2/19/09

2m walk + dance

2/28/09

5m walk

...

2m walk + dance

Stenography

On the subway this afternoon, the lady next to me was working on exercises in a language workbook.  However, unlike normal languages, the letters on these pages were stacked in random orders with spacing of various sizes interspersed in between.  It used the Roman alphabet, but was neither a romantic nor a germanic language.  My curiosity piqued, I asked her what she was studying.  Though I'd never seen it before, I hypothesized that it could potentially be court room stenography.

My hypothesis was correct!  She was studying to be a court room typist.  As a stenographer she would use this shortform langauge to type upwards of 200 wpm.  Wow.  She also showed me the small typewriter that she had with her -- it had half as many keys as a typical keyboard.  She said that the left hand side dictated the beginning of the word and the right hand side typed the end, this way, an entire word could be typed at once.

She said that a typical course of study takes 3 years and she was about halfway through.  Her goal is to work to become a close caption typist to  make upwards of $140,000 a year, but that would take another year of two of training.

So very interesting!  Learned something cool over the course of short 3 subway stops! 

2m walk + 3 m run + dance

Understanding firms

Most people who are not in consulting and have few friends in the industry have neither idea of a consultant's job nor of the major firms that operate in this space. 

Why is there a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in New York City -- isn't it suppose to be in Boston? Same reason that HSBC, Deutsche Bank and UBS are in the US and that Bank of America is in Europe.  Note to entrepreneurers, picking a suitable firm name is vital, and having a location in the company name will invite a lot of questions down the road.

One industry that I'm unfamiliar with is law.  Most law firm names are long concatenated names of their founders.  I'm slowly starting to recognize some of these names including Skadden, Wachtell, Cravath, Allen Overy, etc.   It's still a process to figure out the differences among the firms.  So thus far, I've gotten the large banks and the consulting firms straight.  Now, I'm working on law firms and further down the road, hedge funds and PE shops.

2m walk

Dim sum

Dim sum for the 3rd weekend in a row.  And 3 different non Jing Fong places--very exciting.  I think my favorite so far is Golden Unicorn as it's very nicely decorated, also bright.  Dim sum go go is nice too -- better service and cleaner than most chinese places.

Watched "He's Just Not That Into You" with a few friends this weekend.  Even though it was a movie, there was truth in some of its messages.  Though I give the girl major props for being forward. 

Celebrating differences

A couple of my friends who are in relationships constantly constantly bemoan an underlying problem that their bfs are of a different cultural backgound.  My friends want to speak Chinese at home.  They want to celebrate Chinese Holidays.  They want to raise their children to speak Chinese and retain the Chinese background.  Therefore, their current bfs of different ethnicities throw a slight wrinkle in otherwise perfect relationships.

Yet my take is that having parents of different backgrounds provides a richer family culture.  Instead of just English and Chinese, the family can share in Arabic+English+Chinese, or Polish+English+Chinese or Hebrew+Spanish+English+Chinese+XYZ languages, etc.  Isn't that even better?  The family can observe all holidays (as long as neither is super religious). Isn't this the American Dream?  The reason for immigration, and the mixing of cultures?  I find beauty in diversity, and wonderment in differences.  So rather than view their varied upbringings as a concern, their distinct perspectives should be a point of celebration.  It should make their relationships all the stronger and exciting in the long run.  We all share a passion for learning, and learning about each other is one of the easiest ways to do so.

A yi

Had planned to go skiing this weekend with a couple of friends, but wasn't sure if I would be over my cold by then, so I had to cancel.  Instead, I'll be staying put in the city.  There are few fun things going on, but nothing super crazy.  Regardless, a relaxing long weekend is better than an over tired one in the cold in which I will probably get worse.

It's one of my really good friend's bday today (midnight)!  23!  The song that Blink 182 alluded to when we rocked out to their songs back when we were in middle school.

It really hit me that I'm an adult a few weeks back.  I was visiting a second cousin.  In the past, I've always been introduced as "jie jie," (older sister) to friends and family.  However, when I began to do so this time, my second cousin intervened, refering to me as "A yi," (auntie).  It would be weird for her if I were considered "jie jie" she stated.  Wow.   Though "A yi" doesn't have the old stuffy connotation that it does in English, it's a general term equvalent to "Ms" or "Miss" in age, it was a bit of a shocker to be "a yi" for the first time.  The first one hits hard.

Its true.  I'm now one of the ones giving advice to college students.  I'm the one on the alumni panel. Woah, it's like seriously... next steps in life!

2 m walk.

Reset

Hacking away the day.  Some must have been sick on Sunday.

4 mi walk + 1 mi run

Costco run = blarring bass, Kanye rap, windows down, rotiserie chicken, traffic light and groceries on everyone's lap = memories

Idea blog #1

I was inspired by a girl I met this weekend who had made it her resolution to come up with a new creative idea every day.

I don't think I'm quite up to that yet, instead I hope to share a entrepreneurial idea here each week.  They my be half-bake or more thought out, solutions to the problems may already exist, or there may never be an ideal solution ever, it all depends on the idea/problem itself.  Consequentially, I'm going to make this site private (in about a week) should I one day decide to take any of these ideas public.  Email me if you would like to get the access to this site.  I trust you as the reader to give me your feedback and hopefully join me in one of these ventures.

Cheers,

A

Idea #1

Title: Engagement ring selection

Problem: Guys spend tens of thousands of dollars, the girl wears it her entire life (hopefully), yet it's usually completely concealed process in which the girl has no say.

Girls are picky about their styles--I have friend who wouldn't be caught dead in my jewelry, and me the same for my friends.  However, the in a typical situation, the guy chooses the wedding ring without consulting the potential fiancee.  How can a poor guy select a ring?  How can a poor girl have a say in a ring that she will wear "forever"?

Potential solutions:  

*Engagment ring or jewelry online consultant -- guy posts pictures of the girl and her current fashion style.  Consultants give recommendations on rings based the perceived style.

*Faux websites that the guys sends the girl on in which she inadvertantly reveal her ring preferences.

*Amazon-esque gift registry, problem of decreased element of surprise

*A placeholder ring -- the guy presents the girl with a diamond and a band, then they go to a store and "build a ring" together as in "build a bear"