Parents, it's tough to raise children in the fast pace way of living. In middle June, two twin sisters fought in front of my house. One of the sisters alleged their father was abusive. I don't know who's telling the truth. But, wow!!! In addition, the recession is making financial decisions tough for struggling families.
Parents, find time to teach the soft skills schools don't teach. Schools teach the reading, writing, and math academic education. Schools don't teach manners, computers, communication skills, ability to deal with others, and physical fitness. Also, schools don't teach dancing, sewing, cooking, singing, fixing cars, yoga, and basket weaving. Furthermore, schools don't teach positive attitudes, responsibility, earning, innovating infinitely ^__^, trying new restaurants, visiting new places, welcoming failures and mistakes, and finding who your kids are. Avoiding teaching the soft skills because of long work hours is inexcusable. You're the parents, you signed the contract to raise and teach the children the moment they're born.
My parents failed to teach me the soft skills and the life skills. I forgive them! I'm taking responsibility and taking action to correct their mistakes and catch up. I have a long way to go. I'm late learning what I should have I have learned a long time ago. I'm growing up, and that's good to realize now instead of later.
All of my friends and classmates in college agreed general education classes are a waste of time and waste of money. I believe college students need to take classes in soft skills—skills useful when they live their lives in the real world. Students pick the skills. The skills include first aid, cooking, car maintenance, basic PC computer skills, sewing, palates, and telling jokes. Science, humanities, liberal arts are good to learn. In today's world, who cares if someone knows the periodic table. I rather know ballroom dancing and cooking scrambled eggs =)
Side Note: Another sign of the recession when retail stores sells back to school supplies a week after 4th of July.
I'm growing up Finding Raymond Mar
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
A Bowl Of Cheerios
Everyone must eat a bowl of Cheerios in their lives. Must!! No excuses. No exceptions. Go to a grocery store and buy a box of Cheerios. Eat a bowl immediately when you return home.
There are plenty of musts a person must experience in his or her life, even if it's just one time. Everyone has their own list of musts they did or they're going to do. Isn't life a list of must do's? Nobody does the same routine day after day 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is so much to do outdoors and even indoors XD Balance yourself doing activities indoors and outdoors. They're equally important. Continue finding new activities. The list of new musts never ends. Your list of new experiences to experience must never be completed. This is an example life is not perfect. If you die with a long list of new experiences accomplished and not accomplished, that means you lived an active life!
Here are some new experiences I experienced for the first time in 2009. I admit these are small potatoes; however, I'm going in the correction direction. And it's another example of me growing up!
*Hiking. I started hiking in April. I hiked two trails. I plan to hike at least once a month.
*Ballroom Dancing. My sister is teaching me ballroom dancing. I'm taking classes at De Anza. I continue learning and practicing.
*Strength Development. I took a class on weight lifting at De Anza. My max bench press is 200lbs. As this moment, I'm recovering from being sick. I'm eager to workout soon =)
*I ate Pho for the first time. Pho is Vietnamese soup.
*In Aug, I'm planning to attend a jazz festival in Downtown San Jose.
*I wan to skydive. I need to find someone to come with me ;)
I'm growing up Finding Raymond Mar
There are plenty of musts a person must experience in his or her life, even if it's just one time. Everyone has their own list of musts they did or they're going to do. Isn't life a list of must do's? Nobody does the same routine day after day 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is so much to do outdoors and even indoors XD Balance yourself doing activities indoors and outdoors. They're equally important. Continue finding new activities. The list of new musts never ends. Your list of new experiences to experience must never be completed. This is an example life is not perfect. If you die with a long list of new experiences accomplished and not accomplished, that means you lived an active life!
Here are some new experiences I experienced for the first time in 2009. I admit these are small potatoes; however, I'm going in the correction direction. And it's another example of me growing up!
*Hiking. I started hiking in April. I hiked two trails. I plan to hike at least once a month.
*Ballroom Dancing. My sister is teaching me ballroom dancing. I'm taking classes at De Anza. I continue learning and practicing.
*Strength Development. I took a class on weight lifting at De Anza. My max bench press is 200lbs. As this moment, I'm recovering from being sick. I'm eager to workout soon =)
*I ate Pho for the first time. Pho is Vietnamese soup.
*In Aug, I'm planning to attend a jazz festival in Downtown San Jose.
*I wan to skydive. I need to find someone to come with me ;)
I'm growing up Finding Raymond Mar
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Bad News Is Good News When You Learn From The Bad News
"Once you embrace unpleasant news not as a negative but as evidence of a need for change, you aren't defeated by it. You're learning from it. It's all in how you approach failures." --Bill Gates, Business @ The Speed Of Thought
It's unfortunate schools fail to teach failure is one of the best ways to learn. Schools reward brilliance and perfection and punish failure and mistakes. The successful people and professional people who do the best at their jobs, their hobbies, and their expertise made lots and lots of mistakes, experimented by trial and error, and were honest with bad results. They take the negatives and find the positives. A positive attitude and positive outlook are required to accept the bad news and take action to improve and to innovate.
Here are some moments I turned bad news to good news in time:
*I attended Yaoi Con Sat Sep 27-Sun Sep 28. The con itself was good. Personally, I didn't have a good time. I'm not attending anymore saving me money and a weekend. I realized I wear my cosplays partially to future anime conventions on the day before the con begins to pick up my registration and badge. No need to wear my cosplays in full.
*I almost quit anime after Fanime Con 2004. I talked to a friend who graduated college and we talked about him quitting anime. The con was not a good con for me. I watched 17 episodes of Full Metal Alchemist on day three from midnight to 7am the next morning. I said to myself I'm going to cosplay as Edward Elric, the main character, during episode eight. Cosplaying saved my anime hobby and helped me learn to meet new people.
*I played softball with my co-workers in summer 2001. The first game we played we lost. Talk about me being overconfident we were going to win and me being in shape. The opposing team was younger and experienced. I had nothing, and my team had nothing. The next day I was sore. A week later after I recovered, I added the treadmill to my gym workout.
*I started a new gym workout plan which is two days of weights and one day of cardio. I got the workout plan from www.bodybuilding.com. The workout plan is for beginning weight training which includes cardio devoted to one full day or after doing weights. Thank you Punkbuster for the website suggestion.
*I had trouble passing my upper division math classes at San Jose State University. My initial major was Mathematics. In Fall Semester 1995, I changed my major to Economics. The last four semesters I did well in my Economics classes.
*In high school, I failed to pass the minimum writing proficiency test in my freshmen year. My mom purchased two books to improve my writing a week later. I passed the writing proficient test in my sophomore year. In college, I failed English 1B. The instructor was terrible, and I believed many students passed the class by cheating on the novels for the essay exams >==< I re-read the two books from high school and I wrote short stories for fun. I passed English 1B at a community college. In Fall Semester 1996, I took an Economics Writing Workshop class. My Economics professor taught me how to write, not my English classes XP
I'm lucky my bad moments are small moments now. I have not, and I hope not, to experience divorce, trouble with the law, and losing friends especially my close friends I regularly hang out, chat, and email because we stopped getting along.
I want to think everyone has the attitude of taking the bad news to learn and create good news in time; in particular, my family, friends, and acquaintances. Unfortunately, many do not. Many say they learn or they don't repeat their mistakes. They actually don't learn and repeat their mistakes again.
I'm growing up Finding Raymond Mar
It's unfortunate schools fail to teach failure is one of the best ways to learn. Schools reward brilliance and perfection and punish failure and mistakes. The successful people and professional people who do the best at their jobs, their hobbies, and their expertise made lots and lots of mistakes, experimented by trial and error, and were honest with bad results. They take the negatives and find the positives. A positive attitude and positive outlook are required to accept the bad news and take action to improve and to innovate.
Here are some moments I turned bad news to good news in time:
*I attended Yaoi Con Sat Sep 27-Sun Sep 28. The con itself was good. Personally, I didn't have a good time. I'm not attending anymore saving me money and a weekend. I realized I wear my cosplays partially to future anime conventions on the day before the con begins to pick up my registration and badge. No need to wear my cosplays in full.
*I almost quit anime after Fanime Con 2004. I talked to a friend who graduated college and we talked about him quitting anime. The con was not a good con for me. I watched 17 episodes of Full Metal Alchemist on day three from midnight to 7am the next morning. I said to myself I'm going to cosplay as Edward Elric, the main character, during episode eight. Cosplaying saved my anime hobby and helped me learn to meet new people.
*I played softball with my co-workers in summer 2001. The first game we played we lost. Talk about me being overconfident we were going to win and me being in shape. The opposing team was younger and experienced. I had nothing, and my team had nothing. The next day I was sore. A week later after I recovered, I added the treadmill to my gym workout.
*I started a new gym workout plan which is two days of weights and one day of cardio. I got the workout plan from www.bodybuilding.com. The workout plan is for beginning weight training which includes cardio devoted to one full day or after doing weights. Thank you Punkbuster for the website suggestion.
*I had trouble passing my upper division math classes at San Jose State University. My initial major was Mathematics. In Fall Semester 1995, I changed my major to Economics. The last four semesters I did well in my Economics classes.
*In high school, I failed to pass the minimum writing proficiency test in my freshmen year. My mom purchased two books to improve my writing a week later. I passed the writing proficient test in my sophomore year. In college, I failed English 1B. The instructor was terrible, and I believed many students passed the class by cheating on the novels for the essay exams >==< I re-read the two books from high school and I wrote short stories for fun. I passed English 1B at a community college. In Fall Semester 1996, I took an Economics Writing Workshop class. My Economics professor taught me how to write, not my English classes XP
I'm lucky my bad moments are small moments now. I have not, and I hope not, to experience divorce, trouble with the law, and losing friends especially my close friends I regularly hang out, chat, and email because we stopped getting along.
I want to think everyone has the attitude of taking the bad news to learn and create good news in time; in particular, my family, friends, and acquaintances. Unfortunately, many do not. Many say they learn or they don't repeat their mistakes. They actually don't learn and repeat their mistakes again.
I'm growing up Finding Raymond Mar
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Did The Dumb Ass Co-Worker Wanted To Change?
Sooner or later, everyone is going to change. I changed on Sat Oct 4, 2008, the day I realized I must grow up. Change happens by choice or by chance or by luck or by timing. Growing up was a choice. Getting my job contract terminated was by chance. We change for better or for worse.
Earlier today, I prepared lunch and dinner for the family. I thought about Colliers International, my job before I worked at Cisco. Specifically, I thought about my dumb ass co-worker in the Research Department. He had lots of problems professionally and personally. For example, professionally, many workers complained of lost papers and late turnaround and taking too many smoking breaks. Personally, he was divorced and drove to Stockton to visit his children.
Did he want to be a better person? Did he want to be a more effective worker? I believe a person can't change another person. Instead, a person influences another person to change. Did he want to change? Now I'm growing up, I wondered could I influence my dumb ass co-worker to change? Could I teach him better ways to work on assignments, correct his errors calculating statistics, and be a good listener to his problems? I was immature, a loner, a worker who did everything by himself. Likewise, my dumb ass co-worker was also immature, a loner, a worker who did everything by himself. I don't know whether he wanted to change. If I was a grown up person, I attempted to influence him to change.
It took me 34+ years to change. I'm growing up. I still have lots to learn, lots to experience, and lots of mistakes I must correct. I never influenced anyone to change, to innovate, and be a role model. I'm glad I didn't because I was naive before Sat Oct 4, 2008. Someone could have told me to change and to grow up sincerely in my past. Fortunately, I'm growing up now. There are some people who are older than me and haven't grown up.
I'm growing up Finding Raymond Mar
Earlier today, I prepared lunch and dinner for the family. I thought about Colliers International, my job before I worked at Cisco. Specifically, I thought about my dumb ass co-worker in the Research Department. He had lots of problems professionally and personally. For example, professionally, many workers complained of lost papers and late turnaround and taking too many smoking breaks. Personally, he was divorced and drove to Stockton to visit his children.
Did he want to be a better person? Did he want to be a more effective worker? I believe a person can't change another person. Instead, a person influences another person to change. Did he want to change? Now I'm growing up, I wondered could I influence my dumb ass co-worker to change? Could I teach him better ways to work on assignments, correct his errors calculating statistics, and be a good listener to his problems? I was immature, a loner, a worker who did everything by himself. Likewise, my dumb ass co-worker was also immature, a loner, a worker who did everything by himself. I don't know whether he wanted to change. If I was a grown up person, I attempted to influence him to change.
It took me 34+ years to change. I'm growing up. I still have lots to learn, lots to experience, and lots of mistakes I must correct. I never influenced anyone to change, to innovate, and be a role model. I'm glad I didn't because I was naive before Sat Oct 4, 2008. Someone could have told me to change and to grow up sincerely in my past. Fortunately, I'm growing up now. There are some people who are older than me and haven't grown up.
I'm growing up Finding Raymond Mar
Monday, July 13, 2009
Accutane Day 158
My next appointment is Thur July 16. I have free time and the timing is good for an update. I write another update after the appointment if there is a significant update and/or change to my face.
Accutane deserves respect as a powerful drug. I mentioned in the last Accutane update and I'm repeating again. Accutane must be respected. The drug has kept my face dry, and with the weather being humid and being sick lately has made my face and hands feel really dry. I got another dermatitis breakout on my hands on Tue June 30. And I'm getting minor breakouts of eczema.
I apply Cutivate on my dermatitis two times a day and Vanicream on my face at least two times a day. Today, I'm low on Cutivate so I apply Vanicream on my dermatitis during the day and Cutivate before I sleep. I have not seen any harmful warts with my eyes. The small warts are hard to see. The dermatologist uses a special light to find the harmful warts to apply liquid nitrogen. I apply Aldara to the warts. And I apply Blistex Lip Medex lip balm to my lips before I sleep.
I welcome the side effects because they tell me Accutane is working such as treating the warts!
I'm growing up Finding Raymond Mar
Sunday, July 12, 2009
A Thought On Star Trek Movies
I consider myself a casual Star Trek fan. I haven't seen all the Star Trek TV episodes from original James T. Kirk to Enterprise. I'm not even a general Star Trek fan. I watched all the Star Trek movies except Star Trek: Nemesis. The Star Trek summer'09 movie is a must watch from casual to die hard fans. I think Star Trek II is the best and Star Trek I is the worse.
Before Star Trek summer'09, there were ten Star Trek movies. Nemesis was the tenth movie. There were good Star Trek movies such as Star Trek II, Star Trek IV, and First Contact. There were bad Star Trek movies such as Star Trek I and Star Trek V.
Just like life, the Star Trek movie franchise is not 100% good; likewise with Star Wars and many other movie franchises. There are going to be good movies and bad movies. Everyone has good years and bad years including people in sales, owning a business, college classes, and sports. I had good years and bad years. If you had a good year, make next year a great year. If you had a bad year, realize the mistakes and make next year a good year.
I'm growing up Finding Raymond Mar
Before Star Trek summer'09, there were ten Star Trek movies. Nemesis was the tenth movie. There were good Star Trek movies such as Star Trek II, Star Trek IV, and First Contact. There were bad Star Trek movies such as Star Trek I and Star Trek V.
Just like life, the Star Trek movie franchise is not 100% good; likewise with Star Wars and many other movie franchises. There are going to be good movies and bad movies. Everyone has good years and bad years including people in sales, owning a business, college classes, and sports. I had good years and bad years. If you had a good year, make next year a great year. If you had a bad year, realize the mistakes and make next year a good year.
I'm growing up Finding Raymond Mar
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