Ryan Thomas Goodenough

I really, really hate 95% of drivers.  I imagine that the average driver that I hate is like this guy:

These are some more pictures that Emily took with her fancy new Casio Exilim camera.  Enjoy!

I’ve been going through a synth pop stage lately.  It’s been one of my more enjoyable stages actually.  However, in all my downloads, I’ve yet to hear a Mexican synth pop band…until today.

One, Two, Three, GO! does almost everything right.  Good synth pop needs singers who can actually sing, which, believe it or not, can be difficult to find at times.  No problem with Belanova. Synth pop should always be fast moving enough so that you don’t even have to worry about things like lyrics, although good lyrics are a nice bonus. Again, Belanova excels at this criterion as well.

Good, catchy song.

Grade: B

I’ve been hiring for a Communications Assistant over at AIER and received over 100 applications for the position.  As a result, I’ve come across a lot of really bad resumes.  In fact, of the 100 or so applications we received, only 8 people got to the next stage.  What follows is a list of suggested items I would avoid on your resume:

1. Proficient with email and the Internet: No one really cares if you’re “proficient with email and the Internet.”  I’m proficient with my toothbrush, but I took that off my resume last year.
2. Unemployed: Even the best employees can be unemployed at times.  However, highlighting this fact by putting it in red text, all caps, and underlined at the top of your resume is probably not something an employer wants to see.  I know that means you’re available, but that makes you sound desperate.
3. Proforeadre: If you’ve performed work as a “proofreader,” it’s probably a good idea to make sure that at least that bullet point doesn’t contain a typo.
4. “I remember the first time…”: Narratives, while certainly an interesting perspective for fiction, probably shouldn’t be the style chosen for your resume.
5. 2 MBAs are better than 1: I know that your degree sort of counts as both Education and Experience, but putting it in both sections with the exact same wording is a waste of your space and a waste of my time.
6. I’d love to work for your competitor: Objective sections may work for some applicants, but it’s probably a best practice to avoid being too specific in case you happen to forget to change your target organization when you submit your resume to another organization.
7. You’re organization is awesome!: Everyone makes the mistake when they send an email or make a web post (me? of course not……..), but please pay attention to the difference between “its” and “it’s,” “your” and “you’re,” and “their” and “they’re.”
8. Please consider me for consideration of the position for hiring that you’re done: If you’re going to have someone do your resume for you, you should probably have them write your cover letter as well. It’s pretty noticeable when your resume is perfect, but I can’t get past the first sentence of your cover letter.
9. References available upon request: “References available upon request”? I certainly hope so.  No need to waste space on your resume by letting me know.
10. The Intersection of Marketing and Resume-Writing: If you can’t sell yourself, how do you expect someone to believe you can sell the organization you want to work for?

Emily and I joined Moodle, Doodle, and Kira in Orange, CT this weekend to celebrate Doodle’s birthday with Aunt Twun, Uncle Joel, Cousin Daniel and Cousin Jeremy.  For his birthday, he received a sun dial for the garden and a nice big 2.5 lb container of cashews (mmmm).  We celebrated a bit early, as his birthday is actually today, so, Happy Birthday, Doodle!

Emily and I finally finished our move last week and, as promised, here are some lovely pictures taken with the iPhone.  We are very happy so far and having the extra bathroom has been a real treat. The move was a bit tricky–the piano took a long time to bring it up the stairs and we had to take off the railing on our balcony to get our sofa in, but it’s all done now!  Thank you to my parents for coming up last weekend to lend us a hand.

Check out that perspective effect!  I’m impressed.

I’m a big kart racing fan.  I never had a video game system until college, but I was allowed to play PC games.  So while all the other kids were playing Mario Kart, I was loving me some Wacky Wheels. I was quite excited when I heard that a full-fledged kart racing game was coming to the iPhone in the form of Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D.

Pros: Graphics, gameplay, number of modes

Cons: Only (?) 12 tracks, lacks difficulty levels, bland sound

The pros, mainly gameplay and graphics, makes this an easy game to recommend and at $9.99, it’s a great game to have on your cell phone.

Yesterday, Emily and I spent a couple hours moving out the final items and cleaning up our apartment at Heritage Village.  Our apartment will be fondly remembered for many reasons:  good price (including heat and hot water!), pleasant surroundings, and plenty of room inside, including a very large kitchen and bathroom for a 1-bedroom apartment.  It definitely served our needs well while we were in grad school, but we are glad that we have moved on to Oak Hill and the luxury that 2 bedrooms can give.  Can’t believe we moved into Heritage just 2 years ago.  Pictures of the new apartment will follow in an upcoming post.

It has been a long week of moving, so it’s time for yet another iTunes Single Review rather suddenly.  This week’s selection is Walking on Air by Kerli.

From the first note to the first sounds from the choir, this song just screams “creepy.”  However, it may be little more than a dark mask for a fairly typical pop song.  There’s nothing really edgy here–yes, some of the melodies remind me of a theme from a Vincent Price movie and Kerli’s lower register has a “creepy” feel to it, but that’s about it (besides the fact that kid choirs scare me).

Nothing really of note here.  It’s not uninteresting, but there’s really nothing here that’s going to make me go back for more.

Grade: C