Bill Clinton misunderstands what “I have a dream” really means. See this Youtube video. This is just too sad. Oh, and the man speaking… that would be Martin Luther King III (!!) speaking on MLK Day.

Gotta love the respect.

Special soylent brand heat…. “It’s people. Soylent Green is made out of people.” I heard about this on NPR: Plan to recycle crematorium heat.

At two tables over, the girl is discussing her pending divorce with her friend. She is oblivious to how loud she is talking. She doesn’t notice the people at the other tables politely trying to ignore her conversation.

Apparently, she is upset that her husband is jealous that she is seeing someone else. She says that her husband told her that he didn’t want to be married to her anymore and said that she could see anyone that she wanted to. So she is.

And now he’s jealous. But she says, in a much more loud and angry voice, he was seeing someone else before they talked about divorce. So he can’t have it both ways.

She is willing to take him back if he stops seeing that other girl.

She knows that they “have some trust issues to work on”.

Ya think?

This is why I bring headphones with me to the coffee shop.

And this is why I thank God that my marriage is a great one!

I really hate telemarketers.

I have my phone numbers on both the national and state do-not-call lists. But I still get calls from those marketers who ignore the law or are circumventing it in some way.

I get a call on fairly regular basis for a group calling itself either “Member Services” or “Financial Services”. They want to help me lower my credit card rates by negotiating with my lenders. All they need is my credit card number, phone number of the issuer, expiration date… I’m hoping that you see where that is going.

Umm… how about, No! I’m not giving out my credit card number to a stranger over the phone.

I actually asked the telemarketer yesterday if she would ever do that. She assured me that she had done that before. I said, Oh really! Well, let me have your card number then. She wouldn’t give it to me.

I think I’ve been too interested in finding out who these people are rather than what I should be interested in — simply messing with them.

Here is a classic example that I should follow:

Tom Mabe - Telemarketer Prank

Unprofessional, unethical, and down-right mean. But extremely funny.

The folks over at Gizmodo use a TV-B-Gone to cause havoc for demonstrators at CES. I would guess that there is a good chance that there is a lawyer or two out there who isn’t going to find this so funny.

Whether or not it is something that one can sue for, who knows, but Gizmodo might not get invited back to CES next year. From some accounts, this might lead to no bloggers being invited next year.

This is a really great idea!

Mark Malkoff’s apartment is being fumigated. He didn’t want to stay with friends. He didn’t want to stay at a hotel. What he did want to do is live in an IKEA store for the week and make a film about it.

It’s a great idea for a filmmaker and a great advertisement for IKEA.

There is an ongoing set of really funny videos on Mr. Malkoff’s website (http://www.marklivesinikea.com/).

News article: USATODAY - NYC comedian finds lodging at IKEA

Mr. Malkoff is also the creator of the film 171 Starbucks which documents his visits to all of the coffee chain’s Manhattan stores in a single day.

Happy Birthday, Elvis, wherever you are!!!

I’ve recently setup an account on Facebook. I also have a LinkedIn page for my professional contacts. For some reason, LinkedIn makes a lot more sense to me than Facebook does. Maybe it is that I’m over 30 now. Facebook just seems so “hip” and “with it”. Or maybe it’s that I use terms like “hip” and “with it” and insist on putting them in quote marks.

I signed up for a Myspace page at one point, simply so that I could see if anyone I knew was on there. My only friend is Tom.

If a movie were to be filmed about how much I understand about social networking sites, it would begin something like this.

[Scene opens with Jeff and a group of other 30-somethings sitting in a circle. Meeting looks similar to an AA meeting.]

[Jeff stands]

Jeff: Hi. My name is Jeff. I’m very technically-minded. I own four computers. And I really want to buy an iPhone. I make my living from technology and publishing, so I would think that I would just “get” how these sites work. I have a Facebook account. But… but… I don’t understand how to use it. And what’s with all the poking?? What is that?

[Jeff hangs his head in shame. Other 30-somethings nod in agreement.]

Seriously. I don’t know how to use it. Is there a Facebook help page for 36 year olds?

Note: Apparently, you’ll need a Facebook account to see my profile on Facebook. As I mentioned, I really don’t know how to use Facebook. Actually, it isn’t so much a lack of underderstanding how to use it. It is more of not knowing how or why to use it. More of a philosophical/existential sort of thing. I just don’t get it.

One of my goals in this new year is to write on my blog more. So with an hour to go on Day 1 of 2008, I’m posting this lame little post as a reminder to myself.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!