-
Finding Your Team
Watching the Winter Olympics was a fixture in my life in the early days of my arrival in the USA. It became a tradition every four years from January to February. It was the same when I was going through grad school. I was glued to my tiny fourteen-inch CRT TV. Figure skating, especially, inspired and encouraged me. I was riveted by the beauty and courage of the Olympians. They held me up when I was on the verge of throwing in the towel. Needless to say, I have been…
-
Where Your Deep Gladness and the World’s Deep Hunger Meet
This was made with love in Procreate, January—March 2021. [Note: You can now paint 3D models in Procreate 5.2!] The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. – Frederick Buechner. Walter Brueggemann had this to say about Buechner: “Buechner uses words with such transformative power that any comment on them is like the moon palely reflecting the sun.” A writer uses words; a painter his strokes and colors. As a designer of learning experiences, I want my design works…
-
The Joke’s On Them
You’re feeling nervous, aren’t you, boy? With your quiet voice and impeccable style Don’t ever let them steal your joy And your gentle ways To keep ’em from running wild They can kick dirt in your face Dress you down, and tell you that your place Is in the middle, when they hate the way you shine I see you tugging on your shirt Trying to hide inside of it And hide how much it hurts Let ’em laugh while they can Let ’em spin, let ’em scatter in the…
-
Neurodiversity, Good leadership, and Being Different
I’ve been communicating with a deaf friend more recently, and I also gleaned a few tweets and LinkedIn posts that really resonated with me. All these made me want to capture them in this blog post. First, about being different. I’ve been fortunate during my formative years to be placed in a school where we were encouraged to be self-directed and excel in whatever we do. But coming over to the USA, I have found that being different in schools and workplaces is not something that is always accepted and…
-
We are More Than Our Resumes
There are some things that resumes may reveal and much more that cannot be revealed. On LinkedIn, I have seen some people foreground their Ivy-League professional certificate obtained after a few weeks, as if they received a four-year undergraduate or two-year graduate degree there; I get it, all in the hopes of catching a recruiter’s eye. This is still very much a credential-obsessed world we live in. Pedigree matters in many organizations. I have also come across people who lie about their positions, having been terminated long past the date…
-
What’s Training Got to Do with the Boeing 737 Max Crashes
737 pilots trained for Max 8 with short online course Trained. Self-administered. Short. Online. Course. This news trended a week ago. I was both cognitively and emotionally engaged when I read it. This CNN news touched on areas close to my heart: training, continuing education, online learning, instructional and learning design. But where do I start to process this information? I who used to ride airplanes fearlessly. I have to sort through this news. I enjoy traveling, for work and leisure, and for now, I don’t trust the FAA or airline…
-
The Lady at the Gym
I went to a new gym today, not new-new, but one I don’t usually go to because it’s further from my apartment. I was not familiar with the machines. The elliptical machine was similar enough to the ones I used before. Checked. Leg extensions, done. I moved to the other areas for arm, back and upper torso work. It was here that I was stumped. A lady with a waist-bag walked into the area. I sat at the torso twister and observed her stealthily, all the while trying to swing…
-
Domain Blues and Webhosting Services
Here’s a novella about a fiasco over domain renewal by ZH. ME: renews add-on domain on time on November 24, 2018 BH: emails me Nov 28 that add-on domain expired 4 days after I renewed ME: live chat 1 Nov 28 BH: all will be well and taken care of BH: Nov 29 lets domain expire ME: live chat 2 Nov 29-30 BH: site will be up within 4-12 hours ME: live chat 3 BH: will be fixed 24-48 hours ME: phone call BH: can’t establish timeline for problem-solving I’ve…
-
3 Favorite Things I Saw This Week (and Last)
[Note: I wrote this post during the last week of 2017] This was last week’s selections but is just as blog-worthy to note. So here they are: Mirai Nagasu’s Redemption Skate: How to Fail Forward Figure-skating was a huge part of my life when I newly relocated to the USA. How “huge”? A rough measurement would be to take a count of the number of Winter Olympics’ women’s berets I own. Thus, when the US Figure-Skating (FS) Championships came on TV last Friday, I was riveted to the screen; although I…
-
Instructional Design Consulting: Teaching the How and Not Just What
Scene: Dental Clinic Not one to enjoy dental trips, my anxiety grew as I waited to be worked on. The dental assistant had me x-rayed (again, to ensure the insurance company would pay for it) and inserted a tent-like contraption into my mouth. The dentist arrived, injected the gums near my ailing tooth with novocaine, and proceeded to drill and probe while her assistant poked different pieces of equipment into my mouth. Gosh, how could one’s mouth hold up to so much prodding and stretching? Overwhelmed, I raised my left hand to signal to them…
-
In Dying We Live: Thoughts on When Breath Becomes Air
When Breath Becomes Air written by Dr. Paul Kalanithi is a magnificent book. It’s so powerful and deep that it made me want to write about it. As some of you may know, not many things or ideas can move me to blog these days due to my hectic schedule. Thank you, Dr. Kalanithi. I first came across his book in 2016 when I was at the Kinokuniya Bookstore in Singapore. I started reading the first chapter there and knew that I would buy this book and finish it. It took more…
-
For Papa
Two years ago today, you left us suddenly. We miss you, papa. I often hear you hum and sing this old Chinese pop song vividly in my mind. So, in your honor, I played it on the guzheng (Chinese zither). I’m not good at it; I’m just an amateur, who hasn’t played for the last 20 years. It’s not the best version, but it’s MY best effort, thus far. I hope you enjoy it, with mama. The night is dark and obscure , it covers the expanse At the horizon, the…
