My Ideal Mate - From 1995

In my junior year of high school, we had to write a one page paper on what our ideal mate was. For fun, and to use this new technology called email, my friend and I swapped stories. Well, this friend of mine recently dug out a printout of my paper while cleaning. So, here it is... what I considered an ideal mate back when I was 17 years old:

I’ll be honest; the first thing I’m looking for in the ideal mate is attractiveness. It’s human nature. But tying for first are certain aspects of her personality that would be essential to a lasting relationship.
-The ideal mate has strong opinions yet is open-minded and willing to compromise. She has high self-esteem, but she s not the yes sir type person, nor the type who cant accept anyone elses opinions. She also is willing to compromise when the need arises.
-The ideal mate is very loyal, yet not overpossessive. She doesnt ignore me and pretend I dont exist around others. Nevertheless, she also doesnt follow me wherever I go. She is also honest. We would have a strong relationship, strong enough to be away from each other once in a while.
-The ideal mate can carry on a conversation with me. There are a variety of things I like to talk about, some rather in depth. She would be able to continue and contribute to a conversation. Also, she would feel comfortable enough to talk to me openly and vice versa.
-The idea mate has a good sense of humor, yet knows when to be serious. She doesnt let little things bother her, and keeps a positive perspective on life. She knows the value of humor, but also knows when to be serious with me.
-The ideal mate can share or tolerate my love for sports and music. I like to participate or watch many sports, and she either tolerates it or joins me. Also, she recognizes that music is a part of my life (I’ve been playing an instrument for 13 years) again participating or listening.
-The idea mate has strong family ties. She respects her parents and siblings, as well as mine. She also respects my thoughts and feelings.
When these criterion are met, most of the other attributes of the ideal mate dont really matter. It would already ensure a long, happy relationship.

Hee hee

Thanks Dean, got this on the site if you Google "French military defeats" (after you Google French military victories).

"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion. All you do is leave behind a lot of noisy baggage."

A major timesaving tip for folding clothes

Check this out...

Math, Chad Johnson style

Sorry Cinci friends, I couldn't resist, especially since I'm going to the game!... From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Significant debut

In all probability, Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer will play two or three series Monday night against Green Bay. It will mark his return to action since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery for two torn ligaments and a dislocated kneecap on Jan. 10.

"We will put on a show for his return," wide receiver Chad Johnson told reporters in Cincinnati. "He won't talk like that, but I'll talk like that for him."

Johnson, who wears No. 85, will be working against cornerbacks Al Harris (No. 31) and Charles Woodson (No. 21).

"Twenty-one plus 31 equals 85," Johnson said.

-I'm tempted to hold up a sign that says "21+31=52 STUPID." Look for it.

My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine...

That's it. Pluto is no longer a planet. (Dean, I can't believe you haven't jumped on this yet... this is something I would expect to find on your blog). I can't decide if it's a minor thing or if it's earth shattering. I mean we all grew up learning that there was nine planets, and all the textbooks have nine planets. You know what this is? This is a conspiracy created by the textbook compaines to have an excuse to print new versions of their books!

OK not really. But it is a pretty big deal, don't you think? Imagine if you were a elementary school teacher. What a great teaching opportunity to demonstrate the scientific method...

BTW, anyone know the significance of the title?

People who don't know what they're talking about

In the NFL, if you're tied after 4 quarters, they go into a "sudden death" overtime, where the first team that scores win. People cry foul because they say the game is determined by who wins the coin toss (the winner gets the option to receive the ball first). Well, I came across this stat today in the paper:

"Since 1974, when the coin toss for overtimes was created, teams that have won the toss have won the game 52.9% of the time, while 43% of the toss losers have won. Last season, 57.1% of the toss winners won, and 42.8% of the toss losers won."

I don't know about you, but 57/43 isn't exactly a favorable arguement of whoever wins the coin toss wins the game. I can even explain why the discrepency between last year and the years prior... kickoff was moved back 5 yards to foster more runbacks. Be interested to see the stats before and after that rule.

Just goes to show, people just don't know what they're talking about sometimes.

Good news and bad news!

Well, the first few days of notthebookstore.com are complete... Still getting about one visit an hour. The good news is I've gotten my first order! Someone ordered a math textbook on Thursday. The bad news? That's been it! Hopefully it's because no one's on campus yet, and once they get into the campus mood they'll start buying. And Karen, I'm thinking of getting someone to glitz up the page! You'll hafta let me know if you hear any insights from your students.

Today I went to a combined GE and P&G APA (Asian and Pacific American) picnic... Being in a group with 90% Asians felt weird to me, even though I am Asian. It's always a weird dynamic, they are my people, but then again I don't really feel like I completely belong... And of course I saw a lot more white men significant others than white women SO's. (By the way, they said that "P&G and GE" prizes would be given away. I wondered what kind of GE prizes there would be, light bulbs? MRI machines? Aircraft engines? Well, they gave away dehumidfiers and wine refrigerators!)

Banter from tonight's Sunday night football game by John Madden and Al Michaels:
Al: "Are you gonna have that spaghetti and chili tonight?"
John: "No... that's a mid-day thing. You need a whole day for it."
Al: "Do you wash that down with Rolaids?"

And finally... please welcome Lindsay the mustard girl to this blog!

More softball and textbooks

Yesterday our men's league had an "all star game" in which certain players were voted in to be all stars, but we all just kinda subbed in and out. The highlight of the night for me was cranking a liner over the right center fielder's head for a home run... don't know if it was bc I'm getting better, I used Jim's bat, or we used a non-restricted ball, but man it felt good!

Notthebookstore.com update... So I took out an ad on Facebook for Xavier students, and since then the site's gotten about 100 hits. But so far no one's bought a book yet. Any ideas why?

Insomni-blog

Late softball games suck, they make it so you can't sleep afterwards... But there's some blogworthy stuff today (if you don't like softball, skip the first note)

-Our team got out the whoppin' sticks and scored 31 runs to win 31-18. I went 5-5 with 4 singles and a double (should've been a triple but I fell down rounding first... doh!). Game ended on a bases loaded, 1-2-3 double play (pitcher to catcher to first base).

-Notthebookstore.com is officially on line and ready to go! The marketing part has started, as I've started advertising on Google. Can't wait for that first non-me visit! Not many people can say they got feedback from a P&G Brand Manager for marketing their website!

-I had started speculating on textbooks as well... Today I sold a Physics book I had purchased back in May for $53 for $99! Now Amazon takes a $15 cut, but it's still like 66% profit. Now for some reason the Chemistry and Marketing books I bought aren't doing as well...

The Mustard video

Just trying out how to embed video...

Post Alaska

About a week ago right now is when we got back from our trip... Good news is the rocking sensation has stopped and I'm sleeping normally again. So a week later, here's some post Alaska bloggings...

- My current weight is at 166 lbs, which is about the same as when I left for Alaska. I did splurge a lot at the beginning of the trip, but as the week went on I ate less and less. I remember the food from my last cruise was better, but I was also reminded that when we took that cruise I was only 1.5 years out of college dorm food

- I've received all the postcards that I sent to myself... Before you laugh, it's what I do on trips. I used just send it blank, but then I started logging some of the events. I also have the people I'm traveling with write something if I get a chance. Karen wrote me two, along with Kristi and Chuck. Here's a picture of my postcard board with the new additions:


And the new "pins" on the map to indicate where I've been:

Jet Lag sucks

As predicted, it's 1:50 AM and I can't sleep. Doesn't help to know that my alarm clock is set for 6:45 AM right now.

So why not another Alaskan cruise blog...

One of the interesting phenomena that happened on the cruise was people got nicknames according to how you first met them. I guess remembering names is too much. The most obvious way to get a nickname is based on where you're from. I.E., there were the "Texas chicks." Karen's dad, after an experience on stage with a hula hoop, was called "Cincinnati Steve." The guy who knocked off Jim in the ping pong tournament, paving the way for me to win it was dubbed "Ping-pong Dave." A few young women that the Templin/Wolf clan met were the "Blond chicks" (for obvious reasons). And a cute young lady who came up to talk to cousin Jon because he had a Purdue shirt on was then dubbed "Purdue chick." Even our own party got nicknames... brother Mike (I'm using Karen as a point of reference for these relatives, obviously I'm not really related to any of them) was for some reason named "Juicepouch." I actually don't know the reasoning behind that one. Mike's girlfriend Lindsay, after an unfortunate Family Feud experience (the question was "Name the top answer for the following question... What is your favorite condiment?"), got the moniker "Mustard."

(Texas chicks are in the back smiling, Juicepouch in foreground on left, Mustard in foreground on right)
Cincinnati Steve on the right, the other two guys said "CINCINNATI STEVE! LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO MY FAMILY!"


Me on the left, ping pong Dave on the right


No pics of blond or Purdue chicks... will just hafta use your imagination. :)