Sometimes Google search really just gives you a good thing. And the above video of Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture is a good thing and definitely worth an hour and fifteen minutes of your time. Pausch was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon. In 2006, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a little less than two years to live. For most of you that don’t know this - pancreatic cancer has a 5% survival rate. That’s damn low. Really damn low.

You’ll get caught up in his energy in the video of his last lecture - which he gave with about 8 months before he passed away. And if you’re like me, you’ll probably forget that he’s dying because you’re so inspired by just how much he talks about living. While a good portion of the lecture focused on his career and work around virtual reality, there are huge nuggets about life and achieving your childhood dreams that just jump out and grab you. Here are some of my favorites:

1. We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.

2. Find the best in everybody. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.

3. You’ll get more from the dreams you don’t accomplish than from the ones you do.

4. When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a very bad place to be. Your critics are your ones telling you they still love you and care.

5. Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

6. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.

7. You can’t get there alone. People have to help you and I do believe in karma. I believe in paybacks. You get people to help you by telling the truth. Being earnest.

Here are some of my kiva stats:

Total amount lent: $1,450
Total amount repaid: $1,017
Total amount lost (not repaid): $75

Before you give me much props for lending $1,450 of my shoe festish stash to the poor, let me correct you. I invested $500 in Kiva two and a half years ago. As borrowers repay, I’ve immediately reinvested the money in new borrowers. So my small little amount of $500 (the cost of these pair of shoes) has helped over 48 entrepreneurs in the third world.

That’s pretty darn cool.

Here’s my lending style:
- 95.8% of my loans are to women. Before you call me a man hater, let me explain. In the third world women tend to be more responsible with money than men. The spend on the household and the community vs. drinking and smoking. In addition, most men are often not at home (preferring to try and earn a living in more lucrative urban cities with better job markets).
- I’ve loaned to entrepreneurs in 19 countries: I’ve got a thing for Bolivia. Over 20% of my loans have gone there.
- Retail, Food & Agriculture: Most of my loans go to funding business in these three sectors. Agriculture funding is particularly interesting to me.

So after 2.5 years of lending, what do I like the most about Kiva?
- it’s easy. I mean real easy. You just create an account, put some money in it via Paypal, pick a lender and fund.
- it’s rewarding. Very rewarding. In one minute, I have made a difference in someone else’s life around the world
- it’s transparent. I know exactly who the loan is going to and what they plan to do with it.

What do I like the least?
- nothing.

Kimmy,

Love, Viv

Greetings,

….From San Francisco and hope this note finds you in high spirits! We have not met. However, as a Lawyer-turned Certified Matchmaker and Relationship Expert , who has received a very enthusiastic response from the Professional Community, I wanted to introduce Intersections Matchmaking.

Intersections Matchmaking is a Matchmaking Service, which helps accomplished and busy professionals maximize their chances of finding significant others through a highly-personalized process involving extensive consultation and feedback.

Feel free to forward our website (www.intersectionsmatch.com) to those you know, who may be interested in learning about our (i) Nationwide Personal Consultation/”Pool Membership”, or (ii) “Introduction Plan” services.

Please feel free to have folks contact me with any questions (jasbina@intersectionsmatch.com).

Thanks for your time,

Jasbina
President, Intersections Matchmaking

Clearly, I am in desperate need of “extensive consultation and feedback”…

” All human wisdom us summed up in two words - wait and hope”

What the hell does the quote mean?? Sigh.

I have advice for Mr. Passive Pants. No world was conquered with waiting. No business was built by sitting in a room hoping. No woman is won over by passivity.

I know so many men - many of which are my good friends - that don’t make a move when they want something. They sit and wait - for the right time - the right situation - a full moon. They just wait. And then they wonder why the girl they like is dating mr. tool or mr. ass or mr. tight abs. Well I have news for you, Mr. Passive Pants. It is not because these men are better than you. It is because they showed a sense of want and urgency around a situation. They went after what they wanted. They may have not had the smoothest moves or be the best line. Chances are they were a bit of a bumbling idiot. But they went for it. End of story.

My mommy makes the best plantain chips. She gets very green plantains and slices them thinly, and fries them in a pan - and there you have it, plantain chips. I have been eating them since I was a kid. Now that I am on the left coast, I don’t see her as much, but ever so often, my mommy will send a batch tovia express mail. They are always in some strange Costco sized peanut or spaghetti jar and tighlty wrapped and sealed so none fall out.

I know how to make them myself now, but they never taste as good as when she makes them.

And there you have it. www.Plantain-chips.com.

DO TEXT WHEN:

1. You are going to be late. “Split my pants, had to change, be there in 10 minutes.”
2. Need to give directions. “Am at Porn shop on 15th and jackson. Back aisle.”
3. You need your memory jogged. “What’s the name of that asswipe you dated last year that left you broken hearted, again?”
4. Want to make last minute plans. “Going for a Happy Donut run. You want in?”
5. Playing Wingman. “Is this bozo still talking? I am coming in.”

DON’T TEXT:

1. To say hi. The person on the other end is at a complete loss on what to do with this. Do they text hi back? Or do they give you a call? This is just a dumb text.
2. “What are you up to?”. This is a booty call. Everyone knows this is code for you “wanna come over?” Unless, you are actually booty calling, don’t text this, please. It is awkward.
3. Your life updates. Texts that run into two pages and get truncated are best left for email or live talk. Save the play by play weekend update for the next time you see someone.
4. Bad news. If you ran into your friend’s ex and his new hot girlfriend, don’t text the news. Actually, don’t even tell this news. No one stands to gain from this news. Keep your mouth shut and tape your fingers together on this one.
5. I’m up for anything. This only leads to more texting. And this can get costly. Plan with less expensive modes of communication like talking or chat.

Follow these tips and you can prevent thumb arthritis.

What makes my advice relevant? And when is it okay to give advice? Is this what people really need when they come to you to talk?

We can all learn from books how to be more effective, or how to be better in relationships - we can even learn how to be a the next cassanova. But there is no book out there on how to fix it all and get it all right.

Part of giving advice is understanding what someone else is going through - and that is often only because you went though it yourself. But to give advice that is really relevant to them - you have to really understand them - and the nuances of who they are. And how many of your friends can you truly say that about? It can’t be more than 5. To know someone that deeply that you can put yourself in their shoes and give advice taking into consideration who they are, not what you would do - is so difficult. It takes selflessness, many experiences and many many years.

Do I really know what I am doing in life? Probably not. But today I gave myself some great advice.

• Get someone else to do it
• When making them dinner, make sure you don’t burn the pork chops

Welcome to my well calculated, clearly articulated and highly relevant blog!

In no particular order, here they are:

Ms. V-Neck: She is the master persuader. We all know men get distracted by the v-neck and don’t pay attention in meetings. They want to look, but can’t look, but just looked and now must spend the rest of the meeting looking down. But she distracts women as well. I have spent hours sitting across Ms. V-Neck wondering which Victoria Secret bra she is wearing. Is it the Angel? Cuz that one did nothing for me. Is it Wonderbra? Maybe she is wearing the chicken cutlets and, if so, how did she get them to give her so much cleavage? They can’t possibly be real…can they? One hour later, I have managed to turn over 10% of my budget to Ms.V-Neck for a project with a 98% failure rate. Thanks for distracting me to failure, Ms. V-Neck.

Mr. Yes Man: He is unbelievably enthusiastic about a desk job. It’s not because he believes in the product or company vision. It is because he is going to quit. And he doesn’t care. He says yes to everything and even goes as far as putting together spreadsheets and powerpoints to show his enthusiasm. He takes the hardest tasks on the action items list. And then they get delegated to you. He sticks around for months after you just got hired so he can collect his bonus and spreads the Yes love to everyone. And then he leaves skid marks with his exit. Thanks for making me bitter, Mr. Yes Man.

Ms Fidget: It’s so hard to know when to shut up in meetings or if what you said was well received. We have all looked to Ms. Fidget for guidance. If she squirms alot, she is trying to stay awake. If she twitches while you talk, then you know your point is terrible or vague. But Miss Fidget isn’t listening to you. She has gas and is trying not to let one rip. It’s not about you. It’s about the extra helping of broccoli she had for lunch. Thanks for always sitting in front of me, Ms. Fidget.

Mr. Laptop: Usually the techie in the meeting, Mr. Laptop brings his computer into every meeting and constantly looks down typing furiously. You let him do this because he is the technical genius in the room and must be coding, right? You are just so glad to have his expert presence. But we all know that developers code at midnight and in rooms full of twinkie snacks with little ventilation. Mr. Laptop is not listening to you. He thinks all business people are stupid and you especially. He is writing version 4 of an email to some hot girl he wants to date but has no chance with. He is animating his match.com profile to get that edge over the other dudes. He is the next Master Online Pick-Up Artist. And you’re a dumb business person. Thanks for belittling me, Mr. Laptop.

There are so many more that I have to thank - every day at work is a new learning experience for me. But I couldn’t have made it to where I am today - overworked and underpaid - if it wasn’t for these folks.

Thank You.