I Dare You to Read This
I don’t post business or website ideas on this blog as often as I used to, but I’m in the mood to do that today.
Today, for some odd reason, I was thinking about dares. I’m the guy in Truth or Dare who will always accept truth over dare…I’ll tell you anything. Really. But dare me [...]
The Solution
I have a solution to three of the biggest problems facing America today. I’ve shared this idea with several people, and 100% of them agree that it’s an idea.
The three biggest problems I’m talking about:
Obesity
Energy
Unemployment
The solution will require some government spending, but it could be done with private capital as well. Basically, you install stationary [...]
Magic Wands for Everyone
Back in my day, we had laser tag. Then came paintball. Now there’s MagiQuest.
Haven’t heard of MagiQuest? Neither had I until I read an article about it in Wired this month. The basic concept: give a bunch of kids “magic” wands embedded with infrared sensors and send them on a “magical” quest (hence the name–get it? [...]
The Ball Room
You’re going to get in fights with your significant other.
Not physical fights, mind you (at least, I sure hope not). But arguments, disagreements that escalate to the point that verbal jabs are just as hurtful as physical ones.
That’s not to say that arguments need to build to that level. In all the big fights I’ve [...]
What Do Students Keep?
Freshmen move-in at Wash U was today. My organization had a table on campus in the midst of all the students, and so as we planned for this day, we were faced with the challenge of distributing relevant materials in the form of something they wouldn’t promptly throw away.
When I was a student, I remember [...]
Metrics and Rankings
I think that’s one of the more boring subject headers I’ve used for this blog. Honestly, though, I love metrics. I love objective measurements and rankings and ratings.
Today I was part of a conversation at work that involved a company that’s working metrics for ranking Newman Centers (Catholic centers on secular campuses) across the country. [...]
The Most Romantic Cinematic Date Scenes
I’m thinking about embarking on a new project that I will divulge in the near future…but for now, I need your help. When you think of the most romantic, iconic date scenes in movies, what scenes do you think of? I’m looking for specific dates. Some I could see as being in a gray area, [...]
Doglist
When my girlfriend recently visited me for a long weekend, she had to kennel her dog, which cost her over $200. That’s like four meals at Iron Barley (I’m hoping if I namedrop that restaurant enough, they’ll give me free stuff).
This got me thinking: Why isn’t there a craigslist-type service that connects dog owners with [...]
Three's a Crowd
Okay, I had an idea the other day that needs brainstorming. The concept is a restaurant called “Three’s Company.” It’s a restaurant for couples. No table seats more than two people. The menu is built around meals for couples. The ambiance is romantic. And so on.
Obviously I haven’t taken this idea much beyond the basic [...]
TED
Does anyone else watch TED talks? I’ve determined they’re the perfect form of entertainment during lunch when no one else is in the office. I feel smarter after watching them.
TED is an organization that hosts conferences based on the premise that there are brilliant people out there with “ideas worth spreading” (no, I have yet [...]
Random Restaurant Ideas
A friend of mine is thinking about starting a restaurant. If he goes through with it, I’m sure I’ll be posting about it in the future. Sharing in his excitement has made me look back on some of the restaurant ideas I’ve had over the years–some of these are concepts, parts of restaurants, while others [...]
Alert! This Game Is Awesome
The other day I randomly checked my TweetDeck cloud, which shows me the words that are being tweeted the most that moment in the Twitterverse (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little at the overuse of Twitter-related words in that sentence…why are these words in my vocabulary?).
Among the words in the [...]
Airline Add-Ons: A Solution
Recently I was on a flight (Continental) where a meal service was offered. For free. It was such a surprise, and it immediately improved my opinion of the airline.
I was talking to Nancy about how rare it is to have such a service included with flights nowadays. Everything seems to be a bonus that you [...]
Lenten Calendar
You know how there are Advent calendars for the 24 days leading up to Christmas in December? Every day you open a little cardboard door to find a piece of chocolate waiting for you.
For Lent, the season of sacrifices when many people give up candy or treats, there should be a similar 40-day calendar. Except [...]
Summer Internship Application
“I’ve been reviewing Darren’s internship journal. Doing laundry, mending chicken wire, high tea with a Mr. Newman?”
“Well, it all sounds pretty glamorous, but it’s business as usual at Kramerica.”
“Far as I can tell, your entire enterprise is little more than a solitary man with a messy apartment which may or may not contain a chicken.”
“And [...]
Screening Myself
I’ve been getting headaches a lot lately. Growing up, I’d get migraines from time to time, but they went away for the most part. Now I seem to be getting throbbing headaches at least once a month, including several the past week.
Usually my headaches are attributable to something specific, like if I didn’t get enough [...]
The Greatest Company in the World
No, it’s not Google. Or Amazon or Apple or the Shinehart Wig Company.
It’s Ponoko.
Specifically, Ponoko.com. I found out about it while reading Wired magazine last night. The short article posed the question: Have you ever had a great idea but you don’t know how to actually make it?
Ponoko knows how to make it.
Here’s how it [...]
The Cheerleader Channel
I had the good fortune of attending the Redskins-Eagles game yesterday. It wasn’t the most exciting game, but it’s still an incredible experience to attend an NFL game in person.
One of the perks about going to the game is that you can turn your attention to the cheerleaders whenever you’d like. They’re always doing something, [...]
The Original Smoke Alarm S'more Ornament
I don’t have photos for the other ornaments, but here is the recipient of the Most Creative Ornament of 2008/Ever (as mentioned in this blog entry).
The Urban Loincloth
The other day I was talking with a few friends about the movie Last of the Mohicans. One of the girls commented that she really liked the movie because of a few scenes involving Daniel Day-Lewis and his loincloth (note: I did a Google image search for DDL in the loincloth for the blog, but, [...]
A Cure for Hiccups
I was at a wedding the past spring, one of many. At this particular wedding, I was listening to the speeches given by the maid of honor and best man when I started hiccuping. My body shook every few seconds, muscles involuntarily tightening and then loosening. A friend placed her hand on my back to [...]
Dipping Your Pen in the Company Ink
Do you ever think your boss is inept but you can’t talk to anyone at work about for fear it’ll come back around to bite you in the ass? Do you ever hear a rumor about a coworker that you want to share but you take the high road and don’t tell anyone? Have you [...]
The Last Person on Earth
Even though you’ve probably never had this said to you, you’ve heard the expression, “I wouldn’t do X with you if you were the last person on earth” (X usually being some sort of sexual act or light petting). Let’s have X stand for “kiss” for the sake of this blog entry. I wouldn’t kiss [...]
bandwidth.com
Don’t go to the real bandwidth.com. That site sells some sort of phone service, which is a waste of a perfectly decent URL. My idea, below, is much better.
The other day a friend contacted me to tell me that one of my favorite recently-discovered bands, Kings of Leon (upcoming entry on them next week—watch for [...]