GOOD MORROW
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Hello you all midgidity midgets! The dinosaurs are starting to feel a little restless over at iceland but don't worry, we have them under control and HOW'S LIFE!
Miss you guys, loved 24th of jan brunch! We should all gather somewhere during some morning and do batch dance or something HAHA. And of course uh, try to pull in as many people as possible!
Anyway-- poetry! because I'm nice and because I know you all who didn't take lit miss it yesyes.
Morning;
Frank O’HaraI've got to tell you
how I love you always
I think of it on grey
mornings with death
in my mouth the tea
is never hot enough
then and the cigarette
dry the maroon robe
chills me I need you
and look out the window
at the noiseless snow
At night on the dock
the buses glow like
clouds and I am lonely
thinking of flutes
I miss you always
when I go to the beach
the sand is wet with
tears that seem mine
although I never weep
and hold you in my
heart with a very real
humor you'd be proud of
the parking lot is
crowded and I stand
rattling my keys the car
is empty as a bicycle
what are you doing now
where did you eat your
lunch and were there
lots of anchovies it
is difficult to think
of you without me in
the sentence you depress
me when you are alone
Last night the stars
were numerous and today
snow is their calling
card I'll not be cordial
there is nothing that
distracts me music is
only a crossword puzzle
do you know how it is
when you are the only
passenger if there is a
place further from me
I beg you do not go
---
(those who take lit will know where the title of this post is from HAHA. coughdonnecough)
Miss you all, always.
lee zhixin came and went, [12:35 AM]
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
HELLO 409!!! :D
AS WE ALL KNOW, THURSDAY IS COLLECTING OF HMT RESULTS! SO WE WERE THINKING OF HAVING CLASS BREAKFAST IN ORCHARD (MACS HAHAHA)! then after that you can go meet your ogs/classes, yeah!
but if you guys really dont want to meet on thursday, THERE'S ALWAYS FRIDAY AHEMSOMEONE'SAHEMBIRTHDAYAHEMREGISTER21AHEM LUNCH OKAY! :D
so if you see a fellow 409-er, grab them and ask them and then try to tell me/siyi/leican by TMR NIGHT LATEST LOL K? at the most we just go out for both. HAHAHAHA :D
okay ciaoooooo i am still high from my first soccer training! we were total noobcakes today but siyi is the b(r)e(a)st! i laughed at her for three minutes straight because she did an awesome soccer trick! SO FUNNY RIGHT, SIYI! HEEHEEHEE
:D :D :D
gemstonematrix came and went, [9:13 PM]
Class gathering 2009
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Heyhey 409 people, i hope you see this in time/
There will be a class gathering on tuesday, 15 jan. Let's meet in rjc canteen at 4pm (when everyone has almost finished their lessons of the day). You're welcome to wear class shirt or just any attire of the day as you like, and we should be just chilling out somewhere having a meal or something. There's no fixed agenda and dont worry your wallets wont burn out.
So cya there, please come. Everyone is expected to see this and turn up. From register no. 1 to 35, i hope you know im talking about you dude. Please help to spread the message to your friends thanks.
Til then, take care and i hope you're coping well with rjc (:
Bewitchedentity came and went, [4:53 PM]
Sunday, January 6, 2008
just something i found in the dec2007-jan2008 issue of Today's Manager, enjoy!
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William Shakespeare: Playwright, Poet, Management Guru?Several critics suggest that Shakespeare's plays could be taught not just in English Literature classes but also in Business Management lectures and leadership seminars.Shakespear provides thought-provoking insights into issues related to power, authority, leadership, management of rish, of crisis, of emotion: ubiquitous issues in the contemporary business and management scene.By Neelam Aggarwal
WRITTEN over four centuries ago, Shakespeare's plays continue to have a universal appeal for their absorbing stories (of kings, queens and dukes; of battles, rivalries and political turmoil of the time, of love, honour and betrayal), and also for the sensitive, rich and eloquent use of language, and the memorable array of characters. The plays continue to be performed widely, critically examined and quoted extensively from.
At the same time, one must also recognise that mana people in this fast-paced globalised world have neither the time nor the inclination to read Shakespeare and their half-hearted attempts to do so may be rendered fruitless because of what they perceive to be an impenetrable archaic language.
In spite of that, what is increasingly becoming evident is the versatility of Shakespeare's writings. Several critics suggest--and not always tongue in cheek--that his plays could be taught not just in English Literature classes but also in Business Management lectures and leadership seminars. Prince Philip is widely supposed to have once said "A man [or woman] can be forgiven a lot if he [or she] can quote Shakespearein an economic crisis." In fact, it is perfectly possible and eminently interesting to glean such quotations from Shakespeare's plays.
The relevance of Shakespeare's plays to modern management issues has recently been ackonwledged byt a number of readers and critics. Shakespeare provides thought-provoking insights into issues related to power, authority, leadership, management of risk, of crisis, of emotion: ubiquitous issues in the contemporary business and management scene.
Startling as it may seem, a number o his plays deadling with monarchs, historical changes, wars, manipulations, failures and successes can be read as lessons in leadership and management, the use and abuse of power, the importance of balancing values and responsibilities, and the skills crucial to a leader's success.
These lessons transcend barriers of place, space, and time and are equally relevant in today's context. The principles of good leadership and the hazards of incompetent authority are the same whether applied to sixteenth century England or contemporary management boards.
Shakespeare clearly maintains that order and hierarchy is the basis of harmony. As Ulysses says in
Troilus and Cressida:
The heavens themselves, the planets and this centre
Observe degree, priority and place,
Insisture, course, proportion, season, form
Office and custom, in all line of order;
Yet Shakespeare went on to show that those who were born to rule could fail or succeed depending on the leadership skills. His characters can be studied to illustrate points on power, action, communication, and decision-making. King Lear, Richard II, and Mark Antony failed because they believed their authority alone gave them the right to lead and they should be obeyed by virtue of their position.
On the other hand, Henry IV Part I provides valuale lessons of a leader on trust and caution, on developing the potential of one's followers, on understanding their strengths and limitations and on rewarding one's followers.
King Lear may well be read as a cautionary tale about bad management and how 'not' to devolve power and the dangers arising from earliy and ill-planned retirement. King Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters but this divestiture was based on responses which catered to his ego (and which demonstrated his failure to recognise hypocrisy: whoever says she loved him the most would get the biggest share) rather than on sensible planning:
Knowing that we have divided
In three our kingdom; and 'tis our fast intent
To shake all cares and business from our age;
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
Unburthen'd crawl towards death...
Tell me, my daughters--
Since now we will divest us, both of rule,
Interest of territory, cares of state--
Which of you shall we say doth love us most?
That we our largest bounty may extend
Where nature doth with merit challenge.
The play further highlights the need for one leader and the 'unity of command'. When Goneril, the eldest daughter, complains about King Lear's retaining the trappings of power after divesting himself of the kingdom, and the chaos created by Lear's knights, her sister Regan states:
How in one house
Should many people under two commands
Hold amity? 'Tis hard, almost impossible.
The play demonstrates the problems and the disastrous results of a divided leadership and the confusion arising from not recognising one's changing responsibilities.
Macbeth portrays a leader who has no integrity and one whose ambition propels him to destruction. Macbeth starts out as a loyal subject to a good king but following the witches' prediction that he will be king, his latent ambition is kindled and he proceeds to kill the king. He recognises that:
I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other.
Such "vaulting ambition" and the resultant betrayal are to be seen in many organisations. Shakespeare's point is simple: within limits, ambition is positive as it helps to drive change and development; but once it "o'erleaps itself," it becomes destruction to both the manipulator and those within that organisation.
Then there is Hamlet, which highlights the problems resulting from an inability to make decisions, an uncertainty of knowledge and a lack of a coherent plan; but also provides precious nuggets of wisdom for managers.
On business ethics, Hamlet provides the following advice:
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
And on the need to dress appropriately:
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy, rich, not gaudy
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.
The Merchant of Venice provides succint advice on how to deal with trouble-makers in the organisation:
The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it
Shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
The play Othello doesn't mention the phrase "public relations" but Iago could well have that in mind when he says:
Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft
Got without merit, and lost without deserving.
There is the scathing statement on performance appraisals from Henry VIII:
His promises were, as he then was, mighty;
But his performance, as he is now, nothing.
The ability to communicate with staff in their own language is extolled in Henry IV Part II:
The prince but studies his companions
Like a strange tongue, wherein, to gain the language,
'Tis needful that the most immodest word
Be look'd upon and learn'd.
In Julius Caesar, Cassius convinces Brutus that Caesar must be killed in an exercise which appears to be a hostile takeover, a takeover made easier because Caeser ignores the warnings to "beware the ides of March."
Antony and Cleopatra demonstrates the problems in relationships. Ironically, Antony's officers are afraid of him not because their performance may not meet the mark but because they may do better than their leader and consequently offend him. Ventidius makes these telling comments about Antony to a fellow officer:
Better to leave undone, than by our deed
Acquire too high a fame when him we serve's away.
[...]
I could do more to do Antonius good
But 'twould offend him; and in his offence
Should my performance perish.
In short, leaders who are nervous, envious or simple uncaring have a counter-productive effect on their staff: a lesson as relevant to Antony's army as it is to a modern organisation.
Shakespeare's plays are packed with insights on management issues, on the use and abuse of power, and on the politics of leadership. Given his brilliant, entertaining and uncannily accurate reflections on the intricacies involved in the pursuit, execution, and loss of power, the Bard could well be called a business management guru.
Neelam Aggarwal, PhD, is Associate Professor of English, Dean, School of Arts & Social Sciences, SIM University (UniSIM).
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hope you guys enjoyed that! now it seems like us learning shakespeare in rg isn't so useless after all xD
gemstonematrix came and went, [1:06 PM]
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sharkfish. i just love this photo. don't you stace? XD
[ arias ] came and went, [12:31 PM]
