Hello from the mountains. Here I am in the late afternoon of a cloudy Thursday sitting in the wing cooling down after a nice little hike up the hills. I sit in the very same place I used to almost on a daily basis, gathering my thoughts and simply searching for a moment of peace.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was how the vegetation around has grown and some of the concrete structure has crumbled from erosion and plantation pressure. The place I used to sit no longer has the view of the sky in front because it's covered by trees and greenery. I can't believe how fast everything has grown. Well, fast in terms of my memory, not so fast since it's been a while since I last came here.

(damn, I just killed an ant that was walking around my trackpad...oops?)

So the last 2 weeks have been another roller coaster for me as I saw myself having days where I sat at my computer with that joyful feeling of achieving all the to do's of the day, and also days where I sat at my computer exhausted thanks to a stomach flu. Either I'm getting old or used to this because this roller coaster is starting to feel like the flat road because it doesn't surprise me when it happens. The last few days have also seen me make some big adjustments to my work environment (ok, big as in I will be making big adjustments after the furniture and equipment I've ordered arrive)...

I've also grown a new interest in rap/hip hop music that seem to work very well with my projects. Namely Jay-Z's Public Service Announcement and Wu Tang Clan's C.R.E.A.M. Check it out and imagine you're staring at a design or a bunch of code. Doesn't this make it seem so much more enjoyable?

I have also recently been hit with a case of the SSDD's (Same Shit Different Day) where I really just felt like every moment was me going through the motions rather than being excited for what awaits (which explains why I'm up here in the middle of the day).  I've come to realize these emotional issues are best dealt with time and time alone. The best way to beat SSDD is to do the opposite. Logic tells me I could be writing this post from my room, saving me 30 minutes time that could be used to catch up on my reading but heck, if I did that it'd be SSDD again. But at least the walk up here forced me out of my typical (not comfort, just typical routine) zone and hey, it's helping :). Lucky for me I have no gigs lined up for this weekend and thanks to his walk, I'm excited to just do something different on Saturday and Sunday, hopefully that'll charge me up for the week ahead.

Well, the sky's going grey and a few drops of water and coming down. I suppose that's a hint for me to get the hell up and head out. Then again, even if it isn't I really should be moving, I got a gig tonight! :P

Happy 10 days ahead!

PS. I just realized I never published this post (which was meant for like 3 weeks ago.... heh)
Oops.

Be brave.

Things have been hectic for me and I got smacked with the flu recently which had me lying in bed and burning up for 2 days...I never realized how long the day actually is until I was lying in bed all day just sleeping or watching something with half a brain. Someone recently shared the following video clip with me:

I absolutely loved it! What a great viral campaign! And man, after watching that, I sure as hell felt Carlsberg was a cool brand of beer to enjoy! After watching that video, I noticed a similar campaign they did in Hong Kong for Carlsberg:

Interesting idea, I really wonder what I'd do if I were put in that situation. I have a feeling I wouldn't wait until I was that close to make my decision if I were to turn around. But then again, who knows. But I like how it ended with bravery being rewarded.

Recently I've been noticing all the brave people around me. I don't mean brave like people who risk their lives, but brave as in people who are willing to take that leap of faith even when they don't need to. As Craig Ferguson said in his audio book American on Purpose, "between safety and adventure I choose adventure". Interesting where that has gotten him.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about how brave I would be, I have to say, it's getting harder and harder for me to take a totally blind leap of faith (maybe they're right, if you want to be really brave, you have to sometimes be really stupid) partly because the older I get the more I have to lose or the more I'm thinking of the long term effects of my decisions rather than short term effects. Perhaps it's because after being human for so many years, I'm seeing long-term-results. Like noticing how my daily light stretches (ok I say daily loosely) have helped make me more flexible.

How things that were told to me many, many years ago, or things I experienced, are having an impact on me in the long term. I still remember burning hours and hours learning about GTD and man, if it wasn't for that, I'd be a dead man now, I'm sure my business would be half of what it is and I'd be overwhelmed and annoyed with myself. I could have settled for a typical way of simple job, clock in clock out and voila, but I went to brave route. Again, brave not as in I could end up dead, but brave as in out of the 2 paths, this was the less inviting and harder one. If I'd been in a steady job for the last 5 - 6 years, I'm pretty sure I'd hate my life. I just know I'm not that type of person, repeat anything too often and I'd get sick of it, that includes being brave. And that brings me to getting older. I suppose when you're older, you've been brave, you've taken risks but eventually those risks as well as their rewards don't attract you anymore. You don't need to feel good because you had the guts to do something. I'm not exactly out of that phase, I still take risks (especially with stand up comedy) but I think it's more calculated than before. With the extra life experience, this has become easier and easier.

So with that in mind, now that I think of it, if I saw a bunch of big guys on the bridge, if I were already walking on the bridge, I'd probably just walk pass them. I mean if they do anything, I suppose I'd just call the police? That's still being....brave right?

And speaking of being brave, I think I'm going to cave in and get back to work. Got a few things to sort out otherwise all the courage in the world isn't going to help me when I hate myself at 2am when I'm still struggling through emails :P

Enjoy the next 10 days!

Oh, I'm going to be going to the PJ Laugh Fest this week in Kuala Lumpur. Excited as hell about it! And to add to that, I'm going to be doing Cantonese there! Woah!!