30 Jul ’12   I have a few things that I need to confess before I get to the meat/cheese of this article:   1. I don't like cheesecake. It's shocking, I know.  It's just that there is something about the mixture of sour cream and cream cheese that doesn't scream dessert to me.  However, there are few things I have found that don't taste better deep fried or with chocolate. While I will not be deep frying cheesecake in THIS article, I will honor my first and so far only request by attempting Read more [...]

28 Jul ’12 Recently I drove a friend home from work, and while that may not be the most interesting way to open an article, in this case my friend's home was a detention center, or a work release home. On the way, we had a conversation about his experience going through the penal system and how it affected his life. My friend, unlike many who went through the system, definitely came out on better terms. "They throw these kids in jail, then when it's over they kick them out, they should know the kids will just Read more [...]

25 Jul ’12 In 1995, I experienced Magic for the first time. Disney created a new movie, Pocahontas, and my godmother bought it for me. It was my first time ever seeing a Disney movie and I was in awe! I watched the movie non-stop for years, learning all of the songs, the words, and even the movements. I would dance and play in my backyard pretending to be Pocahontas, never knowing there was an even greater world out there. You see, in my home... Disney wasn’t a huge thing. In actuality, my freshman year Read more [...]

21 Jul ’12 I currently have one of my dream jobs at a local bakery as a part-time barista/help-out-in-the-back-kitchen-with-minor-tasks-while-I-not-so-subtly-drop-ideas-of-what-we-could-make-in-the-future-person.  Have any of my ideas actually been executed? Not yet. However, so far every idea I have given has been very well received by the head bakers.  They may just be giving me false, though good intentioned, compliments, buttttt I'll assume this is not the case for the sake of these articles. I Read more [...]

14 Jul ’12 As I sat down for my weekly tutoring, I thought back to the time when I used to live in Vietnam. In those days, we had 6 days of school a week from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and  would then take a break and go back to tutoring at our teacher's houses. One of the most prominent and important things I learned was how to write during these teaching sessions. Handwriting and penmanship in Vietnam was somewhat of a requirement rather than  an extracurricular hobby that gains the occasional congratulation here Read more [...]

14 Jul ’12 For those of you who have yet to have your ears christened by the sound of Mr. Rebillet's music, you're probably leading a life not worth living or at least one that is not worthy of an MP3. I met Marc Rebillet at one of my first college parties ever. The theme I think was "Dirty Disney", (because apparently there's some kind of unwritten rule that all college parties must always have a theme), and of course it was, like all party themes, an excuse for the girls to be some version of a college Read more [...]

12 Jul ’12   Growing up, I came from an era where you painted walls a neutral white, and then painted the trim in the room a mauve, or variation of a rose pink. Then again in the 1990's the over abundant use of parachute pants and platform sneakers also seemed like a good idea. Luckily, it seems that the design world today is turning to a bolder expression of color. Though we see the use of these bold colors on walls almost everywhere, I must admit that I was pretty nervous about the idea when I first Read more [...]