laughing burns calories ;-)

I know I don't post much any more. Sorry about that. But here are some things that made me laugh that I wanted to share.

Two Chickens:

If you liked these, check out the rest of them at Savage Chickens!

- One Ironic Dummy:


- And One Laughable Onion:

Temp Hides Fun, Fulfilling Life From Rest Of Office

:-D
Hope you enjoyed these!

It's pretty nice when one of the first things you hear in the morning is "Your powerpoint was one of the best I've ever seen." Well shucks. :-") (that's blushing if your not familar with smilies)

I haven't updated this (or any) blog in a long time. I made a pact with myself to stay off the computer as much as possible. It hasn't really helped my productivity though. I just read books instead of blogs. One of those books was "Retire Rich Retire Young" in the Rich Dad series. That got me on a money kick. And, strangely enough, as I got on a money kick, I began getting lots of money. I got $800 from a photoshop project, and $400 from the international festival, and $500 from the US government (tax rebate), and $6000 from a CD that was in my mom's name but is now in my name (although technically that has always been my money). Oh, and I got $7 from a ling experiment. :-D Funny how things like that happen.

Anywho, if you have not read Rich Dad Poor Dad, head on over to Amazon and buy it right now. It is a great mind expanding book. I have already adopted the 3 piggy bank method of saving.... so cool. I now have one ING account for savings, one for investing, and one for Marion's Ledge (my version of titheing).

In other news, I am sick and tired of my craptastic apartment being such a freaking dump. I hate going home... and that is not good. The other day I got so upset that I decided that it had to change. So I sat there (I was suppose to be reading) and re-designed my whole apartment.

Here is the new design/changes:

• I am putting a curtain up to separate the kitchen from the middle room.
  
• I am turning the middle room (currently my unused dining room) into my office. This means I will move my desk out there and my elfa cabinet too. The table is going into my room.
  
• I am turning my living room into a dance room. The small couch is going into my room and the large couch is going on the short wall. The closet is going to be cleared and the TV will go in there when not in use. I will buy a mirror for the wall between the doors. The fridge is going on top of the table and the radio is going on top of the fridge. This can be used for dance privates by Hank if he were to ever need it or just practice room for me.
  
• I am buying a loft for my bed. This will give me more room and I won't be as tempted to work in bed. The bed is going to go on the same wall as the closet and the couch will be across from that. The table and dresser will go where my desk is now.
  
• I am going to buy shag carpeting for the rug in my bedroom in some funky bright color like red or yellow. I am also going to buy a little table and some pillows for the floor so that I can study on the floor Japanese style.
  

So that is my plan. Some things will change along the way and I will have new ideas. The biggest challenge is getting rid of stuff. I have too much junk that I don't need. I hope to have a garage sale at some point and sale some of it. I also want to open an amazon or ebay store to sell my stuff. But it has to go. I would love to get rid of my dresser and get a new one that works and looks better.

Oh, and the lesson of the week:
Books fit way better on a shelf when they are on their side. I was planning to get an extra shelf but I manage to fit all of my books in just one lawyers case just by turning them on their side. Try it some time and see how much room you can save!

Ok, It is getting late and I better read some before crashing. Night!

Silly quiz, but can you answer a couple questions about me?

Beatle Meditation - Abbey Road

I had 2 grade disappointments today. This semester is going very far from good. :-( So after my last class I came home really upset. I didn't know what to do, then I saw my new John Mellencamp album that I just bought. I decided to get out my record player. Instead of putting on John Mellencamp, I decided to actually listen to my copy of Abbey Road. I had a copy that is in really good condition and therefore I had never listened to it for fear of scratching it. But I wanted to hear the real version of Golden Slumbers, so I got out Abbey Road and put it on side 2.

Then I sat down on my bed to enjoy it.

But I found myself thinking about the day and all of the stuff that I have to do and my grades and how I have over stretched myself. Then I realised that I had almost completely missed the first song. I cleared my minded and just started listening.

But then my mind wandered to the Beatles and how they traveled to India...

No, Hailey. Just Listen.

Then I decided that I was hungry and wanted fishies.

No, Hailey. Just Listen.

Maybe I could look at the pictures in the Bhagavadgita.

No, Hailey. Just Listen.

"Is this wasting time?"

No, Hailey. Just Listen.

Then I started thinking about other people and my relationships with them and what I needed to do and what if something happened to one of them and...

No, Hailey. Just Listen.

"How many songs are there before Golden Slumbers?"

JUST. LISTEN!!

Finally, I did get my mind to calm down enough to enjoy the music. After the side was over I realised just how distracted I was. I guess that is what meditation is for - getting your mind to stop going crazy.

I also noticed a couple other things that stopped me from enjoying the Album to its full potential. I kept wondering what the song was called and where one song stopped and one started. It occurred to me part way in that that didn't matter. Things didn't have to be labeled just right.

I also kept wondering what could be different. Would listening to this be better if I had a friend with me? What if... Finally I calmed myself down and realised that it didn't matter. I was listening to it by myself and I needed to enjoy it that way.

Another thing that I did was to anticipate what was coming. Would the next song be faster? slower? rockier? smoother? Again. That was distracting. I just needed to take the song as it came.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are great lessons to learn, but I just need to make them apply to my life and everything would be great.

My Weekend

I had a really good and productive weekend:

On Sat:
- I got up early and did an overdue GTD reveiw (which means I finished a lot of short 2 minute tasks I had been putting off).
- I had a short meeting at 1:30 about the Rice Toastmasters Club I am helping to start
- I had an Houston Ishmael Meeting at 3:00. This was my first one and it was kool to talk with like-minded people.
- I visited with Jenny after that meeting (around 6:00). We hadn't had time to talk in a long time.
- I went to the Veggie Club meeting and got a really good Indian Food dinner.

Sunday:
- I got up and read for school until around 11 when I decided to get read to go out.
- I headed over to Te House and finished all of the work that I needed to do for school that didn't involve a computer or my books.
- I went to the Melody Club for Swing Dancing for the first time in ages. It was fun. I had like a mini-private with Tena. She was nitpicky, which was good, but it is funny to see how a lot of what she said directly countered things that other teachers have told me. I think at this level a lot of the advice has to do with personal style. The lesson ended with a random comment from a newbie (heard by Aramis) saying something to the extent of "How does she move that well with her butt sticking out like that". So yeah... I have some work to do.
I spent a lot of time practicing my layout (which I can't seem to get on one side). Since then, I haven't really been able to walk that well.

So that is my weekend. All that I have left to do for school this week is reading 40 pages about Buddhism and writing 3-6 pages on the philosophy of sustainable design. I can handle that! And oh yeah! I am working at Taft now. You can catch me there tomorrow morning before noon. :-)

My Productive Day

Wow. I had a really eventful/productive day. I got up this morning that did a complete GTD review. I had let things slide a bit. :-( But now things are good. And I had a lot of 2 minutes tasks that I got done that I have been putting off. That was good in and of itself.

After that, I had a string of meetings. I had a Toastmaster's meeting with Igor. And then a meeting with the Ishmael Club. And then I went over to Jenny's for a bit. And then I went to the Veggie Club dinner at Jones (really good cheap Indian food!!)

I am completely caught up on blog reading and email! That feels good. Now I must spend the rest of my weekend reading except for a quick run to the Melody Club tomorrow evening. But I don't plan to stay that long.

I volunteered at Taft for the first time on Friday! It was fun! I will be doing more of that this coming week. I am hoping to take 1 or 2 shifts a week. I liked being behind the counter and running the cash register. And soon I'll actually be able to make coffee. :-) (And for those of you wondering why I am volunteering at a coffeehouse, I am getting school credit for it for my leadership certificate)

Some Thoughts

I am writing a paper where I am looking at 41 values and deciding how much they mean to me. I have 4 values left on my list and my mind is completely fried! ::ahh!:: This paper is due tomorrow. You can tell that I have a paper to do when I am posting so much on Fearful Symmetry.

Here are some of the things on my mind today:

• I have been reading and watching youTube videos about the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. This seemed like a great device and I was actually thinking about getting one once I discovered that it runs Linux and not Windows. But then I discovered it's fatal flaw: It does not run Ajax web programs. So no Google calendar. :-( That is the point of getting it.

• I have been thinking a lot about money lately. Not sure why. I want to make money this summer but not actually work that hard. I have been trying to think of something that I can do. And extending this beyond summer, I want to come up with a service that I can offer that makes me good money. I don't need more money to live, but I like the idea of supporting myself when I get out of school. I'd like to put some away now. Here are some ideas:
• Blogging - I'd like to put some effort into Fearful Symmetry and get more well know in the blogger community. I believe that I have good information to share. I just have to learn the craft a bit better and find my niche. (And get Adsense).
  
• Some sort of service - I am not sure what I have to offer. I am not yet proficient at Internet technologies enough to do web services. (Although this is a goal of mine). And I don't teach swing well enough to even think about privates. And I am not a even close to a proficient writer.
  
• Resale - I know the resale business well from my mother. But I think it would be a bit too much work for me.
  
• Bracelets - I know how to make these little safety pin bracelets. But I don't think they will be profitable. And where would I sell them at?
  
• A product - I am not sure that I have resources to make a product. Well, it depends on the product.
• When it comes to doing something that I like, well, I could do something that involves organization. I don't have all of the answers, but I have tried a ton of different systems. I'd love to help people find systems that work for them. That would be fun. But as of now, I don't think I am qualified to do that.
  

• On the same line of thought, I am going to start asking everyone a question.
  
• The preface: I am not asking this question for real. I don't really want more to do right now. It is more of a theoretical. It is a question for my personal growth.
  
• The Question: What would you pay me to do? (Assume that I possess the skills needed to do it)