miltownkid.com

I’ve been at a coffee shop for the last 4 hours. The first couple of hours was meeting with Tash and I-Ping about getting a website made for a restaurant I-Ping is part owner of. Then me and Tash discussed some things about other sites we might work on together and how we’d go about doing them.

After she left, I got some other work done. Answering emails, doing research, etc. Things are winding down now, but it hit me. This is how I want everyday to be. A small part of my day spent in my flip-flops, having coffee (hot cocoa for me), discussing some kind of business or another. I hope I can figure out a way to be an ideas man. I designing the better mouse trap. One day, I’ll leave the building part to employees of mine

Here’s an update on something that has been about 1 year in the making. Around a year ago this project was just a fuzzy idea of mine and I had no idea how I was going to make it work, but now it has taken some shapes in reality. It’s a barter exchange website that will allow people to trade products and services with each other without using cash. I made the first listing on the site this past Friday. Check it out!

[LETS Taiwan] – http://www.lets-taiwan.org/

And not every good coach was a good player. I learned a ton of stuff about life from my soccer playing days and that quote is one of them. The super star players (of any sport) will sometime turn out to be the shittiest coaches, and sometimes the shittiest of players turn out being phenominal coaches.

I got to learn this first hand last Thursday. I got a phone call at work telling me I was going to have to teach BJJ that night. I had a vague idea of what I was going to cover and I thought things would go pretty smoothly.

The class, went OK, but I didn’t spend much time warming up, I bounced around between techniques (and forgot how to teach one I wanted to show) and ended up getting side coached by Sinclair to turn the mixed bag into something reasonable. I don’t think I did bad (it was my first time and I didn’t get much notice,) but I know I didn’t do good either. I did figure out what I need to fix for the next class I teach and I’ll make sure I have a good plan in mind before I get there.

The reason this quote applies to me is because I am a very good BJJ player (the best on this small island maybe?) but that doesn’t mean I’d be the best person to learn from. I’m going to work hard to become a better teacher, but right now there are plenty of people that would choke me out in terms of teaching.

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I just added a recent comment thingy to the side. I like that

[tags]BJJ, Brazilian Jujitsu, coaching[/tags]

I posted this over on Forumosa.com. Someone said I should just make it my blog entry for today. I’m sure mom will like it. If you want to see the whole thread [Click Here].

The universe even wrote my economic post for me today. A little back ground for those that don’t know, I live in Taiwan.

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An American Was Viciously Attacked By 2 Canadians

That American was me and I was attacked after getting into a discussion about economics. Economics is constantly on my mind now, so it came up as the topic of discussion the other day while I was sitting down with two Canadians.It was all good at first. Russia got brought up and I was talking about how communism sucks and doesn’t work (economically.) They agreed and we exchanged examples and stories about communist Russia. One of them even told me about a political cartoon they saw that had a picture of huge HUGE nail with the guy saying something like “We’ve reached our goal for nail production comrade,” (a joke I would not have gotten before.)

Later on I mentioned how I thought capitalism ROCKED. I didn’t even get a chance to start describing how and why it rocked and they snapped on me.

“Capitalism keeps the rich way up here and the poor down here.”
“Oh, I suppose you think that war in Iraq is cool then huh?”
“blah blah blah”

I say, “I thought Canada was capitalist too?” they didn’t admit that it is (it is), and then they go off about Socialism and how it’s so cool.

Now I’m new to the economic/political game, but my reading (and my mental gymnastics) tell me that socialism is not cool, and doesn’t work. I’m going to go back and tell those 2 that when I get a chance.

I’ve been here for 4 years now and have never really questioned why (some) Canadians “player hate” on America (many do from my experience.) I’ve also never got into a discussion about politics with anyone before. Is this why Canadians “player hate” on America/ns?

I could have been a dick and told them they both need to go pick up a book an basic economics and come talk to me when they start making some sense, but didn’t. I’m looking forward to going back and crushing their view on socialism

The point is we were having a nice discussion until I mentioned capitalism. Then things got brutal. If they would have said “Dude, socialism ROCKS!” I would have been like “Really, why?” and then I would have listened to what they had to say. I probably would have learned something cool about socialism. If they would have did the same, they would have learned something cool about capitalism. Instead, I was brutally acttacked for having my point of view.

For you not so hip to the game, allow Wikipedia to help bring you up to speed:

Right after I made my last post I got an email from my mom.

Subject: On the bills Subject

Casey,
Speaking of bills, I opened a piece of your mail, and low and behold, it was your final notice from Sprint about a bill. They say you owe them $XX. They said this is a final notice before it goes to collections. The account # is XXX If you have any questions regarding this matter, Sprint Customer Solutions Specialists can be reached toll free at 1-888-788-5009 from 7am to 9pm CST.

There, that’s an example of the universe sending you a bill, right?
Mom

HA HA HA! Real funny Universe.

Actually, I think what the Universe does is more like tax than a bill. Yeah, that’s it. Universal Tax.

Speaking of tax, I’m going to be done reading this book on economics soon. When I’m done with it everyone that sees this blog is going to get snapped on. Why? Because everyone should take the time to learn basic economics. I think this should be taught in schools, not stuff like baking cakes.

/end

The Universe never ceases to amaze me. I’m a big fan of the theory that the Universe writes you checks. What this basically means is that if you’re in the right state of mind, the Universe will act accordingly and write you checks. So if you have your mind right for money, money will come your way. If your mind’s right for girls, girls will come your way. If your minds right for being the world’s first female space tourist, then get ready to blast off, the Universe will take care of you.

Being a strong believer in the Universal Check theory, it seems that one should also believe in the Universal Billing system. Now I don’t believe the Universe will throw shit your way for no reason, but if your mind isn’t right the Universe WILL tax that ass. I suppose it’s just part of the ebb and flow of life.

Now I’m use to the Universe constantly writing me checks, so when bills come it (usually) surprises me. Well… A bill came last night, but this time, I knew it was coming. I was ready. The funniest part is that the whole situation would have been avoided if I hadn’t been thinking about the situation “negatively.” Let me get the basic premise of Murphy’s Law written down here for you:

things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance (from Wikipedia)

If I had not given things a chance to go wrong, they wouldn’t have. But, I also think the Universe can’t constantly write a person checks, when that’s happening something is already going wrong.

As can be seen in the recent news about the Pope, the bigger the checks, the bigger the bills.

On the bringht side of things, as if to pat me on the back for the bill it sent last night, the Universe wrote me a check this morning.

I love you Universe .