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Ramble

William Goldman, Charles Ponzi, and incense sticks - I crashed early last night since my brain essentially turned off from all the various things I'm working on. The.... December 18, 2008 6:19 AM

This is how you make a LOT of money... - If you - like the rest of the world - were wondering where the US Govt bailout money is coming.... December 3, 2008 1:04 PM

"Drill, baby, drill!" - Now that the shock has warn off, writers are starting to roll up their sleeves and get busy on Palin..... September 9, 2008 7:35 PM

Taiwan tea girls - Turns out that while I'm showering people with tea in an elevator in Shanghai, my buddies are having a tea.... July 21, 2008 4:33 PM

Green tea shower - So I'm standing there in a packed elevator, computer bag on my shoulder, with a nice cold 统一 green tea.... July 17, 2008 5:13 PM

Small distraction - Monday 11:45am. I already needed to get out of the office. Everything was bugging me. My neck was bugging me.... July 8, 2008 12:06 AM

Goob Ama? - Managed to grab this quick shot on the way to SFO airport..... May 28, 2008 5:17 PM

Twitterpated - I ran into Kaiser and Paul at their personal Starbucks over at Wanda in Beijing, and they were telling me.... April 27, 2008 1:39 PM

20 years and a snack - I'm having a little private celebration today, sitting in a hotel room in Beijing, waiting for a train. Today marks.... April 22, 2008 6:45 PM

Presencing: Mapping our World in 2030 - Today was my first time to Three on the Bund. I wanted to get a chance to hear the famous.... March 14, 2008 9:19 PM

The Breezer - I was at a friend's house the other day who builds bikes, snowboards, baseball bats, hockey sticks, etc, and he.... August 18, 2007 2:27 PM

If you ever wanted to know what our troops eat while getting shot at... - I was scavaging around the house for something to eat tonight, and discovered this MRE (Meal, Ready to Eat) I.... August 9, 2007 7:33 PM

Elmore Leonard's 10 tips for writers after the Digital Millennium Copyright Act - I got back after a long China trip, and was going through my 6-inch stack of bills, and found a.... August 8, 2007 1:37 PM

Where are the new little guys? - I found this interesting snippet of information while reading up on the TechSearch vs Intel case, written by Ray Niro.... August 3, 2007 10:46 AM

How obvious is obvious? - KSR v. Teleflex: The Supreme Court's Big Patent Ruling This is a really really big deal, as it's at the.... July 28, 2007 2:07 PM

Book trade - I normally make a habit of passing on books after I read them. Sometimes I give them to the guy.... June 25, 2007 1:04 AM

Who was that guy? - After way too many years, I'm getting rid of all my old books. While thumbing through a copy of Hagakure.... June 24, 2007 11:03 PM

Old skier dude - I went skiing for the first time in 20 years the other day on Mammoth Mountain in Sierra Nevada. It.... May 25, 2007 6:58 PM

Killer IP - This fantastic patented new technology has increased my efficiency three fold. I can't recommend it highly enough..... February 5, 2007 3:28 PM

Baseball caps - Em is my DJ friend in Beijing, and invariably we spend a lot of time cruising around in his environment.... February 4, 2007 12:26 PM

הלְּלוּיָהּ - I heard a word today I haven't heard in a while. Someone was saying something in Chinese, and then said.... January 21, 2007 1:13 PM

Pieces - A band came in tonight, and pieces of my drum set started flying off. I knew I was in trouble.... January 20, 2007 1:43 AM

Something about beer that Evan and I were contemplating while sucking down several - Standard Tree sized serving of Qing Dao beer is 550ml 550ml = 18oz (regular 12oz beer plus a half) Therefore,.... December 21, 2006 5:05 PM

A jog in the park - It was a nice day and we decided that we should take a jog, so I called my friend James,.... October 12, 2006 12:28 PM

Old guys on a roof - Last night I went over to Ritan Park to attend a friend of a friend's birthday gathering. It was a.... October 1, 2006 3:18 PM

Yak Yak - Today I had a bunch of angry people calling and yacking at me about a problem caused by someone else,.... September 10, 2006 7:33 PM

You need your head examined... - Ok, a few months ago I was diagnosed with some wierd blood restriction to my head. Ahem, not that head....... April 18, 2006 2:55 PM

Once in a blue moon - If you are still up at 1:00am this coming Wednesday, consider this: On Wednesday of next week, at two minutes.... April 1, 2006 1:17 PM

Are you sure? - Today I was working behind the bar, and I got the standard oldtime newbie young Chinese drinker request, "Can you.... February 28, 2006 9:54 PM

Maybe I'm missing something - Irene and I love going to movies. We always just show up, pick the one that's showing next, and.... February 3, 2006 2:06 AM

David's Concert - Saturday night I went to David Tao's concert. Irene had a few box seat tickets that the producer gave her.... January 25, 2006 3:31 AM

Fix it guy - I've been kind of busy on a variety of projects. Mostly fixing broken stuff. Every three months or so stuff.... January 11, 2006 1:52 PM

Nice intimate Christmas - A few weeks ago, a group of French friends were at the Living Room, and I saw a familiar face,.... December 26, 2005 11:29 AM

Limbo day - Today is one of those weird days that just sort of hangs in limbo. I had to dig through five.... November 8, 2005 2:12 PM

Our third dog - Meet Tress... She's the one on the left. Her sister is at Steve's house, and her name is Heather. Their.... October 18, 2005 1:19 AM

Damn that's hot - Paul finally convinced me to try his daily dose of cayenne pepper treatment after showing up at the club with.... September 14, 2005 2:06 AM

Sorry, I didn't hear you... - Can't believe it's already September. Turning the corner into the last lap before New Year. I used to try to.... September 4, 2005 10:57 AM

On the road... - Not much online time as "wireless internet" does not rhyme with "Motel 6." This long overdue trip is winding down.... July 22, 2005 11:48 AM

Sheeeet! It's ain't hot - Texas is a BIG state. 5 hours of driving and a night at Motel 6 later, I'm sitting in Austin,.... July 8, 2005 9:41 AM

Big 4-0 - I got four really nice gifts on my 40th birthday. 1) I was walking my dogs, and found 6 balls.... June 19, 2005 10:24 PM

Inside smile - Running a club, I meet a lot of people I normally wouldn't in daily life. I get to feel the.... June 10, 2005 1:33 PM

On Being American - When people ask me where I'm from, I say the US. Even though I was born in Japan, and am.... April 8, 2005 1:35 PM

Unalaska is as Untaiwan as you can get - My "little sister" Laurie lives in Unalaska, which is in the Aleutian Islands. Looking at the photo she sent me.... February 6, 2005 2:10 PM

The gift of gab - An interesting night. I probably spoke more English tonight than I have in 6 months. Mostly foreigners in the club.... November 13, 2004 3:14 AM

A picture speaks a thousand words - . November 12, 2004 10:51 AM

Nothing is so difficult... - We've been hosting the Wordplay night at the Living Room, which is quite popular. They even got me to contribute.... November 10, 2004 4:41 PM

You can usually find what you want... - ...if you can @%!*ing SPELL! Someone on my site is searching for "dialated peoples" and a "getto superstar". 64.63.220.109 Search:.... November 4, 2004 1:43 PM

A lot of good this does me in Taiwan... - This just goes to show how fucked the electoral process is. I was desparate to get my vote in and.... November 1, 2004 9:21 PM

She'll get over it... - I told Maria to stop calling me, that it was over for real this time. I was going back.... October 24, 2004 4:21 AM

200.23.9.90 - This entry in my search logs was kind of funny in a geeky sort of way... 2004.09.06 21:47:27 200.23.9.90 Search:.... October 6, 2004 4:38 AM

My geeky happiness - Some people get happiness from money, or sexual conquest, or big face, or shopping, or travel. My happiness arrived yesterday.... September 4, 2004 3:58 AM

Q3 report - Summer flies by so fast when you're old. A few weeks. A few issues. A few typhoons, and you're rounding.... August 29, 2004 6:29 PM

Ditto Wall - It's time for everyone to meet the new kid... Breakfast in the garden Hangin' with brother Cho Cho.... August 3, 2004 2:37 AM

The eyes are opening... - Something odd is happening to me. I'm actually interested in things that are not directly related to what I normally.... July 25, 2004 9:36 PM

Greasy chicken gravy - I've been so lazy. Never let myself get so out of shape. For a while there, I was doing 2K.... June 30, 2004 11:51 AM

Goodnight sweet Monday - Very sad day here at the Wall residence. Monday, our family cat member, loyal and loving colleague, who has.... June 21, 2004 11:16 PM

MS is BS if you ask me - This is actually for real. Windows Media Player Error Message Help "You've encountered error message C00D11CD while using Windows Media.... June 20, 2004 11:03 PM

Next career move - I didn't get the job for the male gogo dancer, even though I bought a new leopard spot G for.... June 13, 2004 4:59 AM

Floating away - This is one of those weird floating days. I woke up and floated out of bed, and got some nagging.... June 1, 2004 2:03 AM

Sam the man - In one of those Samuel Beckett books I read when I was in my beret phase of life -- I.... May 25, 2004 4:26 AM

Mini Bars, zombies, and Iggy Pop - Interesting things of note this week: I discovered that sleep does not equal rest. A few nights ago, I relived.... April 29, 2004 3:06 AM

The stress is getting heavy when... - It lingers in the back of your neck. A throbbing pain like someone with a big fat hand karate.... April 16, 2004 2:12 AM

They used to call it character - Man oh man oh man... Another late night. Getting to be habitual. This club owner life is hard sometimes. Even.... April 3, 2004 3:09 AM

Spam as vocabulary lesson - Sometimes I get a spam with such an interesting subject that I just have to take a look....... March 27, 2004 4:50 PM

Bad cartoon - Three irritating things about business communication in Taiwan: 1) I always feel so frustrated with the way people insist on.... March 19, 2004 4:44 AM

K9 works - I've been using this spam filter called K9 for a few months now. I got tired of digging through.... March 11, 2004 1:05 PM

Corbett's 10 reasons why walking the dog is therapeutic - 1) Dogs have a soul, and they need to get out of the house too 2) The coffee shop is.... February 29, 2004 7:45 PM

Elmore Leonard's 10 tips for writers - As I've been asked to take this information off of my site, please contact Beth Neelman Silfin, Associate General Counsel.... February 29, 2004 7:22 PM

"Oh my god! There's an axe in my head!" - Today instead of taking my dog out for a walk, I learned how to say, "Oh my god! There's an.... February 28, 2004 1:08 PM

Beard thang - OMG, I'm turning into a hippie. First, the hair started getting longer. I figured not many 38 yr olds had.... February 25, 2004 2:47 PM

Ah-Bien says... - TIME: If you lose the election and the KMT takes the government, how bad would that be for Taiwan? CHEN:.... February 20, 2004 4:27 AM

Support my friend Scott! - Scott's book blurb: You have all probably heard me mention in the past year that I have been working.... February 19, 2004 4:05 PM

Richard W. Hartzell - Uncovering the Truth of the Taiwan Status by Richard W Hartzell As most people know, at the present time Taiwan.... February 19, 2004 3:58 AM

Blue skies shining on me... - When the weather's nice like recently, and you can actually see the blue sky, and feel the sun all.... February 16, 2004 11:39 AM

Project mode - Chinese NY has passed, it's still damned cold, and I haven't been writing. I've been in that slow organizational self.... February 7, 2004 3:22 PM

Free site design offer to Edward De Bono, Part 3 - Dear Mr. De Bono, Thank you very much for your reply. Regarding your website issue, here's how I am approaching.... January 23, 2004 1:39 AM

Free site design offer to Edward De Bono, Part 2 - From: "Peter de Bono" To: "Corbett" Subject: Re: inquiry from Taiwan Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 11:20 PM Corbett A.... January 22, 2004 1:02 PM

Free site design offer to Edward De Bono - Dear Sirs: Having read many of the De Bono books, his biography, and having applied his thinking techniques to my.... January 21, 2004 4:38 PM

Trains, guitars, tall guys - JP stopped by this evening to say hi. He had a great close to his year. On 12/31/03 Alcatel just.... January 10, 2004 2:50 AM

Privacy Shmivacy - I posted an entry about a buddy of mine who is a wimpy basketball player, and has this really awesome.... January 9, 2004 6:04 PM

Salamander stories: Part 1 - Salamander cried when he saw the outcome. The Jets were ahead by 17. "Shit. Fuck. What is this disaster? I've.... January 4, 2004 10:54 PM

Some people say... - ...that blogging creates a virtual community. A veritable festival of interpersonal relationships in cyberspace. I'm not so sure about that..... December 30, 2003 11:41 AM

Nice Christmas - We're not big Christmas people. Some gifts, usually a dinner, but without all the frustrations most families go through this.... December 26, 2003 1:51 PM

Desk check - - Jack Daniels on the rocks (double) - Panasonic boom box transferring to digital a lo-fi recording of last night's.... December 12, 2003 9:16 PM

Old - You know you are old when you get home at 4am and still find discipline to get up at 8am...just.... December 5, 2003 8:20 AM

Forever stuck in Dmin7 - The other day, Greg asked me where I draw improvisational ideas from. Then another musician friend, Hamish, and I were.... December 2, 2003 9:43 PM

The Cold - This is going to be one of those, "Oh no, he's actually saying how he feels..." blogs. Fair warning. I.... November 17, 2003 8:42 PM

Happy Birthday Grandpa! - Today is my Grandfather's birthday. He was born in 1894, and would have been 109 if he was still here..... November 3, 2003 7:24 PM

I want I want I want - . October 30, 2003 3:33 PM

I can speak French - My friend JP just sent me proof that I can speak French! Hi Corbett, I just read in "Taiwan Aujourd'hui".... October 25, 2003 1:50 AM

Who is E. Lynn Schoenmann? - Sometimes you get a piece of mail that just makes no sense. Today a piece of mail from a SF.... October 25, 2003 1:41 AM

Need sleep - Need sleep so badly. Still, even when I go to the hot springs at midnight, collapse like a mummy into.... October 22, 2003 6:55 AM

Yoshi loves Benji - My friend Benji is a great guy. Unfortunately, his dog Yoshi thinks differently....... October 15, 2003 5:57 PM

5am blues - Just closing up after a late night of NY House DJ mixing at the Living Room. We broke in our.... October 12, 2003 5:24 AM

Big Wedding - Last night the son of the Fitel mobile group got married. His mom wanted me to play some songs as.... October 11, 2003 1:59 PM

Win XP security? - Problem: Today I got to the office and needed a login password for an XP box in order to get.... October 2, 2003 4:10 PM

He's not heavy, he's just doing business - There's something unsettling about seeing yourself change. Feeling it ooze over you like a dark shadow. I used to be.... September 19, 2003 2:53 AM

Bert is getting a job! - My friend Bert knows a lot of things. He has a lot of initials after his name. He can order.... August 28, 2003 8:51 PM

Interesting combo - Chris just sent me a wonderful care package. A book entitled, Start Up, which is about the rise and fall.... August 25, 2003 1:44 PM

Moblog ate my weekend - Getting my Panasonic GD88 phone to take a picture and post it on my blog ate away most of my.... August 13, 2003 7:11 PM

go godzilla - hey don't piss off my new girlfriend! I didn't know "G" was a girl. there's a lot yo don know.... August 5, 2003 11:06 PM

Redhat 9.0 - Cool. Now we are up to date. if there's any weirdness, just let me know....... August 2, 2003 12:57 PM

Aging Half Japanese White Men Can't Jump - I brought my friend J (that famous singer guy) over to my weekly tennis set with Alvin and the boys..... July 20, 2003 12:16 AM

Sucky tennis - I've partnered up with some new keep-in-shape friends; Alvin and Dr. Feng. It's very hard in Taiwan to find friends.... July 13, 2003 12:44 AM

Tazmanian Decisions - I'm sitting in Ben's office sweating my ass off after losing a whole day to moving crap out of the.... July 11, 2003 11:20 PM

Musicians vs Programmers - After working closely with programmers now for the past 4 years, I realize that they are essentially the same as.... June 24, 2003 11:55 PM

A Story By Daphne and Dirkfy - Dirkfy is my godson, and Daphne is his older sister. They come over on weekends to terrorize our pets, play.... June 21, 2003 1:03 PM

The better stroke - I was playing basketball the other day with my buddy J (he's kind of a famous person so I can't.... June 14, 2003 3:33 AM

Juergen and the German sausage feast - My neighbor Juergen is the German cultural ambassador in Taiwan. He's also my hot spring partner, but tonight it was.... May 30, 2003 12:05 AM

Bad driving mojo - The stars are against me this week. The Chinese have a word, pronounced "daomei," which sort of means "cursed by.... May 19, 2003 4:11 PM

Chris has too much coffee, man - We've all felt this way during a deadline... Thanks to ChrisTofu.... May 4, 2003 9:08 PM

Guess who I met at Hooters? - What's scarier? Being caught at Hooter's or seeing Saddam there as well?.... April 10, 2003 3:17 PM

I guess we all grow up sometime - The image I have in my mind of Charlotte Church is of a little young church girl who has this.... April 9, 2003 12:14 PM

A married guy sent me this... - I thought I was the only one who heard things differently..... April 1, 2003 10:21 AM

Judy has a bad hair day - How about this for a horrible situation? My friend Judy was doing a typical Monday night girl thing, conditioning her.... March 31, 2003 11:51 PM

Broke up with the old server - That was a tragic experience. I've been running several sites on an old 200MMX platform which has been the most.... March 28, 2003 12:41 PM

When your 80 yr old father visits... - ...and you haven't seen him in 16 years, what do you do? Of course you take him to have a.... March 6, 2003 9:07 PM

A fantastic new leap for wireless technology! - This is amazing. Never lose your cat again! Or your car keys! Who needs Bluetooth or WiFi? This is serious.... March 4, 2003 6:40 PM

I need to learn from Warren Buffet - You really need to admire a man whose holdings are worth some 26 billion, has been right about everything for.... March 4, 2003 9:51 AM

Long lost Dad - This should be a very interesting week. My father will be visiting me for a while. For most people this.... March 4, 2003 7:16 AM

My trip to Oz - Spent the week in Oz, checked out the funny boys on Oxford St., went up to Port Stevens for some.... March 2, 2003 1:46 AM

Hands in the air - Sometimes when you fly and you are cooped up in that horrible tin can for hours, you just have to.... February 18, 2003 9:55 PM

Go Die Mate! - Australia must be a cool place. Besides kangaroos, Men at Work, and Nicole Kidman, you can even get your visa.... February 17, 2003 4:54 PM

Nigeria needs my help - Only I can help poor Ige reclaim his 700 million... Dear Sir, From: LANRE IGE I am Lanre Ige, the.... February 12, 2003 11:01 AM

Tough call - So you've been dating this girl for about 3 weeks. Everything seems to be going ok. College, decent job, cute,.... February 7, 2003 9:48 AM

16c is easy - And I thought 17c was cold...Man, 16c is a definite heart stopper. Managed to get through 30 frigid laps before.... January 26, 2003 12:41 AM

Do dogs have soul? - Well, according to my good friend B's hot Costa Rican girlfriend from the Hamptons, the answer is a definitive no..... January 23, 2003 5:26 PM

The Blog has landed - Hey, we're live here. This is the official launch of 3q2u.com!!.... January 22, 2003 4:18 PM

Anna dropped by - Anna dropped by again this weekend. She sure was hungry! We spend a couple days at the beach... Then went.... January 21, 2003 7:46 PM

17c is not too bad - Brrrr. It took a few minutes of just standing there in the cold swimming pool wondering if I had the.... January 21, 2003 1:35 PM

Even judges are on crack - Maybe he thought that Gregory Taylor should have some good free institutional home cooking for 25 years....... December 23, 2002 11:58 PM

I'm just mad about writing - Ever feel all pissed off, and frustrated, and undersexed, and like you want to rip someone's eyeballs out? This guy.... December 23, 2002 11:44 PM

Yummy Santa Poo... - . December 19, 2002 9:41 PM

Names - I wonder if these names will sound corny in 30 years? These are the top 10 names for 2001 based.... December 5, 2002 12:06 AM

Volvic vs Evian - Did you ever stop to wonder why we started drinking bottled water? This occurs to me each time I dish.... November 20, 2002 9:14 PM