I spent the day watching America's Best Dance Crew and The Biggest Loser. I love these two shows because of how they show you people's accomplishments and the powerful journeys they take. From amazing physical skills to amazing physical transformations, it really is inspiring. I'm not much of a TV watcher (in fact, I only watch things if someone else is watching it already), but there are certain shows I really like. Reality shows can be good or bad, depending on if it's all about people being dramatic with each other or if it's about learning, growing, and improving yourself. And these two, in my eyes, are really nice shows to watch to feel good about things.
ABDC is just so cool to watch. The stunts these people pull, the unbelievable talent they possess, and the creativity and versatility they exhibit... really, it's astonishing to me. I have always respected people with such mastery of an art, sport, or academic discipline. I especially admire those who can dance, sing, or create art, because that is something I have never quite had a knack for. I can write, I can run, I can swim, and I can excel academically, but the fine arts baffle me. So, I love to see a show like this, where it's not just intense skill, but also so much more. Dance forms are so expressive, so beautiful, so entertaining! I really can't describe what it is - perhaps it is because I wish I could do it myself. Whatever the reason, I absolutely love watching dance performances!
A few things I've noticed from the show: First, I'm just a little concerned that so far the all-female groups haven't won ABDC yet. In fact, not a single girl has been in the groups that have made it to the top so far. Some have gotten close, but not quite there. So I'm still sitting tight, waiting to hear of the first female team to launch themselves to the top. Second, most of the guys who won (or even all of them?) are an ethnic minority. Finally, they all hail from the Western states (namely, California and Nevada). I don't know if this is all a coincidence, a byproduct of the circumstances, or if there's something to be seen in this, but it certainly intrigues me for how upcoming seasons will pan out.
Now Biggest Loser is great to see because the change is so drastic and so inspiring to watch. It makes you reevaluate your own life and if things are satisfactory for you and how you treat yourself. Although much of the show is centered around weight, it is important to remember that there's more to it than that. Overall health is extremely important, from other measures such as BMI and percentage body fat to things that cannot be measured, like increased self-confidence and a more positive mentality. Plus, there are so many other health factors that aren't always related to weight, including cholesterol and cancer. The show often talks about how it's not just about losing weight, but it's the whole life-changing experience and new outlook, which is good. However, physical health is far more complicated than weight lost, so I wish the show had a more sophisticated measuring system that takes other factors into account in judging the contestants.
In watching this show, I noticed that as the people got smaller, they also got tanner (which makes sense, what with all the time they spent working out outdoors) and, for the men, grew more hair! At first I thought it was a curious thing, but then Marylin reminded me that hair does not grow as well through thick layers of fat. So, as they slimmed down, the men also started to regain some of their chest hair. Very interesting. It also seems that women win this significantly less than men, though a lot of that has to do with how much you have to lose to begin with. Granted, they measure percentage loss, but still, it gets harder and harder to lose weight as you get smaller (until you get to a point where you just shouldn't be losing any more).
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April is, apparently, now deemed Kindness Month and thus the Singapore Kindness Movement was launched today, the first weekend day of the month. If nothing else, just being at event about kindness really makes you much more aware of it. I definitely was much more conscious of how my actions could be interpreted and affect others. I made sure I walked around with a soft expression on my face, if not an outright smile. I made sure I was courteous to others, saying sorry if I bumped into them and thank you when they were nice to me. I even asked for some napkins to help clean off some chairs that had gotten stuff on them and made sure the people sitting in them were aware of the gooey drips of cotton candy that had gotten stuck on their seats before they sat down and dirtied their pants. Today I really felt the effects of having what is dubbed a "blue brain" in Emergenetics terms. Blue-brained people are the thinkers who sit there, rationalizing things and using logic to solve problems. Learning is done best by mental analysis. And that, is exactly how I am. I've been laboring over a project this past week, trying to turn all the information for our training branch into a simple, comprehensive slide show. I had originally written a script for it, typing out what I thought should be spoken and what images/words could coincide with that. I sent that out to the boss to look over and got back his edits, showing me the type of language he prefers to use and the style he was looking for. From there, I changed things up as needed. For some reason, I suddenly got followed by a good dozen people on Twitter today. I'm not really sure why or how they found me, but it was quite the mix of people I know, people I don't know, and organizations I've never heard of. Up until now, I could usually understand why someone would happen upon me, because I'd have a recent post that was related to something they are interested in. However, today's follows don't quite make sense to me and I've been trying to find some sort of a pattern to it. Is it because I posted a bunch of Twitpics yesterday? Is it because of all the random links and resources I've been "tweeting" about? What is driving traffic to my page? Today was the first time I stayed in the office rather late unaccompanied by Marylin. It was just me and Goof, working away at our given tasks. I quite liked the atmosphere, which was much more conducive to working for me than most. For one, there were fewer distractions around - during the day, people are bustling in and out and random spurts of stories and sharing will interrupt the flow of work. A lot of people are also online to distract me (namely, Panda, who I now get to sit and watch working as I do my own work) and the light outside makes the world itself a distraction. I just finished the book Five Minds for the Future, so I thought I'd give a little summary of what it was about. Basically, it outlines five types of skills and ways of thought that Dr. Gardner feels are important to develop in this changing world. As technology changes the way we live, it also changes the way we need to think about things. Gone are the days when it was crucial for knowledge to be retained through rote memorization, for in the real world, we have search engines to help our memories. However, the ability to process large amounts of information is increasingly important as we are bombarded with more and more entries to the world's database. I had an appointment with a Chinese masseuse today it was at once a soothing and painful and tickling experience. I have had a rather weak and very tight back for 15 months now, occasionally feeling like a 60-year-old woman with the type of soreness I would get there. I threw it out back in late 2007, early 2008 and it never quite got better. At first, I would just avoid doing anything that required me to bend or twist in ways that my back would not allow. I feel (and have often felt) like I should write more like I am storytelling, relaying the details of my life. From the feelings to the specifics of names of places, these are all things that I tend to leave out. I usually write what I did, plain and simple, in my daily journal. I've been making an effort to include more of what I think and feel for a couple years now. It's getting a lot better, but there's still a lot more to be done. Then on the blogging side, I tend to only write about what I think, but not really related to a certain event. Granted, an event may have triggered my idea, but it's usually something that I've been thinking about for awhile or have at least considered before. It was 8:05 PM when I opened up my planner to pen an event into it. Suddenly, a reminder of Earth Hour was staring up at me. I have struggled time and time again with a proper theme for this blog. It started off as documenting my life after graduating, began to lean towards professional observations, lingered on personal life details, and now is floating around somewhere in between all things I wanted it to be. I guess that's what happens when I write about whatever is on my mind! |
laelene My philosophy is simple: things change. Therefore, we are all on a lifelong journey of discovery. We should be flexible, questioning, learning, adapting, and growing. Always. Archives
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