| [Posted on Facebook just now:] Hey Everyone! I am SOOOOOOO out of the loop when it comes to social media. Just not my thang, I guess -- though I kind of want it to be, because I miss being in touch with people and knowing what you all are doing with your lives...For example, I had absolutely no idea that some of you have gotten married, had kids, changed careers, all kinds of good or not so good stuff. I am sorry that I have been out of touch for so long. Anyway, I want to ask a strange and specific question, for those among you who might read this post and feel inclined to respond. Thanks in advance for any insights. Let me briefly explain...
Something that I have realized for a while now is that I am not nearly
as funny as I used to be -- life just seems so serious and I feel really
bogged down with financial concerns and disappointment in myself that I
am not married with kids yet; and that I gave up on my singing before I
achieved some kind of fame as a performer / recording artist; and that I
need to delay my Chinese studies in Hong Kong for another year while I
first pay off some credit card debt.
I am trying to figure out at what point I lost my sense of humor about life, and about MY LIFE in particular. I feel like "before" (by this, I mean, maybe 8-10 years ago and before that), I laughed out loud A LOT, about everything -- and everything in my life seemed like a big exciting adventure full of FUN and full of a very deep, "human," poignant, POSITIVE kind of humor about the absurdity of "it all." Now, not so much. I can trace when and how this happened -- starting with my behind the scenes music business job that I held from 2007-2014; through putting aside my singing career 8 years ago; to shifting to an intellectual curiosity about languages and Chinese instead of the musical and artistic creative curiosity that had been my sole reason for existence from ages 19 to 35; to a bunch of deaths in my family and support network from 2014-2016. I can trace what happened, but I cannot figure out why... Anywho, my question is this: WHAT MADE ME SO FUNNY, WHEN I WAS FUNNY? WHAT MADE MY STORIES THAT I USED TO TELL SO FUNNY AND WHAT WAS SPECIAL ABOUT MY VIEW OF THE WORLD AND MY "CHARISMA" THAT I COMMUNICATED TO MY FRIENDS AND OTHERS THAT MADE PEOPLE SMILE? BECAUSE WHEN I USED TO MAKE OTHER PEOPLE SMILE, I USED TO MAKE MYSELF SMILE AS WELL. I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THIS MISSING INGREDIENT BACK INTO MY LIFE AT AGE ALMOST 45. The good news is that I am singing again, though I haven't "done anything" with it yet -- other than practicing and taking lessons. I am guessing that returning to singing and music will be a big part of me feeling fun and funny again. Time will tell... Thanks in advance for any thoughts, and super best wishes to everyone out there in Social Medialand! |
Friday, September 1, 2017
Thursday, April 3, 2014
READING IS FUNDAMENTAL...
Accountability is very important in life, particularly as we set goals for ourselves. We should certainly plan to answer to ourselves for each success and failure, as well as for not reaching certain steps along the way according to whatever timeline we might set for ourselves to achive a certain goal or life plan.
As such, I would like to share with you an email that I sent to my father and my mentor Ann yesterday, discussing the current status of my reading ability and where I hope to take it in the coming months, now that I have measured it in concrete terms and I have a pretty good idea of where I stand with this one talent or ability:
To give you all an idea of how my reading speed has developed over time, let me start by saying that in 6th grade, I was considered a remedial reader with a 150-180 word per minute reading speed and parents and school administrators who showed genuine concern for my academic future.
This determined, I took a fairly non-descript, standardized speed reading course during the following summer, with the goal of getting my reading speed to 300 words per minute or something to that effect. Since most adult Americans read in the vicinity of 300 words per minute according to various online statistics, this would have been a very respectable result had I stopped there. Presumably, I would have been prepared for the rest of my life -- reading-wise.
Something happened that summer, though -- something beyond overhead projector reading assignments followed by grueling academic reading comprehension drills:
I read everything. I could not get enough. My parents even let me read my dad's Playboy magazines (purely for academic purposes, of course) -- as long as I promised to read the articles and not just wonder about the interesting photos.
You might say that I was introduced to two guiding "life principles" that summer -- an unslakable thirst for knowledge gained from books, and an equally powerful interest in female anatomy.
Ahem.
Skip forward through teen years of comic books and Stephen King novels -- of reading just about every book I could get my hands on that even remotely interested me -- and I began to develop some techniques on my own that allowed me to coast through many of my classes in college, once I switched majors to something that I loved. More on that later.
After college came a realization that I was reading pretty quickly, and I began to seek out various books on speed reading techniques. I tried most or all of the techniques I read about, and even toyed with the idea of Photoreading five or six years ago, when I accidentally came across the book during an Amazon.com search for another title.
I have since developed my own ideas about chunking and eliminating the need to recognize on a conscious level any articles, conjunctions, prepositions, common words, or other parts of speech whose meanings might automatically come out via context even in their absence; about using any previous knowledge of the subject matter to manage newly acquired reading knowledge in real time, so as not to slow down the reading process; about reader expectations gleaned from reading tables of contents and indexes prior to reading actual books (non-fiction only, of course); about letting language wash over me, all the while confident that the big picture of what I am reading will help any and all details to make sense without me feeling a need to hold onto any one word, phrase or concept during the reading process; the list goes on...
One exciting development that I foresee coming of my quest for increased reading speed is a parallel increased awareness, not just of information acquisition via the reading process as it is going on in real time during any one reading session, but also of the language acquisition process in general -- and in particular as it might apply to Stephen Kraschen's concept of Free Voluntary Reading: extensive reading to improve whole language acquisition during the overall (intermediate level) foreign language acquisition process, rather than briefer periods of intensive reading during shorter foreign language study sessions.
I am also very excited to see how I can apply speed reading to my own theory of knowledge bombardment during early learning stages, which I intend to discuss at length in this blog, as well as in my other language learning blog -- www.speakmanylanguages.com.
For now, though, thanks for reading!
As such, I would like to share with you an email that I sent to my father and my mentor Ann yesterday, discussing the current status of my reading ability and where I hope to take it in the coming months, now that I have measured it in concrete terms and I have a pretty good idea of where I stand with this one talent or ability:
Hi Dad and Ann,
So as you both know, I have decided to do something I have never done in my life -- actually see how good I can possibly be at the things that I am truly good at -- so far...
Since reading is my main portal for knowledge acquisition and self-improvement/"learning stuff," it seems only natural to work on my reading speed first to see where I am currently and to strive for measurable improvements in that area.
2 days ago, I read 4 non-fiction career-change trade paperbacks and hardcover books averaging 225-250 pages each, with reading speeds of 2 point something pages per minute. Yesterday, I read 4 more similar sized, similar topic books again averaging between 225 and 250 pages each, average reading speed 2.5 pages per minute. Today, I read 5 books ranging from 200 to 305 pages each, reading speed varying between 2.25 and over 3 pages per minute.
My guess is that realistically, I experienced 75% or better information processing and comprehension during reading, with few gaps in my understanding of the material, in spite of background music at cafes, etc. For the most part, I read in 50-100 page intervals with several minute stretching or bathroom breaks to clear my head before continuing. My average reading time for a 250 page book appears to be an hour and a half to an hour and 40 minutes.
At my final rate of over 3 pages per minute this evening for a standard sized trade paperback with around 35 lines of print, most books of this size averaging 10-15 words per line, these books would appear to have approximately 400 or more words per page. This means that my final reading speed tonight with 75% or better comprehension was just over 1200 words per minute.
This is encouraging in light of the following Wikipedia excerpt on speed reading [boldface and italics mine]:
The World Championship Speed Reading Competition stresses reading comprehension as critical. The top contestants typically read around 1,000 to 2,000 words per minute with approximately 50% comprehension or above. The world champion is Anne Jones with 4,700 words per minute with 67% comprehension. The 10,000 word/min claimants have yet to reach this level.[citation needed]
Much controversy is raised over this point. This is mainly because a reading comprehension level of 50% is deemed unusable by some educationalists (Carver 1992). Speed reading advocates claim that it is a great success and even state that it is a demonstration of good comprehension for many purposes (Buzan 2000). The trade-off between "speed" and comprehension must be analyzed with respect to the type of reading that is being done, the risks associated with mis-understanding due to low comprehension, and the benefits associated with getting through the material quickly and gaining information at the actual rate it is obtained.
Now that I know my starting point, I am going to strive for over 1500 words per minute at 80% or better comprehension, depending on the genre (fiction/non-fiction, etc.) The best part about working on this skill is that it will improve without me doing anything specific to improve it, other than continuing to read books I was already planning to read as I continue to learn new things and further my own self-actualization.
Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
Best wishes and thanks for reading!
Brendan
To give you all an idea of how my reading speed has developed over time, let me start by saying that in 6th grade, I was considered a remedial reader with a 150-180 word per minute reading speed and parents and school administrators who showed genuine concern for my academic future.
This determined, I took a fairly non-descript, standardized speed reading course during the following summer, with the goal of getting my reading speed to 300 words per minute or something to that effect. Since most adult Americans read in the vicinity of 300 words per minute according to various online statistics, this would have been a very respectable result had I stopped there. Presumably, I would have been prepared for the rest of my life -- reading-wise.
Something happened that summer, though -- something beyond overhead projector reading assignments followed by grueling academic reading comprehension drills:
I began to actually LOVE reading.
I read everything. I could not get enough. My parents even let me read my dad's Playboy magazines (purely for academic purposes, of course) -- as long as I promised to read the articles and not just wonder about the interesting photos.
You might say that I was introduced to two guiding "life principles" that summer -- an unslakable thirst for knowledge gained from books, and an equally powerful interest in female anatomy.
Ahem.
Skip forward through teen years of comic books and Stephen King novels -- of reading just about every book I could get my hands on that even remotely interested me -- and I began to develop some techniques on my own that allowed me to coast through many of my classes in college, once I switched majors to something that I loved. More on that later.
After college came a realization that I was reading pretty quickly, and I began to seek out various books on speed reading techniques. I tried most or all of the techniques I read about, and even toyed with the idea of Photoreading five or six years ago, when I accidentally came across the book during an Amazon.com search for another title.
I have since developed my own ideas about chunking and eliminating the need to recognize on a conscious level any articles, conjunctions, prepositions, common words, or other parts of speech whose meanings might automatically come out via context even in their absence; about using any previous knowledge of the subject matter to manage newly acquired reading knowledge in real time, so as not to slow down the reading process; about reader expectations gleaned from reading tables of contents and indexes prior to reading actual books (non-fiction only, of course); about letting language wash over me, all the while confident that the big picture of what I am reading will help any and all details to make sense without me feeling a need to hold onto any one word, phrase or concept during the reading process; the list goes on...
One exciting development that I foresee coming of my quest for increased reading speed is a parallel increased awareness, not just of information acquisition via the reading process as it is going on in real time during any one reading session, but also of the language acquisition process in general -- and in particular as it might apply to Stephen Kraschen's concept of Free Voluntary Reading: extensive reading to improve whole language acquisition during the overall (intermediate level) foreign language acquisition process, rather than briefer periods of intensive reading during shorter foreign language study sessions.
I am also very excited to see how I can apply speed reading to my own theory of knowledge bombardment during early learning stages, which I intend to discuss at length in this blog, as well as in my other language learning blog -- www.speakmanylanguages.com.
For now, though, thanks for reading!
IT ALL BEGINS HERE:
How can I turn something that I am good at into something that I am truly GREAT at? How far can I possibly take my talents in the next year? The next 5 years? The next 10 years?
How can I tell which passions or talents to pour my efforts into and which to be content at achieving goodness, but not greatness in?
When and how will I know that I am "great?" How is greatness measured? Who determines greatness? Does greatness happen gradually or in sudden leaps to the next level after periods of apparent stagnation? Does greatness cultivate an "IT" factor, or does an "IT" factor cultivate greatness?
I intend to explore and possibly answer, at least for myself, these and many more questions in this blog.
After 41 years of not quite living up to my ultimate potential in the areas in which I show the most promise or talent, I have decided to take charge of my life, to embark on a little life experiment:
For me, my areas of greatest talent or ability that I have demonstrated throughout the past 10-15 years have been:
It is my intention to chronicle in this blog my own personal journey over the coming weeks, months and perhaps years as I explore each of these areas and more -- either simultaneously or in turn -- to my fullest capabilities without putting any more limits on myself.
I am going to allow myself to be and to do and to achieve in each of these areas. With a little bit of luck and a whole lot of effort over time, I hope to have some interesting experiences to write about here.
I plan to start with reading and writing -- because they are so fundamental to all of communication, and because everything else listed above will in some way or another come out of these two fundamental skills. I also plan to focus on singing and speaking foreign languages as my first two SKILL AREAS, solidifying my current ability levels in each before proceeding to the other items on my list.
Of course, no human being in today's world lives in a vacuum. I anticipate that many of the other areas will improve as well -- on their own simply as a function of my being alive -- before I put the same amount of effort into them that I intend to put into my singing and language abilities.
Thanks for reading. And now, let's see what we can make happen...
How can I tell which passions or talents to pour my efforts into and which to be content at achieving goodness, but not greatness in?
When and how will I know that I am "great?" How is greatness measured? Who determines greatness? Does greatness happen gradually or in sudden leaps to the next level after periods of apparent stagnation? Does greatness cultivate an "IT" factor, or does an "IT" factor cultivate greatness?
I intend to explore and possibly answer, at least for myself, these and many more questions in this blog.
After 41 years of not quite living up to my ultimate potential in the areas in which I show the most promise or talent, I have decided to take charge of my life, to embark on a little life experiment:
Assuming that I reset all mental and emotional limitations placed on me by others as well as by my own lack of confidence, by my own fear of failure, or even more likely by my own fear of success;
Assuming that I get rid of any and all negative self-talk that ever existed in my mind, including the repercussions of every comment from every person who might have ever suggested that one or more of my life goals was crazy or impractical or that I would never succeed, never make a living doing that;
Assuming that I allow myself to simply start over at my current level of competence in each of my various demonstrated areas of talent and just allow myself to explore and to realize the true potential which I am capable of achieving in each area;
HOW GREAT, HOW FULLY ACTUALIZED OF A HUMAN BEING CAN I ALLOW MYSELF TO BECOME?
For me, my areas of greatest talent or ability that I have demonstrated throughout the past 10-15 years have been:
- My singing voice and related musical abilities, foremost among them my audio engineering and production sensibilities
- My recently discovered ability to learn and juggle varying levels of competence in multiple foreign languages
- My reading speed and related ability to use it to explore and quickly learn about many widely divergent topics
- My writing ability, as demonstrated in previously published feature articles for a major audio engineering and production magazine; liner notes for a major recording artist's CD release; various PR materials and press releases within the context of my last job; and my other blogging efforts, foremost among them my still unedited 300+ page Hong Kong travelogue from February 2013; etc.
- Teaching and public speaking
- Being a student within a formal academic atmosphere
- Budget worldwide travel and comfort level while immersing myself in local cultures
- Finding things on the street and selling them for crazy amounts of money
- My related ability to purchase items on a small scale for super low prices and flip them at a 10x, 100x or even 200x profit margin
- My personality and comfort level in social situations and when meeting new people from all walks of life
- My ability to endure extreme, extensive and intensive exercise sessions -- whether Krav Maga or other martial arts, Bikram yoga, or bodybuilding (which I was obsessed with from high school until age 30 or so). I am out of shape now, but because I know what I have been capable of achieving in the past, I am going to not think in terms of the limitations of my 41 year-old body versus my 20 something year-old younger body, and instead believe that I can again get in incredible shape -- at this age and going forward!
- One other thing that I am not allowed to discuss here...wink, wink...
It is my intention to chronicle in this blog my own personal journey over the coming weeks, months and perhaps years as I explore each of these areas and more -- either simultaneously or in turn -- to my fullest capabilities without putting any more limits on myself.
I am going to allow myself to be and to do and to achieve in each of these areas. With a little bit of luck and a whole lot of effort over time, I hope to have some interesting experiences to write about here.
I plan to start with reading and writing -- because they are so fundamental to all of communication, and because everything else listed above will in some way or another come out of these two fundamental skills. I also plan to focus on singing and speaking foreign languages as my first two SKILL AREAS, solidifying my current ability levels in each before proceeding to the other items on my list.
Of course, no human being in today's world lives in a vacuum. I anticipate that many of the other areas will improve as well -- on their own simply as a function of my being alive -- before I put the same amount of effort into them that I intend to put into my singing and language abilities.
Thanks for reading. And now, let's see what we can make happen...
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