Videos

Shonda Rhimes on TED – A Year of Saying Yes to Everything

Every once in awhile, I read the TED newsletter that regularly gets sent to my Inbox and actually click through to watch a video or two. Today, it was Shonda Rhimes – TV Titan who is behind Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder, among others. She was up for a TED Talk and spoke of her year of saying Yes to everything – especially to her kids asking her to play.

I love the way she spoke. I’ve never seen her interviewed before but I am familiar with her work. Such a genius she must be. So creative, focused. She really must be such a Titan. But I love that she spoke about Love. About what truly brings one Joy.

There is a lot of emphasis on increasing productivity and maintaining focus on goals as a way to attain excellence. But she took a different path. Oh yes, she talked about being a workaholic and having very long workdays. But she emphasised this: Work won’t work without Play.

Recently, I have been passionate about crocheting. At other times in my life, it was blogging or baking, or blogging AND baking. No matter how long i stayed at work, no matter the demands on my time and presence, I always carved time out to do the things I wanted to do. There was always time to make Oreo Truffles, or Tres Leches cakes. I didn’t care about losing sleep – it made me happy. Whenever I started to blog, or bake, I would find myself in a certain ZONE. Same thing now about crocheting. Or about reading, sometimes. So I realised, I need to do these things to keep me sane and also to keep me going about work.

In the last 10 months or so, I’ve felt a shift deep within me. Before my recent promotion, years prior, I told my boss that I was happy and content with where I was. I didn’t see myself applying for a higher post. Truth be told, I was a bit bored. I was contemplating finding something else to do. Had I the life savings to support me with whatever I wanted to do, I probably would have left. But I needed my job and all the cushion my salary gave me. But after that amazing few days in Sagada with my husband and Team, and then transferring to a different program, things changed. I had found myself full again – not necessarily raring to go to work every single day – but not really dreading it. I felt passion for work. It was my core value of excellence that fuelled me – I had been given a  huge challenge and we needed to come out on top. But that was just the beginning.

I realise now, thanks to Shonda, that just wanting to be good at what I do wouldn’t have sustained me for a long time. It can’t. What keeps me going now is being able to refill my cup daily. There are a few ways I do it too.

Cultivating relationships with the people I work with. That 5 or 15 minutes of chat about things other than work. That refills my cup.

Having lunch with friends. That adds more.

Coming home to my husband and talking about our day. Planning our grocery list. Bickering about everything, haha! That takes me almost full to the brim.

And then finding a comfortable spot to crochet or knit – that allows my cup to overflow.

And then I  go to bed, wake up a few hours later, and I’m all ready for work again.

I used crocheting here because it’s what I do everyday now. But it could also be doodling, writing, reading, blogging, videoke, spending time with Amir or Alexiess. It is anything that sparks joy.

Thank you to the Titan, Shonda Rhimes.

Carpool Karaoke with James Corden and Chris Martin

I love James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke! I think the first one I watched was the one with Justin Bieber. More recently, I saw him pick up Adele and that was so fun to watch.

Today, with Super Bowl fever still in the air, I just finished watching the episode with Chris Martin. It is hilarious!

I probably enjoy it because I also love singing in the car. I do the driving, and at a certain point I always end up getting sleepy. Specially if I drive after shift. Long straight roads also tend to bore me and that is always a reason to get sleepy. To wake myself up, I’d play songs I could sing too. That, or I’d have to really get into juicy gossip with whoever’s riding with me.

Awhile back, the husband and I purchased an inexpensive GoPro alternative – the Supremo Action Camera:

Verabear | Supremo Action Camera

Verabear | Supremo Action Camera

It looks just like a GoPro, but I don’t know enough of them to know whether they do the same things. For us though, this is enough. It costs a third of a GoPro. We are photography enthusiasts and have a collection of different types of cameras. It’s like a hobby for me, a collection. I like having different options in capturing moments and preserving memories. We wish we were more outdoorsy but we aren’t. So this Supremo1 is definitely just the right action camera for us.

What does this have to do with Carpool Karaoke? Well, we’ve tried taking videos with the Supremo1 mounted on the dashboard. First it was pointed outside, like regular dashboard cameras. You know, just to record the streets of QC on a regular day. And then on our way back from our short weekend at Nasugbu two weeks ago, we turned the camera on us as we sang whatever song would play on the radio. Sad thing is, as is always the challenge, I have yet to see the photos and videos off the memory stick. Oh well.

So I would love for the husband and I to do something like Carpool Karaoke on a regular basis. Will we share it on Youtube or on the blog? Yes, No, Maybe. It’s just something we thought would be fun to record.

So anyway, without further adieu, checkout Coldplay’s Chris Martin on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke:

What I really wanted to say is this: Chris Martin is so pogi! And it just seems like so much fun to hang out with him. 🙂

McKenna Pope–Child Activist: Haters Gonna Hate

I feel so proud of this young lady, though I don’t know her and I never even heard of her cause until seeing this video early morning on Sunday. She sends a powerful message though – that we have it in all of us to effect change. When we make a stand–specially on a potentially controversial issue-it’s inevitable that not everyone will agree with us, but so what? Take a stand anyway.

Haters will hate.

So what did she campaign about? She had a younger brother who was really interested in cooking and so the family thought it would be great to give him an Easy Bake Oven. Now we don’t have those locally, so not everyone may know what it is, but I believe it’s a toy that allows kids to actually bake something. I would have loved one as a kid!

hasbro_oven2

Photo credit: http://www.thecookinginn.com/easybake/easybakerecall.html

The problem was that McKenna’s brother was hesitant about getting an Easy Bake because it was “for girls.” All the marketing for the toy was aimed at girls.The colors were pink and purple, and the commercials always had girls. It was as if they were perpetuating the stereotype that the place for girls and women is at home and in the kitchen.

So she started a petition to ask Hasbro, the makers of this toy, to use gender-neutral colors for producing and marketing the Easy Bake.

Listen and watch her TED Talk here:

Rainbow Loom

Ever heard of Rainbow Loom? Apparently it is a popular product for kids and adults and I have seen it mentioned in several family-oriented blogs. Of course I just couldn’t resist checking it out, and so I’ve been watching tutorials for rainbow loom friendship bracelets.

Honestly, reading up on this product and watching the videos was an ultimate throwback to when we were kids. Back then we didn’t have brightly colored rubber bands, but I would go in debt buying the ones available!

We didn’t use them as bracelets or anything though, we just joined them together to make skipping ropes.

So then I began thinking why would anyone spend on a loom when this can be done with just the bands and one’s own fingers? No need for c clips either, we would just tie them off. After watching the vids it began to be clear that with the loom, design options became limitless! Check out this more intricate design. I can also understand how making them can be addicting for adults and not just the kids. The young ones really just want to wear the end product, while the bigger ones may find making them a little therapeutic and keeps their hands busy.

The creator of the Rainbow Loom was a former crash-test engineer with Nissan, and a father of two girls. Read their story of success as told by the New York Times. Fantastic, isn’t it? I love how an idea just blossoms into something really special.

So amazed I was with the bright and cute bands that I went in search for it locally. I found sellers, but they were about twice the retail price on Amazon, and very expensive. There is a knock-off, a different brand, Loom Bandz, at a very low price. I’m ordering and we’ll see if it’s fun to make. Haha. If they’re any good, might give sets as gifts too, or whatever. It is after all, the time to start Christmas shopping. I’m thinking of giving gifts that encourage imagination and creativity. This seems like a good one, and definitely more pocket-friendly for a ninang like me than those exciting student guitars at guitar center. Hehe.

I can’t resist, here’s another video of a design I liked, chevron:

 

Do you find yourself getting hooked to the latest craze like myself? Smile

Storm Surge

The country has been bracing for this Super Typhoon Yolanda for days. At first, it seemed like we had triumphed over her, but as we gain access to the worst hit areas, we are learning just how much devastation she left behind in the Philippines.

As of latest official count, there are about 134 casualties. After what we’ve seen in the footages, and what we’ve heard from journalists and people on the ground, that seems like a very conservative count. The poor communication lines, and island-wide power outage, are probably keeping the officials from confirming the numbers.

But no matter how many, or how few lives were lost, it is still one or a hundred too many. 

 

Dr. Mahar Lagmay of Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) was interviewed on ANC today, and it was mentioned how the government has actually allocated money for advanced equipment to forecast weather conditions. He said too that the PAG-ASA and NDRRMC actually released an accurate model showing the path of Super Typhoon Yolanda. They were able to predict where it will hit landfall and identify the areas that will be most hit. The warnings were given, and resources were mobilized. It is sad though that some people still chose to stay in low-lying areas, and sadder still that identified evacuation areas were also submerged when the sea came rushing inland.

Storm surges are not new. We’ve heard it mentioned before. But it looks like no layman actually understood what it meant, until now.

Atom Araullo’s coverage in the morning of November 8 has been played over and over. One minute he was out on the road showing everyone how strong the winds were, and how rain was falling in every direction. Next thing the viewers knew, he had gone up the building where his crew was to take shelter, and the water had come rushing into the city.

The people were ready for the strongest typhoon in the sense that they left their homes and sought shelter in identified evacuation centers. Multi-purpose halls, gyms, and schools, were the usual areas. But it wasn’t just the wind and debris they needed shelter from, water brought in by the storm surges proved to be the biggest concern.

Dr. Lagmay said that storm surges were nothing new, and the warnings indicated the high probability of having them. So why weren’t appropriate evacuation centers identified? Why have the people relocate from the shoreline to one-story structures inland? Perhaps, it was really a lack of understanding of what exactly storm surges are. Now we know. Next time, we’ll know better.

Here’s hoping that the spirit of bayanihan once again prevails and sees us through this ordeal as one united people. Here’s praying that when we rebuild, we rebuild with the lessons of this experience well considered. Here’s to wishing that when we look back to remember YolandaPH, it is resilience and pakikipagkapwa that we see, and not the looting of Gaisano.

waterproofrubite

Image by Edzel Rubite.

Indeed, the Filipino spirit is waterproof. This has been proven time and again. But much needs to be done in the hard hit areas. Road clearing, delivery of goods and services, rebuilding. Many homes were washed out, even businesses. Let’s extend any help we can, here’s a few channels:

ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya Pledge Lines – 411-0183, 411-0182, 411-0115

UNICEF Philippines – One-time donation page (if you’d like to start monthly donations and be a Champion for Children, even better!)

Gawad Kalinga also set up a page.

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