Passion Worth Blogging: Where Good Ideas Come From

For a large part of my life coffee shops have been the hangout place of choice for my friends and I. Perhaps, we thought our $4 Starbucks and Blenz blueberry muffins made us sophisticated and adult-like, qualities that our parents refused to acknowledge that we had any. An answer closer to the truth is the atmosphere: the paintings and photographs on the walls of people and places we have never met or visited; the music of jazz, R&B and guitars; the comfy sofas much like the Big Comfy Couch; and the hipsters with their plaid shirts and slip-on shoes. These cozy places was where a single cup of coffee could accompany four hours of conversation that ranged from TV shows to why our French teacher was such a drag to life goals to ways of passing notes in class. Serious stuff, in short.

But why was a coffee shop the place we liked to talk and share our lives? In Steven Johnson‘s TED talk, he explores how innovation is created and comes up with what he calls the liquid network. When people from different backgrounds with different ideas and expertise come together in an environment that allows them to communicate, this encourages innovation because you bounce your ideas off each other, add what each other knows and potentially create something that is the more than the sum of its parts. It is often through discussion that a small idea that you had can become something much more, like discussing what you would like to do today can become an entire Europe trip after graduation, which is what happened to me a few months ago.

Commencement: a Rebirth

In honour of all my friends and other graduates celebrating the end of an era around the world, I share with you the commencement address from one of the most influential people of the world. I hope her thought-proving words will inspire you to believe that extreme difficulties can be overcome and the extraordinary accomplishments we can achieve.

Before Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling was divorced, jobless, a single-parent and one unpaid month of rent from becoming homeless. But then, like magic, she had an idea and her life changed forever. Although I haven’t written a book, much less seven, or become a billionaire (except on Neopets), the life she experienced parallels my own in so many ways.

“Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.”

Two years ago, I sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair in an ice-rink-turned-auditorium with my fellow 2009 Burnaby Mountain Secondary graduates. Wearing my black gown and cap with the tassel placed on the right, I heard family and friends politely clap for people they had no concern for and cheer wildly for people they paid to sit like sardines for. I watched classmates go upstage to receive their scholarships and I walked on the same stage to receive my University of Toronto Book Award: a 400-page encyclopaedia. I took a picture with my fake diploma, because none of us had technically graduated, and wondered what I would be eating afterwards: sushi or Chinese food. Just some of the difficult decisions I was concerned about.

Like J.K., looking back at the 17-year-old that I was at graduation is also an uncomfortable experience.

Passion Worth Blogging: Hunt for General Tso

Jennifer 8. Lee is an American journalist, previously with the New York Times and the author of the best seller “Fortune Cookie Chronicles,” detailing her investigation of Chinese food in the United States.

In her TED talk, Jennifer talks about food, which is one of the biggest reasons I wanted to watch it in the first place and want to share on my blog. I love food, as many of my friends and people around me would instantly acknowledge, and learning about the history of food is an interest of mine. I found it extremely interesting to find out that fortune cookies are actually of Japanese-creation and that there are more Chinese restaurants in the States than McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, and Wendy’s combined. I also found it interesting that Chinese food has been immersed so much into American culture, much like how Japanese food is in Vancouver and Hong Kong. Come to think of it, I only remember American pie from the movie.

What I really liked about this talk is that I actually did my own little experiment similar to Jennifer, which I asked my relatives in Hong Kong about these Canadian/American Chinese food (I’ll refer to all Canadian and American variations of Chinese food as simply American Chinese food from now on because I’m quite sure the variations moved from the States to Canada). I remember asking them if they had ever heard of fortune cookies? Nope. Would they like to try chop suey? My cousin said hell no and how could this even be sold under the name “Chinese food,” which was said in a disgusted tone as if I asked him if he’d like to eat stir-fry cell phones.

Passion Worth Blogging: Life Saver Bottle

TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) is a set of conferences built around the theme “Ideas worth spreading.” Speakers from various professional fields share their research, life, and ideas. All videos are uploaded onto their website and is free for viewing and viewable in Canada too (none of that “you’re not in the USA so you can’t watch this” crap). I’ve been inspired by many of these talks, and I think lots of people would benefit from seeing individuals around the world working on what they are passionate about. Great ideas need to be shared, so let’s start sharing.

The first video I’d like to share is speaker Michael Pritchard, the inventor of Life Saver Bottle.

Basically, the concept is a filter bottle that filters at a smaller diameter than most filters. Thus, it filters out bacteria, viruses and other organisms from water at higher than approved rates, which is a big concern if you are receiving water from polluted areas.

Amidst the Japanese and China earthquakes that occurred within 1 hour of each other (the one in China has been relatively unnoticed because the one Sendai, Japan is more severe), it has made me think about this bottle and its potential use for those desperately needing water in the event of a disaster. If not for the price ($149 USD), I would definitely buy myself one just in case. Vancouver is sitting near major faults, similar to the situation in Japan, therefore making Vancouver a prime target for earthquakes. Also, coupled with the fact that many Vancouver buildings are not up to modern seismic standards, meaning  they are not able to withstand earthquake tremors and are more prone to collapse, an earthquake could have very devastating effects for Vancouver. Although I have not researched on the statistics of how helpful this bottle would be, I think the concept is admirable and I’m glad to see some people of our world trying to help others.

There are many news networks that are keeping up with the news with the recent Japanese earthquake. NHK World, a Japanese broadcasting company, has English-translated news. Aljazeer is also quite good and unbiased. If you know any good websites, please put them in the comment box. Ideas worth spreading, guys.

(Pics and video: TED.com)

More Passion Worth Blogging

Hunt for General Tso

Where Good Ideas Come From