I find that most of the successful blogs out there seem to adhere to some sort of theme. People brand themselves as an expert in a subject, or at least stick to writing about a specific topic, and those interested in that particular area come and read about their opinions, thoughts, ideas, etc. For me, however, something like that doesn’t quite work. I’ve got too many interests to just focus in one area (and not enough time to create separate blogs for each!). I’ve always liked my theme to just be me. All my interests, all the experiences in my life, all the random things that go through my mind. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not out to be a professional blogger!
Posts Tagged ‘opinion’
Technomary
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: advice, blogging, experiences, interesting, opinion, opportunity green, technology, work
18
March
2010
When I was up in Ojai for a lovely weekend away, my boss from the internship with Opportunity Green called me “Technolo-Mary” during dinner, which struck something in me. He had been referring to how I seem to know all the newest gadgets and services out there. It made me realize that I really am a great resource for many new technologies that have come about in the past couple of years. I liked that someone as techy as he (he got a degree in engineering and is awesome at all things related to building and maintaining websites) found my knowledge useful enough to consider me a valuable go-to person.
I do like to stay on top of things, whether it’s things like Google Voice, Dropbox, and reQall or more of things like new social media forums, mobile technologies, and many more. I’ve always loved to learn more about technology, so anything new captures my attention and I like to spend time learning more about it. If I like what I see, I’ll usually go on to become an adopter and even spread the word. That’s what I’ve been doing with CauseWorld, which is a great app for your smartphone that allows you to choose where sponsors’ money is donated.
I really enjoy troubleshooting (for the most part) and solving problems through logic and trial and error. Also, it’s rewarding to discover the best technical solutions for everyday issues, like streamlining processes. Whether it’s organization, documentation, or retrieval, there’s probably a better way to do it than the one you’re doing now. I’m all about efficiency and effectiveness, which is probably also why technology fascinates me so much – it solves a lot of our problems and saves us a lot of time and effort!
Perhaps I should start a help line called “Technomary” – not “techno Mary,” but “tech-nom-ary.” A play on technology and Mary AND -ary as a suffix that means “having to do with.” It’d be a fun name for a tech blog, if I were to ever write one. It could be a cool place to get answers for your “Dear Abby” type tech questions like how to convert a scanned JPEG into a PDF or what type of free phone services there are. Hmm, now there’s a thought…
Honkers
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: cars, driving, los angeles, observation, opinion
13
March
2010
You know, I never understood people who honk. Other than the occasional toot to let someone know you’re there when they look like they’re about to merge into you, I don’t see much of a reason to use that feature. Yet, I see people who hold down their horn like madmen just because they’re driven crazy with road rage. I see people who honk at you to get out of their way when sometimes it’s impossible and other times you weren’t going in their way anyway. It seems that they need an outlet for their anger, which is all too easily incited.
Perhaps horns should be designed to be loud enough to make the same impact they do now, but somehow sound friendlier. The blaring ones these days are annoying enough to make anyone hearing it grumpy. Why do they need to sound so upset? Sure they’re meant to be a warning, but warnings can be a loud enough volume without having to sound like someone’s yelling or screaming at you in a bad way. I wish drivers weren’t so “trigger-happy” when using their horns. It puts everyone in a foul mood and makes for worse driving. Certainly not setting the right tone there.
Maybe it’s just because of the drivers in LA. You’ve gotta be pretty aggressive to get around in this city, so perhaps that has put everyone in a poor mood, stressing them out. Whatever the case, the driving experience would be a whole lot better if drivers refrained from using their horns so much. That’s like walking around with a megaphone, blaring it at someone whenever they do something that ticks you off the slightest. I feel that horns should be used sparingly, if at all, and better driving would be a better way of preventing the need to use it. Save it for the time you actually need it for your safety, and not for whenever you feel like it.
Cupcake Couture
laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: food, los angeles, opinion
12
March
2010
In Manhattan Beach, there is a lovely cupcake shop that my boss owns…
Aren’t they just irresistable?
Negative spin
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: observation, opinion, technology
10
March
2010
I’ve been seeing a lot of commercials lately that take hits at the competitors of the advertisers. It’s a bit annoying and really turns me off to these people/organizations – after all, shouldn’t the focus be on what makes you good rather than what makes them bad? Since when did bashing the opposition become the trend du jour? I don’t like that approach and lose a lot of respect for those who choose that way of promoting themselves.
Have you seen those commercials? I’m thinking of the Audi one during the Olympics where they talk about how for every friendly competition, there is a second best, the ones who don’t quite get the honor and are overshadowed. Then they say that their “friends” at BMW know exactly how that feels. Why couldn’t they just stick with their message of superior engineering? There’s also the Verizon ones that make fun of AT&T’s supposed sparse coverage map (the speed skater themed one where the guy with Verizon coverage gets an edge over the guy with AT&T’s coverage and the sports one where the guy with a Verizon map blocks the view of the TV, but the guy with a AT&T map doesn’t interfere with game-watching). Then there’s the Meg Whitman vs. Steve Poizner series, of which I found the attacks against Poizner, but couldn’t track down the ones against Whitman. There’s also the Time Warner Cable one where the guy is sitting on his porch and his satellite signal goes out. I think that’s directed towards DirectTV.
In any case, you can see that there is no shortage of commercials on the air now that bash away at one company while promoting another. I believe that there are better ways to do it. I’m personally not a fan of such actions, so I think I’ll avoid Audis, Verizon, Meg or Steve, and Time Warner as much as possible. If they’re good enough in other aspects, I may not ignore them completely, but if there aren’t that great to begin with… forget about gaining a loyal customer! Those commercials just rubbed me the wrong way.
Sportsmanship and the Olympic spirit
06
March
2010
After watching the Winter Olympics this year, I truly believe that part of the judging should include a new, universal field: sportsmanship. After all, it’s not just supposed to be about competing for medals – there’s a reason it’s called the Olympic games. Emphasis on the fun-loving part that is just supposed to bring out the best in everyone. It’s meant to be a coming together of the elite athletes of the world for some friendly competition. However, some countries take it far too seriously and see it as a matter of international acclaim and national pride.
Whatever happened to sportsmanship? A pat on the back, shaking of hands, or word of congratulations when the competition is over wouldn’t kill you. And even when the going is tough and everything sucks, you should save your prissy whining for behind the scenes. Or better yet, take your grudges and make some positive change out of it. But when people show their nasty sides on camera, it leaves an indelible impression that overshadows much of their positive aspects and achievements.
Mostly I’m referring to Plushenko, the biggest twerp I’ve ever seen on the international stage. There have been plenty of idiots, bigots, and the like, but none quite like Evgeni Plushenko. Though he is undoubtedly a skilled figure skater, because of his rude behavior and cockiness, I can’t help but remember his performance as subpar. Then again, his performance wasn’t all that great anyway. Sure, he had one fancy trick, but that doesn’t make him better overall. I think the Russians are the only ones who think he should have won gold. But anyways, what really bothered me about him was that he only cared about winning and had such an inflated head, I’m surprised he fit in the arena at all. There’s confidence and then there’s arrogance. Oh, and there’s also blatant rudeness when you claim to have won the platinum medal. Excuse me?! Way to disrespect the judges, your fellow skaters, and the Olympics at large all at once. For that, he doesn’t deserve any medal at all.
The other thing I was bothered about was actually Joannie Rochette’s behavior off the ice. Sure she’s had a tough couple of weeks after losing her mother, but manners shouldn’t escape her. For her performances, she definitely held herself together well and her emotion afterwards was touching. All was well until I saw her taking a picture with Mirai Nagasu back stage. She didn’t even smile, stood awkwardly, and rushed off as soon as she could, even as Mirai was thanking her. That sort of coldness was completely uncalled for, especially with a young girl who probably looked up to her. On the ice she handled her mother’s death with grace. Off the ice, she was an ice queen. Small move, but it shattered any sort of image I had of her before.
Oh, and of course there was the celebration that the Canadian women’s hockey team had that raised many eyebrows. Another consideration when the world’s eyes are on you and hordes of young men and women look up to these athletes. I think it’s important that they carry themselves with grace. It’s not easy to be them, but the trade-off of being in the spotlight is the scrutiny you come under. If you’re not ready to handle it, perhaps you’re not ready to be a household name. So, in an attempt to encourage better behavior and actually acting like role models, I really think the Olympics should implement a scoring system that includes sportsmanship, covering everything from not doping or cheating to holding yourself gracefully and respectfully.
Maybe Asada just doesn't smile, but she sure doesn't look all that pleased. Nevertheless, she remained poised.
I’d say Kim Yu-Na and Mao Asada were great examples of this, for instance. Even though Asada didn’t win gold and it was obvious her silver didn’t make her very happy, she accepted it gracefully, without any fuss. And of course, Kim, the shining star, was a poised gentlewoman the whole way through. Some Olympians could really learn a thing or two from them.
Handywoman saves the day
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: experiences, mommy, opinion, products, storytelling, technology
28
February
2010
Sometimes the smallest things can really create extreme disturbances. My laptop charger (already the 4th one I’m on), isn’t the best of quality (that’s what you get for just a few bucks, I guess) and only works when pressed firmly into the laptop charging port, at a certain angle. When it moves just slightly, it will stop charging unexpectedly. Add on to that a battery that barely holds a charge now and this means that whenever I am using my laptop, it will shut down randomly without warning. Very inconvenient, especially considering how it’s taking much longer to boot up nowadays.
Thankfully, I have a mother who is quite the handywoman. She’s great at fixing things and given her engineering background, a small thing like charger circuitry was a small task for her. Once it was decided that I couldn’t care less what the charger actually looked like, she set to cutting the cable that hard started to sever on my original charger. She took the original head, connected it to a charger that hadn’t developed a frayed wire, and soon enough I had a brand new charger to use. The head fit perfectly into the port now because it was from the original charger and not one of the cheap ones I had gotten as replacements. No more spotty charging results! Problem solved. To think, I nearly dished out $70-80 for a new charger just to get rid of that annoyance!
Work preoccupation
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: advice, behavior, habits, health, opinion, products, technology, work
27
February
2010
I’ve been really preoccupied with work lately. When I’m there, I don’t think about personal things, and when I’m home, I’m tired and just want to relax, which has meant the e-mails in my Yahoo account are piling up. I’ve managed to go through them this weekend, but there are quite a few newsletters that will probably go unread for months. I don’t follow my social networks the way I used to and I’m just barely pumping out posts here. For some reason, I’ve been really tired during the time I’m at home. Plus, the Olympics have been a nice distraction, which makes it easy for me to never think about turning on my computer. Let’s not even go into the problems I’ve been having with my charger. I’m about ready for a new computer.
It’s been a month now, so I hope that I can get into a better rhythm that fits work, sleep, meals, entertainment, exercise, relaxation, and quality time all in one nice bundle. I don’t have much energy for cooking dinner, which hasn’t been good, so I really need to start getting more sleep. The good thing is, one of the guys at the office told me about an app that lets you track your sleeping cycles! I looked into it and found the Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock, which will monitor your sleeping pattern and wake you up during a lighter sleep stage so it’s easier to get up and you feel more rested. It’s a really awesome app that you should go check out if you have trouble getting up in the morning! I’ve only used it one night, so it’s still calibrating to my sleeping pattern, but it could be quite useful in the future. For a buck, more energy and less time wasted pressing snooze is totally worth it.
Childlike wonder & curiosity
laelene Posted in general blog, video blog，Tags: behavior, beliefs, culture, food, future, habits, health, identity, observation, opinion, ted, videos
20
February
2010
I was watching this video of Aimee Mullins about adversity, and the thing that struck me, strangely enough, was not her main message, but the moment when she spoke of “childlike curiosity.” I do agree with her message and the powerful way that language sets a precursor, as well as the strength of the human spirit. So I suppose that’s why everything else she said didn’t hit me the way that the reference to curiosity being childlike did.
Why did that part stand out? Well, because I wondered why attributes like wonder and curiosity and innocence are so often described as “childlike.” It’s as if we no longer recognize that adults can be like that and when they are, it’s a rare thing. What’s wrong with “adult-like” curiosity? What has happened in our society that makes everything children do so great and everything that adults “grow into” so bad? Actually, I think that’s exactly what happens because of society. Because we have this sort of structure, at a certain age, things like responsibility and maturity take hold. Expectations develop into more serious ones and we lose much of our freedom to do what we want, enjoy as we like, and not worry too much.
The good thing is that it seems our culture is more and more tolerant of “childlike” activities in adults. After all, records of generations past make them seem rather rigid, but that could just be because what is recorded is not the playful silly moments shared, but the serious and “important” moments had. Nevertheless, I still do feel that generally we are heading towards habits that allow more carefree expressions from older people. I just hope that soon we can progress to such a point that people who sing in public because they are happy aren’t given strange looks as if they’ve lost their minds. Or that fully-grown men and women can get child’s meals without feeling shameful.
Speaking of, why is it that small portions are only allowed to those under a certain age? It’s like the problem with McDonald’s Super Size meals – when you offer larger portions, people will get them*. And when they get them, they try their very best to finish the portions in front of them. So why not just offer smaller sizes and alleviate this pressure that people have looking at their uneaten food? I think we still stuff ourselves full much of the time because of our hunting and gathering days, when food wasn’t so easy to come by. Nowadays, it’s far too easy to overeat, and judging adults who want to get a “child’s” meal is part of the problem.
Personally, I believe in expressing your joy. People sometimes find me too enthusiastic or hyper when I am happy and excited. Generally, they enjoy it, though they are wary and wonder if I’m just a bit cuckoo. But why is that? Why can’t I burst into song because it was playing in my head? Why can’t I be giddy over the smallest victories? Why can’t I jump around and share my positive emotions? Well, I can. Just not without being judged. And that’s ok, I’m used to being judged. When I’m happy, I’m happy and I’ll show it if I want to. I think more people should.
I hope that people will learn to stop putting up the walls around themselves and open themselves up the way they did before society taught them otherwise. I think that’s what people mean when they refer to those childlike qualities. It’s freeing yourself from the bounds that society puts you in, even if just a little. Let’s not become drones and make all the motions going through life without experiencing and enjoying the way we did before the clamps started to pin us down.
*The issue of portion size and the poor eating habits is up for discussion in a future post – ironically, I just watched another TED video, this time about America’s (and now the world’s) eating problem.
A spin on dental hygiene
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: environment, green, opinion, opportunity green, pictures, products
17
February
2010
How often do you replace your toothbrushes? If you listen to your dentist, you probably do every three months or so, which means you go through three or four a year. At that rate, Americans would be producing far more than the 50 million pounds of waste per year we already do from throwing those little guys away. Since toothbrushes are inherently in need of replacing periodically, how do you avoid the waste issue?
Well, why not try Recycline’s Preserve toothbrush?
First of all, their handles are entirely made from recycled yogurt cups saved from ending up in landfills. It’s free of BPA and the bristles are brand new, so you can rest assured it is safe to put in your mouth. They consulted dentists to come up with the curved handle to help you reach those tricky places at just the right angles. The tiered bristles are designed to fit around your teeth and gently massage your gums. You have a choice of Ultra Soft, Soft, and Medium stiffness for the bristles, depending on your sensitivity. Preserve toothbrushes also come in delicious colors such as Berry Red, Eggplant, and Pear Green.
Besides that, they come in a reusable travel case, complete with ventilation holes! The case is made from wood-based plastic from renewable forests so you can feel good about using them too. Once your toothbrush has reached the end of its effectiveness, you can send it back to Recycline in a postage-paid envelope. Their partner company will recycle it for you and make plastic lumber for park benches, picnic tables, and boardwalks. Rest assured that your environmental impact is minimized and every effort is made to keep plastic out of landfills! If you like, you can even purchase a subscription to their toothbrushes and get a new one sent to you every three months, along with an envelope to send back your used one.
So, the next time you’re looking for a replacement toothbrush, think Preserve. You’ll responsibly minimize your environmental impact associated with dental hygiene and even enjoy a better clean! It’s truly “Nothing wasted. Everything gained.™” What’s not to love?
[written for OppGreen Insights]
