Positively Natalie

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Enjoy the ride

I've needed a few little distractions here and there to keep me from getting totally overwhelmed with packing. Today has been almost entirely spent putting things in piles and then dividing those piles into smaller piles and fitting the piles into ziplock bags. I am admittedly slightly compulsive when it comes to things like this.

Thank god for Jimmy Fallon. Como se dice "Winning?"

Update: The video I linked to on YouTube has been taken down. You can watch the clip on the NBC website here:

Charlie Sheen, 'Winning' for Men

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

I'm back on my way to gone

Well hello there my patient and loyal readers. I've been slightly remiss in getting in touch over the past few months and I apologize profusely. If this were the real world I would bake you something to make up for it, but since it's the weberverse you'll just have to imagine eating your favorite cookie courtesy of me.

While it's no excuse, things have been legitimately busy around here as my mom has acquired her very own bionic knee and needed quite a bit of help in recovering from surgery. I'm not usually one who is enticed by squishier medical details, but I must admit that the whole process was pretty fascinating. I mean, her new knee was custom-cut by lasers in Belgium. That's some futuristic sci-fi goodness.

The rest of my time has been spent preparing (both physically and mentally) for a pretty big move. After a few rounds of interviews I am officially heading back to Beijing to take a marketing position with a Mandarin school. In a way it feels like I'm getting a do-over, since the last time I think I left before I was really ready to go. But I was in love and I had wanted to go back to school eventually, so I convinced myself that it was time to leave. And now I will triumphantly return.

The reason I was drawn to this school is the same reason I am drawn to China: their boundless enthusiasm for what is possible. And with Chinese language programs rapidly gaining popularity in the US and Europe, I think it's going to be a joy to promote. So, starting in about a week and a half, you'll have the opportunity to view Beijing through my eyes and hopefully become as enamored with it as I am. And maybe I'll even be able to convince you to come visit for a little while and learn the language the best way I know how.

In the mean time, I invite you to check out the company and the web presence over which I will soon be manning the helm.

http://www.livethelanguage.cn
http://www.livethelanguage.wordpress.com
http://www.twitter.com/livethelanguage

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Best. Coupon. Code. Ever.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Happy Spending Days

Let's just get this out of the way, right off the bat: I don't celebrate Christmas. When I lived in China this was inconceivable to people because they thought of Christmas as the quintessential American holiday. This was particularly evident in this classroom display my students prepared when I worked as a teacher.

I probably should have corrected their research, but quite frankly I knew it would be a losing battle. Because the truth is, for most people, the only religion involved in Christmas is worshiping in the church of consumerism. Usually it makes me roll my eyes and acknowledge the kernels of truth in American stereotypes. This year, however, I really do hope that the miracle of Christmas involves lots and lots of spending.

When you're a happy Christmas celebrant, all of the holiday hype is a jolly countdown to the day you get to stuff your face full of gingerbread to fuel a tornado of wrapping paper mayhem. For the rest of us, it's a countdown to the day when everyone shuts up about Christmas. For me personally, it's also a countdown to the day when going out in public no longer means having to endure the scent of artificial cinnamon. Something about it just makes my stomach churn.

While I normally spend the month of December perpetually muting the television, this holiday season I've found myself actually enjoying a great number of Christmas ads. There are still plenty of crappy eye-rollers out there, but I'm pleased to see a more inventive take on the big spending push.

Hyundai

I pretty much love any video that Pomplamoose puts together, but I particularly love that Hyundai reached out to some deserving YouTube stars and gave them exposure to a more mainstream audience. It's clever and forward-thinking.

Target

I can't say enough times how much I adore Target's series of holiday ads. Not only are they catchy and easily recognizable as a brand, but the campaign branches out to offer free downloads of all the songs in their commercials. Check out their website to listen to the specially-written tunes.

Nintendo Wii

Last, but certainly not least, this is a genius move to sell parents on the idea of buying a Wii for their kids. Seriously, I bow down.

So get on out there and spend some money for the good of America. And please, if you work in retail, consider switching out that potpourri for a more pleasant scent. I suggest freshly baked sugar cookies. Mmmmm.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Waking the dead

As a lifetime insomniac (a fact I'm sure I've mentioned here on more than one occasion) I've tried just about everything to coax myself to sleep. When I was a teenager, what seemed to soothe my mind was memorizing poetry. Reading aloud, the repetition of lines was my version of counting sheep.

Now that I have a sound machine to calm my overactive neurons, my volumes of verse tend to be ignored more than they should be. I don't know if it's the gray day or the fact that I'm nursing a cold, but today I found comfort in one of my favorites.

Ulysses

It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Matched with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
I cannot rest from travel; I will drink
life to the lees. All times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
that loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vexed the dim sea. I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known---cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honored of them all---
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades
Forever and forever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end.
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
As though to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains; but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
This is my son, my own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the scepter and the isle---
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfill
This labor, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and through soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centered in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail;
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me---
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads---you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honor and his toil.
Death closes all; but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends.
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
the sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be that we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are---
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

(Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

Monday, November 29, 2010

Of mice and men

I had a wonderful plan worked out to keep me writing on this wonderful blog. I also made a promise to myself that I would only use this space to talk about uplifting things (with exception for the occasional amusing rant) because I don't want to unleash my negative thoughts on you. Over the past few months, these two intentions have unfortunately conflicted and I have erred on the side of silence.

There are plenty of inspiring stories out there about the American can-do spirit and how people are banding together to take care of each other in tough times. I'm sure these people exist (and I'm glad they do), but I think I can safely say that they are few and far between. I don't want to dwell on the specifics of my troubles, but suffice it to say that I am in the same boat as many other well-educated, hard-working creative people who are playing the waiting game with this economy.

I truly believe to the core of my being that writers, artists, performers and all other miscellaneous dreamers are vital to the continued development of humankind. Are scientists important? Absolutely. How about mechanics? You betcha. Engineers? Of course. But none of them would exist without us creative types. Without creatives there would be no artificial limbs, no hybrid cars, no wacky Japanese robots. I may not be able to cure or fix or build, but I am able to imagine incredible things.

And I think that's pretty uplifting.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Polyvore

I was browsing around on the L'oreal website trying to get makeup ideas for a wedding I'm attending on Sunday. On their main page was an ad for a contest through Polyvore, a site where you can assemble collections of items you love and share them with others. It only took about two minutes of browsing for me to fall in love with the site!

As someone who is slightly visually compulsive and a lover of fashion, color, photography, and most importantly lists (seriously, I love lists) it's basically a dream come true. Plus, as an added bonus, the mere act of collecting and assembling items really quiets and calms my OCD.