November 2009
2 posts
I can't decide which is greater:
I very often feel this way… I think she put it very eloquently.
jeannr:
How loath I am to make value judgments
How happy I am not to make value judgments
Part of it is that I don’t trust myself enough to make declaratives. The other part is that I love floating around in the liquid space between solid statements. Ideas and thoughts, to me, are so much more valuable than opinions.
October 2009
2 posts
how to measure love
how many days can you go before you need to see a person? if it is less than 3, watch out! you may be in love.
September 2009
3 posts
“What’s perhaps even more amazing about this opportunity is that we made it to...”
– Mint.com CEO Aaron Patzer. Smart. They just sold for $170 million. (via kevintwohy)
Let this be a lesson to the clients that insist on paying us too much. I try to tell them: the best businesses grow from a simple concept, executed fanatically but not hastily, and grown organically. Mint is a...
Slowing down...
I’ve been preoccupied with work for the last month, but September should be a little slower. I’m looking forward to writing more. TTYS tumblr.
August 2009
4 posts
the fundamental blogging paradox
Or, why we need strangers to read our blogs.
So first you get a blog to write about what’s going on in your life and how it makes you feel. Then you need people to read it, so you get your friends to follow you. Next you sit down to write, and realize that your friends are what’s going on in your life and you just want to bitch about them. But you can’t. Because they are the...
WSJ homepage
I get the paper version of the Wall Street Journal. This morning, I referred to the front page as the “homepage.” Sign of the times?
I guess I didn't like that...
There is a saying that goes, “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” It is usually invoked when you lose something that you miss. But sometimes, it’s true for the things in your life that you are better off without. As when you leave an unloving relationship. Or cut off your long hair in the summer. If you are lucky, you don’t have to make...
July 2009
2 posts
May 2009
2 posts
Stupid Fee
Due to your inability to follow instructions and properly complete our form, we are issuing an additional invoice to cover expenses that we have incurred as a result of your incompetence. If you would like to avoid the stupid fee in the future, please be smart.
April 2009
5 posts
Pen: 1, Pants: -1
Leaking pens are a zero-sum game.
on the importance of articulation
Ben: (Writing out loud) "Did I interpret this wrong or did..."
Skot: Wait, you are going to say "interpret this wrong?" Why wouldn't you just say "misinterpret?"
Ben: It doesn't matter, it's just an email to [a girl].
Skot: Then it especially matters. Women find articulation sexy.
Ben: Shouldn't I just be myself?
Skot: If you want her to like you, you should try to avoid being yourself.
Ben: Lynn, could we ask your opinion on something?
Lynn: Yes?
Ben: We are taking a random sampling of the single women in this room (she's the only one) and we wanted to know whether or not you find brevity sexy.
Lynn: Well, not if a guy is short with me.
Skot: Yeah, short isn't good, especially with language. We are talking about efficient speech, not rudeness.
Lynn: Well in that case, what is it you are saying?
Ben: "Did I interpret this wrong" versus "Did I misinterpret this"
Lynn: Hmmmm...
Skot: The second version saves two letters and a space. It is more succinct. The girl will like you more if you say it that way.
Ben: I suppose you are right. "Misinterpret" it is.
Skot: See Lynn? We understand women. So we are going with "Did I misinterpret this, or did you want to sleep with me?"
Lynn: (leaves the room)
a riddle
What does a gay auto enthusiast say when an attractive woman walks by?
RIP Claude Carruth
Aged 86. The easter egg hunts are better in heaven.
why do we care about our exes?
jenwondering:
Last night, I did some rather shameful facebook work that I’m sure many others are guilty of. I checked up on my ex-boyfriend, most specifically on his current relationship status. The thing is, I have almost no idea why I did this.
Oh, I’ve heard it before. “You did it because you once cared about him”, or “You did it because you’re a crazy psychotic bitch who uses technology to...
March 2009
9 posts
Cool link. Tumblr post. Thanks Nat. →
what if he's right?
www.mkapital.com
Fall into the world of Mark Medayski — this is one of the weirdest/funniest things I’ve seen on the internets.
i think i'll go to boston
tonight, and for five days. What should I do and what should I see?
“that’s my life — a series of beginnings to bad movies.”
– ben
on dating
Marina: Dating would be much better if everyone had a big neon sign telling if they are interested or not.
Skot: Hmmm. I believe in transparency, but it kinda takes out the fun part.
Ben: It's the fear of rejection that holds me back. And sexual harassment lawsuits.
“Design is 70% dealing with people, 3% the idea, 2% selling the idea, 2% the...”
– Duane King (via viafrank)
atypical work memo response (hope!)
Maybe in the future, if time allows, we could put together a committee for H. Your concerns about 17 may have some validity to them, so we will let some more senior people meet and discuss &^& and then tell you no. And then leave at 4pm.
Keep up the good work Justin. Someday you’ll get that promotion.
-BOSS
typical work memo response
B.
typical work memo
Dear Esteemed Team,
I noticed that we do B. B was a good idea once because of A. A no longer exists, but we continued to do B because we have done B for C years. Now (in the real world in the present time) B creates the following problems:
…
…
…
We can fix B by doing X. Here is specifically how it solves our problems:
:-)
:-)
:-)
Additionally, it makes D easier for...
February 2009
8 posts
homonym FAIL
Skot: My headphones are broken. Do you have an extra pair?
Ben: Yes, in the fridge.
Skot: You keep headphones in the fridge?
Ben: No.
“if you’re following me, you’re probably on the wrong path”
– ben
on expertise, and patterns
An expert sees patterns where others see chaos.
As I sit here working on a branding project, I think about what it is about me that makes me good at the things that I do. In web development, there is a term called “information architecture,” also known as IA. IA refers to how information is organized, and is a crucial part of the user experience. When a website has good IA, it is...
(UFC comes on TV)
Skot: Reminds me of my cage fighting days.
Anna: You weren't a cage fighter.
Skot: *raises eyebrow
Anna: (to Tracy) Wait, was he?
last summer
we talked and talked and talked and then i said “i’m signing off it’s 1:30” and I did but your IMs came to my phone and it was dark but i couldn’t sleep my heart was pounding and i had to know what you wrote so i fumbled for my phone like i fumble for you until the room lit up by that tiny screen and so did my smile
you had something to do with it i know you did...
“but that’s because you have blood pumping through your veins; I do not.”
– overhead in the workplace #2
so many ideas
Ideas are very inconvenient in that they are not real.
My personal tagline on LinkedIn used to be “ideas professional.” I’ve always taken a lot of pride in my ideas. I have good ones. I once thought that they were of great value. So I branded myself accordingly. Since ideas are not really real, I suppose I wasn’t.
Athena was said to have sprung, fully-grown, from...
“I can only dance when I’m drunk.”
– overhead in the workplace #1
screwed over, need help
I moved out of my apartment three weeks ago for a sublet to move in tomorrow. Today, my landlord calls me and says, “I think there may have been a misunderstanding.” I email the sublet, and he tells me that all the landlord said after his credit check was, “you’re good to go.” Apparently he didn’t understand that that meant “you can move in,” so...
January 2009
8 posts
“I need to talk to myself — it’s the only way I can stay sane.”
– my insane coworker
“it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission”
– grace hopper
Eureka!
Almonds float in hot chocolate!
“difficulty does not dismiss duty.”
irony
is being told that you are _____ by the _____est person you know.
for a project
Please give me an internet memory from 1999.
You are a police officer. You pull over a Lamborghini doing 95 in a 35 zone. As you approach the car, a beautiful woman rolls down the driver’s window. You open your mouth and say:
December 2008
16 posts
postponing mistakes
I made a decision on the car. I’ve decided I really want one. So I am going to pass on the deals I’ve been looking at. Seem ironic? Read on:
The Z4 M Coupe is one of the rarest production models (if not THE rarest) BMW has put out. It is the only one on that list that also has the most celebrated engine BMW ever produced, the 333 bhp S54 naturally aspirated inline-six:
The S54...
now i’m watchin’ wrestling tryin’ to be a tough guy listening to rap metal turn tables in my eyes i can’t grow a moustache and i ain’t got no season pass
all i’ve got’s a moped.
making mistakes
This is something that has been on my mind. I have to write fast before the NyQuil kicks in.
I don’t make many mistakes, but this is not something that I am proud of. I avoid the extremes. I have had many great opportunities that I willingly let go in the name of playing it safe:
Closed allkidsfurniture.com (could have sold it)
Berkeley scholarship (went to UCLA because it was closer)
...
in case you want to unlever a beta
I’ve been cleaning out my apartment and came across some notes. I wrote them in August 2007, while sitting at a Starbucks in Calabasas during my lunch break. I was pondering the private equity industry. In case any of you are interested in LBOs (especially from a practical perspective), these excerpts will be of more value to you than they are to me right now:
The Modigliani-Miller...
“we’re going on a cruise to alaska. it’s going to be awesome. ...”
– steve 