Last Assignment for 2011

When I submitted my last paper at 10:35 tonight, it felt like a giant weight just fell off my shoulders.  Of course I’ll have to wait for my marks, but the feeling of finishing the last paper of the term, of the month, of the year, of all the seven required classes for my masters degree in health informatics, It felt pretty damn good.  I felt like a miner about to climb out of a long tunnel preparing to see the sunlight.  2011 is about to come to an end, and I still remember setting goals for this year back in January.  I have somehow managed to finish six graduate classes, work as information analyst and personal trainer, and deliver one speech at the Belmont Babblers club in 2011.  I am amazed by how fast time travels.

I have also had a jammed packed weekend:

Saturday: 11 hours of writing and 5 hours of home inspection

Sunday: 7 hours of TRX suspension training course and 3 hours of writing and editing

I’m so looking forward to our Mt. Washington Trip this year.  It will be an awesome holiday to celebrate the busy 2011 and welcome an exciting 2012.

One thing after another

Many things happened these days.  Things just came one after another.  They are happening at a rate that I didn’t think my brain was able to capture all the information processed in my head sometimes.

  • Interviews = 0 acceptance
  • Hectic work life = 2 workouts/week if lucky
  • Wife = 30
  • RAL 30 party = 3 kegs, countless cups of beer, 4am
  • Preliminary thesis proposal = 12 hours of writing
  • Firewood = 3 truck loads
  • Crownwood = OMG!

I. Will. Survive.

Ssstutter

I came across this video while searching something online.  Besides feeling bad for her, I can empathize.  Although my stuttering is not as severe, it kills me every time when I stutter in public.  I think it’s really brave of Hanna to agree to do this video with Vancouver Film School (VFS) and explain to the world that stutterers work twice as hard, if not more, to do something non-stutterers can easily perform: speaking.  I truly hope Hanna can work with her speech pathologist, practice speaking techniques, and eventually overcome her stuttering.  I know these exercises work because they have helped me to correct my stuttering.  My speech therapist told me that if stuttering is not corrected before the age of 8, people will have it with them all their lives.  It’s like a disability.  The good news is there are speech exercises I can practice to overcome or lessen the degree I stutter.  Just like exercising everyday is good for our health.  Stutterers have to do speech exercises everyday in order to speak normally with confidence.  Good luck, Hanna.

Ssstutter

I came across this video while searching something online.  Besides feeling bad for her, I can empathize.  Although my stuttering is not as severe, it kills me every time when I stutter in public.  I think it’s really brave of Hanna to agree to do this video with Vancouver Film School (VFS) and explain to the world that stutterers work twice as hard, if not more, to do something non-stutterers can easily perform: speaking.  I truly hope Hanna can work with her speech pathologist, practice speaking techniques, and eventually overcome her stuttering.  I know these exercises work because they have helped me to correct my stuttering.  My speech therapist told me that if stuttering is not corrected before the age of 8, people will have it with them all their lives.  It’s like a disability.  The good news is there are speech exercises I can practice to overcome or lessen the degree I stutter.  Just like exercising everyday is good for our health.  Stutterers have to do speech exercises everyday in order to speak normally with confidence.  Good luck, Hanna.

Last Day of Class

Tonight’s health information standards class marked the last class of my graduate school.  No more classes for this degree.  Just the thesis.  YES!!!

A Murmuration of Starlings

I was just checking out the weather for the week on weathernetwork.com.  One of the pages asked a question: Have you ever witnessed a murmuration of starlings?  I had no idea what “a murmuration of starlings” was, so I looked it up on Google.  Via Google, I found this video named, Macrowikinomics Murmuration, on Youtube.  I was blown away by how amazing a murmuration of starlings was and how well the video was done up by dontapscottgroup.

Also, it looks like the video was made based on this book, Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World, written by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams.  Needless to say, I was yet again distracted by reading on Don Tapscott’s concept of the power of collaborative innovation and open systems.  It is now quarter to 11, and I gotta get back to my assignment…

The TRX Superhero Workout

For the past couple of weeks, I have been trying out some exercises from Jonathan Ross’s TRX Superhero Workout.  He was showing this workout at the 2011 IDEA World fitness convention.  Jonathan’s got some cheesy superhero names for these exercises, but I thought they were quite appropriate and funny.  It sure makes a TRX workout more interesting when you associate the exercises with the superheros.  The ones I really like are: Neo Row, Superman Flyer, and Flash Sprints.  The video is below.  Try them out.  Have fun!

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, has died at the age of 56.  I found this out yesterday from Brian and Brendan in Brian’s hospital room at Royal Jubilee Hospital.  When the guys told me about the news, I thought they were joking.  Soon after I learned that it was real, I felt sick to my stomach.  Needless to say, there is a ton of information on the Internet about Steve’s death.  I listened to his speech in 2005 at Stanford University again.  The title of his speech is, “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”.  I was yet again inspired, touched and encouraged.

Rest in peace, Mr. One-More-Thing.

Goodbye 20s. Hello 30s.

It’s hard to believe that I spent my entire 20s in Victoria, BC, Canada.  Looking back scares me sometimes, but the future is always more exciting and adventuresome.  I was happy to talk to mom and dad on the phone today.  Mom was reminiscing about the good old days, and the conversation with dad was short and sweet as usual.

Hello 30.  What a great way to start a new decade of my life with friends, family, and a dirty thirty birthday party!  I’m pumped, about everything!