creative riff

Stuff. Blended. A blog for the age(s).

In case you didn’t read my earlier post about the Aeropress coffee maker last week, this is an example of some damn good coffee. Brewed a 15 ounce cup today of Cafe Americano… essentially the same as a triple expresso. Woooo! Seriously, everyone should pick one of these coffee presses up. $26 on Amazon.com with a bonus 250 filters.… Continue reading

Weirdness

April 9, 2010 Celebration, Jobs, Sigh Comments

Tonight I found out that a “friend” buddy of mine from UNC won Sony’s Playstation Tester reality show. The contestant, Cyrus, or Will Powers went from being a waiter to now a video game tester after a series of events that have little to do with any kind of real skills or abilities a video game tester needs.

So what exactly does a video game tester do you ask? They are the people who sit in cramped cubicles and play early/unfinished builds of video games for hours on end for minimum wage. I repeat minimum wage. How many jobs can you think of that have the audacity to pay you $7.25/hour? I can count them… Continue reading

So spring is officially here. It greeted me this afternoon with a thick coat of pollen the color of mucus (no sniffles here yet). Also, the oak tree in my yard is spreading sap all over the place leading to sticky stepping stones out to the street.

Anyway, this evening I was hosing the worst of the weekend’s “seasons greetings” off of my car when I thought to myself, “Am I washing my car because it is still new (a 2006 Lexus but I acquired it one year ago this April) or will that wear off after some number of years?” What is that point in time when you look out to your old car and think… Continue reading

Lordy me, it’s Easter. I think the website is officially 1 year 1 month and 1 day old at this point. Things have changed dramatically from last year. I had just gotten back from Florence, Italy, and was living back in the dorms for a semester my senior year as I was scrambling to apply to a number of ad schools. Yes, that was my take on what these schools were for.

Now, I have two bedrooms and I am student at the VCU Brandcenter in communications strategy. 2009 already seems like it was eons ago. Yet, I feel like I have grown a ton over the past six months here in Richmond. I am now an loyal podcast/NPR… Continue reading

This is what greeted me yesterday when I opened my computer after napping all afternoon (hangovers are fun).

It is crazy to believe that I have been an eBay member since July 14, 2003. Back then everything had to come in my mom’s name since I did not have a debit or credit card.

To recap here are the items that pushed me over to the 100 feedback milestone this Christmas break:

-7 For All Mankind “Dojo” Women’s Jeans (sister wanted them)

-Armani Code by Georgio Armani Mens 2.5 Oz. Tester Bottle

-Burberry London for Men Spray 3 Oz.

-American Ninja

As follows (thought I would put them in writing this year):

-Floss more (figure it out for yourself)

-Move my lard-ass self off of the couch

-Find love

-Learn some new bass scales

Future Resolutions

-Host/guest on a podcast before I die

-Actually read books again

-Buy a new pair of in-line skates and not look like a sordid mess wearing them (impossible)

-Learn how to bake pies better

It has been a long time coming. Hi, I am back in the saddle again. The first semester at the VCU Brandcenter is long over and I am beginning to take back the physical detriment it caused my body. Weight gain aside, I am becoming so much more involved in the advertising process.

So where does that leave me for the second semester? Longing for some NBA Jam. Yes, the game franchise that began on SEGA Genesis has had more staying power than anything else I have encountered over the past month. Fans of Saturday Night Live will remember Andy Samburg’s turn as a victim of ADD (“Automatic Death Disease”) fulfilling his wish to commentate a professional basketball or football… Continue reading

wallstreetgekko-440x286Aptly titled “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps,” Oliver Stone is set to shoot the sequel to his movie that glorified excessive greed to some, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). To others it was a warning of the toll trading can take on an unwitting stock broker Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen).

Stone laments how the first film resonated Continue reading

Out of the office

September 4, 2009 Celebration, Google, Headline, Moi Comments

Pee-Wee-755784It sure has been awhile since I last checked into the office. Basically half a month to be exact. My excuse: stealing a wireless signal in muggy Richmond makes one look more than a little suspicious. Now that I have had working Internet (I like how I think of it like running water) for over a week now, I have had no excuse for abandoning my infant. Or is this thing a toddler now (the website is 5 months old now)? I thought I would upload some pictures of my blog’s analytics.

So here is my built-in blog stats generator:

Picture 1

Man, September… Continue reading

avatar_grin

They say there are two constants in life: death and taxes, so when the Internal Revenue Service decides to invade the virtual computer massively multiplayer online [MMO] game known as Second Life a few heads should turn (as well as a few eyes start rolling).

Virtual Worlds & Social Networking Project Manager Frank Stripe said, “In 2008, the IRS project team established a presence in the Second Life virtual world with the goal of exploring the potential use of this environment for recruitment and training purposes. The team has created the IRS Careers Island and constructed a sky platform with an IRS Careers Center and an IRS Education Center. A number of building