So how exactly are we evaluated?  Different people have different ideas.  Some say the measure of a man is how educated he is.  Some say it’s his work ethic.  Or how much he can drink.  Or his wealth.

The bottom line is we shouldn’t care how OTHERS look at us.  How OTHERS evaluate us.   Years from now, when our future becomes our past and we have reached the end of the road, the third-person view of our lives won’t matter.  YOU better be happy with what YOU did.

Do what pleases you.  Do it now.  Time is bleeding.

Living at home definitely has its perks as well as its annoyances.  One annoyance that I can thankfully avoid is a telephone call.  With caller ID, I can choose which calls to pick up and which calls to defer to my parents or choose not to answer.  This may seem like I’m making a big deal out of something so small, but if you’re Indian, you definitely know where I am coming from.

Family friends and relatives often call my house.  If I do decide to pick up, it isn’t just a simple conversation such as, “how are you? Can I speak to your mom?”  They have to ask how’s your job, how’s your sister, what are you doing right now, what are you doing later, when I am I going to see you, yada yada yada.  I don’t mean to sound rude, but some of these conversations are just painful.  They are so verbose and pointless.  It’s not as if the person was going to ask to talk to me if my mom or dad picked up the phone.  They talk to you if you answer to be polite and make conversation; cause no matter who it is, in Indian culture, any adult is either an aunty or uncle, so it’s almost an obligation.  If I met them in person, I would be polite and talk to them.  It is definitely more of a meaningful conversation face to face, rather than a tedious phone conversation which isn’t meant to happen in the first place.

            As the economy is slowly recovering, according to the media, unemployment is in double digits at 10.2% and is expected to rise.  In order to have a chance at having a job, one has to expand his or her search, and look outside their field of expertise and pay range.  I am one of the millions of Americans that is currently unemployed and I realize I have to have that open minded mentality in order to find a job.  I decided that marketing and sales would be the best option, because there are many entry level positions in those fields.  Once I applied, I started to get call backs.  After going on a few interviews, I soon realized that being a bit picky isn’t the worse thing.

            My first interview was at an internet marketing company.  I applied via an ad on craigslist and was contacted immediately.  The job entailed cold calling and emailing potential customers in order to boost traffic on certain websites the company operated.  The company consisted of people in their early to late 20’s.  My interview consisted of being put on the job and seeing how I performed.  I was in charge of emailing people in Canada to promote a legal website the company owned.  Based on my performance, I was given an offer.  The person who offered me the job said “be prepared to make millions.”  At that point, I knew something was shady.  We proceeded to have a meeting with the marketing managers who were boasting about how our websites could make us millions if we put in the effort.  They bragged about how they convinced millions of customers to post our link on their websites.  I knew these people were way over their heads in exaggerated aspirations, plus the pay sucked, so I decided to look elsewhere.

            I proceeded to continue my search in marketing and found a position in the Financial District in Manhattan in sales.  Unlike the internet marketing company, this company had a website, and the layout was quite impressive.  The company conducts marketing for Fortune 500 companies such as Staples and Verizon.  I had a good gut feeling that this was quite a reputable company, so I decided to call and inquire about the position.  I was immediately set up with an interview.  I was interviewed by the hiring manager at 3:30 in the afternoon.  He explained the position and asked general questions about myself.  Once the interview commenced, he said he was going to talk to the other managers and let me know before 5 if I am eligible for a second interview.  I never heard of anything like that, but low and behold, I received a call at 4:00 requesting a second interview.

I arrived at the company the next morning and it was quite an interesting environment.  There were about 30 people crowded into this small room with music blasting.  Seemed like quite a fun environment compared to what I was used to working in, plus there were a few cute girls, which I never encountered working as an engineer.  The managers came into the room and started giving these motivational speeches saying you are going to fail repeatedly, but with failure come success and yada yada yada.  The second interview then proceeded and it involved shadowing a sales rep as he or she covers a territory going from business to business.  I was teamed with a girl named Lauren.  She was a talkative outgoing girl who had no trouble initiating conversations and creating personal relationships.  So I tagged along with her and she covered Chelsea.  We encountered some friendly people, and some rude people who didn’t want to hear a word we said.  At the end of the day, I went back to the office.  Lauren talked to the managers regarding what she thought of me, and after a final screening, I was given an offer.  I honestly wasn’t ecstatic, but money is money, and plus I get to work in New York City.  However, once they went over pay, I realized money wasn’t money.  The pay was commission based, and the percentage rate was based on a pyramid scheme.  Plus, transportation costs around the city comes out of your pocket, not the company.  Basically, once you become a sales rep, you then start to train and recruit people, until you become a manager yourself.  As a manager, you make a base salary, plus larger percentage of commission.  At that point, I rejected the offer, only to be countered by the girl Lauren, who claimed I’m throwing away a precious opportunity.  I really wanted to say %%# you!! You don’t give a damn about me.  You just want me to be your recruit, so you could become manager and make more money.  However, I politely rejected and went on my way.

I came back home, only to google the company and find an article about them on ripoffreport.com and a barrage of negative feedback on various message boards.  I still may be unemployed, but at least I have my dignity.  Hey, maybe those jobs do work out for some people, but I know I’m not one of them.  Sure you have to make compromises in such an economy, but I won’t sell my soul to some shady company preaching bullshit propaganda.  So my search continues, but this time around I’ll do my research. 

Nowadays, there are way too many reality shows on television.  Some are downright trashy.  Many of these shows attempt to create celebrities out of has been celebrities like Bret Michaels or semi famous celebrities such as Ray J.  Other shows, such as the Hill create celebrities out of people who were never famous, but are rich good looking people from SoCal. 

            Bret Michaels and Ray J both had their own shows on VH1 trying to find true love.  Rock of Love with Bret Michaels has been on for three seasons.  For the Love of Ray J is currently on its second season.  Doesn’t it occur to them that maybe having your own reality show isn’t the best way to find love?  Some of the girls that are on the show are slutty and outlandish, and probably want to claim their 15 minutes of fame.  The girl that won the last Rock of Love was on the cover of Penthouse in January 2008!  Bret Michaels and Ray J….. you aren’t real celebrities! Get over yourself and stop doing these reality love shows.  They obviously aren’t very successful since you have to keep doing them.

            The Hills is a reality show that really irks me.  I’ll be honest, there are quite a few very attractive girls on the show, but the premise of it is so ridiculous.  First of all, why do these people have their own reality show?  They were never famous!  They are a bunch of rich bratty white people from SoCal.  The only person that is somewhat known is Brody Jenner, who is the son of former Olympian Bruce Jenner, whom ironically is on his own reality show, Keeping Up with The Kardashians.   The only plot on this show seems to be dating a friend’s ex, thus creating drama, and friends stop being friends, then they make up until they hook up with someone else within their circle and create more drama.  These people don’t seem to work, live in million dollar homes, and just seem to deal with petty drama while sipping on martinis in Hollywood, or on the beach in Malibu.  The cast consists of men and women in their early to mid 20s, but honestly I’ve seen high schoolers act more civilized. 

            If you wanna watch TV and not kill your brain cells, stick to shows such Lost or True Blood, or catch a documentary on National Geographic or Discovery Channel.  Sure, these shows aren’t reality TV, but honestly how real are these shows to begin with?  If that is reality, we really live in a pathetic society.

What is she doing? I’m so sick of her and Alaska. I wish they both didn’t exist.  What is she doing? Going rogue? Or actually going out of her mind. Please tell her to stop.  Democrats and Republicans alike have issues with her. I think she really has issues with herself.  I understand she’s excited after being the VP contender in the last election but she’s not even taken seriously now.  I don’t know if she’s considered a conservative or lunatic. But getting her away from the national stage will definitely get our country taken a bit more seriously!!!!

Being on LAND IS key.

But to get from one place to another, there need be a reason to fly. 

Flying gives us the journey for the destination.

 Its symbolic for hope of getting somewhere.

Even for the hopeless. 

If there’s no gas on the plane, it’ll never take off. 

It’ll be just a land plane.

A whole truth and nothing but the truth?  Is it really necessary?

Some of us couldn’t lie to save our lives.  For others it’s just a matter of opening the mouth and letting the mis-truths flow out like a tidal wave.

Is lying bad if it improves our condition, as selfish as it may be?  This is survival of the fittest isn’t it?  The way this economy is, some might say whatever it takes to put some good eatin on the table for the loved ones is justified.  Guess I have more questions than answers tonight   You decide.

As I listened to an old favorite Smashing Pumpkins track, I realized the era of the consistently awesome rock bands was completely dead.

There were so many great rock bands in the 90s.  The Pumpkins, Nirvana, Bush, Garbage, Tonic.  Now all we have are these weak one or two hit wonder rock bands who play such cliche music.  Even NYC lost K-rock, it’s only alternative rock radio station, for good once again.

I’ll take the Green Day from the 90s any day over what they are now.  Those of you who were still being nursed by Mommy in the 90s won’t remember.  Keep listening to your Fall Out Boy record.  Too bad you missed out on the real thing.

I’ve always considered marriage a sacred time in a couple’s life.  Maybe a little too sacred and actually scary.  After seeing all the swinger clubs, gay for pays, russia with loves, green card expos, and arranged marriages–the question remains- what is the purpose? And what actually sustains the marriage?  Is it love? Is it macaroni and cheese? Is it fazooles $$? Is it lack of boredom? Is it stability? I think a job can give you something more. Maybe a little ambition? fazoooles! No boredom if its the right one.  And VACATION DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The job you want you can hopefully try and go after as well. Maybe you’ll get it, maybe you won’t. Then get it somewhere else.  Or in a different discipline. Maybe you can swipe your job for something else? Can you swipe your wife???? Unless its russia with love or the swingin club…or maybe some fazooles to let the strings loose!

DX

The guy simply came out of nowhere.  We were all taken with awe of this charming young man who could put words together like no other politician in recent times.  His words gripped us, and compelled even those who never would have gone to the polls that Tuesday morning to caste a vote on behalf of Barack.

Not even a calendar year later, many of those same people tell the media they are unhappy with the choice they made.  Our President inherited two wars, a battered economy, and was given the charge of making life rosy again.   Still, they say, it is not enough to blame the prior administration and not enough has been done in his first year.

The man won the Noble Prize many say because of the prospect of hope he brings the world for the future.  Unfortunately, that does not count much for those who are still mired by unemployment and difficult personal financial situations.

Because in the end, as with everything else, it comes down to the mighty dollars in people’s pockets.  If the economy was doing fine, every other issue would seem minuscule in importance comparatively.   Unfortunately, once Barack has the economy humming once again, most Americans will quickly forget about our soldiers dying abroad and our substandard educational system.

Just give me the money.