October is over, Halloween 2011 - cancelled??

Just spend a good weekend in Boston. We made our costumes (i was a guy from minecraft, and she did a sweet jellyfish costume involving an umbrella, glowsticks, bubble paper etc.)
then went to a party and spend a night at the friends house. it was cool, lots of interesting costumes and weird people. (Small gathering, maybe 15-20 peeps total). Drank a bunch of brandy with ginger ale. Got quite waste-landed, woke up with a little hangover, so did Michelle :)

Sunday we went to see a play back at BC, saw "Into the woods". It was a musical based on Brother's Grimm stories combo. Quite awesome show. We were 5 rows away which was really cool. Went to a crepery(?) afterwords with Victoria and Sean a little place that makes crepes with all kinds of crap. 50+ choices of meats, cheeses, fruits, and various combos.
Hanging with a "couple" is interesting and quite different than with just one person. There is this interesting duality of all 4 being in convo, and breaks for 2 and 2 times. Comfortable I'd say.
Where we able to get back to Michelle's car after food? Nope. There were cops and cars parked right at our car, blocking it. The cop said we can't get to our car, and would have to wait for a conflict to be resolved. We went to a Good Vibrations across the street where I overheard that a guy hit a girl and that's why he's being taken out. Life is all about unpredictable detours.


A ton of people apparently lost power due to the past storm and i even heard that the state of CT is reschedualing halloween until thursday? What... Sure, I guess it's kind of weird to have snow in OCT, before halloween. But is it really that weird? I mean unlikely - yes, but out of ordinary? i doubt it.
hundreds of thousands of people were without power for a week. Damn. Luckily we didn't lose it for any periods of time. Always be thankful for what I have, before I lose it and it's too late.

I am also starting 7 days of daily (almost daily) writing from an audiobook "How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci". I am spending at least one hour of writing about a topic / idea:
Life-map
Day 1: Dreams
Day 2: Goals
Day 3: Values
Day 4: Purpose
Day 5: Assess Reality
Day 6: Connections
Day 7: Strategize for Change

A song about thanking people who let you merge while driving.

Yet another Self Assessment (of Leadership)

Relating Skills:
Most people would say that you are a likable person. You relate well to all kinds of people. You make other people feel at ease. You are genuinely interested in other people. And you naturally build relationships by inquiring about people’s interests, priorities, and perspectives. After spending time with you, people feel like they matter. Your positive, affirming nature makes others feel important and valued. People are quick to offer the same respect and consideration back to you.

Acting with Honor and Character:
You know what you stand for. Your actions are rooted in a stable set of values. You can be counted on to act consistently and stay true to your word. Others trust you because your beliefs and actions match. People see you walking your talk. They sense your authenticity and your character.

Managing Diverse Relationships:
You seek out people with different points of view and different backgrounds. Even though you acknowledge that it takes a little more time and more deliberate communication, you see the value that a diversity of perspectives and experiences contributes. You are open and collaborative. You share and communicate well. You seek to understand, accommodate, and leverage differences.

Dealing With Trouble:
You are willing to stick your neck out. You have the courage to challenge the status quo and bring up ideas that may make others uncomfortable. People count on you to stand up, speak your mind respectfully, and not let others off the hook. It’s something they admire about you because they know it’s not easy to do. With you, people know where they stand. You do not hesitate to confront problem performers, deal with conflict, or deliver negative feedback. Your approach is productive, not threatening. And you are able to keep your own personal feelings in check. Challenge, conflict, and hardship do not deter you from leading. In fact, you are energized by tough challenges.

Getting Organized:
You are steady and calm in situations that others find overwhelming. When you are faced with ever-increasing demands, when you are under pressure to keep up the pace, you approach your work with focused attention and careful planning. You manage your time well. You have the ability to call upon the appropriate resources at a moment’s notice in order to advance the project or deliverable. You are constantly monitoring, thinking ahead, and making timely adjustments in order to avoid obstacles and keep things moving on track.

Wow, time flies - It's been two weeks.

I have worked for two weeks already? Yeah, the days go by fast. Really fast. Gotta make sure I have enough time and effort to do the non-work things and such.

I made myself a deal, which I wrote on a piece of paper:
"If I stretch and meditate every day from Saturday Oct. 22nd to Saturday Oct. 29th (both days inclusive) I will order myself a dichtophone."
This should be quite motivational. I've been wanting one for some time, so I am using it as a reward to back into daily meditation and stretch, since I drive to work (about an hour sitting on my butt) and then sit on my butt for several more hours. Must use my body more!

Friday, a nice girl by the name of Michelle came to visit me. We ventured to friends house to play some Mario Party 6 (I believe), and later stopped by another's friends place. She left the car and started staring at the stars. It was dark and they were quite prominent. There was one that was a bit too bright and bigger than others. I suggested it might be a planet or something. She pulled out her intellectually-savvy phone and used an application to see what stars we were looking at. Turns out, the big and bright thing was Jupiter. Remember the time we saw Jupiter?

Hoping today to go see a movie, 50/50 with some peeps.

Some Stumble upon - Weekend after Work.

Six ways to make people like you:
1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

Win people to your way of thinking:
- The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
- Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
- If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
- Begin in a friendly way.
- Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.
- Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
- Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
- Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
- Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
- Appeal to the nobler motives.
- Dramatize your ideas.
- Throw down a challenge.

I haven't painted in a while. I just don't feel like painting. I'm sure once i do feel like painting, i will start again. But for now I am on a little break. Perhaps now that I have noticed it, I will think about it more and eventually paint something. We'll see. Tomorrow is week two of my lab technician job. I'm also going to get my first paycheck in the middle/end of week. Exciting.
My favorite girl in town passed her NCLEX exam which means she's officially a Registered Nurse. That's really cool, all the work in school and after paid off. Exciting also.
So things are going. Occupation is growing. Eyes are glowing. Future? Not showing.
At least not yet :)

Attention, Awareness, Discipline

David Foster Wallace 2005 commencement speech

And Part II


And this wonderful article: 10 Things To Stop Caring About Today I enjoyed so much, that I am going to print it out.

Dictaphone

Day 1 - 992hours more to go

What do I do on my job? Viscosity check, pH check. Stock, restock, pour, cap, move, remove, label. Lot's of little things. The person who trained me is a temp herself (of three months) so I am assuming in three months, when she peaces, I will be training a fresh temp, since I already got all of halfway there to my 1000 hours. Or so I think will happen.
Past weekend I ventured to NYC with the girls. Michelle saw her host parents from France, and we talked a bit. Mostly they talked and I listened.




I am continuing reading "Nurtureshock" as well as listening to "Made to Stick" on audio tape, since the drive to work is about 45min each way. At least I am learning things every day, not just sitting in the car, listening to music.
I have a feeling that the lab work will become routine, once i figure out all the tasks and where things are located.
Also went to see "Drive" which was an interesting and somewhat odd movie. Thumbs up for some originality and random acts of brutal violence.

Had an array of feelings today

I was elated to get my own car, which I bought yesterday and was able to pick up today. Art drove me to New Britain, for which i got him some gas, and my company. I totally enjoy Volvo. It has so many things and gadgets, roof window, heated seats. Twenty saved radio stations.
I haven't came up with a name for it yet, but I'm sure something will turn out eventually. Gotta let it grow on me a bit.

Steve Jobs passed away. Any famous person's death is facebook notified. Within minutes. Strange, what we focus on reposting, what we find relevant to make our statuses. I wonder I wonder.

I'm going to attempt to do 50 push ups in ~ 1min, because Shawn bet me $20 that I may not be able to. I got a little nervious and wasn't really positive I can do it. But I managed to do 55 push ups in about 40secs. (Faster is much easier for me). Felt great, I am confident about that now.

Tomorrow I will fast, from about Friday 6.30pm to Saturday 6.30pm. I will not drink water, or eat anything. My Friday evening will be mostly easy, but Saturday afternoon is where things might get a bit tougher. I will try to meditate, read, and spend a good amount of time playing video games. Those are great suckers of time. Currently I am enjoying Team Fortress 2, which is free to play. That's baaad.

Occupy Wall St. is still going. I don't know where, but am confident something is going to happen. I hope for brighter future for the movement and some positive changes to this country. Who knows what will really happen.


My clothes smell like fire.

Are people really more excited about arrested development being back on TV than Wall St. Occupation???

This is quote extraordinary, that is happening out there. Just something that keeps me thinking this is quite something:
First:

Then

Now


The gathering started on Sept. 17th and it has been growing ever since. People unite and are powerful. I believe this is going to be quite the impact. Whatever this is, something will change. Occupywallst.org is where I get all the latest info and interesting videos and pictures. The reality of it, is many major cities are already gathering momentum and are organizing. Media purposely not covering it, because who knows why.

On Tuesday, I may go and look at a car and possibly buy it. Exciting stuff. Week of next I start working in the lab.
How interesting is this life thing?