Went to a very fun Halloween party last night.

First let me proudly say we spent a total of $14 on our costumes (for the two of us.
I was Clark Kent - Superman t-shirt covered in white button down shirt, black pants, glasses, gelled back hair. Of course top buttons were down to show the Superman T-shirt below.

("I'm very mild mannered" in case people didn't quite catch on. )

My wife was Hermione Granger. Black dress and coat, red scarf, black witches hat, back combed bushy hair and topped it off with a S.P.E.W. badge.
"You can't apparate or disapparate inside the Hogwarts grounds- haven't you ever read Hogwarts, A History."


Anyway, lots of fun was had - some jello shot eyeballs, and other interesting Halloween delights were on offer. The best costume we saw was Lil' Kim in her jail uniform, big booty and all. The worst costumes being soccer players (three different ones, none of whom incidentally knew anything about soccer).

The Prestige-

Wow, what a great movie. Still in my mind I am going back over little details, tiny little plot and character items that had been placed, early on to set the scene. Now that the movie is over and their significance realized this film is even more appreciated in its magnificence. Even now several hours later I am still a little blown away by this film.

Christian Bale was of course just amazing, a really and gritty performance. Hugh Jackman was also so great that I barely made the connection with the actor- this was not what I would have expected for Mr. Jackman. The rest of the star studded cast all did wonderfully, and indeed this was one of Michael Caine's better choices (we still haven't forgiven Miss Congeniality).

At times the plot of this movie seemed slow, but it was all important after the fact, this was simply setting the show, setting the scene for the amazing prestige. Mind you, a movie not for the faint hearted and the rather more gruesome aspects of the movie are still horrifying me as I speak.

Of course you are guessing right to the end, and I am heartily glad I saw the movie before anything was spoilt for me.

i do not want to say too much more, as I am afraid to give too much away. but worthy of Oscars certainly this is an incredible movie that must be seen. Just be warned, if the birds upset you, this is only the start.

This morning at the Hillcrest farmers market I saw my old Boss, (a typical Nazi head chef type). Even just seeing him made a chill go down my spine. It makes me so grateful of my current job, which although perhaps not as excited as work in a kitchen, I nonetheless do not live in constant fear of his tirades. That sort of living is so tiring.
I really don't appreciate having nice bosses enough, what a difference that can make! One of my friends is currently having real trouble with her boss. she loves her job generally, really enjoys everything she does, has no problem working very hard and is really dedicated. The boss however is driving her to a point where she is almost ready to throw in the towel. In contrast to my old nightmare boss, this is not a guy who storms and yells. Rather he is quiet, passive aggressive and is his most hurtful by simply not answering questions he has no interest in and failing to appreciate a single thing that she does.
It is a frightening thing how much power our bosses can have. However crazy and unstable they might be as individuals, however poor their judgment might be, they nonetheless have our future careers in their hands, and through a less than stellar recommendation in the future can possible alter our course for the worst.
Tomorrow is Bosses Day. Something I really think is a stupid excuse to eat more unhealthy food and donate to Hallmark. Nonetheless now appreciating how lucky I am with my bosses I think I will throw in a few dollars for the bunch of flowers our office is planning on getting our top exec.

Hmmm going back to the joint MBA/JD thought and I just don't think it really would have any value. Well, I mean that it just wouldn't be worth it. Plus I am the last person who needs to procrastinate further! I need to decide MBA or JD, or whatever else I will do and just get on with it. It seems to me the joint degree option is really just for those who can't decide, those who have big eyes, or those whose parents will pay for them to do both, and end up with a prestige worthy son/daughter. Searching around I really honestly haven't found a place at it is useful. Especially the option at Northwestern. I mean if you can get a JD or an MBA there you should be pretty set, there's just no reason to do both.

Considering an MBA or Accounting Degree

Recently I've been becoming more and more attracted to the idea of an MBA. I've been hesitant at times due to hearing from some people that it is a degree which attempts to teach skills which cannot be taught, that succeeding in the business world is not about learning theories in the classroom.

Part of my recent change in preference has been due to my internship at a start-up company. It's not until I really dived into the business world up close that I realized how much there is to it that can be taught in general. Business plans submitted to investors, marketing techniques, basic accounting, these are concepts which the people I'm working with would have been fortunate to have learned prior to actually attempting to do it. Theirs has been a process largely based upon trial and error, meanwhile their time line for attracting an investor for their company draws nearer.

Setting my sights on an MBA also gives me more time to really decide if this is what I want to do. Since many MBA degree programs not only recommend, but require students to get multiple years of work experience before entering their programs, I can use this time to not only build my resume but explore other opportunities, including deciding whether this is the right path for me. Hopefully this current internship will do even more to help answer that question.

Until then, if you're interested in getting your MBA, here are some resources I highly suggest:

• How to become an accountant
• Career Information on Accounting
  
• Online MBA
• Types of MBAs
  

Well after hundreds of Craig's List purchases and sales I think we finally have our house the way we want it. The final touch was posting our beat up old coffee table for free (it went in about 1/2 an hour) and finding a replacement. We were so lucky in finding a replacement, some guy up the street - about 3 blocks from our house, selling a really great light wood table, with a matching end table. All for the wonderful price of $25. I think we should be able to make money off this one.
Not so much with the Lazy Boy sofa bed we just bought- got torn on the way in and took the value down t least $100. Oh well you win some and loose some.

Best purchase of the month: Our King Sleigh bed, with accompanying wonderful mattress- all for $450. Not cheap but certainly value for money. I haven't woken with a single back pain since!

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,

I am really loving this show. I'm so happy to have something to replace the WEst Wing so adequately. It certainly ids the best new show of the season. I guess I am still not entirely sure that I like Amanda Peet's character. She does not seem believable and is not as strong as Sorkin's female characters like CJ and Abby Bartlet.
Still I think Matt Perry and Brad Whitford are just great, and it is really nice to see Timothy Busfield also- great role for him. The writing in the show, from the dialouge to the humanity simply puts every other show on television to shame.
One thing I am not quite happy with is the female comic lead, she just doesn't seem funny. Still I will give her a chance, and in the mean time enjoy the show and be inspired to move to LA or New York and start working in television. It looks so exciting and I love how Sorkin removes the trivial.

So, always one to wonder about the value of an MBA, I've been thinking about the advantages of a joint JD MBA, specifically at Northwestern. The program is joint with Kellogg school of business and Northwestern Law school. You end up with a JD and an MBA in just 3 years. First year and summer are spent at Law school, second year at Business school and then the third year you do both. It certainly is exciting to think that in 3 years you could come out with such a huge qualification. Still, I'm not sure what its actual value is. I was also a little put off at first by the thought of having to take the LSAT and the GMAT, but it turns out all you need to submit is your GMAT score.
Still it seems that the majority of students come out working in a law firm- so why even bother with the MBA- but I do like the flexiblity it would give you.

Wife's birthday today.
Her sister e-mailed her yesterday to say happy birthday, her other sister talked to her today and 'didn't realize it was the 28th already in US. so I guess between them they got it right. Her Dad thought she was 25 today, that;s not until next year.
Still we had a fun day, Birthdays are very important to her. I got her a pink Ipod Nano, so thin I can't really believe they make them so small- meanwhile my mother also bought her a pink Ipod- well I guess it shows that was a good idea and now she gets to walk around saying she got 2 pink ipods for her birthday rather than say that her family forgot what day she was born :-)

I saw this new business idea today from Germany about a breaking up agency. It really seems like a stretch and I can't imagine why people would actually invest money into such an idea. It sounds like something out of a futuristic novel. I mean if you really don't want to see someone ever again, why on earth would you spend money on breaking up with them- with all the technology of text messaging and e-mail why would you waste your time and money? I guess we'll have to wait and see if the idea actually takes off, but I doubt it.

Well Craigslist works its magic again. We have managed to sell our TV and our Love Ac for the price we paid for them. It's so great, I think I will just keep changing furniture and appliances every few months, probably good for my brain or something- they always say variety is good. It's also a good thing not to get too attached to anything. That way if we have to pick up and move some day soon it won't be a big deal, we'll just sell it all with no regrets.

Sitting at a beautiful beach front restaurant this weekend I started to wonder why it is that San Diego does not develop its water front more. With the nature of Mission Bay, Coronado and La Jolla Cove, the coastline is immense, it seems bizarre that people haven't grapsed this opportunity more often, especially as it seems you can add an automatic $10 per plate onto a dinner entree if you have a sea view. It's not like there isn't development, the waterfront beach houses are endless and gorgeous. I just feel they would be more profitable as restaurants.
The same is true of the river, in Mission Valley particularly the San Diego River is just beautiful and yet there seem to be no river view restaurants at all. It's one of my dreams, I still hope to open a waffle restaurant one day in San Diego, and I think the river would make a perfect setting for that, nice deck outside, make use of that beautiful free externality.

Why is it so much harder to sell things than to buy them? I have been rearranging my house this week and hope to sell my television and love sac, sadly this seems to be a lot of work and sadly no takers.
Hopefully it will simply be a case of fixing on the right price and then suddenyl BOOM everyone will want them. Still this does seem like a lot of work, and at the end of it I don't come out with cool stuff.....

Pet Peeve of the week:

Blogger's spellcheck. It is just awful and doesn't recognize the most common words. Then when I spell a word wrong by missing the first letter it comes up with some completely random ideas for words I might have missed.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhh

Oh and by the way it didn't recognize 'Blogger's' or 'spellcheck'

I was just recommended this new site: headbutler.com . Very nice review of books, movies, TV shows and indeed all sorts. I was immediately struck by the article on entourage- show we have found ourselves watching at those times when working seems impossible.
At first I hated it, so shallow- I mean what exactly is the point of the show? But then I started to get into the characters, and certainly as Headbutler says, the humor. Ari Gold is a hilarious character, although there is no one funnier than Johnny Drama, played by Kevin Dillon.
One thing that really bugs me however is Eric or 'E'. This character shows no talent as a manager, never really does anything and you wonder what on earth he is paid for. He's also really goofy looking and his liaisons with the intelligent, attractive, affluent Sloane are not even slightly believable.

Still, it's a pretty good show, certainly has some excellent banter written in. I'll be glad when the decent TV shows start back up though.

So today I was sitting at work filling out my time sheet, and sorting to get very very annoyed. This week my semi-boos, (well she is a little above me, but really I do much more than she does) had a flat tire in the morning, she never showed up the whole day! This woman is off sick or on vacation pretty much one day per week, goes home with a headache plenty of days. Filling in my time sheet and having to leave out Monday, a federal holiday, but unpaid for temp employees like myself it hit me how she was getting paid not only for that Monday, but also for the flat tire day and every other day she finds an excuse for. Meanwhile I do her work whilst she plays around on the internet. I was told months ago I would be made into a permanent employee and yet here I am still waiting.

this avenging after work I then went over to my internship, I had been working on a project for them that they were having some trouble with. It has been quite a challenge but is just in the area I am good at- sorting out spreadsheets, making new systems etc. They were so appreciative of everything I had done, and amazed at how quickly I had done it. The difference was certainly stark- if only these guys could even afford to pay me as a temp!

Just watched the season premier of House MD. It was actually really good, the new House fresh from last season's operation is a very interesting character and I love the struggle he has to understand his hallucination and himself. I heard the other day that a theory for the writing of House is that conversations between him and Watson are like the two sides of one's mind. Now I have heard that I can't watch the show without thinking about it.

Looking forward to this labor day weekend. Somehow a three day weekend seems so so much longer than a two day one. Prehaps it is just because my wife is not working this saturday like usual, but it seems like we will be able to do so much.

Prime things on the list: BBQ in Mission Bay Park with friends and Snorkelling with Leopard Sharks in La Jolla. Should be fun, I really want to get into snorkelling. then of course we can catch up on chores, watch movies, cook a nice dinner together.

Can't wait, what I wouldn't give for a 4 day a week job!

Sitting in the car on the way back from a coworker's birthday lunch I was being told of all the many benefits my current job has to offer if I were to be employed full time. Three and a half weeks paid vacation, a weeks unpaid vacation, some of the best medical and dental coverage around. Sometimes it is really hard to make myself dig in, quit this job and move onto something more worth while. At the end of the day I know three and half weeks vacation only really amounts to $2500, nothing compared with what business school will cost me. Still the thought of lying on a beach whilst being paid is some how incredibly appealing.
However I have my resolve, I have already started my internship and know I am heading down the right path.

I am definitely not going to cave in and watch Prison Break tonight. Such rubbish, and yet easily to be drawn into I know.

I was shocked with the Emmy results last night- how on earth did 24 win anything- it is just really really bad television, and how it could win where there are pretty decent shows like Lost, House MD and of course the West Wing (which really should have won). Then there was the most ridiculous of all- Kiefer Sutherland after being denied best actor several years in a row suddenly won for his performance as Jack Bauer- yikes. What exactly did he do better this time?

I don't really understand why these awards exist at all, they are utterly meaningless. The only thing which made any sense was Alan Alda's win- very much deserved.