Happy New Years!

Wishing all you the best and brightest for the next chapter of our lives.

Interesting news over the radio I heard about on Ms Dewey. Microsoft's new search engine that puts an interactive and humorous spin to searches. To me, it's more a site to kill time than to search for info. Google shouldn't have any worries.

http://www.msdewey.com/

I must admit a lot of these are pretty clever. I think it was about 600 different scenes they shot to support this. And I think how their AI program works is that it can cross link specific scenes. For example. I searched for "magic" and got a cool trick with beer. Then I searched "beer" a few times and got to the same scene.

Also. The setting changes if you search during the day or night time.

3 not 2.

I'm beating myself up about it. I set a pretty high standard for myself and the people I work with. What I've noticed is that I ask for a lot out some of the best staff I have. I clearly should have given a higher rating to one particular Consultant. But I penalized him too much for something relatively minor... that really pales in comparison to his monumental efforts he put forth. I really wasn't thinking clearly. Stress has me frazzled. When I look back at how he ranks compared to other people and he was clearly was a top performer.

Fck. I almost feel like I ruin people's lives that way. Now that I confessed... I should let it go.

My only saving grace is that I gave highlighted all the good contributions he made verbally in his review. One number would not carry as much weight clear communication. I will make sure everyone who has the influence on compensation and promotions know my true assessment of him.

Tonight we had a wonderful meal at CityZen. Top quality food. Top quality service. The banquet was in honor of my future mother-in-law's birthday. It was the five of us. Yukino, her mom, her sister, and her brother-in-law gathered round. Their truffle mushroom appetizer was phenomenal. The veal was tasty. Kudos also to some extraordinarily fluffy bitesize bread, amazing pumpkin donuts, and pecan macaroons. Had venison for the first time.

I think taking your mother to a really nice restaurant is a great way to go. I use zagat.com now. Primarily because it makes more sense than buying a Zagat for every city I visit. Here are the two reviews of mine for the two times we had a mother's birthday dinner.

Marcel's: Wonderful banquet for my mother's birthday. She had always wanted to dine at French restaurant, and chose this French/Belgian restaurant primarily on the decor and reviews. The service was impeccable, especially considering that my mother did not speak English well. Most of us had an appetizer and an entre. The duck confit and chicken are absolutely delicious. The lamb and scallops were also good.

CityZen: The side items steal the show over the main course. Among the phenomenal food are the truffle in mushroom puree, pumpkin donut dessert, and ridiculously fluffy and addictive dinner rolls in a cigar box. Service was impeccable. A parade of waiters deliver the food and describe the dishes in our party of five. They give you a new napkin after you leave your seat.

This isn't conspiracy theory. It's unsettling documented facts:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7236791207107726851

It angers me that the voice of the people has such vulnerabilities to be manipulated.

Compassion.

I want to start a series.  Several open monologue about what defines me as a person. Who I am. What I want in life. What makes me happy. What makes me sad. What inspires me. What I puzzle over. Those types of things.

I think one key insight into who you are, and what you want in the future, is how you want to raise your kids. I want my kids to know a sense of compassion, to know that we being all human beings have harsh things to deal with in life, and to have a sense of sympathy, of understanding. In a sense, I want my kids to be inspired with a sense of benevolence. A sense of altruism. Giving back to those who have helped you, and those who can use your help.

My sister came to visit me this weekend. It was a very nice visit. As we were particularly light in our agenda and mellow. We had dim sum, went to get Asian groceries, and had several meals at home. She didn't stay long, and she visited the DC area before, so there wasn't any need for an elaborate schedule. Being with her again made me miss things. I heard new about how others did in my family. Aunt just came out of surgery, and doing much better. Grandma is not feeling well. I've been so caught up in my business that the world of those I care about seem to have turned without me.

I wonder if I lost any of my compassion. Whether there came a point when my sense of urgency to work became a little to much, and I didn't reach out to call those I love. Some of it is the communication gap. I hate not knowing how to say things right in Chinese. But I shouldn't use that as an excuse... because really... I needed the effort.

Also in my head. I'm beginning to want more compassion out of people I am with. I want those close to me to understand each other better. There are many different topics this that I want to cover. Kindness, forgiveness, and Self-sacrifice.

When I first think about kindness there are many flavors. Kindness to those whom you love is easy, because they have fully earned it, and it's the proper thing to do. Kindness to those you know isn't that hard either because you have at least a basic level of trust, though not complete trust, and you can always build a stronger relationship off of that. Kindness to strangers is perhaps the hardest to practice, and I would like to see more people express it. Why? It's just good for the world. Being kind to only those that can advance your agenda, breeds a sort of unhealthy cynicism in the world. That's why... although I don't completely align with all the teaching of Christianity. The basic sense of kindness to strangers that it teaches I can relate to very well. It's doesn't even mean that you have to volunteer at homeless shelters every Christmas. It goes down to the very simple things as well. For example being nice to the sales people in retail, speaking respectfully to your waiter or waitress, not behaving condescendingly to those working in lower positions at work, or making a little effort to make the lives of others much easier. If they are not respectful, that's one thing... You shouldn't need to be nice to assholes. But for total strangers, give them the benefit of the doubt. That is great kindness.

I will have to end this entry short and pick right back up with the Compassion topic. I had such higher hopes for this entry (thus it's title), but it looks like I will have to settle for less for now. It's good to at least have that thought out of my head. < pause >

Did I tell everyone before that Comcast is more hassle than it's worth?

Well I tried to give them another shot... and everything is just screwed up all over again. F*cking hassle.

The order that I specified is totally different. More expensive no doubt. And now I have to go through and clean up all the sh*t.

I tell you... I don't like complicating my life for unecessary things. It irritates me.

Okay I admit it. I'm a quote nut. I like a good quote, because what makes them great is that they are little gems of wisdom wrapped in a very simple and concise form. Short and sweet, but very profound. They can also have hugely varying degrees of effect, as one can think about on a whim or even devote their whole life to it like a mantra.

Well I was perusing through quote on the internet and came across this one on http://www.motivateus.com/:

October 2, 2006
" There may always be someone better, but never let that stop you from being your best."
Written in 2006 by Mike Weisberg --- New Jersey

When I first read it... I was skimming it and thought it read:

"There may always be something better, but never let that stop you from being your best."

Now it's just one change in word, but I feel that the quote I thought I saw (or perhaps wanted to see) is a much stronger quote. Because it takes away the sense of competition, and brings it closer to something more people experience. Mainly, the lack of satisfaction in one's own environment or life. The quote is a little more like this:

"Life may always be somewhat better, but never let that stop you from being your best."

What I find more common among my friends and loved ones is that they don't like how their life is. I know some very talented and confident individuals, so it's often less about thier insecurities that challengs them, but more a sense of frustration that things are not turning out right. So they use the power within themselves to change the world they live in. That's great. One drawback of that however is that sometimes they let it go the other way around. They can start to think that their hopelessness in their situation is a sign that they are not doing enough, and that can lead to despair. My message out to those you who face these challenges is this. Success is defined by what is in our control, not by what is what is beyond our control. Life was never meant to be easy. Life was meant to be meaningful. And a good life comes not when you have all that you want, but when you are the best you choose to be.

I want my weekend back.

The past week was the first week since July that I haven't spent over 50 hours at work. As such, my apartment is still a mess with all the unopened boxes from the first day I moved in. My paperwork isn't sorted through yet, furniture not set up, and clothes not organized.

I use to look to the weekend as a therapeutic time. Just busy work around the house. It's relaxing doing those things and it helps me relieve stress. But since I jumped on my most recent project, it's been full speed, and I had to sacrifice so much. But it is all coming to a close. And the first signs of it, is that I having more time to do those things I missed over the many many weekends.

I don't know what to do first.

Let's see...

Perhaps lie on the couch and watch television or DVDs... but my they are not hooked up yet.

Or perhaps randomly launch into an marathon of my favorite songs... but my desktop computer is not set up yet.

Catch up on the novels I didn't finish... Nope still in a box.

Video games?... Nope that's still in a box.

Man... This sucks. I need to reclaim leisure time again.

JW Marriott Hotel.

Nice place. Lobby is nice. Staff is courteous. Only two complaints so far.

1) Turned on the hot water to the bathtub. Brown water. Turned on the hot water to the sink. Brown also.  Surprised me that such a classy hotel will have this issue.

2) Tried to get on the internet. Didn't work. Checked ethernet cable. Nope. Tried USB Cable. Nope.  Check the phone line. No dial tone. Checked all the phones. No dial tone.  Walked down to the front desk. They call maintenance. Maintenance checks phones and lines. Couldn't figure it out. So I ask for a new room.

Went to my new room. Checked phone. Good. Checked internet. No reception.  Tried USB. None. Checked phone again. No dial tone?

Not too long after that, I figured it out myslelf.  The next time any of you get this problem, keep in mind that plugging in the USB port can aparently hang up your phone line. The maintenance guy was still trying to do the repairs to the phone in the old room, so I shared my discover with him. We unplugged the USB and in a few short moments the ethernet connect worked for the internet. Sigh...

Eating a Snickers bar that costs $2.75 right now, but I don't care. I'm hungy, and it's late. Snickers satisfies.