Hottest Players in the World Cup

9 Jun

Soccer is a sport I get into every four years when the World Cup rolls around. I admit, I usually find soccer a little boring, and I maintain that a game that can legitimately end in a tie is no sport at all. But the high level of play, the excitement, the pageantry, overrides the more boring elements of, yes, 90 minutes of playing keep away.

My main reason for liking the World Cup? Forget the soccer, it’s the hot players. So I decided to find the one hottest player on each team and present them here for your viewing pleasure. Some notes from my research: Spain and Italy were the hardest to choose from, too many cute players. Greece was the hardest to choose from because of a dearth of cute players. And goalie is still the hottest position, by far. Enjoy:

Algeria:

Algeria Riyad Mahrez

Algeria Riyad Mahrez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Argentina:

Argentina Gonzalo Higuain

Argentina Gonzalo Higuain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australia:

Australia Mathew Ryan

Australia Mathew Ryan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Belgium:

Belgium Laurent Ciman

Belgium Laurent Ciman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bosnia:

Bosnia Asmir Begovic

Bosnia Asmir Begovic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brazil (couldn’t choose between the two):

Brazil David Luiz and Fred

Brazil David Luiz and Fred

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cameroon:

Cameroon Joel Matip

Cameroon Joel Matip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chile:

Chile Alexis Sanchez

Chile Alexis Sanchez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colombia:

Colombia James Rodriguez

Colombia James Rodriguez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costa Rica:

Costa Rica Bryan Ruiz

Costa Rica Bryan Ruiz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Croatia:

Croatia Dejan Lovren

Croatia Dejan Lovren

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ecuador:

Ecuador Gabriel Achilier

Ecuador Gabriel Achilier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

England:

England Jordan Henderson

England Jordan Henderson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

France:

France Morgan Schneiderlin

France Morgan Schneiderlin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Germany:

Germany Mats Hummels

Germany Mats Hummels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ghana:

Ghana Andre Ayew

Ghana Andre Ayew

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greece:

Greece Orestis Karnezis

Greece Orestis Karnezis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honduras:

Honduras Noel Valladares

Honduras Noel Valladares

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iran:

Iran Ashkan Dejagah

Iran Ashkan Dejagah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Italy:

Italy Andrea Barzagli

Italy Andrea Barzagli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ivory Coast:

Ivory Coast Serge Aurier

Ivory Coast Serge Aurier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Japan:

Japan Keisuke Honda

Japan Keisuke Honda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mexico:

Mexico Francisco Rodriguez

Mexico Francisco Rodriguez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Netherlands:

Netherlands Robin Van Persie

Netherlands Robin Van Persie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nigeria:

Nigerian Austin Ejide

Nigerian Austin Ejide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portugal:

Portugal Raul Meireles

Portugal Raul Meireles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Russia:

Russia Aleksandr Kerzhakov

Russia Aleksandr Kerzhakov

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South Korea:

South Korea Shin-Wook Kim

South Korea Shin-Wook Kim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spain:

Spain Cesc Fabregas

Spain Cesc Fabregas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Switzerland:

Switzerland Fabian Schaer

Switzerland Fabian Schaer

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S.A.:

USA Carlos Bocanegra

USA Carlos Bocanegra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uruguay:

Uruguay Diego Forlan

Uruguay Diego Forlan

The Evolution of The Black Keys

17 May
The Black Keys. Such a cool pic.

The Black Keys. Such a cool pic.

On Wednesday, the day after “Turn Blue” came out, I downloaded the new album by The Black Keys, my favorite band. As each song was downloaded I felt a sense of both excitement and nervousness. Excitement to finally hear the new material by a band that I love. Nervousness because their previous album, “El Camino”, had fewer good songs than bad songs. The first single from “Turn Blue”, a song called “Fever”, was dissappointing the first time I heard it. The predominant sound on the song is the keyboard, rather than the guitar or the drums. Black Keys fans tend to like the band because they reassure us that rock and roll is not dead, that with each driving guitar riff and pounding drumbeat the anarchic spirit of rock and roll lives on. “El Camino” for me was mostly a disappointment, anchored by that bland nothing of a single, “Lonely Boy”. So what’s the verdict on “Turn Blue”?

I’ve listened to it a few times already, and I would say half of the songs are inspired, either solid rock ballads or lovely slower songs. The Black Keys have always done slow tunes quite well: one of my all-time favorites is “Keep your hands off her” from Chulahoma, the album of Junior Kimbrough covers. That song is practically a lullaby. So the title track “Turn Blue” is a highlight for me, with its lilting surf rock grooves, and those plaintive lyrics. One of the things I love the most about The Black Keys is the sexuality of their music. I have little patience for nasty rap songs that describe the mechanics in detail. That is not sexy. But to hear Dan Auerbach wail “My heart’s on fire/With a strange desire”, on “Strange Desire” conveys sexual desire better than most. The song “Turn Blue”, with its whisper of “I really don’t think you know/There could be hell/Below”, is a standout for me.

The not-so-great half of the album are throwaways, and make me wonder if this is really the best that Patrick and Dan had to offer. The last track, “Gotta Get Away”, is so forgettable. It simply doesn’t pulse with the same energy as the stronger tracks. Is this the doing of Danger Mouse? Has he carefully been smoothing out The Black Keys’ edges over the last couple of albums? One common thread in all the albums, going back to “The Big Come Up”, is the rawness of The Black Keys’ sound. And yes, it has been softened over the years, to its creative apex on “Brothers”, where they threaded the needle perfectly between mainstream success and their trademark bluesy sound. I hope that the Keys continue to innovate and evolve as they have on “Turn Blue”, yet still maintain that libidinous edge that their fans have come to know and love.

What would a post about my favorite band be without some music? As mentioned above, here is “Keep your hands off her” from “Chulahoma”:

Prolonged Adolescence in Silicon Valley

9 May
Stats on Mexican Facebook users

Stats on Mexican Facebook users

Yesterday, through sheer luck and twist of fate, I ended up having lunch at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, followed by a quick tour of the ‘campus’. Strolling through the central plaza of the campus, where young people in cutoff shorts were eating ice cream cones, riding bikes, and eating at cafeterias stocked with a salad bar, pizza, and sandwiches, I was transported to my freshman year at UC Santa Cruz, which looked and felt eerily similar (even the music playing in the cafeteria, such as Incubus and Third Eye Blind, was right out of my freshman year). As a mere thirty three year old, I normally don’t feel old. I stride comfortably between the carefree abandon of the 20’s and the sweet responsibility of family and career that many experience in their thirties. And yet I was torn while walking the Facebook campus yesterday, between yearning to work in such a carefree place and being a bit put off by a such a place. A publicly traded company that does everything in its power to keep its twenty something employees in a state of prolonged adolescence?

I couldn’t help thinking of the broader connection to bro culture and the infamous Peter Pan syndrome of many San Francisco men. They are able to live a life of little responsibility, having fun all the time and never committing to a community, a home, a woman, a career. And again, I’m torn. I don’t deny that it’s an appealing lifestyle. But it’s essentially a prolonged adolescence, a state of arrested development. It ultimately bothers me because at some point in life, we must grow up. College is awesome, from ages 18 to 22, but do I really want to relive that lifestyle as a woman in her thirties? No. I am free from the responsibilities of family, as I am unmarried with no children, but I do feel a sense of responsibility to myself and my community. I realize there is more to life than having fun (though having fun and enjoying oneself is important). Serving others, being a good daughter, sister, friend, girlfriend, using one’s talents for good. I think these things are the hallmark of maturity. And because I’ve wanted to be a grownup since I was about 5 years old, I look on at the extreme youth culture of Silicon Valley with some bemusement. I mostly think, grow up kids.

Having said all that, Facebook, if you ever want to hire me, give me a call!

The Importance of Emotional Intelligence

7 May
Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence

I recently found a link online to UC Berkeley’s online quiz, part of their Greater Good project. It is a test of how one reads other people, as a way to gauge one’s emotional intelligence. And I have been thinking a lot about emotional intelligence lately, as I ponder which skills and abilities I have that would lend themselves to the right career.

I had a moment at my job a couple of weeks ago where I was asked to help construct chairs. It involved using tools and being handy, and it was not exactly up my alley. While I was attempting to be of some assistance, I noticed that our new secretary was sitting at her desk with tears rolling down her face. I promptly invited her to go out to get coffee, and she agreed, and as we left the office she told me what was bothering her. In that moment I thought to myself,this really reveals my stengths and weaknesses. The prospect of working with my hands, being handy, makes me nervous, simply because it has never been my forte. Yet I believe that emotional intelligence- recognizing the emotions of others and responding appropriately- is a strength, one that frankly I think is more important in life than many others.

Note in the post below that I try to figure out what happened to the company morale at my former employer, and there was a realization that my own emotional intelligence would not be rewarded.  You look around and see the qualities being rewarded, and they are not qualities that you have, or would want to have. In professional and personal settings, emotional intelligence is of the utmost importance; luckily there is a growing body of research supporting this. I admit that I could improve, especially since I only scored 15 out of 20 on the quiz. Sometimes it is difficult to know not what others are feeling, but how to respond to them. Someone starts to cry- do you hug? Let them cry it out? Different people respond different ways. I try to recognize what others want in the moment. Sometimes you can just tell when someone wants to be alone.

This last weekend I was with a friend and her three year old daughter at a children’s birthday party, and it gave me great satisfaction that I was able to calm her down when she geot fussy and turn her cries into giggles. These little victories reinforce how satisfying and necessary it is to comfort others. Let’s all endeavor to improve our emotional intelligence and respond better to others so that they may respond better to us.

How to Decimate Company Morale

29 Apr

Today, a beloved work colleague quit. It was somewhat surprising, and would have been alarming had it been the only employee defection of the month. Or the week. But last week two employees also quit, one right after the other. At a company of 13 people, to lose 3 in one week is hard. And yet, I am sadly not suprised at the departures of my friends.

When I was a kid I would sit in class and observe my teachers, evaluating their performance and thinking, “When I become a teacher I am NOT doing that!” I now observe how my employer manages me and my colleagues and I make similar observations. How would I be if I owned my own company? How would I incentivize employees to succeed, how would I punish sluggish results and reward good performance? I think about how I would approach all of these things as an employer and business owner, and I realize that all of my answers contradict my employer’s. Would I reward salespeople who met and exceeded sales goals by reducing their commissions and micromanaging them, insisting on a number of calls made per day that rivals those made by telemarketers? No. I would give my salespeople the room they need to succeed and take a consultative, rather than micromanaging, approach to supervising them.

Would I invest money in furthering employee training, in marketing my company to the industry, in ensuring that our product offering remains relevant to our industry and clients? Absolutely. I would understand that it is either evolve or perish in this unforgiving marketplace. I would also offer employees a means towards advancing within the organization. One employee who left last week had an entry-level position with no opportunity for advancement. It shouldn’t be puzzling why she left after years of grunt work. It would have been puzzling had she stayed in this dead-end job. But she has left for a larger company that has provided her an opportunity for career growth. She is young, bright and ambitious, and our company’s loss is this other company’s gain.

As salespeople leave, they will join our competitors, and all of our time and money spent training them will have been for naught. A successful salesperson who was fired last fall is now selling up a storm for one of our main competitors. I fear that this pattern will continue, and our sales will be impacted (I believe they already have been). It is odd to see these changes in the company and not say anything. Which is why I am moved to write this here. I spoke with our CEO last December about flagging morale, and he shrugged off my concerns. I am afraid that at this point, losing one third of the company in one week will make him reevaluate the importance of morale. Because seeing my colleagues flee makes me less inclined to stay (and I suspect I am not the only one who feels this way). It has been a textbook case in how to decimate company morale.

Don’t Fear The Twitter

26 Apr

Recently,  a consultant came to speak at my company, giving a short and frankly run of the mill presentation about customer service, fulfilling one’s potential, etc. With his own iPhone in hand, he spoke at length about how the smartphone (and all modern technology) take up more and more of our time, sapping us of productivity and gross national happiness. Much of his presentation rang true to me, with the exception of the above peroration. I think it is simply a generational difference. For, although I have spoken previously about how social media changes our interactions with (and expectations of) others, I think that, rather than drag us down, it can lift us up. Social media, after all, is social, and is a simple reflection of the user. Technology will only bring you down if you let it!

It was not long after the work presentation by Matt Foley that I read a piece by Dr. Peggy Drexler in Huffpost about, what elese, the pros and cons of Twitter. I see the same hand-wringing in her list of cons that I heard from our visiting consultant. She mentions that one of the drawbacks of Twitter is the potential harm to one’s professional reputation if Twitter is used irresponsibly: “many employers reject potential employees whose Twitter profiles include provocative photos, evidence of drug use or drinking, negative posts about previous employers or co-workers, or comments that might be interpreted as racist, sexist, or ageist”. Now, is this a drawback to Twitter? No! It is a reflection of the user. If you’re a positive person who likes to follow the local news (like me for example), your tweets will reflect that. If you have a toxic worldview, that will be reflected too. Don’t blame the tool for exposing a few tools in society.

Drexler does go on, however, to point out what I think is the best pro to Twitter, and that is the fact that, while it is good for self-promotion, it is even better for promoting others. Just like being retweeted is a great feeling (wow, someone I don’t know likes what I said!), it is a good feeling to retweet someone else. The immediacy of Twitter can lead to instant recommentations, interactions, joking, cajoling, flirting, connecting. And yes, if you’re a jerk it can probably also lead to instant trolling. But like attracts like, as I often like to say. If you like smart, funny people in real life, you will be drawn to those people wherever you go, in real life or in the Twitterverse. So stop fretting about technology’s hold on our lives and allow yourself to control it. Like almost anything in life, it is what you make it.

23 year old me, meet 33 year old me

26 Mar

My new Facebook friend Gabi Moskowitz just had a birthday, and commemorated the occasion with a new blog post entitled “a letter to my 22 year old self”. Such a simple, beautiful idea, and since my birthday is coming up…in a matter of minutes, I thought I would reflect on how far I have come in the last ten years.

One reason I still unabashedly like birthdays and look forward to them with glee is that they are good moments to mark how far we may or may not have come in life. Over the last few days, I have been waging an all-out battle against a coming cold. Having a cold is always awful, but god forbid you have one on your day of days, your birthday. The feeling of dread at getting sick at this time of year makes me recall a birthday when I was younger, perhaps my 10th birthday. The birthday is a marker of time. This year I was sick, that year I was homesick. You think about friends who were present some years, absent in other years. Two years ago when I turned 31 I celebrated with a new friend who I was convinced was going to be my partner in crime. Two single ladies in the city! And yet not long after that birthday, she began dating a guy who she is with to this day. We haven’t remained close. So the people I celebrate the day with also mark the time. Friendships lost and gained. The temporal nature of friendship as seen through one day over the years.

So what was I doing ten years ago when I turned 23? I was living in France, and trying to survive my way through the worst year of my life. At the time I just wanted to blink my eyes and transport myself, Spock-like, to mid-April, when I would return home and leave my life of alienation in the French countryside (that year, Lost in Translation came out. It deeply resonated with the cultural isolation I was living through). But as I look back on that year and mostly cringe- the weight gain, the pimply skin, the crippling social anxiety, the even more crippling homesickness- I see the silver linings in that awful year abroad after college. I learned what anxiety, depression, fear, and shame feel like. They’re pretty awful. But empathy is only learned by living one’s own life. You can read about grief all you want, but can’t know another’s grief until you have felt it yourself.  After my year of profound loneliness and self-doubt in the village, I came out the other side, another person. With a newfound empathy for those who suffer (not long after returning home I struck up a close friendship with a friend serving in Iraq, who also was feeling isolated and alone. Our situations were different, but nevertheless I related), I emerged from the other side of my 23rd birthday with the first hints of the strength adn independence that guide me through my 33rd year.

On that sunny Saturday in Paris ten years ago that I celebrated my birthday, I did so alongside my friend from Barcelona. Ten years later, we remain the closest of friends, and I am still grateful for the gift of her friendship. At the time I couldn’t believe that someone could be friends with someone like me who was obviously going through a tough time. And yet our resulting friendship is proof that the best people in your life will be those who get to know you and stay by your side when you are not necessarily at your best. So on my 23rd birthday, as I strolled the streets of Paris with Ana and other foreign friends, counting the days til I got home, I had no idea that in ten years I would be infinitely stronger, more resilient, as a result of that long ago year. And, as always, a work in progress.

 

 

 

 

Should You Learn French?

19 Mar
French

French

I could be a little show off and roll my r’s in that pronounced, Alex Trebek way. Say Paris in that way that hides the ‘r’ in Paris? Yes, I speak French, as a third language. I have few occasions to use it, but I have found my knowledge of the language to be useful primarily as a means of reading. Enjoying Jean Paul Sartre, Amelie Nothomb and Bernard Henri Levy in the original has been greatly rewarding for me. But would I encourage others to learn French? Sadly, the answer is non.

Yet I have always had a tough time understanding learning a new language with utilitarian ends. I initially chose to study Spanish because I had always spoken it, so there was little question. I studied Spanish for the same reason every other bilingual Mexican kid studies it: it’s easy. Of course, the first two years of Spanish are easy. You smirk as other kids struggle with the fact that the double ‘ll’ is said as an English ‘y’ sound (instead of like the English llama). But then, as you progress in your Spanish study (because it allows you to be immersed in Spanish for an hour a day at school, yay!), it gets harder. It’s not just a matter of imitating what you hear at home, the grammar gets more complex. So if you’re like me, you start studying French, as a challenge.

I also studied Arabic for three weeks during grad school, as a way of learning about my Lebanese roots (pet peeve: when people say, “Do you speak Lebanese?” That’s not a language, dummy!). In the class were young professionals looking to get ahead in their political/intelligence/foreign service careers. I was possibly the only person there with an interest in Arab civilization. It was jarring to encounter people who studied a language not for the fun of it, but because of its perceived utility. I have friends who have proclaimed their intention to teach their young child Chinese, because it is so useful. You see, in the 80’s that useful language was Japanese, and before that, any aspiring young diplomat learned Russian. So the language du jour changes. But our culture and intersts do not. I could have grown up in a time when speaking Spanish was not considered an asset. So I don’t speak Spanish, or French, because they’re useful. I speak them because I like them. They’re now a part of me. Let your culture and interests guide you in choosing which language to study.

Through a Google Glass Darkly

26 Feb
Protesting a Google bus

Protesting a Google bus

Well, now tensions between the tech haves and the non-tech have-nots in San Francisco have really come to a head. A young woman walked into a punk bar in the Lower Haight wearing Google Glass and was promptly mugged. Or at least that is what the enterprising young woman has told the local press, who have used the non-story to fuel their hot narrative about the two San Franciscos (presumably, those who wear Google Glass and those who don’t). Although I usually empathize with crime victims (as a slightly built single woman, I always feel that I am one wrong turn down Eddy Street away from becoming the next one), I have to admit that in this case, I stand with the bold patrons of Molotov’s. I’ve never seen Google Glass in real life, but boy would I love to smack them off a user’s face.

Why? Because it is a computer that you wear on your face. Iphones are commonly stolen items because, as police officers like to remind us, they are the equivalent of walking around with a computer worth several hundred dollars in our pockets. They are the most valuable thing most of us own. If you keep it in your purse or pocket you’ll be safe. But advanced technology that you wear on your face? That allows the user to surreptitiously identify passersby, take their picture and record them? It has douchebag written all over it.

My own Luddite tendencies aside, the incident illustrates the culture clash that is taking place here in Baghdad by the Bay. There is nothing so bourgeois as wanting to take a brief walk on the wild side only to retreat afterwards to one’s comfortable home. I’m sure the girl with the Google Glass thought it would be great fun to take a peek inside Molotov’s, a very divey bar indeed. I’ve never been inside, but have often walked past and noted the surly, sullen patrons and all of their leather and tattoos.  I’m sure the people who stole her pricey device are annoyed at the influx of young, wealthy types and their inane conversations. I am far from the average patron at Molotov’s, and I know I am. So I couldn’t help but feel a slight thrill at hearing of this “crime”. They tossed the device off of her head? Good for them!

Have fun with your gadgets, sure, but learn to let your hair down a little. Put the phone down and take the glass off when you’re out on a Saturday night. You might actually, I don’t know, meet some cool Lower Haight residents.

My Own Reasons to Love Mexico City

24 Feb
Palacio de Bellas Artes, as seen from Correos

Palacio de Bellas Artes, as seen from Correos

Just as I have been harboring fantasies about moving back to Mexico City (it’s the daydream that keeps me going), I see Global Post’s new listicle, 27 reasons to love Mexico City. I lived in Mexico City in the summer of 2006, and have been back on business trips in 2012 and 2013. What do I love about Mexico City, and why would I even dream of leaving San Francisco for the Mexican capital?

– Culture. You have Librerías Gandhi. The new Museo Jumex.  Palacio de Bellas Artes, as seen at left, where I saw the Ballet Folklórico de México. Art both classical and modern, a thriving intellectual and music scene.

– Food. Mushroom empanadas at El Bipo. Quesadillas de huitlacoche. Sipping on palomas (tequila with pineapple juice). All the sweet, fresh juices only found in country. The food in Mexico is worth gaining a few pounds.

– Green space. Yes, even in Mexico City. Parque de Chapultepec is the lungs of the city, with lakes, museums, a castle, music, street vendors, and people watching that never gets old.

– History. Within the central city plaza you have a cathedral, a presidential palace, art deco galleries and restaurants, and an ancient temple. Where else do you experience such a comingling of history?

– People. Mexicans are warm, welcoming, witty, easy to laugh, and the reason to come to the city and stay in the city. Without its residents, a city is just monuments and museums. It is the chilangos that give Mexico City its vibrance.

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