I hope to open up and share ideas and thoughts that occur to me as I begin, work through and hopefully finish my doctoral program in Accounting at Texas A&M. I hope not to be negative or complain all the time. And, I hope you find me to be interesting and a bit unusual
One of my favorite things to read is a solid autobiography of a comedian. Although it's clear some comedians have help writing the book, comedians have a great way of telling a story. They have to! A solid story makes for a great joke. Comedians come from a wide range of backgrounds, and it's interesting to see how they grew up and where their creative inspiration comes from. It's also nice to see that they're human, that they aren't always human, and that they've had some difficulty in life. I haven't purchased one lately, and I'm looking to get back on the horse. If there's any one out there who has any suggestions, I'd take them with open arms!
Here's a few that I've read that I've loved and recommend strongly:
Conan should definitely come out with an autobiography. So many interesting experiences... The Simpsons, SNL, Late Night, Tonight Show, not on the Tonight Show, TBS... Until he comes out with a book, I suggest watching Conan O'Brien Can't Stop. Inside look on his post-Tonight Show tour.
I have this weird and rather morbid obsession with building a playlist for my funeral, which will hopefully not be for a long long time from now. This idea comes from a few places:
In High Fidelity, John Cusack's character poses a question of top songs to play at a funeral,
Typical funeral music is slow and boring. A funeral is already sad, why have the music make you more sad?
Every event should have a theme, right?
Anyway, I used to have a long list, and... sadly, I've misplaced it. I do, however, have a couple songs in mind...
1) How Could I Say Goodbye to Yesterday - Boyz II Men. I mean, obviously...
2) Hate It Here - Wilco. I kinda wish someone would want to use this song as an expression of their sadness that I've passed.
That was pretty heavy... And to balance it out, here are puppies and football!
I was having a conversation last night with a friend of mine, Holly, who had worked at a pool with a lazy river. I, of course, asked the off the wall question: did you ever have rubber duck races in the lazy river? The answer was no... but it did give me the idea of an amazing charity idea. Sell a rubber duck for $10 for a race in the Schlitterbahn wave pool at the end of the summer. People who buy in would be given a number, if your duck finishes the wave pool lap first, you get a free trip somewhere or some money. Proceeds would go to some amazing charity. Schlitterbahn would win because it'd get people in the door and great press. It'd also be hilarious.
I have to tell this story about my friend Marilena (see older blog post), her brother, Dave; and his friend from forever ago, Mark, because it still makes me laugh thinking about it...
The boys were visiting Marilena for the weekend I think during Marilena and my third year at DePaul, and we decided to take advantage of Second City's free improv session one of the nights they were in town. For those who are not familiar with Second City, they do improv after the last show each night, with the exception of Fridays... or Saturdays... one of the two. They do basic improv games or pilot material for future revues using keywords, phrases, scenarios, etc. given by the audience. For some reason Dave and Mark were going on and on and on about Taye Diggs all night. I mean ALL night. Everything somehow related to Taye Diggs to them. I couldn't even tell you why Taye Diggs, but they were cracking each other up with references, and it was really funny...
When it came time for audience participation at Second City, the cast member asked, "Name something you got for Christmas that you couldn't return".
Dave and Mark scream, "TAYE DIGGS!"
The cast member laughs, and says, "Well alright, Taye Diggs".
When Dave and Mark are together they are two of the most hilarious people I've ever been around. Which is one of the reasons why they do well musically. Together they form The Plum Pluckers, follow them on Facebook. Here's a recording of the two at work.
I've known Dave for a good number of years. Brilliant. The adjective coincides with the last name Van Haren. Dave is a classic case of developing skill through passion and hard work. This is my favorite drumming video of him covering Come On! Feel the Illinoise! So many moving parts on what seems to be a fairly complicated beat... amazing.
In the mornings when I arrive in the office, after catching up with my fellow students, I like to settle in to some music to play while I read. This morning on Pandora, my second song was Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap. I'm a fan of this song, partially because of it's appearance on the (500) Days of Summer soundtrack, and I can get behind anything that has to do with Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Leavitt... But, it's also a good song.
Research reading: "What Makes Conference Calls Useful? The Information Content of Managers' Presentations and Analysts' Discussion Sessions". Sounds interesting, right? WELL IT IS!!!
A much necessary break day. No significant work done today, no workout either. I did get to see Our Idiot Brother and take my plastic and glass bottles to the recycling drop off.
Our Idiot Brother was an interesting dissection of one simple person living in a busy world. Dynamic characters. Paul Rudd did an excellent job as the central character surrounded by basically only women. Zooey Deschanel, is there anyone who comes off as awesome and someone you want to hang out with as Zooey Deschanel?
I did do my social responsibility to recycle and took a bunch of empty bottles to a recycling center. Mama Wong taught us kids a valuable lesson when we were young. I'm pretty sure my parents were bribing experts. My mom would hoard cardboard, cans, bottles and random plastic, and she'd convince us to take it downtown with her in exchange for getting Jim Jim's Water Ice. Thanks Mom! Now someone get me a medium watermelon/strawberry water ice!!!
