He's hung like a beast. Runs in the family.

We Catholics have been observing Lent for over a week now, and so far things have been great. I gave up elevators and escalators this year.

And yes, I'm serious. Ever since knee surgery I have been avoiding stairs like the plague. I figured this would be a good sacrifice since I normally use the elevator at work.

So I'm finally growing up and getting over my hatred for stairs. But what are some things I wouldn't be able to give up so easily? Let's see....

9. My butt backscratcher -- been scratching myself happily since Cathy gave it to me in Saudi.

10. Twitter.com -- cuz AIM Away Messages are so 2005.

11. Nerf Basketball -- my stress reliever at work.

12. Korean BBQ Thursdays -- since meat is forbidden on Fridays during Lent, I like to go all out on thursdays. Plus I've had this huge craving for Korean BBQ since summer.

13. Powernaps -- A little food coma after lunch = higher productivity for the rest of the afternoon. Been doing this since Alan introduced me to the concept in summer '02.

14. Ketchup -- Been asking for extra ketchup since 1982.

15. The word "gay" -- sad but true.

16. Teh Internet -- Downloaded my first porno file in '96. Been hooked ever since.

17. The word "dude" -- cuz it's just so damn versatile, dude. I've even caught myself saying it when talking to parents. :oh:

The client is always right.

Even when they are doing it completely wrong, the client is always right.

Even when everything in your heart, in your body and in your personal experience tells you that their plan is destined for failure...the client is always right.

Even if you want to go the extra mile and do it better for them because you genuinely want to see them succeed, it is them who are paying you to do exactly what they assigned you to do...

The client is always right.

That is Earth seen from 4 billion miles away, photographed by Voyager 1 on June 6, 1990.

Carl Sagan, Astronomer:

"That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar,' every 'supreme leader,' every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."

As a kid I was always amazed by the night sky. I was fortunate enough to grow up in an area where the atmosphere wasn't tarnished by a thick cloud of smog and crap. Everynight I was able to see the better part of the sky And I got to see the Milky Way in all of its beauty. City folks never get to see that. Or when they do get the chance, they hardly take the time to appreciate it.

I'm completely captivated every single time.

Science fiction likes to talk about time-travel, but what many of us don't realize is that we do that every night. The light we see from the stars above is millions of years old. Millions. The night sky that you see today is a snapshot of what was really there millions of years ago. Hell, even the light from the sun takes 8 minutes to reach Earth. If the sun blew up right now, we wouldn't know about it until 8 minutes later. Just thinking about the shear numbers of size, time and distance that I find completely fascinating.

But there's something about this photo that really gets to me.

It reminds me of my early grade school years when I finally learned my first constellations, like Cassiopeia, Orion and the Summer Triangle. It reminds me that no matter how much we change, some things will always be the same. And it reminds me that all the pain, heartbreak and jealousy I've endured is really just insignificant in the grander scheme of things.

But most of all, it reminds me that even the smallest things in life -- just like that tiny pale blue dot in the picture -- may actually mean the world to someone else.

It's just a matter of perspective.

Inspired by Futility Closet

:chill:

• Taxes rape you so hard it's not even funny.
• It's super easy to get your identity out there on the internet.
• ... but it's damn near impossible to take it back.
• It's true: job searching is all about who you know.
• Passion is everything.
• Drinking with an alcoholic around balconies is a terrible idea.
• Sugar is what makes you fat.
• At some point, age becomes just a number. You'll make friends with people much older or younger than yourself.
• Graduation is the greatest day in your parents' lives.
• Pop music is terrible these days.
• Never hold off on buying toilet paper.
• You only get one chance at a good first impression.
• Sometimes one chance is all you'll get.
• Always have an outlet for creativity.
• You can never take too many pictures.
• You can never write too many journals.
• There's a difference between lonely and desperate.
• Your personal time becomes a more valuable commodity when you start working.
• Clanking on a broken cellphone will not fix it.
• Don't download from Limewire; it's dirtier than a Tijuana whore.
• Karaoke is all about how much you drank.
• Close all windowblinds when you walk around the house naked.
• Buy more socks and less underwear.
• Your car is worth more than some people's annual salaries in other counrties.
• Private (high) schools are ridiculously expensive; props to parents with several kids.
• You cherish things more towards the end.
• The Butterfly Effect is real.
• Their little sisters grow up fast.
• It'll always be hard to say goodbye. Even to your hairstylist.
• Always find closure. Always.
• Buy a Tivo.
• Some people just aren't worth it.
• Over-optimism is a painful flaw.
• New Years and Birthdays get less exciting.
• Sometimes the best solution is to just let things run its course.
• After graduation, get used to seeing the exact same faces everyday.
• People bullshit all the time in their resumes.
• Sometimes the qualified ones just don't have interview skills.
• Relationships will only work if both sides are willing to put in the same amount of effort to make it work.
• Christmas is all about the youngest generation in the family.
• Pathetic people stab in the back.
• Respectable people stab in the front.
• They go straight to the buttsex in Brokeback Mountain without any foreplay or warning.
• Always negotiate with car salesmen just a little before closing hours; they'll get hella eager to make the sale so they can go home.
• Cool people use Macs.
• Wish "happy birthday" to your Myspace friends, or just delete them.
• There are such things as ugly babies.
• Some people are just not built for clubbing.
• There's a difference between ADD and lack of motivation.
• You never truly taste success until you have tasted failure.
• You'll never fully appreciate a massage from a girl 'til you've been massaged by another dude.
• Porn and farting will always be reliable conversation starters for men.

// idea from Scott the Nametag Guy.

CRY.

For the fourth straight year, here is the abridged overview of how I spent my year 2006.

Read More

Here's a bit of history for ya:

March '00: At Webb, Mel sees a freshman playing on a Mac in the dorms. Mel points and laughs.

January '04: Mel sees Punk Josh listening to his iPod at the commons.

February '04: Mel sees a life-size iPod mini ad in a Cosmo magazine.

March '04: Mel buys a silver iPod mini for his birthday.

Summer '04: Mel sells his iPod mini and buys a bigger iPod.

October '04: Mel's trusted, like-minded, computer-proficient friend, Sherwin, proclaims how he'll "never go back to PC."

All of '05: Mel makes frequent visits to the Apple Store to check out the latest Macs. Mel wants to touch himself.

October '06: Mel is still running on this:

December '06: Mel switches to this:

Sexy, eh?

It's not all about looks though. With my new MacBook Pro, I can:

• Work faster

• Travel back in time.

• Still run Windows with a simple click of the mouse (or smack of the computer).

• Be cool like Tom Cruise.

• Save the world like Jeff Goldblum.

• Enjoy my digital life, virus-free.

(Don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to convert you to Mac. My best advice is to just stick with what the people around you are using. If you're an engineer and all of your peers use a PC, then get a PC. If you're a graphics designer and all of your co-workers have a Mac, get a Mac. I do everything on the web, so it really doesn't matter what kind of computer I have.)

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna make some retarded faces with my Mac's built-in camera.

Stranded father's heroic last hour. He crawled, climbed through 5-mile canyon, left trail for rescuers.

James Kim put himself through a desperate ordeal, climbing down a ravine over boulders and logs, though nearly impenetrable brush and in and out of an icy creek, in what one rescue leader called a "superhuman" effort to save his family.

I'm sure you guys don't know who he is but I used to watch this guy's nerdy gadget reviews on TV. He was a cool guy, and obviously a very devoted family man. Check out the unbelievable trail through snow and freezing water he left behind in hopes of saving his family.

View: James Kim's Trail On Google Maps | Full Story: Stranded father's heroic last hours

// thanks sherwin