Well, Christmas eve, Tamra and I decided to open up our presents that we'd gotten one another... I've always been a fan of Christmas eve present opening... in fact, it was a tradition in the Wilkerson household growing up that we'd always open one the night before... kids choice... and of course, my parents always managed to bring out the gifts from 'Santa' after we'd gone to bed, so inevitably, I'd snag a J.C. Penny's box with an awesome flannel shirt in it that I mistakenly took for a G.I. Joe action figure, but this year, for me, Christmas was different. I was anxious for Tamra to open hers up, just because I thought it was cool, and that she would get a kick out of hers... so she's into yoga, Bikram Yoga actually, (which by the way, apparently involves doing yoga in a sweatbox) well, I was wandering around the mall on Christmas Eve day, you know what they say- if you wait until the last minute, it only takes a minute- when I found myself wandering into some store called 'Lululemon Athletica' well, I must tell you, I've never heard of this place. Ever. But I'm browsing around, and it turns out this is the modern woman's answer to Jo-Ann fabric. Well, they have these cool yoga mats... at least I thought they were cool. So I placed a txt to Tamra's best friend, Emi, who would know these kind of things as to whether or not a yoga mat would make a good gift. Turns out it wouldn't. She already had one. Figures. But, her best friend says, if you go to a shop called 'Lululemon' she really digs the Yoga clothes in there. I walk outside the store, look up at the sign... score. Well, I found her some cool pants and a top and of course, had to get the Bikram Yoga Mat cover. Apparently, when you are doing the upside down 'falling lotus' or reverse 'half lord of the fishes' and you are covered in sweat and barefoot, traction on ye ole' yoga mat becomes an issue. So they made these Yoga Mat covers that are covered with little rubbery traction dots, that help keep your 'downward dog' in position when you are slathered in sweat. I got it for her. She liked it. So much in fact, she can't wait to use it. Hopefully she doesn't hurt herself with all those poses.
So, it came time for me to open my gift... and much to my unexpected surprise... it was a Kindle 2. Now, keep in mind, I wasn't thinking about a Kindle, never even really wanted one.... I've got a Kindle Reader app on my iPhone, and I thought that would be plenty. But once I saw the potential of this awesome device, after holding it in my hand, after seeing the incredible paper-like digital screen, after syncing it with my http://www.amazon.com/kindle account and reading my books on it, after emailing myself some .pdf's to my new kindle email address, after hearing it read books to me, I'm sold. And I'm stoked that I've got it. No more heavy books in my bag on long trips. Thanks Tamra- you are the best!
Anyway- so the whole reason I started this post, however, is not really to talk about Christmas or gifts or Yoga or my new Kindle... but was because I was actually doing some reading on the Kindle and came across this article in the New Yorker from back in August. But what I really wanted to share was the clip of Jeff Bezos being interviewed on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Or to get to the real, more telling, heart of the matter, I really, only, wanted, to share, this little gem-of-a-mashup of Jeff Bezos' infectious, obnoxious laugh.
It will definitely make you laugh. Guaranteed. Merry Christmas all.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Farewell 2009, Hello 2010!
What a year. I've been so fortunate to have been guided-to or led-to or attracted-to, or whatever-to some incredible people, concepts, ideas, books and businesses this year. I know it's only December 22nd, and the year isn't quite over yet, but I can't help but reflect on all the good things that have happened to me this year. Some highlights: I took a real estate investing course the first week of the year. Learned more in that 4 day course about this business than I think I could have on my own in a year. In early February, I competed in a business plan idea competition to join a 'Master Mind' group and was one of four selected from a pool of several hundred people to be a part of a group led by a successful local real estate investor committed to sharing our ideas with one another and sharpening each others business acumen through challenging the way we each look at our businesses. We have met on average every two weeks for this entire year, and it's probably been one of the best experiences I will take away from 2009. I also hired a 'life-coach' or mentor, if you will, in February to help me lay out my business plan and life purpose, goals and a plan to achieve them. It was a 12 week process and drastically changed the way I look at life and achieving my goals. In March, I began working with a company called United First Financial in the evenings and on the weekends, and have found success through working with them part time this year. April, May and June found me traveling to areas across Asia for work on multiple trips for Uncle Sam. Good trips, but not real profitable for me from a personal improvement standpoint. June 30th, I closed on my first home. Quite an exciting day for me. I was very fortunate to have my mother and father on-Island for that event, and they were kind enough to help me move from Waikiki to the wonderful suburb of Kapolei, out in West Oahu. August and September and October I had some more trips to Asia in addition to painting my house... that was, by the way, the first and last time I'll ever paint my own house. I don't recommend it to anyone that has any semblance of sanity and also wishes to keep it. I barely did myself. Women, for some reason, enjoy it. I, however, do not. I was fortunate to have several great friends that helped me with some of the work. September brought with it a visit from my Aunt and Uncle, October brought a visit from a great friend from high school as well as college and also I began communicating with a certain special someone whom I met on eHarmony. Yes, I've been on eHarmony this year, and well, I think it actually works. After some weeks of communicating, we actually met in person in November, and have been spending quite a bit of time together since then. Her name is Tamra, she is an incredible person, and I'm very thankful to have her in my life. Her birthday was Saturday, and we had an awesome birthday weekend celebration for her. Hano Hano Room for Dinner, Stage Restaurant to meet up with her best friend, Emi, who is a singer/songwriter and surprised her and Emi with some birthday cupcakes and lots more friends showing up, then off to Rum Fire Waikiki for some Champagne and dancing. Good times, no, make that great times. It was a great night. Saturday night was her 'Yakudoshi' (she is of Japanese descent so this is a way that her family celebrates their culture with her birthday- Google it) and I had a chance to meet her family. All-in-all it was a great weekend. This week is incredibly slow at work. So slow that I wonder why I'm actually going in, but oh well. Tomorrow is a light day, and Thursday and Friday are days off for Christmas. Next week, I work one day, and then the first week in January, Tamra and I are heading to Kauai for a week. She is in Medical Sales here in Hawaii and has to go to Kauai for that week, so she invited me. How lucky am I? I'm going to use the days while she is working to be productive in preparing for my upcoming transition from active duty Naval service to being a plain-old civilian. Speaking of which, I have started a Property Management Company and will be doing that here in Hawaii on a full-time basis once I get out of the Navy in June. I am very excited about it. My company is called 'Hal Property' pretty simple, pretty straight-forward, but effective and to the point. My website will be http://www.HalProperty.com It's not up yet, but will be launched on February 1st. Check back then and see how I'm doing. If you live in Hawaii and have a need for a property manager, please let me know. I will be the best property manager in Hawaii. I'm going to be focusing on multi-unit dwellings but will work with single-family homes and condo's.
All in all, it's been a great year. Some amazing things have happened to me, I've met some incredible people, and I think I can put 2009 in the books as one of my best years to date. Of course, I say that at the end of every year, and I must say, my expectations for 2010 are even bigger than 2009. This year was a year of trials and tests for me. And by trials, I mean trials to experiment with my businesses, and tests for me to test some of my ideas. There were some other big ones in there this year, that have come and gone, but I don't need to mention those, as they are water under the bridge. I know I haven't shared a lot of this with my online social network, but that was on purpose. Those that are close to me have known, but 2010 is the beginning of something new. Half-way through this year I will no longer have the easy W-2 income coming in from Uncle Sam. So I've been preparing for that fact since January of 2009. It's a pretty big step that I'm going to be taking in 2010. In fact, I'm going to be adding all of you who are my friends here on FaceBook to my email distribution list to which I will be sending out periodic updates for my company. If you choose to keep the subscription, I thank you in advance, if you choose to opt-out after I start them up, I certainly understand.
Well, I guess that's all for now. 2009, thank you for an awesome 52 weeks. 2010, let's get it started!
"Observe people who are good at their work— skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don't take a backseat to anyone." -King Solomon of Israel (Proverbs 22:29)
All in all, it's been a great year. Some amazing things have happened to me, I've met some incredible people, and I think I can put 2009 in the books as one of my best years to date. Of course, I say that at the end of every year, and I must say, my expectations for 2010 are even bigger than 2009. This year was a year of trials and tests for me. And by trials, I mean trials to experiment with my businesses, and tests for me to test some of my ideas. There were some other big ones in there this year, that have come and gone, but I don't need to mention those, as they are water under the bridge. I know I haven't shared a lot of this with my online social network, but that was on purpose. Those that are close to me have known, but 2010 is the beginning of something new. Half-way through this year I will no longer have the easy W-2 income coming in from Uncle Sam. So I've been preparing for that fact since January of 2009. It's a pretty big step that I'm going to be taking in 2010. In fact, I'm going to be adding all of you who are my friends here on FaceBook to my email distribution list to which I will be sending out periodic updates for my company. If you choose to keep the subscription, I thank you in advance, if you choose to opt-out after I start them up, I certainly understand.
Well, I guess that's all for now. 2009, thank you for an awesome 52 weeks. 2010, let's get it started!
"Observe people who are good at their work— skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don't take a backseat to anyone." -King Solomon of Israel (Proverbs 22:29)
Thursday, December 3, 2009
4 Days in India...
Broken, dusty, sidewalks. Rocks, dirt, walking paths filled with small, eager hazards, like roots in a forest, but more unscrupulous and easily missed. Awaiting the opportunity to trip the unaware foreigner used to nicely paved paths and walks. Especially in the dimly lit streets at night. Pedestrians wandering aimlessly through the streets, carrying baggage or a chicken or a stack of magazines to peddle to cars on street corners. Appearing purposeful in their direction, but disregarding any and all pedestrian law or etiquette you may find in a western country. Jaywalking is a national past time, but reeks of danger, amongst the zooming cars making rules up as they go, yet pedestrians boldly venture across the dangerous streets as if they were immortal. Beggars banging on your window with their wares while you are stopped in traffic, as they try and get your attention and some rupees. Ignore them or a simple glance will encourage them and fortify their efforts to extract rupees from the well dressed, well kept foreigner in the backseat of a luxury car. People sleeping on curbs mere feet from a major automobile artery. No care whatsoever for their propensity to certain death should just one of the thousands of vehicles driving by them each hour run amiss. Cars, and Auto-Rickshaw's and Bicycles and Scooters; all with a seating capacity of at least a family of four. Converging in one direction with divergent goals. Complete disregard for traffic laws or lanes or right-of-ways. He who is boldest is first. It's a continual game of chicken. Near miss, head-on collisions are the norm. Shrill cry of horns, from low, toyota beeps, to creative high-pitched after-market 'look-at-me-my-horn-blows-yours-off-the-road' shrills. Long blows, short beeps, High-pitched staccato cries and low-pitched moans. Constant near misses and near hits by vehicles among the cacophony of sounding horns that never ends, 24 hours a day. Flash your 'dippers' (brights) and honk to pass at night, honk to pass in daylight. Friendly signs on most large trucks admonishing the participants of the constant roadway grind to do just that. Dismal, Orange, Brown Suffocating Smog, that hides the blue sky and cloaks the sun with a muted, filtered appearance and seems ever present, yet gives the redstone artifacts of millennium gone past a strange proper framing of sepia treatment. As if the smog has come to terms with it's purpose in life and that's to give all of India a brown hue. More pedestrians, gaggles of women, young and old, dressed in brightly colored sarongs of lime green, bright maroon, blaze yellow and subdued brown. Heads covered and mysterious dark eyes peering through the folds, forehead adorned with simply a spot of red or sometimes an intricately designed bindi complete with jewels and gold that give the hindu soul an eye.
Children. If they are old enough to walk, they are old enough to beg. And can and will do so fervently. Otherwise, toddlers can be found sitting near their finely adorned mothers among the dust and smog and litter and mud and dirt and dogs and cows. All within a stones-throw of the other. Sitting contently as their beautifully dressed mothers congregate in groups to share vishna-knows-what with each other on the corner of poverty and chaos.
Cows in the street. Wandering the villages at will. Skinny, malnourished and seemingly oblivious to the hubub of auto-rickshaws, motorcycles and truck traffic, honking, weaving and challenging each other for the right of way. Chewing their cud contentedly as a sacred, zen-like presence amongst the chaos.
Trash. Littered and scattered about as if it belongs. It's hard to find pride on the streets of India. Very hard. 500 million people here live on 100 rupees a day, which is about half the price of a grande' latte at your corner Starbucks, or less than $2 put simply. Picking up trash and litter is the least of their concerns. It blows around and settles and litters like sand being stirred up on the bottom of the ocean ruining a good snorkel experience. Trash everywhere. Pervasive; smelly; obtrusive, yet accepted.
Dogs... seem to be the happiest of all species here as bitches with swollen, sagging teats from multiple litters seem to be everywhere. They play part of the scenery. Not on leashes, not collared, belonging to no one but the chaos. And you can still see them smile. Sleeping in gutters, napping in parks, trotting along the roads, feeding on trash, India is a dogs paradise.
Palatial beauty. A huge disparity between the haves and the have-nots. A US Government sponsored visitor stays at a Five-Star Enclave that is a World-Heritage site complete with gates and security and isolation from any and all riff-raff that may be found outside. Colonial British built buildings with ornate marble and hardwood floors, luxury carpets Victorian style furniture, gold-inlay wall decor, servants hired from the chaos outside to butter your toast and shine your shoes. Serve you coffee, turn down your bed with exquisite linens, clean your room, give you a towel and cold bottle of water as you step off the treadmill.
The cognitive dissonance between what is reality for most residents here and what is reality for visitors like me doesn't escape my wonder. The only thing I can truly come to terms with here, is that no matter what their lot in life, living condition or caste: Jesus loves every single one of these people equally, just as He loves me, you, and every other person on this incredibly diverse planet.
Children. If they are old enough to walk, they are old enough to beg. And can and will do so fervently. Otherwise, toddlers can be found sitting near their finely adorned mothers among the dust and smog and litter and mud and dirt and dogs and cows. All within a stones-throw of the other. Sitting contently as their beautifully dressed mothers congregate in groups to share vishna-knows-what with each other on the corner of poverty and chaos.
Cows in the street. Wandering the villages at will. Skinny, malnourished and seemingly oblivious to the hubub of auto-rickshaws, motorcycles and truck traffic, honking, weaving and challenging each other for the right of way. Chewing their cud contentedly as a sacred, zen-like presence amongst the chaos.
Trash. Littered and scattered about as if it belongs. It's hard to find pride on the streets of India. Very hard. 500 million people here live on 100 rupees a day, which is about half the price of a grande' latte at your corner Starbucks, or less than $2 put simply. Picking up trash and litter is the least of their concerns. It blows around and settles and litters like sand being stirred up on the bottom of the ocean ruining a good snorkel experience. Trash everywhere. Pervasive; smelly; obtrusive, yet accepted.
Dogs... seem to be the happiest of all species here as bitches with swollen, sagging teats from multiple litters seem to be everywhere. They play part of the scenery. Not on leashes, not collared, belonging to no one but the chaos. And you can still see them smile. Sleeping in gutters, napping in parks, trotting along the roads, feeding on trash, India is a dogs paradise.
Palatial beauty. A huge disparity between the haves and the have-nots. A US Government sponsored visitor stays at a Five-Star Enclave that is a World-Heritage site complete with gates and security and isolation from any and all riff-raff that may be found outside. Colonial British built buildings with ornate marble and hardwood floors, luxury carpets Victorian style furniture, gold-inlay wall decor, servants hired from the chaos outside to butter your toast and shine your shoes. Serve you coffee, turn down your bed with exquisite linens, clean your room, give you a towel and cold bottle of water as you step off the treadmill.
The cognitive dissonance between what is reality for most residents here and what is reality for visitors like me doesn't escape my wonder. The only thing I can truly come to terms with here, is that no matter what their lot in life, living condition or caste: Jesus loves every single one of these people equally, just as He loves me, you, and every other person on this incredibly diverse planet.
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