The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson

 Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening-- the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. When she left home she had slippers on, it is true; but what was the good of that? They were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn; so large were they; and the poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast.

One slipper was nowhere to be found; the other had been laid hold of by an urchin, and off he ran with it; he thought it would do capitally for a cradle when he some day or other should have children himself. So the little maiden walked on with her tiny naked feet, that were quite red and blue from cold. She carried a quantity of matches in an old apron, and she held a bundle of them in her hand. Nobody had bought anything of her the whole livelong day; no one had given her a single farthing.

Forced Vegetarian-ism

The first time I met vegetarians I assumed they were risking their lives in some cockamamie cult. The first vegetarian I got to know well was Anna Thomas, author of the classic cookbook The Vegetarian Epicure. Her husband Greg Nava had been out collecting wild mushrooms for our dinner. "Wild mushrooms! We'll all die! You eat yours first!"
 

"Fear not," he advised me, drawing himself up to his imposing shaggy-haired six-feet-plus height. "I am a member of the Los Angeles Mycological Society. I know what I'm doing. Have you never heard the saying, There are old mushroom hunters, and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters?"

Tony Danza's Message to Teachers

Who Is Michael II?

Back on March 3, 2010 I wrote the post Who Is Michael? and I think it's about time to revisit that post and see where I am at today. I am still working all different hours throughout the day and lately I have curbed my attitude toward going out to enjoy the evenings with friends.  I tend to enjoy the night life maybe once or twice during the week and I believe my life is better for this because I have more "me" time. I was never one who enjoys the taste of alcohol and I probably never will be.  Personally, unless someone is out to get buzzed, I do not see the point in drinking.  Wouldn't you rather have juice, pop, water, or some other beverage instead of alcohol with your pizza?  I would.  That being said, I do enjoy a glass of red wine with steak and a glass of white wine with fish because it seems to accentuate the flavor of the dishes.

Over the past few years my opinions on things such as love, activities, education, family, etc. have changed considerably on certain topics and not so much on others.  Currently I enjoy:

What I Am Reading Right Now

As I age my fondness for reading grows and I enjoy reading books with different subject matter than the last.  Currently I am reading Decision Points by George W. Bush and I must say it is a very interesting read.  However, if you do not like politics you may want to skip the first 3-4 chapters as they are a build up of how George W. Bush became President.  So far this book offers the President's explanations and opinions for many controversial topics.  I highly recommend this for you to read.  


What else is there to say but goodnight and goodnight to you Mrs. Amore, wherever you may be.

How to Treat Life Like an Experiment

 

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Erik Kennedy from The Bucket List Society. 

I was quite scared when I woke up Monday morning.  I hadn’t set my alarm the night before, and I didn’t know if it was 7 AM, 11 AM, or somewhere in-between.  How late was I for work?  To make it worse, my watches were locked away in a drawer in my desk.  All the clocks in my house had tape or paper covering the time.  Even the digital clock in the corner of my computer screen had been hidden, and all the settings on my alarm clock had, of course, been cleared.

I walked to the transit stop and took a bus — I still don’t know which one — to work.  There seemed to be plenty of other commuters, so maybe I hadn’t slept in until noon.  Fifteen minutes before my first meeting, the Outlook meeting alert didn’t go off.  I had cancelled all alerts for the next work-week.  Fortunately, a coworker walked by.  ”Hey Erik, I’ll be a bit late to our meeting later on.”
“That’s okay!” I said, relieved for the first time all day.  ”Just drop by my office whenever.  I’m not going anywhere.”  I sat back in my chair.

This was only the second morning of my grand experiment.

Vintage Business Motivational Posters from the 1920s and 1930s

Came across this phenomenal article that shows many business motivational posters from the past.  Thought I'd share!

 

Today’s business motivational posters — symbolized most prominently by “Sucessories” — are the butt of many a joke. But back in your grandpa’s day, they were an art form. Not only that, but motivational posters from the first few decades of the 20th century provide a window into America’s changing idea of manhood.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, rapid industrialization in the West transformed all aspects of life, including our concept of manliness. As we discussed in our series on the Archetypes of American Manliness, for most of America’s early history, manhood was rooted in community and family ties, land ownership, and producerism. But as factories and industrial farming put small artisans and independent farmers out of business, men began leaving the family farm and shop in search for work in the burgeoning urban centers of America. Instead of the Genteel Patriarch or Heroic Artisan archetype defining manhood in America, a new archetype took center stage during this time of rapid change: the Self-Made Man.

Guess Who's Back, Jack?

My apologies for the disappearing act that would rival Houdinis.  I have been working on a number of things that have taken up my precious and somewhat valuable time but it's obvious I needed you almost as much as you needed me.  I will be posting more in the near future (some short and some long) and hope you can come along for a little bit of a wild ride.  I'm going to post my very opinionated thoughts on certain subjects and I'll be showcasing different projects and achievements.  That being said and without further ado, here is something I created just for you.  It's a sort of a LiveSpin on today's top stories. Check it out!

The Daily Travs

What else is there to say but goodnight and goodnight to you Mrs. Amore, wherever you may be.

Reverse Resume

A Little Humor

This is a reverse job application because the application process undermines my value as a worker and show-case very little of my personality.  I have gone my entire life consistently producing excellent results at every take I set my mind to, and quite frankly, I have learned the right for employers to come to me.

As you read this you are probably wondering what sort of person believes that he is entitled to have companies send him job offers without any demonstrations of his purported talent? Well, continue reading and looking at the sketched pictures and I'm sure you'll be racking your brain trying to think up a job position to offer me that will pique my interest.  However, in the unlikely case that you are not, I am confident that a quick review of my fabulous resume will win you over.

Once you've made up your mind about how much you want me to work with your company (before you ask, yes, "infinitely much" is indeed an acceptable answer here), please review my listed qualifications and criteria for prospective employers. If you do not currently meat any of these, I encourage you to literally institute company - wide changes until you do. I will favor those jobs that closely align with my skills, offers new challenges, and the ability to learn new skills; just be sure to let me know exactly what it is that you feel your company has to offer me. Once you have your offer ready, submit it via the form below and I will gladly entertain it.

Remember, there is only one way for your company's profit's to increase when I come aboard and that is up.

Resume / CV

References        

Power point resume

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CAREER SUMMARY Hands-on transformational leader known for analytical, strategic, and focused approach with extensive praise for establishing exemplary working conditions, marketing tactics, and creative strategies for optimizing company operations and financial returns.

Proactive columnist known for detailed and humorous writings.

• Collect information through interviews and observations.
• Focus columns on specific subjects such as technology and military education.
• Write critical reviews of smart phone and computer applications based on knowledge, judgment, and experience.