekend ahead.
2. Thou shall avoid I-95 wherever possible…there is always an accident or construction or just bad driving.
3. Thou shall attach floatable key chains to all keys taken on a boat.
4. Thou shall enjoy at least 3 hours of sun and ocean breeze.
5. Thou shall not eat clam cakes. How is it that they can call it clam cakes when it’s just fried dough?
6. When in doubt, thou shall leave all items that thou is not certain belong to ye behind. It is better to underpack!
7. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s shorts which holds his wallet and car keys in a rush to get a free ride home.
8. Thou shall call ahead of time to rent a car in Stamford, CT. There are only 5 cars available for rent on a Sunday in Stamford.
9. When everything that could possibly go wrong has, thou shall take out full loss and damage and car insurance on the rental. As luck would have it, a rock will fall from the bridge and crack the rental car’s windshield.
10. Thou shall not take a free ride home with friends at 2 o’clock in the morning only to wake up after 3 hours of sleep to go back to the original holiday house to give back thou neighbor’s keys that thou accidentally took and thus spent another 6 hours driving and coming home more than 8 hours behind schedule, hungry, lacking sleep, full of mozzie bites, and smelling from not having a shower in 24 hours.
