Fun
1. Bruiser (TV Show) - Nurse (it's an excerpt — a short Youtube video)Olivia Colman in the sketch #2. Every choice she makes is pitch-perfect.
2. Olivia Colman's both Bafta 2013 speeches.
Is now on my list of best award speeches ever.
3. This and this bit from Rachel Maddow' appearance on Dave Letterman Show, January 28
I don't watch her show (have no interest in American politics), but there are moments of pure joy in each her appearance on Letterman.
She is bright, she is really good with words & intonations, and it's a pleasure. And this time she and Dave Letterman play great together.
Serious Stuff
4. Bits from Claire Dorotik-Nana's January articles on PsychCentral(Discovered via psychotherapy tumblr, have some quotes on my tumblr.)
She talks about what's not right and for each issue offers "fixes" — several questions to ask oneself.
- Attacking, Blaming, and Criticizing: How To Respond To Other Peoples’ Bad Behavior
- 6 Signs You Are Not Living The Life You Are Meant To (again, it's not just a list of bad stuff — she offers therapeutic questions to ask oneself here)
- Stop Saying Yes: Three Hidden Costs Of Pleasing Everyone. I wouldn't call myself a people pleaser, but still found this stuff enlightening.
5. The original and the follow-up NYTimes' articles on the topic of "The 36 Questions That Lead to Love"
The experiment was based on the study by the psychologist Arthur Aron, and the second article actually provides the list of questions.
It's all pretty convincing, especially the thing about a lengthy eye contact.
For example, I was sent to a training in public speaking skills years ago, with my colleague. And one of the exercises was in pairs: you had to stand in front of the other person for several minutes and stare them in the eyes (to train oneself to maintain a strong eye contact with the listener(s)). I would say my experience matches the “Two minutes is just enough to be terrified …Four really goes somewhere” comment in the NYTimes article.