November 2011
1 post
Washington Post →
September 2011
2 posts
WatchAssistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on U.S. Strategy in the Pacific at CSIS
1 tag
“The question in my mind is, how many additional American casualties is Saddam...”
– Dick Cheney in 1992, explaining why US forces had not continued to Baghdad during the first Gulf War
June 2009
2 posts
Beginnings and Ends
Please feel free to check out my new blog, A thousand lightbulbs. MattZealand has been a fantastic experience, but as I am no longer in New Zealand I feel it is time to close this chapter and begin the next. Thank you for reading and I hope you will enjoy A Thousand Lightbulbs.
Matt
“Language shows a man; speak that I may see thee.”
– Ben Johnson
May 2009
10 posts
Absurd
CFO: Matt, here’s a new project. Have you taken statistics?
Me: Yes
CFO: So you’re familiar with standard deviation, z-score, margin of error, etc?
Me: Sure
CFO: Yeah there is no margin for error on this project.
“Those who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try...”
Across the San Diego Universe
I just had a fantastic weekend. I spent Saturday in Fallbrook at a barbecue with two of my really good friends from high school. Ate too much, drank too much, talked to much. It was just the right amount of excess! Thanks to Nick and Kendra for their hospitality and a great time.
I spent Sunday recovering from Saturday, then celebrating an early mother’s day for my mom with my parents...
Watch
“You do things when the opportunities come along. I’ve had periods in my...”
– Warren Buffett
Examining The Sweet Taste of Success!
Hello and welcome back! Long time no talk! That is because I have a “real” job, which, believe or not, does actually take “real” time. Approximately 40 hours to be exact. No one told me that was part of the deal! That said it’s been a great first full week. While my job at PDC isn’t of particular note at this point, a new and great development broke...
April 2009
35 posts
“It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life...”
– The Stoic Philosopher Seneca - On The Shortness of Life
The Ultimate Non-Renewable Resource: Time
“We don’t beat the Reaper by living longer. We beat the Reaper by living well.”
-Randy Pausch (1960-2008), The Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon
Above: Mr. Pausch giving “The Last Lecture”
That’s a powerful quote. If you haven’t viewed the last lecture, do it after you read this article! It was spoken by a man shortly before he died. By a man who lived his life well.
I...
Thought
Some people think that I’m delaying real life. I think they’re delaying real living.
Awesome quote:
“If you’re five years old and say you want to be an astronaut, your parents tell you that you can be anything you want to be. It’s harmless, like telling a child that Santa Claus exists. If you pass 25 and announce you want to float in space or sail around the world, the...
WatchSt. Patrick’s Day Flashback!!!
Location: Dux Lux, Queenstown, NZ
I got a job =D
I got a job! I am starting at 8:30 tomorrow morning. This will be interesting. Admin & Project Management for a Wireless Communication Design firm in San Diego. No idea how I landed this but glad I did! Perhaps I won’t be there long but it’s great at least to have while I look for something else. At any rate with 11.2% unemployment and rising in CA I’m happy to have it!
...
The Perplexing Paradox of Life
I’ve been ruminating on this in my head for some time, and now I need to discuss it. The basic point boils down to: What makes a person happy? That’s such a large question it’s hard to comprehend, or know where to begin. But then again, this day in age, maybe we don’t ask it often enough. Since this blog discusses travel, I’ll take a slightly different tack and...
Epic Weekend
This weekend one of my best buds Pat Skahan came down from San Francisco. We played in a benefit basketball game at our old high school. We played well despite no practice and pulled off the win. Then we went for a round of golf the next day out at Borego Springs Resort east of San Diego in the desert. We went with Skahan’s dad Kevin. It was a pretty epic weekend considering that I...
News from the Homefront!
The sun has come out of hibernation and so have I. I’m currently reporting to you from sunny Southern California, in my backyard, in what I’m labeling my new “Outdoor Office.” A lot is happening here from famil to friends to job interviews, and it’s all exciting! Just because I’m back in the states doesn’t mean the adventure is over.
HOME
I consider...
“You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod...”
– From Stiil I Rise, by Maya Angelou
“The ship of state is a big ocean liner. This is not a speedboat. It doesn’t...”
– Barack Obama on his efforts as President thus far
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you...”
– Mark Twain
Man on Wire & The Indian Pacific Railway
I’m laying in bed here and there’s only one thing I can’t stop thinking about. The Indian Pacific Railway. It’s winding slowly through my brain and it won’t let me sleep. It’s shoveling coal onto the fire of my inspiration and it’s not going to cool down anytime soon in that sweltering Australian sun. Let me explain.
MAN ON WIRE
I’ve been...
The 80/20 Rule of Time Management
This is an awesome concept and a great article. I’ve put the first part here. This is the link to the full article.
By Pamela J. Vaccaro, MA
This may come as a surprise, but despite all the talk about life balance, you can benefit tremendously from introducing a little imbalance into your day. I’m referring to the 80/20 rule of time management, which is rooted in what is...
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”
– Albert Einstein
“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier”
– Colin Powell - American General & Former Secretary of State
Financial News Sample: G-20 Summit
Hey everybody, if insterested feel free to check out my new sample article on the G-20 Economic summit in London. I put it on my new (and still under construction) blog about politics and economics. I’m trying to build up my portfolio with samples of creative, technical, journalistic writing etc so feedback is more than welcome.
Cheers,
Matt
http://risingtides.tumblr.com/
New Logo Blurb
I’m pretty stoked that I was able to actually make and implement this myself. I was going to put a flag up there alongside the title, but then I thought, why not combine?? I happen to think the CA flag is the coolest looking in the US. I used have a shirt with the flag but I lost in NZ (as I did most items.) Ah well!
“Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“I think you would love Perth. I immediately thought, hey, I could live here for...”
– Nate Johnson. I love that guy. I gotta get to Oz.
GJHof09: Update
Jobs I’ve applied for and am interested in:
- Lonely Planet Travelguide writer
- Financial news writer
- Political news writer
- Legal services
- Proofreading/Data Entry
- Marketing/Sales
- Blogging/ Press Release Writing
- Creative writing
Rejects:
- Calling people in foreclosure to try to assess whether shady “investors” would benfit from purchasing it.
- Moving up...
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26...”
– Michael Jordan
“Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in...”
– Bertrand Russell
“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with...”
– Samuel Johnson
Commonalities
There are three different situations that come to mind that, while vastly different, feel virtually identical: Fishing, hitchiking, and job hunting. They all involve lots of prospects, lots of rejection, and lots of waiting around thinking you’ll never get one. The good news is that all you need is one.
Technological Visionaries: A Conversation
Unnamed female "techie": lol
what would we do without the internet?
hard to imagine a time before that
me: seriously
poor people
Unnamed female "techie": how did we survive
me: I think that's why we invented it
someone said "life without internet sucks"
so we made it
Sent at 10: 37 PM on Wednesday
Unnamed female "techie": it still boggles my mind how it all works
if only i was a computer genius
me: seriously.
I know nothing about computers
I just hit them if they don't work
sometimes that helps
Unnamed female "techie": lol
1 time, my laptop wouldn't turn on
totally freaked me out
The Great Job Hunt
So my only focus in life until I figure it out is to find a job I can do from anywhere. First of all, why work in an office when you can work at home. Second of all, why work at home when you can work in Australia? So this is the goal. If I can crack this code then I can start my travels again sooner beginning with the Tour de CA which will be a perfect test-run for more extreme...