Practice, practice, practice

"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
"Practice, practice, practice."

I used to only think of "practice" in the context of playing musical instruments, because of this quote. From practice, you are able to master the skills in playing the musical instrument, so that you are good enough to perform in such prestigious places as the Carnegie Hall.

Recently I realized that "practice makes perfect" is not only limit to playing musical instruments. It can be applied to anything you do, sports, drawing, and any of your skilled crafts, such as programming, writing or design. Whatever it is, the more you do it - practice - you get better at doing it.

Not everyone is born with certain talent like Mozart. The rest of us are not totally hopeless, we just have to put our heart into what we are doing, and keep practicing to get better at our craft. Just don't give up, and keep trying.

With that said, I remember in my earlier years, I used to think the sky was the limit. I thought I could do anything and be successful in everything I tried. Nowadays the sky is getting lower and lower, maybe because I am able to understand and accept my own limitations.

Playlists

Sometimes I marvel how many gadgets the iPhone has single handedly replaced. GPS, camera, MP3 player, notepad, calendar, alarm clock, and the list goes on and on with the apps on the App Store. In addition to that, we can now play our music or watch videos, how cool is that?

Today I played one of my playlists while making dinner, and I realized how much I enjoyed it. For any given album, I only have 2 or 3 favorite songs, so the ability to create my own playlist with all my favorite songs and play them back to back is just awesome. Especially with the shuffling option, I never know what's going to come next, and am always pleasantly surprised.

In this playlist, I have a big variety of songs. Don McClean, Billy Joel, Lady Gaga, Dido, Train, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Michael Bublé ...

Dinner was delicious, we had Brussels sprouts with black bean garlic sauce and fried rice.

Humorous headlines

I found these funny headlines and thought I share them.

Red wine could help slow dementia onset (but you'd have to drink 1,000 bottles a day)

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/red-wine-could-help-slow-dementia-onset-but-youd-have-to-drink-1000-bottles-a-day-10498719.html

Universal urination duration wins Ig Nobel prize 

http://nation.com.pk/snippets/20-Sep-2015/universal-urination-duration-wins-ig-nobel-prize

Sun Zse's top strategy

Jack told me he had been reading Sun Zse's Art of War during his commute, and "so far, it's pretty boring."

I said: "Well, I haven't read the Art of War, but I know Sun Zse had thirty six strategies. Do you know what was his top strategy?"

Jack: "No."

I laughed and said: "Run away!"

What we do for good health

Honestly, how many of us like lemon water, whole wheat bread, kale or brown rice? I heard lemon water is great for detox and digestive system; whole wheat bread and brown rice are healthier than white bread and white rice. Kale, high in fiber and vitamins, is a healthy food, (though I was told by a Safeway cashier kalr is out, water crest is in now). Most super foods are not tasty, but for the sake of health, we alter eating habits and compromise the tastes.

We also spend the little spare time we have to exercise, or sometime starve ourselves so we could keep our weights down. We drink lots of water because it's Important to stay hydrated, despite the annoyance of frequent bathroom visits. 

Living a healthy lifestyle is such a pain sometimes. 

Life, in perspective

I read "How much land does a man need?" by Leo Tolstoy in high school.

Have you read it? It's short and sweet, unlike his other epic novels. Here's what I can remember about this story. The farmers were given a chance to run from dawn to dusk around a piece of land, and if they could come back to the spot where they started by dusk, they would own that piece of land. So this one farmer, wanting a bigger piece of property, kept running farther and farther through the day using all his strength and might. Eventually, he did get back to where he started by dusk, but he was so physically spent that he die. They buried him in his own piece of land, "six feet from his head to his heel is all he needed."

I heard different ways which convey the same idea by different religions and philosophy, but still, the message in this story was loud and clear, and it really put my life in perspective since my early years.

So, what is the point of life? You may ask. I'm afraid this is not something anyone else can answer for you. Live, explore, and find what makes you happy and stick with it. When you have mastered it, keep it with you and explore something new. There will be lots of choices and people who can give you ideas, but in the end, the decision is all yours. Don't do things because that's what others want for their lives. Know that no matter what decision you make, you will come out alright. Just as long as you don't do something illegal, and more importantly, try not to harm other beings along the way.

This is my gift to you today.

Some free advice to Jimmy Fallon

I only "discovered" the Comedy Central last year, so I have missed the prime of two Comedy Central popular talk shows: The Colbert Report and Jon Stewart's Daily Show. A few months before Stephen Colbert concluded his show, I started to watch and enjoyed the Colbert Report and the Daily Show in a daily basis (thanks to TiVo). Shortly after I "lost" the Colbert Report, I watched Jon Stewart announced his "retirement" on the show, and I was both disappointed and concerned. Who would pick up the political satire talk shows, and could do as good a job as these two? If you ask me, it seems very much like a drought season for the TV comedic talk show business. Of course, Stephen Colbert is going to succeed David Letterman, and Jimmy Fallon already picked up the Tonight's show, so I started recording the Tonight's Show and catch up with them whenever my time permits.

Let me first say that every comedian has his or her special authenticity. It is a personal taste for the audience to like or dislike a certain style. Jimmy Fallon is young and relatively well established in the show business, because he was already doing the Late Night show for years before filling Jay Leno's big shoes. Jimmy Fallon is a likeable and humble person, at least that's how it shows anyway. He has talents in many areas such as lip synching, dancing, and very quick on his feet like a perfect New Yorker. As I was watching him, I couldn't help but wonder if there were room for improvements for his shows.

So here are my observations and thoughts.
Is it me or is it true that Jimmy Fallon's monologues are not as long or funny as the others? From most of the shows I watched, and I didn't watch many, his monologues were relating to politicians. His jokes basically start with Hillary Clinton, and end with Ted Cruz. I almost felt like there weren't enough monologues and I wanted to hear more.

I like "hashtag", because it shows that he embrace modern social media to reach out to his audience. Always a smart thing to do.

He has to work on his interviews. Most of the time he talks too much and didn't allow the guests speak. There were times when he kept talking (about the guests) while the guest sat there nodding, because there was no leading question. The one I could think of is the nice and happy Taylor Swift. I thought she might be wondering, "Why am I here?" Other times when the more proactive guests would interrupt him. His recent interview with Mrs. Obama was a perfect example, he was talking about her healthy campaign and didn't leave any room for her, so the skilled First Lady finally interrupted him and said the purpose and achievements of her campaign. Remember, when you interview someone, it's not about you, it's about them. Some other times Jimmy was definitely flustered when beautiful actresses flirted with him, his recent interview (two days ago) with the Geogeous and fun Scarlett Johansson, for example. I guess it's natural that he was flustered, but the fact that I could see it is not very good for Mr. Host of the Tonight's show.

He introduced games with his guests, it is an interesting concept, but honestly, most of them were not funny. Some of them, at least, I could tell the guests were caught off guard and weren't having fun. The one came to mind was his interview and game with Colin Firth. I no longer remember the details, but I thought it was kind of boring. Games with guests is tricky because actors when they are off the stage, they are not entertainers anymore, and they bring their own personalities to your show, and not all of them are so fun or upbeat or entertaining or quick. Right?

So what else, oh, he really has to work on expanding his vocabulary. Every time he introduces a guest, she is always "the greatest, and he loves her." He uses the same lines of introduction for "hashtag," and it makes me feel like I was watching a rerun of the show. Is it out of laziness or other reason? I don't know, but it's better if he doesn't do this.

Constructive advice maybe hard to hear, but I wrote this down because I like Jimmy Fallon and I think he could definitely get better as he matures in his job. If he listens to me, he may improve sooner, and make me a happier audience. If I don't care about him, I wouldn't spend time to watch his shows nor waste time to write this down on a perfect Saturday morning.