Last week I had a conversation in Japanese with one of our customers. She was elated that I was able to speak her language, but afterward, I was rather disgusted that my command of the Japanese language was very rusty and sporadic. I've thought about this for the past week, and the realization that my Japanese was mediocre, combined with the ( Read more... )

I have become a recent devotee of the New York Times Online, mainly thanks to my highly-educated and well-read friends (such as sirwilliam, nixzusehen, thistlelurid, bumpus23, and g). Maybe I have grown out of being so provincial, but I am finding that The Oregonian's national news coverage is not as well-written and thoughtful as the writers for New York Times. At any rate, I have ( Read more... )

Whoa. My friend Randall (of Railer fame) is on this week's cover of Willamette Week. He's on the cover not only because of his band, but because of a very interesting article on Peak Oil. The article has definitely (no puns intended) piqued my interest on the topic ( Read more... )

A big thanks to sodapopprincess for the link.

I actually had tears in my eyes while reading portions of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter From Birmingham Jail speech. It is always a good humbling experience to be reminded of why these national holidays exist, and to realize that many of the things that I take for granted in everyday life came after long struggles ( Read more... )

I'm still feeling the blahs. I'm not sure if it's just a seasonal affect thing, or maybe there is a big hole inside that I want to fill. With what, I don't know. In a cryptic way, I have a general idea of where I want to go in my life, but I am not sure about how to get there. There are so many issues surrounding learning processes and self- ( Read more... )

I'm feeling rather down at the moment. This week has been very stressful at work--with at least three people being out on any given day, it's hard to play catch up. Today we rolled out the new trouble tracking software--the new version seems to have more bugs than a Volkswagen convention! Plus, we had no documentation for installing the stuff, so I ( Read more... )

Before turning in the Fish! book back to the library, I'm going to repost a quote from the book (page 99). I hope to keep this in my mind and heart no matter if I am doing well or feeling badly:

"....Choosing your attitude and acting like a victim are mutually exclusive."

Today has been a pretty mellow one so far. I'm getting used to diffusing customers effectively. I hope the trend of keeping an even-keeled and mellow outlook on things continue. It makes a difference when I tell myself, "I want to get up and get ready for work," instead of "I should get up and get ready for work." I have also started getting in the ( Read more... )

I arrived late at work today. The Little One left me a nasty "gift" on the bathroom floor as well as vomits on the floor, and I spent time this morning cleaning them up. If this turns out to be the feline version of the Twelve Days of Christmas, I am not going to be a very happy Big One ( Read more... )

I almost decided to call in sick and stay home this morning--I felt a huge sense of blahness as I woke up on the couch (I alternated between sleeping and reading parts of Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life since 5:00 yesterday afternoon and 8:00 this morning). I feel somewhat in a better mood today. The incentive to convert six days' ( Read more... )