Only when you have respect for others will you command respect.
Only when you are able to trust will you be trustworthy.
Only when you give love would you be deserving to receive it.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Reads
... finally a window of opportunity to blog this semester... everything has been so hectic. it is so difficult to balance being lazy and having 18 credit hours at the same time, lol. im so tired all the damn time cause im sleeping at the wrong damn times not getting enough rest as I have a shitload of work to do before i can even think of sleeping (not to mention i like putting off my work til the last minute).
anyway children, today's topic is about reading people. hohoho, another poker related post by kudut, typical.
...not really, although the ability to read people would come in handy on a poker table (and admittedly is one of the reasons this topic appeals to me), i feel that the ability to accurately identify the emotions people around you are feeling and subsequently deduce where those emotions are coming from would be an extremely useful skill in many situations.
for example, let's say you are presenting some financial plans for your company in front of your colleagues and employers... if you are able to notice certain signs of discomfort in their body language while you are presenting, you would be able to address this situation and inquire the source of this discomfort. it's possible that it's simply because the a/c wasn't turned on... OR they may not be very comfortable with ur ideas in which case you would need to further strengthen ur position or consider alternatives.
I noticed that i connect better with people who are easy to read, that is to say those who do not or are unable to hide their emotions. This is extremely hypocritical of me as I hide my emotions all the time (or at least i try to), but I find it easier to trust people who don't hide their emotions. The reason is simple, if you project ur sincere emotions around me, it shows that you have trust in me which in turn makes it easier for me to trust you. Hiding your emotions generally indicates distrust... in my case however, i hide my emotions because of the way i was brought up. As a child, appearing to be angry or crying excessively would be a sign of challenging my mother's authority and this would often lead to punishment.
So... how do you read people? Honestly, I'm no expert. However, I know the simplest thing you can do to improve is to pay more attention to the people around you. Look at them, how do they look like when they're happy? how do they look like when they're angry/sad/surprised? You can also examine their behavior when they tell the truth. This way, u establish a baseline for their personalities. Once you've established a baseline it's much more easier for you to read into them because you would notice almost immediately if there were any deviations.
I feel that it is important to at least have a basic level read on people... becoming a good "reader" makes you a better communicator 'cause you would be able to respond to the cues shown by the people around you. I know some people who have gotten themselves into very difficult situations just because they were completely oblivious or insensitive to their surroundings.
Let's learn to read.
anyway children, today's topic is about reading people. hohoho, another poker related post by kudut, typical.
...not really, although the ability to read people would come in handy on a poker table (and admittedly is one of the reasons this topic appeals to me), i feel that the ability to accurately identify the emotions people around you are feeling and subsequently deduce where those emotions are coming from would be an extremely useful skill in many situations.
for example, let's say you are presenting some financial plans for your company in front of your colleagues and employers... if you are able to notice certain signs of discomfort in their body language while you are presenting, you would be able to address this situation and inquire the source of this discomfort. it's possible that it's simply because the a/c wasn't turned on... OR they may not be very comfortable with ur ideas in which case you would need to further strengthen ur position or consider alternatives.
I noticed that i connect better with people who are easy to read, that is to say those who do not or are unable to hide their emotions. This is extremely hypocritical of me as I hide my emotions all the time (or at least i try to), but I find it easier to trust people who don't hide their emotions. The reason is simple, if you project ur sincere emotions around me, it shows that you have trust in me which in turn makes it easier for me to trust you. Hiding your emotions generally indicates distrust... in my case however, i hide my emotions because of the way i was brought up. As a child, appearing to be angry or crying excessively would be a sign of challenging my mother's authority and this would often lead to punishment.
So... how do you read people? Honestly, I'm no expert. However, I know the simplest thing you can do to improve is to pay more attention to the people around you. Look at them, how do they look like when they're happy? how do they look like when they're angry/sad/surprised? You can also examine their behavior when they tell the truth. This way, u establish a baseline for their personalities. Once you've established a baseline it's much more easier for you to read into them because you would notice almost immediately if there were any deviations.
I feel that it is important to at least have a basic level read on people... becoming a good "reader" makes you a better communicator 'cause you would be able to respond to the cues shown by the people around you. I know some people who have gotten themselves into very difficult situations just because they were completely oblivious or insensitive to their surroundings.
Let's learn to read.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Poker, poker, and more poker
We've been goin nuts with poker this past couple of weeks, cash games (both at home and at the casino) and a real casino tourny. The tournament was a great experience, I kinda understand how players at the WSOP feel now, the nervousness I felt really affected my ability to make good logical decisions. This made me realize that I'm not a "great" poker player and that there's so much more room for improvement in my game especially when it comes to dealing with nerves and playing against strangers. Playing online is so much more easier since no one can look at you and read your tells.
===================================================================
On a more philosophical note, when I was playing the tournament, I was making a lot of good decisions (or at least i felt like i was), but one bad decision led to me to being knocked out... I was thinking about it and I realized that's kinda like how life is rite? You make a lot of good decisions but one bad decision can disrupt everything.
For example, you can be a good person doing good, morally righteous things all your life... but if you decided one day to commit a cold blooded murder and you consequently get caught and sentenced to death, the only thing you'd be remembered as is a murderer. Or you could be in a relationship with someone and everything may seem to be going well... but one big fight may be all it takes to end it. Like poker, victory in life is not determined at the beginning when your first cards are dealt, it's determined when all the cards are played out.
All we can do is try to make the best decisions we can throughout life. Build a large "chip stack" shall I say, so that we can afford to make those small mistakes we would inevitably make as human beings. Then we keep moving on, and at the end of it all we'd be able to honestly say "that was a good game".
===================================================================
On a more philosophical note, when I was playing the tournament, I was making a lot of good decisions (or at least i felt like i was), but one bad decision led to me to being knocked out... I was thinking about it and I realized that's kinda like how life is rite? You make a lot of good decisions but one bad decision can disrupt everything.
For example, you can be a good person doing good, morally righteous things all your life... but if you decided one day to commit a cold blooded murder and you consequently get caught and sentenced to death, the only thing you'd be remembered as is a murderer. Or you could be in a relationship with someone and everything may seem to be going well... but one big fight may be all it takes to end it. Like poker, victory in life is not determined at the beginning when your first cards are dealt, it's determined when all the cards are played out.
All we can do is try to make the best decisions we can throughout life. Build a large "chip stack" shall I say, so that we can afford to make those small mistakes we would inevitably make as human beings. Then we keep moving on, and at the end of it all we'd be able to honestly say "that was a good game".
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Leap of faith!
So... I woke up sunday morning and went for a drive with linh to des moines so that we could
jump out of a plane flying 9500 feet up in the air. Still breathing apparently(Isaac you owe me 10 bucks). Most awesome experience I have had to date... I can see why people get hooked to the sport, the feeling you get when you're moving more than 120 mph through the air is indescribable.
It's weird tho, I dunno if I was just tired or still hungover from the trip to minneapolis... but I didn't feel too nervous at all. Obviously the thought of jumping out of a plane for the first time is never an inviting one, but I thought I'd be a little more freaked out once my legs were dangling outside the plane. Quite honestly I've been more afraid getting onto a waterslide.
It wasn't til we jumped out of the plane though I realized what I was getting myself into... that brief 3 seconds where we fall before we catch air was insane... that's the stuff some of my nightmares are made of, just falling down like that. After that though everything I experienced was nothing short of amazing... You catch wind and although ur still falling pretty fast, ur not really "falling" so to speak.... you're just steadily moving downwards. The view was beyond words... I was quite literally within touching distance of clouds, stuff people only talk or dream about.
I wish i was a lil healthier tho... was feeling nauseous even before the jump thanks to a two day old hangover. Glad i didn't opt for pics/vids... I'd be stoning throughout (as evident in the few pictures that i appear in for linh's photoset). I'd definitely get pics tho if there is a next time.
I highly recommend going skydiving at least once guys... and get pics while you're at it. Trust me, it's the most thrilling experience I've ever had in my 23 years of life.
jump out of a plane flying 9500 feet up in the air. Still breathing apparently(Isaac you owe me 10 bucks). Most awesome experience I have had to date... I can see why people get hooked to the sport, the feeling you get when you're moving more than 120 mph through the air is indescribable.
It's weird tho, I dunno if I was just tired or still hungover from the trip to minneapolis... but I didn't feel too nervous at all. Obviously the thought of jumping out of a plane for the first time is never an inviting one, but I thought I'd be a little more freaked out once my legs were dangling outside the plane. Quite honestly I've been more afraid getting onto a waterslide.
It wasn't til we jumped out of the plane though I realized what I was getting myself into... that brief 3 seconds where we fall before we catch air was insane... that's the stuff some of my nightmares are made of, just falling down like that. After that though everything I experienced was nothing short of amazing... You catch wind and although ur still falling pretty fast, ur not really "falling" so to speak.... you're just steadily moving downwards. The view was beyond words... I was quite literally within touching distance of clouds, stuff people only talk or dream about.
I wish i was a lil healthier tho... was feeling nauseous even before the jump thanks to a two day old hangover. Glad i didn't opt for pics/vids... I'd be stoning throughout (as evident in the few pictures that i appear in for linh's photoset). I'd definitely get pics tho if there is a next time.
I highly recommend going skydiving at least once guys... and get pics while you're at it. Trust me, it's the most thrilling experience I've ever had in my 23 years of life.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Summerrtimmeeeeeee~~
It's been awhile since my last post so I guess a new one is due... I don't have much to say tho. Havent had any new ideas on things to rant about, other than the fact that I barely have any time to sit back wait for inspiration. Summer classes arent supposed to be so stressful = =. Darned lab reports and oral presentations. I'm glad there's no finals tho....
anywayyyyyy.... tai created a summer group playlist on playlist.com . current members of the group include tai, oliver, alex diu and i. check it out here ==> Summer!
So basically, we're adding songs that we feel are "summer songs" or songs that remind us of summer. Give us some ideas on what you think are good summer songs, if you like the playlist mebbe you can get tai to invite u to the list.
I'll post again if anything interesting pops up. til then, I shall be on full tilt poker... grinding it out and absorbing bad beats.
anywayyyyyy.... tai created a summer group playlist on playlist.com . current members of the group include tai, oliver, alex diu and i. check it out here ==> Summer!
So basically, we're adding songs that we feel are "summer songs" or songs that remind us of summer. Give us some ideas on what you think are good summer songs, if you like the playlist mebbe you can get tai to invite u to the list.
I'll post again if anything interesting pops up. til then, I shall be on full tilt poker... grinding it out and absorbing bad beats.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Responsible Blogging
So... I woke up from my nap today and this sudden thought popped into my head. I noticed that some people have the "this is my blog and I'm gonna do whatever the fuck I want with it" approach to blogging. Although I agree that you can write about almost anything you want, the fact is that there are things that you should consider before writing.
1. The most obvious one, the blog's terms of use. If you haven't done so already, read or at least just scan through your blog platform's terms of use. For those of you using Blogger here are the links
Terms of Service
Content Policy
2. A more subtle point... responsibility for your message. Although when you write a blog you most likely have a certain target audience in your mind (your friends, family,colleagues etc) , the fact remains that your blog is placed on the world wide web. Unless it's a private blog, just about ANYONE can see it and with that comes a certain responsibility. You see (cue Bill Cosby), you have to be prepared to face the consequences of the message you put out.
For example, if you happened to be a pyro-geek of some sort, you may be inclined to put up a post on how to combine everyday household items to make them explode, just to show off to your friends. However, there's a danger in putting up something like that, someone somewhere in the world may abuse that sort of knowledge and ur blog post, though without ill-intent has turned into a reference for potential criminals/terrorists.
3. Aside from the obvious example i just gave, you would do well to always watch what you are writing about as it may offend some ppl who may stumble across your blog. Even if you don't really care about how ppl feel, it's still important to keep your message in check. There has been
many a case where people have gotten into trouble simply for blogging (like getting fired for bitching bout their bosses, or getting caught doing incriminating activities).
Now, i'm not saying your blog posts should please everyone, but you should always, ALWAYS be willing to handle the consequences of your message. Do that, and you won't have any regrets... happy blogging!
1. The most obvious one, the blog's terms of use. If you haven't done so already, read or at least just scan through your blog platform's terms of use. For those of you using Blogger here are the links
Terms of Service
Content Policy
2. A more subtle point... responsibility for your message. Although when you write a blog you most likely have a certain target audience in your mind (your friends, family,colleagues etc) , the fact remains that your blog is placed on the world wide web. Unless it's a private blog, just about ANYONE can see it and with that comes a certain responsibility.
For example, if you happened to be a pyro-geek of some sort, you may be inclined to put up a post on how to combine everyday household items to make them explode, just to show off to your friends. However, there's a danger in putting up something like that, someone somewhere in the world may abuse that sort of knowledge and ur blog post, though without ill-intent has turned into a reference for potential criminals/terrorists.
3. Aside from the obvious example i just gave, you would do well to always watch what you are writing about as it may offend some ppl who may stumble across your blog. Even if you don't really care about how ppl feel, it's still important to keep your message in check. There has been
many a case where people have gotten into trouble simply for blogging (like getting fired for bitching bout their bosses, or getting caught doing incriminating activities).
Now, i'm not saying your blog posts should please everyone, but you should always, ALWAYS be willing to handle the consequences of your message. Do that, and you won't have any regrets... happy blogging!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Tribute to the graduates!
So... grad night went pretty well this year, kudos to the grad night committee for doing a good job making sure our graduating seniors were well celebrated. Emcees were great... i have to point out that Ash did an excellent job, whether it was scripted or not, everything he did seemed natural... which i feel is an important trait to have as an emcee and I hope he's gonna emcee more events for us.
That being said here's my own tribute to my good friends who've survived the greater battle of our time's education system.
Zi
Jesus wants YOU!
Our very own fei hai... drives a turtle-mobile... which suits the lack of pace he has developed after sustaining an ACL tearing, bone crunching tackle by his own goalie during the midwest games last summer. His ability to consume massive amounts of steak strike fear into the eyes of cows all over the world, as their populations dwindle to satiate the void that exists within his belly. A good friend all around. Congrats man! ...and as a fellow liverpudlian i have to say "you'll never walk alone!"
Yu
Yeng-ing around
Fellow full-tilt poker shark and dota expert known for occasionally immitating cats (NOT the musical). I spent a great deal of time looking for a good picture of him alone on facebook since he (wisely) has it deactivated. I noticed that anything that ignites his interest, he pursues with a passion, be it games/sports (ping pong, bowling, dota, poker etc), women (ahem), or studies... (hahaha yea right). Anyone that manages to make it through a chemical engineering degree course deserves at least an applause... so if u see him please congratulate him for being able to survive a little of hell on earth. Good job sir!
Chris
Blending in with the christmas decor at Changi
Also known as O.G. La (for his lala-ness) or DanceMaster Foong (self-explanatory i hope)... from my rough estimation he has only about 0.38% body fat, making him more kudut than me... the O.G. Dut himself. His ultimate poker technique is to conjure a bad beat, and then somehow induce you to throw all your chips in when he actually hits something big... ask wooi hau! There has been alleged footage of him conducting sexual acts with other men (one of them looking like me) but i assure you, it is FAKE. Congrats bro!
Tai
Leiiii yao mou lam looooooo~~
If you've ever needed to get your creative juices flowing, just watch tai as he turns everything he encounters into a free association exercise.Our resident jester, full of random but yet sometimes insightful ideas (also full of both orally and anally dispensed gases) . He's usually the one who comes up with the seasonal catchphrase (eg. "niabeh" or "sanitation? i told you to say sanitarium!"). For some reason he enjoys bursting in my room (especially whenever he is high on something, be it weed, alcohol or some sugar) and lately he enjoys giving me bad poker advice on fulltilt XD. Iz a graduation situation mang, good job and YNWA!
Linh
Red hot!!
The sweetest vietnamese girl i know (incidentally also the only vietnamese girl i know... lol). Nevertheless, sweeter than your average person. Making her laugh is hazardous as she tends to hit people around her, so please crack jokes with caution as i doubt being hit by a laughing maniac is covered in your health insurance =P (then again, that smile of hers may be worth all your troubles). Unfortunately, this young woman decided to break my heart by 1) not following through on her marriage proposal and 2) choosing to leave and further her studies in London ='(. It's gonna be hard on us watching you go, but I wish you well and hope to meet you again soon. Congrats and keep in touch! =D
That being said here's my own tribute to my good friends who've survived the greater battle of our time's education system.
Zi
Jesus wants YOU!Yu
Yeng-ing aroundFellow full-tilt poker shark and dota expert known for occasionally immitating cats (NOT the musical). I spent a great deal of time looking for a good picture of him alone on facebook since he (wisely) has it deactivated. I noticed that anything that ignites his interest, he pursues with a passion, be it games/sports (ping pong, bowling, dota, poker etc), women (ahem), or studies... (hahaha yea right). Anyone that manages to make it through a chemical engineering degree course deserves at least an applause... so if u see him please congratulate him for being able to survive a little of hell on earth. Good job sir!
Chris
Blending in with the christmas decor at ChangiAlso known as O.G. La (for his lala-ness) or DanceMaster Foong (self-explanatory i hope)... from my rough estimation he has only about 0.38% body fat, making him more kudut than me... the O.G. Dut himself. His ultimate poker technique is to conjure a bad beat, and then somehow induce you to throw all your chips in when he actually hits something big... ask wooi hau! There has been alleged footage of him conducting sexual acts with other men (one of them looking like me) but i assure you, it is FAKE. Congrats bro!
Tai
Leiiii yao mou lam looooooo~~If you've ever needed to get your creative juices flowing, just watch tai as he turns everything he encounters into a free association exercise.Our resident jester, full of random but yet sometimes insightful ideas (also full of both orally and anally dispensed gases) . He's usually the one who comes up with the seasonal catchphrase (eg. "niabeh" or "sanitation? i told you to say sanitarium!"). For some reason he enjoys bursting in my room (especially whenever he is high on something, be it weed, alcohol or some sugar) and lately he enjoys giving me bad poker advice on fulltilt XD. Iz a graduation situation mang, good job and YNWA!
Linh
Red hot!!The sweetest vietnamese girl i know (incidentally also the only vietnamese girl i know... lol). Nevertheless, sweeter than your average person. Making her laugh is hazardous as she tends to hit people around her, so please crack jokes with caution as i doubt being hit by a laughing maniac is covered in your health insurance =P (then again, that smile of hers may be worth all your troubles). Unfortunately, this young woman decided to break my heart by 1) not following through on her marriage proposal and 2) choosing to leave and further her studies in London ='(. It's gonna be hard on us watching you go, but I wish you well and hope to meet you again soon. Congrats and keep in touch! =D
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