Google = killing dreams since 1996

I'm pretty sure that everyone has had those random get rich quick ideas in the middle of the night ... the ones where you say to yourself, "Man. I bet I could make a million bucks if I could figure out a way to produce and sell those half popped popcorn kernels that I love so much." And then you fall asleep, forgetting about your ingenious idea only to have it pop back in your brain three years later.

So, last week I finally got around to Googling this idea of mine about the half popped kernals.
http://www.popnots.com/
Darn. Beaten to the punch. Haven't seen them in the stores (perhaps for good reason?). But might have to order a bag or two just to try 'em out.

And then today while driving in the car I thought, "What if I made a put together a website where you could submit your own photo, and it would be checked against a database of other user submitted photos ... to find your twin(s) across the globe! How cool would that be!". And so tonight I go back to Googling and find:
http://ilooklikeyou.com
Drat.

Google! Why do you do this to me? Must all my dreams be squashed so quickly?!

Are we this simple minded?

Without fail, the CNN.com "Most Popular Articles" list leaves me scratching my head.

Hugh Hefner's breakup with a Playboy bunny beats out all articles related to our economy. And a piece on Saturday Night Life comes way before anything on either the Russian or Arab conflicts.

I mean, ... really?
With whats happening in our world right now, THOSE are the most popular articles?

Wow.

http://www.cnn.com/mostpopular/

On a day like today...

After being holed up in bed all weekend with a cold ...
I came in to the office to find that the market tumbled further and further ...
And my 'to-do' list at the office seemed to grow instead of shrink.
Exhausted, I head home to find my wife heading out the door to a parent participation pre-school meeting. Just me and the kids tonight.

But, before she left, I grabbed our son Samuel and headed outside for our third bike riding lesson in the past three weeks. The previous sessions were no more than five minutes long. He has yet to demonstrate a strong inclination towards athletics, so its always a bit of an effort with this sort of stuff.

Today, on the first try ... he rode alone.

Wow. My heart just about popped out of my chest with pride as he soared with uncertainty down the street. The market's woes, the uncertainty of our collective future, my long day at the office, ... none of it mattered. Today, October 7th 2008 will be forever defined as the day I taught my son how to ride his bike.