My Buddy Umit Drops in Again

"I will avoid despair, but if this disease of the mind infects me then I will work on in despair. I will toil and I will endure. I will ignore the obstacles at my feet and keep my eyes on the goals above my head, for I know that where dry desert ends, green grass grows."

- From the Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino, Ch. 10 : The Scroll Marked III, p. 66

Ironically enough, right after my post of how hot it's been in Vegas, the temperature dropped to more comfortable and reasonable measures. It lasted about a week or so before the temps started to soar again. I much appreciate the brief respite. It only got sweltering a few times a little after mid day. But best of all, we had a nice cloud cover over the weekend while my good ol' buddy, Umit was here. I got to spend the day with him on Friday and we drove around the city looking at shopping prospects. Umit is my grad school compadre who is here visiting from Turkey. I hadn't seen him for 4 years since we parted ways after graduating the MBA program at Murray State University in KY. In December of 07, I did a blog post entitled, "Tribute to Umit", in which I chronicle our experiences and how we met. I was excited that he got to come back to the States again and swing by Las Vegas. He was stateside once before a couple of years back but didn't get to stop anywhere close by. It was certainly good to get to talk to my friend in person for a change. I just wish we had more time to catch up.

Umit, shopping at Tommy Bahama at 

Town Square, Las Vegas

I came across this interesting article the other day: "Rare photo of slave children found in NC attic", by NICOLE NORFLEET, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jun 10, 2010. It details a few interesting points about the picture. First is that its of children. Second, its accompanied by a $1,150 Bill of Sale for one of the children which is no small amount. Thirdly, it was taken by either 19th Century War Photographer, Matthew Brady, who was famous for his Civil War depictions and portraits of President Abraham Lincoln and General Robert E. Lee, or one of his apprentices. A collector paid $50 Grand for the shot and the Bill of Sale. Who has 50 grand just laying around in an economy like this? I mean, Dang! Some dude had to have $50K that wasn't already allocated to anything when he hears about some rare photo and figures, "I think I want that...". How do you explain that to the Mrs? She's probably wondering why it wasn't already being spent on her! Nah...listen to me hating on the rich. It was probably purchased on credit, anyway. Glad I don't have his Visa bill. (Now I feel better.)

Looking out at the MGM and Tropicana 

from his Excalibur Hotel room

Mr. GQ! Yeah. I started to have him show some hair on 

his chest for ya'll, but then I thought...Nah, he's cool.

Blogger has some new template designs that I think I'll be trying out at some point. It doesn't appear to allow you to widen out the content area, so I'll have to figure that one out again. I'd been wondering when they'd have something new for us. The new look I've been searching for still eludes me. The current format is not a bad one though, but it lacks that "Oomph!" that I so desire. At some point, I need to establish my brand concept and have my website and blog in concert with one another. I want everything consistent. I've done that with my business card and some brochures. Your marketing needs to agree is all. So that's my goal...to have all my sites with my logo, color scheme, and feel to establish that brand recognition. Not quite there yet though. Incidentally, that quote above is of particular interest to me today. I've read everything Og Mandino has put to print. I should probably read him again. I particularly like the end, "...where the dry desert ends, green grass grows." Sounds like Las Vegas to ME! Therefore I will persist here until I see that green grass.