Trip to Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte

Rio

I’m  sitting on the Copacabana beach in Rio in front of the hotel Sol Ipanema overlooking the beautiful ocean in Rio de Janeiro.  To my left there are still volleyball players there playing Brazilian volleyball (where you kick with your feet instead of setting the ball with your hands). Across the ocean are islands. You can hardy see them now in the dark, but during the day they were green and luscious and beautiful. To my right is a rolling hill of lights and hotel signs along the Copacabana beach. Cars roam the streets between the beach and the hotel, even as late as 10pm. I am reminded of the city in Taipei and Jakarta. Read more

One step at a time

A few days ago I was in a depression. My definition of depression is: “a state of being where you feel trapped, restricted, lost, and/or otherwise not living up to your full potential”.

Part of this is due to Accutane. 60 mg a day does takes it toll on the body. For the most part, the drug was considered a miracle drug when introduced over 2 decades ago, as the only “cure” for acne breakouts. While there has been no conclusive scientific study that links depression or suicidal thoughts to the drug, many patients have acknowledged a known depression curve when on high doses of Accutane. For me, this feeling just means that if you do nothing or have nothing exciting going on in your life, you will feel a little “blue”. Thus, a normal person with a healthy social life need not worry for the most part.

The medicine, at best, is a slight influence on how I feel. It tends to enhance any negative thoughts that you currently have. Behavior and conscious thought is still personal choice, as we deliberately control and direct them. Read more

The unconcious is strong….

I had a dream last night. Strange one. I was first the God of War (Kratos), riding on a ship and arriving in a village. Wow. The resolution is really high, I thought as I traveled through the village and the houses on an island. The people looked real. For a moment I thought about releasing my blades and killing people (like in the game), then decided not to for some reason. You know how you can’t control your logical thoughts in a dream sometimes? Then the thought of checking out one of the hot girls in detail occurred to me. But that thought was quickly removed by another impulse to explore the village. Read more

Volunteering to coach at DECA. Subject: Being an Entrepreneur

Kids these days have it good. There are more opportunities awaiting them than there was for us and our parents. And we, generation Y, thought we were privileged. As I sat in the judging room awaiting my 5 high school students I looked around and saw youth, exuberance, nervousness, excitement, joy, fear, all bundled up into a whole room of creatures known as “teenagers”. Read more