Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Every January, Ithaca College has an annual Networking Night in New York City. I went in 2002 when I was looking for full-time work with the hope that networking with other Ithaca College professionals in my chosen field would be helpful and productive. Ithaca is a great school, don't get me wrong. But it loves to tout that Ithaca alumni help other Ithaca alumni and that the Ithaca connection lasts forever. Well, I haven't seen it... and that's OK. Like I said before, everything I've accomplished, I've earned and done totally on my own. But the whole proud Ithaca alumni "connection" is bogus. Other institutions of higher learning tout their alumni connections and actually act upon it, but with Ithaca, it's a bunch of hot air.

I believe that at the age of 17 or 18 when we graduate High School, we are still much too young to go to college. High School, or some sort of organized education, should last until the age of 21, then the college education can begin. Why do I feel this way? Well, as a tour guide at Ithaca, there were so many prospective students who didn't know what they wanted to major in or what career path they were interested in. Part of it is the prospective student's fault. Does any course of study or career not interest a high school graduate at all? It doesn't mean that it will be their career in 5 or 10 years, but at least there should be a foundation of the beginning of a career. Heck, I've had 3-4 careers already in my 15 or so years of professional work. And part of it is the college's fault, for having "exploratory" programs and accepting students into the institution who have not declared a major. And then, of course, after 2 years, they choose to major in "communications." For people like me and others I've met in grad school, Communications is a very serious course of study. Unfortunately, for many others, it's a cop out major.

So why am I going to the Ithaca networking night? Well, I didn't have the most pleasant college experience, some of which was my fault, and some being that nature just didn't make me mature enough yet to handle the pressures of college and living away from home for the first time. So really, it's just a practice for me in phony networking, as that's a major part of my new job.

Tired Tuesday

I have the best intentions to get a good night's sleep every night so the next morning's coffee doesn't have to do that much work. Despite my best efforts, I always go to sleep way too late at night, usually offering myself a 5-6 hour "nap" rather than a good night's sleep. Part of it is that I get home from work rather late, go to the gym, take care of things at home, and watch TV. Another part could be that I really don't want the next day to come too quickly. After all, I just go through one tough day of work this week, and there's 4 more to go before the weekend! And I never really turn my mind "off." There's always something I'm thinking about, worrying about, reminiscing about, or wondering about, positive or negative.

Well, wish me luck tomorrow. I have a very important client meeting in which I have to negotiate my first really big deal for the Company. Fortunately, I have the support of a SVP behind me, but it's going to be a great challenge nonetheless. Just have to remember to stick to my guns!

Manic Monday

Don't you wish it was still Sunday? Well, The Bangles did, and frankly, I do too!

It was a relatively nice weekend. Friday, my wife, Shari, and I fell asleep on the couch, but we did enjoy a nice dinner together before falling asleep! Saturday, we went out to my old stomping grounds of Hoboken, NJ. I lived in Hoboken from 2000-2003 and loved every minute of it, even when I was unemployed. There is a restaurant for every taste, a bar for ever drinker, and it's literally a hop, skip and a jump from NYC. We went out for some casual Italian dining, and then went to a bar where I was a regular for most of my time in Hoboken: Far Side. It's a bar with a nice atmosphere, good bartenders, good drinks, and they installed 3 brand new HDTV's to make the sports viewing very pleasant and a lot of fun. Years ago, I used to meet friends at Far Side every Tuesday night. We knew the bartender well and always got our share of free drinks. And our dart throwing skills got really good, too. It was a lot of fun, and being there again brought back some very pleasant memories, even though during that time, life wasn't very easy.

Sunday, it was great to see the NY Giants beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the NFL playoffs. I don't think the Giants will make it to the Super Bowl, but the team has been more cohesive this season, and I'm happy for their success. Coach Coughlin deserves to come back next season, and I hope he does. After the game, it was over to Mom's house for steak dinner. It was warm enough today to throw a few steaks on the grill. Nothing like a home-cooked steak!

But one of the most difficult things for me to do is walk into my Mom's house with Dad not there. When I go into the house, I find myself looking around to see if he's in his usual spot on the couch, or if he is in his office playing the card game "Spider" on the computer. I can't put into words anymore how I feel about Dad being gone. I don't wish this feeling on anyone, but it's difficult to understand if you've never experienced it.

He died too young, and deserved so much more, including being at my sister's wedding, which took place just 6 weeks after he died. And, I can't begin to explain how helpless I feel when I see Mom cry. We read some of the doctor's records we received which included the information about his unsuccessful bypass surgery. Dad, physically, just had no more heart. Even the machines couldn't keep him alive. As difficult a man as he was, and even though he wasn't around much when I was younger to see me in band concerts or to stay up late with, I always loved him, and even though I rarely got it, I always wanted some love and affection back from him. But it didn't matter. He is my only Father, I love him, and he gave my family and me everything to make sure we had an easy a life as possible. He deserved to live and experience so much more. But I know he knows what's going on and I know he's watching down on his entire family and in his own way, Dad is taking care of us.

Thing is now, I still constantly worry about the little things, and worry about getting up for work on Monday morning, rather than thanking G-D for letting me wake up another day, even though I will never know why He took Dad when He did.

1 vs. ??

In addition to the very simplistic questions asked, the application for the new game show "Million Dollar Password" requires that applicants include a photo of themselves in order to be considered as a contestant. As a true fan of the game show genre, I find this very troubling. First of all, it is discrimination. Applicants are immediately being judged as to whether they can be a good contestant simply by the way they look. Producers of the game shows of yesteryear (Goodson-Todman, Jack Barry, Bob Stewart, etc.) and some of the game show producers of today (such as Harry Friedman of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy) pretty much let anybody play their games, as long as they could actually play the games! At least I believe they didn't care what the contestants look like. They gave everyone and anyone an equal chance to qualify and play. If applicants had a fun personality, showed enthusiasm, showed some common intelligence, and proved they could answer questions and play the game, then they qualified as a contestant. But this new practice of "better looking people make better contestants" in today's game show world is quite troubling to me, because it's just not true.

Take tonight's episode of 1 vs. 100 on NBC. There was an attractive blonde female playing the game. No problem. Then came her $50,000 question, which essentially was "Which of these is a prime number: 4, 6, or 11?" The $50,000 question!!!! Her answer: 4! She qualifies as a game show contestant? And no, the TV cameras and bright studio lights did not affect her. She knew that Marcia Brady was hit in the nose with a football. (The correct answer to the question is 11.)

What happened to the days of "Tic Tac Dough" and "The Joker's Wild" and other Q&A game shows when a person had to know what a prime number was in order to even have a chance to qualify to be a contestant? More proof that today's game shows just aren't what they used to be, and how the dumbing down of our society is getting worse and worse. Maybe not all past game shows were Q&A shows, but at least they showed people with some class and intelligence.

And what's more amazing is tonight's 1 vs. 100 play at home contest, which was "How many got this question wrong: "What color is the bottom color of a traffic light?" (No joke.) People got that wrong? I have a friend whose 2 year old knows the answer. (The answer is Green.)

Here's an exciting clip of the biggest bonus round win on 1980's Super Password.




Will today's "Million Dollar Password" contestants be able to guess two syllable words? Thank goodness Jeopardy! is still on the air with good ratings.

4 Day Weekends; 3 Day Workweeks

Because of how the holidays fell this year, I was able to take 4 day weekends and work a 3 day work week. Even in today's whirlwind work day, I've found that I'm more productive putting a 5 day workload into 3 days. Think any companies will go for a 4 day weekend and 3 day work week? I didn't think so either.

Today I added a new feature to my blog: Links. I placed a link to my friend's blog, who is a much better writer than I am. And I also placed a link to Pat Sajak's blog on his official website. Given that it is his blog, I hope he doesn't mind that I linked to it. Blogs are meant to be read after all, right? If he requests, I will remove it. But I like his blog, and I like his thoughful, insightful, and witty takes on many of today's issues. And it's refreshing to know that he is a conservative voice in Hollywood that I agree with most of the time. Sajak would probably make a very good politican. Back in 1990, when he was hosting The Pat Sajak Show on CBS, I wrote him a letter asking advice on how I could be successful in television and become a game show host just like him. He wrote me back the most wonderful, personal letter. While his advice was great, unfortunately I didn't follow it, which is probably one reason why I am not in television, and not a game show host today! But because it's a personal letter from him, I cherish it... except right now I can't find it. See what can happen when you move 5 times in 8 years?

Articles of Observation

No, I'm not Jerry Seinfeld, and I'm learning that there are things in this world that "shouldn't be according to Alan." But sometimes I enjoy simply observing things and commenting on them. So that is what The Articles of Observation will be about.

Today, I rejoined the gym I used to go to before I moved out of my hometown in 2005. The gym is World Gym. And even though the membership fee is high, it has to be one of the best gyms around. For the price you get a TV at every cardio station, towel service, clean showers with soap and shampoo, clean bathrooms with hair dryers, Q-Tips, and Mouthwash, Sauna Service, etc.. worth every penny. Anyway, today in the gym some guy was worried that stuff was stolen out of his locker while he was working out. He also said that someone has been stealing things out of lockers lately, and they just caught the person who was doing it. Now here's the thing, the people who got stuff stolen out of their lockers did not use a lock on their lockers!!!!!! You spend so much money on a gym membership.. is it so hard to spend $5 more on a combination lock to protect your things? Or is this something the government should now regulate?

Which brings me to my next observation. I read an article today that said credit card companies may begin to charge 30% interest on late credit card payments. However, people feel that this percentage is much too high and the government should regulate it. One person in the article said "If I'm one day late, why should I be penalized 30%?" How about because you're late with your credit card payment? Is it so hard to pay the bill one day early rather than one day late? The due date is listed right on the bill! Or how about not charging on your credit card and saving yourself some money. People just don't take responsibility for themselves and they want the government to take care of everything. That's the problem with this country!!!

Speaking of responsibility, when I was in high school, all of us who took the school bus to school had to all meet at 1 corner where the bus picked us all up. Lately, I've noticed that instead of the kids meeting all at one corner, the bus stops and picks the kids up at each corner! Are kids that lazy now that they can't all walk a few feet, or maybe a 1/2 mile, to catch the school bus? Unbelievable.

More idiocy... traffic lights. Usually, unless the traffic light is a signal for a left turn, the green light isn't an arrow, rather it is a full "ball." Well, I've noticed that traffic lights are getting much more specific, and when the light turns green, it actually points in the direction you should be driving in: straight, left, or right. So people who are actually getting drivers licenses these days can't figure out which way to drive.. they need the light to tell them which way to go. We're getting stupider by the day.

Today is the day that David Letterman and Jay Leno come back from their "hiatus" due to the Writers' Strike. This has been covered so much in the news that you'd think scientists found a cure for cancer or AIDS. I used to love television. All my life I wanted to work in television. But lately, I'm finding myself thinking with stories like this "who cares?" Does it really matter? Is this news? And despite the really bad quality of television programming today, part of me still wants to work in television. I did at one time.. my first job was at MSNBC, and I loved every minute of it. But since I left MSNBC, I haven't been able to get back into television. I'm skilled and talented and I know how to produce a television show. But in television, as with any career really, despite my skills and all I know, no one ever gave me the big break I needed. If you look at all the producers and television talent who are successful today, they always credit someone for their "big break." Yet they don't give a break to anyone else who really deserves one. I know a lot of people in television.. some I've known for many many years. And many, if not all of them, got their big break from someone who gave them a chance. And even though I know all those people, I never got the chance from any of them. However, I am proud that everything I have done I accomplished on my own, and that means more than any career in television could.

Happy New Year

Well, 2008 is finally here, and with it brings a flood of emotions and thoughts, and it's almost impossible to articulate them all. I don't celebrate Christmas, but I really like the holiday season. It's a bummer when it's over. I like seeing the Christmas lights glisten on a cold, winter, snowy day. I like watching Miracle on 34th Street, It's A Wonderful Life, and the Yule Log on Channel 11 each year. Right now on Channel 11, they are running their annual New Year's Day marathon of The Honeymooners. It reminds me so much of my Dad who would watch the marathon every year. We always talked about the "core-a-apple" episode. I already miss his laugh during all of the episodes, but fortunately, I can still hear it.

In a sense, it is a relief that 2007 is over. When you lose a parent, it is a life changing experience. You just aren't the same person before that person died, no matter how much you try and think you are. And things that meant so much to that person mean so much more to you now. And I think about Mom all the time. She told me that she is a survivor... and she sure is. She's one of the strongest people I know.

When the ball drops in Times Square and January 1 arrives, I sometimes think that it's going to be a long year, and it's going to feel like such a long time before the year gets rolling and the next December and holiday season comes around again. Whether it's a new calendar year, new school year, or new school semester, it always feels like starting over, and it's going to all take a long time. Despite that, everything always goes fast.

So let's see.. let's look back on 2007. In no particular order: I busted my right shoulder, I got a new, challenging job, I moved (and am now a renter instead of an owner), my sister got married, school continued, and I'm sure so much more that I can't think of at this late hour. And what is there to expect in 2008: More challenges in school, many more challenges and pressure at work, getting a new car for my wife since the lease will be up, and many more personal challenges that I will need to overcome to feel happier and be happier. Not that I'm not happy now.. I am happy. But I could be happier. I think everyone could be happier.

I hope that 2008 brings good health, happiness, and success to my family, and to yours. I hope our country and the world becomes a safer, more simpler place to live and be happy.