Music has the power to move people in ways few mediums can. A sad song can be a repository for heartache. A happy one a soundtrack to add rhythm and cadence to our already positive vibes. Often, music simply puts into form the things our souls bear that are otherwise formless. There is a level of intimacy with music that is seldom replicated even between two human beings. [Read more…]
Self-Help Books – Why the Bad Rap?
When did “self-help book” become a pejorative term? Maybe the more important question is, why?
Whatever the reason, a lot of people wouldn’t be caught dead reading one. Okay, maybe it’s mostly us guys who are afraid of what other people might think if they catch us reading a self-help book. All of the sudden it’s become somehow emasculating to want to improve yourself or at least know yourself a little better. [Read more…]
How Apple Got to Me
My hatred for all things Apple began at a young age. I must’ve been around 11 or 12 when my grandparents first let me try out their Power Macintosh desktop. Already comfortable with PCs from playing games on my computer at home, the Macintosh drove me utterly mad.
First question I remember having, what’s with this one-click so-called mouse and how can I do anything other than straightforward opening of applications with it? After being accustomed to the PC, the single click option felt like losing a limb.
What about all the games I loved? Out of the question. There was virtually no mainstream game worth playing on Macs at the time. Unless you wanted to play Myst and wander around a fantasy world with no discernible objective or identity. [Read more…]
A Pound of Cure
A hospital is not the ideal place to go and get well. Think about it. A giant, sealed up warehouse with shared air circulation where sick people are stored. It’s essentially an enormous repository for germs.
And what about the effect of a hospital on your state of mind? The only people sitting around in hospitals are sick, injured, or both, or know someone who is sick, injured or both. The collective thoughts running through just about every person’s mind in a hospital can be boiled down to “Gee, this is depressing.” That’s not exactly a recipe for a positive, healing atmosphere. You wouldn’t go to funeral homes to cheer yourself up, and you shouldn’t rely on hospitals or even doctor’s offices as your one-stop-shop for curing all that ails you. [Read more…]
Expand Your Palate, Expand Your Mind
“Pig penis”, I replied to the British man standing next to me in Yangshuo, China. He noticed that I had just ordered a strange looking mystery meat from the middle-aged Chinese man with a makeshift barbecue stand. “What’s the uh… twirly meat there?” (Read that with a British accent and try not laughing) was his exact question. I responded the only way I knew how, but I could tell it caught him off-guard. “Well is it any good?” he asked. “Probably not, but it’s worth a shot.” [Read more…]
