A couple of months ago, I shared a small chapter of my story as it related to being a member of the LGBT, Christian and Samoan community.
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When pinning down our research, we’re encouraged to think of our project in terms of what problem or opportunity we’re responding to. I’m working to realise an opportunity. In my feeling place, I’m pursuing this research to help lift up my Samoan people. But on a day-to-day basis, it’s spite that fuels me and it’s the problems that grease the gears.
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Wherein a film review of "Independence Day: Resurgence" becomes a reflection on lazy storytelling and treatment of indigenous communities in film, and I segueway into the Matrix.
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Wait. If I tell you this… am I going to see a poor man’s rendition of this coming through in your work? Are you going to be the Christopher Paolini to our Tolkiens and so blatantly borrow to render our heroes, journeys and signature moments as your own? No offence to Paolini, we all show our love for stories and their elements in different ways, experimental play is necessary to growth, and we all have to start somewhere.
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Wherein we kick off the new year with an entirely serious study of then-and-now attitudes to academia -- using vegetables.
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I don't mind getting old. In fact, I love it. As Maurice Sendack once said, "It is a blessing to get old. It is a blessing to find the time, to read the books, to listen to the music."
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When you’re designing new technology, or new ways to use existing technology, I don’t know how many creative technologists’ relationships with friends and family start changing as they grow into more awareness. I wonder how many “agree to disagree” moments lie in my future. I find myself bracing for the way it may ultimately shift some of my closest relationships. And on some days I wish I’d stayed away from a thesis that had anything to do with cultural heritage.
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By a rough law of averages, most Samoans still place a high priority on the following three things: 1) nuclear and extended family, 2) some form of spirituality, and 3) a principle of service to your fellow people and community. Samoans, like most human beings, are generally an affectionate, generous and loyal sort of people – provided you don’t cross a line.
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If you call out someone as ‘fia poko’, you might not realise how much you’re revealing about yourself and your attitude towards your own community.
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As we come to the end of 2015’s Samoan Language Week (O le Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa) in New Zealand, I have to acknowledge a shadow that’s been dogging me all week.
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Imagine that any aspect of your habits or thinking could be rewired with enough practice. What would you change or rewire? Why? There are worse things than signing up for games to conduct research. I'm actually a little at a loss as to how I got here.
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Ascending is about individuals and society rising to a higher level of consciousness.
Ascending is about finding the positives in any situation and building on them to make our lives, community, business and planet better.
Read MoreChange is confronting, it can be uncomfortable, but it can also be hella exciting. It has been said that change is the only constant in the universe. So, you can either let yourself be dragged (very uncomfortable, so much gravel burn), react when it happens (quite disgruntling; did they warn you about this?), or you can choose to plan ahead for change and cut through the incoming tide (it’ll come in either way). This is an ode to gaming, change and coaching.
Read MoreThis is in response to a writing prompt circulating tumblr: admiration (simple enough). For those who've been asking offline, this is the sort of thing I'd share at stand-up, with less rhyme and rhythm. The great thing about stand-up / spoken word is there is no wrong form, there are many schools of style, but anything goes.
Read MoreInspired by wandering around a suburbia that demands you coast at yellow alert on a regular basis, below is the excerpt I shared on my profile; and yes, I did name one of the characters after a suburb in Canberra - it homes three of my favourite people, it's a good name.
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Not all stories, when told, start at the beginning. There is not always a prophecy, but sometimes a promise. Not all survivors are heroes, and not all heroes write history.
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Like a chef whose proof is in the pudding, mine is in the publishing and, if I'm trying to practice what I preach about not procrastinating, I had promised to share something of my experiments.
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When I landed in Cagayan de Oro this late Thursday, the family and I were running over a day without sleep. It was possibly this that made me accept the request to write a eulogy for my late Lola (Filipino for 'grandmother'). Of all the cousins, I knew her the least, but I grew to learn she lived a busy life being an accomplished businesswoman, a shrewd politician, a fierce Mama Bear (well, that part wasn't news), and a tough act to follow.
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