Trivia: (scroll to the bottom of the page for the answers)

Q1: What is the number on Penny’s apartment door?
Q2: Who lived in the apartment before Penny?
Q3: Where does Penny work?
Q4: Where is Penny from?
Q5: Where does Howard Wolowitz study/work?
Q6: What’s on Sheldon and Leonard’s shower curtain?
Q7: What actor played Penny’s ex-boyfriend?

Quotes:

Leonard: Is this the high-IQ sperm bank?
Nurse: If you have to ask, maybe you shouldn’t be here.
Sheldon: I think this is the place.

Sheldon: We’re committing genetic fraud. There’s no guarantee that our sperm is going
to generate high IQ offspring. Think about that; I have a sister with the same basic DNA mix who hostesses at Fuddruckers.
Leonard: Sheldon, this was your idea — a little extra money to get fractional T1 bandwidth in the apartment.
Sheldon: I know, and I do yearn for faster downloads. But there is some poor woman who is going to pin her hopes on my sperm. What if she winds up with a toddler who doesn’t know if he should use an integral or a differential to solve for the area under a curve.
Leonard: I’m sure she’d still love him.
Sheldon: I wouldn’t.
Leonard: What do you want to do?
Sheldon: I want to leave.

Sheldon: You want to hear an interesting thing about stairs?
Leonard: Not really.
Sheldon: If the height of a single step is off by as little as 2mm, most people will trip.
Leonard: I don’t care…2mm? That doesn’t seem right.
Sheldon: No, It’s true. I did a series of experiments when I was twelve; my father broke his clavicle.
Leonard: Is that why they sent you to boarding school?
Sheldon: No, that was a result of my work with lasers.

Sheldon: Um, Penny, that’s where I sit.
Penny: So sit next to me.
Sheldon: No…I sit there.
Penny: What’s the difference?
Sheldon: What’s the difference?
Leonard: Here we go…
Sheldon: In the winter, that seat is close enough to the radiator to remain warm, and yet not so close as to cause perspiration.  In the summer, it’s directly in the path of a cross-breeze created by opening windows there (points), and there (points).  It faces the television at an angle that is neither direct, thus discouraging conversation, nor so far wide as to create a parallax distortion. I could go on…but…I think I’ve made my point.
Penny: Do you want me to move?
Sheldon: Well…
Leonard: Just sit somewhere else.
Sheldon: Fine.

Leonard: [To Penny] So tell us about you.
Penny: I’m a Sagittarius, which probably tells you way more than you need to know…
Sheldon: Yes, it tells us that you participate in the mass cultural delusion that the sun’s apparent position relative to to arbitrarily defined constellations at the time of your birth somehow affects your personality.
Penny: Participate in the what?…
Leonard: I think what Sheldon’s trying to say is that Sagittarius wouldn’t have been our first guess.
Penny: Oh yeah, a lot of people think I’m a water sign.

Sheldon: Well this is an interesting development.
Leonard: How so?
Sheldon: It has been some time since we have had a woman take her clothes off in our apartment.
Leonard: That’s not true. Remember at Thanksgiving, my grandmother with Alzheimer’s had that episode.

Sheldon: I really think we should examine the chain of causality here.
Leonard: Must we?
Sheldon: Event A: a beautiful woman stands naked in our shower.  Event B: We drive halfway across town to retrieve a television set from the a fore-mentioned woman’s ex-boyfriend. Query — on what plane of existence is there even a semi-rational link
between these events?
Leonard: She asked me to do her a favor, Sheldon.
Sheldon: Ah, yes, well that may be the proximal cause of our journey, but we both know it only exists in contradistinction to the higher-level distal cause.
Leonard: Which is?
Sheldon: You think with your penis.
Leonard: That’s a biological impossibility, and you didn’t have to come…

Leonard: Is Thai food OK with you, Penny?
Penny: Sure.
Sheldon: We can’t have Thai food; we had Indian for lunch.
Penny: So?
Sheldon: They’re both curry-based cuisines.
Penny: So?
Sheldon: It would be gastronomically redundant. I can see we are going to have to spell out everything for this girl.

Random Awesomeness:

• Howard Wolowitz is wearing an NES controller as a belt buckle.
• Leonard has Darth Vader Shampoo and Luke Skywalker Conditioner.
• Howard Wolowitz’s video game avatar has a pet tiger named Buttons.

Trivia Answers:

Q1: What is the number on Penny’s apartment door?
A1: 4B

Q2: Who lived in the apartment before Penny?
A2: A 200lb transvestite with a skin condition. His name was Louis/Louise

Q3: Where does Penny work?
A3: The Cheesecake Factory

Q4: Where is Penny from?
A4: Omaha, Nebraska

Q5: Where does Howard Wolowitz study/work?
A5: The CalTech Department of Applied Physics

Q6: What’s on Sheldon and Leonard’s shower curtain?
A6: The Periodic Table of the Elements.

Q7: What actor played Penny’s ex-boyfriend?
A7: Brian Wade

In order to have some one-on-one time, my godfather took me for a drive in his Acura NSX convertible.  We took his automobile up into the hills, driving along Elfin Forest Rd/Harmony Grove Rd, so that we could experience the true performance of the car as we sped around the curves of the winding road.  My godfather handles the car like a pro.

As we approached an area with some industrial buildings, my godfather turned onto a cul-de-sac, and stopped the car.  He then asked me if I would like to drive it!  I hadn’t driven a stick-shift since high school (however, that was an SUV - a Mazda Navajo LX). It is quite a different experience to drive a 6-speed, high performance automobile. However, after a few quick trips up and down the cul-de-sac to once again develop a feel for using a clutch, I was ready to hit the road.

My godfather gave me the opportunity to drive the car back along Harmony Grove Rd/Elfin Forest Rd, back to I-5 (where I could open it up a little bit on the freeway) and back to his home in Carlsbad.

It is an experience I will never forget.

Thank you, Uncle Tony!

For video of the Acura NSX, you can visit my website: http://www.brianrobertmohr.com/videos.html

Information about the Acura NSX:

• Production: 1990-2005
• Assembly: Japan
• Class: Sports car
• Body Style: 2-door coupe
• Transmissions: 4-speed automatic, 5- and 6-speed manuals
• Fuel Capacity: 18.50 gallons

The information above is from Autos.com. If you want to read 7 Facts About the Acura NSX here is the link: http://www.autos.com/car-buying/seven-facts-about-an-used-acura-nsx

Carlos began his talk by explaining that five years ago the most technical thing that he knew how to do, as it related to the web, was send and receive email.  Today, Carlos has established a powerful digital presence for himself across several social networks, and he skillfully uses social media to strengthen his personal and professional relationships.  Today, he is invited to speak at events and educate others about how they too can leverage social media to improve their businesses and personal brand.

I thoroughly enjoyed Carlos’s talk; he is an engaging presenter, and I learned a lot.  I would like to share with you one particular tip that Carlos taught us about how to shorten links using bitly, (http://www.bit.ly) — Carlos showed us how a link can be shortened and customized to provide additional information and reinforce one’s personal brand.

Carlos explained that the advantage of using a service like bitly is that it allows you to take a link that may be many characters long and shorten it so that there are fewer characters.  This is advantageous when you are using a program like Twitter that limits your message (tweet) to 140 characters (and every character counts.)

For example, the normal URL (or Permalink) for this blog post would be: http://brianrobertmohr.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/how-to-customize-a-link-using-bit-ly

Using bitly the link was shortened and customized: http://bit.ly/MohrBitlyHowTo

Below is a screen shot of the bitly website.  I encourage you to try it out and create your own shortened links.

I was really excited that Carlos showed us this “trick.”  I hope that you too will find it useful.  Please feel free to write to me if you have any questions.

My parents raised me to appreciate the things that I was given and to express gratitude.  My mom helped instill in me the habit of writing a thank you note whenever I received a gift.  As I have grown, I have expanded this habit to include the act of expressing gratitude through written communication to include the practice of thanking someone when they have taken their time to add value to my life.

I had the opportunity to experience the impact of a handwritten thank you a few years ago when my good friend JT mailed me a short note.  JT is a friend from college and we do not often get to see one another these days because he has moved to New York.  JT’s note to me followed his visit to my apartment during one of his trips to the West Coast.  In his note, JT expressed his sentiments about how nice it was to have had an opportunity to visit my home and for us to catch up.  The feeling was, of course, mutual.  As you can tell, his handwritten note left a lasting impact on me since I am writing about this experience a few years after it occurred. (I still have the note in a shoebox.)  JT is a class act.  Evidenced by his written note, it is no surprise that he has been so successful in both his career and developing personal relationships.

A few minutes of your time to write a short handwritten note can leave a long-lasting impression.

If you are a job seeker, a handwritten thank you to your interviewer may just be the differentiator that sets you apart from the other candidates.

When was the last time you received a handwritten Thank You in the mail?  How did it make you feel?

You’re probably already a member of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and perhaps, Foursquare, but…

In the past few years, here are a few other social networks that established a presence: Google+, Pintrest, Instagram*, Path*, Oink*, Quora, LocalMind, Mingle*, Tackable*, Tout, Trover, and GetGlue, (just to name a few)

*designed to be used as a mobile application

As members of these online communities, how can we receive the most value from our participation?  Here are four ways that you can use social media to enhance your life:

1) Present Your Personal Brand (Express Your Self)

Social media gives us the opportunity to express our opinions and showcase our talents to the world through text, images, and video.  Are you a musician, actor, entertainer, or comedian looking for ”your big break?” Social media provides you access to an audience around the world.   Are you looking to find a new career? As a job seeker, you can breathe life into your resume by providing your future employer with links to your personal website or professional profile on LinkedIn (be sure to have some stellar recommendations included on your profile).

A word of caution – If you are a member of several online communities, be sure to establish a consistent brand and voice across those networks.  Being an online schizophrenic can hurt your chances of developing a relationship with your target audience.

2) Connect With People – Online and Offline

We can use social media to communicate and share information with our current network or we can use it to interact with and engage new contacts. Social media is a powerful tool that allows us opportunities to communicate both in real-time or by leaving a message that can be viewed later. We can communicate both publicly and privately.

Social media enhances our ability to connect both online and offline.  If we choose to access our social networks via mobile applications, we can geo-tag our location to let our friends know our whereabouts as we push notifications to our network.

Here is a great story about how my friend used social media to connect with me: Social Media Promotes a Real World Encounter 

3) Gather Information

Our social network streams provide us with a continuous flow of updates, information, links, promotions and discount offers.  At times, it can almost be overwhelming.  Many have made predictions that in 2012, social media users will be more selective in who they choose to Like, Follow and Subscribe to.  On another note: The people and brands that we choose to associate with online, send a message about our own personal brand.

The web has always been a fantastic resource to search for information. With the growing influence of social media, we now have the ability to make the information that we want come to us.  This can be accomplished by carefully cultivating the people and brands that you Like, Follow, and Subscribe to.  Another great method for making the news that you want come to you is by subscribing to the RSS feeds of your favorite blogs and websites.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information that is flooding your social streams, remember you can always UnLike, UnFollow, and UnSubscribe. With social media, you have the power to control the input that you receive.

4) Add Value

Choosing to be a member of a community means that you desire to add value to the group.  Yes, there can be lots of benefits to becoming a member, but we also have a responsiblity to contribute and to make that community a better place.

With the recent launch of Facebook’s Timeline, I had the opportunity to review the comments and posts that I had made during my past years of participating in social media.  In years past, I am sad to admit that I posted a lot of useless updates.  I’ve committed myself to providing updates that will add value to my networks.

I invite you to connect with me online. In most social networks I can be found under the username brianrmohr. I look forward to meeting you.

Make 2012 your best year yet!

Rawlins explained that he had been on his way to get some pho with his father and brother when he had received the notification from Foursquare about my location, and he had instructed his family to make a quick detour from their dinner destination so that he could come say hello.

I appreciate Rawlins going out of his way to surprise me.

How are you using social media to stay connected with your friends?  Which apps/social networks do you like best?

Related Post: World’s Collide: Icebreakers, Common Friends, and Social Media from November 6, 2011

Check out this word play combo: Kay-Ad-Kay

Although it only scored 27 points, I hope that you too will appreciate the symmetry of this play.  I will also point out that the tile values are Fibonacci numbers: 1 (A), 2 (D), 3 (Y), 5 (K)

Ok, I know, I’m totally geeking out over here, but I thought it was too cool not to share.

Happy Friday!

Fortunately, I arrived at a point in my life where I am going through a bit of transition, and I welcomed an opportunity to deviate from my standard list of business and personal development books. My decision to read the book was also motivated by my upcoming trip “home” to North Carolina for the holidays and the excitement around the opportunity to spend a few days with my own brother.

My brother Tyler is an incredible person and I always have a great time when we are together. However, those moments have been few and far between over the last decade as I moved to the West Coast for college and settled in the Bay Area after graduating, and he moved with our parents to North Carolina during his sophomore year of high school, went on to graduate from the University of North Carolina, and then moved to New Orleans following his graduation. Over the years, we have seen each other about once a year when we would visit Mom and Dad in North Carolina to celebrate Christmas. Outside of the annual Christmas reunion, there were a few other special occasions where we had the chance to connect — our college graduations, Mom’s 60th Birthday Celebration, a father-son fishing trip in Washington, and my week-long vacation to New Orleans to visit Tyler and explore the city.

I really enjoyed the Sparks brothers’ memoir, Three Weeks with My Brother. The tales of their relationship is beautifully woven through a narration of past and “present” events. The title of the book refers to a three-week trip that the brothers shared as they traveled around the world. As the stories of their travels are recounted, the brothers share memories from their childhood that provides the supporting detail of how their incredible bond was forged over the years.

From the standpoint of a travel narrative, this book provides a fascinating story for the reader who has dreamed of traveling the world and visiting the places and monuments that have long captured the human imagination. Among the destinations described in the book are — the Mayan temples in Guatemala; Machu Picchu in Peru; Easter Island, Chile; Ayers Rock in Australia; the Killing Fields of Phnom Pehn, Cambodia; the Taj Mahal in India; and a dogsled ride through Norway. The Sparks provide amazing detail of these locations and will be sure to create the “itch” if you have a desire to travel.

Set against the backdrop of a travel narrative, the autobiographical account of the Sparks brothers’ family history and sibling relationship is a powerful story. The story of their life reads like a big screen drama. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find a Hollywood script with more ups and downs, struggles and victories, heartaches and joys. Both brothers endured hardships and heartache, yet both persevered and achieved success by any definition: business, career, marriage, and family. The story of their life helped provide me with a lot of perspective on what really matters in life.

In my opinion, Three Weeks with My Brother is a must read, especially if you have a special sibling in your life.

I love you Tyler and I can’t wait to see you next week.

I had some initial reservations about joining the movement because my 10-year high school reunion is scheduled for the Thanksgiving weekend. Did I want to rock a moustache at an event where many pictures were going to be taken? Since I don’t typically have a moustache, did I want to capture this moment in time with a soup strainer on my face?

After some careful thought, I decided…Hell Yeah! I’m gonna rock a moustache at my reunion and spread the word about men’s health.

The Movember campaign has a fascinating history. It started in 2003 when a group of friends in Australia were drinking some beers and musing about the return of certain iconic trends. They decided that they could bring back the moustache. That November, 30 Mo Bro’s grew and groomed their moustache for the 30 days of November. Their facial hair was often a conversation starter and a source of amusement for others. In 2004, they decided to run the campaign again, but this time the group wanted to use their moustaches to bring awareness to a global cause. In just one year, the group had grown to 450 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas and the movement raised $54,000 for the Australian Prostate Cancer Foundation. In 2010, there were 447,808 global participants who helped raise $80.7M.

If you want more of the story, you can visit the official Movember website here.

If you would like to make a donation to the cause, you can make a difference at: http://mobro.co/BrianRobertMohr

Let’s raise some money for men’s health. I’ll drink to that!

Comments – I’d love to hear from you!

Are you participating in Movember? If not, will you consider joining the global effort next year?