What Will Your Verse Be?

As many of us know, the narrative in Apple iPad's latest ad is a scene from one of Robin Williams's finest films as English teacher John Keating in , "Dead Poets Society", directed by Peter Weir. The film was released in 1989.

For a film to be 25 years old and have "dead" in its title, Mr. Keating's powerful words are still very much alive.

The original scene from the film:



And, the same words used as powerfully, 25 years later:

Dame Helen Mirren - BAFTA Fellowship Recipient

Congratulations to Dame Helen Mirren for receiving a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Fellowship. Ms. Mirren has been a favorite of mine for many years. I included her as one of my "girl crushes" from a November 2007 blog entry.

Despite her wonderful Oscar winning performance in "The Queen", I consider Helen Mirren's strongest role in television when she portrayed the balls-busting Jane Tennyson in the TV series, Prime Suspect. Tennyson's character was based on former police officer Jackie Malton, who was a script consultant for the Prime Suspect series. 

What I admired most about Jane Tennyson was her strength and vulnerability in a male dominated workplace. 

If you're an Amazon Prime Member, the full Prime Suspect series is available on Instant Video for free.

Back to Work

Two weeks ago, after 3+ years, I returned to full-time work.

I am beyond relieved and ecstatic to return to work I've done for the past 15+ years: card operations and processing with a strong emphasis on customer service. I find this area of work very fulfilling.

During the time I didn't work, I got back into writing this blog, took online courses at Treehouse and Google (Google Analytics), explored different career paths, and bowled countless practice sessions.

I had to. They were necessary outlets from the stress of no full-time work. It wasn't the only life event I experienced which compounded what was already difficult. It got so bad I had to consider leaving San Francisco, the city I've called home for the past 30 years.

source: Wikipedia

On the left is a snipped chart taken from the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. Along with no job, I experienced 2 close family member deaths and an event equivalent to another of the top life events listed.

What has and always helped me is a wide network of family, former classmates, co-workers and current/past teammates from softball and bowling to lean on for support. Especially during a time when my self-worth was constantly in question.

I can't emphasize enough for anyone who's going through a difficult time to reach out to people you know and trust. And don't be afraid to reconnect with someone once close to you but have lost touch. Strength does come in numbers.

Lunar New Year of the Horse

Listed below are sweet, heartwarming and touching tweets and instagrams from those in the San Francisco Bay Area celebrating the Lunar New Year. George previously included my tweet this past October remembering the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake

Thanks again, George Kelly (Twitter name: @allaboutgeorge).

As previously I tweeted on January 30, "...this unmarried, 'jook sin' still graciously accepts red envelopes."

I wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous Lunar New Year.