Posted 11:33 AM by Anonymous

"What was it about your significant other or love-of-your-life (so far) that really grabbed you and made you at least hope they were The One..."

This one has me fairly stumped. I can't say that my response is entirely on-topic, but as I haven't posted here in a while, I'll just spew some quasi-relevant verbiage out here for a little bit. I love my boyfriend, Jon, and we've been dating for two years (and five months tomorrow), but I can't really remember any one time when I thought, "He's The One." It was like it was always assumed from the start, that he was perfect for me, and it was just a matter of getting comfortable together. Before we started dating, we were friends for a few years so we knew each other really well, and we related really well because we both had the same sense of humor. Basically, it just took a couple years of high school for us to get up the guts to move on from being "just friends". I think the moment that started it all was one time when we were at the rock gym, we were up in a little bouldering room called The Cave. We were playing a game of add-on, and I was complaining about how I was so bad at bouldering because I was so weak and small. And he told me I was beautiful - well, he said that the way I moved and climbed was beautiful - and while he was saying it, he just looked me straight in the eye, a very unnerving moment, and I didn't know what to do but laugh. Later on, we would be lying down and relaxing on the crash pads and he'd continue filling my ear with sweet-climbing-related-nothings, and you know, a few trips to the gym later, we were considered a couple. So the lesson here is, make sure you date someone who you can safely belay. No, no, that's not the lesson. The transition from friends to couple is weird - because you're used to sitting around and shooting the shit and just being goofy and having fun - and then you're just amazed to find out that you can rely on each other for everything, and so much affection. I just think that it's terrific that we could be friends for so long beforehand, and come to really respect and trust each other, and then find out that the capacity for those kinds of feelings is so much greater than you ever thought. Yeah. He's going away to college tomorrow so I'm getting sentimental. /End mushiness.

Posted 7:34 AM by Blah blah

Warning

This is for one guy only. Everyone else, please ignore this while I do some housekeeping:

[One of the signs that a blog has become popular and widely read is that people will start to leave nasty comments for you. Comes with the territory. That has happened to me several times in the past, and it is happening again recently.

To the guy from Pacific Bell DSL who is cowardly enough to leave anonymous nasty comments here, get lost. If you keep bothering us again, I will ask Pacbell to track you down and ban your cowardly ass. I'M the one who controls what goes on this blog. Leave us alone and fuck you.]

Now back to your regular programming.

Posted 2:32 AM by DUH

"What was it about your significant other or love-of-your-life (so far) that really grabbed you and made you at least hope they were The One. A scene, a word, a walk, an attitude, (a nipple shot), or a quality that made them different for you. Or do you blame liquor and green M&M's? Silly superficial things are good too, because obviously, they led to something deeper, and we are all stoopid like that sometimes. :-)"

My reply:

There were two moments.

One time, I was ranting and talking and complaining and crying because I felt like he had absolutely no time for me. I was a total bitch/nag. He had just started his surgery residency at a university hospital. And understandably, he was always not available for me. And I was feeling insecure.

He hugged me, stroked my hair and said patiently: "Hormones, baby. I think you're going to have your period. Stop now, please honey. I love you." I stopped crying.

True enough, the next day, I had my period.

From that moment on, I felt: Here was someone who understood me and accepted me like no one else could. And this someone, I think, I could love forever.

The second time was when I got sick, as in really sick. I called him up on the cellphone. Throughout my trip from work to home, he was telling me what to do, what medicine to buy. And when I reached home, he arrived just a few minutes later. He left work to spent the whole day taking care of me--and I knew he was a very busy person. He took time off for ME! He even slept beside me the whole day, caressing the pain away like I was some kid. While I watched him fall asleep beside me, I knew, that this guy would love and care for me in a way I will never experience ever again. : ) I will never forget him.

Posted 1:33 AM by Blah blah

Unica Hija and Esther wrote some fantastic replies and I will answer them. But it's late and I just got an incredibly bad haircut today and need to sleep. Esther, I am just blown away by your depth here! Would you believe it, guys? When Esther chats, she mainly talks like this: "hee hee" and "lol." It's like two different people. Hahaha!

What Captivated You?

In the meantime, Scott asked this on RBJ: "what was it about your significant other or love-of-your-life (so far) that really grabbed you and made you at least hope they were The One. A scene, a word, a walk, an attitude, (a nipple shot), or a quality that made them different for you. Or do you blame liquor and green M&M's? Silly superficial things are good too, because obviously, they led to something deeper, and we are all stoopid like that sometimes. :-)"

Rasee (our new cowriter) answered:

The first time we met we went to a movie with friends. We had hit it off immediately. We had just come out Monster's Ball, which we had giggled through, and were standing at a display case of Star Wars and Spiderman action figures. We were talking about Spiderman and he asked me how I had felt about the movie. I said something--I can't remember now--and I asked him how he felt about it. I can't remember what he said either. We started to talk about our families and I admitted that my family life was far from perfect. I asked him about his parents and he went quiet. I had expected the worst.

"They are...the most compassionate people," he started.

That was it. Along with that smile that seemed full of kindness and sunshine, how comfortable he was in his own skin, and how easy it was to talk to him, what he said about his parents made me realize I was going to love this boy if given half the chance to get to know him better. With my family background, anyone who could talk about their parents that way--with so much love and awe and gratitude--it was amazing to me. I was speechless.

It's rare for me to meet someone that matches my perkiness or optimism, and I found both in the Boy. I found a love and passion for life, the courage to laugh at himself, and a kindness so subtle it was endearing. Maybe he made me feel like I was doing okay in how I lived my life. Maybe he showed me what *I* needed.

I answered:

My first real love lived one floor above me in our dorm. The first time I visited her room, I noticed how much she liked pink. She had a pink poster of a cat on her door, she wore a pink sweater, and she purred in a soothing voice when she talked and laughed. She was very calm and content. I started thinking of her as a satisfied, flirtatious kitty.

After dinner, every day she'd go to the cafe by herself, without fail, and gaze at the sunset.

She was a hardworking, determined scientist but also very romantic and sweet. She had so much joy in the tiny details of life. I caught her infection.

Another thing: I come from a family that does not listen or communicate well. I was used to people not listening to me when I talked, to having to repeat something several times to get my message across. I was used to shouting at home before college.

When I visited her and started talking, she immediately shut off her TV and paid full attention to me. When she was talking and I had a thought, she instantly stopped and wanted to truly hear me. I could talk softly and sense someone was there listening to me with big blinking eyes. Being treated this way was so FOREIGN to me. A shock.

And I was hooked.

Posted 3:03 PM by DUH

Am mostly reacting to the whole male-female discussion threads here. And here are a few thoughts.

I think that for the most part, women can do the same things that men can. And I am for the most part a believer in women's rights. But I wouldn't call myself a feminist. I think I am more a humanist. In the sense that I recognize that women and men are essentially DIFFERENT. I believe we operate and are wired differently. Those who say otherwise haven't lived enough, I think (I hate rabid feminists). And therein lies the beauty of the whole male-female dynamic. And the whole. . . banter thing.

Come on, who are we kidding. Much as I would prefer men who at the onset looked for that intellectual connection with me instead of just a knee jerk attraction to the physical, the reality is, it is much more enjoyable for a man to have a stimulating conversation with someone physically attractive. If I were a male, I'd be a jerk--I mean, I'd feel the same thing! It's a reality we have to face it. Men look for the visual more consciously in their mates at the onset. And women don't. Thank goodness, this is not the case most of the time. A lot of men have jumped away from that stereotype and I've had the pleasure of having relationships with this type of male. And boy would I be happy if I do meet a man like that once more.

But good luck to you women who don't recognize--even ignore!-- the power we inherently have as humans with innate femininity, fluttery eyelids, curves, breasts. . . you get the picture. If you still don't get it, just listen to Al Pacino's lines in "Scent of a Woman." : ) Who wouldn't want stimulating intellectual and FUNNY banter with someone who looked good as well?

For the record, I consciously choose banter and intellect over looks in the many relationships I've had because I'd rather have great conversations with my boyfriend than worry about how I look beside him. And yes, looks do fade with time. But *sigh*, sorry girls, this has NOT saved me. Apparently, there ARE smart male jerks out there just as there are intellectually stimulating women who are great to look at, too. Oh well.

This does not mean that women must accept existing repressions. There are basic human rights that everyone, male or female, should be entitled to. And it is those HUMAN rights I think we should focus on, not just pointing out all the bad things men do to make women's lives miserable. Men are wonderful companions. They are amazing human beings who can help open jars and fix cars. And women are just as amazing. I won't launch into the many wonderful things women can do that men can't. : ) We all know what those are.

Now about banter. Ahhh! I love banter--that wonderful ping and pong between men and women. That whole flirtation, mating ritual whatever you call it. I think banter is basically the commitment to communicate with another and the ability to make that connection with this other person. I mean, hey, two people can have connection. But one party may desire NOT to communicate. It's a choice. The same way that when you're already hooked up with someone, much as you feel that desire to communicate with that other yummy human morsel in the other side of the room, you don't. Because you choose not to.

Again, if you choose to communicate, and WHAM, you find you are able to make that wonderful connection--which is rare I tell you--with that other person, you can take it from there. So Ray, there goes my answer to your comment that intellectual banter CAN disappear and may well fade with time together with looks. It all boils down to choice and commitment, I think--what you choose to forego and what you choose to accept in the other person. If we focused more on the beautiful things our partner contributes to the relationship rather than notice the negative, there would be less heartaches and divorces.

And to that guy who says his girlfriend can't banter, bottomline is, I think it's just a sign that's something's askew in the EXISTING relationship. If it's the number one thing you're looking for in a relationship, heck, man, why are you with her in the first place?!

Posted 12:36 AM by Anonymous

Say Hi to Cheshire Dave!

God damn it, I wrote a big long response to Esther and Raymond's posts, and Blogger ate it up. I must go to sleep now. If I feel like recreating it tomorrow, I'll try posting again. I hate Blogger.

Not the way I wanted my first post to be, but there it is. Hi, everyone, I'm Cheshire. More thoughtful posts later.

Posted 10:01 PM by Blah blah

Everyone, LISTEN to the beautiful singing voice of our new cowriter, Rasee! Happy birthday to Cyn and Smitha!

I had fun chatting with Esther tonight (I mean bantering) and yeah, I'll respond in full to what she wrote below.

In the meantime, I just stumbled upon this beautiful online blog love story, A Modest Proposal. Be still my cynical heart!

Who Comes to Tiger Cafe?

Our visitors, by morning California time:

Our visitors, by evening California time:

Posted 5:41 AM by Blah blah

Furor over MBA study by Stanford researchers: Stanford study contends MBA degrees overrated (San Francisco Chronicle).

What's an MBA Really Worth? (Business 2.0):
_________________
It will cost more than $100,000 to earn a degree at an elite business school. Just one problem: There's little real evidence that it will enhance your career....

The drive for academic respectability, however, has nurtured a teaching culture in which few marketing professors have managed a brand, few management professors have led a team, and few finance professors have done a deal. "You had faculty from social science disciplines like economics and sociology replacing real-world practitioners in classrooms," says James Bailey, an associate professor at George Washington University's business school. "Aside from Harvard and [the University of Virginia's] Darden, which stayed with the case method, business schools began telling students, 'Here's the concept, you figure out how to apply it.'" The result is a mismatch between what students are being taught and what they need to know to succeed in business....

The AACSB based its findings on a survey of 1,500 graduates of 18 full-time MBA programs, who were asked which skills were most important in their careers, and to what extent their degrees enhanced those skills. The graduates rated one-on-one communication as most important, yet they considered only 6 percent of business schools better than "moderately effective" in helping students develop in that area. Alumni also rated listening skills and managing change as "extremely important" for career success, but gave only 12 and 6 percent of schools, respectively, high marks at teaching them. No school rated above "moderately effective" in teaching students to apply business theory in practice. In fact, alumni seemed to be saying that theory wasn't all that useful anyway, ranking it second-to-last in importance.

Posted 1:25 AM by e*star

Here's your banter. I guess it's your say as to if this is stimulating enough or not... ;)

Pray, here, that this banter not be meaningless!!
Raymond, I understand your need. I really do. And really, I wonder if men like you as well as the one whom you referenced from Salon.com have gone unnoticed so frequently so that there are really more who share the same craving in their significant other. Men and their uncontrollable physical needs, blahblahblah... Okay, *not* to mitigate the very concensus that yes, men really do focus more on the physical than do women. All I know is that it really is hard to find somebody who is intellectually stimulating in a way which compliments your own intellectual capacities. Furthermore...it is even harder to find that somebody who can actually *communicate* and *articulate* these thought processes!! What more...what are the odds that these few, enlightened (I hesitate to use this term for fear of sounding elitist) individuals would cross paths with each other?? I feel the frustration...I do. :)

I interject myself to say "Hi" and "Welcome!!" to Rasee from another (albeit misdiagnosed in great, great degree) Capricorn. ;)

Here, I'd like to scrutinize an excerpt from your Salon.com dude:
And while some guys can compensate easily enough for their gals' lack of interest in, say, fishing by going off and sharing it with like-minded friends, it's not so easy for me, because most of the friends I have whom I can connect with on this intellectual level are women -- and I associate the banter so strongly with romance.

I tend to wonder about this--do we really need a justification for needing intellectual stimulation from a significant other? I worry that he justifies his need for "banter" from his signficant other when it should be other men who should be justifying their lack of need of this very quality from their women. Can I get an AMEN from anybody?? Because he has accepted the fact that he is the exception, he basically has confirmed the fact that the majority of men are okay with finding intellectual stimulation from their other male counterparts. Intellectual stimulation found only in male friends. True, this is only after scrutiny, but all the same, this makes me upset. Not too upset, but only because I am female and like other females, have lived our whole lives in order to accept our permanent, secondary place in society just because it exists as such. For clarification, I am not attacking him in any shape or form--just pointing out assumptions made yet so often unscrutinized because of socialized conditions, no matter how unjust. But really, what is up with that?

Why *can't* men prioritize intellectual stimulation in their female counterparts more often? Call me femi-nazi or whatever you may, but really. Sometimes I feel really disheartened at conditions that are just taken for granted when in reality they should be questioned. Question everything. Everything. Question everything you think you know, you think you believe, because only when you can understand the other side do you really know you believe what you believe, and you believe even more in what you already believe. Or, you change it and you are all the more enlightened because of it. Really. So, my analyses follow...

I believe the above example basically confirms maybe one half of a concensus as to the dating world. I believe that women, with the exception of your typical "gold-diggers" and such, tend to look for a guy who is interesting...if not intellectually stimulating then somebody who is just short of that capacity--like i said, interesting. This, I contrast with what I've stipulated above about guys and their chosen female counterparts. They are just not looking for that in a woman for maybe multiple reasons--they don't think to look for it, or maybe even, they prefer not to look for it. Yes, friends, I am talking about general male hierarchy.

I was talking with my boyfriend, whose name is Ian, about strong women. I guess I should give a short introduction--Ian is my boyfriend from heaven. Short of gushing about my significant other til you stop reading this in disgust (if you haven't already ;) ), I will summarize that I do banter very intellectually with my boyfriend. This is an established quality that both of us share and value in each other and to me, he is a Godsend. Moving along, the term we used was "strong women", but perhaps to clarify a better-suited term would be strong-willed women. Ian was talking with his friends--whom, not to boast, I get along with very, very well--and they were actually discussing "strong(-willed) women". Dynamic personalities, moderately opinionated personalities, you name it...and really...they were saying in general how some men just don't have the confidence for it. Ian and I discussed this at length and came to the conclusion that because of the socialized male-female hierarchy, many men are used to these very conditions. Many men cannot handle strong-willed women, for fear that it jeopardizes their manliness, or position of control in the relationship.

I am not saying, here, that all men are evil and oppressive. Far from it. I am not male-hating; however, I have tried to understand as much about the world in which I was placed and why people tend to think the way they do and why people tend to be treated the way they are treated. Men have also been conditioned just as women have--although they are often well-wishing, have grown up in a place in which pressure has been placed upon them to fit a certain role. That role is almost always means being the "man of the house"--the one with the final say.

This may differ from the intent of Raymond's original stipulation about plain, intellectual banter, but really...my tendency is to look past the surface and search out the reasoning behind conditions and to just really question everything. Hee hee...forgive me, because this means I go off on many different tangents. :) Anyway, I know I have left out a lot about screwed up things on the female side, and although I am a true feminist, I do believe that there are many, many women who are less than the upright citizens they have the potential to be--and it is not the fault of the societal conditions in which they have grown up. ;) Believe me--I have a lot to say about female shortcomings as well!!

All in all, please comment. I am interested as to what people might have to say, including blatant objections!! :)

Posted 8:00 PM by Anonymous

Say Hi to (the lyrical) Rasee!

This is my first post for Tiger Cafe after a couple of disastrous attempts to join. I don't think Blogger likes me very much. Maybe computers in general don't like me very much. They can smell my apprehension and my fear of blowing anything up. How a person that has written online since 1997 can still have such a trying relationship with computers is beyond me. But I digress. As I was saying, this is my first post here and I believe the occasion warrants a quick introduction. I'm Rasee, a twenty-one-year-old stubborn and overly emotional Capricorn from Bangkok, Thailand. I graduated recently with a degree in English and am currently teaching English and writing for a magazine here in the city.

At the moment I'm working as hard as I can--which is probably not hard enough--to put together writing samples that are apparently the most important aspect of my application to graduate school. I think I was doing okay until a few weeks ago when I realized that my chances of getting into a good school and achieving the degree I want depends solely on thirty pages of my writing. Thirty pages. My writing. Am I insane? What makes me think Brown is going to pick me as one of the twelve students they accept each year from 700 applicants? Is my writing really that good? Having kept an online journal for so many years and having received an array of responses from my readers, have I let myself believe that I have the potential to be a good fiction writer when all I do really well is express my emotions eloquently? There's a difference between writing about yourself and creating an entire fictitious world that people want to be part of, and there is much insecurity going through me right now.

Sometimes I think being a writer at heart, whether or not you write professionally, can be emotionally and mentally exhausting. Writers tend to put everything they experience into words. They may see a plane fly across the sky or have their hearts broken, and automatically they search for the words to describe what happened and how they feel. It becomes frustrating when there is so much emotion inside that the words don't come together, and without those words, there is no way for writers to understand and accept what has happened. When words are how you make sense out of things, what happens when you can't find those words is that you can't quite find a way to deal with what has transpired. There's always that need to write, to express, to connect. When words fail you--when the one thing you have always been certain of is not there for you to reach for--you get very lost. And very confused.

Or maybe that's just me.

Posted 2:27 PM by Blah blah

My girlfriend does not banter well... (Salon.com):

I've got this old friend -- not to mince words, old flame. Liv, by her own admission, is moody and difficult, and we know we'd be a mightily star-crossed couple, and yet talking with her is like playing footsie underneath the Algonquin Round Table. Liv herself is no threat to my current relationship -- among other things, she's got a boyfriend of her own, she's two states away and she smokes. But I crave the kind of banter that we share, the intellectual playfulness, the fact that she gets all my obscure jokes (when she came to visit a few months ago, we collapsed into hysterics over the idea of programming a cellphone ringer to play John Cage's _4'33"_), and it's the No. 1 thing I've been looking for in a romantic partner. Holly, for all her charms and virtues, does not banter, and easily half my references go right past her....

But the question in my mind isn't whether I can sustain a relationship that's missing something, it's whether I can sustain one that's missing this one crucial thing. I need the mind-play like I need water and air. And while some guys can compensate easily enough for their gals' lack of interest in, say, fishing by going off and sharing it with like-minded friends, it's not so easy for me, because most of the friends I have whom I can connect with on this intellectual level are women -- and I associate the banter so strongly with romance.

God, this describes me SOOO well! In relationships I've had with women who are attractive in other ways, the lack of banter when we talk, or the difference in values, is usually what kills us. It's always that more than looks or money or distance.

I am just like this guy. Good conversation where we truly listen and GET each other is something I've tried to ignore for other factors. I've tried, trust me. With a lot of people. But it never works. I am dying mentally. That's the key to catching me: mental and emotional stimulation. With humor, understanding, and devotion.

Good conversation is a lifeblood to me. Why do you think I write so much? Because I am not getting this talk with people around me. Talk is the temptress. Mind play before foreplay. Please. That's how I am built. I don't like talking to human walls. It's not an option.

Posted 8:01 AM by Blah blah

Who is 25 and over?

I started a thread on Rice Bowl Journals yesterday to see who was 25 and over. I was getting swamped by all the teenagers joining RBJ and wanted to see who could relate to ME.

The response was overwhelming. And HILARIOUS. I could not stop laughing yesterday.

This morning the discussion is still going, with 116 responses and 943 views so far. Some of our silly (and dirty) talk:
__________________
Danny: Cyn, grey hairs on a woman are nice, show off your elder charm... some men find it incredibly sexy. I on the other hand know that I am going to suffer from Bonnie Raitt sydrome... all of my greys are growing out of one place on my head... like a spot.

Me: Sophia, diversity is fine, but we need SIMILARITY too! We need people we can talk to about more grownup issues and not have their eyes glaze over.

Danny: Yeah, try and talk to someone about the gulf war, or the LA riots and they sit there and tell me that they read about it in history class... that shit pisses me off.....

Susan: i'll be 24 end of this year...can i join in?

Danny: No, go away.

Key: Uh oh Susan, now he's gonna take your picture and distort it too.

Susan: yikes...he's going to make me look like a FREAKAZOID like the rest of you guys. *shut mouth* no you guys don't look like freaks...my, you guys look just adorable!!

Danny: The telling day... I was 23 years old and I worked with a programmer that was 30... I kept calling him old man and asking him about his vision and hearing.... we had lunch a few years back.. I was 26, he was 33... he told me... "One day it is going to happen to you. Some little prick, a young noob just out of college or high school is going to be calling you old man."

Look what happened. Alex got on the boards and I have never felt older in my entire life.

Me: Hahaha, Danny...tell me about it!! Yeah, you can be our representative. And Chris, we're not THAT old, dammit!

The score now is:
Older People 1
Younger People 0

Susan: ok...i'm 25 in korean age and i'll be 26 soon!! i'm of age...you don't have to wait!!!

Danny: still not good... then the question would have been Who is 26 and over?? Okay, get out.

Dave: Alex is so young, he still gets separation anxiety from his placenta.

Scott: 31.

And frankly (forgive my immodesty for once), I'm better, stronger, faster, smarter, wiser, more confident/interesting/attractive, a better artist and writer, and just plain worth more than I was ten years ago.
I also have nearly unrestricted access to feeling up a superfine sex-bomb of a babe, my wife. For that alone I would have given up 10 years of my life at 21.
Age is simply an empty lot in which you can build your own empire. If you want to.
My only regret is this five to seven pounds I have been trying to lose.
... Oh, and this old man says Susan stays.

Mark: Me too... if you mess with the perfection that is Susan's avatar, the known universe will implode. Do not fuck with forces you do not understand.
uh oh
you said fuck
don't worry, i won't tell anyone

Donny: wow i didn't know susan's avatar has that much power over our lives.........

Sophia: thank you. trying to remember the name of those funky shirts had me in a knot all day. *sigh* didn't they say that memory is the first thing that goes?

Mark: Don't make an excuse for all that pot you used to smoke Sophia.

Scott: Marky, I think those hypercolor OP shirts were supposed to be the *WaVe Of ThE fUtUrE!* WoOooOooOooo....

Much like MC Hammer balloon pants ... Can't touch this, Break it down -- Ohh Uh Ohh Uh Oh

My My MY music hits me -- so hard
Makes me say -- "Oh my Lord"
Thank you -- for blessing me
With a mind to rhyme and two hype feet
It feels good -- when you know you're down
A super dope homeboy from the Oaktown
And I'm known as such
And this is a beat -- uh you can't touch

*hop, spin, drift into oblivion*
can't touch this!

Susan: yay...for SCOTT oppa!! MY HERO!!
*MUAH* to my fellow arizonian...MARKY!!
haha...DONNY!! we're going to be neighbors in a little bit!

Mark: did you just slip me the tongue?

Susan: HAHAHA!! at first i didn't understand and then i looked over to the smilie. oppsie...*wink*

Scott: *stops MC Hammer spinning*

Must be these parachute pants! :-D

Susan Kim's back -- advance.
You gotta like that, now you know you wanna dance.
So move -- outta yo seat.
She's so fly, girl, now catch this beat!

*does the parachute pants dance with fly girl Susan*
Break it down! (Ohh uh Ohh uh Ohh) -- Stop, Oppah time!

Cyn: oh.lord.
/covers eyes
hahahah!!!
it was bad enough back in
the 80's scott!

Susan: ohh uh ohhh uh ohh....
groovy along with oppa!!
WHOOHOOO!!

Arnold: *shaking head* these crazy old fogies.. dancing to old school MC Hammer hits.

Danny: dude, you are rocking the mic like a vandal

Me: YEAH! I'm so glad I started this topic. That's what you get when you're 25+. Why? Cuz...
(Cyndi Lauper) "Old Folks Just a-Wanna Have Fuuuuun..."
Bam...bam buh...buh bam...bam buh...
>> Breakin' down with the Oppa! <<
"Can't touch this..." boom de boom MC Hammer...
Remember Paula Abdul? Yeah momma!
Hey, I want a cool Korean nickname too!!

Scott: Hmm... how about GOCHU !! :-)

My My MY GOCHU hits me -- so hard
When I run downstairs -- "Oh my Lord"
Thank you -- for blessing me
With a big GOCHU and two testes



Raymond told you homeboy -- (You can't touch this)
Yeah that's my GOCHU - and you know (You can't touch this)
Look at my GOCHU -- (You can't touch this)
Yo, let me bust my funky GOCHU -- (You can't touch this)

Break it down! (Music breaks down.) -- Stop, GOCHU time!

Susan: OMG....scott oppa!! *shake head* you are so BAD!!!
but i can't stop laughing!!

Me: If GOCHU works with the ladies,
I'll take it! Hahaha... :)

Donny: wut does GOCHU mean?

Scott: it literally means "hot pepper." (correct me if I'm wrong)
but it's also used as a euphemism to describe a male's thingy.
and oh yes, raymond, it works on the ladies.
as. you. very. well. know. tiger. *wink*
hahahha!!

Cyn: do you mean, like
pickled penis? 8)
HAHHAHAHA!!!

Sophia: i wonder how a pickled pp would t..........
um, never mind.

Mark: No, go on... you were saying?
t...witch?
t...rip out?
t...hink?
Don't look at me like that.

Me: would
...type (60 wpm)
...tap dance!
Hey, don't make fun of my new nickname, Raymond "GOCHU (hot pepper)"!
It's not funny. :(

Cyn: oh. but. it. is.
=D
hahahaha!!!
i like it myself, tho, raymond. 8)

Alex: how do u know that i cant relate to your problems? sure, i may not have to pay my bills, but if you relate your full time job to my school and part time job, it's about the same - all relative...

Terence: I'll be 25 in November. And Alex, you can't relate it when you're young. It's like having an 11 yr old relate to your problems, etc.

Alex: of course i cant relate to the EXACT same things. But like i said, you may hve things that you consider importnat in your life, such as turning in some big report to your boss - and you'll be stressing on that. And i'll have the same issue, except it'll be a history report worth 40% of my grade? Like I said, it's all relative..
______________
Danny: Yeah Alex, let's say that your little four page history report on the civil war stresses you out. Because we all know that in high school, that paper could mean the end of your existence.

Let see, I have to do 8 pie charts, and a bunch of graphs due tomorrow at the end of the day. I don't turn my work in. I lose my job.

Alex doesn't turn his work in. Alex goes to summer school.

Alex gets his allowance and drives around in a high end sports car that his mommy and daddy bought.

I get my allowance every 15 days and drive around in a flea infested sportscar that hasn't been the envy of anyone for over 6 years.

I watch television knowing full well that I am paying for the cable/satellite.

Alex watches television for free boobies.

Dude, you obviously have been sucking on the chronic way way WAY too much to even say what you did. I may be OLD, but damn Alex.... don't think we are too much alike. It is not all relative.

Now I can turn this around, "Alex, in 13 years some little noob is going to sitting there calling you an old man and laughing at you. Then he is going to make a comparison like this and just at that moment, right at that split second, you are going to understand why that statement you made is wrong."

You still annoy me Jawa and I will warn you if you ever IM me again, but I am not mad at you. You are just young.
______________
Rasee: Have you ever heard a man say he could relate to a woman's period cramps? So he's had stomachaches, but does he really know how she feels when she's curled up on that bed all day?
Or how about thinking you understand how someone feels because her loved one died and your boyfriend walked out on you? You can try to understand. You might even come close to getting it. But you *don't* truly understand her pain. You can't. Not unless you've loved someone that way and lost them that way.
You can *try* to understand, Alex, but you can't truly understand until you've been there. And neither can I. I work three jobs and am trying to get myself to grad school without anyone's help. That is *nothing* like working to support two or three other people, being a parent, or depending on a job for survival.

Alex: I see, my apologies, to everyone - I didnt mean to make it seem like you weren't all stressed at all.
But, I just felt that you weren't giving us as much credit as us teenagers deserve. And, secondly, Danny, when is a 93 honda civic a sports car?

Danny: Please stop Alex... you are making me roll on the ground laughing.... [to be continued]

Posted 5:47 PM by Anonymous

Everything is at once new and old again. I feel happy and light, giggly and girly. We reach out to each other with cold, nervous fingers. Our sense of touch heightened, we caress our intertwined hands. Slowly, I warm to the idea that this is OK to do. That I can, in fact, enjoy it.

We look at each other like young lovers who’ve never so much as been kissed. Our innocence is strangely exhilirating, ironically pure for 2 people who are past the quarter-centry mark. Even more so because we’d already done this all, with each other, a long time ago. But this time around, it’s different, naturally. This time around I’m a scarred, hurt mouse of a girl, quivering in the shadows of my knowledge.

Each step we take reminds me all over again of HIM. When you wrap your arms around me, when you lightly hold me, it feels secure and safe. It also feels just like me and him.
And that’s when the pain sets in, that’s when my sweet high is corrupted by the past that was me and him.

My confusion recedes and advances, recedes and advances. I’d like to thank you for being here for me. I’d like to hurt him for leaving this long, lingering pain.

Posted 4:20 PM by Blah blah

Racists

Paul wrote this awesome tale of him being a hero and defending two girls on the street this weekend in Atlanta.

YEAH Paul!!! You go man!

I haven't met many jerks like those racist "frat boys" since I was a kid growing up in New England. Would I try to punch them out if they touched one of my girl friends? Probably. You wouldn't like me when I'm really angry.

Flashback:

I was getting on the bus in Rennes, a city in northwestern France. With me was this Cambodian guy Yung, whom I had just met on the SNCF train from Tours. When he heard I was travelling to Mont St. Michel, he insisted I stop in Rennes and spend the night with him and his host family.

As we stepped on the bus, we heard snickers from our left. These four teenaged French boys were staring at us. "Salut...Japonais!" (Japanese) they smirked as we sat in the back, next to them. "Oooh...deux hommes jaunes!" (two yellow men) they clucked. "Ching chong ching....hahaha!"

The day before, in Tours, I had lived through the worst day ever of my trip. I was in an ugly mood.

"Êtes vous Chinois?" (Are you Chinese) they grinned. "EYYY! Vous ne comprenez pas le Français? (You don't understand French?) Doi....oioioooooi..." they said, pulling their eyes into slits with their fingers.

I grew enraged. I had only studied French for a week before starting this trip and my tongue struggled to speak. I seethed with the memory of the many insults like this I had heard as a kid in New England. But it had been over 15 years since I'd last heard the talk. My eyes and nose flared. The so-called "rude" French had been very kind to me up till the other day. So friendly. Until this bunch of assholes spoiled it.

My eyes bored into Yung, urging him to respond in French, seeking an equal rage. But I just saw a blank face. He stared straight ahead and spoke nothing. He pretended not to understand. Yung was fighting to get a visa to stay in the country. He didn't want attention.

"Je suis Américain!" (I am American!) I growled. "Je suis Californien, (Californian) damn you!"

The boys gasped. "Ohhh, Anglais, (English) hah? So I hear that the Asian dick is very small, no? How big is your dick? Hehehehe!"

We reached our stop. Yung motioned for me to go. I stood up, glaring at the French boys, and shouted "Vous!!! Vous êtes...imbéciles, non???" (You are imbeciles, no?)

The whole bus stopped talking and stared at us. Silence. Yung and I smiled and got out of there.

When we reached his apartment, the first thing I did was ask for a dictionary. I looked up "imbecile." It meant the same in French as it did in English. "Yeah baby!!!" I yelled.

That night was one of the best nights of my trip.

Before YOU go to Europe, make sure to study:
Good phrases for being obnoxious in French.

Better:
How to be an Obnoxious Lover with French.

Posted 9:52 AM by Blah blah

Machinimas Are New Cinematic Genre (AP):

"Part cinema, part video game, these so-called machinimas don't need real actors, props, cameras or sets — just a home computer.

This emerging form of filmmaking uses the graphics power of today's computer games to create movies with remarkable visceral power....

What's revolutionary for directors, says Marino, is that machinimas can be made in real time....

Campbell demonstrated the software, and the results were startling. Using the mouse, he added actors, props and lights into a virtual set, then directed the action with a few clicks and some keystrokes.

About five minutes of work produced a 30-second movie that he could then save onto a compact disc or DVD for later viewing."

Whoa! Check out the Machinima.com: shooting film in virtual reality. And Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences.

MBA Experience:

"The MBA experience is a complete record of what its like to take an MBA at a top business school from application to graduation.

My name is Martin Lloyd, and at time of writing I have been accepted to study for an MBA at the Said Business School in Oxford."

Posted 11:57 PM by Blah blah

A fool's paradise for CEOs (Salon.com):
_____________________
For those of us with experience selling complex products to corporate information systems departments, a comment made by Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy in a New York Times article published Monday says reams about what's going on in corporate America today.

McNealy was discussing a new requirement that CEOs attest to the accuracy of corporate financial statements.

"I haven't convinced myself that it is in the best interest of our shareholders," McNealy told the Times. To comply fully with the requirement, he explained, would mean attending quarterly meetings to close the books, usually chaired by the chief financial officer.

"That's what I'd be doing instead of being out here on the road, talking to customers and trying to generate more business for Sun," he said.

What investors should actually read McNealy as saying is: "My job as CEO of Sun is to be the chief pitchman, to glad-hand executives at my own level and convince them that Sun products are the right 'solutions' for their corporate needs. Determining whether the solutions actually work -- or whether it's even profitable for my company to sell them (and how would I know anyway?) -- is not my primary responsibility. In fact, if they don't work, or if our accounting is misstating our long-term profitability -- well, frankly, I resent the suggestion that I ought to have any legal accountability for my ignorance."

McNealy's attitude is the culmination of the last decade's ascendant ethos for U.S. business: near worship and lavish compensation for people who "make things happen" coupled with near contempt and minimal rewards for people who "make things work."

What "happened" is exactly what could have been expected: a tidal wave of scandal, corporate reverses, meltdowns and bankruptcies -- set to a chorus of denials from the people at the top that they had the slightest idea of the accounting, organizational and product "solution" deceptions on which the appearance of success was based.

Accounting scandals aside, another huge shoe is waiting to fall for many large organizations: many of the products and services supplied by companies offering "solutions" never worked, or never worked properly....

Many a CEO, or even a CIO, would be shocked to discover, were they to inquire (or encourage their subordinates to discover), that some of their employees are manually entering data (from two quarters back) into one system from printouts produced by another. Or that some 20 people buried in the customer service department do nothing, all day, but correct errors created when salespeople (after a half day's training) enter orders into a system so complicated and cumbersome that it takes weeks to train the people in customer service and accounts receivable delegated to picking up the pieces to use it properly. Or that out in the warehouse the complicated wireless system (which took years, not months, to really get working and cost four times what was budgeted) is randomly on the fritz, and stock must be picked manually several hours a day.

During the high-flying decade of the 1990s, CEOs sold each other such systems -- they "made it happen."

But the people who attempted to install and maintain such systems shrugged their shoulders, did the best they could, put each disaster and disappointment on their résumé as product experience, and moved on to the next job. And the rank and file worked double time to make it work.

Posted 7:22 PM by Blah blah

From How to Write a Better Weblog:
___________________
The professional writer writes:

New York is magnificent in spring.

The amateur writer writes:

I know this is a cliché nowadays, especially after 9/11, but I live in New York, which is much cleaner and safer now because of Giuliani, who really ought to be president after handling the crisis so well, and I know I’ve had some issues in the past with the mayor’s handling of the NYPD in regard to African Americans and his war against art involving sacred religious icons and feces (hello!? freedom of expression!?), but when all is said and done, New York, as maybe the best example of the ‘melting pot’ etc. etc., is a great city, especially when it starts getting warmer and people go outside more, like around March or April.

Producing a successful weblog, however you define that, is tough. Instead of money, fame, and Jacuzzis full of sexy nude readers, you’ll probably feel like you’re shouting in outer space. And you probably will be. In 1994, you could hook a thousand readers if you wrote about the mold underneath your refrigerator. Now, you’re lucky to get a hundred regulars, even if your work is excellent.

No matter what your audience size, you ought to write as if your readership consisted of paid subscribers whose subscriptions were perpetually about to expire. There’s no need to pander. Compel them to re–subscribe.
____________________
To my cowriters: I know you are busy, but PLEASE WRITE MORE OFTEN. Can we agree at least once a week? I need to hear from you. If you can't do this, let me know and I will delete you.

To anyone like Mona who may want to write here, I need someone who can write REGULARLY. Let me know if you are interested. Don't be shy. Do any GUYS want to write here? I need more guys.

Posted 10:08 AM by Blah blah

Hong Kong Economy Hurts Mistresses (AP):
______________________
Money from across the border in Hong Kong is not flowing as freely as before into the hands of the many mainland Chinese women kept as mistresses by Hong Kong men in this and several other "er-nai cun" — "second wives villages."

"My friends used to cross the border three to four times a week, but now they may only go once a week," says Cheung Hung, a 47-year-old Hong Kong businessman who once kept two mistresses but says he now visits prostitutes. "Now, many have taken pay cuts and they don't spend as lavishly as before."

Capitalist Hong Kong's affluence has long been a magnet for women from poor provinces in central and western China.

Many of them settled in the melting pot of Shenzhen, where nearly half the 7 million residents are migrants. Prevented by immigration restrictions from crossing the border, the women hooked up with richer Hong Kong men living less than an hour away by commuter train.

There are no official statistics on the number of "second wives," but thousands of Hong Kong philanderers — from truck drivers to company bosses — sought out attractive mainland women in the myriad nightclubs, karaoke bars, massage parlors and other trysting spots that sprang up across Shenzhen.

For the equivalent of a few hundred dollars a month, these men kept "concubines," reviving an ancient Chinese tradition that is no longer legal in modern China. The mistresses led easy and extravagant lives by local standards, passing the time between trysts by playing mahjong, eating out and shopping.
______________________
Oh my God. Look at this! I can't stop laughing at how Danny distorted all of our pictures.



This is for you, S X (Miss Malaysia): Malaysian Censors Exercise the Knife (Reuters).

Posted 9:08 PM by Blah blah

Went to two parties Friday night. The first was for a new young people's group with TheatreWorks, which puts on shows in Mountain View and Palo Alto. This actress sang for us and I met a lot of cool people. Had dinner opposite this girl from SF who's a communications professor in San Jose. She studies things like interpersonal conflict. Tried to tap some of her knowledge about diplomacy and male-female talk.

For the second, I went clubbing with some friends at The Forum, in Sunnyvale.

C and I had been laughing at Fantasia over pearl tea Sunday afternoon, when Huang came by to say hi to me. Huang was my almost-next door neighbor in Berkeley, at International House. In his spare time, Huang's become a big clubbing VIP and has organized a ton of club nights with his two beautiful sisters and this Taiwanese girl Annie. (Here's the last party by Huang I went to.) He's started putting on parties here in the South Bay instead of only San Francisco. So he put me on his VIP list and I went. Over 300 mainly Asian Americans showed up!

I danced with my sexy friend M for most of three hours, and boy is she a very responsive dancer! When she gets into it, she'll turn more aggressive and twist you around. It's harmless fun, folks. The club had platforms where a whole bunch of girls just got up and writhed erotically with each other, and they had staff dancers dressed in white and black furs, dancing in tiny balconies.

Not bad, although honestly I would have wished for more peace and quiet in the middle. The party in Palo Alto I went to a couple of weeks ago was better, because they interspersed slow music with the techno kinetic stuff, and I didn't realize how much I had missed slow dancing till I did it!

This morning I went to a business/management series of presentations at UCSC Extension. Met a lot of career changers and people looking to do something new. I got a great deal of inspiration for what my next career steps will need to be. Here in Silicon Valley, survival = continual reinvention. I don't want to be typecast. I can't see myself doing the same thing for 20 years like the older generation. Now I have a more coherent plan for my future. Yeah.

Posted 5:59 PM by Blah blah

Remember I was gushing over the short film Little Sister a few days ago?

Please go watch it on IFILM, guys, and give it a rating! I promise you will really enjoy it.

Paul Bock, the director, wrote me:

Raymond:

Glad you dug, Little Sister! I'm just a starving filmmaker in LA, so any positive feedback helps!

Little Sister has pretty much had it's festival run already. Well, played Dances With Films here in LA about a year ago. I didn't really want to play any other festivals, I couldn't really afford to cut neg and make a print, and I don't really like how video projection looks. Well, I promised myself my next film I will definitely make a print. To be honest with you, I didn't even want to go on the net, especially ifilm, I'll tell you what, though, ifilm has been nothing but great to me, so I'm glad I submitted to them.

One member of IFILM reviewed it thus:

Paul Bock's directorial debut is an imaginative short film that transcends the realm of banality. In short, Little Sister reminds us why we love movies. At the crux, Paul’s vision is simple, yet funny and thought provoking, inviting the viewer to share Paul’s dream at its highest level. Brilliant! This is a film about finding happiness where you would never have thought to look for it. It mocks the mainstream by proving that the great--albeit diminishing--art of storytelling does not have to be sacrificed in favor of insipid "eye candy." Yet this film stands out from most other indie films by dodging the clichéd trivialities that have become ubiquitous in the independent arena. The characters are unique and handled exceptionally well by the film's four main stars-to-be. Its only major flaw is its brevity. It would have worked equally as well as a feature-length movie. I highly recommend viewing Little Sister.

Posted 5:35 PM by Blah blah

I've been meeting more and more cool people recently.

Posted 12:37 AM by Blah blah

Weblogs of the stars: Hollywood personalities share their innermost thoughts, interesting or not, on the Internet (San Francisco Chronicle).

I just had dinner with a new friend tonight, this girl (the one on the right). We went to Gaesung House of Tofu in Santa Clara and talked for several hours. She's a scientific consultant. Can you believe she was such a typical "nerd" in high school? She was telling me all these sad nerd stories: taking advanced math, playing violin, wearing braces, wearing these "Jacklyn Smith" pink glasses, and being dressed by her mom in preppy outfits considered "uncool." Haha! Boy could I relate!

She's very thoughtful and analytical. We had fun!

Posted 12:09 AM by Blah blah

Baby Makes "No. 3" for Jacko? (E! Online):
_______________
Yes, according to a report in the new issue of People magazine, the stork has made another stop at Neverland Ranch, delivering a third child to Michael Jackson....

Jackson already has two children, a five-year-old son named Prince Michael Jackson, and a four-year-old daughter, Paris Michael Jackson, both with ex-wife Debbie Rowe.

Like everything in the singer's life, the latest addition to the Jackson camp is cloaked in mystery. Few details are available, but evidently the baby's name is Prince Michael II. ("That's correct, Prince I and Prince II," producer Gary Pudney tells People.) Jackson reportedly refers to the tyke as "the third" or "Number 3." (Which, we presume, leads to inevitable nanny confusion if, say, Number 3 goes number 1 on Number 2.)

The child is, according to the magazine, not adopted but rather conceived "the natural way." While the babe might be Jacko's biological child, mum's the word on, well, the mum. (And what passes for "natural" at Neverland is anyone's guess.)
________________
Poor Michael:

The History of Michael Jackson's Face

Posted 7:21 PM by DUH

Am normally a poster girl for optimism, but lately I've noticed some things. . .

top 10 signs i'm starting to get cynical

1. When spying two young people so obviously in love, I say: "There goes another potential broken heart."

2. A friend tells me he just bought the latest version of this so-and-so software: "Versioning is just another marketing ploy to make you buy ANOTHER box of software that requires even BIGGER memory which then pushes you to buy a NEW computer able to run the stupid new version faster."

3. A college friend invites me to join a multilevel marketing business and I say: "Look. You're selling expensive products that a target market will buy only once which will compel you to look for new dimwits elsewhere in the country who will ALSO buy your product once--no repeat customers!-- for the ultimate benefit of making you financially viable. DOES THAT MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON IN THE GREATER SCHEME OF THINGS?! I DON'T THINK SO." Needless to say, she never called me again.

4. I told a friend my doctor asked me to return for another round of lab tests just to make sure. She says "Another marketing scheme by the HMOs to make you spend more money on stupid tests you don't need." I think about this for a few seconds. I SO agree with her.

5. While washing dishes, I tell my condomate from out of the blue: "You know that dishwashing liquid? It's just soap, water and fragrance the multinational would like you to believe is worth more than the regular bar of soap or detergent powder that comes in cheaper if you have the right mind to simply add water to it and use as dishwashing liquid." She looks at me strangely. "Okaaaay."

6. After a meeting with a client who works for government, I am confused by his delays and vagueness regarding the project. Then the thought hits me: "He wants a cut!"

7. This guy is hitting on me, trying to use the old I'm-having-problems-I-am-a-sensitive-guy crap and I think: "The things men do just to get laid."

8. While in the grocery with a friend: "You know what? All these infant formulas are crap. The best milk is STILL breastmilk."

9. In the department store with same friend, after seeing a poster for another new cellphone: "What's this stupid promotion of all these new cellphones?! You know, all we really need is a phone that can make a call and send text. THAT'S ALL! These people are perpetuating a false consumerism that's tainting the values of the Filipino youth."

10. Spying a poster for a local movie by this great young director: "He's sold out.Too bad."

Handcuff my hands please and lock me in a room.

Posted 2:35 PM by Anonymous

Well, tomorrow I take off for a five-day adventure to New York state. I'm going with my boyfriend to visit his grandparents, father and step-mom at his grandparents' house in Chautauqua. Chautauqua's a pretty cool-sounding place - I actually first heard about it in my AP U.S. History book, believe it or not, in the section on the Great Awakening, or something like that. (I have a notoriously bad memory, which isn't helpful as a history major!) Anyways, Chautauqua is this great pretty community on a lake, there's an art school and a music school, opera and symphony, and they constantly have classes and lectures that are just open to the public. It's kind of a continuous learning community - pretty neat idea, I think. I've never been there before, but I'm pretty excited about it. Jon and I are driving out, it should be about an eight-hour drive and I'm working on burning about eight mix CDs to keep us entertained for the duration. Road trips are so much fun when you're with people you love, so I'm pretty excited.

Last time we went on a road trip was driving from the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in the Berkshires back to my apartment in Washington, D.C. We left the festival around 10 p.m. and drove through a torrential thunderstorm with about two feet of visibility and deer at the edge of the roads, just waiting to hurtle out at us. We drove straight through the night, except to stop and nap for three hours in a parking lot in Baltimore - just a little sketchy, huh? But it's a great opportunity to have a six-hour conversation with somebody you really care about. Especially when it's somebody who you don't disagree with too much. I guess I'm one of those people who sees issues in pretty black and white - I have pretty well-formed opinions on most things and am pretty certain that they're the right position to have. That makes debating certain things with me pretty difficult. Oh well. I have to say, though, that the U.S. highway system has to start getting more rest stop restaurants that can feed vegetarians. Those Roy Rogers packaged salads are pretty awful. Anyways, I probably won't have much internet access in Chautauqua so I won't be blogging again until Monday night or Tuesday, so see you guys then!

Posted 2:35 PM by Blah blah

Clinton Mulls Talk Show Options (Reuters):
______________________
Coming up next -- Politicians who don't inhale and the people who love them! Which is better, boxers or briefs? And, when is sex NOT sex? All this and more on ... "Today with Bill."

Network executives aren't talking, but informed sources said Wednesday that representatives of former President Bill Clinton are in discussions with CBS about developing a syndicated talk show to be hosted by the 56-year-old former commander-in-chief.

Those negotiations began after similar talks with rival network NBC, owned by General Electric Co., stalled in July. The sources, including one close to Clinton, said that but so far he is merely reviewing offers and keeping his options open....

Under a proposal from CBS, a unit of Viacom Inc., a Clinton-hosted show would be carried daily on TV stations owned and operated by CBS and sold to the highest bidder in other markets by Viacom-owned syndication powerhouse King World Productions Inc., which also distributes Oprah Winfrey's show.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Clinton has held separate talks with CBS and NBC about the possibility that he would host a talk show at a salary of $30 million to $50 million a year, which would be the highest ever earned by a freshman talk show host....

"He is smart enough to understand that if you're going to do a daily television show, it has to be entertaining and attract a large audience," the source said. "But he's also smart enough to understand that he could never do a show that would demean the presidency, and that he could never do a partisan political show."

While avoiding "personal problem areas," Clinton would want to combine discussions of "music and issues" with occasional performances by guest entertainers, the source said.

Posted 8:12 AM by Blah blah

Here's my view of good conversation:

Mikey, you talk about the weather and "where are you from" with your FRIENDS???

Sounds like you barely know them.

This is an unusual question, given that on RBJ you have every topic under the sun. The key to good conversation is not what topic you pick but how interested you are in it. It's how well you listen and think around and inside out about the topic. How funny and witty you are.

It's also how well you can say the right thing at the right time with the right person.

I'd say go for more depth, wit, and humor. Match your audience. That way anything from bellybuttons to bongos grows alive as a topic.

And when you are out of things to say, know when to shut up.

Posted 7:45 AM by Blah blah

I'm adding this awesome couple to my link list. Know them from their witty discussions on RBJ. They are set to marry May 2003. Let me present the delightful:

- Raven and
- Mona! (Here's Mona's other website.)

I've chatted with Raven before. He works at Andersen's old consulting arm, Accenture. Mona has a big marketing background and used to work at Disney World in Florida.
They actually met on Match.com!

Dave and Miyu started talking about depression on RBJ. Miyu, so young and alive as a professional dancer, says she was on anti-depressants for the first 6 months of this year. My reply:

Gosh, that's awful, Miyu-chan. I'm acquainted with the "black dog" of depression and know how debilitating it can be.

Too bad someone like you who is so young and alive would face that. I wish you a much smoother experience and better support next time around.

I agree with Rasee, Dave.

I think people who think too much can get more easily depressed. To avoid becoming the prisoner of our hyperactive minds, the best thing is to get totally physical.

Go swim 50 laps. (I've been swimming a lot this summer and it helps.) Clean someone's yard. Change a baby diaper. Use this time to learn how to install window blinds throughout the house.

Anything physical will make you so exhausted or involved you won't have time or space to think about depression. Plus you will feel that satisfaction of concrete accomplishment that makes you want to go out and tackle the world.

Thinking of the world as a sorry, hulking mess would sap anyone's good cheer. Think of it as a lot of bite-sized Almond Joy candy bars you have to swallow.

Posted 2:58 AM by Anonymous

It’s interesting how when you’re coasting along on only 4 hours sleep a night over a period of several days, things start to get a little blurry. Surreal. At the same time, strangely, a little more intense.

I’ve been overcome by a semi-delirium, giggling at every thing. As if drunk on long island iced teas, I feel like a young, happy teenager. I’ve become a girl again. For a long time lately, I’d felt old. Too wise. Too knowing. Too aware of the evils that exist in the world.

But lately, I’ve stopped turning into bed at 10pm so I could get my requisite 8 hours sleep. I no longer look at my night’s rest as a welcome escape from the mundane, if not depressing routine that is my life. Instead, I’ve been sleeping at 1am, then 2am (on a work night, mind you!), and 6am on the weekend due to my reactivated social life.

And those missing hours have translated into more than just fun. I actually feel like I’m living my life again. This is probably the first time in a year, the first time since coming back to Malaysia that I actually feel like HERE is where it’s happening. I feel like I belong. I feel popular, beloved, surrounded by friends. I feel glad to be stuck in this little, isolated island that is home.

So, back to the intensity. Somehow, I’m enjoying everything a whole lot more. It’s like all the little details are coming together, jiving. And. I’m realizing it. That’s what’s making the difference. The little details. I’m enjoying every little detail all over again.

This lack of sleep. Yeah,it seems to be working for me.

Posted 12:59 AM by Blah blah

Recent Pix of World Trade Center

Laura (who writes very funny date stories) sent me these latest photos from Ground Zero of the World Trade Center in New York City. Check them out!

People comment on her photos.

Posted 5:53 PM by Blah blah

Rejection Stories

Cyn asks about your pathetic tales of rejection on RBJ. My reply:

Ok Cyn, get some popcorn for this complicated tale...

A few years ago I was taking this dance class. On first coming in, I knew no one and just stood, glancing around. Two girls on my right started talking to me. The older girl was studying in my field, closer to my age, and from China. The younger girl, from Thailand, was more sexy and wore this red dress.

At first we all took turns dancing with each other, and they seemed to both be flirting with me. I knew it was dumb to encourage both of them, so I had to make a decision. (Guys, you can imagine my dilemma! And NO, this had not happened to me before.)

I stuck more with the girl from China, because we seemed to have more in common. We started to dance more that night and things seemed to be going well.

A few days later, we had our next class. Before it started, I looked around for Chinese girl but didn't see her. Thai girl, however, was there and dressed even more seductively.

"HI!" she yelled. "So what happened to that other girl? She must have quit the class." She started flirting with me.

Of course, that's when Chinese girl decided to walk in.

Her mood totally changed. She became icy and serious and was really tense when she danced. It became painful to talk to her.

C'mon, I had JUST met both of them!

So I turned to Thai girl. But by then she had started flirting with other guys, and boy, did she shoot me down! The rest of the class I danced with neither of them much at all!

"From dust ye came
and to dust ye shall return."

What a big laugh! I'll tell this story to my grandkids. :D

[P.S. A few months later I met Chinese girl again, in a software class. This time she approached me and we went out.]

Posted 4:07 PM by Blah blah

The week before last, I took two girls to a big, mainly Asian dance party. It turned out to be a huge meat market. We drank some shots of tequila. I was dancing closely with my friend when I felt her chin starting to sink into my neck and shoulder. Her eyes closed and we began to slow dance. After a few minutes, she just collapsed into my arms like a beanbag doll. She and the other girl had both become drunk. All these guys who had been dancing with us later surrounded us, offering help. We got them home ok eventually. What an exhilarating night we had!

From RBJ: What Turns You On?

I said:

"I like confidence in women.

A hint of shyness is seductive too.

Someone who is artistic and romantic is instantly more attractive too. Good at flirting and a good listener. Laughs easily.

Physically, I tend to like long or medium length hair, a curvy body, and a sense of style and fashion. Highlighted or dyed hair is cool too. A broad smile. Trusting, open eyes. Physically graceful and moves well. A good dancer."

This is sorta my general type. But I'm open and flexible, of course.

Posted 2:43 PM by Anonymous

Say Hi to Sylvia!

Hi everybody, it's Sylvia [her biography], and Raymond has generously invited me to be part of the incredible blogging giant that is Tiger Cafe. I get to play the role of pseudo-swimming guru and liberal-politico extraordinaire, among other exciting roles. Mostly, I'm just a 19-year-old girl with a lot of time on my hands and a lot of Internet at my fingertips. I spent six weeks of my summer interning for Senator Lieberman in his D.C. office, and I've also lent my help to a local Green Party campaign as well as Democracy Rising, the Ralph Nader super rallies that tour the country. Recently I've decided to make my long-time dream of competing in a triathlon happen. The first step? Invest in a road bike to train on. We'll see if that notion wins my dad's approval. I've got my eye on the New York City Triathlon within, let's say, five to seven years. That sounds like enough time to get in shape, right?

Today's Krugman editorial (NY Times) is a fairly refreshing read in for a mainstream news source. Krugman points out the super-obvious: the Republicans use "fake populism, based on staged shmoozing with ordinary Americans and attacks on the imagined cultural elitism of the liberal media", while the Democrats are not populist enough. I've been saying this for years, I can't imagine why I don't have a regular column in the New York Times.

Posted 2:12 PM by Blah blah

Thank you, Cheshire for your kind words! I see he is writing chapter 6 of his novel. I just met a girl from the Jiangxi province (southern China) recently who has written a 13 chapter novel in Chinese. Very fascinating. She got her MA at Stanford a few years ago. Was a journalist for the Xinhua News Agency for a year before that. I will try to help her translate her novel into English.

For all of you writers out there, this is great:
Essays on the Craft of Dramatic Writing.

From the magazine Screentalk, which covers screenwriting:
Article Archive.

Screenwriters Utopia. Another excellent source of in-depth articles and analyses of screenplays.

Create Your Screenplay.

Posted 10:49 AM by Blah blah

P.S. Things you probably don't know about Vin Diesel, the new action star of Hollywood in XXX:

1. He was bad at writing before. Then he became an English major at Hunter College (creative writing).
2. He was in a journalism class, writing a mock obituary of himself, when he realized he was heading in the wrong direction and needed to write his own stuff to get noticed.
3. He wrote, directed, produced, and financed two films, Multi-Facial and Strays, both of which were selected by major film festivals (Cannes for the first and Sundance for the second).
4. With lack of success in finding jobs in LA, he took a job as a telemarketer for a year and pooled some of this money with a buddy's money to raise about $47,000 to help make his film.
5. His big break came when Steven Spielberg called Diesel's agent, saying he had seen Multi-Facial at Cannes and liked it! That he was thinking of writing a role in Saving Private Ryan just for Diesel!
6. Although he focused purely on the craft of acting for several years, he did not start to get successful until he decided to learn about the BUSINESS side of the industry.

He is definitely no dummy. I discovered all these facts when I saw his interview on Charlie Rose last night, and he said that for years he has admired and followed those late night "cerebral" conversations on Rose's TV show. Both he and I are big fans! (I wrote about Charlie here.)

Did you know that when Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote Good Will Hunting, they wrote in a meaty psychiatrist role specifically to attract a big-name actor like Robin Williams to their project? This helped their movie get more publicity and funding. With only themselves as the main characters, it would have been harder to attract attention. That's an example of the business sense that works in Hollywood.

Posted 10:15 AM by Blah blah

Little Sister, by First Kiss Films

For those who know me, you know I have become a HUGE film buff in the last few years. You also know I am thinking about how to get more involved in the entertainment industry. I've always been enamored with good movies and drama, but with the rise of sites like IFILM and PBS shows like Independent View, my interest exploded in filmmaking and the richness of creativity that is out there.

That's why I'm gonna twist your arm to make you see this 26 minute short film on the Net, Little Sister (2000), by director Paul Bock. This looks like the debut effort of his production company, First Kiss Films. You need RealPlayer or Windows Media Player to see it.

It's a romantic comedy about a teenaged girl, Tabitha (played by Tori McPetrie), who has the hots for her older sister's boyfriend, Mike (played by Justin Doran). The film is such a joy to watch that I saw it twice! The script is clever, funny, and teasing, while the two main actors are likeable and have great chemistry. You could sense the sharp intelligence they brought to ever line, every nuance. Actually all the actors in this film are good.

Tori McPetrie is both a fresh-faced nice girl and a sexy future goddess. Justin Doran is likeably sarcastic, and he had me laughing with the criticism of standard romantic comedy cliches he gives in the film. It happened to be what won him the part.

The director Paul Bock says it best about what struggles you must go through as a filmmaker:

Little Sister was a script I wrote in film school back in 1998. It started out as a mini-DV [digital video] project, 3 months later the budget rose 8 times higher, and the film medium changed to 35 mm. Since then, I lost a 7-year relationship, became financially destitute, and still no green lights from any film festivals. Regardless, I'm proud as hell of this film!

Cinequest

I'm really surprised Little Sister hasn't gotten into any film festivals, since it is one of the most popular films on IFILM right now. Recently I discovered that here in San Jose, we have our OWN major film festival, ranked among the top ten in the world!! Called Cinequest, it was founded 12 years ago by Halfdan Hussey (read his cool bio) and Kathleen J. Powell, with the annual help of Silicon Valley companies like my own Applied Materials. Each year Cinequest gives out its Maverick Spirit Awards to the best films. The 12th annual event was held March 2002. Over 50,000 people attended the 11 day event and saw over 130 films from 30 countries. 250 filmmakers also came.

From Cinequest's 2001 press release:

World renowned for its personal showcase of maverick films, filmmaking, and technology, Cinequest joined the ranks of Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Berlin, and Telluride as one of the world's top ten film festivals, as ranked by the prestigious Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide. This honor is significant as over six hundred international film festivals currently exist. It is a further honor as film and digital media is arguably the most influential cultural medium in the world. `Receiving an award from any of the Top Ten (festivals) results in much-needed publicity and the attention of the industry, which can go a long way toward launching a career....And, of paramount importance for independent filmmakers, these fests also act as back-door film markets-movies that are shown at these festivals have a greater chance of getting picked up for distribution.' (The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide, 2001) Cinequest's track record for honoring the biggest mavericks in the business (Kevin Spacey, Jackie Chan, John Waters, Gus Van Sant, Rod Steiger, Gabriel Byrne, Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda, and Jennifer Jason Leigh) as well as thousands of cutting-edge filmmakers, has served Cinequest and the film industry well. Recently Cinequest has added a powerful DXD (digital by digital) technology section that will showcase the role of technologies in enhancing maverick creativity. This is a fitting development in that Cinequest is the Silicon Valley's premiere media event.

Not only have some of the big names like Ian McKellen, Jackie Chan, Spike Lee, and Kevin Spacey come to San Jose to speak at Cinequest, Cinequest also is up on the latest efforts to move digital technology, in which Attack of the Clones was shot, into the mainstream.

Anyhow, this week I started volunteering for Cinequest! It's my first step into the "entertainment industry," and it's purely out of love for film (definitely not for money.) With the downturn in the economy, they need more than ever to raise money for next year's festival through grants and foundations. That's where I come in. I met Halfdan Hussey this week, and now I'm a volunteer helping to write grants and proposals for the tens of thousands of dollars they need. I need to call various people, ask their requirements, and try to write grant applications and letters that match what they want. They must be interesting, pithy, and very persuasive. This is just like writing college application essays. I could write letters and essays in my sleep!

I like this because:

1) I will be valued as a writer
2) I'll make my first steps and contacts in the entertainment field
3) I'll be helping both the arts AND my community. The success of Cinequest helps put San Jose on the map, like Cannes and Sundance.
4) I will get to see fascinating films and meet some cool filmmakers
5) I will start learning about the business from the distribution side

Why else am I soooo interested in film? Movies are simply the MOST powerful media on earth. The silver screen is the largest and most influential classroom blackboard we have, so we ignore it at our peril. It's also about political and business power, folks. Think about how FEW Asians we see in the movies or how FEW good intelligent roles they have. Think of the EXCELLENT drama that gets made every year in Japan, Korea, India, and China that deserves a much wider audience. Think of the stereotypes and ideas that get perpetuated by the lockhold a few main studios have on the world movie industry, that may hurt YOU personally when you are going for a promotion at work or travelling to a remote part of the country.

Anyhow, I am not a politically correct fanatic. I care mainly about quality films, regardless of race or culture. I applaud how Hollywood and studios like Miramax do take more risks and bring more culturally diverse, highly intelligent films to the commercial mainstream nowadays. I want to help keep that going, to help bring more fantastic new voices to the table. I hope Paul Bock and Little Sister make it!

Posted 11:13 PM by Blah blah

IBM Discloses 15,000 Layoffs (NewsFactor). Disheartening.

After Criticism, a Top Analyst Quits Salomon (NY Times). Shocking and instructive:

"Mr. Grubman had extraordinarily close ties to the companies he followed. According to a document released by the House committee, he attended 10 board meetings at several companies in the late 1990's, including WorldCom, McLeodUSA and Broadwing. It is highly unusual for analysts to attend company board meetings.

For years Mr. Grubman's advocacy for the telecommunications industry helped win his firm the top rank among investment banking firms in the sector. Between 1997 and 2001, Salomon collected $809 million underwriting telecommunications stocks and bonds and $178 million providing merger advice, according to Thomson Financial. The total was 43 percent more than the fees made by Merrill Lynch, its closest rival in the sector.

Among the telecommunications companies Salomon brought public or underwrote securities for in the period were Global Crossing, Metromedia Fiber Networks, McLeodUSA, Winstar Communications, Qwest Communications, Flag Telecom Holdings, Rhythms Netconnections and XO Communications. All but one of these companies Qwest has filed for bankruptcy....

Even when he was a little-known analyst at PaineWebber, Mr. Grubman quickly saw the potential in Mr. Ebbers' acquisition plans, according to people who know him. The plans would mean considerable banking fees for the brokerage firm that won the assignment, and Mr. Grubman also liked the idea of a small upstart like Mr. Ebbers taking on the torpid and monopolistic Bell operating companies.

In 1996, the Telecommunications Act came about. Intended to increase competition in the telecommunications industry, the law unleashed a flock of entrepreneurs eager to build huge networks crisscrossing the globe to serve the big jumps in demand for data transmission that were being predicted.

No one was more certain than Mr. Grubman that this demand was going to be explosive and that the companies most likely to profit from it would be new entrants unencumbered by the bureaucratic mentality common among established companies. He proselytized this view with institutional investors across the country in speech after speech.

Naturally, Mr. Grubman attracted the attention of entrepreneurs who shared his beliefs and hoped that his firm, Salomon Smith Barney, would help them sell their securities to the public.

Not every telecommunications chief executive could persuade him to do so. Howard S. Jonas is chairman of the IDT Corporation, a telecommunications services provider that has survived the carnage in the industry and is profitable. He said of Salomon: 'I tried to go to Jack and say we're the best of our peers and we're solvent, but I couldn't get in his office. If you had big merger-and- acquisition opportunities, then you had a chance. Once you got inside then you were sort of protected. Mergers were arranged between you.'

But the demand for the vast telecommunications networks that Mr. Grubman and others predicted never materialized. One by one, the fledgling companies began failing, leaving investors with enormous losses.

'Jack Grubman ignored obvious signs of trouble at WorldCom, including repeated downgrades by credit- rating agencies,' said Martin Weiss, chairman at Weiss Ratings Inc., an independent research firm. 'He was clearly a leading proponent of WorldCom shares, almost to the bitter end, despite abundant signs of trouble.'

Citigroup also announced several management changes involving Salomon Smith Barney yesterday, intended to further separate the firm's investment banking and equity research businesses. Equity research will now report to Robert Druskin, a 33-year veteran of Citigroup, who was named president and chief operating officer of Salomon, a new position at the firm. The investment banking business will still report directly to Mr. Carpenter, the Salomon chairman."

More for my financial education:
With Dividends, High Payouts Can Mean High Risks (NY Times).

To learn more on these fascinating topics, check out this set of articles by this same writer, Gretchen Morgenson, who writes the NYT Market Watch column.

Posted 2:04 PM by Blah blah

Funny Replies to Spam

Miyu recently got an anonymous "love letter" from Africa. For FUNNY replies YOU can make to spam, check out:

The Kizombe Correspondence (one woman traded letters with one of those Nigerian scammers which I am sure you get all the time now). Two of her letters to him:

From: Elizabeth Hanes
To: kizombe kamara
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2001 11:10 AM
Subject: Re: my responce/original documents

Dear Kizombe,

I'm saddened. Do you think I don't trust you? I don't understand why you feel you have to send me scans of documents in order for me to believe your story. It hurts my feelings that, even after this long e-mail correspondence, you keep our relationship so businesslike. I thought we were friends.

Nevertheless, since you feel we must provide visual proof of our commitment to each other, I've included scans of several documents for your perusal. I think you'll find them interesting and hope they'll show you how committed I am to making this deal work.

Here is my 5th grade report card:
(image removed)

As you can see, I was an excellent student who made good marks.

And here is a copy of one of my 4-H records:
(image removed)


I realize my documents don't have all the official-looking stamps, seals, and signatures that yours do, but I hope you'll accept them as proof of my genuine nature. I particularly wanted to include this 4-H record because it has my picture on it.

I wish you'd send me a photo of yourself, Kizombe. I've come to think of you as the unwanted son I never had. And that makes me feel good. Having a photo to put with your name would be very helpful to me.

You know, Kizombe, it gets lonely up here in our mountain enclave, with the militia members patrolling the perimeter day and night to keep us safe from any Al-Quaida forces that may be lurking in the forest around us. Sometimes, we hear them at night. Oh, sure, they may sound simply like deer grazing, but we know better. Still, the isolation freezes a hole of loneliness deep into me. Sometimes, I feel like an ice fisherman, perched atop a perfectly drilled hole, waiting -- waiting -- for the fish of my dreams to surface.

Have you ever thought about marrying, Kizombe? Don't you long for a wife, a beautiful woman who may be carrying a little too much weight on her hips and thighs but nevertheless could be called "handsome" in her own way? A competent, sturdy woman who could bear your children and chop your wood? Perhaps I could be that woman for you, Kizombe.

But I digress.

You asked for all my "particulars," and I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that. So, I'm going to give you all the information I think you'll need to create whatever paperwork is necessary for us to transact this deal. Here is the information:

NAME: Savannah June Lawless (my real, legal name)
AGE: Perpetually 39
MEASUREMENTS: 40C-32-36
HAIR COLOR: usually highlighted blonde, sometimes red, often brunette
EYE COLOR: blue
SIGN: Scorpio
MARITAL STATUS: single
BLOOD TYPE: O+
ADDRESS: 1827 Main Street Apt. A,
Ciudad La Llorona, New Mexico, 87331-0997, Estado Libre de Nuevo Mexico D.F.
TELEPHONE: 505-555-9493
FAX: --

Dang it, Kizombe, I forgot to tell you. My fax machine broke! So, I hope you haven't tried to fax me anything yet. Don't worry -- I'm working on getting it fixed and will let you know ASAP when it's working again. I apologize for this inconvenience. Well, you know, Murphy's Law and all that! It was bound to happen.

Also, I'll be on vacation next week to celebrate Christmas. This means I won't be able to answer your e-mail between the dates of 23 December and 29 December. So, if you send me something and don't hear back right away, don't get worried. OK?

I hope you are keeping yourself well and not getting shot at too often. Keep your head down! (A little joke, there.) And Happy Kwanzaa to you!

Sincerely,
Elizabeth

From: "Elizabeth Hanes"
To: "kizombe kamara"
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2001 9:24 AM
Subject: Re: REPLY ME KIZOMBE

Dear Kizombe,

It has not been a good day. First, I broke a nail as soon as I arose this morning. Then, I dropped the coffee pot, shattering it into a million pieces and spilling coffee all over the kitchen floor. When I went outside, I discovered one of my goats had dropped dead overnight. And it's not even 9am yet. What does the rest of the day have in store?

I am sorry you did not find the telephone number working. I have a confession to make. I don't have a telephone. I reside in such a remote area that I can't get phone service. It's just as well; I couldn't afford a phone even if I had one.

But the good news is, a friend of mine (who is completely discreet and trustworthy) has agreed to accept your faxes. Here is the number you can fax all the documents to: 202-406-5031. Please send everything immediately and I will sign all paperwork.

I have attached my photo, as you requested. I'm a little shy about sending it to you, wondering how you'll feel once you see what I look like. I've been called "beautiful" by many of my boyfriend-cousins, but perhaps I don't meet your standard for loveliness. I guess I'll have to wait and see.

If I sound depressed, it's because I am. Christmas is next Tuesday, and I don't see how I can afford to buy gifts for all 10 of my children. What kind of Christmas will it be without presents? I mean, sure, I made monkey puppets out of old work socks for them, but the 17-year-old will be less than thrilled with that. He has his heart set on a new car. I suppose I could give him the family moonshine recipe, handed down through the generations. Perhaps setting up a shiny new still would raise his spirits. There's nothing like corn likker to put a smile on one's face at Christmas time!

I wonder if I could ask you a favor. I know you want me to be happy. Maybe you could send me some money to tide me over. The problem is, all of my fortune is tied up in investments. I am extremely cash poor. If you could see your way clear to send me a check for, say, $15,000, then I could give my children the Christmas they deserve. You could simply deduct the money from my share of the $16 million. Consider it an "advance" against my commission for helping you out. I'd really appreciate it. You have my mailing address. Please send certified funds by overnight express delivery so I get it in time. You are sweet!

And how lovely of you to invite me to Sierra Leone for Christmas. Ah, Christmas in war-torn Africa. How utterly romantic!! I would like nothing more than to hop on a jet to St. Moritz for the holidays -- all hot tubs and champagne and apres-ski (if you get my drift!) But alas, I cannot even afford to pay my electricity bill.

It's so difficult living here in Estado Libre de Nuevo Mexico. We're such a small country. And so much strife. Just last night, a gun battle at the El Nido saloon took the life of a dear friend (and, I think, the father of my 3rd and 5th children). He was a good man and didn't deserve to die. All because of a disputed high-stakes darts game. It's madness, sheer madness! I can so totally relate to what you're going through down there. My first husband was killed when he intervened in a bitch-slapping fight during a Mary Kay party gone bad. My second husband, Cousin Bubba, died when his 69 Camaro fell down off the jack stands while he was putting muffler tape on the tail pipe. And it's extremely dangerous to walk down main street because after Father Gonzales de Smith gets into the sacramental wine at lunch, he likes to crawl onto the church roof with a BB gun and take potshots at the Presbyterians while shouting, "Repent, ye infidels!" If my country weren't so poor, we could afford better police protection or even a navy. But when the primary occupation consists of nighttime raids into the U.S. to shoplift boxes of Cheez-Its from 7-11s along the border, it's difficult to establish a tax base to fund such luxuries.

I hope all is well with you and look forward to receiving your reply and, most importantly, that check in certified funds we discussed. Thank you, Kizombe!

Yours truly,
Elizabeth

(Photo of a woman with a black beard.)

The Spam Letters (one man bares his soul to spammers, one after the other!) Especially this letter, Someone is interested in you.