booknewb

This has been a fairly good month. I got some movement in my work.  We finished CLS for the year. I'm slowly getting comfortable with bigger tasks. I made some new friends, at work and in the community. Musically, I got into listening to a lot of Peryodiko, Deftones, and Mabuhay Singers. I just realized there is no coherent identifier in those three groups. But it's all good, I'm learning something new. I get to appreciate different genres of music. In terms of books, right now I'm alternating between Watership Down by Richard Adams, and Tatlong Gabi, Tatlong Araw by Eros Atalia. Film, I haven't watched much this month. Other than Interstellar, which is amazing by the way. Christopher Nolan is easily one of my favorite writers/directors. I can only imagine the amount of thought that went into his latest film. I've been digging the Ted Talks videos in Youtube. I've only watched a few. The content is incredible. There are a couple names that stan...

This is like being coached about life from a person, hundreds of thousands of miles away. The influence Gregg Popovich gets and given freely by people. A true mark of a leader. On overcoming adversity and failure: "In today's world, if you don't win the whole thing, whether it's football or basketball, or this and that, people have a tendency to paint you as a loser or act like you just robbed the cookie jar. Well that's baloney. "You guys have got it," Popovich told his team. "It's there. You've got the will, you've got the determination, you've got the fiber to do this again. And Game 7 proved it. It didn't happen for us, but is everything going to go your way in life? You think you're on the Earth and everything you want to happen to you is going to happen to you positively? The measure of who we are is how we react to something that doesn't go our way. " "What we didn't want to do is have them h...

Some snippets from Louis CK's interview with Rolling Stone Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/louis-c-k-comes-clean-20130425#ixzz3JnLawWY1  Asked a question, about appearances and what other people say about it No, I don't wake up and think that, ever. I've never had that thought. I don't worry about what people say [...]. It's not my concern. It's their problem. On grudges No, I don't hold on to grudges. I don't have a grudge in my life. I forgive people. I just don't believe that you owe anybody in your life a relationship. It's healthy and fair to opt in or out, and it's actually more fair to do that than to hold people's feet to the fire for everything they've ever done Parenting Yeah, "because I'm your father" is just a cheap cop-out, and it robs the kid of an opportunity to understand something. I engage them. A lot of parents don't talk to their kids. I learned that from my mo...

ruminating, reverting to old ways. Don't. let it hang, but don't let it stay

Some of the best movies take you to a different time and place. Interstellar is one hell of a travel. It's like a movie on its own league. The closest i can remember is 2001: A space odyssey. If Stanley Kubrick saw it, I would think he'd be proud. There are recurring themes from past Nolan films. Inception for one, the way time and space is portrayed. Symbols, and relationships. New concepts like frozen clouds, ocean waves hundreds or thousands of feet high; gives you a sense that we are really little in this universe. There are planets beyond our existence. There are lands outside of our consciousness.  It's hard to put into one whole compact thing. This movie is an incredible journey. Really brilliant. I need to see this once more. The first time, with these kinds of movies, is to try and understand. The second time, is for pure entertainment.

I got this. Still pretty much a blur. Like a camera just about to refocus. But I got this. I don't expect everything to be easy. I'm half expecting things to get a little harder as the months go by. I don't mind. I can't predict the future but I can always plan for it. New goals, new year.

The term "get more out of life" should be retired. "How do i get more out of life?" Life doesn't owe you anything. You're lucky if you're even alive. If anything at all, it's your responsibility to give something to it.

I've grown to associate this song with good memories over the years. One of the sweetest songs you will have heard.

"an anticipation, an optimistic expectation, a sense of hope" -the daily show

"Yes, being offended is a choice. Choose not to be offended"  - Scott Weems, Ph.D. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-s-so-funny/201411/eight-steps-becoming-funnier-person

I admit I watched this film because of the lead actress. I squirm at themes of prostitution, especially underage ones.  But at it's core is a good story. It's kind of hard when you've built a bias over pretty faces. The ending was not as strong as I thought it would be. But it was still worth the watch. I just realized in western romance stories, the dude is usually a player. In Asian stories, the dude is usually more reserved. In western films, one or both couple usually mess up on their own. In Asian films, one or both couple is under an event that is out of their control like death or a disease Maybe I'm generalizing, but that's that. Back to the film, If i had any hand in the ending. I'd have the dude survive the operation and prolong his life but it's still time bound, they spend time together. They prepare for the end. They cherish the moment. The girl learns more about life along the process. She keeps his memory forever in her heart.  ...

Last week's NBA feature: Champions Revealed 2014 San Antonio Spurs. The character that is built by the San Antonio Spurs is something really to be heralded for. The values they instill are truly world class. Often we get so engrossed at what we do and we forget what really matters. Here are a few snippets of thoughts shared by Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker On life and perspective Tony: “… cause you always talk about, Pop, like life is bigger and there’s more important stuff in life” On being direct Pop: “i've always been a believer that players react better to the truth than blowing smoke at them or trying to manipulate them or uhh you know, tell them something so that they'll do this or that, but if you tell them the truth  and you really go after it, that assumes one thing, that the people you're telling the truth to have the kind of character that you guys have so you could deal with it and not blame other peopl...