Good article about stock market situation

The subject sums this up; I just read this article and liked the realistic look at the so-called "2008 Great Depression." Don't start putting your money in your mattress just yet...

Grown-up life

Today my PRSSA business cards came in the mail. They're pretty classy, if you ask me.

I gave the first one to Eric earlier--you know, in case he needs to get in contact with me sometime.

Eric's famous too!

I forgot I was going to post this a couple days ago--Eric made the front page of the paper when he got his free haircut at Brigham Square outside the Wilk.

He's in the smaller picture...you could see it better in the real paper :) Working our way to fame, one picture at a time...

The government is really starting to dash my dreams.

I wish that republican "small govt." was small and not buying 80% of a huge insurance company, but they are. Enter Obama. Democrats tout more regulations and more government involvement which means higher taxes to pay for the government employees. Exit my dreams.

I am really not against Obama, and I'm not for McCain. I just hope that someday an individual will get elected to manage the govt. and not abuse it.

I am not trying to kick those that are affected by AIG's greed, but I think AIG should have crashed and burned, because that's what the market called for. Maybe we should pay a little more interest (that might help people buy houses/apts/cars/etc that they can truly afford). Maybe that will help put pressure on CEOs/CFOs to have strong ethics and solid growth that moves with the market and doesn't get manipulated by taking out massive loans in expectation of getting money someday down the road to pay it all back.

On another note, how come these accounting practices/NYSE practices have not been reviewed/revised since Yahoo/Enron/Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac ?! When a business says that it can take the debt, then it needs to be reviewed to make sure that it actually can.

I met a politician that I actually share a lot of views with the other day by the name of Chaffetz. He seemed like he wanted realistic improvements in a lot of key areas.

Anyways, my dreams aren't completely dashed, but they could be in the next 15 years or so.

-Eric

a "step" up

So, I got a free haircut at school the other day because they had the Paul Mitchell school out promoting voter registration and such. Granted it was free and it looks slightly free. The best part about it though is that I let them have a little creative freedom.

I wish that I could have gotten my hair cut/styled/shaved like my main man Kanye, but alas I had to settle for a few steps in the back. Let me show you what I'm talking about.


Needless to say, when it grows out, I will get a good paid haircut and that should be the end of my steps.

In other news, I have decided to accept TJ's Christmas challenge and grow out a mustache, much to the dismay and horror of my wonderful wife, Cindy. So bring it brothahs and we'll see come Christmas who has the best looking facial hair in the fam.

Three months!

Eric and I celebrated our three-month anniversary today. We ate ice cream :0) We're really not huge on the anniversary thing. Maybe once we hit a year it will be more of a big deal...

We taught our first marriage and family relations class today, which, since we are now three months married, went smoothly--we have all the answers now! But really, it did go well and I'm so excited to get to know the couples in our class better. We have such a great ward.

Friday we had a neat experience; we went to the opening of the RNC office here in Provo. They've set up a call center for the campaign. We aren't necessarily keen on campaigning for McCain or anything, but we did want to hear Jason Chaffetz speak. He's the republican candidate for Congress in our district, and we wanted to learn more about what he stands for. We were really impressed with what we heard. He's a genuinely good man who doesn't seem to care about making himself popular with other republican leadership. I really believe that he is more concerned about being able to answer to his constituents about what he does if he gets elected.

Yesterday we watched the football game in my office on campus; there's a big plasma screen tv on the wall and campus cable has The Mountain, so it was a good choice. We only watched the first half, though, because when BYU is leading 27-0 at the half (against Wyoming to boot), you pretty much know what is going to happen. Go Cougs!

We went to the temple yesterday and did initiatory work, and I was so thrilled to discover that my friend Holly was working when I went, so I got to have a nice little reunion with her in the temple. I don't think there's anywhere else where you feel as happy to see someone. It's like seeing them as they really are, and your love for them is magnified. Eric met a man who is probably a distant cousin--his cousin is George Badger who works up in the SL Temple.

I'm famous!

So a couple months ago I trekked out to Payson for a friend's wedding reception. While I was getting some food, the photographer snapped a shot of me, and I didn't think anything of it.

A few days later I get a message from my friend whose reception I'd been at, and she said her photographer was trying to get in touch with me--strange.

Well, what it all came down to was that she thought I would be a good face for a billboard design she was working on...an anti-abortion billboard for a group called Feminists Choosing Life (you can read her side of the story here). I went to her house, had a little photoshoot where I did my best to look like I'd just had an abortion...

The product was a billboard in Albany, NY. I am officially famous on this stretch of highway--and my fame is helping a good cause :)


For a better picture you can check out her blog, Fife Photography.

SAGA

I must have been working in the Marriott School long enough (2 hours officially). Now I'm posting articles about businesses with successful business plans. I get a marketing e-newsletter every day and this article was included--I really enjoyed learning the "why" behind the success of what this article calls the SAGA companies (Starbucks, Apple, Google and Amazon). If you're at all interested in innovative business, read this.

Obama lama comma...and other things that rhyme.

Remember when I said I'd vote for Obama if I were basing it solely on ads?



I guess my only option now is to vote for Paris. HILTON '08!

Pictures!

Well, everyone keeps asking us how our cruise went last month, so I thought instead of telling you, I'd show you!

Here's a shot Eric took of our ship--The Monarch of the Seas (if someone will name the movie/book I think of whenever I hear that, I'll give you a quarter or something). The ship was huge to me, but apparently there are bigger ones. It's like a small island!


Here's a couple of us from the stern area of the ship. We spent a good deal of time here; one afternoon we read books and Eric's right side got fried in the sun :( Down below this was the pool area, where people got drunk and did ridiculous things. We didn't swim a lot, as you can probably imagine.

Eric had me model where we usually had lunch--we always chose somewhere with a great view of the ocean.

Here's a shot of the infamous cruise buffet! All the food you could possibly want...all day long.

A series of photos in our room (Eric did this while I got ready for dinner; hence me in front of the mirror for every shot). It was nice and cozy, and I'd say we spent the most time here, taking naps, reading and watching movies. We needed a rest after a summer full of homework and work!

Welcome to Ensenada, Mexico!

This is at a blowhole near where we docked. We also tried our hand at shopping at a little market here; tourist trap, if you will. Eric said the markets in Russia are better :o)

Here we are modeling our "Lupita" stickers. This was our guide's name, and all the men in the market tried to use it to convince us to buy their penicillin and "genuine" silver and leather.

Our free photo taken by our friends we had dinner with every night--the cruise took pictures we could buy, but why buy something when you can have it for free?!

Hangin' out with our fun towel creations the housekeeper did for us.

All dressed up for the "formal" dinner. It was fun to see how decked-out some people got!


Hey! We're on a cruise!


And of course, you can't go on a cruise without a little shuffleboard :o)