Jill Taylor's Stroke of Insight

In the think tank conference, TED, Jill Taylor’s speech is considered one of the most favourite-of-all-time talks. Despite having watched it once already, I decided to listen in again to her eccentric method of narrating her observances as a stroke victim. Her riveting talk comprised of repetitive phrases and words that strengthened her conviction to share her experience.

At one point of the talk, our attention drew to the object in her hand: a human brain. With the live brain, she painted the contrasts between the two hemispheres, such as the left being a serial processor, while the right being a parallel processor, experiencing the “right here, and right now”. As her left hemisphere suffered a blow from the stroke, she began to experience the right hemisphere’s perspective of the world—the sensuous and connected phenomena she felt in the absence of her left hemisphere’s influence. 39 years worth of baggage lifted as her left brain momentarily ceased to recall past memories and future consequences.

During an especially moving moment, tears brimmed in her eyes and her voice wobbled as she recounted the deathly scary moment-the time that she could have passed easily into afterlife, as she waited for medical attention. During some moments, her speaking reminded me of spiritual healers who depicted the great expanse of energy and relations between all things within the world.

Because of the stroke, Jill spent 7 years to fully recover her speaking abilities. Yet, she has presented one of the best talks on the web. At last, she shared this wisdom gained through her debilitating, yet wondrous event in her life: “If we can reach into our right peaceful hemisphere, then we can project more peace in the world.” Now, that’s an idea worth spreading.

Michelle Obama's DNC Speech

This is only a snippet of the Michelle Obama project:


Importance of Michelle Obama’s keynote address at the Democratic National Convention (DNC):

Some people have attributed the securing of Barack Obama’s Democratic Party nomination to his wife’s astounding DNC opening speech. The Democratic National Convention is held every four years to “nominate and confirm a candidate for President and Vice President, adopt a comprehensive party platform and unify the party”. (Wikipedia…hehehe, I know it’s not the perfect source) US states send delegates to vote for their Party’s presidential candidate at the convention.

Critique of Michelle’s speech:

As she stepped towards the lectern, the audience supported her with enthusiastic cheers. Even at the very beginning, she connected with the audience extremely well with her many personal accounts, such as the heart warming stories about her daughters; the resilience of her father as he battled multiple sclerosis; how she met Barack; and her living conditions as she grew up. Similar to most American candidates, including Barack Obama and John McCain, she alluded to the American dream as she described her successes as a Princeton and Harvard graduate who started with a humble beginning: “…proof that the American Dream endures”. Michelle confidently speaks as she voices her and Barack’s shared values of integrity and respect even towards those people they disagree with…and this earned her raucous support. Her method of delivery was strong and simple, easily understood by common people—not dry and cinched with difficult words and concepts. No notes were needed as she riled up the crowd in her husband’s favour. In short, I really enjoyed listening to Michelle as she shared her personable personality and wit, which convinced us to lend undying support for Barack Obama.

100 Banned Books by N. J. Karolides, M. Bald and D. B.Sova

Of the many books mentioned in this work, the pieces that I recognized were All Quiet on the Western Front; Animal Farm; Grapes of Wrath; Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl; Arabian Nights or The Thousand and One Nights; To Kill a Mockingbird; One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest; Scarlet Letter; Catcher in the Rye; Catch-22; and Brave New World.

It’s interesting to note that many of these books are now considered ‘classics’ and are studied within the classroom. Maybe these books have become ‘classics’ because they were milestones of human perspective that were once deemed inappropriate and even banned.



Books Of Interest (and that have jumped out at me):

Brave New World contains some extremely explicit motifs that happen as a result of society’s value for promiscuity. The concept of families is obsolete and humans are not born from parents. “Brave New World is a satire in which science, sex and drugs have replaced human reason and human emotion in the ‘perfect’ society in which Huxley gives the name ‘Utopia’. The novel depicts an orderly society in which scientifically sophisticated genetics and pharmacology combines to produce a perfectly controlled population whose entire existence is dedicated to maintaining the stability of society”.

Note: The title captured my attention because of a teacher who mentioned it while discussing the reason why people decide to have children despite the uncontrollable population growth of humans. This teacher had recently passed away, which to me, further lends emotional ties to this title. I think I’ll go read it.



Arabian Nights or The Thousand and One Nights

Summary:

A sultan orders the beheading of his queen and 10 concubines who have cheated on him. He then marries a new wife each night of the year—the strangling of his bride ensues at daybreak. The depletion of pretty brides occurs over 3 years, until he marries Shahrazad. Instead of the other brides, she survives by telling a story, though she stops narrating before day break. Because the sultan wishes to know the ending, he spares her life. Shahrazad’s strategy works for 1001 Arabian nights, in which she had bore him 3 sons and won his trust and love. (He didn't kill her).