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Taylor

Work

Adventures

Book and Movie Reviews

Taylor

9/21 - A couple of weeks ago, we went to a birthday party. See pictures from the party.

10/25 - Taylor and Dada have their pictures appear in the Orange County Register. Taylor's favorite video is "Charlotte's Web," closely followed by the entire Winnie-the-Pooh collection. She also enjoys "Teletubbies", a British children's TV show, and the ubiquitous Barney. She also shares a keen interest in dinosaurs with her Dad.

She went to Knott's Berry Farm this month with her Mom. The pictures should be available in the next update.

She has also learned that "Five minutes" (holding up her five fingers) is the best answer to Dad or Mom telling her it's time to go to bed, have dinner, get dressed, etc.

12/14 - In the past couple of months, Taylor has learned a host of strategies to insure that she gets her way most of the time. Cheryl and I are amused by most of them, and are secretly pleased that she's clever enough to figure these little ploys out on her own. In order of effectiveness:

When being told to do something undesirable (to her), she pretends she cannot hear us and goes on doing whatever without acknowledging that we are speaking to her. At worse, will result in her and I having a "talk" - I pick her up, and ask her questions until she answers "I understand."

When in public and requiring attention, she will say, "Daddy/Mimi... I miss you!" A sure fire parent-pleaser.

When wanting to eat of our plates, she will hover over us, pointing and asking, "What's that?" until we are feeding her a la carte on demand.

When caught red-handed misbehaving, will attempt to assert control of situation, as in "Daddy, sit down" or "Shh, Daddy, be quiet" or (best one yet) "Daddy, I'm busy."

I also took her to her first movie this month: A Bug's Life. She did great, considering that when the previews were showing, she commanded me in a loud voice, "Daddy, fast-forward" (sounds like "fas fowd".) She sat on my lap and watched quietly for the first 30 minutes. Then, overcoming the unfamiliar environment, she had to stand in front of me and move about for the next 20 minutes, with a couple of breaks of sitting in my lap to drink bottle. She was especially enthralled by a scene where a bird is trying to catch/eat the bugs in the movie. The last 10 minutes, she lost all most of her interest in the movie, and was checking out the view from the aisle, watching the other kids in the place, and investigating the light strip that runs along the floor of the theatre. We left with about 10 - 15 mins. left in the movie, but considering it a relatively successful trip.

Work

9/23 - Went to a fund manager presentation at the Beverly Hills Peninsula this afternoon. Very swanky hotel. Apparently, its one of the top hotels for Hollywood fat cat sugar daddys to meet their much younger girlfriends or mistresses. Secluded bungalows all over the place. Heavy emphasis on the color white.

Presentations were interesting, if technical - Enhanced Indexing Strategies. The funny thing was that the presenters were all from the mid-west but they were all wierder than the guys from California (well, most of them.) The first guy gave his whole presentation dressed in this really cheap Superman outfit, except he was Alphaman. At the end, he gave put on an elaborate multimedia show that featured animated Mr. Potato Heads singing "Alpha, alphaman" to the tune of the Village People's Macho Man. Scary thing: this guy is in charge of a $3+ Billion pension fund at Amoco, the oil company.

The second presenter was the CFO of a large airline. He complained about everything - the pilots, his benefits committee, the consultants, the fund managers - while mentioning about 50 times that his compensation was directly linked to the performance of the pension fund. Someone should introduce him to Lucio Tan, or the head of Palea.

Then the head of the company sponsoring the seminar spoke about how he got his start in the investment business by reading a book that taught you how to make money playing Black Jack. Perfect. Just the sort I'd like to stick my retirement funds with.

10/25 - Started Japanese lessons at work. We're learning the Berlitz Method, which roughly translates as "Hooked on Phonics." We learn absolutely no grammar or basic rules. The emphasis is on repeating basic phrases and learning how to "sound" Japanese. It



		*NEWS*
		Topics: Taylor Work Adventures Book and Movie Reviews Taylor 9/21 - A couple of weeks ago, we went to a birthday party. See pictures from the party. 10/25 - Taylor and Dada have their pictures appear in the Orange County Register. Taylor's favorite video is "Charlotte's Web," closely followed by the entire Winnie-the-Pooh collection. She also enjoys "Teletubbies", a British children's TV show, and the ubiquitous Barney. She also shares a keen interest in dinosaurs with her Dad. She went to Knott's Berry Farm this month with her Mom. The pictures should be available in the next update. She has also learned that "Five minutes" (holding up her five fingers) is the best answer to Dad or Mom telling her it's time to go to bed, have dinner, get dressed, etc. 12/14 - In the past couple of months, Taylor has learned a host of strategies to insure that she gets her way most of the time. Cheryl and I are amused by most of them, and are secretly pleased that she's clever enough to figure these little ploys out on her own. In order of effectiveness: When being told to do something undesirable (to her), she pretends she cannot hear us and goes on doing whatever without acknowledging that we are speaking to her. At worse, will result in her and I having a "talk" - I pick her up, and ask her questions until she answers "I understand." When in public and requiring attention, she will say, "Daddy/Mimi... I miss you!" A sure fire parent-pleaser. When wanting to eat of our plates, she will hover over us, pointing and asking, "What's that?" until we are feeding her a la carte on demand. When caught red-handed misbehaving, will attempt to assert control of situation, as in "Daddy, sit down" or "Shh, Daddy, be quiet" or (best one yet) "Daddy, I'm busy." I also took her to her first movie this month: A Bug's Life. She did great, considering that when the previews were showing, she commanded me in a loud voice, "Daddy, fast-forward" (sounds like "fas fowd".) She sat on my lap and watched quietly for the first 30 minutes. Then, overcoming the unfamiliar environment, she had to stand in front of me and move about for the next 20 minutes, with a couple of breaks of sitting in my lap to drink bottle. She was especially enthralled by a scene where a bird is trying to catch/eat the bugs in the movie. The last 10 minutes, she lost all most of her interest in the movie, and was checking out the view from the aisle, watching the other kids in the place, and investigating the light strip that runs along the floor of the theatre. We left with about 10 - 15 mins. left in the movie, but considering it a relatively successful trip. Work 9/23 - Went to a fund manager presentation at the Beverly Hills Peninsula this afternoon. Very swanky hotel. Apparently, its one of the top hotels for Hollywood fat cat sugar daddys to meet their much younger girlfriends or mistresses. Secluded bungalows all over the place. Heavy emphasis on the color white. Presentations were interesting, if technical - Enhanced Indexing Strategies. The funny thing was that the presenters were all from the mid-west but they were all wierder than the guys from California (well, most of them.) The first guy gave his whole presentation dressed in this really cheap Superman outfit, except he was Alphaman. At the end, he gave put on an elaborate multimedia show that featured animated Mr. Potato Heads singing "Alpha, alphaman" to the tune of the Village People's Macho Man. Scary thing: this guy is in charge of a $3+ Billion pension fund at Amoco, the oil company. The second presenter was the CFO of a large airline. He complained about everything - the pilots, his benefits committee, the consultants, the fund managers - while mentioning about 50 times that his compensation was directly linked to the performance of the pension fund. Someone should introduce him to Lucio Tan, or the head of Palea. Then the head of the company sponsoring the seminar spoke about how he got his start in the investment business by reading a book that taught you how to make money playing Black Jack. Perfect. Just the sort I'd like to stick my retirement funds with. 10/25 - Started Japanese lessons at work. We're learning the Berlitz Method, which roughly translates as "Hooked on Phonics." We learn absolutely no grammar or basic rules. The emphasis is on repeating basic phrases and learning how to "sound" Japanese. It