Now, this has nothing to do with grey hairs, receding hairlines, wrinkles or aging. Seriously, there was a time when I was considered cool (well, kinda cool… by a few people… really). I used to be the one to call when my friends needed a guaranteed no-hassle, good, clean, fun time! I was rarely home, always up for going out with friends (regardless of the hour) and on-top of the coolest clubs, bars and restaurants to go to.

Now, however, I fear I’m becoming certifiably “set in my ways” and booooo-ring. I am 30, after all. Kidding, but I honestly have done a complete 180 when it comes to my lifestyle and location — willingly and purposefully. I might have had a ton of fun back then, but I was miserable. Really unhappy personally and professionally. But just as the stock market corrects itself after a big up or downswing, my life is correcting itself now. Here are a few of the tell-tale signs that I’m acting well beyond my years:

1. New technology is completely lost on me. Why would anyone want to watch a video or movie on a miniature screen (aka the new iPod nano video)? My first generation 30gb iPod works perfectly fine!

2. Telling a hottie-blast-from-your-past that you have to go home because it’s past your bedtime – at 10 p.m. Too mortified to comment… I used to be a darn good flirt!

3. Must-see TV has become a reason for turning down invitations to go out. I never used to watch television because I always had plans and I have never, ever looked as forward to TV’s season premiere week as I am now.

4. I start pounding on the walls when the sound of my next-door neighbor’s children screaming/crying/talking/laughing/playing/etc. permeate my apartment. I love children, I do, and I want my own one day but, man, listening to my neighbor’s children during my “me time” (Saturday or Sunday morning) makes me think mean, mean thoughts. I fear becoming that old, cranky neighbor.

5. I know all of the shortcuts, sidestreets and secret passage ways in your city/country/region (mine’s Southern California). I used to think it was because I was “in the know” but I’m slowly realizing that it’s really because I’m OLD enough to have been every where in the city.

6. I have minimized my world to a five mile radius from my home to avoid traffic. Honestly, with traffic what it is, that’s just smart… despite the obvious limitations.

Welcome to our weekly column by YSN member and movie aficionado Rama Tampubolon. He runs the movie review and discussion blog, Rama’s Screen, and was featured in “United 300,” which won for “Best Spoof” at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. He’ll discuss the latest hot topics and movie reviews every Thursday on Waste Time Wisely.

Rama’s SCREEN went to the advanced screening and here is the early review of THE KINGDOM. I think it’s fair to say that this movie closes summer blockbuster season and opens for the Oscar-worthy movies season. And this is definitely a great way to start it. When a movie has all star cast in it, that could mean either two things:… The movie’s going to be a downer or it’s going to be one of the best you’ve seen in quite some time. Fortunately for us we have The Bourne Ultimatum and The Kingdom to remind us that thrillers are back and kickin’ it. But unlike ‘Bourne’ movies, we won’t have to be dizzy from all the shaky hand-held camera work while watching this new Jamie Foxx flick.

A U.S. compound in Saudi Arabia has been attacked by terrorist. An elite team of FBI agents (Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman) is sent to the place to help investigate. They face difficulties of culture and politics but eventually earn the trust and friendship of a local officer who helps them make their five-day visit ends with results.

This is an excellent first-rate action/thriller. It has an interesting interaction between U.S. and Saudi government and how different both cultures are. The dialog is smart and full of political intrigue that just keeps the mind thinking and the heart on the edge. They went the distance to give us the view of Saudi Arabia that give home to allies and enemies.

THE KINGDOM does have enough violent and strong language to keep younger audience at home instead of the theaters watching this, but for those of you who love movies that get you going in intense suspense with surprises on every corner, this is definitely the movie for you to watch. There’s an excellent scene, which I thought was really well done, where the vehicle’s trapped in the middle of a small town and all of a sudden weapons and rocket launchers just come out of nowhere, you’d never guess what big firepower they might have next all for attacking purposes.

The investigation part in the middle of this movie does feel a bit drawn out at times, it’s kinda like CSI but about terrorism instead of crime of passion murders. But THE KINGDOM has enough humor and punch lines that often would break the tension and seriousness and keep the audience entertained. This movie helps this summer go out with a bang.

Director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights), who also made a cameo appearance in this movie (as one of the guys who had a question in the briefing room at the beginning), managed to combine all elements and present them in both violent and preachy ways. You can argue on whether or not Matthew Michael Carnahan’s script tells of a story that’s pro-American and anti-Muslim. But I see it not so much as that as it is about how two sides can be good and bad at the same time. Evil or not, generally a father would love his own family/people first and foremost just as much as the next person and would only think of what’s best for them even if it means killing those he thinks is a threat to what is considered the right way to live. It’s an endless violent cycle that will keep on going, resulting in people killing people, because of what we tell and teach our kids and one another. Is anybody the better side, is anybody the higher value?

Maybe the problem will stop when no one initiates the first attack.

The movies does bring out a point I agree with… anyone who can sleep knowing that he/she has killed innocent children is someone who doesn’t deserve to live.

For more, visit your most reliable movie buff: Rama’s SCREEN

1. Test new alarm ringtones
2. Sign up for travel confirm call (it sucks to be woken up an hour earlier than planned (in my case 3 a.m) and scared over who could be calling and why)
3. Go to sleep at 1 a.m. under the assumption you’ll be able to sleep sometime before your big meeting
4. Wait until morning to pack the important things
5. See how many times you can get away with hitting the snooze button
6. Take a sleeping pill to really maximize your 3 1/2 hours of ZZZs
7. Assume you’ll find a taxi
8. Assume no one will be at airport security
9. Try to match your dark blues, browns and black socks
10. Forget the suit you hung up instead of packing it so it wouldn’t wrinkle

(P.S. I wrote this at the airport yesterday morning as I was waiting for my 6 a.m. flight to Philadelphia…)

First it was Heroes and last week it was Grey’s Anatomy. Today, I take on the success strategies taught by my other favorite medical experts on FOX’s Emmy Award-winning series House. With his medical genius, mean-spirited sarcasm, distrust in mankind and addiction to painkillers, Dr. Gregory House is one of my favorite TV characters of all time. Each week, he and his team of doctors wrack their brains to diagnose their patients’ life-threatening medical conditions.

1. Question everything. Dr. House basic belief in life and in medicine is that everybody — and every body — lies. He’s usually right… and he’s also a big fat liar, himself.

2. Don’t leave important documents lying around because they might be misused. House used Dr. Wilson’s (his coworker and only real friend) pad to forge a prescription for painkillers, which threatens Dr. Wilson’s career.

3. Again, don’t sleep with your co-workers (what’s with these medical dramas?!). Off-screen, co-stars Jesse Spencer and Jennifer Morrison recently called off their engagement… stay tuned this seasons for how their real-life split plays out in their characters’ on-screen romance. I sound like a tabloid.

4. Having expertise is a great way to guarantee your future with a company (and makes up for your personal shortcomings). House is a painfully honest jerk — especially to patients — who also happens to be a medical genius who saves lives when most other doctors are left scratching their heads. They can’t fire him or replace him because as the chief administrator Dr. Cuddy said, “he’s the best doctor we have.”

5. If you don’t like your boss as a person and yet you notice yourself becoming just like him or her, it’s probably time to find a new gig. Dr. Foreman respects House’s medical expertise but despises the way he views patients as cases to solve and not really as human beings. When Foreman realizes that he is starting to disregard his patients’ lives similar to the way House does, he tenders his resignation.

Welcome to Ask Jen, a weekly Q&A with the “career doctor” herself Jennifer Kushell! Every Wednesday, Jen will answer one of your burning career questions so start sending them in!

If you would like to submit a question, please e-mail askjen@ysn.com and she’ll do her best to get to them all. Oh, and don’t forget to register on YSN.com – Your Success Network and fill out your profile so we can link back to it!

YSN member geminisuga86 asks: How do you get your feet wet in the wedding industry?

Jen responds: Breaking into the wedding industry should be real piece of cake (ha!) simply because it’s such a big industry with tons of media, resources, products, services (etc.), not to mention that it affects people from all walks of life, every background, every age, and from every corner of the planet.

To figure out the best way to break into the wedding world, start by thinking about what you actually want to do in it. Produce events, design dresses, sell invitations, publish new media? Even pick a few related options. Then start scouring the market to see what’s out there. Assess your competition.

Think about whether you want to try to build a national or international business from the start (easier if you’re an online business, of course) or a local business. If you go with the local angle, start to visit all of the local vendors. Ask them if they know of anyone who has the service or products you’re thinking of specializing in. Then, try to find your niche. What can you do that no one else is doing? Or what can you do that’s cheaper, more high end, more customized, more turn-key, less hassle… pick your angle and make a go at it.

Look for the industry trade associations online. Devour whatever info you can find like a butter cream topped piece of cake. Sign up for the newsletters or other publications of interest. Attend their events. Join their membership once you’ve vetted the more prestigious ones out. That will also make you look a little more official when you start marketing yourself.

My only other advice would be, if you’re totally unfamiliar with a new industry, start by dipping your toe in it first. Take baby steps. See how you can provide samples or one-offs of your product or service. Maybe even give it away for free a few times, just to get people talking… and make sure you get plenty of pictures, endorsements and raving fans out of it!

There’s really so much to say here, but hopefully that will give you a few good ideas to get you started!

Best of luck!

Jen