Kansas City Zoo

Today was my first trip to the Kansas City Zoo. Although this zoo does not measure up to the ones I have been to in the past (some tough competition against the Omaha and San Diego zoos), I had a great time. The weather was warm, the company entertaining, and the animals were active.

The visiting animals this summer were two koalas from the San Diego zoo.


This is one of my favorite photos from today: The Captain Morgan Elephant.

The kangaroos were surprisingly not enclosed. A little boy even ran up to them creating an alarmed crowd, but the mother finally stopped the kid. The kangaroos were afraid of him anyway.

I couldn't stop laughing when I saw these three camels standing side by side as if they were about to race.

First Class

Summer school started today, and I always find the first day of class so refreshing. I'm excited to see familiar faces (as much as meeting new people), meet my professor, and learn something new.

As I walked into session 1 of Leadership and Organizational Behavior, the professor had music playing. That, right there, set the tone for the class. The professor was upbeat, yet not overbearing. As students trickled in and began writing their names on the name tents, the professor started talking about the markers he had laid out. Before class even started, I learned something new. He said that he liked getting the scented markers for his office because (1.) they're great conversation starters and (2.) they write the best on paper. He transitioned into dry erase markers. He recommended getting scented dry erase markers too. That way, people don't pass out during your meeting from the fumes of regular markers AND always bring your own markers. Details are so important and make all the difference.

Of course, the class had introductions. He wrote everyone's name, occupation, and fun fact (what makes you different from everyone else fun fact) on the whiteboard. Yes, typical, but he added a twist. He asked everyone to write on a piece of scratch paper 3 names of people you would follow. He then tallied the votes and came up with 4 people. He asked these chosen 4 to be leaders for today only. They were responsible for dividing the class into teams. Genius! What a great way to empower the class with responsibility from the very beginning.

Looks like another great course.

Your Life is Better Than Reality TV

Remember, your life is better than reality TV. It's real! I don't care what the producers say, but the characters of reality tv shows are being fake, even if they claim they're being real. Apparently, over dramatic and stupid is entertaining.

I stumbled upon one of the worst shows I've seen in awhile on E! called Sunset Tan. It's a reality show about a ritzy tanning salon in L.A. Two scenes in particular made me want to vomit. The first was a mother who was bringing in her grade school daughter to get a tan for school pictures. The dialogue went something like this:

Employee: What kind of tan does your daughter want?

Mother: Oh, something to make her stand out from the other children. She wants to look like Lindsey Lohan. (looks at her daughter) Don't you want to look like Lindsey Lohan, sweetie?

Daughter: (enthusiastically and smiling) Yes! I want to look like Lindsey Lohan.

Employee: I know exactly what you need. (And lays out a $1200 session of products and services)

*Vomit*

The second scene were these two bleach blonde girls who couldn't do anything right at the salon because they were too...well, over dramatic and stupid. When the two got fustrated, they asked (in a pouty face) can we just go shopping? The fustrated co-worker said sure, go shopping, and the camera shot shows the two girls skipping away to buy clothes and shoes before breaking to commercial.

*Vomit*

I didn't watch tv for the rest of the weekend. I know these shows have phenomenal editors because they can make an ordinary situation into a tv show, and it can suck you in if you let them. Be strong and stay away. Remember, your life is better than reality TV. Participate in something you can control.

Is Golf Your Game?

In WSJ's article on "Business Golf Changes Course," the emphasis is that golf is still important in some realms of business and obsolete in others. Although my workplace does not have the golf club mentality and is not a part of the business, I wonder if it will be in a future career. One woman in the article cited that it took her two years before becoming comfortable playing golf in business dealings. It doesn't seem too bad of an idea to start now.

The photo above shows women taking a golf lesson from the Harvard Business School. I do like the idea of having a course like that in a M.B.A curriculum. During my undergraduate career, I did have a chance to take golf. That would have been a fun course to take.

Slow Down for Slow Turtles

Beware for turtles crossing the streets and highways. I've seen 3 turtles crossing highways in one week! One didn't make it, and it wasn't me. The other two I took photos of, and my friends moved them out of harms way. I can only hope the turtles didn't go back into the roads.

This is a Lake of the Ozarks turtle. It had lots of pretty colors.

This turtle was crossing the highway. It was a big one too.

One day, the turtles will get their revenge.

Build-A-Bookcase

Today was the delivery day for my new bookcase. A friend graciously helped me design and build this oak bookcase. It took us exactly one and a half weeks to complete with three additional days for it to completely dry.

The first two photos show the shelves drying from the wood glue after we had cut the wood and installed the shelves.

This is after the back board and top and bottom of the bookcase were installed.

My friend did an amazing job of finding stain colors that matched my existing furniture. He even made a sample palette for me. We decided to go with the sample in the bottom right corner of the photo, which was one layer of ebony and one layer of bombay mohogany satin.

This is the bookcase going for a drive in the back of the pickup truck. I remember those days. Riding in the back of the truck is always fun. It even has a blanket and pillows! I'm so jealous.

Here it is... resting in its new home. The shelf looks black, but it's not (as you saw in the sample palette photo).... and yes, I do own books to put in the shelves.

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

Contemporary art is more than just finger painting. I went to the Kemper Museum for the first time this weekend expecting to see circles and triangles on canvas, but I was surprised to see art work that was tangible for the amateur art critic like myself. I had the misconception that contemporary art was abstract art. In fact, it simply refers to art that has been currently produced.

Below is the Crying Giant. I like this one. My friend thought the giant was crying because his feet are swollen. I can understand that.

Below is a rendition of various views of the Grand Canyon. I wasn't as crazy about this one as the Crying Giant, but it was interesting.

The art exhibit that changed my view about contemporary art was Jennifer Steinkamp's video/audio exhibit. At first, I was not impressed. I walked into a near empty room with about 4 or 5 projectors on the floor. Each wall had psychedelic visualizations on them. I felt like I was walking inside a Windows Media Player visualization. As I walked out of that room, a lady working at the museum explained to me that the artist's intent is to have the audience play with their shadows. So, I went back and gave it a try. It made sense now! The next room was even better now that I know to manipulate my shadows. This room had walls of flowered vines. By watching my shadows, it looked like I was walking into and disappearing into a garden only to reappear on the other side of the foliage.

I only wished the museum was larger with more art work. However, the Kemper Museum complements the Nelson-Atkins Museum across the street very well. It also seems the Kemper Museum changes out art work more often than the Nelson-Atkins. I will definitely check on upcoming exhibits at the Kemper Musuem.

www.kemperart.org

Babies "R" Us, Not Me

I learned something today. Babies "R" Us is not as fun as Toys "R" Us. Not even close. My ten minute experience in the store was quite surreal. It's like in Texas Chainsaw Massacre when the car breaks down and the characters go into a town that just doesn't feel right. I didn't feel right in Babies "R" Us. It was a bit eerie to be surrounded by so many pregnant women and couples. I did take a moment to laugh. I thought about how single men go to Hobby Lobby Friday nights, single women go to Lowe's Friday nights, and it hit me that couples probably go to Babies "R" Us Friday nights.

I'm not anti-baby. I am very happy for those couples, and there's obviously a need for this store. I just realized how foreign all this is for me. How little I know about it, so I find it intimidating. I also realize that while a good portion of my twenty-something peers are getting married and popping out babies, I don't at all feel left out. I feel that I am far from being ready and happy where I'm at. I am on a different path as Robert Frost might tell me to take the Road Not Taken. So here I am, taking the road out of Babies "R" Us and heading straight to Lowe's.

To my dear friends who read this, please register to other stores (I recommend Target) when your time comes for a baby shower.

Marketing

Three articles, a group presentation, and a final paper later, I have finally completed my spring semester of Marketing. I have had a tough time maintaining focus throughout the eight weeks of this course. Now that it is over, I have lots of great things to say. Life can be great in retrospect.

Do you remember the excitement of the first and last day of classes? I am wrapped up in the last day excitement. I am proud of the work I put into the course and satisfied with the material I learned. However, my excitement is wrapped around a bigger thought, idea, and feeling. It is how impressed I am with a handful of my classmates. Everyday I hear people have meaningless conversations (i.e. radio shows) and see people who are rude (i.e. drivers). Unfortunately, this is what the general population hear and see on a daily basis. I am so fortunate to be exposed to people with innovative ideas and who are passionate about what they do. It is truly motivating. Only if people can show that side of themselves more often...

I was not impressed with my professor. She is my least favorite out of all the professors I have had in the M.B.A. program. I will, though, give her credit for selecting excellent resources. I already talked about The World is Flat in a previous entry. I find Faith Popcorn's Popcorn Trends as very accurate marketing concepts. My professor also did an excellent job of selecting cases to review in class.

The most beneficial assignments were the portfolio articles. The difficult portion of those papers is the marketing consultation. This required me to give suggestions on alternative marketing methods. This allowed me to think like a marketer.

My biggest take-away of this course are the concepts I have learned through reading The World is Flat and listening to lectures on Popcorn Trends.

Spring Fever

Spring has won me over. Do you like the photo? I do. Too bad I didn't take it. I had to steal the image from someone else, since I am still living without my camera.

I have spring fever, and I cannot wait for my school semester to end. I have two more weeks of school assignments before I can really have fun. My schedule is becoming jam-packed, but it is full of activities I enjoy.

The World is Flat

Reading a good book leaves me with an amazing feeling. I am much more impacted by reading a book than watching a movie. Forcing my imagination to work its gears is more rewarding than passively having a story fed to me. I don't want to bash on movies, and I know I'm getting all Reading Rainbow on everyone, but The World is Flat is the second book I've read within a year that concisely summarizes a mess of thoughts and questions that run through my head.

After reading only 115 pages, I am discovering that The World is Flat reveals a perspective that is helping me understand what is happening to the U.S. economy and the world. The World is Flat refers to the leveling of the United States with the rest of the world. The changes involved in outsourcing and other globalization activities are contributing to this flattening, or evening out the playing field.

At this point in the book, there are a few ideas that struck me the most:

1. Competition is becoming fierce. Not only am I competing against my U.S. peers, I am now competing against my peers around the globe. These overseas peers are highly and technically educated and have an extremely strong motivation to excel, considering their often proverty stricken background.

2. Accept the changes and lead the way. Outsourcing is a non-stop evolution in U.S. businesses. To stay competitive, companies are submitting to outsourcing technologies to other countries. We're not the only ones. Japan outsources to China, for example. The U.S. is paving the way on how this outsourcing business is handled. General feelings of the U.S. losing control of our technical expertise and job opportunities are still a large concern for me, but the U.S. has the opportunity to lead this outsourcing evolution in a positive direction that could benefit all countries involved.

2.5 Accept online networking. This is a spin-off thought from #2's point of accepting change and leading the way. I am coming to terms on online networking. I have been a strong and stubborn advocate for people meeting the traditional way, face to face, not pc screen to pc screen. I still believe meeting people face to face is the best way to go, even if it's at the bar, but the world is changing and people must adapt. I use online sites to keep in contact with existing friends, but recently, I have realized online networking tools, such as facebook, myspace, and blogger itself, play a HUGE role in social interaction. This means a HUGE change in the way we communicate. I laugh like this, "lol," instead of like this, "hahaha," or simply saying, "I'm laughing" now. In some cases, my friendships would not be as strong or in existence without one of the networking tools. Realizing this strong impact, I have lightened up on my skepticism on online dating. If I resist this change, I would only be holding back progress. I suppose it's better to meet someone online than not meet someone at all.

3. You and I are a part of this change. I remember cassette players, typewriters, gas for $0.79/gallon, record players, and Atari. The pc changed everything. Fiber optics and wireless changed everything. We are riding this big wave, and this book is helping me understand it.

I'm not finished reading The World is Flat yet, but I already have some thoughts brewing. That is a sign of a good author and a good book.

Quote of the Day

"Dating is one of the best examples of marketing."
-My Marketing Professor

AIM

I'm click-clacking away on my laptop, checking my e-mail, facebook, myspace, blah, blah, blah, but then I realize something I wasn't logging onto. AOL Instant Messanger. When did I give that up? I didn't decide to give it up. It just faded out of my routine. Is this a sign of growing up? Not to deem instant messaging as a "college thing," but it's a college thing, naturally. College requires so much computer time and collaboration with other students. Work is the same way, but using AIM at work probably isn't allowed in most companies.

So, I've cut it out of my routine. I've spent more time on developing other skills and doing other activities I've always wanted to do without realizing it until now.

On another note, what's this yellow AIM guy doing? Is he running towards something or running away from something? What's this thing's background?

I Am Without...

I am without... my camera. I wish I could take a photo of me not having a camera for this post. I loaned my camera to my brother for his overseas trip. Now that my camera will be gone for three weeks, I miss it already.

"My camera." How did I not ever name my camera? Perhaps, I can call it Digi or Digimon! I like "Digimon!" and that includes the exclamation point.

Yes, I can't wait to get Digimon! back. I might get one of those ancient disposable cameras that use film in the meantime.

Risks and Returns

The higher the risks, the greater the returns. This statement holds true beyond the basic principles of finance. This concept is true in our daily life.

Year of the Boar

Alas, my year is over. Year of the dog was a good one for me. I moved to KC, started a job, and began grad school. Last year could have gone two ways: good or bad. Luckily, it went well for me, and now it is time to move on to a new calendar year.

Similar to most Asian-American families, my family only had a small timeframe to celebrate Tet. I was fortunate enough to make it home to enjoy a home-cooked meal and spend time with my family.

On the menu:
Crab and shrimp soup
Stir-fried noodles
Egg rolls
Mushroom, shrimp, bamboo stir-fry
Several candies and dessert

CPK

California Pizza Kitchen in the Plaza has a comfortable, yet, classy twist to its atmosphere. I like the wide open spaces, where I can see the cooks create my food. The bright lights reflecting off the white tables also offer an upbeat mood. During this visit, I ordered a Chipotle pizza. It tasted just like a Chipotle burrito. It makes me wonder why I didn't just go get the actual burrito, instead of eating it in pizza form. It was a wonderful re-invention of something that already exists.

http://www.cpk.com/

Happy Valentine's Day

I'm the heart that got away.

Game Over?

Dress to impress. This is the rule for going out, among other rules if you believe in them. Dress to impress and meet new people that I won't talk to past the next day. I don't even believe what people say anymore. After a weekend and a half of going out with the idea of dressing to impress, I'm starting to believe it's doing more damage than good. I think my GAME might be over.

Or perhaps, I'm trying too much too fast. The bottom line is that I'm not the bar-type girl and I don't want a bar-type guy, so what am I doing in a bar? It's fast fun. Unfortunately, that is what the average American demands. I wouldn't classify myself as average. I wouldn't classify my friends as average. We are better than average, so why would I demand anything less from someone I date?

The next step: Find a new destination.

The Places I Go

People glaze over the most obvious details. I just realized I've never questioned the name of a popular bar in Kansas City. It's called the Granfalloon. I thought it was strange the first time I heard it, but by the third time of hearing it I no longer wondered what it meant. I just knew it was a bar. Who knew a granfalloon is a community in which people PRETEND to have associations with each other, but really don't? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granfalloon

I do like the bar, though I feel a bit foolish for going there now because of its name. Is the bar meant for people to put on a false impression of themselves? This is true for every bar in existence. It's just that this one is being blunt about it. Of course, 98% of the people in the bar probably doesn't know what a granfalloon is anyway.

Despite what I say, the Granfallon is a fun bar/restaurant. Check it out:http://www.thegranfalloon.com/default_plaza.htm