One of the reasons why I love LA is because of the people! And one of those people is Caine Monroy, who runs a cardboard arcade in West LA! His passion is a reminder for me that when you love what you do, everything else will fall into places and work itself out. If you are ever in LA, I would like to invite you to visit Caine’s Arcade in East LA. For $2, you can get a Fun Pass. Now who can beat that?

So here’s Caine and his incredible arcade born from his genius!

A few years ago, I met my friend and my now mentor Sig K. in Marina Del Rey. I wanted to sell flowers and had a name for my flower shop. FLIRTINI. I know! What was I thinking?! But I was young and naïve, and thought the name FLIRTINI was a genius! So I went online to look for a design firm to help me create my logo. I found one in Marina Del Rey and so I sent them an inquiry. My level of excitement went from hero to zero! I had $200 for a logo, and Mr. K came up with a quote that would require me to eat rice and beans until I reached the age of 43! It was then I realized that my Momma was dead wrong! She shouldn’t have sent me to study finance and prepped me to be a broker at Merrill Lynch! She should have sent me to the Art Institute to study graphic design because apparently that’s where the money is! I sent Mr. K a letter in response to the extra zeroes in the quote he sent me (actually A LOT of zeroes, so many that it required a comma to accommodate). I was angry at him. How could he? Was he joking? I mean, come on! It was not until then that I realized the lucrative world of branding and licensing. Mr. K asked me to keep my $200 and he groomed me to be who I am today. He never made me a logo. He never made me a business card. He did none of the things I had initially wanted him to do. Instead, he gave me these books to read.

I came to him one afternoon. I was troubled because I felt I had lost my sense of purpose. I wanted to sell flowers, but I wanted to be a different florist. I just did not know how or in what capacity I could accomplish this. I wanted to be different. I wanted a sense of purpose. And I have been searching for that purpose and the purpose escaped me.

As I told him my dilemma, he said: “Go to the bookstore and get the book called The Alchemist.” Wait! I have not even finished telling you my dilemma. And you want me to get a book? Whaaa?

I went to Barnes & Noble that night and bought the book. I read it from my bus stop at Westwood & Pico, all the way home. I skipped my oily Chinese dinner. And Will & Grace. I read the entire night, with three kinds of chips spilled on the bed, without minding my neighbors in apartment 306 who were getting it on at 2AM. I read through it past 3AM, with my teeth not yet brushed, and my neck three pillows high, and the tip of each page stained with oil and crumbs of Lay’s potato chips. I read from moon rise to moon set to dawn, accompanied by the tick-tock of a cracked alarm clock I got for $5 in Santee Alley.

And finally. I was done. I put the book down, drew the curtain. I could see the Hollywood sign from my windows, the size of my nail bed. I paused. I realized that in a few hours, I would wake up. But it would be different this time. This time, I would wake up knowing my life’s purpose that I somehow found in between the lines of this book called THE ALCHEMIST.

In 1992 Barcelona, Derek Redmond was favored to medal the Olympic in the 400 meter sprint. 150 meter into the race, Derek felt a searing pain.

In agony, he felt to the ground with a torn harmstring.

Not willing to give up, determined to finish the race …. he continued.

Breaking through security, a man came to Derek’s side.

It was his father.

“You don’t have to do this,” he told his son.

“Yes I do,” he replied.

“Well then, we’re going to finish this together!”

Together father and son continued.

Shortly before the finish line, Derek’s father let him go to complete his race, receiving a standing ovation from a crowd of 65,000.

I am delighted to report, that twenty years after helping his injured son, on July 27, 2012, Jim Redmond will be carrying the Olympic flame during the torch relay for the London Games.

A young and pretty lady posted this on a popular forum:

Title: What should I do to marry a rich guy?

I’m going to be honest of what I’m going to say here. I’m 25 this year. I’m very pretty, have style and good taste. I wish to marry a guy with $500k annual salary or above.You might say that I’m greedy, but an annual salary of $1M is considered only as middle class in New York My requirement is nothigh.

Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary? Are you all married? I wanted to ask: what should I do to marry rich persons like you? Among those I’ve dated, the richest is$250k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit. If someone is going to move into high cost residential area on the west of New York City Garden(? ), $250k annual income is not enough.

I’m here humbly to ask a few questions:

1. Where do most rich bachelors hang out? (Please list down the names and addresses of bars,restaurant, gym)
2. Which age group should I target?
3. Why most wives of the riches is only average-looking? I’ve met a few girls whodoesn’t have looks & are not interesting, but they are able to marry rich guys
4. How do you decide who can be your wife, & who can only be your girlfriend? (my target now is to get married)

Ms. Pretty

———————————————————————————

Awesome reply:

Dear Ms. Pretty,

I have read your post with great interest. Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours. Please allow me to analyse your situation as a professional investor.

My annual incomeis more than $500k, which meets your requirement, so I hope everyone believes that I’m not wasting time here. From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you. The answer is very simple, so let me explain.

Put the details aside, what you’re tryingto do is an exchange of “beauty” and “money”:

• Person A provides beauty,
• and Person B pays for it, fair and square.

However, there’s a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason. The fact is, my income might increase from year to year, but you can’t be prettier year after year. Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset. It’s not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation. If that is your only asset, your value will be much worried 10 years later.

By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position,dating with you is also a “trading position”. If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it is not a good idea to keep it for long term – same goes with the marriage that you wanted. It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or “leased”. Anyone with over $500k annual income is not a fool; we would only date you, but will not marry you. I would advice that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy. And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with $500k annual income. This has better chance than finding a rich fool.

Hope this reply helps.

signed,

CEO J.P. Morgan

<article source: allyoucanlove.com>

<photo source: blog.doorstang.com>

Source:

www.dfordog.co.uk

In early 2009, I heard the story of Singapore Airline pilot, Captain Budi Soehardi. I learned that he had built an orphanage in Kupang, Indonesia and saved 47 children from war-ravaged neighboring West Timor. Most of these children were orphans and the rest came from parents so stricken with poverty that they couldn’t afford to feed these children.

Captain Budi Soehardi managed to fund the orphanage using the only income he earns flying Singapore Airline Airbus as a pilot. His children would sacrifice their holidays and his lovely wife Peggy work day and night to ensure the well-being of these children.

I was so distraught to learn that Singapore Airlines was at the brink of ending Captain Budi Soehardi’s pilot contract due to the economy. Without income from Singapore Airlines, there will be no more orphanage and the kids will need to be placed elsewhere and separated.

I was helpless and felt completely useless. I was not able to help. But I remember suddenly the word of wisdom from President Roosevelt: Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

So I sat in front of my computer for 2.5 hours at 1AM at night writing a letter to the President of Singapore Airlines, requesting a contract extension for Captain Budi Soehardi. That letter is enclosed below:

The noble work of Captain Budi Soehardi reached Sir Richard Branson. He nominated Captain Budi Soehardi for 2009 CNN Hero. In November, in a televised ceremony, CNN awarded Captain Budi Soehardi $100,000 for his work with Roslyn Orphanage. Singapore Airlines also renewed Captain Budi Soehardi’s contract.

With the award money from CNN, Captain Soehardi invested in paddy fields, mango, bananas trees and other farming. Captain Budi also taught himself how to build a well. His wife Peggy and him dug and dug until they reached the water. Roslyn Orphanage has now become sustainable. In fact, Captain Budi not only has managed to feed the orphanage, but his farm and paddy fields have fed the neighboring villages as well.

Today, I am happy to report that through your generous donation, the Roslyn Orphanage has successfully sent one its orphans to Australia to pursue and complete medical school. Roslyn Orphanage does not allow the children to be adopted. Captain Budi Soehardi and his wife vow to see the children reach their highest educational potential and become better men and women leading a better nation in the future.

If you are interested in spending philanthropic work with the orphanage, please visit www.RoslynOrphanage.org or contact us, and we will connect you with Captain Budi directly.

And if for a second you think that your effort in helping a friend in need is insignificant, you are WRONG! Your effort, how small you think it is, will generate a strong ripple effect and your good intention will be enough to cause a chain reaction for goodness to happen. Goodness multiplies!

Watch Captain Budi Soehardi receive 2009 CNN Hero Award:

-doris-