tom cruise kills oprah

according to espn , shaq just got his MBA from the un1vers1ty of ph0en1x.

from the article:

The degree, he said, "solidifies that I'm a businessman."

The Big Executive is ready to take on Bill Gates and Donald Trump.

"I could always go and have a conversation with Mr. Gates or Mr. Trump. But now that I have this," he said, "I can really have a conversation with them on the same level that they have their conversations."


woah there. slow down.

"do or do not, there is no try" - yoda

aileen and i have been watching star wars 4,5, and 6 this week. aileen has never seen them and it has been over a decade since i last enjoyed these great movies. everytime i saw a tie-fighter or x-wing, it always brings me back to my childhood. i remember pretending flashlights were lightsabers, holding books by the flaps and pretending it was in a cruiser, or buliding x-wings with virtually anything that had an "X" shape.

the quote from yoda mentioned above really stuck with me while watching empire strikes back. i guess it struck a chord with me because i have always believed the opposite. i believed that as long as you put all your effort in, or "tried," then nothing else matters. but thinking about it some more, yoda (or george lucas) is right. "try" is not the right word - it's really "do."

ciao! i have returned from italia and nice, france. we accomplished a lot, conquering many cities in a short time-span, learning about the history of civilization, art, and more importantly, ourselves. after spending so much time with one person, you don't really realize how much your personality changes. you need a control group to gauge how you behave differently with people you have not seen in a long time. for me, i think i changed for the worse. i have become a lot more confrontational and impatient - which some has translated as becoming more self-confident. for instance, i am not afraid to raise my voice - especially with people i do not particularly like. perhaps the best example was when i threatened to call the police to a street vendor who did not want to give my friend his change back. another example would be criticizing others very easily.

one thing that has not changed is my dis-interest in art, or more specifically paintings. i have grown an appreciation to sculptures, especially with the Michaelangelo's David, but the next time i go to an art museum i am going to do thorough research beforehand and also purchase an audio guide. this way, i can learn to appreciate the uniqueness of certain paintings and find out why it's so famous.

in any case, there are numerous stories to tell but i will leave that to Dave, assuming that he will update.

if you want to see pictures, click here.

um... nevermind that last link. sorry about that.

i'm watching the national spelling bee right now, and this is some good stuff. it is very dramatic, since it only takes one letter of an impossible word to hear the bell ring, and be escorted off the stage. no music, a lot of silence, and a timer.

there's nothing like watching a bunch of nerds extremely nervous on stage. some of them squirm, looking like they are about to pee in their pants. some have confidence, but it's the haughtiness of those we all hated while growing up. some try to get as much of an edge as possible by asking a lot of questions.

pronouncer: "ipseity" (sounds like 'ib-see-idy')
kid: can i have a definition?
pronouncer: individual identity, self-hood
kid: can i have the origin?
pronouncer: latin and an english combining form
kid: can i have it in a sentence?
pronouncer: individuals in an extended prison-sentence seem to lose their ipseity.
kid: ibseity
pronouncer: ipseity
kid: ibseity
pronouncer: IPseity
kid: IBseity
pronouncer: IPseity
kid: ipseity?
pronouncer: ipseity
kid: ipseity
pronouncer: yes.

other questions:
is the first part of the word greek? is the "di" of the word greek, and does it mean two or god? would it be from the diminuitive suffix "et"? does it come from the greek word "g" meaning earth? part of speech? can i have the definition again? altenerate pronounciations?

so after thinking that these kids have no clue how to spell the word, they just belt it out in one try without stopping.

one kid even imitated napoleon dynamite, which nobody understood except for some audience members. i'm sure he feels dumb.

watching this gives me hope for the future - knowing that some of today's youth still choose brains over beauty.