Ojai Valley Inn & Spa

Floating in a pool of weightlessness, staring into the vast expanse of mid-summer's starry night sky, while attempting to make out the faint constellations of corona borealis and virgo in the distance, I recalled the joys of an enchanting weekend spent at Ojai's Valley Inn and Spa.

Saturday
Taking a leisurely afternoon drive up Southern California's 101 Highway, the sleepy ranch town of Ojai, California was just a short 2 hour drive away, and a relaxing weekend of golf and massage treatments with my parents awaited. The quiet town tucked secretly into a secluded valley, promptly brought to mind visions of James Hilton's Shangri-la in the Lost Horizon. Passing numerous ranches and stables, we made the turn up the driveway, past the tennis courts and bike trails leading up to the Inn. The service provided by the valet, bellmen, concierge and other attendants was impeccable and soon we were checked in to our beautiful suite adjacent to hole #16 on the course, equipped with a remote control fireplace, fully stocked minibar and a well designed sedona-themed interior.

After settled in and feeling quite famished, we prepared ourselves for the short trek up to the Maravilla for our wonderful dining experience that evening that consisted of various amuses and:

1999 Niebaum-Coppola Rubicon - Rutherford (WS94)

salad
organic baby lettuce & micro greens
young fennel, pixie tangerines red hawk cheese crouton

appetizer
yellowtail & ahi tuna carpaccio
meyer lemon radish salad, sevruga caviar

main course
roasted nebraska corn-fed filet mignon
sonoma foie gras, fingerling potatoes in a petite syrah reduction

Sunday
more to follow...


http://www.ojairesort.com/

2005 Toyota Prius (1 month review)

Its been about a month now since I purchased my 2005 Millennium Silver Toyota Prius, so I thought I'd write a brief review on this technological wonderbread.

Yes. It is true that I've almost quadrupled the mileage I was getting in my SUV and almost quintupled the mileage in my Viper, but I am getting nowhere near the purported 50-60MPG! Talk about false advertisement. And although I am fairly content with the cool gadgetry found in my new car including the wonders of the Smart Key ignition, and GPS Navigation system, this is plain highway robbery. $30K spent for a car that could double as Toast-R-Oven, and nary a luxury feature, I'm beginning to think I might be better off with the new Honda Accord Hybrid. But then, I'll be ''just another Asian" with a Honda Accord.

It is a nice feeling to know that your PZEV vehicle is assisting the Clean Air bill, but there is a real sacrifice in the area of performance. While I'm no longer concerned about sub 4 second 0-60 times, it seems from the grass is always greener perspective, that the Accord Hybrid may be a better all-around buy.

Ok, maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit here, but I am still quite pleased with having a Hybrid. Let's see how I feel in another 3 months.

Now, Discover Your Strengths

Last year our organization underwent a structural re-org if you will, and this book was introduced to the executive leadership as a way of learning your strengths.

Now, Discover Your Strengths

This new management study which encompasses 2 million employees through Gallup from over 100 companies in 60+ countries is definitely worth its $20 dollars. I wish I could just tell you to borrow this from your local library but there is an associated online test, that can only be completed with the purchase of the book so I suggest you go out and buy it so you can discover where you excel.

The reason I bring this up is because of another executive peer review process that we are performing based on UMich's Positive Organizational Scholarship. What is it? A complete waste of time.

More and more I realize the vanity and striving after wind in this mockery we call the corporate world. Welcome to my life. (I just want to go to Africa!)

I'll Never Forget

The flowers fell today and I remembered when you cried. Standing on the solemn hillside under the shaded mulberry trees, the years of late laughters and early smiles came rushing back to mind like the thunder of the crashing waves pounding the jagged cliffs.

It was an empty feeling of solitude and of rest, but nothing could have changed the fact that you were gone. The colored blossoms drifted in full bloom and I clenched my eyes tightly, watching the world turn to black, holding the pain of a lifetime in my heart.

I loved the woman you turned out to be. The unending strength in your smile, and the vigor beneath your skin. You stood for everything virtuous, pure and right in what a woman was meant to be in this world and for that I loved you even more. You had a graceful presence that was as gentle as a child's touch and calm as the windless sea that I felt every time I was near you and yet I still couldn't get enough. Your warm breath on my skin was more intoxicating than wine itself and filled, even in my stupor, I was held amazed at the brilliance you left against backdrop of the night sky.

I laid my hands against your grave and felt a rush of comforting truth touch my heart, similar to the butterflies I had felt many times before, when you would wrap your arms around me. Time seemed to stand still and I counted to eternity, remembering all there was to remember about your love and the years we had shared.

"I'll never forget," were the words you whispered that day you left, when I tried so desperately to wipe the tears that fell from your beautiful face. And even though you had yet to finish, I knew exactly how you felt from just those three words for I felt it too.

"I'll never forget you" my love.

-An original short story by me

Tip of the Week

Several months ago I had the privilege of engaging in private sessions with Eloqui. (www.eloqui.biz) It was by far the best experience I have had in enhancing my public speaking skills. There is such a defined art that goes into the "act" of public speaking that many don't realize. Simply the way the mind reacts to certain visual cues in the cerebral cortex and how there is a natural pattern, relationship and progression to the way we interact with one another is astounding. Too much to go into detail here but here's their tip of the week.

TIP OF THE WEEK:

LIKEABILITY QUOTIENT: There is an approximate honeymoon period of 45 seconds, when the audience decides whether a speaker is interesting and worth listening to. Most speakers waste this window of opportunity with polite generalities, trite phrases or jokes. One of the most effective ways to transition into a successful “marriage” was documented in a study on Impression Management and Interpersonal Behavior assessing a speaker’s “likeability quotient”. The two most important factors were that the speaker revealed something about themselves or their take on a subject in their opening remarks, and the presentation was always tailored to the specific audience.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“CEOs are reluctant to tell stories about themselves. But when you share a bit of yourself with others, you win their trust and affection, and they will more readily buy into what you are promoting.”
James C. Humes (professor of Language and Leadership at the University of Southern Colorado, and
speechwriter for 3 presidents)

WORD OF THE WEEK:

Melliloquent: Speaking harmoniously or sweetly

MANIA OF THE WEEK: (New category)

Gamomania: Obsession with issuing odd marriage proposals


4th of JULY PHOBIA: (Thanks to Mike A.)

Taxidermaphobia: The fear of eating so much you'll leave the table stuffed

Light, Sweet Crude Oil

With NYMEX Crude Oil Futures trading at a RECORD high of over $60/barrel it makes you wonder which backwoods Texan hick came up with the names West Texas Intermediate, Low Sweet Mix, New Mexican Sweet, North/South Texas Sweet and Oklahoma Sweet. With July contracts out of the way, and August (front-month) set to expire next I think the rationale is definitely higher. Sure its the ever supply (30mil OPEC barrels) and demand (84 mil barrels consumed) but when prices were $35/barrel a year ago it makes you wonder why my portfolio isn't heavily vested in oil companies. Profiting from the enemy? Hmm...perhaps a conflict of interest? Jury is out on that one.

ExxonMobil (XOM) - 27.8 Bil income / 276.6 Bil Sales last year
Unocal (UCL) - 1.4 Bil income / 8.3 Bil Sales last year
BP Amoco (BP) - 17.6 Bil income / 298.5 Bil Sales last year
Shell - Royal Dutch Petroleum (RD) - 11.1 Bil income / 159.1 Bil Sales last year
ChevronTexaco (CVX) - 13.4 Bil income in last year / 150.1 Bil Sales last year

Good thing I just bought a Hybrid. Now what to do with my SUV? (And btw, Bush is a very bad man.)

Which brings me to my next diatribe. See this article.

http://www.karmabanque.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=KarmaBoycott&file=boycott&id=22

Bottom line, with Nigeria being the largest oil producer in Africa (8th in the world) and yet remaining one of the poorest countries in the world it is no mere coincidence that since 1959 Shell Oil has extracted $30 billion worth of oil from Ogoniland with nothing but a puppet military dictatorship supressing the Nigerians in return.

http://www.eraction.org/index.php?page=modules&name=articles&action=view&artid=6
http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/nl/page.php?Story_ID=616
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/nigeria.html

Silver Screen

There has always been something alluring and enchanting about the cinema, in particular watching a beautifully scripted story unfold on the silver screen. In the darkness of a dimly lit theater, you can slip away from the cares and worries of the day, and if only just for a few hours, be transported to a place not so far from home.

These movies hold no particular cinematic accolades or acclaim but are strictly for entertainment and nostalgic value.

Arranged in no particular order.

Somewhere In Time

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Game

The Matrix

The Princess Bride

The Sound of Music

Top Gun

Quiksilver

Meet Joe Black

K2

Memories

I tried to forget it all, but the memories kept seeping into my conscious mind like an acid leak of an old battery. The scents and sounds that echoed a constant beat within, especially her face etched so clearly now in my thoughts, was a painful reminder of a past not so long forgotten. Oh, what a beautiful face. The long sleek jawline that framed an angelic contour hidden beneath a lurid flame was more than I wanted to remember. But even though the years passed, it was as fresh as a battle wound in the killing fields.

Our younger days were kind to us, especially since I watched her grow through the years. The elaborate dresses that seemed more appropriate on a porcelain doll, eventually transformed into the modern haute couture fashions of the day. Our passing fancy even gradually found its niche from a casual friendship into a romantic love unlike any other. And soon the days became brighter than the desert heat on a hot summer day.

Love is a powerful thing that when held under it grips, a bond so tight would form that not even the gravity of the sun and moon could affect its tide. On a rare occasion though, a disaster so immense could strike, bleeding to the very core of anything considered beautiful. And as the drops fell to the ground, I could see a part of me vanish, watching a lifetime of love, flow like sands from a broken hourglass into the gutter on its way to the barren sea.

I sat and watched as love divided from itself, fell like a withered tree swaying helplessly against the gale. I tried with all my might to save it from falling, to save a thing of beauty, but not even the hands of God could pull this love back to the shore, for it was gone, and I was left alone in a desert of solitude, left to recall all the moments that I tried so dearly to forget. Even the moments of beauty, for when they leave, a haunting dark shadow replaces the once soft, sweet amber glow of yesteryear.

The days grow clearer now, without the grey skies hovering above in familiar fashion. And although my thoughts still tend to revisit the distant past, the future radiates a warmer sense of comfort. A warmer sense of serenity. There are even days when the sun beats warmly against my tired face and I smile, while clutching my chest, knowing that my heart is still whole despite the ravages of time.