Why I Hate Bank of America

Feb 28, 2006 in True Life Stories

There’s a Bank of America within walking distance; instead, I drive to Citibank. I hate Bank of America because they stole my money and were too incompetent to give me… Read on…

The R Word

Feb 23, 2006 in Ye Olde Politicks

Apparently, we’re all supposed to get our panties (or, I guess, in my case, boxer briefs) in a twist because a bunch of our ports are going to be run by people from Dubai. Apparently, said people from Dubai will, with malice aforethought, leave our ports open to terrorist attack. There is no specific rationale — apart from a general and vague divergence of overall goals — presented for why destroying our port infrastructure will be the goal of these same ports’ new managers, but this viewpoint is certainly widely accepted as reasonable. But it’s not reasonable; it’s racist. Read on…

New on WadeArmstrong.com: the Olympics and Market Segmentation

Feb 23, 2006 in Elsewhere

Yeah, it seems like I’m posting to WadeArmstrong.com all the time; my professional site is real work so I do put a lot of time into it. Hopefully, it’s interesting. This week: How NBC is screwing up its market segmentation and, thus, delivering us Olympics that suck. Check it out!

Read on…

Sighted In PS1 at USC

Feb 22, 2006 in Sightings

One blonde freshman, in a white sweatshirt, in a white Corrolla, with the windows rolled up, teasing her eyelashes with a little round brush while looking in the lighted visor… Read on…

New on WadeArmstrong.com: Industry & Competitive Analysis for Entrepreneurs

Feb 19, 2006 in Elsewhere

If you’re thinking about going forward with that big idea, you’d better know who’ll be spending all of their waking moments trying to kill you. Here’s some guidelines to help you start looking at the competition and the industry you’ll work in.

Read on…

Rain Day

Feb 18, 2006 in True Life Stories

Right now the rain’s coming down, plinking against the exhaust vent of my gas heater. The temperature’s falling, air stinging our thin blood in the night. But the rain’s not snow; it leaves the streets damp and washes the smog out of the air but it doesn’t provide the soft, quieting, monochrome cushion of snow. I miss snow, I miss winter, I miss the flakes falling and bringing a heavy silence to the world, I miss the steam from my mouth as I exhale and I miss the sharp, dark nights that come in October and wrap around us in February. Read on…

The Longest Day

Feb 14, 2006 in Otherwise Uncategorized

I thought I had it all day long. Everywhere I walked on campus, the undergrad chicks were checking me out. Then I realized they were all trying to read the t-shirt I was wearing, which I had brought back from Brazil. Portuguese confuses chicks, I guess, at least long enough for them to stare at me. Read on…

Dear NBC

Feb 12, 2006 in Dear So-And-So

Thank you for televising the Winter Olympics. Being both a typical male — infatuated with sports — and a typical American — jingoistic as all get-out — I rather enjoy the nationalistic, energetic competition of the Olympics. I also love the speed and danger of the many sports that rely on sliding on sharp metal or skinny plastic things for locomotion. It would be wonderful if you could intersperse your human interest stories with some actual sports, you know, like everyone expects from the Olympics. Read on…

Life Makes Me Ouchy

Feb 10, 2006 in Otherwise Uncategorized

OK, maybe I shouldn’t’ve had quite so much to drink at Saints & Sinners last night, but I just had to check out the new bar that’s just a couple… Read on…

New on WadeArmstrong.com: Quick-and-Dirty Go/No Go

Feb 9, 2006 in B-School

Have a brilliant idea that will shake the world of business to its very core? Here’s a quick and dirty way to figure out if you should kill any more… Read on…

Dear Undergrad Sitting at the Table Next To Me, Talking On His Cell Phone's Speakerphone To His Lawyer

Feb 8, 2006 in Dear So-And-So

Thank you for providing so much entertainment to me this morning with your loud conversation. As I was working in the courtyard, sitting at a table alone, I seriously considered putting on my headphones and listening to some Charles Mingus. Fortunately, you came along and spared me the mellow boredom. Read on…

Dear Master Lock Company

Feb 7, 2006 in Dear So-And-So

Thank you for making a wide variety of locks, all with different combinations. It’s too bad that I have so much trouble keeping them straight. Read on…

New on WadeArmstrong.com: Introduction to the Feasibility Analysis

Feb 5, 2006 in Elsewhere

As some of you all, my intrepid readers, know, I’m starting a business when I graduate from business school. Step one in any new venture: the feasibility analysis. Because it’s always better to figure out that an idea is stupid through research than it is through horrible, painful experiment.

Read on…

Official Super Bowl XL Entry Sponsored by the NFL and Aspercreme

Feb 4, 2006 in Spurts

Like many Americans, I suffer from repetitive stress injuries, and it is only because of these that I’m not today a professional football coach or, with my stature, safety. However, also like many Americans, I certainly know as much about football as any coach or safety (although perhaps not as much as an offensive lineman), and therefore I plan to hold forth on exactly whom I pick to win tomorrow’s big game. Read on…

Confessions of a Failed Musician

Feb 3, 2006 in True Life Stories

My first musical failure — at least, to the extent that I am aware — came when I was three. We were in Boulder, Colorado for a year, living in a rented house that was, naturally, filled with it’s owner’s family’s posessions. Furniture, of course, and photos, and a cat, and, as I discovered one day, a hot pink toy guitar. Read on…