All of the five posts that I've written, I couldn't decide which to publish, neither could I just leave the year pass away without an homage to 2008. So here are some few thoughts that I've collected here and there:
"Be careful the mistake you make as God forbids you live a long time as you'll spend the rest of life remembering them."
"Although, one doesn't always get back what they give away, one can only give what they have".
"Do not define your life only by the money you have or your job. The money can be gone in a twinkle of an eye, and you can't always be replaced at your job."
"Be kind at all time even to strangers as you never know what may come your way."
"Money is the root of most evil; if your neighbor wants to borrow some from you, always give them an amount that you won't cry after if they don't reimburse you."
"Don't be a fool, stop repeating your mistakes. I repeat, don't be a fool."
"If there's for one, there's always for two. Make a difference in someone's else life today."
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
My Interests for year 2008
Throughout the year I've recorded, all the movies and books I read. And I intended to post this on Dec 31st, but with everything that has been planned I hope not to find myself glued to my computer on that day. So here it is my selection for this year reading and watching.
Movies:
- Vantage Point
- Mr&Mrs Smith (re-watched)
- Superbad -- stupidly funny movie
-Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins - A "feel good" movie
-Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns - another Feel good movie
- The Bank Job -- I just like Jason Statham
- 21 -- For Smart people
- Freedom Writers -- Inspirational
- Fierce People -- Quite disturbing
- Nancy Drew - Teenage stuffs
- Juno -- funny
- Forbidden Kingdom - so corny!! A better plot combining Li and Chan talents could have been written.
- Love and 4 other letter words - corny romantic black comedy
- Made of Honor - another corny romantic comedy
- Mad Money
- The Bucket List
- The Negotiator
- Irina Palm - Independent movie about a grandma who found herself whacking men off for money in order to pay for her grandson surgery.
- La TV d'Elie Kakou - French comedy, hilarious!!
- Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis - The "best" French comedy of summer 2008: Despite the French dominance in so many art domains: Culinary (hum hum, I love french cuisine!!), Cosmetics, Fashion and others, movies remain their lame duck.
- Sex and the City - One of Hollywood Hits Best romantic movie of the year!!
- What happens in Vegas
- You Don't Mess with the Zohan
- Wanted w/ Angeline Jolie
- Knocked out
- College Road Trip: stupidly funny w/ Martin Lawrence and Raven.
- Steps Brothers: I'm marked for life by Will Ferrel's nuts on a drum
- Hancock
- The Dark Knight -- astounding performance of the Joker and the cute Chris Bale
- Tropic thunder - A funny war parody w/ an astounding performance from Tom Cruise
- Traitor - Don Cheadle under a new light
- Burn After Reading - (I should've waited for this movie to come on DVD)
- Tyler's Perry the Family that Preys.
- Body of Lies - An amazing thriller with Leonardo Di Caprio
- Fireproof - For every couple on the verge of divorce
- Role Models - Americans comedy have gotten worse
- Changeling - Angelina Jolie, despite being a mother in real life, just doesn't strike as a mother type in her movies.
- Quantum of Solace - A meaner, swifter and blonder Bond than ever!! -- Adrenaline Rush.
- Four Christmases - Vaughn and Witherspoon not boring at all!!
- Transporter 3 - Totally worth my money just seeing those chocolate bars on Statham, yum yum --JB007 or JS? The choice can be hard. -- Adrenaline Rush.
- The Tale of Despereaux --> I have really grown up, I no longer enjoy cartoons as I used to.
- Seven Pounds --> such a depressing and traumatizing movie that I've dreamed of an alternative ending the next day.
-----The list is far from being done as I'm planning to watch "Doubt", "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" , "Marley & Me".
There are few movies that I would recommend: the independent one "Irina Palm" was quite intriguing, it's the type of movie that one would watch as a last resort. However it makes you wonder: "What would you have done, were you in the woman position?" Many of us, under "extreme" circumstances have found ourselves doing the exact opposite of what we believe, the negation of what we show to the world daily.
I very much enjoyed Don Cheadle in "Traitor" and DiCaprio was a bliss in "Bodies of Lies".
Books:
- Dossiers extraordinaires: part 2 by Pierre Bellemare & Jacques Antoine.
- 7 habits of highly effective people
- Le Combat Ordinaire - a cartoon about a psychoneurotic character who's been seeing a shrink for 8 years.
- Cul-de-sac by Douglas Kennedy
- Changement de Decor by David Lodge: I hate the guy, he got me w/ his ending. No actually, I think the guy hates his readers, what an ending!!
- Le Bucher des Vanites by Tom Wolfe -- English Version: The Bonfire of the Vanities. A 911 pages beast -- every page worth my time.
- Ten thousands of online articles (does this count?)
- CakePHP (would this count?) -- A complete guide to rapid development framework.
- David Lodge Thinks... By David Lodge --> Work In Progress.
From my reading collection I would highly recommend "Changing Places" which is the English version of "Changement de Decor" by David Lodge.
My selection of french books (or should I say books in French) was driven by the desire to reconnect w/ Moliere's Language. And I would like to thank my very good friend Oliver for his help on this.
Movies:
- Vantage Point
- Mr&Mrs Smith (re-watched)
- Superbad -- stupidly funny movie
-Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins - A "feel good" movie
-Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns - another Feel good movie
- The Bank Job -- I just like Jason Statham
- 21 -- For Smart people
- Freedom Writers -- Inspirational
- Fierce People -- Quite disturbing
- Nancy Drew - Teenage stuffs
- Juno -- funny
- Forbidden Kingdom - so corny!! A better plot combining Li and Chan talents could have been written.
- Love and 4 other letter words - corny romantic black comedy
- Made of Honor - another corny romantic comedy
- Mad Money
- The Bucket List
- The Negotiator
- Irina Palm - Independent movie about a grandma who found herself whacking men off for money in order to pay for her grandson surgery.
- La TV d'Elie Kakou - French comedy, hilarious!!
- Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis - The "best" French comedy of summer 2008: Despite the French dominance in so many art domains: Culinary (hum hum, I love french cuisine!!), Cosmetics, Fashion and others, movies remain their lame duck.
- Sex and the City - One of Hollywood Hits Best romantic movie of the year!!
- What happens in Vegas
- You Don't Mess with the Zohan
- Wanted w/ Angeline Jolie
- Knocked out
- College Road Trip: stupidly funny w/ Martin Lawrence and Raven.
- Steps Brothers: I'm marked for life by Will Ferrel's nuts on a drum
- Hancock
- The Dark Knight -- astounding performance of the Joker and the cute Chris Bale
- Tropic thunder - A funny war parody w/ an astounding performance from Tom Cruise
- Traitor - Don Cheadle under a new light
- Burn After Reading - (I should've waited for this movie to come on DVD)
- Tyler's Perry the Family that Preys.
- Body of Lies - An amazing thriller with Leonardo Di Caprio
- Fireproof - For every couple on the verge of divorce
- Role Models - Americans comedy have gotten worse
- Changeling - Angelina Jolie, despite being a mother in real life, just doesn't strike as a mother type in her movies.
- Quantum of Solace - A meaner, swifter and blonder Bond than ever!! -- Adrenaline Rush.
- Four Christmases - Vaughn and Witherspoon not boring at all!!
- Transporter 3 - Totally worth my money just seeing those chocolate bars on Statham, yum yum --JB007 or JS? The choice can be hard. -- Adrenaline Rush.
- The Tale of Despereaux --> I have really grown up, I no longer enjoy cartoons as I used to.
- Seven Pounds --> such a depressing and traumatizing movie that I've dreamed of an alternative ending the next day.
-----The list is far from being done as I'm planning to watch "Doubt", "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" , "Marley & Me".
There are few movies that I would recommend: the independent one "Irina Palm" was quite intriguing, it's the type of movie that one would watch as a last resort. However it makes you wonder: "What would you have done, were you in the woman position?" Many of us, under "extreme" circumstances have found ourselves doing the exact opposite of what we believe, the negation of what we show to the world daily.
I very much enjoyed Don Cheadle in "Traitor" and DiCaprio was a bliss in "Bodies of Lies".
Books:
- Dossiers extraordinaires: part 2 by Pierre Bellemare & Jacques Antoine.
- 7 habits of highly effective people
- Le Combat Ordinaire - a cartoon about a psychoneurotic character who's been seeing a shrink for 8 years.
- Cul-de-sac by Douglas Kennedy
- Changement de Decor by David Lodge: I hate the guy, he got me w/ his ending. No actually, I think the guy hates his readers, what an ending!!
- Le Bucher des Vanites by Tom Wolfe -- English Version: The Bonfire of the Vanities. A 911 pages beast -- every page worth my time.
- Ten thousands of online articles (does this count?)
- CakePHP (would this count?) -- A complete guide to rapid development framework.
- David Lodge Thinks... By David Lodge --> Work In Progress.
From my reading collection I would highly recommend "Changing Places" which is the English version of "Changement de Decor" by David Lodge.
My selection of french books (or should I say books in French) was driven by the desire to reconnect w/ Moliere's Language. And I would like to thank my very good friend Oliver for his help on this.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
What Must A Woman do During Recession?
It's official, we're in a recession!! Girl, it's time for you to get in charge of your finances. Stop clinging to your baby daddy, your sugar daddy or your rent daddy and start acting like the real woman that you are. I've gathered a few tips here and there, some from friends, others from experience and thoughtful articles:
- Keep on paying yourself first whenever you get that paycheck. Whether you're making $1000.00/month, more or less, whatever the amount you can always save. I used to make $1200.00/month, that's $600 every two weeks and I would put away $100 every pay day, then locked in a short period CD account. That money sure was handy in times of turbulence.
- Call those credit card companies and request a lower interest rate. Most of them will automatically increase your line of credit but will never proactively offer you a lower rate. Why would they? The higher the rate, the more money they're making.
- Stop running your mouth on the phone, reduce your cell phone rate plan and asks your BFFs, Frienemies and sugar daddy to call after 9pm (or 7pm if you're with Sprint).
- It's definitely not the time for a new car, especially with the Big 3 going down. Fix the one you got. Forget about Toyota and Honda, credit is tight, you'll be lucky to get a loan. And even if you get the loan, you could be handed a pink slip instead of a paycheck next month. 250,000 jobs went down last month, preceded by 154,000 the month before, you think you're secure? Think again.
- Don't buy what you can't afford, buy what you need and not what you want. I know I'm guilty here, I bought a $2.50 Santa hat amongst other things.
- Don't stop funding your 401(k), get it to the minimum 6% (or whatever it is) to qualify for your company match and the extra cash, dump it in a Roth IRA.
That's it for now. Do not hesitate to add to the list and to share your own tips and tricks.
- Keep on paying yourself first whenever you get that paycheck. Whether you're making $1000.00/month, more or less, whatever the amount you can always save. I used to make $1200.00/month, that's $600 every two weeks and I would put away $100 every pay day, then locked in a short period CD account. That money sure was handy in times of turbulence.
- Call those credit card companies and request a lower interest rate. Most of them will automatically increase your line of credit but will never proactively offer you a lower rate. Why would they? The higher the rate, the more money they're making.
- Stop running your mouth on the phone, reduce your cell phone rate plan and asks your BFFs, Frienemies and sugar daddy to call after 9pm (or 7pm if you're with Sprint).
- It's definitely not the time for a new car, especially with the Big 3 going down. Fix the one you got. Forget about Toyota and Honda, credit is tight, you'll be lucky to get a loan. And even if you get the loan, you could be handed a pink slip instead of a paycheck next month. 250,000 jobs went down last month, preceded by 154,000 the month before, you think you're secure? Think again.
- Don't buy what you can't afford, buy what you need and not what you want. I know I'm guilty here, I bought a $2.50 Santa hat amongst other things.
- Don't stop funding your 401(k), get it to the minimum 6% (or whatever it is) to qualify for your company match and the extra cash, dump it in a Roth IRA.
That's it for now. Do not hesitate to add to the list and to share your own tips and tricks.
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