But in retrospect he says it makes sense. We use “I” more when we talk to someone with power because we’re more self-conscious. We are focused on ourselves — how we’re coming across — and our language reflects that.
So could we use these insights to change ourselves? Like Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, could we bend our personalities by bending the words we use? Could we become stronger? More powerful? Healthier?
After 20 years of looking at this stuff, Pennebaker doubts it.
“The words reflect who we are more than [they] drive who we are,” he says.
You can’t, he believes, change who you are by changing your language; you can only change your language by changing who you are. He says that’s what his research indicates.
via Our Use Of Little Words Can, Uh, Reveal Hidden Interests : Shots – Health News : NPR.
rePost::“They Sound ‘Now’”: Raymund Talks New E-Heads Tracks (And More); Unmissable!
Along with his actual beverage, Raymund Marasigan was swilling down the rhymes and rhythms of rap act Skarm: always an appreciative man despite his stature, always the sort to savor good work and not merely wolf it down, no matter the source. “Tapusin ko lang si Skarm, ha,” he said when I asked for a few minutes of his time, his head still mildly bobbing despite his distance from the sound source, dancing without dancing, in place but never stationary. As soon as the duo was up, he reemerged, equally eager about some other band’s new music: the Eraserheads’, a sort of wily phantasm that has evaded its fans and, well, the band itself for over a decade. I mean, everything’s coming up roses now, but the quartet did break up, and a teary reassembly wasn’t going to materialize right after “graduation.” Hindsight and the passing of time were luxuries then, but they are within reach and much needed now. A wordless penance, or maybe even shared wordlessness itself, was a requisite prelude. And now we have this: a band that, though not reunited, has played shows here and abroad; a foursome that has, ultimately, mended whatever needed mending. Fans weren’t asking for anything more. News of new material from them, then, was received like the cure for some incurable malady.
via “They Sound ‘Now’”: Raymund Talks New E-Heads Tracks (And More); Unmissable!.
Broken at Love «
44. That one of the “realest” moments conjured up by M. Seles during the course of the narrative comes totally out of nowhere in Book 2, when Maya calls home and talks to her dad, and he says he’s fine, only she can tell by his voice that he’s hurt his back again, and she knows this will knock the wind out of his struggling lawn-mowing business, and she’s suddenly desperately worried about making money.
45. That the first time you read it, this scene maybe almost made you cry a little bit, because the heart does not keep to a clock.
via Broken at Love «.
Censor or Unfriend
I am very animated when I write about things that enrage me and I often time resort to cursing.
I’ve been recently told by someone to delete a post with cursing.
Not gonna happen.
I’d rather unfriend someone than censor myself.
Budget deficit remains on track for six-year low | MSNBC
As we discussed in May, the federal government recently raised taxes and cut spending, which invariably means a smaller deficit. This remains a basic budgetary truism that Republicans continue to resist. Indeed, last year, when top marginal rates increased on households making more than $400,000 a year, a variety of GOP lawmakers argued that this would likely cause the deficit to go up – as they saw it, higher taxes on the wealthy would slow growth, which would mean fewer jobs, which would mean fewer people paying income taxes, which would mean a larger deficit. And we now know they were wrong – again – though this will probably do nothing to shake the Beltway perception of the GOP as the “fiscally responsible” party. Let’s also note that the shrinking deficit – we’re seeing the fastest reduction since the end of World War II – is also one of the nation’s best-kept secrets. It was just last year when an independent national poll asked Americans whether they thought the deficit was increasing, decreasing, or staying about the same. Only 6 percent of the country recognized reality. That’s not a typo; it was just 6 percent. The fact remains, however, that the annual budget deficit is on track this year to have shrunk by about $900 billion since President Obama took the oath of office. Responding to the news today, a Republican spokesperson for the House Budget Committee told The Hill, “Too many families are living paycheck to paycheck, and if this report is any indication, things aren’t getting much better. We need to get spending under control, so we can build a healthy economy and expand opportunity for everyone in this country.” It’s the sort of quote that helps capture everything that’s wrong with the debate over the deficit. If the economy is struggling, the GOP argument goes, it’s imperative that Congress take capital out of the system and reduce demand. By most sane measures, that’s bonkers, but Republicans won’t let their uninterrupted streak of being completely wrong get in the way of ridiculous rhetoric.
via Budget deficit remains on track for six-year low | MSNBC.
breaking news | Philstar Mobile:'Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno' tops Philippine box office
CLAP CLAP
MANILA, Philippines – “Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno” topped the Philippine box-office with P42.61 million in five days, from its first day of screening last August 20 to 24.
The movie captured the “All-Time Biggest Opening Weekend” for a Japanese film and its opening figure has surpassed the lifetime gross of the first “Rurouni Kenshin” movie, which earned P40.4 illion in its overall run in 2012.
“This is a phenomenal bow for `Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno,’ one that surely exceeded even our aggressive estimates,” says Francis Soliven, general manager of Warner Bros. (F.E.), Inc. which locally distributed the film.
“We’d like to thank the loyal fans of the franchise for their unwavering support and offer our congratulations to director Keishi Otomo and the cast led by Takeru Satoh, Emi Takei and Munetaka Aoki. The aforementioned talents graciously helped promote the film when they visited here for the Asian Premiere three weeks ago. We have no doubt that their visit enabled us to launch the film in the best way possible,” he added.
Posting the biggest receipts was SM Megamall with P2.39 million over five days, while Trinoma was second with P2.16 million, and SM Cebu at third with P1.62 million.
via breaking news | Philstar Mobile.
Because We Care!
WE must not stop this campaign for truth.
Justice for Makati. Justice for the Philippines!
Help Buying Sid Meier's Pirates
I have fond memories of playing Sid Meier’s Pirates.
Unfortunately this is region locked in steam for the US.
Can someone kindly gift this to me? It’s not more expensive than 10 USD.
Maybe we could swap games.
Anyone?
Turning Off FB Auto Share?
I’ve recently added the Jetpack plugin to onthe8spot.
I’ve connected most of my social network identities but one particular connection is troubling me.
Why does one part of me would like to turn off FB sharing?
Why among all social networks I belong to FB seems to be the one I edit myself most often on?
I have a hunch but I’d like to think about it more.
Indie Web stuff inspired by this post from Dan Gilmor
http://dangillmor.com/2014/04/25/indie-web-important/
Why the Indie Web movement is important?
Suppose you could write in your personal blog and have a summary of your post show up on popular social-media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Facebook – and then have responses on those sites show up as comments in your blog? You can, and if some talented programmers have their way you’ll soon be able to do so easily. In fact, it’s what I’m doing right now with this post, which is also running at Slate Magazine.
Why would you or I want to do this? Simple: We’re in danger of losing what’s made the Internet the most important medium in history – a decentralized platform where the people at the edges of the networks – that would be you and me – don’t need permission to communicate, create and innovate.
This isn’t a knock on social networks’ legitimacy, or their considerable utility. But when we use centralized services like social media sites, however helpful and convenient they may be, we are handing over ultimate control to third parties that profit from our work, material that exists on their sites only as long as they allow.
Even if most people don’t recognize what’s at stake – yet – I’m happy to say that a small but growing group of technologists does. And they’ve created what they call the “Indie Web” movement to do something about it, in an extended online conversation and at periodic in-person meetings. The latter are IndieWebCamps, where they gather to hack together tools aimed at liberating us, to the extent possible, from centralized control – what the Web’s key inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, has called “re-decentralization” of the Net. In their early work they’re taking advantage of the good things the social network “silos,” as they call them, can offer, while ensuring that the data we create, and as much of the conversation it engenders, lives in our own home-base sites.