I’m not sure why, but lately I’ve noticed an increase in traffic from China. Despite the slanty eyes, I’m not Chinese—I’m Japanese (yes, white folks, I know we all look the same to you). I guess you could count an association by marriage: my two brothers both married girls of Chinese descent, but my blog readers can’t have known that …
Stark white L.A. buildings
Barring the end of the global financial system as we know it, I’m back to vacation photoblogging for the rest of the week. The Curious Capitalists are up in Northern California now, but I grew up here and find it far less exotically photogenic than the Southland. So I’ll robopost a few more shots from down there and maybe add to them if …
Rove: “For the sake of my family”
Why is it that politicians like to cite family as their main reason for quitting a job? Karl Rove is the latest. In an interview with Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot (bolds mine),
“I just think it’s time,” Mr. Rove said in the interview. “There’s always something that can keep you here, and as much as I’d like to be
…
If only more of the world’s financial markets were actually markets
The Curious Capitalists spent last week visiting the Getty Center, the San Diego Zoo, and various other Southern California attractions. All the while I was getting bits of information here and there about the strange state of global financial markets, and feeling very out of it and confused. I’m still nominally on vacation today, but …
Annoying: e-mail sigs
So many of you have weighed in so hilariously about the most annoying workplace habits that I feel compelled to expand with another: the increasingly popular e-mail signature. They began as simple text appended to the bottom of the e-mail, typically stating the sender’s pertinent work-related information (title, address, fax). Then they …
There appear to be hobbits living in L.A.
Top 10 annoying workplace habits
A buddy of mine recently asked to have his cubicle reassigned because the woman next to him was a loud phone talker. You know the type: they speak at normal human decibels in real life, but when they get on the phone, they can’t help but shout. Sometimes I worry I’m slightly in that camp; I blame mild hearing loss due to living with a …
Man working on sign
No, there’s no deeper meaning to this. I just thought it looked cool:
Don’t take the last donut
…is the advice captured in the title of a book on my reading pile. It’s by Judith Bowman, and it outlines what she calls her “New Rules of Business Etiquette.” I picked it up this morning only because donuts are on my mind, and the cover has this picture of a sugary circle of goodness with a big ol’ bite taken out of it.
Donuts are on …
More Southern California retailing innovation
At the Ralph’s in Chatsworth:
A retailing concept that will soon sweep the nation
On Third Street in L.A. I didn’t actually go inside, but according to the store’s website it “carries the definitive collection of designer pet collars, leashes, beds, toys, treats and bags along with one-of-a-kind gift items for toddlers and tots.” And while we’re at least halfway on the subject of dogs:
I saw nekkid people on my commute
Today is national underwear day. I know this because, while crossing 43rd Street on Broadway, I was nearly mowed down by a 6-foot-tall Adonis wearing nothing but painted-on red briefs. In his wake came about a dozen other model types clad in all manner of colorful undies.
And there on the island where Broadway and Seventh Avenue …