Apparently, Bill Gates is set to leave Microsoft in July 2008. I suppose, this kind of news is big enough to make a movie out of. Though, depending on how much budget one has for making a movie, it can dictate the caliber of casting you’re going to see. Or so it seems.
Title: Bill Gates’ Last Day at Microsoft
Starring: Bill Gates, Brian Williams, Jay Z, Bono, Steven Spielberg, Matthew McConaughey, George Clooney, Jon Stuart, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Gore, and from Microsoft: Steve Ballmer, Christine White, Lisa Brummell, Robbie Bach, Kevin Turner, Ray Ozzie, and Craig Mundi.
If it seems big enough for you, then break out the popcorn, ya’ll! And the box of tissues, too!
They’re probably just having a rough day. Or something.
I have to assure myself, with a somewhat logical reason, why some people seem to be acting like I’m their worst enemy. What did I do to them? I thought. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve ever had an issue with anyone giving me bad customer service. Oh, heck yeah, it always annoys the daylights out of me. However, I do not react. Ever. At least, not outwardly. And, especially, NOT in a restaurant situation. Oooh, that’s a no no!!!
Still and all, I had an interesting encounter with an older woman (think Church Lady from SNL), who served at an Italian restaurant in Atlanta. This was an experience I had years ago, while my then girlfriend and I were on a date, one night. For reasons I can only speculate, this lady seemed unhappy to do her job at that moment. Hopefully, it was just a bad timing. But for the most part, she was exceptionally rude and cranky. She talked over us while we were discussing what to order. She was rough-handed in setting the plates on our table. And you should’ve seen the look on her face. Priceless!
Despite all the creepiness, the one thing that kept me laughing to this day was, when she spotted us from a distance, sharing our food. Oh my! As if she had intended to find fault, and see us through our misery via her brand of punishment. She marched towards our table and spoke with an indignant tone in her voice.
“NO SHARING ALLOWED!” “But, isn’t it…” “I said, no sharing allowed!” “Well, how about…” “There’s a six dollar fee for sharing your food!” “Okay, fine but..” “Six dollars, do you want it?” YES! Already! Geez!
The thing of it is, that we were aware the food we ordered didn’t cost that much more than six bucks, anyway. We could’ve just ordered another plate, and it would’ve been more cost-effective. Yet, it was such a stupid situation, it just didn’t matter anymore. I wasn’t about to allow it to steal anymore time from my date than it already had, at that point. So, we just laughed it off, and had a burger somewhere, later that night.
Anyhow, I was going through some Mitchell and Webb skits on Youtube last night and I happened upon this particular bit, called Bad Waiter. It instantly reminded me of my own experience that night. Now, this skit may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s really not that much further from the real story. It’s so funny, it’s not even funny. If that makes any sense.
Have you ever thought green? Or at least, making green a little more prominent in your life? In fact, as far back as I can remember up until recently, my favorite color has always been red. But the past few years has seen me have a gradual change of heart. I started to like the color green more and more. Must’ve been my big move from the urban metropolis to what seems to be middle earth. 🙂 Anyhow, I began noticing this at work for the first time. When I’m designing themes for marketing projects and stuff, I find myself having to defend my choice of color schemes to the committee.
“But we’ve used it several times in the past already… Chrissy boy!”
“I know, I know. But trust me! Green fits perfectly here. It connotates progress, freshness, newness; and it’s easy on the eyes too. Look at the logo, the background, the text. Even the guy’s face looks convincing with a green tint on his cheeks, admit it!”
Suddenly, one day, my RGB became GRB. I was obsessed. For the first time in my life, my favorite color has changed from red to green. Yep. And it’s all for a good cause as well.
Like here in the house, for instance. I have been doing my part (well, as much as I can anyway) slowly but surely. I’m not saying everyone should do this since every situation is different. But here, the light is on only where I am standing at a particular moment. To be honest, 90 percent of the time, the only light glowing in the entire house comes from the laptop screen. Weird, I know. But I have to blog, so there you go. Also, the heat is on but never cranked up (I bundle up and sip green tea instead. Or do push-ups. It’s good for you.). When I leave, I turn it off completely! My 13-gallon trashcan lasts 3 weeks. If it doesn’t, I use grocery bags until the three weeks is up. I recycle and reuse all kinds of plastic containers. When water is running, I’m always in panic mode. I can’t wait to shut it off already regardless of what I’m doing. I don’t buy “stuff” unless I think I will die the next morning without it. Seriously. I don’t crave much of anything. The Jones’s are banned from the neighborhood anyway, so I take it as a blessing that I don’t ever have urges to keep up with anybody. I even stopped eating out much also. Probably, just once every three or four months when hanging out with friends. You still have to be part of the community, y’know. But I realize I like my cooking better! Oh yeah, nothing, and I mean NOTHING perishes in my fridge. I eat every ounce of food left and never throws away anything. That means I meticulously plan my grocery shopping and cooking schedules. I told you I’m weird! And I guess I feel lucky that my job is just three minutes drive from the house. Yup, less than a mile. The grocery is half a mile away. The movie theater, three blocks away (not that I watch movies often; I dont; that’s what TV’s for). The mall and shopping center, just two miles away. Out here, if you see more than 10 cars in the street at a time, it’s rush hour traffic. All this means I fill up my tank once every three months! It’s a very simple, uncomplicated life and I try to take advantage of every situation while I’m able to. You never know if you’ll ever get thrown back into the concrete jungle of a metro city. Though, I really hope not.
This morning, I found a link that was posted by a fellow blogger. It’s a twenty minute, very entertaining informational video on how simple “stuff” and the politics behind it create global impact. Will you let twenty minutes change your heart? I was convicted! I knew I wanted to spread this vital information on here because it’s about time we opened our eyes to the sad state we’re in. The things that we do or don’t do in our everyday lives affect the world in every way imaginable; and this in turn, affects us back on an individual level. Yes, it comes back to you like a bad karma! And so, we sometimes complain aimlessly because we’re clueless. It’s a vicious cycle and it somehow needs to stop. I’m thinking of ways I can help with. Everyone should, I think!
So, you got twenty minutes to spare? I hope so. Please… please… watch the Story of Stuff and get convicted!
I love a good laugh and I try to have one every chance I get. I’m finding myself reminiscing of the old stand-up shows I used to catch a lot of back in my L.A. days. Last night, I scoured youtube for some classic comedy routines I was familiar with. Most of them were from SNL. You know, more cowbell, chopping broccoli, Belushi and Carey. But I remember this particular one which I actually saw live some fifteen years ago. It’s the late Richard Jeni making fun of love songs on the radio. You might remember it yourself. I’ve seen him do this several times, and even though this one right here doesn’t provide the greatest punchlines, from what I can remember, he still pulls it off perfectly, I think. This is hilarious.
I deeply apologize for being silent for a ridiculously long time. Life’s been quite a challenge, and blogging was probably the last thing I had in mind. But it’s the weekend and I just got back from riding my bike. All pumped up and ready to blog!!! Ha! Anyhow, I’m trying to get myself to write some new tunes so I can finish this new CD project I’ve been working on for a few months now. That photo on the top-left could possibly make it as the official CD cover. We’ll see. Usually it takes me a couple of months to complete a project but I’m just a bit dry lately. In the meantime, you can check out a long lost music video of one of my songs from my last CD. I found it sitting on the server last week. My first attempt in creating a movie in Flash! Tell me what you think… and please, try not to laugh!
Well… look who’s back? I know I know…
Chris Alma José 