Be Yourself Into The Week! Yes I Shall Type That Exclamation Mark!

1) Showing rockstars a rockstar… Shaheen Jafargholi on 2009’s Britain’s Got Talent gets unceremoniously cut off by the famous Simon Cowell after just 15 seconds. The feared judge says, “You’ve got this really wrong” (what else ya got?) Shaheen’s second attempt makes you forget his first.

pic from dailymail.co.uk

(I had a lot of problems embedding this thing, so here’s a pic for the story and google or follow the link (narration in video comments)…

It isn’t a new story, but the story got reposted about cyberspace recently and I liked the powerful lesson: People might feel sorry for you when you’re 12 and get beaten up by the Big Bad Judge. But people will really applaud you if you pick yourself up and do a superb job anyway. 

A measure of a person is how they bounce back from a mistake. Thought of the week…

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2) Why Nerds Are Unpopular. This essay even more dated, also reposted, in particular I liked this point:

“Nerds don’t realize … that it takes work to be popular. In general, people outside some very demanding field don’t realize the extent to which success depends on constant (though often unconscious) effort. For example, most people seem to consider the ability to draw as some kind of innate quality, like being tall. In fact, most people who “can draw” like drawing, and have spent many hours doing it; that’s why they’re good at it.”

pic from thefamouspeople.com

Unless you’re Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, it implies:

a) There is no substitute for hard work (groan), even if you are talented. 

b) Because you liked what you were doing (which you probably did because you were fairly good at it to begin with), you simply didn’t realize it was “work”. 

For me it’s a reminder to focus on looking for aptitude and interest, rather than blindly forcing a bunch of activities or lessons for the kids. I was once pushed into an area of study I hated, simply because I had the grades to get into the course, and it was wildly popular in Singapore at the time. It gave my self esteem a real kick in the gut during those few years, and was also extremely frustrating – I know the feeling. It’s why I ask extra-curricullars teachers if the kids have sufficient aptitude/interest or whether we’re just trying to push square pegs in round holes; while some required subjects may be unpopular and difficult and still need some work to get to that basic grounding, surely it doesn’t have to be their everything. (sorry was that a d-uh statement)…

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3) Why I Finally Let My Girls Be Girly.

A story which takes some loops and turns around gender bias vs just who the kids are and that sometimes the two really do mesh, while at others they well, don’t. Written by a stay-at-home grad school dad whose “brainy physicist wife” went back to work after 4 months. There is like, no way I can type, “And he sounds like a normal person,” without it absolutely dripping with stereotyping and gender bias except well, like so. Yes, read irony in that 🙂 (The Miss likes wheels – cars, buses…. and ponies/ animals; “preetee” clothes, some of which are dresses, though flowy over frilly…….. and also light sabers and ninja weapons.)

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4) Somewhat interestingly related: The Afghan Girls Who Dress As Boys.

They’re all girls… But for a few more years Mahnoush will be Mehran…

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5) From busting gender bias to busting species bias….. This dog swims out each day for a playdate with his friend….. who is a dolphin. (What is with my embed feature this weekend?!)

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6) Rockstar skit is What Done With Finals? What Teenager? What Checkin’ Out? (What this, what that, in the words of the Miss)

This Sunday evening Rockstar had his first “major” music examination, that was the culmination of 2 years in a creative music course. Rockstar is neither particularly musical nor tone deaf and yes, there are Other Reasons Unmentionable, re this music exam which is executed largely by the class teacher though she is not the scorer. So, a pass will be good. Y’know because 2 years is about a third of my child’s lifetime (and what now feels like a third of mine too) to walk away from at least just the completion certificate.

Well it’s over, prompting me to stop the cab halfway home just so these two could go round and round on this thing in this little neighborhood mall while my head stopped spinning.

Add to it, Kings had a major (and majorly successful, praise the Lord) Asia Bankers Club event all weekend – which means, like two contestants in one of those reality shows where you navigate some crazy obscure city (Amazing Race Tsim Tsa Tsui, this?), the Kings and I were basically spending our Sunday afternoon struggling to get a cab during That Time Which No HK Cabbie Shalt Ventureth To Kowloon And So Thou Musteth Locateth A Kowloon Cab Queue And Oh There Is Hardly Any Way To Tell Kowloon From HK Cab Unless They Tell You.

So Contestant 1, with Exam Imminent Child and Other Child Still Blinking Sleep From Her Eyes (Thank God, Thank God she had her nap!!!), would swing a cab change at the freaking Macau Ferry Terminal to procure Said Coveted Kowloon Cab willing to cross over to the Other Side At This Time Of Day. Then she would scramble up 3 flights of stairs with a 10kg toddler attached to her because should said toddler have time to decide Walk! Stairs! elder offspring shall surely misseth his examination  the world ends.

Contestant 2, in full Big Presentation-worthy Business Attire on a ridiculously hot summer’s day, would leapeth off a stage right after finishing said big presentation and procure Another Coveted Kowloon Cab, failing which he shalt attempt to navigate busy TST traffic calmly (snort) while attempting not to beat the living crap out of the GPS on the dashboard as the offending speaking instrument that claims to be a navigational tool tells him absolute rubbish in an irritating accent and obnoxiously calm manner about where the bloody exam center is.

When it is all over, Contestant 2 shall fling bewildered but bemused toddler back over to Contestant 1 emerging with elder offspring from exam room even as elder offspring slowly starts to develop a desire to bound about like a nut in delight that it is Over! and then fly back to Hong Kong Island whereby he shall carry on with massive and massively successful Asia Bankers’ Club event. Contestant 1 feels it necessary to disclose that at one point during the exam she received a text pondering the merits of bringing a certain toddler along for the event because our double daters can’t wait for us to emerge before getting back to work.

I type these because Ah, Memories.

So we needed a freaking merry go round ride. I was delighted to have the kids going in circles to inane music but not have to chase after them with a portable baby car seat strapped to my back and music bag and other crap like a freaking Bey Blade and launcher (the Very Best Kind with string attached!) for good measure in my hands. 

I don’t have a picture, but I’m almost sure somewhere on Hong Kong Island my husband can be located by a merry go round too. Like, sometimes, you don’t need to actually go anywhere. <Feel so deep.> (Oh right, it were a great event. Maybe he bought one. 🙂

Have a good week, dears.