blah-g: 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004

by the way, i've been saying it for years now... a movie about asians making fun of themselves will be a big hit and make millions. harold and kumar go to white castle just came out, and now my millions are gone.

yay, i filed to bid for google shares. i won't buy any, but whatever, it's cool.

i have been playing a lot of scrabble lately, and it's very addicting. it's finally an activity that aileen and i can do together, instead of her just watching reality TV and me playing warcraft. we are an extremely boring couple, but i like that.

if anyone wants to play yahoo scrabble (literati), let me know. i've been playing everyday with dave, pj and aileen. wayne will soon join.

after playing literati/scrabble online:

Bork15: seriously, did you use dictionary.com?
Neelia39: to check challenges
Neelia39: but not for my own words
Bork15: as in... you checked
Bork15: then did dictionary.com
Bork15: then challenged
Neelia39: huh?
Neelia39: i checked on dictionary.com, then challenged
Neelia39: yes
Bork15: you can't be serious
Neelia39: why?

"cool" movies. those movies which are "cool" to like, no matter what your personal opinions might be. for example, there is "princess bride." you hear it all the time... 'that movie was funny, but it was no princess bride.' was princess bride really that funny? i never thought so. sure, it was cute, but it wasn't the funniest movie ever. but if you don't like princess bride, people will say in shock, 'what?! how could you not like princess bride?!' (and of course they inevitably start quoting 'you kill my father, prepare to die'). there are many more movies that were funnier.

i guess another example would be 'bladerunner.' people always say that 'matrix (or any sci-fi movie) was great, but it was no bladerunner.' was bladerunner that great? who knows, but all i know is that it's a 'cool' movie to like. i guess i'll have to see it and really find out how good it is.

i guess the same could be said for other things too. maybe it's 'cool' to hate the lakers? maybe it's 'cool' to like alternative bands? maybe it's 'cool' to think chris farley was that funny? maybe it's 'cool' to love the padres? okay... too far. definitely not cool. but you get the point.

yesterday's reading in "purpose driven life" talked about financial freedom and using your money for charity rather than using your money to live the life of a king. it made the point that money should serve you, instead of you serving money. you can make all the money you want, but what you do with it is the real test. are you going to donate it to charities or just use it to buy extravagant houses and cars? basically, the chapter challenged me to really think how money controls my life.

it's a tough question for me, especially since i'm going to be graduating with an mba degree. the average salary for my concentration two years ago was around $70K. since the economy has improved, it will be higher the time i graduate. the problem is, what do i pick? if i decide to stay with my current company, i know i will not be making that much since it is a very low paying industry. yet, to be honest, i think i deserve to make more than the average since i have accomplished a lot during my first year (VP of marketing club, sga officer, and 1st year case competition team) and my internship. on the other hand, i really do enjoy my job and they treat me very well. i can almost see myself working there fulltime, and enjoying it.

before school, i would not have cared about salary. all i cared about in my previous jobs is just making enough to survive. interesting how an education can change your life so drastically.

i want to have my cake and eat it too.

no trip this weekend, but i will be flying to new jersey this coming weekend. hopefully arrive thursday night or friday morning.

the eventful event for this past weekend was going to service at Ebenezer Baptist, the church where Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister. It was my first time going to a predominantly-black church and it wasn't as great of an experience that I hoped to be. The sound was not well adjust so it was hard to hear the chorus and the minister (a guest minister that day) and there were literally more guests and tourists than regular members. The tourists left early and basically filled up a whole section in the back. As far as we could tell, Aileen and I were the only Asians in the entire sanctuary - and I would estimate that there were about 600-700 people there. There were a couple times where we had to hold hands to the people next to us during prayers, and Aileen hates touching people so you can tell she was a little uncomfortable. However, the prayers and sermons were so full of energy and zeal, it was hard NOT to pay attention (even though I did see many people sleeping). During the prayers, I opened my eyes and looked up and practically nobody was closing their eyes. It was confusing because I thought the prayer had ended and I just looked stupid, but it really hadn't. I think people just wanted to see the prayer and the minister shouting.

Anyways, I don't think I would go again. The service was pretty long and I don't know how comfortable I would feel knowing that 60% of the church I go to are tourists. Sure, it's a great thing when you have tons of visitors in a church - it's an awesome thing - but I think I need more stability and consistency.

first time in a month that i will not be traveling anywhere this weekend. it was nice sleeping in for once. very nice.

more tips for airlines:

- airlines are NOT required to compensate you for weather-related problems. but some airlines, like a1rtran and jetblue will give you a meal voucher so you can at least get a free meal. ask for it, they have tons of them. just say you read it in the newspaper, and if they don't just go to the help desk.

- prices for orbitz/expedia/travelocity are usually the same, but beware: you will be paying higher prices in most of the cases since they charge a fee to use their service. hotwire tickets can be cheaper but are extremely limited. if you see a great deal and don't take it, chances are someone else will.

- whenever airlines have a huge sale, such as right now, it's because the demand is very low so they try to discount and give a push to volume. so you may not see those prices again, and you will be better off if you buy now.

- the myths are true, prices do rise significantly when you are closer to the flight... and opposite for the hotels.

- if you fly ON a holiday, you will ALWAYS get a good deal.

you may have noticed - chances are that you did not - there is a new form on the bottom of my blog. it's called bloglet and it lets you know when a blog has updated. i suggest that all of yous with blogger/blogspot do this so i don't have to keep checking your blogs 10x a day. (you may have also noticed that i am posting this from work... how did i do this? i have access to a proxy server that can bypass the content-blocking software... go me)

jason had a great idea (notice his promotion to my 'updated blogs' section despite him calling me a fat bastard) and said i should mention whenever there are fare sales on my blog. the airline industry is ultra-competitive, so whenever one airline has a sale or lowers its prices by even a dollar, the rest will match.

right now there is a lot of hoopla going on in the industry because southwest and a1rtran kicked off their fall fare sales earlier than usual. jetblue, and the other carriers just announced new sales this week to match.

so here's a tip... book your flights now (and fly a1rtran while you're at it)

here is another tip... there is something called sidestep that you can download and it will scan every fare on the web and return the lowest prices to you. you can go to sidestep.com to download this program (but beware, airlines hate this and could block its access).

another tip... some of the airlines have this strategy called 'covert pricing.' this means that they won't announce these fare drops, but they will do it at random times of the day when you search for flights. it could literally be only for one day or one hour even. this is done so people who are searching for fares will suddenly see this great deal and book the flight right away. so if you are looking for some flights, search several times a day.

more tips to follow... if you have questions, just comment.

so thus far, i have visited chicago, new york, san francisco, atlanta... hopefully LA sometime soon (and maybe boston). it's very interesting how they are huge cities, yet still have their distinctiveness.

i've also concluded that i don't think i can really live in a big city, except atlanta. atlanta is awesome because it is a major city but with southern urban feel. yet, i still can't see it as 'home.' it will be interesting to see where i end up... not really. geez what a boring post.

had a great weekend in chicago. next weekend, we might just take it easy, but it could easily be LA or New Orleans.

in any case, thought i'd mention that my company is on to me... they block websites so that we cannot surf espn.com, xanga, ebay, etc. however, they did not block blogspot sites... until today. today, i couldn't check my own, pj, dave, steve, or wayne's blog but i could check jason's and other blogs. i got busted.

there are so many ways to categorize people into two types. in terms of relationships, one of the most difficult types that get along are those who think they have all the time in the world, and those who think that time is short. it's hard when you put the two together because it is such a fundamentally different mindset.