method

Photo: This week's installment of "what is on my desk right now." Also known as WIOMDRN.
[I'm lying, no one calls it that] There happens to be a lot of random stuff on my desk right now. This whole week has been dedicated to taxes. Taxes taxes taxes. Needless to say, this week has been exhausting. I've got another few day before it's all done. Fun for me.

Do you have a method? For anything exciting, if so I would love to hear it.
Method: A way of doing something, especially a systematic way; implies an orderly logical arrangement.
This week I learned that my method for organizing my taxes sucks. Sucks really really bad. It was far from systematic, logical and not even close to being arranged. Thank god we have a bookkeeper and an accountant on payroll now. I'm very excited about this.

Business tip: Thinking about starting a business? Get a good bookkeeper immediately. Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions. Transactions include sales, purchases, income, and payments by an individual or organization. Bookkeeping is usually performed by a bookkeeper. Bookkeeping should not be confused with accounting. The accountant creates reports from the recorded financial transactions recorded by the bookkeeper.

There is a magazine clipping in my "what is on my desktop right now" image above. It was given to me by my dearest friend Corrina, in February of 2006. I like to keep it in my daily notebook, [as most of you know, I have many notebooks and names for each], I look at it often. It reads:

38 - Number of rejection letters from different publishers Marget Mitchell received before anyone finally deigned to publish her novel Gone With the Wind
15 - Number of rejection slips ee cummings received for The Enormous Room
15 - Number of publishers to whom he dedicated the book
(those who had rejected it)

I can't wait to dedicate my book.
[I wanted to use an ellipses right then, but I didn't.]

winter storm + some news

1. The first photo was taken the day after the ice storm.
2. Thomas wanted to see our dinning area and since I was fighting off cabin fever with all my creative might, I decided to take a photo for him.
3. The streets throughout downtown were very quiet that night.
4. Last photo: It took me about an hour to dig out the ride. Under all that snow was about an inch of ice. It was fun.

Randomness:
- Last week we went to see Avatar at the Imax theater. I didn't think I was going to like it. But as most of you know, I am easily entertained. I enjoyed it, even though the blue creatures were a bit cheesy. I kept thinking: Jar Jar Binks.
*I apologize for the lack of depth in my sentences today. I'm feeling short.
- Over the weekend we rented Star Trek on the AppleTV. I loved it! Well done JJ, the dude is a genius. I feel [as a novice trekkie] that he not only weaved in the original storyline very well, but he integrated a lot of the original photography direction and style into the new movie. Loved it. I give it a lot of stars.
- Oscar nominations came out today. I have only one question: District 9 - Really?
- I am very excited about this new movie Green Zone
- One of my [favorite] new years resolutions was to stop using ellipsis and interrobangs in all of my communications. It was taking over my life. By the way, Interrobang is one of my favorite words in the English language and if the ampersand didn't exist the interrobang would be my favorite punctuation mark.

kids

I have one theme for this post: Kids
1. Have you seen the campaign MTV launched to help stop digital abuse, which includes sexting and cyberbullying? [Yes, MTV launched a fight against two words that do not exist in the English language.] Of course I am excited! Technology and psychology meet sociology and advertising. Probably the best thing that has happened to me all year. I am fascinated with how advancement in communication technologies are naturally introducing new physiological and sociological issues. It is absolutely intriguing. Anyway, I took the time to research MTV's "A thin red line" campaign and there are some interesting statistics. According to a new study released this month by MTV and The Associated Press that explores the full scope of digital abuse, 50 percent of 14-to-24-year-olds have been the target of some form of digital abuse, 30 percent have sent or received nude photos of other young people on their cell phones or online and 12 percent of those who have sexted have contemplated suicide, a rate four times higher than those who haven't. The study explores the pervasiveness of digital abuse, how it's affecting America's youth, how they're responding to it, their concerns and much more.

2. I wish I would have kept detailed notes on life when I was a kid. I'd love to be able to go back and see what sort of things were important to me. Most likely: Skateboarding, drawing/graffiti, comic books, baseball cards. Which brings me to:

3. Kids these days... Need more baseball cards and comic books in their lives. Something that isn't disposal, something that teaches them to appreciate, save and collect. Also promotes: Creativity, reading, statistics, categorizing and investing.

4. Kids in the Hall. I never liked it.

5. KIDS: My favorite song in 2008/2009. MGMT - Pet Shop Boy Mix. Incredible. My gift to you for the weekend...

apple ipad

What do I think Parrott? When I heard about the hp tablet over a year ago, I wanted one. When I heard that apple was going to release a tablet, I waited. Now that I know what to expect, I can wait no more! I'm dying. Must have one soon. My only and biggest concern is that you will not be able to write on it. With a stylus of course, I don't want to use my finger Apple, take a lap. I'm hoping this is a rumor and someone will confirm that you will be able to write/draw on it using a stylus or it will be pointless for me to have one.

Here are some other thoughts on the official ipad release:
1. Worst name of all time. I refuse to call it by that.
2. I'm bummed that the islate won't be running on an intel chip. I can't say that I am fully comfortable with Apple's venture into microprocessing. I'll be happier with their next gen.
3. I am very impressed with the price point of all models: $630 for 16GB version, $730 for 32GB, and $830 for 64GB

Apple iPad Specifications
The Apple iPad is 0.5 inches thick (just as slim as the iPhone) and weighs in at 1.5 pounds. It sports a 9.7-inch IPS display and offers "full capacitive multi-touch". Compared to TFT displays, IPS displays require a brighter backlight, subsequently drawing more power. In return, Apple iPad users will get a wider viewing angle (178 degrees) and accurate color reproduction. The Apple iPad is the first consumer device to take advantage of an IPS display.
The Apple iPad will be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions. It also boasts 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR connectivity, speaker, microphone and an Apple 30-pin port. Apple promises a battery life of up to 10 hours and over a month of standby time.
The bomb shell as far as specifications is concerned: The 1GHz Apple A4 chip. It's an ARM SoC with an integrated graphics processing unit (GPU) manufactured by P.A. Semi. Apple acquired P.A. Semi back in April 2008, and this is the first Apple chip to appear. We guess it's just a matter of time before Apple's iPhone will be powered by an Apple chip as well. In other words, companies like Qualcomm and Intel doesn't seem to get much fun out of Apple's new mobile adventure in the future.

Price and availability
The Apple iPad Wi-Fi models will start shipping worldwide in late March 2010 ($500 for 16GB version, $600 for 32GB, and $700 for 64GB).
The Apple iPad 3G models will start shipping in the U.S. and selected countries in April 2010 ($630 for 16GB version, $730 for 32GB, and $830 for 64GB). International pricing and worldwide availability will be announced at a later date. Apple expects to have international carrier deals ready by June 2010.
The Apple iPad 3G models (7.2Mbps HSDPA) will be sold with an unlocked micro SIM card, but Apple has a new prepaid data plan deal with AT&T Wireless: $30 per month for unlimited data or $15 per month for up to 250MB. AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots will be free to use when signing up for a data plan with AT&T. There's no contract and you can cancel it at anytime. The AT&T plans can also be activated on the Apple iPad.

random tuesday thoughts

On my desk top right now:
This is a game I used to play where I take stuff off my desk and put it into my scanner.
[I hate the sound of "used to" - As seen in this previous sentence. I'm always confused as to when "use to" and "used to." Here is a little rule that has helped me remember: When there is did or didn't in the sentence, we say use to (without d) when there is no did or didn't in the sentence, we say used to (with d).]

Apple tablet:
I can't wait for the release tomorrow. I must see now! I probably won't sleep tonight.
In the news:
Jean Claude Van Damme, who happens to be 50 now, plans to fight a kick boxer who has at least 300 bouts under his belt. Side note: During the press conference Jean Claude subtlety announced his plans for a reality show. I'm starting to believe "reality" sucks.
twitter:
I hate all terms associated with twitter. I hope they all go away very soon.

islate

This is a rendering of what people believe the apple tablet - islate will look like.
I am very excited about this.

old steez

Photo: Published in a Los Angeles newspaper in 1987. Obviously I am the handsome young man with the arrow. My friend Fred is second from the left. We went on to raise hell in Hollywood for years.
Good times.

Random thought of the day: Have you seen LL Cool J lately? I'm not sure what sort of vitamins that fool takes, but he hasn't aged in 30 years. It's ridiculous.

In the news:
Conan blowing $1.5 million dollars of NBC's money on a 60 second bit last night was pure brilliance. Conan will finish his "Tonight Show" stint this Friday, and he is using every chance to spend NBC's money. He bought a Bugatti and played the Rolling Stones original "Satisfaction>" The bit only lasted a minute, but it cost the network $1.5 million.
"Let me ask you a question," he said, standing in front of a Bugatti Veyron dressed as a mouse. "Is this appropriate music for a car that looks like a mouse? No! Does it add anything at all to this comedy bit? No, it doesn't! Is it crazy expensive to play on the air -- not to mention the rights to re-air this clip on the Internet?"
I say BRAVO!

mustard juice

Photo: I photographed the band Never Shout Never last night at Cains Ballroom - Second stage. They are classified as Acoustic Pop. The show sold out the venue and 99% of their fans were screaming 16-20 year old girls. They played well and I'd probably listen to a few of their songs on a playlist. The dude behind it all is the lead singer Christofer Ingle from Joplin Missouri, so that's cool. So he's practically a local. They are signed with Warner Brothers. And the little dude was born in 1991. That's crazy that people born in the 90's can be doing cool adult shit. Keep rocking buddy!

On to other things:
Nothing upsets me more than sitting down to enjoy a delicious hot dog, grabbing the mustard bottle, flipping it over and squirting - what I can only describe as watered-down-mustard-juice all over my delectable frank. GD that ruins my day! Same scenario also applies with hamburgers.

Perception:
I've always been intrigued by disasters. More specifically, how people react to it. I found this nugget while doing some research:
"What these researchers discovered was that the media—even way back in the 1950s and 1960s—approached huge disasters with certain frames. When the media reports on disasters, they’re inevitably going to focus on the dramatic and antisocial, even if it’s one percent of the population committing these acts"

In the news:
I'm going to try and share some current events with you all at least once a day. Every morning we read the paper before going about our day. [When I say we read the paper, we read the news applications on our phones: USA today, huffington post, etc.] Today BP read to me a very interesting/ridiculous story. A gentlemen by the name of Don "Moose" Lewis is starting an all white basketball league. He's hoping to find 12 cities to partake in his venture. "Lewis said he wants to emphasize fundamental basketball instead of "street-ball" played by "people of color."
It's a fine read: Huffington Post - All white basketball league

vw dakar

Must own.