I Like Links

Photo thans to endless smile

Because it’s Wednesday. Because I have a midterm later. Because I’m trying to write a novel in a month. Because my brain is still boggled from TEDx and I don’t feel like coming up with any original ideas just yet…

…I decided to give you links to the beauty that other people have created. Yay, outsourcing!

The Bloggess (aka funniest person on earth) released this blog post a little while ago. I’ve never laughed so hard at a computer screen before. And I was in the library, where laughter is looked down upon. Gee, thanks Jenny.

I loved this list: 30 Books to Read Before 30. It’s interesting – I started reading a couple that made the list just a few weeks ago. Interesting how that synchronicity stuff works, isn’t it?

Every week, I get really excited on Monday nights. Wanna know why? It’s because every Tuesday morning there’s a little missile in my email inbox from Marie Forleo, queen of entrepreneurship. She makes Q&A Tuesday videos that are chock-full of advice for every area of life and business. I wish more people made quality product like this!

Danielle Laporte is master whiz at packing a punch with her blog posts. Her latest one was no exception, it’s about doing whatever it takes to achieve your dreams. Very inspiring!

I CANNOT stop watching the trailer for The Hunger Games. I just can’t, y’all. It’s right here, but watch at your own risk – you may fall into a deep depression when you realize it doesn’t come out until March 23.

…

I Like LinksRead More »

TEDxMcGill: Redefining Reality

Yesterday I was thrilled to attend TEDxMcGill 2011. I’ve always been a huge fan of the TED community, and being able to go to the conference in my city two years in a row has been an an amazing experience. If you have an “X” conference where you live, I couldn’t encourage you more to take the opportunity to go and discover all the great ideas that your community is spreading and soaking up.

I would try and convince you to go, but I’ll hold back from telling you why it’s worth it. Hopefully by not desperately trying to convince you, it’ll ensure that those who do go are 100% enthusiastic and committed to the TED experience and are more than happy to donate their money and their whole day to the cause.

If you’re not familiar with the world of TED, get familiar! (This intro video for TEDxAmsterdam is pretty amazing too.)

The tagline of the organization is “ideas worth spreading”, and I’ve never failed to be either inspired, intrigued, informed or opened up after watching any of the talks. The “x” means “independently organized event”, and they’re held all over the world. The most creative and innovative people come together – people from art, science, philanthropy, engineering, healthcare – and share their ideas, and I find that process one of the most inspiring there is. What could be more beautiful than the sharing of ideas? It’s what makes us human.

Yesterday’s event was no different from my past experiences with TED. This year’s theme was redefining reality, and the speakers team really did an amazing job of organizing the talks into 3 sessions that mirror the process of how we can go about redefining our reality. While I enjoyed every single one of the talks, I want to focus on the ones that left the greatest impression so that I can keep this short and sweet! You can check out the rest of the speakers & their ideas here.

…

TEDxMcGill: Redefining RealityRead More »

Butter Tart Squares

Stress baking.

A term that unfortunately I am all too familiar with.

For some bizarre reason, whenever I feel:

a) Out of it; b) Stressed; c) Like there aren’t enough hours in the day; d) All of the above

I get an urge to escape those awful feelings and bake something, preferably something that doesn’t take up too much time, is delicious, and can be shared with friends should I ever have enough time for a social life. It’s a fairly counter-intuitive process, since baking something usually takes up time and energy, but it happens anyway. Stress baking isn’t logical, y’all!

The past couple days, I’ve been really nervous for my midterm exam (tomorrow) in my Cognition class. There’s a ton of information to learn, including 11 extremely detailed coronal sections of the human brain, and yes, I am expected to learn every single structure. Is it bad to admit that I’ve only memorized 7 so far?

Plus I have NaNo, plus I have exercise class tonight, plus I’m not sure what I’m going to make for dinner. Probably perogies. I was also a bit peeved/irritable because I did a work-out video yesterday, hoping it would pump me with some endorphins and give me a little energy boost. NO SUCH LUCK. Instead I felt even more exhausted and irritable. Boo!

So this morning, when I woke up, I decided to make butter tart squares. That just sounds like all kinds of goodness, doesn’t it? They’re extremely easy, require very few ingredients, and are probably the most delicious thing you’ll eat all week. Let me show you how to make them.

…

Butter Tart SquaresRead More »

Lessons From NaNoWriMo Week One

Well, it’s official. Today marks the 7th day of National Novel Writing Month, and I am pleased to report that I have been diligently sitting down every day and writing my 1,667 words. Currently I have:

  • 20 pages
  • 10, 219 words
Ooh, it makes me giddy just to see those numbers! It’s true that it’s daunting to have over 39K words left to be written, but I plan to just keep on truckin’ and meet my daily quota. If I do that, I’ll be proud of myself. Today I wanted to share some of the lessons NaNo’s been teaching me over the past week. Hopefully even those who aren’t participating/aren’t planning on it will still find something of value here!

1. It feels good to do something every day.

Lately, I’ve been learning this lesson with respect to my “morning pages” on 750words.com. But adding this crazy project of writing a novel to the mix really hits the lesson right on home. There’s something inexplicably satisfying in doing something, consistently, every day. Gretchen Rubin from The Happiness Project highly recommends doing something every day, saying that it teaches us to find pleasure in our routine.

The things you do every day take on a certain beauty, and provide a kind of invisible architecture to daily life. – Gretchen Rubin

I would also venture to say that doing something every day is a boost to our self-esteem. I know that every time I hit my word quota, my chest practically puffs up with pride. It’s rewarding to see the number creep up, and to have the satisfaction of a job well done.

…

Lessons From NaNoWriMo Week OneRead More »

Scroll to Top