Mr Al Young Dot Com

A few months ago my daughter Mia was in her first wedding as a flower girl. She did well but did not smile which was almost too much to ask for.  We were happy that she just fulfilled her duties.  Here is a professional picture taken of her by professional photographer Eric Fung. You can find great pictures of the wedding here. Although Mia is not smiling, I think this picture captures her mood well.  She is not smiling but also not scared.  Just focused and businesslike with her “game face” on  and with Dad looking on behind her hoping for the best.

Happy New Year.  Just 3 days into the new year I already had a first time experience.   It was the first time I have ever been invited to a wedding ………on less than 24 hours notice. On Friday night we got a call inviting us to a wedding the next day.  The next day???   I was already in my pajamas.  Most people would be insulted by such a late invitation, but my wife quickly accepted and we had to go.   I wasn’t insulted but didn’t really want to go to a wedding especially a last minute one.  Since my wife already accepted the invitation,  I had no choice but to quickly make childcare plans for the next day and we were set.

I’m no expert on wedding etiquette but I’m pretty sure inviting someone with 19 hours notice breaks all the rules of etiquette and wedding planning.  To be fair it was a wedding planned on fairly short notice and supposed to be a small gathering of friends and family only.  The groom and family is also long time friends of  my wife.  So obviously they felt comfortable extending an invitation on short notice.  It was also the second wedding for both the groom and bride if that makes any difference in wedding etiquette.

The wedding itself was very nice and I’m glad I went.  It had all the ingredients of a good wedding.

1. Short ceremony
2. Open bar
3. Excellent Food:  It was a catered buffet and it was good.  The highlight was the bacon wrapped fillet Mignon done just right.  Contrary to popular opinion weddings are all about the food not the bride.  A few days later I don’t even remember what the bride looked like but the sight of the expansive buffet and bacon wrapped around the beef still lingers in my memory……beautiful.

My only concern was that they would run out of food on me since we got invited so late.  Who knows how many other people got invited at the last minute?   Probably just us.  As it turned out thee was plenty of food.  While I know that it is not considered good form to make such a last minute invitation, this situation brings up a few other etiquette questions for me such as:

• When someone invites you to a wedding with less than 24 hours notice should you accept the invitation?
• If you accept do you still get them a gift?  If so, what gift would be appropriate?
• Do you still give a gift if it is a second wedding and you attended their first wedding only a few years ago?

These are all questions that Miss Manners can answer.  I read the Miss Manners column in the paper regularly.  In her column Miss Manners answers difficult etiquette questions posed by her readers on what to do in various social situations.  A lot of people ask if this is rude or if that behavior is acceptable.  While I have not posed my questions to Miss Manners, she has a common theme to all her answers.  Miss Manner’s message regarding etiquette is this “You don’t respond to boorish behavior or poor etiquette with equally poor etiquette.”  In other words you are supposed to set an example for others by your own behavior or manners regardless of how others around you act.  Many people will write to Miss Manners and say “I can’t believe so and so would be so rude to do this so I did this in response.  Who is more rude?”  It does not matter what someone else did.  You should act appropriately and be above it.  Taking a cue from Miss Manners I think I got my answers.

The award for the World’s Greatest Business Mind was just announced.

Click here to see who won.

I finally reached the milestone of 100 friends on Facebook.  That is probably not a big deal to many of you who reached 100 FB friends the same week you joined FB.  However I have been on FB for awhile and new friends have been far and few in between.

With 100 friends in sight I set a goal to reach a 100 by the end of the year.  I had to lower my standard of being a “FB friend” to reach my goal.  A flurry of friend requests from long lost acquaintances pushed me over the magic 100 mark.  Some “friends” I don’t really remember but I accepted anyway to get me to 100.

Its not really a true 100 friends a few I have never actually met in person such as USC football coach Pete Caroll but 100 is 100.  The ironic thing is that my 100th friend is actually more like my wife’s friend, but close enough.  I doubt that I will ever get to 200 so 100 is it unless I start losing friends.

My daughter Mia was a flower girl for the first time a few weeks ago at the age of 4. It was the first time being a flower girl for her. The special wedding was my cousin’s Lawrence to Mandy. Having a child under the age of 6 in a wedding is always risky. You never know what you are going to get. Sure its cute to have kids in a wedding but you run the risk having a screaming and crying child right in the middle of your special day.

Even though I recommend that kids be at least 6 years old before they participate in a wedding my son Marcus has been a ring bearer twice before he was even 5 years old. The first time he was only 2. It turned out well but I still don’t recommend it. Our experience with being in a wedding helped this time with Mia.

Originally Mia did not want to do it. Just refused and I thought she would never agree to do it since she can be so stubborn. Eventually she warmed up to the idea as she saw the dress and she could not say know to Teacher Lawrence. Still you never no and it would come down to a “game time” decision.

Well she had a few “Diva” moments before the wedding. She refused to wear a wreath on her head because “I DO NOT wear things on my head”. She also did not toss the flower petals as she walked down the aisle and she certainly did not smile much. The important thing is she made it down the aisle without incident and that’s good enough for me. Here are some pictures.

Al is……posting on his blog.

If you have ever spent anytime on Facebook you are familiar with such exciting updates on the lives of your friends and acquaintances. In the past I have found Facebook mildly amusing but now have been officially hooked on Facebook. Not hooked like I am an active participant but more of being on as a lurker. I still don’t think anyone would be interested in what I am doing right this moment such as doing laundry or standing in line at the bank. So I don’t post my status often.  Obviously others do not feel that way with hourly updates on what they are doing or feeling. You don’t even have to be at a computer to send the world updates. You can send updates and photos from your mobile phone. So you can always keep your friends posted on your “status” even to let us know you are standing in line at the bank. Good thing because I was worried that I did not a status from you for a few hours. I was relieved to hear you “just got back from the dentist” and nothing happened to you.

Facebook is like a big party with all your old and current friends. Facebook is a social network or an online interaction but it is funny how closely it is to real life. All the active Facebook participants are naturally the most sociable people. They love the interaction of being together on Facebook. These people take advantage of all the features Facebook has to offer such as joining every group they can, giving out virtual gifts, and playing all the online games with their friends. These people are the most active status posters and love to interact with their friends.  They love parties and Facebook is a party that never seems to end. It is 24-7.

Other less socially adept people such as myself enjoy being at the party but don’t really want to draw attention to ourselves. We are content to hang out against the wall with a drink and just observe. We rarely post a status, play a game or interact too much. Still we enjoy people watching.  We are hooked on Facebook too but as a lurker and an observer.

Facebook is also a forum for the “thinkers” to share their deep or random thoughts.  Kind of like thinking out loud.  Sometimes its good and interesting.  Other times not so much.  There is always someone at a party that dominates the conversations and makes everyone else a little uncomfortable with their odd conversation. You try to excuse yourself but he just goes on and on.  They are on Facebook too.  The same windbags in real life who love to talk to hear hear their own voice are the same people who are always talking on Facebook. They are constantly offering their opinions to a somewhat captive audience. They are always interjecting their opinions in every conversation. The good thing about Facebook is that you can easily avoid them by not engaging them in conversation, unlike real life. Facebook is perfect for this group of people because it gives them a platform to do what they like to do most….talk. Their spouses and friends have tuned them out long ago but with Facebook there is always someone to offer your opinions to…sort of.

The best thing about Facebook is not reconnecting with old friends we lost touch with long ago.  That is great, but the best thing to me is that we are connected in some way through Facebook.  We live busy lives.  Even with all the tools of modern communication such as text messages and email, I rarely communicate or spend time with my close friends as I used to.  Even more so with my friends and relatives who live far away.  With Facebook I actually connected with them when I see their status update or photos.  When my friend in Minnesota updates me that they are doing laundry and its 5 degrees below zero outside I think of them and feel that our lives are still connected in some way.  It does not replace human interaction but in a small way a connection from far away nonetheless.  Even though we are sepaated by great distances Facebook allows us to connect and at least keep each other in mind.  If I am not your Facebook friend yet, hit me up.  I’m always looking to add more Facebook friends but I think I have just about reached my limit of people I can reasonably call “friends”.

Here are some pictures from Halloween 2008. Marcus was Ketchup and Mia was Mustard this year. MIa was a giraffe for school. The threat of rain kept our group smaller this year and we did not stay out as long, but it turned out to be a pleasant night and a good time was had by all.

Early in the 2nd quarter of the Raiders game last Sunday I had enough. I have seen my share of pitiful Raiders performances in my time but this game reached a all time low. It was ugly and getting uglier by the minute. I was actually glad that the game was sold out so I could watch. Now I was only happy that I was not actually at the game.

Before turning off the TV and salvaging the rest of the afternoon, I flipped to a few other channels to see what else was on. First thing to catch my attention was ice skating. Not just regular ice skating but ice skating to the the live musical performance of Frankie Vali and the Four Seasons. It was kind of like dancing with the stars on ice. Not something I would normally watch but it was definitely more interesting than the Raiders game.

Continuing my channel surfing I came across what I thought was basketball, but I did not recognize the team and the court was odd looking. Turns out it is Slamball, a variation of basketball. In just a few minutes I was hooked. Slamball is basket played on a smaller court with only 4 players. There are areas of the court which have a trampoline area which gives your extra hops. The other main difference is that there are no fouls. You can grab and tackle the opposing players. In short slamball is combination of basketball, wrestling, slam dunk contest, and American Gladiator. See for yourself here. Raiders football has not been as entertaining for a long time.

Slamball on YouTube

In these tough economic times dining out is certainly a luxury that many people can no longer afford. Still with some planning you can still find a good reasonably priced meal that won’t break your budget. One of the best bargains around for dining is Restaurant.com. Here you can find discounted gift certificates that you can use not only on local restaurants but in restaurants nationwide. We often buy gift certificates before going on vacations to be used at our travel destination. It certainly keeps the food costs down while on vacation. There is a good variety of restaurants to choose from and most are moderately priced even before the discount.

Last week Christine and I used a $25 certificate which we purchased for only $2 at a Filipino restaurant. The meal was a little over $40 before applying our dining certificate so it was a very inexpensive meal. This week there is a special in which you can buy a $25 gift certificate for 80% off. You only have to pay $2 for a $25 certificate. You can use it for your holiday dining, for gifts, or to just to have a night out with your spouse. Use the link below to get your dining certificates.

80% off Savings on $25 Gift Certificates. $2 when you use code TREAT.Valid only 10/27/08 thru 10/31/08.

Normally by the middle of September we are settled into our fall schedules.  School, homework and all the extracurricular activities such as soccer and football games are on auto-pilot as we go from one activity to another.   Our normal schedule got a jolt a few weeks ago from some health issues.  First my son Marcus had to go into the hospital for a few days for an emergency surgery.   It was a bit more than a minor surgery for a young boy but thankfully kids heal fast and he was soon running around again.  However with the surgery behind him, Marcus returned to school where he caught a stomach virus that hit his class and school.

He ended up throwing up most of the night and ended up back at the hospital emergency room in the middle of the night.  Again thankfully it turned out to be only a 24 hour virus and he was back on his feet soon.  Unfortunately the stomach virus continued on to the rest of the family.  It hit me on Friday and made its way to Mia on Sunday.  It was not a pretty weekend but we recovered.  It has not hit Christine yet but she has been battling a cold no doubt caused by lack of sleep and stress.

No parent enjoys seeing their child in pain and hospitals are not fun.  I hope you and your family continue to experience good health, but if you have young kids chances are you will end up facing medical issues at least once or twice.  As we enter October I hope our medical adventures are over.  We have had enough hospital, emergency room, and doctor visits for awhile.  Being in a hospital setting has given me a new appreciation for our health which we often take for granted.  Thankfully our time in the hospital was short, but many of the kids there spend much of their youth in the hospital which must be hard for them and their families.

Take a moment to appreciate and enjoy the good health you and your family have.  Don’t take it for granted. It will put the all the disturbing financial news into its proper perspective.  Just a few deep thoughts today.  I’ll be returning to blogging about Facebook and fantasy football shortly.