Buy a Girl a Drink Cont.

Bought a girl raki last week. Done and done.

Still Going

Sources:
http://www.fivecentnickel.com/2007/09/06/refilling-a-toothpaste-tube-for-fun-and-convenience/
http://yarncache.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-make-bath-puff.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kLvTrGi7eM

9 Minute Extreme Home Cardio For Ripped Beach Body

Pre Workout

Following an unannounced hiatus, I find myself bored and wondering what book to start reading. Instead, for your sake and mine, I'm going to get moving and learn something new. I came across this exercise video on Youtube a few weeks ago:

I've watched a few of this guy's videos that promote his "Six Pack Shortcuts" program which costs around a hundred bucks. He claims it's more effective than P90X (I doubt it). His exercise routines are short and intense, this one being 9 minutes (4 of which are rest minutes). While breathing heavily, he also claims it's a tough work out. I'm intrigued by the lack of hair in his armpits, I'll give it a shot. 

---

Post Workout

Before I could begin this workout, I obviously had to shed my shirt and unleash my uncontrollable muscle... and put some pomade into my hair.

The workout wasn't so bad. If anything, it's too short. Fifteen seconds is hardly enough time for me to locate and pick up the towel let alone actually raise it above my head. My breathing is pretty heavy but I must admit, I'm really out of shape. The most surprising thing was how strenuous the towel exercises are--who would have known? My shoulders are pretty shaky but I hardly broke a sweat.

Try it out yourself and let me know how you do.

Oh Craps

In January I visited the casino and had a pretty good time. It was a Tuesday evening when my buddies picked me up from work (sweet). One of my friends was well set on only playing Craps. He mentioned something about how the odds in Craps were better than any other games and I didn't believe him. I'm a Blackjack player, mediocre at best, and I'm confident that you have a better chance of beating the house in Blackjack. After getting Players Cards and deciding which area of the casino to play, our friend picked the very first table we came across. I stuck around as he tried to explain the rules again (he explained some in the car). I lost interest / I wanted to play Blackjack so I left.

Now that I'm doing this 1 A Day, I finally decided to sit down and learn how to play. I've quickly read through 3 different guides and have a better idea of what's going on. The guides all mention that Craps is a simple game but it intimidates people because 1. there is so much whooping and hollering going on at hot tables, 2. the table is huge and there are so many possibilities for betting (the table is actually same on both sides so more players can fit) and 3. there's a certain amount of lingo being thrown around at all the tables.

The place that I got tripped up on is the first bet, the Pass Line bet. Say you place a Pass Line bet of $5. So on the first roll, if the "shooter" rolls a 7 or 11, you automatically win your Pass Line bet back (win $5 on top of the original $5 bet). If the first roll happens to be a 2, 3, or 12, it's Craps and you lose your $5.

If the roll isn't craps (2, 3, 12) and it isn't 7 or 11, then that number becomes the Point (which can be 4,5,6,8,9,10,). Once the Point has been determined, the roller tries to hit that same number again before rolling a 7. If a 7 is rolled then you lose your Pass Line bet. As long as you don't hit the 7, you keep trying to hit the Point.

That's the most basic of the basic. There are many more bets that you can make, another example being the Odds bet which you place behind the Pass Line bet (no marked spot on the table). The purpose of the Odds bet is to bet more money behind your Pass Line bet. These are the bets that my friend was referring to that have "true odds". This means the casino doesn't take a cut of it and therefore gives the house less of an advantage. I still maintain that you have better odds of beating the house in Blackjack but everyone knows "The House Always Wins".

I tried craps online with good success, doubling my money in about 10 minutes.

Sources: http://www.casinator.com/casino-games/learn-how-to-play-craps.php

http://casinogambling.about.com/od/craps/a/craps101.htm

http://www.goingtovegas.com/kpv-crap.htm

Exciting!

Contrary to popular belief, Google does not know everything (like how to find tiny blogs like this one). You can now find this blog on Google! Woohoo!!

Learn to Read Palms

Palmistry is an ancient, ancient practice of fortunetelling. One would hope that it's more accurate then astrology because it's so individualized. Just like no two people's finger prints match, no two palms are alike (plus they change over time). But frankly, why do people believe that your date of birth influences your personality? I have higher hopes for palmistry.

To get a general overview of how to read palms, I decided to answer a palmistry questionnaire myself. After studying my hands and answering numerous multiple choice questions (a little easier than the SATs, I promise), I was ultimately rewarded with a free palm reading. I ended up doing this twice because the first palm reading wanted money for the results (ugh).

From answering the questions I got a good feel of what to look for when reading palms. First you look at the shape of the palm, hand, fingers, thumb: widths and lengths. Next you study the most important lines in order which are: Life (vitality not longevity), head (beliefs and philosophy), and heart (emotions and love events). You look to see how long or short the lines are, if they're straight or curved, whether they touch other lines or not, how deep they are, if there any breaks, if there are lines intersecting them, if there are circles in them (I have no idea what this means), if they fan or fork, where they begin and end...etc.

So I finished and here are my results.

I'll break down my "character".

You have a Fire hand Cool, fire!. This is known as the instinctive hand. You are creative and imaginative sure. You surround yourself with people Yeah, more comfortable in groups than alone not sure about that. You are generally unafraid to take risks Fine. You launch yourself enthusiastically into all your endeavors Uh, ok, driven by your passionate nature huh?.

You have a very unadaptable nature What?? I'm leaving for Albania next month.... Your inflexibility has left you with few life path options it has?. You have to work harder than most to adjust to new situations I do?. You have difficulty dealing with change, and you are fairly set in your ways Yikes.

You relish luxury, enjoying the finer things life has to offer Who doesn't?. You are highly sensual and social fine. You must be careful as you may be prone to addiction and overindulgence Spot on.

You are intense and full of vitality at times. When you make your mind up to do something, you commit fully to that objective and never settle for halfway ok.

You can be unpredictable sometimes I try. Most of the time, you are methodically minded, but occasionally you will make decisions based solely upon emotion and passion maybe.

You are a fairly straight forward person Yup. You don't typically worry too much that's for sure, though you may occasionally be prone to bouts of stress news to me and need to be careful not to keep things bottled up, only to explode later Explode?!.

 It goes on...

By now I'm completely turned off by palmistry. I will continue no more with this hocus-pocus, mumble-jumble. Here's what I learned: If you're ever reading someone's palm, just make it up.

Sources: http://onlinepalmreadings.com/
http://www.ofesite.com/spirit/palm/lines.htm

Learn a Language

You might have heard of Tim Ferris' bestseller, 4 Hour Workweek or his new book 4 Hour Body. I still haven't made up my mind as to whether he's the real deal or a sly dog scam artist (he's probably somewhere in the middle). In his first book/blog he gives some good tips about learning languages in 3 months (which is just about the same amount of time I'll be training in Albania).

I think his very best tip of both his books and blogs is to use a list of the most frequently used words in English and then translating them into the target language. He ends up giving you two 100 words lists: most used written and most used spoken.

Guess what I'll be doing during downtime at work.

Tie a Bow-tie

This is a well made tutorial on how to tie a bowtie.

Unfortunately I forgot to get a bowtie....Anyone have one I could borrow?

Write a Haiku

Powder trickling
Ominous sky unleashes
blanketing the field

powder slowly pours
from the looming sky before
blanketing the turf

powder slowly pours
forth the ominous sky ere
blanketing the turf

Any help or suggestions?

Happy Valentine's Day

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69ht0nKhAn8

French Press

Today I learned how to make coffee using a fancy French press, courtesy of my coffee enthusiast friends. We started off by boiling the water and grinding the coffee beans. I assembled the press and we added the water to the grounds. Using a wooden chopstick (not a metal stirrer) I stirred the concoction and let it steep for 4 minutes. Once time was up, I pressed the press and voila--pour and serve.

The toughest part for me was the actual consumption. The coffee was definitely much better than my first batch but I didn't enjoy it as much as my friends. Oh well, I'm sure I'll like my 50th cup.

Tonight I'm getting together with some friends to figure out Bridge. Wish us luck!

Bridge

This is a really detailed guide to playing bridge. http://www.rpbridge.net/bbtc.htm

Read it and we'll get together this weekend to play.

Ironing

Today I was supposed to learn to make a souffle but unfortunately never got around to it. Instead I made raw cauliflower rice for dinner (one of the best dishes I've ever made), watched a little of the Celtics game, and learned how to iron like it's my job. This guy is unreal. Stop reading right now and watch the video.

So I ironed my damp shirt and it wasn't until I finished did I realize there were shiny marks all over the shirt. Crap. The iron was set to Cotton and my shirt wasn't cotton. So first lesson: make sure you know what material you're ironing. Polyester warrants the delicate setting.

Upon searching the internet, I learned that I had in fact "scorched" the polyester. Second lesson: preventative measures to not leave marks include ironing the shirt inside out or ironing a damp cloth on top of the item. Some say that the scorch is unscorchable. Third lesson: to remove the marks, a couple people recommend using a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water, dipping a cloth into the liquid, and then press the article with a warm iron and the cloth covering it. I tried it and don't really know if the marks came out, it's hard to tell. We'll have to see tomorrow.

I really want to make the souffle so I'll make some time this weekend to do so.

Paper Crane

Have you seen the Paper Plane yet?

Minesweeper

Whenever I hear that people don't know how to play Hearts, it is my duty to give them a lot of crap. Every Windows machine comes with Hearts, how can you not know how to play? At the same time, every Windows operating system comes with Minesweeper and I didn't know how to play...until today (so you can't give me crap).

Rough Loss

What the hell? 2nd Click?

It's like being in a dark room, fumbling around for the one light switch that won't electrocute you. It's a little nerve wrecking (slight understatement).  No second chances and definitely no 1-Ups. One wrong click and you're screwed. I might be the first to say this but Minesweeper is hardcore.*

Want to give it a try yourself? Learn to play here.

One more thing I learned today is at https://www.optoutprescreen.com/, you can opt out of getting those "Pre-Approved" credit cards. Save yourself from junk mail and the world will be a better place. The downside is you have to give your SSN.

* After a Google search, and I am in fact not the first person to make this statement.

Edit** 

The Minesweeper Challenge

The CURRENT RECORD for Beginner Minesweeper goes to Stefan with 14 secs. Beat it. 

Rob Fishman with an unbelievable-til-you-see-it 5 secs is the NEW LEADER. Can you do it in 4?

Not the hardest puzzle but an impressive time!

Stefan's incredible 14 sec

Stink at Minesweeper? Go fold a Paper Crane

Buy a Girl A Drink

Buying girls drinks is something that I don't do very often. In fact, I've jumped off cliffs more times than I've paid for a girl's beverage. This wasn't an easy task as it not only contradicts my beliefs (I totally agree with this guy) but I also received more attention than I wanted from family and onlooking friends.

Friday Night:

I failed to plan and therefore obviously planned to fail. My sister and I didn't leave the house until around 9:30 and I decided I wanted to check out the newly opened Margaritas. A couple minutes after taking off my jacket I realized how horrendous my error in judgement was. Most everyone there was paired off (including myself). My head slowly surveyed the bleak surroundings and came up short. The good part was I got to try a Godfather (scotch and amaretto) which was really good.

'Tis a lesson you should heed,
Try, try again.
If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try again. - Thomas H. Palmer (1782 - 1861) Teacher's Manual (1840)

Saturday Night:

My friend volunteered to drive us out to Waltham, a college town close by. We got to the bar, grabbed some drinks, and seated ourselves at a table. My friends filled me in on their scouting reports and honed in on a couple girls at the bar. "Go NOW" Morpheus AKA my friends commanded one when of them got up. I strolled up to the bar and half-sat while patiently waiting for the insanely tall bartender to tend to my needs. Looking at the brunette, I hoped she would feel my presence and look up. Instead, she was engrossed by whatever Facebook, Twitter, Wasteoftime that was on her phone (ugh). Eventually the other girl came back, I got my drink and struck up a conversation. After several minutes of talk about Jews, Brandeis, and tattoos, I offered to refill their drinks. They quickly declined. I insisted but to no avail. I asked another girl later in the night and she respectfully declined as well.

There is an easier way of doing this which is to ask the bartender/server to get so-and-so another drink. This is dumber than the idiot who tried to rape Antoine Dodson's sister, for real. If I ever buy a girl a drink, she's going to have to earn it with semi-interesting conversation, not a one sided interrogation, and she has to be somewhat cool (I've adjusted my expectations accordingly). It may never happen again.

Let's Play Minesweeper instead

Learn the Days of the Week in Albanian

Nothing fancy today. I downloaded BYKI (Before You Know It) an electronic flash card language tool (thanks Jeff). It's a simple program and if you can't afford Rosetta Stone it's a legal alternative. So I learned the 7 days of the week:

Monday - e hënë

Tuesday - e martë

Wednesday - e mërkurë

http://www.byki.com/ 

Thursday - e enjte

Friday - e premte

Saturday - e shtunë

Sunday - e dielë

You can go here to watch Leila make over emphasized facial expressions while she says each word http://www.watchmojo.com/index.php?id=7046

Enough with the infomercial. Go Buy a Girl a Drink

Electric Slide

A long time ago, right before I went to my first wedding, my sister found it absolutely imperative that I learn the Electric Slide: the quintessential wedding line dance. I can't remember if I was actually brave enough to show off my razzle dazzle on the dance floor. Anyhow, as a big fan of line dances (Cotton Eye Joe is my favorite), it is of utmost importance for me to re-learn the Slide (and anyone else who attends American weddings should do so as well).

This is slightly embarrassing but oh well, I can handle it. Like my friend Evan says, "you can laugh if you want to."

Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAwpTva9ERk&feature=related

Learn the Days of The Week In Albanian ►

Card Throwing

After 1 ruined deck of cards, 1 fatigued forearm, and 1 hour of my life I'll never see again; I present to you:

Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMoc7tHMQOg

Boogie doing the Electric Slide ►  

Card Trick

From card tricks to Card Throwing ►

Off Day

Today I didn't have enough time to learn something new. However to offset this negative, I'll give 2 positives for the day.

First, I just added a new diploma to the kitchen fridge. After completing 20 intensive hours of instruction and passing a rigorous evaluation (hardly), I am now a certified Drink Master graduate. We thought the best way to prepare for the exam was to practice at home with live ammunition. It's not.

This joins my Christopher Blake Love Certificate of Achievement and my 2nd place F1 Racing LapTime analysis 

The second good news is that I got redemption in Boston by parallel parking. It was on my third attempt that I was able to slide the car in perfectly. I realized I had been pulling too close to the front car and once I corrected that I was in like Flynn. 

heck yeah

Raw Vegan

This past summer, my dad and I enjoyed many raw meals of mainly different salads, zucchini/squash pasta, cauliflower rice, raw lasagna, etc..We were eating incredibly healthy and thus we felt better about ourselves. Usually we'd fry an egg or two to round out our meal.

OJ, Spinach, Broccoli, Avocado

Today I wanted to challenge myself by eating only raw vegan food. It proved to be a challenge, a tad bit more difficult than I had anticipated. I wasn't sure if my oatmeal is raw so I couldn't have my normal breakfast. I ended up making a green smoothie which was a delicious way to start the day.

I had to pack a lunch for my afternoon class and was pretty disappointed with my choices. Meanwhile my mom questioned my motive  When I looked at the hummus I was saddened because it's made from "Freshly steamed chickpeas". I couldn't bring my daily intake of a couple handfuls of nuts as all of our nuts are roasted (le sigh). I couldn't eat anything in our upstairs nor downstairs pantry. Needless to say, I was pretty hungry when I got home.

For lunch:

Luckily I found this in the fridge which held me over until dinner.

Originally my dad was going to make a raw meal for dinner. He borrowed a raw recipe book from the library and I was excited to see what he'd come up with. Unfortunately he came up short as his plans fell through. I ended up making another green smoothie except my dinner looked like puke. I can't wait until tomorrow.

Breakfast smoothie

By the way, I was peeing about 4 times as much as normal. Something about eating so many fruits and veggies.

Relax a bit on the Off Day ►

Sudoku - The Problem

Sudoku is one of those strange things that seems pretty easy but can get as rough as the callouses women get on their feet (Ped Egg--eww. If your cheese grater ever breaks...). I've never completed a Sudoku that had less than half of the numbers filled in so this is a challenge for me. The dreaded Friday Sudoku:

Give it a try! We'll compare times and scores.

The Solution ►

Sudoku - The Solution (Part 2)

This Sudoku took me less than an hour to finish--barely. 59 minutes and 59 seconds to be exact but who's counting anyways? Aced it with 100% baby! Haven't done this well since middle school!

Eat Raw Vegan ► 

Learn some ASL - Part 2

A special thanks to Matt for helping me put this together. I put everything I've got into this video. Enjoy

Sources: http://www.youtube.com/user/CaptainValor This guy is amazing. Check him out.

http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi

Complete a Sudoku ►

Learn to Draw Stewie

My drawing skills are by far the worst in my immediate family; the ability gap is kind of scary. While I was practicing, my dad looked over my shoulder and inquired, "Who is this? Hello Kitty?".  No comment...

Give it a try yourself. This is a good guide.

Practice Runs

Happy Stewie > Evil Stewie

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7XBnojAGDQ

Let's Learn ASL ► 

Learn Some ASL Part 1

I'm having some technical difficulties. This post will go up as soon as they are cleared.

Go To Part 2

Memorize a Poem

This is the first poem I've memorized since one the about star-crossed lovers. During my search for a poem, I read about some guy who "doesn't need an Ipod" because he would rather memorize poems...I'm still looking for something other than an Ipod as well.

Invictus

by William Ernest Henley; 1849-1903

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul.

Learn to Draw Stewie ►

Make a Budget

There's an old proverb that says: She who fails to plan, plans to fail. If you're not taking control of your financial situation, you're good as poor. Do you think broke lottery winners make budgets? Today we'll learn to make a budget so we can be confident about our finances.

My financial situation is a bit simple. I only have 1 real expense: student loans. Tonight I just made a payment to kill my highest interest rate loan (yay!). A sound financial tip: If you have some monies stored offshore in a Swiss bank and are collecting minimal interest, think about putting these funds toward paying off some loans which are accumulating more than minimal interest.

The rest of my money gets saved and some of it ends up in my belly. If I set a $150 budget per month on entertainment and purchases every month, I could meet it without a hitch. Since I'm leaving the country soon, I do have a few big ticket items to purchase: a MP3 player, an external hard drive, and maybe some hiking boots. Nothing crazy. President's weekend is great for electronics and I'm willing to wait. If I do decide to get hiking boots, I'll make sure to get a Peace Corps discount before hand.

A reader saw that I'd be making a budget today and asked for help. This is what I was given:

Please make me a budget  

my monthly expenses: 
transportation - gas 2 times a month, T tickets 
food for lunch/dinner at school
fun times - going out, movie night
miscellaneous - manicures, i can try to cut back on my clothes shopping

i have a limited (read: nonexistent) income. I only want to spend $500 a month. Is that doable? Realistically?


Dear faithful reader, of course it's doable and very realistic. The goal is to spend $500 or less a month and put some money away. Another tip is to pay yourself first AKA save money. If you can save 10% of your money you'll be ahead of most of your peers. If you're ambitious, shoot for 15% or maybe even 20%. Let's put $50 aside for saving. 


Transportation: $100 a month for gas, $20 for T tickets - $120.


Food for school lunch and dinner can be kept to a minimal by packing lunch and making your own dinner. Let's say 40 bucks a week - $160 a month. 


Extracurriculars and Night Life: $30 a week - $120 a month.


Miscellaneous/Purchases is the remaining - $50 a month. This overflow can be used as deemed necessary by you.


There you have it:

.

Let's Memorize a Poem ► 

Yummy Yummy

Watching Sunday night football gives me the munchies. I scanned Instructables.com for a yummy and more importantly, a simple recipe. A yummyness caught my attention and my eyes feasted on chocolate covered almonds. I turned on the gas to start the double boiler before collecting all the ingredients.

This recipe is extremely easy, even for someone who watches more Food Network than does actual cooking (me). With some freshly popped popcorn on hand, I dumped some in to soak up the excess chocolate. I chose to put less cocoa powder and formed an extremely large cluster. Luckily we snapped a picture before it got finished.

Chocolate on my lips

Sources: http://www.instructables.com/id/Last-minute-chocolate-almonds/

Let's Make a Budget ►

Touch Typing Part 2

I have to explain myself for last night's post. After dinner I was so jazzed up to learn to touch type (which I am doing right now), I headed downstairs to the barely used family desktop to get my own private typing lesson from none other than Mavis Beacon. Actresses aside, she is probably the third most recognizable black woman behind Oprah and Michelle Obama.

In high school, typing class was mandatory. Of course being a pimply teenager, I thought I knew better and just stuck with my own way of typing. I understand the usefulness of touch typing although I have to gripe about the Qwerty keyboard. What's the deal with putting the semi-colon key on the home row? 'J' on the right index finger--dumb. 'P' is in a pretty bad position as well. I could keep going...

After blazing through beginner and intermediate lessons, I decide to take the typing test. Little did I know, it took a grueling 17 minutes to complete the exam. I could feel Mavis breathing down my neck and hear her chortle every time I missed a letter but continued typing, which led to a string of missed letters. It was awful. Lastly, I learned that carpal tunnel is not reserved for graying receptionists. We're all potential sitting ducks so remember to stretch and take breaks.

Sources: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_11_19/ai_110809218/

Let's Make a Yummy Dessert ►

Learn to Touch Type

Typed on Mavis Beacon for 2 hours straight. 40 wpm - adjusted to 37 wpm accounting for mistakes. Carpal tunnel...oww

Continue to Part 2 ►

Write to an Author

I apologize for not posting yesterday. Anyone who has maintained a blog knows how difficult it is to post consistently (see my neglected blogs: http://alexleechina.blogspot.com/, http://alexsalzburg.blogspot.com/).

Anyhow, I'm reading a book called Only Bees Die by Robert Keller, MBA, in preparation for my service in Albania (Keller did Peace Corps in Albania). His book is a great read and my only problem with it is that it keeps me up too late. I ordered the paperback online (very, very unusual of me) and then remembered that I only want to bring ebooks with me. So I figured I'd look up Mr. Keller and make a request. Like they say: Ask and you shall receive.

After about 40 minutes on Google, I think I found his email. The email I sent him still hasn't bounced back so I'm guessing it's okay. Here's what I wrote:

Dear Mr. Keller,

Through the recommendations of the Peace Corps network and my future G14 "brothers and sisters" I ordered your book, Only Bees Die. It arrived on my doorstep a few days ago and I've been tearing through it. You definitely did a great job making me laugh and alleviating some of the fears that have crossed my mind.

Halfway through the book, I realized that this is without a doubt a book I'd like to bring during my service. Originally I was hoping to only bring ebooks with me but I absentmindedly purchased the paperback version. I'm hoping you'd be willing to send me the ebook version.

One last thing. I noticed you didn't copyright your material. Why did you choose to do that?

Sincerely,

Alex

P.S. You are somewhat difficult to track down online. I'm assuming you choose to be. Is that so?

I really hope he responds.

I've never written to an author before. Share your experiences in the comments section.

Go Learn to Touch Type ►

Welcome - Mirë se vini

I just completed Lesson 1 Pimsleuer - Albanian and it's safe to say that I remember nothing. This is truly a foreign language to me. Throughout high school I took Spanish classes and struggled with it but we all had a few buzz words under our belt, you know: quesadilla, burrito, torilla, taco, salsa, gordita, chalupa...the list goes on. At Fairfield I took several semesters of Mandarin but with a background in Cantonese, it wasn't so hard for me. I'm just beginning to realize how brave my classmates were.

I won't complain too much because Shqip uses the Roman alphabet. There's only a couple letters that are different from English and the pronunciation is slightly different as well.

So I was supposed to learn how to say "thank you" but that's too difficult (Faleminderit). Instead I've memorized two words.

Just don't ask me how to pronounce either.

Let's Write to an Author ►

Button Sewing

Sister: Hey what are you learning tomorrow?

Me: To sew buttons.

Sister: Oh great, I have a couple shirts that need buttons!

Dad: So what is your lesson for today?

Me: To sew buttons.

Dad: What?

Me: To sew buttons.

Dad: What?

Me: To sew buttons.

Dad: Oh, you can fix my pants!

The strangest thing is they both know how to sew buttons but don't do it themselves. We all give our clothes to my mom to sew our buttons. Now it's my turn to know how to sew my own buttons but give them to my mom to mend anyway. 

This button took me 11 minutes and 27 seconds from start to finish (it took me about 60 seconds to find which button needed to be replaced). The video in it's original state is about as interesting as watching standing cat, all 745mb of it (I lied, standing cat is fascinating). 

I've sped it up and added an audio track so it's a bit more entertaining. Enjoy!

Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrSs_DiJ-ZA

Go Learn Some Shqip ►

eBay? More like eBlah

For the lack of a good post, I made this

Today I wanted to learn to sell something on the great eBay. Having never bought or sold anything at this site, I felt like I was missing a major part of popular culture. My aversion to credit cards doesn't help either.

A little research was done on my part learning "tricks and tips" for selling on eBay. I looked at possible shipping methods and decided I would provide free shipping no matter what. It seemed like the highest selling items started with low starting bids so I'd do the same. Next I looked into Paypal. Apparently my dad setup a Paypal account when I was in middle school because I wanted an add-on to AIM (AOL Instant Messenger for the younger/older crowd) called DeadAIM. I don't recall why I wanted it so bad but I remember really liking it. Anyhow, the Paypal account was all set.

It was then that my sister then informed me that eBay has a seller fee although she wasn't sure what it was. So I check and it turns out that there are 2 fees. The first is called an "insertion fee" which allows you to post your auction. These run between free and $2.00 depending on your starting or reserve price. Okay, I can handle that. Then there's the final value free which can be between 8%-15%!! What the hell?!

That's as far as I got on eBay. I don't think I'll sell anything on there anytime soon. I just put a posting on Craigslist for free. Take that eBay. By the way, Craigslist has a new phone verification system where they call your phone number to give you a code. I'm not sure what exactly this verifies but it beats paying commission to eBay.

Let me know your thoughts and experiences in the comment section.

Sources: http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/onlinebusiness/a/ebaysellingtips.htm

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PUFF!

This is my first time playing the piano. With a bit of a musical background from high school band (a bottom seat trumpet), a piano book for 3 year olds (i.e. numbers for the keys), and an hour of practice after dinner; it is with great honor to demonstrate the piano with vocal accompaniment.

A special thank you to the anonymous vocalist.

(It's ok to laugh.)

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Parallel Parking

In the busy streets of Boston, oncoming traffic and the added pressure of onlookers makes me pee my pants. A couple months ago I was trying to catch a show and looked to park on Commonwealth Ave. I pulled my car up to a great spot in front of the entrance to the Kenmore T-stop. T-stations being the hobo magnets that they are, my audience was plentiful and heterogeneous. Several people took a breather from shaking their Dunkin Donuts cups to enjoy the show.

The blinker clicks as hesitation, fear, dreadfulness, doubt, apprehension among a few other feelings swirl around my head as I prepare my final act. Oncoming traffic pauses and the curtain is drawn. This is a recreation of actual events:


Turn hard. Car swings into empty street. Back up--Cut hard! Car jolts to a halt. Curb--crap! Try again. Car returns to original position. Car swings out and cuts back in. Too tight--shoot! One more time. Car pulls next to front car. You can do it. Car hits curb again. Damn! Car drives away in shame.

To my defense, parallel parking in suburbia is like scoring a knock out with Sock'Em Boppers--it just doesn't happen all that often. For such a crucial skill it's a surprise that more people can't do it (maybe it's just me). Despite a slightly sore palm (maybe from practicing yoga) and strange looks from neighbors, I'm fortunate to have gotten some practice in my driveway.

Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ-loe3xXLg

**Any suggestions for this Sunday? Post below

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