80's

Critical item: I have an 80's party on Sunday. What should I go as? Don Mattingly or Wade Boggs would be the obvious choices, but I don't think people would get it.

Business School Observations

Here's a quick update on things.

Last week I went to "math camp", which was an 8-5, 5-day class reviewing math concepts that we haven't used in a while (calculus, statistics, etc.). I'm glad I did it, if only to know that I've done what Duke considers sufficient. Perhaps a best reason for attending math camp was that I got to meet about 70 future classmates - a significant head start on everyone else.

This week I've been working pretty hard on getting all the pre-readings done. While most business schools don't start classes "for real" until late-August, Duke requires two core classes to be taken during August: a leadership course and a course on global institutions (which is basically macroeconomics). A couple years ago, Duke pulled these courses out of the first and second-term curriculum to ease the burden of students during the first few months of school - a very smart move, in my opinion.

My readings have been really fascinating. For the leadership class, we read a few articles on Enron and the "talent myth" (a great article by Malcom Gladwell). The Institutions class is a bit more heady. The study I just read analyzes how China has succeeded in the past quarter-century despite a relative lack of things economists traditionally consider to be necessary: maximum liberalization, stabilization, and privatization. Really interesting stuff.

Orientation starts this Saturday, and everyone is scrambling to do the pre-readings and finish a software review course (that's actually useful). I'm in a pretty good position, having done just about all the readings and half of the computer stuff.

Here are some random observations:

- I severely underestimated the time it takes to move into a new apartment, get the requisite software for school, and take care of everything except actually studying. In this regard I'm in the same boat as most of my fellow students (probably in better shape, actually).
- "Fear of missing out" is thus far the biggest force at Duke. It's simple: most people are sociable, young, and want to go out. But you must study (that is, if your goal is to learn). It's hard to say no. That said, I think I'm doing a good job of balancing everything - it takes a lot of effort to network and study at the same time.
- I'm well prepared to work in MS Word, Excel, and PPT (thanks to CEB).
- Microsoft Excel, Word, and PPT 2007 (for Windows) are extremely well-designed.
- Somehow I forgot that I'm a hard worker. I like this role.
- (no offense to anyone reading this who went to Harvard but...) I'm very glad I'm not going to Harvard. Not that I had the opportunity, but I've said many times in the past week that "I can't imagine going to a school where you look around and say to yourself 'damn, everyone here is a gunner.' I simply wouldn't learn as much in that type of environment. I'd be more concerned about keeping up with everyone else than I would with learning and making good friends. At Duke, the sense of collaboration (definitely a business school buzzword) is genuine. This makes a huge difference.
- It feels great to be back in academia. I like having informed opinions instead of BS-ing. I like making connections among the things I learn.
- I like Durham a lot more than I thought I would. I was hesitant to move south, where life might be slower compared to DC. Life is slower here, but for now that's what I want to experience. It's nice to drive 5 minutes to the gym and school. It's nice to go for a run, work out in the apartment gym, sit by the pool, and get a bunch of people together to watch a movie in the apartment movie room - all of which I did today. So for now, it's good.

Back to studying.

Mayonnaise

No, I'm not talking about the Smashing Pumpkins' song "Mayonnaise," although it's awesome in its own right. No, I'm talking about the real thing.



My sister claims to have witnessed our dad eating a late-night mixture of mayo and cottage cheese in a bowl, although this may be an urban legend. Regardless, I tell the story with great pride. Since I've been back in the South, I've heard no less than 5 people willingly admit "I love mayonnaise sandwiches." I couldn't agree more.

So I snooped around for some other uses of this sublimely-delectable condiment. It turns out that people are quite creative when it comes to their mayo:

Mayonnaise can be used as a natural hair conditioner. Massage a quantity of mayonnaise into your hair, much in the same way as a normal post-shampoo conditioner. Cover your head with a shower cap and allow the mayonnaise to remain on your hair for several minutes. Rinse thoroughly and the result should be shinier and softer hair.

Use mayonnaise as a facial cleanser. Apply a layer of mayonnaise as you would a deep cleansing facial soap. After 15 or 20 minutes, wipe off the mayonnaise and rinse your face thoroughly. The oils and salt of the mayonnaise will restore moisture and remove impurities.

In case of a sunburn emergency, apply cold mayonnaise to the affected area. The coolness of the mayo will reduce the pain and the oil will provide much-needed moisture.

Some physicians are now recommending the use of mayonnaise to combat head lice infections. Certain strains of head lice have become very resistant to the traditional chemical treatments, but leaving mayonnaise in the hair overnight with a shower cap will cause the lice to suffocate and die. Comb out any remaining nits with a fine tooth comb and repeat the process seven days later.

Lubricate stubborn rings with mayonnaise. If a ring becomes too tight to remove, try applying a generous amount of mayonnaise to the entire finger, especially under the ring itself. Mayonnaise is very slippery, so it should reduce the friction well enough to allow removal of the ring.

Remove bumper stickers and residue with mayonnaise. A layer of mayonnaise applied to the remnants of a bumper sticker should soften the paper and dissolve the glue after several minutes.

Strengthen your fingernails: To add some oomph to your fingernails, just plunge them into a bowl of mayonnaise every so often. Keep them bathed in the mayo for about 5 minutes and then wash with warm water.

Remove dead skin: Soften and remove dead skin from elbows and feet. Rub mayonnaise over the dry, rough tissue, leave it on for 10 minutes, and wipe it away with a damp cloth.

Duke so Far

Here are pictures of my room (minus a kitchen table and chair, and wall hangings, which are coming)... it's very exciting stuff. Here is a link to my apartment complex.

So far, I'm having an amazing time. True, I've only been here a week, but it's obvious to me that Duke was the right choice. The one thing that's clear is that time is at a premium; there's tons of pressure to go out, which obviously clashes with the pressure to perform well academically. The tough part is that I want to do both.

Hassel the Hoff

As proof that I'm not a fairweather fan, I submit the following photo take in 1991 after the first of Duke's back-to-back championships. Also note the "half tuck", my preferred fashion statement during middle school.

Cameron Indoor

Before going to the gym today, I walked onto the floor of Cameron
Indoor - gotta say it gave me chills

TGIF

Photos posted

In case you missed it (and how could you), I posted photos of the Europe trip on my website:

Click for:

• Main site
• Spain
• Italy

And here is a picture of the Phillips legacy.

















I tried to figure out how to create a web poll, but this will do for now:

How big is Michael's head?
a) ping pong ball
b) grapefruit
c) sputnik

Last Day before Durham

Well, one more night in Birmingham before I head to business school. My mom asked me yesterday if I was getting nervous, but my honest answer was "I haven't really thought about it." For some reason this doesn't seem like a big move (at least at the moment). I haven't moved too many times in my life, but I've moved enough so that I'm a bit less numb to the extreme nervousness and excitement. Don't get me wrong - I'm excited. But I'm more ready than excited. It's hard to believe that I started studying for the GMAT 14 months ago; it's been a long journey and I'm ready to actually do something rather than just plan what I'm going to do. I'm not sure what to expect from school - will it be tough to study again? How much time should I spend studying vs. networking vs. looking for a job? Will the career options be overwhelming or will I find exactly what I want? Regardless of these questions, I think I'm going to kill it at Duke (if Grandma and Grandpa are reading this, "kill it" means to "do very well" in the parlance of youngsters these days... crazy kids and their words).

Since I got back from Europe, I've mainly been dividing my time between a) preparing for school (admin stuff for Duke, pre-reading, tying up loose ends, etc... this stuff never seems to end) and b) reading and swimming. I've pretty much been a homebody, but spent a few days relaxing with my Birmingham friends Daniel, Eleanor, and Allen. I can't complain. Now it's time to work.