SF just got hit by a minor quake less than a minute ago.
It's a testimonial to the quake's "minorness" in that I'm happily tapping away at the keyboard instead of running away in panic.
I think this is one of the few times since I've been here where I've actually felt a quake and been conscious of the fact that it just quaked. Maybe it's because it's almost 5am and there's not much else going on tonight?
Friday, July 20, 2007
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Moments in my life
I just watched Ghost Rider last night, and one phrase that really caught my attention was what Johnny Blaze's dad said to him.
If you don't make a choice, the choice makes you.
And that set my mind to thinking how much of my life has been defined by choices that I made along my journey through life. It's like... You're on this grand-daddy of road trips. Destination unknown. Where you end up ultimately depends on which roads you decide to travel down, which junctions you decide to turn on, which side streets you decide to explore.
Which in turn made me think of moments in my life where I made a conscious choice to do something or be someone.
- When I was young, I read somewhere that there were two sorts of people in times of crises. One looked outward to friends or family or religion or the community etc for strength. The other looked inward inside himself to find tap on reserves he didn't know he had. I was 8 or 9 years old when I read that, but for some reason, I made up my mind that I would never be the first type of person, that I would always find strength inside of myself.
- I was in the infantry when I was 18. At some time during basic training (aka boot camp), I decided that I wanted to either be an officer, or I would flunk my boot camp so badly that they would have to make me a clerk or some other administrative type guy. I didn't want to be the "entry level grunt". I wanted to either be a hero or a zero.
- One Saturday night, I was going through my phone book and I realized that I had only ONE person that I could call to go hang out. And that one person was moving out of town in a month. I realized that I needed to learn how to make friends and fast. And guess where that road took me...? ;)
I could go on and on, but here's my point. At each of those "defining moments", I learned something about myself that has shaped me into the person I am. And when I looked back at all those moments, I realized that I am very proud of the person that I grew to be. I realized that I tend to take a lot of my success for granted and I don't give myself credit for those successes. I also realized that a lot of how I make decisions stems back to those earlier moments in my life.
So here's my deep thought for the day. Look back at your own life. Look back at how you have grown as a person. Be proud of the path you have walked. Take a good hard look at what made you the person you are.
It is only when we examine the past, that we can fully appreciate the future.
If you don't make a choice, the choice makes you.
And that set my mind to thinking how much of my life has been defined by choices that I made along my journey through life. It's like... You're on this grand-daddy of road trips. Destination unknown. Where you end up ultimately depends on which roads you decide to travel down, which junctions you decide to turn on, which side streets you decide to explore.
Which in turn made me think of moments in my life where I made a conscious choice to do something or be someone.
- When I was young, I read somewhere that there were two sorts of people in times of crises. One looked outward to friends or family or religion or the community etc for strength. The other looked inward inside himself to find tap on reserves he didn't know he had. I was 8 or 9 years old when I read that, but for some reason, I made up my mind that I would never be the first type of person, that I would always find strength inside of myself.
- I was in the infantry when I was 18. At some time during basic training (aka boot camp), I decided that I wanted to either be an officer, or I would flunk my boot camp so badly that they would have to make me a clerk or some other administrative type guy. I didn't want to be the "entry level grunt". I wanted to either be a hero or a zero.
- One Saturday night, I was going through my phone book and I realized that I had only ONE person that I could call to go hang out. And that one person was moving out of town in a month. I realized that I needed to learn how to make friends and fast. And guess where that road took me...? ;)
I could go on and on, but here's my point. At each of those "defining moments", I learned something about myself that has shaped me into the person I am. And when I looked back at all those moments, I realized that I am very proud of the person that I grew to be. I realized that I tend to take a lot of my success for granted and I don't give myself credit for those successes. I also realized that a lot of how I make decisions stems back to those earlier moments in my life.
So here's my deep thought for the day. Look back at your own life. Look back at how you have grown as a person. Be proud of the path you have walked. Take a good hard look at what made you the person you are.
It is only when we examine the past, that we can fully appreciate the future.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
More cool YouTube videos
It's early in the morning (for me) so what better way to waste my time than surf YouTube for zombie videos (again)?
The Beatles vs Zombies
Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton
The Beatles vs Zombies
Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton
Thursday, May 17, 2007
I don't read well
"People who are tagged should write a blogpost of 6 weird things about them as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog."
That's what the instruction booklet says (thanks Al... not). But fair is fair, I got tagged, so here goes. Six rocking things you never knew about me (and probably didn't want to anyway). Yes, that's right. I don't read instructions too well, and I follow them even worse. You're not going to get six weird things about me. You're going to get six awesomely cool facts about me that you'd never have guessed! ROCK ON!
Uno> Remember those old car windows that you had to manually wind down, way before electronic windows were invented? Well, I took one apart when I was uh... 8? years old. However, in my infinite wisdom, I couldn't fix it back. Dad had to suffer through a window that couldn't wind up. But I remember he took it very well and just laughed about it.
Two> The only reason I went for karate class when I was young was so that I could have a mushroom omelette breakfast after class. I mean, seriously, who wants to wake up at 8am on a Sunday?! And y'all know how I am totally NOT a morning person...
San> The first thought that crossed my mind when Ah Ma passed was, when will it be my turn? But seriously, it drove home how frail we are, and what short lives we live. 80 years? Even 100 years? That's a mere blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things.
Vier> There is a bar of soap sitting under a tree, about 10 meters from a crystal clear stream somewhere in Temburong, Brunei. I left it there (accidentally) when I was in Brunei for OCS (officer cadet school) jungle warfare training. The trip to Brunei was probably one of my best memories from the 2 1/2 years I spent in the armed forces.
Dasut> According to Decker, cofounder extraordinaire of the Authentic Man Program, I have a gift for reading people. I'm just beginning to explore this gift, and it seems to be a beautiful thing, meant to be shared with everyone.
VI> My favorite poisons go by the names mojito, cabernet sauvignon, riesling and chocolate. Yes, gluttony is one of the big time sins. Yes, I'm probably going to burn in hell. I'll see you there. ;)
Lastly, I'm supposed to tag 6 people. But being a strong advocate for empowering the masses, I'm going to leave it to you (yes YOU!) to tag yourself. If you've tagged yourself (thank you!), please leave a comment with a link to your post.
That's what the instruction booklet says (thanks Al... not). But fair is fair, I got tagged, so here goes. Six rocking things you never knew about me (and probably didn't want to anyway). Yes, that's right. I don't read instructions too well, and I follow them even worse. You're not going to get six weird things about me. You're going to get six awesomely cool facts about me that you'd never have guessed! ROCK ON!
Uno> Remember those old car windows that you had to manually wind down, way before electronic windows were invented? Well, I took one apart when I was uh... 8? years old. However, in my infinite wisdom, I couldn't fix it back. Dad had to suffer through a window that couldn't wind up. But I remember he took it very well and just laughed about it.
Two> The only reason I went for karate class when I was young was so that I could have a mushroom omelette breakfast after class. I mean, seriously, who wants to wake up at 8am on a Sunday?! And y'all know how I am totally NOT a morning person...
San> The first thought that crossed my mind when Ah Ma passed was, when will it be my turn? But seriously, it drove home how frail we are, and what short lives we live. 80 years? Even 100 years? That's a mere blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things.
Vier> There is a bar of soap sitting under a tree, about 10 meters from a crystal clear stream somewhere in Temburong, Brunei. I left it there (accidentally) when I was in Brunei for OCS (officer cadet school) jungle warfare training. The trip to Brunei was probably one of my best memories from the 2 1/2 years I spent in the armed forces.
Dasut> According to Decker, cofounder extraordinaire of the Authentic Man Program, I have a gift for reading people. I'm just beginning to explore this gift, and it seems to be a beautiful thing, meant to be shared with everyone.
VI> My favorite poisons go by the names mojito, cabernet sauvignon, riesling and chocolate. Yes, gluttony is one of the big time sins. Yes, I'm probably going to burn in hell. I'll see you there. ;)
Lastly, I'm supposed to tag 6 people. But being a strong advocate for empowering the masses, I'm going to leave it to you (yes YOU!) to tag yourself. If you've tagged yourself (thank you!), please leave a comment with a link to your post.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Stanford - Areas of Growth?
I would love to say that we rocked the house to multiple standing ovations. But we didn't. The AMP guys delivered a solid B+/A- performance while Dennis and I were probably C/C+.
However, the biggest thing I got away from this event was how different it was to talk to a small group of 6 or so people, versus a big group of 50. In particular, Decker highlighted that I seemed to shrink inside myself when I get nervous. On the plus side, he also mentioned that I projected a very good vibe towards the audience, that I really cared that they understood what I was talking about.
So it's just a case of practice practice practice. Dennis and I should have made more effort to solidify what we were talking about. Even though we have delivered the same material hundreds of times already, we had never delivered it to a big audience. And that made the world of difference.
All in all, I'm grateful for the opportunity and the honor, and I'm very glad that it has shone a spotlight on areas of growth that I can focus on.
However, the biggest thing I got away from this event was how different it was to talk to a small group of 6 or so people, versus a big group of 50. In particular, Decker highlighted that I seemed to shrink inside myself when I get nervous. On the plus side, he also mentioned that I projected a very good vibe towards the audience, that I really cared that they understood what I was talking about.
So it's just a case of practice practice practice. Dennis and I should have made more effort to solidify what we were talking about. Even though we have delivered the same material hundreds of times already, we had never delivered it to a big audience. And that made the world of difference.
All in all, I'm grateful for the opportunity and the honor, and I'm very glad that it has shone a spotlight on areas of growth that I can focus on.
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