Integrity (noun) – adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

Integrity is one of my favorite words. It’s a single word with so much meaning. It’s also the top value that I always strive for.

I strive to have integrity in all that I do… friendships, relationships, work, play… to say that somebody has integrity, I think, is the best compliment you can give somebody. It means that person has gained your trust. That you believe he/she is a good person. And that person stands for so many things special when it is so easy today to stand for nothing.

1. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook make it all too easy to micro-blog and post a quick feeling or idea rather than actually write something. (I’m lazy)
2. I’m getting older and I’m realizing that the details of my life should probably be more private as to protect the privacy of my family. (I’m being an overprotective dad)
3. The public things I might want to share, I end up not because I figure that you could find it on the internet anyways.  I’m also undecided if I want this blog to be one of those where I share things or if I want to create original content.  Or both? (I’m confused)
4. I’m uninspired. (I’m uninspired)

I definitely want to keep this blog going, seeing that I’ve kept it going for what… 11 years now?

I wish there was an easier way to merge Twitter, Facebook and this blog.

Our friends and family won’t be here with us forever.  Cherish them, appreciate them and let them know what they mean to you.  Don’t take them for granted.

Or you can go to amazon.com and click on the upper-right link that says “Donate to the American Red Cross”.

Or you can go to Yuta’s website and donate $5 and he’ll send you a nifty sticker.  He will send your entire $5 to Japan.

So many ways to donate!  Just pick one!

Just imagine yourself while trying to enjoy that nice $20 meal, people in Japan are sleeping outside in the snow, have no food, no home, trying to find lost loved ones while trying to survive themselves… yeah, lost your appetite huh?  That’s cool… just donate the $20 that you won’t be needing anymore!  Heck, give up some of your luxuries for a week and donate more!

There is a clock function on the watch, and that caused a lot of people to catch on to the idea that they can use it as a watch, given that they had a way to mount it on a wrist band. A lot of companies have been creating wrist bands so that you can wear your Nano as an article of clothing…

…which is cool if you don’t mind owning a $180 watch that is not waterproof!  When was the last time you saw a watch that wasn’t waterproof?  I wouldn’t shake the hand of a person who wears one – they probably couldn’t wash their hands very easily.

It was a pretty awesome trip… and I didn’t tweet or blog or check Facebook the entire time.  It was actually nice that I wasn’t in ADD mode like I am here, constantly switching between working and checking social media.  I’m not really sure why we distract ourselves like that.  I really don’t NEED to be doing 50 things at once.

So now that I’m back with a new outlook on the way I’ve been doing things, I’ve decided not to obsess about tweeting or updating Facebook statuses.  An occasional update here or there would be my goal… but mostly I’d like to concentrate on experiencing life and writing about it in this blog when time permits.

I’ll be back soon to write about my experience in Oahu and some music related stuff.

My favorite Yo Gabba Gabba character goes skating in the streets of LA… so cool!

I recently came across a blog with some substance – you should go check it out too and exercise that mushy out of shape brain of yours.  In the following link the dude talks about some of the ignorance that comes with faith and religion – http://www.gswordplay.com/wordplay/2010/10/17/the-dilution-of-a-purpose.html

And now Nadine needs to follow through with her promise to try Indian food! Anybody have restaurant recommendations?

Check out Aarti’s Pilot!

It breaks down like this: Yoshi-no-ya.

• Yoshi is some dude’s name
• No is a word that indicates possession
• Ya indicates that it is a store

So basically it translates to Yoshi’s store (restaurant).

If this is news to you, you’ll probably notice now a lot of restaurants that end in “ya”…. Honda Ya, Bento Ya, Sushi Ya, Osaka Ya, Erobi Ya, Viagra Ya.  Wait…

Normally, I don’t watch the Next Food Network Star because I’m not so big on reality talent shows as of late.  I actually kind of loathe them.  They usually don’t produce the type of talent you see when people become successful through normal means, with a few exceptions.

I knew from her videos that Aarti has a positive bubbly vibe about her and she also has an adorable accent.  She’s the nice girl on the show who happens to have issues with being assertive and confident.  Turns out she is my absolute favorite personality on the show – I don’t know if it’s because I can relate to her personality or if it’s because of her accent.

Watch the show if you have the chance.  I think Aarti is going to win!  Also, you can follow her on her blog – she is currently updating even as the episodes air.

Good luck Aarti!  Show everybody that nice people don’t always finish last!

It just arrived! So awesome!

…twiddling my thumbs…

I like how a massive hole swallowed up an entire 3 story building and they don’t really give any details.  Where are the people that were in that building?  How deep is that hole?  What’s down there?  Nope, just details about the storm and a “hey, by the way, look at this hole.”

This picture isn’t some kind of joke made in poor taste, right?

Here’s a graphical explanation of how top kill works:

Last I heard, they just gave the approval to proceed – cross your fingers!

Does anybody else think it’s plain ridiculous that companies are allowed to create these spewing oil wells without having some sort of fail-safe?  And a fail-safe for that fail-safe?  And a fail-safe for that one too?  Considering the potential disaster of a leak, plan your fail-safes accordingly!