mjl2003

Greetings from Lima, Peru

2007-10-19T04:28:21Z

So much has happened in the last couple of months (or really in the last year that has led up to the last couple). But basically, my wife, Sarah (yes, really) and I will be travelling in South America and Southeast Asia for the next 10-or-so months. We will be posting most of our details at http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/A-Year-to-Moon-Honey, but if I want to write from more of an "I" perspective, I'll post here.

travel insurance

2007-08-09T22:34:39Z

Phew, I've made it up to Vancouver, where I am typing this at my girlfriend's apartment. It's nice to have our own place for a couple of months. So much has changed over the last year and so much always seems to be going on. Adulthood never seemed as complicated when I was a child, but of course, that was when I felt as if I had all the time in the world. Of course, adulthood is as complicated as you make it. I could continue simply, easily, and boringly, or I can strive for this adventure.

For those of you that don't know, my girlfriend, Sarah, and I will be taking off for a year-long trip - four months in South America (not entirely planned) and then 5 months in Southeast Asia. This will be my first time outside of North America or Europe.

I do not and will not have any health insurance until I return home. Can you recommend any providers of travel insurance. World Nomads and STA seem to be the most common. Many have mentioned that the World Nomads claiming process isn't the best, but it's less expensive than the STA coverage. Can you provide any recommendations?

Thanks

cell phones and the declining bee population

2007-07-17T22:13:53Z

while talking on my cell phone on the balcony just outside my cubicle, a bee stung my hand. usually, bees only sting when they feel threatened, and I was just standing there. I'm convinced that the decline in the honeybee population may have something to do with the radiation given off by cell phone use. Others apparently feel this as well - http://bsalert.com/news/1779/Cell_Phones_Destroying_Bee_Colonies_No_Bees_%3D_No_Pollination.html

more work-speak

2007-06-27T22:26:51Z

impactful - thankfully, this work gobbledygook only appears in our internal communications material

work-speak

2007-06-20T21:06:26Z

when did deliverable become a noun?

first nations

2007-05-30T00:25:50Z

so, yesterday, I happened to use the word "indian" to describe two different Native American things: sitting Indian-style and indian casinos, which disappointed my girlfriend (who insists on using less ethnocentric terms).

And I was thinking: do pre-school and elementary school teachers still tell their pupils to sit Indian style?

words that annoy me

2007-05-30T00:21:41Z

so, as i become more and more bored with my job and start taking a look at more and more message boards with postings from random yahoos, I've started to develop a disdain for a couple of words (or maybe they have just started to annoy me to no end):

ghetto - why does your rich ass have to flaunt its superiority?

sammich - what's wrong with the good ol' ndw. of course, i also like my lower calorie beers with "ght." can anybody tell me the origination of this shortening? a kalx dj (whose real first name is sam) has gone by the name since 1999 or so. When I first heard his name, I had no idea that anybody over the age of 5 used the word non-jokingly. Apparently, a sammich is now an "especially yummy sandwich." In fact, I even came across a shop yesterday that uses the term as part of its official name.

i'm getting old?

2007-05-11T17:23:59Z

descendents references in the motley fool - whoa!

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/05/03/the-time-bomb-in-your-portfolio.aspx

mjl2003 @ 2007-04-18T14:18:00

2007-04-18T22:22:39Z

is it just me, or is the ennui-filled, not-good-in-scrabble adjective of "meh" becoming overused on internet message boards.

my friend andy used to say the word quite a bit back in 2001 and 2002, and I thought that it was just one of his own phrases. it was almost like his catchphrase, just as homer simpson's is "d'oh."

i realize that it's also simpsons derived (and where my friend andy initially took the word from), but for some reason, it's just not as funny.

the guardian has an article on the phenomenon: http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2026533,00.html

mjl2003 @ 2007-03-26T14:05:00

2007-03-26T21:07:11Z

so, my girlfriend and i are heading to coachella this year. this being my first time, we thought we'd be able to procrastinate and find a hotel/condo rental in the area for the weekend. So, we haven't bought camping passes, nor do we have anything resembling lodging.

If anybody you know lives anywhere near indio, ca and has a spare room, a backyard, or anywhere we can sleep for the weekend of 4/27-4/29, let me know.
-Matt

first concerts

2007-03-06T20:01:48Z

i wonder what percentage of females on Yelp.com list New Kids on the Block as their first concert.

fantasy employment

2007-02-22T22:23:58Z

I was chatting with my girlfriend and made the following comments:

"i just wish i could turn fantasy baseball into a career
so do hundreds of other men
if not thousands"

to which she replied:

"and women too
jeez
sexist
just joking by the way"

and I proclaimed: "i'd say maybe 99 percent of fantasy baseball players are men"

which truly led us to question what the precise percentage of fantasy baseball teams are run by women. Any thoughts?

mjl2003 @ 2007-02-09T16:47:00

2007-02-10T00:52:16Z

Sometimes the internet movie database userbase just befuddles me. How can this be a better movie than this . Of course, they are two completely different movies with completely different reviewers, but still? Were critics and everybody I know who actually saw the thing just way off (it only has a 51% on the tomatometer)?

i need a roommate

2007-01-29T08:37:56Z

i didn't realize that finding a roommate would be so difficult, considering that when I was trying to find rooms in san francisco a little over a year ago, it was quite difficult to impress the others who were looking for rooms.

so basically, if you know anybody who is looking for medium sized room in the city who greatly enjoys cooking, let me know. i have a vacant room for $900 a month in a nice place with a top-notch kitchen.

I had somebody take the room yesterday, pay me a deposit and first month's rent, and then decided to flake out on me (and I was nice and decided not to deposit the check).

and on an unrelated note, i don't think that Dreamgirls was robbed. while well done, I don't think it ever had the potential to be great, due to the source material. of course, i'm a finicky fussbudget when it comes to music and generally can't stand much broadway music. and i find most of the music in dreamgirls to be as hammy as your average simpsons faux-musical.

mjl2003 @ 2007-01-04T22:59:00

2007-01-05T06:59:36Z

is it just me, or does this video remind you of something from the early 90s' that beavis and butt-head would have watched while mooning the screen, banging their heads, screaming "yesss" and placing at least one of their hands in the air and making devil's horns.

gotta love those heavy metal camera filters

mjl2003 @ 2007-01-04T22:56:00

2007-01-05T06:59:14Z

mjl2003 @ 2006-12-08T11:55:00

2006-12-08T18:55:18Z

i think that it's a bad sign when a tv show uses a character's last name as the primary source of laughter.

mjl2003 @ 2006-11-09T08:24:00

2006-11-09T15:24:04Z

i just noticed that the title of the fergie album is "the dutchess" (sic). first she polluted the airwaves with "my humps" and now she pollutes the world with improper spelling (unless she's referring to the upstate new york county).

victory?

2006-11-08T09:00:14Z

let's just hope we don't fuck up the next couple of years

mjl2003 @ 2006-10-20T16:49:00

2006-10-21T00:14:36Z

i've noticed that black women in ads use the word "classy" to describe themselves, yet I've never seen a white woman do the same.

also, i had no idea that lenny and carl were not from Springfield.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5945086

tidbits of info

2006-10-07T16:13:20Z

if you meet a girl named "Sam," it is likely that she has an ex-girlfriend.

at some point in the night at a bar, a woman will ask you what your astrological sign is, not as a pickup line, but as a test of compatibility. your sign will be incompatible with hers and the conversation will end awkwardly.

people in Oakland will joke that you have sold out if you move across the Bay. You won't care.

i wish I could write a song as good as "me and the bean" by spoon, yet i still don't understand the true significance of its lyrics. of course, i'm a firm believer in the lack of necessity in lyrical meaning if they allow the vocalist to convey the proper emotion. unless of course, you are craig finn of the hold steady or they might be giants, or anybody who's lyrical strengths far outweigh their melodic.

if you were ever at the top of some sort of hierarchy, you will learn that it is lonelier at the bottom.

and if i lived in iceland, i'd still have chinese children.

at least there aren't any thunderstorms this year

2006-09-20T19:18:18Z

all of the djs on KUSF tend to add an extra "tat" to the band name ratatat. am i just not enough in the know to add this phantom tat, or are the KUSF djs just wrong?

the KALX folk pronounced the group's name as it is spelled.

the effect of hip-hop on workplace vernacular

2006-08-28T23:06:35Z

Two fairly intelligent co-workers have both used the word "conversate" in conversation, only to be corrected and subsequently made fun of. One of the co-workers explained that he learned the word from Warren G and Nate Dogg's "Regulate" 12 years ago, and has used the word since.

what do you expect from vocabulary learned from a song that proclaims "the rhythm is the bass and the bass is the treble."

santa cruz (you're not that far)

2006-08-26T22:49:17Z

as of this moment, adam laroche of the atlanta braves actually has a higher slugging percentage than adam dunn of the cincinnati reds

and now to our regularly scheduled update...

santa cruz (you're not that far)

my company had its annual offsite retreat/meeting/party this past week near Lake Tahoe. While many had a great time, I was overwhelmed by much of it, especially by the last day. I'll never try to have a deep emotional connection with a co-worker again, or pretend I do. I can just say that I hope I'm remembered as the guy who did a pretty good rendition of "Sweet Caroline" at karaoke, rather than the guy who had an emotional breakdown in the bathroom.

After sitting on a bus for about 5 hours, I then decided to drive an hour down to Santa Cruz. I hadn't slept much the previous night, but I couldn't stand the idea of going back to my still sofa-less apartment without any of my roommates around.

Why Santa Cruz? For one, my roommates' friend (and I guess my friend) Anthony was having a party and invited me down. I stayed for about an hour and a half and mingled. I then left to meet up with my cousin's good friend, who told me to give her a call if I ever decided to come down. She had a couch for me to sleep on and I was tired. She bought me some drinks at the bar/restaurant she works at and we smoked some weed before I crashed for the evening. It was pleasant.

I like the slower pace of life in Santa Cruz. As I'm usually not quick with punchlines, I'm able to tell jokes when the timing's still right and before getting interrupted. The people are friendly and unpretentious - though there's a large hippie contingency as well.

frustration

2006-08-22T22:58:47Z

i'm starting to question whether or not the move was a good idea - i now have a lease that dooms me to san francisco for another 50 weeks in essence, plus i've invested plenty in the move.

the whole move, while completed, is still stressing me out - the place isn't quite a home yet. i still need a desk, a dresser, a couch, chairs for the kitchen, and more.

i haven't exercised nearly as much as i like to in the past week and a co-worker who hadn't seen me in months noticed that i had gained weight.

i'm also feeling especially sensitive and oddly humorless - snapping at people who are joking at me.

i haven't brought in any new business at work for three months - lots of things are pending, but nothing's moving

i need a vacation, which i am taking, but i still don't know what's going on

i can't seem to talk about anything interesting anymore - i'm obsessed with furniture, but not in any sort of intellectual manner - it's much more emotional.

i can't worry...i just need to ride the wave

i'm just venting - thanks