What they said, and I think

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” - Pablo Picasso

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from.” - Seth Godin

"The world is a book, and those who don't travel read only a page" - St. Augustine

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.” - Steve Jobs

學歷貶值

最近的工作令我需要和本港不同的專業機構和協會聯絡，在對方負責人簽名下款發現，他竟然有Ph.D.的學歷。 於是我想到，一個人念了3年本科、2年Master再加上1/2年時間念Doctor；一旦在工作上脫離自己的專業，工作的内容也只會變得非常working level 和基本。所以，一個周全的工作、事業規劃的確對青少年非常重要。可是，香港的大環境仍然以工商為重，成績出衆的學生，做投資銀行家、律師是理所當然的事；大衆對剛出爐的港姐的評論便是一例。

我不是說人生的意義可以充飢，但我們是否可以營造一個較好的社會環境去鼓勵我們的尖子、狀元們多方面發展？

在辦公室内stay focused

遇上電腦問題需要找IT哥哥幫忙，IT哥哥來到我的位置，首先詫異我桌面的整齊程度，他再開我電腦桌面，驚嘆我連電腦的folder也可以簡潔。由於上一份工的關係，我覺得辦公室的桌面真的不適宜放太多私人物品，因爲即使有一天被突然解雇，也不會太狼狽。前公司一貫的no paper policy 當時也有助我把多餘的東西拿走，令我養成這個有點強迫症 的習慣，有一陣子更加刻意用上同一種顔色的文具和文件夾，感覺更一致。

早前看到的一篇文章，更加認證我的做法。依照文章内容，看來下一步我要做的是，如何利用自己的桌面去建立形像。

又回到最初的起點

友人經過一番考慮，最終決定忠於自己，放棄一份較安穩的工作，重回舊地，回到中環的娘家熱廚房。我開玩笑的說:“You jump, I jump”。用jump，因爲大家都知道他回到的是苦海。有些人，注定是辛苦命的，他們相信多勞多得。得到的，一方面是金錢、工作上的Title；另一方面，是滿足感吧。當然，失去的也不少。

祝朋友重回中環廚房的PE multiple > 30x 。

復原性

無緣無故給一個(不是屬於我的)客人在電話上不禮貌對待，心情當刻跌進谷底，特別最近心情已經非常fragile，傷心之際，想起前上司曾經說我是個resilient 的人。

一個人能擁有復原性，其實只是環境逼成，人生滿是錯折，總不成一遇到打擊就哭。最快但未必最好的方法就是立即爬起來，若無其事繼續走。也如果，打擊你的是無關痛癢的人，更不應該介懷，還是快點放下吧。

Sometimes we may face a sudden strike in daily life, the quickest but may not be the best way to recover is to stand up and walk immediately. If the one who hits / hurts you are irrelevant, just forget it and do not care much about it. My time and heart should not be spent on this.

另：復原力（蔡東豪）
http://nextplus.nextmedia.com/news/spot/20150625/217810

An above-average productive day

Happy moment @ work
1) Boss is out of office
2) My seat is away from the crowd, yet not too far away from the team (i.e. suitable sociable distant), quiet enough
3) Able to be concentrated and productive
4) Hence, clean the mails in my mailbox from 26 to 0 before end of day
5) Build a systematic folder list to file all the clumsy email (chains)
6) Receiving a positive sharing before start the day
7) Drafting or replying emails timely and precisely
8) Able to squeeze time to blog my work


(Slightly) frustrating moment @ work
1) Unnecessary back-and-forth emails which can be avoided / minimised
2) The font of your work is being changed from Cambria Math to Comic Sans MS
3) Your emails are bounced back and you do not have another address to send

Good Bye, Lenin! (2003)

I first knew about this movie when I browsed a blog that I often visit, and later I found it is listed as the 2ndGerman movie one should watch from Lonely Planet – Germany . From Lonely Planet, this film is described as a comedy set around the fall of wall. I partially agree this since I am not sure if it is a comedy, or, a tragedy which is comedy-like. (p.s. just wiki and found it is categorized as tragicomedy there lol, okay, I accept this)

Extracted from Wiki:

“In October 1989, right before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Alex Kerner is living with his mom, Christiane and sister. But when the mother, a loyal party member, sees Alex participating in an anti-communist rally, she falls into a coma and misses the revolution. After she wakes, doctors say any jarring event could make her have a heart attack, meaning the family must go to great lengths to pretend communism still reigns in Berlin.”

I love Germany especially the cultural- history of Berlin so this plot is attractive for me. The movie succeeded in showing the contrast between East and West Germany from the politics belief (way citizens spoke & jargons used), clothing, consumer goods brands etc. Some of the senses are quite crazy for me (who watched black comedy for 1st time), like Alex twisted the history of W. and E. Germany, by using the real news clips and reporting it in another way (LOL…), quite reflective as I realized this may be happening in real life nowadays. Meanwhile, the techniques in movie filming, lighting and editing are interesting too.

If you are interested to know more about Germany’s post WWII history in a huma/cultural way, I would recommend this film as well as The Lives of Others, one of my all-time favourite (and also top one from Lonely Planet list).